
Love Speaks Daily
communicating God’s Love one word at a time
God Our Mother: A Prayer for You
As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort youIsaiah 66:13a Mother’s Day has always been a rough day for me. Even though my mom is alive, because she went into the military when I was six years old, I was raised by my Great Grandaunt Carrie. When I was growing up, Mother’s Day…
The Grace of Rest
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.Psalm 23:1-3, NRSV Sometimes, all we need is rest. This sounds counter-intuitive to us. The culture of our nation…
Walking in God’s Grace
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.Psalm 119:105 In Psalm 119:105, there are two comparisons in the verse. The first comparison is lamp vs light, and the second comparison is feet vs path. God’s word is both a lamp and a light. God’s word is a lamp, a focused…
Trust God’s Grace
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV Have you ever had a time in your life when you just didn’t feel…
Grace upon Grace
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth… From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.John 1:14, 16 (NRSV) Have you ever received a gift from someone that made you feel like the…
Keep Knocking
For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”Luke 18:4-5, NRSV When I grew up in rural South…
What Is Your Yeast?
“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees…” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.Matthew 16:6,12 From the very beginning, there were people who had issues…
Are You Following Jesus?
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”Mark 10:21, NIV We’ve probably all heard this passage preached quite a few times. There are many ways to interpret what Jesus…
Don’t Forget to Pray
He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.Mark 9:29, NIV In Mark 9:14-29, we find the story of Jesus healing the boy with the mute spirit. Imagine you are in the crowd. You are a bystander – not one of the disciples, the scribes, or the father. What do you see? Let’s take…
The Stapler
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.1 Corinthians 13:13 The pandemic economy had hit them harder than expected. Jane was a sous chef at an upscale restaurant. She was on track to being promoted to executive chef. Bill was in middle management at a major clothing…
It’s a Love Thing
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.1 John 4:8 Let’s be honest, love is sometimes hard. I was reminded of this recently when someone close to me was determined to keep me stuck in the past. In all fairness, she was hurt from this event as much as I was.…
Moving from Good to Great
His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:27-28a When I was walking around New York City in 2004, trying to be a…
The Potter’s Hands
The pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.Jeremiah 18:4 Do you remember the first time you went to the salon or barber? If not, do you have an early memory of getting your hair done?…
End Zone after the Fumble
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”Luke 22:31-32 A devotional that I read this morning gave me pause and made me wonder, “Have I ever denied Christ in…
It’s About Time
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. Proverbs 21:5, NIV Traditionally, I set my goals and review my vision throughout the month of January instead of trying to get everything in place by January 1. I like to linger in the feeling of the New Year as long…
God’s Misfits
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.John 3:16 Last night, I watched the 1964 classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It is my favorite Christmas movie. One of the things I like most about Rudolph is the fact that it…
Un-Break My Heart
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”Psalm 34:18 The last time I lived in Georgia, several things happened. I developed a skin condition vitiligo; my high school sweetheart tracked me down and broke my heart a second time; a new boyfriend abused and almost killed me; and my relationship…
Fuel for the Journey
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away…
Every Day is a Day of Thanksgiving
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 This past weekend, I did a thing. I finally moved my stuff to Georgia. My family and I got on the road at 3:00 am on Friday morning, drove to Washington DC, packed up…
A Generous Investment
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.Proverbs 11:25 As those living in a capitalist society whose DNA is composed of rugged individualism, we often feel justified in consuming more than we invest. Our planet groans with pain due to our rate of consumption. According to one estimate reported by Washington State University,…
The Measure of Our Worth
Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.Colossians 3:17 We live in a world that is obsessed with quantitative success. If we can measure it as success then it is deemed successful. From the number of dollars in our bank accounts to the number of…
The Gift of Gratitude
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Sheila could not believe her misfortune. It was the day before her 40th birthday and she’d just lost her job. When she arrived at work that morning, before she even got to her desk,…
God Is Always Here
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Psalm 139:2-3, NIV Last week, I had one of those days that only God could have crafted. I started the day as I normally do,…
The Power of Letting Go
God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a…
The Key to Forgiveness
In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears. Psalm 18:6, NKJV About two years ago, someone whom I had grown to trust, hurt me. It had taken me quite some time to…
Experiencing God
A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.John 4:23 In December 2019, our entire world changed. By March of 2020, we were isolated or quarantined as the Covid-19 pandemic began its…
A Transformative Invitation
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others…
No Sheroes Allowed
“Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a, ESV One of my sister-friends and I come from two different backgrounds. Our lives are different in many ways. She is a wife and mother. I am a single woman with no children. She is from the North, and I am from the South. She is…
A Time for Rest
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”Matthew 11:28-30, NIV In this…
A Time for Prayer
Pray without ceasing…1 Thessalonians 5:17, NRSV Sometimes, all we can do is pray. Prompt for Thought: There is so much going on in our world and in our lives right now. Please take the time to pray for whatever is on your heart and mind. If you would like to send your prayer request to Love…
Fearless Living
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV When I was ten years old, my Mom enrolled me in swimming lessons. I don’t remember much of that summer except the thing that changed my relationship to deep bodies of…
Love that Changes the World
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put…
Radical Love
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.1 John 3:14, NIV Jessica walked into the room of her patient. She was on day three of 12-hour shifts. During the first wave, she was terrified each day that she went to…
Second Chance
Today, there is no scripture. We just wanted to share a cheesy story of love to make you smile this week.Love Speaks Daily Janet had waited for over an hour past their appointed time to meet. Once again, he was late. She couldn’t understand why Mr. Barker could never get his children to their tutoring…
What a Wonderful World?
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15, NIV If you can talk, you can breathe, which means you are alive. We take breath for granted. It’s automatic and works without any thought on our part. However, there are…
Dealing with Offense
Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27, NIV Have you ever been offended to the point where you changed directions in your life? Have you ever regrettably ended a relationship because of offense? Have you ever allowed…
Nobody’s Perfect
“…I no longer count on my own goodness or ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.”Philippians 3:9b, NLT Sally held onto the idea she had for weeks. She was determined to work out every single kink before she…
Cover Your Neighbor
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.Galatians 6:2, NRSV From the simple to the complex, there are so many ways that we can bear each other’s burdens. One of those ways is how we respond when someone commits a sin. When a neighbor or a loved one…
Salty People
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with each other.”Mark 9:50, NIV Wikipedia states that salt is essential for life in general, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and…
Why Not Ask?
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.2 Corinthians 12:8-9, NIV As…
The Joy of the Lord
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”Nehemiah 8:10, NIV If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands! If you’re happy and you…
From Great to Mediocre
And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 1 Samuel 8:7, NIV This is one of the saddest places in the history of the children of Israel. They rejected God as their King in…
Jesus, God in Flesh
Jesus wept.John 11:35, NIV There was an old man who had lost a great deal in his life. He lived alone and once his wife died, he stopped socializing. When they were younger, he and his wife of 30 years had planned to spend their retirement days traveling the world and volunteering to help the…
Say Yes to the Holy Spirit
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.2 Corinthians 3:17 Yesterday, we celebrated Pentecost Sunday. Symbolically, we have begun our journey with the Holy Spirit. If you are newly saved, this might be the beginning of your journey with the Holy Spirit. Either way, this is…
Salvation, It’s Not Complicated
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”Luke 19:9-10, NIV Sometimes we beat up on ourselves about past mistakes and regrets. We get caught in a loop about an incident…
Hold to the Hand of Hope
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 Last week was a big week for us in this nation. We cracked the door open to police reform. As we listened to and reflected on the…
A Love Song for Jesus
I write a lot of poetry that I never really share or has only been shared as spoken word performances. Today, I wanted to share one of those poems from my 2005 collection. I hope you enjoy it!-Patrice Gerideau Eternity put a smile on my face from deep within where imprints of Alpha Omega touch…
The Possibility of the Impossible
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”John 2:19, NIV The tree lobster (Dryococelus australis or the Lord Howe Island stick insect) is an interesting insect. According to the Wikipedia, in 1920, the tree lobster was thought to be extinct. However, it was rediscovered in 2001. Although the…
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable…
Chosen People
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for, but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.1 Peter 2:8b-9, NIV If you are a human being, you have stumbled. Stumbling is part of what we do as humans. We can’t help ourselves. We…
How Can We Say Thanks?
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.Ephesians 1:7-8, NLT In Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott says that her two best prayers are “Help…
The Golden Door
He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” John 2:16 As long as things remain profitable, they remain in a capitalist nation. Think of all the things that never seem to go away in our country – classicism, racism, sexism, homophobia, human trafficking,…
A Legacy Worth Leaving
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11:13, NIV Hebrews 11:4-12 lists a group of people who lived by faith. Verse 13 points to an…
Life-Giving Energy
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) Have you…
A Valentine’s Day Blessing
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV In less than a week, we will celebrate Valentine’s Day. Even though the holiday has become secularized, Valentine’s Day has Christian roots. According to Wikipedia, “Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of…
Expect the Unexpected
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.Hebrews 11:1, NKJV We had a snowstorm this past weekend in DC, which resulted in power outages. Without heat and electricity, while dealing with the hazards of snow and ice, we had to get creative. Depending on income and resources, some…
Write the Vision
And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.Habakkuk 2:2 (NIV-ESV) Where were you on January 20, 2021? Were you glued to your television set, watching President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris take office? Did you rise early to see glimpses of…
Creating Friends from Enemies
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.John 15:12, NIV Today we honor a man who decided that his life was best dedicated to a cause greater than himself. This was an act of love, pure love. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood it when Jesus said, “My command is this: Love…
The Hope of Good News
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.Romans 1:25, NIV Sometimes, we are going along in life and minding our own business when something stops us dead in our tracks. Sometimes this thing can be good, or it can be bad. Last week,…
A New Year, A New Resolution
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1, 14 (ESV) We made it. Now what?…
A History of Love Speaks Daily
A Command to Love When God led me to start Love Speaks Daily in 2009, I was in a dark place. I was recovering from church hurt, relationship hurt, financial hurt and all sorts of hurt. When I took my hurt to God, I was led to 1 John 4:16 and the words, “God is…
Have Faith in God
For we live by faith, not by sight.2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV This is cliché by now, but 2020 has been a year like no other year. None of us have ever seen anything like the year we just had. Nothing in our human selves prepared us for this year. We went from celebrating the year…
It’s All About Self-Love
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang…
Tithe This…
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.1 Corinthians 13:13 Tis the season to hear sermons on stewardship from pulpits and messages on generosity from nonprofits. Love Speaks Daily does not have a pulpit or a 501c3, so we don’t need donations, tithes, or offerings, but we…
A Pathway for Jesus
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” Mark 1:3, NKJV It is the season of advent, a time when we focus our attention on the soon coming King, Jesus Christ. We are trying to figure out liturgy, songs, sermons, charity, and the like in our churches. It is also the season of…
Sometimes Breath is All You Have
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 This week is Thanksgiving week. Things are different this year, really different. Yet, we still have much for which to be grateful. First, I am writing this, which means that I am breathing. You are…
First Things First
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.Matthew 6:33, NLT What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? If you are like most of us, it is reach for your phone. It’s is such a hard habit to break.…
The People Have Spoken. Now What?
“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of…
Plant Your Mustard Seed
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds…
Washing Feet
So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.John 13:4-5 (NIV) On yesterday, John 1:7 was read at the church service I…
Goodbye Is in Order
Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT In 2009, I started this blog because I wanted to encourage people in their faith and communicate God’s love to people. In the first two years, the blog went through several…
Dealing with Indecisiveness
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.Psalm 37:4, ESV This year my New Year’s resolution was to work on my problematic indecisiveness. Having options is not always a good thing for me. So, I spent the first part of the year, making decisions, using various methods. Some…