Arms Upheld: Support in Life's Hard Battles

Have you ever spent time with someone and walked away feeling less?  Less than whole? Less than enough? Less than valuable? This little symbol "<" means less than. It has a mouth on one end in which it desires to consume all you offer it.  But If God steps in as a holy "3" and caps off our "less than" bits, He turns it into a heart. <3 Now, I don’t know if a hea...

This episode drops on January 1, 2024, but was written in the span of time between Christmas and New Year's. And just because we toss out the old calendar and hang a new one doesn't mean we know what's ahead. We still remain in this in between space of what has happened and what is yet to be. There is always something coming. There will always be another bend ahead. There will alway...

We have spent these last few weeks considering how the people involved in the Christmas story were all simply going about living their lives. Caesar ruled an empire and became an unknowing participant. The Innkeeper ran out of rooms and became an unsuspecting participant. The shepherds guarded their sheep one night and became unassuming participants in the greatest story ever told. But is that it?...

Shepherds were hard working, but not generally the cleanest or best smelling fellows. These often ignored or avoided people were the one's tasked with raising the lambs for sacrifices at the temple. As they went about their unassuming lives guarding the sheep, suddenly an angel shows up and "the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them." God chose them to announce the arrival of...

In the town of Bethlehem, I don't know how many inns there were. I do know there was at least one: a guy trying to make a living in a small town that was overrun with crowds and chaos. We don't know if he offered his barn in exasperation, quick brainstorm, or compassionate connect with the Lord, but we do know that God used him to get Mary and Josheph...and Jesus into that stable. God us...

Welcome to Advent! We know the lines. We know the names and the characters. We’ve heard the story over and over again. But have we ever stopped the think about how each person was simply going about their regular everyday life when this miraculous event plopped right down in front of them? Caesar Augustus wasn't sitting on his throne scheming of how to get his name in the Jewish record book....

Friends, I've found that my life has shifted. For me this new season holds a retail job. In previous years, I used to avoid stores as much as possible during the holiday season. Now I walk in willingly multiple times a week for hours at a time. This new season also holds a new sporting experience for my family. In previous years, sports slowed during November and December. Now we are spending...

Recently, I hit my head on a door frame. I was heading down the hall and heard voices. I leaned past my doorway to see what was happening, then decided to continue on to my room. As I turned to go in, I swung my head too early and too quickly into the door frame instead of open space. My injury could have been prevented: First by not allowing myself to get distracted by other people. Or second, by...

Psalm 3 is a lament written by David during the time he fled from his son Absalom. The psalm begins with the exclamation, “O LORD, how many are my foes!” We may not be facing an uprising, but we are likely facing something…or a lot of somethings. What are you facing? Can you name your foes? Verse 1 continues, “Many are rising against me.” Do you feel that those things are rising like water around...

After finishing the book of Lamentations, I sat pondering why there is a whole book of the Bible dedicated to whining. I hate whining. It is a pet peeve of mind. Philippians 2:14 backs me up on this. BUT, perhaps, whining and lamenting are not the same thing. Aren't we supposed to share each other's burdens? How can we do that if we don't know of them? After looking at the definitio...

When we find ourselves praying, but nothing fits quite right, God may be trying to teach us a lesson. I recently found myself in such a space. Essentially, my son needed a ride to soccer practice. It took hours of frustration and a lot of effort in all the wrong directions to open my eyes to what God wanted to show me. Yet that’s how we learn. That’s how we grow. And God knows that. In His infinit...

As the days grow shorter and the temperatures drop, we find ourselves in a world that's changing. We are losing daylight and warmth, but probably more than that as well. Perhaps we are losing stability or comfort. The future looks unfamiliar. Things are changing and they don't look like we thought they would. What do we do with this? We can choose to fight the wave of loss and grief or a...

I just started a new book and I love how the author speaks from his "messy house" to mine. Writers tend to write the words that they need to hear in their own lives.  And Justin Whitmel Earley does this beautifully in his book Habits of the Household . This is how this podcast came to be as well. Like the Teacher in Ecclesiastes, we can choose "to find just the right words to expres...

A full moon is when the moon reflects the light from the sun fully upon the earth. The moon doesn't create its own light. Neither is the light shining on it varying. The phases of the moon reflect what we can see. We are like moons. Like Ecclesiastes 8:1 says, "Wisdom lights up a person’s face." God's love and wisdom constantly shine on us. How much we reflect of the Son-light...

Have you ever faced a steep hill you had to climb? How did you do it? Did you just walk right up? No. The way up is a winding path slowly ascending in elevation. This is the way God created the world and us to work. Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? Ecclesiastes 7:13 Listen in to hear how this verse can teach us to climb up our mountains and overcome. Bible...

The sun rises every morning. An app may be able to tell us the exact time it will happen, but how it happens is something that must be experienced. Then we choose how we respond to it. We can appreciate the beauty. We can stare in awe and wonder. We can praise the Lord for the experience. We can let it change us. We can also desire a different sunrise. Or curse the morning. Or close our eyes to th...

Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us that "A threefold cord is not quickly broken." This is God's formula for relationships. We were created in the image of a triune God. We were made for connection--a Godly connection. Connection His way involves three components: Us, another person, and Him. When God is an integral part of our relationships, there is a strength unlike anything else. Listen...

Today's episode is dedicated to my daughter, Ella. God orchestrated the reading of a passage from Strong Like Water by Aundi Kolber, a sunrise, an anniversary of a loss, and the 100th episode to intersect here with appropriate fear. Listen in to hear how September 11 brings it all together. Bible verses referred to in this episode: 1 John 4:18 John 1:1-5 Find me on Instagram @HLynnPierce   or...

From David to Solomon...or the Teacher, King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem whose words are recorded in Ecclesiastes. The famous passage from chapter 3, reminds us that there is a time, a season, for all things. And what has to happen now is not a permanent fixture in our lives. Verse 11 promises us that "God has made everything beautiful for its own time." No matter what mess...

So, David is anointed the new king of Israel. What happens next?  A big celebration? A promotion? A seat at the head of the table? Yeah, not so much. Essentially nothing happened. He went back to the fields…to the sheep and goats. Life went on as usual. We, too, may find ourselves gifted with a special calling only to find ourselves living out life as usual. The life of David ( and Jesus ) teaches...

Welcome back to the family of Jesse! Samuel has just seen the parade of Jesse's seven sons only to hear God's rejection of them all. Asked for any more sons, Jesse is forced to produce his youngest, the weakling that is used to take care of the sheep and goats and run errands. Although he amounted to little in the eyes of his family, this son is chosen by God to be the new king. His name...

1 Samuel 16 opens with the prophet Samuel distraught over Saul's bad decision. The Lord, having thought he had mourned enough, sent Samuel on a mission to anoint a new king. Samuel is led to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons. Except, none of the sons paraded before him are God's chosen one. In verse 7, the Lord warns Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height... The LORD...

Many know the reference of David and Goliath. The underdog story is a familiar one and yet there is so much to learn from this account. Goliath represents the sin in our lives. It is something large and looming that challenges the things of God. It seeks out a man…us…and wants to take us down. Sin’s echo continues to this day. Yet, we don't enter the battle alone. We are divinely equipped and...

~Hello, friends! I’ve missed you! Thanks for sticking around! (If you are listening later, I just took my first 4-week break from this podcast and am now returning.) It’s good to be back! ~ Let’s keep learning from David, by reading about one of his…um…maybe not his most brilliant moment…we could even call it ‘ugly.’   This week we jump into Psalm 34 which lead us to 1 Samuel 21 in which we find D...

In the middle of the Bible, we find the book of Psalms. David wrote about half of them. There are songs of praise, words of lament, and even verses asking God to stick it to his enemies. Through them all the power and character of God seem to take center stage. They are hymns to honor Him. David took the time to compose and sing these lyrics to a God who he knew intimately whether he was a shepher...