I was scheduled for an MRI one Monday morning. The nurse asked me two questions: “Do you have any metal parts inside you?” and, “Are you claustrophobic?” I answered “no” to both questions and confidently entered the room where the big drum of a machine was standing ominously in front of me.
My husband and I were trying to find the right place. The jazz concert had been moved to a different venue on campus, so it wasn’t happening here!
A simple truth received is often the “bringer” of God’s miraculous power in the life of anyone!
I had so much to do that day . . . that week . . . that month . . . that moment! Demands were pressing in on me from everywhere!
I sat down to read and turned on the table lamp beside me. As light spread across the table, I saw a fine white powder coated its surface and even the books resting there.
Have you ever pulled out a Bible verse to use because it fits what you want it to say? Then later, as you studied that passage more in depth, you realized it didn’t fit at all?
Offers for ways to live an abundant life are everywhere. If you just have this or do that, you will be fulfilled. Really?
What makes you feel ashamed? I hate making dumb mistakes, like smarting off without thinking before I speak. In the past, I made many choices that I’m ashamed of. And I still do today if I don’t set my heart on Jesus.
Is speaking God’s truth to strangers easier or harder than speaking to the people you know? If those you are with desire God’s truth, are you bolder in talking about it?
Are you blooming? The day I took this photo, I was sitting outside on the deck having time in the Word and kept looking at this new spring flag on our deck. I loved the vivid colors, but more than that I want to do what this says.
I have learned why my soul blesses the Lord.
David understood this too and says…
Now, after seeing God’s movement in healing, I am inspired to live in a new way.
Purifying. Refining.
These are godly words that sound good and they are good… in the end.
But have you been through it?
I have.
Refining can… hurt.
Recently, I was walking behind a grandmother holding her granddaughter’s toddler- hand.
The hands intertwined were a precious picture… two extreme ages, with the aged lending strength to stabilize the young.
The visual made me realize… aging is not what I expected.
I struggle with needing to feel… needed.
But sometimes this is a way that I make myself feel important.
It is a way of showing what I can do in my own strength… making it about me.
No suspicion of a cancer diagnosis was in my mind that day—it was just a routine checkup. The shock of the radiologist’s brief clinical explanation caused me to sense a surreal atmosphere. I visualized to-do lists and calendar pages flying through the air like paper airplanes landing directly into the wastebasket. Recovery from shock was gradually realized in a few days when a reservoir of inner peace began to flow.
A small rock sits on my kitchen window sill as a reminder of a recent summer day. I attended a prayer gathering on our downtown square.
My heart soars when I watch a certain young man joyfully assist the worship minister rehearse with the choir before entering the sanctuary. His body bends over his crutches, yet he stands as if his posture was perfectly straight. His face reflects the joy and love of Christ with an unguarded smile. His eyes look to Heaven as he sings. Christ’s radiance on his face inspires me every time I see him. This man is famous to Jesus. Jesus is famous to this man.
At the moment of realization that I had left my wallet in a busy interstate highway gas station two hours earlier, my heart began racing while my brain began rehearsing the rapid steps of what to do next. Call the bank card company. Call the credit card company. Call the station where I left it. Tomorrow, go to the driver’s license office to reorder my license.
Have you ever listed the women who have most influenced your life? Luke’s list makes me wonder why Mary, Joanna, Susanna and the many others who served Jesus during his life were notable in first century AD. Surely these women suffered. I’m not sure if I could have endured an exorcism administered over Mary to cast out seven demons. Who would have the stamina to serve and live in the household of Herod?
