Author: vicklea

I love to read! I’m a retired teacher with a spouse of 45 years, three amazing children and nine wonderful grandchildren. I am blessed!

Anchored in Truth

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

Yesterday and today have been hard days for me. We had planned a long weekend trip to MD to see our son and his family, but last night, our son texted me that our DIL has strep, so we need to postpone our trip. At first I was in the doldrums about it. We had already missed having Christmas with them because the toddler was sick. We waited until my medical appointments for after Christmas were done and were all ready to head to MD…but, change of plans. If I were not anchored in the truth of God’s love for me, this whole scenario would have sent me spinning into depression. Those days are gone though. Now, when bad news comes, I take it to the Lord and ask Him to help me to handle it properly and to have a good attitude even in the midst of my disappointment. I want to be so close to God that when the storm rages around me, I don’t even feel the raindrops falling. My prayer is that you are anchored in the Only One who can hold you up when all around you is topsy turvy. God bless you!

Anchored

If you’ve spent any time on a boat in the ocean, you know what it feels like to look up from the water, and suddenly realize you’ve drifted off course.

Without an anchor, there’s nothing to hold you in place.

Likewise, the ever-shifting waves of the world’s opinions can feel just as fluid and unsteady as the sea. When a storm rages, it can feel impossible to discern what’s up from what’s down—much less recognize God’s will.

In his letter to believers in Rome, where cultural trends were just as wobbly as ours are today, the apostle Paul wrote this:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So how can you renew your mind with the right stuff? How can you test and approve God’s will? Here are a few ideas:

Keep listening. You can know the story of God and understand the heart of God by reading or listening to His Word. You’re more susceptible to lies when you do not know the truth. But when you’re anchored to Truth, lies lose their power.

Keep talking. As honest and raw as possible, keep talking to God throughout your day. Ask Him your hard questions, come to Him with your burdens, and worship Him for His goodness, as well as the goodness you see around you. Communication with your Creator keeps you anchored to your Creator.

Keep learning. You can stay curious while also filtering what kind of information you put into your mind. You can pay attention to what you’re watching, what you’re listening to, and who you’re allowing to speak into your life.

You can resist drifting by anchoring yourself to the Truth—the words that come from God Himself.

Talk to God about Everything

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

I am really enjoying my daily time with God and I do try to talk to Him about everything. Sometimes, I tell Him how joyful and thankful I am. Sometimes, I tell Him all about my anxiety and problems. And other times, I just vent and tell Him that I am frustrated at how long He is taking to answer a prayer. I used to think that I had to always hide my true feelings before God, just being totally respectful and quietly asking for my prayers to be answered. Then, the more I read God’s Word, the more I saw that great men in the Bible like David just told God exactly how they were feeling. And God did not immediately destroy them for their honesty. He understood. I know that He understands me, too, when I am feeling overwhelmed with one health issue after another or when I am disappointed that plans to visit family did not work out. God is a big and loving God who knows us intimately and loves us. So the next time you spend time with God, tell Him everything that’s on your heart…He will listen compassionately and give you peace and comfort in the situation, no matter what it may be.

What does God want you to do with your life?

The only way to know God’s will is by getting to know Him. It’s through drawing near to God that His guidance becomes evident. There isn’t one correct way to do that, but there are steps we can take that will help.

Seek God through Prayer.
Think about a close friend. If you’ve known them for a while, you know what they like and dislike without asking. The closer you are to someone, the more you understand them. The same goes for our relationship with God. Knowing God’s will comes from having honest conversations with Him. That’s why we need to get into the habit of talking to Him regularly, about everything.

Search the Scriptures.
God’s will for your life will never contradict what is written in Scripture. So as you get to know God through prayer, familiarize yourself with His Word. The more you study the Bible, the more your desires will begin to reflect God’s will. And when this happens, you can confidently ask God anything—and He will hear you.

Listen to the Holy Spirit.
Listening for the Holy Spirit often requires silencing the noise around you. When you get rid of distractions and stop fixating on fear, you start to notice God’s peaceful presence in your present circumstances. So as you pray and search the Scriptures, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, and allow God to silence any distractions. (And if you want to practice intentionally seeking the Holy Spirit, try the YouVersion Guided Prayer feature.)

Look for confirmation from wise people.
Consider inviting people who are further ahead in their faith journey to be your “wise counsel.” Ask them to seek God’s will for your life with you. This step must be done alongside the previous ones. Seeking wise advice should confirm what you sense God is already telling you to do—it should not take the place of talking directly to God.

You may not always get it right, but the more you try to understand God’s will, the easier it becomes. When your desires align with God’s desires, He can trust you to do what is right. Applying these steps will help you, but discovering God’s will is a lifelong commitment that requires seeking God every day.

Store Up God’s Word in Your Heart

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App3 Comments

When I was in college and dating my future husband, we got to know each other through letters. I know that hardly anyone writes letters these days, but Harry and I would write to each other at least twice a week. I looked forward to getting the letters from him, the news that told me what he was doing and how things were going for him on his navy ship. We also talked to each other several times a week, in an era when there were no cell phones and every long distance call had a cost attached to it. Why were we so dedicated to this communication? Because we wanted to know each other better.

That is why I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading God’s Word and spending time talking to Him in prayer. God will always be a stranger to you if you don’t take the step to get to know Him. His Word is His love letter to us. Prayer is our long distance call to Him. Getting to know more about God and His character, His purpose for you and your life, the reason His sent Jesus…all are found between the pages of the Holy Bible. I hope that this is the year you become better acquainted with God. It doesn’t matter how many times I have read the Bible all the way through. Each time I read it again, I learn something new because His Spirit gives me new insight into God and His great love for me as well as into actions that I need to take to be the person He wants me to be. So, if you make resolutions, resolve to read the Bible daily. After all, it’s hard to love someone that you aren’t spending time getting to know.

Loving God’s Word

When we want to learn a new skill, we take care to learn everything we can about that subject.

Artists try different supplies and techniques to enhance their art. Musicians practice their music measure by measure, note by note, in order to memorize and perfect the song they are learning. Architects and engineers memorize and practice advanced math in order to design and build safe structures.

We give our time and minds to things so that we can use them well.

King David wanted to know God. He knew in order to know God, he would need to know God’s Word, because he knew that Scripture would keep him from sinning against God. He even wrote:

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.”
Psalm 119:15 ESV

This is a valuable lesson for us to learn as well: if we want to know God, to know Jesus, then we need to know God’s Word.

Just as we give our minds to the study of history or math, or we practice an instrument in order to play it well, we must also give our minds and time to knowing God’s Word. We should meditate on Scripture and fix our eyes on what Jesus has taught us. When we do this, we store up His wonderful Word in our hearts and it keeps us from sinning against Him.

We can know exactly what God wants and desires for us by reading Scripture.

His Word gives us boundaries, guidance, and direction. His Word shows His purposes and character. His Word reveals to us who He is, and we get to respond with joy and obedience. So today, what will you give your time to? In what ways will you store up God’s Word in your heart?

Read and Do

On By vickleaIn YouVersion App1 Comment

Many of us read the Bible daily, but how many of us take the time to ask God to show us what He wants us to do after we read it? The Bible is an active and living Word that can change us from the inside out if we let it. The first step is to read, but don’t forget to ask God what the next step is…what do you need to do with what you have learned from your reading? There is so much meat in God’s Word, but sometimes I get so busy that I suck it down like it’s milk and move on. I want to take the time to chew slowly, savor what I have read and really let it nourish my spirit. We all need to spend time with God reading His Word, but when we leave our quiet place of reading, do we let His Word change us to be more like Him? Reading is fine…but doing is where the change takes place.

The Living Word of God

One of the biggest misconceptions about the Bible is that it’s just another book.

In fact, many Christians treat Scripture as if it’s just a collection of ancient letters and books that inform us about God and religious matters.

While the Bible is certainly a collection of ancient documents, it is also much more than that. It is the very word of God. The Bible is inspired by God, which means He spoke through humans to create these letters and books.

More than that though, God’s Word is living and active. The Holy Spirit uses the Bible to speak to us even today. This is what makes Scripture distinct from any other book.

James tells us in James 1:22-24 that the power of Scripture doesn’t just come by hearing it, but by living it out.

Scripture has the power to radically change the way we live, but we must take the effort to first read it, and then do what it says.

James says that anyone who reads Scripture and doesn’t follow God’s way is only deceiving themselves. We think we are following God simply by reading His Word, but God desires that we live out the truths of Scripture in our own life.

This is what it means to follow God’s way rather than our own.

Take a moment to consider a few ways you can begin to live out the truths in Scripture. Spend some time in prayer asking God to reveal to you an area of your life to transform by His Word. And then, resolve to not just hear God’s Word, but to do what He says as you follow after Him.

The Beginning

On By vickleaIn YouVersion App2 Comments

I hope that you will join me this year in reading your Bible daily. There are all sorts of different reading plans on the YouVersion App which is what I use. This year, I am reading from Eden to Eternity and another one called The Bible Project: One Story that Leads to Jesus. Whatever plan you choose, I hope that you get closer to God, because the Creator who made you in the beginning wants to have a relationship with you.

Happy New Year and Happy Bible Reading!

God as Your Creator

Have you ever paused to reflect on God as your Creator?
God is unlike any other that is, was, or will be. He alone is able to fully sustain that which He creates. And He alone is able to create—miraculously orchestrating His purposes—merely by speaking it into existence.
But there’s more…

If you dig even deeper into the pages of Scripture, you learn about power by which God creates:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him, all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:1-3

For in him, all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Colossians 1:16

The writer of Hebrews assures us that, “by faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:3 NIV).
This “Word” is Jesus Christ, and through Him, God brought everything into existence. The ultimate redemption of all God’s promises will come through that same Word—Jesus Christ.

Reflect on that truth for a moment: The same power that spoke the universe into existence is the same power that will bring about the redemption of all things promised.

Today, take some time to reflect on God’s role as Creator, and allow it to fill you with great hope. Because He’s not just any creator; He’s your Creator, and He holds the very universe—and your life—in His hands.

Reflect on the Past, Trust in the Future

On By vickleaIn YouVersion AppLeave a comment

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

The author of Ecclesiastes spent a lot of time exploring the meaning of life. This “Teacher,” a king of Israel in Jerusalem (traditionally identified as King Solomon), tried it all in his quest for meaning—power and prestige, wealth and women. And, yet, still, he observed that generations come and generations go, but it all seems to be an endless cycle…

We work hard, but we eventually die.
We acquire things, but we eventually die.
We have families, but eventually we die.
Whether we spend our lives doing good or evil, we all eventually die.

But he goes on to say:

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When you gaze up at a star-filled sky, hold a newborn baby in your arms, or hike through a field of wildflowers, you are meant to be reminded of something greater—your Creator.

When you study what’s been recorded in human history or even process your own life, you get glimpses of the bigger picture—but you can still only see so much.

It’s not your job to know everything, but it is your job to trust God.

At the very end of the book, the Teacher shares his final thoughts: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬).

When you look back on this year, what was beautiful? Even if it was challenging or excruciating, what did God teach you through it?

Regardless of the past or what the future holds, you can trust that God is working—from beginning to end.

Review of FRAGILE DESIGNS by Colleen Coble

On By vickleaIn Book Review1 Comment

ABOUT THE BOOK

ISBN-13:9780785253822

Publisher:Nelson, Thomas, Inc.

Publication date:01/02/2024

Pages:352

There’s only one thing more dangerous than family secrets.

Since her police-officer husband Eric’s mysterious murder, Carly Harris has been struggling to support herself and their infant son. Her career as an antique dealer isn’t sustainable, nor is her dream of becoming a novelist. So when her grandmother proposes she and her two sisters restore the family’s large Beaufort home and turn it into a bed-and-breakfast, she immediately gets to work clearing out the house. In the process, she uncovers a family secret that Eric kept hidden. And an heirloom that the wrong person wouldn’t hesitate to kill for.

Homicide detective Lucas Bennett isn’t his neighbor’s biggest fan, not since she broke his brother’s heart years ago. But when Carly turns to Lucas for help, believing she’s found a lost Fabergé egg that would be worth millions and that could put her family’s lives in danger, he can’t help but get involved. Soon, they’re entangled in a mystery with threads that lead all the way to the Russian mafia. Lucas has gotten in deep, and while he trusts his ability to keep Carly and her family safe, he begins to realize he’s vulnerable to an unexpected kind of danger. And he’s helpless to stop the freefall. As they continue working closely together, Carly and Lucas realize they may have found something more precious than gold. Yet it’s only a matter of time before Carly—or, worse, someone she loves—gets hurt.

My Thoughts

This book was amazing in every way! It’s a propulsive thriller along with a twisted mystery and a family drama that is expertly woven into the story of a missing Faberge egg. Carly’s husband was killed in a home invasion and she is left to raise their son Noah alone. Her grandmother has a plan to turn her large mansion into a bed and breakfast, something that will support Carly and Noah long after she is gone. In perusing the contents of the attic, Carly makes a remarkable discovery that will change the entire family’s life, if they can survive it, that is. I really enjoyed the characterization; all of the characters were well-rounded and dynamic. Even the bad guys were so well portrayed that I really hated them and their nefarious and deadly deeds. The plot is complicated with family issues, a missing twin and treasures that need to be discovered and protected. The complicated plot was written brilliantly with a sense of intense and edgy suspense that kept me totally engrossed in the story. I really enjoyed getting to know Carly and how giving and loving she was, in spite of how people took advantage of her. I also liked Lucas, the swoonworthy neighbor who doesn’t want to have any kind of relationship outside of protecting Carly and her family. Add to all of this the Russian mob, a swindling family member and so much more! This is a fast-moving book that is captivating, multi-layered and insightful into personalities of the characters and their motivations. I loved this book so much that I was sad when it ended…I just wanted more of the remarkable Tucker family and their head-spinning history.
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 and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Clean Christian Fiction with intense suspense

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Best-selling romantic suspense author Colleen Coble’s novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, the ACFW Carol Award, the Romance Writers of America RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has over 5 million books in print and her books have been on the USAToday bestseller list, the ECPA, CBA, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon bestseller lists. She writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana. Visit her website at www.colleencoble.com.

AVAILABLE 1-02-24. PURCHASE LINKS:

Christian Book

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Target

Google Play Store

Audible

Baker Book House

Walmart

With heartfelt gratitude to Thomas Nelson Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC to read and review. This is one of the best books that I have ever read! And definitely one of my top five books for the year!

Joyful

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

In this season of celebration and joy, it seems that we should ponder the reason for our joy-filled hearts. The Scripture gives the answer.

When we fear the Lord, showing Him the reverence He deserves as our Creator and the One who sustains us, we are joyful. When we follow His ways, we are joyful. How do we know His ways? We read His Word and spend time talking to Him in prayer. You cannot get to know someone when you never communicate with them.

So, instead of a season of joy that lasts a few days or a few weeks, let’s be joyful every day because we know the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and we are following Him, all the way to eternity!