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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How to Turn to God in Times of Crisis
Shadows flutter on the wall as the candle flickers golden in front of us. I’ve gathered our three children to pray because I want to teach them how to turn to God in a crisis. As our time in prayer begins, I open the Bible. I read the words that have been floating through my mind for the past few weeks now: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). By the yellow glow of…
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The Importance of Balance in Life: What Does It Mean
This morning, snowflakes waltzed on the trodden lawn like tufts of cotton grass bobbing on a summer morning. I remembered summer with all its life and possibility, and the season we’d settled into felt more like a sterile waiting room where everyone just stared at the walls and prayed for our names to be called. I’d been thinking about the importance of balance in life, and that balance felt lacking. Sometimes it’s all you can do not to put every last ounce of hope in the day when the season finally shifts. With all your heart you want to put your hope in something bigger than your circumstances – Someone…
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Instead of Pleading With God, Try This Prayer Posture
Layers of ivory piled heavenward for weeks—the kind of snow that melts and freezes a half-dozen times, leaving crusty layers like some seven-layer dessert gone horribly wrong. I’d been pleading with God to lead me out of a tough stretch. I had no idea he was about to open my eyes with a very clear object lesson in the form of a pleading child. We kept the yellow snow shovel propped right next to the front door that year. Every morning, we scraped the icy cement and threw out the salt. I didn’t appreciate the morning call to shovel the entryway. However, the four-year-old at my side saw it as…
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Disappointed in God: 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 in our lives. When God doesn’t heal our loved ones, bring our great dreams to pass, or answer our prayers according to our hopes, it’s easy to feel disappointed in him. We all face times when we struggle to make sense of God’s work in our lives. I invite you to join our family on a chilly Christmas morning, and we’ll talk about how to navigate those times in life when God’s ways don’t make sense to us. Disappointed in God It is Christmas morning here in Pennsylvania. This is…
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How to Be Joyful in the Lord: 7 Secrets
It’s an unseasonably warm Thursday afternoon, aspen leaves covering the ground with a golden blanket. It’s as if they’ve absorbed every ounce of joy in life and put it on display for the world to see. I admire them as I consider how to be joyful in the Lord. Ten minutes later, I rush through the aisles of the discount grocery store, filling my cart to the brim as other shoppers scurry to get in front of me. I’ve forgotten all about pursuing joy and think only about knocking out my to-do list for the day. When the last loaf of bread is scanned and placed gently on top of…
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What to Do When God is Silent in Your Life
Today, I invite you to pause and imagine a discouraged woman who has lost any sense of God’s presence in her life. God is silent in her life; meanwhile, the world around her expects her to be a spiritual leader, mentor, and example. Here are her words: “As for myself, Father, I have nothing to say for the darkness is so dark, the pain is so painful. Sometimes the grip of pain is so great that I can hear my own voice call out—My God, help me. When I help my Sisters draw very close to Jesus—when I teach them to love Him with a deep, devoted, personal love, I…
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5 Kingdom Advancement Prayers for Our World
God’s kingdom is the realm in which he rules and reigns. His kingdom has come to earth in part, but we are all awaiting the day when Jesus returns and reigns in full. Until that time, we can join together in praying kingdom advancement prayers for the world. 5 Kingdom Advancement Prayers for the World Matthew 6:10 reads: “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus’ words lead us to consider: Just what does it look like to pray for his kingdom to come on earth? Undoubtedly, part of this prayer includes shifting from self-focused prayers to world-focused prayers. Reverend Newman Hall writes: “Man’s worship, apart from…
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10 Things God Wants You to Know
There are sailboats on the water today, and I know this season won’t last much longer. I remember where I was last season at this time: suffering quietly in what felt like a never-ending valley of despair. Maybe you’ve been here, too. Perhaps you know how it feels to wonder about the things God wants you to know when life is hard, when you can’t hear his voice. Sometimes the quiet valleys of suffering are the most difficult of all. They’re the valleys no one sees, the ones no one understands, or even worse, the ones you’re just expected to endure. Regardless of whether you’re sailing beneath sunny skies or…
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The Secret to Having Peace in Life When Your Plate is Full
Autumn tends to be a full season for our family. Every year, this season nudges me to seek a deeper level of peace in life when the demands of my days feel overwhelming. This year, I’ve been shuttling the oldest to cross-country practice, storing vegetables from the garden, writing words, holding things down on the homefront, and fulfilling all the normal requirements that fill our days. Slipping away to the woods, it feels good to pause in the middle of it all. The Secret for Deeper Peace in Life As I quiet my racing mind, I think of a recent study on the book of Exodus. Moses is leading God’s…
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What to Do When You Hit a Spiritual Slump
Are you stuck in a spiritual slump? Read these words from my recent post at Women Wielding the Word: I remember reading the words on a sun-splattered spring dawn, and I could not honestly say I related. The words went like this: “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:2 NIV). I want both my heart and my flesh to literally yearn – to hunger – for God, but there are plenty of mornings when I open my Bible with waning enthusiasm. A wise mentor once compared daily Bible reading to a daily bowl…
