Devotions (Page 43)

Yesterday, we had the privilege of hearing our Elder, Jonathan Koh, speak about the challenges of being in the world, but not of the world.  There is truly a struggle in the world today figuring out “who am I”? As Jon transparently shared yesterday, one of his greatest struggles was figuring out if he identified as Singaporean or Canadian. Since he spent part of his life in Singapore and part of his life in Canada, he felt like he didn’t fit it…

A number of year ago the Lord used my cell phone to give me a valuable object lesson. Nothing seemed to be working properly and there were bizarre glitches taking place that I couldn’t seem to clear? (Does one clear a glitch…?) Anyway, after trying to delete pictures and old text messages, I realized that my phone needed to go through a series of updates. I had seen – and ignored – the notifications. Reminders were a nuisance until there…

Dear LifeSpring Family, Ever since the vaccine for Covid-19 became available, there has been much said, written, and posted about whether one should vaccinate or not. In the past several weeks up to today, I have had several discussions about the merits of one or the other. Today I had lunch with a colleague of mine from FamilyLife Canada, who has decided not to be vaccinated. And around dinnertime, I made a call to our dear friends in Kelowna out…

We are living in unprecedented times. Many of us have never experienced a pandemic before that lasted so long, and affecting every country in the world. My grandmother who is turning 102 have said she has never lived through a time like this. We are also experiencing multiple challenges like climate change resulting in horrible forest fires, devastating flooding, and the challenges that are very unfamiliar to us. Political instability in many parts of the world. Tragic human suffering is…

“Jesus traveled among all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, announcing the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were troubled and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The size of the harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send…

Today I want to share with you a word that God spoke to me, that I believe might help some people out on the way to making every effort to grow in maturity. Over the past couple months I’ve been trying to up my cardio by jogging at the high school track near my house. Every time I would go, it seems like I would always gas out at 2 and a ½ laps. Sometimes I could push it to…

As the people of God we know that we have been called to be a blessing to those around us. At LifeSpring especially we continue to return to this Kingdom reality: We are blessed to be a blessing! While we often refer back to God’s initial call to Abraham (Genesis 12) and the covenant they formed together – the same promises that continue to bind us to the Lord – Jesus also taught about what it means to be blessed.…

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6 I’ve really enjoyed the messages that have been shared over this past month at Life-Spring. Gabe, Donna, and Mae-Tuin all spoke into different aspects of our journey as a church. Gabe spoke on the topic of faith, Donna on identity and the armor of God, and Mae-Tuin shared her testimony of seeking and finding God in community in the midst of trials. Something…

I just celebrated Dorothy’s 60th birthday and was so thankful to God for His provision, protection, and blessing upon Dorothy’s life. A day later, I walked over to make payment to the two teenage boys who mow our lawn. Their mother answered the door and I was a little startled. I apologized for waking her up from her afternoon nap. But her response totally caught me off guard. “I am not doing well, Jerry. I was diagnosed with cancer, had…

Yesterday we had the privilege of hearing Mae-Tuin’s journey of growing in God. Through the highs and lows, through the unknowns and the challenges, through it all – the Seto family came out the other side closer to God. Jesus says in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” There is an age old question – “If God is so loving, why do bad things happen”? This is a real…

We’re five days post-Donna’s Sunday sermon and, if you’re like me, you’re still digesting parts of it… and will be for a while yet! This week has definitely held many challenging conversations and next-level frustrations. You’d think I would’ve seen them coming, eh?! After taking in a sermon like the one we heard from Donna, it should truly not come as a surprise for many of the things she spoke about to be front and centre in the days following.…

I don’t know about you guys but after Donna’s message on Sunday, I found myself needing to put on the full armor of God literally that night. You know a word is good when the enemy tries to snatch away a seed that the Lord is trying to plant the same day it is sown.  I’m reminded of the scriptures in Matthew 13:18-23 (NLT) 18 “Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: 19 The…