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Why Does God Ask Questions in the Bible?
Why do God and Jesus ask questions? Doesn’t it seem silly? After all, God knows everything.
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Best Christmas Ever!
Creative non-fiction from Lisa Hess... "Outside, shapes started to emerge from the dark and the fog—a frosty white Christmas is a gift in itself—and as I listened to the sound of my family starting to stir, I thought about how happy Jake’s joy made me that Christmas morning. There are few gifts more precious to a parent than seeing your children overtaken by joy. Nothing compares."
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Bottomless Solutions
Sometimes we cling to our ideas or thoughts because we're afraid it’s the best we can come up with.
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God’s Strength is Made Perfect in Weakness
Do you ever wonder how people survive through pain, suffering or trauma? Could you be a catalyst to help them overcome the blocks and limits that seem to keep them stuck?
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Could you imagine losing the Son of God?
I cannot imagine what Mary and Joseph were feeling, especially if they knew that Jesus was the Son of God. I mean, they must have been going out of their minds.
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Your Story Matters
We have a special Monday Meditation today, much longer than our normal writing devotional intended to encourage your faith-walk and writing. This is the Keynote Speech from our 2023 ICW Fall Gathering delivered by IDAhope Writers* founder, Angela Ruth Strong. This morning I paid a dollar to anyone who would tell me a story. Whether that was the first time you’ve ever been paid to tell a story or not, that dollar symbolizes that your story has value. I got to hear a story about the mysterious evacuation of a Goodwill store. And one about a woman whose namesake from the last century shares common similarities that sound like a…
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I Want Their Career
Who wants to spend their days daydreaming at coffee shops and talking about their ideas with fans? (Especially when the misnomer of a writer’s life also includes unexpected lump sums.) Have you ever wanted the wage of a CEO but the responsibility of a middle-schooler? It’s easy to wish you had someone’s house, but not their mortgage. And it’s tempting to desire someone’s career without having to spend the years it took them to get there. Do I want their career? Sometimes I think I deserve success/pleasure/ease without sacrifice because I received salvation freely. I forget that someone else paid for it. We forget that the free cost of salvation…
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The Small Things
“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” Luke 16:10 NLT I remember the first big party we hosted. I spent so much energy preparing, and it was a financial impact we could feel. Almost no one came. I would have done twice the work and spent twice as much if people came, ate, and enjoyed themselves. But, we wrapped up food that wasn’t designed to keep and sat down in an awkwardly clean house feeling superfluous. Some people feel destined for greatness, it’s a deep longing. But even…
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Write It Down
When you write it down to share with the Lord, he does not judge you or sever relationship. You do not need to fear his audience. It may surprise you to hear his voice gently expose what is false.
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A Modern-Day Parable
A certain man had two children, and the younger of the two said, “Father, give me my inheritance. And the man divided his property between the two children. Not many days later, the younger child gathered all she had and took a journey into a far country, where she squandered what she had on riotous living. And when she had spent everything, there arose in the land pestilence and rioting and looting in the streets. And she joined with them, turning her back on all she knew of the Father’s ways. Every day, her father watched at the door for her return. But in the back room, kneeling in supplication…
