Seeds Of Hope Daily Devotional: The Greatest of These
Abraham Lincoln was known for his kindness to everyone. He was often criticized by his associates for being so gracious.
Abraham Lincoln was known for his kindness to everyone. He was often criticized by his associates for being so gracious.
Shame Develops from Feeling Alone and Helpless Matthew 26:50-54 tells us, Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” Jesus tells angry Peter to stop trying to protect what God doesn’t want protected. We see the theme of Hebrews 12:1-3: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
I was teaching at a conference a few months ago, and during a break a woman approached me and said, “I listen to your podcast. You don’t look anything like you sound.” I didn’t know if that was goo…
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. – Romans 12:12Middle and high school life is really a bubble. It’s its own world tucked away from the real world that has little to do with real life.Yes, it is all about preparing teens for adulthood but the...
On my way to meet a friend for a walk, I drove by two storage unit facilities next to each other. I thought it was strange, but I soon discovered there are over 52,000 storage unit facilities in the U.S. Translated, we store a lot of stuff. It caused me to wonder, how does that relate to our grief
God gave us our emotions. He designed us as people with feelings. It’s good to have feelings—so long as we’re not driven by them. Aah, therein lies the problem. We are too often driven by our feeli…
Cathe Laurie shares a devotional from Jeremiah 29:11. It is a verse that can remind us, no matter what, that God is for us.
Learning how to wait on God is hard especially during grief and sorrow. But God will meet us in the waiting after a loss.
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. (Thomas Edison)
By Elizabeth Prata Anger: Mark 3:5, After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand w…
“If only you would have done everything to bring in money, then I wouldn’t be so miserable.” -Cheater Some Cheaters genuinely believe their spouse is responsible for their feelings, especially their happiness or lack thereof. This is a losing proposition for faithful spouses. We cannot succeed in this rigged game. Humans are responsible for their … Continue reading "Cheater-Speak: “If only you would have….”"
"clinging to Hope, you exude it." And that inspires others to do the same. In fact, that is exactly when Hope becomes a small rebellion.
Endings can evoke a variety of emotions. For example, when you finish a good book, a good movie, maybe a bad movie, or when someone’s life ends. Sometimes, April will ask after we finish a movie, “…
You and I can create a home or work environment that inspires us by intentionally assigning meaning to objects that reinforce positive thoughts.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. – Hebrews 12:14-15, NIV I am suspicious of … Continue reading "That old bitter card"
Being a supportive listener is one of the most important roles one friend can offer another. It’s a skill we can all improve with practice. Here's how to start,
Jonah teaches us that if we let our emotions rule our attitudes then we will ruin our lives with sinful actions. "Anger" is close "danger."
NOTE: I apologize for not writing, in the past few days, but I have had work technical issues that tied into my blog technical issues (the Internet in rural Ame
An emotional affair? How can you tell? When does it cross the line? Cheaters are infamous for admitting to an emotional affair before or instead of a physical affair. Because pastors and others are poor at holding them accountable for their own actions, this opens the door for them to blame–essentially–the faithful spouse for such … Continue reading "Emotional Affair? When does it cross the line?"
Resentment brings out the worst in us, causing us to think and behave in ways we’d never admit to. We might sabotage a coworker’s promotion by slandering his or her reputation. Or shame a family member by bringing up an unkind action from the past just to torment him or her. We know they don’t deserve our mean-spirited actions, but we’re so miserable that we want them to suffer too – especially if they’re receiving the praises and “attaboys” we crave.