Walk With Darrell

James 3:13 (NIV) 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. There is a saying when you talk about something. Talking is the easy part, then following it up with action is when the hard part starts. That is basically saying if you “talk the talk, walk the walk”. As believers we must always give credence to the changes that Christ can make in those who walk with Him. God calls upon us to

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It has been a heck of a week for friends and family. We have witnessed the progress of friends and family members recovering from illnesses. We attended a funeral of a friend. Received word of another family member that is fighting health issues. With all these difficult circumstances the bible tells us that it is God’s

James 2:8 (NLT) 8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The Golden Rule, “to treat others like you want to be treated”. A good philosophy to live by is to go out of your way to be kind to others. Being kind is a choice we make. We all could probably agree some days are easier than others to be friendly. On days when things are going great it is easy to be kind to others. Then there are those frustratin

Luke 9:23-24 (NIV) “23 Then he said to them all, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Christ message was clear, for His disciples to follow Him, Christ’s disciples must deny themselves and instead trust Him completely. This hasn’t changed. To be a disciple we are to trust Him and follow Him. I enjoy watching the

Hebrew 10:36 (NIV) 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Perseverance is a great trait to have. It isn’t easy for us to develop perseverance, but once we get it then we can use it in all parts of our life. Calvin Coolidge our 30th President once quoted. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrew

John 16:32c (NIV) “Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” Where is God? God is eternally with us. He is omnipresent, which literally means He is everywhere you ever go. He is with you night and day; He knows your every thought. He hears your every heartbeat. In the Navy I had the opportunity to travel the Pacific and Indian Oceans. I have walked the beaches of Diego Garcia, the streets of Singapore, the streets of Hong Kong, traveled the roads of the Philippines, and

Happiness is a good thing to pursue, but it can be elusive. So how do you find happiness? The Bible says that happiness and joy leads to an enriched life, and it is good for our health. Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) 22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. So where does the believer’s joy and happiness come from? In Galatians 5:22 & 23 it says that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells each believer, and when we allow the Spirit t

Matthew 4:10 (KJV) For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” Last year Terri and I visited the Missions located in San Antonio, Texas. These Missions are coming up on 300 years old. They were built by men who worshipped God and wanted to expand their religion into the frontiers of early Texas before it was Texas. While walking in the Missions, I wondered how my prayers differed from those of the first prayers in an early Texan chur

There is a lot of uncertainties in our world today. There are deep divisions within our nation, the Omicron variants are being discovered on a regular basis. There is death and destruction in wars around the globe. We live in turbulent times, and we can easily find ourselves worrying about what is happening. However, Jesus promises that we can live in peace and calmness. As Christians, when we fix our eyes and thoughts on Jesus, we can claim His perfect peace, and persevere.

Psalm 23 is one of most popular passages in the bible. David started his life as a shepherd, he was herding his father’s sheep when he went to take food to his brothers who was part of the Israelite army fighting the Philistines with the giant Goliath. So, David understood all about being a shepherd, and he symbolized the human race as the flock (the sheep) and God as their Shepherd. Verse 4 talks about going through the valley of the shadow of death. Our life has those times

It is so easy to be distracted by all that is happening in our world today. As Christians it is easy to get caught up in what the world offers and allow it to draw us away from our walk with God. Jesus tells us we are not to become like salt that has lost its flavor. Matthew 5:13 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot This verse me

Ephesians 2:13-14 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, God intends for us to experience peace in our lives. Sometimes the busyness of our days and the demands of the moment can distract us from our relationship with God. These distractions can distant us from God and when this happens, w

Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) “13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” When you can forgive those that have done things to you in the past you can look to the future with optimism and hope. Has anyone ever said anything that hurt your feelings? People can be

This morning, I received a text message from one of the Deacons I used to serve with. It was encouraging as he mentioned he was praying for me. It is always encouraging when you have a brother who is strong in his faith pray for you. If you want to lift someone up, then let them know you are praying for them. James 5:16 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. He

In tough times my faith has seen me through. There have been times when fear had crept in, but faith helped me overcome the fear. There have been times when I started to doubt, but faith removed my doubt. There have been times of uncertainty, but my faith in God’s Sovereignty removed my uncertainty. Faith can be hard to put into words, it is one of those things that is best understood by experiencing it. My faith tells me God has forgiven me, it also tells me God loves me and

Have you ever been so busy that you became exhausted? There is nothing to be ashamed of in admitting that you need to rest. Even God’s greatest people needed to be restored. Elijah after killing 400 prophets of Baal, it looked like he could take on anything. But exhaustion caught up with Elijah. Extreme exhaustion can break us down and can lead to fear, anxiety and allow to become easily depressed. Elijah needed to be replenished and we are no different. Elijah needed sleep,

Jesus did not have any formal training. He never went to theological college, but He knew the scriptures thoroughly. When Jesus was in His early thirties, He would teach in the temple, and He developed a following of people that would come early in the morning to listen to His teachings. Luke 21:37-38 (NIV) 37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in t

Revelations 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” In the picture Jesus stands outside a closed door and His hand is raised to knock. Since there’s no handle on the exterior, the only way Jesus can enter is if someone on the other side opens the door. Each one of us has had Jesus knocking on our door. There are only two ways to respond to a knock—ignore it or open

Have you ever made a mistake in your Christian life and wish you could have a do over? Golf has something similar, and it is called a mulligan. For the non-golfers out there, a mulligan is an extra stroke allowed after a poor shot, not counted on the scorecard. You won’t see this on TV when you are watching the pros play, but you will see it when the guys meet after work for a round of golf. The guys I played with usually allow a Mulligan on first hole of our round as all of

How to Have a Relationship with Christ What is the way for us to have a relationship with God? Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me”. John 14:6 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. “For unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins” John 8:24 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will