Belonging- I Corinthians 6:20 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” John 10:29 “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Salvation guarantees us a permanent place in the family of God.
Read MoreLadies, we’ve all been there: someone has betrayed your trust or spoken words that cut to the heart. Perhaps it was a friend or family member. It may be a church member with whom you serve. Something went wrong somewhere. It could have begun with a misunderstanding or lack of communication. It could have been rooted in jealousy or contempt.
Read MoreEeyore spends his life looking down and feels like the world is a dismal place. In contrast, Tigger bounces through life seeing all the good and joy around. Eeyore depicts the spirit of one who lives hopeless and Tigger depicts one who is hopeful. As a Christian I have eternal hope because of Christ! By focusing on my Heavenly Father I find the hope I so desperately need to face the storms in my life.
Read MoreBees have a (mostly) good reputation—they work really hard, ensure our veggies and flowers reproduce, and honey bees provide tasty honey. Women are also known for (mostly) being hard workers, ensuring future generations, and we can provide a certain level of sweetness to our homes. However, just like a bee can sting and cause pain, so can we ladies if we do things we shouldn’t.
Read MoreAs I was healing from my fall, I thought of some truths and lessons that events like this can teach us. In our spiritual lives, all of us have fallen more than once, and suffered varying injuries as a result. The key is to heal from the injury in the proper way.
Read MoreBut take heart! God has not forsaken you! He is there with you, and guess what! He is the only thing that never changes! Malachi 3:6 encourages us "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
Read MoreDoes your garden need some weeding? We have this promise in I John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Through the power of our Comforter, the Holy Spirit, we can have the victory that God wants us to have. And then we will honor our Saviour with fruit that reflects His character!
Read MoreI remember the days as a teenager when my friends and I would be dreaming of our someday prince charmings and pinterest weddings. I remember feeling as if my prince would never come. I thought I would never get to do all the fun wedding things. People would always tell me “Katelyn just wait on the Lord”. I remember thinking to myself “Okay once I get married I’ll never have to wait on the Lord again”. I laugh at myself now because boy was I wrong. If we really think about it. We are all in some kind of season of waiting right now. You may be waiting for the Lord to bring you a spouse, waiting to find that perfect home for you and your family, waiting for a ministry opportunity you feel called to, waiting for God to give you children, or waiting for your loved one to be healed from a disease. These are just a few things you could be waiting on. These are all things I have personally had to wait on.
Read More“In circumstances as dark as these... It becomes us as men and Christians to reflect that while every prudent measure should be taken to wart off impending judgements.”
Read MoreIn order for us to grow in Christ; we need to
G- Get
R- Rid
O- Of Old
W-Ways and put into practice new ways!
Read MoreThere is usually more than one reason for why we do things. These reasons can be like building blocks upon each other, but we must not misplace our motive in the wrong building block as the foundation of our decisions. Ultimately, the Bible says our purpose is to bring glory to God, and making decisions in accordance with His Word is how this is accomplished.
Read MoreMy dad is a whistler. There isn’t a day that goes by that you will hear a tune or two while he works. He always seems to have a song in his heart. When my husband and I first started in the ministry, the pastor that we worked under was always humming a song. We often joked, because, even while eating at the table, if he was enjoying his meal, he hummed while he ate! 🥰😂 Again, he always had a song in his heart. I have a best friend that constantly wakes up with a song in her heart. Even before she asks the Lord for it, He has already given it to her! 🤪 She has a song in her heart!!!
Read MoreBut today I challenge us to reflect on Mary. We understand she is not to be worshipped or even “put on a pedestal” as an object of attainment, as if to say, “ I wander if I am highly favored and blessed among women”. We would err to exalt her even to that degree in our minds. However, every person ever created in His image, which is all mankind, can be used as ensamples to each of us weather good or bad.
Read MoreHowever, there are some responsibilities that come with this job. Not to burst your bubble, but a real princess here on earth does not get to lounge around and be pampered all day (though that would be really nice!). Nope, an earthly princess has appointments, school, planned-out schedules, friends that must go through background checks; and above all, they have a reputation to keep. This is a reputation that needs to be protected and clean just like we all have.
Read MoreWomen in the Bible can offer us deep meaning and teach us! These women can teach us so much about-facing brokenness and hopelessness with courage even TODAY! They probably do not show up in VBS songs, or many Sunday School lessons. These women even today can teach us to live courageously, through difficult or even dangerous situations!
Read MorePatience…. My least favorite word of all time. So many “well meaning” people have tried to be an “encouragement” to me over the years by saying things like, “God will bring you just the right man, you just have to be patient” or “God will show you what He wants for your future, you just have to be patient”.
Read MoreThis year the town that I live in started a gleaning program. People could sign up to go and pick the leftover fruit and produce that was still left on the plants in the farmers’ fields. The free program allowed you to pick as much as you wanted and share with family and friends, but you were not allowed to sell what you picked. I had never heard of this kind of program before and I was a little skeptical at first, but when I went with some of my kids and a lady from our church, I was blown away by the bounty we could pick! While speaking to the farmer, he explained that the harvest was so large this year that he did not have the laborers to keep up with it. He decided to donate the rest so the harvest would not go to waste. As he walked away to answer someone else’s questions, I could only stare out at the field. There were 20 gleaners and three strawberry fields; we did not even put a dent into the harvest.
Read MoreHave you ever noticed that sometimes we get so consumed with our own wants and needs? This leads to praying endlessly all day because we want an answer immediately, and then we start to get upset, mad, and bitter when we don’t get a response. It feels like our prayers are hitting the ceiling and bouncing back to us. What happens next is that you’ve become so frustrated about what you are praying for that you begin arguing with the Lord. You want to wrestle with Him so that you can win. Is it wrong to be passionate about your prayer life? No, but there are often times when you try to force your way and even manipulate your answer, and then you live in misery and regret because you had to have what you wanted.
Read MoreI know that this is a familiar verse. But if you really look at this verse you will see that God's being near to us requires and action on our part. We have to first draw nigh to God. This can be done in several ways: Prayer, reading God's Word, being faithful to church, just to name a few. It is easy to let the "stuff of life" get in the way of our walk with the Lord and the devil actually prefers it that way. In this story I am about to share with you is my personal experience of the Lord working and convicting me of my walk with Him.
Read MoreWhen I was younger, I loved the idea of meeting my “prince charming” and falling in LOVE, just like all of the Disney princesses did. I wanted to be somebody’s special ONE, and for them to be mine. Since I have been saved, I would say that I LOVE JESUS. But when I was younger, I would not say that I saw Him as the one to fulfill the longing of my heart. He was more distant / unseen / more like a character in a story.
Read More