How did God prepare Jesus for His early ministry? What transpired during His formative years in the home of Joseph and Mary? We only have a few clues into those important years of preparation and training.

Join us as we engage in some edifying speculation on how Jesus became rooted and grounded in the love of God and developed a relationship with “The Father” before He embarked on his brief earthly mission.

God doesn’t have any baggage, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the Lord who changes not. His love doesn’t change either, for God is love. And God is light, with no darkness or shadows.

But we do have baggage, lots of it. Baggage is common to man. We each have our share of wounds, scars, and issues from past relationships. If we could see each other’s past, and have the ability to understand and discern what we have each experienced, we would have so much more compassion for one another.

Embracing our own issues, and acknowledging our specific weaknesses, failures, hurts, and dashed dreams, helps us to accept and love others. Sadly we have become experts at hiding our pain, and putting on a smiling face, but behind the masks we all are needy and messy. We have good days, and we have bad days.

God alone understands us fully. He shares in our joys and our sorrows. When we rejoice, He shares in our joy. When we weep He weeps. He gets us like no one else. And still He loves us completely, consistently, and unconditionally. His grace is amazing, because He is amazing.

God instructs us to be patient in scripture. He is uniquely qualified to offer this exhortation because He practices patience. In fact He is patience. God is the principal and He is the principle.

In the book of James, we are told to be patient and steadfast. Then as an example of patience, Job is held up as an example of patience and steadfastness. Then as a clincher, we learn that God is patient. In fact throughout scripture we see God described as stedfast, slow to anger, gracious, and merciful.

In the purpose and plan of God, we are not simply to acquire positive character qualities, we are to become like our Dad. We are being transformed into His image. May God help us to not only see the godly character qualities but God himself.

I awoke one morning wishing I had more psalms memorized. Hymns help me to worship. Psalms are hymns that David and others wrote to aid in expressing our hearts to God.

One hymn that has been particularly meaningful to me of late is Be Still My Soul. The phrase comes from Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

God is helping me to learn to be still and know that He is God. Singing this song with understanding helps to quiet my spirit and meditate on the truths found in the lyrics.

This past spring I was quietly sitting alone in an historical church. On the front wall of the plain sanctuary were the words, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple”. As I thought on these words I had a sense that God saw me.

These three words, “He sees me” filled my mind and seemed to cover me. I marveled and reveled in the truth of this concept. God almighty, sees me.

I tried to expand on the concept and thought of other truths like, He knows me, He hears me, but I kept coming back to He sees me.

God has given us his word for our good. God’s word is good, because God is good. Moses said, “Show me your ways, that I may know you.” The ultimate quest of our heart is not to know merely the scriptures, but the character and person of God that the scriptures reveal?

Before we can teach our children diligently, we as parents are called and designed to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When I asked God to help me love Him, I was surprised how he answered that prayer. He began to reveal to my heart how much He loved me. This is exactly what the word says in 1 John, “We love because He first loved us.” God always takes the initiative. As we ask Him to reveal His love, meditate on His love, and spend time with the person of God, we will love Him more and more.

Deuteronomy is the last sermon, or podcast, of the man who spoke with God face to face. This book is the distilled wisdom of Moses. These words were inspired by the Holy Spirit and given to us, for … our …. good. May God help us to hear His heart of love embed in the words of Deuteronomy.

We begin this episode by exploring how God’s message of grace, mercy, and forgiveness covers our sin and shame that began in the garden of Eden. We complete our discussion by examining how the best thing we can do for ourself and our family is let God love you.

God knows us completely and God loves us perfectly.

Co-Host Scott Moore begins by asking Steve a question about his family and how to make wise decisions about how to spend their time and which activities to pursue and which to let go of. This leads to a whole episode where we discuss making a family mission statement.

As parents, we want to make thoughtful decisions based on what we are for and what we value. Join us in this practical discussion.