Living on the Gulf Coast affords lots of opportunities to enjoy things that are uniquely Texas. Galveston Island is less than an hour away and a favorite family get-away. On one such trip many years ago, our family took the ferry across the ship channel to Bolivar Peninsula. As lovers of Texas ...
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Struggles
The Struggle is Real!
Several months ago, while dropping off one of my daughter’s friends, I heard from the backseat, Strugggulll! Apparently she was having difficulty unlatching her seatbelt. A few weeks later I heard her say, The struggle is real!
Curious, I asked my girls about it. Because really, I don’t think ...
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Displaced and Distressed
Life throws its curves. Sometimes I respond fairly well. Other times, not so much. Sometimes I start out great! Later, I crater in tears. I've been hanging out in the latter camp--displaced and distressed.
Our area has had A LOT of much-needed rain in the last several weeks. Over a week ago, a ...
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Hurried, Worried, and Upset
As I focus on Being instead of Doing this year, I find myself very aware of my time and how I want to invest it. The first week of school after Christmas break is invariably chock full of appointments--regardless of how hard I try to keep it light. (Ahhh... there it is again--the word try.) For the ...
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Joy Comes in the Morning
Yesterday, the last day of school, was a rough day. One of my daughters performed in her school’s talent show. Unfortunately, her piece was part of the “prelude”. There was so much talking and there were so many students entering the auditorium that no one heard her play. It was emotionally ...
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![This week in our small group study, I felt the Lord’s gentle chastisement.
We looked at the promise in Luke 11:28, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”
At first glance, the promise of blessing comes from obedience. But it’s much more.
In the preceding verses, Jesus had cast out a demon that caused a man to be mute. The crowd accused Him of casting out a demon with Satan’s power.
Jesus explained how ridiculous it would be for Satan to drive out his own demons. Then a woman cries out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you,” (v 27).
This is the sticking point. Jesus was in the middle of an important discourse when this woman interrupts Him. He corrects her with this:
✨ Blessed are those who HEAR the word of God and obey it.
That word HEAR means to LISTEN with FULL ATTENTION.
✨ We cannot truly obey God if we don’t know what He’s saying to us.
Basically, Jesus told this woman, and the others in the crowd, “Pay attention!! Don’t get distracted from my voice. I have important things to tell you. You won’t know what they are and what I want you to do, if all you’re thinking about is what you want to say or how you can gain attention. Put your attention on ME.”
It’s never fun to be Jesus’s object lesson.
The questions I’m asking myself …
✨ What keeps me from spending time alone with Jesus?
✨ When I finally get alone with Him, what distracts me?
✨ What keeps me from focusing on God’s Word?
✨ What causes my kind to wander when I’m praying?
➡️ Eliminating distractions …
➡️ Exercising discipline …
… to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
… brings true blessing.
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