When I was a girl, I liked to read at night. And I liked to snack while I was reading. I developed the habit of tossing the “leftovers” of my snack behind my headboard when I was done. When we prepared to move to another house, my bed was taken…
In Ecclesiastes, we travel along with Solomon’s journey to satisfaction and purpose. As we’ve established, he tried it all! And he found that even the best this world has to offer was futile. He came to a conclusion: possess a reverential awe for the Maker of humanity and do what…
HYMN DAY! “Living for Jesus” by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (that name would make a great story hero, don’t you think?) has such a powerful message. In HIM is where we find our joy and fulfillment. 1 Living for Jesus a life that is true, Striving to please Him in all…
My mother lived 82 years. In her family, with its history of heart disease, that was a long life. But truthfully, in light of eternity, 82 years is a very brief period of time. All of us are mortal; we’re here, as they say, on borrowed time. Thus it’s wise…
Several years ago, I was speaking to a group of women in the basement of a small-town Kansas church. A tornado touched down near the town and put out the electricity. Being suddenly plunged into complete darkness in an unfamiliar setting raised a wave of panic. Then someone lit a…
Trial… That’s a word most of us would like to avoid. Trials aren’t fun, yet look what James advises: count it all joy. If you stopped there, you’d think James needed to have his head examined. But when you read on, you understand. When we face trials, we have an…
If we had to follow a list of rules to be acceptable before God, none of us would be found pleasing. We simply cannot do enough, be enough, or perform well enough to save our souls. So God pushed aside the dos and don’ts and made a way for us…
HYMN DAY! I chose an old one that fits well with all the blossoms popping up as Spring unfolds: “New Life!” by John Peterson. (I’ll be humming this chorus all day.) Verse 1 Gone is the guilt of my sin, Peace is now reigning within; Since I believed, pardon received,…
Two weeks ago, we celebrated Easter, the day Christ emerged from the tomb in victory over death. Sin was conquered! And because Jesus gave Himself as the sacrifice for sin’s curse, each of us can emerge triumphant over death, too. We can step into life eternal, pardoned and redeemed, as…
Well, here we are at the end of our months-long foray through Psalm 119. Hasn’t it been a delightful, insightful journey? I’m glad we made it! Because I am directionally challenged. Even using a GPS, I still find myself in places I didn’t intend to go. That’s when I call…