3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. At first glance, this scripture looks like a promise for prosperity—if your soul is prospering. Let’s look deeper. The word “prosper” in Greek means “to lead by a direct and easy way; to be successful.” In other words not walking a crooked, rocky path. “Good health” is obviously referring to good health—but there is a deeper meaning…
God has a plan for every day of our lives. He tells us in Psalm 139:16b, “. . .in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” When we pray, “Give us our daily bread,” we are asking for the tools, the gifts, the wisdom, to accomplish the tasks He has set aside for this new day. Every morning is a new adventure; a new discovering…
Psalm 91:11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. In God’s Little Miracle Book III, I share a story of a woman whose very abusive husband made several attempts to take her life. One day as she swam in their pond near their rural home he waded in after her with the intent to drown her. She cried out to the Lord as she had done many times before. When he…
Have you ever prayed for a thing and waited, and waited, and waited? Have you given up hope of ever seeing that prayer answered? In Bible study, we recently studied the book of Acts. Near the end of the book is a very long account of the struggles Paul had after the Lord told him he was going to Rome to stand before Caesar. After two years he was finally on his way when he was shipwrecked, bitten by a…
My attention was directed recently to the account of Jesus calling Zacchaeus down from the sycamore tree as he passed through Jerico. 1. He didn’t just say, “You there.” He called Zacchaeus by name. Has Jesus called your name to come to Him? 2. Jesus bid him to come down. Have you left your old way of living; your old habits, wrong paths, evil thoughts, to come walk the right way of Jesus? 3. Jesus invited Himself to dine with…
Recently someone asked me if Jesus was God. “Yes. He’s the third part of the trinity. He’s God with skin on. God with a face.” “I don’t understand that trinity stuff,” she said. Looking down into my lap and prayed the Lord to show me how to answer her. My hands rested there with the verigated yarn I was knitting on three needles. Suddenly, I had the answer. “The trinity is like this piece of knitting. It’s all one piece,…
This past Thanksgiving I had a quiet moment, one-on-one, with my fifth-grade grandson before everyone descended for dinner. He transferred this year from a private Christian school to public. “How do you like your new school?” I asked as I stirred the gravy. “I like some classes, but some of my teachers take the Lord’s name in vain every day.” “Really. That’s strange.” “Some of the kids there have some really wacky ideas. At lunch the other day one girl…
As a witer, I don’t get feedback like a performer does. It’s always a joy to hear from one of my readers. A couple of weeks ago I received this from a lady who read the first of the series God’s Little Miracle Book. “I’ve had your “God’s Little Miracle Book” a while. It’s amazing! I had a hard time putting it down to make dinner. But, reading the rest brought me to tears, laughter, ‘praise God,’ prayer and feeling…
We are in the season of Thanksgiving—we are reminded to be grateful for the good and the bad. Sometimes it’s hard for us to see God’s good in a situation but that’s because we’re in the midst of it. We can’t see the situation from His perspective. We don’t know the good He is working out through these situations. It’s times like these that people think God has abandoned us, that He doesn’t care, that He’s forgotten our name. Nothing…
Jesus’ Return Galatians 1:4 “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.” As the day of Jesus’ appearing in the sky draws nearer, we see a more definable difference in those who truly have Jesus as their Lord, and those who don’t. For those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus, there is special protection in this scripture even in…