Posted in Christian Service, Life Inspiration, Political

West Virginia Voting: Where Country Livin’ does a gal good

george

At last there is a reprieve from the political rhetoric, or so I thought. I was looking forward to a few days of no television ads or discument…. I know, it’s not word. It’s my version of what happens when you friendly argue about politics. Half discussion; half argument, and I am wholly tired of it all. I’ve seen too much political hype about why we vote like we do in West Virginia. Laying its reasoning to the cultural side of who we are. I’m fine with that. I’m proud of my Appalachian heritage and have never felt that I’ve missed out on life because I’ve not lived in the big city. But I’m most proud of my Christian heritage; which is why I vote the way I do… not because I’m a po’ little country gal who doesn’t understand the complexities of life, therefore I’m conservative. I’m not prejudiced, narrow minded nor am I misguided, and if you call me a radical that’s okay. So long as you understand that I’m radical about Jesus.

There are guns in our home, several. They’re for shooting deer, squirrel, and other critters that my husband enjoys calling fine cuisine. I call it disgusting… I’ve never been a fan of wild game. But my people are, and I’m okay with that. The guns are also handy to defend our home in case an idiot would decide that it would be a good idea to break in. It’s our right… at least for now.

I said all that to get to this. The part of my day that I love the most, and spend too little time in; is the time I take with the word of God. It’s where I know I can make sense of this world when the liberal jargon overwhelms my mind and has me questioning am I right or just weird? It’s why I vote the way I do and think the way I do.

Isaiah said it like this in Chapter 28:9

 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Who shall we teach about life and train in the ministry? Not the babies, which the political world seems to have an overabundant supply of. They profess Christianity, and yet there behavior isn’t even in the ballpark. I’ve seen T-ball games with more maturity when understanding how to lose. Name calling, carelessness with the feelings of others, lying, and that’s just the precursor for bad behavior.  And we wonder why children behave the way they do! Those who scream against Christian morals and mock the foundation this country was founded on are not who we should have a problem with. They’re lost. And without Christ; we need not think they’ll have Christian principals. But what about our so called “Christian” leaders.  They have no concept of the accountability factor that God is going to hold His people to, and the role that their misguided thinking plays in the flailing condition of our Nation. Of course, that’s “if” they are His people. I’m not their judge.

Isaiah continued on… 28:10-12

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

If I were to do a “state of the church” address for today, I’d say we’re in a state of unrest. Isaiah said much the same. Our country’s leadership isn’t helping to comfort the hearts of the people because they’re not following the word of God. Isaiah said the instructions for life were simple, precept (instruction) upon precept. Line upon line (just read it word for word without inserting our own version of what the scriptures say. Stop stammering on what God said! He meant it then and He means it now, God hasn’t changed.

Any psychologist worth a grain of salt will tell you that children need stability in order to feel safe. The only stability in the world for the child of God is the word of God and the church is messing that up by arguing over what God meant. It’s where country livin’ does a girl good. Because I’ve been brought up to believe and respect the simple and honest things of life. While people scoff at the culture of West Virginians, let me share a little about what makes it such special place to grow up in as a child and live in as an adult.

Homegrown West Virginians are very real. They talk and walk the way their grandfolks did and they generally think the way their grandfolks did. Some call it clannish… I call it family. They take care of one another, and other one another’s that don’t belong them.

Statistically speaking, West Virginia ranks 20th in church attendance (Gallup Poll 2014), with approximately one third of our state attending church. Not a statistic I’m proud of… I said they were good family people… I didn’t say they were saved. But even those who don’t go to church, don’t generally mind those who do, and have been brought up to respect the church goin’ folk. That’s the problem with America as a whole. I heard an old-timer once say of someone who forsook their Appalachian heritage “I think they got above their raise’n.”

Jeremiah, just like Isaiah, said pretty much the same thing in Jeremiah 6:16 ~ Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

We won’t find rest in our nation until we get back to the foundation of the Word of God. It’s a fact.

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Posted in Life Inspiration

Sunshine for a Rainy Day

reagan's sunshine

I don’t think a day goes by that I have not heard the “C” word. Cancer. A word that can bring even the mightiest warrior to their knees asking for mercy. It is no respecter of age, gender, or socioeconomic status. Saint and Sinner… it has claimed both.

As I listened to a devotion on Periscope this morning from a sister in Christ Jesus in Pennsylvania, she always closes her broadcast with prayer requests and prayer. There too the “C” word popped up. And as I listened to her sweet prayer she said something that sent my mind here… this place I’m at today. She asked God to heal those who He had created the blueprint for. The Creator. We just don’t give Him His just dues do we?

1 Peter 4:19

 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Them that suffer

I cannot say that I have not questioned God’s divine wisdom when it comes to the diagnosis of someone I love. Even someone I don’t know! I see on social media post after post of heartache and my heart breaks. I see images that almost rip my heart out of my chest and I weep and pray and ask God to heal them and sometimes He does… and sometimes He takes them home and I’m left to pray for a heartbroken family; and again I ask God why? Why must these people suffer? It doesn’t seem right.

And then I am confronted with the truth that I am not the judge of what is right, only the Creator of all has that privilege. God’s plan was never that man would suffer. He created us in perfect health, in a perfect place with a perfect plan and then along came sin.

So rather than blame God for the suffering, which is what the world tends to do, we skip past the fact that Satan brought all of this into the world when he wanted to play God. And the human race is still allowing him to play god, the only problem is God is good, Satan is not. And this suffering that is in the world has an agent, Satan himself.

Suffering His Will

So why then is it the will of God that we now suffer? I do not know. Everyone’s blueprint for life is laid out differently, except for the fact that everyone is born with a sin nature, even the most innocent of child has been born into sin. That is why the bible says it rains on the just and the unjust. Everyone’s life is designed to point them and those around them to the Creator and that perfect life that He will afford His children one day in Heaven. A time when we will look back on this tidbit of life in the scope of eternity and think… wow… so that’s why it happened.

Committing the keeping of our souls to Him in well doing

How do you do well when life is not well? How do you sit beside someone who is suffering and tell them that God loves them? You commit them to Christ and then start looking for the work He’s doing through them.

The countless times that I have watched a child of God suffer, and yet still find the strength to praise God, I have also watched the blueprint unfold before my eyes. As hard as it was there was purpose.

I have many friends suffering right now, but there is one little girl on my mind especially who has suffered again and again because of Juvenile Arthritis. Last weekend she went into crisis having to have multiple surgeries and my heart ached as I watched for updates by her mom. She came through and so did Christ. Because she didn’t get to go outside a merciful nurse brought her some window paints and let her paint on her hospital window. The image above is her artistry. And there it was even in her darkest hours she was sharing the love of Jesus.

Her mom is a child of God. She has committed her child to Christ as they go through these hard times. I pray and believe in the Creator that holds her blueprint in Heaven, that He can guide the doctors to a cure for her disease. But until that day He continues to use her for His glory. And one day she’ll look back on these rough days and God will show her the souls that she touched for Him.

Just hold on… God is faithful.

Glory!!!!

Please pray for the sunshine girl. Her name is Reagan.

Posted in Christian Service, Grace, Life Inspiration

Our Role in Speckled Christianity

chick speckle

Matthew 1… a genealogy of Christ our Lord, but oh the story it does tell and how it stirred my soul this morning. Christ, the perfect Son of God Who came to earth to take the sins of the world upon His shoulders on the cross of Calvary had a family line that was as speckled as the coat of a leopard. And why did that stir my soul? Because if God would use this bunch to be in the story of His Son, there is hope for me to be used in the ministry of Christ as well.

I imagine (in my puny mind) of days in Heaven when Christ will show us the works of our ministry and how His hand was in it all the time stirring and guiding to work things (all things) for good. A look at the behind the scene shots that we were not privileged to understand while here on earth. We’ll be shocked just as I’m sure these characters would have been, when living out their lives, shocked to know their story was written down for eternity to be studied by man. We look at fame today as a Hollywood noteworthy or even with fame at its best we’ll look at a war hero. And while there will be some who will talk about these in ages to come if the Lord tarries, none will be talked about as the characters in God’s word. That is true fame! But not always for what they would have liked.

  • Abraham lied
  • Jacob was known as the deceiver
  • Judas thought he slept with a harlot (his daughter-in-law that he’d lied to)
  • That daughter in law, Thamar, is mentioned in Matthew 1
  • Boaz married Ruth (a Gentile) not a Jew at all, yet there she is in this story.
  • King David, known and loved as a man after God’s own heart… yet he murdered Urias after an affair with his wife, and God mentions it in this story, and the list goes on and on…

Character after character, flaws and all, there they are in the story of Christ our Lord. It had to be so, most likely because of us. If God had used, good, godly men and women to fulfil the story of the coming of the Lord, those good, godly men and women or their ancestors would have worked themselves into the story of Christ as being “worthy” to have been there. But as God would have it, there were none found worthy, and God made sure we knew that.  Because none of us are worthy of being listed as a part of His family… except through the blood of Jesus!!! Oh glory to God on that!

That is what stirred my soul today.  For me it is another day of feeling like a constant failure… but God said through His word, “Yes you are… and so were they… and yet I used them. Now suck it up and get back out on the battle field we have work to do.” And so I will… unworthily. It is no wonder we sing “Worthy is the Lamb.”

Revelation 5:12

Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

… and though He was slain to receive it, we receive it as heirs…

Romans 8:17

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

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Posted in Christian Service, Life Inspiration

Pressing and Posting

chick facebook posts

Philippians 3:14

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Another day, another diet, another goal… life seems to always be filled with a purpose driven passion that can turn on a dime to another failure and leaves me wishing every day were Sunday. It’s such a day of encouragement for me, I love listening to preaching and singing and serving the Lord, but even it can turn into frustration when I get my eyes off Christ and onto people. I have somewhat become un-enchanted with social media over the past few weeks, I’m sure I’ll be back at it soon but felt the need to take a hiatus for a few days to “detox” from many of the posts  I was reading. Political and personal rants have become the norm, and what used to be common sense flew out the window. Freedom of speech should sometimes be best used by the freedom of not saying what you could.

Several months ago, I either read or heard a statement that was a game changer for me regarding what comes out of our mouth. Satan and his band of troublemakers are not all knowing, only God has the ability to be the discerner of our every thought. But Satan doesn’t have to be a mind reader he only has to be a listener, or a reader, because we’ve laid out the stick for him to stir with plain and clear when we air our frustrations in our status posts. Perhaps it’s the era I was brought up in or more than likely the family, but we just didn’t make our troubles public, and yet today people not only make them public but wear them as trophies and care not that their friends and family know how very messed up their lives are. I guess this is a rant of my own of sorts… but it’s written to encourage my fellow servants of Christ to press on, not down.

Negative posts do not encourage positive living. You can quote me on that, that’s good stuff! The seeds that we plant in our life is what we harvest… I know that’s a no brainer, but it must not be, because there’s plenty of people sewing garbage and wondering why their life stinks.

Here’s just a few that I’ve noticed on social media on a pretty regular basis:

  • Satan may or may not have known that “so and so” got on your last nerve, but following that Facebook update he did. And now he has another avenue clearly marked in your life to making you miserable.
  • Nobody knew what a terrible mess your life was in until you went on that rant about it and now every time you walk on the street you feel as if you’re being judged, or so Satan says.
  • You posted your opinion on a matter that few agreed on and now you feel attacked because someone aired the opposite opinion on your status, welcome to America.
  • Let’s attack our family and make it a public spectacle and then wonder why nobody enjoys a family reunion, except Satan… he has a hayday!

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! That’s why I needed a few days to regroup. Not only do those post affect the person who posted negatively but everyone who reads it. By the same token a positive post creates a positive atmosphere. So here’s my challenge for you today. Ten positive posts and if you care to you can use this blog as one! And zero negative… not even bad news. Press on Pilgrim, it’s a happy day!!!!

Posted in Grace, Life Inspiration

Are you giving your best gift?

best gift ever

As I read through a few chapters in Genesis this morning, I came across the lineage of Esau; and scattered among his sons was one by the name of Amalek; which triggered a memory of a sermon I once heard titled “Then came Amalek.”  That sermon was from the book of 1 Samuel, when Saul, who had been told to “utterly destroy” the Amalekites for what they had done to the children of Israel back in the book of Exodus. While traveling to the Promised Land, they had assumed they’d be safe traveling through Edom, because they too were the descendants of Abraham, but they soon discovered that family is not always a friend. I just covered a lot of Bible history in just a few sentences, and probably utterly confused you, but here in the book of Genesis we find the origin of those people as the grandchildren of Esau, battling twin brother of Jacob.

Esau married outside the chosen nation, (he married a Canaanite woman), several actually and disappointed his parents. His wives worshipped strange gods and raised his children up to do the same. They had no pride in their Israeli heritage, only disdain in the coming generations. But my point being, it all began with one son’s disobedience. But now we no longer concern ourselves with what tribe or nation a family may be from, but rather are you apart of the nation Heaven as a child of Jesus Christ? But family still matters…

I was blessed to be raised by Christian parents who molded me into the strange being that I am today through a few quirks of their own. My mother, a quite creative woman and my father who was musically talented both attributed to my talents but I also received of my father a lackadaisical attitude which gets me in trouble on a pretty regular basis, and of my mother I received the “I can do it by myself” gene, which is really funny because my Dad’s name was Gene! But the two of those combined makes my theme song “I can do it by myself, but I’ll do it later!”

Regardless of how you feel about your family, it still does not change the fact that you are a product of their making. But what you become productive in is still entirely up to you. Esau was a bitter boy because his brother had stolen his birthright and inheritance, but he did eventually forgive Jacob. However, his descendants picked up that bitter bone and carried it through generation after generation. Is that not crazy? What Esau forgave, the family didn’t forget.

It still happens today. It happens in my own family as I think about relatives who have hurt members of my family and I’ve shared those stories with my children who now don’t think very highly of those relatives either; and in the generations to come they probably won’t like the descendants of those aunts and uncles either but they really won’t know why.

Why do we do it? I’m sure if Esau had his life to live over again he’d have mended fences with Jacob before he left the first time. He likely wouldn’t have disobeyed his parents which caused generational conflicts that still affect us today. But Esau can’t undo the past. We however, who are still alive, still have the opportunity to change the future of our families by changing our attitudes toward the past and letting it go. Really letting it go. Not just letting it go until we’re frustrated again and feel the need to relive the anger.

Christmas is a good time to give the gift of restoration. Do you have someone in your family that you would just as soon forget… well remember them. Pray for them and encourage yourself in the story of the Amalekites. Which would have changed the world if someone had gotten it right earlier. You have generations to consider and why on earth would you want them to carry a bitter seed forward that will grow the same heartache you carry.

I don’t know who this message is for…certainly for myself, but maybe you too. I’d love to hear from you! Share your story with me and let’s start Christmas off with the gift worth giving – forgiveness!

Posted in Christian Service, Leadership, Life Inspiration

Feeling Hurt or Betrayed… this post is for you!

God's favOne of my greatest defeats in life is the heartache of betrayal by friends and family. It takes me forever and a day to get past what happened and get on with life as God’s design intended and I have a feeling I’m not alone. If a stranger speaks ill of you or does you harm you can shrug that off for you are no better or worse without them in your life. But if someone for whom you have invested love, energy and time betrays you; it’s as if a piece of your very heart has been torn asunder. There is no salve that will heal it, nor bandage that can conceal it. Everybody in your circle knows that you’ve been hurt, which for me is worse than the hurt sometimes. Because then I not only have to deal with the pain inflicted by the person who hurt me, but the shame I feel around those who know that I was betrayed. It’s a double whammy kind of day.

It’s been a little while since I have been in that position, but as I read across 2 Samuel 19 this morning the times that it occurred came flooding back into my mind as if someone had opened a gate.  I can still find myself wallowing in the pain like I’ve stepped in mucky miry clay in my favorite shoes; ruining the shoes and causing me to slip and fall back into that despair I felt when it originally happened. What I fail to understand in times like these is that I’ve not only gotten myself stuck in the mud but those around me are being splattered as well as I stomp and kick my way back to dry ground. Even the unsaved know the scripture about turning the other cheek in Matthew 5:39. They may not be able to quote it but they know it’s supposed to be a Christian characteristic that practically every Christian fails.

In 2 Samuel 19, David has just won the battle, but in the process his son Absalom is killed. He’s been betrayed by friends and family. He’s mourning not only the loss of a child but the agony of his son’s betrayal. Joab, the commander of his army has to have a heart to heart about his role as leader and the effect his mourning is having on his nation. They feel they’ve done something wrong by killing his enemy. David sent the whole nation running into their tents like thieves; as if they’d done wrong for doing right. He does make amends and in the process makes a statement that every child of God should know.

After the battle, Shimei, who had been on the opposing team comes to David in great remorse for his behavior begging forgiveness. Abishai, David’s comrade and nephew (his mom was Zeruiah) tells David to forget Shimei’s apology and put him to death because he had “cursed the Lord’s anointed.” Oh how many times I have all but ask God to kill those who have betrayed me. I didn’t want God to kill’em but if He’d have maimed them I’d have been okay with that. But David answers him in royal style and forgiveness.

2nd Samuel 19:22

And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?

To country quote that for myself … “The battle is over, the damage is done and I’m still God’s favorite.”

That’ll put a shout on you! That’s how you victoriously get past the hurt. Regardless of what someone has done, or what the end result is, they cannot remove you from your station in life that God has given you. If we’re wallowing in pain, we’ve stepped down from our position. That’s an awesome word for someone today… Me for one!

Posted in Christian Service, Church attendance, Leadership, Life Inspiration

Parents: Here’s your sword and shield

cross-sword-and-shield-md

Judges 5

The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord.

This post will be so not politically correct, but that’s okay… because it’s biblically correct. My frustration mounts in my community and country daily. I watch as person after person jumps on the bandwagon of politically correct nonsense and even in my little country home, the big city ways have made their way here. What once would have been unfathomable is now happening on the courthouse steps. I’m not a hater… I’m a God fearing woman who reads her bible and knows what the word of God says about homosexuality. It’s a sin. That’s it in a nutshell. So is lying, stealing, coveting, etc., etc., etc.! One is not greater or less than the other. 1 John 1:8 clearly says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” I won’t point my finger at a homosexual population and get on a religious high horse about their sin because I too am a sinner. I will however get on a platform and declare what God says, because He is not a sinner. He is a righteous and just God who will judge all men’s sins for what they are.

I want to arise a mother in West Virginia. (insert your State here)

That’s what Deborah did in her community, she took the reins. Should it have been a man? Yes. But where were they? And I ask in sincerity today, where are the men in our communities. I’m blessed to attend a church that has several men, but there are many absent husbands and fathers there too. There are many men absent in the homes as well. Often it is because of work, especially in our area where there are so many pipelining families and there is little choice for employment. So what then? What about those Dads?

As a mother in West Virginia I suggest you make the most of those few days you have at home and make church a priority without excuse. My own daughters have husbands who are gone much of the time, so I get the reality of trying to make a family work… I too raised my girls with an absentee husband much of the time because of his time in the fire department and EMS in addition to a regular job that consumed 40-60 hours a week. I really do get it. But there must be biblical foundation in your family if you want to be a greater influence than the world. Because right here in our little country community the influence of evil abounds and what we don’t want our children to see as the “norm” has become so.

Our schools spend far more time dealing with the corrupt than rewarding the good. So what has your child’s attention? In verse 8 of Judges 5 it asks the question “was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?” There wasn’t and there’s not a shield or sword in many of the homes in West Virginia, biblically speaking. Parents want good children,  and some do have them go to a christian school, as they are mindful of the education they receive. Then there’s others that argue they don’t have “time” to take their children to church on Sunday. Their influence is what they see happening in the school, on the courthouse steps, in the news and on the television shows that they’re permitted to watch. And then they ask, “Why can’t I get my child to behave.”

Because nobody else that they view is behaving either.

Please, share this with a young parent. And young parent… get that shield and sword out and protect your home.

Posted in Grace, Life Inspiration, salvation

7 Things About Getting to Heaven

I love God’s Word. Old Testament or New Testament, it matters not to me because there are such awesome truths lying on the pages just waiting to jump out at you like family at a surprise party! It’s fun when God reveals His plan a gain. It’s the story that never gets old, the one about going to Heaven, the one I long to talk about from the other side. This morning in Isaiah as I read His word there was that wonderful promise again!

Isaiah 55

Its Free

55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

It is for certain that the Old Testament conceals what the New Testament reveals. Isaiah (whose name means “The Lord Saves”) began his ministry around 740 BC long before Jesus came into the picture. Yet the promise is there in his words about the final sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. Jesus Christ, God’s only Son was the only payment worthy of our entrance into an eternity. A Holy God could accept nothing but a Holy Sacrifice, so His own sinless Son became the payment for us to enter Heaven. There’s only one catch and it’s pretty simple, accept it. He built you the finest mansion and prepared you a banquet of delicacies unimaginable and ask only that you confess that He paid for it with His life.

It Fulfills

55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Even after salvation, when we find the one thing that satisfies our every longing we still try to buy happiness or expect to find it in someone. Though we need a roof over our head, clothes on our backs and water food in our bellies to survive, all else is optional. Jesus said in Matthew 6:30-34~

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

It’s Forever

55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

Forever is hard for us to imagine when the earth is so temporal, and promises are so easily broken. But not so in Heaven… God’s covenant (promise) is evident in His word, as your read prophecy after prophecy that has been fulfilled. The more you read, the more you understand and look forward to the forever that is filled with the goodness of God.

Follow Jesus

55:4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

Jesus wasn’t on earth in the Old Testament and He’s not on earth now, but He has always been present in the lives of His people and the plan little by little was disclosed until the revealing of it when Christ came in the form of a man. He walked among them, they witnessed His miracles, they seen His death and were there for the resurrection. Hundreds of people witnessed it and we’re still witnessing His work today in the lives of people who set the example we’re to follow.

I’m Family

55:5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

The Jewish Nation is and always will be God’s chosen people, but those He knew not as His own (that’s us!) the gentiles, He has accepted into His family. How awesome is that!

I’m Found!

55:6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

I was lost, yet the Bible says that He may be found. I think we’re given opportunity after opportunity to accept God’s Son as our Savior, but this verse is a warning that you can continue to get farther and farther away by rejecting Him until He can’t be found. I’m so glad that in 1996 I accepted His salvation and that His mercy was extended another day.

I’m Forgiven

55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

There’s nothing quite like the squeaky clean feeling you get when the sins of the past are lifted from your shoulders. Every mistake you’ve ever made, every regret… gone! Life’s still not perfect, but knowing that forever my mistakes are covered by the blood of Jesus that He shed on Calvary so that I might have eternal life with Him it a “Wow!” feeling every day. It’s unimaginable what God has in store for His children.

I heard once that “We live far beneath our means.” And while that’s likely true, I think there must be a humility that comes into our minds when we understand just how unworthy we are to be called a child of God. The Creator of all. That’s why verse 55:8 really sums it up.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

Posted in Life Inspiration

Can I Persuade You?

Acts 28:23-24~ And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

If I could do anything for anyone this morning, I would hope to persuade them concerning Jesus. If you’re reading this blog, then you likely already know Jesus, but perhaps not. But let me encourage you today in a walk with Christ be it new or old, mainly because I need encouragement too! The road to Heaven is not an express lane, but rather a neglected path, left to the tenants who dwell there. It won’t be an easy journey but it’s well worth the trip!

Destination Driven

I remember the B.C. days “Before Christ.” There was no destination. There was an intended trip; I wanted to go to Heaven, but I wasn’t sure that’s where I’d end up. I remember the uncertainty of it all and how very terrifying death was. How priceless is it to now know that my ticket’s been purchased and I’m destination driven. I have that promise of an eternity with my Lord, He who created the Heaven and the earth in all its splendor. I don’t question His existence, it’s evident on the road I travel. It’s the reason I celebrate!

Purpose Empowered

Not only do I now know where I’m going I know what I’m doing along the way! I wasn’t put on this earth without reason, nor were you. The journey is not meant for you to view it’s splendor but to partake in it. There’s a piece of land along the way that you’re accountable for and inhabitants in that land that need Christ. The road you’re traveling today is either for you to find Christ or for you to share Christ, you’re without excuse on either.

Happily Housed!

My home is where I sleep and enjoy my family, but my house is the house of the Lord. It’s where my heart is most days. I understand why David said in Psalm 122:1I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” I’m glad too! I love my church! If you don’t love yours then either your heart is wrong, or your church is wrong. Christ gave His life for the church. It’s not just a building… it’s a central location where the children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ meet to be encouraged and edified with the Word of God. It’s where the broken are bandaged and the comfortless are comforted. It’s where sinners are saved, the lost are located and we worship the Creator of all the Universe… and we have coffee, laugh and enjoy the company… at least at my house.

Today I have a desire to persuade you concerning Jesus, It’s Wednesday! The doors are open in my church and many others this evening… please join us!

Posted in Life Inspiration

It’s Trash Day!

I'd be much more apt to do take out the trash if my cans looked like this!
If all trash were this pretty…

This morning is trash day in our part of the world. I actually put mine out last night, but every day should be trash day in the life of a child of God. We are inundated every minute of the day and night (or so it seems) with trash from the world around us; those who feel compelled to violate our space with their junk. Scroll down a social media page for more than 30 posts and if your thoughts are not violated in some manner, your friends are better than mine.  That is the number of posts on my page before I ran into a not so godly post. So you say… “Get rid of that friend,” (number 1 that was family) and number 2, I’m shocked at how many Christians post stupidity in the name of comedy. I will not however unfriend and offend a friend or family member because of a slightly off color post, there are lines they can cross where they’re gone like a bad sitcom. I want them to see my post and hopefully be encouraged! So what do I do with the trash I inadvertently ingest? It seems to fly out the window of my mind when I feed on the positive and encouraging things of life like the word of God, Christian blogs, listening to the gospel preached or music sung.

I get so tired of hearing Christians complaining that there’s nothing good on television, the internet or in their community entertainment. Where do you live?  For every 30th not so good post, there are 29 positive (in my social media world) it may vary in yours. So stop parking on 30. Television media may not be so user friendly but if you determine to only park on the positive you can find it… or turn it off, pick up the Bible or a devotion, plug into some Christian music and worship the One who is only good. And then when you hear that good word… share it. Don’t be the 30th.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.