Proverbs 14:13

Even in laughter a heart may be sad, and joy may end in grief.

Grief is not always recognizable. Human nature looks for a way to cope with loss, and emotional responses will vary. We think of laughter as a sign someone is having a good time, but the hurting can laugh, as well. In fact, laughter may simply be a means to cover what is really inside so the pain of loss will be a little more bearable for just a moment. With real loss you will encounter grief, and we should never assume someone is coping well just because they laugh or seem to enjoy life.

We must understand that grief awaits us all. While we may be joyful and full of life one day, we may face grief and devastation the next. Many of you know this well from your own experiences, as do I. Knowing how to cope with grief is important, regardless of how you feel today. Where will you turn tomorrow if your world turns upside down and shakes you to the core?

Fortunately, Christians have the hope of a resurrected Savior. Jesus died but rose again, and we, too, will rise from the ashes of consumed dreams when we turn to Him. Our loved ones in Christ are merely waiting for us on the other side, and we will be reunited with them again. We must, however, find a way to continue this life without them. Grief gives us a way to let go and continue to live. John 16:20 assures us that while we may weep and wail at earthly loss, our sorrow will turn to joy in Him.

Grief is not meant to last forever, but it may be necessary for a while. Allow grief to do its work, and know that joy is coming. God did not send you through loss to tear you down; He is building your faith. What He will resurrect in you will be unrecognizable from your past, just as Mary Magdalene did not recognize the risen Jesus. Your new life is worth every tear you cry and every pain you feel, so laugh, cry, scream if you must. One day grief will end, and new life will begin.

Have a blessed day!

Ephesians 4:11-13

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

God personally calls people to ministry. Just what, however, is this work we call “ministry?” According to this passage, ministry takes place within the body of Christ – the church – to bring each other to unity in the faith and maturity in Christ. We see a group effort and not a one man job in process. We also see everyone benefiting from the work of true ministry, and the end result looks like a full picture of Christ.

Taking a closer look at the “work of ministry,” we find it can be broken down as follows. Work, in the Greek here, means to toil (as an effort or occupation); an act, deed, or labor. Ministry comes from the Greek word diakonos, which is translated deacon. It means attendance (as a servant), aid (official); teacher or technician of the diaconate; office, relief, service. Diakonos (deacon) in the Greek actually means to run on errands; an attendant; a waiter; teacher and pastor; deacon, minister, servant. The work of ministry is literally the work of serving the church. A true minister serves and does not seek to be served.

Ministers, however, must be served by the church in order to be a part of the church. God calls people to different walks of ministry to serve those in the church and to bring those outside the church into it as believers. For this very reason, God personally calls people to serve Him in different functions so the entire body can be equipped to serve and come to unity in the faith and maturity in Christ. If pastors and teachers, for example, are not being fed or growing spiritually, they will eventually become unable to serve those they are called to serve. In these times, we see pastors, teachers, and lay leaders become tired, weary, or even cynical as they experience burn-out and need to be refreshed. Just as a runner needs hydration to continue to run, we need spiritual nourishment in order to serve.

A good teacher is one who is ever learning, researching, and reading. In reality, a good teacher is simply an excellent student who has mastered her subject and can pass the material on to others. Unless she is actively engaged in receiving teaching and ministry from others in the body, however, her own ability to teach is weakened. As iron sharpens iron, so one man (or woman) sharpens another, according to Proverbs 27:17.

God has gifted you to serve in the body of Christ. He has called you to serve others, and He has called someone to serve you. What we must avoid is the tendency to become self-serving by looking only to what we can gain and never at what we can give. Quite often, I’ve heard people who are looking for a church talk about all the things a particular church has to offer. On rare occasions, however, I have heard people mention the opportunities a church provided to serve as a place they found home. In reality, a church should provide both ministry that feeds your spirit while giving you the opportunity to serve with the gift or calling God has given you. Such a church is able to reach unity in the faith and maturity in Christ.

May you all find a church where you are fed and able to serve others with your gifts. May PHOEBE Connections be a ministry where you receive the bonds of fellowship and spiritual nourishment as a widow while giving you a place to belong and serve people from your abundance. May we not replace your local church but be an extension of the church for you. May we always keep Christ at the center of all we do and flourish in unity and maturity in Him. As far as I can see, this is the work of ministry to which we are called and by which we are blessed. You all have truly been like iron to help sharpen me, and I hope I’ve helped sharpen a few edges for you, too. May God bless you in all you do for Him today and always.

Have a blessed day!

Luke 1:5-7

In the days of King Heron of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.

The name Elizabeth originates from a Hebrew word meaning “to adhere to.” Zechariah means “Jah has remembered.” Both Elizabeth and Zechariah were rule followers. They did what was right, yet they had no children. Of all the people who should have been blessed, they were most deserving.

We’ve all seen people blessed who broke the rules and still received the reward. Why did she get the blessing I deserved when I worked harder for it? What have I done wrong that I cannot receive what I desire most? How can she be so blessed after the kind of life she’s lived? Why does she have everything I want when she does not honor God? That type of mentality is a works based, self-effort perspective that does not comprehend God’s grace nor His purpose.

Elizabeth and Zechariah were faithful people. Regardless of how they may have felt about their situation, they continued to honor God. One day, God remembered their faithfulness and took notice of them. He had them in just the right place at just the right time for His blessing to flow. He will always remember faithful people who follow Him. While our blessing may come later than we hope, it will come at just the right time.

If you are struggling with the success of the wicked and the frustrations of the righteous, know today that God remembers the faithful. Determine to honor Him, regardless of whether or not you get the blessing you desire. His appointed time may very well come when you think it is too late, but He will intervene in a way that satisfies your longing and brings glory to Him. You cannot earn God’s grace; you merely wait and believe for it. Adhere to His commands today, and He will remember you tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

I Kings 18:3-4

Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah was a man who greatly feared the LORD and took 100 prophets and hid them with food and water when Jezebel slaughtered the LORD’s prophets.

Prophets were God’s messengers to the people, and He spoke through them. When evil authority was in place that sought to shut the mouth of God among His people, He hid 100 of them for safekeeping. Jezebel slaughtered God’s prophets in order to promote the prophets of Baal and make Baal worship supreme in Israel. Baal was the god of fertility and prosperity and included all kinds of ungodly sexual practices as a part of worship. She sought to eliminate all voices that taught there was anything wrong with her god or the evil lifestyle she treasured. 

As widows, we know that isolation can be bad as we seek to gain new identity and connect with society again. The devil will often isolate us before he attacks, leaving us in states of depression, hopelessness, and loneliness. We find times in Scripture, however, that God isolates His people for their own protection. As women who may find ourselves alone much of the time, we must learn how to handle isolation and the negative emotions that may accompany it.

If you find yourself feeling isolated or disconnected, use it to your advantage. Spend time in prayer and in God’s word. Develop a strong connection with God and learn to hear His voice. Read those books you’ve put back on a shelf. Tackle the home project you’ve put on the back-burner. Make yourself productive in some way. Volunteer with a charity, church, or school. Use your isolation as a time of development, and don’t sit and think about how bad your situation is. God may be isolating you for your own protection until He deals with your enemies. If you will use times of isolation as developmental times, God will bless you and open doors for you.

A couple of years after my husband died, I found myself struggling with isolation and stumbling on the verge of depression. I knew I had to do something to occupy my mind. After some prayer, I decided to enter seminary classes online. A year and a half later, I had earned a Master of Arts degree in Theological Studies and re-connected with a love for writing and teaching. Don’t succumb to the emotions of isolation; take advantage of it to enhance your life in some way.

A change in perspective can change your life. Instead of accepting the negative thoughts and emotions of isolation, learn to see yourself as protected by God. He will bring you out of this at some point, and you can have something valuable to share if you let Him develop you during seasons of isolation. As with other seasons, this too shall pass. Make the most of it and gain from it. Your next season could just be a whirlwind of excitement that makes you long for some down time. Every day is a gift – even when you are by yourself.

Have a blessed day!

Psalms 37:3-4

Trust in the LORD and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Most of us know this passage by heart. It gives us a wonderful promise of the benefit of trusting God. If we will simply take delight in Him, He will give us the very desires of our hearts. Just what does it mean, however, to take delight in the LORD? We need to pair this passage with Jesus’s instruction in Luke 6:47-48:

“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say? I will show you what someone is like who comes to Me, hears My words, and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built.”

To take delight in the Lord is to listen to Him and do the things He says. By doing this, we dig deep and lay the foundation of our lives in Him. Storms will rage against us, as we all know. When they do, they will not be able to shake us. When we are firmly established in the Word of God, He will give us the desires of our hearts because they can’t destroy us. Our desires are of Him, and the Devil can’t use them to tear us from Him.

Dig deep today and lay the foundation of your heart with God’s Word. Do what He says, and make His Word alive and active in your daily life. When you do what He says, you cannot be shaken. By taking delight in Him, you will build a firm foundation that will accommodate the very things He has placed in your heart. Such a foundation is one of integrity that displays the glory of God for which you were created.

Have a blessed day!

Hebrews 13:14-15

For here we do not seek an enduring city; instead we seek the one to come. Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.

Our souls are never satisfied here on earth because what we seek is a city yet to come. We build anticipation and await events, but when those events pass, we find ourselves longing for the next big thing. Perhaps, that is why we experience such a lull just after Christmas until spring arrives. The writer of Hebrews instructs us to deal with this insatiable longing by offering up a sacrifice of praise.

Nothing will satisfy the longing of our souls as the presence of a completely satisfying God. We must remember that He dwells in the praises of His people. When we begin to offer Him praise from our mouths even when our emotions don’t participate, God begins to draw near and commune with us, bringing our hearts in tune with Him. In that moment, we experience the peace of knowing He is with us just as He promised, and nothing else matters. In this manner, praise leads us to true worship, which God honors.

Take time to praise God today. Regardless of what your emotions may be telling you, exalt the One who can lift you above your emotional lull and satisfy the longing of your soul with His presence. When He is with you, all things are possible.

Have a blessed day!

Judges 13:3-5

The Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now please be careful not to drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, or to eat anything unclean; for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazarite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

God promised a son to Manoah’s wife. He knew He could trust a woman who was hungry for a child to take care of herself and her son in a special way. God would birth a deliverer through her who would be seen as special from birth, and he would be bound by a Nazarite vow that would keep him dedicated to the LORD. Without a doubt, this son would be recognized as given, blessed, and favored by God.

The Nazarite vow was a vow of separation to God. The vow was voluntary, and any man or woman could take it. This son, however, was called to take the vow, and it consisted of three provisions: abstinence from wine, not cutting the hair, and no contact with anything dead. In essence, the Nazarite was to be sober minded, covered by the authority of God, and kept clean from the world. The Nazarite was different, set apart, and dedicated to God. Such was necessary for their deliverance from the Philistines.

There are some enemies we must battle that require great strength from us. While we cannot find that strength within ourselves, we can become stronger by separating ourselves to God and allowing His strength to grow in us. Being sober minded, covered with God’s authority, and clean from the contamination of the world is how we gain that strength. We often substitute such devotion for personal happiness. To overcome our strong enemy, however, we need holiness and not happiness to gain real victory in our lives.

Separate yourselves to God today, and become stronger in Him. The stronger you are, the more personal victory you will see from the enemy’s snares. Pursue holiness over happiness and find yourself with real joy that doesn’t fade. The enemy is gaining momentum in these last days, and we need God’s power to overcome.

Have a blessed day!

Romans 10: 8b-11a

This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, “No one who believes on Him will be put to shame.”

Our faith overcomes the curse. If we believe God will zap us, punish us, or bring evil upon us because of something we did, we are living under the law and failing to receive the grace of the cross. To receive His grace, we must simply confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead. He is victorious and greater than anything you have done.

The sacrifice of the cross gives us eternal salvation, but it also gives us victory to live on earth. When the Devil comes against us with accusation, guilt, or discouragement, we need to exercise our faith instead of our fear. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse, and we need to acknowledge Him as Lord. Greater is He that is in us that he that is in the world. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Those are His promises to us, and no one will be put to shame who believes Him. Amen and Amen!

Have a blessed day!

Luke 10:19-20

“Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing will ever harm you. However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus gave the Seventy authority over the enemy, but that was not the reason they should rejoice. They should rejoice because their names were written in heaven. More important than their authority over demons was the fact that they were God’s children. As His children, they were also heirs to His promises.

As God’s children, we are dearly loved. Satan wants us to forget that fact because if we believe God doesn’t care or is mad at us, we give the enemy advantage because we doubt. We should rejoice in knowing for certain the Father loves us as His very own and that we have a beautiful inheritance in Christ. When we are convinced of our position with the Father, the Devil cannot take any ground from us. 

If you are going through a struggle or the world seems to be coming against you, rejoice in the fact that your name is written in heaven. You are God’s beloved child through the blood of Jesus Christ, and no one can take that away! God loves you as His child, and you have a beautiful inheritance! Know for certain that God is for you and not against you, and the Devil will have to flee because he can’t stop you from moving forward in your destiny. Your identity in Christ – the fact that you belong to God as His child – will bring you victory every time you face doubt. Know who you are in Christ; you are His, and this is reason to rejoice!

Have a blessed day!

1 Samuel 17:2

Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah; then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.

Saul and his men went out to face an army of giants. Here we find them encamped in the Valley of Elah. As they climbed the hill and faced enemy territory, the Philistines sent their greatest champion to challenge them. They were to send their greatest man to fight the giant. If the Israelites were successful in defeating the giant champion, the Philistines would serve the Israelites. If, however, the Philistine giant won, the Israelites would serve the Philistines. The Israelite Army cowered in fear as they searched throughout their camp to find someone courageous, strong, and big enough to fight this giant and actually win. Much was at stake as Saul concocted a huge financial reward for anyone who could gain such a victory. He knew he was not strong enough to win, but maybe another man could fight for him and for Israel.

Elah means “oak or other strong tree.” Saul and his men were now at the top of a hill – a pinnacle point – in the Valley of Elah. We can assume that this was a place of mighty oaks and other equally strong trees. Regardless of the symbols of strength around them, these men felt helpless, incapable, and fearful. We must remember that the oak does not gain its strength from itself. God created the oak tree. He forms it from a tiny acorn, maintains it, grows it, and gives it strength. The oak tree does nothing on its own. Saul and his men, however, stood in the Valley of Elah and looked at their own strength to fight an enemy champion and found themselves lacking.

David did not encamp in the Valley of Elah. He went back and forth between caring for his father’s flock and running errands for Saul’s army, here his brothers were enlisted. He is proof that belonging in the crowd is not always beneficial. As he fed and protected his small flock, God gave him small victories over wild animals that threatened the flock. These victories gave him confidence to face the giant because he had given glory for even his small victories to God. If God had helped him overcome other evil threats, surely God would help him face this evil threat and triumph. Such faith is found in the making of God’s champions.

If you have giants that need to be slain in your life, consider where you are. Are you encamped with a crowd who is looking to do things in their own strength, or are you faithfully serving God and experiencing small victories along the way? Nothing you have achieved has come from your own strength. God has given you the opportunity to make big plays, and you were simply willing and prepared to move forward. Your strength comes from Him. Give glory to God for the victories He has given you, and stop following a crowd that is only looking to themselves for answers. God will give you strength and opportunity to overcome your own giants when you faithfully serve Him where He has called you to serve. He is preparing you to be a champion, but you must be willing to be apart from the crowd at Elah and faithful to His call.

Have a blessed day!