God spoke those words of comfort and encouragement in a vision given to Babylon’s appointed prince of Judah, who was attempting to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem after it had been destroyed. God’s people had spent many years in captivity, but Cyrus, King of Babylon, had decreed that the Israelites could return to their land and rebuild the temple. The man in charge of this was Zerubbabel.
Read MoreJesus called himself the good shepherd. When he said this, his audience probably knew well the role of a shepherd. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met an actual shepherd. I decided that if I wanted to know more about Jesus, I should learn more about shepherds as I studied the scriptures. What I found was encouraging- and I hope it encourages you as well.
Read MoreLast Friday a gunman entered a mall and killed five people. My mind has gone back to this news, over and again, often, over these past days- more than is usual for these types of things. It happened less than sixty miles from where I live, and when I first heard the news, I had only just returned from a shopping trip at a different mall. I know people in the community where it happened. It was too close to home
Read MoreI have four new books to tell you about today! One of the joys of writing a blog is that, sometimes, I get to read books before they're officially published. I was busy this summer reading advance copies of several books, written by some of my favorite faith bloggers. Finally, I get to share them with you! The fact that these books are all written by faith bloggers makes me feel proud, particularly because they're all so great!
Read MoreThere are two types of rest: spiritual and physical. We need both kinds of rest if we want to be healthy. The following is about spiritual rest. What does is mean to find rest in God?
Trusting in God’s unfailing love, and believing that he will do for us what we can’t do for ourselves is how we can find rest in God. God will show us his will for our lives and he will give us the strength to accomplish it. We don’t need to be constantly striving and achieving on our own strength.
Read MoreHow has your summer been going? I’ve been seeing lots of adorable “back to school” pictures on Facebook lately. Here in Seattle, we still have a couple of week’s left before the kids go back.
Read MoreIt wasn’t a particularly useful skill, but it was something that I loved doing. It was my “claim to fame” as a kid, my one impressive trick. For a while, I was good at diving. I had a friend, Carrie, who did back flips off the diving board like it was the easiest thing in the world. One summer day, between fourth and fifth grade, I asked her to teach me how to do what she did.
Read More“If our kids never struggle with their faith, they will have borrowed convictions.” –Josh McDowell
I was raised in a Christian home. My mom was a children’s pastor. I felt like I was always at church. But when I got to high school, I started having doubts about my faith. I was no longer interested in taking everything my parents said at face value. I had to figure it out for myself. More importantly, I needed the Holy Spirit to help me…to change my heart. I could no longer rely on my parent’s faith. It had to be my own.
Read MoreLook to Jesus: How to Let Go of Worry and Trust God, is the title of my book that came out in January. It has been exciting to see how God has been using this little book. I love hearing from people who've read it, who've shared with me how it has served as an encouragement to them.
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