“Give us day by day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:3) A little water and a morsel of bread. That is all the prophet Elijah asked from the widow woman. A simple request, but it was not an easy one to fulfill. Times were worse than difficult; they were desperate. Because of drought and famine, food was scarce. All the widow had left was a scant handful of flour and a little oil. It was only enough to bake a small cake for her son and herself. Their resources were gone, and soon they would die from starvation. Elijah did not stop at this home by accident. God had provided very specific instructions on where to go and what to say. Although the circumstances looked bleak, God was up to something good. Elijah reassured the woman. “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.” (I Kings 17:13, NKJV) FAITH FOR EACH DAY Elijah’s request required faith from the widow. If she fed the man of God first, would there be anything for her and her son to eat? Could she trust his words? Could she trust God to…

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV) ACHAN’S STORY Joshua 7 tells us the story of Achan, a man who thought his secret sin would stay a secret. When the children of Israel went up against the city of Jericho, they were instructed to take none of the spoils from the city. Only the silver, gold, brass, and iron could be kept, and that was to be consecrated to the Lord. Keeping anything else was forbidden. But Achan took a garment, 200 shekels silver, and a wedge of gold. (Remember, the silver and gold were God’s.) Achan then dug a hole inside his tent and hid the stolen goods. After all, who would know? But secrets do not stay buried, and sin has consequences. Unfortunately, those consequences often affect not only the wrongdoer but also those around him. When the men of Israel went up to take the city of Ai, thirty-six of them died in battle. It should never have happened, but God revealed there was sin in the camp. One man’s greed affected everyone and innocent men died. Also, Achan and his entire household were destroyed because…

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10, ESV)  Do you ever have trouble deciding what to wear some mornings? I have a few favorite outfits that I tend to choose frequently. More and more my style has evolved into something called comfortable, not elegant or trendy. I have no need to “dress to impress.”  An old proverb says that “clothes make the man.” But is that really true? It’s easy to measure others by the way they are dressed and by the cost of what they are wearing. However, when we do this, we judge the worth of a person by the wrong standards. Character is more important than the clothing label. esther’s story Esther was in her teens when she and other young ladies were taken into the palace of King Ahasuerus. The king needed to select a new queen after banishing Vashti from that position. The young women, who…

“A time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away.” (Ecclesiastes 3:6, NKJV) It’s often said that “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” I always assumed it referred to thrift shopping like garage sales and second-hand stores. However, variations of this saying go back hundreds of years. Because I am of a certain age, I have too many “treasures.” I don’t have space for them. Most have little dollar value, but I find it difficult to let go. Decluttering is difficult because memories are attached to so many items. These things that fill my space may be trash or they may be treasure, but someday I will need to clear the clutter. Toss or keep? Ecclesiastes 3:6 tells us that there is a time to keep things and a time to throw them away. That’s true in a physical sense and also true in our spiritual lives. When our lives get cluttered with busyness and distractions, we may not realize how our clutter is crowding God out of our lives. Physical clutter is easy to recognize—stacks of papers, messy closets, covered tabletops and dressers, or stacks of books toppling over.…