I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
I must confess that I have been more than a little fearful about the incoming President and his group of Cancel Culture flunkies who want to destroy or hide everything conservative. But God spoke to me in a Scripture this morning and reminded me (once again) that He is still in control.
If I know that God loves me (and I do), then there is nothing that He cannot handle, even the Cancel Culture. They can cancel the truth on the news, the conservative movement and even church services, if it comes to that. What they cannot cancel is God’s love for me and my total assurance that I am His and He is mine. He is my Savior and nothing can cancel that! A good word from me to you today!
Be blessed today with the assurance that you are His, which is your insurance for an eternal future with Him!
Lest you think how marvelous it is that I have researched and found a great Scottish minister who said this prayer, please let me give credit to Dr. Denison who included the prayer in his daily forum today. He addressed the issue of censorship and the Christian response. In a devotional that I read this morning, the writer encouraged Christians to respond to the hatred and vitriol online with a kind and loving and encouraging response. I think that is a great idea and plan to do so myself. I hope that many of you will join me in the endeavor to counter hatred with love. Here is the link to Dr. Denison’s forum today:
“By your grace, O God, I will go nowhere today where you cannot come, nor seek anyone’s presence that would rob me of yours. By your grace I will let no thought enter my heart that might hinder my closeness with you, nor let any word come from my mouth that is not meant for your ear. So shall my courage be firm and my heart be at peace.”
May you all be blessed today with a heart that is at peace.
This is the first promise in my devotional this morning. I’m sure that I don’t like the suffering part, but Jesus suffered, so why should we think that we will escape all suffering? But look at the next sentence: AFTER you a suffered a LITTLE WHILE, He will RESTORE, SUPPORT and STRENGTHEN you….So, isn’t the suffering here on earth worth what is coming. God Himself will restore us, support us and strengthen us. We don’t have to worry about carrying all of that burden alone. Hallelujah!
In this age of bribery and all kinds of chicanery, God reassured me that He takes no bribe. He is totally unbiased and loves everyone the same. That is an awesome character trait of God, isn’t it? We look at the politicians who can’t seem to function without taking money from some lobbyist somewhere, on top of their exorbitant salaries. We look around us and see some people who are very rich, with big houses and fancy cars. Then, we drive by homeless beggars, some with children with them. God does not care what our possessions are. He it totally unbiased. He doesn’t see our color or our stature or our standing in society. That is something that I strived for when I was teaching. I wanted to make sure that I treated all of the students the same way, regardless of the wealth of their parents (or lack thereof). I know that I fell far short of my own expectations at times, but I would like to think that I showed all children respect because each one is a special creation from God.
This is why, in my opinion, that God is totally unbiased. He looks right through all of our fluff and sees our hearts. There are so many times that I get frustrated with the way things are in the world, and God calms me down and speaks softly to me that He is working things out, that I can trust Him because He sees the hearts of ALL men. Like David in Psalm 51, I desire God to create a clean heart in me. I hope that is your desire, too.
Those are just a few thoughts from my devotionals today. I pray God’s blessing on each of you this Sabbath day. May you rest in the knowledge that God will restore you, that God is unbiased and that He is looking at your heart and can create a new one in you if necessary. All glory to God, our Creator and Redeemer!
We were never meant to carry the heavy burdens that life seems to heap on us daily. Jesus wants us to daily give Him our burdens and then to just rest. I confess that in this season of having a democratic socialist elected as President of our nation, the burden has been heavy. I have a whole page of “what ifs,” a list of my low expectations for this new President. Nevertheless, as someone once told me, “Nothing is going to happen today that God and I cannot handle together.” So, each day, I lay my burdens (worries) at the feet of the Lord and then go about my day, secure in the knowledge that He is with me. Thus, I am learning to feel the peace of God all day long. When I go to the physical therapist and he tells me that I will have to wear my stability boot at least a couple of more weeks, I feel peace. When I get home and the gutter is falling off the house, I point it out to my husband who says that he knows but he has to drill new holes, My first thoughts are that, like the new steps that we need, it will just not get done. But when I pause, God’s peace comes to me and I just let the whole thing rest with Him. You see, men break promises all the time. But God doesn’t. And when He promises rest, then we can and will receive it if we truly give Him the burdens. I pray that each of you will feel God’s presence today and know His rest, the rest that comes from trusting Him to take care of the big things and the small things in your life since He cares about all of the little details. Bless you, my friends, with a good day, a good weekend and a close relationship with the One who makes all things possible, even His rest always.
I’m still discovering daily God’s purpose for my life. Yes, I am old, but I truly believe that I’m still on earth because God isn’t finished with me yet. That has always meant to me that He is still perfecting me, helping me daily to become more like His Son Jesus. But, with today’s Scripture verse, I also think it means that God is still looking to use me here, to fulfill His purpose for me.
The two greatest days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.-Mark Twain
Think about that quotation, my friends. We each have a purpose in life, and God is merciful to us, giving us the days on earth to discover that purpose and to fulfill it. I pray God’s blessing on each of you as you set out to continually work for Him and to discover His purpose for your life. You were not an accident! You were wonderfully made for a specific purpose in God’s kingdom. Isn’t that praiseworthy news?
I don’t make resolutions, but this year I think that I need more encouragement than normal, so I have decided to keep a notebook of God’s promises and the attributes of Jesus as I read my Bible this year. This is the first one. ALL of God’s promises are “yes.” If He has promised it, He will bring it to pass. In these days that seem to be a forerunner of the end times of Revelations, it is good to remember that God wins in the end. That’s a promise! Plus, his promises are “amen” meaning a resounding “so be it.” If God says something, He will bring it to pass. I have been known to forget promises, only to be reminded by my children, “Mom, remember that you promised that we could go to the pool after dinner tonight?” I learned not to make promises that I could not keep. God didn’t have to learn that. He knows exactly what His plans are and works to fulfill them, making and keeping promises in our lives. I’m really looking forward to rediscovering more of God’s promises this year so that at the end of the year, I have a notebook filled with them. It will be a tangible piece of the Bible that I can hold on to when I need that small word from Him that gives me the peace that I need in my soul. I hope and pray that each of you will hold steadfast to the promises of God, whether you write them down or not. God is always good, always on time and always sovereign. Bless you, my friends!
Because of content, subject matter and the themes, I would rate this book a hard PG-13.
Okay, so what genre to assign to this book? Mystery plus domestic drama, maybe? Whatever genre it is, it was entertaining, particularly because of how different the style is. The story is told by two narrators and two time periods, Beth in 1988 and Sadie in 2019. The story twists all around until at last the two come together, in what I thought was very contrived, but it did work. I thought that the plot was well-developed with a lot of revelations in the middle and then it was kind of downhill all the way to the end. The conclusion was a surprise that I was not able to guess, but I also thought that it defied belief. The book reminded me a lot of the game “Clue” and the book by Agatha Christie with a similar plot of house guests being picked off one by one. The connections are the real meat of this story and the author did a fantastic job of laying false trails of clues, interspersed with the real ones, so that kept me interested. Fans of mystery will enjoy this book, but I was looking for more suspense that was never really there. Disclaimer Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
This is Christian fiction but it is intense. For that reason, I would give it a PG-13 rating.
I raced through this book because it was so intense and compelling. With characters that jumped off the page into my heart, the author did a stellar job of writing a medical-legal-romantic suspense that had all of the elements of each one, twisted together into a complicated plot. Caroline Bragg is the strong female protagonist, a newly hired lawyer for the oncology research lab Praecursoria. She is developing a romantic relationship with Brandon Lancaster, a former pro-football star who owns and operates a home for foster children. The two have a relationship that conflicts with the research of P. because the lab wants to use one of the children there for their experimental treatment. Bethany, the little girl, tugged at my heartstrings since she was already suffering from not having her biological parents and then is diagnosed with a deadly case of leukemia. A further complication to the plot is that Brandon has invested a lot of his money in the science lab and needs a solid return to keep Almost Home open. This was a book that broke my heart, had tears flowing freely and had me turning pages as fast as I could to find out if the arrogant, seemingly heartless heads of the research lab would ultimately be caught in a nefarious scheme or if they really were working for the good of the children involved in their study. By the time I reached the ending, I was totally wrung out, issued a deep sigh and continued to think about what I had just read. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time because of its deep themes of ethics in medicine and corporate secrets. Fans of legal thrillers will want to set aside time to read this book quickly because you will not want to put it down. Disclaimer Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book Thomas Nelson Publishers via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
www.bible.com/1171/mat.11.28.mev
www.bible.com/1171/psa.138.8.mev
www.bible.com/1171/2co.1.20.mev
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 