Posts by Lisa Morrone
Today’s Truth
“Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
(Ephesians 6:13, NIV)
Friend to Friend
On Long Island, where I lived for most my life, I enjoyed my garden’s flowers from early February, when the snow drops raised their sleepy heads up out of the soil, through the early part of November when the last of my ivy geranium blooms would cling with tenacity to their lanky stems.
My love affair with plant material began when I was in my early 20’s. I would follow my green thumbed mother-in-law around her gardens asking questions, questions, and more questions. One of the most important tips I learned from her “schooling” had to do with the staking of plants. She taught me to be proactive with plants which had a tendency to bend to the ground
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Today’s Truth
In the day of my trouble I call upon YOU, for you answer me. (Psalm 86:7, ESV)
(Psalm 86:7, ESV)
Friend to Friend
This past August my girlfriend dropped her freshman daughter off at college—a full 9-hour drive away—and returned home with all the jumbled emotions typical of a mother: excitement, longing…and trepidation.
Then the phone calls began.
“Mommy, I am lonely.” “I am eating all by myself in the dining hall.” “My classes are so far away—uphill, both ways!” “My shower drain is clogged.” “My roommate decided to move out…”
With each call home, my girlfriend’s heart twisted more and more. She tried to remain upbeat and encouraging when on the phone with her girl, but when the call ended, both her daughter and my friend were in tears, 9 hours apart.
I happen to live nearby this college and offered to meet up
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Today’s Truth
“But thanks be to God! For through what Christ has done, he has triumphed over us so that now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Gospel like a sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma to both the saved and the unsaved all around us.”
(2 Corinthians 2:14-15, TLB)
Friend to Friend
My family and I spent nearly a decade of summer vacations camping with a group of four other families in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Although we enjoyed many other vacations as a family to National Parks and far away cities, if you asked my (now adult) children, they’d say camping was their favorite vacation destination.
One of the things which made our camping trips so memorable was our nighttime, community campfire huddles, complete with marshmallow roasting, storytelling, and a whole lot of laughter. I LOVE a good campfire! The cracking, popping logs, the warmth, the visual dance of the flames, and, of course, the SMELL!
If you’ve ever had a front row seat at a campfire, you’re probably already tracking
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Today’s Truth
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
(Psalm 46:10a, NIV)
Friend to Friend
Be still.
Huh…Do I have to?
Honestly, I am not particularly fond of the word “still.” For a super productive ‘doer’ like myself, the word conjures up images of idleness, passiveness, and inactivity. It just plain goes against my grain!
Even when the word is used to describe the prolonged state of something (for example, “I still struggle with perfectionism”, or “He still hasn’t cleaned up this mess”, or “I am still waiting”) it continues to express a lack of progress, of forward motion, of gaining of new ground. None of these conditions put me at ease.
Yet in Today’s Truth, when the Lord says, “Be still, and know that I am God,” it’s written as a directive to you and me,
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Today’s Truth
“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:11-NIV
Friend to Friend
When my children were in elementary school, they spent much of their 3rd grade year focused on the multiplication tables: from 0 x 0 = 0 all the way through to 12 x 12 = 144. To supplement their in-school learning, I bought them a set of laminated multiplication flash cards which we kept in the car. Whenever we drove anywhere, I encouraged them to take out those cards and we would work through them. Why? Because I knew if my children could master the concept and the practice of multiplication, they would prosper in their future academic endeavors. In fact, the ability to multiply is foundational to so much of life.
Our Lord created the concept of multiplication
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Today’s Truth
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46:10a, NIV
Friend to Friend
Be still.
Huh…Do I have to?
Honestly, I am not particularly fond of the word “still.” For a super productive ‘doer’ like myself, the word conjures up images of idleness, passiveness, and inactivity. It just plain goes against my grain!
Even when the word is used to describe the prolonged state of something (for example, “I still struggle with perfectionism”, or “He still hasn’t cleaned up this mess”, or “I am still waiting”) it continues to express a lack of progress, of forward motion, of gaining of new ground. None of these conditions put me at ease.
Yet in Today’s Truth, when the Lord says, “Be still, and know that I am God,” it’s written as a directive to you and me,
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Today’s Truth
“And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. So, don’t fool yourselves.”
James 1:22 TLB
Friend to Friend
I was in middle school when body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger won his 7th Mr. Olympia title. His chiseled musculature was simply stunning, leaving many an onlooker slack-jawed. For many, he was a physical wonder to be marveled at; to a few, he became an inspiration to begin pumping some serious iron!
Viewing a body building competition can be entertaining, fascinating, even captivating, but you never leave the “show” stronger than when you entered, simply for having been a spectator.
Church-going for a Christian can be much like viewing a body building competition. You show up on Sunday, take your seat, and watch the worship team and your pastor “flex their spiritual muscles” by showing you the results of all the
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Today’s Truth
So, the other disciples told [Thomas], “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks [scars] in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side [scar], I will not believe” (John 20:25, NIV) He was pierced for our transgressions…and by His wounds [evidenced by His scars] we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5, NIV)
Friend to Friend
As a physical therapist, I spend many hours each week working on the post-surgical scars of my patients. You see, scars, when left to themselves, have a tendency to become bound down and restricted. In the process of forming they can even adhere themselves to other nearby structures, such as skeletal muscles and organs. It’s my job to make sure new scars heal in a flexible manner and any existing scars are mobilized and released so they won’t continue to pull on or bind up the fluid motion of neighboring anatomical structures.
Through the course of our lives, we can have close encounters with wounded people who leave us with wounds of our own. (Hurt people, hurt people.) Add
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Today’s Truth
A wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
Proverbs 14:1
Friend to Friend
In the past, whenever I’ve read the above verse, I’ve always thought of it in the context of the maternal head of a family, or of a wife. But truly, this “Demolition Debbie” role could belong to a big-mouthed teenaged girl, a disagreeable girlfriend, a disrespectful coworker, or even a dismissive adult sister. Scripture takes care not to label this woman beyond “wise” or “foolish,” giving each of us the opportunity to slip ourselves into this descriptive warning.
How, exactly, does this foolish woman tear her house down? Well, knowing (and being) a woman, I have a strong hunch: Her tongue, Ladies. Most of us have been said to possess the ‘gift of gab.’ And a few of us,
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Today’s Truth
“This [the annual ministry the high priest performed in the Most Holy Place] is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.” But when Christ came as high priest…He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood…How much more, then, will the blood of Christ… cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death! Hebrews 9:9,11a, 12,14
Hebrews 9:9, 11a, 12, 14
Friend to Friend
As far back as I can recall, I was a trouble maker. Born into a home where my parents modeled disrespect, I learned how to buck authority figures with great competence. I was made to sit alongside my teacher’s desk, placed outside the door of my elementary school classrooms, and sent to the principal’s office more times than I care to recount.
As I grew, so did my propensity to sin. It got to the point where I could say with certainty, having been raised in a Bible-teaching church, that “Shame” was my middle name. I knew I was guilty of breaking the laws of God. He was holy, and my actions were most certainly not.
Few things are as
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Today’s Truth
From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.
Acts 17:26
Friend to Friend
Abraham, or Abram, as he was first named, was called by God to leave home…and to go. Where to, you ask? Great question. I’m sure Abram asked the very same one. The answer? “…to the land I will show you.”
Huh, so that’s it? Just leave? Follow you, Lord, with blind trust?
Yes, Abram. Just leave…and go. I will show you where to make each turn along the way, but on a “need to know” basis.
A former pastor of mine once said, “Just as it’s easier to steer a car that’s already rolling forward, it’s easier for the Lord to move a person who’s already in motion.” I guess this is as true for you and me today as it
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Today’s Truth
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit”
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Friend to Friend
This past September my husband and I had a trip planned to visit Miami, Florida. I had never been there and the opportunity to see a few of our favorite bands at an outdoor concert venue was too good to pass up! I remember when I booked the tickets I remarked to my husband that September would be a perfect time to be outdoors in Miami—barring a hurricane.
Well, I guess you may have figured out some of what happened next. Her name was Irma. She was the category 5 hurricane which devastated, first the Caribbean, and then had its way with much of the state of Florida. Irma struck US soil the week before we were due to
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Today’s Truth
“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
Hebrews 12:15
Friend to Friend
I grew up drinking from a bitter cup.
Brewing daily in my childhood home was a large vat of bitterness. The longer it was left to ferment, the stronger the brew became. Because my mother drank from it on a daily basis, her bitterness began to grow roots—bitter roots. Pouring me a cup from her portion of bitter poison, she would share her deepest pain with me, how victimized she felt, and how crippled her emotions had become.
Granted, my mother’s life had been troubled. Her father was physically abusive to the members of her family—herself included. As a result, her self-esteem was very poor and she suffered with fear, anxiety, and depression…and anger. Lots and lots of anger. My
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Today’s Truth
“But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, [insert your name], He who formed you, [inset your name]: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine’”
Isaiah 43:1
Friend to Friend
Recently, my friend was asked to speak during chapel time at the elementary school where she works. She began by asking for three volunteers, each of whom were assigned a “name,” unbeknownst to them, by way of a sign held up behind them. The opening game required her volunteers to ask numerous questions of their peers in order to solve the mystery of their assigned name. When each participant finally discovered their fictitious identity, some were happy (Bill Gates, Taylor Swift) while others were disappointed (Daffy Duck). My friend began to explain to the children that when we go through life, other people
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