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“Amazing!”

Nature!

I don’t know about you but I love nature.  Nature has so much to offer us in its beauty as well as in the lessons that we can learn.  And although nature is not what it once was it seems very beautiful to us because this is all we have known.  Can you imagine what it must have been like before sin?  The green was probably greener and the blue of the sky more vibrant.  Every color would have been so beautiful with no taint of sin.  There was no death before sin so there would have been no taint of death in anything.

It makes me think of what it must have been like for Adam and Eve after they sinned.  There had never been death before and when they started to see things die it must have been heartbreaking for them.  In the fall we love the change in the color of the leaves because we see it as beautiful.  But for Adam and Eve when they saw death it must have been very sad for them.  They had never seen death and it must have been astonishing.

Natures Beauty

Despite sin and the ugliness that can be in nature, there is still some wonderful beauty.  A few days ago we were driving along and there beside the road was some elk.  Their beauty was amazing.  They had their new coats that were sleek and perfect.  Their coats can look so bad at certain times of the year but when they are covered with a new coat the beauty shines through.

I am always amazed when I see all the beauty of the newness of nature.  It makes me long for heaven!  I would love to just walk up to the animals in nature.  To look them in the eye and pet their beautiful coats would be amazing.  I think the time for that could be coming sooner than we think.

Then I thought…

As I was thinking about the beautiful elk it made me think of us as Christians.  When we come to Christ and surrender our lives to Him, He will cover us with His righteousness.  The beauty of our lives will shine forth to others and the beauty of His righteousness will draw them.  As we are reflecting the beauty of His righteousness others will be drawn to us.  They will want to spend time with us just like we have a drawing to nature and want to spend time with the beauty of nature.

There are people born and grow up in the big city and they never see the animals in nature.  They may see some in a zoo but they never experience seeing them in their natural environment.  It is the same way in the spiritual realm.  The only opportunity for some people to get a glimpse of Jesus is through the life of a Christian reflecting His righteousness.  Their lives are in the big city of sin and they don’t have the opportunity to see anything different accept as they come in contact with a surrendered Christian.

As we live our lives, we need to keep in mind that people are watching us.   What we reflect has an impact on their lives as well as our own.  The only way we can reflect Him is to stay connected with Him.  Spend time in prayer, the study of His Word, and gratefulness.  If we really meditate on what He has done for us the gratefulness will just overflow.

Dear Father,

Thank You, as we allow You into our lives, that You will reflect through us.  I am so grateful for Your loving kindness.  Your love is amazing!  Help us to stay within Your love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today.  Stay so connected with Him that your reflection to others will be Him.

Love you all.

Do you have a nature illustration?  Share below.

 

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“It’s Too Painful!!”

It’s painful!

There are a lot of things in life that come along that are painful.  We may even feel that they are too painful.  I am sure we have all been there.  Maybe you have lost a spouse, a child, or even had some kind of misfortune yourself that has left you maimed in some way.  We live in this sinful world and none of us escape pain, there are different forms but we all have experienced it.

I can’t imagine the pain of family and friends to a young woman killed in an accident and just a few days have gone by and there has been another accident where another person died.  These are sad and tragic.  And things happen sad and tragic like this every day all over the world.  It becomes even more of a reality when it happens to someone you know or is a friend to one of your friends.  It makes you realize how fragile life is.  We never know when something like this can directly affect us.

My heart pains for those that were at fault as well.  Can you imagine living with the fact that you killed someone?  It was a moment of misjudgment that you can’t take back.  Who knows the reasons for the misjudgments?  Maybe they were doing something that is against the law, texting, speeding, etc.  It definitely makes me think every time I go to do something.  Even doing something not against the law can distract us, depending on what state you are in.  Whatever the reasons it is tragic.

Life is short

It made me think about a connection between the accidents and how this can apply to me as a Christian.  We need to really think about how short life really is.  When we walk out the door each day, we never know if we are coming home again.  We may lose a loved one today as well.  The question is, do you have everything right with each person in your life?  Whether you’re the victim or the one that loses someone you will never be able to make things right again.  Or tell them how much you love them.

The other question to ponder is am I really ready to go.  Have I made everything right with God?  Am I living according to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God?  Do I love God with all my heart, soul and mind and my neighbor as myself?  We need to be having a moment-by-moment connection with Christ so that we will be ready when tragic hits.  We need to be fully surrendered to Him allowing Him to work in our lives.

Stumbling block

As Christians, are we going through life paying attention to what we are reflecting to others?  What you reflect to others could mean their eternal life or eternal death.  Are you distracted by worldly things that are giving others the thought that it is an appropriate thing to be doing as a Christian?

If I am driving along and I break one of the laws of the land and someone is killed the judgment is more severe than if I did something unknowingly.  As a Christian, we are held accountable for being a stumbling block to others.  What we do as a Christian says to others that what you are doing is acceptable to God.  We have a great responsibility as Christians to be a Christ-like witness to others.  Everything we do is a reflection on Christ Himself.  We don’t want to get to heaven and realize someone is not there because of our misjudgment that caused a tragic “accident” in their lives and they were eternally lost.  I think all of us have been there and done things that have not been the right kind of witness to others.  And I praise the Lord for His forgiveness.  We need to stay so connected with Christ that we reflect Him perfectly.

Dear Father,

We are faulty human beings.  Forgive us for those failures that have caused others to stumble.  Help us to stay so connected to You that we will reflect You perfectly because without You we are nothing.  Thank You that You never leave us or forsake us.  Be with those we may have injured in this life and draw their hearts to You.  Bring someone into their lives that will show them a good example of You.  Give us an opportunity to be that person again, reflecting You in the right way.  Thank You for Your patience and everlasting love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Fully surrender your life to Him today so that you can perfectly reflect Him.  Remember He does that work; we just need to allow Him.

Love you all.

How has God worked in your life and showed you the way?  I would love to hear your reflections.

 

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“Father’s Day”

Fathers

For some, Father’s Day is a very joyous day but for others, it speaks only pain.  Some fathers have children that adore them.  They have been a father of love and support to their children.  There are other fathers that have brought only pain and sorry to their children.  For those children, this day is a sad day.  Fathers have a great responsibility and in this sinful world not all accept that responsibility.  This is a sad fact.

My Father

My Dad has always been special to me.  I always remember him being there for me in every situation.  My Dad was always the spiritual leader in our home, guiding and protecting us.  I still go to him today for guidance and so appreciate his insights.  Unfortunately, I did not always listen to his counsel and when I didn’t I always suffered.  Our parents are much wiser than us but we somehow think that they just don’t understand.

I am reminded of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Satan tempted Eve into believing that God was just trying to withhold some good thing from them by not allowing them to eat from just that one tree.  And that is what the devil whispers into the ears of the young people. Your parents are just trying to withhold good things from you.  But the reality is, our parents love us and want the best for us.

I am grateful for a Dad, that may not be perfect, but that is growing in the love and grace of God and striving to serve Him.  And because he is I can have the confidence to seek counsel from him.

Show Honor

We need to show love and honor to our fathers.  Even if they have not been the fathers that they should have been we can still honor the position.  As it says in Exodus 20:12, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”  This command comes with a promise.

You may be saying, “My father is abusive.”  It is very difficult when a person has an abusive father.  What I would encourage you to do is think about his past life and why he may be what he is.  Was he abused also in his growing up years?  There is no excuse for abuse even if he was abused growing up as well but it can help you have a little more understanding.  If you are living in an abusive situation to seek help.  And the sad reality is, you will go on to do the same unless you have made a decided change in your thought patterns and allowing the Lord to have full control of your life.  These are generational sins that get passed down from one generation to another until someone makes a different decision.  I have seen it first hand.

Fathers

As fathers, you have a great responsibility.  You have a spiritual responsibility to your family to be a spiritual leader.  Notice I said leader, not a dictator.  The best way to lead is by example.  As it says in Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  And again in Colossians 3:21, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”

As fathers, you have so much responsibility and you can only do it by keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus.  Draw closer to Jesus, as you do this, you will become more like Him and your life will reflect His character.  And then and only then can you be the spiritual leader God would have you to be.

Dear Father,

Draw each of us closer to You so that we can honor our fathers in the way You would have us honor them.  And continue to draw that hearts of the fathers to their children as they fix their eyes upon You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Christ today and He will help you be who He wants you to be.

Love you all.

Do you have a story you could share about your father?  I would love to hear it.  Share in the comments below.

 

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“Perfect?!

Questions?

There are many questions that come to life.  I am sure as you read this you have already had some questions come to your mind.  There may be a question that you have thought about but maybe never asked.  And then there may be questions that you have asked many people and got a multitude of different answers so that in the long run you had to come to your own conclusion to what answer seemed right to you.

Here is a question that seems to hang around.  Since God knows the end from the beginning why did he create Lucifer or Adam and Eve?  After all, He knew they were going to sin.

God

It is so hard for our sinful human nature to comprehend the answers to some of these questions because we have a sinful nature and we can only speak or think from our sinful perspective.  But the reality is that God is perfect and there are things that are impossible for a Person Who is perfect to do.

God is perfect and has no bent to sin and because of this, He can do no wrong.  He has perfect love and perfect love cannot create only those that He knows will choose to serve Him.  He has to create all people and allow all people to make that choice.

Some say, “but no one would have ever known.”  God would have and His love is so perfect He cannot make this choice because that would be taking away the freedom of choice.

Comprehend

I know it is hard for our minds, in our human sinful nature, to comprehend such love.  But I am grateful to God for His perfect love.  Because of His perfect love, I am here and have the opportunity to choose Him.

There will always be skeptics, the devil will make sure of that.  But I choose to not listen to the skeptics and put my trust in a God Who loves me so much that He has done everything possible to save me.

Freedom of choice

Some say, “If God knows the end from the beginning then He already knows what choices everyone is going to make.”  And some seem to think because He knows that information that it somehow takes away the freedom of choice.

This problem made me think of one of our dogs.  We have a fenced in area for our dogs to be able to freely go out a doggy door and come and go as they please.  But I have pre-knowledge about something.  If there is any hole in the fence I know one of our dogs will go out that hole and run around the neighborhood.  But just because I know that information doesn’t make any difference in the fact that he will go out the hole.  Even though I have the knowledge he still has the freedom to stay in the fenced yard or to go outside of the fenced yard.

In the same way, God has given us freedom of choice.  And just because He knows whether or not we are going to go through the hole (choose sin or not) it is still our freedom to choose to go through or not.

Dear Father,

Your love is so incredible.  You are the One that has given everyone the chance to choose You.  Thank You for our right to choose and for sending Your Son to take my place, to take the penalty for sin.  As I keep my eyes on You and follow You wheresoever You go You will save me.  There is nothing that can really explain my gratitude to You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Choose God today.  Keep your eyes on the One that can save you.

Love you all.

I would love to hear from you.

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“I Think I’m Going To Be Sick!”

Sick!

Have you ever had this feeling in the pit of your stomach that you can’t explain?  Maybe as a kid, you realized that because you just made a bad choice your parents have decided to cancel something they had planned for you.  You have this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach realizing that you just missed out on the most amazing thing.  Maybe you’re like me when I got out to my car from a store and realized my daughter wasn’t with me.  She was young, maybe 6 or 7, at the time and it was the scariest feeling.  Talk about a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My daughter

It was around Christmas time.  Our family was in a store in the mall browsing.  We didn’t find what we needed so we headed out to our vehicle.  When we got there we realized our daughter was not with us.  After losing a daughter that we only had with us for 5 weeks, I was in a panic.  I did not want to lose another daughter.  We went into the store and talked to the workers and we all started on a search.  I don’t remember how much time passed but it seemed like forever.  Finally, one of the workers found her hiding in some clothes.

It turns out she had been skipping the squares on the floor and had not turned with us toward the doors.  When she realized she was alone she tried to go out one door and realized it was the wrong one so she came back into the store and hid in the clothes.  It was a very happy reunion.  I remember how frustrated I would get when we would go anywhere after that.  She was so afraid of being left behind she would hang on to my clothing.  It was hard for me to even walk through a store because she stayed so close to me.  I would say she did that for the next couple of years at least.  It was a very frightening experience for her.  I can imagine the sick feeling she must have had in the pit of her stomach.

The worst sick feeling

So what is the worst sick feeling that a person could ever have in the pit of their stomach?  I have given much thought to this more than once.  It makes me cringe to think about it.  We can so often go through life and not really realize the seriousness of it.  But if you really take the time to give it some thought it can be awakening.

When I think about the worst sick feeling that I could possibly think of, I think of not being ready for the greatest event in all history, the event of Jesus soon coming.  For me, the most sickening feeling would be to hear the words, “…I never knew you:…” Matthew 7:23.  That sick feeling of realizing that I am lost.  I imagine my daughter had the most horrible sick feeling in her stomach when she realized she was lost.  Just like I had the sick feeling in my stomach when I realized my daughter was lost, God has even a greater sick feeling.  He loves us so much and when we don’t choose Him and His ways He suffers.  He has so many children that His suffering is indescribable.

Fear

The great news is that we have a forgiving God.  If we have gone astray and gotten lost there is still time to be found.  Now is the time to come to Him asking for forgiveness and He is ever waiting and longing to forgive.

There is only one thing that we need to fear and that is separation and that separation only happens as we choose it.  God doesn’t bring the separation, we do.  Just like my daughter clung to me thereafter, we need to cling to Jesus.  As we cling to Him there is nothing to fear. We need to walk with Him hand in hand.  We cannot let anything come between Him and ourselves otherwise we will get lost.  He will be constantly searching for us but if we don’t want to be found He doesn’t push His way in.  And if we continue not to listen to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, His voice will get softer and softer until we can’t hear it anymore.

Cling to Jesus

The answer is to cling to Jesus.  We need to stay in full connection to Him.  Here are some ways to stay connected.

  1. I look at prayer as a key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured boundless resources.  We need to be coming to God everyday and speaking to Him as well as listening to His voice.
  2. Be in the word.  We must be in the Word each day.  God’s Word is full of instructions and promises.  As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us we can know which course to pursue.
  3. Memorize verses from God’s Word.  If we have promises memorized from God’s Word, we can bring them to mind when we are having struggles throughout the day or when we are tempted.
  4. Guard the avenues of the soul.  We need to guard our 5 senses.  Making choice that will keep us out of harms way.  We can protect ourselves from temptations by guarding ourselves.  We don’t want put ourselves in a position that will make it harder for us to stay connected.  My daughter was tempted to skip the squares on the floor and she took her eyes off of me and did not see me go in a different direction.  That is exactly what can happen to us if we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there through every circumstance in life.  Continue to prompt our hearts to keep our eyes on You.  And help us to be ready when You come.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your eyes fixed on the One that can lead and guide you through every circumstance.

Love you all.

What illustration can you share today?  I would love to hear it.

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“Citronella Spray? Really?!!”

Citronella!

One thing that has become popular in the summertime is citronella.  They have come up with a variety of ways to use it.  It is something that is supposed to help keep away those little insects that no one really likes around.  Does it work?  Some people say it works wonderfully and others seem to question it.  For me, I don’t really know because I haven’t given it a real try.

Dogs

So what does citronella have to do with dogs?  Some of our dogs have a real habit of barking.  We have tried different things to get the habit stopped.  More recently we heard about getting a citronella collar.  Yes, you heard correctly.  So you get this collar that has this little box on it, every time they bark it sprays citronella.  It doesn’t hurt them in any way but they do not really like the smell.  It seems to work as long as the collar is on.  The unfortunate thing is that when other dogs bark it also goes off.  So the dog wearing the collar may not be barking but he still gets sprayed because his buddy does bark.  Now that does not seem fair.

Christians

When things happen in my life I am always looking for an illustration to pull from the situation. The spraying citronella is no exception.  It makes me think about our walk with the Lord.  We need to be vitally connected with Him.  And when we start to listen, watch, read, look, touch, act, or say anything that is displeasing to God the Holy Spirit “sprays” (speaks) to us to remind us that the thing we are about to do or say is not pleasing to God.  The sad part is, just like the dog, we sometimes ignore the “spraying citronella” (Holy Spirit) and “bark” (do our own thing) anyway.  Now citronella spray is not harmful in any way but when we choose to go against God’s will it is very harmful.  It is the most harmful thing that we can do because if we don’t repent ultimately we lose the most amazing thing, life eternal.

What about when others “bark” (do wrong)?  Do we get “sprayed” (spoken to) by the Holy Spirit or is it only when we “bark” (do wrong)?  There are two factors here.  When others do wrong we may be tempted to do wrong and the Holy Spirit will prompt our hearts that it is a wrong direction to go.  Maybe we aren’t tempted to do the wrong but the Holy Spirit may still “spray” (prick) our hearts just as a reminder.

Thinking about it

The sprayer on the dog does not spray just because the dog thinks about barking, it only happens as he barks or one of his buddies bark.  But I am grateful in the Christian walk the Holy Spirit “sprays” (speaks to) us even when we think about “barking” (doing wrong).   Some people may look at that as an annoyance but I think of it as a freedom.  As I stay connected to God in prayer and the studying of His Word He is not going to keep me in the dark.  He will prompt my heart throughout the day of right and wrong.  I don’t have to sit around and worry that I might do something wrong, He will guide me.  And to me that is freedom.  God is not just sitting up there looking down just waiting for me to do wrong so He can zap me.  He wants to guide me in all His ways.

Dear Father,

Thank You for the Holy Spirit that You have sent to guide me into all truth and to lead me through each day as I stay connected with You.  I pray that I will let nothing get in the way of my connection with You.  Continue to prompt my heart throughout the day.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Stay connected with Christ and listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit each day.

Love you all.

Do you have a spiritual illustration from nature? I would love to hear it.  Write it in the comments below.

 

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“Scan!”

Scan!

This word can mean a lot of different things.  And as each one of you read the title a different picture came to your mind as to what you thought it may mean in the context of my blog.  If getting out in nature and hiking to the top of a mountain is your delight you might think of scanning the hills and valleys as you look around.  Others, who reading is your greatest joy, may think of scanning a page or verse.  And still others who may be medically inclined may think of getting an X-ray or other such scan.  We all have different things that come to mind.

Printing

I work at a print shop and at times we have people send us things and we scan them into the computer so that we can print them off for them.  They don’t have a digital copy they just have a piece of paper that they want to make more copies from.  There are some that are not even the original.  They want us to scan in a copy that is not very good.  One particular school sends us copies of copies and the page that they have copied is not even straight on the page.  Now they do know that the quality is not going to be there but they still want copies.  The machine is not magical.  Whatever you scan in is what you get out.  Coming in digitally gets a better copy.  You might say garbage in garbage out.

I scanned in a 101 page created scrapbook for a schoolteacher who teaches kindergarten.  There are pictures of the kids throughout the year doing different activities.  Cute kids.  The teacher is putting together these little books so that each child can have a memory book of their year in kindergarten.  Such a great idea.  It isn’t easy to get a decent scan when some pictures are dark and some are light, some are blurry and some sharp.

So how do you make a decent scan?  You have to make sure your settings are correct for the scan or some of the kids will look like little demons.  It is my choice how I set the settings but it is up to the machine to do the work.   Once scanned it is amazing what a little touch here and there can improve the quality of the picture.

Christians

It reminds me how the Christian walk is.  We have choices to make on the “settings” that we choose.  The “machine” (Jesus) can only work with the “settings” that we give Him.  He will not force His “settings” on us.  But when we cooperate and set the “settings” for Christ-like quality it is amazing what He can do.  And our scan will come out the other side perfected for heaven.  We will not recognize our perfections because as we draw closer to Christ we can see more and more “settings” that we need to change.  But those around us will benefit from the beauty of Christ work in us toward perfection. The blessing is that as we cooperate with God the “garbage” that may go in will come out beautiful because God is miracle preforming, unlike my digital machine.  We can say garbage in beauty out.

Settings

So the question is what are some “settings” that we need to set?  Because doesn’t God do all the work?  The “Machine” (Jesus) can’t do the work unless He has something to work with.  I believe there are many aspects to the “settings” but I am going to just name three and you can take it from there.

 1.  Spend time in Prayer

The first thing in the morning, spend time in communication with your Creator.  He cannot force us to communicate or to listen.  This is a “setting” that we have to set.  We have to choose to spend time in prayer.  When we come to God then He can communicate with us and can guide us through the day.  But if we have not asked Him to join us He will not intrude.  And the quality of our “picture” (day) will be distorted.  There will not be clearness to our day.

2.  Spend time in God’s Word

We need the “setting” of reading and memorizing God’s Word so that we are fortified for the day’s trials.  Can God give us a good quality day if we don’t implant His Word in our hearts?  What are we going to turn to when we are tempted or a trial comes our way if we haven’t fortified ourselves?  God cannot bring the Scriptures to our mind if we have not included Him in our “settings”.  We have to choose to spend that time because God doesn’t force.  As we choose to spend time with Him our “picture” will not be blurry, there will be more clarity to the “picture” that is being scanned for the day.

3.  Choose whom you will serve.

Throughout the day we will be given opportunity to make choices.  The Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts but if we don’t listen there is no forcing.  We are faced with choices all the time.  Every time we make a choice in cooperation with God’s will He will give us the strength to follow through and what a beautiful picture will be “scanned”.  But when we are faced with a choice and we choose against God’s will He steps back.  He doesn’t interfere with our choices.  But the “scan” of the day doesn’t turn out so good.  Every day each one of us fail in some way but praise the Lord for an advocate and we can come to Him and He freely forgives and gives us a new start.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there for us even though we think we don’t need You.  You don’t interfere with our choices but when we fail You are right there to pick up the pieces as soon as we realize our need and we reach out to You.  Thank You for Your unfailing love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Set your “settings” to include God in your life today.  It makes such a difference.

Love you all.

Do you have a testimony how, as you cooperated with God and set your day with Him, He blessed you?

 

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“Mothers”

Mothers!

There is one thing that we all have in common.  We all have a mother.  But just because everyone has a mother does not mean they have been a good mother.  Now in defense of mothers, none of us, when having a baby, have experience of being a mother.  We all make mistakes and grow as we are mothers.  There are still mothers out of desperation that have given up, abandoned, or even, sad to say, killed their child.  It may be hard for us to comprehend but I think for the most part we can all understand how hard it is to be a mother and we are not perfect.

My Mother

I have the most amazing mom.  Has she been perfect? No.  But her imperfections are covered with the love that she has shown me through the years.  In my teen years, she was my best friend.  I didn’t need to go off and have “fun with friends”, I had fun with my mom.

Growing up she was there when I was sick with Scarlet Fever, Rheumatic Fever, and Iritis.  My Mother treated me and soothed me through it all.  She was there when I was sad or discouraged.  She was just always there.

As an Adult

Even when I grew up and got married she was there.  We lived a little over an hour from each other but we would meet up in a town in the middle and we would shop together.  Neither one of us liked to go grocery shopping or any shopping for that matter, but doing it together brought joy.

Any time that I got Iritis and was not able to function, due to so much pain, my mom would drive to our house and stay, helping out, until I was well.  I would get Iritis like this several times a year.  As I started to have children she would come and stay with me before and after the birth.  I had all 6 of my children at home with a midwife and my mom was a big part of my experience.

Tragedy

Then in 1996 tragedy struck.  Five weeks after giving birth to my third child, my first daughter, she died.  It was the most tragic and devastating experience that I have ever had.  My mom was there as much as she could be and she was strong and a blessing for me.  I was going to quit having children when I got my girl but after losing her I went on to have two more boys and then another girl, which I thank God for those three children every day.  The following year my parents moved onto our property, which I have been so grateful for.  Now that my mom lives closer we have been able to spend more time together.

More Tragedy

In 2008 another tragedy struck.  I became so ill and the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me.  I went for over a year where I could not function.  The fatigue and pain took over my body.  My memory was affected and even to this day, there are memories that I can’t remember.  Now my family shares with me things so that I can try to put it back in my memory bank.  My heart was also affected. During this time my faithful Mom was there for me.  She took care of me and ran my household.  By this time I had 5 children, which I was trying to homeschool.  There were doctors that thought I was dying but they still could not figure out what was wrong with me.

Then I was put in touch with a doctor, who felt, after hearing my symptoms, that I had Lyme disease.  She made an order for me to be tested from a lab that specializes in testing for Lyme disease.  Within a week I heard from my local Health Department, I had Lyme disease.  It has been a long journey and my mother has been there right beside me, guiding, encouraging, and helping.

My life back

As the years passed I did improve.  I don’t think you really ever get over Lyme disease.  There are things that seem to linger and damage that is done.  Whether it is the disease itself or just the after effects who is to say.  But nonetheless, the years passed.  I know it was hard for my mom to see me suffer but she never complained she just was always there to help where she could.  I couldn’t function as I once did.  Although I improved I was still so fatigued that I couldn’t really function, as I should.

Then in 2015, my life changed.  Someone introduced to some products.  These products changed my life.  Believe me, over the years I had tried all kinds of products with little to no success.  So when I was introduced to these new products I was skeptical but I was also looking for hope.  These new products were so supportive of my immune system that after a short period of time things started changing.  I have not experienced Iritis for at least 2 years.  Since iritis can cause you to go blind and the treatment can also cause you to go blind I am more than happy, I am elated.

And as far as the fatigue goes, now I work part-time to full-time, along with running my own business, being involved with two other family-owned business, homeschooling, and running a household.  And my mom, she is still helping me just in a different way.  Now instead of always taking care of a daughter who is sick, she grocery shops for me, does my laundry, and some cleaning, with pay, except for grocery shopping.  I have much to be grateful for.

Dear Father,

Thank You for my Mother.  She is an amazing person who loves unconditionally.  You have given me the greatest mom in the world.  I know she is not perfect but I have seen You work in her life.  Because of her love for You and her willingness to surrender to You she has grown more and more after Your likeness.

Thank You for leading me to products that are supporting my body so that I can live more fully for You.  Thank You for the lessons that You have taught me through this journey called life.  Continue to guide me and help me to grow through the trials without complaint.  You have been so gracious to me and I praise Your name.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Your mom maybe hasn’t been perfect but focus on the good.  We all are imperfect sinners.  Are you going through struggles? God can see you through.  If you want to hear more about what has helped me support my body naturally go to,  Go here.

Love you all!

Share something that is wonderful about your mom below.  I would love to hear it.

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“Deadly”

Have you ever really considered how many times you may have been spared from some danger?  Maybe you know of times that you have been spared.  But there are those times also that you know nothing about.  I am looking forward to the time when my guardian angel will share with me all those times I have been kept safe because of his watch care.

Scary

What about the times that we do know about?  Do we praise God as much as we should?  I am praising the Lord today for His protection.

Just before winter, I started to notice a noise in my car as I drove back and forth to work.  I don’t remember how many days I drove it but I finally said to my husband, “The noise sounds scary to me.  I don’t want to drive the car again until we figure out what the noise is.”  At that point, he took it to our friend mechanic.  The noise sounded as if it was coming from one particular tire.  So our friend proceeded to take the tire off and that is when he discovered that the lug nuts were loose on the tire.  It turns out that was the only problem.  Apparently, when my husband changed the wheel bearing he had not gotten the lug nuts as tight as they should have been.  But who knows for sure, it seems rather strange.

Deadly

So this last week I was driving our van because my brother-in-law was here and needed to borrow a car.  I drove our van for two days and on the third day as I started off to work I started hearing a knocking sound.  It seemed strange to have the sound not there one day and then there the next.  I was a little worried on the way to work.  As I was driving it home I had already determined that I would not drive it the next day.  I told my husband that it was one of those scary sounds again and I felt it was too dangerous to drive.

The next day my brother-in-law was going to drop me off at work because he still needed the car.  But at the last minute, he decided to take the van and drive it in the hopes he could figure out what was wrong with it.  He didn’t drive it long when he felt uneasy to keep driving it.

He ended up taking it into the place that we get our tires done to have them check things over.  It turns out that the lug nuts were loose on one of the tires; only this time our tire place had been the one to do the work.  And the condition was way worse.  One of the studs had broken off losing the stud and the lug nut.  Everything was so loose that the rim of the tire was damaged to the point of needing replacement.  The tire place had to replace every stud and lug nut and order a new rim.  The wholes on the rim where the studs come through so you can put on the lug nuts had gotten so big from the wear that they had to replace the rim.

Protection

I marvel at the protection that the Lord gives.  I know there are many times that the Lord protects me and I don’t even know it.  But every once in a while He gives me a little glimpse of what He is doing.  The devil wants to take me out but he has no power over me as long as Jesus is on my side.

Stay connected

We have to stay closely connected to Christ just like the lug nuts need to be tight to the rim.  As we go along in life, just like driving our vehicles, and we don’t have a tight connection there starts to be a separation from Christ.

The separation can be gradual, just like it was with my van.  It wasn’t noticeable to me at first.  Usually, in our lives, the separation from Christ starts with little things and we don’t notice that there is a problem.  But as we continue to ignore it, things start to get worse.  If I would have ignored the awful sound that I was hearing and just kept driving my van I could have had a terrible accident, bad injuries or even death.

It makes me think of our spiritual walk If we choose to keep ignoring the warning signs of separation we will lose that connection altogether and have a terrible accident, receive bad injuries and the possibility of spiritual death.  But the amazing part is as we are choosing to separate ourselves; God is using every means possible to get our attention to draw us back.  We don’t want to ignore the warning signs.  God wants to spare us from destruction.

Dear Father,

Thank you for your protection.  You protect us in so many ways, some of which we don’t see. But I praise Your Name that You are always there beside us.  Forgive us for allowing the things of this world to separate us from you.  Continue to draw our hearts to stay in tight connection with You, allowing nothing between us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today.  This reminds me of the song written by Charles A. Tindley.  This is my prayer for you.

“Nothing Between”

“Nothing between my soul and my Savior,

naught of this world’s delusive dream;

I have renounced all sinful pleasure;

Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.

Refrain

Nothing between my soul and my Savior,

so that his blessed face may be seen;

nothing preventing the least of his favor;

keep the way clear! let nothing between.

2

Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;

habits of life, though harmless they seem,

must not my heart from him ever sever;

he is my all, there’s nothing between.

3

Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,

though the whole world against me convene;

watching with prayer and much self denial,

Triumph at last, With nothing between.”

Love you all

Do you have a story to share how God has protected you?  I would love for you to share.  Share your story below in the comments.  We can praise God together for what He does.

 

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“Make Things Right!! What?!!”

Make things right

It seems that making things right with others can seem like an overwhelming task.  For some it may be easy, I think that is very few.  For some, they may not even know how to begin.  But for others, they are just too afraid to face it head on and do it.  The question is why do we need to make things right anyway.  Well, no one is being forced. Whether you are a Christian or not if you want to live a happy, healthy successful life it definitely makes a difference.  And as a Christian, it is a must if we want to have things right with God.

Make things clear

Before I get too far into this I want to make things clear.  Part of what I will be talking about here is reconciling with those we have done wrong to, as it says in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; (this is usually because we have done them wrong) Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

We may also reconcile with someone who has done us wrong by letting them know we have forgiven them.  But this is really where I want to make things clear.  There are times that we cannot reconcile with someone.  We always need to forgive in our hearts with the help of God but that does not mean that we need to go and reconcile directly with the person.  This is mostly referring to those that have abused us in some way.  We always need to forgive but that does not mean associate.

Anger

Just before Jesus talked about being reconciled He was talking about anger.  A lot of times someone does something we do not like we can tend to start saying things that are not so nice.  We start making belittling remarks whether it is directly to them or about them.  Which really reveals a pride issue within us.  And when pride gets in the way it often leads to anger.

This reminds me of the story about Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible.  The story is found in Daniel 3.  He built an image of gold to represent himself and then he wanted everyone to bow down to it.  There were three Hebrews that refused.  Nebuchadnezzar said he would give them a second chance and they said even if he did they would not bow.  Wow! Then his anger was kindled.  He made the fiery furnace 7 times hotter.  When we want to be right and hold onto our pride it turns to anger when things don’t go how we want.

Building walls

Are you a builder?  You may say no but if you do you are thinking of the wrong builder.  Do you build emotional walls?  The sad thing is that if we build walls it leads to murder.  You may be saying, “I have never killed anyone.”  Well, maybe you have.

When someone does something to us we don’t like if we allow those things to eat away at us we start to build a wall of “protection”, at least so we think.  But what it does is leads to hate and in God’s eyes hate is the same as murder.  “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” 1 John 3:15.  Jesus also stated that we are to love our enemies (See Matthew 5:43-44).  If we are to love everyone, even our enemies, we should not be building a wall.

We cannot accomplish this on our own because our human nature always wants to take over when we are offended but God will help us if we let Him.  Making sure that we are not doing anything that can cause others to build walls against us is another thing we need to do.  We need to reconcile with them when we do them wrong.

Reconciliation

When we are in close connection with God reconciliation is usually prompted by God.  Now whether we listen to the promptings is another story.  He sometimes shows us but we shove the conviction away.  We need to be open to His leading.

What I encourage is self-examination.  Every night before going to bed just lift up a prayer to God about your day and ask Him to show you any area of your life that needs reconciliation and He will show you.  Ask for forgiveness right then and make plans to reconcile with the person as soon as possible.

Cry out to God

There are times that reconciliation can be very difficult to do.  We need to cry out to God for the help and grace to do it.  It makes me think of Jacob in the Bible when God had directed him to go back to his homeland.  He was going to be going back to where his brother was and the last time he had seen him his brother wanted to kill him.  Jacob had done his brother a grave wrong.  You can read the story about his return to Canaan in Genesis starting in chapter 32.  He cried out to God and God answered his prayers.

Just like in the case of Jacob reconciliation may take giving a gift.  Or maybe we do owe something to them as restitution.  God will direct us to what we need to do.  We need to do what it takes for the individual to really know that we are truly sorry because actions speak louder than words.

Pride

In order for us to be reconciled to someone, we need to humble ourselves.  A lot of times pride gets in the way of us doing what we really need to do.  We need to be willing to serve.  That is where Jacob was.  He was willing to be as a servant to his brother.  He referred to himself as servant and Esau, his brother as master.  We can only do this with the love of God flowing in our hearts.  That is why our connection with Christ is so important.

Repentance

We cannot reconcile with anyone without repentance.  And the only way we can have true repentance is to come to the place David did in Psalms 51:4, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”

We need to realize that the greatest offense that we do is to God.  When we do wrong to others we are wronging God because they are His and He loves them.  We, as parents, understand this concept.  If someone does something to us we deal with it but when someone does something to one of our children, wow! We are not happy.  When we wrong others we are wronging Christ so we need to start by repentance with God and then He will help us go to the ones that we have offended and bring reconciliation.

Christ initiated reconciliation

It makes me think of us and our connection with Christ.  We have offended Him with our sins and He initiated reconciliation.  Jesus is the Greatest Reconciler.  “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:19.

Jesus humbled Himself

Here He was the King of the universe yet He humbled Himself and came down to this dark world as a Babe.  When I think of His life here on earth and the humility that He showed throughout His ministry and His death for us, it is amazing.  These are things we need to contemplate.  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” Philippians 2:5-8.  We need to be like Christ.

He tore down walls

Jesus could demand our acceptance of Him but He is a God of love.  True love does not force.  But He does wait and look for opportunities to bring things into our lives to get our attention.  He wants us to see our need for Him and when we do we come willingly and allow Him to work.  Thus He tares down the wall between Himself and us.

He made restitution

He made the most amazing restitution.  Christ made the ultimate restitution.  And if we accept it we have eternal life through Him.  “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” 1 Peter 1:18-19.

He anguished

This reconciliation did not come easy.  There was anguish involved.  Christ had anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.  “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood” Luke 22:44.  I have never anguished over reconciliation like that.  We tend to just let things go and try to forget about it.  But God wants us to be reconciled with Him and others and sometimes it takes real anguish to get to the place to do what God has asked us to do.  But the greatest thing is that He understands and is there to help us and He will go through it with us.

He showed unconditional love and complete forgiveness.

I am so grateful for His unconditional love and the forgiveness that He has shown me.  He has given us the greatest gift and that gift is the Holy Spirit.  He will help and guide us.  If we do not resist His leading we will have greater happiness.

Grateful

I am so grateful for what Christ has done for me.  I want to show the same unconditional love that Christ has for me to others.  This is a  quote I like written by Thomas A Kempis, “How rarely we weigh our neighbor in the same balance in which we weigh ourselves!”  We need to focus on examining ourselves instead of examining others and comparing ourselves with others.  Let’s compare ourselves only to Christ and allow Him to change us into His likeness.

Dear Father,

Thank You for loving us so much to send Your Son so that we can be reconciled to You.  Keep us and guide us as we examine ourselves so that we can be fully reconciled to those around us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give all to Him today allowing Him to reconcile you to Himself.  And make things right with those around you.

Love you all.

Do you have a story about how God worked in your life and helped you in reconciling with someone?  I would love to hear your story.