29
Dec '18
Answered Prayer
29
Dec '18
I never used to give it a second thought, but as my prayer life grew, I started realizing all the answered prayers I have been blessed to receive. I also found out that prayers aren’t always answered the way you expect. What we desire and ask God for may not be in our best interest and God has a different direction that He’s leading us in. Often times He will lead us through something we don’t understand. We find blessings quite often through enduring trials. Developing a relationship with God through my prayer life has taught me to be patient and to trust God. Receiving the “feel good” answer from God isn’t always the best for me. He knows Read more…
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29
Dec '18
Faith in the Doubt
29
Dec '18
Remember when Mary found favor with God? Remember the angel told Mary that she was going to conceive and give birth to the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32)? What was Mary’s initial response? Was it “Thank you God for bestowing upon me this blessing?”. No, it wasn’t that. What about “Thank you God for allowing me to conceive the One who will be called the “Most HIgh”?” No, that wasn’t it either. It was “How can this happen?” Mary knew how this worked. How was this going to happen, and how was this happening?
Luke 1:29-34 NLT “Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Read more…
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22
Dec '18
Unbelievable!
22
Dec '18
As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. 1 Samuel 17:48-50
They say in broadcasting that the great call of the announcer becomes part of the actual event, and when a truly historic event happens, the great call becomes as iconic as the moment itself. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to appreciate one such moment. Read more…
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22
Dec '18
Giving
22
Dec '18
We enjoy the Christmas season because we celebrate the birth of our Savior. When we were blessed with our Savior, we were blessed with the most wonderful gift we could ever receive. Because of this world that we live in, we fall short every day of pleasing God. We turned our backs on Him, but He never turned His back on us. Through the birth of Jesus, God gave us a way to redeem ourselves. Jesus teaches us everything we need to know about giving. He is the Ultimate Giver. He gave everything for us so that we could have the best gift of all, which is spending eternity with Him.
When we think about Christmas and giving, sometimes we can get caught up in the stress of feeling obligated to give something. Feeling that way steals joy from us. Christmas is a time for happiness and gratitude and Read more…
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22
Dec '18
Autonomous Faith
22
Dec '18
We’ve all most likely heard the song by Carrie Underwood – “Jesus Take the Wheel”. In this song she sings about giving control to Jesus and letting Him take over in her life. I was recently driving on a busy local highway and had a thought as I watched the cars zig-zagging in and out of the lanes in front of me. I thought, “How may I feel someday when I first get into an autonomous vehicle?”. Have you entertained this idea/thought before? It’s absolutely coming. No driver, just a big piece of metal with cushy seats in it, and a lot of sensors to be able to sense anything that is near it, while you just hope and pray that it doesn’t touch any of those things. Yikes!
I work for a company that makes prototypes and tests the safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles. I’m very interested and enjoy watching the progress that is made and I try to keep up on any news articles that are written about this new and upcoming Read more…
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15
Dec '18
Loving Difficult People
15
Dec '18
We love with all of our hearts and we pray with all of our strength. Sometimes we can feel like we’re just not getting through to someone, then there’s a glimpse of hope. When we finally see that window cracked open, we see that glimpse of hope, we know God is answering our prayers. Loving someone difficult can really take it’s toll on us. We exhaust ourselves trying to figure out why this person is so resisting. We have to take a step back and understand that God loves this person as much as He loves us. We’ve finally got the window cracked opened. We have to stay focused on God and let Him work through us to reach this Read more…
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15
Dec '18
Heart Smart
15
Dec '18
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21
One of my challenges as a Christian is taking God’s word too literally. I am not here saying that what is written is not true nor that it should not be followed. What I am saying is that we must always be careful not to take the words of God outside of their context and be prudent Read more…
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15
Dec '18
God’s “Provisioning” System (GPS)
15
Dec '18
Yes, many of us may remember the days long ago of the AAA (Triple A) Maps and MapQuest, but most of us are now used to current technology and our Global Positioning System (GPS) app on our phone that simply tells us what to do to get to where we need to go (no, it’s not really to tell us “the time to beat!”). Our GPS basically tells us which direction to go when we are in unfamiliar territory and need guidance.
So, how can we relate this analogy to our own life? Can you think of a time in your life where you had NO idea which way to go? (We’re talking actual “life” now, not driving south on I-75.) Read more…
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08
Dec '18
Grace like Loretta
08
Dec '18
If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan Read more…
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08
Dec '18
Praying
08
Dec '18
We don’t know who God is going to put in our paths each day. The impact from meeting that stranger can change your entire day. That’s how I felt yesterday when I met “Harold.” I didn’t even know his name until we ended our conversation and we were just about to go our separate ways. I was busy at work doing my normal routine when Harold, an elderly gentleman walked by with His cart doing some shopping. I did my normal thing, said hello, asked him how his morning was going, and could I help him find anything. He told me he was out shopping because he has had a rough two days of not sleeping and was restless. He was on medication and he was going to have to go back to the doctor to see if there was Read more…
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