Inspirations

                                                                                         You must  destroy   all   the   people s  the   Lord  your God gives over to you.  Deut.  7:16 As I read this I have often wondered why God would require this seemingly harsh treatment of people. Did he hate them? No, he doesn't hate anyone. I know he didn't want his people to learn the ways of the "world", but why everyone? Some of them may have done nothing wrong. Did they deserve to die? No, probably not, but they were sucked into the drama of those around them. They aren't the only ones to have that happen to them. Simon the Cyrene had that happen when Jesus was being crucified. He was forced to carry the cross.  He's not the...

When you pass through the  waters , I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  Isaiah 43:2 The past few months have been as tumultuous as a sea in a hurricane .    I feel like I have been tossed into an ocean, and the water is rising.   I am facing struggles that I never thought I would face.   The betrayal of a friend, death, financial struggles, and sickness, personal, and now global. Now to top it off, there is a quarantine.   No going anywhere except to work. It's enough to make me want to throw my hands in the air in defeat. I think we all feel that way right now.   We have all face these struggles, and when they assault us all at once It is easy to feel overwhelmed,  exhausted, and stressed, like just one more thing will drag us under. ...

It is good to give praise to God!  Often we forget to share the wonderful things that God is doing.  Today, I want to share with you what God has been doing.  This year started out with a broken laptop Lappie, as I call him.  I ended up needing to replace him.  I am sorry Lappie. Praise God for giving me Zippy in his place and for the ability to set it up myself.  I have had to do this a lot now that my nerdy children are out of the house.  On the heels of my laptop breaking, I broke out with hives. This was an allergic reaction to shampoo, near as I can figure.  My eyes swelled shut and itched like crazy.  I looked like a chipmunk. Only by a trip to the doctor and a very strong allergy medicine corrected the problem.  Anyone who knows me knows that I only go to the doctor when I absolutely have to go; which is a rare occasion.  I go to God first, then to a doctor. I am praising God that he gives doctors wisdom of the human bo...

because you know that the  testing   of   your   faith  produces perseverance. James 1:3 It’s rainy, wet, and gloomy.  I am not a fan cold, wet, dreary days. I prefer warm and sunny days.  My guess that most of you feel exactly the same way; we all have said, at one time or another, “rain, rain go away, come again another day”.  Yet, we all know that as much as we don’t like the rain, it is essential and vital if we plan to go on living.  I don’t need to remind you of what our world would be like if it never rained. Friends, God wants us to have a sound faith.  I am reminded that although we don’t like struggles in our life, some difficulties are necessary for our faith to grow.  Faith without some complications would wither and die like plants without rain.  So when you are facing troubles, rest in the knowledge that your faith will be strengthened if you trust God and do not turn back.  Remember that struggles ar...

“I’m just a yellow light, no one listens to me.”  We read this and smile because we've all been the yellow light that gets ignored.   Most, if not all of us, long to be the red light or the green light because they seem significant.  We all, at some point in our life, are searching for significance.  Yet, somehow, it eludes us. I know some of you right now are going to give me the “Sunday School” answer that we find our significance in God, and you are correct.  So, why do we struggle with this?   I’m not a psychologist, so I might be wrong, but I think we struggle with this because what we really desire is affirmation and love.  We want to know that others see us and what we do as having value. I know that there are probably a myriad of reasons for why we need that confirmation from others, but, in my opinion, the biggest reason is that we were created by God for love.  There is a longing in each of us to love and be loved that can o...

Today I had the misfortune of being the target of teasing and being “made fun of”.  Depending on who is doing the teasing, and what they are teasing about, I can usually deal with it fairly well. However, there are always a few people who, when they tease, it hurts; they always manage to end their barbs with “JK”, just kidding.  As if, somehow, because they say “JK” that makes it alright; it doesn't .  Friends, saying “JK” doesn't make teasing acceptable, and teasing is not funny if the person being teased is not laughing too.  Whoever said “words can never hurt me” clearly had no idea of how fragile people can be.  I don’t care whether you are four or one hundred and four; words can hurt.  We live in a society where it has become quite acceptable use snappy mean quips that put others down.  We see it on television shows, in movies, and many other places.  I am sad to say that, occasionally, I have fallen in to this trap myself.  Christian ...

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33 My life stinks!  I hate my life! Most of us have heard, or even said these words ourselves. I confess I have used them myself occasionally. In fact, I was using this phrase just the other day as I was filling out some paperwork.  In my case, and probably yours as well, I don’t really hate my life.  I only hate a situation in my life that is causing me stress at that moment.  Sometimes, when we are going through a struggle, we can lose our perspective.  We often feel as though we are the only one who has problems in their life.   In reality, we know that other people have problems; yet, somehow, we forget this as the storms of life are raging and threatening to swallow us up.  We often forget that Jesus, himself, promised that we would have trials.  Still, none of us likes ...