Category: Faith

Easter Isn’t … Some thoughts for this year’s Covid-19 Easter celebration

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Easter isn’t about bunnies and baskets and eggs.

Easter isn’t about marshmallow chicks and jelly beans and chocolate candies.

Easter isn’t about floral dresses and white hats and black patent leather shoes.

Easter isn’t about freshly baked ham, and cheesy potato casserole and jello salad.

Easter isn’t about seeing our grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins and babies.

Easter is about celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

Easter is about giving thanks for His sacrifice on our behalf.

Easter is about reflecting on the new life offered to us through Jesus’s power over death.

Easter is about reminding ourselves that our days are numbered and that God holds every one in His hand.

This year, Easter is going to look different than Easters past, but maybe that’s good.

We might not gather together for egg hunts, but we can gather together in our hearts to celebrate the resurrection power that is STILL available today through faith in Jesus Christ.

No power of hell or scheme of man, certainly no virus here on earth, can have victory over the One True Almighty God.

Thirsty?

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

This morning I picked these pretty yellow flowers and put them in this little vase. Within a few hours, they had drank up every drop of the water and wilted. I refilled the vase and within an hour they had perked right back up again.

It got me to thinking about how quickly I can feel wilted … and how I easily I can be refreshed when I take the time to go to the fountain of living water.

In John 4, we read the story of a Samaritan woman meeting Jesus at a well. Jesus invites her to drink of the living water that He can give her, promising that she will never be thirsty again. Does this mean that the woman will never need to drink water again? No, I’m quite sure that’s not the case.

But, does Jesus mean that this woman will never need to pray or read the scriptures or fellowship with other believers again, if she drinks of the spring of living water that He is offering to her? No, it doesn’t mean that either. This spring of living water is the spring of eternal life, but she would still need, the daily living water that is offered to us through communion with God.

Let me share with you SEVEN ways I’ve found to refresh my soul when I am feeling wilted

  1. Read the Bible – I know, I know … Duh … But, seriously, friends, get out your Bible and read it. Take five minutes or ten or sixty. Read a Psalm. Read John. Read 1 Timothy or 1 Peter or 1 Thessalonians. Read it.
  2. Write out a verse – Pick a verse that you just read, or a verse you saw on your coffee mug this morning, or a verse that God stuck in your head out of nowhere, or a verse that you saw on Facebook, and write it down. Write it with a dry erase marker on your window or patio door or mirror. Write it in fancy script on a note card and mail it to someone. Write it down on the back of an envelope. Write it.
  3. Sing a worship song – I have an ongoing playlist on my YouTube channel called “Worship Songs” where I add worship songs that I love. (I’ve got over 150 there at the moment.) I can just click “shuffle” and I’m drawn into the throne room of God. Or I pop open “Pandora” to the Shane & Shane Hymns channel. Or I just start singing whatever song is in my head that moment. Sing it.
  4. Pray from the heart – God is always ready to hear us, whether we’re praying aloud or silently in the secret place of our hearts. You can pour out whatever is going on. Praise Him for who He is in the midst of a trial; Thank Him for His blessings past, present and future; Confess to Him all those ways you mess up, no matter how big or small; Ask Him for whatever you need. Pray it.
  5. Get outside – As Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” There’s something incredible about getting outside – even if it’s cold, even if it’s hot, even if it’s snowy or rainy or sunny. Grab a chair outside on your deck or balcony or porch or whatever you’ve got right now. Or take a walk if the street’s empty. Outside it.
  6. Connect with someone else – I like being alone, but there’s something really special about letting someone else in when I’m down. Call or text your husband or a sister in Christ. Let someone else know you’re struggling and ask them to pray for you. Don’t let this time of “social distancing” keep you from your family in Christ. Connect it.
  7. Journal – I don’t do this as often as I wish, but sometimes writing down how I’m feeling, or even voice-texting a note, really helps give me a new perspective. Sometimes I can hear God’s still, small voice in my heart as I put my thoughts down, plus it’s such a blessing to look back on things I’ve written down months or years ago and see how God has been working. Journal it.

Just one final thought, sometimes we get so used to feeling thirsty and run-down, that we don’t even notice anymore. We’re wilted and we don’t even know it. If it’s been more than 24 hours since you prayed or read the Bible, trust me here, you need a drink. He’s ready right now.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. How do you reconnect with God when you’re feeling wilted?

God is a Good Father

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A few thoughts for our world while we’re quarantined!

Our Heavenly Father is so good. Sometimes He takes away those things that we’ve made idols. We may not be making idols with our hands, but we’re making them with our hearts. God is good and He is on His throne!

You are my Sunshine

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Today, April 4th, 2020, my oldest daughter, My Sunshine Girl, had planned to be married. God had other plans. She and her Sunshine Guy got married a couple weeks early and I couldn’t be happier for them.

But … I tell you what, I miss her like crazy. “Social distancing” is nothing compared to “daughter distancing!”

Emily and I grew up together. When she was born, I was a baby Christian. I didn’t know Christian nursery songs, so I sang, “You are my Sunshine,” to her night after night as I rocked her to sleep. She has brought light and sunshine into my life like no other.

And now that she’s living in another state in the midst of COVID-19 lock-down, I feel like a part of me is missing (and it is), but that little girl was never meant to be the source of my joy or the light of my life. Jesus was.

Look at these references to light in the Psalms:

  • For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. (Psa 18:28 ESV)
  • The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psa 27:1 ESV)
  • For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. (Psa 36:9 ESV)
  • Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psa 119:105 ESV)

In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jhn 8:12 ESV)  In Heaven, there will be “no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Rev 21:23 ESV)

Would you join me in praying right now?

Father, Help me to be grateful for the good gifts that You have given to me. I pray that I would be a spotlight, pointing people’s attention to You and not to me. I pray that my little light would shine like a city on a hill with nothing hindering it. I pray that you would use each of us as candles shining in a dark world that people would see something different in us, that we would live daily as children of light. I pray your blessings on our children, that they would shine for your glory and that we as parents would not make idols of these precious gifts, but that they would be straight arrows for Your kingdom rather than our own. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

Complete Joy

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In 1 John 1, Jesus’s beloved apostle shares about his eyewitness experience with Jesus. John is bursting with excitement about having seen, heard and touched the Messiah, the Word made flesh.

John wants others to know Jesus, so they, too, can enjoy fellowship with our eternal God the Father. This is what John says he needs to fill up, to complete, his joy. (See 1 John 1:1-4)

John wants others to know the joy of Jesus. John is not content to just enjoy Jesus for himself. John’s joy is somehow incomplete if others don’t share in his joy.

In 3 John 1:4, John reiterates this idea, writing, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” John’s greatest joy is hearing that those he has shared Jesus with are continuing in the faith.

All too often we as Christians are content to keep Jesus to ourselves, content to hide God’s Word and our personal testimonies in our own hearts, while all around us are people devoid of hope, peace and joy.

In honor of the fifth anniversary of the “Memphis Exalts Jesus” worship celebration, the Kindle version of my book “God is Real: The Eyewitness Testimony of a Former Atheist” is on sale for $0.99 this weekend April 4-6 at Amazon. I hope you get a copy for yourself, and share a copy with a friend. Be encouraged and equipped to share your own testimony of the joy available through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

As A Receiver of Mercy

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Like Paul, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Timothy 1:12-17 ESV

Of Building Up and Tearing Down

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I’m 33 days into my second “40-day Sugar Fast.” Wendy Speake’s book is really encouraging me to see fasting as a spiritual discipline focused on Jesus, rather than merely a dieting mentality.

Over the past 73 days, I am beginning to recognize the stronghold that sugar has been in my life. I’m trying to tear down that wall, to free myself of its grip.

But there are other walls that God has given to us for our good, for our protection.

According to Speake, “Our job is to yield to the good structures that the Lord has protectively placed around us, as we continually invite Him to bring down the strongholds that have held us back…. So often, we tear down the WRONG WALLS….” (pg. 172-73)

Am I building up or tearing down others with my words and actions? (Ephesians 4:29)

Am I building hedges for protection or am I building strongholds for sin?

Am I building my house or tearing it down?

Another word for ME today.

– TWIG

“Fighting Words” | Ellie Holcomb

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“I will fight the lies with the truth. Keep my eyes fixed on You. I will sing the truth into the dark. I will use my fighting words.” -Ellie Holcomb, “Fighting Words”

Right now when everything around us is focused on the hopelessness of life, I pray that we would fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. When fear threatens to overcome you, fight back with the TRUTH. Remind yourself of what you know.

God is still on His throne.

He is good. Always.

He is worthy to be trusted.

He is for us.

He has demonstrated His great love for us in sending His Son to die the death that we deserved, and He has triumphed over death, raising from the dead and ascending into heaven.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13 ESV

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Ephesians 6:10‭-‬20 ESV

Continue reading ““Fighting Words” | Ellie Holcomb” →

Pay back time

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We are told that we deserve death because of our sin. (Romans 6:23) Aren’t you thankful that Jesus took your place?

Now we can love others because He loved us first. (1 John 4:19)

We can love others even when they hurt us. We can completely trust God, the only Righteous judge, the only one who is perfectly wise, perfectly good, and perfectly powerful.

A word for me today.

– TWIG

Where does your help come from?

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I used to think that faith in God was nothing more than a crutch for weak people.

Now I realize that we all need help, and we’re all looking for help somewhere.

Are we looking for help from our parents, our government, or our own strength?

What kind of idols are we pursuing?

Where are we looking in our time of need? Sugar? Social media? Stuff?

Let’s worship the Lord together, the only one WORTHY, the Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Sovereign Ruler over the affairs of men. HE is my helper, what can man do to me?