Honestly, having a regular quiet time is hard. It’s hard for a variety of reasons from busyness, to kids, to straight-up spiritual opposition. It’s normal for us to go through seasons when having a quiet time feels more difficult than others. In her book Quiet, Naomi Vacaro describes these different seasons. “If you’ve practiced the … Read more
Have you ever considered how pointless reading the Word of God or prayer would be if Christ did not rise from the dead? If Christ did not rise, we would have no ability to directly come and talk to God. Before Christ’s resurrection, only a specific person, on a specific day, under specific circumstances could … Read more
Darlene Deibler Rose arrived in New Guinea as a newlywed to do missions work among unreached jungle tribes. However, shortly after her arrival, the world went to war and the Japanese invaded. Darlene and her husband were captured and sent to separate work camps. While at the camp, Darlene was accused of being an American … Read more
Seeing Jesus’ Birth Declared Throughout Scripture Recently, as I read through the gospels, I was struck by how many angels and prophets announced Jesus’ birth. An angel told Zechariah he would have a son who would prepare the way for the Messiah. An angel announced to Mary that she would become the mother of the … Read more
A Look at the Riches We Possess in Christ It’s a tradition in my family at Thanksgiving for each of us to share one thing we are thankful for as we sit around the table. Some years, it’s easy to a list a hundred blessings. Other years, it’s hard to think of even one. As … Read more
Three Tips to Help You Grow in Your Relationship with Jesus Do you ever come to the end of your quiet time and wonder if you did it right? Does it ever feel like you’re just going through the motions and never getting anything out of it? If so, you’re not alone. Every one of us … Read more
The Secret to Successfully Memorizing Scripture I grew up memorizing scripture but truthfully, I didn’t enjoy it. Memorizing was something I did because I was encouraged to by my parents and Sunday school teachers. When I was around 17, I stumbled across a YouTube video of Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth quoting scripture from memory. For over thirty … Read more
Growing up, my family had devotions together most mornings at breakfast. When us kids were all teens, my dad had the idea for each person to lead devotions once a week, sharing something the Lord had showed us during our own personal quiet time. Occasionally, one of us would come to breakfast with nothing to … Read more
The hardest verse I’ve memorized is Colossians 3:9. I only tackled it because I wanted to memorize the entire book of Colossians. I enjoyed memorizing the first two chapters. However, when I got to chapter three, verse nine, everything in me wanted to quit. Colossians 3:9-10 says, “Do not lie to one another, since you … Read more
Gnarled roots and jagged rock crisscross the mountain trail. I fix my eyes on the path to keep from stumbling. I hike on like this for the next thirty minutes, until my friend interrupts our conversation to say, “remember to look up once in awhile.” At their prompting, I lift my eyes from the rocky … Read more