Category: Uncategorized

Two-minute read.

“If you’re out here counting quarters for every ball you feed, then it’s time to quit.”

I can’t remember which tennis coach said those words during a training session, but I’ve never forgotten them. As coaches, we should teach the game because we love it, not just to make a paycheck. After ten years of coaching, when I started dreading going to the courts, his words made me evaluate my actions. As a result, I stepped back from coaching because I had lost the joy.

God wants the same thing from us. He gives us freedom to live our lives any way we want. He wants us to choose to serve others with joy. Freedom doesn’t give us an excuse to sin. The Lord’s grace doesn’t let us indulge our sinful desires. The freedom we receive from Christ enables us to live differently.

Our good works don’t save us, but the freedom we receive from Christ should change how we live.

We should want to serve others. As we understand the unconditional love God gives us, and the mercy He shows us, it should motivate us to share it with others. My love of tennis motivated me to want others to love the game as much as I do. Once I stepped back from full-time coaching, I missed it. Now, I coach families on a limited basis and have rediscovered the joy of sharing the game.

The same happens when we serve others with love from the freedom we find in Christ. As they develop a relationship with the Savior and their life begins to transform, they become motivated to share their faith. Discovering the freedom Jesus gives us helps us follow Him, deny ourselves, and pick up our cross.

Submitting our lives to Jesus causes a heart transplant. Our desires change as we let go of the past and embrace a new future in Christ—one where we can make different decisions and do different things. Instead of falling to the flesh, we let the Lord’s Spirit guide us. We will no longer live merely to please ourselves, but live with love and serve others.

Don’t serve out of necessity. Let God’s love change your heart, and serve others willingly out of the abundance of love and freedom the Savior gives us.

Journal Questions:

• How are you using your freedom in Christ to honor God rather than satisfy your own desires?
• How can you put someone else’s needs ahead of your own preferences this week?
• What is one practical way you can show Christ’s love by serving someone today?

Application:

Use the freedom Christ has given you to set aside selfish desires and serve others with genuine love, reflecting His heart in your everyday actions.

Two-minute read.

Small choices show character.

I always think back to the first few months of our marriage. On the way home from our honeymoon, we made a budget and merged our finances. For the first time in my adult life, I had to answer to someone about my spending. We gave ourselves personal spending money so we could do whatever we wanted without telling the other person. But it had a limit, which I blew through quickly.

So when I went grocery shopping and the machine asked if I wanted cash back, temptation hit.

“I could get cash back, and he would never know.”

The thought came so quickly, it surprised me. But then another thought ran through my head. A friend who had counseled us to join our bank accounts together told us, “If you have separate accounts, you’ll hide things from each other, and that’s not good for a marriage.”

And so I resisted the temptation and stuck to our agreement.

Although a small thing, if I had started down that slippery slope at the beginning of our marriage, who knows what impact it would have had on us.

God doesn’t measure faithfulness by the size of the task, but by how faithfully we handle what He places in our hands. The Lord cares about the small, everyday choices that shape our character, even when no one else notices.

The grocery clerk had no idea of my internal struggle.

My husband didn’t know either, until I told him.

But God knew. He saw my actions.

We can easily believe faithfulness matters when we do something important or highly visible. Jesus turns that thinking upside down. Faithfulness reveals itself in ordinary moments. Keeping a promise when no one would know you broke it. Speaking honestly when dishonesty might benefit you. Completing a small task with care. Using your time and money wisely. Serving someone without expecting recognition. Following through on something God has placed on your heart.

Small choices seem insignificant, but they shape who we become. God uses ordinary acts of faithfulness to accomplish things we never imagine. The more faithful we become, the more He gives us to manage.

Journal Questions:

• What small responsibility in your life have you been tempted to overlook, and how can you approach it with greater faithfulness?
• When no one is watching or recognizing your efforts, what motivates you to do what is right?
• What has God already placed in your hands—your time, talents, resources, or relationships—that you can steward more faithfully today?

Application:

Practice faithfulness with what God has placed in your hands today, trusting that even your smallest choices matter to Him and shape your character.

Two-minute read.

Living with three dogs comes with a lot of poop. Each day, I do a “poop” pick-up. Often, while doing this unpleasant chore, I think of Paul’s words to the Colossians. Whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.

Which includes picking up poop.

Because we use our home for ministry, I want it always ready for service. I never know when the Lord will send a friend who needs an uplifting chat. Or when a traveler needs a place to rest their head. When we host small group, God blesses us with children who run and play in our yard. Keeping it fresh and clean, without worry of stepping in poop, brings joy to my heart when I hear the children’s laughter.

God uses even the most mundane tasks for His glory.

When we work as unto the Lord, no matter what the task, God uses it. From creating a welcoming environment to excelling at your job, our most ordinary tasks can become acts of worship to our heavenly Father. We don’t define our work by what we accomplish or who notices it; we define it by whom we serve.

Keeping Christ at the center of our lives helps us work for Him. Knowing the Lord sees everything we do can encourage us as we go about our lives. Our attitude towards our responsibilities can reflect our devotion to the Savior.

Not every task will bring us joy. Picking up dog poop ranks among the joyless tasks of my life. But God sees our faithfulness in the little things, even when no one else notices. The Lord blesses us and calls us to take care of them. When we do, it pleases the Savior and draws us closer to Him.

People may overlook your efforts. They may not thank you or appreciate the time you have invested. But your service doesn’t have to depend on human recognition. When you remember you ultimately serve Christ, even a mundane task can take on new meaning.

Ordinary responsibilities can become expressions of God’s love to others when you work as unto Him.

Journal Questions:

• What ordinary responsibility in your life have you been treating as a chore rather than an opportunity to serve the Lord?
• How would your attitude change if you approached today’s tasks as acts of worship rather than seeking recognition from others?
• What is one thing you can do today with greater care, gratitude, or faithfulness because you are doing it for the Lord?

Application:

Approach each responsibility today with a willing heart, remembering that even your smallest tasks can honor God when you do them faithfully for Him.

Two-minute read.

As a crocheter, I love wrapping yarn around my hook and creating something beautiful. My latest project features granny squares in different colors. Once I finish the required squares, I’ll stitch them together to make a vest. Finishing a project brings my heart joy in a way nothing else does, like writing a book and bringing it to life. Creating something out of nothing feels miraculous.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reminds us of what God has already done. With love and care, He created us, stitching us together in a unique pattern no one else possesses. As the Lord brought us to life, He already knew His plans for us. Long before we became a twinkle in our parents’ eyes, God had a purpose for us.

Workmanship comes from the Greek word poiema, the origin of the word poem, meaning something crafted or created with intention. The Lord carefully crafted us. We didn’t come by accident; the Creator’s skilled hands shaped us.

Just as every crochet project develops one stitch at a time, the Lord knit us together in our mother’s womb.

As God’s masterpiece, when we submit our lives to Jesus and seek the Lord’s will, He will reveal our life’s purpose. What He planned for us long ago will come to fruition. We will touch people’s lives in ways we never imagined, encouraging them and helping them on their faith journey.

In a world in an identity crisis, we won’t have one. As followers of Jesus, our identity comes from the Savior. God doesn’t determine our worth by our productivity, accomplishments, appearance, failures, or what others think of us. Our identity comes from the One who made us. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus.

Our Creator has prepared meaningful things for His people to do. We don’t have to manufacture some enormous purpose; sometimes God’s work looks remarkably ordinary. Encouraging a struggling friend. Showing kindness instead of ignoring someone. Forgiving others, sharing your faith, and faithfully doing ordinary responsibilities. Small things lead to a meaningful purpose.

We don’t have to live our lives proving our value. Instead, we can live in the Savior’s truth and the value He places on us.

Journal Questions:

• Where are you tempted to measure your worth by your accomplishments rather than by the truth that you are God’s workmanship?
• What gifts, experiences, or opportunities has God given you that He might want you to use to bless someone else?
• What is one “good thing” God may be inviting you to do today—not to earn His love, but because you already have it?

Application:

Stop measuring your worth by what you accomplish, and ask God to show you the good work He has prepared for you to walk into faithfully today.

Two-minute read.

Has travel ever worn you out?

Having traveled extensively as a flight attendant and later as a manager and Merchandise Coordinator in retail, I have many horrific travel stories. Some stick out more than others. Like the time I spent the night on the airplane in Richmond.

After a long day serving passengers on one flight after another, a mechanical issue grounded us in Richmond. En route to Newport News, an hour-and-a-half drive away, the airline chartered a bus for the passengers, but the crew had to stay behind.

“It won’t take long,” the pilots assured me.

Lying on the seats, trying to sleep, I stayed awake with exhaustion. Originally scheduled to be home in the early evening, I had another flight out in the morning to visit family in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, by the time the mechanics fixed the plane and we landed at our home base, I had an hour to go home, change, and get back to the airport for my next flight.

Writing this now, I can easily recall how exhausted I felt that long-ago day.

Weary travelers find satisfaction when they cry out to the Lord.

The unknown author of Psalm 107 wrote it about people God rescued from desperate circumstances. He described the travelers who became lost in the wilderness. Wandering and directionless, they had no home. Hungry and thirsty, their bodies ached for nourishment.

“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.

Psalm 107:6

When weary wanderers cried out for help, God answered, leading them straight to safety and satisfying their thirst and hunger with good things. The Lord not only satisfied their physical needs, but also their spiritual ones.

Our human souls can feel as weary as our physical bodies, searching for more, hungry and thirsty for a spiritual connection with the Savior. Everyone has a hole in their soul that only the Lord can fill. God doesn’t just feed the soul; He satisfies it and fills our emptiness.

From restlessness to rest, we journey through life’s wilderness, finding satisfaction only when we cry out to Jesus. God doesn’t abandon us on the journey; He satisfies us when we call out to Him.

Journal Questions:

• Where in your life do you feel spiritually hungry, restless, or unsatisfied, and what might God be inviting you to seek from Him?
• When has God met you in a season of feeling lost, empty, or uncertain, and how did He satisfy your soul?
• What temporary source of satisfaction are you tempted to rely on instead of allowing God to fill your deepest longings?

Application:

Cry out to God today when you feel weary and in need of rest.

Two-minute read.

David wrote Psalm 103 to remind himself and us of God’s faithfulness and goodness. Listing the ways the Lord has helped him encourages the king on his journey. Humans forget, and David knew this.

We remember the disappointment but forget the deliverance. Remembering what we lack comes easily, but we forget God’s provision. Difficult seasons stick out in our memories, and we forget how the Lord carried us through them.

David didn’t want to do what we all do, so he tells himself, “Don’t forget what God has done.” And we should tell ourselves the same thing. Forget doesn’t necessarily mean losing the memory; it can mean failing to keep something in mind or failing to live in its light.

Gratitude leads to remembrance.

When David began listing what God had done for him, the list became endless. The Lord forgives our sins. He heals and restores us, redeeming our lives. The Creator crowns us with love and compassion and satisfies us with good things. Divine strength comes from the Savior. David didn’t just remember “God is good”; he listed the specific ways he experienced the Lord’s goodness.

And so should we.

Recently, I began leading a study on The Power of a Praying Wife, something I did early in our marriage. Chapter one challenges the reader to allow God to change you, not your husband. As I reread the pages, over a decade after first reading them, gratitude washed over me. Realization of God’s transformation in my life since I first prayed, “Change me,” overwhelmed me. Like David, I began listing all the ways the Lord had worked in my life in the past fourteen years, and it strengthened my faith.

Blessings do surround us, but we don’t notice them. Unless we take the time to remember God’s goodness, we quickly forget it. Take time today to intentionally remember three specific ways you’ve experienced the Lord’s goodness. Let gratitude shift your focus from what you lack to the faithfulness you’ve already experienced.

Journal Questions:

• What are three specific ways God has been good to you that you don’t want to forget?
• What circumstance or unmet desire is currently distracting you from remembering God’s faithfulness?
• How could intentionally remembering God’s past faithfulness change the way you approach your circumstances today?

Application:

Make a list of God’s blessings in your life.

Two-minute read.

James City Community Church, JC3 for short, celebrated its 30^th anniversary this year. As I looked around the auditorium, filled with people who have taught me, encouraged me, and loved me for the past 25 years, I felt overwhelmed. A month after my sister died, and right after 9/11 happened, I began attending the church, broken and distraught.

For the first time, I began to understand the Great Commandment: to love God and others. Redemption became real to me as I experienced freedom from Christ’s sacrifice. Love became a verb as the church members loved me, despite my unlovable qualities. Growth came as I discovered the spiritual blessings believers have in Jesus, lived out by the community around me.

Paul reminds believers we don’t earn our freedom from sin through good behavior or religious effort. Christ paid the price for our redemption through His blood. Spiritually, we can’t free ourselves from sin’s power and penalty; Jesus paid the price.

God lavishes grace on us from His abundance. He gives to us what we cannot earn, and as we become more like Jesus, we’ll do the same.

Like the people at JC3 did for me.

Their loving, kind actions taught me the importance of faith in Christ and allowing Him to transform our lives. As we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we will respond differently to the world around us. We will want to share what we’ve found in the Lord’s spiritual blessings with others. And as we do, the kingdom will grow.

God planned salvation from the beginning. He wants no one to perish, but all to come into an everlasting relationship with Him. We don’t have to manufacture redemption or earn forgiveness; we must receive the gift the Lord offers.

And when we do, we will want to share it with others.

Like JC3 did and still does with me.

As we lavish in the Lord’s grace, it will spill from us to the world around us. Redemption came from Christ’s love, freely given to all. Instead of defining yourself by past mistakes, remember Jesus’s forgiveness. Then share it with others so that they can receive the same.

Journal Questions:

• What past mistake or failure are you still carrying that God is inviting you to surrender to His forgiveness?
• How does knowing that God’s grace is “lavished” on you change the way you see yourself today?
• Where do you need to stop trying to earn God’s acceptance and receive the redemption and forgiveness He has already provided through Christ?

Application:

When a past mistake comes to mind, replace it with God’s grace and forgiveness and let it go.

Two-minute read.

“How do you do it?” Our neighbor asked.

“Keep it simple,” I said, the first words that came to my mind.

As RVers, we loved weekend getaways, especially when we lived in the city. Every other weekend, we would head out to a country destination where we could build a campfire, gaze at the stars, and enjoy the Lord’s creation. Because we couldn’t park our RV where we lived, Ron would pick it up the night before from storage so we could pack it for the weekend ahead.

When my neighbor asked how we did it, I had arms full of supplies for the trailer. She had noticed our regular weekend travels and wanted to know our secret to getting away so often.

Keeping life simple opens the door for adventure.

Camping reminds us of all the things we don’t need. Believe it or not, you can live without wifi and a constant connection to the global world. The luxuries of home really boil down to a roof over our heads, a place to sleep, and food to eat. You don’t need much money to enjoy the beauty of creation.

On a trip to Maine this summer, we had a young married couple as neighbors. Driving a truck, they pitched a tent, blew up an air mattress, and cooked over the open flames, having the time of their lives. The entire weekend cost them less than $100, but they had star-filled nights, sun-kissed days, and a Savior who never left their side.

When we keep our lives free from the love of money, we find contentment with what we have. Whether a tent with an air mattress or an RV with a bed, both give us what we need: a place to rest our heads. Biblical contentment finds satisfaction in what we have today, and trusts God will provide tomorrow’s needs. Our circumstances don’t determine the Lord’s faithfulness.

In the simplest of terms, our security comes from the Savior.

He provides all our needs.

And He goes where we go.

Circumstances can change. Bank accounts can change. Possessions come and go. People disappoint us, and plans fall apart. But the Lord’s presence never changes. Whatever we face, He faces it with us.

Journal Questions:

• What are you tempted to believe you need to feel content, secure, or satisfied finally?
• How would your perspective change if you truly believed that God’s presence is more valuable than anything you could possess?
• Where do you need to remind yourself today, “God is with me, and He will not leave me”?

Application:

List five things you could do today to simplify your life.

Two-minute read.

Today, people rarely send handwritten notes, a change that began with the rise of cell phones. As children, we sent cards and letters to keep in touch. Nothing brought more excitement than receiving an envelope from the mailman, your name scrawled in pen across the front.

Never one to wait, I would rip open the envelope to read a loved one’s words. Opening James letter may have surprised me. As Jesus’ half-brother and a major leader in the early church, he begins his correspondence by addressing something we all endure: trials.

James wants us to put on divine glasses.

Instead of looking at our trials from a human perspective, he wants us to use God’s lens. When we change our perspective, we’ll stop seeing our suffering and start seeing what the Lord can produce from it. James doesn’t want us to feel joyful in difficult circumstances, but to recognize how our Creator can use the experience for spiritual growth.

James knows we will face trials. Everyone does, and they come in many forms: disappointment, uncertainty, conflict, loss, waiting, financial pressure, relational struggles, or seasons when life doesn’t make sense. Trials come in all kinds of hardships.

We can trust the Lord easily when things go well, but difficulties reveal the areas where we place our trust: in ourselves or the Savior. If we choose God, perseverance develops. Perseverance doesn’t just help us survive; it helps us keep following the Lord when circumstances make it easy to quit.

Trust that God doesn’t waste your trials.

Whatever circumstances you find yourself in today, know the Lord’s developing something in you that He can’t develop any other way. Instead of just getting through the trial, make it your goal to grow in it. Difficult circumstances allow us to trust God, deepen our faith, strengthen our perseverance, and mature spiritually.

Joy comes from the Lord. We can’t manufacture it, but we can discover divine joy by keeping our eyes on Jesus. As we discover His joy amidst our trials, we will also find His strength. The problems don’t disappear, but divine peace settles in, replacing fear and anxiety with confidence in the Savior. Our trials will end one day, but our life with Jesus never does. In Him, we have eternal life.

Journal Questions:

• ·      What trial are you facing right now, and how might God be using it to strengthen your faith?
• ·      Where are you tempted to give up, and what would it look like to let perseverance “finish its work” in you?
• ·      How might your current struggle be developing a quality in you that God wants to use in the future?

Application:

Whatever trial you face today, look for ways God has grown you in it.

Two-minute read.

No matter what circumstances you find yourself in today, you can find something to give thanks for IN it, not for it.

When my husband discovered the bald spot on our trailer tire after our last camping trip, his heart skipped a beat. He took a picture of the exposed steel radial, ready to burst, and showed it to me. We had traveled close to 2000 miles on those treads, and praise God, it didn’t blow. In Ron’s estimation, the tire could have gone at any moment, leaving us stranded.

I’m not thankful for the situation, but I’m very thankful for God’s protection IN it.

We still must get the tire repaired. But changing a tire in our driveway doesn’t carry the stress of changing one on a busy interstate, something we’ve done many times. Now, every trip we make without a tire issue gives me reason to rejoice.

If we look hard enough, we can always find something to thank God for in our circumstances. When I lay in the hospital with a life-threatening blood clot, I thanked the Lord for modern medicine that saved my life. On the day my nephew died, I praised God for my husband who comforted me on that dark day. Receiving a severance package after losing my job of 16 years gave me a reason to praise Jesus.

The Lord doesn’t want us to rejoice over painful experiences, but we can trust He will use our difficult circumstances for His purposes. We can also find something to thank Him for in the situation. At a minimum, we can thank God for His presence in our valleys. Where we go, He goes too.

In our adversities, we can thank God for His mercies.

In our prosperity, we can thank God for His blessing.

In all circumstances, we can thank God for His presence.

The Lord desires a life characterized by joy, prayer, and thanksgiving. Praying continually and rejoicing always work together to keep the Son in our eyes. Leaning into the faithful Savior will lead us to a lifestyle of gratitude.

God remains faithful in every circumstance, and so we can rejoice always.

Journal Questions:

• What circumstance in your life right now is difficult to give thanks for, and what can you thank God for even in the midst of it?
• How might choosing gratitude change the way you see the challenges you are facing today?
• Where have you seen God’s faithfulness in your life, and how can remembering those moments help you trust Him in your present circumstances?

Application:

List three ways you see God’s presence in your current circumstances.