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And They Remembered His Words by Lisa Cooke

I heard the testimony of a minister who kept a notebook of prophecies—inspired encouragements—that he had received over the years concerning his life and ministry. When he was battling a life threatening health crisis, he read that notebook over and over, reassuring himself of things spoken by the Spirit to him. He made a conscious effort to remember those words and they brought such encouragement to him. He did recover and is continuing strong in ministry, fulfilling God’s will … read more

He Went Away Sad by Lisa Cooke

“Jesus told him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions” (Matthew 19:21-22 NLT). What do you do when Jesus asks more of you than you want to give? We want our response to always be a full-hearted “yes” to our Lord, but sometimes He asks something of us that causes us to hesitate. … read more

Tools For Your Marriage Tool Box by Lisa Cooke

I’d like to share a few tools you can have in your marriage tool box to help with those issues that inevitably come up in every life shared by two people trying to be one flesh. I think a common feeling among married couples that tries to rear its ugly head is self-pity. The thought that “I am doing more in this marriage than he or she is” comes to us all and it’s a thought that we should dissect and dismantle when it comes. Self-pity is an enemy to our souls and to our relationships. … read more

Please Remain Seated! by Lisa Cooke

It is our privilege as beloved children of God and as followers of Christ to be seated with Christ in the realm of the heavenly places. No one can remove us from that position but we can be lured away from being mindful of such great divine favor. A funny little visual I’ve been carrying around in my heart lately is seeing my legs and feet inside Jesus’ legs and feet, with all my personal named enemies under our feet jointly. I think it’s important to be cognizant of our enemies … read more

The Worship Leader Within by Lisa Cooke

Worship leading is a vital position in most churches today. A lot of emphasis is put on the best sound, the current look, the most engaging personalities, all for the purpose of leading the congregation successfully into the portion of the service we call worship. There are lots of opinions out there as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing and I’m sure sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad. … read more

The Way in Our Manger by Lisa Cooke

My mother passed away last month, and as Christmas approaches, I’m filled with memories of her, of how she lived her life, and of how much she loved her children. One of my favorite memories is from my early childhood. My mother and father attended a Methodist church at the time, and at Christmas they always put a manger scene beneath our Christmas tree. My father made the wooden stall himself as he was an artist and loved working with wood. My mother would drive an hour to Indianapolis every Christmas season and buy one or two figurines to fill the manger scene with. … read more

The Good Seeing by Lisa Cooke

Tony had taken an astronomy class in college, and he explained to me one night while we were dating that the ability to view the stars and planets well required “good seeing.” This means conditions atmospherically are conducive to a clear view of what you are looking at in the night sky. “The seeing is the term used in astronomy to quantify the steadiness or the turbulence of the atmosphere.” Even though we were looking at the stars and planets through our eyes alone and not with a telescope, we soon developed a judgment whether or not the night was a good seeing night or a bad seeing night. Read this article by Lisa Cooke

Minding the Webs by Lisa Cooke

There are spiders that occasionally spin their webs across the front walkway to our house. It is unnerving to feel that sticky substance attach itself to my skin as I unknowingly walk through one of their webs on the way to my car. Immediately I do the “spider dance” trying to get that web and any possible spiders off of me as quickly as possible. I don’t like being caught in their snare, even though in my rational mind I know I’m bigger than they are and that their web is no real threat to me. Our adversary is much like a spider that weaves a nearly invisible web to catch its prey. He hopes to “catch” us in his carefully woven web of lies and deceit. Some traps and snares are very obvious and can be easily seen and avoided. Read this article by Lisa Cooke

The Bone Scatterer by Lisa Cooke

Psalm 53:5 tells us that “God scatters the bones” of those who oppose his people. Knowing and believing God’s attitude toward the enemies of His people is a potent advantage we can have as we wage war against any of our adversaries and especially toward any doubts that may wander into our thought life. Remember that “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12). God has made our enemies His enemies and no one and nothing can conquer Him or His will. This may sound foreign to us when we are so used to thinking about the love and mercy of God, and of course, we pray that everyone will humble himself or herself before God and receive His mercy. The Apostle Paul himself was a great enemy of the church, and he received mercy. Read this article by Lisa Cooke

Contributory Links

The Weymouth New Testament version of Ephesians 4:16 says “Dependent on Him, the whole body—it’s various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another—grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love.” The phrase—grows by the aid of every contributory link—reminds me how valuable every single person in the Body of Christ is to the grand plan that God has orchestrated concerning our time spent here on earth. The word “contributory” is defined as “playing a part to bring something about.” How are we as members of the Body of Christ to play a part and to aid in bringing something about? Read this article by Lisa Cooke

Live Devotedly with Great Delight! by Lisa Cooke

Philippians 3:14 is the rallying cry for those whose choice it is to follow God’s ways. We make the “upward call of God in Christ Jesus” our goal and with each new day pursue afresh this high calling. But let us do this with delight because we see this goal as a treasure God has made possible for us to seek. The enemy of our souls persistently tries to steal our joy, particularly in doing the will of God. … read more

How Big Is Your Brave? by Lisa Cooke

How big IS your brave? It’s OK if you feel this is an area you need and want to grow in. There is no condemnation in this question, it’s only meant to cause us to take a moment and examine ourselves to see where we are on the spectrum. Is your brave level lower than you want? How big do you want your brave to be? … read more

Watch and Pray by Lisa Cooke

The alarm bells are going off in my spirit. I hear the words “watch and pray” over and over as a directive and a reminder. This is no time to relax and “sleep” but a time to be diligently on guard and “awake” in the spirit realm. These days we have before us are days of intensity and urgency in spiritual matters, and we need to be at our best and brightest in the service of our God. … read more

Prayer for the Laborer by Lisa Cooke

Are you praying for an unsaved loved one, a prodigal, or someone who has lost their way in their Christianity? Have you ever prayed that a laborer would “cross their path,” speaking the needed wisdom into his or her life? I have prayed many times for laborers to have an influence in my loved ones’ lives, based on Matthew 9:38 that the Lord would send out laborers into His harvest. … read more

Angels by Lisa Cooke

When the Lord spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai, one of the things He said to him was “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for My name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies …read more

Before the Watching World by Lisa Cooke

Psalm 31:19 “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world” (NLT). The world needs, has always needed, to observe people who are confident in and experiencing God’s goodness.  King David was one of those people. In Psalm 27:13 (NLT) he says, “Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.” David had faith that God would be good to him in the midst of all of earth’s trials and tribulations. … read more

Let Your Requests Be Made Known by Lisa Cooke

The above passage is a favored Bible verse for many of God’s children. To be told that we don’t have to worry, but can tell God what we need through prayer is indeed a holy kindness. I have spent many prayer hours telling God what I need and what I think others need. I have taken God at His word and have made my requests known to Him every day of my Christianity. …read more

Stars in My Eyes by Lisa Cooke

One of the things I love to do when Tony and I visit Rocky Mountain National Park is to go into the park late at night, away from city lights, and look at the night sky with the uncountable number of stars. Those stars, even though they appear as just pinpricks of light, have always fascinated me.  …read more

The Greatness Temptation by Lisa Cooke

Greatness. The internal itch to amount to something in life. I would guess practically every human being has this deep desire to be known for some type of accomplishment or skill, or natural beauty. We admire those who have achieved greatness in some form in this world and will often find ourselves comparing our lives with these success stories. …read more

It’s All Yours by Lisa Cooke

I could tell there was something the Holy Spirit wanted to say through me to a brother who is actively believing for healing from a particular disease, but I didn’t know what it was until I stood directly in front of him. The next thing I knew, these words were coming out of my mouth: “It’s all yours.” That’s all I said to him but he understood exactly what I meant. To “get what he is so ready to give” reminds us of the attitude that the Godhead has toward us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of the same frame of mind with an eternal willingness to give mercy and help. … read more

The Five Loaves and Two Fish Life by Lisa Cooke

Do you ever feel like the little boy in the midst of the huge crowd from John 6:9, offering Jesus your “five loaves and two fish”? You know in your heart that what you are giving up for the sake of others is not enough in natural measurements of sufficiency. Yet you feel compelled to give what you have, in eager, or possibly nervous anticipation of what Jesus will do with what you hand over to Him. …read more

Righteousness and Peace Kiss Each Other by Lisa Cooke

Peace. That wonderful quality of calm and serenity that can be so difficult to maintain in the turbulent days of our lives, is linked with righteousness, not with circumstances. This is good news for those of us who seek for the peace of God to rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15). We may not be experiencing peaceful feelings due to outward conditions or events, but we have been graced with the possibility of an internal state of peace which can remain unaffected by what goes on around it. …read more