When I was younger, I loved the idea of meeting my “prince charming” and falling in LOVE, just like all of the Disney princesses did. I wanted to be somebody’s special ONE, and for them to be mine. Since I have been saved, I would say that I LOVE JESUS. But when I was younger, I would not say that I saw Him as the one to fulfill the longing of my heart. He was more distant / unseen / more like a character in a story.
Read MoreYou see, I remember the times I prayed. When I was a teenager, I prayed for a husband. I asked God over and over to give me a husband. You see my dad pastored in a pretty bad part of Memphis, Tn and let’s just say there was no one around to marry. I even told my mom God won’t send anyone here for me to marry. You see, I did doubt that God could do it…maybe I didn’t doubt God could as much as I doubted that God would do it for me. I was discouraged, would God ever send me my future husband?
Read MoreOh how often I feel IT'S NOT IN ME ---but God shall give an answer of peace! Life can be so pressing at times and I don't have an answer. I'm thankful that I can run to Jesus. Psalm 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: FOR THOU WILT ANSWER ME.
Read MoreAgain, living for the Lord has many mountains and valleys. It’s not an easy road,
but don’t give up, or you will miss the best of the best!
Read MoreThere was an old saying about trusting all one’s goods to one ship. It was replaced with the phrase “Don't put all your eggs in one basket,” which is a proverb or idiom first recorded in 1710, that means you should not risk everything or depend entirely on a single thing or course of action. It advises against investing all your resources, time, or efforts in a single venture, as it leaves you vulnerable to failure or loss. If you gather all your eggs in a single basket, there is a potential danger of dropping the basket and losing everything you have worked diligently to obtain. In contrast, the proverb advises considering different options and distributing your eggs across multiple baskets, so you don’t find yourself in a desperate situation if one of your endeavors fails.
Read MoreAs a Christian of any age and any stage of life, there are simple principles in the Bible we can remember when we don’t know what else to do. The Bible instructs us first of all to – (S)eek God. In James 1:5 the Bible says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him as of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not: and it shall be given him.” This verse tells us when we need wisdom to know what to do, all we have to do is ask God. If we have trusted Christ as our Saviour, God listens and wants to answer our prayers. He has told he will give us wisdom if we will simply ask. First thing first, seek God and ask Him for wisdom.
Read MoreNothing replaces reading your Bible every day and praying to our Father in Heaven. No podcast, devotional, sermon, blog post, or any other kind of post will do for you what the Holy Spirit through the Word can do.
Read MoreStriving to remain humble. Realize that all we are and all we have is because of the Lord. Having a humble attitude as we go through a trial will allow the Lord to teach us things that we need to learn in that trial.
Read MoreTheir, Joy, their contentment was the key that unloosed their chains. HE WAS ENOUGH FOR THEM! He was everything they needed. There wasn’t a material possession that they lacked because their contentment was in the ONE who delighted in them!
Today we celebrate the national holiday called Memorial Day first observed in 1868. It is a day established for us to remember all members of the United States military who gave their lives protecting our freedoms and rights as citizens of the United States of America. Originally observed each year on May 30th, its observance changed in 1971 to the last Monday of each May. When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s our family would take this holiday to visit the graves of fallen soldiers where we lived and my parents would tell us the importance of remembering what these men and women sacrificed so we could live with the rights and privileges guaranteed by our constitution and Bill of Rights.
Read MoreAs we go through our lives and about our daily business doing all the right things, all the good things, are we living “in him”. It can be so easy to go into auto pilot. If we are not careful we can almost become robotic. Not intentionally, not even with a bad spirit, but we are doing all the things and checking off all the boxes of things to be done without giving our full attention or full spiritual awareness to them. Stop and think about it for a minute.
Read MoreI was an eighteen-year-old girl with no knowledge of the Bible, but that truth was clear to me that night as a soulwinner took me off into a room at the First Baptist Church of St. Clair, Missouri and explained to me that all the good things I was trying to do would never be enough for me to get to Heaven.
Read MoreThe ocean is one of my most favorite places on earth. The overwhelming enormity of both its sight and sound is always a reflection of the thoughts of my heart, both good and bad. I am always overwhelmed with something. And while on this journey of sanctification, I see-saw between the overwhelming “somethings’ of God’s goodness and my own sinful tendencies.
Read MoreAnd there’s the gem. Those two little words Trina would use so often in her conversation. MY Jesus. The most important lesson I ever learned from Trina, though I wouldn’t even realize it until YEARS later, was that He needs to be ‘MY’ Jesus. When you speak of your Saviour, it should be personal. The same way you say, ‘My kids’ or ‘My husband’. Possessive. Loving. Is that how you think of Jesus, or do you not really think about that relationship much at all? We all hear quite regularly in preaching that we need to have a relationship with God(Jesus), but do we really think and ponder and try to figure out what that entails? Oh sure, there’s the ‘read your Bible more! Here’s a 1 year plan!’ and don’t you dare misunderstand me, reading your Bible is paramount in a Christians life, but are you just going through the motions of Bible reading so that you can check off a little chart? You’ll be closer to Jesus than if you weren’t reading at all, sure, but would you feel that possessive love? Trina challenged me without even saying it to get that possessive love. To thirst for it. And it’s so funny because, the closer you get the more you want.
Read MoreAmy’s known for her “choose joy” mantra and we all know she DOES!!!
Let’s live our lives choosing joy, Praising God, and having a gratitude attitude.
“God is good… all the time…. All the time… God is good!”
Read MoreThis year my plan and I feel the Lord has led me to this… the Pause. To focus on the pause or pauses of life. I want to listen to when the Lord says, “ Pause.” I believe the Lord wants us all to “stop for a minute,” or to “linger” here for a time. He always has a reason. He may have something better for us or He may simply be protecting us from what we can’t see.
Read MoreThen go out and PURPOSE to see others. Look for the gold God has put within those around us, and tell them! Make the effort. In purposing to help others recognize their value, we will help them to know they are seen by our God. “To the world you may be one person’ but to one person you may be the world” is a quote we should remember often. Most importantly, share your “Thou God seest me” testimony with the unsaved. Let them know that they too can be seen, saved, and their eternity changed forever!
Read MoreOne day, I overheard a third grader disdain a kindergartener’s work. “Oh, that’s SO EASY! I wish my work was that easy.” Of course, the sixth grader immediately scoffed, “You think YOUR work is hard?? Wait until you get to sixth grade!” Whereupon the 11th grader in the room piped up with scorn, “Dude. You have no idea. Take a look at this chemistry equation I had today!” (And I wanted to tell HIM that, chemistry and all, his life is so simple compared to an adult’s life!)
Read MoreLet’s be real for a minute and please let this question sink into your beautiful soul. Do you feel the need that your life must be all wrapped perfectly and tied up in a perfect bow? Do you ever feel like you don’t measure up to other people’s expectations? Do you ever feel like the expectations are too? How about an example; do these thoughts or similar ones ever creep up in your head? “Look at that perfect Christmas tree…mine doesn’t look like that.” “That family picture is so beautiful…I wish we could do that so others can see us look that good.” “They always get such amazing Christmas gifts…we can’t afford those but I’ll get them anyway.” “It all has to be perfect…I have to do whatever I can to make it perfect.” I am using Christmas time as an example because I sincerely feel that not-measuring-up can be a dominating feeling during and after the holiday season.
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