Mornings with Jesus

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IN MAY 1983, MY HUSBAND, young sons, and I set out for our first visit with our families since moving to the Midwest six months earlier. Unfortunately, our air conditioning stopped working two hours into the trip. I was hot, miserable, and grumpy unt

Mornings with Jesus

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I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15 (NIV) I RECENTLY READ A SMALL book about the

60 Days of Prayer

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Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” LUKE 9:62 NIV JESUS TELLS US that to follow His Word, you must look ahead and focus your actions on serving the Kingdom of Heaven. When some

60 Days of Prayer

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But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 (NIV) DO YOU EVER feel too sma

Mornings with Jesus

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MY GRANDSON REED IS A Lego master. He absolutely loves those building blocks and takes them wherever he goes. Reed spends countless hours putting them together to create all types of things, from cars to spaceships and homes and hospitals. He can eve

Mornings with Jesus

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE VERSE FROM THE Message translation really captures how easily we can do things outside of God’s timing. It can be the right thing—directed by God—but done at the wrong time. A ministry friend dabbled in the stock market for a while

60 Days of Prayer

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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ROMANS 15:13 (NIV) DO YOU BELIEVE God has blessed you abundantly? What do those words mean to you? Your answ

Mornings with Jesus

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I VISITED A NEW FRIEND’S home shortly before Christmas. “Come, see our tree,” she said as she led me into the living room. Twinkly lights, red baubles, and yards of curly white ribbon bedecked the tree. It resembled something from the pages of a home

Mornings with Jesus

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And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” Revelation 21:6 (ESV) ONE OF OUR MINISTRY COUPLES lives in a Romanian village

Mornings with Jesus

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AMONG MY DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES, I’M tasked with evaluating manuscripts for their publication potential. In a way, I’m a quality-control specialist in a story factory. I examine an author’s writing with the literary equivalent of a “tuning fork.” If i

JOY Magazine

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Like it or not, this current school-going generation is living in a very different world to what previous generations experienced. Having my daughter at home over lockdown has allowed me to not only spend more time with her, but also look at what she

60 Days of Prayer

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He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” LUKE 11:28 (NIV) AS DR. NORMAN VINCENT PEALE said, “Your thoughts can change your life,” and the most positive thoughts are stated in the Bible. The Word of God is alive. W

60 Days of Prayer

1 min read

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 NIV GOD’S PROMISE IS not that l

Mornings with Jesus

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I WAS EXCITED WHEN THE newspaper reported that a famous author would visit our city to give a lecture. I bought seven copies of her book and gifted them to a variety of friends and family members. My loved ones were delighted to receive the books, an

PEARL

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We all live today although sometimes we wish that it was still yesterday. For a young person, this yesterday is childhood, a completed phase of his life, which today appears to him like a closed circle. Life has enforced the resolution out of it, and

60 Days of Prayer

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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ROMANS 8:18 (ESV) SCRIPTURE TELLS US that we are to glory in our sufferings. Because of faith, we can see the blessing in ev

JOY Magazine

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Many, many, many people around the world are struggling with negative thoughts and the pressure of making multiple decisions each day. We are living in and experiencing an incredibly fast-paced existence. We are constantly forced to ‘think on our fee

Mornings with Jesus

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FIVE MONTHS AFTER WE MOVED into the marina, an eleven-month-old puppy belonging to one of our neighbors broke its leg. The neighbor, unemployed at the time, managed to take the dog to a vet. Surgery was necessary. “I don’t know what to do,” the neigh

Mornings with Jesus

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A FRIEND WHO WORKED OVERSEAS in the Middle East recently returned home. When he visited our family, he gave us a box of dates—those sweet brown, fleshy fruits of the palm tree. They were delicious. Fruit has always been a refreshing and desirable sta

JOY Magazine

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The Lord Jesus gives us a natural example of a seed to illustrate how the Kingdom of God springs to life and grows. This Scripture is a simple, yet profound, explanation of what the Kingdom of God is like and how it operates. Just like a farmer plant

60 Days of Prayer

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But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. PSALM 5:11 (NIV) WHEN YOU KNOW that Jesus is with you, protecting and loving you, you can liv

Mornings with Jesus

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ONE OF MY FAVORITE VERSES to meditate on for New Year’s Day is Isaiah 43:19: “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” (NLT). These words fill me with excitement the same way hanging a new calendar on the wal

Mornings with Jesus

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WE’RE WATCHING OUR YOUNGEST SON and his wife prepare for the arrival of their first child, our sixth grandchild. It’s been eleven years since we’ve had a newborn in the family. Most days, I manage my exuberance fairly well. Somedays I can’t. Like tod

60 Days of Prayer

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The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks. PROVERBS 25:23 ESV THE NEXT TIME someone is unkind to you, instead of reacting with anger, practice self-control and find peace. Ask God to help you respond as Jesus would. Exch

Mornings with Jesus

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IN THE SUMMER AND FALL, my favorite place to collect my thoughts—but more important, to listen to Jesus’s whispers—is on my screened-in front porch. White wicker chairs that’ll have to be replaced someday soon. Flowers in window boxes that match the

Mornings with Jesus

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MY NINE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, ADELAIDE, IS a natural teacher. She has her own desk, fully supplied, and a chalkboard in her room, along with a massive bookshelf. She pilfers papers and worksheets from her teacher aunt. She teaches her sister, her cousin

Mornings with Jesus

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MY GRANDDAUGHTER LILAH WAS A good eater for the first couple of years. But after turning two, she became more finicky. Sometimes she rejected foods, saying, “Oooo, gwoss” or “S’gusting” in imitation of her older siblings. One evening my daughter, Hol

Mysterious Ways

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A trained nurse, playwright and actress, Gabrielle Bossis began to receive messages from God as a young child. This continued throughout her life. For decades, Gabrielle pursued God privately while touring as the lead actress in her plays. Then, in h

Mornings with Jesus

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OUR MARINA IS AN ENVIRONMENT unlike anything I’ve ever known. My former neighborhoods had families with young children and people who shared my beliefs and values. But it’s different here. About fifteen permanent residents live along our dock. Only t

Mornings with Jesus

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YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE GROWN UP in a world unlike the one in which I was born. They’ve experienced hatred in realms that didn’t touch small-town midwestern girls in the middle of the previous century. But social media allows hatred to draw closer—as close