A recent interaction with my son led me to reflect on the messages people receive about who they are. My son asked me why there are so many pictures of him and his sister around our house, and I gave him a simple and true answer: “Because I like seeing you.” I’m thankful he asked […]
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“Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32–33) The very thought that depression could be present […]
The post Today: A Devotional for Depression appeared first on CCEF.
Over the past year, I have dedicated much of my ministry work to parents. I have not sought to provide guidance on how to parent but rather to bring comfort for the many distressing emotions parents experience. One of the more challenging emotions parents experience is regret. When parents struggle with regret, we review and […]
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I wish you could meet some of the people who work at CCEF. We are, of course, far from perfect, but we see Christ in each other, and we see evidence of the Spirit in the way the Lord forges a community among us. One place this happens is at our morning prayer meetings where […]
The post The Day God Held Lot’s Hand appeared first on CCEF.
Do you lament that moments of beauty, joy, and laughter in your life are so fleeting? It’s like one of those Instagram videos of a toddler eagerly smiling and accepting a slice of lime (“Ooh, a new food!”), which gives way to a puckered and confused expression (“Wait, what?!”). Moments of joy are too easily […]
The post Stretching Joy: 10 Ways to Notice God’s Everyday Mercies appeared first on CCEF.
Most of us would like to learn how to have better conversations with those around us. We would like the awkward conversations to be less awkward. We would like the great ones to be more frequent. For people who know Jesus Christ, we want these great conversations even more because our words are the primary […]
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Sometimes life gets hard. We feel despondent in our suffering, uncertain of how and when it will end. It can feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel and that restoration and redemption are impossible. We see no silver lining, and no “think positive” mindset can soften the pain and confusion. […]
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So many minds get stuck in unproductive places. They get into a mental rut and can’t escape. It could be a past regret that is replayed and replayed, or a fear about the future. Or it could be another person’s comment that you take personally, or doubts about your salvation, which means that you are […]
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Some of us feel discouraged about ourselves today. We are disappointed by our ongoing sins. We fall short of our desires to be faithful. Our efforts haven’t amounted to much. It would be a gift to look at our lives and feel satisfied with our progress in sanctification or accomplish what we set out to […]
The post The Beauty of “I’m Trying” appeared first on CCEF.
Imagine that you ran into a friend and casually asked how they were doing. Imagine that friend gave an honest, one-word answer. Would you be surprised to hear I venture to say you would not be surprised to hear any one of those descriptions. Why? Because the pace of life, at least in the Western […]
The post What Does the Bible Say about Rest? appeared first on CCEF.
I never thought about how the phrase “late bloomer” applied to flowers until I started a garden. The original meaning of this expression dawned on me one day in late fall as I drove up to my house. As I pulled into the driveway, there it was. A full six weeks after the rest of […]
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The good cop, bad cop approach may work well when eliciting criminal confessions, but it was never intended for the home. You might notice it when one parent says, “Don’t tell your father [or mother]” and then modifies or subverts what the other parent said. These parents may have any number of reasons for their […]
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