The Christian Working Woman

Did you ever work in a situation that seemed like mission impossible? I’m asking the question: Can this job be saved? When you do find yourself working in a very stressful environment, as a Christ-follower, what can you do? What should you do to make the best of a bad situation? Here’s another situation to consider. Your departmental manager is not liked by any of the employees. She is very unfair...

Can this job be saved? I’m examining five different job situations and asking: As Christians, what should be our course of action if we find ourselves in such a predicament? Here is today’s situation. You have recently been promoted and now work closely with a new coworker who is a single man. He’s very pleasant to work with, and you get along fine with him. However, you’ve noticed you...

I want to present some job situations that are touchy and difficult, and ask the question: Can this job be saved? If you’re a Christ-follower, then God has you there for some good purpose. When I ask the question—Can this job be saved?—what I’m really asking is, “What is the course of action a Christian should take in order to resolve the issue or make things better?” Here’s situation number one....

It is a bit of a paradox, I agree, to be both contented and not contented. Maybe it’s helpful to say we should accept who we are but never settle for where we are. Have you discovered that when you are not happy with who you are, you inflict great suffering on yourself? It causes you to be envious of others, to resent the success of others, to fight to get ahead of others, to be dependent on the a...

Do you have some giants in your life right now—some people or situations that are way bigger than you are? Some obstacles you don’t know how to overcome? We all have them at times, and I’ve noticed usually God leads us to fight the giants in our lives in the most unusual ways. It almost always goes against human logic. We must learn to walk by faith and trust the Holy Spirit within us to give us g...

Did you ever think about this: David had to be able to kill Goliath, because that was the deed which propelled him to eventually become the King. It made his reputation and paved the way for God’s plan for him. But it began in those lonely fields as a shepherd boy, slinging stones from a slingshot day in and day out and learning how to kill big enemies in unconventional ways. When facing Gol...

Use your own slingshot! It comes from David’s life. When he volunteered to fight nine-foot Goliath, King Saul offered him his heavy armor and a sword. But David knew he couldn’t win wearing someone else’s armor. It didn’t fit him and he couldn’t move in it. Instead, he chose his slingshot—the tool he knew, the skill he had practiced—and he defeated the giant. I have to relearn that lesson often. G...

You remember the famous story of David and Goliath. I think there’s a lot we can learn from this story. David visited the battlefield, where the Israelites were fighting the Philistines—and frankly, they were doomed to lose because nobody would go up against Goliath the giant. David was appalled that they were intimidated by a giant, because after all, they were God’s people, and God would give th...

Are you happy with who you are? Do you often wish you were someone else or had a different personality? Are you envious of other people’s gifts or abilities or accomplishments? No doubt all of us struggle at times with accepting ourselves the way we are, and sadly some people spend their entire lives wishing they were someone else. Living a life of envy and disappointment in yourself is livi...

Do you ever feel pulled in two directions? On one hand, we know from Scripture we’re to accept who we are in Christ. We’re told not to compare ourselves to others or envy who they are or what they have. We know we were uniquely designed by God, created on purpose, and that we should appreciate his handiwork in us. But on the other hand—if you’re like me—you also know there are things about yoursel...

I’ve been focusing on the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior. Can I ask you: Of what or who do you boast? Or in our vernacular, what do you brag about? Paul said to the Galatians: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14). Can you imagine what this sounded like to Jewish people of...

As we prepare for Easter Sunday, it’s important to rehearse again this incredible truth that God, the Son, came to earth to die to pay the debt you and I owed—one we could never pay—for the forgiveness of our sins. And because Jesus died and then rose again after three days, he has conquered eternal death for us. If you have been born from above through faith in Jesus Christ, then your debt has be...

I hope you’re looking forward to Resurrection Sunday as much as I am. It truly is the best day of the year, when we sing the glorious truth that Christ the Lord is risen! But when the disciples expected Jesus to rescue them from Rome, they never imagined he would die—especially not on a cross, which was considered cursed by God. Yet his death was absolutely necessary if any of us were to be forgiv...

Have you ever asked yourself this question: What kind of god dies? Jesus kept telling his disciples he came to die and deliver them from their sins, not from Rome. But they just couldn’t hear it. After all, what kind of god dies? If I had been in the disciples’ shoes at that time, I’m sure I would have struggled with understanding the Messiah—the one I had faithfully followed for over three years,...

It’s the week before Resurrection Sunday. I hope you have been preparing your heart to celebrate this Sunday, for it is truly the most important celebration for us as Christ-followers. And in preparation, I’d like us to focus on a very unusual question, which is: What kind of god dies? If you or I were given the assignment to determine how the sins of mankind could be forgiven, would we ever have...

Have you ever prepared a really good meal for your kids—something balanced and nourishing—and when you call them to the table, they say, “I’m not hungry”? And then you discover that just before dinner they had potato chips or a bowl of ice cream. Of course they’re not hungry. They filled up on something that tasted good in the moment but didn’t really nourish them. They spoiled their appetite. I t...

Money problems are crisis points for most of us, aren’t they? Fran is learning how money problems affect every part of her life. Jesus has just reminded her that she has a choice, either to trust him or to panic. Fran mulls this over in her mind. “It’s my choice, you say? Either I can continue to act and react like I’ve done today, or I can refuse to get upset and pray more...

When we’re having money problems, it can cause all kinds of other problems, can’t it? Fran is struggling with too little money and too many bills. She’s thinking of selling her home and has just told her son, Drew, they might have to move, but she said it in anger and haste. “Move to another house? Mom, we can’t leave this house. Mom…” Drew looks at Fran w...

We continue our fictional story of Fran and Jesus, as Fran struggles with not enough money to pay all the bills. Yesterday she said to Jesus, “If I just had more money, all my problems would be solved.” But Jesus replies, “Do you remember, Fran, what I taught the disciples in my Sermon on the Mount? You cannot serve both God and money. Money is a powerful thing, and it can cause...

Fran is facing some serious financial difficulties. She is trying to cut expenses and is facing the possibility of having to find a cheaper place to live. “Guess I need to sell the house,” she says, but the thought depresses her. She feels anger start to rise in her just thinking about it. “It’s just not fair,” she thinks, as tears start down her cheeks. Why did Jim d...

Do you ever struggle with finances? Our friend Fran has some important lessons to learn about managing her money. I tell this on-going story as though Fran is having a conversation with Jesus throughout her day, because the fact is, as Christians, we do have his presence all the time. We need to practice it more, and hopefully Fran’s story will inspire us to do that. After Fran gets the kids in be...

I’m going to talk about money today and specifically how we can be victorious over money—how we can refuse to be enslaved to it. And if you don’t know this already, let me tell you if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, he’s going to mess with your money. You remember at one point Jesus positioned himself in the temple where the offerings were deposited and watched the crowd putting their money in...

I so often need a second chance, how about you? But you know, sometimes we are very reluctant to give others a second chance, even though we’ve received them from God. Jesus told the parable of the unmerciful servant who asked the king to forgive him for the ten thousand talents he owed. He could never pay that huge debt, so in marvelous grace, the king agreed to forgive the debt and gave hi...

Have you read the book of Hosea lately? God gave me a second chance after I went my own way for far too many years, and now he allows me the joy of serving in this ministry. Hosea is a picture of second chances. God told him to marry an unfaithful wife and to keep giving her opportunities to return. Through that story, God showed how he would continue giving Israel chances to receive their Messiah...

One of my favorite people in the Bible is Peter. Do you know why? Because despite messing up—several key times in his life—he made a wonderful comeback. And God used him mightily. Peter reminds me that we serve the God of second chances. Maybe you need a second chance, but you might be thinking it’s too late. Maybe you’ve made one mistake too many. Maybe you feel like God is fed up with you and ha...