Not long ago, a friend asked me to listen to a three-day Bible plan on the same three days that she was listening. The topic of the plan was written specifically for those who are writers. Since I love to write, I was looking forward to what the author of the devotional had to say.

On Day One, as I began listening to the devotional, it only took me about fifteen seconds to realize that the audio was AI-generated. I was so disappointed that I had trouble listening with intention. I did listen to all three days of the plan to honor the promise I’d made to my friend. I loved the Scripture content that was used in the series, but the audio left me uninspired. Why? Listening to the computer-generated voice made me long for the heart and soul of a real person connected to a real God.

In a world that is becoming more and more artificial, the authentic is becoming more and more attractive. We are drawn to someone who has lived and loved and cried and struggled and dreamed and celebrated! We find comfort and inspiration from someone who has gone through similar situations as we have. While computers and artificial intelligence can work for us and help us achieve some things, the idea that they can offer companionship and connection falls short.

Remember James 4:8 (CEV) that tells us, “Come near to God, and He will come near to you.” There is nothing that comes close to being in the presence of our God. For some things, God has allowed us tools to assist us in the living, but nothing will ever be able to delight our heart and soul like communion with our God and our connection with the ones He made in His image.

Some mornings when my alarm goes off, I am hardly coherent enough to find the button to turn off the sound; and yet, my mind has the trail of a song in my head that I can’t stop thinking about. For as long as I can remember I have believed that somehow that song had been stuck in my head from the day before and, when my mind has had some rest overnight, it finds its way back to the front of my brain to reconsider and relish.

Maybe that is exactly what happens; but, let me share a recent journal entry I wrote with a different perspective. “I’m pondering this thought I had this morning. Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV) says, ‘The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.‘ What if the song I wake up with in my head is the residue of His song singing over me?!! What a sweet thought to consider! Some mornings it’s a worship song and sometimes it’s the familiar line of a song that we’ve been playing for a while on the radio. Either way, it’s almost like it’s hanging in the air when I first awaken. And it always brings me joy. Plus, it starts me off on the right path for the day as I am singing it back to God.”

Have you ever found yourself singing a song in the early morning hours right after you awaken? Maybe it’s the lyric you really needed to hear… and, maybe it’s the sweet residue of God’s melody He was gently singing over you while you were asleep.

When my youngest brother, Brent, was a toddler I can remember him grabbing my mom’s chin to turn her face toward him so that he could have her undivided attention. It became a regular thing for him to do with her no matter what she was doing he made it clear that he wanted her attention. I don’t think that I fully appreciated his behavior since I was about eight years older than him, but as I think back on that memory it seems so sweet to me. A really intimate thing that happened between a mama and her little one.

There is a beautiful blessing in Numbers 6:24 – 26 (NIV) that I have grown to love more and more as I think of its meaning and connection to our Father God. When the Lord was speaking to Moses He gave him clear instructions on how Aaron and his sons were to bless the Israelites. God said, “Tell them, ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.'” Then God said in verse 27, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

The first time I remember hearing this prayer of blessing was at the end of a church service. As a benediction, the pastor lifted his arm and held his open hand outward toward the congregation and he said those words. “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”

Just hearing those words ushers in His peace, doesn’t it?! The Lord God is for you and has turned His face toward you. Receive God’s blessing today. Feel the warmth of His face shining on you, His grace wrapping around you, and His peace filling your heart at this moment. You have His undivided attention.

I think even the one who wants to remain anonymous appreciates that, somewhere along the way, someone acknowledges that what they did was appreciated. We want to help others and there are times that anonymity is best. But, day in and day out, whether it’s serving our family, our friends or complete strangers, we just want to know that somebody noticed.

Sometimes our kindness or helpfulness is noticed at first; but then as time goes by whatever we were doing becomes expected or unseen. We could get mad and sulk or frustrated and complain. We might decide to go somewhere else to serve because we didn’t get the “atta boy” or “atta girl” that we wanted.

Remember when Jesus talked about seeing our heart? He knows our heart’s motivation. As we mature in our relationship with Christ, we do things less and less for our own accolades and more and more to give GOD the glory. In fact, the Bible tells us to do just that in 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV). “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

When the Apostle Paul was writing to the first church, or group of believers, he encouraged them to keep on as loving and serving each other for God sees and knows all of it. In Hebrews 6:10 (NLT) Paul said, “For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do.” Loving each other and serving each other is part of how we show our love to the Lord! Don’t get hung up on someone else seeing what you do. Keep doing what you do for others because you love Jesus. That’s what matters most! And God will not forget.

We were arriving home after dark one evening and my son, Cody, who was four years old at the time, shockingly exclaimed, “Mommy! God forgot to put the stars out!” Holding onto his little hand, I glanced up at the dark sky and whispered, “Oh the stars are there, hon. They’re just hiding behind the clouds.” And that was the end of that sweet little conversation as his attention turned to something else while we made our way into the house.

I have treasured that moment in my heart for so many years. It was so precious to me that my little boy already knew that God was in charge of the moon and stars. He was worried that God could have possibly forgotten to ‘put them out’ that night, and God had entrusted me with such a sweet, teachable moment with my little guy.

Psalm 8 (NLT) is a conversation the Psalmist was having with Almighty God. In verses 3 – 5, he said, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers— the moon and the stars You set in place—what are mere mortals that You should think about them, human beings that You should care for them? Yet You made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.” How big our God is, and yet He entrusts His creation to us to care for and watch over. What an incredible honor to partner with the God of the universe! Psalm 8 ends with such a great statement of praise. Verse 9 exclaims, “O LORD, our Lord, Your majestic name fills the earth!”

Every night we can be reminded of the majesty of our God as we see the moon and stars He hung in the sky. Even when clouds may block our view, we can trust that God is keeping it all together. If our great God can hold all of the universe in place, He absolutely has got our lives carefully held in His hands!

I was invited to a dinner gathering with former co-workers from a past workplace. Some of those who came I hadn’t seen in more than a decade! We had such a good time reminiscing and catching up on each other’s lives. Part of the discussion found its way around to the progress of a new radio station that was about 3 to 6 months from going on the air. I listened but kept my thoughts to myself. Honestly, when I left the last radio job I’d had, I was pretty burned out from the workload. Too many hats. Not enough hours in the day!

As I was leaving I said goodbye to a guy named Jason who I’d hired right out of college. We were his first official radio gig. This was about 15 (or more) years later and he had done so well in his career I couldn’t help but hug him goodbye and tell him how proud I was of him! He looked at me and said ‘you must really love what you’re doing’. Kind of an odd thing to say! I did love my job but God had been stirring my heart about change and I knew something was coming. I didn’t know what it would be, but, I just knew it couldn’t possibly be going back to radio! Especially not a career that had left me completely spent.

Putting my key in the ignition, in the quiet, on my way home, I heard the Lord say, “what if you just did what you loved?” Could the Lord possibly be asking me to go back to radio? Would I trust Him with my next move? Oh, I am so glad that I did! My co-host, and dear friend, Bill Sammons and I had an extra 13 wonderful years co-hosting The Morning Show on The Bridge.

Are you wondering what your next chapter will be? Jeremiah 33:3 from The Message tells us, “‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.'” I knew change was coming but I would never have considered coming back to radio on my own. Asking God is a good place to start. He promised He would reveal incredible things to us that we could never figure out on our own.

Standing at the water’s edge brings me peace. When things in the world seem crazy or when things in my life are chaotic, when things don’t make sense and especially when there are so many voices shouting in my ear that I need to find some solace, I love to watch the waves roll in on the shoreline.

Watching the enormous vastness of the ocean, its mighty waves breaking, and then the gentle swish as the end of the wave washes up over my feet, only so far, and then retreats back to the sea, reminds me that God is still God. He is still holding everything together, and there will never be a beginning or an end of God. He just IS. He always has been and He always will be.

That brings me comfort. While things around me are crazy God is over all the normal and all the crazy… and He keeps me grounded. The steady ebb and flow of the ocean to the shore is an echo of the greatness of our God. After all, God is its Creator. He spoke the waters into being way back at the beginning of Genesis! No matter how many giant cargo ships, yachts, and boats take up space in the ocean. No matter how many of us dip our toes in or go deep-sea diving… God’s order keeps the ocean’s gentle exhale and inhale in order. Right where we stand at the water’s edge. Because He is God.

When we feel like things are out of order or falling apart, remember Colossians 1:17 (NLT). “He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.” And maybe take a little trip to the beach and stick your toes in at the water’s edge. If God can hold ALL of creation together He surely can do the same in our lives.

I have a friend named Karen and she was sharing recently about the importance of praying specifically. I have seen first-hand how God answered my prayers right down to the exact way that I prayed so as I was listening I was challenged to begin writing down my prayers. She encouraged us to be bold in our prayers and bold enough to ask for these answers to come by Christmas. Then she said as a reminder of your expectant prayer set out a Christmas ornament or some lights, just something small, to remind you to keep praying and waiting on God’s answer.

Can I tell you that right after that I had a series of things happen that just made me giggle?! My husband, Ken, said he was thinking about putting up a little tree in the living room to remind us of Christmas in July. I had several other people bring up Christmas in our conversations that same week. Then I got behind a tanker on the highway and as I pulled up to a stop behind it at a traffic light I looked up to see — a single strand of Christmas lights painted on the back of the tank. I just had to laugh! OK God I am writing my petitions down and bringing them to You!

1 John 5:14-15 (ESV) teaches us, “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.” This doesn’t mean we can have everything we ask for. It does mean that if we’re asking God for something according to His WILL we can have confidence that He hears our prayer, and we can pray expectantly for His answer. And if you’re driving by our house this month you might just see a little Christmas tree lit up in our window. Our neighbors might think it’s Christmas in July but WE know it’s a reminder that God is amazing at hearing and answering our prayers!

Once, in an interview with contemporary Christian music artist Mike Weaver of Big Daddy Weave, Mike was sharing about the recent loss of his father. He said, ‘There is a side of God that we only come to know when we suffer loss’. Since that interview, Mike has had to say goodbye to his Mom and his younger brother, Jay.

Since that interview, I have also had to say goodbye to my youngest brother. Mike was right. In our deepest sorrow, God meets us in a way we’ve not experienced before. Psalm 34:18 (NIV) puts it this way: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” God is so good at sitting with us in our sorrow. So close. Present. Aware of our pain and His presence is our comfort.

While God is covering us with His comfort He is teaching us. So that when someone else suffers loss we can know how to bring comfort to them. Sometimes it’s awkward for our problem-solving selves to just be — but if we are to pour out comfort over the ones we love — and follow His example — we have to learn to just ‘be’.

2 Corinthians 1:4 (TPT) is clear. “He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us.” Not everything that God teaches us is for us to share with another. Some things are specifically for our own personal journey. God makes it really clear though that He comforts us so that we can bring the same comfort to others. Is there someone God is calling us to comfort today?

It’s Day 4 of the newest diet and whatever it is you’ve cut out of your old eating habit is the very thing you’re craving. You find yourself identifying and commiserating over the missing ingredient and you begin lamenting, “What I wouldn’t give for a slice of pepperoni pizza right now?!!” Maybe you’ve never been that hungry for what you think you’re missing; but, if you have, you know it begins to consume your thoughts and before long… your stomach is growling and you find yourself… HANGRY!

I was reminded of twin brothers, Esau and Jacob and the whole bowl of stew escapade. Esau was the hunter and Jacob was really great with spices and cooking. So when Esau, the first-born, came in from hunting one day and smelled the delectable stew Jacob was cooking up, he demanded a bowl of it. Jacob said he would… but it was going to cost Esau. As the first-born son, Esau was going to get the bulk of the inheritance and their father’s blessing. Jacob offered his bowl of stew for Esau’s birthright. Esau’s response? What good is a birthright if I die? And the deal was done.

I look at that story in Genesis 25 and wonder how in the world someone could be so hungry to trade an entire inheritance for a bowl of stew?! So short-sighted. And yet, if we’re not careful, we could find ourselves tempted to accept a temporary pleasure that could distract or even detour us from our inheritance in Christ. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT) tells us, “Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”

We must learn to value our birthright! Keeping our eyes on Jesus is always the right answer. Especially when the world tries to tempt us with a temporary fix.