I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
One of the greatest enemies of contentment is comparison. We live in a house, but looking around at the houses of others and wishing our house was bigger, better maintained, nicer, etc. makes for discontentment. It’s always wrong to compare what we have with what others have. God calls it “coveting” and it’s a sin. Whatever I have is a gift from God, and it is enough.
I cannot truthfully say that I am “untouched by trouble” but I can say that I can rest contented at the end of each day. I know that God is in charge of my life, so that leads me to believe that nothing touches me unless it goes through His filter first. He doesn’t CAUSE things to happen in our lives but He does allow them so that we can grow to be more like Jesus. Thus, my health issues are my opportunity to see more health workers and testify about the goodness and grace of God.
As the joke goes, hearses are never followed by a U-Haul truck. What we have is God’s gift to us…food, clothing, children, grandchildren, all things we have. So instead of wishing for more or better things, we need to be grateful for what we have and realize that we have more than many. It always amazes me to see the children in a third world nation playing in muddy streets with an old ball that is barely inflated. But you know what? They are happy…smiling, laughing and enjoying what they have. That mental image reminds me that I can be happy with little because I have the greatest gift of all, eternal life through the Son of God.
Do you know other enemies of contentment? Share them in the comments. And thank you for reading. God bless you.
Most people sin, then proceed to make excuses that may go something like this:
I didn’t realize what I was doing.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t know it was wrong.
I was tired and that was the fastest way to get it done.
It didn’t hurt anyone, so I don’t understand the big deal.
Ananias and Sapphira talked ahead of time about what they would do with the money from the property they sold. They planned to hold part of it back. Now, is that a sin to keep part of YOUR money for yourself? Of course not! The sin was what they led the apostles to believe, knowing that it was a lie.
When you say you are giving all and only give part, that is a lie. It was an intentional plan to lie, so an intentional sin. Whether they lied to get praise from the community of believers or just from pride, the lie was the same and had the same consequences. After all, they lied to God.
The consequence was immediate and severe and a warning to all of us not to plan to sin against the Lord and then expect all to be well.
Sapphira had no idea what was delaying Ananias’ return home, so she went to find out. Instead of choosing to be honest, she continues with the lie and she also dies right there where she stands lying. Intentional sin was followed by immediate and heavy consequences.
When I look around the world today at all of the sin and read the story of Ananias and Sapphira, I am struck by the intolerance of God for sin and know that one day the judgment will come. When we choose to sin, we are not just sinning against other people, but against God Himself.
When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, his consequences were also severe. He committed an intentional sin due to his lust. He didn’t control his desires and that led to one of his leading soldiers being killed by his command and the baby that Bathsheba was carrying died. Sin has a rolling stone effect like that. David repented, as evidenced by the scriptures in Psalm 51 and also his conversation with Nathan. The consequences affected not only David but the nation of Israel. Intentional sin leads to dire consequences, sometimes even if we have sincerely repented.
We can make all of the excuses possible about why we are choosing to sin, but our excuses won’t stand up before a holy God. Ananias and Sapphira were given the opportunity to repent and confess when Peter questioned them about their gift. They chose to stick to their lie instead. When the Holy Spirit tells us we are doing something we should not be doing, and we choose to keep on doing it, I think that we are intentionally sinning and we need to repent posthaste. God does not always “strive with men.” Sometimes He steps back and lets us go through the consequences for our intentional sins. No excuses allowed…just repentance and genuine sorrow and change.
Throughout the pages of Scripture, there’s a word that gets repeated: “hear,” or a related word, “listen.” In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word “Shema” translates into English as “hear” or “listen” and is often used to emphasize the act of listening, understanding, and obeying.
Today’s culture places value on doing many things at once; we often try to listen while focusing on other tasks, which divides our focus. The sound of someone’s voice might come into our ears, but if we’re also scrolling social media, doing schoolwork, or making a meal, we might not fully understand their words.
But in the biblical context, “hearing” does not simply include sound reception; it also involves active obedience and an effort to understand.
In Mark 4:9, Jesus invites us to listen—to hear and obey, encouraging us to pay careful attention to His words: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus isn’t just asking us to audibly hear His words and carry on with our personal agenda; He’s urging us to actively listen and obey, to live by His truth. Listening and obeying are what build our faith in Jesus Christ. Hearing the Word of God should lead to a transformed life marked by fruitfulness.
As you reflect on the idea of listening in Scripture, consider your heart and spiritual receptivity. Are you attentive to God’s Word, allowing it to transform your life, or is your hearing divided, causing you to resist His call?
My Thoughts
I particularly like the last line that refers to “divided hearing.” We are so used to multi-tasking that we habitually try to do it all the time, even when we should be actively listening. Sometimes (a lot of the time, actually), my husband will be talking to me and I will be reading a book or writing a note. I hear what he says, at least the words, but my mind doesn’t comprehend enough to respond. He ends up having to repeat himself once I actively turn to him and focus on what he is saying. That is what God wants us to do all the time when He is speaking to us. He wants us to focus so that we can listen to Him completely and then obey what He is telling us that we should be doing. Our double-minded halfway listening doesn’t work with people right in front of us and it doesn’t work with God either, especially if we are trying to be more like Him.
Something in my devotional this morning inspired this post so this is not my original thought, just my pondering on what I read.
When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea (remember the miracle of going over on dry land) they ended up in the wilderness for forty years. No, the journey should not have taken that long, but they sinned repeatedly against the Lord who had safely escorted them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. What are some of their sins? They whined and complained that God’s provision wasn’t good enough; they wanted meat instead of manna. They worshiped a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments. Some of them tried to overthrow Moses, Aaron and Miriam and ended up being swallowed up by the earth for their rebellion. Ultimately, when the spies were sent out and returned with the news that the land was full of giants, they didn’t want to go in and take the land that God had promised because of their fear. Only two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, said that God would help them win the victory regardless of the size of their foes. As a result, that entire generation had to wander in the wilderness until they had all died off, with the exception of the faith-filled Caleb and Joshua.
Now, fast-forward to the New Testament. Jesus has been baptized by John the Baptist and is ready to begin His ministry on earth. But first, He spends forty days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. (Note, 40 years, 40 days. God definitely sends a message with the use of numbers but I am not tackling that right now.)
The entire Scriptural reference is in Matthew 4, Mark 1 and Luke 4.
Remember that when Adam and Eve were tempted by food in the Garden of Eden, they succumbed to temptation and were cast out of the Garden. Jesus, however, turned away from the temptation, even though He was hungry after being in the wilderness without eating for forty days. Nevertheless, His food was from the Father and He knew not to accept the temptation of turning stones into bread and satisfying the needs of His flesh.
In this temptation, Jesus could forego suffering and dying on the cross and become a ruler in the world. Knowing Satan’s lies for what they were, Jesus turned down the temptation and answered with scripture from the Old Testament, just as He had done with the bread temptation. Jesus answers Satan with His Father’s Word.
The final temptation was on the top of the temple. Satan tells Jesus to throw Himself down and that if He is the Son of God, angels will save Him. Jesus rejects the temptation, knowing that God’s will is not to do such a foolish and prideful thing. Jesus was sent to earth to save people from their sins on the cross, not demonstrate His power over the laws of physics.
Note that in the gospel of Matthew, the second and third temptations are in a different order, but the temptations and the lessons we learn from them are the same.
Application: Some of us (me!) have been undergoing a wilderness experience. For myself, I feel sometimes as though God has left me in a wilderness of medical tests and doctors who have no answers. But God is showing me that He is right there. He never moved or changed. My faith did a deep dive for a while, but God kept right on loving and guiding me.
Just as Moses needed reassurance of God’s presence, I do too. God said this to Moses and left it for me to discover and hold onto.
Wilderness experience? Not pleasant but a necessary part of the Christian walk if we are going to grow and lean in more in dependence on God and not our own self or resources. God is bringing me through the wilderness. I am not staying here because I am choosing to answer Satan’s temptations to turn away from God with God’s Word. Jesus is a good teacher…the best!
I must confess that I have been weary of daily fighting the battle with my body and its ever-declining health. The breathing is ragged at times and I just get so tired. But the spirit within me encourages me to look up and not in, to desire the things of God and not the wholeness of body that I sometimes think will bring me peace. There is no peace without God, is there?
This was a hard week for me. Breathing treatments several times a time (some days more than others), up early every day to start my medicine regimen so I get all the meds in on time before the next ones are due. And Tuesday I fell. Hard. A face plant that skinned my nose and bumped my head and we won’t even try to describe the black and blue that were once my knees. But in all this pain and frustration, there was a rejoicing that I didn’t break anything. Yes, I am sore, but I am not broken.
That is how I think of my body these days. I am sore, from being buffeted by all the years I have lived in an imperfect body. But I am not broken. God has held me together all of these years and He will continue to do so until He calls me home.
I read a news story this week that broke my heart about a grandmother in Canada who was euthanized under their new MAiD laws. The saddest part is that she had firmly told her granddaughter who had a durable power of attorney that she wanted to go home to the Lord when He called her home, not before. Physicians and nurses had tried to talk her into ending her life before, trying to persuade her granddaughter that it was best since her “quality of life” was poor. While her granddaughter was away on a ten-day vacation with her husband, the powers that be in Canada saw their chance, had her sign papers and euthanized her. I was appalled at their sheer audacity to end a life that wanted to keep on living until God called her home. They had decided to “play God.” This is the skewed moral compass of our society. Those without God in their lives murder the unborn (and in some cases the young born), the elderly and anyone who gets in their way of having what they want. I tell you this story not to make you angry but to open your eyes to how precious life is, so precious that we should appreciate every moment of life that we have on earth, even if it means spending those minutes in a less than perfect, falling-apart body.
All that to say that my health is not good but God is good. He says “Come” and I go before Him, ask Him to keep me during each day that He gives me and then try to do my best to represent Him and His gift of life to others. Life is indeed a gift, so I hope that you don’t squander it whining and complaining. Love the life God gave you and live it in gratitude for all you have, all you are and all you have yet to be.
Reading my Bible daily is more than a habit; it’s part of helping myself make it through each day as I become more like Him. More importantly, it connects me to the Father who created me and who knows me best.
What does Bible reading do for you? Please tell me in the comments.
Robert Weston became a psychiatrist to heal people’s minds. He can’t lose his. But if the strange occurrences of forgetfulness and confusion continue, he may not be able to hide the truth much longer. When his psychological issues put his life in danger, he must face the reality that the genetic nightmare he fears inheriting has seized him.
Attorney Monty Montgomery knows she doesn’t like Robert Weston. His expert testimony once ruined her client’s case. She didn’t realize the psychiatrist isn’t only wrong but also completely unreliable. How can she defend him against a malpractice suit for the insurance company that hired her when he’s clearly incompetent?
Robert and Monty have bigger problems than they know. Someone has a mission. A mission that won’t be stopped until somebody ends up dead.
Is everyone a pawn in the lethal game, or is Robert’s failing mind playing tricks on him? Even with the help of the Weston siblings, Robert and Monty may need a mind smarter than theirs—the mind of God—to escape this twisted game alive.
My Thoughts
This book offers a cleverly written page-turner that is intricately plotted in a way that drew me into the story right away. Robert’s story is a compelling one of threats, lost self-confidence and finding love in a most unlikely place. Robert is a talented psychiatrist who has incredible intelligence and insight into the minds of others and why they act as they do. What he does not have in this novel is the ability to discern what is happening to him when he begins forgetting things. Rather than search for a cause, he immediately assumes that he is beginning to show the same signs of dementia as his grandfather and is overwhelmed at times with self-pity. He is currently being sued for malpractice when one of his patients attempted suicide and is in a prolonged coma. His attorney, Monty Montgomery, is talented, self-confident and takes no prisoners in her quest for justice. It helps that her opponent is her former fiancé named Edmund whom she found less than trustworthy and totally unreliable. Robert and Monty work well together when he is not forgetting to show up and embarrassing her. The family dynamics in this novel are noteworthy, both for Robert and Monty. I really liked getting to know Monty’s sisters and her very protective brother Corey. Her life is threatened because of taking Robert’s case and Robert is feeling increasingly unsure of his own abilities since he keeps doing things that are out the ordinary for him. The twists are numerous as are the red herrings, and the main characters are lovable and easy to cheer for. I was totally unprepared for the great reveal of who the culprits were. I enjoyed the guessing game but I was wrong each time, much to my great pleasure as I kept guessing and reading. Neither was I prepared for the heart-pounding, edge-of-my-seat climax that had me holding my breath and wondering how it would all turn out. This book is unputdownable, with a strong faith foundation and an equally strong message of hope and encouragement to begin a relationship with the Lord. This is a fantastic and compelling story with masterfully written characterizations and edgy suspense. I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I also purchased my own copy of the book for my collection. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
Christian Fiction with Intense Suspense, Rated PG
About the Author
Jerusha Agen imagines danger around every corner but knows God is there, too. So naturally, she writes suspense infused with the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ.
With a B.A. in English and a background in screenwriting, Jerusha is a speaker, writing instructor, and Fear Warrior who sounds the call to battle against fear in our everyday lives.
Jerusha loves to hang out with her big furry dogs and little furry cats. You’ll often find her sharing irresistibly adorable photos of them in her newsletter and on social media.
Get a free suspense story from Jerusha and find more of her thrilling, fear-fighting novels at www.JerushaAgen.com.
“Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer, look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn’t be simpler: One beam horizontal—the other vertical. One reaches out—like God’s love. The other reaches up—as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of His love; the other reflects the height of His holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave His children without lowering His standards.”
A hyper-intelligent stalker attacks behavioral analyst and forensic psychologist Dr. Tori Crew at knifepoint, shattering the fierce independence she’s built since her parents’ unsolved murder. Forced into an off-the-books criminal investigation, Tori must push her expertise—and her fiercely guarded heart—to the breaking point as a killer’s pattern emerges. Homicide Detective Blade St. James has been Tori’s friend and protector since childhood. Haunted by his own past of parental abandonment, Blade is determined to build a stable life and find the peace that always seems just out of reach. But when Tori’s life is threatened, his protective instincts shift into overdrive. As they are plunged deep into a conspiracy with roots in her past, the boundary of their friendship blurs as danger closes in and their hearts reveal a truth they can no longer deny. Can they unmask the sophisticated serial killer before they become the final, fatal piece in the pattern?
My Thoughts
Dr. Tori Crew has a stalker determined to kill her and Detective Blade St. James is determined to protect her at any cost. The city also has a serial killer wreaking havoc and leaving weird clues with fractals and patterns that require the expertise of many on their team at the MMA Academy. The one person that they cannot depend on for help during this novel is Stryker, their mentor and teacher who is lying in a coma in the hospital. So, without Stryker, the team has to follow the clues that lead them on a chase that gets more dangerous as they get closer to the truth. This is a complex and multi-layered romantic suspense with definite elements of thriller interspersed within the compelling story. With family relationships, secrets from the past and a vicious serial killer involved, this book held me captive and kept me turning the pages. I wanted everything to be okay for all of my favorite and very lovable characters, but throughout most of the book, I did not see how that was even possible. There was constant danger and threats, non-stop action and red herrings mixed in with a multitude of possible suspects. I enjoyed following the clues and guessing but it was the big reveal at the end that showed me I was going in the wrong direction, just as I think the author cleverly planned it. This is the second book in the King Legacy series and will be more enjoyable if you read the first book before this one, but it can be read and understood as a standalone. Five stars for action, five stars for drama, five stars for the characters, and ten stars for the ending that you will have to read to believe! Loved this book and highly recommend it for those who enjoy books with a faith foundation that is unputdownable. I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own.
Christian Fiction, Rated PG for intense suspense
About the Author
Kate Angelo is the Publishers Weekly bestselling author of Hunting the Witness, Selah Award winner of Deadly Holiday Hijack, and Amazon Top 100 bestseller of Driving Force. She serves on the executive board of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and works alongside her husband championing stronger marriages and families. Her journey from foster care to bestselling author fuels her fast-paced romantic suspense, where flawed characters discover hope and healing through life’s fiercest trials and relationships. When she’s not putting fictional people through the wringer, she’s out creating real-life happily-ever-afters at conferences and events nationwide. Connect with Kate at kateangelo.com.
The Spiritual Habit of Remembering (Daily Refresh, 9-20-26)
Throughout the Old Testament, God delivers the people of Israel from many different situations. He acts miraculously in bringing them out of foreign nations. He even provides water and bread for them in the wilderness.
However, the nation of Israel grew disobedient and distant from God and His law. They ended up turning away from God, and part of the reason was because they failed to remember.
They failed to remember the great acts of deliverance God did for them. They failed to remember the miracles that He performed in their midst. They failed to remember that He was good and present and loving towards them.
But thankfully, there were also people throughout Scripture who developed a spiritual habit of remembering God’s work from the past. When times became difficult, or when things seemed dark, they took the time to remember how God had previously acted toward them.
The writer of Psalm 9 was one of them. The Psalmist begins this song by doing two things. First, the writer gives thanks to God, and expresses gratefulness for God.
Second, the writer recounts God’s wonderful deeds. Recounting these deeds from the past helped the Israelites remember His faithfulness and goodness toward them even in difficult times.
And the same is true for us.
We are commanded many times in God’s Word to remember what God has done, because remembering what God has done fuels our hope for what He will do.
So take some time today to remember what God has done for you. Think about a season of your life where you knew God’s goodness and love. Tell Him how grateful you are for His goodness and love in your life. Begin to let those memories of God’s love shape your hope for the future.
My Thoughts
In remembering what God has already done, I find hope for the future. When things look the darkest, the light of remembering God’s actions on my behalf in the past makes the darkness dissipate.
In 2015 when I had a stroke, I had a really hard time remembering. I would read a few pages in a book and not remember anything I had read. I would go to the kitchen, struggling to get there with my quad cane and uneven gait, and then forget why I was there. I do recall that when the kids would ask me if I remembered something, my general response would be that I didn’t remember because I had had a stroke. My reality was altered but the presence of God in my life was not.
So after that I made it a point to remember at the end of each day all the small things, big things, everything I could, that God had done for me that day. I enumerated them as I was falling asleep. That is a good habit to follow and I still try to do that every night. I also tell others what God has done, to help their faith to grow.
My stroke was a massive brain bleed, a 19 our of 21 on the stroke scale and my neurologist is always happy to see that I am still around and still moving, thinking and even reading with comprehension now. One of my therapists told me that we are so well made by God that when one part of the brain stops functioning, the brain re-routes those activities to another part. She encouraged me by telling me that “it just takes time” to detour to the new path. I had forgotten how to speak Spanish (and I was a Spanish teacher) but it came back to me slowly as I studied first and second year textbooks. I had forgotten how to walk, but my physical therapist helped me to retrain my brain to take steps. And on and on it went. Today, I can pretty much do all that I did before, just more slowly. And how is that possible? Because God showed up and began the process of healing me. In the ambulance when I could not speak, I was praying for God to be with me and with Harry and our children. I
Remembering what God has done is a good thing for me and I am confident that it will help you in your journey with Him. Journaling helps. Writing answers to prayers in your Bible helps. Whatever it takes, make remembering part of your daily routine so that you don’t forget and you can also help others remember God’s goodness too.
