JULY 30th…OLD IS GONE!! NEW BEGINNING!! I visited the place where I was born and raised a while back. The house was beginning to deteriorate and the roof was falling in. It was not much to look at and the place was beyond repair. I passed by again a couple days ago and the new […]

Telemarketer and robo calls have changed the way I answer my phone. If it is an out of area code and I don’t recognize the number, I usually don’t answer my call. However, one of the most frustrating things we deal with each day is when we call people and they do not answer our […]

Yesterday’s devotion raised a question. Why does it take so long to grow up? We all have met people who we think needs to grow up because they are acting much younger than their age should act. A plant takes several weeks growing before it begins to produce fruit. Why does it take so long […]

How many of the things you do without a second thought did you have to learn to perform? More than you think, I promise you. Things like walking, sports, relationships, and the list could go on and on. How did we become good at what we do? We practiced! Not everyone learns at the same […]

Many people struggle with rehab and recovery as much as they do the event that has happened in their lives. Recovery and rehab are such a vital part of the process that it can not be overlooked or taken lightly. The same is true with your spiritual life. God is a God of recovery. In […]

Being set in our ways is a fault that almost everyone has to deal with. I was reminded this past week of a phrase that my father repeated many times the last few days of his life. The phrase was, “somebody’s got to make a move or we are going to be here all day.” […]

It’s amazing how many people I meet in life who live a life of insecurity. They don’t trust others, refuse to enter into close relationships, don’t want people to find out who they really are, and lose out in living life to the fullest. Insecurity is caused by many different things and I don’t pretend […]

How many people do you know that enjoy talking about themselves all the time. Their conversation is always about their own lives and the things they have done. It’s hard to have healthy relationships when it is all about you. Selfish pride destroys relationships and it shows up in a lot of different ways. Pride […]

One of the earliest actions we learn is to be selfish. We are naturally born to think about ourselves first. The idea and action of putting others ahead of ourselves is a learned trait and we all need help in learning it. When we begin to think of others first, our relationships with those people […]

How many times have you started something only to give up the effort in a short time? I have started losing weight so many times and did well in doing so, but my dedication soon faltered and the effort was void. Your commitments shape your life more than anything else. Your commitments can develop you, […]

In the words of a childhood song we often sang, it said, “Be careful little ears what you hear, be careful little eyes what you see, and be careful little mouth what you say.” I haven’t thought of that childhood song in many years before this morning, but it is still important what we allow […]

I remember as children how we were always wishing our lives away. We couldn’t wait to get 10, then 16, 18, 21 etc. We were not satisfied to be where we were in life, we wanted to get older and more mature. God wants us to make those same decisions in growing in Christ. (Ephesians […]

While drinking coffee this past week with some friends, we were discussing the death of one of our acquaintances. The statement was made, “There is not that many things that are important in life are there?” I have rehearsed that statement several times this week and it is so true. There are not that many […]

Satan uses many tactics when he attacks you and me. It is good to know that there is not an attack that God has not provided us a shield of faith to defend ourselves. One of Satan’s specialties is having us think critical thoughts about one another. It’s always easy to see something that others […]

I enjoy watching people during church services. You can see a lot in the faces of the congregation as you stand in front of them. There are people who seem to be on the edge of their seats waiting to hear every word you speak, and there are people who sit back like they have […]

The society we live in teaches us to judge people by the job they perform each day. Not many of us like the scale by which God judges the jobs people do. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him which of them was the greatest, He replied that whoever wished to be great had to be a […]

I read the story of a missionary who hired a pilot to fly him to a new place of ministry in South America. The longtime pilot has an older airplane that didn’t look the best and the missionary was a little uncomfortable about the flight. He kept thinking the plane was going to crash in […]

Confident people are hard to defeat. Nothing seems to distract them or keep them from reaching their desired goal. As God heals our soul, one thing we notice is that we become stronger and more confident. With every step of healing He leads us through, we see that He is faithful and trustworthy, and this […]

I can’t imagine living life in a position of having no hope. Even people with terminal illness can still have hope of eternal life, so living with no hope means living life with no peace, joy, or happiness. In fact, I would define hope as “the happy anticipation of good things.” You can hope for […]

I love the distinct smell of things that are new. A new car, new clothes, new house, fresh mown grass, etc. When something is new, you know it immediately. There is a difference. The same is true when we give our lives to Christ. We become “NEW.” (2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in […]

One of my favorite questions to ask people when I meet them is “How is it going?” The answers I receive vary from it is going well, to you don’t want to know. A lot of people are not happy unless every day they live is like Christmas, birthday celebration, or a holiday from work. […]

How many times have you had someone say to you that you were just like your parents? Or have often has someone said that your children were just like you? Being like, or acting like someone, means that person has spent a lot of quality time with that influence in their lives. They may have […]

Have you ever walked into a store before with something to exchange? Maybe it was an article of clothing that you decided you didn’t like, a pair of shoes that were uncomfortable, or a gadget that didn’t do what you’d expected. You entered the store with something that didn’t work for you, exchanged it, and […]

Life is full of trouble. Some things happen to us and we have no control over them. Some of life troubles we bring on ourselves by our decisions and actions. Our ability to work through life’s troubles determines whether or not we are able to reach our full potential in this life. I fully believe […]

Do you understand how Satan works to bring down believers? Although we may think of his attacks as external, the real battleground is in the realm of ideas. If he can get a church to believe erroneous doctrines, unbiblical philosophies, and false assumptions about God, he can lead it away from the truth. And the […]