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.
Notice the promise that He WILL save us. No question! No doubts! God said it and He will do it. The same God who created us will also save us in the end to be with Him forever. That’s quite a promise, isn’t it?
Whatever we are waiting for from the Lord, He continues to be gracious and our strength. This is a prayer we can pray daily. Amen and Amen.
If you have ever gone into a crowded place with children, you know that sometimes you cannot walk side by side. Instead of walking ahead of my children, I used to walk behind them, guiding them with my hand on a shoulder or telling them which way to turn to get where we needed to be. It never dawned on me that I was guiding them in the same way that God sometimes guides me until I read this Scripture today in my devotional.
Notice the word “behind” in this verse. God is not always ahead of us although sometimes He is. Other times He is behind us and we have to listen carefully to hear His voice of instruction. If we turn the wrong way, He will tell us if we are listening. And if we turn the right way, He will also let us know. He doesn’t leave us to flounder alone on an unknown path. He is behind us, until He needs to step in front of us. I find comfort in the fact that God is all around me, if I just get quiet and listen. I can depend on Him to be just where He needs to be in my life, always. God is never too late or too early or in the wrong place at the wrong time. If He needs to be behind us in order to make sure that we are paying attention, then that’s what He will do.
This is a prophecy from Isaiah, but I believe with all of my heart that we can claim this promise today. We who are Christians are not blinded to the truth of the Gospel. We have chosen to hear that truth and now we can use our ears and the gift of the Holy Spirit to truly listen to what God is saying to us about our the choices we are making. He will let us know if they are good ones, if we just listen.
Have you ever been following directions from your GPS and realized that it was leading you incorrectly? That happened to me and my husband a few months ago when we were in NC for an author signing. The GPS had us turn right out of our motel and head about fifteen miles away, but when we got where the GPS said “You have arrived at your destination” there was nothing there except a lot of houses and a small convenience store. We stopped in the store to ask directions and were told that the GPS had been sending a lot of people to this small town instead of to the bookstore where we needed to go. We got directions back to the correct place. Guess what? It was a left out of the parking lot and less than a mile from our motel! We were definitely misdirected!
God gives us clear directions about the road to eternal life, but we can only follow those directions if we keep our focus on Him and His Word. That’s where the clear directions come from.
The problem with a lot of people today is that they don’t want to hear about God. Like the Israelites, they want to steer their own course and go their own way, never counting the cost of moving in the wrong direction. Their choices are skewed by the fact that they think that their internal GPS will take them on the right road and eventually, one day, whenever they are ready, they will go to Heaven and meet God. Unfortunately for them, God’s plan doesn’t work that way.
I like this quotation from my devotional. At first, I thought, “Well, I’m okay, because I hardly ever call a bunch of people to tell them my problems.” In today’s world, you don’t have to call people to be more reliant on your phone than on God. You “google” whatever your problem is and then follow the advice that you find online. Instead of going to the phone and all of its technological advances, it would be a lot simpler to go to God’s throne and just ask for His guidance and help in whatever you are going through. True, I don’t call, but I do “google” and I am reminded to stop and pray not scroll and read the phone. It has few if any answers to the way that I should follow to life.
The “HE” is God…He has put us on the exact road that we need to be on to go straight to eternity with Him. That is the good place where we will end up if we follow His directions, His plan. Instead, we (including me at times) have followed my own way, my own GPS or even the google master and ended up frustrated and lost. Thank the Lord that He does not leave us in that place where we insisted on going! He picks us up right where we are and tells us the right way to go, putting us once again on the pathway to life. We just have to stay focused and be willing to admit that we messed up and need His help.
God will show us the way of life if we just ask Him. We don’t need a GPS or Google or our own internal voice telling us which way to go. We need to just listen to God so that one day we will have the pleasure of being in His presence forever.
This is high-octane romantic suspense centered around an obstetrician, Dr. Cynthia Myers, and the head of a special forces team, Captain Rick Norton. Cynthia is in Africa doing medical missions when a warlord threatens her and the entire village where she is practicing. One of Captain Norton’s missions is to safeguard Cynthia, so he does, killing various enemies in the process. Cynthia, a pacifist by nature, is torn up by the violence and does not understand why Rick has to kill people as part of his job. The action in this book is absolutely non-stop. I was a little put off by the three or so pages of military jargon in a glossary at the beginning of the book, but I did find referring to those acronyms useful more than once. This is a dynamic and riveting page turner, with a fast pace that never let up. Rick is coming to grips with his career, his failure to safeguard all of his men, and his growing feelings for Cynthia while Cynthia is in denial about her feelings for Rick and determined to forge a future without him. The story of their romance is a roller coaster ride of emotions. There is a great deal of depth to the story as the two separately explore their feelings and their faith in God. The plot was well-crafted and multi-layered with insightful looks into the lives of those in the spotlight and the warriors tasked to protect them. The character studies are fascinating and cleverly written to move the story along. With a unique perspective of military life and sacrifice, this book was enjoyable entertainment and a delightful story at the same time. I sincerely look forward to the next book in this series by the author.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Books 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.”
I was teaching a Spanish class when the PA system interrupted my lesson to give us the news about what had happened in NYC and that school was dismissing early. We were to hold our students in the classrooms until the buses arrived. Students who were usually jubilant at early dismissal were somber, speaking in quiet voices if they spoke at all. Some were crying. I was silently praying. Then I went home and watched TV all day, waiting for news about my daughter-in-law who worked in NYC, only a few blocks from the World Trade Center. We did not hear that Melissa was safe until after midnight. Pregnant and frightened and covered in ash, she was well cared for by the heroes in the city and ended up finally getting a ferry back to her home in New Jersey. I was thankful that she was okay but so afraid of what was happening in the world. The Lord gave me the Scripture above at that time and each year, I remember. I know that He is close to those who are mourning today and I honor the sacrifice of the heroes who gave their lives that others may live.
This is such a heartwarming, toasty feel-good book that I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys family stories, even if the family is not the traditional one. Vera Swanson moves to a new town to be near family, but her family moves away for a new job opportunity. When she befriends a young neighbor named Fiona, Vera’s eyes become open to the possibilities of new friends and a substitute family. The pace is perfect for a Christmas novella, moving along at a good clip and resolving all of the conflicts along the way. The characters were realistic and relatable, even curmudgeonly Eleanor who seems to have no heart for the holidays or anything else. There was even romance included between a young couple that was fun to get to know. I enjoyed the entire story and especially enjoyed how the group came together to help each other and a struggling family. The themes are having hope and reaching out to others to meet their needs. Faith is a theme here but it does not overwhelm the story. A lovely, sweet tale that deserves to be read any time of the year!
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.”
Just a short encouragement today to do what God says and to show mercy and compassion to all that we meet. We don’t know what others are going through, but we know that everyone is facing something new every day. Instead of looking at ways to get back at someone who offended you, how about looking at the ways that you can show love to them. After all, isn’t that what Jesus told us to do?
If you watch the nightly news (I don’t) or get news online (sometimes, for me), then you cannot help knowing that the world is in a mess of hurt. There is still a war going on in Europe (remember Ukraine) and there is a lot of unrest in the Middle East, too. Those are the hot spots right now, but there are skirmishes in various locations. But we who know the Lord know that His hand is on the earth and we don’t have to fret about these events. We need to be looking up and waiting for the Savior to appear, knowing that He is indeed coming although we don’t know when.
We fight a daily battle against our enemies, sin and all of the upheaval it creates in the world around us. The Bible gives clean instruction about how we are to go into battle, fully girded and ready. More importantly, He promises to be with us in our battles.
We are not called to shrink back from the enemy but to go boldly into battle. We are at war daily with the enemy of our soul, working at rescuing others from the snare of death and eternity without God.
Our victory is promised if we just hold steadfastly to our faith and keep pressing forward. The enemy thinks that he is pushing us back. After all, the entire world has gone “woke” which basically means that the enemies of God are dismissing the Bible as irrelevant for today. But we who stand on the battle lines for Christ know that the Bible will stand forever and God will never abandon us to fight alone.
Did you know that someone is always watching you if you are in a public space? No, I’m not talking about stalkers or anyone creepy. I’m just talking about regular people whom you encounter in your daily life. If you say you are a Christian, then you are under a microscope because someone will always be watching for you to fall or to fail. That’s why the Bible exhorts us to be aware of being watched and to present ourselves like we want to be seen.
We have to make an extra effort (pains) to do what is right because the world wants us to make wrong choices so that they can say, “Ha! And you call yourself a Christian?!?” How do I know this? Because I have experienced it from both sides, both watching and being watched.
I’m a people watcher, not necessarily one who enters in easily, so I watch what others do instead. I listen to their words and see their actions and hope that if they are called by the name of Christ that it will all match up. Sometimes, I’m pleasantly surprised and other times I’m deeply disappointed. I have learned in my watching that not everyone who says that they are a Christian has any idea what that means. Many people think that they can go around and do the same things that they did before and not be accountable for it as long as they aren’t “caught.” Well, not only am I a people watcher, God is, too and He always sees everything that we do and hears every word that we speak. We may be having a bad day and be too demanding in the restaurant or at the check out counter. God hears, God sees and so do those around us. Bad days don’t mean that we get to take off the robe of righteousness that Jesus paid for and just be ourselves. We have to die to that self and always remember whom we are representing to the world. We destroy our testimony at the time and in the future if we are not always on the alert to how our actions and words can affect others. I am not saying not to be your genuine self, but what I am saying is to make sure that you have “put on Christ” before you go in public so that you are showing a lost world how they should be acting.
One of my pet peeves is seeing a bumper sticker all about being a Christian and then watching the driver speed recklessly around cars, cut others off in traffic or even do a one-finger salute to a fellow driver. I feel like following them and lecturing them about what a poor rep they are giving Christ. But I don’t. It is not my responsibility to police the world and their actions. I can only be responsible for my own actions and hope that what I am doing is a good testimony to the power of Christ in my life.
Being aware of being watched is half the battle. Look around you. See the other people? They are just human like you and many of them need the hope that you have inside you. They want you to be different, to speak differently (more kindly) and to act differently (with love), and when you don’t, you aren’t just letting God down but you are letting them down, too. Why become a Christian if you aren’t any different than the rest of the selfish and egocentric world? The answer lies in your actions and your words. Be a Christian, 24-7. That’s what the world needs and what God expects.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 