Stronghold Counseling Services, Inc.

08/15/2025

SINGLENESS OF FOCUS

God, the one and only — I’ll wait as long as he says. — Psalm 62:1, The Message

God is not one among many. When we pray we are not covering our bases. Prayer is not a way of checking out a last resort of potential help. We understandably want to explore all the options: we write letters, make telephone calls, visit prospects, arrange interviews. We don’t know who might be useful to us at any one time. Of course, we cultivate God. But not in prayer. We try it, but it doesn’t work.

Prayer is exclusive. Prayer is centering... We can’t pray with one eye on the main chance and a side glance for God. Prayer trains the soul to singleness of focus: for God alone.

God's Message for Each Day
by Eugene H. Peterson

08/15/2025

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1438446896389?aff=oddtdtcreator

Explore how therapists can approach medication not just as a biological intervention, but as a psychological and relational phenomenon

08/15/2025

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1438401069319?aff=oddtdtcreator

Explore how therapists can approach medication not just as a biological intervention, but as a psychological and relational phenomenon

08/14/2025

Each of us wants to finish the race well. We don’t need any wrong turns near the finish line. Someone called this “long-distance Christianity.”

Leighton Ford wrote, “God has a purpose in and for our aging. That purpose has to do with the hidden life of the Spirit so that, as the body grows older, our spirit may grow deeper and stronger. Our ongoing calling, in later years as in earlier years, is to die daily, perhaps even hourly, with our Lord, and to realize (especially in our later years) the reality and power of his death and of his resurrection.”1

Ask God to help you stay focused on the goal of the Christian experience rather than becoming distracted by the things of the world. Look to Him today!

Dr. David Jeremiah
Turning Point

08/13/2025

"Life’s a roller coaster you don’t always get to choose the seat you’re in, but you can choose to throw your hands up and enjoy the ride."

- Anonymous

08/12/2025

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

08/11/2025

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1438401069319?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1438446896389?aff=oddtdtcreator

Explore how therapists can approach medication not just as a biological intervention, but as a psychological and relational phenomenon

08/11/2025

Those who trust in God should never view any season of life as unproductive; even the last stage…. God has a purpose for you to fulfill each day of your life.
Dr. John Dunlop

08/10/2025

Dr. John Dunlop, a gerontologist, has two rules for staying mentally healthy as we age. “Rule 1: Wake up every morning knowing what you are going to do that day. Rule 2: Go to bed every night knowing that you helped someone.”1 Those rules work for us whatever our age, but a benefit of growing older is developing a richer appreciation for how the Lord can use us every new morning.

The prophet Isaiah wrote, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed” (Isaiah 50:4, NIV).

As we enter new chapters in life, we may feel we’re too busy, too weak, too weary, or too old to serve Him. But part of running the race of the Christian life well is serving God throughout our entire lives. Look for ways you can serve Him today, no matter what stage of life you’re in.

Dr. David Jeremiah, Turning Point

08/09/2025

The psalmist sings,

Who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves
and the turmoil of the nations
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
You call forth songs of joy. — Psalm 65:8

And me? I am to notice. I am to look for goodness and beauty and joy in the world. Instead of looking to media or the news, society or my community, I am to keep my eyes on Jesus. I am to look for where He is revealing Himself in moments of joy, even in mundane moments like naps and food and in the big ones, the magnificent moments like the joy of letting Him love you.

Joy is God, there, working and moving in the midst of our broken world. To see it, when others choose not to, when others cling to fear or even evil — that is an act of defiance.

In the years that followed, I understood just a glimpse of what James wrote when he said,
Whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy. — James 1:2

I learned that if we choose, trials do bring us closer to Jesus and that joy is where He is found.

But this is not my task only. It is the call to all who know Him. We show that we believe and that we belong to God by our joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Joy is a result of knowing Him. And as Jesus told us,

No one can take your joy from you. — John 16:22

Undaunted Joy
by Shemaiah Gonzalez

08/08/2025

“You better show up! Everything is a mess. And now You got me out of bed. Just do something!”

The sky was still steely blue when I arrived at the lake. I watched a man make his way down to the dock with a flashlight and a fishing pole. A pair of geese walked by with five goslings in tow.

“This is pleasant,” I thought, “but still not good enough to get out of bed. Not enough to fix the world.”

I looked across the lake to the city of Bellevue, ten miles away. Its skyscrapers were still lit for the night. Behind the city stood the Cascade Mountain Range, solid and constant. The mountains seemed illuminated by the snow still draped upon them.

Then I noticed the light around me had changed. Steely blue turned to indigo purple, then azure, and as the sun peeked over the mountains, streams of pink poured across the sky. When the sun reached its crest over the mountains, orange met pink radiating against whipped-cream clouds. I understood the meaning of the word breathtaking, for I could not breathe.

I looked across the panorama before me and understood: This is what God does each day. He’s done it for centuries, millennia. He is still in charge.

The sun will still rise each morning.

Undaunted Joy
by Shemaiah Gonzalez