I’m an emotional being. As a writer, I’m constantly thinking about the human response to impossible circumstances and real suffering. I pray for the ability to empathize. I meditate on personal times of walking through the wilderness, when everything I know about God...

It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. (Ephesians 2:10) God’s plan for each of us is unique in many ways, but in one way is always the...

A small, quiet gathering in front of a fireplace, a coffee table crowded with snacks, every person in the room feeling the warmth of God’s love…that’s the kind of thing that makes a big impact on a weary spirit. We all get weary in this world. Sticking together to get...

O Bethlehem…you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!     Micah 5:2 God can take a small place and make an eternal difference. Give a small place to peace. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace...

This is a difficult Christmas for me. I can relate to those who go through this season with an undertow of sadness. On the surface people move around and past you with a palpable excitement, wearing a smile you wish you could return. Beneath the surface, there are...

There’s no sweeter rest than the rest God gives. It’s free of worry and full of peace. It’s like sinking into our favorite chair, or hiding away in a quiet place with a cup of tea, separate from everything that pulls us this way and that—to do more, to be more. God is...

Often the inn that had no room for Joseph and Mary is likened to the human heart that allows no room for our Savior. Where no welcome is given, salvation does not enter. With the human heart, God is not demanding, He is patient and long-suffering. With the lost, Jesus...

One day the earth will bask in the perfect peace of Jesus and we’ll know His love completely. Even now, we can be submersed in a peace beyond our circumstances when we get to a quiet place and fix our thoughts on Him. Where our mind goes, our body follows. When our...

There’s something special about a walk through the neighborhood in wintertime, especially around the holidays. Homes are warmly lit, trees are adorned, and you can almost feel the coziness inviting you to pause and take it all in. Peace comes with light, because light...

At some point in our lives, we realize our relationships are everything. Possessions are temporal, feelings are fleeting, and time is racing. God, in providing everything we could possibly need, chose us for one another—to lean on and love; to confide in and laugh...

Celestial events are in the Creator’s hand. We're in the season of celebrating a birth that was prophesied from the beginning of time, announced by angels in a field of shepherds, and marked by the movement of a star. The bright, ball of light signaled to stargazers...

Excerpt from Journaling with the Holy Spirit:  The eternal impact of our life is in motion every day. We can be tempted to believe the lie that only certain days matter, that going through the motions is insignificant, or that the things we’re doing in this season...

When Jesus was born, God’s love stepped from heaven to earth—covered in flesh, filled with forgiveness, and willing to be the sacrifice for us all. Hope became ours when love became human. The King of Kings was cradled in a manger, en route to a throne. Eternity in...

His destiny was the cross. His purpose was love. His reason was you.  Jesus embarked on His earthly journey to secure our eternal home. Love is at the center of His coming and our going. The psalmist wrote, “our days are few and brief, like grass, like flowers.”...

His life is the light that shines through the darkness—and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:5) One of the most enjoyable and shared traditions at Christmastime is driving through neighborhoods to look at light displays. From humble efforts to over-the-top...

We might never be chosen first for anything in our lives—the team, the promotion, the partner, the position. Yet before creating the world we live in, God chose you. He saw you through the lens of the love He sent to save us. You were first on His mind, the reason the...

God is truly wonderful. His sending the Holy Spirit to us is a gift we can never take for granted. Having a comforter in our corner at all times is no small thing in a world growing colder every day. We couldn't serve God with strength, confidence, or consistency...

The heart can carry sadness and joy at the same time.  I’ve experienced this intermingling. Sadness and joy sit opposite one another on the wheel of our emotions, but our hearts are equipped to balance the weight. True joy isn’t dependent on the circumstance we’re in,...

God doesn’t look at things the way we do. He doesn’t measure success by the worldly possessions we gain or the position we attain. He looks at our heart, and focuses on our deepening discovery of His love. When we face trials, He allows them and He uses them—to draw...