Do you ever just feel lonely? Like maybe it is because you spend a lot of time by yourself or live alone. Or sometimes there’s the lonely feeling even when surrounded by a lot of people, but it just seems like nobody understands you. If so, I have totally been there (as you saw in a recent post), but so have some major people from the Bible. 

We all have big feelings that seem to overwhelm us at times- loneliness, anxiety, sadness, jealousy, discontentment. Are these feelings sinful?

You’ve read about Jesus’ birth, ministry, and miracles. To me those are the more “fun” parts of the Gospel. Those show us the miraculous birth and the ways in which Jesus was fully God and fully human while on earth. Those are the stories that we want to share with children. But if that’s all we know and believe about Jesus, we are sorely missing out. Today we will talk about the less “fun” part of Jesus’ life on earth. If you’ve been to church around Easter time, you may already know this part of the story. If this is all new to you, I would encourage you to go read it for yourself.

Today, we’re going to start a two part post talking about who Jesus says He is and the miracles He did! This highlights the time between Him taking the step into His ministry and Him being crucified. There are a lot of things that fit into this time period, even more than what is documented in the Bible for us, so we’re going to focus on the book of John, with Jesus’ “I Am” statements and His miracles!

If you’ve ever watched the movie ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, then you’re maybe familiar with the Biblical story of Jesus’s birth. It is told from such a beautiful perspective, full of details, in the Gospel of Luke.

Paul commends a lot of people in Romans 16, yet none of them are listed with leadership titles. They were still obviously faithful servants in the early church. How are you serving your local church?

Today’s bad Bible babe is a doozy. Her story is one that rivals a hit telenovela. We don’t even really see God in this story. So what can we learn from Herodias? Let’s dig in and see.

Today we’ll talk about purposefully pausing, and redirecting our focus onto God. To take the time to refocus on peace and calm, and spend extra time with Him. Because this is exactly what He wants from us

And as we do, we’ll remember: God isn’t good and loving and just and perfect because of things He does for us… He’s all of these things and more without us even in the equation. He is because He simply is.

Check out this post to read about Pharaoh's daughter and what we can learn from her story!

 Warning: this is a tough story to read in the Bible. It points out some of the rough aspects of humanity, even reminding us of some of our sin. But stick with me as we investigate the story of Dinah, which has some great implications for our own lives!

Let's answer this question as we walk through the book of Micah!

Today’s post is about a person from the Bible that has a strange story. Her story is very intertwined with the story of her father, Jephthah. Before we get into the nitty gritty of why we should care about Jephthah’s daughter, note that in the Bible (or even in tradition itself) we never find out what her name actually is. So in our post I will refer to her as JD.

We know the song Amazing Grace, but do we know why it's important? When we sing it, do we know what we're praising God for?

How do I know if I truly know Jesus?

First, do I show I know God by obeying His commands?

Do I show I know God by loving my brother?

Do I show I know God by confessing that Jesus is the Christ?

These ladies were brave. But their courage was godly courage that had to have followed godly wisdom.

Do we stand up for truth? Do we stand up for righteousness? Do we do so despite negative consequences?

Life isn’t fair. Did you guys know that? I can’t remember the exact moment that I realized it, but I remember it’s been a long time. And, while I think the phrase in itself is cynical and not altogether useful, I do think there’s some merit to it. There is no point in the Bible or history that God has told us that things would be hunky-dory. There’s no verse that says life will be fair just because we believe in Him, the Bible literally tells us otherwise.

Instead, amid a week where I have struggled with the unfairness of this pregnancy, my husband taught the kids about this verse in Psalms. He taught the kids that we are never truly alone. Even if we feel like it, even if we physically are on our own, we are never without our Lord God. 

Have you ever been brokenhearted, reader?

Queen Athaliah is a lesser known woman of the Bible. While not a great example of how to follow God, we can learn great lessons from her story!

In this short passage in Romans, Paul talks about being mutually encouraged by each other’s faith! Just like in the movie, the emotion people don’t want their person to feel sadness or fear or any negative feelings so it’s Joy’s job to keep that from happening. In real life, we have people who walk alongside us that help us navigate our situations by pointing everything back to Jesus. This brings so much more joy and encouragement than anything else because it’s founded on our Cornerstone. It’s founded in the Spirit that allows us to feel joy. It’s founded in God. 

So, how do we encourage people with our faith?