SOUTHERN HILLS

Read: Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 139:13-16; Romans 12:21; Ephesians 4:1-6 Earlier this morning, I was watering the tomatoes before the day got hot. It is supposed to be 101 today. As I was doing the task, I noticed that one of the plants was really drooping down. Time to hill it up; so, I worked the dirt around the plant, packing it nicely for support so the fruit will have a good chance of growing and ripening. I'll need to keep checking and perhaps do some more hilling up to

Read: Genesis 27:41-45; Genesis 28:10-19 Last week, we looked into the life of Rebecca and discovered that in many ways, we can relate to her. We observed times of sweetness and trust as well as a time of scheming and deception. As it is true in our own lives, we watched Rebecca take steps of faith as she demonstrated her trust in God. We also observed her as she took control rather than waiting for God to bring about His will in His way. Highs and lows. Those words surely

Read: Genesis 24:11-27; Genesis 24:56-67; Genesis 27:1-15 Have you ever said this? ‘How could I do that? I thought that I had progressed in my walk with Jesus so that I wouldn't fall into that same pit!’ Or have you ever said? ‘That is wonderful. I am an answer to someone's prayers. What a privilege that God uses us in His plan!’ Yet, if I may paraphrase Charles Dickens, each of our lives could be described as both "the best of times and also the worst of times." Our a

Read: Acts 10:1-48 I love hearing testimonies. Those precious stories that tell about God's reaching into lives to make people new! The ones that we read in the Bible are also thrilling. Each transformed life is a miracle of God, and tucked into many of the stories is a person who God has used to play a part in His miracles. I was thinking about these things after being reminded of a truth. Faith moves mountains, but God often hands us a shovel. That truth doesn't negate

Read: Luke 15:1-2; John 13:26; Ephesians 4:1-6 God has given those of us who have turned our lives over to Jesus many precious gifts. Among them is forgiveness, Colossians 1:13-14; cleansing, 1 John 1:7; new mercies each morning, Lamentations 3:21-23 and the list goes on and on. However, for today, may we look at the incredible privilege of belonging. Belonging to a family whose members, like us, have been set apart for Jesus. A family where each of its members has the hono

Read: Genesis 30:1-2; John 21:18-22; Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17 Last week, we looked at two examples of what we are calling unfairnesses. Inequities for which God takes responsibility. The first involves God's animals and the second and more difficult one involves deafness and blindness, Job 38; Exodus 4. The Bible never says that the playing field will be level, and these scriptures are examples of that truth; however, what happens in the here and now is not the final

Read: Job 39:13-18; Exodus 4:10-12; Genesis 30:1-2; John 21:18-22 Let's start with a fill in the blank quiz. No worries, there aren't right or wrong answers. Ready? I wish I had _____ or I wish I could _____. If there is something that we wish we had, it is generally because having it would help life to be more exciting, easier or even the playing field for us..., and sometimes we wonder why things seem upside down? Why can't we make sense concerning what we see all arou

Read: Psalm 18:28-30; Psalm 18:34-36 Yesterday, there it was again. A nice-looking tomato on the vine with a bite taken out of it. Wasps again! I pulled it off and tossed it in the trash. That is the second episode with the wasps, and because of them, I have been picking the tomatoes before they are fully ripe in the hopes that I will get them before the nasty little bugs do. Too bad I didn't get that one picked in time! Besides the damage the wasp did, I noticed something

Read: 2 Corinthians 2:15-16; John 3:18-19 On August 13, Arizona's Little League team played Hawaii to determine who would go on to play in Williamsport. One team would play in the Little League World Series, and the other would be eliminated. It was the fourth inning, and there were two runners on base for Hawaii. That's when Arizona's coach Drew Breivogel went to the mound to calm down his pitcher. ESPN was reporting the game and Breivogel was miked up. He told his 12-year

Read: Isaiah 61:10; Jude 1:24-25 How many times have I said these words? “That simply isn't right. How can someone go free because of a technicality? How can someone lie, causing a person to be imprisoned for decades?” Injustice. It seems to be everywhere. Judges who are corrupt while good men are mocked. The world system often is upside down, but wait! There is something even more unbelievable. Those who are truly guilty are declared to be holy and without sin. What? Who

Dear Sisters & Brothers, this devotion was written several years ago. The friend whose life is highlighted here is now cancer free and serving Jesus joyfully, and the message that God is faithful to answer prayer is as trustworthy as it was when this was first written. Blessings, Patty Read: Luke 1:5-20 I have been e-mailing my high school friend in South Carolina since she began her chemotherapy. Sadly, she is dealing with an aggressive cancer. She has undergone two out

Read: Luke 18:1-8 I just heard another report concerning attention span and how it is lessening and lessening. It seems that every subsequent generation that comes along has a shorter attention span than its predecessor. No wonder we often find it so difficult to rest in God's timing when He seems to never be in a hurry. No frantic and hasty decisions are made in heaven, and none of the angels are in a flux concerning whether or not God's plan will come to fruition. It is

Read: 2 Corinthians 8:9; 2 Corinthians 9:15 This week, I read about Mr. Kuroki and the love gift he gave to his wife. Here is their story. In the 1950s Mr. and Mrs. Kuroki moved to a farm in rural Japan which they enjoyed for 30 years, but then things changed. Mrs. Kuroki lost her sight as a result of her diabetes. She became withdrawn after that. Not even going outside. Mr. Kuroki longed to do something that would bring her out of her great sadness. Then one day, he notice

Read: 1 Peter 1:3-5 Some of my favorite Christian fiction books tell the stories of characters from two or three different worlds. The lives of more than one generation are detailed and often we learn while reading the accounts, that the past truly effects the present. The authors generally accomplish this intertwining through the discoveries of old diaries. The entries are read by a character in the present in order to understand something that heretofore made no sense. I

Read: Acts 8:26-40 Recently, I heard a man who was speaking about how we can encounter someone each day who is open to hearing about Jesus. He had a way to pray that he said would bring about that result. I am thankful for each encounter he has had. They are gifts from God; however, he then said that a day without experiencing this should be considered to have been a failure. Oh my. My spirit slumped because according to that gentleman's assessment, I have had innumerable d

Read: Isaiah 40:12-26 It is a pleasure to observe someone who is truly skilled in what he does. There is beauty in work done well. That is what I had the privilege of observing a few weeks ago when two of my family members built a new deck for me. Such a blessing. As I thought about that day, I smiled when I remembered that there was one thing I didn't do while they were working. I never asked them if they could use a bit of advice. That would have truly been a ridiculous t

Read: Proverbs 20:5; Proverbs 18:2; Proverbs 18:13; Proverbs 12:18 It is kind of fun sometimes to discover the origin of idioms. Sayings like, "he is not worth his salt", for example. The phrase was used to describe someone whose work wasn't worth the salary he received. In earlier times, workers were often paid with salt which was a precious commodity. Another example. Where did the idiomatic expression "a penny for your thoughts" originate, and how long will it be with us

Read: Luke 7:11-17; Mark 5:35-43 Sometimes the same words can either be words that show a person is seeking to understand something or mock the one being queried. For example, when Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate asked "what is truth?", John 18:38. Depending on the governor's tone of voice and body language, there are at least two very different thoughts that might have been in his mind. The question might have been sincere. A desire to know if truth existed and perhaps e

Read: 2 Samuel 15:32-37; Genesis 15:6; John 15:14-15; Daniel 2:44 Lesser-known Bible characters. They're kind of fun to look at sometimes. For example, there is one lesser known man in scriptures whose name always makes me smile. In fact, his name should be used instead of cheese to help someone smile during picture taking time. Who is he? He's Hushai the Arkite. No, he wasn't a stowaway on the Ark with Noah. Did you smile when you said Hushai? I did! There aren't many ve

Read: John 12:1-8; Hebrews 12:2 Is it only me or has anyone else noticed that some words seem to have lost their sweetness because we try so hard to figure out all their nuances? For example, the word chosen. The scripture says in more than one place that we were chosen by God before the world was created, Ephesians 1:4. However, in trying to reconcile the sweet truth of being chosen with the other sweet truth of free will, John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9, the wonder of being chosen