Stephen De La Vega

  A mountaintop high. Indescribable. The view. The air. The freedom. Above it all. Breathe in… Exhale…   Now step back down for a moment. Let’s consider the mountain top high of a despicable king who somehow decided to obey God. In our walk through every 20:24 and 20:25 verse in the Bible, we find ourselves in the middle of a 3-part look at our responsibility to God as we consider kings and kingdoms in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Part 1 was the prior post: I Will Stand for God’s Government . Next time, we will Let God Win Our Battles . Today, we resolve to Follow God through Highs and Lows . Our story is found in 1 Kings 20 . At this point in history, Israel had been a divided nation consisting of a northern kingdom called Israel, and a southern kingdom called Judah. Jerusalem was the capitol city of Judah, and Samara was the capitol city of Israel where King Ahab reigned as its seventh king. He was ungodly – not a role model in any way for the king...

  COVID-19 hit us like a giant brick. Its presence changed the world. It disrupted our lives. Many of us were hit hard. How can our everyday normal be so overturned by something we can’t even see!? It’s my pleasure to introduce Alynda Long. She is an Energizer bunny …and a writer, blogger, editor, wife, homeschool mother, grandmother, graduate student, and, most importantly, Christ-follower. She endured a month-long battle against COVID-19, and she had never experienced a viral infection like this one. COVID-19 is a beast! But Alynda ‘kept on going’ as well as she could and she maintained a productive faith in God who is greater than this virus and in full control. I was encouraged by her story of victory as she suffered through the invasion of COVID-19 in her body and her household. It’s God’s story of victory, really, through Alynda’s faith, and I want to share it with you. Here is an interview with Alynda about her experience. Hi Alynda. Thank you for agreeing to tak...

Another Christmas has passed, but the celebration is not over. Do you remember this from last week? …The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him not to be afraid.  The Messiah was coming. The long-awaited Savior of the world would soon be with us. Isaiah’s prophecy would soon be fulfilled: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” Matthew 1:23 (NIV) Jesus was born and God was with us. A Savior came and died, And He’s alive today. His name was called Wonderful, And wonderful He remains. They called Him Prince of Peace, And peace He gives today and forever. He was with God and is God – the Mighty God – And He heralds His might today. He was called Counsellor, Still He gives us counsel today Through His gift – the Holy Spirit. He’s the Everlasting Father. Everlasting. He was named Emmanuel, “God with us,” And He is with us this day. (thoughts from Matthe...