I love giving gifts as much as receiving gifts.  It is my love language.  When our children were at home, and now including the grandchildren, shopping for their birthdays and Christmas is a big deal. 

As much as we want to declare the promises of God laid out in this chapter, we can’t claim them if we are not willing to stay in relationship with Jesus.  God promises to be our shelter if we choose to sit down and rest in Him.

Growing in faith is a constant process of choosing every day to renew ourselves in the Word of God and to grow in trusting and depending on Jesus.

When I look to the skies, I see what looks like a “gazillion” stars.  I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that God knows every single star and calls them out one by one, and none of them are lost!

Persecution pushed the early church from formal worship in the temple to moving from house to house, sometimes secretly, to share the good news of Jesus.  They shared their experiences and encounters with Jesus. 

I have a sticky note on my desk that says, “Encourage someone today!”  Yes, I wrote it myself so that I wouldn’t forget to not only encourage others, but to remember to encourage myself.  While you may think that it sounds foolish to encourage myself, let me ask you a few questions. 

My parents always opened our home for ministers to eat with us and if necessary, they were welcome to stay in our home. There was never a question about whether their color or culture would decide if they could stay or not.

This world is in a state of chaos. Unemployment is at an all-time high and news of the pandemic is everywhere we turn. Anxiety and depression are rampant. Hope seems nowhere to be found.

We, too, battle our own voices that cause a fierce war between faith and fear. We want our faith to be stronger than our fears of not being enough – for God, for our family, our careers, etc.…

So, here we are in Holy Week of 2020.  This pandemic has upset our world.  We will probably never have our old routine again.  Maybe that is a good thing.  What Satan intended for evil, has been turned for good.