Blooms of Grace
Evening Primrose is a beautiful flower with a very interesting characteristic…it only blooms at night. I was recently blessed to witness this event one beautiful, albeit hot, summer evening. In the dusk of the evening, I watched with excitement each bud slowly open, layer by layer, into a full and vibrant yellow blossom. Each of us in attendance at the event tried to guess which one would open next. We then watched with amazement as the flowery scent attracted a hummingbird thirsty for the sweet nectar that each bloom provided. As I watched the wonderful workings of God’s creation, I wondered, “What made that first bloom open and what was the signal for each additional bloom to open?” My mind affixed upon the order in which each bud opened and...
Read More5 Love Languages
What happens to love after the wedding? We all know that as times goes by we seem to lose focus of the relationship we had at the beginning with the one we love. Tons of books are written on this subject. Television and radio talk shows deal with it, the internet is full of advice and our parents and friends have a lot of advice. Keeping love alive in our marriages is serious business. With all this help available, why is it so few couples have found the secret to keeping love alive? How can couples attend workshops or seminars on communication, hear a lot of wonderful ideas, return home, try two or three of the ideas, feel it’s not working then give up on all the other ideas they heard? The problem is that people speak different love languages. Not...
Read MoreYOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE
It’s 8:05, and the alarm clock has been snoozed for the absolute last time. Mama jumps out of bed and realizes that she had better get a move on if they are all going to make it to class and worship service this morning. Mama flies down the hall to the children’s rooms. “Tommy, time to get up” next she heads for the girl’s room, “girls time to get up, rise and shine”. Mama then dashes to the kitchen, turns on the coffee and sets out cereal bowls and glances over at the time, she does a double take and then realizes they only have 20 minutes now! What happened to the time? Tension fills her body and she dashes to the rooms again, “kids get up, we’re going to be late”. Mama runs back to the kitchen and put’s the cereal and milk out and heads...
Read MoreEvery Girl: 5 Faith Builders
“Please, God, give me a strong faith. In Christ’s name, amen.” When I first became a Christian, I picked up my Bible and read of people like David, who single handedly killed the most intimidating warrior of his time. I would turn away from my study of such men and women, wanting a faith like theirs. So, I would close my eyes, bow my head, and pray for God to give me a strong faith. Days, weeks, and months would pass by, and guess what? I still felt trapped inside of my own timid, halfhearted, wavering faith. If you find yourself at times asking the same prayer, and following the same endless cycle that I did for so long, then please, listen closely. Jonah had to sit inside a dark whale for 3 days to grow his faith. Daniel had to lie in a pit of...
Read More5 Worn Pieces
In keeping with the theme of ‘5’, let’s look at the 5 defensive pieces of God’s armor that are worn. God’s Armor, or the “Armor of God”, not meaning what God wears, but what we as His children are told in Ephesians 6:11-24 to put on ourselves to fight and win against Satan and his powers. From the above mentioned verses we can identify those pieces of armor as….the Belt or Girdle of Truth (verse 14), the Breastplate of Righteousness (verse 14), the footwear of the Gospel of Peace (verse 15), the Shield of Faith (verse 16), and the Helmet of Salvation verse 17). It’s easy to see why the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use this analogy. As a prisoner, Paul was with the Roman soldiers constantly, and Christians of the day were also very...
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