Over a year ago when I first wrote Jochebed’s name on the pages of the Daughter of The King manuscript I wondered if there would be enough content to fill an entire month of lessons. To my surprise I have found the study of her life to be one of my favorites. While she is only given a few verses in the bible, the way she lived her life had a tremendous impact. She trusted God when her circumstances seemed hopeless and her faith was rewarded for it. Through a series of events God’s miraculous work became evident in the story of her life. Over the last month I have…

I spent some time today browsing through the many posts on Facebook from the Thanksgiving Holiday. It was nice to see people celebrating, breaking bread together and writing about what they are thankful for. There were also posts about those who would not be celebrating with loved ones due to their jobs, location or because of the loss of a loved one. So many emotions. So much love. In one of the Grief Share videos there is a story of woman who was about to turn 60 years old. She decided that she would make a list of all the things she was grateful for so that on her birthday…

As Believers we are painfully aware that we’re involved in a spiritual battle for our souls. In our own efforts we are unevenly matched with an enemy that uses his powers in the most evil ways possible. He delights when we stumble and fall. He welcomes us with open arms when we backslide. He lies because he is the father of lies. His only focus is to render us ineffective for God. That’s why it’s necessary for us as believers to allow the Lord to take control of our personal battles; recognizing that it is the only way we can be assured of victory. We don’t have to fight this…

When I hear the words, do you trust me, I’m often reminded of the times when people are working on trust building exercises like falling backwards into the arms of those who promise to catch them. It’s an adrenaline filled challenge that quickly reveals your level of trust in those involved. We can also feel that same anxiousness when God asks if we trust Him. Do you trust me with your loved ones? Your marriage? Your finances? Your health? Our response reveals our level of trust in God. Many times we hold tight to these things because we love and treasure them and we think we know better how to…

Over the last several weeks as we’ve been studying the faith of Jochebed, I’ve been learning to watch and see what God is doing. Often when we pray we have our own idea on how we see it being answered. But in addition to our petitions, we need to ask God to help us recognize His hand in our situations and circumstances so that we can recognize His answer to our prayers no matter how different they are from our expectations. I was told years ago that after I prayed I needed to watch and see what happened next. It created an expectation in my heart to see what God…

The story of Jochebed is a clear example of how God gives, provides, and answers more abundantly than we can even ask or imagine. That’s how God does things. He does them in a big way if we dare to trust Him. As we journey through life all of us will have our faith tried. The bible tells us in all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is…

The entire story of Jochebed can be seen as one Godly response to faith after another all because she dared to trust in His Word. That faith set into motion a whole chain of events that served His purpose and honored her faith. The daughter of Pharaoh choosing to bathe in the river at that exact time and place. The baby crying just at the right moment. Her heart filling with compassion and a desire to protect this child, that by her father’s decree should die. Miriam suggesting the child’s own mother to be the one to nurse him and the princess agreeing and even paying her for her services.…

Years ago I decided to take up running as a positive way of filling some of my time when I became an empty nester. On the first day I took off running and within a couple of minutes I was completely out of breath and had only covered a short distance. Not at all what I expected. Over time I learned that many different components went into making a good run. Proper stretching, training, breathing techniques and even the way I tied my shoes all became factors in reaching the finish line. Likewise our faith is something that must be exercised in order to grow. Faith is not testing God…