Tagged: joy

Advent joy 0

Advent / Comfort and Hope

ADVENT JOY

What joy! To think—before the foundations of the world—this moment. This time in history when we find ourselves smack-dab in the middle of the already and the not yet. Christ has already come. In Him we live and move and have our being, but He is coming back. The not yet has us waiting—confident and hopeful of Christ’s return. We join the ranks of those who waited long before we arrived on the scene. Those who knew of what was foretold, believed, lived by faith, but died without seeing it’s fulfillment. Waiting in faith Hebrews 11 recounts the stories of...

When faith becomes sight 0

Comfort and Hope / Poetry

WHEN FAITH BECOMES SIGHT

Considerations—A Poem and Several Quotes CONSTERNATION, noun [Latin , to throw or strike down.] Astonishment; amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates a person for consultation and execution; excessive terror, wonder or surprise. Webster’s Dictionary 1828 You can find a few more poems here.

Shade of grace 2

Encouragement

SHADE OF GRACE — AS A LIFESTYLE

GOD’S INVITATION TO SHADE Life is hard. We are all damaged—ravaged by the sins of others and the consequences of our own sinful choices, a broken world, and the enemy’s schemes. Things break—glasses, cars, hearts, all the things. The heat is on. Challenging circumstances, pressure, disappointments, relationship struggles, unexpected diagnoses, anything, and everything threatens to zap our strength, steal our joy, and distract us from knowing and enjoying God.  All of it—the hard, broken, difficult things in life can be redeemed if we will do one thing—come to Jesus.  Come out from the oppressive heat into the shade of God’s...

11

Exhortation

SHADE OF GRACE—PART THREE There Is A Plan

There Is A Plan HOPE My soul was shriveled. It had been a long, hard, 4-year cancer journey with my husband.  While God had proven exceedingly faithful and I was surrounded by friends who shared my burdens, the desire to process life with a therapist surfaced again. I had reached out to a counselor I respected months before, but his waiting list was over the one-year mark at that point. Watching our cancer journey unfold, I knew I could no longer wait to sit with someone to process my heart. I prayed, then checked out several websites for counseling agencies...