• Devotional

    Who is He?

    December 1, 2023

    Christmas, it’s just around the corner! Everything in town is getting festive and Christmas parties are on the calendar. I love all the visiting and the wrapping of gifts (seriously, send me your packages and I will wrap them!). My husband and I have several Christmas movies we watch each year and we’re slowly making our way through the list! It seems easy to turn eyes toward Bethlehem and that stable where Christ was born when songs like O Come Emmanuel play over the radio. Mid November through that first week of the new year, the birth of Christ is…

  • Current Series - Devotional

    Walking it Out

    November 29, 2023

    “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV). The first lie that humankind listened to in the garden: “Did God really say…” A spiritual sleep can come over us when we begin to doubt the authority of God’s word or the intent behind clearly defined boundaries in scripture. “Did God really say…” “Yes, he did.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 is a good scripture to tuck away for that moment of decision. God’s word is our sword and it demolishes…

  • On a personal note

    Remembering with Thanksgiving

    November 17, 2023

    Humans are hardwired with a desire to retrace things that have happened. We want to mull over the past, retrace our steps, and hold onto the precious moments. God made us this way: we’re meant to remember. A way to remember There’s an interesting account in the book of Joshua concerning remembrance. The people of Israel witnessed the Jordan River part. It was a miracle experienced by everyone as they walked across on dry land. Joshua chose twelve men (one from each of the tribes) and had them take a stone from the river bed. The stones would serve as…

  • Current Series - Devotional

    Why a Narrow Path?

    November 15, 2023

    “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV). Why? After reading this passage, the natural question is: why is the way narrow? Why aren’t there lots of paths and options that all ultimately lead to the same place? The answer to this question is found in the pages of scripture: the way is narrow because we are…

  • Current Series - Devotional

    A Way For The Lord: Can we talk about sin?

    November 10, 2023

    “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know…

  • On a personal note

    On Empty

    November 1, 2023

    Today’s post is personal- something that’s on my heart. I woke up tired, partly because I didn’t get enough sleep and partly because I was empty. Do you know the feeling? It’s the kind of empty that sees the last of your reserves. The kind of empty that is deep and tired. I had coffee and then a little more. I read my Bible and prayed. I jumped into some work. At one point I looked down at my nails and the thought occurred to me that I should take some time to relax and paint them. I brushed it…

  • Devotional

    A Heart Guarded (Part I)

    October 27, 2023

    “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (ESV). It seems like everything we encounter vies for the attention of our hearts. After all, marketing is most effective when it touches on emotions, when it’s made personal. We’re asked: what do you want? We’re advised: follow your heart! We’re told that all answers and healing lie within us, if only we could become still enough, process our emotions more thoroughly, connect with who we truly are. There is a Biblical principle at work in this approach- but it’s not what it seems…

  • Devotional

    Committed to Grace

    October 25, 2023

    “And after I’d prayed, I picked up my burden again.” I found myself saying this, mentally picturing the time I spent in prayer, offering everything in my heart to the Lord. Then, I said “amen,” and meticulously picked up every single heavy stone I’d intended to leave there.   It makes sense, in the human sense, that we would want to keep an eye on those things that are precious to us. I think this is especially true when praying for our loved ones in the Lord. We wouldn’t be bringing these requests to his feet if they weren’t important…

  • Devotional

    A Daily Walk

    October 18, 2023

    “I don’t know how to walk through this, Lord.” How many times has my heart whispered these words in prayer? Too many to count. Has your own heart ever whispered these words? If you answered yes, I don’t think we are alone in this experience. Sooner or later, situations arise where we find ourselves out of our depth. It doesn’t matter how much experience we have or which seasons we’ve weathered. The question can come out of many circumstances- times of uncertainty, a season of stillness, or even a season of joy. Walking through the day-in/day-out routines of our lives,…

  • Devotional

    Prayers for a Loving Church (Part II)

    October 13, 2023

    “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered…