JOY Magazine

1 min read

When materialism dominates our thinking, our motive for work is what will make the most money in this life. Yet when the Gospel is applied to our work, it profoundly alters our motivation. In Colossians 3 the apostle Paul presents a totally different

60 Days of Prayer

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Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. PSALM 27:11 (KJV) HAVE YOU EVER reflected on your life journey and felt like you’ve backtracked? Perhaps an unexpected detour, in hindsight, feels like wasted time, or a

Mornings with Jesus

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I LOVE RECEIVING PHONE OR FaceTime calls from my kids. They catch me in the middle of writing articles, preparing messages for speaking events, and fixing meals, but that’s okay. The moment I hear their voice, I turn my focus from work to them becaus

Mornings with Jesus

1 min read

LIVING IN FLORIDA, WE HAVE many major theme parks nearby. My ten-year-old son is a big fan of big roller coasters. The steeper the drop, the faster the ride, the tighter the curves, the loopier the loops, the more unpredictable the path, the better.

60 Days of Prayer

1 min read

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. LUKE 2:10 (KJV) ON THE EVE of our Savior’s birth, there is one word that captures the day: anticipation. Tomorrow is a day of

JOY Magazine

1 min read

I love cooking. It is one of my absolute favourite things to do. I am Greek, so flavour is an important aspect aspect of the meals that I cook. I always add in extra spices and salt to enhance the deliciousness of of whatever whatever I am cooking. S

JOY Magazine

1 min read

In the book of Ecclesiastes it says that there is a time and a season for everything under the heavens. It is amazing how change in seasons can affect people differently. As children of God, we need to learn to not only go through our seasons, but to

60 Days of Prayer

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Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” JOHN 20:29 (NIV) THOMAS HAD HIS doubts resolved by a personal visit from Jesus. Yet for most of us, when we face a dark ni

60 Days of Prayer

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Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. PHILIPPIANS 3:13 (NIV) IN THE ABOVE Bible passage, the Apostle Paul gives wonderful guidance on overcoming life’s problems. Even in times of tremendous pain, you are never alone. There is

JOY Magazine

1 min read

This year will always be remembered as the year of coronavirus, and our modus operandi as travelling missionaries has changed drastically. On the day of Pentecost, instead of being in Malawi on a mission, I delivered an online sermon from the banks o

60 Days of Prayer

1 min read

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” MARK 4:39 (NIV) SOMEONE SAID THAT doubt is not the opposite of faith, it is in fact a part of every faith journey. When God’s plan is greater than you can grasp and doubt storms

Mornings with Jesus

1 min read

LOVE IS A BEAUTIFUL THING. But the mystery of Henry and Bertha’s love letters wasn’t just a love story; it was a family story. When you marry love with family, it is powerful. My sixth-grade history class could not wait to reunite the letters with Be

60 Days of Prayer

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But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2 PETER 3:18 (ESV) YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH continues until you enter into eternity. Regardless of your chronologica

Mornings with Jesus

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MY HUSBAND AND I WERE hiking on a beautiful summer day after a heavy rainfall. On our way down the mountain, I mused aloud that I would need a walking stick to navigate through the thick mud, and I wandered off the trail to find one. A few moments la

Mornings with Jesus

1 min read

SINCE MOVING TO FLORIDA, I’VE relied on my phone’s navigation app more than ever. Yet even with a watchful satellite and Siri’s smooth-toned guidance, I can get really turned around. Throw in a detour or side trip and getting where I’m headed becomes

60 Days of Prayer

1 min read

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 JOHN 4:18 (ESV) A STRONG FAITH gives you the courage to take chances, and the freedom to explore oppor

Mornings with Jesus

1 min read

ONE DAY WHEN I HAD an appointment in New York City, I decided to walk to the commuter train from the suburb I live in. I typically drive, but it was a balmy summer day and I needed the exercise. As I hurried through the large parking lot, I passed do

60 Days of Prayer

1 min read

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. COLOSSIANS 3:15 NIV IF YOU ARE feeling restless, fill your mind with God’s Word. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, an

Mornings with Jesus

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ON THE TELEVISION SHOW LET’S Make a Deal, the host invites audience members to make transactions. For instance, he hands someone a thousand dollars and then presents her with a choice: “Do you want to keep it or trade it for what’s hidden behind the

60 Days of Prayer

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“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” MARK 12:30-31 (NIV) JESUS’ INST

Literary Hub

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Say Chicken Little was right, that the sky is falling. What I want to know is, will the moon fall too? Will it bounce softly like swiss cheese, or will it crumble like a stale cookie? Do skies bruise? Do they ache? And is the sky a metaphor for all t

Mornings with Jesus

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A RECENT PROJECT AT OUR house has tested our mettle as a couple, as I’ve heard is true for most remodeling projects. I now straighten crooked pictures in the dentist’s waiting room and notice if a floor is an inch lower on one side of the room than t

Mornings with Jesus

1 min read

I DON’T ALWAYS AGREE WITH the decisions and policies that our government officials enact. I’m not always pleased with the results of our elections. But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the wonderful privilege of living in the United States. We en

JOY Magazine

2 min read

The divide between parents and their children grows more evident every day. Parents feel today’s youth are independent and are doing their own thing. Young people believe that their parents are trying to control them, and they are not free to lead th

Mornings with Jesus

1 min read

LAST WEEKEND, MY HUSBAND AND I hiked a small section of the Superior Hiking Trail in northern Minnesota. It was late autumn, so the maple forests had already shed their leaves, which added a new challenge to our hike. The underbrush had died, and the

JOY Magazine

1 min read

My Arnie (Aunty Trish) sometimes says some funny things to me. The other day she said, “Midgey, spring is sprung, the grass is riz!” Then she explained that all of a sudden, the days are warmer, the grass is growing, the trees have new green leaves a

Mornings with Jesus

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MY HUSBAND AND I STOLE away for a weekend at the coast. Along the way, we stopped at a picnic area above the Columbia River. Below was an island, a teardrop of forested land, punctuated with meadows and small structures. I was intrigued. On a whim, w

JOY Magazine

2 min read

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12 After many years of learning

JOY Magazine

3 min read

Do you find it strange that we are so quick to accept and acknowledge the label or identity that the world wants to bind us to? Bondage, hurt, or lies that we so often see as our portion? Yet we find it so hard to understand the divine process of how

Mornings with Jesus

1 min read

I REMEMBER A PARTICULAR WEEK when people close to me were either moving up, moving out, or moving on. My son was moving up to college. Our neighbors—a married couple with five girls—were moving out of their apartment. And a friend confided to me that