How can one sentence give a man his life back? That’s what we find happening in the story of Captain Naaman and his wife’s servant girl. She is nameless but not unknown. We meet her as the servant of Mrs. Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Her husband is the commander-in-chief for the king of Aram (present-day Syria). But he has a problem. He has contracted leprosy. Was it really the disfiguring, life-threatening, flesh-eating disease we connect with leprosy? Does it matter if that’s

Abraham was nearing the end of his life. Sarah had already died. Miracle son Isaac was 37 years old at her death and still unmarried. Abraham needed to arrange a marriage for Isaac, but he was unable to travel. He didn’t want Isaac to marry a local Canaanite woman because the marriage must protect the family bloodline. Eliezer was Abraham’s oldest and most trusted servant. The only other background detail we know is that he was from Damascus. (see Genesis 15:2) Many specul

Lydia is the first businesswoman mentioned in the New Testament. Her story never names a husband, so perhaps she was a widow who inherited the business. However it happened, she was a respected woman who sold purple textiles to those who could afford it. Lydia’s purple dye business was probably one of the guilds in Thyatira where she originated. A guild was an organization of artisans, something like a labor union. While her dye business was in Thyatira (in modern-day Tur

Mordecai was the kind of guy you’d like to have for a neighbor. Mordecai was someone you could depend on no matter what happened. He was always available, no matter the job. After his Jewish parents were exiled to Persia (present-day Iran) under King Nebuchadnezzar, Mordecai called Persia home. When his uncle and aunt died, leaving their daughter, Esther, orphaned, Mordecai became her guardian and father figure. Somehow, Mordecai had risen through the ranks to land a governm

2 Kings 4:1-11 She was desperate. Known in her small community as the widow, she was not allowed to hide her loss. The fact that she was also a single mother of two boys only made matters worse. But it was the famine that left her cupboards empty. Her husband had died, leaving her to face the creditors. She knew she couldn’t pay them. That meant the creditors would conscript her two sons as slaves to repay the debt. She is desperate when she sees the prophet, Elisha, on t

My best ideas can fail miserably. My snap judgments don’t always help. Words escape my mouth that should never have a voice. However, when I work, relate, or speak by God’s prompts, empowered by His will; I’ve never come away saying, Well, that didn’t work. No. God’s ways always work in surrendered lives. You will receive power, Jesus said. (Acts 1:8) It was a promise, signed, sealed, and to be delivered. So why do we ignore a guaranteed resource? The truth is that we sh

Where are you feeling overwhelmed or overpowered? Where are you facing a challenging circumstance or difficult person? God wants you to live an empowered life. But there isn’t an internal button you can press to turn on the power. Instead, God makes a continuous, unlimited supply available. However, you must request His power. It is not automatic, though it is always available, anywhere, anytime. How? I’m glad you asked because that’s what we’re going to explore today.

God wants us to live in His power. He doesn’t want us just to taste it, use it as an option when all else fails, or try to control it our way. No. God has all power, and He isn’t stingy with it. So what does it mean when Paul, frustrated by a recurring malady he called a thorn, said that God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” How does weakness become perfect strength? We have been taught that to get strong, you must exercise, build muscle, and keep up the rhythm. But G

Jesus had just finished private conversations with his disciples about the tumultuous times they must endure. Then, he takes a big breath, looks into their eyes, and says these heart-stopping words, “As you know . . . I will be crucified.” (Matthew 26:2) Matthew, Mark, and Luke each tell us three times that Jesus is headed toward cruel treatment and death. It seems the disciples could not or would not believe it could happen “As you know,” Jesus said. But they didn’t know.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He knew what that meant. He went because it was part of the mission he submitted to at baptism and confirmed in the wilderness. He had made it to the border between Samaria and Galilee when ten men approached him. He knew immediately they were lepers. Everyone knew it. Their faces were covered, their cloaks torn, and they were making the obligatory announcement: Unclean! Unclean! That’s what probably cleared their way to get to Jesus. Th

What makes me think . . . That my love . . . My try harder, Up and down, Sometimes on, And sometimes not love Is enough to change the world? On some days it doesn’t even change the vibe in my own home. God tells me His love in me changes everything. I remember the story of the sorcerer who followed Philip (Acts 8:9-24) He was a trickster, hungry for miracles, So he tried to buy them. But God’s love can’t be bought Not with money, Mission work, Or m

Roots are the unseen growth markers for any living thing. Without roots, a plant will die. The problem is that we can’t see the roots. They grow underground for most plants. However, they influence the above-ground growth we can see. The same is true in our Christian lives. Spiritual roots grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) Not just one of these characteristics. All of them. The prayer tha

Amazing Grace isn’t just a song we sing; it is a truth to live. Grace is what God applied to the great gap between who we think we are and who God knows we can become. Grace is the purest form of love. Grace is the One who always acts for our best, bringing a life we can’t know any other way. We talk about reaching out to God, but before the thought ever formed in our minds, God has already been reaching out to us. It is not the distance from the earth to heaven that is o

Jesus went into the wilderness to focus on time with his Father. But what he got was an intruder who planted doubt and confusion. How many times have we, brimming with good spiritual intentions, tried to focus on what God wanted to say, only to hear the questioning, undermining voice of our worst enemy? Like Jesus, I look for quiet places where I reduce attention chaos. My isolated place isn’t a desert; it’s just my sofa in my upstairs office. Yet what is supposed to be a sa

Today we wear the ashes of our impotence and mortality. It is a day to remember who we are and who we are not. Today we bring our unedited selves to God so that we start this journey to the cross in the most honest way possible. I remember the first time I participated in an Ash Wednesday service. The reflective music, scripture, and words prepared me to receive the mark of the cross in ashes on my forehead. I felt branded, labeled, and unmasked. It was like someone had rippe

A slow, thoughtful, prayerful, heart-cleaning journey to Easter . . . is a spring cleaning for my heart.

Spiritual growth isn’t an accident. Our intimate relationship with God began with a personal decision, and it continues when we choose to become more like Jesus in our hearts, minds, perspectives, values, and moral boundaries. But it isn’t a straightjacket kind of growth. It isn’t just about gathering more Bible knowledge. We can have academic credentials without a heart that burns for the life God directs and transforms. I come to a discussion like this as a pilgrim, not a

2026 with gold confetti We’ve survived another year. We’ve turned the calendar to 2026 and will try to remember to write it when completing our dates. For me, the end of a year begs reflection. Indulge me a few paragraphs to record what I’ve done, what I’ve learned, and what I am committing to with God’s help. Maybe it will encourage you to take a similar look. It was Socrates who said, “An unexamined life isn’t worth living.” The Bible makes it an invitation: O Lord

I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. Ezekiel 37:5 God created life with His breath. He breathed His clean, pure, empowering breath and shaped lifeless clay into a breathing, thinking human being. It was this same breath that pumped tiny lungs and opened Jesus' nostrils to utter his first cry into this world. Our Creator God reversed the earth-to-heaven journey we will make after death and sent Jesus from Heaven to earth all in a breath. It was one power

Magi from the east came . . . to worship him. Matthew 2:1,2 The longest journey we ever made at Christmas on land was from Bryan, Texas, to Warm Springs, Georgia, where my husband's parents lived. It was 840 miles, which made it a two-day trip for our small family. But it was worth every mile to see family we didn't see as often as we wanted to. The Magi get the prize for taking the longest journey at the first Christmas. While no one knows exactly where the Magi originated