Luke 1:31 "And thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus."
If you’re anything like me, you want to know as much as you can about a new experience before moving forward. What's it going to be like at the new job. What the accommodations are like when you go away. Will I get along with the new neighbors? All the unknowns. Questions, questions, questions!
Bright Future Ahead
Proverbs 4:18 - But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. I just heard someone say, "In God, your future is so bright, you have to squint to see it". Don’t you love it!? I instantly thought of today's verse, which has blessed me countless times. That’s why I never have issues with...
Read MoreOh Say Can You See
Psalm 91:2-3 - "I will say...SURELY He will". A lot can go wrong for those singing the National Anthem at a sporting event, but when it's out of your control, the audience may have your back. That was the case for Michelle Madeira, who performed both the American and the Canadian National Anthem prior to a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game a few years ago...
Read MoreNo Sweat
Matthew 11:28-30 (Message Bible) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” I love that, the unforced rhythms of grace. When it comes to exercise, I know that I’ve done an exceptional workout when...
Read MoreWatch the Tram Car Please
Psalm 35:27 "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant." The five most frequently repeated words at the Jersey Shore every summer are not "license and registration please", or "we are all booked up". Instead, it's...
Read MoreGood to Great
Genesis 12:2 - "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous {and} distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]." If you haven't already, you have got to hear this story about Nate Boyer. He describes himself in his earlier years as very average, non-descript, "rudderless", without direction. Then, as a young man just out of high school, while sitting on his couch in his living room, he saw a program on TV about...
Read MoreTeach Me Lord to Wait
Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. " I heard a very interesting fact recently that really changed my perspective about waiting. Ready for this?...on The Golf Channel! The presenter was talking about the recipe for success for winning a golf tournament. They gave many "ingredients", but the one that caught my attention was...
Read MoreThe Perfect Resort
Psalm 71:3 (Amplified Bible) "Be to me a rock of refuge in which to dwell, {and} a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually resort, which You have appointed to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress." Whether you made your summer vacation plans many months ago or several days ago, the anticipation of getting away is like no other. The countdown starts…
Read MoreJust Be-Cause
1 Samuel 17:29 – “And David said, what have I now done? Is there not a cause?” I have an important question for you today. What is you “cause”? The word cause means, a principle, an aim, or a movement that, because of a deep commitment, one is prepared to defend or advocate. Some synonyms of cause are: belief, conviction, object, end, objective, purpose, mission. Matthew Barnett, of the Los Angeles Dream Center, wrote a tremendous book entitled, The Cause Within You, about his journey from serving under his father, Tommy Barnett at Phoenix First Assembly to finding the “cause” within him while on the streets of LA. When he first arrived in California many years ago, he...
Read MoreWhat a View - by Natalie Fortunato
Psalm 61:2 (New King James Version) “From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Several summers ago our family celebrated my sister’s wedding in Ouray, Colorado, professed to be (by its residents) as the “Switzerland of America”. A perfectly fitting name for this picturesque little town...
Read MoreThe Honeymoon is Never Over
Romans 5:8-9: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” For those of you who are married, remember how wonderful your honeymoon was? I hope so! You and your spouse...
Read MoreError Message
Romans 2:4 – “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance”. For so long, Satan has trapped people into a sin consciousness, always thinking about what’s “wrong”, a performance based system of measuring our worth, accusing us of every little thing. That’s a lousy way to live, but so clever on his part. Why? He knows if he can...
Read MoreSuperman
2 Corinthians 5:17 “So then if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” Did you know that the comic book character Superman was born on the planet “Krypton”, then rocketed to earth by his scientist father as an infant, just moments before Krypton’s destruction? The story goes on to say...
Read MoreWhat's In YOUR Attic?
Hebrews 11:15 – “And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.” There are two really cool things that I remember about the house that I grew up in. First...
Read MoreAdding Fuel to the Fire
1 Corinthians 15:56 – “The strength of sin is the law”. Recently in the news was a story of a man that accidentally set fire to three cars while trying to get rid of bed bugs! The New Yorker was hospitalized after dousing the interior of his rental car with...
Read MoreI Don't Own a White Flag
Hebrews 12:3 - "Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds". Did you know that the state of New Jersey has established what is called a "safe surrender" program offering persons wanted by the police for non-violent crimes to turn themselves in...
Read MoreBed, Bath, Beyond
John 5:8 – “Rise, take up thy bed and walk”. Many of you are familiar with the retail store called Bed, Bath and Beyond, great name, right? Great truth too…from John’s gospel, a bed, bath and beyond experience like no other!...
Read MoreSweatless Grace
Ezekiel 44:17-18 – “And it shall be, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with bleached linen clothing. And no wool shall come on them while they serve in the gates of the inner court, and inside. Turbans of bleached linen shall be on their heads, and shall have bleached linen undergarments on their loins. They shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.” Did you ever buy a deodorant that didn’t…do what it was supposed to do, stop the sweat? I have...
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Who's Your Daddy?
John 17:25-26 – “O righteous Father, indeed the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent me. And I made known to them Your name, and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” In the movie Taken, Liam Neeson plays a character named Bryan, the father of a young adult girl abducted in Paris by a human trafficking ring. The outlook is not good as the daughter...
Read MoreSix Powerful Words
Acts 13:43 “When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.” If you are ever asked to share your faith with a group of people and you are stuck for ideas...
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