I am His!

Good morning my sisters-

As you may have noticed, I have taken some time off this blog to reflect, meditate, and immerse myself into God's word and His purpose for my life.  I once read a quote by Beth Moore, and I paraphrase "If you are a writer, you will want to write and no one will stop you from it."  Well day by day that passion to write has come back and before I knew it, I was on the blog today.

I have a lot to be thankful for and I guess I really just wanted to take this opportunity to thank my Heavenly Father for all that He has done for me.  I woke up last night and couldn't sleep because I was thinking about the tremendous blessings that have been bestowed on my life since I jumped in faith, quit my lucrative job  and set out trusting God like I never had before.

A whole year has gone by since an event that changed me for the better.  I have more courage, more trust and more belief in Jesus Christ. I'm not afraid if you hit this blog and don't like it.  I'm not wondering if I've said something to offend.  I simply know in my heart that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and that I have been chosen to talk and spread the Word of God all over the world.

The vision came years ago and I don't have any idea "how" it will happen.  But as I read about Nehemiah, I don't have to know how.  I just have to pray and do what I can on earth until God opens heaven and pushes me into my destiny.  The first step happened over a year ago and the revival and incessant need of being close to God drove me to a powerful renewal of mind and spirit.

I wouldn't give up those hours of painstaking frustration on the edge of deep depression.  I wouldn't give up the hours I spent looking for Christ in every corner of my life.  I wouldn't give up the courage He gave me or the faith he grew.  I wouldn't give up changing from the inside out for a million dollars.

The change in me has been gradual but it is very powerful.  My faith has taken a 180 from a mouth profession to a knowing heart.  Can I cast out demons? Yes.  Can I heal the sick? Yes. Can I move mountains? Yes.  Not because of me or anything I would do.  The only being that can do all that, is Jesus Christ.  He's the only one that can love a screw up.  He's the only one that can right a wrong.  He's the only one that can lift a broken person, brush them off and make them a warrior.

Has it been easy?  No it hasn't or I would have been on this blog every day writing the amazing things that have happened.  What I can tell you is that for every failure comes transformation.  The world defines failure, not God.  What is considered  man's failure is God's opportunity.  And man did he take the opportunity to change this girl.

Looking back gives me vision.  It's easy to have a vision of what you wished would happen.  It's harder to take the vision of the past and learn from it, walk away from it and never look back.  Life is a series of choices and the first and most important choice we could ever make is to be 100% fully His.

He is our vine and we are His branches and those branches are called to tell the world of His love.  We receive His love by doing absolutely nothing but accepting that He existed, that He was the Son of God and that one day, He will return.

I don't have a wall to build like Nehemiah but I have women all over the world that need to hear the truth and call to Jesus.  We don't live in a world that wants us to love, to speak, to share.  We live in a world of greed, independence and shame.  He and only He can remove all of that and give us a peace that far outweighs our understanding.

So as you read this today, know that He is God and that we were formed for this moment.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Take your greed, your anger, your shame, your body image, your hopelessness, your fear and your worry to the cross.  He knows you and He loves you anyway.  That's the lesson I learned last year.  I didn't have to measure up in man's eyes because I have Him who made me.  Man is nothing without Jesus.  We are just floundering fish that think we know the direction to swim in.  Jesus is the lamp unto our feet. He knows the path, sees the future and knows your worth.  Are you going to trust man to tell you that or are you going to let Jesus love you?  I take Jesus, don't you?

Well it feels good to write this morning and to give all the glory to Jesus.  Come one come all to the foot of the cross where all your worldly inadequacy becomes whole, loved and healed.  Be well my sisters and know if this sister can transform, you can too.

Psalm 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.


Psalm 34: 4-6

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
    their faces are never covered with shame.
⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
    he saved him out of all his troubles.

No greater love has ever been shown than Jesus Christ hanging on a cross.  Bring your mind, soul, body to Him and He will light your way!

To Him be the glory!

Good morning my sisters-

I've been a way awhile from this keyboard.  I've taken time to reflect and to pray for my family and others in great need.  I took the time to read and ask forgiveness and I've taken time to reflect on the past and the present.

I don't have any great or monumental things to share today about life or why we must go through difficult times.  I don't have words to express the loss of those that have seen floods, earthquakes or war.  I don't have advice for those whose children are choosing different paths or whose marriages are on a downward spiral.  At least I don't have words the world would understand.

I do, however, know the one that does.  He's silent but ever present.  He's hated throughout the world.  His name makes many angry and if they could crush His name they would.  Wars have been raged over Him, His Father and the Holy Spirit.  Religious men have turned their backs on Him because they were frightened, confused and full of themselves.  And today, many of us sit in our comfortable homes, go to our churches on Sunday and never say one word outside those sanctuaries because we live with fear of being ridiculed, made fun of or ostracized for what we believe.

A friend asked me yesterday what was going to make people believe and I responded, "When we start sharing and living our faith."  It's a fact.

I am grateful that God gave me a talent and that I can use it for His glory.  I am grateful that I've taken time to reflect, to ask forgiveness and to find Him in every moment of my life.  Life is uncertain and full of adventures, peaks, valleys and the unknown.  For today, I will prepare to worship my King, to love Him with my whole heart and to proclaim Him to the nations.  I will be glad in this day because today is all I can be assured and it is today I offer the only advice that really matters.  Jesus is the Lord and the one true Son of God.  There is a holy trinity and all you have to do is call on the name of Jesus and you will be welcomed into the family.  It's this family that provides a hope and a future.  You can chase for peace and you can read about how to make your life full of joy.  You can be a good person but if you don't cry out to Jesus, you will never see eternal life.  You may not even think that far but think about this, "What if Jesus is the Son of God and you never chose to ask Him to live inside of you?" 

May the Lord bring you to this page. May He alone come into your life.  He is worth it, I promise.  He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  John 3:16 is the truth and if you merely ask you will find peace, joy and love!  Praying that you read John so that you can find what I have, a God that loves me even in my humanness.

Please read John 3:16 NIV and find what you've been looking for.

Listen to His voice...

Good morning all-

So I just made my first cup of coffee, unfortunately with no caffeine but it still tastes like a warm summer breeze and is my very first joy every morning.  Do you know that feeling?  A feeling of comfort, of normalcy.  For me that's thinking about God and drinking my first cup of coffee. And every morning I get that same joy in my heart.

Like so many, I have things in my life that bring me joy.  Simple things, things that remind me that I'm alive and God is here.  The quiet of the morning, the doves cooing on my roof, the song of birds at the bird feeder and the rising of the sun.  All these things remind  me that God is good and that He is ever present.

So today as I opened my devotional, I saw a Scripture I don't recall.  It's in Deuteronomy and that's what got me thinking about this post.  It says and I paraphrase, listen to His voice.  That got me to thinking about how hard it is to listen to His voice when my mind is spinning on thoughts of what I have to do, who I have to do it for and well you know, everything our little super highways can think about.  It doesn't take a woman long to spin her mind into 100 different directions with no output, am I right?

In my mind, there isn't always a place for Him.  Wow!  I said that out loud and unfortunately it's true.  The organization of my thoughts are based on priorities, not on peace.  That's what's been so refreshing over the last few months because as my little mind decides to speed on the superhighway, all of the sudden a feeling comes over me and says stop slowly, look both ways and listen.  In order for me to do that I have to stop and say God I'm ready to listen.

Listening is what I do naturally but listening in my mind is a whole other thing. Up until a few months ago my mind was racing, trying to fix things with no solution and if not for God and listening, I'm not sure I would have found peace.  But I did.  I trusted more, had greater faith and worked up an endurance where I tested every thought, captured it and gave it to Christ.  My reward was to find Him in a deeper way.  I can't say I've heard Him audibly but through Scripture and through prayer, I found peace, wisdom and direction.  Listening for Him and His word is the  most important thing we should do every day.

Recently, I blogged about praying for our young men.  That came from reading Scripture and realizing that God can help our young men.  He can give them courage, wisdom and direction.  He can protect them from evil thoughts of destruction.  He can build them up to have great reliance on Him and not on the world and He can make them men that guide their families.  God has all the answers if we just listen.

So as I close today, I'm once again asking my readers to pray for young men in every part of the world.  Pray for them to have dreams, visions and holy guidance.  Pray for them to see the face of Christ and not turn away.  Give them a direction full of Christ.  Listen to the spirit and pray for whatever He puts on your heart.  It's our duty as Godly women to hear, pray and believe.  This is our time.  The Holy Spirit is guiding us to guide them toward Him.  Just like when Jesus died and the women went to the tomb.  Who went to the men to direct them that Jesus had risen?  The women.  Please take some time today to listen to the Holy Spirit, to pray for our men and most importantly to spend time with Christ.  Every minute we do, we find Him and He is pleased.  Just like our parents, God wants us to come to Him for comfort, for advice and for direction.

Deuteronomy 5:27 New International Version

Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey."

Deuteronomy 30:20New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Lord Jesus You are Mighty, Powerful, Caring and full of Grace!!!! We want You to come into our hearts, stir them with a mighty spoon and pour out your love and mercy.  We want to be women that pray for our men, who will stand by them through the tough times and who will believe that You will steer their course.  We want to be faithful servants who love and respect a God who speaks to us through our hearts.  We want to slow down, stop and hear the whisper of Your voice.  We want men and women from every country to know Your name and to know the grace You have for us.  We are Your children and more than anything we want to hear from You.  We are Your servants waiting for our Savior to send His peace on earth, wisdom to our  men and our children.  We believe in Your mighty ways.  As we pray this prayer I am praying that the Holy Spirit will come on the unsaved, the confused, the lost and the lonely.  I am praying that Christ will be seen from the US to the far reaches of the earth.  I am praying for Godly wisdom and for those that bow down to other religions to see the holy hands of Christ that are full of forgiveness and hope.  Give Your people hope that You are present in a world that is so lost.  We thank You for Your love and kindness but most of all, we thank  you for your sacrifice.  In Jesus Name I pray and the chorus of angels sings Praise to our King!

God is good...

Good morning my sisters-

Have you ever thought to yourself, why is God punishing me?  It is so easy for us to ask that question.  We are all like little children waiting for Him to strike us dead because of our sin.  But in fact, any correction we get shows we are loved.  How do I know?  Because I spent a year and a half trying to find myself and through the whole trial, He was right beside me.  The trial had to happen.  I had to depend on Him for everything but I can't say that I didn't cry out in frustration and ask "Why?"

But as I matured in Him, I began to thank Him for the unknown.  I began to thank Him  moment by moment, and in turn,  He lead me and loved me.  I can't say every moment was full of faith, hope and joy but I can tell you that I am a different person today than I was then.  I capture every thought more easily, I rely on Him more deeply and I thank Him for every morning and every evening.
How did I get there?  I prayed, I read and I trusted that God would get me through somehow. And today, I have the ability to forgive more deeply. Not just others but myself.  I don't believe that my talent, my wisdom or my faith brought me to this place because I know it was my Father leading me down the path of righteousness, not for me but for Him.

Life is going to let us down.  Things won't always go our way.  We will get frustrated, we will sin and we will let someone else down.  We will not make the right decisions and we might fall into gossip.  We won't always be able to not judge someone and we are not perfect.  However, Christ gives us something that people that don't have Him are lacking, He gives us grace.  Grace is given without us having to do one thing to get it.  We can't earn our Father's love because it's given.  We are blessed not because we are the most beautiful or talented, we are blessed because we are His.

Remember God is good always and we are blessed because we are His! If you are seeking peace then you must run to Jesus.  You can seek grace in the face of humans or you can stop, drop, and meet Jesus.  You can't run or hide from your problems, you must face them like David did with confidence that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and that although we don't have Heaven on earth, we have a Father that truly loves us.  He is fighting for us on levels we don't even understand and although it sometimes looks like evil is winning, it won't.  God is good. He was faithful to Abraham, Isaac, Paul and  many more. They did not die in vain.  They died living a life that glorified Him.  At the end of the day, we have two choices, to love Him with all our heart or to die never seeing Him.  It's your choice.  You can keep blaming God and saying that He's not present, the world is falling apart or you can say, "God if you are truly real, show yourself."  I guarantee He will!

In my devotions over the last couple of days, the Lord has given me some great Scripture so I will leave you with Psalm 20:7 NIV today.  Think about it and ask yourself, "What do I count on, who do I trust and can I afford not to know Christ?"

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.


He is our ABBA Father.  There is no one like Him.  He is trustworthy and has remained so for centuries.  The world is evil there is no doubt but there is a God waiting for you to say, "Here I am, take me into your arms and forgive me."  It's time.  You didn't hit this site by chance, you came here with God's full intention of winning your heart.

May the Lord of my life rain down on all those doubters who are looking for answers and never finding them because what they're looking for is Him.  In Jesus name I pray.

Loving others above yourself....

Good morning all-

I started writing a blog on Sunday and couldn't finish it in the wake of the Orlando shooting.  I still wake up thinking about the mothers and fathers of those precious lives taken and parents that are left with empty arms and feelings of loss, loneliness and the question of, "Why?"  Hate is a powerful emotion and some take sin as hate, when in essence forgiveness and repentance is love.  Hate is what happened on Saturday and Sunday in Orlando.  A young girls life was taken on Friday and then a massacre happened early Sunday morning all stemming from evil thoughts and hate.

Hate is a word that all of us have experienced.  Anyone that says they've never hated is lying.  Hate comes from a deep seated need to be right against all odds.  Hate comes from fear. Hate is evil.  How do we combat it?  We love.  We love human life.  We love spreading the gospel so that no one ends up in the dark.  We take the victims last moments and we remember them so that we proclaim love and Jesus so much stronger.  You may not agree with a lifestyle, a choice, a financial decision but all of that is your opinion.  We have been told in Scripture to correct with love and to spread the gospel with love. Love bears all things, believes all things, love never ends.  Hate lasts for a moment and this weekend it was moments of terror.  How do I know?  Because a 20 year old is reading the texts of those that were in the bathroom.  He is asking me why no one did anything.  He actually cares about men that loved other men.  He is asking all the right questions and wondering why no one stepped up to save the lives of innocent people.

Questions, answers and meditation, that's what my son was doing.  He was questioning why? He cares.  His first words to me about the incident was, "Mom did you know that tons of people were in the bathroom?"  He's questioning and so is his generation and what are we doing?  My answer to that is prayer.  Like many in the Christian sector, we are praying for evil to be overcome by love.  Hundreds stood in line to give blood on Sunday and Monday.  Many chose to work on Sunday to give food to those giving blood and all over the world people heard of love out of tragedy.  We don't need to be asking why the gunman did it anymore, we need to be asking for our Lord and Savior to turn evil into love.

Compassion is dying and apathy is growing.  There has been no time in history where people could hear so much, know so much and care so little.  Even I find myself turning away from events but lately I have felt called to be on my knees.  I know I must be praying and giving thanks for all the lives that weren't lost and for the brave people who risked their lives to save others.  I want my sons to be those kinds of men.  To react in the face of danger, to be unafraid of evil and to be men of God.

If you walked away from the news this week, I implore you to take a different stance and pray that many that were in that club, that worked that incident, or that were bystanders would know the love of Jesus.  Many died without knowing, that's where our sorrow should be.  Let's pray that in our compassion and fervent prayer for strangers the light of Jesus would cover Orlando and that in the wake of much tragedy will be much love.

1 Corinthians 1-12 NIV

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Worry, what does it get you?

Good morning all-

I went for a beautiful walk today and thanked God for everything.  The sun was rising, the clouds surrounded it like a halo, the birds were sitting on electrical wires, a buffalo was laying in the hay and a symphony of sounds came from everywhere.  And I felt peace.  That's what the Lord Almighty gives to us, His peace. 

Have you ever felt so worried you couldn't sleep, you couldn't think and you wondered, how in the world am I going to take another step?  That's uncontrollable worry and fear.  Shamefully, I experience that far too often.  I can feel it welling up and then overtaking all sense of the Almighty.  For me that's truly a bad day.  In just moments, I have separated myself from my God and darkness, fear and anxiety well up.  I think we are feeling creatures by nature and that's not totally bad.  The bad part is when we let those feelings take over our belief that God is with us, He's before us and He's definitely behind us.  God calls us not to worry and not to fear, to take the full armor of God and put it on and yet, we still worry, why?

I believe it's part of the fall.  Eve and Adam never feared walking in the garden with God before they ate the apple.  They didn't even know they were naked before that delicious bite but immediately upon their sin, all was revealed and life changed for all of us.

That's not the end of the story though , we have choices daily and we will be tested daily.  Maybe not in a year long test but in short intervals of choices, faith and repentance.  If we worry, we should repent.  Why?  Because our worry indicates we are our own masters and that's just not true.  God is our master, our counselor, our father and our God.  He bears the weight and walks with us.  He knows the plan, we're only anxious because our plan is not going to plan, right?

So take heed today and every time you worry, capture the thought, give it to God and say out loud, I trust you far more than I trust me.  Take a physical count, write it down and track it over the week, I bet you begin to worry less and see Jesus more. So this challenge is not just for you, its definitely for me too.  Be well my sisters and fear not for you are the instrument in which Christ will spread His word to all nations.

May we walk together in one mind for the good of every nation!

Matthew 6:25-34 [Full Chapter]

[ Do Not Worry ] “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ...

What it means to serve...

Good morning all-

I had an experience yesterday that melted my heart and made me once again realize why it is so important to lift our men in prayer.  Yesterday, my husband and I went to buy a small trailer that could haul things to the dump and basically act as a truck for us.  We had a hitch, so we thought it would be as simple as buying the trailer at Lowes and going home.

Well, simple wasn't exactly what I would call it.  It was more like a simple project gone bad.  After we bought the trailer, the manager asked us if we had a 1 7/8" trailer hitch.  If we had, this episode would have gone down much differently, however ours was 2".  So my husband went back into Lowes to buy the right one.  While I was standing out guarding our new trailer, I watched a man come up to an older man and ask him if he needed help.  The gentleman accepted and my heart soared at the kindness I saw in the parking lot.  Well, that wasn't the only act of kindness.  Another man saw me standing out there and asked if I needed help.  When I told him my husband went in to buy something else, he said okay and walked away.  Shortly after, my husband came back out with the tool we thought we would need but the ball of the hitch would not move.  It had been on there forever, we had never used it and our vehicle is a 2007.  So, he went back in.

Meanwhile, there was another man who wouldn't take that answer.  He brought over a socket that fit that specific bolt and the next thing I knew he was working away.  My husband came back out and together they couldn't remove the nut.  We thanked the man and asked if he would like some money for all of his time.  He said no.  It made my heart happy that I live in an area where men do care and that they want to help women in distress.  They were servants for Jesus even if they weren't Christians.  I will never know the names of these men but I'm inspired.  I'm inspired whenever I see men serve others.  I'm inspired when our prayers count!

So I leave you with  my little story and a question, "When was the last time you lifted men up in prayer?"  Today, is the day!  Please take a moment to lift them in prayer and to ask God to cover them and provide wisdom to lead the next generations.

Wishing you a beautiful day!  In Christ Jesus, we all say AMEN!

Hope, Faith and Love...

Good morning my sisters-

I really don't have a lot to say today.  I just wanted to remind you all that hope, faith and love are what makes the world go round.  If we have no hope then we are lost.  If there is no faith, God will turn away and if we don't love, we are not fulfilling the most important commandment.

We must love to change the hearts of the weary, desperate, broken and lost.  My prayer today is that you give up your envy, your jealousy, your need to be needed and just give from the heart the love God has infused into it.  When you see a stranger in a bathroom on the floor, you stop.  When you go by a homeless person, you don't just walk on by.  When you see someone needing help in any form, you say, "Can I help you?" 

We are losing the most vital parts of human nature and that's to  love with all our hearts.  When in all of human kind did we get so jaded?  I think we are now what God expressed not to become and that was selfish without care of others.

Take some time to look around you today.  In every corner, in every city and even in our own homes we must love so that the people we are with are full of hope and faith.

Be well my sisters and remember that our God loves us and holds in his right hand enough hope and faith for the world!

Isaiah 41:13

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

We must do the same for someone else.  Remember we are all children of God.

A Time to render our hearts....

Good morning all-

Can you remember a time of great sorrow?  What did you do?  Were you weary, hurt, full of fear?  More than likely you do remember a time and you were weary and full of fear.  That is the nature of being human.  We fall down, we grow weary and nothing seems to pick us back up, that is until we seek Christ in His entirety.

Today, during my quiet time,  I happened upon Samuel telling Saul what he needed to do after he was anointed by God.  Samuel gave him explicit instructions on what to retrieve and where.  I flipped over to Lamentations and read how they cried out because of the destruction and finally prayed for God to return to them.  That made me flip over to Matthew, where Jesus instructed us to forgive our brothers and sisters from the heart.  It was a whirlwind of repentance, forgiveness and God's grace and it made me think about rendering our hearts to God.

Anne Graham Lotz has been very vocal about the Daniel prayer.  She has said that we must turn our hearts back to Christ with the rendering of all we believe in.  We must move away from sin, forgive each other and claim Christ as king.  I believe it.  We are losing a generation to video games, laziness and drugs. 

Many would give up or judge others because of what they believe in but that's not God's way. We believe we are religious enough but God never asked for religion, He wanted relationship and today, thousands of years later, He is calling us to that relationship.

Relationships are hard and have many moments of frustration, wrong doing and lack of faith in others.  But as we pray, repent and turn toward God, He restores our hearts and minds.  And that's where we are today.  We must pray.  We must pray for our nation, for world leaders and for the next generations.  We must ask God to come back and yet, we must be very careful not to judge but to love.

Now is the time that we as women have a huge stake in where the world will go.  We can unite and stand in the gap!!!  So as I write this, I am asking God to call women to stand in the gap, to love unconditionally, to not fear the future but to pray about the sin, confusion and lack of wisdom.  It's our time to stand in the gap, the way other women did before us. I'm sure Mary Magdalene prayed often for the sin of her people and so must we.

Don't turn and run when you hear bad news.  Pray it away!  That's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to run toward Jesus through prayer and petition. He is faithful, man is not.  Ask God to heal our teenagers, to give our leaders wisdom and to protect our nations from terrorists and the evil one.  The time is now.

Have  a great day and believe that God has anointed you for such a time as this.

Lamentations 5: 1-22 NIV

1Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. 2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. 3We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. 4We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. 5Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. 6We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. 7Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. 8Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands. 9We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. 10Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. 11Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. 12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. 13Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. 14The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. 15Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. 16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! 17Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim 18for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it. 19You, Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. 20Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? 21Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old 22unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.

When you hold a grudge but realize you have to let go...

Good morning all-

Recently, I was challenged on a human level.  I know, your wondering what that level is.  It's the level called envy, desire, anger, redemption, that's what I'm talking about.  Sometimes I forget I'm one step off from being sinful and then it happens and I realize, great I don't have it all together.

God has done some great things in my life over the last months.  He's taught me how to be more trusting.  He has built a confidence and desire in me to believe that He is who He says He is.  He has stretched me, shaken me, molded me and purified me. So much so that I'm here today stronger and much better for it.

So you would think with all this growth straight off the main vine, this little sprouting would have developed stamina against anger, hurt, and envy.  Guess not?  I'm human with a whole lot of the Holy Spirit in me.  So as I wished for things that were wrong, yes, I was convicted.  Dang it, I wanted to stomp my foot like a two-year old and get my way.  That's not in the plan though, God has a different path.

That's when I realized it was time to repent and pray.  Instead of filling my heart with a grudge, hard feelings and whatever else comes with being two, I surrendered and heard "pray."  Really, that's all I do lately.  And yet, that one word kept coming in like a flood and I knew standing in the middle of an airport that's exactly what I had to do.  And, I did.  I prayed, repented and asked God to fill my heart with compassion to pray for the betterment of the person I wished got their just dues. 

Who heard it?  No one.  Who benefits from it?  Strangely enough, I think both parties will.  That one person will never know that I prayed but I know and Jesus knows.  At the end of the day, I boarded my plane happier and full of an excess of wisdom.  I learned that I'm still very human and that through faith I knew exactly what I had to do.  I will continue to capture every thought and move on from my feelings into the power of the cross.  Feelings will fail me for sure.  Hurt, anger and envy will destroy. 

If your struggling today with something similar, sit down and really assess your motives.  Do you really want something bad to happen to someone?  Do you hate someone for being human themselves? Have you lost your love, mercy and understanding for others that are as sinful as yourself?  Take it from me, it's time to talk to Jesus! He forgave me so it's time I forgave others.  It is not a tooth for a tooth as the world would have us believe.  It's grace in the face of hurt, that's where Jesus meets us every time.

Thanks for reading and if this blog helps you, help someone else and share Jesus with them.  We all need to hear that He exists, He ministers, He's wonderful!  May today bring you much joy as you examine the power of the Holy Spirit and the might of loving a Savior that forgives.

Colossians 3:12-14 NIV

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

God please help us to remember to pray for people that trespass against us and lead us not in temptation...We need YOU!

Has God been telling us something...

Good morning all-

I hope this Mother's Day finds you well and celebrating mothers all over the world.  I know I am and that's why I want to wish anyone who takes care of a child, whether it's theirs or not a happy Mother's Day, you are molding the next generation and know that God is watching and smiling on you.

Over the last couple of days, I have really been thinking about the devastation of the Canadian fires and thinking about world events.  And in my head, I'm wondering if they are all signs of what will come when the end is here on the earth.  The videos of cars and homes burned has to penetrate your heart like nothing else.  People have lost all worldly possessions, there will be nothing left but to rebuild. In Canada at least they have insurance but what about countries like Roatan where they don't have insurance.  A fire hits and they're wiped out.  Which brought me to the tsunami of several years ago, the bombings in the Middle East and the picture of the floods that took place in the last weeks in Mississippi and Houston. Images of mass destruction and I know we're human so we turn them on and then turn them off and walk away but God doesn't.  He uses them to open our eyes to His greatness and out of vast destruction will come salvation.

I started this blog yesterday morning and got busy setting up my office and getting ready for my kids to come over but in the middle I went to church and guess what our pastor was talking about, something very similar but he used the examples of the presidential race, the enormous US debt and marijuana legalization.  And then he talked about Paul and Nero and how Paul left us all a very important message about where we should put our trust and it wasn't in this world, it was in Jesus.  So today, when I picked up my computer and my blog was unfinished, I realized I had the perfect Scripture and the perfect message.

So here it is to all the mothers who want to be, are, or have been, we are warriors.  We are mothers for a reason and the children God puts in our care belong only to Him.  So as I sit here, I find it important to emphasize that God is with us always. He has gone before us and our children.  He promises that if we train our children up they will come back to knowing Him.  So, right now, I'm praying that.  I'm praying that every rebellious child would know the hand of God.  I'm praying that each one of us impacted by the world scene would pray and not worry.  We need to stand on the promises of God and not grow weary of praying and having faith.  I know it's easier said then done but we must so that every child that comes into our path can see the power of the cross and the promises God bestowed on His people.  He is the one true God and we are His chosen so it's time we acted like it.

Believing when everything is going your way is easy, believing when you can't see is very hard.  If I have learned one thing this year, we have to believe even when we don't know where the staircase will lead.  That's what I'm doing.  I'm believing that some very confused people that I used to know come to Christ. I'm believing that Christianity will spread through the Muslim world.  I'm believing that Canadians that had to watch the flames in Canada will know the beauty of our Lord and Savior and I'm standing on faith that our children that have been deceived will see the mighty hand of God.

It's time to stand firm and to remember the words of Peter. He knew he was going to die so he left words to his church about remembering.  It's our time to remember because life is not easy and we must be there when people are questioning, why me?  I look forward to the time when all of us are around Jesus and He speaks of the power of our prayers.  Will you join me in praying for the church? I'm not talking about a particular religion that's for you to choose.  I'm talking about praying for a holy revival where Jesus is seen all around the world.  And where the blind will see and the deaf will hear the power of Jesus.  We have the privilege of sitting in church, owning a Bible and writing a world-wide proclamation because we still live in a country that has liberty under God.  We must pray for it to remain and for our Nation to stand up for the rest of the world where just confessing they love Jesus gets them killed.  We don't have the luxury of closing our eyes and walking away.  We are citizens of the one true God and we must stand firm and believe that He is who He said He was so many years ago.

2 Peter 1New International Version (NIV)

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

² Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers and sisters,^[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, ¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I leave you today my sisters with love for you and the knowledge that God is with us, all of us.  We honored our mothers yesterday and that was wonderful but more so, we must honor a God that chose us to pray for our men, our children and their children.  It's time we understood our role on earth.  We must be there and prepare the next generation to stand firm on the promises of God.

The light that guides me...

Good morning all-

As usual I'm drinking my first cup of coffee and getting ready for a new day.  I've been very blessed in the last month so every morning I thank God for the blessings He has put on my life.  I really don't deserve them but He's done it anyway and I just have so much thankfulness in my heart, which leads me to my title today.

The light that guides me is Jesus Christ.  For years, I hid behind my faith worrying about telling people, screwing up and them saying, "She's not a Christian."  Well I do screw up that's for sure and I do need forgiveness.  Isn't that the definition of a Christian?  I recognize I'm not perfect and if you read this blog you see that on a regular basis.  Christianity is not for the perfect.  The perfect believe in their religion, they don't believe in a Savior.

For over 20 years, I've thought I was in control of my life.  I've planned, plotted and designed every detail and I really never looked back,  until last year.  Until an event that I had no control over happened and everything I planned, plotted and designed went into the biggest sink hole of my life and that's when I really met the light that guides me.  Now, I've been a Christian for all that time with let's say many things that needed to be fixed.  I guess I felt like I could control every element of my life and failure was not an option, ever.  I was going to succeed if it killed me.  And I thought last year was going to, until Jesus and I met on the road in my heart and I began to surrender all.

Surrendering all is not easy, especially when it comes to your livelihood. We all have sung that song at least once but did we even understand what it meant.  Well, for me it became quite clear around February of this year.  Surrendering all meant leaving my security blanket and diving into something head first without a safety net below.  Well, that's not exactly true, I had Jesus and He became the only safety net I needed.

And what a safety net He is.  I have never felt more peace in my life.  Instead of my mind being a super highway, it started just concentrating on each moment with Him.  I found myself slowly walking away from the negative and moving to the positive.  It was beautiful and it was amazing. Believe me, I still have times of worry but I manage to recognize it faster, push it to the "God take this" compartment and move on with peace.  It's been an enormous relief.  I no longer am the one in control of every step, He is.  And I think the greatest aspect of walking with the light that guides me is unlike me, He can see out past today.  I only believed I could.

Nothing in life is easy.  Whether you profess to know Jesus or not, life will have trials, that's just fact. With Jesus, at least you know that someone is going before you.  I can't tell  you how many times the Scriptures came to me about moving mountains, going before me and letting Him lead me.  He was with me from sun up to sundown and I was the benefactor of watching the Almighty light my every step.  It was an exhausting trial that I thought would never end.  It did end and when it did the light constantly reminds me never to go back to the place where I thought I could predict the future.  I am to remain in today and when I do that, He leads me.

If you don't know the light of Jesus Christ,  you need to.  This world will not get easier and the only one that knows tomorrow is God Almighty, who was and is to come.  He will come back but until that hour when He takes His bride, we must proclaim that He exists, He's for us and as long as He is we have a light that guides all of us.  Be well my sisters and know that God is for us and if He is, man has nothing on us.  We are screw ups but who cares.  We are the daughters of the King of Israel, who came to let His people free and to have eternal life forever.  That's who we are and that's who we need to proclaim to be.  Please say those words out loud today and ask Jesus to be the light that guides you, I am as we speak.  Have a blessed day and please stay in today so you can enjoy every aspect of God's creation. We all proclaim this in Jesus name!

Psalm 25:5 NIV

Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.

Isaiah 60:19 NIV

"No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the LORD your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

1 John 1:17 NIV

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

The call to the muslim nation....

Good morning all-

Do you know that the Muslim religion is vast in Europe and the Middle East?  You probably do but I want to make you really think about what that means.  Once again in the year 2016 Christians are being martyred for what they believe in.  Others before us believed that they could kill off those that believed in Jesus Christ and for centuries He has been proving them wrong.

Ishmael was Abraham's first son.  He was loved by Abraham but when Isaac was born He was sent away with His mother.  He believed in God just as Abraham did but He was angry and that anger has continued for thousands of years.  Today, men and women in the Middle East are being called to love Christ.  He is powerful and He is bringing them one by one and they will be persecuted for loving Jesus.  So as I sit in my red chair writing this, I'm sad because I hope my faith in my God is that strong.

Recently, on Twitter there was a story about Najima.  They used a fake name for a kings daughter that was under house arrest.  She found Christ while away at school and when she began to profess the love she found through Him her brothers and father tried to electrocute her but they couldn't because the Bible on her lap she could touch and the power of Jesus was in that room.  She's 16 years old, can you even fathom the courage of knowing our family had stripped us to electrocute us and we remained faithful to the God that had come before us.  Jesus is one with God.  We worship one God in a Holy Trinity but they think it's wrong to worship Jesus and yet, He saved us all from our sins.  So I'm praying for her and for every single person like her.  May the Word of God infiltrate a culture and a way of life so they may have the power of Christ.

On this National Day of Prayer in the US, I'm praying that we don't just pray for our country but that we pray for every country.  It's not about politics or choices we will make.  It's about people, people coming to know and love Jesus Christ.  God gave us kings and presidents because we wanted to be led by man but all we ever needed was Him.  May the God of Abraham who created Ishmael and Isaac protect His people and bring on more and more from the Middle East right to my back yard.  Our children need to hear the call of Christ and be in awe that He gave His life for the sinner and it doesn't matter your color, race or nationality.  He just wants you!

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

Thank You Jesus for loving us that you come to man in dreams, visions, and light.  Thank You that Your powerful enough to keep a woman from being electrocuted and thank You for guiding men and women all over the world to You.  We need You and we are thankful for Your mighty presence in our lives. In Jesus name we pray all power and glory go to You! PS. Lord we pray for Najima wherever she is that Your will be done on her life and that her entire family is brought to You because of her great faith.  She is a warrior who has seen a Savior!  We lift her up and ask that You continue by her side and through the tremendous trial she now faces because she believes in You.