No! Not an ice storm! I still had a thirty mile drive up a two-lane rural road to my home! The ice rain fell steadily on my windshield. It began coating it! What could I do? I turned my windshield wipers on high. I turned the defrost on high. “Oh God,” I cried, “Please help me!” I remembered some things my husband had told me years earlier about driving on the snow and ice. “Do not slam on your brakes……

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Have you ever had to release something or someone? I remember the first time I released our oldest son. He was five years old. He had come into the house and asked me to help him ride my adult bike. He had ridden a friend’s little bike with training wheels, but never a bike without training wheels. He had certainly never ridden an adult bike. I told him I would. I asked him to wheel the bike around to the…..

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Our society instills in us the belief that everything should be done “my way”. We drive down the road. If people do not drive as we think they should, we get irritated. If they drive too slowly, we pass them. We want to drive at the speed we desire. We go to a restaurant or drive-through and order our meal just the way we want it. That includes the side dishes, beverages, and how the meat is cooked. We want…..

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God is ruling now, even in the midst of His enemies (Psalm 110:2) We think that because He is ruling now, everything should be perfect; no evil, no pain, no suffering. But God is ruling now, and at the present time He is allowing His enemies to follow their desires. The outworking of their desires is pain, evil and suffering in the world. Will God continue to rule this way? No. Jesus explained this in the parable of the weeds,…..

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Where do I find peace?  Real peace. Peace, contentment, and rest in my soul? I find a certain type of peace and pleasure in the woods and at the beach. I find joy and pleasure with my family, grandchildren and friends. I find connection with God in worship. But what about real genuine peace; that contentment and rest in my soul that God gives – even when everything isn’t as I wish it were in my world? From where do…..

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I was afraid. My husband had fallen and had a spinal cord injury. How bad was it? How much would he recover? Would he be able to work? Would we lose our home? What did I need to do? What did we need to change? Questions swirled in my head. Then I remembered a mug I had seen.  Written on it was, “Don’t be afraid of tomorrow, for God is already there.”  “Yes,” I thought, “God is there and He…..

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Who is the shepherd of your soul? Are you? Is someone else? Is it One who is omniscient and omnipresent? One who can really guide you and minister to your soul? God is described as the, “Shepherd of Israel” in Psalm 80. How was God a “shepherd” to Israel? He chose Israel (vs. 8). He delivered them from bondage (vs. 8). He prepared a place for them; a home (vs. 9). He caused them to grow greatly (vs. 9-11). He…..

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Why Mary? Why was Mary chosen to be the mother of God’s Son? What did God see in Mary that caused Him to choose her? God had already said in His Holy Scripture that His Son would be a descendant of King David (Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:14-16; Isaiah 11:1-10). Mary fit that description. Scholars believe that Luke records the genealogy of Mary in Luke 3:23-38. Matthew records the genealogy of Joseph in Matthew 1:1-17. https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/library/bqa/id/184/why-does-jesus-have-two-different-genealogies-matthew-11-16-luke-323-38.htm  Thus both of Jesus’s earthly…..

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Poison. Would you intentionally drink poison?  Very few of us would. Did you know that you can poison your soul? What causes a poisoned soul? Two of the primary causes are unmet expectations and wounds caused by others. “Just as a physical wound becomes infected if left unattended, so an emotional wound can become contaminated with feelings of resentment, bitterness, and revenge without the healing of forgiveness.”1 https://bellevuechristiancounseling.com/articles/the-prison-of-unforgiveness This bitterness poisons my soul. It may cause me to perceive every…..

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How’s your soul today? Weary? Defeated? Afraid? Upset? Peaceful? Joyful? Confident in God and His love and care for you? We all have times of difficulty or discouragement. We all encounter situations that can cause us anxiety. They are part of life. So are the joyful, happy times. But how do we get a restored soul in the midst of turmoil? How do we get a soul that is at peace and confidently moves into the future? We can try…..

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