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I Will Arise

Knocked down!

My cousin told me a story I want to share with you.  A tree she walks by each day got knocked down while it was small from a storm or the weight of the heavy snow.  It was laid over on its side, mostly flat on the ground.  It is incredible how resilient a tree can be after going through the storms of life.  Each time my cousin walked by this little tree, she began to see a fantastic phenomenon.  This tree began reaching toward the heavens with beautiful green leaves.  The tree did not allow the storms around it to define its life but kept striving for the sun.  It is not a perfect tree; it is crooked and deformed.  But the tree has not let the storms of life get him down.
Have you ever seen a tree like this or something similar?  I know I have.  We go on many hikes in the mountains and through the woods.  So many times, I stop and am amazed at the strangeness of some of the trees.  And I am so curious about the story of the tree.  Suppose the tree could only talk and tell us what happened to bring about such a deformity.  I have seen some trees bent to one side and dead.  But bent going the other direction is a living tree.  A different type of tree that amazes me is when it forms a half circle.  Incredibly, it can be a perfect half-circle without evidence of what caused it to divert to that form.

What about

The trees made me start to think about our lives.  I know that many times in life, storms have come to me.  Some of those storms have been small, but some have been very large.  Sometimes I have wondered if I would live or die; some have been physical and some emotional.  I am sure each one of you can relate.  We all go through incredible trials.  The “wind” blows so hard that we feel it is impossible to continue standing.  And then there is the weight of the “snow” or maybe even the weight of a “rock.”  The weight is so heavy we can’t possibly make it.
I think we can learn a lesson from the trees.  When the storms of life are blowing, and life seems so overwhelming, we need to keep our eyes on the Son.  Our experience will probably reshape us, but we know that as we keep our eyes on the Son, the reshaping will make our lives more beautiful.  It may seem that we are deformed, but to those looking on, as long as we keep our eyes focused on the Son, they will see the beauty.  And it will draw them closer to God.  Once we have been reshaped, we can encourage others as they go through the reshaping process.

How

You may ask, “How can I keep looking up?”  It is not always easy when you get knocked down; the pain is real.  But I do know that it starts with a choice.  The tree has to choose to keep striving toward the sun no matter how much pain it is enduring if it wants to survive.  It grows through, around, and from the ground when completely knockdown.  It has such a desire to live that the tree does whatever is necessary to make it happen.  And there is only one thing that it has to do, choose to keep looking toward the sun.
We often get bogged down to the ground by our circumstances and trials.  But we will stay down if we don’t start looking up.  We have to choose, just like the tree, to keep our eyes fixed on the Son.  And God will do a work in us that will transform and shape us into His image.  Part of choosing and looking is spending time in God’s Word, claiming the promises that He has given us.  We need to spend much time in prayer, keeping all our cares, sorrows, and needs before Him.  “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:  Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” 1 Peter 5: 6-10.
Like the trees become more robust as they weather the storms, we get stronger as we keep our eyes focused on the Son.  Every storm that comes our way that we survive through makes us stronger for the next and the next.  And our characters get more and more refined, preparing us for the goal, which is heaven.  In the Bible, Paul talks about his thorn in the flesh.  And I love God’s response to him; it is a promise for us to claim.  “And He said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee:  for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’  Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.  We have the promises that even in our weakness, we can be strong because of Christ.  He is our strength.

Dear Father,

I am so grateful for the strength. You provide.  It is hard many times because we can’t feel it.  At times You feel so far away from us when we are struggling.  Thank You for the promises You give us.  Help us share all our wants, joys, sorrows, cares, and fears with You.  Thank You that we cannot burden or weary You.  I am so grateful that you are not indifferent to our wants.  Your heart of love is touched by our sorrows and our willingness to share them with You.  I am so grateful that we can bring anything that perplexes us and that there is nothing too great or too small for You to bear.  You rule the affairs of this universe, holding the world in Your hands.  I am grateful that anything affecting our peace, You take notice.  There is nothing too dark for You to read or too complex to untangle.  You observe and care about every aspect of our lives; what love.  I am grateful for Your all-consuming love and for always being there for us!
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
What are you struggling with today?  Make a commitment to keep your eyes on the One that can bring you through.
Love you all!
What struggle have you gone through where you have seen the hand of God beside you and maybe even carrying you?  I would love to hear your story.  Comment below.
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God’s Grace is Sufficient

Creation

I don’t know about you, but when I read the story of God creating this world, I start to imagine.  No matter how vivid our imagination, it is a feeble attempt.  Just think of the perfect temperature, the beauty of the flowers and trees, the transparency of the rivers, lakes,  and streams of water, and how the animals, with their majestic beauty down to the creepy-crawly, presented no fear.
For those who love to plant a garden, can you imagine how easy it could be to grow anything?  It would be a gardener’s paradise.  We wouldn’t have to worry about the soil being too hard or rocky; there would be perfect nutrition in the ground, no need to weed, and an automatic watering system that took no work to set up.  It sounds like heaven to me.
And what about the animal lovers?  I would be in that category.  There are so many animals I wish I could enjoy.  I have always loved horses and the thought of having one and being able to ride.  Having a monkey as a pet has been a dream of mine.  Throughout my life, mostly, I have stuck to cats and dogs, which I love dearly.  The pain and suffering when one passes away are heart-wrenching.  But in the new creation, there was no death or fear, only life, love, and peace.  It is hard to imagine a life absent of fear and full of love and peace in our world today.  God created Adam and Eve to enjoy the beauty of His creation.  They had no fear or sadness; peace, joy, and love were all.

Then came sin

I think all of us have probably questioned at one time or another why Eve would make a choice that would destroy her peace and happiness.  Eve had everything that she could have possibly wanted.  But the devil caused her to believe that she was missing out on something great!  And Eve believed him.  The reality is that we are no different.  If we trust God and the Word He gave us, why do we go in another direction all the time?  The bottom line is that we think we might be missing out on something.  And we are not trusting that God has our best interest in mind.  We are not any different from Eve.  Many times in our lives, we allow the convincing words of others or circumstances to convince us that something is okay.  And after the fact, we realize this was not in God’s plan.
On the other hand, Adam decided to eat it when he was presented with the fruit, knowing it would be wrong.  He knew it would be wrong to eat the fruit; even though he may not have understood the consequences, he knew it was wrong.  How could you know what death is if you have never seen it?  But he should have trusted God’s Word that it was not a good thing.
Imagine what must have been going through his mind.  He had to be concerned about what would happen if he didn’t eat the fruit when his wife had already eaten it.  If he chose not to eat it, he could lose her forever.  He was not choosing to love God above anything else.  But again, we are not any different.  How many times do we put other things before God?  God has to be number one in our lives at all times.  We can not let people, things, circumstances, any rabbit trail, whether of a religious sort or not, or even ourselves get in the way of making God number one in every area of our lives.

Then comes…

If we didn’t know the end of the story of Adam and Eve, it would appear hopeless.  But then came grace.  Their choice had significant consequences, but God’s love and grace gave them a second chance.  Their choice to sin should have brought instant death.  The grace of God, willing to give His only Son as a substitute, and Jesus willing to accept the consequences of sin, gave Adam and Eve and each of us another chance.
Imagine what it must have been like for them.  Adam and Eve had never experienced death.  They had never seen anything die.  God, in His mercy, sacrificed a lamb in their stead.  The lamb would have been their friend.  All the animals would have been like pets to them.  And to see two of these precious lambs dying because of their sin must have been excruciating.
The only way we can even come close to getting a glimpse is to think about one of our pets.  I relate primarily to our dogs.  It would be excruciating if one of our dogs had to be put to death for my sin.  We love our pets so much.  But they also had to realize that this sacrifice pointed to the One that would ultimately take the consequences of sin.  What joy they must have had that Jesus was willing to do this for them while simultaneously being sad that they had caused so much pain and suffering.
It pains my heart as I write, thinking about myself and how easy it can be to bring hurt and pain to the One that has done so much for me.  God loved the world and gave His Son so that I may live.  Why is it so difficult to remember what He has done for me?  I don’t think I am the only one with this problem.  We get so caught up in daily life that we forget to contemplate what He has done for us.  Yes, we may go through the motions of daily Bible study and prayer, but we fail to connect with God fully.  Spending time with God, going to church, or any religious thing we may be involved in can become just a ritual and lose all meaning.

God’s Grace

I love God’s promise: “My grace is sufficient for thee:  for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).  Our weaknesses are His strengths.  This is the most exciting news!  No matter how weak we think we are, He is even stronger.  We can’t create; we can only submit to God creating in us.  As David, we can say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:10).  We can’t clean our hearts!  No one can empty themselves of self.  The only thing that we can do is consent for Jesus to accomplish the work in us.
It is easy to look around at others and be like the Pharisee, thanking God that I am not like “those” people.  But I want to be as the publican, “standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Read Luke 18:10-14).  We are all sinners in need of God’s grace and mercy.  And “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him (Jesus), seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).  God through His Spirit is the One that draws, convicts, forgives, cleanses, makes the changes, recreates, He does it all.  Our job is to consent, and we will find rest when we consent!
Dear Father,
Please, take my heart; I can’t give it to You.  You created me; my heart is Your property.  I need You to keep it pure.  I am so weak, selfish, and unchristlike; please save me despite me always getting in the way.  You are the potter, and I am the clay; mold and fashion me, so I love Your pure and holy presence so that I can feel the rich current of Your love flow through me.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Surrender fully to God today and let Him do the work within You.
I love you all!
When have you felt the closest to God?  I would love to hear your story!  Comment below or private message me.
Note:  This platform for my blog will be going away soon, so if you would like to continue to get my blogs, message me.
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I Was Devastated

Life goes on

You know how life goes on each day without much thought.  We have our routine that we go through and often we don’t allow much to change those routines.

A good example is our dogs, they love to receive love from us.  They want our attention daily.  I know for me when I sit down there come one or two of the dogs to sit beside me on my chair.  It often doesn’t require a whole lot of time but I don’t have the time.

One dog, in particular, is a struggle.  Prince sheds a lot and if you don’t want to go off to work with your clothes full of hair you best keep your distance.  It has been difficult over time because I just love it when he comes up and sits on the back of my neck when I am sitting on the couch.  He keeps my neck warm and lays his chin on my shoulder with such love.

We eventually started to train him to not get on the furniture due to his shedding.  But he would often sneak, when no one was looking, to curl up on a chair or the couch.  And he loves it most if there is a piece of clothing he can lay on that belongs to one of us.  But if we see him we chase him off, wiping off the furniture or shaking a piece of clothing.

I remember that morning

There was one particular morning I found him laying on my coat.  I quickly chased him off and shook out my coat.  But I wish I would have picked him up and just hugged him.  We often chased him away due to his shedding hair.  And we do it without much of a thought.  Because we think today is not going to be any different than any other day.  And this day was no exception.

Every day when I come home from work all 4 of our dogs start barking.  I don’t even really think about it much anymore because it always happens.  So I did notice that only 2 dogs were barking.  When I came into the house there to the left of me, in the entrance to one of our bathrooms sat Cuddles, one of our other dogs.  He appeared to be leaning over like he was choking on something.  But as I came nearer to him I realized he was soaked.  He was trying to walk with his head laying on the floor.  At that point, I realized he was wounded and in major pain.  I didn’t know if his neck was broken or what exactly was wrong.

But then it hit me, where is Prince.  I frantically went to his little bed as I called his name but no Prince.  Then I rushed into the living room where he has another little bed but still no Prince.  I headed for my bedroom where I could look out the window and see the area where we have a fenced-in dog yard.

I was devastated

There lying on his side just before the steps, was Prince, his body had been torn open beyond repair, he was dead.  I was devastated, to say the least.  Grabbing my phone I called my husband crying and hysterical.  I was not sure what to do.

I knew I needed to deal with our dog Cuddles but was not sure how to approach the situation.  He was in such pain I couldn’t pick him up.  I was afraid to make whatever was wrong with him worse, especially if his neck or back was broken.  I am so amazed at how dogs are so intelligent.  Cuddles knew I was trying to help him.  So when I got a box that had low sides and told him I needed him to get into the box, he jumped right in.  I was able to carry him to the car so I could take him to the vet.

Thankful

I was grateful to find out that Cuddles did not have a broken neck or back.  He had several puncture wounds but they didn’t want to stitch them but allow them to drain.  The doctor gave him a muscle relaxer painkiller and an antibiotic for him to take.

Cuddles was in major pain and didn’t do a whole lot for a couple of days but he has recovered.  It did change him and he will never be the same but that is what life experience does to all of us.  Just like us, when injuries happen they change our lives.  Cuddles also lost a friend and you could see the pain in his eyes and the depression that came over him.

It made me think

It started me thinking about the verse that says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” 1 Peter 5:8.  He is seeking to destroy each one of us.  Satan has a goal in mind and it is not in your best interest.

How vigilant are we?  I know I can say for myself I am not as vigilant as I should be.  He can be so subtle.  I am sure that Prince wasn’t suspecting that he would die that day.  And when we start our day we don’t often don’t suspect that our spiritual walk will suffer that day when we feel too busy to take time with the Lord.  But without even seeing it coming our spiritual life is dead.

And the reality is that we can even be spending “time” with God and still be spiritually dead.  Has it just been a duty to spend that time or a routine that you know you should do?  Or are you having an intimate connection with God during that time?  We need to check ourselves and make sure we are connected and if not take the time to reevaluate our life and make changes.

Why me

Then there is another question.  How many people around us have been torn up spiritually by that roaring lion and need help?  But is that my responsibility?  Why does it have to be me?  How do I do it and what is the priority?

Thinking back on my situations with the dogs maybe there is an answer.  There was a dog torn, bleeding, and dead and there was a dog wounded and in much pain.  There was absolutely nothing I could do for the dog that was dead but bury him.  I couldn’t miraculously bring him back to life, only God can do that work.  As I saw it, the emergency at hand, was to take the one that was wounded to the person that could help him in his time of crisis.

I believe the same is true of those around us.  If there is someone that is wounded but still hanging on to a thread of life, it is a crisis and an emergency.  If you don’t deal with it immediately, spiritual death is imminent.   We need to go into immediate action and bring them to the Great Physician for spiritual healing.  It will take time for recovery just like it did for Cuddles.  We have to realize it will take much care, love, prayer, acceptance, and most importantly time, they can come around.  It may not even be in our lifetime but we know God is able and we trust His healing powers.

I remember

One person that was a real praying person in my life was my grandma.  And I remember how she prayed for her children, particularly one of her sons.  Many years after she had passed away her son, on his deathbed, gave his heart fully to God.  Each person has the power to choose and God can’t force anyone but as we continue to pray He will continue to work.

It brought me comfort to know that she prayed for all of us and how much faith and hope she had in God and His ability to answer her prayers.  And although she is resting in the grave until Jesus comes I believe God is continuing to honor her prayers for her family.  I believe prayer is the key to opening the storehouses of heaven.  In other words, God will pull out all the stops for the salvation of just one person.

But what about…

Now the question is what about Prince, the dead dog?  How can I apply this to someone dead spiritually?  Can they be brought back to life?  Well, for Prince my son made a special box for the burial, dug a hole, then we had a moment of prayer and buried him.

When it comes to death, spiritually speaking, it will take much prayer, love, compassion, acceptance, and time.  It takes the same formula as for the wounded that are hanging on spiritually by a thread.  Often it is the faults of others that have caused a person to be devoured by the roaring lion, Satan.  It is a time for reflection and making sure we are in alignment with God and His love.

What can we bury

Is there something we can bury when it comes to someone dead spiritually?  I believe there is more than one thing that needs to be buried.  Let’s start with self.  It is so easy to look at others and see the problems and we think we have the answers, “if they would just do this or that.”  Or maybe we think they need to change and we have the answers for them.  Let’s bury those thoughts right now.  We need to get back to thinking, “What would Jesus do?”  Yes, we have all heard this saying and it has become a saying without meaning.  But the answer is still there.

If we dig into the Word and study the life of Christ on earth, we will find how He treated people that had serious problems.  The people with serious problems, whether physical or spiritual were drawn to Jesus.  Are people with serious problems drawn to you?  This is a question we need to ask ourselves.  And by the way, the majority of the time the physical problems will go away when the emotional and spiritual issues are addressed.  We can see this process in the life of Christ and His ministry.  It takes much prayer, love, compassion, acceptance, and time.  It is God that does the work, we are just His instruments.  He is the one that knows the timing and what is fully needed for any particular person.

What else…

You may be asking the question, “Great but what else needs to be buried?”  Eventually, the person you’re praying for, loving, showing compassion to, and making them feel accepted through their struggle, will want to bury something.  There is something that has died that they will want to bury so that it doesn’t come back.

They have been torn and they have been bleeding and death has come to their spiritual lives.  But because of your prayers, love, compassion, and your smile of acceptance, they are ready to bury those things that have wounded them.  The things that have drained the last bit of life out of them, they are ready to let go of and let the love and blood of Christ fill their souls.  It is us allowing the power of Christ to work through us.

So many…

There are so many souls that are hurting, ready to end their life forever.  The numbers seem insurmountable but you can start right here.  There is someone within your sphere that is experiencing either just barely hanging on for dear life or is dead spiritually.  And being dead spiritually will eventually bring physical death sooner than we want to have it happen.

Let’s put our time into that soul that is closest to us.  Don’t worry about what others may say or think about your choices.  This can become the most important focus you have and others may not understand.  But there is One that does understand.  Let Him lead and guide you.

Much prayer is needed.  We need to be praying for God’s leading in our lives so that we can see the wounded and dying around us.  It is so easy to just go day to day without thought or notice, oblivious to those around us.  When we are told to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), there is a reason.  We need to have our thoughts so connected with God that at any moment we will be lifting up a prayer when needed.  And being connected is the only way we will hear God’s voice as He leads us.

Dear Father,

Thank You that You are always there for us and that You see all our hearts. Give us eyes that see people as You see people. As we go through our day, give us Your love to extend to those in need. Continue to prompt our hearts to stay connected with You so that we can reflect Your love.

Be with those that are hanging on by a thread or are dead spiritually. Surround them with Your Angels, protecting them from the devouring lion that seeks to destroy them. Protect us and guard us so that we don’t become a source of their discouragement but only reflect Your love. We know only You can read hearts but we sometimes forget and judge anyway.

Thank You for Your continual grace and mercy toward all.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your eyes on Jesus and stay so connected that you reflect His love. Let’s not let another day go by letting someone slip away.

And if you are just hanging on by a thread or even feel totally “dead” reach out to someone that can help you through this difficult time.

I love you all!

What about you? Have you struggled at times where you have felt like you are hanging on by a thread? What helped you through your situation? Share in the comments. Are you going through hard times right now? Share your story so that we can be praying for you and there may be someone here reading that can relate to your story and be of help to you.

I am working on moving my blog over to another platform where I post blogs that cover every aspect whether spiritual, physical, or emotional health.  If you would like to continue getting these blogs please go and subscribe at Revitalizing Your Health

 

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The Most Amazing Thanksgiving Ever!

Thankful!

I think we all have a lot to be thankful for if we are willing to look. Often we can get so caught up in the struggles of life that we can’t see beyond our negative or discouraging thoughts. But Thanksgiving is a day that can help us to reflect.

Think back for a moment to what the Pilgrims had been through before their first Thanksgiving. They had escaped persecution to come to a country where they lost so many of their loved ones. They were struggling just to survive. Yet God was with them through all the trials and struggles by providing help when they needed it most.

We can often not see the help that is provided through the tough times but if we are willing to look back or even pay attention amid the trials we can see it. But too often we want to hang on to the negative instead of finding the positive. We complain about the trials and hardships and take for granted all the good that comes our way like we deserve it or it is owed to us.

Tradition

Thanksgiving seems to have become more of a tradition. And to be honest it has kind of gotten lost in Christmas. Christmas has become the moneymaker of the century so Thanksgiving, well it is just a day.  It is a day of gluttony and maybe family togetherness. But it is a day we should choose to be thankful.

For me, I have often dreaded it because there is so much work involved. But over the years I have realized less time and effort put into preparing is okay. It is really about being together with friends and family and reflecting on what we are grateful for.

Grateful

What am I the most grateful for this year? I am most grateful for the love and mercy of God. Where would we be without it? I see myself often taking His love and care for granted. And when something doesn’t go the way I want it, I question His ways.

The longer I live I realize if I would just stop and reflect I can see His hand in all of it. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Yet He loves us so much, despite our sin, that He keeps coming and wooing us to Himself. He never gives up.

When I am feeling down, discouraged, and realizing I blew it again, I am still His daughter. He is right there beside me, guiding, comforting, prompting, and loving me. Who in this life even does that? Parents are the closest thing to possibly being like God to their children. But as parents, we fail in so many ways. But God’s love never fails.

Hard to Fathom

God’s love is so hard to even fathom. Because no matter what we do He still loves us. We may crucify Him afresh every day but He is still there reaching out His love to us. He wants so bad to have a relationship with us.

Jesus gave up the majesty of Heaven to come down to a place like this. He was born in a stable with beasts of the field. He was ridiculed, bullied, tempted, and was killed but yet He never stopped loving each person. How can we even begin to thank a God with such a magnitude of love?

What God wants is our hearts. He wants to have a connection with us. A connection that is so strong that we will no longer want to do anything that will hurt Him. This is a love that only He can give to us. He provides us with the love to love Him. It is hard for my mind to even wrap around that kind of love. He will do the work in us if we allow Him in. Now that is something to be grateful for!!

Resolution

How many of us make a New Years’ resolution? Probably a lot of us have or still do. Well, this year I am making my resolution on Thanksgiving. My daughter has wanted to have a thankful jar. As we think of things to be thankful for, throughout the year, we write them on a piece of paper and put them in the jar. We did it a little one year but I want to make it more of a habit. So when we come together again next Thanksgiving we can look back over our year and reflect on what we have been grateful for. And we will see how God loves, cares, and provides for our every need.  It isn’t always easy but I am committing to start now.

Dear Father,

Forgive us for not being as thankful as we should be. Prompt our hearts each day, showing us You and what You are doing in our lives. We can be so blind and we need Your help. Thank You for being there for us every step of the way.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I encourage you to start a thankful tradition.

May you have the most amazing Thanksgiving ever!

Love you all.

Do you have a thankful tradition? If so I would love to hear about it.

 

 

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I Can’t Help Myself!

Help!

Everywhere you turn there is negative.  We can’t seem to stay away from it.  At times, we may immerse ourselves so much into it that we lose sight of true life.  We can lose our happiness and it gets us off the track of where we need to be.

I can’t help myself I have to say something!  Is this the life that God has intended for us, a life of getting distracted by who said what, when, and how?  Does He want us to have a life of trying to discover what is wrong with any particular person, life, entity, church, business, etc.?  For me, the answer is no.  And by the way, to investigate evil people or entities to convince one’s self that there is something wrong with them is not the form of “truth” I want to immerse my life in.

Truth

First, let’s start with the truth.  What is truth?  How can you know what truth is? If you are not present in any given situation how can you know what was said or done? 

Some may say, “I googled it.”  Oh really, so that is our form of truth now.  Some say, “Well, _______ said it so it has to be true.”  So how did you come to trust whatever person you are putting your trust in?  Do you know them or do they just seem to agree with your views? 

The truth I want to immerse my life in is the truth of God’s Word.  I want to spend a thoughtful hour each day studying the life of Jesus, especially those last scenes.  The scenes in Gethsemane, the trial, His death on the cross, and the fact that He rose again, are the themes I want to focus on.  I want to fill my thoughts with understanding the love that He has for me.  And not just for me but for all people. 

Our thoughts

Our thoughts are so very powerful.  Somewhere around nine-tenths of all diseases have their foundation in the mind.  Our thoughts affect our bodies.  And if our thoughts are on negative themes it causes so much havoc to our everyday lives and eventually destroys our health.

It could be unrest in our country or home.  There could be someone we have not forgiven, and it could even be ourselves.  Anything in our life that is eating us like a canker, eating our very souls, weakening the life forces.  Even remorse for sin sometimes undermines our constitutions and unbalances the mind.

Why do we think we are all-powerful?  And you may be saying, “I don’t think I am all-powerful.”  Well, I would beg to differ.  We may not say it or think we think it but our actions say otherwise.  Somehow our human nature wants to learn about all the bad, ugly, wrong, evil, etc. in this world and then try to convince others not to get involved with it, whatever it is.  And we may get discouraged or even angry at times because someone doesn’t believe or agree with what we are trying to convince them to believe or think.  And all these things just destroy our health, whether it is physically, spiritually, or emotionally.

Critics

Oh, I can hear the critics now.  “You can’t live by your emotions.”  The fact is God gave emotions to us and I believe that it is our thoughts and feelings that make up our moral character.  And it starts with our thoughts.  If our thoughts are not in the right place, our emotions are affected, and thus our physical and spiritual health as well.  This is why I believe it is so important to keep our thoughts and our lives focused on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. Philippians 4:8.  Oh, I don’t think I am perfect here at all, I am speaking to myself as well when I write these words.

This brings me back to what is truth?  Pilate asked Jesus this question at His trial.  But Pilate wasn’t willing to wait for an answer from the One that could have shown Him the truth.  He was too busy listening to the people and worried about his political standing.  Pilate was not focused on truth.  He did try to persuade the people of what he thought might be the truth but instead, he was persuaded to go with the most popular opinion and he crucified the Savior.

The solution

I believe the solution is keeping our eyes focused on Jesus.  We need to be keeping our thoughts on His Word.  And spend time in nature, where He can teach us so many spiritual lessons.  God has spiritual lessons all around us through His Word and nature if we would just open our eyes and behold Him. 

God’s Word is our measuring stick to everything.  When we start to point out the bad of this or that thing or this or that person, the question should be is it virtuous and praiseworthy.  Is it going to strengthen and edify my spiritual life and bring me closer to Christ?  We know it isn’t if we can admit it.

I haven’t known anyone yet when trying to prove their political or religious view, that they don’t become a finger pointer.  And their focus is not on the Savior.  I can guarantee that if you are genuinely focused on God and keep your mind on higher themes that you will know when the “counterfeit money” passes by and you will choose not to take part in it. 

I don’t know their method now but it use to be before you could be a bank worker you had to learn to watch for counterfeit money.  They never showed them the counterfeit money so they would know when the counterfeit money would come through.  They would have to memorize the genuine money.  The bankers became so familiar with the true money they recognized when the counterfeit money passed by them.  Remember the counterfeit is always changing.  You have to stay connected and memorize that which never changes, which is God and His Word.

Do something!

There are so many people that are hurting right now!  The suicides are happening daily, even more than ever before.  Look at the life of Jesus.  He didn’t spend much time investigating or focusing on those in leadership positions.  He focused on those around Him that needed Him.  Jesus focused on those that were hungry physically and spiritually.   He spent time ministering to others and their needs.  And He didn’t discuss with them the evils of the day.

We get so caught up with what is happening around us, discussing the right and wrongs of the church or political leaders, or whether this or that is wrong, that we are missing what we should be caring about.  People are dying because they lack hope.  We should have a hope that is burning within our hearts that we can share with others as the opportunity presents itself. 

“But wait a minute, don’t I have a responsibility to point out others in their bad behavior?”   No, stop right there!  You are not responsible for others and their bad behavior.  We are seed planters!  Our lives should be a witness to the love of God.  As we live a life of love and service and share loving and kind words as the opportunity presents itself, God does the work.  We can’t change people; only God can make the changes if they cooperate with Him.  Even God doesn’t force anyone or try to convince anyone of the truth.  So why do we try to do something that God doesn’t even do?

We were not placed on this earth to convince people of what is right or wrong.  Christ is our example!  We need to go study the life of Christ and learn from Him about how to minister to those around us.  And quit looking at how other people are ministering to others.  God has called everyone to minister.  But it is not our place to tell people what it is for them. 

Jesus experienced his disciples condemning someone that was witnessing for Him but wasn’t following Jesus and He rebuked them.  His disciples were referring to a man that was casting out devils in Jesus’ name.  But Jesus let them know to leave him alone, those that aren’t against us are for us. (Mark 9:38 or Luke 9:49). 

Oh but…

I am hearing it now.  Someone is saying, Oh, but don’t we have a responsibility to speak or write to a leader, whether a church, political, or whatever leader they may be, and point out the wrongs?  There may be a place where we should stand up and speak or vote for the right issues.  But this should not consume our lives.  Do what you need to do and in a Christ-like manner so that Jesus can reach their hearts.  And then leave it in God’s hands and leave it alone.

I am speaking out of experience and I have been making changes in my life so that these things don’t control me.  The devil doesn’t care how he gets us distracted,  just as long as he can get our minds off of the real goal.  Our real goal in life is to stay close to Jesus so that our lives so reflect Him that it draws all men to Him.

Dear Father,

With all that is happening around us, it is so easy to get distracted.  We need You to surround us and keep bringing us back to the goals You have for us.  Speak to our hearts as we plant Your seeds of love to all of those around us, reflecting only You.  It is so easy to want to fit into one group or another that we lose focus of You.  Prompt our hearts and bring us back to the right focus.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Let’s get back to Christ’s method of love and plant seeds daily.

Love you all!

Have you felt the urge to change your focus?

 

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Are You Ready For What is Coming?

Ready or not

We have all heard the saying, “Ready or not here it comes”.  This is so true when winter is coming.  It is going to come whether you are ready or not and it is up to you to be ready.  This was my experience this winter.

The weather app was predicting snow.  And it wasn’t just like 25, 30, or even 50% chance.  It was predicting a 100% chance of snow and with an accumulation.  We had known this for a few days.  And I even said, “I need to get my studded tires on.”

Now I know for those that don’t live in snow country and mountains you may not even know what I am talking about but for where I live it is necessary.  For me to get home, I have to either have studded tires or put chains on to go up to our mountain home.  I put chains on for a few years but I have no desire to do that anymore.  And I don’t even own chains for my car.

Yep, it happened

You know you always question and wonder if the weatherman is right.  Are you going to trust what he says or just take your chances?  Well, some people keep hoping for another day and don’t follow through with what really needs to be done.

The morning of the prediction I went to work as usual.  No snow and the roads were fine.  But when I came out of work there was a good 5 or 6 inches of snow on my car and I knew that meant even more where I live.  I did have a coat and gloves but I was not equipped with boots (always a good thing to carry with you in case you can’t make it home and you have to walk).

The frustration kicked in as I started to clean my car off, knowing I would have to drive home with tires that were not fit for winter driving.  The roads were one aspect but the worst was being able to drive up our long hill to our house.  But I had no choice at this point.  Thankfully I made it home without a huge amount of trouble.

It made me…

My experience made me start to think.  We knew the snow was coming but made no effort to get prepared.  What about Jesus soon coming?  We know it is coming!  We don’t know exactly when He is coming but we know it will happen.  The same is really true of the snow.  There may be a prediction but a lot of times they are off by hours and sometimes days.  But we know the season and recognize the signs that winter is coming soon.

The reality is that we also know the signs of Jesus coming and it is at hand.  Are we preparing like He is coming or are we too caught up in life to notice?  We might even be ignoring it because we aren’t ready and we don’t want to take the time and effort at this point in our lives.  I think we need to start rethinking our priorities, at least I know I do.

I didn’t get my tires on in time and it was a struggle to get home but I made it.  But if we are not prepared when Jesus lays down His Priestly duties of interceding for us to come and get us to take us home and we are not ready, what a sad day that will be.  I can feel that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about it.  But does it make us seek Him more?  Are we ignoring the signs?

This hit home

For me this illustration God showed me hit home hard.  It is so easy to get caught up in day-to-day life that we miss the signs or just plain ignore them.  And it is so easy to get distracted by the things around us.

So what should we be doing?  Should we be keeping up with all that is going on around us so we can “see the signs”?  What about my job should I quit?  Should I stop doing and living a somewhat normal life?

Although I don’t know whether God would want you to quit your job and do something different, one thing I do know is that we do have to keep living even though things around us may seem to be falling apart.  I still had to go to work even though I knew it was going to snow, but I could have been prepared.  And just like I should have been prepared for the snow I can be prepared each day for Jesus coming.  We never know when our last day will be, we have to be prepared always.

Dear Father,

We know that Your coming is soon.  But it is so easy to get caught up with all the things around us that we don’t even give You the time of day.  Surround us with Your Angels that can keep back the one that wants to distract us.  Prompt our hearts daily with your Spirit, helping us to keep our eyes focused on You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Come to the cross each day and surrender your life to the One who can bring you through.

Love you all!

Share a time when you should have been ready for something because you knew it was coming and you weren’t ready? What did you learn?

 

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Spiritually B A L A N C E D Part 1 of 8

I talked about having balance in our lives both spiritually and physically.   Now I am starting a series in both areas.  I pray that each one will be a blessing to you as we all grow.

Balanced!

In any of our lives, it can be difficult to have balance but it is crucial that we do what we can to create balance in our lives.  In this series on being balanced in our spiritual lives I will be covering these areas.

Be open to the Holy Spirit

Acknowledge that you’re a sinner

Lament for your sins

Allow God to work in your life

Nourish yourself with God’s Word

Commune with God

Exercise faith in God

Draw strength from God

In part one I will be focusing on Be open to the Holy Spirit.

Be open

After Jesus died for our sins and went back to heaven He sent us the great gift of the Holy Spirit.  And we cannot do anything without the Holy Spirit.  Christ works in our lives through the Holy Spirit and as Jesus said, “…Without me ye can do nothing…” John 15:5.

It is the Holy Spirit that draws our hearts and does the work within our hearts.  We wouldn’t even know anything about God and His love for us if the Spirit didn’t draw us.  He may impress others to share their testimonies, pray with us, or even share some truths from the Bible.  I call this seed planting.  But Jesus makes those seeds grow through the power for he Holy Spirit.

God never forces anyone.  He draws but it is up to us to be open to His drawing.  I believe every one of us, if we are honest with ourselves, can think of a time that we felt the drawing of the Spirit.  And there are times we listen and other times we don’t.  I can think of different times in my life that I didn’t listen to that “…still small voice” 1 Kings 19:13.  He comes to us so gently.  It starts with Him every time.

Think of someone, it may have been you, who grew up not even knowing anything about God and who He is.  God is drawing their hearts through the Holy Spirit.  They don’t know what it is but at times they listen to that still small voice.  I recall my mom telling me about getting the impression that she should or shouldn’t do a particular thing as she was growing up even though she didn’t really know anything about God.  Now that she is a Christian she can look back in her life and see when those times were and what the Lord was trying to save her from.

I have given my heart

Once we have been drawn and learned about Jesus and what He has done for us and we accept Him, He continues to speak to our heart through the Holy Spirit.  Is it an audible voice?  At times it may be but for me mostly it has not been audible.  It is really hard to explain what it is but for those that have experienced it they know what I am talking about.  You might call it an impression.

For me, I always like to invite the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart through God’s Word.  As I read His Word the Spirit impresses me with those things that need to change in my life.  He has also spoken to me through individuals around me.  Sometimes when the Lord uses people we tend to not listen.  It can be a little more difficult but we need to be open to what others share with us.  Go before the Lord in prayer and ask the Lord if He is using the person to show you something.  If we are honest in our hearts we will know if it is from God or not.

What I love

What I really love about God is how caring He is.  He cares about everything in our lives and sends the Spirit to speak to us about the every day mundane things as well.  You would think that He would only care about the big things but not God He is interested in every part of our lives.  He wants to teach us that we can trust Him.  We don’t have to worry about anything that is going on around us.  He has our back.  And everything that happens will work together for our good, even though we can’t see it at the time.

What I realize is how much I really need to write down the things the Lord speaks to me about and whether or not I listened.  It would be good to be able to look back and see those things.

I remember one time when I was grocery shopping.  We all have our particular stores we go to and what we buy at each of those stores.  Well, this particular day I had an item that I wanted to get that I always bought at a particular store because it was less expensive.  I went to two other stores before I was going to the store where I would get that item.  At each of the previous stores I walked passed the very item and a little voice said, “Buy them here”.  But I was determined to get them at the store where it was less expensive.  You have probably figured this out already.  When I got to the store where I wanted to buy it, they were out.  It definitely would have made my life easier if I just would have listened.  But what amazes me about this story the most is that God cares about it.  He wants to help us with everything.  And it starts with listening to that still small voice.

Test the spirits

We do need to realize that there is more than one kind of spirit.  We need to be sure to test the spirits, whether they are of God.  Now obviously it wouldn’t matter to God if I buy a particular item at one store or another He is just trying to make my life easier.  But there are other things that do matter.  We need t always test the spirit by the Word of God.  Because there are evil spirits as well that can speak to us and people do mistaken it of the Holy Spirit.  But if we stay in God’s Word and test everything by His Word we will be safe.

This is why it is so important to spend time each day in God’s Word and in prayer.  We need to have knowledge that will help us discern the spirits throughout the day.  If we have hidden God’s Word within our hearts we will have the discernment that we need.

Dear Father,

We want to have Your Spirit drawing us.  It can be hard at times with our selfish hearts to listen but it is our hearts desire.  You have promised that You will never leave us or forsake us.  We claim that promise and ask for Your Spirit to soften our icebound natures that want to take over.

I pray that the mighty energies of Your Holy Spirit with all quickening, recuperative, and transforming power, may fall like an electric shock on our palsy-stricken souls, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, and restoring us fully from our dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Be opened to the Holy Spirit starting today!

Love you all!

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Mice, Birds, & Cats

Animals

I am sure most of us have had a cat sometime in our life, especially if you live in the country.  We want them around to get rid of those unwanted creatures called mice.  Mice are so dirty and germ-filled.  And I don’t want them around, especially in my house.

I don’t know about you but I struggle with the fact that they also want to have birds.  We have had a bird feeder over the years and I love to watch the birds eat.  It is also enjoyable to have your window open and hear their wonderful songs.  When I see the cat stalking a bird I try to get their attention on something else.

It seems they have such an attraction for birds because they are more visible and moving around more, especially this time of the year as they are building their nests.  The eye of the cat catches the movement and they are excited to have a bird.  They are going to stop that bird from having a life of abundance.  And if the bird is not diligent about watching his back he will be taken down.

Then the thought came

How can I think of this spiritually?  God can reveal to us amazing things through His nature.  I am so grateful for nature.  It is like a book and can be read.  Just like God can help us understand His Word, the Bible, He can also help us understand His Word, as spoken through nature.

I don’t know about your cats but ours seem to enjoy the birds more than the mice.  I think it is because the birds are more active and visible so it catches their eye.  As I was thinking about it I was thinking that birds could represent those that are striving to follow the Lord and the mice could represent those that do not know the Lord.  And of course, the cat would represent Satan and his evil angels.

Feeling attacked

Do you ever feel like your life is being attacked?  I mean you look around and see people that don’t seem to be following the Lord and their lives seem not so difficult.  At times this can seem frustrating.  We can even start to get discouraged and there are many that end up giving up on God because of it.

Let’s get something really clear here.  We can’t always see from the outside what is really going on in a person’s life.  They may look like they have everything and they have the world by the tail but they can be miserable.  How many times have you heard about someone who committed suicide and you were shocked because you thought they had it all together?  Looks can be so deceiving.

I believe everyone goes through struggles.  But it is true that if someone does not truly know the Lord the devil doesn’t spend as much time on him or her.  He feels he already has them in his grasp so he puts his focus on those that are striving to follow the Lord and those that are on the fence.

More visible

It seems that, just like the birds, if you know the Lord and have a connection with Him and you are more active in serving the Lord, you are more visible to the devil.  But we need to think about the fact that we are also more visible to those around us.  There should be something different about us that will attract people’s attention.  I mean how often are we attracted to the beauty of a bird versus looking at a mouse?

The beauty of a true Christ-like person attracts the attention of those around them because they feel a love that they have never experienced before.  But the devil also notices.  He doesn’t want us to attract people to the love of Christ.  So he gets in and tries to disrupt the followers of Christ in many ways.  He may get us so busy we do not have time to spend with God each morning so that we have that connection to help us through the day.  The devil sends things to try to trip us up so that we are not the witness we should be to those around us.

There is another thing that he does also, he tries to discourage us and even make us look at God as unfair and unloving.  He wants to do anything he can to get us to take our eyes off of our Lord and the love that He has for us so that he can pounce upon us and destroy us.

Others

Just like the mice are not left alone by the cats the devil doesn’t leave those who don’t know the Lord alone.  He still brings trouble into their lives to try and destroy them as well.  The devil doesn’t want them to notice that there is a better life.  Many are miserable and discouraged and don’t know where to turn.  They may even feel alone and that no one cares.

It doesn’t matter what a person’s status is in this world they can have a life that is so miserable and unhappy that they want it to end.  And without the knowledge that someone loves and cares about you, it would seem hopeless.  There are so many that are feeling this way, even more, today than normal.

Hope

There is hope for all.  There is hope for those that know God and are discouraged or angry with Him.  And there is also hope for those who do not know our loving Savior.  God is there to comfort and strengthen us.

What do we need to do?  The one thing that we have to do is trust God.  This can be difficult to do!  I still struggle with this concept at times.  This can be very difficult for someone who has never had anyone in their lives that loved them or they could trust.  How can a person understand the love of God?  It can be difficult.

I come from the perspective that the Bible is the Word of God.  I believe His Word has come from Him and that, “…Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” 2Peter 1:21.  And then they wrote it down for us to be able to read and study.

There are so many stories that show us how much God loves us.  And the most amazing of those stories is the story of Jesus.  God loved us so much “…that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” John 3:16, 17.  What amazing love!!

The best place to start is in the gospels.  Here is where we can learn more about the love of God and His Son, Jesus.  And we can also learn what kind of life we should live.  It is a life of love.  We should be showing to others the same type of love that Christ shows to us.  But we can only do this as we allow Him to work through us.

We need to realize that no matter what the devil has to throw at us we still belong to Jesus and He will make “…All things work together for good to them that love God…” Romans 8:28.  This is a great promise to cling to when we are going through rough times, realizing that when we come out the other side we are as gold tried in the fire.  “…When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” Job 23:10.

Dear Father,

Help me to be grateful for the trials.  I do want to thank You for the promises that you give me to cling to during the time of trial.  Thank You that You love me so much that You continue to allow things that refine my character even though I may not like it.  Help me to realize that as I become more active in Your service that the devil wants to bat me down but that You are there to defend and fight for me.

Thank You for loving everyone no matter where they are in their Christian walk or even if they don’t know you yet.  And I am also grateful that You even continue to love those that have rebelled against You and that You continue to woo their heart to You.

Thank You for all You do for me and continue to direct my path.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Cling to Jesus today no matter what the devil is doing to try and bat you out of the air.  When you know the Lord you are His and He will fight for you as you lean on Him so that you can keep flying and singing the beautiful song of salvation.

If you haven’t met Jesus feel free to reach out to me and I will help you learn about Him.

Love you all.

As a Christian, have you ever felt like the devil is trying to bat you down?  What did you do about it and what was the outcome?

Share below we would love to hear your story.

 

 

 

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“I Am Glad You Have…?”

Sick!

I don’t know anyone that likes to be sick.  Now there are those that may pretend to be sick to get off work or school.  But if they are truly sick they are definitely not excited!

Recently, my daughter got sick.  And not only was it not exciting for her I was not too happy about it either.  Now is not the time to get sick with anything because of the pandemic that is taking place right now.  It causes your life to turn upside down.  Life changes and there is nothing you can do about it.

I had to call my work and let them know what was happening.   Naturally, they wanted me and my son, who also works there, to stay home.  “Until we know what she has we can’t allow you to be here and possibly put the rest of us at risk.”

And what did they do?  They scoured the place, Lysol, alcohol, sanitizing wipes, you name it they did it.  Because there is a fear of getting the deadly sickness that can change your life.  There are a lot of sicknesses that can be contagious and it can be good to take precautions so that you don’t get sick.   The biggest one is to keep your immune system strong.

Now one thing I want to be clear about here before I go on.  I am not writing this to take any side about what is true or not true about what is going on in our world today.  But what I want to do is derive a lesson that we can learn.  And in order to derive that lesson we are going to assume in this writing that what is being said is true, this sickness is deadly and you don’t want to get it.  I am not saying I necessarily believe that I am trying to show a spiritual lesson that we can derive from anything that comes into life.  And there are many!

What do I do now?

After calling my work and being band I wanted answers.  I was not going to sit around for 14 days to see what the outcome was I wanted to be proactive on getting this resolved so I could go back to work.

My next step was to call our family physician!  I told them, “My daughter has a fever and a really bad sore throat.  I need to figure out what the problem is so I can go back to work.”  I was informed that a nurse would need to call me back and ask some questions because they were not allowing anyone in the office with certain symptoms.  If she had certain symptoms I would have to take her somewhere else to be tested.

I waited for several hours for a callback but it finally came.  The questions were simple and because I could say no to all three they made an appointment for me to bring her into the doctor’s office.  We were grateful when she was diagnosed with something that you would normally not rejoice over.  But with what is happening in our world today what she was diagnosed with was better than the alternative.

It made me think

Then I got to thinking about sin in the life.  We often look at sin as if there are different categories.  We may think the sin of gossip is not as bad as murder so we are grateful that we may only have the gossip issue.  There are so many other examples that I could give but I think you get the idea.  But in God’s eyes, all sin is the same.  The sins that we think as “little” can be more dangerous to our spiritual life.  It can eat away at our spiritual life little by little without detection.

A disease of the body is like a sin to the spiritual life.  No matter what disease or sickness you have it takes you down physically.  The same is true with sin.  No matter what the sin is it has an effect on our spiritual life.  And just like some physical illnesses are contagious sin is contagious.  That is why it is so important to keep our immune systems strong and keep things out of our lives that lower our immune systems.

Now what?

What is the answer to our dilemma, whether it be physical or spiritual? The answer is really the same.  You need to build your immune system and do things that will support your immune system, whether physical or spiritual.

I am not here to talk about the physical or spiritual immune boosting ideas in-depth but I want to give a snippet to what is coming.  What about our physical and spiritual immune systems?  What can we do to help keep ourselves physically and spiritually well? I have an acronym that I have created to help us look at what things we can do to keep our immune systems strong, whether it is physically or spiritually.  We have to have a B A L A N C E D life in both of these areas.

Physical                                            Spiritual

Bed Time                                        Be open to the Holy Spirit

Aqua                                                 Acknowledge that you’re a sinner

Light                                                 Lament for your sins

Air                                                      Allow God to work in your life

Nutrition                                         Nourish yourself with God’s Word

Control                                           Commune with God

Exercise                                         Exercise faith in God

Dependence on God               Draw strength from God

God has no fear

When it comes to our physical or spiritual lives God has no fear of us coming to Him.  We don’t have to call up the Great Physician and ask if it is okay to come to Him.  He has no fear of “catching” what we have. We can come to Him at any time and He will be there for us.  There is nothing that is beyond His knowledge or control.  What a blessing!  He can take care of any disease, whether it is of a physical nature or a spiritual one.

God does not always promise to heal us physically but He does promise to heal us spiritually.  Spiritual healing is the most important.  If we die physically we have a great hope of the resurrection but if we die spiritually we have lost that hope.  I want to be healed spiritually!  How about you?

Dear Father,

Praise Your name that You are the great healer and You can heal us both physically and spiritually.  I am so grateful that I can trust You with my life.  And I am grateful that nothing comes into my life unless You allow it and it is for my good.  Thank You for Your unfailing love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your spiritual immune system in tacked by connecting with God each day.

Love you all!

What do you do to help keep your spiritual immunity up?  Share below.

 

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“Ruth, You Were a Hero to Many!!”

Hero?

What is a hero?  Is it someone famous, wealthy, known by millions, etc.?  The dictionary’s definition is, “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.”  Probably your definition of a hero may be different than mine or even the dictionary.  We all have our own thought of what a hero is to us.  But most people if you were to ask them who their hero was they would have someone.  My definition of a hero is someone that is close to God.  And when you are around them you feel the love of God shining through them.  It doesn’t mean they are perfect but that they are striving for being the best person they can be with the help of God.

Life changes…

Life changes so quickly!!  We have lost another friend.  In one weekend we lost two friends.  This friend has lived a long life and was a very special lady.  She was an encouragement to all.  It would be hard to even put down on paper what she meant to all of us.  She was so kind and loving and accepting of all.  Thankfully she went peacefully and in a position she was very familiar with, prayer.

She was at our church for many a year.  But then moved away a few years ago so she could be near her family.  She came for a visit recently and it was so nice to see her.  As I ponder how she looked she didn’t really look any different, she looked great.  I am so thankful we all got to see her one last time and that we got to see her how we remember her, full of life.

Homeschooling

I remember years ago as I was struggling to homeschool my children.  It seemed that there was so much work that was given, especially in math.  There were so many problems to accomplish in a day that it would take up most of the morning.  It was tough and discouraging.

So as a homeschooling mom and Ruth being a retired teacher she was helpful.  I remember when she told me that as a teacher they never finished books.  She shared with me that they never did every math problem in each lesson.  That took such a stress off of me.  I would push my kids way beyond what was necessary so that we could finish the book.  And I guess mostly we still finished the book but we would skip some parts, especially in math.  What this special lady said to me helped my children and me.

My children

She so much cared for each one in our family as well as everyone around her.  When she was here for the visit recently she told me how she still had Valentine’s card that my son, Michael, gave to her.  She treasured it.  She got to tell my son as well, which was a blessing to him as he heard the news of her death.  Many years ago Michael remembers getting a letter from her that was in the shape of a fish he has fond memories of her.  She was so caring.

Jeffrey, Aaron, and Caleb also remember getting letters from her.  When I asked each one of my young people what they remembered about Ruth, the letters she wrote was their first response.  The other thing that stuck out in their minds was when she would preach.  She always gave out a paper to each one of the children with 3 or 4 words on it.  They were to keep track of how many times she said those words.  Then after the service, she would count them and see if they got all the times that she said them.  During the week they would get a little card from her with compliments on how they did.  It was special to them.

She loved children and helped out at many Vacation Bible Schools.  She told the Bible stories and the kids just loved it.  One of the things that Jeffrey and Aaron remember is that before she would tell her story she would tell all the children to look at her and stay looking at her.  She would point to the bridge of her nose and tell them to keep their eyes there.  When someone would quit looking at her she would stop talking until everyone’s full attention was on her.

She also headed up a family class at our church when there were not enough kids to have a division.  All the families with children gathered together and she taught them all. She was able to reach from the youngest to the oldest.  There was a presence about her that drew everyone’s attention without her saying a word.

My daughter does not remember as much about her as she was younger but one thing I remember is how she opened her home for a baby shower for my daughter.  She opened her home many times for many people.

Elderly

When we first got to know Ruth she was elderly, in her 70’s.  But she had a burden for the elderly.  She faithfully planned a service once a month at the local care center besides visiting there other times during the week.  It seemed to me that even though she had a heart for all people that the elderly had a special place in her heart.  I don’t think she really considered herself elderly.  She kept her mind until the end and even was still driving, not many can say that.

The other thing that she did was memorize scripture.  She could quote whole chapters from the Bible.  When she would go to a care center she would often quote from memory large portions Scripture.  I can’t remember what it was now but I do remember her quoting a lengthy portion from Scripture for a sermon once.  It was so amazing to watch.

Music

Ruth loved music.  She never wanted music to be left out.  And she loved to sing.  There was just one problem.  She could not carry a tune and she had no problem admitting to the fact.  Although she could not carry a tune I can say it still was not that difficult to sing next to her because she did not sing all over the board like some that can’t carry a tune.  She pretty much stuck to one note or maybe two.  But it did not stop her from praising the Lord.  I, along with many others, are looking forward to the day when we are before the throne of grace and we get to hear the most melodious voice of Ruth.  She will be singing with such gratitude to God for His love and mercy.

Being that Ruth was a teacher she was a planner.  She even had a plan for her memorial service.  Planned out was the songs she wanted, the speaker, the players, the singers, and some of what she wanted said.  My son, Caleb and I had the honor of being on her list to sing.  We added in my daughter, who Ruth never got a chance to hear sing.  When I was asked if we would be willing to sing, I told them how can I say no?  It was a great honor.

Praying

She was a praying woman, a person of great faith, and she prayed for many!!  I can’t imagine how much time she must have spent in prayer.  But it had to be a lot because she prayed for so many people.  I believe that is one reason she lived to be almost 96 years old.  She trusted God implicitly; at least that is how it seemed to me.  I’m sure she must have had her time of worry but she sure didn’t show it.

Prayer is the key that opens the storehouse of heaven where God is waiting and willing to pour out His blessings into our lives and Ruth knew that.  Even at the end of her life, she was found kneeling by her bed.  There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the last thing that she was doing before she died was praying.  And I believe all her prayers will ascend before the Father continually even though she is resting until He comes.

Hero

To me, Ruth was a true hero.  She never looked at herself as a hero or even considered herself anyone special.  But what made her a hero to me was her connection with Jesus.  She reflected the character of Jesus to those around her.  Was she perfect?  No, she made her mistakes.  But she would also humble herself when the Lord spoke to her heart. Humans are not perfect and we should never put people on a pedestal.  But sometimes the only Jesus people meet is the Jesus that is reflecting through us.  And Ruth was one of those people.  She reflected the love of Jesus to all.  People felt her love and felt accepted of her.  She is resting awaiting the voice of Jesus to call her name.  And I know that there are many of us that want to be there when her name is called.

Are you…

So the question is are you ready?  Are you reflecting the love of Jesus to others?  The connection that we have with our Heavenly Father is the most important connection that we can have.  I know that Ruth wants to see all those she loved in heaven with her.  But she also wants to see all those she has never even met.  That is just who Ruth was, she loved all.  What is our legacy going to be?  I pray that I can have a legacy of love.

Dear Father,

Comfort those who are hurting.  We all miss Ruth but I know her family is hurting the most because of this loss so give them extra special comfort.  Thank you for giving Ruth such a long life to share Your love with others.  May she rest in peace until You come.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.

Draw close to Jesus so that you can reflect His love to others.

Love you all.

Did you know Ruth?  How did she bless your life?