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“And Jacob named the place Bethel (which means “house of God”), because God had spoken to him there.”Genesis 35:15 God called Jacob back to a place I’m sure he had heard of before. No doubt his father had passed down the story from his grandfather, Abraham, and his encounter with God at this place called Bethel. It was the place in Canaan where Abraham first arrived and where he offered up the first sacrifice to God in this land God had called him to. Now, God was calling Jacob back home to this same place.  Jacob had been a stranger[…]

“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7 As it opened its doors welcoming retail tenants and shoppers in 1968, The Vernon Park Mall was the pride of the East. As the first shopping mall east of Raleigh, in the rural farming town of Kinston, North Carolina, the mall bustled with commerce as folks drove from miles around to walk the corridors, shop the stores and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere. Many a shop[…]

“Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time.”  Romans 16:25 (NLT) In Romans 16:1, the Apostle Paul makes a cameo mention of a lady by the name of Phoebe. Although we don’t know a lot about her, we know she was entrusted by Paul to take his letter to the Church at Rome and present it to them. With that said, she most likely read his letter to the church[…]

“So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”  Romans 5:11  Do you have a best friend? Someone you love hanging out with and who’s there for you anytime, night or day? Someone that you can come to and just simply be yourself with, with absolutely no need for pretense? Someone who loves you unconditionally and whose love is something in which you feel secure and never doubt? If you have a person like that in your life, then without a doubt you have a tremendous blessing![…]

“He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  2 Thessalonians 2:14  In 1 Kings 3 and 2 Chronicles 1, Solomon begins his reign as Israel’s third king by worshiping the Lord, and it wasn’t just any kind of worship!  By offering over 1,000 animal sacrifices to the Lord, it was an extraordinary, extravagant worship. The kind of worship that invoked a response from the Lord that came in the form of a visit through a vision and included a question. The question to Solomon from the[…]

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most HighWill remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].”  Psalm 91:1 (AMP) In the sparcly populated county in Eastern North Carolina where I live, our 911 Call Center Telecommunicators have undergone some significant training in recent years resulting in lives saved. Not to long ago our local Telecommunicators underwent intensive training in the Emergency Medical Dispatch Interface which allows them to interact with the callers to the 911 center, by giving them medical instructions to assist victims of heart attacks, strokes, choking, childbirth and more. This training has resulted in[…]

“So Israel came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated the Philistines there. Then David said, ‘God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.’ Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim.” 1 Chronicles 14:11 Have you ever noticed that in the moment God is doing something new and big in your life, the enemy comes right in with an attack? It seems that just as God is bringing increase, promotion, or blessing in an area that our adversary comes in simultaneously with an attack to cause distraction and defeat.  We see in 1 Chronicles 14 that just as[…]

“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”  Matthew 7:11 I can remember my parents going to great lengths to give us gifts, especially on holidays and birthdays. I remember one Christmas, in particular, that it seemed they went way beyond anything my eleven-year-old mind expected. Even with a meager income, they often went above and beyond to get us gifts. On Easter, my mom especially, made sure we had Easter baskets chocked full of goodies. One year my Easter[…]

“No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”  1 Samuel 2:2 It was one of those beautiful, spring nights here in Eastern North Carolina. My wife and I had just enjoyed a nice dinner at one of our favorite water view eateries and were now enjoying the sunset scenery at the riverfront park across the street. As we walked out to the end of a pier, I commented about the beautiful orange sunset colors that were dancing off the river and then I said to her, “You see that spot[…]

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” Galatians 5:25 I was surprised recently to learn that there are 7,500 different varieties of apples around the world. There are at least 100 varieties of apples being grown and produced commercially right here in the U.S. And that’s just one type of fruit! The fruit industry as a whole is a $25 billion industry in just the U.S. alone. Wow, that’s a lot of fruit!  Paul gives us the secret to being big-time fruit producers ourselves. No, not from the[…]