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.

Inspiration through Scripture...

Good morning all-

I'm inspired today and that's because I started with my devotional and thanking our Lord and Savior.  I realize more and more that every minute must be dedicated to at least thinking about what He has to say to me. So with that in mind and knowing where my mind often goes, I'm thinking more and more about Him and the result is inspiration through His word.

No matter where we go today, we can get our hands on Scripture.  We are extremely lucky!  Soon China will lock down, the Middle East will be hard pressed and North Koreans can forget it. In 2016, there are still underground churches and the people that make them up have to be inspired and how do they get that way, by reading the words that were left behind.  Many enemies have tried to crush the Word of God but no one has and no one ever will.  And although I feel like the world is turning back to a barbaric time, I realize that each event inspires us to pray more, seek more and ask the Lord we love to bring light on a fallen world.

Fears are all around.  Many have turned off what is happening in the world, which in my opinion is a mistake.  We must hear the cries so that we might pray and seek the Lord for redemption and deliverance.  Imagine a world where we all turned the other way, it wouldn't be good.  Even Moses, who was raised in the house of a King, eventually could not turn his eyes from the destruction of human life.  Why should we be any different?  We shouldn't.  We should read the words of Jesus, Paul, Peter and John and remember that we are to love, to pray and to read so that God can inspire in us a heart like His.

I know what it's like to live with fear and I know what it's like to demolish that fear by being obedient to Christ.  Walking in faith is so much more powerful than walking in fear and yet, we choose fear over faith more often.  I'm not criticizing, I'm proclaiming that I understand if you do that because I fall into it too. 

Every day we must read our Bibles, think about what Christ is saying and use it to break the bonds that live inside of us.  The Word is inspired and we must live by drinking the water it provides to our hearts and minds.  It should be our drug of choice and God should be the leader we choose over any man.  It's time we were inspired to step out of our comfort zones and move toward a God that truly inspires greatness, love and mercy.  We need Jesus to reign all over the world and we need our brothers and sisters to have power through our prayers so that they may lead the lost to the fountain.  Jesus is waiting for us to be inspired so if you want to be inspired, choose to read daily!

Pick a Scripture and read it today!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanking You in the valleys....

Good morning all-

I've been blessed to be on my husband's business trip soaking in a little of Florida's beautiful sun and ocean scenes.  It's been a fun trip.  Honestly, my husband and I haven't been on a trip by ourselves since our honeymoon.  We had kids right away and we took family vacations, which were absolutely wonderful.  I can see though, that us spending time together, reconnecting and finding our way back to each other is even more wonderful.  When you take time to connect good things happen.

So I'm connecting and it's not just with my husband it's with my Lord and Savior.  I've learned a lot about how much time I actually was taking with God before, during and after my trial.  I can tell you I spent a little time with Him before, I ramped up and spent hours and hours with Him during the trial and now, I can say I'm spending some time with Him but it's different.  I find myself talking to Him throughout the day, thinking about the Scripture He gave me in the morning and going to bed thinking about all that He has done.  And as I wake every morning, I say, "Thank you."  It might not be about anything in particular but I'm just so thankful for my time with Him.

My biggest lesson learned this month, to believe in His will and have faith that He knows me and my circumstances.  Why you ask?  Because faith came from the trial and faith broke me of my idols and faith set me free from many of my fears.  I'm still a work-in-progress so don't hear me wrong.  It's just that I've learned to capture every negative thought, not believe in myself more than my Lord and really see things with His eyes not mine.  Hard lessons win great rewards.  My reward was to fall in love with my God stronger, harder and hopefully, deeper.

My greatest desire is to win the hearts of women for Him.  He has taken me through many journeys in my life and my love for Him has grown day by day.  Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the purification of my heart  and ministry more than the journey of the last year.  I have found Him in the valley and watched as He held my hand up the mountain, over it and to the promise land.  I know I have never loved Him more because now I need Him first thing in the morning and before I go to sleep at night.  Man has a way of infusing his own spin on life.  He believes he understands all things but no one does but God.  Jesus prayed for us, He gave us prayers to pray and He loved us unconditionally.  No man can do that.  Even if you can pray for your enemy, it's hard for us not to try to repair our reputation.  Jesus knew that on the other side of this world was peace, prosperity and grace.  He knew that the world we live in is evil and man's heart could be evil.  Even with all that, He laid His life down for us and gave us a heart to yearn for Him.

I've never yearned more.  I've never needed Him more.  And I've never been this thankful about anything in my life. It's hard for us to forgive. It's hard for us not to want all the glory and power.  We think we achieve that when we get to the top of our careers or make a bundle of money.  The truth is that true success means you trusted in Jesus to make you His steward and that every step was guided by His hand, not for our individual glory, but for His.

I hope this day finds you well and I hope no matter your circumstance, you seek Him mightily.  The only way to get through a trial is to hunker down, spend time with Him in reading and prayer and only look at today.  Looking out past today will only make you more depressed.  Tomorrow will come soon enough.

My heart is for you and every one of those that could hit this blog by accident.  We are all on a journey full of valleys and mountains.  Let's climb them together with our Savior.  Day by Day, step by step, we will reach the pinnacle if we trust Him with all our hearts.  I  leave you with the Scripture He gave to me this week.  It's a confirmation of my life's purpose and I am committed to see it through.

Isaiah 42:5-7 (NIV)

⁵ This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
    who gives breath to its people,
    and life to those who walk on it:
⁶ “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
⁷ to open eyes that are blind,
    to free captives from prison
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Nothing in this life is easy.  Whether you know God or not, you will go through trials.  However, when you know God, your trials bear fruit.  Something to think about today, don't you think? I want any hardship in my life to bear fruit for generations, don't you?  Be well my sisters and pay this prayer out loud.  We all should want to open the eyes of the blind!  In Jesus name we proclaim.

Assurance in God...

Good morning all-

It's a glorious morning in Kansas.  Last night I watched as the sun set into a beautiful pale pink and this morning the sun is rising with a blazing yellow.  Isn't it good to be assured that every evening we will watch the sun set and every morning it will rise again.  We count on it and we can tell everyone that we are assured that the sun will rise and set daily.  If we are so confident in those two facts, why are we not assured in Jesus Christ?

Assurance is knowing that you can count on something.  You believe in it 100%.  Most of the times I think we hold onto assurance in our own ability but that's false.  We are assured as long as we do a great job at work, we will never lose it.  And then there's our kids, we feel assured that our parenting will make them pillars of society but even that statement and thought process is false.  We can't hold any assurance in our ability or the world.  As a matter of fact, the only thing that holds assurance is Jesus Christ and yet we flounder, doubt, worry and basically lack assurance.  Why?

I think it goes back to the Israelites.  I hate thinking I am like them but I've found myself being like them in the past and probably will be in the future unless I am 100% dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus!  They took their eyes off the prize and once they did that the world enveloped them and they became a stiff-necked people.  Think about that for a moment.   I woke up this morning with a stiff-neck.  For one it hurts, it's hard to turn my head and it's just a pain all around.  When Moses describes his people like that you have to wonder how stubborn, obstinate and sadly unfaithful they were to God.  Well, we know that they were and Moses was afraid for his people. Thank goodness God is a graceful God who is slow to anger.  If it were not so, that entire people group of that time, along with all of us would be wiped from the earth.  But God is patient and we can be assured of that.  How do we know?  Because we still live on the earth and we're still making the same dumb mistakes and yet, God has sat back for thousands of years waiting for all of us stiff-necked people to turn to Him.

The signs of being stiff-necked are simple, we believe we are in control, we lack faith and we plan our futures.  Really?  Do we have any idea what our futures hold?  No. God does though and He reveals it to us little by little as we seek Him.  God is the direction, not us.  Oh, how I had to learn that lesson and it was painful but totally worth it.  I never wanted to be an Israelite.  As a matter of fact, as I read, I often thought how stupid they were.  So imagine my surprise as God took me into the desert to test my assurance of Him and in those moments it was revealed, I was an Israelite.  I might not have made a gold cow but my direction was owned by me and that control only brought worry, fear and frustration.  Once I came to a place where I wanted water, needed water more than I needed anything, Christ met me and allowed me to drink from His eternal well.  And oh how I did.  I repented, tossed security out like you toss a dog bone and waited, wondering what the next day would bring.

Through that great trial, I began to see a God I never knew.  I became assured that He went before me and that I was His child.  That doesn't mean everything will be perfect, it just means that God has my back and I need Him to.  I need Him every morning and every evening and now that I count on Him daily, I can be assured He is with me and that I have found favor in His sight.  With my surrender and repentance, I found peace, direction and love.  It wasn't easy, it never is.  Just look at the Israelites if you want to see a journey of frustration and confusion.  I repented and the confusion became a clear, concise direction that only God had control of.  I don't care how hard I work as an employee or a wife and mother, I will fail if it isn't for the assurance that Jesus Christ is Lord.  I still may fail in the world's eyes but I'm not looking for the world to give me a pat on the back.  I need Jesus to be with me and to go before me.  That's the only assurance in life that matters. So if you can't get past yourself, I suggest you pray about it, reach out to me so I can pray with you or talk to your best friend and repent.  It's time we let Jesus bring in the catch and rely on the assurance that He came for us so that we might have eternal life.  Everything else doesn't come close to comparing.  I could win hundreds of awards but if Christ uses me to save one person, I have completed the race.  Think about that today as you go to church.

Colossians 2:2 NKJV:

that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,

I'm praying for you my sisters and thanking God that we have the assurance that He is with us.  All we need is Him.

My faith is restored...

Good morning all-

I left Wichita Kansas early this morning on my first business trip since I left the corporate world.  I'm excited and full of anticipation.  It reminds me of the day I got saved.  I was so full of hope and excitement for Jesus and my heart was open wide.  I'm there again just more mature, tried and tested.  Life has away of doing that but then you put God into it and you get steel being sharpened.  The heat has been hot for some time now.  I have often felt like a piece of pottery being molded and re-molded.  I can't say I loved every minute of it because I didn't.  I put fear, worry, anxiety and obsession in front of  love, peace and faith. 

The lesson to be learned was that in order for me to have true faith, I needed to surrender all and live moment by moment.  Anybody ever try that?  It's just not that easy.  Life is to be directed, drawn out and should go exactly to plan.  Well, if you can say you're one of those people then you are truly blessed.  I, however, haven't been that lucky.

As I give God all the glory for the doors He is opening up for me, I must also give Him all the glory for restoring my faith, helping me to release control and only live for today.  The glory fully belongs to Jesus because there is no human way I could do it.  I'm just too type A to give up everything. 

Having time on my hands made me go through old notes, these notes consisted of prayers from 2015 and wow how I see God's hand in everything that's happening now.  I prayed for adventure, so I quit my job.  I prayed I would trust, so I quit my job.  I prayed that I would have faith that moved a mountain, so I quit my job.  Do you get the picture?  And, yes, I know I sound crazy but I was on my knees the whole time.  I was asking, seeking, reading, praying and getting Holy direction.  My person was stretched to the limit and as I was stretched, the Holy Spirit started filling in the gaps.  He reminded me that the only direction was one that He had for my life and fortunately, I don't have to figure out all the details.

Faith restored is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.  I had become a product of the world.  I looked at things and could project the outcome.  I forgot the power of the cross, the beauty of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the supernatural.  I was looking at the circumstances like a detective looking at evidence.  If I'm not planning and plotting out my future, who will?  Well, the truth is God couldn't get through to me.  My cellular tower was intermittent and the signal was fading and then a trial came and I had to open up the channels and faith opened up. And that's the day Jesus met me once again.  He didn't scold me for lacking faith.  He didn't judge me for all that I had put in front of Him.  All He did was meet me right where I was and when He did, my faith was restored in a God that is faithful.

I'm sure this journey will have many more turns.  I will rest in today though, for tomorrow will come soon enough.  Your peace for today resides in your faith for today.  How do you get both?  You accept that Jesus does have the wheel and you're part of the tapestry, living moment by moment with Him. That's what I'm going to do. 

I hope today finds you well my sisters and if you don't know Jesus, today is the day! It's so simple.  All you have to do is say, "Jesus, I believe in You.  I believe You died on a cross for my sins and that I'm forgiven through Your blood."  What is your gift?  Your faith will be restored, not in man, but in God!



John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Your praise is ever on my lips...

Good morning all-

I've been up since 3 am this morning so I've already spent my quiet time with Jesus, looked up recipes to make this week and will be praying for all of you.  My time writing is one of my favorite times with the Lord.  I sometimes feel as if He's writing through my fingers and when I read back, I'm in awe.  Over the last months I couldn't write.  I tried and maybe if I was having a good day, I wrote a couple times a month but all the creativity and energy it took to write was hard to summon.  I was in the desert and the desert felt dry, dusty and if I'm honest, like quicksand.  There was no brightness or rainbows.  There was just me and God trudging day to day together, moment by moment.  Those moments have turned into the best of my life.  If you knew all the details, I don't think you would agree and either did I, in the moment.  However,  I now realize its been the best time of my life because I'm learning to rest in God, trust in Him even when I can't see and just praise Him with my lips.

It is easy for me to praise you for what you've done well.  I like to be praised and I know that others do too.  So praise comes easy for me, normally.  God tested me in this over the last year.  He pushed me to my limit and requested that I respond with praise.  I'm surprised He heard anything through all that complaining but eventually, as I gave Him everything, the praise became my saving grace.  I literally found myself, and still do, praising Him in the morning and in the evening.  I praised Him when I was driving, cooking or cleaning.  I praised Him whenever possible and little by little the light came through the clouds and what once was dry and dusty became beautiful and bright.

It didn't happen overnight.  I really complained.  I grew weary of complaining and of my negativity.  Every day I had to choose to be nice, thoughtful, encouraging and uplifting.  The smile on my face didn't capture the grumbling ogre within.  I covered it by acting like life was great but over time people that knew me began to ask me how I was.  I would answer with great, fine, why?  And they would push until I talked.  All I wanted to do was hide.  I was ashamed that I was handling my life deplorably and I was ashamed that I was grumbling more than praising Jesus.  I just felt dry and alone.  That was the lie.  I wasn't dry or alone.  I was being stretched to believe.  Jesus wanted me to put down all that I treasured for Him alone and He was showing me through others that my acting was awful.  At least with people that knew me well.  I couldn't con people that cared about me.  It was freeing to humble myself and say, "I'm going through a rough time and need prayer."  So little by little, day by day, the grumbling lessened and the praise increased. 

As I praised, I saw Jesus in His true form.  I saw a God that loved me for me.  My heart broke and I began to see the beauty of the Lord in a way that I have never experienced before.  I needed Jesus, not just for my token 20 minutes a day.  I needed Jesus 24/7 and I still do.  I now read my devotional morning and night.  I wake up most days thanking Him for all He has done.  I pray more for others and I'm more aware of the world and what Jesus wants the world to know.  And through this beautiful transformation, I started writing again, reading more, loving more and really seeking Him in all things.

God is good and He is faithful.  I've realized that my desert period, although very difficult, was the only way I was going to rest in Him, believe in Him for all things and have faith in the unseen.  I had become jaded and I truly believed I was in control of my own destiny.  I had to be broken from my world thinking that makes us believe that we are the final judge and jury.  Many of us have fallen into this viewpoint and we must repent and let Jesus take the wheel again.  We can't be women that seek Christ if we don't give Him all the credit, all the praise and all the direction.  We must surrender all to see the world through His eyes. Surrendering does not make us weak creatures, it gives us strength, courage and perseverance.  We go from being a lamb to a lion as we give our Lord all the control.

Today, I can say I'm thankful.  I also realize that no amount of advice would have helped me during my trial.  Only Jesus could show me my path.  I needed human people to lift me up in prayer but what really got me through was praise on my lips.  Praising and thanksgiving took me from the negative to the feet of Jesus!

If you don't know the Lord, it's time.  Repent of your sins, tell Him you accept Him and love Him and He will give you the keys to eternal life. We will all have struggles but through those struggles He shows us His love and mercy.  He's worth it, take the first step today.

Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Psalms 119:171 (NKJV)
My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes.

Lord we just praise Your name and thank you for your goodness.  As the world repents, we pray You would continue to go before us.  Help us to surrender all with our lips!  We know You are good and that the things of this world must fall for us to see You in all Your splendor.  Bring Your sheep forward and through their praise make them lions. We need You Lord in every facet of our life.  Thank You for taking off the blinders and replacing them with Your eyes.  May we praise You morning and night for all Your loving kindness. In Jesus Name, AMEN