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Day Three Looking for the Miraculous
Read more: Day Three Looking for the Miraculous1 John 5:5-8 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 6 This is the one who came by water and blood-Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because…
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Prayer and Fasting 2012
Read more: Prayer and Fasting 2012Fasting keeps you sensitive to His Spirit, enabling You to live holy. I am convinced that we will never walk in the perfect will of God until we seek Him through fasting. When you present your body in the manner, you open yourself up to hear from God. You will prove or discover His good…
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Praying & Fasting for 2012
Read more: Praying & Fasting for 2012With the New Year ahead, I find myself anticipating what God has planned. If you were with us here at S.U.M. last January, you may remember that we fasted that first week. I will confess that I did not want to participate. First of all, fasting has never been easy for me. I’m one of…
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A Charlie Brown Christmas For Me
Read more: A Charlie Brown Christmas For MeI grew up waiting each Christmas season for two special TV shows to appear on our old television set. Yes, I grew up in the “Dark Ages”, according to my teenager. There weren’t video recordings nor hundreds of channels with millions of re-runs. You had one chance, once a year. That was it. I anxiously…
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Weekend Devo – ‘Twas the Week Before Christmas
Read more: Weekend Devo – ‘Twas the Week Before ChristmasI'm having an "ahh" moment with a cup of my favorite tea. The warm scent of English blend wafts across my nose and my eyes close in welcome relief. The stress in my shoulders seeps away as I settle into my comfy chair and on the matching ottoman I prop my aching feet. I'm tired but happy.…
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A Christmas Legend??? I Believe
Read more: A Christmas Legend??? I BelieveThis story was written by Rev. Howard C. Schade, pastor of the First Reformed Church in Nyack, New York. By the time the story was anthologized in Alice Gray’s Christmas Stories for the Heart in 1998, Rev. Schade already had passed away in 1989 and could not be contacted to verify the details of the…
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Away in a Manger, Then a Tomb-The Humility of Christ
Read more: Away in a Manger, Then a Tomb-The Humility of Christ“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have…
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Weekend Devo – The Greatest Gift of All
Read more: Weekend Devo – The Greatest Gift of All“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value,…
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Give Yourself THIS Gift This Christmas
Read more: Give Yourself THIS Gift This ChristmasOn Tuesday I was sitting in my office at Church. I love where our Women’s Ministry office is located. We are situated next to the receptionist, near the front door, one doorway away from the break room and at the apex of all foot traffic. Everyone passes by our office and I have candy on…
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He Came Upon a Midnight Clear-For YOU!
Read more: He Came Upon a Midnight Clear-For YOU!My Bible study group completed our study yesterday. We’d walked the past 11 weeks through the story of David with Beth Moore. On this last day she shared a powerful visual of a staff that had once been a vine. The bottom was straight but about half way up, the thick stalk rose upward in…
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Creating Christmas Memories with your Kids on the Cheap
Read more: Creating Christmas Memories with your Kids on the CheapHoliday Traditions Some of you know that I can be a bit wacky. With that said, my adventurous nature is in full gear during the Christmas season. And I AM, ahem, adventurous. And I share my escapades with my daughter. We have built memories that will last forever. One of our favorite things to do at Christmas…
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Don’t Get In a Twist
Read more: Don’t Get In a TwistA visit to my local nail salon is always fascinating. Now, please don’t think poorly of me. This is the one pampering I allow myself. I visit the local Vietnamese nail salon for a pink and white fill. Don’t do the toes, nor the anything else much but this one thing. But I am so…
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Turkey Soup
Read more: Turkey SoupWhen we lived in Memphis, I used to always make turkey soup from the Thanksgiving leftovers. I’d let it sit on the stove all day and cook down to yummy goodness. One of my favorite ingredients was to throw some of the left over stuffing into the soup for seasoning. Yum! A lot of years…
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Effective Spiritual Warfare in an Unequally Yoked Home
Read more: Effective Spiritual Warfare in an Unequally Yoked HomeSo, ummm, yep, nothing like an eight hour car ride to challenge a marriage. Yep, we traveled last week. In the car. With two teenagers, in heavy, holiday traffic in a car that barely seats four. First to visit four colleges in three days then on to northern California with my husband’s family. Finally, a…
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To Pray of Not To Pray. That is The Question for The Unequally Yoked
Read more: To Pray of Not To Pray. That is The Question for The Unequally YokedFootball rages in the family room, the aroma of a roasting Bidzilla satisfies the kitchen, kids play outside, red cheeked and with hands frozen. Ahhhh, Thanksgiving. This is my favorite traditional holiday of food, family and ……stress. Read more at the Internet Cafe Devotions, Marriage Counter.
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Weekend Devo – Who are you?
Read more: Weekend Devo – Who are you?"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a…
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It Is Truly Special – Thanksgiving
Read more: It Is Truly Special – ThanksgivingThe predawn light slips through the window as I sleepily rub my eyes and wait for the coffee to trickle into the pot. The smell rises to fill my head with a smile. I pour in cream and shuffle to the drawer, withdraw my familiar and tattered Bible and the spiral binder below it. All…
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A Change in Perspective
Read more: A Change in PerspectiveI sat in my favorite chair, devotional in hand and Bible open. Tears began streaming down my face. I sat before God, grieving over a hope that felt thin at best. The evening before, my husband and I were on our way out to grab a bite to eat. I thanked him again for the…
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You Thought You Weren’t One
Read more: You Thought You Weren’t OneThe most unexpected thing happened to me yesterday. Seated next to my daughter and her best friend, I opened my Bible to the passage and listened as the pastor began to read Luke 15. While he was reading this familiar passage, powerful emotion rose up from some place deep within me. He arrived at verse…
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Weekend Devo – The Journey from Atheism to Belief
Read more: Weekend Devo – The Journey from Atheism to BeliefThis is a beautiful testimony from one of our readers about her husband's journey from atheism to belief. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Jennifer! I accepted Christ in the 4th grade and grew up in a Baptist church. I have always had a strong relationship with Christ, but my walk blossomed exponentially…
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The Battle with Fear
Read more: The Battle with FearFor I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand ?and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. – Isaiah 41:13 Fear can be an all out, guns blazing affair or a subtle thief that sneaks in and steals our joy. I realized this past weekend that fear…
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Marriage Monday – In-Laws
Read more: Marriage Monday – In-Laws…nearly 60 percent of all marriages suffer from tension with mothers-in-law, normally between the daughter-in-law and her husband's mother. It's Marriage Monday. Our topic: In-Laws I wonder how many of you felt your blood pressure rise at the mere mention of this topic? Well, considering the statistic above, I can bet a number of you…
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Weekend Devo – God is GOOD!
Read more: Weekend Devo – God is GOOD!And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28 Romans 8:28 is my life verse. No other piece of Scripture has spoken as deeply into my heart as this one. Amazingly, I understood the truth of…
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Talking Without Words
Read more: Talking Without WordsPart of a presentation I’m giving on Wednesday has a section about romance and romancing your guy. I love this part because I get to give a group of women some facts and tangible ideas of how to romance their husbands. Some of this lands on communication and its vital role in any relationship. And…