Bible Truth for Everyday Life
Bible study tools, devotions, and free resources to help you encounter God in your quiet time and apply Biblical truth to your everyday life.
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5 Inspiring Quotes to Help You Live Your Best Life
I sit on the deck as the ironweed bows its royal head in the late-summer breeze. I could list my favorite memories from the summer, but it seems fitting to close this season by reflecting on the words others have spoken into my life. These five inspiring quotes to help you live your best life have challenged me to rethink the rhythms of my days, the ways I seek God, and my priorities. These words remind me to keep watching and listening for God’s hand in every corner of my life. I pray these words will challenge you to slow down and let God speak into your quiet places, busy…
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Passion for God: 8 Ways to Fan the Flame
A thin band of sunlight slips through the window and illuminates a dried bouquet of thistle across the room. Lately, my passion for God seems to be wilting like the dried bouquet. I remember the day we gathered the thistle. It was warm for November, and the threat of the impending months of darkness and snow weighed on me. We went to the fields and gathered thistle, horsetails, and milkweed. We hoped that bringing life inside might somehow lengthen the months when the weather would stop us from wandering through fields of wildflowers. Months later, I gaze at the bouquet as worship music plays. I silently ask God to give…
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Hope for Your Hidden Pain and Unspoken Struggles
Our kids looked adorable together, and someone said something about taking a photo. It was after the comment about how they’ll look nice together at prom someday that his eyes filled with embarrassed tears. He buried his face in his mom’s hip and wiped them away on the hem of her shirt. The moment got me thinking about our hidden pain in life. I understood the little guy’s struggle. I hid my tears throughout most of my childhood too. No one ever made fun of me for crying. I simply thought I needed to appear strong. All the time. The Truth About Hidden Pain We all have struggles and weaknesses.…
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5 Tools for the Days When Your Quiet Time With Jesus Is Boring
We’re sitting on my couch when my friend asks a question that no one has ever asked me: “Is your daily quiet time with Jesus bringing you into life-giving encounters with him?” I stare blankly at my friend while the wrens chatter outside the window. Then, I tell her the gut-honest truth: Most days, I’m just checking “quiet time with Jesus” off a list of things to accomplish for the day. It’s one more task on a never-ending list. I wonder if you can relate. Perhaps you want to connect with God in the quiet moments of your days, but you’re distracted, restless, and quite possibly even bored. If you’re like…
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Be the Real You: 5 Reasons to Be Authentic
Do you ever feel like you won’t fit in if you decide to be the real you? Last summer, I drove eight hours to attend a conference with a large group of talented female writers. I walked into the hotel where I would be staying on a scorching July evening, and every woman in the foyer looked poised, gorgeous, and entirely put-together. I looked like I’d just run five miles and then hopped in the car and driven for eight straight hours. Suddenly, I noticed the distance between the woman I sensed I ought to be and the woman I actually am. (Click here to read about this moment.) Most…
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How to Embrace New Thoughts about Old Things – with Kelly Balarie
“What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself. All day long, the mill of his brain is grinding, and his thoughts, not those other things, are his history.” Mark Twain As Caleb bangs plastic toys into one another like there’s a war happening in his bedroom naptime, I watch sun gleam through smudged window panes and read these familiar words: “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all…
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Am I Going to Heaven? (How to Have Confidence)
My friend looks at me through watery eyes and asks, “Am I going to heaven? I’m so scared that I won’t make it in.” She just lost a loved one. In her grief, she’s been thinking about eternal life. “I’ve always tried to be a good person,” she adds. “Do you think I’ve been good enough?” I wish I could tell her that being a good person is enough to get into heaven. I wish I could tell her that a vague belief that all pathways lead to God is enough, but I can’t lie. In response, I open up and tell her my story. Am I Going to Heaven?…
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Stepping Out in Faith: How to Take the First Step
I have always struggled with new beginnings. Stepping out in faith can feel terrifying when we’re afraid we might fall flat on our faces. Starting anything new often feels awkward, and this is challenging for most of us. Whether I’m launching my first blog post, running the first mile of the morning jog, or starting a new job, I don’t love the first small steps. At times, I feel this way when I sit down to write and have no words. There’s a saying among writers that goes something like this: “Write or do nothing.” In other words, when you designate a time of the day to write, you have…
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7 Empowering Bible Verses for Anxiety and Stress
We sit by the lake and cast stones like we’re casting cares. I try to conjure up a few long-ago memorized Bible verses for anxiety because I need an anchor on this clear blue afternoon. I remember a day when I sat by this lake four short months ago. It’s funny how four months can feel exactly like a lifetime. This azure water lapping against an emerald shoreline was clothed in unrecognizable white, and there was no definitive border between the place where the land ended and the water began. Men sat bundled in blue and brown shanties across the white expanse. They entertained themselves by jigging child-sized fishing poles…
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How Saying Yes to Life Might Be Your Gateway to Greater Joy
It’s an unseasonably warm spring morning, and we’re hurrying down the road to stay on schedule. There are articles to write, meals to prepare, and towels to fold. Accomplishing these tasks is my idea of saying yes to life today. As the sun rises higher, we set out in search of frog eggs before delving into the work of the day. We’re almost home when little Bekah stops along the road and calls me to look at her treasure. I suspect she’s found another daffodil. “No, Mom! You just have to see this!” she yells. Turning back, I’m astonished by the sight before me. My girl holds a golden flower…
