I realize the title of this blog is lame, but hey, I just want to announce SOME REALLY GREAT NEWS! This blog, as you know it, is going to go through some major transformation for the good. You will be seeing a new face and a new name. The plan is to rebuild and begin this major update in the month of June.
I first confessed Christ as my Lord almost 49 years ago. That is close to half a century of getting to know my Creator. It’s a lot of life, a lot of joy and a lot of challenges faced. One thing I have discovered is His overwhelming compassionate heart.
In good times, we tend to think we control life. We have control of our family, our money, our jobs and our lives. When crisis or tragedy hits, we quickly realize we’re not in control of everything and that feels so out of control, so uncomfortable and abnormal. When we cannot explain something or make sense of something, we then look for something or someone to blame. Ultimately we may look to blame God because He’s God and He could make things occur differently.
There is always something to learn in life about ourselves or about others in both good and bad times. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us there is a time and a season for everything. (See Ecclesiastes 3:1.) Here are a few of my observations and reminders from this amazing, but challrenging season.
COVID–19 has certainly had an impact on the world, but it’s not my generations first pandemic. In 1968 and 1969, when I was a young teenager, the United States fiercely faced the Hong Kong flu. In that year we experienced 100,000 deaths. To be truthful, I don’t even remember going through it or being encouraged to take one single precaution. The H3N2 flu must have been so much more dreadful with so many deaths over the period of one year.
So many have found Psalm 91 to bring great comfort, strength, truth and spiritual reality to us during this unique time. Personally, I have been praying through it every morning for my loved ones and the many others I am responsible for. One morning I felt prompted to look up one of the words in the dictionary for greater clarity and then became intrigued with so many of the other words found in this amazing Psalm. I ended up with a very amplified version and decided to share it with you below. I hope it is of great comfort, help and support to you as it is to me when praying these beautifully written words.
If there is one thing we know about Christianity, it’s that it is a faith of generosity. Generosity is one of the themes found throughout the scriptures. In fact, the more we give, the more blessed we become – Give and it shall be given unto you…
Can you remember before you were married how you could spend hours upon hours together and still desire more connection? Prior to marriage, we practiced honoring one another with lots of grace, patience and time. It was easy; we were in love and we were doing our best to make a really good impression. Where does that go?
A friend wrote to me recently and stated, “We are trying to keep our sanity while working at home, having our children home from school and feeling isolated.” Well said, because the whole world seems to be on a pause. It is not a season to fear, but we can embrace this season and believe for some good to come out of it. So, here are 10 things you can do while feeling a bit like a captive.
Did you know that the words “fear not” or “do not fear” appear well over 100 times in the New King James Version of the Bible? God must be serious about fear in our lives. Fear will steal our joy, remove our faith, decrease our love and cause us to not trust God. I can still remember an often-seen bumper sticker from the 1970’s which read, “Fear or Faith.” We have a choice; we can fear or we can have faith in our God. Below I shared some of my favorite “fear not” scriptures. May they bring you courage to not be in fear!
Steve Prokopchak 