We started to consider planting in the Bible. In the middle of the busy time of planting, the Bible instructs us to rest. It is amazing how it is easier said than done when it comes to rest in our lives. Exodus 34:21 says even during plowing and harvesting, we commanded and given permission to rest. With life beginning to open up for many, the passages that challenge us to "keep the Sabbath" are essential in our relationship with God. Take some time today and read God's Word knowing that while opportunity and necessity call us to stay busy, we need God's rest regularly programmed into our life. Thanks for stopping by!

Music: "Stars and Laurels" by Shane Ivers

We can see planting happening all around us. The Bible uses planting or sowing often as we read it. The Scriptures let us know that everyone of us is planting something. The question is: what are you planting? Today we look at Psalm 126 that tells us we may be planting with tears. The promise is that we will harvest with joy! Take some time and look at Psalm 126 today. Thanks so much for stopping by. God's richest blessings to you this week!

As we have been looking at "lament" in the Bible, we cap it off with Isaiah 53. This is not necessarily a lament itself. However, it describes the One who knows our pain and who suffered for us. His name is Jesus. In a world of constant self-promotion, He did nothing to promote Himself. Yet through his selfless sacrifice, He offers forgiveness and freedom to all who would come to Him. He knows your pain and suffering.  Thanks so much for stopping by! I pray you have a weekend filled with the goodness of the Savior!

How long? Have you asked that question lately? Maybe growing up you said "are we there yet?" much to the disgust of your parents. Psalm 13 gives to us yet another way to express our frustration to God in lament. The writer asks numerous times "how long?". Maybe you are in a situation that has you thinking that right now. Open up the Bible to Psalm 13 and allow those words to speak to you and for you. Thanks for stopping by! I pray you have a wonderful weekend!

Lament is not a desirable state in which to live. But, many times throughout life, we struggle to understand and know a way forward. Sometimes we find ourselves in a moment of urgency. All of those times we were told "don't pray for patience because you will learn it the hard way". Then there is a situation that arises that needs God's attention now! How do we respond? Psalm 70 gives us some words and sentences to form our thoughts and to even form our souls in moments that require immediate attention. Maybe you are in one of those moments now. Let Psalm 70 help you to form your plea to God. If you are not, allow the Word of God to take root in your soul today. Thanks for stopping by!

We began considering "lament" from the Bible last week. This week we look at Psalm 4. The boldness of the language of a Psalm such as this may feel uncomfortable for some. The psalms help us to not get stuck in our extremes and to focus our moments of struggle and pain in our times with the Lord. Through this time, we have less of a tendency towards thinking that we always have to be happy or the other extreme that leads us to think that ours is "just to do or die". Thanks for stopping by. May God bless you this week as we engage God's Word and walk with Him.

After a few weeks away, we come back together around the theme of lament. Recently author JD Walt said "I am becoming convinced that depression is so rampant precisely because lament is so repressed" (February 25, 2021, Seedbed.com). Over the past 12 months, we have much to lament. We look at the words Jesus used on the cross in His lament, Psalm 22. As painful as lament is, those authentic moments that one third of the Psalms and many of the other places of Scripture give to us healing and strength in moments of trial and struggle. Thanks for stopping by! May God bless you today!

Evangelism is spreading the Good News. We who have received the Good News already have a part to play in others hearing it as well. Paul addresses exactly this in Colossians 4:2-6. We need to pray for those who have been sent, for doors to be open, and the right words to be said. We also need to be ready ourselves to live lives of wisdom and well seasoned speech.  Take some time to read the valuable instruction in this short passage today. May God bless you as you lean on Him and trust Him this week.

While I do not have music, fields, or my dog this week, it is good to open up Romans 8 today with you. The great struggle with sin that we have can only be won by God Himself. Jesus won the war on the cross and the Spirit in His fullness is able to win it in every believer. I hope you take some time to read Romans 7 and 8 and allow the Holy Spirit in His fullness to give you victory over sin in your life. Thanks for stopping by today. Continue to follow along in the 40 Days of Prayer.

Repentance is not familiar to us today. This probably is because we must admit we are wrong which is very unpopular today. Yet the problem goes deeper than that. We find out we are broken and sinful. What do we do? People asked that question in Acts 2:37 and in the next verse Peter tells them "Repent". Repentance is essential to us and opens up our relationship with God. Even as we walk with Him we find more times where repentance is needed as we see in the churches in Revelation 1-3. Thanks so much for stopping by again today.  Music: https://www.hooksounds.com

A time of transition in leadership and of uncertainty, that is when Isaiah encountered the LORD in His holiness as he entered the Temple as Isaiah relates this in Isaiah 6. The king was dead but God was very much alive and holy. In a day such as ours that has very little understanding of God let alone His holiness, we need to encounter Him and know Him. I hope you will read Isaiah 6 and encounter this God who wants you to know Him better. Let's join together in the 40 days of Prayer as well. There is a link below to access those daily devotionals as we focus on prayer.

Over these weeks leading up to Christmas we have been considering some of the places that people in the Bible were commanded to "fear not!" Imagine being one of those shepherds out in the field that night Jesus was born. There were dangers they faced and rejection they lived with. But most nights it was just showing up and doing their jobs. They were not expecting that angelic encounter. "Good tidings of great joy" had come to them! More important Jesus the Messiah had arrived. Thanks for stopping by. We hope you know that great joy that only the Savior can bring by knowing Him. Merry Christmas!

"Our God is with us!" This is the message that is so central to Christmas. God has come in the flesh. The command to "fear not", comes often in the Bible with a promise: God will be with us. When you feel the anxiety of today, I pray that you sense the presence of God with you. May the Lord open all of our eyes as He has down through the ages to the power of His presence. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed week!

"Fear Not!" was a message to the shepherds that heard the announcement of Jesus' birth. It is a message that we need to hear today. It is a message that echoes down through time in the pages of the Bible. Joseph said it in Genesis 50:19. His concern was that his own brothers where putting him in the place of God because of their fear. Like those brothers, we need to allow God to be in His rightful place. Thanks for stopping by. May God bless you today and in this week!