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What Are the Blessings of God?
After praying together as a family, our son recently asked, “Mom, what are the blessings of God? You’re always asking God to bless us, but what does that mean?’ I told him that God’s blessings include peace, protection, comfort, joy, and more. As I reflected, I told him that everything good in our lives is a blessing from God. God’s blessings include family, friends, our home, summer sunrises, wildflowers, and more. Since that day, I’ve been more mindful of paying attention to God’s many blessings. If you’d like to cultivate a greater awareness of God’s blessings, you are in the right place today. Today, we’ll explore the question, “What are…
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Satisfaction in Jesus: A Question to Ask Yourself
I’m not thinking about how to find satisfaction in Jesus as the wind rustles the maple leaves. However, as I open my Bible for inspiration on the warm afternoon, I discover stumble a surprising scene. A blind man named Bartimaeus is crying out to Jesus from the roadside. Stopping, Jesus looks at blind Bartimaeus and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” For an instant, I imagine I am the blind man, and Jesus is asking me this question. “Jesus, you know what I want you to do for me,” I whisper in the deepest part of my soul. As the words leave my lips, I realize…
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10 Steps to Take When You Feel Empty Inside
Fog hovers over clear water this morning. I sit in silence feeling empty inside. When’s the last time you stilled your soul long enough to be real about the places where you feel empty inside? We all have empty spaces. Emptiness might look like numbness, emotional distress, loneliness, isolation, or grief. When we feel empty inside, it can be hard to know where to turn. Today, we’ll look at ten things to do to fill the emptiness in our souls. When You Feel Empty Inside The feeling of emptiness can have many causes. Sometimes, grief leads to emptiness. All losses involve grief, not only death. We can feel empty inside…
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God Has a Plan for You—Even When He Seems Silent
We awoke to a fresh inch of snow on the lawn on the first day of April, and it felt like one more day tacked onto a never-ending winter. Whether you’re facing a long winter or enduring a difficult season that seems like it will never end, it can be hard to hold onto hope. You need to know that God has a plan for you, especially when he seems silent. Most of us don’t wait well. Waiting for a dream to come to fruition or a difficult time to end can be deeply discouraging. God Has a Plan for You While You Wait King Solomon said it well in…
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15 Bible Verses About Faith Over Fear
Not long ago, our family faced a battle with fear that surpassed any fear we’d ever known. As we wrestled with fear regarding the life of our child, I anchored myself in God’s Word as I clung to Bible verses about faith over fear. Bible Verses About Faith Over Fear Nevertheless, the fear was relentless. On a cognitive level, I knew the answer: Faith pushes out fear and reminds us of where we find our hope. On a heart level, I had much to learn about walking by faith. Today, I’m sharing the Bible verses about faith over fear that carried me through that time. We’ll also discuss practical ways…
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3 Keys to Effective Prayer: Radically Change Your Prayer Life
Most of us face times when our prayers seem to go unanswered. During these times, we wonder if why God doesn’t seem to hear our prayers. Today, we’ll unpack 3 keys to effective prayer. These simple insights can radically transform your prayer life forever. I also invite you to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to improve your prayer life. I begin today’s post with an illustration that radically changed the way I pray. After this illustration, we’ll explore the keys to effective prayer. 3 Keys to Effective Prayer Layers of ivory piled heavenward for weeks—the kind of snow that melts and freezes a…
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10 Bible Verses About Disappointment: How to Handle Spiritual Frustration
Regardless of the depth and strength of our faith, most of us will be disappointed in God at some point. During these times, turning to God’s Word can give us hope. Today, we’ll explore 10 Bible verses about disappointment. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to encourage you. Bible Verses About Disappointment It is Christmas morning here in Pennsylvania. This is the morning God bends down to meet us. This is the day we celebrate a groaning mother’s messy morning in a manger, the birth of a Messiah who comes quietly and unexpectedly. The world didn’t expect the Messiah to arrive…
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How to Find Strength in God When Life Is Tough
Winter was bearing down on us with a stranglehold that left me breathless at times. Every morning, I sat beside the window and wondered whether our family was about to walk down the most broken road we’d ever known. Day after day, I opened God’s Word in hopes that I might to discover how to find strength in God as we faced our storm. There was a medical prognosis on the horizon, and I was terrified. I’d been standing on Truth that held the power to slay the giant of fear. I’d been rebuking, taking back ground, worshiping, and fixing my eyes on the pure and good. Nevertheless, as I…
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Transform Your Mind by Overcoming These Toxic Mindsets
There are monarchs on the milkweed, and the sun sinks fiery white above the overgrown weed fields behind the house. “They’re not weeds,” five-year-old Caleb contends, “They’re flowers.” I smile at his words. Maybe he knows the hidden secret about how to really transform your mind when the weeds creep in. “I guess it depends on what you want to call them,” I tell the little guy. “One person’s weeds are another person’s flowers.” We walk to the spot where the fields border the yard – where the monarchs stretch their marmalade wings on the sticky milkweed leaves – and I clip a bouquet for the dining room table. A…
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How to Overcome Toxic Thoughts With God’s Help
A dandelion releases her ashen fuzz to the sky, and I stand at the window to watch. The window is strong and clear, but a year ago, it was fractured into a dozen tiny lines. I’m not proud of the moment I shattered the window with my bare hand. Nevertheless, the incident eventually helped me learn how to overcome toxic thoughts with God’s help. Maybe it’s taken a year for me to write about this because I was ashamed I had it in me. Maybe you’ve been here, too. Perhaps you’ve yelled just a little too forcefully at your kids, lashed out a little too ferociously at that guy who…
