Shhh. Be stilled. Today, we are invited into the portal of faith. With the tiniest granule of belief, our thoughts lift into a realm of hope. Close your eyes and ask unconditional love to reveal Himself to you. What do you see? When the Apostle Paul glimpsed the heavenlies, he noticed our sitting position with Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). Next to Him? Beside …
By: Linda Merriott Recently, I was extremely hurt by several people I consider dear. I have always been able to forgive fairly easily, but this time I did not seem able to forgive truly. This went on for several weeks. I would pray and ask God to help me, getting up every morning to speak my forgiveness aloud. I would …
In the dream, I was a little girl again scrubbing a stain on the linoleum. On hands and knees, I scoured the inky blot as an unseen figure stood over me. Forced at the task until the sickening discoloration disappeared, I kept my head down as my tears mingled with the blackness of the blot. Each time I awoke, I …
We felt our way onto the creaky boat as our eyes deliberately adjusted to the inky blackness of night. Easing quietly onto the wooden slats that would be our seating for the next hour, I could only imagine the mountainous shoreline I’d seen earlier in the day. As darkness quickly swallowed the bank of the Li River, we wondered if our …
Holy Father, How blessed are You, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3). You O Lord made heaven, earth, and everything in-between (Acts 4:24). You created earth as an extension of Your divine Kingdom, creating man in Your Image and setting him in charge of upholding Your rule and reign (Genesis 1:26,28; 2:15). Yet, man loved …
My hands gripped the steering wheel, as the initial shock of the impact subsided. I watched a small crowd of curious bystanders gather on the sidewalk and heard a faint hissing sound from somewhere underneath my car. I was in a foreign country and had just been T-boned. I’d maneuvered down this narrow lane hundreds of times. In …
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them” (Matthew 25:14). Jesus is away on His journey. He has journeyed back into the heavenlies to prepare a place for you and I (John 14:3). He has freed us from sin and made us His …
“He brought us out from there in order to bring us in” (Deuteronomy 6:23). You can remember the day that the Lord called you into His Kingdom. You heard His voice. He stirred your heart and you answered. He revealed your sin and you humbly received His forever forgiveness. In the twinkling of an eye, He “called you …
“Deliver us from evil”. If you are a entertainment buff, you know this to be the name of at least two movies and three books. But if you have ever prayed the model prayer, you will recognize this to be our very last request: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). …
Growing up on the endless, wide spaces of a rural back road, I understood how to sing without knowing a tune, dance without knowing a step, and run without winning a prize. I took for granted the loamy smell of the barnyard floor, the pinkish cast of a dusty salmon sunset and the rugged feel of a jagged horned toad in a …
