Author Archives: Julianne Winkler Smith

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.  ~Ephesians 4:14 (NLT) Beloved, I have an urgent exhortation: Read your paper Bible—I meanContinue reading “warning: be anchored”

And astonishment seized them all and they began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”  ~Luke 5:26 In Luke 5:19-26 (as well as in Matthew 9:1-8 and Mark 2:1-12), the Bible details a single event that could be studied for weeks—it’s profoundly rich in truth, conviction, and calls-to-action. It’s the account of Jesus teaching andContinue reading “be astonished”

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. ~Philippians 4:12-13 Contentment. It’sContinue reading “I’ve got a secret”

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.  ~1 John 3:18 Our church is big on living the conduit life as a Christian—to be a passthrough of God’s love, mercy, and grace to others. Another way our pastor exhorts this truth is by saying, “Once we are rescued byContinue reading “sponge life”

How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?  ~Roman 10:14 After my husband and I had a wonderful time in Pittsburgh visiting our son and daughter-in-love, I was able toContinue reading “shoulda, coulda”

“I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” ~John 10:10b On July 4, 1776, the new Congress of what would ultimately become the United States of America, put forth a Declaration of Independence. This document clearly enumerated Great Britain’s tyrannical actions and the young nation’s absolution from allegiance to the BritishContinue reading “life, liberty & the pursuit of joy”

Do all things without complaining or arguments; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. ~Philippians 2:14-15 My husband and I are huge fans of the “Great British Baking Show”—we’ve watched every season (and some moreContinue reading “prove yourself”

Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that inContinue reading “bandwagon gospel”

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.”  1 Samuel 15:10-11a I’d always scratched my head at the verses in 1 Samuel where the Lord said that He “regretted” His action to make Saul kingContinue reading “lamentable choices”