This is Walter.  We lovingly named him (and every bird that looks like him) when we visited Panama City Beach, Florida.  I watched him for quite a while and was simply fascinated.   He waits up by the water, I assume he is looking for something good to eat.  When the tide comes in, he runsContinue reading "lessons from Walter"

Having some moments this morning of ugly truths.  If I am honest, there are times I get worn of loving those who reject the love I offer. Not just that they don’t love me back, but literally have no interest in receiving love from me. And as I allow myself to wallow there for aContinue reading "Blood on the Floor"

On my mind...fulfilling our own agenda. How we can want something so bad that we cannot see around the corner as to the consequences of our choices. How the enemy can use our own insecurities to make us crazy driven for validation in countless things that truly have no merit of worth. Unforgiveness is fulfillingContinue reading "Our Agenda"

We often wander through this thing called life seeking love. Searching for that perfect love that loves us unconditionally, flaws and all. We long to be loved. It's a pivotal moment in our lives when we realize we really are loved, exactly the way we have been craving...from our Creator, our Savior, our God. HisContinue reading "Loved"

I had the thought this morning how insecurity fosters defensiveness. Quickly, God reminded me of Daniel 3. Nebuchadnezzar was preparing to put Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace because they would not bow down to worship him. They would not compromise their beliefs, they would not cave under threats of persecution even toContinue reading "No Need to Defend Ourselves"

If our love fluctuates with emotion and circumstance it is not true love. True love, agape love, is not a feeling but rather a decision. It is able to be offered because it comes from God Himself within us, His very character. It is loving the unlovable and the unlovely just as He would do.Continue reading "Agape love"

Wondering if we feel the need to justify our sin as opposed to someone else's sin (pleading ours is not as bad or somehow appropriate given a situation) or if we feel the need to gossip or "spread" the word of another's sin....or if we criticize and condemn others who maybe just don't live upContinue reading "The Illusion of Self Righteousness"

Thinking this morning...if we had all had perfect lives-made all the right decisions, never entertained sin, never failed, never been wounded by others, never been deceived by the enemy--we would have no testimony for our Lord and Savior.  We wouldn't have needed Jesus to die for our sins and our lives would bring no gloryContinue reading "Sharing our testimony"

God did not deny what we did to Him. He worked through it. He named it. He expressed his feelings about it. He cried and He was angry...and then He let it go. Nothing is wrong with wanting things to be resolved, but resolve will come only one way--with grace and forgiveness. The wrong canContinue reading "Unshakable"

This provoked me think how God had given Adam and Eve everything, absolute access to everything except one tree. One tree that became Eve's entire focus. She was convinced, with the aiding of the enemy, that ONE THING would make her content, would complete her, would make her "happy", better, somehow more than she alreadyContinue reading "One Thing"