He is my Song

What I refer to as my "life verse" - a scripture that has had particular significance in the course of my walk with Christ - is found  in Psalm 25:3: "Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed." David wrote that out of his own confidence that God would come through for him.  Paul picks up the same idea centuries later in Romans 10:11, quoting Isaiah 28:16:  "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."   In both Old Testament and New Testament God has the same word to His people.  "Trust Me, and I will not let you be ashamed." Sometimes I think we believe that trusting Him means that we won't run into circumstances that have the possibly of taking us out. Surely, the God who loves us would not take us down that road, right? Wrong. You see, sometimes trusting God means walking straight into a season where everything gets worse before it gets better. If you have studied the Bible at all, you will have to recognize that God's peo...

There's a phrase that's been sitting in my spirit this morning:   Either HE's GOD, or He's not. If He's God, He's God in all of it - the good, the bad, the easy and the hard. And if He's not God in the hard parts, then He's not really God at all; He's just a nice idea we keep around for when things are going our way. We believe Him easily when things are easy. It's not hard to trust God when the bills are paid and the kids are fine and the test results come back clear. Anybody can do that. F aith doesn't cost you anything in that season. Ah, but then something happens that has no natural explanation for how it gets fixed. The door doesn't open - in fact, it slammed shut in your face. The phone doesn't ring with good news - it may not even ring at all. The thing you prayed about gets worse instead of better. And that's where the real question shows up, the one that was always there the whole time: Do I actually believe He's who...

Life has a way of stacking up on us - work, family, whatever crisis is currently taking up residence in your mind at 2 a.m. In the middle of all that, I want to pause and talk about something that matters more than getting the to-do list cleared, and that is: staying thankful. And I don't just mean thankful for family, friends, and the good stuff, though we should be grateful for those. I mean thankful in the middle of trials .   "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4 How in the world does James expect us to be joyful when life is falling apart around us?  Here's what I've come to understand over the years: the trials that test our faith are doing something in us. They're not random, and they're not wasted. A loving Father is using them to train us, to shape us more...

In my devotions this morning, one of my readings took me to Daniel 5. And two verses made me stop and take note: "But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this... but you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven... and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified." (Daniel 5:22-23) The reason Daniel's words land so hard here is the phrase "although you knew all this." Belshazzar wasn't ignorant. He'd watched, or at the very least, heard firsthand what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar had been the most powerful man on earth, lost his mind, was driven out to live like an animal for seven years, and only got his kingdom back when he lifted his eyes to heaven and acknowledged that the Most High rules (Daniel 4:34-37). [Side note: Nancy De...