enLIVEn Devotionals

Abiding in Jesus - Overflowing His Spirit

He Cares for You

While driving to Bible study, I cried out to the Lord, “Don’t you care?” A few days earlier, my husband had chest pains and went to the emergency room. The pain was due to gastrointestinal problems and he was able to return home. However, we had to pay the hospital bill. Two years prior, John lost his job and health insurance. With his history of cancer, obtaining coverage wasn’t easy. He found employment, but no benefits. For two years, I prayed that God would provide him with insurance. He doesn’t care, I thought. If He did, He would have already answered my prayer. If God promises to ... Read the Post

Intimidating Success

Other people’s success can be an intimidating thing, even when we are genuinely happy for them. My mom became a Christian only a year before I did. She almost immediately went to Bible College. She then became a minister and speaker of God’s Word. She mended struggling churches. She helped countless people in their faith. She did so much good in the community. I did none of these things. The mere thought of standing up at the pulpit made me feel sick. A thousand doubts and fears used to plague me. Was I less of a Christian because I didn’t have a grand list of achievements? Then the Lord ... Read the Post

Chameleon Christians

All through my childhood years, I have always heard that we ought to be set apart and not conformed to this world (Romans12:2). Although I understood what my elders were trying to relay to me, I also felt that they used the verse to keep us from mingling with the other denominations. I was watching a sermon one night and the speaker used the same verse but put a twist to it that I have never heard before. What he showed this verse to mean was that there are many Christians who have become expert Chameleons. They have learned how to conform in every environment. In the club they drop it ... Read the Post

Squiggly Marks, Stripes and Polka Dots

It started out sweetly enough. My daughter, Taylor, was patting my legs and looking at me in her own precious way. She then said, "Mommy, what are those stripes on your legs?" I looked down at my legs and tried to explain that while I was pregnant with her, I was teaching and was on my feet a lot. As a result of being on my feet so much and carrying her, I got little things called spider veins on my legs. She then said, "No, not your squiggly marks, the stripes?" As I looked down at the "stripes" on my legs I shared with her that Mommy has pale skin, which makes it easier to see the veins ... Read the Post

Zipper

As I watched my five year old son try to zip up his jacket, I grew impatient. I had all the kids ready to get into the car, but he was holding up our exit. We were in our third minute of waiting when I asked, “Can I please zip it for you?” He kept his focus on his jacket and replied, “No. I want to do it by myself.” He was having trouble connecting the jacket zipper on the bottom, and I was tempted to just do that for him and let him zip it the rest of the way. But before I could reach down to help him, I had a flashback of my childhood. I distinctly remembered one morning when I was ... Read the Post