Month: March 2024

“He has brought me to his banqueting place,And his banner over me is love [waving overhead to protect and comfort me]. “Sustain me with raisin cakes,Refresh me with apples,Because I am sick with love. “Let his left hand be under my headAnd his right hand embrace me.” (Song of Solomon 2:4-6 Amplified Bible) Word Study:… Continue reading Love Prevails

Why ·am I so sad [are you downcast, my soul]?    Why ·am I so upset [are you groaning/in an uproar]?I ·should [or will] ·put my hope in [wait for] God    and ·keep praising [or will again praise] him,my ·Savior [Victor] and my God. (Psalm 43:5 Expanded Bible) REFLECTION  There are times when I feel so discouraged, but I pray… Continue reading Pray Anyway

For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing.  For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched… Continue reading True Identity

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8: 36 NIV) REFLECTION I was recently reminded of how dangerous idolatry is, as I pondered these words by the late, great Timothy Keller: “What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that… Continue reading Confront Idolatry

”But speaking the truth in love [in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head—Christ. From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies,… Continue reading Seek & Speak The Truth

”Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].“ ‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭29‬ ‭AMP‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/1588/eph.4.29.AMP REFLECTION  God’s Word is clear… Continue reading Words as Seeds

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that… Continue reading Loved to Love

For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 AMP) REFLECTION  Every precious person has been wonderfully made by God (see Psalm 139:14). And, as our Maker, He has made it clear that He knows… Continue reading Perfect Plans

But [Lot’s] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26 AMPC) Read full chapter Footnotes REFLECTION  There’s world of difference between reflection (in the best sense of the word) and looking back (with a longing to go back because the right way forward is hard). Pausing and prayerfully… Continue reading Don’t Look Back

I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.] Philippians 4:13 AMP REFLECTION  This past week – in… Continue reading Sacrificial Service