Walk With Darrell

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

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

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

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

Do you ever have those days when life has thrown the kitchen sink at you and problems can seem downright fearful? I think if we were all honest, we probably have all had our share of those day in our lives. Life’s uncertainties can be scary. Today might even be one of those days. It is easy to think that you are all alone when your back is against the wall. Sometimes there is a fear and dread that can paralyze you. If you ever get in the situation, remember that you are not

In the Old Testament there were only certain individuals who had the privilege of being in the presence of God. There were some who even perished if they came into God’s presence unauthorized. God is holy and always has been holy. He hates sin. Moses had the privilege of talking with God and hearing God talk to him. Jesus talked with God daily. The bible says, Jesus rose early to go speak to God the Father in prayer. Because of our faith in Jesus, we can enter directly into G

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Life is a delicate balancing act, of walking a fine line of being over-committed with so many things that seem important. It is easy to fall prey to pride when you end up trying to do too much. It is also easy t

As believers, we are not exempt from having to deal with bitterness. If we don’t deal with bitterness in our lives, it can become a poison that erodes our optimism, shatter our joy, and kills our ability to love others. A bitter person goes through life with a heart that doesn’t function fully. It can spill out into our relationships, which leads to regret, pain, grief, hatred, spite, and spiritual poverty. God doesn’t intend for us to live with bitterness. When bitterness a

My boys hardly ever called me at work to chat; however, occasionally I would get a phone call at work from one of my sons. On the other end of the line I would hear, “dad, do you have a minute?” I knew that one of my sons needed to talk with dad. Many times, it was to bounce something that was on their mind off dad to see what I thought. This is just part of being a dad. Sometimes it just helps to talk to dad. I occasionally still get a phone call. It is not only good to t

How will our faith be tested this week? If you are in a test of faith right now, rejoice – the Lord has His hand on you! This test is not going to destroy you! You are either going to grow, get stronger and increase in the anointing, or the Lord will provide a way of safe escape. Our faith is being tested by God and it probably going to happen soon. Some of my tests I have failed, but no worry, God allowed me to retake my test. God has a purpose in testing our faith and James

Terri and I married while we were in the Navy. So, as sailors we did not have a lot of money for expensive gifts. On our first wedding anniversary I bought Terri some small gifts. One gift I bought for Terri she still has and uses to this day. It is a key chain with a heart on it and a saying that reads, “A Child of The King”. It is special that we are going on over 44 years of marriage, and she still holds that key chain as a special gift. The words are special, and she hold

Colossians 3:2 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Does it seem like every day is a battle on whether or not you experience the joy that God intended for your life? We often fight with attitudes that can steal our joy. Do you struggle with thoughts that are bitter or pessimistic? If we are all honest there are some things, we deal with in our lives that trigger the wrong attitude. A couple of examples, have you ever come across anyone who is a different p

Time is a precious commodity in our lives. It seems like we are always scrambling to get things done in our busy lives. As you go through the different phases of life there are different things that eat up our time. I can remember when our kids were elementary school age and my wife, Terri was going to nursing school, mornings were hectic. Everyone that has a family know exactly what I am talking about. Then as we developed our careers, we were always in a rush to get to work

Franklin Graham writes,” we can have full confidence in God’s promises because we can have faith in His character”. God has given us a lot of promises in His Word. Some of God’s promises were for individuals or nations. For example, God made Abraham a promise that Sarah would have a son, but we cannot presume that He will do the same for us. However, many promises are for us to claim when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. There is a gospel song, I have sung in church ma

This has been a tough week for close friends and family.   I have had two friends that have lost family members this past week and I have lost relatives in the past. I have felt the hurt they are going through, and I also know the hurt does go away. There will still be tears, but they knew their loved ones went home to be with the Lord. I also have multiple friends that are dealing with health issues. Believers in the early church were instructed to seek prayer from their lea

Luke 11:28 28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Obedience is the bottom line in the Christian life. When we decide as Christians to be obedient to God then expect a challenge. Satan doesn’t want us to follow God, so he will offer temptations to divert us and weaken our resolve. This is the spiritual warfare we are in every day of our life. I heard in a study that partial obedience is disobedience. As we start the new year let us stri

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

1 Thessalonians 5:18 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do we have a tendency not to thank God for the good things He has given us? In our hectic lives, it is easy for us to not make time to give God thanks for all He has done. If we look at our lives and start counting our blessings, we are amazed at how we are so blessed. Erwin Lutzer said, “A Christian who walks by faith accepts all circumstances from God. He thanks God whe

Isaiah 7:9b “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” How do we define Success? Is success defined by how much material things we have accumulated? Our worldly culture puts value on fame, living in luxury, good looks, having enough money to live a life of opulence. There is a difference between how the world defines success and what the Bible tells us. Jesus was considered unimpressive by the world’s standards. Born from a humble background and un