Seek His Face
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” – Psalm 27:8 A few days ago, God used the lyrics of a song in my weekly church service to convict my heart: In the morning when I rise to meet you In the morning when I lift […]
Heaven Is Reality
In 1945, C.S. Lewis published the novel, The Great Divorce, and explored thoughts on heaven and hell. In the story a bus of people from “grey town,” a joyless, monotonous, isolating place, – meant to be hell – take an excursion to the outskirts of heaven. As the bus breaks through the grim rain clouds […]
Kingdom Seeds
As I wrote down the title to this blog, I wondered how many people would wonder what I mean by kingdom seeds. So let me begin today by saying that as a Christian, the definition of kingdom is the rule and reign of God through Jesus Christ. Jesus, sent by His Father to save mankind, […]
Fly High or Dive Deep?
An excerpt from an archived blog post from January 2019. This morning, I have been thinking about whether or not I am the kind of person that likes to fly high or dive deep. Not sure why this thought came to me, but perhaps it will be helpful to you as I share what […]
As Sure as the Sunrise
In the gray pre-dawn hour of the day, as I shuttled sleepy younger siblings along to my daughter’s school drop-off, an indignant question came to me from the backseat of my minivan. “Mom, why is it still dark?” (Insert angry emoji here). My 3-year-old son clearly did not appreciate being roused at such an early […]
The Good Life
This week we’ll work through the Beatitudes, Jesus’ opening section in his sermon on the Mount. As we do, we’re looking for guideposts on how to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom. In the Beatitudes, Jesus gives us a list of qualities or behaviors of people at home in the Kingdom of God. He gives […]
Sing a New Song
Last month I began the season of Advent leading a retreat. Part of my goal was to get the ladies to do a reset; stop pushing the repeat play button and start playing a new song. When I first heard this I doubted it was God talking to me, but I have learned over the […]
Unwavering Faith
Happy New Year to our Drawing Near to God community! Do you have unwavering faith in God for the upcoming year? Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, […]
Jesus Formed in the Womb
Have you ever thought about Jesus being formed in Mary’s womb? Scripture tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image– that we were formed in our mother’s womb. And Jesus was too… Though He was the Son of God… He was formed in His mother’s womb. As we reflect on Jesus’s […]
Are you Distracted?
This morning in my quiet time as I sat with the Lord with my heart racing and a list in front of me to get done before Christmas, I heard the whisper of my Shepherd’s voice: Joanne you are distracted by so many things. Do not forget the one important thing; stay close to me. […]