Advent Reflections: Every Good Gift
Chuck and I are going through lean times. Maybe you are too. New jobs, home repair, kids’ expenses, illness—many factors cause money to pass through all of our hands. Seen and unseen circumstances affect cash flow like the moon affects the ebb and flow of the tide. God planted three truths in our hearts to […]
How Much Love Is Enough?
I seem to have a hard time loving. Even after all this time, some conflict or some person slams up against a brick wall inside my heart. On this wall is a big neon sign that flashes “THAT’S IT! I’m done with you.” To add insult to injury after the said collision, I then somehow […]
Hot to Cold
God is always leading us forward into freedom. Past the sin, the stuck places, the disappointment, and the heartache of living. Forward. Always forward into hope, into more of Him, into deep change. He does transformative work with this double-edged sword called Spirit and Truth. With this sword, two things are happening at the same […]
Why Believe?
If you remember, my word for the year is Unleashing Miracles. Audacious, I know. But isn’t He? Audacious, awe-inspiring, surprising, outrageous. That’s our God. And today as we head into Roar: Freedom in the Kingdom, as we head into another run around the sun, as we head into more living, I encourage you to not lose […]
Help My Unbelief
The word stopped me dead in my tracks. A friend was coaching us about decisions that needed to be made and he remarked, “it was presumptive of me to think God would take care of” the situation the way I had planned. He went on to give us much-needed wisdom and insight. But that word […]
Under New Management
Chuck and I enjoy eating out. We have our favorite go-to spots and a list of got-to-try places. As we left Corner 16 the other night, we recalled this memory of eating there when the girls were little. Only then it was a Ruby Tuesday. We watched that Ruby Tuesday slowly die. Declining food quality, […]
Why Miracles Today
To be frank, I am not sure how the church ever stumbled over the miracle question. How we dropped the training and expectation of miracles is disturbing. Let’s break this down with the old math adage: Milk comes from cows. Butter comes from milk. Therefore butter comes from cows. Salvation comes from Jesus. Salvation is […]
The Power of a Word
Each year we ask the Lord for His word for us for the year. It’s an exercise we have been doing for a long time. My spiritual father, John Dee, started this beautiful practice and now many of us have this rich history of seeing God reveal more of His heart to us and in […]
Advent Reflections Week 4: The God Who Is With Us
I am enamored by The Chosen series, for many reasons. It’s startling to “hear” Jesus speak the words of scripture I know so well. It makes me weep to see the heroes of our faith in their humble beginnings. Matthew the hated tax collector. Mary the possessed woman. Simon the cheating, angry man. What beautiful transformations— just like you and me. We are not who we used to be.
Advent Reflections Week 3: The God Who is to Come
I went on a crazy rabbit trail with the Lord the other day. About swaddling cloths. Really? Yeah.
Turns out the details matter to God and ultimately to us when He reveals them. I have been deep diving into Garments (which will come later). One thing led to another and the swaddling cloths came into focus where I learned two important distinctions for our Advent meditations.