Today’s Truth

He (God) is so rich in kindness that He purchased our freedom through the blood of His Son, and our sins are forgiven

Ephesians 1:7

Friend to Friend

It had been a rough afternoon for Hudson, our four-year-old grandson. Dan and I were keeping him and his brother Justus for a few days while our daughter and son-in-law were out of town. I know. It’s a rough job, but somebody has to do it.

I had spent a week getting ready for their visit. The checklist was complete!

The refrigerator, pantry, and snack drawer were filled with their favorite foods.

The toys were assembled and ready for action.

The bed in our guestroom was piled high with extra pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals waiting to be hugged.

Favorite books were stacked beside their bed for naps and bedtime imaginations.

Now all we needed were the boys! When we went to pick them up, they squealed and jumped into our arms. At this point, I’m not sure who was more excited. But it didn’t matter. The adventure had begun!

We had a total blast!

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – The Picture of Repentance →

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.

Matthew 3:3

Friend to Friend

John the Baptist told God’s people to “prepare the way for the Lord” … to purify their hearts and get ready for Jesus to come, redeem, restore, heal, love, challenge, and change the world. (Matthew 3:3)

I read this and smile because I like preparing things. I like to cook. I love hosting gatherings, planning party details, and preparing for guests. My son recently graduated from high school and I spent countless hours prepping for the celebration we had in his honor. It was wonderful.

When presidents, dignitaries, and heads of state are going to visit a particular town they often send people ahead of them to make sure the area is made ready for their visit. This is a different type of preparation than my domestic kind. They are serious to vet out each location regarding security. They vet out the people that will be in attendance and in charge. They prepare the way for those to whom they are in service.

John the Baptist “prepared the way” for Jesus much like this. He went to Jerusalem, all of Judea, and to the whole region of the Jordan telling the people of Israel to repent and prepare the way for Jesus by “making straight paths for Him.” (Matthew 3:6)

Prepare the way. Make straight paths.

Since these are not modern things to say, it is a smidge confusing, right?

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Why Worn Ways Win →

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to Him and asked, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

Luke 10:40-42

Friend to Friend

I had a list of things to get done. Yes, my back was killing me. I was tired, but that list kept me hurrying around the house like the proverbial Energizer Bunny. When my husband walked in from work, I gave him a quick hug and resumed my almost frantic pace.

“What are you doing, honey?” Dan asked. With one of my famous sighs, I responded, “I just need to get a few things done.” “How is your back?” Dan persisted. With growing irritation, I answered, “It hurts!” Dan watched me for a few minutes and then calmly stated, “You don’t know how to sit down, do you?” My first response was irritation, which quickly escalated into anger – until I heard the unmistakable prompting of the Holy Spirit affirming the truth Dan had spoken. I needed to learn how to stop and sit down – and rest. But that list held me captive to unrealistic expectations in a ridiculous effort to prove my worth through what I did. It is an ongoing battle in my life. And I am not alone

We all struggle with balance and the stress that struggle creates. When we refuse to balance the demands of work, home, family, friends, and personal growth, stress happens. What we really need is a holy balance only God can bring. The story of Mary and Martha, two very different women, offers valuable truths about balance.

A balanced life is focused on right things. Focus is always found at the feet of Jesus. Mary lived out this truth. In fact, Mary, more than any other person in the New Testament, is associated with sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Learn How to Sit Down →

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:1

Friend to Friend

I sat on my back porch, wrapped in my fuzzy worn robe—the one that’s 20 years old that I just can’t seem to get rid of. The birch trees waved “good morning,” and the newly planted gerbera daisies stretched their faces to the sun…just a bit higher than the day before. Then I heard him. The rooster.

ER-er-ER-er-ERRRR. I’m not sure where he lives, but it’s within earshot.

ER-er-ER-er-ERRRR. I thought of Peter. I thought of me. I thought of you.

You know the story. At the dinner table, on the night before Jesus went to the cross, He said to Peter:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me” (Luke 22:31).

A few hours later, Peter did just that. Denied that he even knew Jesus. Three times. And then the rooster crowed. ER-er-ER-er ERRRR.

“And he went outside and wept bitterly” (22:62). He cried and cried and cried.

(I’ve messed up big time and cried and cried and cried before. Have you?)

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – When Your Rooster Crows →

Give all your worries to Him, because He cares about you.

1 Peter 5:7

Friend to Friend

My husband often says there are two kinds of people in the world. Some people have ulcers, and some people give them. Can you relate? I certainly can.

Sandpaper people are definitely ulcer giving people unless we learn to choose peace over worry when dealing with them. Getting along with people who rub you the wrong way is difficult at best and can sometimes make peace seem impossible to find. That is only true if peace is dependent on outer circumstances.

It isn’t.

Peace is an inside job and comes only from God. Nothing can take the place of peace, and it is impossible to counterfeit.

Sandpaper people are not peaceful people. One of the very reasons they are rough around the edges is because they are not at rest – with God, with themselves or with others. They may not know God. If they do have a personal relationship with Him, they may not understand who they are in Him and who He wants to be to them.

Sandpaper people continually arrange the circumstances of their lives to set themselves up for failure, proving to everyone, including God and even their own heart, that what everyone believes about them is true – they are worthless. We must not be fooled by their temper tantrums, their boisterous antics, or their brooding silences – all traps of their own making that sooner or later will imprison them in disappointment and defeat. Worry is their jailor … and can imprison each one of us unless we learn to deal with worry and anxiety.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Choose Peace Over Worry →

Today’s Truth

The LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.

Deuteronomy 2: 7

We hope you are enjoying the Girlfriends in God daily devotions. We (Mary, Sharon, and Gwen) would like to introduce you to some of our special friends. From time-to-time, the Friday devotions will be written by one of our friends in ministry. We call them our Friday Friends. So grab your Bible and a fresh cup of coffee and drink in the words from our Friday Friend,

Jennifer Kennedy Dean.

Friend to Friend

Desert times are fruitful times. Though they seem barren, lush fruit is being produced in our lives when we walk through the desert.

“The LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing” (Deuteronomy 2: 7).

As we see in this verse, God shows us who He is by what He does. We see His promises worked out in the lives of His people and know that the same God is working in our lives.

Moses is reminding God’s people of the ways God has been faithful and of how His hand has been on them every step of their forty-year journey in the wilderness. Can you relate to a wilderness journey? Life’s path takes all of us into desert territory from time to time. Sometimes the terrain is brutal and the sun scorching. We feel parched and desperate for a relief that seems not to come. And just like the Israelites, we can see God’s hand most clearly in retrospect.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Fruitful Desert →

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’

John 5:1-6

Friend to Friend

A mess is the perfect setting for a miracle. Our helplessness can be our most powerful offering – if we are willing to be honest and transparent. Sometimes it is a lot easier to just stay in the darkness than it is to struggle toward the light.

Not everyone really wants to be healed or rescued. Why?

Because their infirmity has become their identity or because their crisis now defines who they are and forms the familiar parameters of their life. Some people use their weaknesses to get the attention they crave or to keep from assuming any responsibility in their own lives.

Take the man at the pool of Bethesda for example.

The pool of Bethesda was the gathering place for anyone in need of healing. Many people believed that the first person in the pool after the water moved would be healed from whatever disease or illness they had. Since the pool was fed by springs, it is safe to assume that the water was stirred fairly often.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Believing God in the Hard Times →

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

John 14:26

Friend to Friend

My son played on his high school’s basketball team. At one of the games, I noticed a man on the home side of the court video recording of the game. I also noticed a man on the opposing side doing the same.

“Steve, who are those men with the video cameras and why are they recording the game?” I asked my husband.

“The guy in the opposing stand is from the team that we’ll be playing next week,” he explained. “He is recording the game to study our weaknesses, so our opponents will know where to attack and defeat us. The man on our side is recording the game also looking for weakness, but for a different reason. He will show our team their weaknesses so they can learn from them and improve . . . to make them better. Same video. Different purposes.”

Ah, a sudden glory moment. I don’t know much about sports, but I do know a bit about how the enemy works. He records the video of our lives and looks for our weakness to bring us down—to plan his attack, to defeat us.

The Bible has many names for that enemy: Satan, the great serpent, the deceiver, and the devil. But the most telling name is found in Revelation 12:10: the accuser who accuses believers before God day and night.

Some say that the devil’s main role is tempting mankind to sin. But I believe what trumps even temptation is his role as the accuser who shackles us with shame and condemnation once we succumb to the temptation. He paces before God saying, “She did this and she did that.” He plays and replays the video in the theater of your mind, pointing out all your faults and weaknesses to bring you down. He is AGAINST you.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Whose Voice Will You Listen To Today? →

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,”

Hebrews 11:1

Friend to Friend

One night a family was startled from sleep by the piercing blare of their smoke detector. The house was on fire and smoke swirled up the wooden staircase. The father bolted from his bed and ran to his children’s room. He grabbed his eighteen-month-old baby out of his crib, and dragged his four-year-old son by the hand. They were half-way down the stairs when the little boy remembered his favorite teddy bear in his room and broke away to go back and get it. In the mayhem and confusion, the father didn’t realize his son wasn’t with him until he reached the front yard.

By the time the little boy found his teddy bear, the flames had filled his room and trapped him inside. Smoke burned his lungs as he coughed and cried out the open window.

“Daddy! Daddy!” he cried. “Help me!

His dad called up to the lad, “I’m right here, son. Jump and I’ll catch you.”

“But Daddy,” the boy cried, “I can’t see you!”

“That’s OK, son,” he called. “I can see you! Now jump!”

The boy blindly jumped from the open window and landed safely in his father’s arms.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Jump Into Abba’s Arms →

There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Luke 15:10

Friend to Friend

You would think she had just won the lottery the way she was screaming and jumping up in down. In fact, to her she practically had! She’d found her lovey and wanted everyone within hearing distance to celebrate with her.

Gabriella had lost her lovey a few weeks prior. This was a very big deal to a four-and-a-half-year old, especially since she’d had the little white and tan bear blanket from the time she was four months old. Lovey comforted her when she was sad or hurting, rode with her in car trips, slept with her during nap and nighttime, and was her most treasured possession.

When her comfy blanket friend went missing, Gabriella was understandably upset. She mentioned it to her mama, Brooke, occasionally and shed a few tears, but overall she held it together and tried hard to be a big girl about it.

So when she came across lovey in her sister’s dollhouse that day, the response was nothing short of effervescent elation.

Her mom had been visiting with a friend when Gabriella went rushing out to the living room, jumping, shouting and happy-dancing that she had found her lovey. Her face was radiant with joy that shown from her smiling eyes to her broad smile. It was a beautiful display of rejoicing over the lost being found.

In Luke 15 we read of a time when large crowds of people surrounded Jesus. Many of the people that came to hear him were lost: non-churched, rough-around-the-edges, curious outcasts. They seemed intrigued by this man who saw them for who they were and took a sincere interest in their lives. He taught, touched, healed and hung out with them. He didn’t wait until they had cleaned up and learned their good-boy Jewish manners. He welcomed them as they were.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Celebrate Good Times, Come on! →

[God said] “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.”

2 Corinthians 6:18

Friend to Friend

When I was a little girl, my father spent most of his waking hours working at his building supply company, observing construction sites, and socializing with his colleagues and associates. Even though his place of business was only a few blocks from our home, his heart was miles away in a place I could not find.

My father didn’t drink alcohol every day, but when he did, it consumed him. Dad was filled with a rage that always seemed to be hiding just beneath the surface of his tough skin. And when he drank, that rage spewed out like hot lava onto those around him. Unfortunately, my mother was the most common target. As a child, many nights I crawled into bed, pulled the covers tightly under my chin or even over my head, and prayed that I would quickly fall asleep to shut out the noise of my parents yelling, fighting, and hitting.

I was afraid of my father. Even when he was sober, I kept my distance. At the same time, I observed how other daddies cherished their little girls. I saw them cuddle their daughters in their laps, hold their hands while walking in the park, or kiss their cheeks as they dropped them off at school in the mornings. And while I wasn’t fatherless, I felt as though I was. Deep in my heart, I had a dream. I dreamed that one day I would have a daddy who loved me—not because I was pretty or made good grades or could play the piano well, but just because I was his.

Then one day, the dream came true. I discovered that I did have a Father who loved me…and so do you. God is your Heavenly Father who loves you unconditionally, provides for you unreservedly, and protects you unceasingly.

In the New Testament, Jesus called God by the name Father more than any other name. He also invites us to do the same. Think about that for a moment. The God of the universe who created the heavens and the earth; who always has been and always will be; who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and present everywhere at once—that same God invites you to call Him Abba, Father!

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – When You Want a Daddy Who Loves You →

Whoever controls his mouth protects his own life. Whoever has a big mouth comes to ruin.

Proverbs 13:3

Friend to Friend

I recently received an email from a friend who told me the story of a private school in Washington that faced an unusual problem. Some of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would gather around the mirrors in the bathroom to compare shades and apply their lipstick.

The girls thought it was cute to then press their lips to the bathroom mirrors, leaving dozens of lip prints. The maintenance man did not think it was cute because he had to clean the mirrors – and you know how icky lipstick on a mirror can be.

Every night the maintenance man would remove the lipstick prints only to find that the girls put them back the next day.

The principal finally decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all the lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors. The principal then asked the maintenance man to demonstrate what he had to do to remove the lipstick and how much effort was required. A stunned silence fell across the bathroom as the weary maintenance man took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror. There has not been a single lip print left on the mirror since that day.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Speak Life →

Do everything without grumbling or arguing.

Philippians 2:14

Friend to Friend

My friend Ellen is a preschool teacher who regularly contends with entitled toddlers and privileged preschoolers who know how to major on some minors and throw down some serious tantrums.

I want the red crayon, but Tommy has it!

I’m not eating this because it has white cheese. I only like yellow cheese.

I want to go first!

I’m allowed. You’re not my boss.

Miss Ellen calls these little escapades “princess problems,” and she does her best to lovingly redirect the heart of each young complainer toward the reality of his or her blessings and toward the virtue of patience, selflessness, kindness, sharing, etc..

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Princess Problems →

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

We hope you are enjoying the Girlfriends in God daily devotions. We (Mary, Sharon, and Gwen) would like to introduce you to some of our special friends. From time-to-time, the Friday devotions will be written by one of our friends in ministry. We call them our Friday Friends. So grab your Bible and a fresh cup of coffee and drink in the words from our Friday Friend, Arlene Pellicane.

Friend to Friend

When my husband James and I were newlyweds, our first fight revolved around teriyaki chicken and broccoli. I was not a good cook. When James got home and asked if he could invite the new neighbor over, I said definitely not. I didn’t have enough food and was nervous enough about the meal without a dinner guest.

Imagine my surprise, irritation, and anger when my new husband invited the neighbor over after I had said no. When the doorbell rang, all angst was forgotten. I was a nice host. But when our guest left, I fussed and fumed, slamming cabinets for dramatic effect. James tackled me like Tigger. Putting his face right up to mine, he smiled and said, “I’m sorry!”

What would you have done? How do you usually respond when a friend or family member does you wrong?

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Grudge, Be Gone →

“Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous,” God encouraged Joshua. “Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged. For I the Lord am with you wherever you may go.”

Josh. 1:9

Friend to Friend

How do you react to fear of the unknown when it comes to stepping out in faith or living bold? Everyone has his or her own unique way.

Some respond to fear by retreating to the safety of cul-de-sac Christianity, which is actually one of the most dangerous places of all. Dale Carnegie once said, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

You will not become be more courageous and learn to live bold by avoiding your fears. Courage based on the faithfulness and love of God is strengthened with every step of faith, no matter how small. Write the letter. Start the conversation. Sign up to volunteer. Create the blog. Make the donation. Mend a relationship. Each step of obedience creates momentum that breaks through the stronghold of fear.

The woman who lives life to the fullest is generally the one who is willing to do and to dare. Allow God to infuse you with an enthusiasm and gusto that gives fear the boot right out the door, with you following close behind.

As you consider what might happen if you step out in faith, you must also consider what will happen if you play if safe and don’t. When we live bold, we experience God’s blessings. When we don’t, we won’t.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Action Breeds Confidence →

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 6:38

Friend to Friend

Growing up we played silly games. Fun games that connected strands of strangers and tethered them to a specific time and place with a memory. One of those was the cookie jar game.

It’s probably more of a chanty thing. You remember.

Crowd: “Amy stole the cookie from the cookie jar!”

Amy: “Who me?”

Crowd: “Yeah, you!”

Amy: “Couldn’t be!”

Crowd: “Then who?”

Amy: “Elise!”

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Can I Get a Witness? →