The Rest of the Gospel: Welcome to the Fall Book Club & the Gates (chapter 1)

/
The Rest of the Gospel: Welcome to the Fall Book Club & the Gates (chapter 1)

Welcome to our Fall book club here at A Branch in the Vine! Thank you for joining us in the study of The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel has Worn You Out, by Dan Stone and David Gregory.

My prayer is that we will all come to experience to a greater depth the truth of the key verse of our study: Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)...that is, our only hope that the glory of God will be manifest in our lives right now on this earth...not just when we get to heaven!

Read More

Fall Book Club...starting soon

/
Fall Book Club...starting soon

Are you tired of working hard doing the Christian life — the "to do/don't do" lists (which vary depending on the group you are with)? Are you ready to give up trying in your own strength to get the "abundant life" Jesus promised? John 10:10

Great!  Then you are ready to read along with us the potentially life-changing truths contained in...

The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out,
by Dan Stone and David Gregory.

Read More

My Safe Harbor: Living My Life in God

/

... On the last day of our time at the Jersey Shore, the inlet was calling to me. I thought back to the years when my mom and I would grab our beach chairs, drive down to the inlet, place ourselves along the rocks lining the waterway and wait for the horn to blow. The unique sound of the horn signals the opening of the bridge for the party fishing boats, making their way from the harbor to the sea.

Read More

What Do Sunrises Say?

/
What Do Sunrises Say?

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.[a]
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world.
Psalm 16:1-4a NLT

Another summer of sunrises at the Jersey Shore. Year by year, they do their speaking … always of the Glory of our Creator God … always of the gift of a new day …

Read More

Sunrise Serendipities -- a Trip into Yesteryear

/
Sunrise Serendipities -- a Trip into Yesteryear

Sunrises are always serendipities -- not that we don't expect them and not that they don't always come, but we never know what we will get. Each one is different, and each one is a gift from the hand of our Creator! Maybe the gift part is more true than we realize, because each sunrise signals a new day. And really, none of us is promised that day ahead of time...pure grace when it comes!

Read More

Ocean Sunrise in Scripture & Song

/
Ocean Sunrise in Scripture & Song

For several years before my mom went home to Jesus, I spent lots of precious time with her on the coast in New Jersey. One of the highlights had always been my early morning walks along the beach at sunrise.

I’m returning to this blog that I wrote after a sweet summer with my mom at my sister's house in Belmar.

Maybe you too need some peaceful reflection today. Why not join me as I "go down the shore" and enjoy the glory of our great Creator in pictures (my own), Scriptures and song.

Blessings, my friend.

Read More

This "Branch" is going "Down the Shore" Again

/
This "Branch" is going "Down the Shore" Again

From my very first year of blogging and many years since, I’ve been blogging my journeys to my “happy place”…the Jersey Shore.

A portion of this blogpost is a trip into yesteryear —one of my early Jersey shore blogs, Aug 2016.

And actually in a couple days, we will again be on our way to that favorite place on earth for me. It’s not just the ocean that calls me. It’s my roots — the precious loved ones (family and friends) and memories of my growing up years. So off we go for another adventure…

Read More

A Morning Conversation in a Time of Upheaval

/
A Morning Conversation in a Time of Upheaval

I sit with my Father,

Abba Father God,
I hold onto You today as I do everyday.
I am secure because You are holding onto me. Thank you..

I like just sitting here with You. I don’t have to know all the “stuff,” do I?
I don’t have to get it all straight so I fit into “the camp,” whatever that may be, right?
I’m not sure I even belong to one.

Read More

Loving God for HIMSELF

/
Loving God for HIMSELF

… As far back as I can remember, I have always loved God. I can’t remember when I had the very first loving thoughts and feelings toward God. But He has always been most important to me. …
My granddaughter Claire asked me one day,

“Babci, Who told you about God?”

My immediate reply,

“My mommy told me about God.” And she had because God was her life.

Read More

SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST -- HE IS the Christian LIFE

/
SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST -- HE IS the Christian LIFE

Christianity is a PERSON, not a procedure; the LORD, not a list! Not church attendance, not Christ-like qualities, not good works, not the Christian "to-do list" (which may vary depending on the group and "camp" you are in)...

Not evangelism, not mission trips, not a quality "quiet time," not Scripture memorization or Bible study...

Not spiritual disciplines, not prayer, not fasting, not obedience, not miracle-working faith...

Read More

SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST: Morning Thoughts for Battles You Face Today

/
SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST: Morning Thoughts for Battles You Face Today

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV

Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ.

May you rejoice in this gift of another day to experience the sufficiency of Christ who lives in you today … right now.

And let’s face it … there will be battles today in this fallen world. Christ has won the war. But while we are here on earth, we will face opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil (who uses the world and the flesh to lie to us and lure our dependence away from our loving Father God).

So here are a few thoughts and scriptures that may help as we face our today:

Read More

Revisiting My Needed, Favorite Words

/
Revisiting My Needed, Favorite Words

I have favorite words…do you?
Maybe because my “love language” is words of affirmation, I treasure words … especially words I hear from God. Sometimes His words are those that “jump off the page of Scripture.” Sometimes they are words that enter my consciousness, gently or suddenly or in response to a question I barely had time to ask.

Read More