Author Archives: Julianne Winkler Smith

Then Moses said to the Lord, “…Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’Now then, if I have found favor in Your sight in any way, please let me know Your ways so that I may know You, in order that I may find favorContinue reading “circle of grace”

But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. ~Exodus 34:34-35aContinue reading “glow”

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.”  ~Exodus 32:1 The eventsContinue reading “making calves”

Joshua did just as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So it came about, when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed; but when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. And Moses’ hands were heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him,Continue reading “Him/Hur”

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. ~ Matthew 6:1 Social media has created look-at-me monsters in our society, birthing the selfie (which was not actually a thing at one point, I promise), as wellContinue reading “unseen, not unnoticed”

(The Lord) will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with fairness. Psalm 98:9 There’s a lot of talk these days about justice…and pardons. In fact, until recent months (and days) the concept of pardoning probably didn’t cross our minds. Then, rather suddenly, they’re flying around like those old Oprah days when she had herContinue reading “justice is served”

“And if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye is causing you toContinue reading “go to extremes”

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”  ~Luke 15:1-2 My husband came home from his men’s group the other day and shared a simple, yet profound, phrase someone had mentioned almost offContinue reading “the power of a preposition”

Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.   ~Psalm 33:8 It’s been a week since we’ve been launched into 2025. That said, how are those New Year’s resolutions going so far? Are they losing their appeal? If not, studies show that, sadly, most of us will dropContinue reading “resolve to awe”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.” ~Luke 5:31-32 “I don’t go to church—it’s full of hypocrites.” You’ve likely heard this statement (or something similar) before. Maybe it wasContinue reading “church is for sinners”