Melissa Lapensee

"When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."(James 1:2-4 NLT). James tells us the attitude we should have when trials and challenges come our way. We shouldn’t reject them, or be angry and frustrated with them, but see them in a positive light as an opportunity to grow. When[...]

"O God you are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; My whole body longs for You In this parched and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1 NLT I love that the Lord knows this is exactly what I want: I do thirst and long for Him, I want to know Him more, I want to see Him more clearly,  I want to hear Him speak to me, I want to follow Him and be in relationship with Him, and that I want to go the places He wants me to go to accomplish the life missions He has pre-ordained[...]

Immediately after all the stories of the people of great faith in Hebrews 11:4-31, Hebrews 11:32-35 tells us that "they shut the mouths of lions, escaped death etc.… ". That's the part I remember that they trusted God and "they won"!! "By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in ba[...]

"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 NLT) My family went to a Baptist Church until I was about five years old. I have a few wonderful memories of church and Sunday school up until that age. However, our family began to fall apart, and we stopped going to church shortly after that. Alcohol, abus[...]

“I am your Father. I have you, don’t worry, I won’t let you go.  You want Me to speak, but I speak in the small things, in the everyday things.  Don’t shut Me out; listen, I am always speaking.  Take the time to hear, to listen.  Listen to Me in the sunrise, in the sunset, in the wind.  I am still speaking in the noise of this culture as I always have been speaking through the generations.  Tune your ears to hear My voice.  I am the Lord, your God, the Alpha, the Omega, your Creator.  I though[...]

In thinking about this month’s HEARTstrong themes of Mission and Purpose, I was reminded of something that happened a couple of years ago on Valentine’s Day. Long story about why I was there, but I was parked outside a Country Style Donut Shop, at a gas station, in a small town outside of Ottawa, at night, on Valentine’s Day, waiting for my son to finish teaching a drum lesson at a location nearby. It had been a very tough week. I had brought a book with me and was planning to treat myself to a coffee a[...]

Recently, I’ve been reading Ecclesiastes. At first, it seems a bit depressing, and I began to wonder why God would see fit to have it become part of the Canon (the books or writings that made it into the Bible). Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon, King David’s son. Solomon was responsible for building the glorious temple in Jerusalem and was the wisest King of Israel. Solomon thought that having wisdom was incredibly important, particularly when he became King. Solomon wanted to do a great job as K[...]

Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Ephesians 4:22-23 NLT I love this scripture. It helps me realize that I need to shake off my former attitudes about so many things: Eating and exercising, spending and managing money, foul language, offensive jokes, all those uncontrolled behaviours that are really a deceptive way of living, a corrupted way of living. It is hard because that’s wh[...]

So, I say let the Holy Spirit guide your lives; then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. (Galatians 5:16 NLT)   This is a great scripture for me always, but right now in particular. Through His Holy Spirit, I am really hearing God telling me to exercise, eat properly, and the result will be an emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually bountiful life! I can already see and experience some of the wonderful peace and feeling of fulfilment God has for me when I choose to obey the guidin[...]

Hebrews 4:3 at the end talks about entering God's rest. When I first read it, it immediately struck me that this rest is synonymous with the peace that surpasses all understanding referred to in Philippians 4:6-7. "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT).[...]