As we enter into May, I have been anticipating all the beauty that spring brings. Hearing the birds sing their joyful tunes. The colors of spring brighten the earth as the trees begin to bud, the grass turns from brown to green and the flowers begin to bloom.

I have always lived in the Midwest and therefore, have the opportunity to experience the changes of each season. My favorite change of season is definitely spring. Spring represents new life!

Spring brings the beauty of new life and in order for the beauty to sustain itself, we have to do some work, which includes weeding! Have you heard the phrase “you reap what you sow?”

Just as farmers plant their seeds and expect to harvest more than they plant, a small decision to do either good or bad reaps a much bigger crop, for either joy or sorrow.

The seeds we sow are typically an outcome of the choices we make. We are faced with choices every day, from the time we get up in the morning until our head hits the pillow at...

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” —1 Samuel 16:7

When the Prophet Samuel saw Eliab the eldest son of Jesse he assumed that He was the one chosen to be the next king of Israel based on his external appearance. The only problem was that although he looked to be the best choice he was not Gods first choice. So often we can make the same mistake. We think if someone is talented or gifted or smart or eloquent they must be the one whom God has chosen. More often than not we think everyone is a better choice than we would be.

God has always chosen those that no one else would choose so that His glory can shine through him or her. God sees possibility when no one else does. God sees potential where no one else does. God sees faithfulness when no one else does. God sees loyalty when...

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. —Jeremiah 17:14

For twenty years, my brother was absent from our family because of drug addiction. Countless times, we thought he was dead; according to drug abuse statistics, he should have been. However, my brother is living proof that God is in the restoration business. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, or what has been done to you. God is willing and able to turn any tragedy into triumph.

After entering many treatment programs with hopes of success and end results of failure, my brother finally found the answer: Jesus. It wasn’t until he met the Lord that he experienced lasting healing and life change. Suddenly, all things became new. My brother didn’t have the strength, willpower, or ability to free himself from bondage, but that changed when he surrendered his life to Christ. The same is true for us. No matter what the bondage is —...

Seeing Breakthrough

By Pastor Jason Noble, Author of Breakthrough to Your Miracle

We serve a God who still does the impossible. There is no problem or issue you’re facing today that God cannot break through and perform a miracle. If you need a miracle, take heart.

To see God break through in our lives today, the principles are the same for us now as they were during biblical times. They are simple principles to understand, but difficult to practice in the middle of a crisis. They are hard to live out when it seems like nothing is changing. Or, even more challenging, when you pray and things go from bad to worse. Talk about confusing and challenging moments. Or, what about when you are believing and praying for a miracle for your loved one and that loved one dies instead?

Those are difficult questions that can shake a person to their core.

No matter the outcome or what God chooses to do, the principles in Scripture still stand. These are the moments when you must go with what...

You are God’s child. He saw you, picked you, and placed you. “You did not choose me; I chose you” (John 15:16 NCV). Before you are a butcher, baker, or cabinetmaker, male or female, Asian or black, you are God’s child. Replacement or fill-in? Hardly. You are His first choice.

Such isn’t always the case in life. Once, just minutes before I officiated a wedding, the groom leaned over to me and said, “You weren’t my first choice.”

“I wasn’t?”

“No, the preacher I wanted couldn’t make it.”

“Oh.”

“But thanks for filling in.”

“Sure. Anytime.” I considered signing the marriage license “Substitute.”

You’ll never hear such words from God. He chose you. The choice wasn’t obligatory, required, compulsory, forced, or co

mpelled. He selected you because he wanted to. You are his open, willful, voluntary choice. He walked onto the auction block where...

Five Ways To Worship When You Are Weary

It’s not easy to keep going when you’re tired. Fatigue zaps us of our strength. Weariness wears on your soul like a rung-out dish cloth. How do you keep going when you’re all out of “go?” What’s the secret sauce to getting your spiritual fervor back?

I think it’s different for everybody. You and God are the only ones who know exactly what you have gone through and what you’re currently going through. Even the people going through difficulties with you don’t fully understand because they aren’t you. They don’t have your perspective, history, etc. Your perception and experiences are unique to you.

But let me offer you five strong ways to worship when you are weary. These aren’t magic bullets, but they do work if you work them. Why? Because…

Worship is a weapon.

Worship does spiritual warfare.

Worship is a nuisance to the enemy.

Worship is not just about God....

Extraordinary in the Ordinary

All of us love hearing stories of miraculous healings. Our hearts are stirred when we hear about impossible situations being beautifully restored. We get inspired by people exhibiting supernatural strength and endurance when pushed to their absolute limits.
 
Truthfully, I’m a junkie for these kinds of things. Being a writer, I’m always on the lookout for powerful, moving stories for inspiration and ideas.
 
When we read about the miracles Jesus performed while He walked among us, they fuel our faith and give us hope when things seem hopeless. 
 
But we have to remember that not every miracle was accepted or celebrated. Remember when Jesus healed on the sabbath and got the religious leaders all riled up. And when the disciples carried on His healing ministry, sometimes those miracles got them into trouble as well. 
 
Today I read the story in Acts 14 where Paul and Barnabas healed a man in Lystra who had...

Choose Faith

Hebrews 11:1, 6  “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

They say that faith is believing without seeing. In the book, Choose Joy: Finding Hope and Purpose When Life Hurts, My sister Sara said that she believes that faith is believing without seeing, but it is also believing without feeling.  It’s believing in those moments when our hearts ache and our tears betray us by spilling over when we know better but feel the pain anyway.

It’s not about always being in a happy place, as much as we should try to live there. It’s about believing even when the happy place isn’t ours to have. It’s about those times when we can’t see or feel the promise, but we...

Some of you may be wondering about your personal calling in life. Being married or not being married can indeed be a calling. So can having children or having no children, working outside the home or being a full-time mom, traveling on a job or staying in an office, working out of your home or being president of something, sewing drapes, cooking at the school cafeteria, finding a cure for cancer, or creating a better meat thermometer. Dare I say, your calling in life lies not in what you do but in who you are?

Remember this. Scripture says God created us for the express purpose of giving himself the joy of loving us. In being loved, we return that love. That is who we are: persons loved by God. When we return his love, we do it in a spirit of response that produces service to him. That is what our relationship with him is all about. If we do things for God because we are trying to pay him back, we miss the point of the relationship. We are not asked to earn the...