A few days ago I picked up my husbands phone thinking it was mine and said, “Siri, what’s the temperature outside?” Nothing but silence. So, I posed the question again. Met with more silence. Finally, I looked at the phone case and realized I was holding my husbands phone. Siri did not know my voice. An inanimate, digital assistant can determine who is speaking to her through voice recognition. Impressive. This morning when I woke up I simply prayed, “Lord, I want to hear Your voice.” Then, I corrected myself, “I want to know Your voice.” It was a simple…
O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1. My six-month-old son has a habit of stirring in his sleep at 4:50am most mornings. He doesn’t wake up, but he makes just enough noise (I’m a light sleeper) to alert me to rise. I’m a morning person by nature and when my eyes open I’m awake; even if I want to drift back to slumber, I usually can’t because of the excitement I feel that it’s morning. It’s almost a gift that Levi wakes me up so early because I hate the sound of an alarm. Are there any other morning people reading this? Or, am I completely not relatable to some night owls right now? If your life is dry and parched like a desert, His presence will give you the refreshing you need. One reason I love the breaking of dawn is spending time with the Lord—I get butterflies in my stomach at the thought of communing with my Savior. For years I have affectionately called my morning devotion, “Coffee time with Jesus.”…
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” (John 20:24-28, KJV) A few months ago, my husband called to tell me about a tragedy in our extended family. I knew the husband in this family was working several miles away and could not quickly get to his wife. I did not want her to be alone, so I jumped into my car and rushed to her side. The tragedy that had occurred was horrific and unexpected.…
And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory. 2 Samuel 23:11-12. In these scriptures, we find Shammah, one of King David’s mighty men, defending a field of lentils. Shammah risked his life to defend a field of lentils that was not his personal property, but Israel’s property. When others…
Genesis 25:30-31, And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. I’ve lost count how many times I have read the account of Jacob and Esau. I can be guilty of skimming over scriptures that are well-known and are on the highlight reel of popular sermons. However, despite myself, God still shines through my humanity, thankfully. I relish moments with the Lord where a word or phrase is magnified and illuminated, just like I was reading it for the very first time. Genesis 25:30 gives us insight on Esau’s life. When he asks for “that same red pottage” it indicates that this was not the first time he came out of the field feeling desperate for food. Esau had a pattern of desiring his brothers “red pottage.” Esau said, “feed me, with that same red pottage.” Esau’s weaknesses became predictable. His drama became predictable. His lack-of-preparation became predictable. The way you pattern your life is important and the things you hunger after are important. The things that you do consistently on a day-to-day basis are…
Today we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—a man who had a gift to make his dream of equality among every person, regardless of someone’s skin color, age, or gender. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” Dr. King was a man with prolific talents and various giftings, granting him a platform to challenge the world with a message that would change the fabrication of the cultural and spiritual structure of the twentieth century. King’s legacy is extensive; crossing cultural, religious, and segregational boundaries. Our environment, whether we like it or not, shapes who we are. The contours and ridges of our morals, convictions, quirks, values, and temperament are all relative to the value system taught in an individual’s home, education system, and country. Of coarse, everyone is subject to his or her own choice. We see this in the life Dr. King as he aspires to strengthen integration rather than enforcing segregation, even if that means going against the prevailing current of his present society that led him down a road of persecution. Revelation 7:9 paints a beautiful picture of what heaven will look like, “After these…