Our Newly Born Power
Good morning... Blinking open his five senses to novel sights, smells, and sounds, the newly born Jesus ...was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice (John 1:10b, MSG). Noticing Immanuel, God's powerful presence with us, does not happen immediately. Often, especially during the hectic of the holidays, we have a hard time seeing the newly born qualities of Christ growing in us. Most of us have [...]
Savor Advent 2019
Good morning... In yesterday's post, A Pleasant Surprise, I shared with you the introduction to our 2019 Advent devotional, With God Weather Life. During this Advent season, we as a community will celebrate together the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and savor each day in between, starting today. In case you have not yet signed up to receive our daily devotionals (which will take the place of our SueToYou blog posts from [...]
A Pleasant Surprise
Good morning... I woke this morning to a pleasant surprise. Blessing my inbox at 3:00 am was the introduction to our With God Weather Life Advent devotional. After I had labored hard to deliver the heavy manuscript, I gifted to the church the baby God had conceived in my soul's womb. Our talented Creative Services department added gorgeous photos, printed devotional books, and pre-programmed our online devotional for interested subscribers. Tomorrow, December 1st, [...]
Our Security Blanket
Good morning... I woke from a brief nap yesterday with an interesting image saturating my mind. I sensed I had been in the presence of Jesus, as if our living LORD had really responded to my early morning prayer, "Steal My Show." Mysteriously it seemed he had actually come from heaven to our home, and I caught him in action like one of our kids once caught the tooth fairy. Then before he could [...]
Steal My Show
Good morning... "No matter who we are and no matter what we do, we all got our own show, we got our own life," explains TobyMac from the stage at the end of his live concert. "We can either take that life and we can make it ours or we can give it to God and ask Him to do something much greater with it than we could ever do on our own. [...]
Invisible Expectations
Good morning... This morning as I spend quality time with God in the little chapel of my soul, I think about the invisible expectations filling each room we enter, especially during the holiday season. The mysterious matrix we quietly step into is made up of unmet wants (our own and others), subtle and not-so-subtle demands, and deeper aching needs often left unnamed. Adding an image to illuminate God's insight, the Spirit sparks in [...]
One Tiny Prayer
Dear LORD... Hold us. Love us. Guide us. You who keeps no record of wrongs, Your voice is always gentle and always kind. We each have a tiny chapel in our hearts where we can meet intimately with You. Anytime. Anywhere. As we move into this season of great joy and expectation, we also may happen upon moments of stress, strife, and sadness. Hold open the door to our tiny sanctuary. Whenever chaos [...]
What I’ve Not Got
Good morning... I love to browse, to meander, to lose track of time lingering. When I have opportune moments to whimsically waste, I like to stroll the aisles of a Goodwill store. There is no telling what second-hand treasures I might happen upon. What fine find caught my attention last week? A crazily covered canvas hosting these black words painted in a child's handwriting: "What I want is what I've not got, and what [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Constantly Connected
Good morning... As I look back on our week of learning, this bonding wisdom draws me like a magnet. "God is always saying to us, 'If you give Me everything, I will give you everything," says my vibrant 93-year-old friend Betty Skinner. "It is a constant coming, a constant offering, a constant struggle to let go in order to move to a deeper communion with God." (Crenshaw and Snapp's The Hidden Life Awakened, [...]
If I Had One Superpower
Good morning... If I had one superpower I think I might choose the ability to control time. Wouldn't it be cool to turn back time, returning to a day we would love to last forever? Wouldn't it awesome to speed up time, fast-forwarding through a dark, hard season to get to our bright future? Wouldn't it be empowering to make things happen right now, getting our way, forcing all of our dreams to [...]
Four Peaceful Words
Good morning... The person with the most nicknames in our family is our youngest son, Jeremiah. Jay. Jerry. Jay-bird. J.J. Jubes. Jerold. Jay-bar-tinkle (not sure where that one came from). Jesus himself had lots of nicknames. Lord. Christ. Master. Son of God. Son of man. The Word made flesh. The list goes on and on, but currently my favorite nickname for Jesus is Immanuel, which means "God is with us." These four simple words offer the [...]
Learn To Uplift
Good morning... Very graciously she said to me, "I don't want to open your blog and hear about negative stuff happening in your community. Cancer. Suicide. Tragedy after tragedy. I have enough hurting people struggling around me. I don't need your painful experiences piling on mine, dragging me down. I read your morning messages hoping to be inspired, to be lifted up, to be given strength for the hard things I am facing." [...]