What makes faith grow? What can lift your weary heart when you’ve been praying and believing for weeks and months and maybe years for a situation to turn, a miracle to happen? 
 
You may have started out with bold statements of faith about God’s healing power. You may have declared with certainty God’s ability to save even the most lost person in the world. But now your faith is wavering and what was at least mustard-sized seems to be shrinking in fear and doubt and misgivings.
 
You’re in good company.

Finding a good friend is sometimes easier said than done. The long two years of the pandemic haven’t helped, polarizing people with varying opinions on masks and vaccines and gatherings. It can be tempting to pull back and allow yourself to become isolated – but to do so means to lose out on the value of true friendship.
 
If we opt out of the work of building a friendship, we can end up like the guy I encountered in a Southern California park one day. I’ll call him Joe, and Joe had an advantage...

What do you do when you’ve been slandered, spitefully used or cursed? The enemy has attacked and you’re grappling with maintaining even a semblance of Christianity in its face. 
 
It could be a coworker or neighbor, your ex-wife or husband… even a spouse or friend that has turned against you, stirring a mixture of painful emotions that make you want to lash out instead of love. Loving that person-turned-enemy is the farthest thing from your current physical or mental state.
 
Don’t be shocked at the attack.

​When was the last time you shared your faith with someone? Remember when you first got saved and you had to tell everyone? If your zeal has waned, there may be a hidden reason why.
 
I spoke recently at The Blue Cord Impact Conference in Dallas, hosted by iHope Ministries. With a goal to embolden and equip women to share their faith across cultures, I jokingly told the attendees that I had the “privilege” of sharing the stark reality that doubt counts you out of the plan of God. Especially when it comes to sharing your faith with others, doubt will hold you back...