In the South all of creation is proclaiming Easter! Resurrection is in bloom. But before spring we went through winter and Good Friday comes before Easter.

When I was little I remember asking my mother why the day Jesus died was called “Good Friday.” I couldn’t understand why the day Jesus was crucified would be called “good.”

An old BC cartoon captured the idea with something like, “If you were sentenced to die and someone volunteered to take your place, what would you call it?” “Good” becomes a mild adjective in that context.
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When someone recommends a book, I usually ask, “Does it have a good ending?” Knowing it will end well, helps me wade through the challenging parts of the story. Would it make a difference if you knew your pain had a purpose? What if you had a deep abiding assurance that you were deeply loved and being taken care of in the midst of your suffering and that your pain was actually a means to great gain? In other words, would it help if you knew your story has a good ending?

I believe that is God’s perspective on the suffering He allows to touch His children. God sees from an eternal viewpoint. This life is a splat on the highway in comparison with eternity. God is preparing us for eternity. (Read More)

Who are you having a hard time loving? To love somebody who is hard to love is a gratifying experience. When we deal with people as God deals with us, we experience a strength and nobility from being like Him. At Lighthouse we help people discover how they can love when it seems impossible. Some with this challenge are spouses who’ve been betrayed, and children who have been mistreated. Many come to us who feel unlovable and incapable of loving or being loved.

God called the Biblical prophet Hosea to love someone who would seem impossible to love. God told Hosea that he was to love this woman he would marry even though she would repeatedly betray him and give birth to several children fathered by her lovers. How could he love her? How did Hosea, and how do we do it? The answer is; we can’t! Like Hosea, we must learn how to let God’s love fill us and flow through us.

1. Hosea walked with God in the hard places. It was an impossible assignment: Go marry and love someone who will squander your love (Hosea 1:2,3). One would think that because of Hosea’s honorable track record as a prophet, God would have given him a loyal and supportive wife. But Hosea discovered that a person who walks with God in the hard places of life experiences a depth of God’s love that isn’t usually found in the comfortable places in life. (Read More)

Maybe you know that “stressed” spelled backwards equals “desserts.” Besides chocolate, are there some constructive ways for handling the stress of a depressed economy and the pressure to provide? Last week I received this comment to a previous blog (Why Can’t I Step Out in Faith?):

“Hi Debbie,

… by the world’s standards, I have a “great” job in that I’ve moved to upper management, I make more money than I ever dreamed possible, and yet, I’m so unhappy. I have a wonderful family, but the higher you move up the corporate ladder, the more that is required of you. To keep the job, the salary, and all the things the world says you should aspire to and be so grateful for – and I am grateful for the blessing of this job – you have to be willing to auction off more and more of yourself: your own values, your family, your time with God, your soul’s cry for something more…”

I appreciate this woman’s openness, and I know her words echo the sentiments of countless others. Her comment coupled with the words of Hosea 2:5,8 spurred me to reflect on the source of the stress that comes from striving for financial security. In this economy, many feel extra pressure to sell out to keep that job that provides a check, but robs them of everything else they value. (Read More)

When you think of temptation what comes to your mind? “Fun!” one lady responded when I posed the question in a small group. Those who think fun may have images of their favorite forbidden pleasure dance through their minds (hot fudge sundae perhaps). But for the wise and those who’ve felt the pain and consequences of giving into temptation, “run” is a better response.

Would you like to be shielded from the pain of harmful habits? Would you like to protect your loved ones from unhealthy relationships? Proverbs offers lots of wisdom for dealing with many types of people and areas of life, but what about unclear, or unnamed areas? Would you like to have a tool for evaluating toys, people, activities and other gray areas? (Read More)