Good morning... "God is the constant I AM and we are frail, fickle human beings. So we do not always speak the same language," I continued to wrestle in my journal on June 10, 2004. God said to Moses: "I am the eternal God...whose name is “I AM"... The footnote for this passage, Exodus 3:14 (CEV), reads: “I AM” may mean “I am [...]
Good Morning... In times of crisis, tragedy, and transition, old faith pillars are tested. As I searched for my lost, hurting soul in 2004, I wrote these words on my June 10th journal page. "The core of my faith is this: God wants a relationship with each one of us. As we surrender our lives to Christ, God fills [...]
Good morning... "My dream life ended a year ago today," admits my old journal from 6.10.04. "I have been empty ever since. I've read and said, "The Kingdom of God is within me." I've read and said, "The Holy Spirit lives in my heart." I've read and said, "Faith holds experiential water." But right now I'm leaking all over. Tears drench my pillow. And [...]
Good morning... A friend to many of us, Cathy Smith, wrote this week her final post chronicling the precious life of her daughter Abby who went to heaven at age seven. ****** Dear Faithful Friends and Prayer Warriors: This will be the FINAL POST on Abby’s Care Page site due to the fact that Care Pages is shutting down [...]
Good Morning... One line lingers from yesterday's post: God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life (Psalm 51:10, MSG). Chaos. During times of loss, grief, transition, we know the experience and we hate the word. Her synonyms often grow like unwanted weeds. Disrupted disarray. Uprooted upheaval. Tumultuous turmoil. A muddled mess of maybes. I find [...]
Good morning... When fully experienced, Scripture can be playfully powerful. This morning, we will soak in the wisdom of Psalm 51:12-15 (MSG). While we slowly read aloud each animated analogy, let's pause, pray, and ponder. Tickling our thoughts, stirring our feelings, releasing our imagination, might the Spirit yearn to softly saturate all of our many layers? Soak me in [...]
Good Morning... "I do LOVE this soaking analogy!" a dear friend wrote after yesterday's post, "Soaking. Still." She continued: "I wanted to share this God moment with you, urging me to soak:) Before I read your devotional, I read my Jesus Calling devotional, which led me to this verse: The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in [...]
Good Morning... Many of you loved our recent post "Soak Like a Sponge" and, as I have been resting in the wisdom, I have felt a new facet of truth lift to my awareness. Another definition of "soak" is to extract a stain by immersion in a powerful liquid. To remove a stain by submerging soiled fabric in a cleaning [...]
Good morning... I sat on our back porch, wind chimes clanking loudly, bold breeze tickling trees, leaves dancing freely, every-which-way. As I rested outside after our Carry the Torch luncheon, experientially my wind-blown skin felt the resounding truth: "This is not just a movie, this is a movement." Having shared goosebumps the night before over our favorite movie scene, [...]
Good Morning... This month, our Listening Groups have been soaking the union of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and 1 John 4:16. Mixed together, these Scriptures describe to us God's caring, constant character. God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. He does not dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no records [...]
