enLIVEn Devotionals

Abiding in Jesus - Overflowing His Spirit

The Other Woman

I love my husband. We’ve been married almost thirty years, and I still enjoy spending time with him and giggling when he teases me. Like most marriages, we’ve endured some tough times: parenting challenges, financial difficulties, job insecurities and death of friends and family members. But the toughest time came just before our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. It was quite possibly the most painful yet beautiful time in our marriage. We were in the midst of a lot of change. My husband was unemployed; I was in between jobs. Money was tight and parents were terminally ill, and my husband’s ... Read the Post

The Last Word

We are so quick to justify ourselves, to rationalize our standpoints and to have the last word. What drives us to have to prove that we are right? I was a shy person when my husband and I met, but I quickly learned to debate him on issues. In the twenty-seven years that we’ve been married, I have had periods of compromise and periods where I stood against him on every issue. I enjoy the periods of compromise much better because of the peace. However, when I argued with him, I’d bring out logical points to prove that I was educated and knew what I was talking about. Sure, I was right; but ... Read the Post

The Wounded

One day my little grandsons, Cole (age 5) and Mason (age 8), were playing with some toys in the playroom. All of a sudden, Cole started screaming, “I’m bleeding! I’m bleeding!” He held up one little finger with a tiny drop of blood on it. His brother, Mason, shouted, “Shut up Cole! Jesus was bloody all over and He didn’t cry!” After hearing this story from their mother, we all had a good laugh, but then I thought about the spiritual lesson from this story. Christians in the United States sometimes cry over the smallest of injuries, while others in third world countries have been ... Read the Post

Thinking of Others

Yesterday, I went to a Women's ministry meeting, where we exchange mugs filled with the prayer requests of another member. Each member is then committed to praying for another woman’s prayer needs for a month. I quickly wrote down all of my prayer requests that dealt with my and my families current needs and placed my list in one of the mugs. Each lady took a turn choosing a mug and looking over the list of prayers of their chosen prayer partner. By coincidence, I picked my friend Jen's mug, folded it up and placed the list in my Bible without looking at it. This morning as I sipped my ... Read the Post

The Day After

  I look forward to the Christmas season like a snowman looks forward to the winter – I just can’t wait until it arrives! I love watching old Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music on the radio, dressing up in red and green and going to Christmas parties and, most of all, I love Christmas traditions – baking cookies, sending Christmas cards, decorating the Christmas tree and opening presents. I also enjoy driving around the city and looking at all of the Christmas decorations and lights on everyone’s homes. It is so fun to connect the Christmas decorations with the people ... Read the Post