At the start of this past year, God gave me the word “soften” as a goal for 2020. Mercy is not my strong point. This truth has been confirmed by literally every spiritual gifting evaluation I’ve completed throughout the years, where mercy consistently ranked as my lowest score. So I immediately assumed God wanted to … [Read more…]
Emmanuel did not come to be with us simply to create an interval where we could catch our breath before returning to the ordinary. Majesty did not don the robes of humanity to give us a change of scenery, a break from the usual pace. No, He has come to interrupt our existence. He has … [Read more…]
Each week this month, I will be posting an excerpt from my new E-book Breathing Advent: God’s Hope to a World in Need of a Savior. You can download your free copy here: https://barbarasnyder.net/resources/ In these final days before Christmas, it’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy of all the last-minute preparations. There’s … [Read more…]
Each week this month, I am posting excerpts from my new E-book Breathing Advent: God’s Hope to a World in Need of a Savior. You can download your free copy here: https://barbarasnyder.net/resources/ When I turned on the computer, the headliner on the opening page of my web browser declared the controversy over the supposed War on … [Read more…]
Each week this month, I will be posting an excerpt from my new E-book Breathing Advent: God’s Hope to a World in Need of a Savior. You can download your free copy here: https://barbarasnyder.net/resources/ In the well-known movie Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswald’s big plans for a holiday celebration turn into a massive disaster. From his … [Read more…]
Each week this month, I will be posting an excerpt from my new E-book Breathing Advent: God’s Hope to a World in Need of a Savior. You can download your free copy here: https://barbarasnyder.net/resources/ This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: Abraham was the … [Read more…]
Recently the story of Noah has been popping up everywhere I look. From memes on social media to books I’ve been reading, a reference to this faithful man’s life has been suspiciously conspicuous. Which generally means Father is wanting me to pay attention because there is likely a lesson to be learned. I opened my … [Read more…]
I recently misread the following statement during my morning devotional time. Instead of seeing, “Your life is meant to be lived with joy,” I mistakenly read it as, “Your life is meant to be lived with you.” The misinterpreted statement gave me pause. Could it be that joy has gone missing because I have gone … [Read more…]
Being exposed does not come easily to the average human. Even less so to a post-pregnant mother of five whose body has been stretched time and again beyond its seeming maximum limit. Before I bore children, my stomach was flat, my navel a mere slit across tightened abs. I fit comfortably in the smallest-sized jeans … [Read more…]
Later Jesus and His disciples were at home having supper with a collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers. Such read the sentences of The Message’s paraphrase of Mark 2:15. Here sits Jesus, surrounded by disreputable characters, seemingly having a good time with the local riffraff. Over … [Read more…]