Where did the week go? Ever feel like that? Our days are filled with work, our nights are filled with extracurricular activities; family, church, sports leagues, homework, clubs and now, of course, Facebook, Twitter, blogs or computer time.
Take the time to “give it a rest.” Stop the treadmill, but don’t move on down your “to do” list. There are a lot of spiritual nuggets in this book, good stuff we trust that will bless you and give insight about pursuing God. But, don’t just read about the ways of God, don’t pack in more spiritual information and not learn to hear the voice of God for yourself.
God wants to talk to YOU. Stop and listen for His voice. Meditate. It’s not a scary word, or mystical practice. We need to clear the time to be alone time with [...]

TGIF – you don’t even have to see the words. Your mind fills in the blanks, “Thank God it’s Friday!” You hear it all the time. We actually begin looking forward to Fridays on Wednesdays; the day we “get over the hump,” telling ourselves it’s downhill from here. Friday is the happy hour of the week, “launch day” for what we really enjoy doing in life. In effect, millions of people put up with the rest of the week to get to Friday and the weekend.
Somehow, the adventure about living was lost along the way. As children we were curious, we loved discovery, we let our imaginations take us away and could build a fort (probably a spaceship today) in the living room and be in another time and place for hours on end.
All the while we heard the speeches about [...]

One of the most popular Christmas movies of all time is, “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart. Peering into the life of the central character, George Bailey, we find a lesson for all of us. His youth is filled with dreams and possibilities. There are no limits to what he might do given the opportunity. He’s got his goals set, his mind made up, he’s ready to “blow this small town,” but the untimely death of this father changes everything.
Unfortunately, those changes in life are not fiction. They are all too real and you can find “George Baileys” everywhere. They are the responsible ones who do the right thing. They prepare, they dare to dream, but somewhere along the way life makes a sharp left turn. They are called on to care for a parent. Young boys step [...]

Nobody looks forward to trouble. We don’t put our feet on the floor in the morning and say, “Can’t wait for conflict, disappointment, some kind of trouble at work today.” We want our coffee ready, we love the shower spraying hot when we turn the handle. We check the weather looking for sunshine, blue skies and hope everyone is feeling good today. We turn the key in the car’s ignition and want that baby to fire up!
But, chances are, you might face something today that you didn’t see coming. It could be a slight annoyance, or something that turns ugly. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble”. We should not be surprised. We live in a hurting world filled with political problems, poverty, environmental challenges, and an evil adversary. There is one relentless assignment on the part of your enemy [...]

Your fingertips hold the key to your identity, specifically the pattern of arches and swirls called friction ridges. Forensic experts trained in fingerprint identification, also known as dactyloscopy (toss that one out around the water cooler) compare the tiny friction skin ridge impressions from fingers when identification is needed. The unlimited combination of friction ridge skin patterns means that no two finger prints or palm prints are ever exactly alike. We have them when we are born and sometimes they are the determining factor in identifying us at death.
There are over six billion people on the earth today and every one of us will leave a unique fingerprint on the world in which we live. God loves uniqueness – making each snowflake one of a kind…and you as well.
But, for those who are following Christ, there is another identity – an identity more real than [...]

We live in a world of logos and icons. Caps, shirts, shoes, glasses, jeans – it seems everything we wear has a brand on it. The Nike swoosh is everywhere. The polo rider signals his message. “Cool” is created with a few pieces of thread and reinforces something about the wearer. The reality is, while millions of dollars are spent developing the identity of a brand, millions who wear the logos are in fact still trying to find their own identity!
This used to be the crisis of our high school years, now the battle lines are drawn in grade school and perhaps even earlier. Kids are pretty quick to figure out where they are in the pecking order on the playground.
We want to stand out by learning to fit in with the right crowd. The goal becomes to look like everybody else, blend [...]

Throughout my time as a Christian, I have heard and learned so many different revelations from teachers, preachers and reading the Word for myself. I praise God for all that we have available to us as Christians to ignite our journey with Jesus.
I want to briefly touch on the old and new covenant in the life of Christians. Let’s start with a well-known scripture for most of us:
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24
Stay with me…this is not a devotional about money. This is about replacing the old with the new. This is about us as Christians trying to serve two entirely different masters. Notice in Matthew, God’s Word, it says, “NO ONE CAN [...]

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ANYONE SAY:
My devotional life is non-existent. Accountability is a joke. My house is in an uproar, and my marriage feels more like sharing a cell with another prisoner than a cherished and loving partnership. Being at home is so hard and depressing . . . I’d rather be at the deer lease (man) or the mall (woman). The last time I really felt passionate about life was when my son caught a fly ball in his T-ball game.
Where is the joy, peace, patience, gentleness and self-control I am supposed to have? If I have the Holy Spirit inside of me, where is His fruit? I feel so dry and lifeless. In a word, my life is like a desert.
But when Sunday rolls around, things have to look different. We have survived the week, and it is time for church. Somehow, I miraculously manage to get [...]

Why does the thought of living transparently before God and others terrify us? Why does it make us squirm in our seats when others share their deep pain and failure?
We long to be known, and we fear it like nothing else. Most people live with subtle dread that one day they will be discovered for who they really are, and the world will be appalled.
For most of us, the greatest risk we will ever take is opening our hearts to another human being. The thought of pouring out our innermost failures, dreams and hopes brings on a flood of emotions, primarily fear. Most married couples that we meet have very little conversation, if any, with their spouses about their fears, hurts, dreams and struggles. When we expose what has been hidden, there is an unknown factor of how others (including God) will respond.
Unfortunately, most of us have [...]

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are quickly changing the way people stay connected to other people. The ability to write something once and have it read by literally hundreds or even thousands of people (by those of you who are extremely friendly) is amazing. Social Media is growing and exponentially expanding the potential contact we can have with other people all over the planet. While the social networks are technologically advancing connectivity and communication, my personal technological advance of choice is…caller ID.
You know, the name and number of whomever is on the other end of the call pops up on your cell or home phone, so that you can decide if you actually WANT to talk to them or not. Don’t sit there all smug and innocent! You know the drill: your phone rings, you look at the screen, then decide if you want to talk to someone [...]