Month: January 2023

Not Home Yet

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I have been in Maryland for four weeks and have two more weeks to go. My heart yearns to be home among my familiar things, people and places. I was so homesick last night that my husband could hear it in my voice when we spoke and volunteered to drive the five hours one way just to come and be with me for a few days. I discouraged him from the long trip, promising him that today I would get my son to take me to the doctor and hopefully would start feeling better. I have been sick with a cold that has headed to my lungs as usual for the last ten days, so that has not helped my attitude. Being ill has also contributed to my desire to want to be home, with tea, heated throws and a husband who cuddles me close when I have difficulty breathing. Yes, I do desire to be home again and I know that day is coming soon.

In my devotional this morning, God reminded me that even when I go home to Virginia, I am still truly not home. My home is in Heaven and everything here is temporary. All of the comforts of home that I seek pale in comparison to what awaits me when I get to Heaven. So now my yearning has taken a new direction. I desire to be with the Lord, looking forward to seeing His face and praising the One who loves me best for all of eternity. Change has always been difficult for me. A different routine disturbs my peace because I am an introvert that needs to be alone at times. But God has spoken to me clearly that He is here with me, no matter my physical location or circumstances, and He, too, is looking forward to the day when I am with Him. Imagine that! God looks forward to my being with Him!

As for now, I am happy to serve and I will be happier to get home. But the home I will return to is temporary, also. I am there until God calls me to be with Him. Perspective is everything.

Have a blessed day and may you, like me, look forward to going to live with the Lord. It’s in His time, but it’s still coming and will be a great and glorious day!

Other Gods

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

I believe that everyone has a god that they worship, although they don’t call it worshipping. They just call it how they choose to live their lives. These days, with media everywhere, it is easy to see who or what these gods are and how fake they are. At least, it’s easy for me and other Christians. I once heard a story about a bank teller who said that they are trained to recognize counterfeit bills by only touching the ones that are real. They have a certain “feel” to the paper and the ink on it. That’s how we Christians can note the difference between our very real God and all of the fakes that are out there. We spend our time with the God who made Heaven and earth, our Creator, our Redeemer and our Father.

Man has tried to make himself other gods for a long time now. This passage from Jeremiah warns that the gods that mankind sets up for itself are not really gods. What are some of these things? There is not enough time to list them all, but I had a wise pastor who once told his congregation that anything you value above God is your god. So, anything more important to you than spending time with God is your god. In today’s world, many people have made themselves into their own mini-gods, trying desperately to make themselves happy with more money, more pleasure, more things. Because their altar is built for themselves, they live a fruitless life of always chasing a dream that is never enough. Our world today is in a sad state in which the God of the Universe is relegated to the end of the line while people pursue entertainment, riches and glory for themselves. Only the One true God can satisfy the needs of man, but they are failing to recognize that because they are too busy with their other gods. I challenge you today to consider what you spend most of your time with. What do you use your twenty four hours daily to do? Working is the natural response. But what about the rest of the time? Or is work (your career) your god? I implore you to turn to the only God who offers you security, safely, happiness, comfort and eternal life and leave your other gods on the shelf for a while. Spend some time in worship and let God be God in your life.

Have a blessed day establishing your relationship with the Only One who will ever truly make a difference in your life!

Competence

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

Whatever abilities we have come from God. I used to teach and was told that I had a talent in the classroom to notice students who needed help and to find a way to help them. That ability, I believe, came from God’s insight that He gifted me with.

It is when we start to think that we don’t need God that we stumble. Our pride takes over and then we forget how far we have come WITH God and try to make our way without Him. God forbid that we leave the place of safety with Him and try to make our own way, but in our ignorance and quest for independence, that is what many have done.

God is my shield, my protector, and when I get ahead of Him or move away from Him, I am leaving my shield behind. That opens me up to the fiery darts of the enemy, the destroyer who only wants to own my soul, not cherish it.

May you have a day blessed with knowing that God is your shield and He has provided you with whatever competence you have in life.

Do For Others

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

In today’s busy world, with both parents having jobs, kids having numerous activities and all kinds of other things going on, it’s easy to lose sight of what is most important. Following Jesus’s example is the most important thing that we can do and He left instructions on how to do that.

We are to take care of the needs of others, as much as it is possible to do. Look around you. There are needy people everywhere. A lonely neighbor, a widow or a child who seems to be friendless. Reach out helping hands and be the one who makes a difference in their lives. You may say that you are not comfortable entering someone else’s world and interfering. Then, do what you are comfortable with. Smile at people you meet. Say kind words to servers and to helpers in your world. Be the person that God means for you to be. You may have to step out of your comfort zone and do something that challenges you. Golgotha was definitely a challenge for Jesus, but He did not back away from the cross, but He faced it boldly and with the conviction that He was doing what the Father had established for Him to do since the beginning of the world. We cannot sit around complaining about the state of the world and not be willing to make a difference in it ourselves. Pray about what God wants you to do, and then go get started. If you want to be like Jesus, start by serving just as He did.

Have a blessed and safe day, serving others before you think of yourself and your own needs.

Our Amazing God

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song4 Comments

After the man who was paralyzed was healed, the people’s reaction was amazement. Daily, God walked among them because Jesus came to earth as a man. But when miracles began to happen, they were amazed. Should we not be constantly amazed at what God has done and is doing? All we have to do is look around us at all He has already created for us to enjoy, look at our own health and well-being and the blessings of family He has given us. We see remarkable things daily, if we just open our eyes.

No one is like our God, the God who sees us, hears us and answers us. He is holy and is to be praised, not just for performing miracles, but for who He is and always has been.

God speaks and things happen. I have difficulty getting my grandchildren to even hear me when I speak because they are so attentive to their television shows. Yet, God spoke and the whole earth was created. Amazing God!

Indescribable-Chris Tomlin

In God’s Thoughts

On By vickleaIn Scripture6 Comments

God is omnipresent, meaning He is with each of us at all times. Our finite minds have difficulty conceiving of this idea, but the Bible declares its truth. It’s humbling to realize that I am on God’s mind, even when I am going in my own way and struggling to go on the path He did not intend for me to be on. Still, He thinks about each of us and wants the best for each of us, always. He is loving and merciful at all times and constantly aware of what we are doing, the choices we are making and the desires that He wants for us. He constantly cherishes us, more than we could ever imagine.

Have a blessed day as you ponder the truth that you are constantly on the mind of God and that He always desires what is best for you.

Darkness and Light

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

Since I was a young child, I have preferred light over darkness and I still sleep with a night light nearby. In my childhood, my mother would not tolerate my foolish insecurities and never allowed me to have a night light, but there was a street light that shone brightly into my bedroom every night and with its shining comfort, I was able to sleep. I am not a fan of winter, not just because of the cold, but also because of the darkness that comes earlier and stays later. When we lived in Maine, I went to work in the morning in the wintertime, and it was dark. When I left school in the afternoon, it was already dusk and by the time I got home, it was dark. Darkness doesn’t really frighten me any longer; I just prefer to see clearly and darkness doesn’t allow that.

Jesus came for the specific purpose of saving mankind from darkness, but the darkness wasn’t surrounding them. Instead, it was in them. In fact, the darkness that is the equivalent of sin is in each of us because we were born in sin and only Jesus can lead us to the light of His grace and mercy and ultimate peace.

I cannot imagine Heaven because it boggles my mind that there is no need for the sun or moon there. God and Jesus illuminate the entire new city of Jerusalem. No darkness at all! After all, there is no sin in Heaven. When I think of how dark the world is today, and not just from winter, but from mankind’s evil choices, it gives me hope that one day there will be no darkness. It also makes me sad that so many who are living in darkness and think that they will never pay consequences for their evil choices are doomed to eternal darkness. I can only pray for them, speak truth as I am given the opportunity and wait for them to begin to make right choices, ones led by God. In the meantime, there is a blessed hope for each of us who are believers. One day, there will be no more darkness!

Imagine no more night! When I visited my husband while he was stationed in Iceland, it was amazing to me that the sun didn’t go down while I was there. There were blackout curtains on the windows to allow us to sleep during the brightly lit night. Now, imagine a world in which light is the only thing known. No darkness at all, ever. More importantly, no sin…no cursing, no lying, no killing, and most importantly, no evil in the heart or mankind. No woke culture proclaiming that lies are the truth. No politicians glad-handing and making promises that they never intend to keep. No sin anywhere in God’s New Kingdom, none at all! That is true light, isn’t it?

Have a blessed day and may you be encouraged by the thought that one day the darkness that surrounds us will be no more.

Pass It On

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

Remember the game we played as children that was called “pass it on.” Someone would tell a secret of some sort (usually foolish things that were not really secrets at all), and say, “Pass it on.” Then we would see how many different people we could tell. The age of technology has given way to a new way to play the game. We are still doing the same thing, but our message reaches a larger audience in a shorter amount to time.

As Christians, each of us is tasked with the mission to “pass it on” and the greatest mission field that we have is first to our own families.

Our lives are the testimony we live before our family members, especially the youngest ones who listen and watch everything the adults say and do. We may not be aware that is happening, but believe me, it is! A case in point is that I am currently in MD watching my youngest grandson. His older sisters spend a lot of time with their other grandmother because she lives nearby, and one of her favorite phrases is OMG. I don’t use that phrase at all and told the girls that it was wrong to say it because you were saying God’s name without any purpose, like a swear word. They still use it because it has become a habit, and I cringe each time they do, but when they see my disappointed face, they change the wording to, “Oh, my goodness” which is what I suggested they do. Children hear and mimic. I have been singing Christian songs with the little one and one of his favorites is “I’m In the Lord’s Army.” I have been here a few weeks now and when he wants me to sing the song while he does the motions, he comes to me and starts “marching.” It is very cute, but it also shows how attentive children are to what we say and do. It is up to us to plant seeds of righteousness rather than seeds of worldliness and rebellion.

I am old now, and the wisdom that I have comes directly from God. So does the witness that I demonstrate to my grandchildren. When I disappear to the basement bedroom weekly to attend church virtually, they know that Nanna is going to church and they hear me singing the worship songs along with the congregation. Sometimes, the curiosity of the older two leads them to come downstairs and listen with me. My desire is for them to attend church again as they did before the pandemic, but I am not sure that will happen. In the meantime, I am going to be the best witness I can and sow as many seeds as I can into their young and fertile hearts.

May each of you be blessed with the knowledge that someone is watching and God has given you a ministry right where you are. So, pass it on!