Walk With Darrell

Recently, two of my friends had burial services for their mothers. There are many of us that have had to walk in those shoes. Even when we know our mother is a believer in Jesus it can be an emotional time. It brought back memories of when we said goodbye to my mother. It hurts to say goodbye because we will miss them. At the same time, it is a celebration of our mother’s life here on earth and is now in heaven with Jesus and loved ones that have previously died. We also have

I am in a program to read the bible through in a year. I am several weeks into my program and in the middle of the book of Jeremiah. I have read the bible through a few times and read the New Testament a few more. One of the traps you can run into is reading to accomplish the task of reading and not reading to understand what God’s Word is trying to teach us. I was listening to David Jeremiah, and he explained it well. The reason we read the written Word is to know the Living

As I turn another year older, I was asked by my family what do I want for my birthday. That is always a tough question. I had a friend send me a prayer for guidance. I wish I had come up with this on my own, but I can’t take credit for this prayer. Holy Spirit, You know my heart . You understand my deepest wants and needs , and You know my every intention . You know me better than I know myself. There is nowhere I could run to escape Your presence , and nothing I could hide f

There have been a couple of storms so far this Hurricane season. Have you ever been out on the ocean when the seas were rough? As I have shared before, I served on a Navy Aircraft Carrier and even though it is a large ship I have witnessed waves splashing on the flight deck. The seas were too rough for us to go into port, and we had to head out to sea. In Mark 4:35-41 it tells of Jesus and His disciples in-the-midst of a storm. Part of the story reads. 38 Jesus was in the s

Jesus’ resurrection is a hope to all Christians that death is not the end. Paul’s letter to the early Christians of Thessalonica talked about rapture. In 1 Thessalonians 4 Paul talks to early Christians that just like Jesus who is risen those Christians who have died will rise again. Note Paul used the words fallen asleep, this is because it is temporary. This gives me great comfort to know I will see my loved ones again that have died and that I will spend eternity in heaven

John 4:9 (NIV) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” The Samaritan women at the well was asked by Jesus to draw Him some water from Jacob’s well to drink. She questioned Jesus why He would ask a Samaritan woman to give Him water. The Samaritans and Jews did not associate with each other. Jesus answered the Samaritan woman that He had water and that His water was living water. John 4:10 (NIV) 10 Jesus an

A coworker once asked me, why I didn’t seem to worry about issues at work. I told him that God was in control of whatever I was dealing with. That is difficult for many people to grasp. All believers can have that same feeling of peace when you realize God is in control of the situation. Once we become a Christian it doesn’t mean we won’t face trials. Just the opposite, the bible clearly says we can expect trials and tribulations in our lives. I am in 100% agreement over the

It is easy to get caught in the trap that if we act the right way or look the right way, then we will be more acceptable to God. Likewise, many people in the Old Testament and even today think that being religious is a way of winning favor with God. Jesus spoke against this. Religion and good deeds can’t earn our way to heaven. We read this in Isaiah 64 verse 6. Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all

This upcoming week is going to have its ups and downs. You will have some moments that are going to challenge your faith. However, with God these challenges that you will face will be opportunities to exercise your faith. As a Christian, it’s important to not let your obstacles in life tear you away from your faith. Instead, these are the moments where you need faith the most. With God, you can move from being a victim to being a victor. David was one of my favorite people in

John 8:11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” This is what Jesus said to the women who had been caught in adultery. There is no condemnation in Christ. So, you might ask, what exactly does this mean? To have “no condemnation” declared means to be found innocent of the accusation, to have no sentence inflicted and no guilty verdict found. By the grace of God, believers in Jesus Christ will not face the

I have heard some people say that they can’t live the Christian life. You know, they are correct. This may surprise you, but it is impossible for us to live the Christian life in our own power. We can’t do it on our own. The Christian life isn’t something we can do. The Christian life is “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27) If the Christian life for you is acting like Jesus that is just religion. Performing and trying to be a Christian gets stale, ritualistic, and

One of the promises God gives us is to help carry our burdens. Whether emotional, financial, or relational, our burdens can weigh us down. When burdens come into our life, how do we handle them? Do we deal with them according to God's Word? Or do we find ourselves fretting over them and trying to run from them? God knows what we are capable of handling, and God would not give us a burden without also supporting us with His strength and wisdom. God is more than capable of car

Christianity earliest profession of faith consisted of three short powerful words: “Jesus is Lord”. Paul shares that there is no power or person in the universe that can separate us from the love that Jesus Christ our Lord has for us. Romans 8:38 - 39 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from

Today we are talking about peace, so we are back in Galatians 5:22-23 talking about the fruit of the Spirit. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Peace in the bible means we experience a life that is the harmony and calmness of body, mind, and spirit trusting in the power and grace of God. We can have peace in our life no matter what the circumstance

I am currently watching the Series “The Chosen”. I think one of the things that is the most enlightening thing for me watching this is the humanity that they display in Jesus. I realized that when I think of Jesus, I think of him as our Lord and Savior, which He is. I know He came down to Earth as a man, but I never gave much thought of Jesus having fun with His friends. This series for example, shows Jesus at the wedding where He turned water into wine having fun laughing a

In our Christian life, do we gauge Christian walk by what we do or by our attitudes? One of the things we have to ask ourselves as Christians is why do we do the things we do. What do I mean by that? We can go to church, can teach Sunday school, sing in the choir, give money to the church, be a Deacon and we might be doing them for the wrong reason. We can do many good ministry deeds and our hearts might not be right spiritually. These acts of service in themselves are good

Men have tried to suppress the truth about God. Men have used alternate theories to try to explain God and His creation. Paul in Romans 1:20 indicates that God has plainly shown things about Him to everyone. Paul asserts that humans can know some things about God by looking at nature and what God has created. Romans 1:20 (NIV) 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from wha

We all have storms that come up in our lives. Some may say that their life is nothing but one storm after another. You might ask, where is God in the midst of these storms? Storms that people experience every day, such as sickness, financial hardship, and broken relationships. These storms of life threaten our peace, comfort, and joy, and often bring about fear, doubt, and hopelessness. In Mark 4:34-41, the disciples found themselves caught in a ferocious storm while on a bo

Do you have patience? We are back in the “fruit of the Spirit”, we have talked about joy, peace, and now let's talk about patience. Some translations of Galatians 5:22-23 on the “fruit of the Spirit” use the words forbearance, or longsuffering instead of patience, but I prefer patience, as it is what I use in my speech on a regular basis. I am not sure I have ever used longsuffering or forbearance. 😊 Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patie

Is prayer important to you? If not, it should be the most important part of your Christian daily life. Most of us if not all of us have read the story of Jesus overturning the money changers in the temple courts. The most important words written in Matthew 21:12 is where Jesus, “says my house will be called a house of prayer”. Prayer is the conduit that we communicate with God. Jesus knew that and He found time each day to pray to His Father in heaven. Matthew 21:12 - 13 12