As a parent, it's so easy to get distracted by shiny and enticing life goals that look important, but are really only temporary. In most healthy parents, there is a great desire to help their children to experience the best life they can have. We see our children's strengths and weaknesses and try to point …
21 Days of Fasting and Prayer for Our Children and Grandchildren – Day 18 Wisdom and Revelation
For those who know me, you will be very familiar with today's passage. It's from Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. Even though I wrote a bible study on the book of Ephesians, with an emphasis on praying Paul's prayer for wisdom and revelation, I need this reminder today. It's easy to get busy trying to …
21 Days of Fasting and Prayer for Our Children and Grandchildren – Day 16 Rebuilding Ancient Walls
In many of my blog posts, I have covered the topics of breaking curses and ending sinful legacies. Today, we will focus on rebuilding ancient walls of spiritual protection. In order to kill, steal and destroy, the enemy has to tear down our spiritual defenses. When I was in high school, my atheist friend did …
21 Days of Fasting and Prayer for Our Children and Grandchildren – Day 9 The Persistent Widow
In Biblical Christianity we value the nuclear family - father, mother, and children all in the roles that God lays out for each person. The husband should love his wife as Christ loved the Church and laid his life down for her. The wife should respect her husband. The children obey and honor their father …
21 Days of Fasting and Prayer for Our Children and Grandchildren – Day 7 Shout! For the Lord has Given You the City!
Mighty fortresses seem impenetrable. Everyone who traveled past the city of Jericho could see how tightly shut up the city was. Jericho was the fortress of safety for Canaan. All of the surrounding towns would have come into Jericho for protection against the massive ranks of Israel's soldiers amassing on the border. The children of …
21 Days of Fasting and Prayer for Children and Grandchildren – Day 6 Walking on Water
When asking God for miracles, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Why is it important to remember this? Because, we generally only need miracles when we are in an epic life-storm. In a storm, the sky is dark, the wind is howling, lightening is flashing, and waves are crashing. In other words, …
The Encouragers
Some people in the body of Christ have a special gift to encourage. The first encourager listed in scripture was Barnabas. “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”Acts 4:36-37 Barnabas …
Is This How We Pray for Others?
I am in the middle of writing a bible study on Colossians. I have been studying Paul's prayer for the Colossians. The first sentence of his prayer says it all — “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you...." Okay. So, Paul first hears about the …
Give Me Self-discipline, Lord!
A well quoted verse is 2 Timothy 1:7. The well known part of the verse is this: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear!" I have quoted this to myself and others for years — even decades. But, today it came to me with fresh eyes and revelation. Let's look at the …
Judge Not? What Did Jesus Mean?
No one likes that feeling of being judged. It feels terrible to know that someone doesn't like you based on a decision or even just based on hearsay and gossip. Just not wanting to be judged is enough to make me not want to make anyone else feel that way! But, what did Jesus actually mean by judge not, lest you be judged? Well, as with anything we hear anyone say, we need to take it within the context of what he was saying at the time, as well as with what he taught consistently throughout his ministry. We also need to read it in the context of the full counsel of the Word of God.
