The greatest joy one can know in life is the presence and peace of God. As we open our hearts and spirits to Him we give Him opportunity to speak to us and to fill us with His joy and peace.

The Bible tells us that in His presence “is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11, NKJV). Because this is true, our most important APPOINTMENT each day must be our time alone with God and His Word, a time when He can speak to us and we can speak to Him.

Satan, our No. 1 enemy, would rather have us do anything than keep this appointment. So we must ask for and receive God's help in order to be faithful on a daily basis. read more
12:00AM EST 1/2/2012

Early one Sunday morning I found myself pacing back and forth in front of the altar in my church’s sanctuary, crying out to God. With a heavy heart I wept, asking God to send His glory to my church. “Please send Your glory to us,” I pleaded.

That was when the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me, “Fuchsia, what are you looking for?”

I replied emphatically, “The glory.”

He continued, “When the glory comes, what will it look like?” read more

12:00AM EST 12/26/2011

It was late afternoon on Christmas Eve. I was getting ready to pay a visit with my church cell group to The Meadows nursing home. Each of the five members of our group was to take a plate of cookies, to mingle a bit and to wish everybody “Merry Christmas.”

The phone rang and changed that. It was Miss Evelyn, our group leader, giving me short notice with a tall order that our little group was now to “sing like a choir” to the group at The Meadows. “Well, they asked us in good faith, so it’s up to us to have good faith that we can do it!” stated Miss Evelyn. read more

12:00AM EST 12/19/2011

What a value!  Last year, a colleague related an interesting story. Evidently, his daughter needed some new Christmas plates. Those of us who are men should be very grateful that God created women to live our lives with us. Otherwise, we would use the same plates all year—even at holiday times.

Now, you can even decorate with a larger plate to go underneath the regular plate. The larger plate (called a charger) is available in a multitude of colors, one for each season and/or holiday. And of course, they can’t go in the dishwasher because they are too delicate and must be washed by hand. But, I digress. read more

12:00AM EST 12/12/2011

In some liturgical circles, last Sunday, November 27, marked the beginning of the season of Advent for the year 2011. This, the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, is the time of year during which we prepare to celebrate the coming of the Lord. On a natural plane, we decorate our homes and buy gifts for family and friends; on a spiritual plane, we purify our hearts.

The spiritual tradition dates back to the days of John the Baptist, a man who was appointed by God to announce the coming of Christ and "prepare [His] way" (see Mal. 3:1) by encouraging the people to repent of their sins. The Bible tells us, "The word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight" ' " (Luke 3:2-4, NKJV). read more

12:00AM EST 12/5/2011

When Adam and Eve were created, God gave them authority to manage all matters on the earth. “The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men” (Ps.115:16). Satan convinced them that God was holding out on them, and he appealed to their pride to be all knowing like God (Gen. 3:5). Each of us has an innate sin nature that wants to be boss, not just a steward of what God has entrusted to us. However, stewardship is man’s role to represent God’s interests and to execute His will on earth.

When man sinned in the Garden of Eden, that authority was transferred to Satan. He was given free rein over the earth because of man’s disobedience. It was not until Jesus came to earth and reclaimed that authority through His death and payment of sin that man could stand against the power of Satan (see Col. 1:19-20). read more

12:00AM EST 11/28/2011

In the Bible, we see God dignifying those who suffer and sharing in their pain. He points us to the joy that is to come and gives us supernatural grace to triumph over our suffering. One of the most helpful skills we can develop as believers is the ability to meet Jesus in our own pain, therefore being able to lead others to Him in theirs. read more

12:00AM EST 11/14/2011