Category Archives: Christianity

The Vibe May Change…

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A couple of days ago, I spent hours trying to figure out why the “Follow Me” button had disappeared from my blog. With the help of my AI assistant, I checked settings and lists, tried everything I could think of, and followed every suggestion. I knew the answer had to be somewhere in the program.

I could see the follow box. I could see the list of followers. Everything seemed to be there, yet the button refused to appear on my posts.

Then I discovered a list of buttons that had somehow been switched off. All I had to do was turn one setting back on, and voilà—my button was restored.

That little adventure made me think about our relationship with God.

Sometimes we experience a sense of goneness. We pray, worship, and read Scripture, yet God feels distant. We wonder, I’m here. Where is He? We can’t feel the vibe of His presence, so we begin to assume something has gone wrong.

But feelings are not facts.

God is faithful and always keeps His word. David wrote in Psalm 139:7-10, “Where can I flee from Your presence?” The answer is nowhere. Joshua reminds us in Joshua 1:9 that “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And Jesus promised in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The bottom line is this: God hasn’t gone anywhere.

When His presence seems hidden, the problem isn’t that He has disappeared. More often, we’ve become distracted, discouraged, or focused on the wrong things. The connection is still there because He is still there.

In Isaiah 41:8-10, God makes this promise:

“You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off;
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

The vibe may change.

God never does.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up

When Gratitude Becomes Worship

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Giving thanks for who God is, what He has done, and what He will continue to do for us should be as natural as breathing. Yet, if we’re honest, we often need reminders.

Every book on prayer I’ve ever read encourages believers to include thanksgiving in every prayer. More importantly, Scripture does the same. Passages such as Philippians 4:6-7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 call us to live with grateful hearts and offer thanks in all circumstances.

During a past worship service, we shared what was called a “Wave of Thanks.” While it wasn’t the same kind of wave offering described in Exodus 29:24, the idea was similar. One by one, people offered words of gratitude before the Lord.

Many of the blessings mentioned were familiar and precious: family, new babies, new homes, faithful friends, our church family, and, of course, Jesus and the salvation He freely gives. Others spoke of God’s faithfulness through difficult seasons. We have witnessed cancer in some of its ugliest forms, yet we have also seen God intervene with His healing touch.

One expression of thanks, in particular, captured my attention: the miracle of life.

Within our church family, we have seen life-threatening traumatic brain injuries, including one that resulted in a coma. Humanly speaking, the outcomes could have been very different. Yet both men survived and are living life to the fullest today. What a testimony to God’s sustaining grace!

The words of an old hymn came to mind:

“Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the Creator triumphantly raise,
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who guideth us on to the end of our days.”

Even more amazing, our Creator has offered us more than physical life. Through Jesus Christ, He has made eternal life available to all who believe. The greatest miracle is not simply that we live today, but that we can live forever with Him.

Prayer

Lord God, Creator of Life, thank You for the gift of every breath and every day. Thank You for sustaining us through trials, healing us when we are broken, and reminding us of Your faithfulness. Most of all, thank You for the eternal life found in Jesus Christ.

Give us the desire and courage to live fully for You. Let us never lose our sense of wonder. Help us never to take Your blessings for granted, and never let us forget the greatest gift of all—the life we have through Your Son. Make it so in Jesus’ name!

The hymn “Let All Things Now Living” was written by Katherine K. Davis and set to the traditional Welsh melody “The Ash Grove.”

This is an edit of a post originally posted on 11.23.2011.

The Call We Don’t Want To Answer

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Where—or what—is your Nineveh?
Where is God calling you?
Are you deliberately saying no?
Is your allegiance tied to something—or someone—else?

Jonah was a true believer. Up to the moment God called him to go to Nineveh, he had followed faithfully—in his life, his work, and his actions. But this? This was too much.

Jonah was deeply loyal to his country. He was willing to do and say whatever God asked…as long as it aligned with his own thinking.

But God said, Go to Nineveh.

In Jonah’s mind, there were already others—like Amos and Hosea—doing God’s work. Why send him somewhere so far outside his comfort zone? Surely someone else could go.

And we know how the rest of Jonah’s story unfolds…But what about our story?

What is God asking of us that we’re resisting? Where are we saying, “Lord, surely someone else would be better for this”?

Here’s the truth: God will accomplish His purposes. The question is—will we be part of it?

Will we miss the blessing of obedience because the calling feels too big, too uncomfortable, or too far outside our plans?

Look at Proverbs 3:5–6. When we trust in the Lord and honor Him in all our ways, He directs our paths. He never calls us to something beyond His ability to sustain—but He does call us to know Him, trust Him, and follow through.

Abba, Father, Creator of all this is, was, and is to come, give me an all-consuming desire to know Your Word so well that in every situation I recognize the path You’ve set before me. Lord, give me the courage to walk the path You’ve laid before me, even when it feels uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or too great for me. Help me to trust You fully, to lay aside my own plans. Give me the courage to say YES—no matter where my Ninevah is. Hear my prayer in Jesus’ holy name.

This blog was first published on 9,21,2011 as Ninevah or Bust.

Dining Room Theology #1 GATHERING

Welcome to Dining Room Theology — where the coffee is strong, the Bibles are open, the conversation is lively, and apparently even the cat prays.

Our little group (the Spirit Sisters) gathers around the dining room table each week to study God’s Word, ask hard questions, laugh a lot, and encourage one another in faith.

Tonight, Chewy decided he would lead the closing prayer.

“Amen.” 😄

I’ve been having some fun and relaxing time with my AI program, and it created these cartoons of our Bible study. I hope you enjoy them! Laughter is good for all of us.

Yes, Chewy joins the Spirit Sisters regularly—every Monday, in fact. He seems to think he’s an official member of the group.

We go live every Monday evening on Facebook. Just head over, follow my page, and it will pop up in your Reels when we start.

Right now we’re live at 5:30 PM EST, but soon we’ll be moving to 6:30 PM.

Come join the conversation… and the cat.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Forgiven

The poem in the picture above is a Haiku. The simplicity of this Japanese poetic form has been an unexpected gift in my meditation and prayer time. It helps me clear my scattered thoughts and focus on a specific word of God’s Word and applying it to my life.

For me this is a deliberate act of submission. It helps me take a broad and powerful truth from God’s Word and make it into a focused, crystal clear declaration.

When I rise from my quiet time to go on with the pleasures and pressures of the day my focus remains on what God has said to me in this sweet moment of clarity.

If you would like to use this in your own quiet time here is an outline:

A Haiku is a powerful little poem that helps clear your mind. It follows a strict 3-line structure: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. We use this structure as a spiritual filter to capture God’s truth, not our own thoughts.

5 Steps To Creating Your Own Haiku

1. 📖 Find the Core Truth

Begin by reading and meditating on Scripture.

  • Goal: Pinpoint the single most impactful truth, command, or revelation the Holy Spirit is highlighting to you right now. This is your foundation.
  • It’s not about your feelings; it’s about His Word.

2. 🔍 Distill to One Image

Take that spiritual truth and find one concrete image that represents it.

  • Goal: Give the abstract concept a visual form (e.g., ‘Grace’ becomes ‘shelter,’ ‘Forgiveness’ becomes ‘clean flowing water’).
  • Focus on the image that best clarifies God’s action or character.

3. 📝 Submit to the Structure

Using the 5-7-5 syllable constraint, draft your three lines.

  • Goal: Let the structure force you to select only the most precise, potent words.
  • This is an act of submission—letting the form strip away your own unnecessary words.

4. 🔗 Bring Clarity to the Message

Ensure the lines connect but also create a moment of insight in the third line.

  • Goal: The last line should offer the spiritual conclusion, application, or humble response to the truth presented in the first two lines.
  • The final line should point the meaning back to His glory.

5. ✨ Pray and Act

Read the final haiku aloud slowly. Do not over-edit it.

  • Goal: Use the finished poem as a concise prayer.
  • Commit to letting this truth guide your action as you move from meditation into the world.