Walk With Darrell

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

Does the Lord discipline His children? You bet He does. The Lord uses trials to discipline His children for the purpose of testing and strengthening their faith in order to bring praise, honor, and glory to Jesus Christ. So, what is a trial? According to James Macdonald’s study on trials, “When Life is Hard”, a trial is a painful experience allowed by God to change our conduct and our character. It might sound strange to some, but God does this because He loves us. Hebrews 1

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. How many times a day do you run into someone that you could encourage? Next question is how often do you take advantage of that situation? Hopefully, the answer is more often than not. When you think about it we come across so many people in a week. How many of those do we pass on the opportunity to be an encourager. Romans 14:19 (HCSB) 19 So then, we must pursue

Traveling in the Rockies it is amazing to see trees growing out of what seems like solid rock. They are able to grow, because their roots are getting enough nourishment to barely survive. They don’t grow as large as the trees that are along the streams where they roots grow deep into the soil and they get plenty of nourishment from the stream. The trees survive brutally cold winters and strong winds. Our Christian life is like the trees, the more nourishment we can get the st

Part of my youth I lived on a farm in Indiana. Springtime was the time you planted your crops. My dad would rotate his crops in his fields, between corn, soybean, a field of alfalfa (hay), and every now and then he would do oats to mix with grain for feed for our cattle during the winter months. In the spring you would prepare your fields and sow your seed, this is not a quick process as the crops are not ready for harvest until the fall. Sowing time was so important for my d

When was the last time you talked with a 2-year-old? I have made great strides in communication with little kids. When my granddaughter was 2-year-old she would use one syllable words to mean different things and she is starting to put 2 words together. I understand PaPa, she just says it with difference volumes when she means something different, I must figure out what the different volumes mean. An example of this was when we were going on a family walk. I was walking ahe

I am a planner and I guess I always have been. I have been a goal-oriented person in many areas of my life. I have come to realize that my plans have not always been what God had planned for me. Sometimes the plans we make may be good, but God may want to take us in a different direction. This is where being flexible comes in. If we are living in faith and trust in our Sovereign God, then we should realize that God knows what is best for us. I am sure we can all give exampl

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

Do events seem crazy and spiraling out of control? God is still in control. God is bigger than any nation, any ruler, any political view. If you find yourself getting worried about the future, remember who holds the future in His hands. Jeremiah 31:35 35 This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name: It pains me to see the divisio

Matthew 7: 7 – 8 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What are you dealing with in your life right now? Do you need strength to make it through the day? Are you in trouble? Are you discouraged? Are you lonely? Do you have an illness? Do you feel trapped in an unhappy life? You get the drift; we all have

We all want to live a successful life. As Christians it can be confusing as we live in a world that views success in such a different way than God defines success. We can easily get caught up in the trap of following the world’s idea of what success is. The world values prestige, money, position, power, pride, materialism, egotism, and your looks have to meet a certain standard. In the world’s eyes if you have these things then you must be successful. If these are important w

Over the few thousand years of mankind there has been many deities worshiped. The Ancient Egyptians worshiped over 1500 deities and Ancient Canaanites worshiped over 500 deities. The Israelites were called the “Nomads of YHWH” Now out of all those gods worshiped in those ancient times, there is only one God that is still around. The same God the “Nomads of YHWH” worshiped. That is our God, our Lord, and Savior. Friday and Saturday of Holy Week, Jesus had His trial, was cruc

Proverbs 1:7 (NIV) 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. What does it mean to live a life that pleases God? In Psalm 128 vs 2-6 says, “All you who fear God, how blessed you are……. Enjoy the blessing! Revel in His goodness. Stand in awe of God. Fearing God is standing in awe of God and His Holiness. Knowing that we are flawed and in need of a savior. God offered every single one of us the same life-changing, grace. When

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

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