Walk With Darrell

Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt you messed up in living the Christian life? Just like the saying, “been there done that and have the tee-shirt”. I imagine if we are honest, we all have had a period in our life where we felt like we let God down. When these times happen; our faith feels pretty weak, and we start doubting ourselves. There have been great men in the bible that have fallen much more. One that comes to mind is Peter. He denied Christ three tim

Deuteronomy 29:29 29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. When we study God’s Word, there are many things that God reveals to us. God’s Word is meant for us to study and learn the things of God. The Bible reveals many things to us and has many benefits. · It strengthens our faith. · Helps us fight sin in our life. · Helps us make decisions

Do you ever feel lonely? I think everyone struggles with loneliness at some point in our lives. Just looking at a person you might not notice, while looking at others it is obvious. It is understandable for a senior that loses their spouse after many years of marriage can experience loneliness. I saw this in my father after my mother passed away. But you can be a mother with two young children and still feel loneliness. Singles cans struggle with loneliness when they don’t

Some of my best Christian friends ever, were while serving in the United States Navy. Many people would be surprised to hear this as many sailors have gotten a rap of being “hell-raisers” for legitimate reasons. However, I served with some great Christians while serving on the USS Kitty Hawk out in the middle of the Indian and Pacific Oceans back in the early 80’s. Christians seemed to attract to other Christians on a ship that had a crew of over 5000 sailors. So, what makes

There have been times in my life where I have failed big-time. Most people if you set big goals will have their ups and downs. The key is not to give up and keep plugging ahead. Failure is part of our journey. David was a person that had a lot of failures in his life. He always looked to the Lord for redemption, love and grace. Psalm 94:18-19 , 22 (NIV) 18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. 19 When anxiety was great within me, your co

Tomorrow we are packing up camp to move on down the road in the RV. I am normally a morning devotion and prayer person, but today I want to wrap up my day with prayer and thanksgiving. I need it big time today. I want to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me areas that I drifted off course today. All of us have emotions and I would be fibbing if I said it isn’t a daily battle for me to keep my emotions in check. My goal is to be led by the Holy Spirit all day, but is doesn’t se

In life we have times when we reach the mountain top, and the view can be breathtaking. We can’t stay on the mountain top forever; we must also go through the valleys. The valleys can be filled with struggles, bad news on health issues, family issues, job issues. Things that challenge our faith. These can be times that we feel God has left us. The disciples had to deal with the valleys also. They had lived an incredible experience of living with Christ for three years watchin

God’s Beauty and Peace in Nature Do you need a break from the politics and chaos that is in the news? If you are like me, it is refreshing to get away from the craziness and refresh myself. One of the ways for me to do this is get outdoors and see God’s beauty in Nature. Being in the outdoors gives me an inner peace and appreciation of what God created. Getting to the outdoors can be different things to different people. It might be sitting on your patio early in the morning

“Pulled in Two Directions” Have you ever been pulled in two different directions? You are caught between wanting to please man and it brings conflict with pleasing God. It is easy to get caught being pulled in two different directions. We all want to be liked by others, so it is easy to do things for man’s approval. That in itself isn’t necessarily bad, but it can reroute our ultimate goal of pleasing God and bringing him glory. We are headed for trouble when our desire to p

“Family Legacy” This weekend I am attending a family reunion. Reunions give you a chance to look at how your family has changed over time and then how some things have not changed. I have seen pictures where my grandparents were young attending family get togethers. There is a family legacy that has been developed over the years and it is still alive today. Family legacy is something that is passed on from family. Our family legacy is one that is filled with love. I was luc

Numbers don’t Matter I learned a valuable lesson one Sunday while teaching a Sunday School class. I only had two people show up for class and my wife wasn’t even there as she was working as a nurse in the hospital that day. To be honest I was a little discouraged. However, the Lord put an older couple in my class that both had fathers who had been pastors. I still reflect on their words they shared with me to this day that their fathers shared with them. They said Darrell, “w

Do you stay awake worrying about your kids? I can remember when my boys had jobs during college working in a restaurant. Working in a restaurant can get your children home well after midnight. Then later in life I had a son who went into the military and now he is really out past bedtime. If you allow it, this can lead to some restless nights of sleep for a parent that worries about their safety and wonders where their children are at. Here is how I handled this phase of my

How far can we go without food, water, or oxygen? Depending on your health we can go a few days without food and maybe three days without water. We need oxygen after a couple of minutes. Some athletes can go longer. Now the question is how long can we go without refueling our faith? Jesus spent time praying to the Father even after having a busy day to get recharged. We need to get our soul fuel and get spiritually recharged on a regular basis. When was the last time you h

“Celebrate Independence Day” Americans across our country are celebrating July 4 Independence Day. July 4, also known as Independence Day, marks the anniversary of the Second Continental Congress adopting the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Congress, made up of delegates from the United States’ original 13 colonies, unanimously approved the document that declared independence from Great Britain. Here in the United States, we celebrate freedom. As Christians

“Never Pass up an Opportunity to Pray for Someone” You never know when God will put you in a situation to pray for someone. When that time comes don’t pass it up. You might be at work, it could be in someone’s house, it might be in a hospital room, or it could be on a golf course. Now some of my golf buds say my game needs lots of prayer, but I am not talking about praying for my golf game. The point is stop what you are doing and pray. God might only give you that one op

“Is your relationship Intellectual?” Over the years I have met numerous people who used the title of “Christian”. In further conversation you realize their mother attends church, but they haven’t opened a bible since going to Vacation Bible School as a kid and never put their faith and trust in Jesus. We need to make sure our relationship with God is as Lord and Savior and not just intellectual knowledge of God. In our country there are many people that know the story of Jesu

Has your heart ever been full of happiness and proud of a child and then ached for them? This is the time of year when kids head off to college and for many this is the first time being away from mom and dad. I have a few friends that are facing this right now for the first time and it can be tough. I have been there a few times with my boys. As a parent you want your kids to succeed so much, and you want the best for them. I have dropped a child off at college before and y

Be a Blessing to Someone Today You can be a blessing to someone today. One of the things I used to say to my Sunday School Class, “lets show God’s Love outside of the four walls of our Sunday School class”. As Christians we have been blessed by God in many ways. We need to take that Love we received from God and show it to the world. The bible is filled with stories of God’s Love shown to mankind. It also shows man showing God’s Love to others. One example is the story of th

We are given the chance to help those in need. If we look around us and open our eyes, it is easy to see there are a lot of people in need. When we see someone in need do we get tightfisted with our money and put our head down and pass on by, or do we see how we can help? Jesus always called people to give generously and not be judgmental. In Luke Jesus said, if you have a banquet to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Jesus promises that you will be blesse

One of my favorite pastors is Charles Stanley. A couple of years ago he had a great devotion for us to never take our own revenge. It spoke to my heart, and I wanted to share it with you. Why do we have such a hard time extending forgiveness to others? Perhaps one reason is that it doesn’t seem right. Justice demands that there be repayment or punishment for wrongdoing. However, we are not the ones who have the authority to retaliate. To do so amounts to trying to take contro