Reflections From Corinne’s Garden Magnifying the Light of Jesus in our Daily Lives Day 4 – A Day of Soul Stretching Exercises with Jesus “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. “ John 8:12, NET As we move closer to the end of this week I want to look at what it means to stretch our souls. 2 Peter 1:5-8 enlightens us with ….”.In every effort to respond to God’s promises supplement your faith with a generous portion of moral excellence”……….When I …
Hannah
Women of Strength Hannah 1 Samuel 1:1 -2:21 The story of Samuel, the last Judge of Israel, cannot be told without mentioning his mother, Hannah. She was one of two wives of Elkanah and was childless, which caused Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife, to ridicule Hannah. This left Hannah bereft and desperate. One day Hannah went with her husband to the temple to pray and offer a sacrifice. Overcome by her grief, she stood up and began to pray to the Lord for a son. She promised God that she would dedicate the child in service to him. She prayed silently, …
Faith
There have been seasons in my life when time seemed to stand still. Anxious to see a situation turn around, yet all was quiet from God. But I pressed on. I trusted Him in everything. Things may not have happened in my timing and that’s ok. My God is a God of miracles. I’ve seen it before and I know I’ll see them again. Faith is so important because it is the means by which we have a relationship with God. Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. It includes …
Finding Faith
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” – Matthew 17:20 To have faith means that you have a full belief and trust in knowing that something will work out for the good. This could be having faith that you’ll get chosen for a promotion at work, having faith that the pregnancy test you just took will come back positive, or having faith that the …
Churches Should Be Model for Others
While We Wait for Christ’s Return – Our Churches Should be Models for Others Not only are individuals held accountable for how we live, but churches are accountable for their testimony in their communities. “We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing.” II Thess. 1:3 How would you rate the church’s relationship with God? Is faith continuing to grow? Is your church consistently trusting God? How would you rate relationships within the church? Is love increasing? …
You’re No Conditional Winner With Christ
Sometimes I sign up to win stuff. LOL Especially if it’s something that gives a prize that is useful. Like a pickup truck or a vacation. There was one I was looking at that had prizes from our state, so I was especially interested. I clicked the link and then the form to fill out. So far so good. Then I saw that you had to “join” to submit your entry. Okay, it was a good cause for sure. But you also had to pay a membership fee to enter. Okay, the fees go for a great cause …
Faith
Faith Reading: James 2:14-26 Faith is the act of believing in something or someone when you have no concrete proof of existence or that the person will follow through with their promises. Hebrews 11:1 tells us faith is the essence of our hope, the evidence of the unseen. Having faith is so easy, even a child could do it. In Luke 18:16-17, Jesus tells his disciples that to enter the kingdom of God, people must have faith as a child would. The key word in the above definition of faith is “act.” It’s one thing to say we believe something, …
Walk Out Into The New Year
On New Year’s Day morning I walked out to my car barefoot. In December. Unbelievable and yet that’s just what I did. Oh beloved, maybe you didn’t walk out to your car barefoot. But you are walking into this New Year without hesitation. Your feet are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. You don’t have to stop and make preparation. Even though thorns and stones are out there, you are fully covered by Christ. It’s time that God’s people walk like God’s people. Peace is your birthright. Even though you may have much you feel you should …
Monkey Bars Faith
This morning I remember how the playground was so much fun at school. One of my favorites was the monkey bars. Swinging from one bar to another to get across with your feet dangling in the air was so much fun. But you had to get the rhythm right. You had to let go of one bar to get swing to the next. Anyone who held onto two bars at once usually ended up dropping to the ground in defeat. Oh beloved, life is a lot about letting go of one thing to move on to the next. For sure …
We Shouldn’t Be Alive
We were watching an episode of “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” last night. A young couple had decided to rent a lodge and go on a hike in the rain forest. They chose the longest hike and began by following the signs along the way. But they got so caught up in the scenery and wildlife of the area that they didn’t notice when they left the trail. Then to add insult to injury, they made the decision to travel by compass even farther away from the lodge. They ended up spending several nights in the treacherous jungle staying on course …
It’s about the Journey
“Faith” is a word that is as common to our Christian dialogue as the words “Jesus Christ”, “salvation” or “pray.” Many of us use it at least once a day, everyday. It is a vague idea, a concept thrown around by believers and nonbelievers alike, and is easily minimized or misunderstood. If you are like me, you don’t often stop and really look at the role faith plays in each aspect of life. So, what does faith really look like in my life? Faith is a process. It is not something that we have once, in our moment of salvation, …
God Gives Evidence
We have enjoyed what has been a pretty mild summer so far. No temps over 100 degrees yet at all. I like that. I could do without the usual soaring thermometer readings altogether. But the weather people are saying this week is going to be tipping if not over 100. I’m glad that those in charge of weather reporting can warn us when a storm is brewing, when a hurricane is forming and when the temps will soar. We can be prepared at least somewhat. Or can we? Oh beloved, don’t hold your breath for everything you have heard to …