It’s a new year. The other night as I was contemplating this new year I heard the words “narrow gate of a new year”. And I like that idea. The Narrow Gate in Scripture referred to Jesus as being the Only Way to salvation. But this morning the Lord refers to this new year as a narrow gate as well. It’s time to drop anything that held you back in 2021. Oh beloved, what held you back last year? What kept you from moving on in your life? What stopped you from fulfilling God’s purpose for your life? What caused …
The Lens of Faith
Yesterday morning we noticed a deer edging along our backyard fence row. Then we noticed another. Turned out to be four deer in all. I tried to get a photo of them, but I never could see but one deer in the photo. I took several photos but only one could be found. The walk of faith is like that photo of deer. There’s much more there than you see in a photo. The Christian life is full of information that is all needed to display the true story of faith. But we have to look beyond what our …
Discard The Leftovers
This morning as I realize our refrigerator is full past capacity and bursting at the seams with leftovers, I am trying to remember what my parents did with the leftover Christmas food. We will keep those delectable dishes for a couple of days – maybe even have a plate or two of the remains. But beyond that I have learned to discard it before it ruins altogether. So not only will our beloved live now crunchy Christmas tree go, so will the holiday food. Oh beloved, we may all want to discard the leftovers of our holiday meals, but there …
The Meaning Of Christmas Continues
This morning I remember the year my mother kept Christmas up until March! She had a lovely artificial tree that she didn’t take down for three months after Christmas. I don’t even remember why now, but I do remember Christmas lasted a long while at her house that year. God speaks to my heart this morning. Christmas, the holiday, maybe over. But Christmas, the meaning, is never over. Oh beloved, whether you put away the festive décor of Christmas today or a month from today doesn’t matter. What matters is that you never put Christmas away – the true meaning …
Something New To Learn
Can you remember going back to school after the Christmas holidays? Everyone would talk about their Christmas gifts and their Christmas visits with family. One thing I don’t remember is it being hard to get back in the swing of things. As an employee who gets nearly two full weeks off for Christmas, I find it not nearly as easy as being a kid returning to school. LOL But just like school, there’s always something new to learn at work. And even the old, regular processes of doing things, I sometimes have to reread the instructions to make sure I …
Snooze Button
Recently the snooze button on the alarm was far too easily hit. As I went to hit it one more time I realized just how many times I had hit the word “Snooze”. It’s always amazing to me just how good the sleep is right about time the alarm goes off. Oh beloved, there are times when you and I would like a snooze button for life. The only problem with trying to snooze through life is that it keeps going. Alarms are for our good. Without them we’d sleep right through till who knows when. We definitely would miss …
Blessings In Motion
Waking up this morning to central heat is wonderful. We have a fireplace and we can use it. But modern conveniences are such a gift. Oh beloved it’s so cold outside. But we have much to be thankful for. From the heat in our homes to the cats in our driveways we are blessed. But we don’t take anything for granted do we? We wake up thankful! Thankful for God’s gifts to us. Thankful for the ability to use those gifts. Thankful even for the opportunities to work so that we can give to the Lord, pay our bills and …
Out Of The Shallows
Not long ago I dreamed that we took visiting friends to the lake. When we arrived at the lodge we could see a bit of water that wasn’t very deep and lots of people swimming. They were not very impressed. “Is this all there is?” I told them the area we were at was just the tip of the iceberg. If they’d get out in the water and look beyond the swimming area, they’d see the expanse of the beautiful lake and be amazed. Oh beloved, truth is we often don’t go beyond the swimming area do we? We are …
Heavy Burdens
We bought a dresser over the weekend. It is one of the heaviest pieces of furniture I’ve ever seen. But where we bought it was like a treasure shop to me. Everywhere I looked I saw things I liked. There was even a huge old kettle like the one that used to sit on the stove at an aunt’s house. I told the woman that she might be my new best friend! Although that dresser was so heavy it could hardly be moved, my husband and that little woman moved it out of the storage building, across the yard and …
Breaking Barriers
On this day headlines are something that really caught my eye this morning. The first from October 11, 1947 was about Chuck Yeager, who became the first person to pass the speed of sound while flying the experimental Bell X-1 plane at an altitude of about 43,000 feet, going 700 miles an hour. As kids we all heard planes making a sonic boom. Now you don’t get to hear about it anymore because noise abatement regulations halted supersonic flight (by civil aircraft) over U.S. land. Oh beloved, I hear the Lord speaking to my heart this morning. As believers are …
Searching The Headlines
The headline reads “After decades of searching Mark Twain’s signature was found inside a famous cave”. The authorities go on to declare that they are 99% sure it’s authentic. Imagine spending decades searching the walls of a cave. Not hieroglyphs or petroglyphs from thousands of years ago but a kid’s signature. Maybe. Oh beloved, what have you been searching for? For some of you it’s been indeed decades. Are you hoping that it will make a difference in your life – this thing you are searching for? God wants you to know this morning that He is the Searcher – …
Confidence Out of Mishaps
My mom had incredible confidence. Her entire life was a series of one mishap or another mixed with amazing and unprecedented blessings. I think her confidence arose from never focusing on the mishaps but rather showcasing the good things that came her way. She was industrious and worked into her 70’s. When she had cancer at the end of her life I asked God why. She didn’t. I wanted to know why the woman of faith I knew had to endure that mess after all her life endurance. She never questioned. She just kept going. Are you like me? You …
