To Be Still and Know

There is a new song out by Lauren Daigle called "Trust in You".  The first time I ever heard it, it totally struck a chord deep inside my soul. Now when this song comes on the radio I go into full on worship mode, tears streaming and hands lifted pouring my heart out to God.   The chorus goes  "When you don't move the mountains, I'm needing you to move.  When you don't part the waters I wish I could walk through.  When you don't give the answers as I cry out to you, I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in you."   Click Here To Listen to Full Song   If you have been walking with the Lord for any length of time, I am sure your faith has been tested.  If it hasn't, just wait, it will be!  And I don't say that to scare you because as James 1:2-4 says "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chan

"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."  John 15:13 Since today is Valentines Day and God's been teaching me so much about what love really looks like from His standards I decided to continue with the theme of "Love" for today's post. I read this verse today, as it's the verse of the day in my Bible app, and was reminded of how much God loves that He sent Jesus to literally lay down His life for us.  There is NO greater love than the love God has for us!  Then I started thinking further about this verse.  It's very unlikely that we will ever come to a situation in our lives where we have to choose to die for someone (and for those who have had that situation come up and chose to give their lives, they are an example of true Godlike love) but there are many other ways we can choose to "lay down our lives" for people.  And this is what I want to discuss in today's post. How can we go about la

This blog post will be different than my previous ones and takes a lot of courage on my part to write as it gives those of you reading an inside view of one of my most personal lifelong struggles. I am a firm believer in being genuine with people and while not sharing everything with everyone, still allowing people to see the real parts of me.  The flawed parts, the parts that make me very much human and very much in need of my precious Savior Jesus Christ. People need to see both the triumphs AND the struggles.  This particular struggle runs deep and began during my young elementary school years.  I don't have an exact answer as to why this began when it did.  All I know is it has been a lifelong  battle, something I have to go to my Lord about so very often and now I feel, for some reason unbeknownst to me, that I am supposed to share this here.  Maybe it will help someone reading it know that they are not alone.  Maybe it will be the encouragement someone is desperately needing

Have you ever had the same message or topic come your way multiple times in a short time period?  I have and I love it because I know God's speaking to me directly and wants to teach me something, encourage me, or challenge me to grow.  After hearing this same message in a variety of ways I decided to write about what God's been teaching me and maybe someone else who reads this will also be challenged like I have been.   "But anyone who does not love, does not know God, for God is love."  1 John 4:8 Love.  A little four letter word that holds so much meaning. Most people think that love is something you feel.  While there are many types of love (romantic love, parental love, child love, friendship love, familial love) none of them have to do with feeling a certain way.  A simple definition of love would be to choose to treat someone with respect, kindness and selflessness.  To choose to forgive and treat someone the way you would want to be treated.   Love is

"You must each decide in your heart how much to give.  And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure.  'For God loves a person who gives cheerfully .'  And God will generously provide all you need.  Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others."  2 Corinthians 9:7-8 For years I have struggled with giving simply because we live on a very tight budget.  I would see the bills that needed to be paid and various other needs that I knew were coming up and I would think we just didn't have enough as it was to give anything more.  Let me tell you God is such a patient God!  He convicts us over and over about areas of our lives we need to change and submit fully to Him until we finally surrender our will to His and learn to take a leap of faith, or sometimes just simple baby steps of faith!  God gently lead me to a place of knowing that if I said I trusted Him like I said I did then I needed to trust Him with providi

Do you need more peace in your life?  Do you need more joy?  Do you feel like you never have quite enough of ( fill in the blank )?  Do you ever feel like you, yourself, aren't quite enough?  There is one thing you do need more of and that is contentment .    "Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have." Philippians 4:11 Every day we are inundated with the misconception that we must have the latest and greatest of everything.  The latest iPhone, tablet, smart tv, laptop, upgrades to software, newest style trends, hairstyles, shoes, home decor trend, vehicle, etc and so on.  The list is endless in ways we are told we need to buy more, do more, have more, and be more. I remember one time when I had worked so hard to lose 70 lbs and was feeling really good about myself, I went to my doctor and instead of a really enthusiastic good job, I got "That's good, but you still need to lose 5 more pounds to be within your recomme