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On the Edge of Spring

March 22, 2014
| 19 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

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It’s already but not yet.

We’ve been given the date and the declaration but we have not really experienced it quite fully yet…at least not in Missouri.  Yes…we’ve had days…but they have been too short.  Just today we had 75-80 degree weather.  But the wind is howling outside my window right now as I write and I think it will be below freezing tonight.

If my surroundings could be closely compared to a wasteland at all during the year, now would be the time.  This is the point in…

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As Easy and As Hard as Remembering the Gospel

March 15, 2014
| 21 Comments
| Categories: Grace

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We have so many choices each day.  Some are simple: Do I want salad or a PBJ for lunch? Other decisions sound simple but are really much more complex.

For instance…

The decision to rest in the gospel…or resist it.  To move from wasteland to graceland thinking and living.

The decision we make there determines whether we live like a child of God or like an orphan.

How many times a day do you encounter this decision?

For me, I’m convinced I’m making a decision either way multiple times each hour of the day.

In Craving Grace, Ruthie Delk…

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Craving Grace

March 1, 2014
| 1 Comment
| Categories: Grace

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My husband and I are attending the Fuel 2014 conference put on by Man in the Mirror.  I just returned from a session with Ruthie Delk as the speaker.  I have little time to write this week but want to share a few thoughts from this today…

Ruthie gives a tremendously helpful illustration about Repentance and Restoration in her book.  I hope to share more of it here in the future.

Here are some thoughts and questions based on Ruthie Delk’s Craving Grace session and book that I’m chewing on this morning and…

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Winter Provision

February 14, 2014
| 9 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

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We slathered the used milk cartons with crunchy peanut butter.  Hands covered with nuts and cream. Pudgy cheeks smeared with the stuff.  Chunks of it on the table and chairs.  Lips smacked with “extras”.

I didn’t remember it being that messy when I watched my daughter’s preschool class do it.  The making of bird feeders.

It got worse.  Then we covered them with bird seed. I knew the best way but my children had their own style.  The seeds rolled and found their way to cracks in between sections of the…

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Big Resolutions Vs. Little moments

January 1, 2014
| 6 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

Happy New Year!  I appreciate you, the reader, and how so many of you encouraged me throughout 2013.

So do you have big resolutions that you’re sharing with friends and family today?

Perhaps it is a quiet thought about change that you are storing up in your heart.

I’d like to encourage you today…

In his article, Trading One Dramatic Resolution for 10,000 Little Ones at Desiring God, Paul Tripp says this:

“Is change important? Yes, it is for all of us in some way. Is commitment essential? Of course! There is a way in which all…

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Beyond the Nativity: The Importance and Rewards

December 17, 2013
| 16 Comments
| Categories: Jesus

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I love the above art. It shows the angel looking intently at the Christ child.  It is as if He is exalted even as a baby as the angel below Him looks up.  If we exalt Christ, we elevate Him to a high rank or position in our lives–our heart, mind and spirit.

Are you allowing Christ the King to reign there right now…just a week before Christmas?

Or do you sense other stuff vying for that place of position in your life right now?

I am overwhelmed at the thought of all…

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Beyond the Nativity: The Manifestation

December 11, 2013
| 18 Comments
| Categories: Jesus

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When God took on flesh, people saw, touched and heard Him.  This taking on flesh played out in many ways.

Will you, this week, look deeply with me into some of the ways?

His Birth and Taking On Our Nature

His Hunger, Thirst, Weariness and Sleep

His Submission, Obedience, Menial Acts, and Serving

His Suffering and Death

His Burial and Resurrection

Here is the first devotion for this week.  Download the entire 4 week devotional, Beyond the Nativity, below for free:

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Day 1: The Manifestation:…

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Beyond the Nativity: The Purpose

December 4, 2013
| 12 Comments
| Categories: Jesus

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Will you, this week, wrap your mind and heart around the purpose of Jesus coming?

The Purpose…

If you’re a follower of Christ, then the purpose may be obvious to you already.  You’ve known for quite some time.  On one hand…just knowing He came to save His people should cause us to delight in worshiping Him this season.  But…could it be thought about and appreciated in a much deeper way by exploring many of the purposes stated in scripture?

To Reveal the Father and to do His Will

To Fulfill Prophecy

To Die for Sins and…

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Beyond the Nativity: Becoming Flesh

November 27, 2013
| 14 Comments
| Categories: Jesus

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Each week leading up to Christmas…

I will be posting one devotional from the four week Christmas devotional I wrote last year.

Click here for the link to a free pdf download of the entire book:

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Will you join me in making Christ the center of this Christmas?  This is a tool to help you do that…

Each week’s focus is a bit different:

Week 1: The Description

Week 2: The Purpose

Week 3: The Manifestation

Week 4: The…

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You’re Walking on Holy Ground

November 22, 2013
| 18 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

I don’t know the exact date we started but it was years ago now.

Calling each other on a Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM.   Talking each other up to look toward the Lord and the eternal each week.  Sometimes talking each other down off the cliff we feel like we’re standing at the edge of.

Most early Tuesday mornings hold priceless moments of wrestling with God for our families and life circumstances together with my friend, Suzanne.  These moments often feel holy.  Am I wrong to think that these sweet times together are times in which…

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