"But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy." Psalm 5:11 Sometimes things happen in our lives that leave a void. The death of a loved one, divorce, an estranged child or parent, the loss of a job, a move, or changing friendships can all leave voids in our lives. Yes, it is okay to be sad, and we should go through the grieving process. But what then? What

"Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives." -Romans 6:2-4 What does it mean to live "in Christ"? Most of us have a mental knowledge of what it means to be in Christ and believe in Him, b

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." - John 15:1 What is real? What is 'the real thing?' Cola-Cola markets itself as "the real thing". But is real anything money can buy? What is real to you? When I was 17, I attended a New Age workshop. I was looking for the real thing — that is, I was looking for an authentic faith experience. I was looking for God. I had grown up in environments that were pretty religious. But my heart wanted more. I was looking for authent

"However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." -Ephesians 5:33 Have you ever heard the phrases "men need respect", and "women need love"? I have to admit this idea was branded into my brain as a result of some amazing marriage coaching my husband and I had after we were engaged. But it wasn't until recently that these words jumped out at me as I was reading scripture — and how true they are! We are all wired so d

"I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side." -Psalm 3:6 All throughout the scriptures, God informs us that He does not want us to be afraid. "But isn't that contradictory?" you might say. "Doesn't God want us to fear Him?" Yes, but that's a different kind of fear. There are in fact three different types of fear mentioned in the Bible. The first comes from the Greek word phobeo. Phobeo is not a bad type of fear but is described as when someone has seen a

"Kind words are like honey — sweet to the soul and healthy for the body." -Proverbs 16:24 What does it mean to be salty or sweet? A friend of mine put together a website that parallels the internal state of our hearts with flavors. I thought it was such a great way to think about guarding our hearts and making sure we stay at a good balance of "salty" and "sweet"! I love being around salty sweet people. To me, this means a person who has an understanding of the love of God in

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." -1 Corinthians 15:10 Have you ever noticed that some things are far easier when God is with us? "God is always with us," you may say, which is true, but have you ever noticed God's favor on some activities and not all activities? Have you ever done something you knew God wanted you to do? Likewise, ha

"The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, 'You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.'" -Genesis 2:15-17 Did you know that, in the beginning of time, God gave us a very important gift? The gift He gave us wasn't life, or work, authority, or companionship — although those are very important things that di

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence." -Jeremiah 17:7 I remember when I first decided to follow Jesus, after I finally realized that He loved me. Because I still had a lot of brokenness in my life, I was hungry to learn more about God and develop my relationship with Him, hoping that He would fix the brokenness I felt. One of the areas I was very weak in was my confidence. God began to help me in this area through many

"Come and follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." -Matthew 4:19 H Have you ever felt insignificant? Have you ever felt like nothing you did would matter to anyone else? Conversely, have you ever felt valued? Like, what you did really mattered to someone in this world? If you ever ask a young person what they want to be when they grow up, they'll likely say something like, "An astronaut!" "A fireman!" "A ballerina!" "A rockstar!" Even from an early age, we're se