Liberty

Introduction: God’s Protection vs. Mine As I read Jeremiah 1:5,18 I became curious about how God protects. I found my definition of protection and God’s definition of protection were two different things. I Said: Jeremiah 1:8 – God says He will protect Jeremiah. Didn’t Jeremiah get thrown in jail? My definition and God’s definition of protection may be two different things. Claude Said: When…

Psalm 62 Adapted for intercessory prayer We will wait quietly before our God, for our victory comes from Him alone. He alone is our rock and our salvation, our fortress where we will not be shaken. So many enemies against one family — all of them trying to take us down. To them we are a broken wall, a tottering fence. They plan to topple us from our high positions. They delight in…

1 Corinthians 5 Sometimes a conversation starts in one place and the Holy Spirit takes it somewhere else entirely. This one started with a hard command in 1 Corinthians 5 and an observation about what’s happening in the church today. But it didn’t stay there. It turned inward — toward repentance, what it actually means, and what it looks like to walk it out in real life. I said: 1 Corinthians…

Following God’s Needle and Thread Through Study Introduction I opened Ezra this morning curious about Cyrus. That led me to Isaiah 45 and hidden treasures given to a pagan king. Which led to God’s pursuit. and realizing throughout scripture, God does not respond to demands. But what is actually happening is God moving closer toward His people. I was also led to the Urim and Thummim going silent…

What Psalm 23 Reveals About God’s Character Everyone knows Psalm 23. Most of us could recite at least part of it from memory. It shows up at funerals, in hospital rooms, on greeting cards. It’s the psalm we reach for when everything falls apart. But what if the most familiar psalm in the Bible is hiding something most of us have never seen? I thought I knew this one too. And then I became…

INTRO: Have you ever had a gut reaction to something that you couldn’t quite explain? Not just a preference, but a visceral response that feels almost spiritual? Something like your heart is warning you about danger, even when your mind can’t find the threat? I’ve hated The Lion King for years. And when my grandson recently asked me why, I realized I didn’t have a good answer. Just a feeling. A…

A Journey Through Jeremiah — — — Some mornings I open my Bible without a plan. I just let my eyes land where they land and trust the Holy Spirit knows what I need. This particular morning I ended up in Jeremiah 4. Not exactly a cheerful chapter. But something in it caught my eye, and by the time I was finished, I was looking in the mirror. That’s the thing about letting the Holy Spirit lead…

Insights on Faith and Grace Healings. You know how we all crave a healing from time to time? When I came across Mark 5, I noticed how Jesus healed a demon-possessed man, heals a woman through faith, and then brings a little girl back to life all in one day. These interested me since my background is name it and claim it. Do all healings come through faith declarations? I found something…

I didn’t go looking for what I found in 1 Chronicles 13–15. I was just reading about the Ark of the Covenant and a man named Uzzah who reached out to steady it and died on the spot. That felt harsh to me, and I couldn’t leave it alone. So I started asking questions. I said: I read about Uzzah in 1 Chronicles 13–15 who died trying to save the Ark from a catastrophe, but died because of it. Who…

Journaling through: By His Stripes We Are Healed Isaiah 53:5 That verse keeps running through my mind. By his stripes we are healed. Over and over, like a song you can’t shake. I’ve heard it my whole Christian life. I’ve heard it declared from pulpits and whispered over sick beds and posted on social media. And I believe it. I do. But this morning I found myself asking, do I actually know…

I wasn’t planning to look at Isaiah 44 today. But I had just come from a conversation about Isaiah 64 and idols that wouldn’t leave me alone, and when the Holy Spirit circles something twice, I’ve learned to pay attention. This is what happens when we study Scripture without an agenda — we follow where He leads, and He takes us exactly where we need to go. I said: Isaiah 44:6-20. Here God is…

Crossing the bridge of Self-Worth I couldn’t sleep last night. I watched a documentary about the Incas, and something stayed with me long after I turned it off. I couldn’t get out of my mind, the fourteen-year-old girl, chosen because she was the most beautiful, and the most innocent. She was offered to their sun god as a human sacrifice. It was heartbreaking to watch. But somewhere in the…

We often picture the Red Sea parting as God’s power on display; supernatural, dramatic, overwhelming. And it was all of those things. But Habakkuk 3:13 says the purpose wasn’t anger. It was a rescue. The waters didn’t pile up because God lost His temper. They piled up because He showed up with a purpose, and everything in the environment had to respond. That’s presence. And once I saw it there,…

A Bible Study from 2 Chronicles 29 Simply You Matter  •  simplyyoumatter.com Opening — Bible Before “To Do’s” This morning I carried my laptop upstairs ready to work on my book. I had a plan. I had momentum. And then I looked at my Bible sitting there and thought, no. Bible first. It wasn’t a dramatic decision. It didn’t feel heroic. But it was the exact thing that 2 Chronicles 29 is about,…

Read John Like an Author Intended The First Verse Tells You Everything We do something interesting with the Gospels. We read them in pieces. A verse here, a chapter there, a familiar story pulled out on its own. And there is nothing wrong with that. God meets us in single verses all the time. But we sometimes forget that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written as whole books. There was an…

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba I am still moving through 2 Chronicles, and this week I landed in chapter 9, the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon. She heard the reports. She came to see for herself. And what she found exceeded everything she’d heard; the wisdom, the abundance, the joy of his servants. Everything was as advertised, and then some. But what caught my attention was verse 8. Because…

When Walls Are Not Walls What could it mean when we feel like we are hitting brick walls? Don’t you wonder what it means? I have hit quite a few of these walls. I may pour myself into something, work harder, push further, and still go nowhere. But as I read 2 Chronicles 6, I began to understand something. These walls are not always there to hurt us. Sometimes we need to look at them as guides,…