A NEW DAY. A NEW MONTH. TICK. TICK. TICK. LIFE IS SHORT. And so am I. And there is absolutely nothingI can do about it. Well... maybe there is. Not about being SHORT. But about HOW I LIVETHIS SHORT LIFE. Because LIFE IS SHORT, I want to EXPERIENCE THE ABUNDANT LIFE that JESUS came to give me. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”(John 10:10). JESUS was born. JESUS lived. JESUS died. JESUS rose. So that those who BELIEVE IN HIM could have LIFE. Not merely a

THE END. FINISHED. Good-bye August. September will greet us tomorrow morning with pumpkins and Christmas trees. But just because the month will change, will you? I hope I do, because I want MORE. I want MORE of what JESUS has for me. I want to LIVE IN THE ABUNDANT LIFE, while LIVING with LESS. I want the IMMEASURABLY MORE. And I might sound selfish, yet it is just the opposite, because MORE OF JESUS is LESS OF ME. "HE must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). The MORE

I remember a day when I was going about my day PRAISING GOD, SEEING HIM in ALL THINGS. And then... IT HAPPENED. Something TRIGGERED a memory, and suddenly it felt as if the sky were falling. Nothing had actually happened in that moment. Nothing around me had changed. But something had changed IN MY MIND. I began remembering what I didn't have and forgetting WHO I DID HAVE. Have you ever been there? One moment, THE JOY OF THE LORD is your strength. THE PEACE OF GOD is transcen

WHAT are you thinking about right now? WHAT is overtaking your mind? It could be what I just asked you... or it could be __________________. Because whatever or whoever~you fix your mind onhas the power to influence how your day beginsandhow your day ends. But what if, just what if your mind and my mind could remain in a state of PERFECT PEACE? A PEACEthat I can't produce&you can't produce, because only GOD can produce PERFECT PEACE. "You will keep in PERFECT PEACEthose whose

My hubby loves puzzles. He likes the mess of them~all those pieces scattered across the table. One by one,he begins putting the mess together,searching until he finds the perfect fit for each piece. Now me? I dislike puzzles. Too much mess.Too many pieces.Too overwhelming. It doesn't feel fun or relaxing to me. My siblings loved puzzles too. As a child, I would sometimes “steal” two puzzle piecesand hide them until the very end. Then, when everyone was searching for those las

ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a woman named RUTH whose husband died and whose father~in~law died. What was the widow to do? Marry another son of her husband's family, as that was the custom. But there were no more sons. So what was the widow to do? FOLLOW her mother-in-law, NAOMI, to Judea. But NAOMI did not want RUTH and her other daughter-in-law to FOLLOW her~ “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your de

Did GOD really say this? “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for MYSELF through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD” (Exodus 14:4). Oh yes. GOD didn't only SAY IT. HE DID IT! But wait. Why would GOD harden Pharaoh's heart? Is GOD a mean GOD? NO. Is GOD trying to create evil? NO. Pharaoh had already hardened his own heart again and again,refusing to LISTEN and LET GOD'S PEOPLE GO. Yet even Pharaoh'

When I PUT ON Anxiety, I will be anxious. When I PUT ON Fear, I will be fearful. When I PUT ON Despair, I will be hopeless. When you PUT ON _____________ what will you be? To PUT ON~ "to make part of one's appearance or behavior" (Webster), to wear like a garment. But When I PUT ON PEACE, I will PUT OFF Anxiety. When I PUT ON FAITH, I will PUT OFF Fear. When I PUT ON HOPE, I will PUT OFF Despair. PUT OFF + PUT ON Now what? PUT INTO PRACTICE~ Pressing forward wearing your new

You only have a SECOND. And this SECOND is going to be your best SECOND. Because in this SECOND you are experiencing THE PEACE THAT TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING. But then the PEACE stops, because you are trying to UNDERSTAND how you could have PEACE in this SECOND because you know that you should not have PEACE because your circumstances are not PEACEFUL. Have you been there? You want PEACE. And GOD fills you with HIS PEACE. But you question whether you really are experien

Once upon a time they were defined not be a name but a label, yet JESUS sees beyond the label. JESUS sees her at the well~ the one whose name is SAMARITAN woman who had 5 husbands and now a plus one. JESUS SEES her & talks to her, not taking a drink of water but giving one to her~ "but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 14:13) HE clothes her with F