Truthful Grace
Renew your heart with these inspiring articles about New Life in Christ by author and teacher, Melissa McLaughlin~ Truthful Grace. Jesus makes all things new!
By Melissa McLaughlin Does Anyone Know My Name? Though surrounded by people, I was unknown. This was my first time attending overnight summer camp with a friend. I was nine years old and we were both excited for a new adventure. After check-in, the counselors led us to our cabin to settle in. We rolled … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin Start Your Day with God With each new dawn, we are given the gift of a day. How will we face the 24 hours ahead? Some days we wake up feeling refreshed, while other days we struggle to put one foot in front of the other. Regardless of our physical strength or … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin Lord Jesus, as I welcome this new year – I welcome You. Come into my heart anew. Wash me, cleanse me, restore me. Holy Spirit, illuminate my soul’s sin-shadowed corners with Your radiant glory. Create in me a clean heart, O God. And renew a right spirit within me. Let this be … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin A New Year in Christ Each year my goal is to deepen my relationship with Christ. When I think back to the place where my faith journey began, I am amazed to see how far God has brought me. From my earliest memories, I believed in God and felt His love for … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin Darkness looms. Heavy. Still. Shadowed. Whispered deceptions. Seething accusations. Cloaked lies swirling. “You are not loved. No one really cares. You are called by your failures, mistakes, sins.” Hope fading Despair eclipses. Encased now in shame’s blanket Darkness envelopes. A crack in the door of your heart. A golden shaft pierces through. … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin One year gone. A new year awaits. Breathless with dazzling days high hopes and glimmers of grandeur. Never mind bent bodies and weary bones slower steps and wisdom from wasted days gone by. Though evil from without and within wages war on hearts leaning to the LORD Yet our eyes blaze bright … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin A Resurrection Miracle I will never forget it. One summer afternoon, my husband and I were resting in the family room when I was startled by the sound of a man screaming. This was not a kid’s scream or the sound of someone joking around, but the sustained, piercing wail of sheer … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin Overcoming We often feel our problems are too big or our struggles too great for the LORD to help us overcome. Take heart, the God who created us, can re-create us from the inside out, if we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and LORD and yield to His Spirit’s work … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin An Artist’s Image I love to gaze upon the beauty of an inspired piece of art. My husband is an artist and I enjoy pausing to reflect on his work for long stretches of time. The dynamic colors, the flowing brushstrokes, the composition of objects in the foreground and background, the images … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin Fearsome Power Is there anything that keeps you awake at night? One thing that will awaken me from a dead sleep and keep me wide awake is wind. When the wind howls and swirls at high intensity, our windows rattle and our house rocks. At times like this, I remember my smallness … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin If we jump back in time just 300 hundred years or so, we find some miraculous events sweeping through the Christian church in the United States and Britain. A spiritual revival was breaking out, the likes of which had never been seen before. So powerful and widespread was this revival, that the … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin Ever heard one of those remarkable testimonies of someone whose life was dramatically changed after they became a Christian? I get so excited to hear about God’s mighty hand moving in people’s lives. For many years, I felt my experience following Christ lacked the pizzazz that marked other’s journeys. But this is … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin We all love to get new things. The new journal has fresh clean pages with no smudges or bent corners. The new pencil is full length and topped with a perfect, unused eraser. The new clothes have no stains, tatters or frayed edges. When we stand at the cusp of a new … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Galatians 4:4-5 New life. New hope. New birth. I remember the touch of our children’s soft faces against mine … Read more
By Melissa McLaughlin A seed is fallen, takes root, lifts her tiny arms A sunflower is born The sun warms her depths Up from the earth, the rain pulses through her Drawing strength from the Creator’s touch planted deep within Growing, reaching, stretching toward the golden Sunlight Strong now, steady, tall and mighty among all … Read more