We can either overcome adversity or allow it to define us. Hardship can either produce good for us or harm. What can we do to enable good to come out of adversity? How do we overcome adversity? Can we really come out on the other side better as a result of the struggle? What does it mean to be More than Conquerors?

While God does not cause hardship, He doesn’t always prevent it. In other words, He allows it. How do we process that? How do we respond to that? Let’s explore this struggle together honestly in this discussion video. Join us as we talk about:

• The struggle to not become bitter

• The damage that bitterness can cause

• How do we work through offense with God?

• Can we change our perspective to enable us to overcome adversity?

• What perspective helps us to do that?

• How can we change that perspective?

• What does it look like to engage with God in Adversity?

There are 3 traps that keep us from overcoming Adversity. How can we overcome hardships? Why are you not getting over that difficult time? What are the things that are holding you back? Let's discuss that today!

The Bible tells us that God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28), but our experience often shows us that adversity doesn’t always produce good. In fact our hardships often seem to produce harm. How do we reconcile those two things? Does God always produce good from adversity? And, how does He produce that good?

In this video we start a new series on overcoming adversity and what it means to be More Than Conquerors. In this first video we’ll explore the foundation for this as we talk about how God produces good from hardship. Join us as we talk about:

• How hardship can produce harm or good

• What we can do to experience good from our adversity rather than harm

• Defining the good that God produces from adversity

• What is God’s promise to work good for us?

• How do we access that promise?

This is the last in our series on God’s love in our suffering. This week, I’d like to consider a character from the New Testament to talk about his unusual perspective on suffering. Paul wrote quite a bit on the topic of suffering, and I can understand why given how much he went through. When you read his account of the physical and emotional suffering he endured and consider how many friends he lost to martyrdom, it’s hard to imagine very many people who have more credibility on the topic of suffering. Perhaps the most...

We are in a series on God’s love in our suffering. Seeing the suffering in this world and experiencing suffering in our own life may make it seem that God doesn’t love us. However, there is one character in the Bible whose story powerfully refutes this. If God loved anyone, He loved Jesus. Yet, Jesus suffered more than we can possibly comprehend. Jesus’ story makes plain that our experience of suffering in no way negates God’s love for us. So, when Jesus was suffering, how did the Father show His love? Why didn’t God prevent His suffering? What came of His suffering? Answering these questions from Jesus’ story may also answer these questions for our own story. Let’s see...

In the last post, we explored how God does not always display His love by preventing suffering in our lives. Rather, He shows His love to us by comforting us through our sufferings. In that post, I mentioned that I would like to bring this idea to life through a few stories. As I think about people in the Bible that God loved who suffered, it’s hard to ignore the plight of the Israelites in Egypt. It becomes the most real to me when I imagine the life of a Hebrew woman named Jochebed told in Exodus 2. When Jochebed got married...

I wanted to talk about God’s love for us. As I think about His love, my thoughts are often drawn back to the question of pain and suffering. When we are in distress it’s easy to wonder where God is if He loves us. Sometimes, the presence of suffering can feel like evidence that He doesn’t care. But the Bible is actually quite comfortable declaring His love for us and acknowledging our suffering in the same breath. For example, consider...

For our post this week I put together this video. Join me as I talk about the voice of God. People always teach on prayer and talking with God (as we have done in this series) but what does God actually sound like?

Do we hear Him audibly? He can do that.

Do we see signs throughout our day? Yes, this can be confirmation.

Does He speak through people? Yes, of course!

However, let's talk about the most frequent way He speaks to us which happens in our quiet time. For my quiet times when I am praying over something significant I usually include dance. I'd like to share with you about the way God speaks through an example of a question I have been conversing with Him about lately. So, let's see what He sounds like and at the end of the video I have a surprise for you.

Have you ever struggled with loneliness? The fear of being alone certainly ranks among our deepest and most meaningful. But the word “alone” doesn’t fully describe it. We long for a true connection where we’re loved even when we’re unlovable, where we can share every unbecoming thought without fear of judgment but assured of our unreserved acceptance.

While we know God’s love is supposed to allow for this kind of connection, it often feels more like a detached idea rather than a daily experience of His love. Is this an inevitable reality of life, or is it possible to truly, literally be close friends with God?

Join us as we talk about:

• What’s missing when we feel lonely?

• What does friendship with God look like?

• How can we start and maintain an open dialogue with Him? What does that look like?

• Why would we tell God when He already knows everything?

• Can prayer be a dialogue? What does that look like and how does that help us?

“Is that You God?” Have you ever had a thought while you’re praying and wondered whether it was His voice or just your own? How do we discern if He’s talking to us? God says He will speak to us throughout the Bible, but He also tells us that we will recognize whenever He is speaking to us. How do we cash in on that and develop a capacity to recognize His voice?

We’re so EXCITED to share an incredible analogy from our own immune system that illustrates just how we develop this capacity to recognize His voice. Join us as we talk about:

• What does recognizing God’s voice look like?

• How does that ability develop?

• What can we do to learn His voice?

• What picture did God leave for us in the way He made our immune system?

While I was doing research for our guide for Christian couples trying to conceive, God surprised me with this analogy for how we learn to recognize His voice. You can also check out that guide on our website here: https://lovingtheology.com/trying-to-conceive