All Blog Posts (3,232)

Blessings for our Nation and the Upcoming Elections

• Father we honor You as the God who created this land and every tongue and tribe and nation that lives within its borders.
• This day, we rededicate and consecrate the land and people of this nation to You.  …

Have you ever asked, “Why me?” when you faced pain or heartache? How can a church or a church leader minister to hurting people who are asking the question, “Why?”

Let me propose three crucial facets of ministry to people who might ask this question in the midst of hardship. We must deal with this issue by teaching, love, and encouragement.

Teaching is foundational to ministry in such situations. The…

My eyesight is not as good as it once was. And that affects many things in my life. Astigmatism has distorted my vision since I was a boy, and cataracts do no help. In Matthew 6 Jesus compared eyesight with spiritual vision.

Matthew 6:22,23

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your…

When I was a young woman, I had many opportunities to visit my widowed grandmother while I attended college in her town. As she grieved my grandfather’s death, she reflected her trust in God to care for her and showed how God sustained her each day, by claiming the promise Jesus gave His disciples after His resurrection. 

“Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20 (KJV).

My grandmother’s faith that God would always be there for…

Morning by Morning, October 3 - Only by "Sharing in the Spirit" are Dividing Walls Broken Down

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God, I look to You and listen for Your leading to begin my day intentionally, deliberately pursuing and embracing Your Presence  -- here with me and here within me.  ...

"If there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy,…

Why doesn't God answer prayer immediately?  Why does he seem at times to hold back, to keep us in difficult circumstances when he could bring healing, relief, finances, reconciliation, and more - all with just a word?

There is no "one-size-fits-all" answer to this question.  First and foremost, we must acknowledge and agree with God that His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours, and we're not going to understand them all the time (Isaiah 55:9).  With Paul, we cry out, "Oh, the…

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:3

I am not sure we think enough about the Beatitudes. Jesus gave us these truths as the foundation of His kingdom in our lives, in the world, and forever. I love the name, “Beatitudes,” because these eight principles are not just something we are to hear like a lecture. They are…