Old Year’s Night-This Year, There Will Be Fire

New Yearโ€™s Eve portends a year of hopeful questions. Old Yearโ€™s Night is the last day of an answering year. In every case, the answer is the same. If it didnโ€™t kill you, no matter what it was, you will never fear it again.  Old Yearโ€™s Nights prepare for New Yearโ€™s Days by way of …

Exhaled (a reboot)

And then, I exhaled. Iโ€™m committed to learning to breathe deeply. This is more than a metaphor. I am a shallow breather. According to people who teach meditation,   When we breathe in a shallow way, the body remains in a cyclical state of stressโ€”our stress causing shallow breathing and our shallow breathing causing stress. This …

Morning Devotional 7.21.26

โ€œI will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.โ€โ€โ€ญโ€ญJeremiahโ€ฌ โ€ญ31โ€ฌ:โ€ญ25โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ Itโ€™s Tuesday, but for many folks, itโ€™s already been a week/month/season.What if we relied upon God? I mean REALLY โ€œcasting all our caresโ€ reliance. How would our lives be different? Soโ€ฆ.letโ€™s do it. Iโ€™m in. Join me. I DARE YOU TO FULLY TRUST GOD. …

Morning Devotional 7.20.26

โ€œEnter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.โ€โ€ญโ€ญMatthewโ€ฌ โ€ญ7โ€ฌ:โ€ญ13โ€ฌ-โ€ญ14โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ While there are as many ways to live a Godly …

Morning Devotional 7.19.26

โ€œTeach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.โ€โ€ญโ€ญPsalmsโ€ฌ โ€ญ86โ€ฌ:โ€ญ11โ€ฌ-โ€ญ12โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ Todayโ€™s to do listโ€ฆ Rely on Godโ€™s faithfulness, Cultivate an undivided heart, Remember …

Morning Devotional 7.18.26

โ€œAnd the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.โ€โ€ญโ€ญPhilippiansโ€ฌ โ€ญ4โ€ฌ:โ€ญ7โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ Political drama.Toxic air.Social unrest.Grief. Itโ€™s been a week. And hereโ€™s one other thingโ€ฆ.we cannot make it better.We outchere doing one thingโ€ฆtrusting God. Thatโ€™s our job. Iโ€™m going to encourage you to breathe. Soften your …

Morning Devotional 7.17.26

โ€œBut I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.โ€โ€ญโ€ญPsalmsโ€ฌ โ€ญ59โ€ฌ:โ€ญ16โ€ฌ-โ€ญ17โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌItโ€™s Friday. Exhale. You made it.Thanks …

Morning Devotional 7.15.26

โ€œTherefore, as Godโ€™s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.โ€โ€ญโ€ญColossiansโ€ฌ โ€ญ3โ€ฌ:โ€ญ12โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ Does the world recognize us children of God? How?The Word says that we should clothe ourselves with โ€œcompassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.โ€What are we actually wearing?What if we tried one new element a day, …

Morning Devotional 7.10.26

โ€œFor where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.โ€โ€โ€ญโ€ญMatthewโ€ฌ โ€ญ18โ€ฌ:โ€ญ20โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ Letโ€™s talk about church friends. Theyโ€™re not just people with whom I fellowship; they are my people. I have a church bestie, in her 90s, about whom I am always concerned, whether weโ€™re sitting across the aisle, or when …

Morning Devotional 7.9.26

โ€œFight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.โ€โ€ญโ€ญ1 Timothyโ€ฌ โ€ญ6โ€ฌ:โ€ญ12โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ To Do List: Fight the good fight ( not actual fighting, just give your best effort at faithfulness) by being honest, earnest, …

Morning Devotional 7.8.26

โ€œThen God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.โ€โ€ญโ€ญGenesisโ€ฌ โ€ญ2โ€ฌ:โ€ญ3โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ Have you been doing too much? Thatโ€™s the top line of my life. I confessed last night that I am stubborn and impatient. I confirmed it this morning …

Morning Devotional 7.7.26

โ€œJesus looked at them and said, โ€œWith man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.โ€โ€โ€ญโ€ญMatthewโ€ฌ โ€ญ19โ€ฌ:โ€ญ26โ€ฌ โ€ญNIVโ€ฌโ€ฌ โ€œWith God, all things are possible.โ€My life has taken so many unimaginable turns in the past few years; Iโ€™m through reeling, though. Iโ€™m not entirely certain where Iโ€™ll been when the spinning settles down. Here …