…your life has new meaning!

One sin greater than another?
     'Refreshment in Refuge' from Gina Burgess

How can it possibly be all right for any person to sin and then to blame someone else for the sin? Because we say, "That's okay. It's all right, I forgive you," it feels as if we just told the offender the act was okay. (Which is what forgiveness actually feels like on the surface.) When an offense has been committed, it is not okay. However, who wants to carry dead weight around? Letting go of the offense and allowing God to deal with it in His own way and His own time is the act of forgiveness. I seriously doubt that anyone who forgives an offense can completely…

Life is like a Hot Dog
     'Voice of Inspiration' from Andy Castro

I love Hot Dogs! I know they’re not good for me but I don’t care. They taste great and they bring back good memories of my parents taking me and my brother to a local drive through hot dog joint. It was the best place in town to get a dog with chili, cheese, pickles, onions and mustard. OMG, I loved those dogs. A great thing about hot dogs is the vast variety of ways to prepare them. With a little online research I found several ways to eat dogs. Here are a few worth mentioning: - Killer Bacon-Cheese Dogs (I can’t wait to try this one.) - Twinkie…

Seeing And Knowing God
     ''Christ in You...'' from Dale Krebbs

The story of Job and his friends shows the painful results of not trusting God, and jumping to personal conclusions that seem, at the time, to be very logical and accurate. God eventually reveals Himself to Job, and his friends,.and none of them seemed to comprehended the awesome wonder of God. They did seem to learn that when all is said and done, they had only one right and righteous option: trust Him! Job's steadfastness refutes Satan's claim against him, but Job, not knowing of God and Satans's conversation, presumes a motive for his suffering. Job presumed to be able to…

Everything Happens For A Reason
     'Inspiration For You' from Randy Mitchell

All of us are born with hopes, dreams, and desires running through our veins, often wishing upon the stars that certain things and people would emerge, taking us to where we long to be. We pray on our knees, seek out advice, look for certain signs, and make our case to whomever and whatever will listen that what we have in our hearts is what's best for us, and destined to happen. Sometimes good things do come true, often they don't. After all, we're only human, and have a right to go for what we want. But differentiating between reality and hope-filled dreams is often a brutal…

Bible and Quote - October 26-29
     'Bible verse and quote' from Jan Couns

The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. Psalm 5:5a Pride (attitude of superiority not worth) leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind. C. S. Lewis, 1898–1963 You (God) hate (actively opposes) all evildoers. Psalm 5:5b It is . God’s irreconcilable hostility to all evil, which makes human life tolerable in such a world as ours. Stephen Neill You destroy those who tell lies. Psalm 5:6a The harm our lies inflict are never without consequence. Our habitual blatant falsehoods, protective ‘little white lies’, or careless…

Forgiveness
     'God's Words For US' from Cecelia Lester

Where would we be without forgiveness? We learn early in our Christian life that we have to forgive people who wrong us. As we explore the subject, we hear that sometimes we have to forgive for our own sakes and sanity. We have circumstances we need to get beyond and can only do this through forgiving the other person. If we didn’t extend or seek forgiveness when needed, we would live life in fear, almost in terror. The Apostle Paul writes to the believers in Ephesus, and to us, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ…

Play with the Pros
     'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' from Tom Kelley

Recently my nephew, Scott Snyder, got to play in a national pro-am golf tournament. He won a spot to compete on behalf of his company in the Phoenix Open Pro-Am. A pro-am is an event in which four amateur golfers are teamed with a golfer from the professional ranks in a team event for the right to play over the weekend and win some really neat prizes. Scott is a reasonably proficient golfer and won the right to play in a group with PGA pro, Billy Mayfair. Scott was thrilled that, on the holes with rather large galaries, he played fairly well under pressure. He did say that…

From a Bad Movie
     ''Winging It' from Stan Smith

I'm sure you've seen the scene repeated over and over in different movies. The bad guy has someone important in their power -- a loved one, a president, an innocent victim, whatever -- with the threat of deadly violence to them if the good guy doesn't drop his own carefully aimed, tightly held weapon. And how many times have we yelled at the screen, "Don't do it!"? Why? Because disarming yourself in the face of evil is stupid. But, that's Hollywood. That's writers. I mean, it's fiction. Except it's not. Not when it comes to Christians in today's world. These days…

The Simple Truth
     'The Way' from Kevin Pauley

This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform. – Deuteronomy 30:11 Naaman was a celebrated, powerful officer in the Assyrian army, who had a huge problem: leprosy. He heard of an Israeli prophet with the power to heal him, so he asked for and received permission to travel to Israel (a considerable effort in the day) to find this prophet. The Assyrian king tried to help with a letter of introduction to the king of Israel, asking him to heal Naaman. The Israelite king thought that Naaman was trying to provoke a war. The prophet,…

Comfort in the Psalms I (12/7/10)
     'Today's Little Lift' from Jim Bullington

Have you ever stopped to think that our entire lives are spent seeking comfort? It must be an important and innate instinct with which we are born and which stays with us until death. Today's continuance of devotional thoughts on comfort will begin a look at the Psalms and how they relate to comfort generally. Although I may not know you personally, I would almost wager that as an infant you cried when you were hungry and also let it be known in a similar way when you were wet! Why? Because there was a need for comfort that was a part of your being even at that early age. A favorite…

Jesus Christs Priority Is Very Clear Is Yours?
     'Word from Scotland' from Sandy Shaw

In Luke Chapter 18 and at verse 31, Jesus Christ takes the 12 disciples aside, and tells them, “We are going up to Jerusalem”. This is a serious turning point in the Gospel record. Jesus has been speaking to crowds – and teaching the disciples……