Candidly Christian

Real Women. Real Life. Real Faith.

Sherry Chamblee

About Sherry Chamblee

Sherry Chamblee is an aspiring author of Christian fiction, mom of six, wife to a cool dude, and caregiver to his granny. She is doing her best to let God do His best in her, and often failing, but trying to get back up again. You can connect with her online at SherryChamblee.weebly.com

Jesus and the Woman at the Well

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One of my favorite verses in the New Testament has been John 4:4 (NKJV)

And He needed to go through Samaria.

Jesus insisted on going that direction, a direction the majority of Jews refused to go because of their disdain for the Samaritans. What follows this verse is the well-known story of Jesus and the Woman at the Well. She’s never named, but her story is so important. It’s almost as if God doesn’t tell us her name because she symbolizes all of us.

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Do Our Prayers Make a Difference?

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Sometimes I wonder why God has us pray. I’m being honest here. I do pray, and I do completely understand that this is our way of communicating with God and that He wants us to connect with Him on a deep level through prayer and meditation.

But why does God say our prayers make a difference? He’s sovereign, He can do anything, and He can accomplish it all without us having anything to do with it. Why does He tell us to ask for things or to pray for others so that they can get help or outright tell us that our prayers have power?

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3 Scriptures to Find Balance in an Unbalanced World

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One of my daughters is learning how to drive. She’s in that stage where she still over-corrects sometimes. She’ll pull out into an intersection, steer too far into the lane she’s headed for, then jerk the wheel back to try to straighten herself out. We’re working on her driving smoothly and using small gentle corrections as she goes without needing to make harsh jerky moves in order to put her car back in the right spot. Her driving isn’t totally in balance yet.

That got me thinking.

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Anxiety and Fear in the Bible & in Life

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Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Anxiety and Fear are two of my constant struggles.

In the last two, really three, years our family has gone through several upsets and traumas. These include deaths, a major restructuring of the house including massive downsizing, a move out of state in the middle of a pandemic, the pandemic itself, loss of friends, loss of relationship with some extended family… just multiple things.

I already struggle with anxiety and I know at least one of my six children does too. These issues over the last few years have only highlighted our problems and made me really confront these giants in my life. In my attempt to help fight this battle and to guide my children through those battles, I’m attempting to write down some things that I think God is trying to teach us.

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Jesus and Lazarus: What You Might Have Missed

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I heard a sermon today about Jesus and Lazarus, and something struck me about that story.

It’s a very unique story in the Gospels, one where Jesus purposely waited for death to overcome His friend. It’s a story that teaches us we can come to Jesus with our confusion and doubt and He will lovingly answer. It’s a story about Jesus showing emotion, and it’s about Jesus overcoming what no one else can overcome – death itself.

But what struck me this day is something we tend to overlook in the story.

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15+ Ways Our Gracious God Safeguards Our Hearts

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I sat in church last Sunday as a preacher brought us a message. He touched very briefly on James 1:5, almost a throwaway line and not the main idea, but it struck me particularly hard that day.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James 1:5

As a mom, I tended to be a bit of a lecturer. I wanted my kids to understand what’s happening and come away with clear knowledge of what they’ve done wrong and how to fix it. But I’ve also been on the receiving end when someone continues to lecture even after I’ve come to them to apologize. It’s not fun, it doesn’t feel like they’ve forgiven me. It feels like they’re piling on.

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Dreams Don’t Always Go As Planned… Dream Anyway

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As a writer, I have stories.

For each of those stories, I have dreams.

I have goals and aspirations for where the story is going to end up, what the characters will learn along the way, and how each aspect of the plot will play out.  

Thing is, sometimes the original dream for a particular story doesn’t turn out to be very writable. At least for me.

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Prayer Priorities

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Prayer.

Such a simple idea, but there are so many books written on how to pray, when to pray, why to pray, where to pray… yet we still feel like we haven’t figured it out. At least I don’t.

The other day a preacher at our church made a profound illustration. So simple, but it impacted my thinking on prayer.

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Coffee, Jesus, & Me

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I like my coffee frozen, then melted just enough to turn into a slushy.

Now that I’ve moved to one of the hottest cities in America and summer months are in full force, this is more about survival than a fun treat. So I make myself a cup of coffee at night, flavor it the way I want, and put it in the freezer. When I get up in the morning, it’s a solid block of coffee-ice in a mug – a big mug.

Then the slushifying begins.

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