Walk With Darrell

We all have a few scars in our lives. I am talking about more than the scar I have from my knee replacement. There are scars of broken relationships, lost loved ones, rejection from others, failures we have had. I could go on, but you get the drift. Healing doesn’t come easy. Sometimes our wounds have been there so long that it has become infected, and it affects other relationships in our lives. Sometimes the best way to heal a wound is to realize they exist and tell God abo

Spending time in prayer and reading God’s Word is an important part of daily Christian life. Just like in any relationship you have to keep it nurtured. We can get so busy with work, sports, school, and just living life we forget about our relationship with God. If you miss that regular time of talking with God, then that relationship can get cold and stale. One day can turn into two days, then before you know it, a week has gone by. You miss two weeks then it doesn’t become

Have you ever wondered what to pray for someone? This is a prayer for the Christians in Colossae . It comes from Paul’s letter to Colossians. He is asking the Lord to give them the wisdom to know God’s will for their lives. Wouldn’t we all like to know that. Wisdom would allow them to understand what the Spirit is empowering them to walk in the Spirit and to express the “Fruit of the Spirit” in their lives. That is a good thing for any Christian. Walking a life that is empo

I have had an opportunity to be in a few studies at church that were created by James McDonald. One of these studies was on the “Attributes of God”. One of my favorite attributes that we studied was on God’s Sovereignty. A lot of people are not real sure what God’s Sovereignty really means. In Darrell’s layman definition. God has sovereign authority and influence over every event that happens in our world according to His purpose. I take it a step further God has sovereign a

Don’t you just love nature? When Terri and I were in Yellowstone National Park we ate our lunch by a stream called Nez Perce. The stream was so clear and made swirling noise as it went through areas of rocks and wound itself through the forest. and I could hear the birds chirping, wind rustling through the trees and occasionally the sound of a bull elk off in the distance bugling. Terri and I commented how being in God’s nature speaks to us as to how appreciative we are of th

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 know 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 s

Does it ever seem that you are all alone and it seems like no one understands what you are going through? Well, you are not alone and a matter of fact you have someone going to bat for you. God is not only with us, but He is for us It says in Romans. Romans 8:31 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? What problem is too big for God? What enemy is too strong? What is going to take you on with God standing beside you?

God gives us a promise to grant us Wisdom. I wish I had claimed this my whole life, but my rebellious attitude at times has clouded my decision to even ask God for His wisdom. James tells us that in every decision and circumstance you face, God offers wisdom to see life from His perspective if you ask in faith and without doubt. However, sin can keep you from claiming this promise because it crowds out truth, creates uncertainty, and leads to unwise choices. James 1:5 5 If an

What does it mean to have God’s favor? The “favor of God” can be described as a divine kindness, or an act of true compassion on the part of God Himself toward needy and undeserving human recipients. Often in Scripture this act of God toward unworthy men or women is referred to as God’s “grace” – which means “the unmerited favor of God.” God’s grace and God’s mercy. Thank God every day for that. God’s grace has blessed me with things that I don’t deserve. For example, my salv

1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT) “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I might be disqualified”. Discipline is something we all are familiar with in many areas of our life. To make it in the military a young person must learn discipline. Sports is another area of our life that discipline pays off. Growing up in Indiana, I played a lot of basketball. It is a sport that takes a lot of discipline and pra

I have been doing a lot of camping lately and one of things I enjoy is a campfire. Towards the end of the evening it is time to separate the remaining coals. The coals burn for a while then they start to lose their flame and if you wait long enough the coals will go out. Our Christian life is similar if we don’t keep the fire going the flame can go out. So, what makes the fire go out in the Christian life? Not spending time with God. If we only speak to God every now and th

We all have had some level of self-confidence, but we all can probably say that there have been times that we have failed (Hand up). Human history tells us this repeatedly. Man is fallible. The bible also points this out that man is fallible. One of the favorite bible stories is of the life of King David. He was a man that had areas of his life that he failed. He was a man that fled for his life as King Saul tried to kill him. He was also a man that showed some character flaw

I am currently reading in Philippians, and I am reading that Paul is challenging the Philippians to pursue Christ likeness by following his own example of how to live the Christian life. Philippians 3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. Today, we have the bible that instructs us on how to live out the Christian life. If you think about it the early Christians did not have the bible to gui

As a young boy I lived on a farm in Amo, Indiana. My dad was harvesting corn one day and I was begging him to let me drive the tractor. I had to be probably in the 4th or 5th grade. So, my dad was on the combine, and he let me drive the tractor and wagon full of corn from the corn field to a corn crib where my job was let the corn out of the wagon onto a corn elevator “conveyor” that would take the corn up into the corn crib. Don’t ask how I did it, but I got the corn elevato

In our society the rich, the powerful and the famous are the ones that are looked up to. They have made it; they have found success. The poor are often overlooked. The message Jesus gave was different. One day Jesus was giving His disciples a lesson. The story of the rich young ruler. The young ruler had asked Jesus what he must do to get eternal life. Jesus told the young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor, and he will have treasure in heaven. Then come, foll

Does your life ever feel like it is in turmoil? Life can seem like it is going along just find then suddenly turmoil. This is when the news comes; there are cuts coming at work; the car won’t start; your child is struggling in life; or it could be anything that makes your life unsettled. Any of these can cause you hardships or feeling of being heavyhearted and burdened. When these times happen, you might wonder where God has gone, it might seem like He has backed away from

Do you feel close to God, or does He feel distant? At times it can feel like we are not very close to God. Oh, we know God is real, we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, but the intimacy is not always there.  This can happen to all of us if we don’t keep our relationship nurtured.   We live in a culture that promotes self-independence. I personally have been in that same mindset that I am self-independent. However, we can carry that to a point that at times we can thin

I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong back in 1981 when I was in the US Navy assigned to the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). British Hong Kong was a colony and dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997. I had one of the last duties prior to pulling out. I was assigned to assist the Shore Patrol in checking ID’s and contraband on the sailors coming back from their last liberty before we pulled out of Hong Kong and headed to Subic Bay in the Philippines. You might

I have often been accused of being a fixer. I guess a lot of us guys hear of a need and start thinking of a solution instead of waiting on God’s solution. Often, we allow our minds to wander and contemplate what is taking God’s plan so long to happen. There are many stories in the bible where people got ahead of God’s timetable and there were consequences that happened. Abraham and Sarah were taught a lesson when they didn’t wait on God. Instead of the couple waiting for His

Does it ever feel that the storms you’re going through are never going to end? Our perspective is much different than God’s perspective. We see our storms and trials and think that they are never going to change. God understands they are here for a season. God’s favor lasts a lifetime; our weeping may last a night; but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5 (NIV) 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejo