Have you ever been reading the Bible and suddenly something grabs hold of you so tightly, you know, oh you know, that God has opened your eyes to a new truth? That He has spoken to you loud and clear? Not through someone else, but directly to you? That happened to me one morning while reading the story of Ruth, Read more…
The story of Mary always touches me at the core of my being. What an amazing encounter for a girl so young. God’s plan of redemption was held by the thread of a teenage girl from Nazareth. Who knew it would be so strong?
We don’t know exactly how old Mary was at the time of Gabriel’s proclamation. Read more…
Yesterday I blogged over at Ann Voskamp’s A Holy Experience. I thought you might enjoy the post. I hope you feel as loved as you are.
She was beautiful.
She was bright.
And she was mad at God.
I sat across the table picking at a salad and trying to digest Jan’s words. Read more…
I was riding down the crowded streets of Mexico City in a cab when I saw her. She measured about four feet high, backed curved, bent at the waist at a ninety-degree angle, and fingers gnarled and twisted shut. Like an upside down chair, her face was parallel to the dirty sidewalk. Feet, dirt, trash. That was her view of the world. Read more…
“Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water,” (Genesis 21:19 NIV).
Yesterday we looked at Hagar and how God spoke to her in her deepest time of need. Let’s visit that one more time, because Hagar, like you and me, forgot about her encounter with God.
When Hagar encountered God the first time, Read more…
Today’s Truth
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV).
Friend To Friend
God always has important kingdom work for us to do. Paul tells us: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Read more…
Today’s Truth
“Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Matthew 15:22 NIV)
Friend To Friend
Belva held her twitching daughter in her arms. With eyes rolled back and thrashing limbs, the child convulsed on the earthen floor.
“Oh Mara,” the distraught mother cried. “When will this ever end?”
For years little Mara had violently convulsed in predictable synchronized intervals.The child often cried out in loud screeching voices, Read more…
Today’s Truth
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it may give grace to those who hear (
Friend to Friend
Miriam was the brave little girl who hid among the bulrushes to watch her baby brother floating in the Nile among the crocodiles and would-be assassins of the Hebrew babies. Read more…
Today’s Truth
“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion–to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair,” (Isaiah 61:1-4 NIV). Read more…
Today’s Truth
“Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny” (Mark 12:41-42, NIV).
Friend to Friend
Beatrice woke as the morning sun peeked through the closed shutters of her sparse bedroom. Every joint in her tired old body creaked like a grinding wheel in dire need of good oiling. Read more…