“Set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not earthly things.” –Col. 3:1-2 It’s easy to look down. It’s easy to focus on circumstances. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and anxious. It’s easy to become lost in the swirl of negativity that so … More Monday Morning Musings: Look Up
When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” –Psalm 27:8 NKJV I’d sung the song dozens of times before. But this time was different. This time as I sang the words, I was no longer sure the words were true. This time, there was one line that hit … More Monday Morning Musings: Seeking His Face
This hasn’t been my favorite week. I’ve gone through an awful lot of tissue. My heart has been heavy. Personal setbacks and disappointments have abounded, as well as heartache on a much larger scale. On top of that, I’ve been feeling pretty cruddy physically. Sounds like a great recipe for a pity party, doesn’t it? I … More A Little Perspective Check
The corner of the coffee table was digging painfully into my knee. My left arm was completely numb. My right arm, contorted at an unnatural angle, was well on its way to the same state. My neck was stiff; my back and feet ached. I was beginning to sweat … No, I wasn’t engaged in a torturous … More Uncomfortably Close
We’ve all seen the reports in the sports section. An athlete competes in a race and achieves their “personal best.” It’s not a world record. It’s not usually even a regional record. Sometimes it’s not even a school or meet record–it’s just that particular person’s best effort to date. And because it is that person’s … More Personal Best
I’ll never know how much it cost, to see my sin upon that cross … As I gently sing the familiar words, my heart is stirred. Tears well up and begin to flow freely. A wave of gratitude sweeps over me, and I remember … I remember the cross. I remember that I’m saved by … More Remembering
“Love loves to love. And the reward of love is love …” I’ve heard Misty Edwards sing these words many times from the prayer room at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, but today they are personal. Many years ago, not long after I had given my heart to Jesus, I had an experience that marked my life. … More Love Loves to Love
Words. They can be so simple. And they can be so complex. They can give life, hope, and inspiration. They can also bring death, discouragement, and destruction. James says the power of life and death is in the tongue. I believe it! (And not just because it’s in the Bible.) I believe it because I’ve lived on both sides … More Words (Don’t Give Up)
The furious squall arose out of nowhere. The wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to stand up straight–let alone do anything else. The little boat bobbed up and down on the Sea of Galilee; its small metal roof offering almost no protection against the torrential rain that was coming down in great, diagonal … More A Different Kind of Storm
My brain is on spin cycle. The Holy Spirit has been pouring in so much; doing so much. In my mind, there are a zillion sound bites clamoring for airplay. They are competing with half a dozen opening lines of posts that are mentally “in process.” Floating in between it all–mental snapshots of so many amazing and miraculous … More Thank You
“Oh Lord, please, see the ‘yes’ in my heart!” Things hadn’t gone quite the way I’d expected or hoped. I wasn’t sure what God’s plan was anymore, but I was sure I wanted to be a part of his plan no matter what it looked like. I needed to be sure he knew that. But of course … More Yes
“Lord, I just don’t get it!” It had been a bad week. A really bad week. There had been challenging circumstances, to be sure, but honestly it wasn’t that kind of bad week. It was a bad week between my ears. It was a bad week in my thoughts. It was a bad week in my … More Getting It
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” –Ernest Hemingway I understand this quote far more than I wish I did. When I write, I don’t hold much back. The good, the bad, the ugly–it’s all out there. The deepest ponderings of my heart–out there. The most … More Arms Wide Open, Heart Exposed
It’s a new day! It’s also the first day of a new month. And we are only one month into an entirely new year. So it is a new day, in a new month, in a year that is also still very new. That’s a lot of new. And I’m glad. I’m really, really, glad. … More A New Day
This post probably isn’t about what you might think it is about. I’ve actually started it several times. I haven’t had the nerve to finish it and post it. I don’t know if I will this time either, but it won’t go away. So here I am yet again. If you’re reading this, well, I guess … More Seeing the Unseen
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine … In dark times; in the midst of turmoil; in confusion and uncertainty … I’m … More This Little Light of Mine …
I’m sitting here with the seeds of a zillion ideas stirring within me. But I keep being distracted from my many swirling thoughts. I’m being distracted by the present. It’s just too beautiful outside to think about tomorrow. I’m much too distracted by today. Sometimes God gets on “themes” in my life. Well, the … More The Beauty of His Peace (a.k.a.Today, Pt. 2)
“Are you sure, Lord? I mean, are you really sure?” Yes, love, I’m sure. This is one of the very things I had in my heart when I created you. “But seriously, who even cares? Honestly, tons of people are able to share the same kinds of things I share–and most of them do it … More Finding My Voice
Someday I will have something profound to say. Someday I will have a great story, or great revelation, or something incredibly encouraging to share. Someday. Maybe. Someday. But today is not that day. Today is not someday. Today is, well, today. So I’m not going to try to be profound. I don’t have a really great … More Today
I can’t authentically be anyone other than who I am I can remember that who I am is exactly who He created me to be I can’t make anyone understand me, or “get” me, or want to believe in me I can rest in the knowledge He already does I can’t pretend to have … More I Can
Cindy Powell 