When God prepares a table in the presence of your enemies, He is not only providing spiritual nourishment and fellowship, but He’s using the table as a strategic battle tool. God is known for unconventional means to win battles, so why not an unconventional means to celebrate battle victories? Psalm 23 is an example of a victory dinner in the valley.
Read MoreMark 6:30-44 where Jesus feeds the 5,000 is more than just a miracle to wow the crowds. It is instead a picture of how Jesus is a very personal good shepherd, who has compassion and aims to provide good things. As Jesus and the disciples seek to find a quiet spot to rest and regroup, the crowd followed Jesus and the disciples into a desolate place..
Read MoreHow many times have we not recognized Jesus? We don't recognize His provision because it didn't come in the manner we thought it would. We don't recognize His Word because it came from a person that we least expected. Sometimes we are face-to-face with our Savior, but we just don't recognize Him.
Read MoreWhen evil seems to be winning, we have to remember three things about God:
1. God will bring redemption of out the enemy’s evil plans. God not only saves Joash, but uses Jehoshabeath to redeem the role of women. We also see that Jehosheba and Jehoiada together are agents of redemption for marriage. Redemption is one of the most beautiful themes in the Bible. God creates something good but it’s subverted for evil – then comes in again and redeems it, giving it back the purpose and goodness it was always meant to have.
Read MoreThis episode marks the final in the three part series titled Grow Up. Patience is defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. Children paint an accurate picture of how patience is developed. Patience is a virtue rarely seen in young children—even less so in infants. Most children are impatient—throwing tantrums when they can’t have their way. As they get older, most kids understand how to wait and why you have to wait. But when patience isn’t developed in kids, it often reveals itself in anger and temper outbursts in adults.
When it comes to your spiritual life, patience is something that should be evident—it’s a fruit that should be clearly seen.As mentioned earlier in this series, Adam and Eve were supposed to be patient and grow up in wisdom and understanding.
Read MoreA mature believer’s life is marked by a consistent walk—not one that’s marked by fits and start. There should be consistency in your walk. Paul instructs us to "Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ." (vs. 27, NKJV) In the Greek this phrase refers to giving equal weight. In other words our walk should be consistent with our talk. If we confess Jesus Christ as Lord, our walk should match our talk. There should be consistency in our home life and our spiritual life. There should be consistency in our work life and our spiritual life. There should be consistency in our leisure life and our spiritual life.
Read MoreThis week, the director of the ministry school I attend charged us with asking God this one question: "Lord, what is the "more" that You are calling me to?"
All of us have something that God has laid on our hearts. Maybe it's more prayer, more giving, or more forgiveness. We all have an inkling of that thing or things that God is requiring us to put more of ourselves into for the new year.
As I spent time in prayer contemplating that question, God let me know exactly the "more" that He's calling me to:
Read MoreWe all need space for quiet moments to hear God and let Him speak to us. If you ask most believers if they have carved out sacred space in their lives, most will answer that they do in the form of church attendance or devotional time. But more often than not, those spaces are filled with noise: social time at church or time spent talking to God but not much for listening. I know I’m guilty.
While church attendance is good and called for and devotion time is a necessity, we should also seek sacred margin in our lives
Read MoreJust this Spring, I prayed for more margin in life and it came in the form of a job resignation. You can read all about that here. Since that time I've adjusted to life as a homeschooling, work-at-home mother who also is a ministry school student. Crazy how life can change in such a short amount of time.
Homeschooling has enough lessons of its own, but ministry school is proving to be the best teacher of lessons and has changed how I'm doing life.
I just started my second quarter. But last quarter, the running theme for me turned out to be: got a gift? Use It! It was in the Understanding Your Gifts class that we focused on this subject. We took assessments to determine our giftings and then discussed ways we could use them. I already knew what areas I was gifted it, but I knew God was calling me out of the knowledge phase into the action phase as He's laid some new areas to launch out into in the last year.
I used to be one of those people who always had a reason why I couldn’t fully use my gifts:
Read MoreUnfolding words on theology, faith & the goodness of God in everyday life.
