Trust God
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When The Going Gets Tough…
I’m sure most people read the title of this brief article and finished with “the tough get going.” That’s what we as Americans do, right? We “pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps.” We forge new frontiers and rely on our own strength. Thankfully, I’m not considering this through eyes exclusive to Americans. (Sidenote: I love being an American but that is not the focus of this post.) I want to end the titular quote with some other suggestions: When the going gets tough … pray. Ephesians 3:14-16 reads, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,…
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Does My Life Produce Praise?
When I read through the letters written by Paul, there is one feature that just leaps off the page. It happens enough that, if I’m not careful, I just run over it and fail to realize what is really going on. It is when Paul–seemingly mid-thought–stops to praise God or to extol the name of Jesus. He will be writing about the plan of God or about the ways of God and then, without any literary warning, will just leap into a few sentences praising the Lord. You know it is just a “reaction” to what he has been writing because, if you take out those verses, the text would…
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Lessons from a Bird Feeder
I have no idea what the weather will be like when this is posted and when you are reading these words. I’m typing these words on December 24, 2022. As you may remember if you live anywhere close to Paducah, Kentucky, as I am typing this, there is snow on the ground and the temperature is in the teens. It seems that those who wish for a white Christmas will have that wish granted this year. That fact has made the bird feeder outside of our sunroom very popular all of a sudden. For quite some time, Donna and I have sort of lamented the fact that we haven’t had any…
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Washed Away
(Subtitle: God’s Grace Illustrated beautifully by my Lyssa Grace) Lyssabeth and I recently had a chance to enjoy relaxing at the beach for a couple of days. Something simple that she said while there struck a chord deep within me that I hope will touch you, too. While we did have a brief foray into “the sharks’ home” by way of paddle boarding, most of our time was spent on the sand. During one of the times that we went to the water’s edge, I noticed Lyssa scooping small handfuls of sand and tossing them forward where, inevitably a small wave would rush up and smooth it out again. She…
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Bible Heroes
When you think about the heroes in the Bible, who comes to your mind? Maybe you think of people like Moses or Joshua leading God’s people out of Egypt and into the promised land. Perhaps Daniel or his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come to the forefront of your mind because of their bravery in a foreign land. Maybe Esther or Ruth. Maybe you just turn to Hebrews 11 and read through that great “Hall of Faith.” Sometime in the past, I made a note on my phone referencing 2 Corinthians 4 with this thought: God is the hero of every story–even ours–if we keep our eyes on Him. All…
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When the Desire is Gone
How would you like to have been a newspaper reporter during the Great Depression? Can you imagine trying to cover that era and find new angles to something that lasted year after year? Recently, I was reading a book about some events in 1932 and came across a quote from a Chicago newspaper that was truly powerful. A reporter was talking about a posh and exciting event being held in that city, but it was basically right across the street from a park. In that park, many unemployed gathered. Some were homeless, while others just sort of were there to be with others who were in the same pit of…
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Repeated Promises
Think back to when you were little and you were promised something that seemed so big to you: maybe it was an ice cream cone, maybe you got to watch a favorite TV show, or maybe even it was a birthday promise. I’m sure all of us have probably experienced the results of both outcomes: promises kept and promises broken. The odds are good that how you felt (and maybe still feel) about the people who kept promises versus the ones who didn’t were also vastly different. As I have been teaching this quarter in the 3rd and 4th grade Wednesday night Bible class, we have been studying the life…
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Do You Have a Favorite Pillow?
Recently, two of our grandchildren spent a couple of nights with us. After they had spent a night back at their house, it was discovered that our granddaughter did not make it home with her pillow. When I told her that we were sorry that we didn’t find it earlier, she told me that it was alright because that wasn’t the only one she had. She told me that it was her favorite pillow, but that she slept fine without it. Her response didn’t seem all that strange to me. She’s not the only person in the world who has a favorite pillow. Her “Grammy” also has one that we typically take with us when we…
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Job’s Reaction to a Really Bad Day
What is your first reaction when things go badly for you? What would you do if you lost just about everything except your life? What if all of that happened almost “all at once?” As I try to internalize those questions, I’m not always completely satisfied with my answers. I’m afraid that, at the very least, I would have a “pity party.” I’m afraid that the question, “Why me?” would come to my mind (and might even be expressed). I would hope that I would not blame God, but I know many who have done just that. Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with the book of Job. As we open the book, we…
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Power of Prayer
Today’s post is not long or overly profound. It is simply a reminder of something all Christians (including me) should know. However, sometimes we forget. We forget to utilize the most powerful resource we have: prayer. And I don’t just mean our individual prayers. Although it is an undeserved honor and privilege to talk to our Heavenly Father (Heb. 4:16; 2 Chron. 7:14), and He wants to hear from us about our concerns (1 Pet. 5:6-7), we are also told to pray for one another (James 5:16). Now, if you are like me, you have no problem getting those requests and being honored to be asked. But when was the…
