By Debra Torres
The website was nearly finished and as a growing web designer, I had to say it was my best yet.

The site, done in WordPress, a popular type of web design software, had clickable buttons, a beautiful interactive footer and even a fancy page peel effect in 

the top right corner that encouraged visitors to click. My client loved it. I loved it. But, as I worked through the final stages of the site, I found I faced a problem I couldn’t figure out.

The responsiveness, or the flexibility for the site to appear well on different devices like smartphones, tablets and laptops was out of whack.  This was a whole new stage of web development for me, and it definitely left me banging my head against the wall.

I watched a few tutorials and sent out a cry for help to my WordPress theme creator, but for the most part, I was stuck. ...

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Who is God? God knows the solutions to our problems and will guide us to an answer. All we have to do is call on him and trust in his faithfulness. Do you know God's phone number?

By Debra Torres
The profanity came out of Claire’s mouth hard and fast that day in our high school locker room. 

I was a new Christian then, a wannabe athlete and mediocre at best on our high school swim team. 

I was a bit awkward and self-conscience, but I had a light growing inside me that was beginning to show through the cracks in my reserved personality.

Claire was a good swimmer, tall, blue-eyed and confident with the boys. But she had a mouth that could beat any sailor, and she especially favored bashing God’s name.

And that day in the locker room, I had had enough. 

“Stop saying that,” I said, challenging her while she and her friend Beth laughed and carried on about something. When Claire asked why, I told her that God didn’t like it. ...

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Who is God? God loves us all so much and he desires that not one would be lost. He has chosen you and me to go and tell others about him. It's a tough road lined with persecution, and he knows it. I think that's why there's such a great reward waiting for those who choose to obey. 

My friend Mark started feeling poorly around July. Things he normally did became exhausting and physically hard to manage.

He was a strong man, a former Army Ranger, and very involved in the lives of his two teenaged boys. 

But a few exploratory tests from various doctors showed Mark and his family that things were not good with his heart.


His heart was not pumping properly, and an alarming test told them that it was functioning at only 8 percent of its capacity.  Doctors called this barely life sustaining...

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 Who is God? God cares about our physical needs, but I think what He's most concerned with is the state of our heart. Is our heart right with Him? Do we love Him and put Him first in all we do? Do we follow Him with all we are? Asking God for a new "heart" for Christmas may be just what we need this season. 

By Debra Torres
The insult flew in like a stealth bomber and skillfully found its way into a small, sensitive area of my heart.

Ouch.

The woman’s words stung whether she meant them to or not, and I did what I hated to do – I let it get under my skin.

I so wanted to “be like the duck” and let it roll off my back. But her words stung and they scattered my thoughts. Scenarios on how I was to respond – or not respond invaded my mind and threatened to ruin my day.

Later, I made a smart decision to ...

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Who is God? God doesn't expect us to do something that he hasn't already done for us. We need to follow Jesus' example in forgiveness. "...even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" Colossians 3:13. I know it can be tough, but it's an incredible step towards freedom in Christ.

By Debra Torres
There’s a little status indicator light on my dishwasher that lets me know when I need some more rinse aid. In bright yellow green, it tells when things are getting a bit “lo.”

The sign bugs me. I don’t usually have any rinse aid, so it often catches my eye when I enter the kitchen. 

It’s a constant reminder that I’m lacking in some way. And who needs that?

The man I bought the dishwasher from told me that the light would go out after a few runs of the washer. But it’s been over a year now, and the glowing message still let’s me know that I’m a bit “lo.”

Sometime back though, I rethought my dilemma and gave my problem a spiritual upgrade. You see ...

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Who is God? The good and the bad, God wants us to share our lives with Him. He is a loving God who waits to be invited into our day. So many times we go along with life, forgetting. Take a moment now and invite the God of the universe into your present situation. You'll be so glad you did.

By Debra Torres
The smell of bacon makes me think of my grandmother. And I told my daughter this while making lunch the other day. 

I explained that Grandma would often have it frying on the mornings we visited when I was a girl. 

Bacon and eggs, hot buttered toast, juice and sweet red grapes was her signature breakfast for our family.

 “I think they ought to put those kinds of smells in scented candles,” my daughter said. “They always have sweet smells like cinnamon bun or hot apple pie. How about a bacon candle or a friend chicken one to remind people of their grandmother’s kitchens?”

Her idea made me smile. She just may be onto something, I thought.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we make others feel lately.  Just like the way the smell of bacon frying connects me with ...

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Who is God? God is so powerful that when we spend time with Him and in His Word, others notice. We change in many ways, and we even have a different "fragrance" about us. The Bible says that we are the "sweet fragrance of Christ." Isn't that beautiful? 

By Debra Torres
My friend Kim couldn’t sleep. Her husband was in a hospital a few blocks away and times were, well a bit tough.

She was staying in a veteran’s home for patient’s families, so she took herself down to the kitchen to see if she could find a bite to eat.

There, she found an older woman sitting at the table quietly sipping a cup of tea. They shared stories, and Kim discovered that the woman was staying at the home while visiting a sick brother. 

A Christian, the woman spoke about illnesses and healing and the power of God’s Word.  

She specifically told Kim about how God had told her to walk around her house with her Bible and speak healing scriptures out loud. 

And later, she had turned the idea into a ...

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It was a particularly hot day last summer when the businessman turned farmer hit his limit. 

He threw his tools down in the middle of his work and was ready to call it quits.

It was just too much.


You see, after tasting success in many areas of business, this man had turned to farming in his “semi-retired” stage of life. And last Sunday, he confessed his struggles to our congregation. The life of the farmer, he found out, is extremely hard.

It was a bad moment that hot summer’s day for the new farmer. One where he about lost his religion. But he said that there was one good thing that came out of it — he heard the voice of God. You see, after that tough day God told the man that he wanted  “in” on his new venture, that he wanted to help.

The man experienced an epiphany out there in the field and through it all, the Holy Spirit showed him ...

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Who is God? And what does it mean to have your identity grounded in Him? The world says one thing about you and God says something entirely different. Which one will you believe? Colossians 2:10 says that you have everything when you have Christ. Believe it and receive the truth about yourself.

We couldn’t find the keys anywhere. My son, home on a college break, had driven home with them, walked in the house, and a few minutes later discovered they were missing. 

Not only was the car key lost, but along with it was a wallet key ring that included my son’s electronic student ID card, his college dorm keys and his room key.

It all totaled a hefty replacement fee of nearly one hundred dollars.

Yikes!

Now, I hate to lose things and when I find out that something is lost, I have a tendency to “tear the house apart” looking for it. No stone should be left unturned – is my motto. And I look everywhere – even in ...

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Who is God? God's not a robot. He's the creator of the universe and He knows what's best for us. Not always are our prayers answered exactly the way we think they should be, because God's got the greater picture in mind. Think you want to learn more about Him? Enjoy the "Who is God" video below: 

When I dropped my firstborn off at college a few months ago, I was amazed at how easy it actually was. 

My mother had been very emotional when we brought my brother to school years ago, but for me, well, this college thing was a breeze.

Or so I thought.

What I didn’t understand about the whole separation process was that deep inside of me I had over 19 years of memories piled up.

There was the day I first met my son after a tough delivery. He was huge, handsome and hungry!  


The day he first skinned his perfect little knee, played his first t-ball game, joined the basketball team and went to the prom.

I had been with this boy his whole life – through all the ups and downs – and it took my heart a few days to remember all that and then, boy did the waterworks kick in!

Tears would hit me at weird moments like when I ...

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Who is God? God is a loving Father who is available to help us through the tough times. He understands the deep workings of our hearts - even better than we do. He "gets" us. Because we can call Him, "Abba" or "Daddy," we have an even greater understanding of what it means to be His child. And, it helps us to be willing to entrust our own children to Him.