You know, there are some stories that are just so embarrassing you don’t even want to share them. Yet if you do, you not only minister to others, you allow yourself to experience truth. So here goes. It was the mid-eighties. Our church leaders asked me to write a children’s Bible memory program that built […]
My friend Linda shared a prayer she prayed some time ago: God, I want a closer relationship with you. Help! Amen. She told me that God’s answer was almost immediate. Stop achieving, start receiving. As I’ve pondered this response, it occurred to me that our life with God begins with receiving. “But to all who received him, […]
The LORD your God is with you,He is mighty to save.He will take great delight in you,He will quiet you with his love,He will rejoice over you with singing.—Zephaniah 3:17, NIV This verse speaks powerfully of God’s love for us, and shows us three life-changing aspects of that love. It’s one of my favorite verses. As […]
Do you ever feel like you’re in a wrestling match with life? Are you circling with an opponent who wants to take you down? Or, worse yet, are you in danger of being “pinned” to the mat? When I was in one of those “wrestling” times several years ago, I memorized Exodus 14:14: “The Lord will […]
I was weary . . . weariness stemming from the busyness of a fall that had been physically and emotionally taxing. Yet this gave me more opportunity than ever to apply what I’ve been learning about rest and resiliency in the past year. Living out these lessons felt like diving into deep, refreshing water. I […]
At the end of every year, I ask God for a key word to be my focus for the year ahead. My key word for 2017 was rest. In December I asked God what He would select for my 2018 word. The answer came before I said “amen.” After pondering it for a few weeks (Did I […]
Recently, I was privileged to give the eulogy for my friend Joann Blanch at her memorial service. As I thought about her life, I realized it was characterized by saying yes to the invitations in Psalm 23. Saying yes shaped who she was, defined the qualities she lived by, and resulted in blessing everyone she […]
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down;let us kneel before the LORD, our maker!”—Psalm 95:6 I’ve been pondering worship for a long time—years really. Is it merely a synonym for what I do on Sunday morning? Is it only the part of the Sunday morning service that involves singing? My answer is no. Worship is so […]
I was alone, sitting on the bed in the hotel room. With my Bible open to Philippians and my journal nearby, I sat conversing with God. Suddenly I recalled that six months earlier I had been reading Philippians and was struck by this verse: “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful […]
Editor’s note: The following is from Sue Tell’s weekly blog at suetell.com. The beautiful fall weather in Estes Park, Colorado, provided the perfect setting for a retreat with Dr. Bryan Chapell, former president of Covenant Theological Seminary and now a senior pastor in Illinois. For two days I had the privilege of joining 23 of our […]
