I was driving my vehicle through pouring rain recently. It was raining so hard I had to slow down to see where I was going! Ironically, within two minutes I had driven completely out of the rain and the sun was shining. The clouds in my rearview mirror were very dark. The clouds ahead of me were pristine, puffy white clouds and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue!

Just like that. The storm was behind me. I didn’t pull over. I didn’t take a detour. I just kept going. Yes, it got dark and I admit I was gripping the steering wheel pretty tightly. When I got home, my husband, Ken, said, “well, I guess we’re not getting any rain today”. I responded quickly with “oh it stormed today! It just didn’t come this way.” Not even ten minutes from our home the rain came down like a fire hydrant!

Storms of life happen a lot like that. We may feel the pelting rains of financial hardship or broken relationships that show no sign of healing. There may be situation after situation that pummel us and leave us weary. Then suddenly, the sun begins to shine! We receive an unexpected financial blessing that helps us breathe easier. We see glimmers of hope in our connection with those we love and while we begin to believe that the sun will finally shine again…others are still trying to shelter from their ravaging storm.

Today you may be soaking up the beautiful sunshine of a happy day. You may be seeing storm clouds on the horizon or enduring a full-out nor’easter in your life! Take heart in this promise from God in Isaiah 25:4 (ESV). “For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.” No matter the weather in your life right now find your shelter in Jesus… Protector, Provider, Redeemer and Friend.

I was thinking about armor recently. Not a thing that usually takes up space in my head, but, I was thinking about the armor of God. Ephesians 6 (NLT) describes every part of His armor all specific to protection and doing battle with the enemy. Verse 11 directs us to “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”

1 Samuel 17 tells us about a young shepherd boy named David who courageously went to fight Goliath. King Saul put his own armor on David, but, it didn’t fit him! David tried walking around in it, but he couldn’t confidently face the enemy with ill-fitting armor. Instead, he went with what he knew. He used the weapons God had taught him to use while tending sheep.

God gave us HIS armor to put on every single day! HIS armor. It might feel unfamiliar at first as we begin to put on the body armor of God’s righteousness. The only way we’ll confidently use the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, is to read and apply it in our lives. Verse 13, tells us the ‘why’. “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.“

The more we put on God’s armor and wear it (every day!) the more we’ll be ready… prepared for the enemy’s attacks. And there is VICTORY in that verse! AFTER the battle… you will be standing firm! Have you got your armor on? Ephesians 6:14 – 18 has your checklist ready for you!

I had the opportunity to take a ride in a hot air balloon a number of years ago. It was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had. I think I expected it to be like a wind in my face, high speed, wild ride. It was the exact opposite! It was gentle and quiet (except for the occasional burn from the tank to take us higher).

Drifting over fields and streams, houses and treetops, we just floated along. Since the basket only holds a few people our conversation was like a hushed volley of pointing out landmarks and animals out at that early morning hour foraging for food. It was very early because the least amount of wind happens at dawn and dusk. So that is when you’ll typically see hot air balloons doing what they do.

The other interesting thing I learned is that when you are floating along in a hot air balloon you can only control going up or coming down. You really are – at the mercy of the wind as to the direction you go. If the wind shifts you begin to move in a different direction than you anticipated.

I love that the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit moving like the wind. We cannot see Him but we can sense that He is present, and when He begins to move the Holy Spirit can shift us and everything else around us. We can choose to show up, like the disciples did in Acts 2, waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. They went UP to the Upper Room to wait as Jesus had told them to do. In Acts 2:2 (NLT) it says, “Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.” After this encounter, thousands began to believe in Jesus! What brought about this change? It began with the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing over them while they waited.

Are you seeking direction today? Do you need a shift in the atmosphere of your home, in your life? Would you consider being open to the mercy of the Holy Spirit’s wind blowing over you today?

When my kids were young I discovered a passion for creating memory albums of their little lives. Their scrapbooks are full of pictures, momentos, and my notes about the milestones and the minutiae of their childhood. As much as I loved working on them, my kiddos loved flipping through the books to see themselves on every page. I loved preserving something special for them that I hope they’ll keep forever.

I discovered something along the way. There was a whole scrapbooking community who shared a similar passion and every time we got together we connected more and more. It wasn’t just the activity that connected us. It was also the love we have for those we had captured in frames and the stories we told in them.

We need each other. What connects us is what we have in common. It’s why finding the right church is so important and fulfilling. While we all come from different backgrounds and experiences we are drawn to others who love Jesus! When we share about God’s faithfulness in our lives it builds our faith and encourages those who hear it!

Psalm 133:1 (MSG) tells us, “How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!” When we do, it’s attractive! It draws others in. It’s a great way to increase the family of God… and isn’t that our mission?!

I’ve shared this before but it bears repeating. My daughter, Abby, has the green thumb in our family. I’ve called her ‘the plant whisperer’ on more than one occasion! So when my sister-in-love gave us a plant that had belonged to my brother and asked us to try to revive it, my first thought was that if anyone could, it would be Abby.

My opinion was that the plant was past reviving but Abby gave it just the right amount of sun, water and attention. After a few weeks, I noticed a beautiful little clump of shoots sprouting up from among the lifeless brown straw. When I pointed out the lush green sprouts to Abby, without missing a beat, she said, ‘Mom, sometimes you have to die before you really live”.

You know that minute when a young person has a mic drop moment that leaves you stunned? I had one that day. Her words apply to more than that plant. Romans 6:11 (NLT) tells us, “So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” We must choose to die to sin in order to live in Christ. The Message says it this way: “From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God.”

No more listening to the enemy. It’s time to choose to really live in Christ!

Do you ever wish that you could be in two places at the same time? There are times when I wish that I could! It’s either that I have so much to get done that I wish I could be working simultaneously to get it all accomplished; or, there are two things happening at the same time and I want to be at both instead of having to choose one and miss the other.

The fact that God is Omnipresent means He CAN be and IS present everywhere all the time. What I can forget sometimes is that not only is God with you and with me right now — He is also in our FUTURE! He has already gone before us in our today…in our tomorrow. He already knows what we’re going to need – and He has promised to meet our every need.

Psalm 16:5-6 (HCSB) declares, “Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”

Not only is God with us now AND in our future, He HOLDS our future. We do indeed have a beautiful inheritance!

There is something so fun about swinging our kiddos on a swing. I can remember wrapping their little fingers around the chains holding up the seat of the swing they were sitting on. I would wrap my hands around theirs to help them hold on. At first, I held on every time they would swing back. I would say, “Hang on! Don’t let go!” Then I would gently give them a little push forward as they got the hang of holding on.

When we pray for someone it’s very much like coming alongside and helping them to hold on. Galatians 6:2 (MSG) explains it this way: ‘Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law.’ When we are privileged to pray with someone our faith joins with theirs and it’s like saying ‘Hang on! Don’t let go! Jesus has got you!’

There may be times when WE are the one on the swing needing a little hand-holding, maybe a little push, an encouraging word and a prayer… and that’s ok. We need each other and we honor the Lord when we share our burdens.

Did you know that a shepherd will care for a flock of about a hundred sheep? Because he stays with them all day, they recognize him. Because sheep tend to nibble themselves outside of their safe perimeter the shepherd will often call to them to bring them back together. They know his voice.

At night, the shepherds would herd their flocks into a sheepfold that had walls all around it to keep the sheep safe from outside predators. There was only one entrance into the sheepfold. It didn’t have a door. One shepherd would stay behind to guard that entry while the other shepherds went off to rest for the night. It was that shepherd’s duty to stay alert and keep the enemy out and the hundreds of sheep inside.

In the morning, the shepherd at the entrance would allow the shepherd to enter the sheepfold and that shepherd would walk through the many sheep and call to HIS sheep. As they heard his voice and recognized him they would make their way out of the opening, past the shepherd that kept watch over them at the entry, to follow their own shepherd.

The shepherd that guarded the only entry to the sheep inside acted as a door. So when Jesus talked about being the Good Shepherd in John 10 there is more to what he was saying than just a parable about sheep.

In John 10:9 (ESV) Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Knowing the culture of the day makes Jesus’ parable about the sheep more personal to us. He guards us…and He calls us. When we belong to Jesus and hear Him calling us… we know Him… and He knows us.

Sometimes the sun is shining. The birds are singing. The bills are paid up. Everybody’s up on the right side of the bed that morning. We don’t get stuck in traffic and we’re not late to work. We’re all getting along – like one big happy family.

And then there are days when nothing goes right. We find ourselves in a difficult, even dire, situation. It seems as if everything is happening in slow motion and we can’t even begin to think of what we should be doing to move forward.

Mountaintop days and valley days are definitely coming our way; but, many days we find ourselves living right in the middle. The ONE common denominator that makes EVERY day a gift is that God is IN each one. Nahum 1:7 (NLT) reveals, “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.” The goodness of God surrounds us. His presence leans in close to us as we put our trust in Him and He is our secure hiding place when we find ourselves in one of those ‘valley’ days.

What kind of day are you having today? Would you join me in embracing the Lord’s presence and giving Him thanks that He is right here beside us!

As believers, we know that Jesus is everywhere. He is always surrounding us and guiding us. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV), “Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”

So on Resurrection Sunday when I picked up my phone and read the headline of an email “He is not here…” it made me stop and imagine just how empty that empty tomb must have felt that first Sunday, Resurrection Day! For hundreds of years, the Israelites had taken comfort in the words of the Psalmist that there was no place we could go that He wasn’t there. But on that day and forever after…there is one place that Jesus is not… Matthew 28:6 (NKJV) gives us the beautiful announcement, “He is not here; for He is risen, just as He said.”

When I visited the Garden Tomb in Israel, standing inside that place, it was dark, cold and empty. Thank God that Jesus is NOT there! Stepping out of the empty tomb that day I felt an overwhelming sense of joy to know that Jesus is alive! Because He lives we can live victoriously every single day. Jesus is NOT there in that tomb. He is alive with us right here and right now. Praise God for that!