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Through This World’s Lonely Pass {New Music Monday}
I hope this poem, and the music that accompanies it, encourage you to stand firm on Jesus, our only hope in this age and the age to come! We need not fear as he stays near,His love and protection a fountain.Our hope stands firm, year after year,The pinnacle of a mountain. With words, he builds the foundation,With trust, we climb higher still.Each rock works for our salvation,Each stone a path to goodwill. Flowing like crystalline watersFrom stores in the mountain’s side:Grace for his sons and daughters,Comfort through him who died. O Jesus, Our Emmanuel,We praise you who on earth did dwell.Bring us through this world’s lonely pass,Safely home, loved, protected–with…
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Truth, Fear, and Living in this Age
I’m reading a book right now called Addictive Habits: Changing for Good by David R. Dunham. It’s part of a series called “31-Day Devotionals for Life.” On Day 15, David R. Dunham encourages his readers to put on the armor of God to fight against Satan’s temptations and accusations. He lists the armor of God as containing “truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, Scripture, and prayer” (from Ephesians 6). In the ‘Reflect’ section, he asks, “Looking over the list of elements in the armor of God, which do you feel is lacking the most in your life?” I gave this question a lot of thought. What I came up with…
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Anxiety In Our Hearts
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a Man’s Heart Anxiety builds upon itself, as I wrote about in this post. We can even become anxious about being anxious! Anxious thoughts tend to cluster around past or future events, which we have no control over. Sometimes we let anxiety grow in us until we feel anxious all the time, unable to calm down, rest, or think clearly. These anxious thoughts come from our hearts. Our outside circumstances may act as a catalyst, activating these worries inside of us, but ultimately we provide the anxious thoughts. We don’t sin when we…
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Jesus Is the Answer…to Anxiety and Depression
Last Thursday, I spoke at our local college campus’s weekly Cru meeting as part of a series called “Jesus Is the Answer…” I felt so encouraged to see many students who love the Lord and desire to see His glory displayed on campus. I know sometimes people think younger generations are hopeless, but I saw abundant hope in this group of young people. What a blessing to see God at work! Thank you Cru staff and team for inviting me to speak. I’d love to come back again sometime. Below you’ll find the extra thoughts I added to the presentation as I talked (with the same headings as the slides)…
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Be Still, Momma!
I am amazed by how fast children can go from playing well together to playing like they hate each other’s guts. (Sorry for the elementary school language!) I find myself all in one sentence praising Samuel for doing something well, then reprimanding him for doing something malicious. Things can deteriorate fairly fast around here! That goes for me, too. Sometimes I feel like I even begin the morning on a sour note (hence my new year’s resolution for this year). Other times we begin the morning well, something goes wrong, something else goes wrong, and I end up crying in the bedroom. Events in our household tend to pile up…