Tag Archives: Faith

Just When You Need It

Posted on by

And they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.  Luke 22:13 ESV1

Read Matthew 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16 & Luke 22:7-13

I was tired and eagerly anticipated my arrival at my destination where I planned to take a few moments to close my eyes and rest. I had traveled for sixteen hours across the country to serve at a ministry. My vehicle was packed with everything I would need for the next five weeks. With much prayer, I had planned spiritually for the role I would be filling. As I composed and checked off items on a list, I worked out all the conceivable physical details for my time away from home and my work in the ministry. I felt abundantly prepared for this opportunity.

But when I got to the vacation rental I had reserved months before, it wasn’t available! The owner was living there. She had no idea I was scheduled to arrive nor that I had reserved her home for the next five weeks. She didn’t even realize the listing for her home was active; she thought she had removed it almost a year before when she moved into their rental after she and her husband became separated.

Continue reading →

Seeing Jesus in Difficult Circumstances

Posted on by

“Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose, I have come to this hour.” John 12:27 ESV1

Read John 12:20-37

If you are reading this, you are either one of my faithful followers who reads nearly everything I write or you are going through a difficult time right now and you desperately want the powerful working of God in it. What I have to say here is Biblical but it may not be easy to swallow. I am not going to wallow with you in self-pity, feed your doubts, or allow you to blame God. But I will walk with you through a process that actually works. If I had not in the past and if I were not currently going through a difficult situation in this way, I would have no right to tell you what to do. But since I have and am traveling along a challenging path, I can offer you a helping hand. If you are ready to traverse this trail, let’s both get on our spiritual hiking boots and climb this mountain together.

Continue reading →

The Answer is Always “Yes!”

Posted on by

“Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 ESV1

Read Matthew 21:18-22 & Mark 11:12-14, 20-24

I have been praying since I was a wee, little girl. My relationship with God began with prayer. And over the years, my relationship with God has been sustained by prayer. In my five decades of almost constant prayer, I have had thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of prayers answered. But that doesn’t mean I have never been disappointed in my prayer life. What often baffles me is God’s almost immediate answers to many of my little, insignificant prayers, like helping me find my lost car keys, but in other bigger, more important pleas, like healing my loved one from cancer, He doesn’t seem to hear. This is frustrating especially when God promises over and over in His word that if we will but ask, His answer will be, “Yes.”2 Following is a passage where Jesus made such a claim.

Continue reading →

To Fear or Not to Fear

Posted on by

“Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into Hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!” Luke 12:4-5 ESV1

Read Luke 12:13-21

We all fear something. That which we fear has the power to influence our characters and determine our destinies. Jesus emphasized this truth in the context of the next parable we will examine.

Continue reading →

Approaching the Throne of God

Posted on by

 “I tell you; this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:14 ESV1

Read Luke 18:9-14

There is a protocol for greeting a member of the English Royal Family:

“For men, this is a neck bow (from the head only) whilst women do a small curtsy. Other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way. On presentation to The Queen, the correct formal address is ‘Your Majesty’ and subsequently ‘Ma’am,’ pronounced with a short ‘a,’ as in ‘jam’. For male members of the Royal Family, the same rules apply, with the title used in the first instance being ‘Your Royal Highness’ and subsequently ‘Sir’. For other female members of the Royal Family the first address is conventionally ‘Your Royal Highness’ and subsequently ‘Ma’am’.”2

There is a proper way to address the President of the United States.

“In direct oral address – actually speaking to the President – the President is addressed as: Mr. President—His given name or surname are not used in his presence. This pattern of not using the name is typical around the world when addressing the highest officials—chiefs of state, heads of government, speakers of houses, chief justices, and a very few others. Listen to a White House news conference: Reporters addressing the POTUS as Mr. President are doing it correctly.”3

There is also an appropriate way to come before the King of the Universe.

Continue reading →

Proper Persistence

Posted on by

He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  Luke 18:1 ESV1

Read Luke 18:1-8

This past weekend I got together with my daughter and her children. We stopped to get ice cream at a local restaurant. As we were enjoying the tasty treat, my two-year-old grandson noticed my phone peeking out of the front pocket of my purse. He turned to his mom and asked, “Trac’ors ‘Mammaw’s phone, p’ease?” My daughter replied, “Finish your ice cream first.” As we chatted, my grandson nibbled at his ice cream but his eyes were focused on me. As soon as I finished my ice cream, he asked again, “Trac’ors ‘Mammaw’s phone, p’ease?” His mom repeated, with emphasis, “Finish your ice cream first.” He shoved two more big bites of ice cream in his mouth, pushed the dish aside, and asked again, “Trac’ors ‘Mammaw’s phone, p’ease?” This time my daughter said, “Yes, now, you may watch a tractor video on Grandma’s phone.” A moment later, as I searched the internet and found a short, child-appropriate video about tractors, my grandson settled into my lap and stared with glee at what was happening on the screen of my phone.

When Jesus walked the Earth, there were no tractors, Grandmothers didn’t have smartphones, the internet didn’t exist, and I don’t think they even had anything like ice cream. But, Jesus, being the Good Teacher, was able to use as He taught illustrations from what they did have. In the following parable, Jesus told a story to help His audience learn an important lesson about a significant aspect of asking His Father for what they would like to have.

Continue reading →

That’s Not Fair!

Posted on by

“So, the last will be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:16 ESV1

Read Matthew 20:1-16

As an oldest child who is the daughter of oldest children who themselves were raised by oldest children, I have an innate sense of fairness. It is important to me that I be as impartial and equitable as possible in my dealings with others. I strive to be free from bias and I seek to avoid all injustice. And I expect that others will be as gracious to me in return. So, I have to admit when I first read the following parable of Jesus, I had a hard time reconciling what seems to be so completely unfair.

Continue reading →

Just a Little

Posted on by

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.”  Matthew 13:31 ESV1

Read Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32 & Luke 13:18-19

Americans spend thousands of dollars on entertainment each year. Whether it be sporting events, TV, video games, movies, social media, travel, shopping, or eating out, people seem to be able to find money in their budget and time in their schedules for what they really enjoy. Nearly 10% of all Americans have a drug or alcohol addiction. And that doesn’t count those who occasionally partake of these substances or those who struggle to control their indulging in substances and behaviors which aren’t monitored. Reportedly, J.D. Rockefeller, the first billionaire in the United States, was once asked, “How much money is enough?” He answered, “Just a little bit more.” Whether what we desire is legal or illegal, necessary or unnecessary, it seems as if all humans are searching for just a little more of something to satisfy an internal longing. That is because there is an empty space in each of us that was purposely placed there and is intended to be filled. A parable of Jesus reveals that for which we are all searching.

Continue reading →

For You to Be and Him to Do

Posted on by

“[The farmer] sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself.” Mark 4:27-28a ESV1

Read Mark 4:26-29

I felt so lazy as I sat in the house while copious amounts of snow fell from the sky and a ferocious wind swirled it about. My husband was on a business trip. He asked me not to worry about shoveling the snow; he would take care of the snow removal when he came home later that evening. At first, I was satisfied with the arrangement, but the weather continued to worsen and, because of the storm, my husband’s flight was delayed. Now, no longer would he be getting home in the evening; he wouldn’t arrive until almost midnight. I felt I had to do something to help.

I shoveled the sidewalk and in front of the garage. It was heavy, wet snow, but I slowly conquered a ginormous drift and felt empowered to tackle more. I started up the driveway, but the drifts got taller, and as I began to tire, the snow seemed heavier. But I was determined; I was going to at least clear a place at the entrance of the driveway for my husband to park his vehicle and shovel a path for him to get into the house. It took me almost two hours, but I accomplished that which I set out to do. By that time, though the wind threatened to destroy my work, the snow had almost come to an end. Exhausted but satisfied, I returned to the house with a smile on my face as I imagined how proud my husband would be of me.

Continue reading →

Location, Location, Location

Posted on by

“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them … is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock … But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation” Luke 6:47-49 ESV1

Read Matthew 7:21-27 & Luke 6:46-49

Have you heard it said that the three most important things to consider in real estate are location, location, and location? As it turns out, location is pretty important in the spiritual realm as well. As Jesus concluded one of His training seminars for a group of committed followers who had climbed a mountain to hear what He had to say, He chose a powerful cohering illustration that involved real estate to cement His teaching in the minds of His students. The real estate, a house, to which Jesus is referring in His illustration is a metaphor for one’s life.

Continue reading →