Month: December 2025

From Denison’s Forum, 12-31-25

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

“Courage is a choice”

I say all of that to say this: The omniscient God who created and transcends time is our best source for facing our fears of the future.

He sees tomorrow better than we can see today. Our Father can therefore prepare us now for what comes next while shaping our unseen circumstances for his greatest glory and our greatest good. All the while, he transfuses us with “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” when we trust our fears to him (Philippians 4:7).

The Christ who came at Christmas promised he would be with us “always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). His indwelling Spirit will never leave us (1 Corinthians 3:16). His all-conquering love will never abandon us (Romans 8:35–39). He will wade with us through every river and walk with us through every fire (Isaiah 43:2–3). He will open and close doors in accordance with his perfect will (cf. Acts 16:6–10) and lead us through each day until the day he leads us home (John 14:3).

Homer was therefore right: “All men have need of the gods.”

So name your greatest fear for the coming year and place it in his hands. Then claim his promise: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

David testified, “I sought the Lᴏʀᴅ, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). When we do the former, we can say the latter.

According to Winston Churchill,

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a choice.”

What steps will you take to choose courage in Christ today?

My Thoughts

I really, really needed this call to choose courage today! The last year held a lot of fun and many health challenges. As I face the New Year, I am currently facing possible surgery on a rotator cuff, and right now I am in constant pain, sleeping in spurts as my shoulder and arm allow. But, God! God is taking care of my fears and reaching out to me with all of the love He has for me. I seek Him and He answers me. There have been a lot of middle of the night conversations lately and more than a few tears of pain and frustration. I don’t know what my future holds, but God does, and I am thankful that He will be right there beside me no matter what happens. He is the God who heals me, with surgery or without. He is my Maker, my Healer and my Deliverer.

Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve! May the God of all hope walk closely beside you.

For the original article from Dr. Denison, please click here: Denison’s Forum, 12-31-25

Tuesday’s New Releases with Five Stars

On By vickleaIn Book Promo2 Comments

I highly recommend each of these books and give them each five stars. You can read my complete reviews on Goodreads or Book Bub, but here are a books a snippet of each review.

I really loved that the main characters got a second chance at love and also that they were older and still actively engaged in life and helping others. The bloodhound Arthur is a favorite canine now, since he is older, heroic and an intrepid investigator on his own.

Rated PG for intense suspense but G for content

The story captivated me from beginning to end and is a must read for fans of well-crafted romantic suspense.

Rated PG because of intense suspense and G for content

The story of Brenna, her emotional support dog named Lulu and her second-chance-at-love hero, Owen McCaw, is one that is heartwarming, filled with secrets and a need to be honest, and a story packed with action and some unexpected twists.

Rated G for all readers

This book offers a sweet romance, a lot of family love and drama and plenty of mystery, too as the Lemmon brothers are involved in a lawsuit that may end up with their losing the ranch that they love dearly.

Rated G for all readers

So, where can you purchase your copy of any or all of these new books? Just follow the links below directly to Harlequin. There you will also find the links to other retailers.

Purchase Links

The Cowboy’s Claim

An Unexpected Texas Reunion

A Killer in Texas

Scent of Sabotage

My Book Bub Profile (to check out all of my reviews)

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/1339019570

My Goodreads Profile (to check out reviews and follow me)

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20457633-vickie

All In, With All You Have

On By vickleaIn ScriptureLeave a comment

Fully Committed (Daily Refresh, 12-29-25)

“And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time.”
1 Kings 8:61

These words are part of King Solomon’s prayer of dedication at the completion of the temple in Jerusalem. It was a moment of celebration and fulfillment, a physical reminder that God was dwelling among His people. But Solomon didn’t want a beautiful building. He wanted a faithful people.

Not halfway committed. Not when commitment is convenient. Not when you feel like committing.

Fully committed.

It’s easy to drift into partial commitment: reading your Bible when life slows down and you can find the time, praying only when things go wrong, showing up to church when your family has a free weekend. But Solomon’s prayer still calls to us today, and it’s clear: be all-in with your faith.

So what could full commitment look like in your everyday life? Here are four things you and your family can do to build a life that’s fully committed to the Lord:

– Read your Bible daily. Not out of guilt, but out of hunger. Let God’s Word shape your thoughts and decisions.
– Pray continually. As 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, keep an ongoing conversation with God through every moment, big and small.
– Be rooted in your church. Attend regularly. Serve consistently. Don’t just go … belong!
– Live in obedience. When God speaks, follow. His commands aren’t burdens; they’re the path to real freedom.

Full commitment isn’t perfection, it’s direction. It means you’ve set your heart fully toward God and you’re pursuing Him with all you have.

My Thoughts

When I read this devotional today, my first and very self-righteous thought was that I am already fully committed. But then, I read it again more carefully and see some areas that I need to work on.

First, I do read God’s Word daily, but sometimes I think it is because it is a habit, a something I need to do before I do other things. I need to work on my attitude so that it is more of a hungering for His Word and not the first thing on my to-do list.

Second, I am rooted in our church but I don’t always feel as though I belong. We had a fundraising campaign last year called “all in” and I did not participate. The main reason is that they do a new campaign every year at our church, just giving it a different name, so that they can expand, build, etc. I’m not opposed to that, but it was getting tiresome to me and more of a competition to give rather than giving from the heart. I need to check that out in me and ask God what He wants me to do when their new campaign starts at the beginning of the new year. I think I am still holding on to a little resentment that I cannot fully participate in the services because of how loud the music is. I am wearing noise cancelling headphones every week now.

I am working on listening to and following God. That is now always easy for me because I am a natural organizer. If God let me loose, I would probably try to organize things in His kingdom in a way that would be easier for me to understand, but He reins me in and reminds me that I am a follower, not the chief leading the parade.

So this is honestly me. I am all in, with all that I have and anticipating God’s working in my life in new ways for the new year. How about you? Are you fully committed?

Joy and Hope

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

I apologize for being absent for a couple of days. I needed the break time since my family was here. Both my son and daughter, their spouses and our grandchildren came over on Christmas Day. We had a full house and full hearts. I may skip a few days now and then as I wait for inspiration, but I will return and hope that you will continue to look for my posts.

This is a quotation I found from Charles Spurgeon when I was looking for another quotation. Isn’t this the truth? We hope that when we have a new government, things will get better, less chaotic. In some ways that is true. But the President and his men are not the source of our hope. Only Jesus offers hope that is there for us anytime we reach out to Him.

2025 has been a challenging year for me, with a broken foot and now a possibly messed up rotator cuff. The pain is teaching me a lesson about being patient and taking things easy instead of pushing myself. Not being able to reach up to get things is a real pain for me because I don’t like to ask for help. But I am learning that it’s okay to admit that I am not as self-sufficient as I would like to be. The foot is healing well, but it leaves behind a reminder of the almost three months I had to wear a clunky ortho boot. The reminder is also painful; my hamstring is pulled and causes frequent pain. Starting when I was wearing the boot, I assumed the pain would dissipate once I stopped wearing it, but it’s still there, a constant reminder that I suffered an injury that is still healing. Whatever the last year brought you, I hope that you were able to continue to experience joy in the presence of the Lord. He is my joy, in spite of the pain. As I age, I find myself spending more time on reflecting on the gifts that God has given us, and one of them is joy. Just like hope, we have to spend time in God’s presence in order to feel the joy that bubbles inside us, ready to spring out.

God is present with us! Are we present with Him? Check your hope and joy; they are like barometers for your time with Him.

You Can’t Earn Your Way to God

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

Jesus is Lord (Daily Refresh, 12-27)

No matter how good you are, how hard you try, or how decent of a person you attempt to be, when it comes to following Christ, you can’t earn your way to God. You can’t do enough good things to tip the scales in your favor. You can’t buy, win, impress, or manipulate your way into salvation. 

But Jesus has already purchased your freedom on a cross and offered it to you as a gift. 

But you do have one job, as Paul describes in his letter to the Romans…

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV

Many people believe that Jesus was a real, historical person. Many people believe that Jesus was a genuinely good man. But the Bible says that even the demons believe there’s only one God—and shudder (James 2:19).

Minutes before their deaths, two criminals hung next to Jesus on the cross. One of the criminals mocked Him, but the other one trusted in Him. Jesus told the one who trusted Him that he would soon be in Heaven. He received grace.

You see, we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standard. We all need His grace, but we haven’t all received His grace.

So are you trying to be good enough for God? The bad news is, you can’t. You can’t ever be good enough on your own. But the great news is, Jesus has already made a way. However, you can’t simply know that He was a real person or think that some of His teachings were nice.

But the most important question remains: Will you make Him the Lord of your life?

My Thoughts

There are multiple people in my family who have the philosophy that I also grew up with, that if I am “good” then one day I will go to heaven. I didn’t find out until I finished college and a neighbor presented the gospel to me that I found out that you can never be good enough to go to heaven because being “good” is not how to get there. There is one way to heaven, and that is by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Some people are so accustomed to having enough money to buy anything that they want, they may have convinced themselves that they can buy their way into heaven. A definite false belief since God has no need for money. After all, He who created and owns everything doesn’t need our wealth if we have it. Others think that they are such savvy negotiators that they can talk their way into heaven, perhaps at the last minute. That seems to give them permission to live however they want and then talk to the Gatekeeper and enter into heaven. Again, not the way God established His world and the “ticket” into salvation. Once we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, then we want to do good works because we want to be more like Christ. We aren’t so worried about gathering riches on earth because we know that they don’t last. And we are more careful about what we say because we know that we represent our Savior and will one day account for all of our words. So, the bottom line is that salvation is your choice now, today, not the minute when you die and stand before God. You need to make that choice before you face your Creator. Being good isn’t what God seeks; He wants sold out, absolute surrender to Him. Sounds scary, but it’s really not because at the bottom of what God wants from you is His firm foundation of love. He wants what is best for each of us, and He knows it is to choose to be with Him forever.

Tis the Season

On By vickleaIn Christmas, Holidays2 Comments

Bells are ringing,

Phone is sounding,

Carols playing.

Tis the season

To shop and give,

But let’s not forget

The reason.

The Christmas story

Told in God’s Word

Is not a myth,

But a true miracle, the gift that we all need,

But the one that many avoid.

Not wanting to be convinced,

They shy away from the truth.

They prefer the noise of the bells ringing,

Children demanding, Phone sounding,

And carols playing.

I prefer the silence in which God speaks to my heart,

And reminds me of the reason for this season.

Have a very blessed Christmas, from my house to yours!

God Is the Author

On By vickleaIn ScriptureLeave a comment

Trusting God’s Story (Daily Refresh, 12-22-25)

Imagine Mary and Joseph getting ready to become parents. They probably asked a lot of the same questions expectant parents do today: Is the baby healthy? Are we prepared to care for this child? Do we have what we need? Where will we have the baby? Are we ready for the birth?

Near the end of Mary’s pregnancy, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that everyone within the Roman world return to their hometown for a census (Luke 2:1-4). This meant that Mary and Joseph had to leave their home in Nazareth to take the four-day journey to Bethlehem, the city of David, who was Joseph’s ancestor. 

It could’ve been because of the census that Bethlehem’s inns were full of people making the journey home. It also could’ve been because of a misunderstood “scandal” surrounding Mary and Joseph. Regardless, when the time came, Mary gave birth to Jesus in the only place available to them: a stable. She placed him in a manger—a feeding trough—because that’s all there was. Surely this was not the birth that Mary would have planned for her firstborn child.

And yet, it was exactly what God had ordained. God showed us a lot about His Kingdom through the circumstances around the birth of His Son. 

He showed us that Jesus is humble. Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger. The King of all Creation, yet such a humble beginning.

He showed us that the Kingdom of God is accessible. This King wasn’t tucked away in a castle or a mansion, separated from His people and surrounded by luxuries—shepherds and wise men alike were able to come visit Him.

He showed us that we can trust the story. Mary had to trust God’s story. Joseph had to trust God’s story. Imagine how the story would have been different if Mary and Joseph had demanded that room be made for them in an inn, shouting, “This is the Messiah, people! We need a room with amenities!” But they didn’t do that. They accepted the situation in front of them, trusting God’s story regardless of how strange or undesirable the setting seemed. 

And from that surrendered posture and strange set of circumstances, God brought forth His Son, exactly as He had planned. 

We can trust the story because God is the Author. Jesus’ humble birth was not an accident—it was a message, a picture to all of us of what God’s Kingdom is truly like. It’s also an invitation for us to surrender our plans, our ideas of how the story should be, and trust the trustworthy hand of God in our lives. We can trust God.

My Thoughts

We can trust our story to God, also. He planned and executed His plan perfectly, with the perfect timing, the perfect setting and the perfect place. God is the Author of each of our stories, so on this wonderful Christmas Eve, let’s lay down our plans before His throne and trust that His plans are better.

If you are reading this and enjoy it, please leave a comment. I am having some difficulty with Word Press. Some cannot see my posts. Others cannot comment. So, if you can see and comment, I would appreciate knowing that. Thank you and have a blessed Christmas Eve. May we always work towards fulfilling God’s plan for us!

Give from a Place of Gratitude

On By vickleaIn ScriptureLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/13415/day/22

I am not a Scrooge, but I do watch my pennies around the holidays. Our nuclear family has grown exponentially as each of our three children has two, three and five children of their own. Plus our siblings to buy for, too. So, yes, I budget. But I also give when I see or I am made aware of a need. That is not to toot my own horn by any means. I don’t give so others will look at me and be thankful. I try to give anonymously and give the glory and all of the gratitude for providing to the Lord. He blesses me so that I can bless others. I like to use what He has given to me wisely so that more can receive a blessing. I would rather be a Bob Cratchit than a Scrooge any day!

God Cares

On By vickleaIn ScriptureLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/619/day/349

I hold on to the promise of God that He cares about me and all I do, say and all of the challenges I face. In the New Year, I will be starting PT again, this time for my shoulder that the doctor thinks has a rotator cuff problem. I am trying to avoid surgery, having already had a steroid shot a week or so ago. The pain is better but not gone, so I am thankful that God truly cares for me and everyone I love. Casting my cares on Him means letting it go and not worrying about surgery that may or may not happen. He is a good, good God and it is beyond my scope of understanding how much He cares for me. I just accept that He does and my heart’s desire is to show others that He cares for them, too.