enLIVEn Devotionals

Abiding in Jesus - Overflowing His Spirit

Fresh Fruit

  I've used every reason imaginable to excuse a negative attitude towards my husband: I'm tired; it's that time of the month; I'm pregnant; I was pregnant and now there's more hormonal stuff going on; I'm a stressed out mom and wife, etc. Basically, I exist; therefore, I act this way. To me, I wasn't sinning because I couldn't possibly control the way I was behaving. After all, why would God make me capable of these types of emotions and attitudes if they weren't okay in His eyes? One day He gently reminded me of the power of free will and our human desire to choose sin. I seemed ... Read the Post

Great is His Faithfulness

I don’t know about you, but there have been seasons in my life when it has seemed like all was lost. The old adage, “When it rains, it pours,” has rung true with me on countless occasions. There are times in our lives when it just doesn’t seem like God is answering our pleas for help fast enough, or maybe we feel He isn’t answering at all. In Lamentations 3:22, the writer announces that in spite of his sorrows and tribulation, God is worthy of his praise. Amazing, isn’t it? No matter what we may struggle with, God is faithful. Verse 22 begins with, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore, I ... Read the Post

Guardian Angel

Waiting outside for my husband to start a four mile race, I hear a small voice say, “Do you remember me?” I look at the small dark-haired young lady and can’t recall her face. “No.” I say, “I can’t place you.” She proceeds to remind me that she was one of the several Intensive Care Nurses that took care of me at the University Hospital in San Antonio after a major car wreck that nearly took my life. Even though it had been a little over a year ago, my eyes filled up with tears. I don’t remember her face due to all the pain and medication I was on at the time, but I remember her ... Read the Post

Writing Friends

For months I had prayed for a new community of Christian women. The small accountability group of women I had met with for almost nine years had dissolved, and I knew I was floundering. Being a new member of of my church, I’d heard a lot about home teams, but I was still clinging to the hope that my little group would somehow be resurrected and all would be well. I knew in my heart, though, that while the group had been a blessing, it was time for me to move on. Deep in my heart I knew if I would allow it, God would lead me to a new community of sisters with whom I could share life and ... Read the Post

Held

I work as a Medical Social Worker for Driscoll Children’s Hospital in the Neonate Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Like all jobs, mine involves tasks that are extremely challenging. One of the most challenging tasks is that I have to be present and assist with all infant deaths that occur in the NICU. This task has become increasingly more challenging since I became pregnant six months ago. There are no magic words that I can say to stop the parents’ pain and suffering. As I sit with them, I question why God would bless a family with a baby only to take him away three weeks later. It seems ... Read the Post

Hero or a Dud

I knew two women with boyfriends who didn’t want to commit. God asked both of these women to end their relationships. One woman ended the five year relationship fully anticipating that her boyfriend would see the error of his ways and become the hero she wanted; instead, she was shocked when he agreed and six months later proposed to another woman and quickly started a family. The second woman ended her five year relationship with her boyfriend fully anticipating that he would agree and she would lose him forever. Her heart was broken, but she knew she deserved a hero not a dud. When she ... Read the Post