Friend to Friend

Job was an extraordinary man, husband, father, and leader who served God faithfully. His faithfulness to God in prosperity was a powerful testimony, but His faithfulness to God in the face of death, pain, and despair was even more powerful.

Did Job doubt and question God?

Absolutely!

Did Job openly and honestly grieve his loss and weep in his pain?

Yes!

But Job remained faithful to God, even when he did not understand why God would let him endure such suffering.

Job stood firm in his faith even when his heart and body was broken. God was pleased with Job and rewarded him for his faithfulness.

The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first (Job 42:11).

You are no stranger to

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Friend to Friend

What do you do when your ship pulls up anchor and sails off without you? How do you respond when life doesn’t turn out like you thought it would? Where do you turn when the powers that be toss your hopes and dreams overboard and tell you to go home? What do you do when someone whose opinion matters denies you passage on the boat you were meant to board?

The answers to those questions can change everything. You need to decide right now—before it happens.

In my last devotion, I told the story of being left at the dock in Italy while my friends sailed away. “You are not fit to sail,” was the ship’s declaration. (If you didn’t

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Friend to Friend

My bags were packed. My passport was up to date. My feet were itching to get started.

For more than a year, my husband and I had planned a trip to Italy, Greece, and Turkey with six of our closest friends. We had plotted our course, prepared our travel, and saved our pennies. This was a big deal for us—for me. I was going to stand on the very mount in Athens where Paul preached one of my favorite verses: “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We were going to explore the catacombs where some of our very first brothers and sisters in Christ were buried and walk the very steps of Paul

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Friend to Friend

I once saw a refrigerator magnet that said, “I know God promises to never give me more than I can handle, but sometimes, I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.” Can you relate?

When trials come and life seems hard, we plead with God to deliver us from the problem when many times His plan is to deliver us in the problem.

Praise does not depend on an understanding of the circumstance or trial. Praise depends on an understanding of who God really is and wants to be in our life, and on our willingness to put our faith in Him.

As humans, we will never fully understand God – this side of heaven. God is holy and without

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Friend to Friend

A friend sent this text: “I thought of you when I read Numbers 16:9 today!”

“Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near Him as you serve in the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them?” (Numbers 16:9, NET Bible)

She texted again: “God chose you to serve Him in this tabernacle of flesh, to stand, talk, and to sing before people to minister to them.”

I thanked her and shook my head. No, it’s not a small thing at all. It is an honor: one that I don’t deserve, but for the healing, life-changing, grace of Jesus.

She

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Friend to Friend

I once dated a fellow who drove me up the wall with his boasting. He would ask, “What did you think of that touchdown I made? Have you ever seen anybody run so fast and dodge so many people before crossing into the end zone?” He invited me to spend the weekend with his family by saying, “If it’s okay with you, my dad will fly us down in our fifteen-passenger Lear jet, and we can spend a couple of days on our seven-and-a-half-million-dollar yacht, which by the way, is the largest one in the Florida Keys.” After three months of dating, I was ready to slap some duct tape on his mouth, bind his hands and feet,

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Friend to Friend

Corrie Ten Boom tells the true story of young Englishman who was held prisoner in a German prion camp for a long period of time during World War II. One day he read Psalm 91 and fell to his knees in prayer.

“Father in heaven,” he prayed. “I see all these men dying around me, one after the other. Will I also have to die here? I am still young and I very much want to work in Your kingdom here on earth.”

God spoke to his heart, “Rely on what you have just read and go home.”

Trusting God, the young Englishman got up and walked into the corridor toward the gate.

A guard called out, “Prisoner, where are you going?”

“I

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Friend to Friend

Slavery is one of the prevailing metaphors and predominant themes in the Bible. Joseph was sold into slavery, the Israelites were forced into slavery, and God set His people free from slavery.

Most likely you can’t relate to being a slave, but you probably can relate to the idea of being in bondage in some area of your life.

A controlling parent
An addictive behavior
An out of control emotion
A fear of the future
A shameful past
A need for a man
A lustful eye
A desire for approval
An obsession with a goal
A co-dependent relationship
A guilty conscience

Each of these conditions can cause you to be tied up in knots and held captive to the point that you’re stuck in a prison of your own making, never

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Friend to Friend

Dan and I have traveled to many foreign countries on mission trips. Our family vacations have taken us across the United States … but we had never been to Yellowstone National Park and had only driven through Montana on our way to another state. So when I booked a speaking engagement in Gardner, Montana, we decided to take a few days following the event for a mini-vacation.

It did not take us long to fall in love with Montana. We flew into Billings and made our way to Gardner where we had booked a hotel. The drive was spectacular. The hotel was rustic and quaint, and the people could not have been nicer.

But Yellowstone National Park was unlike anything

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Friend to Friend

Four years ago we installed a new bathroom sink in our downstairs powder room. While I love the way it looks, I have not loved the way it has worked – because the water pressure has been a dreary drizzle.

I asked my husband Brad if he could fix the water pressure a few times. Let me say this: my man is awesome at a million and one things – he’s super smart and awesome around the house – but he has no plumbing experience. Being the great guy he is, he dutifully checked what he knew to check on the faucet, but had no success.

Recently, we had a plumber come to our house to install a new kitchen

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