Mary Ann Yaconis, Author at Living Hope International Ministries Archive

Encouragement for You

In quiet moments of prayer and meditation, do you ever contemplate if Yahweh has a work for you to do? That task can be for that morning or over a long period of time. We may be inspired toward one thought, and it may not work out as we plan. For us to be able…

Where Does Fruit Come From? Part 2

In a previous article (Glad Tidings, July/August 2022), we were discussing fruit in our lives as delineated in Galatians 6:22-23. The metaphor of fruit as being good attributes we have when we allow the spirit of God to work within us shows us the need for connection to Yahweh through Jesus Christ. The sap coming…

Where Does Fruit Come From? Part One

One sure way to decide whether Jesus Christ is Lord in a life is to examine the evidence of everyday character. We can ask ourselves: Am I peaceful? Am I patient? Am I loving? These and many more qualities describe attitudes that motivate our actions. We can wash dishes that have accumulated in the sink…

Love and Forgiveness

Sin has been, is now, and will be a consistent problem for humankind until Jesus Christ returns. The sin of Adam was passed to us all (Genesis 3). From the time of Adam until the resurrection of Jesus, the full sharing and communion with Yahweh was lost. Yahweh is a righteous and holy God and…

We Need Both: Supernatural Wisdom & Experiences

The first century church, as recorded in the book of Acts, follows the incredible events of the Gospels. During the Gospels, Jesus was preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and healing thousands of people by great miracles. There were minimally 5,000 at one time healed, delivered, and fed (Matthew 6:8-10). Lazarus and…

Minding Your Thoughts

Isaiah 26:3-4. You [Yahweh] keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in Yahweh forever, for Yahweh God is an everlasting rock. It is difficult to keep our peace when trials slam us from every side—like finances, viruses, family issues, work, and co-workers to name a…

By What Power?

Proverbs 2:3-5. If you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, Then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. How do you in this new covenant age receive knowledge from God?…

Hold Fast to the End

In uncertain times, we may think that we know the will of Yahweh but, due to circumstances, may waver in our faith. Our faith might falter because life is generally not linear; life may take many twists and turns. We start out with great commitment, and then as different situations arise, we may wane in…

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13 is beautifully placed between chapters that challenge believers to live in love with one another, especially in the church. Chapter 13 on love sets the heart of how we are able to manage living in this world with all our relational ups and downs. If we heed the words taught in this…

Anxiety and Worry, Scriptures and Prayer

Luke 21:34-36. Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation [corruptness] and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on…

What the World Needs Now…Is Godly Justice and Kindness

If you think back to your childhood, you can certainly think of a time when you were accused of doing something you did not do and received a punishment for it – especially if you had siblings and/or cousins. Many times the unjust judgment did not include any kindness, and the resulting feeling was despair,…

Yahweh’s Characteristics

What words would describe me? If one would ask acquaintances and close friends about who I am, they would have differing ways of explaining me. Professional associates would have divergent opinions. Also, there is my family with even more depictions. The adjectives used may be accurate and some not. It depends on the person’s experiences…

Giving Thanks Honors Yahweh

Much has been expounded upon concerning the topic of thankfulness in secular and religious writings and literature. It is a general, cultural norm to be thankful to others. As children, we are frequently reminded to say “thank you” when appropriate. The idea is that someone has done a gesture or said a kind thing that…

Yahweh is Leading the Expedition – Are You Following?

In the Old Testament there are three books (Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther) that are historical records between 538 BC and 415 BC. These books record the time at the end of the 70 year period of exile of the Jews from Jerusalem. Around 538 BC, King Cyrus was the ruler of Persia. One priest, Ezra,…

Wanted and Loved by Yahweh

One of the major themes of today is that of people feeling “different” and “not wanted.” Fears run rampant of abandonment, not being important enough to be welcomed, and feeling like one is “in the way” or a “bother” all the time. In this state of thinking, it is difficult for us to recognize the…

Endurance and Perseverance

To persevere. To endure. These two words are similar in meaning. They mean to remain, to bear up under pressure, or to have the ability to withstand hardship or adversity. They especially mean the ability for a person to sustain a prolonged stressful effort, activity, or suffering. As you are reading this, you may be…

Imitators of God

God created mankind (Genesis 1:26; Genesis 2:7), and because He made us, He knows us inside and out. When Jesus was explaining about how precious we are to God, he stated that God cares for even the sparrows and we are much more valuable to God than sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold…

Loving And Respecting Yahweh

It appears that today our culture embraces a “victim” mentality. As Americans, we appear to take freedom to mean we are free from guilt, fault, and responsibility for our own actions. A comedian, Flip Wilson, in the early 1970’s made a career out of the saying, “The devil made me do it.” It became a…

Praising Yahweh

At this holiday time of our calendar year, everyone is thinking about joy and happiness either from a standpoint of having joy from Yahweh in their hearts, or from a bah, humbug, joyless frame of mind that comes from being distant from Yahweh. People also can become anxious about New Year’s resolutions saying, “What does…

Parenting Children

On a recent Sunday during our church service, I noticed several babies under a year old whose little bright faces were peering over their mother’s shoulders at those who were behind their parents. Such happy faces and sweet smiles! Before the service began, one young preschooler was on her grandfather’s lap with her head on…

Children are a Gift from the LORD Part 1

Yahweh makes a consistent point that if we have the gift of children, we are to teach and train them according to the Word of God. One of the first commandments that Yahweh gave to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply. Being fruitful and multiplying means to have children. Genesis 1:28a God…

Treasure in My Heart

A wonderful believer was recounting a very serious family difficulty and remarked that in looking back on the tragic time, she saw where she would crumble in her trust that Yahweh would provide relief from the pain. But, being the steadfast believer she is, this was short-lived. The reason for the quick turn-around was, she…

Is That You, God?

John 8:47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” The NABRE states it this way: “…because you do not belong to God.” This is a very bold and startling statement, but it answers the question, “God, is what I…

The LORD is my Banner

Many debate whether Yahweh is involved in our life events or not, and also, if He is involved, to what extent He is involved. Is He really interested in helping me with my problems? Is He really there to support me in times of trouble? Let us look at a record of Moses leading the…

Seeking Signs

While talking to a large group of people that included the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus stated boldly that those Pharisees who sought a sign are a wicked generation and will not see another sign other than the sign of Jonah. There were two signs that Jonah represented. One was the sign of being dead in…

Yahweh’s Love Relationship with You

If one were to ask you, “Does your past or future primarily influence and shape your life,” what would you answer? We may have handicaps, traumatic family of origin issues, school and work failures, abuse, pride, fame, or poverty and wealth that have dynamically affected us. On the other hand, we may have been primarily…

Yield to Being Righteous

Paul writes in Romans chapter 6:5-10 that we are to be enslaved to righteousness and not enslaved to sin. Then in verse 12 we are instructed to refuse allowing sin to reign in our lives. Instead of doing evil, we are to present ourselves as Yahweh’s righteous people. In the next verse, we are instructed…

A Tender Plant – A Changed Heart

Jesus is prophesied in Isaiah 53:2 as a young plant that grows out of dry ground. When we see parched, dry soil that is cracked and barren with a young plant growing out of it, we become amazed at the tenacity and strength of the plant that could grow in such formidable circumstances AND bring…

Will You Go the Distance with Yahweh?

The term “go the distance” means to carry on through a course of action to completion. In boxing it means to last for all the rounds, and in baseball it means to pitch an entire game. When Yahweh wants to work through us and gives us a task, we are to stay with what Yahweh…

Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

Today’s news is basically the same content: steal, kill, and destroy. How can one live in this world with peace and joy? Humankind looks to all kinds of activities that, for a short time, may try to fill the void that only Yahweh can fill. Many Christians today, if asked, will report that they are…

God Is Not Done With You Yet

Thinking back on your life, do you ever think of some time when you really “messed up”? While contemplating that time, do you think that God turned His back on you and that He cannot work with you anymore? So many of us have watershed moments of failure in life that change our focus or…

“I Will Not Forsake You”

Have you ever had the thought that you are all alone and there is NO ONE to help you and felt the sickening dread that comes with this realization? It usually happens when we see no way out, no one to come to our aid, no one seems to care, and worse – you think…

Marital Happiness

Finding a spouse and maintaining a good marriage may consume much of one’s thinking, effort, and time. Western culture has significantly skewed the whole process of love and marriage away from Scripture and its teachings about the topic. A simple internet search will reveal the dismal statistics of Christian couples living together and divorce rates…

Joy and Thanksgiving

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good;…

We Can Do This

After five days of creating heaven and earth, on the sixth day, God made animals and created man and woman. Genesis 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. It is of note that the word “created” is used three times…

Nature, Nurture, and Faith

With advances in the past twenty years, geneticists have greatly increased our understanding of how DNA effects our human development. Neuroscientists, bolstered by incredible imaging techniques that show activity on the molecular level of the brain, report about phenomenal electromagnetic, neurochemical, and physiological workings of our brain. Psychologists in the past thirty years have been…

Conquering Conflict Part 2 Matthew 5 in Practice

Every time I look at an antique music box that is prominently displayed in my home, I have conflict within myself. I love the music box because it belonged to my paternal grandmother’s family. It is a very beautiful one and works perfectly. The problem is it does not have a lid because around 25…

Conquering Conflict Part 1 Godly and Ungodly Conflict

Since Adam and Eve’s fall and the entrance of sin into the world, humankind has engaged in all kinds of conflict. Some of these conflicts are so serious they lead to dire consequences. Serious breaches cause discord in the body of Christ that are the result of unresolved conflict or conflict that was more like…

Yahweh Preserves the Faithful

As the year begins, it is good to renew ourselves to living an even greater life that is more faithful to Yahweh and to continue to allow Him to fight our battles and preserve us for the ultimate victory of entrance into the Kingdom. Many wonderful and glorious miracles will likely happen this year as…

Grief and Loss – Joy and Victory

This may seem like an “odd” article topic for November and December. Actually, it is very on point. So many struggle with God, family, and others during the holidays because of unresolved grief and loss. This is the year to accept God’s deliverance. If we take the time to search our life, at some point…

Godly Contentment

As is recorded in the earliest chapters of Genesis, we see that mankind became discontented. Adam and Eve lived in paradise and communed with Yahweh, yet wanted something more. Adam’s son, Cain, wanted what his brother Abel had. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of his relationship with their father, so they planned to dispose of Joseph.…

A Tooth for a Tooth

The radical teachings of Jesus revolutionized Hebrew faith and culture and are the basis for the body of Christ today. One such teaching is found in Matthew 5:39. Matthew 5:39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.…

Freed from Sin; Enslaved to God

In his teachings to the Jews at the temple, Jesus used himself as an example of how we are to live today to be Christians that are full of the holy spirit. Jesus first made it very clear that the Jews that were arguing with him were not free, even though the so-called believing Jews…

In Any and Every Circumstance

If you are reading this article, then you have lived long enough to know that life has many twists and turns. Some we plan for, and some just happen unexpectedly. Even within 24 hours in a day, events can change from great to awful and back again. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians that…

Building Our Faith

Adam and Eve listened to Satan’s complaint that they actually did not have all that they could really have – they believed the lie that Yahweh’s provision was not enough. Genesis 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing…

God’s Design, Your Righteous Body

To become Christ-like, a process of change transforms us from the domain of the old man inner nature to the realm of a whole new inner man of Christ’s character. This becomes what we as Christians so desire to be – like Christ in our heart, soul, mind, and strength – so that it becomes…

Unpacking Godliness

For the past six months, we moved in order to downsize so that we can have more time to spend with God and with our family. My first personal agenda was to rid myself of a lot of material items that I have used through the years but are not needed anymore. My second agenda…

Ecclesiastes: Profound Wisdom for Today

A recent experience of having a category three tornado less than eight miles from our home gave me a realistic moment of thinking. “This could be it! God, please protect me.” Next, I thought about what if this was the end? What if life was over for me and I had no more time to…

Overflowing With Joy

A common theme in many people’s lives is trying to figure out how to “let things go.” Those being let go generally are such things as past rejection, dysfunctional relationships, depressive thoughts, anger, fear, and un-forgiveness. It is very well understood that God does not want us holding onto negativity. Instead of negativity we are…

Hearing Yahweh

Moses had quite an experience when he heard Yahweh talk with him. There was a bush that appeared to be burning but was not being consumed with the fire. There was a voice that seemed to come from the bush. Moses bowed down. It was holy ground, and Yahweh, the Creator of all, was communicating…

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