“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mt. 11:28-30   “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And…

   “ “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”” Luke 6:46     Jesus Christ is Lord whether we acknowledge Him or not, whether we believe in Him or not, whether we call Him Lord or not, or whether we live our lives as though He is Lord or not. He is Lord of all regardless of what we think, feel, say, or do. But for those of us who call Jesus Christ Lord, we need to take an honest and careful look at our hearts and lives. Not just in the big picture, at our hearts and lives as a whole, but in the smaller picture, in how we live our lives day by day, and even moment by moment. An…

“Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”” 1 Samuel 3:10 Why do our telephone voice mil systems answer phone calls for us and take messages we can hear later – if we want? We’re not home, unavailable, too busy, sleeping, don’t hear the phone ring because we’re in the other room, or because the tv or radio are too loud, we’re caught up with “higher priorities”, we feel we have better things to do, are screening calls and choosing not to answer the phone when we don’t want to have a conversation with the person calling, because we’re not interested in the person, we don’t want to hear what the person has to say, we’re…

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1-3 We have all been hurt, and we have all hurt others. We are born into sin, all fall short of God’s glory, and even those who have repented and placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and become His devoted followers, experience being hurt and hurting others. We assuredly need to love and forgive those who hurt us, and we also need love, comfort, hope, and healing – especially when the hurts are big. We can run to a zillion people, places, and things for help and healing, but no one and nothing gives us the…

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:14 When a beautiful sister in the Lord surprised me with a wonderful blessing by telling me she would take a big responsibility off my shoulders for a few days, freeing me up for much needed rest and whatever else the Lord might lead me to do, I wasn’t just thrilled. I wasn’t just thankful. I started running. Running the wrong way. See, instead of running to God because I now live for Christ, I started running in the flesh – in my mind racing to figure out what I do with the exceedingly desired free time. Free time I had not had in a long time. I started concocting all sorts of…

  “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,” Revelation 1:5   “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37    “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,” Ephesians 2:4    “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Eph. 5:2    “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,” 2 Thess. 2:16    “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and…

“in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thess. 5:18     Ugh. I had forgotten my sneakers. How could I take one of my rigorous walks with my dog through the park I had just driven 25 minutes to walk in? Walking fast a long distance in hot pink colored Crocs shoes would never work. My only pair of sneakers was in horrible shape, mind you, with the bottom of one sneaker flapping on and off, but still would have worked if I had remembered them. No way would I drive 25 minutes to go get them. I hurried to the local thrift shop and found a too big pair of sneakers for $10. I do my best to save money,…

I never knew someone with a history like mine could be as filled with love, peace, hope, joy, and excitement as I am on a daily basis. My early mornings are a bit like a battlefield. I desperately want to spend time with the Lord in His Word because I love Him more than anything or anyone in the universe, and yet I am desperately excited to begin a new day because besides the Lord God almighty and my ever growing and thriving personal relationship with Him and His amazingly awesomely phenomenal Word there is nothing I love more on this earth than to live to love, worship, and serve Him and to tell the world about Him and to help people to find and follow the Lord Jesus Christ…

   “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3 The devil’s three-fold mission to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10), to keep as many people as possible from giving their lives to Christ for the promise of a forever relationship with God and to make miserable as many Christ followers as possible and to keep them from spreading the Gospel message and helping to build God’s Kingdom of Christ followers, seems to be getting helped along by a powerful what may be a surprise to some weapon. The cell phone. The very piece of technology that was intended to help people communicate with one another has in the hands of the devil become a deceptive, dangerous, and deadly weapon. When this world more than ever is in dire…

   “…God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,…” 1 Tim. 2:3-6    “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” “ John 14:6 This isn’t a spoof. It’s not a joke. It’s not some ploy to grab your attention. It’s not a comedy. It’s no show. It’s true beyond imagination and comes with a dire warning to any and all who can relate. Countless churchgoers worldwide are headed straight for eternal torment forever separated from…

   “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:17-21     “…‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this…

   “When he had greeted them, he [the apostle Paul] told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord…;” Acts 21:19-20 bracketed words added.    “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” 1 Cor. 4:7     “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.” Isaiah 42:8      Ministry isn’t just about pastors behind pulpits and missionaries abroad, etc. It’s about all those serving others in Christ’s name. I have made countless mistakes as I minister to others in Christ’s name, but none greater than these:…

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.” Psalm 27:5 “You need to stop trying to protect yourself,” a brother in the Lord essentially told me long ago. “You need to let God protect you.” I had been trying to protect myself from a loved one who was hurting me terribly and continually, but that was just the beginning. I was filled up with so much hurt from so many people from so many situations over the years that I had unconsciously formed a wall around my heart to protect myself from more hurt. Years later, when I had fully committed my life to Christ, God’s…

   “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Mt. 16:24 NKJV    “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness…” 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV     “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2 Tim. 2:19 NKJV    “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Peter 6:20 NKJV    “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to…

   “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Mt. 7:3-5 NKJV    “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV “When you stand before the Lord and have to give an account of your life, you won’t be giving…

   “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1 NKJV    “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” Romans 1:18-20 KJV “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Revelation…

“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? 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? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes…

   “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” Psalm 37:8 NKJV    “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalm 34:8 KJV     The Bible is packed with verses about TRUST. About where we need to place our trust.  The reality is we all place our trust moment by moment in something or someone, whether it be the Lord, ourselves, others, false gods, false religions, material things, ideas, beliefs, anyone or anything at all. We choose where or in whom or in what to put our trust. We need to consciously and deliberately learn to choose to put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ moment by moment, step by…

 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [FIRST RESPONSE] Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. [SECOND RESPONSE] They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. [THIRD RESPONSE] And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. [FOURTH RESPONSE] But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having…

   “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13    “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to…

   “…Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:8-10    “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking…

   “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Mt. 16:24    “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” Ephesians 5:1-2     “ ” I found myself saying emphatically, vehemently, passionately one time to a dear sister in the Lord as I encouraged her. The words and vehemence were not mine, but were His Spirit’s. Within a day, He reminded me of this. The Lord Jesus Christ who is God almighty in the flesh said anyone who…

“Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.” Psalms 112:1-7 (bold added)     If you’ve been badly hurt, experienced a horrific tragedy, gotten bad news upon bad news,…

The Pastor, Water Glass, & Love Abounding “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 NKJV One of my greatest lessons in love came years ago when my beloved pastor who is now with the Lord while teaching Bible study week after week used to start clearing his throat because he needed water. Though someone usually set his special glass of water on the pulpit before he started, sometimes nobody remembered. I used to quietly get up while he preached, go to the kitchen, fill  his special glass with tap water and ice cubes, head back into the sanctuary, quietly walk down the aisle, and set it down on the pulpit so he could get a few…

   “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:14-15    “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 NKJV / / / / / “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Some of us yearn to be loved so…

   “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 NKJV    “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6    “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Matthew 16:24-25     When the Lord Jesus Christ calls us to follow Him, the word “follow” doesn’t mean merely to walk behind Him as in how we normally think of the word “follow”. The Greek word translated into the word “follow” when…

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46       The purpose of a STOP sign on the road is obvious, isn’t it? STOP, right? This might come as news to some, but it shouldn’t. A STOP sign means one thing. STOP. Not keep going. Not speed up. Not slow down, make sure traffic isn’t coming from the left or right at the intersection while continuing to move forward. It means STOP. “That’s a STOP sign you just ran through,” my former husband told me once. “You didn’t STOP. You just went through it,” he said. “I stopped!” I argued immediately in my own defense. “No, you didn’t,” he corrected me. “You just slowed down.” He wanted me to know I…

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40     A senior lady in low-income senior housing awoke on her bed in the thick of depression to find a great disarray of stuff needing to be  organized. She was a self-professed collector of too much stuff, and her bed was not immune to her habit. Too much buying of stuff. I suppose she figured enough stuff would make her happy, to free her from the  depression, but nothing seemed to…

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27     An elderly widow man wrote me a letter some years ago with a donation after learning of my ministry work. His letter was brief, but included something which for him proved to be life-changing. He asked me to pray for him. I ended up speaking to him by phone and being given the great privilege of helping to point him back to the Lord from whom He had wandered, to the Word of God and a commitment to studying it, and encouraged him to find a local church with sound biblical teaching and to surround himself with male Christ…

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth… As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19     Is the Lord speaking to you in the verses above? He wasn’t just speaking to believers in Him back then. He is speaking to some, if not many, of us now who profess to believe in Christ. Are you included in this warning? This warning is dire. Jesus…