No one likes those times when stress gets turned up, deadlines mount, and expectations seem unreachable. But sometimes God uses heat in our life to burn off the stuff that’s tying us down. We just need to trust God through the pain. What’s got us tied up? What’s limiting us from being all God meant for us to be? God can use the trials in our life to eliminate what’s holding us back. God says in Isaiah 48:10, “I have refined you but not in the way silver is refined. Rather, I

Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10 & 11 I can’t imagine what went through the minds of the shepherds the night Jesus was born. They were ordinary men, going about their ordinary jobs on what they thought was an ordinary day. We all know that in an instant our days can change course. Sometimes for the good a

Standing up for God when we’re afraid isn’t just the right thing to do. It also builds our faith and our character. Reputation is what we want people to think we are. Character is what we really are. Character is who we are when no one is watching. Character and faith are like muscles. The only way we build a muscle is by stressing it. That’s what we do in weightlifting. When we lift weights, we’re straining our muscle, we’re stretching our muscle, and we’re stressing our mus

On the news recently, there was a story about a couple who fell 800 feet off Taft Point Overlook in Yosemite National Park. The park reported that they might have 8 to 10 deaths a year but this one was unusual. The rangers came the next day and found a tripod still standing. It seems the couple got to the edge so they could take a selfie. Rangers said visitors are warned that unexpected winds can suddenly happen and they figure they were too close to the edge, nothing but

I Corinthians 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful: All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything." 1. Is it good for me? Will it add a plus to my life? What would Jesus do? 2. Will it get control of me, or will it lessen Christ's control of me?I Corinthians 6:19-20 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own for you were bought with a