Await & Arise: A pause for the soul

Send us Fan Mail Situations can catch us off guard and typically my response is fear, but God calls us to trust in him and to instead respond in faith.   Today's teaching focuses on David as he flees from Saul and we see that fear jeopardize the town of priests at Nob and his response in fear lacking faith.   God is in it with him though and eventually we see David's fear turn to faith a...

Send us Fan Mail This is the final teaching for our 30 weeks in Psalms.  What a great study it has been.  And a perfect wrap to this study of why we praise God in all situations.  Struggle or victory...praise God.   I hope you have been encouraged and edified by these teachings and I look forward to seeing you back here in the fall when we start our study in Joshua.  If you want to know more about...

Send us Fan Mail You know we study the word and we dig to find God and to understand him better.  But we often forget to take a step back and reflect on our own stories.  How has God been good in your life?  This week we dive into the Psalms that the Israelites sang to remind themselves of all that God had done for them, all that he had walked them through and the miracles he performed to rescue t...

Send us Fan Mail The truth of vindication in this world is that it is never really full or complete.  As we study David in his time of running from Saul we see him desire to be vindicated.  He never wanted to harm Saul, he sought only to honor him as God's appointed king until God said otherwise.  But Saul knew that God was calling him out and he did not want to let go of his power and so he...

Send us Fan Mail Our lives are made up of transitions and changes and plans we thought we had figured out only to hiccup and there we are headed east when we thought for sure we would be headed west.   But God is in control, if we ask him to be.   James 4:13 says, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make...

Send us Fan Mail This week in CBS we studied through Psalm 28, 58, 83 & 109.  Your encouraged to go back and read through those chapters if you haven't already before you listen to the teaching.   David is facing great adversity as he writes these Psalms.  He is looking to God to unleash vengeance on those who have betrayed him.   In these Psalms we are reminded that we do not fight flesh...

Send us Fan Mail Contentment and peace are elusive in this life unless you are connected, as John says, to the Vine...Jesus.  Paul talks about how he is content in his weakness, in fact he will only boast of his weakness if he must boast at all.  Why?  Because in his weakness God's strength is what shines through!  He says in 1 Corinthians, God's strength is "made known".   I w...

Send us Fan Mail This season has been one of wading through deep waters in questions and understanding.  Working through frustration and paths that didn't go the way I maybe thought they might.  Leading to open doors I didn't recognize before.  Sometimes we come to crossroads of our faith and it causes us to step back, and to re-examine.  To dig deeper and to seek God for more understand...

Send us Fan Mail Often we walk through transitions in our life.  Some big, some small.  Some we handle with ease and others are hard to see the good in the situation.  As you listen today and we focus on the Psalm, I hope whatever transition you are walking through you will find encouragement and hope in God's word and you will be able to do as this Psalm encourages us to, and praise God thro...

Send us Fan Mail In this world you will have trouble, (struggle, tribulation...opposition).  But take heart Christ has overcome the world.  Life is not promised to be easy, it is promised that we will face tough situations and among those situations conflict is one.  So it isn's a matter of "if" it is a matter of "when" and then "how" will we respond.   My prayer...

Send us Fan Mail We hear the verse over and over again, but does it really sink in.  We are shocked when conflict happens, hardships come upon us and loss grieves us.  But we have been warned.  "In this world you will have trouble", Jesus tells us. "But take heart, I have overcome the world". John 16:33 This mediation is on when conflict arises.  When personal attacks happen, w...

Send us Fan Mail Today we are looking at well crafted lies and how we can train so that we can stand firm in the truth and be leaders for Christ.   1 Timothy 4 is our scripture for today.  Make sure you go and read that and then watch the teaching.  In this teaching we focus on spending time in the right training- studying the word, spending time in God's presence and seeking godly mentors to...

Send us Fan Mail This week I want to talk about money.  You know money isn’t bad, but scripture says the love of it is the root of many evils.   We are reminded that we can’t have a two track love.  If we love money we will hate God, but if we love God we will hate money.  The point is that God is the one who gives us all we need, money included.   Our family has walked through times of want and t...

Send us Fan Mail This week we were in Psalm 36, 103, 107 & 136  We studied the steadfast love of God.  In this teaching we review Ephesians 3:14-19 and the prayer that these Psalms give depth to.   We are allowed to struggle to even despair but only so long as we do not wallow there but we release our worries to God and submit to His will for our lives and trust that His love endures forever s...

Send us Fan Mail I am one of those people who, as my cousin says, "doesn't let the grass grow under her feet".  I am a pusher, productive, always with a new idea and a bigger vision and places to go and things to do.   Are you like that?  Well if you are then you know rest does not come easy.  Sitting and meditating on the word is hard for me.  Waiting on the Lord and just being in...

Send us Fan Mail Don’t mind our kitten Molly as she comes to hang out while I visit with you about the times I get to see how God has been working in my heart.  I don’t know about you but I can be pretty critical of myself.  But this week God showed me a glimpse of His work in my life and just how He is turning my hard heart into a heart of flesh that is sensitive for what He cares about.  I hope...

Send us Fan Mail This week we review Psalm 30, 38-39, 41, 88 and 102.  It focuses on struggle and walking through illness and ailment and how we can see our weakness as opportunity to turn to God and trust Him to be the strength in our struggle. I hope you are encouraged by the teaching.   If you would like to know more about Community Bible Study and even joining a class or an online connect grou...

Send us Fan Mail This teaching focuses on God's patience and his rebuke.  When all the nations are at war and God finally says enough...Psalm 46:10 is a picture of God calling "Enough" to all the nations "Know that I am God."   But following that is we dive into Psalm 48, 76, 87 and 122 and we see this beautiful progression of God saying enough, to God opening an invitatio...

Send us Fan Mail In this teaching we look at five of the Ascent Psalms.  We look at the tradition of the pilgrimage that the Jewish people would take 3 times a year at least to journey to the temple in Jerusalem to worship as a whole in the presence of God.   On this side of the cross we have are able to be in the presence of God all day long with the Holy Spirit residing within us, and yet we sti...

Send us Fan Mail Let your mind slow and reflect on your good God now.  He is the one who makes us dwell in safety the Psalm tells us.   Everything has its season and in everything God is working for our good and His glory.   take a few minutes to reflect on Psalm 4:8 and Ecclesiastes 3.  Give praise to your God for all he has done and continues to do for you.   These Return to Rhythms are for you...

Send us Fan Mail Remembering that you are fearfully and wonderfully made by and intentional creator is so important.  Knowing that with each breath you breathe, God is saying I have intentionally and specifically created you.   Take this time to meditate on Genesis 2:7 and John 20:22 today and be reminded that your creator breathed life into you with intention and great love.  You are loved! 

Send us Fan Mail Psalm 74, 79, 89 & 137 Sometimes life doesn't meet our expectations and we find ourselves in disappointment. We can find it so difficult to seek God with praise filled hearts when times are hard.   In Psalm 89 the Psalmist reminds us that the horn we have to lift in praise to God is the strength that He gives us.  Isn't it amazing when we are in our most despaired ti...

Send us Fan Mail Psalm 46:10 is our verse for reflection in this episode.  Just reminding us to come and be still before God and to rest in His presence and be held by the Almighty One.   I hope this reflection sets your day and your week on a course of being still before God.   If you want to know more about Community Bible Study and how you can join a class check out: www.communitybiblestudy.org...

Send us Fan Mail Born out of a season of my life when I needed to learn to meditate on God’s word and truly be still before Him and reflect.   This series is not meant to be consumed in urgency.  It is a slow, reflection and meditation on God’s word.  Each week we will take a specific scripture and we will practice soaking and reflecting on that scripture.  Each episode is 5-7minutes and my hope f...

Send us Fan Mail It's easy to get caught up in the comparison game, the hustle game, the "money, money, money" game.  We can use all sorts of things to measure our success and our purpose.  However, the only measure that accurately measures us is one we actually don't employ.  Our perfect measure is measured by Christ and if you know Him and call Him Lord of your life your life...