Scriptures: Leviticus 19:13 NKJ - “ Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defile by them. I am the Lord Your God.” Jeremiah 10:2 - …”Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.”There are those who practice astrology and are in our midst today-- closer than one would think. What amaze...  Read More

Scripture:  Ephesians 5:18-20a (NASB) - “…but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalm and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord…always giving thanks for all things…”    Hymns that remind us of the unfathomable greatness of God should never be “archived” to the halls of antiquity in our hearts and minds.  Truthfully, as one eminent prea...  Read More

Scripture:  Mal. 3:3a “He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver…”There was a group of women doing a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the wome...  Read More

Scripture: Ephesians 2:4 HCSB - But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us.All of us have witnessed someone doing something that they shouldn’t and not get punished. How about someone stealing something or a classmate cheating on a test? Instead of shaking our fist at God or complaining that it’s not fair that they didn’t get caught, we should be thanking God for H...  Read More

Scripture: I Samuel 16:7b…”For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” My dad reared 8 children;  five girls and three boys. All children were born two to three years apart. My parents had a pretty good handle on the many facets and personalities within those eight children. I was born the fifth child of the family. I considered...  Read More

Scripture:  “Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.”  (Psalm 39:5,  NKJV)Two of my favorite times of the year are New Year’s Day and my birthday, for both seem to shout out, “REstart!”  It is time to leave behind old attitudes, habits, and perspectives that grieve my Lord and Savior.  It’s no easy thin...  Read More

Scriptures: Psalms 18:6 – In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there...  Read More

Scripture:  Psalm 16:8 - I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.Living in Christ, for Christ, takes some staying power.  I am often reminded by the stand made by  the Hebrew boys in Daniel.  They were in a foreign land and refused to bow down to heathen practices.  They were determined not to be seduced by the delicacies of the king’s food or to ...  Read More

Hebrews 12:1-3 -  New International Version (NIV)Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat...  Read More

Scripture:  Matthew 20:28 “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many.”Involve your life in the lives of other people.  Christ and the disciples constantly met the needs of other people. We can stabilize our own hearts during times of difficulty by serving others, and then find that our service has brought us a sense of satisfaction and emoti...  Read More

Scripture: James 1:2-3 NKJV -  My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. How many times has a ‘seasoned saint’ said to you, “Baby, you gone go through stuff sometimes. It won’t always be this ‘a way. But you gone be alright … trials come to make you strong!” On the outside, you put on a fake smile, thank your sister o...  Read More

Scripture: John 1:50 NKJ - “…Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” (Read John 1:43-51)Nathaniel a fisherman by trade, was a bit skeptical of the man Jesus. He did not believe that anything worthwhile could come out of Nazareth. Although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He grew up in Nazareth with His mother and earthly father Jos...  Read More

Scripture:  “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes…It shall not cling to me.”  Psalm 101:3 NKJVJust before bedtime one evening, I allowed a commercial depicting a game saturated with gratuitous violence to be the last object of my focus!  (The commercial preceded the nightly news—the watching of which was another bad idea)!  Though some of us may recall some campaigns about thirty years ago tha...  Read More

Scripture:  I Corinthians 2:12 – Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.When I was growing up, my mother used to read Bible stories to me; and my parents took me and my siblings to church every Sunday.  I thought the Bible was like any other book/novel.  I wondered if what was in the Bible ...  Read More

Scripture:  Luke 8:14 - "The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.Politics seem to be an idea, a place where many flock and whine alike.  Many Christians sound just like the unbelievers.  They want what is best for their pockets; what will m...  Read More

Scripture:   Matthew 6:25-34  - “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which...  Read More

Scripture:  I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”Persevere – No matter how difficult it is or how long it is, God’s timing makes it all worthwhile. Calvin Coolidge said “PRESS ON. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing ...  Read More

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. God has ways of comforting us in every situation we find ourselves in. I mean, think about it – ...  Read More