Love is Patient, Love is Kind Bible Verse 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. What is real love? It is a question that has been asked throughout the centuries. Some say it is an emotion, some say it is a choice. I find that it is a little of both, but the foundation is in the choice. How could God command us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, unless we could choose to do that? Emotions are fickle, they come and go. If you don't believe me, stay married for a while. There will be times you do not feel the pitter pat of your heart when Mr. Right, or Miss America walks into the room. In fact there will be many times that y… [more]

A Guest Article by Susan Sorian. Why is it, it seems, that when my life begins to make sense - at least to me - all hell breaks loose? I can't remember a time when this journey called life has ever been without its hills, rocks, mountains, and deadly valleys. Sometimes I find myself looking at the "other side of the fence" where the "grass is always greener." It is in those times, in particular, that the Still Small Voice of the Lord comes and keeps me on the path - the voice that says, "this is the way, walk in it" (Isaiah 30) Don't get me wrong - I have been richly blessed! God has allowed me to raise 8 wonderful children (although some are current prodigals, they are still wonderful, and God is going to bring them back someday!) and reunited me with the 9th after 30+ years; given me the privilege to serve alongside my husband for 20 years before taking him home; has seen fit to bring me through soooo many circumstances and trials, and used them to teach me, to equip me, and use me … [more]

It seems recently that we have had an extraordinary amount of natural disasters. Daily in the news are reports that someone, somewhere has been hit by horrible tragedy. From the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to the Tornado's in the southern US, to the flooding of the Mississippi. People all over the world are losing their lives and their livelihoods to these horrific events. So naturally it would cause a person to wonder, are these events a sign of God's judgement upon a wicked people? We all know that there was a time in history when God flooded the earth. In fact this event is not only recorded in the bible but other ancient literature as well. We know that natural disasters in the past have been attributed to the displeasure of God, and for that matter any other pagan god that the people believed in at the time. But is this the Father's heart of God almighty? After the flood recorded in the Bible, God promised He would not flood the earth again in judgement. In fact He gave us … [more]

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. So far in this series we have looked at Knowing and Honoring God, Praying for His Kingdom and His Will, Praying for Provision, The Importance of Forgiveness and The Need for Guidance. In this last teaching on the Lord's prayer we will be looking at having faith in your heavenly Father. Jesus ends this teaching on how to pray with the acknowledgement of 3 things. These three things encompass the entirety of all the things that we have no control over. It is the releasing of control in our lives that He ends this prayer with. How appropriate that He would, as the example of how we are to live, would end this prayer with the ultimate exercis… [more]

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors .And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil." We all have the need for guidance from God. So far in this series we have looked at Knowing and Honoring God, Praying for His Kingdom and His Will, Praying for Provision and The Importance of Forgiveness. Today we will be looking at our need for guidance from God. The need for guidance from God. There is more in this verse than the casual observation leads us to believe. It is not a prayer just asking the Lord to keep us from sinning. In fact that is only a secondary point to the real emphasis of the verse. The real points to this verse are Lead us. Jesus when He prayed this prayer, and when He taught His disciples to pray in this fashion, was asking for and acknowledging the need for divine guidance. Many tim… [more]

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The importance of Forgiveness in prayer. The Importance of Forgiveness cannot be over emphasized.As we have seen in this series in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, this prayer is not just something to be memorized or prayed verbatim, but actually it is a teaching on how to pray. It is the same method of prayer that Jesus used. This brings up a very interesting thought. If Jesus prayed this way, then He too had to practice the art of forgiveness. He was fully aware of the importance of forgiveness. It is not only just us mere mortals that have to go to God for help in forgiving others, Jesus had to go to our heavenly Father and release those that did him wrong. Forgiveness is not easy! Forgiveness is not easy. … [more]

None of us in life are immune to trials. We face obstacles everyday in our lives. Whether it is family issues, church issues, addictions, or problems at work. We all face tests to our faith. I don't know about you, but when I am faced with those trials, I sometimes wonder where is the victorious life Jesus promised. You see, many times I have the wrong attitude and focus in my life. Surprise Surprise! You do too so go ahead and admit it! Many times when we approach an obstacle or a trial in our life, our goal is to remove it. Get rid of it. To leap over it with a single bound! But have you stopped to consider that maybe that obstacle has a different purpose than just being a hurdle in the race of life? James 1:2-4 (New Living Translation) Faith and Endurance 2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance … [more]

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." In this part of my teaching on the Lord's prayer we are going to deal with the issue of praying that God will provide. Just in my other series I did on The Lord's Prayer Series | More than Just Words we talked about addressing God as our father and how His name means more than is just on the surface and in Praying for the Kingdom of God to Come we learned what it means to pray for His kingdom to come and his will to be done. We are going to learn that truly God will provide. Praying God will provide. Praying for God to Provide is more than just a Prayer for Finances. Today we are going to address how God wants us to pray for our financial provision. As most of you can figure out by reading some of my othe… [more]

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." What does it mean to Pray for the Kingdom of God to Come? In the second sentence of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus starts of by praying for two things. He prays for the kingdom of God to come and for the will of God to be done. In order for us to understand clearly what He is praying about, we must first understand what these terms mean. I will give you a basic understanding of these terms but if you want to start doing in depth bible studies I suggest you either learn how to use Bible Gateway which I have provided a link at the bottom of the page, or that you click on my Christian Resources page and buy a computer Bible program at Amazon. The Meaning of the Kingdom of God. Some believe that it is synonymous with the… [more]

Andrea Bocelli - The Lord's Prayer Song The Lord's Prayer also commonly called the Our Father prayer by Catholics was never meant to be something that was just memorized and prayed as some kind of mantra or magical prayer. It was meant to be a teaching on how to pray. In this series I am going to teach the Lord's prayer and we are going to learn the meaning of the model prayer that Jesus gave and together maybe we will all learn better how to pray. Let me give you just a little background. The disciples came to Jesus while He was praying and asked Him to teach them how to pray, so they wanted Jesus to teach them. Luke 11:1 I find this important because obviously it is implied that they wanted to learn to pray like Jesus prayed. So the Lord's Prayer is not just the way we are to pray, but it is also the way Jesus prayed! Remember that Jesus is our model on how we are to live our Christian life. Today I am going to look at the First sentence of the prayer of the Lord and we are… [more]

The last week has given us a great example of why Paul in his letter to the Ephesians told the Church at Ephesus to walk in wisdom. People going off half cocked with sun baked theologies and poorly thought out revelations of the return of Jesus. He said this. Eph 5:15 " See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another in the fear of God." The word "circumspectly" means to walk diligently with care. We are to walk as if we are along a river bank and we are watching our step to make sure we do not twist our ankle. Paul… [more]

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." ~ Charles Caleb Colton Have you ever noticed that as your kids grow up to be adults, they do and say things very similar to you? You hear them use expressions, or have values that came straight from the horses mouth? (Or in my case, straight from the donkeys mouth!) We naturally imitate those we look up to. If you find a leader with great charisma, you will find people imitating them. When people see something they admire or feel is of value, they will naturally want to have the same qualities in their life. Paul talked about being an imitator of God in Ephesians 5:1 He said for us to be the imitators of God. So I started thinking this morning. What ways can I mimic God? Now I am not just talking about actions because actions come from motives. I am the type of person that looks not just on the surface, but what propels us to do the things we do. I have found when I understand the inside workings of my heart, the outside actions take… [more]

Recently I have been learning about this internet thingy called twitter. In my day, the only time twitter was used was to describe someone who was infatuated by calling them twitter pated. (reference to Bambi for those of you not a Disney aficionado ) It seems to be the latest and greatest way to reach out to people who might share your interests and values. So I signed up. Oh my! Did I get hit by a wave of people trying to sell me on every scheme and strategy in the book for making a quick buck! My first reaction was to cut them off at the pass. I have no time for such foolishness. Job 15:31 Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,for emptiness will be their only reward. But........ as I got ready to figure out a way to filter them, that gentle nudge, that I am so familiar with on my heart, started happening. Uh oh! Jesus has something to say about this. So I got quiet and listened. I was reminded of the passage in Mark 4 where Jesus talks about sowing … [more]

The ladies in my church are sending out letters to our troops today. It is something they decided to do of their own volition. It is not part of some church sponsored program. They are just putting to practice what I have been teaching about "being the church". I must admit that it brings a smile to my heart to see them doing this. They asked me to print out a verse, to include in their letters which is how this whole post has came about. I thought about what verse would speak to the hearts of guys and gals who are daily living away from their families, who have decided to be in harm's way for us, who are facing hardships that we have a hard time imagining or relating to. What would a soldier in uniform serving his country in a foreign country among people that may or may not appreciate what they are doing need to hear? And then I thought. These brave men and women are people just like us. They need to hear that God has a hope and a future for them. Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Transl… [more]

Over the last month, I have been learning a lot about writing original content. Google has put out a new program in their search program that is supposed to reward original content. So far I have my doubts that they accomplished what they said they wanted to do but that is neither here nor there. It got me thinking about original content. Paul said, 2 Corinthians 3:3 (New Living Translation) 3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. Don't Be a Clone   We are God's living "original content" to this world. There are no duplicates. So my question is, if we are God's letter, His novel, His example of His awesome creativity, then why do we allow ourselves to be molded into a generic stereotypical copy and pasted clone of another persons idea of what a Christian looks like? God kn… [more]

An avid duck hunter was in the market for a new bird dog. His search ended when he found a dog that could actually walk on water to retrieve a duck. Shocked by his find, he was sure none of his friends would ever believe him. He decided to try to break the news to a friend of his, a pessimist by nature, and invited him to hunt with him and his new dog. As they waited by the shore, a flock of ducks flew by, they fired, and a duck fell. The dog responded and jumped into the water. The dog, however, did not sink but instead walked across the water to retrieve the bird, never getting more than his paws wet. This continued all day long; each time a duck fell, the dog walked across the surface of the water to retrieve it. The pessimist watched carefully, saw everything, but did not say a single word. On the drive home the hunter asked his friend, "Did you notice anything unusual about my new dog?" "I sure did," responded the pessimist. "Can't swim, can he?" This Video has the answer to C… [more]

Maintaining our priorities and finding balance in life is sometimes a hard thing to find. I have found it quite difficult as a single person. Most of us, if we will be honest, really do not like being single. There is a huge temptation to get distracted by the goal of changing our single status. This makes us very prone to losing our focus and our priorities in life and becoming distracted from the good things and the things that God has for us in life. We can head down the path of distraction with ease making either finding someone a high priority or making it work with someone, that we lose our balance in the rest of our life and the rest of our life suffers. These principles I am going to share with you, apply to many situations, not just being single and the temptation to change that status. It can apply to work, family, even church activities. I have experienced this more than once in many areas. I have a tendency to get focused on one thing that emotionally feels like a high … [more]

Joel 2:28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. No restoration is complete unless you are not only restored out of something, but restored to something. I want to show that God has more for you in this life than just wholeness. More than just to give you back what was lost. More than to just give you freedom from all the things that have held you back, but His purposes were far greater than that. Notice what the prophet Joel says. I will pour out my spirit and what? There will be prophecies, dreams and visions right? What is the 1 thing that all these things have in common? Communication between God and His people! You see I do not believe that God was just giving gifts so we could look and sound super spiritual. I think it is much more basic than that! I believe God was … [more]

I had a dream tonight, which is why I am up at 0 dark thirty writing this article. It was a dream of someone who I know and was a dear friend of mine. In the dream I was talking to her on the phone finding out why she made the decisions she made. We got cut off. I tried calling back and when the person answered, it was a different voice. A voice that was obviously trying to be sweet in a phony way. That is when I woke up. Have you ever wondered if God really speaks to you? How do know if it really is the voice of God or if it was a case of last nights pizza? Have you desired to have a real relationship with God but it always seemed to be one way where you are doing the speaking and you are wondering if what you are saying is hitting the ceiling or getting to where God is hearing? Well I hope I am able to give you some insight on whether or not you are hearing God and give you some tips on how to hear God. 11 years ago, I went through the pain and tragedy of divorce. If you want to kn… [more]

Daily I spend a couple of hours working on learning the in's and out's of blogging, the internet, and all that goes along with this crazy world of having a income based on what I write and think. The other day I found an article about a website I had never heard of. ( I know, I am so behind the times! My kids tell me that regularly.) The name of the site is www.stumbleupon.com and basically it is a cross between flipping the channels on your tv until you find something you like, and a social networking site similar to Facebook. I thought to my self, "that looks interesting! So I went and checked it out. You get to "stumble" upon millions and millions of websites all geared to what you tell them your interests are. As you stumble around, you tell them if you like the site or not. It can be an intoxicating little pastime. There were stumble upon incidents in the bible as well. One of the most famous ones I can think of is the incident where Jesus and a lady of pretty questionable chara… [more]