Author Archives: Julianne Winkler Smith

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.   2 Timothy 3:1-4 As I traveled on a brief trip to see myContinue reading “numbing deception”

When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have established; What is man that You remember him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You crown him with glory and majesty! Psalm 8:3-5 The title of this devotional isContinue reading “in significance”

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 I’m confident that every one of us has pressed “send” on a text only to realize after the fact that the phone incorrectly autocorrected a word (or two). Sometimes,Continue reading “autocorrected truth”

And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”  Luke 23:42-43 My husband recently reconnected with a friend he met 25 years ago. At that time, while living in Colorado Springs, our families spent time togetherContinue reading “never too far”

The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.   Luke 11:23 Life is full of compromise and gray areas. In our families, at work, in the marketplace—we give a little, take a little, and typically do what it takes to make relationships andContinue reading “no middle ground”

“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried upContinue reading “rehearsing miracles”

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Psalm 100:1-2 Do you ever stop to consider the amazing fact that, as believers, we are privileged to enter into the very throne room of God? Because Jesus made a way of reconciliation for us, exchanging our filthy ragsContinue reading “sing in His presence”

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Philippians 2:24-15 We are in the midst of Lent—40 days of preparation for the Easter celebration. Growing up Catholic, we were alwaysContinue reading “no complaints”

And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19 I love the action-oriented Gospel of Mark. It’s fun to see how often he uses the word “immediately”—it’s like there’s anContinue reading “a good report”

Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand ofContinue reading “we all need a scapegoat”