Joyce Shafer

For everything there is a season, a right time for every intention under heaven—a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a … [Read more...] about For Everything There Is A Season… Plus Some Pot-Stirring

I cannot pull an article together this month: I got nuthin’. Actually, the real problem is that I HAVE TOO MUCH I want to say, but it’s “unripe fruit on the vine.” Unripened fruit isn’t as pretty. It’s flavor isn’t as fully developed. It can give sour stomach, or worse, to someone who ingests it. My dad once planted one of those grafted trees. You know what I refer to: … [Read more...] about I Got Nuthin!

FIRST: CHRISTIAN CONFUSION Christian Confusion is like this for me (true story): Online are two reputable women. One is a dentist, with a proven record and perfect teeth and gums, who says significant to dental health is to drink liquids solely at mealtime, never between meals, and not even a swig of water after you brush your teeth before bed—you want that healthy … [Read more...] about On My Mind And Heart As 2024 Wraps Up

Q: Which do you want first, the good news or the bad? A: I’ll give you the bad news first then the good, along with hope through real evidence you might have imagined as not feasible or possible. I’ve switched gears, in part, this month – because of something I saw and how it relates to what I’m learning about lately. It started when I saw a construction fence … [Read more...] about Your Health Is Not Our Business

This message is for me and anyone else who needs these words at this time. Maybe you’ve been there: A pivotal moment when discomfiting realization washed over you, after years of believing you had correct understanding about something. One such moment happened for me while reading the Bible, when I saw clearly, from the Word of God, that what I’d believed about this world, … [Read more...] about Living In The Matrix

Thus speaks Christ our Lord to us: You call me Eternal, then do not seek me. / You call me Fair, then do not love me. / You call me Gracious, then do not trust me. / You call me Just, then do not fear me. / You call me Life, then do not choose me. / You call me Light, then do not see me. / You call me Lord, then do not respect me. / You call me Master, then do not obey me. / … [Read more...] about God Is Sifting Even Now —Wheat and Tares—Including In The Church

“I’ll never deny Jesus!” Maybe that’s something you’ve told yourself or others, same as I have. And maybe you meant it, same as I did—do. It was during a conversation with a friend that I realized there’s more than one way to deny Jesus. And most of us do this every day, without meaning to and without realizing it. Among topics my friend and I spoke of, this … [Read more...] about Denial

We believe we are born alive into/onto a living world, from which we one day die. What if we mistakenly have it backwards?

May 12, 2024, while spending time with God and His Word, I wrote the gist of this in my prayer journal: According to Almighty God, as a result of the fall from His grace by Adam and Eve, all their descendants (that’s us) are tainted with … [Read more...] about What If We Have It Backwards?

Maybe you, too, have noticed that Christians are in confusion, conflict, and chaos. Social network users, including Christians (especially those new to the faith looking for examples of how to walk in Kingdom ways) and non-Christians, watch us engage in these ways, as does our Almighty God and Redeemer Lord. This includes sarcastic, put-them-in-their-place memes and … [Read more...] about Christians In Confusion, Conflict, And Chaos