God of the Valleys

Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’” I Kings 20:28 The Arameans were enemies of the Israelites and had just lost a battle with them resulting in a great slaughter. The king of Aram believed that they lost because God was with the Israelites in the mountains but perhaps … Continue reading God of the Valleys

Praise Before Victory

As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 2 Chronicles 20:22 One evening during praise and worship at church, I was praising somewhat more enthusiastically than usual. The day leading up to this had come with two amazing God encounters and I was responding to them. While I was praising, the Holy Spirit spoke these words into my heart: “Praise the same way before a victory as you would after the victory.” That brought conviction along with encouragement. This verse in 2 … Continue reading Praise Before Victory

Only One Thing is Needed

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”  “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and … Continue reading Only One Thing is Needed

Meditating on God’s Word

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success. Joshua 1:8 Today was incredibly rough at work. I moaned and groaned, inwardly of course, but then I decided I needed to change the channel in my mind. I began to meditate on the word of God. Several verses came to mind and I repeated them over and over. I quietly said the … Continue reading Meditating on God’s Word

Blessed is She Who Believed

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” Luke 1:45 Faith, trust, and believing are difficult concepts at time, especially when all we have is someone’s word. This is all Mary had but instead of doubting, she considered the source of the promise to be worthy of trusting. And time proved that His word was true. She received the fulfillment of the promise and we know His name is Jesus. Have you ever been there? Trusting only in God’s word for a promise to be fulfilled and waiting and waiting. I … Continue reading Blessed is She Who Believed

In The Presence of My Enemies

“Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. Psalm 23: 5 I have wondered what good food would do for me in the presence of my enemies. Am I going to pelt my enemies with spaghetti and meatballs?  Do I poke their eyes out with bread sticks? This part of Psalm 23 didn’t really make sense to me and I would ordinarily skim right past. But recently, I saw this verse differently. The table He has prepared is laden with everything I have inherited through Christ – every spiritual blessing, every physical blessing, every weapon I … Continue reading In The Presence of My Enemies

God’s Best Gift

If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? Romans 8:32 Jesus – what do you think of when you hear that name? A good teacher? – a revolutionary? – a prophet? –  a great leader? Maybe what comes to mind is stories from Sunday School – the miracles He performed like feeding 5000 people with a few loaves of bread, or causing the lame to walk or the blind to … Continue reading God’s Best Gift

A New Address

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Colossians 1: 13 When we begin our new life with God through Christ Jesus, we are not only relationally changed, we are positionally changed.  Our old address is the domain of darkness and our new address is the kingdom of His beloved Son.  Things operate differently in this kingdom than they do at our old address.  In this kingdom we are told that the way to life is to die to ourselves, that giving is better than receiving, that miracles are the … Continue reading A New Address

Do What You Can Captain

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. Ephesians 6:13  Message Bible Years ago, we had a family reunion at a beach house on Galveston Island.  My nephew and niece were about 6 years old and they were standing looking out over the Gulf of Mexico … Continue reading Do What You Can Captain

How’s Your Appetite?

 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97 I planned what I thought would be a wonderful summer project for the kids I work with – composting with worms.  My great idea was that they could recycle leftovers from their lunches by feeding it to the worms and by summer’s end they would see the beautiful compost the worms made of it. I made two assumptions that proved to be wrong. 1.     Not all kids like to handle worms.  In fact, out of 25 kids, I could only get two or three to … Continue reading How’s Your Appetite?