Melanie Banks

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV) This scripture is a challenging one for me. To say I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities would be a stretch. To be honest, these are all things that I would like to avoid at all costs. Looking back over the years of my life, I can see a pattern of that. Fear of discomfort, confrontation, conflict,[...]

"When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'” John 11:32 NLT The story of Lazarus has always stood out in my mind as one of the more dramatic healings that Jesus performed in the Bible.  It is one that inspires me to have hope no matter how challenging and hopeless a situation may seem.  Lazarus had been dead four days by the time Jesus showed up on the scene.  There had been four days of weeping an[...]