Walking Through the Psalms“I took my troubles to the LORD; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.” – Psalm 120:1 (NLT)“Where Are You Taking Your Troubles?” Where do you take YOUR troubles? Some of us take our troubles to our homes. We snap at our spouse, yell at our kids, and kick the dog. Some of us take our troubles to our jobs. We roll our eyes at our boss, get snippy with our co-worker...

Walking Through the Psalms“I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.” – Psalm 119:176 (NLT)“They Are Only a Prayer Away” Read this verse again. Can you hear it? It’s the voice of your son. It’s the sob of your granddaughter. It’s the cry of the heart of someone dear to you. Someone who grew up in the church. Someone who has heard the sermons,...

Walking Through the Psalms“I rejoice in your word like one who discovers a great treasure.” – Psalm 119:162 (NLT)“A Crater of Diamonds!” In Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is the Crater of Diamonds State Park. It’s one of the few places on Earth where the public can search for diamonds at their original volcanic source. It’s an eroded volcanic crater that is now a 37-acre plowed field. What’s cool is you ...

Walking Through the Psalms“Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much.” – Psalm 119:140 (NLT)“Read the Reviews” Having traveled a good bit, I learned a valuable lesson about hotels. Read the reviews. I used to just look at the pictures that the hotel posted about itself. The pictures are almost always fantastic. Beautiful rooms. Wonderful breakfast buffets. Elegant ...

Walking Through the Psalms“It is time for you to act, LORD; your law is being broken.” – Psalm 119:126 (NIV)“Let God Be God” “It is time for you to act, LORD!” Have you ever prayed that prayer? Maybe, like the psalmist, you’re tired of seeing all the evil in the world, and you want Jesus to come back NOW and stop it all. Of course, that means that your own friends and family who are without Jesus ...

Walking Through the Psalms“Give discernment to me, your servant; then I will understand your laws.” – Psalm 119:125 (NLT)“Learning to Discern” I’m a big believer in listening to intuition. It’s a tough concept to teach, but it is an important concept to learn. I can’t tell you how many times along the way I’m about to make a decision, and something starts stirring inside me that this is not a good...

Walking Through the Psalms“Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me, I will quietly keep my mind upon your promises.” – Psalm 119:95 (TLB)“Let It Go!” Some people are not worthy of the amount of thought we give them.  That’s what hit me when I read our verse for today.  Think about it.  Somebody says something ugly to you or does something malicious.  And they’re KNOWN for doing such things...

Walking Through the Psalms“My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me?” – Psalm 119:82 (NLT)“A Prayer for Those Who Are Straining” Straining. That word jumped out at me. It’s the perfect description for so many people I know right now. Maybe it’s a perfect description for you. Some of us are straining to hold it together. Others of us are straining to get it tog...

Walking Through the Psalms“My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.” – Psalm 119:71 (NLT)“The Gift of Letting Them Suffer” You learn more through failures than you do through successes. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true. Think about things that you messed up. Think about decisions you made that were really dumb. Think about things that you d...

Walking Through the Psalms“Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.” – Psalm 119:50 (NLT)“Standing On The Promises” A few years ago, I was praying with a woman who was not long for this world. As I prayed, I found myself quoting God’s promises. It’s not that I needed to tell God what He said in the Bible. After all, He wrote it. I was quoting the promises because they were a com...

Walking Through the Psalms“Give me understanding, and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.” – Psalm 119:34 (NLT)"Put Your Heart Into It!" “HOW you do what you do is just as important as what you do.” Read that sentence again, and let the truth of it sink in. This is one of those principles that I wish I had learned long before I got married. When I was fi...

Walking Through the Psalms“Keep me from lying to myself…” – Psalm 119:29 (NLT)“Defining Reality” One of my favorite books on leadership is Max DePree’s book called “Leadership Is an Art.” He makes a statement that I think every single person needs to learn. He says, “The number one responsibility of leadership is to define reality.” In other words, you can’t really lead an organization forward unt...

Walking Through the Psalms“Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word.” – Psalm 119:18 (TLB) Do you believe God speaks to you? I do. In fact, I believe God speaks to each one of us every single day of our lives. There are a few different ways that God does that. Sometimes He speaks to us through His Spirit. Those are the quiet whispers in our souls. They are the “nudges” we feel to call or ...

Walking Through the Psalms“This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24 (NLT)“Your Attitude Is Your Choice” One of the most powerful life lessons I ever learned was at a John Maxwell conference almost 40 years ago. That was the first time I ever heard the phrase, “Your attitude is your choice.” That understanding was life-altering for me. I used to blame my...

Walking Through the Psalms“The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” – Psalm 118:22 (NLT)“Turning Rejected Stones into Cornerstones” This is a beautiful verse depicting the wonderful, redeeming work of God. God can take that life which others discard and build something amazing and incredible out of it. God took Gideon, who was from the “least tribe” and the “least clan...

Walking Through the Psalms“The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” – Psalm 118:14 (NLT)“God Has Given YOU The Victory!” This is a great verse for you to read out loud before you leave the house today. It’s actually a great verse for some of us to write down and put up on our bathroom mirrors or refrigerators, where we’ll see it all week long. It’s a verse of triumph. It’s a ...

Walking Through the Psalms“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people.” – Psalm 118:8 (NLT)“Love People. Trust God!” “I just want a man I can always depend on.” “I just want a woman who will meet all my needs.” “I just want a friend who won’t let me down.” Ever heard these kinds of statements? Ever make one like it yourself? On the surface, it doesn’t seem like we’re asking fo...

Walking Through the Psalms“The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear.” – Psalm 118:6 (NLT)“God Is for You!” Look in the mirror and say this out loud: “God is FOR me.” Do you understand what that means? It means God is on your side! He WANTS you to succeed. He WANTS you to be happy. He WANTS you to live a full and fulfilling life. That’s important for me to say because I know that there are many w...

Walking Through the Psalms“In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free.” – Psalm 118:5 (NLT)“If You Can Face It, God Can Fix It!” A few years ago, I was talking with a young man who had a very traumatic childhood growing up. He witnessed his mother being abused and experienced abuse himself in a variety of ways. He told me that while talking to a young woman about...

Walking Through the Psalms“For his unfailing love for us is powerful” – Psalm 117:2 (NLT)“The Hysterical Strength of God’s Love” Lauren Kornacki was looking for her father to borrow the car. She went outside where she thought he was, but didn’t hear him. She then went back inside and asked her mother where he was. “He’s outside working on the car,” her mother said. So Lauren went back outside agai...