Love the Unlovable

On March 27, 2025 By vickleaIn Admonition, Scripture, testimony2 Comments

None of us has difficulty loving the people who are always pleasant, smiling and just plain lovable. Unfortunately, my experience has been (and probably yours, too) that the majority of people are like Grumpy Cat, just waiting to pounce on the next thing I say that they can disagree with. But you know what? I am called to love them anyway. Love is a choice, not one where you get to pick and choose who will benefit from your love, but one where you are supposed to choose to love everyone. All of us has at least one difficult person in their lives, the one that you make yourself spend time with, knowing that the best you can hope for is not to get into a verbal sparring match that will destroy our testimony for Jesus. I personally have relatives that cause my blood pressure to rise and my body to exhibit symptoms of high stress whenever I am around them. But rather than avoid them, I put on my armor of God and enter the battlefield, knowing that the words I say need to speak life and love into their hearts that have been hardened.

I am not the judge and jury of their actions, words or even their attitudes. I am their friend, family member and the one that they judge first when they see me start to waiver a little in my faith walk. They are not my encouragers, but they are the ones who need my encouragement. If I cannot love them with the love of Jesus, then I am the one who has failed them. Love is sometimes hard and often challenging, especially if you go into a situation with a preconceived idea of how everything will play out. I have learned through experience to hope for the best but pray as if the worst might happen so I am prepared to give the answer they need to hear. Love is telling the truth and loving the other person when they refuse to hear it. Love is accepting the barbs of rejection and knowing that it isn’t really me that they are rejecting but the Lord. Love is unconditional, not expecting anything but ready to give everything. Love is…you tell me. What is love to you?

Choosing Our Clothes

On March 26, 2025 By vickleaIn Admonition, Scripture3 Comments

I have a closet full of clothing, including many items that I seldom if ever wear. There’s the suit dress that I wore to our son’s wedding, almost two decades ago. It is a lovely suit, but too dressy for every day and I don’t go to many weddings. I have a super heavy coat that a dear friend gifted me after she found out that I had knee replacement surgery and she wanted me to have a long coat to keep my knees warm. It is so heavy that I feel weighted down when I wear it, so I don’t wear it often, but it’s there for the really cold days when I need it. Finally, I have my wedding gown. Over fifty years old and I still have it. I won’t fit into it, and it’s nothing expensive or fancy that cost hundreds of dollars. In fact, I got it on sale at a now defunct department store, watching my pennies on a tight budget and knowing my parents weren’t chipping in for any of my wedding expenses. My veil cost more than the dress and I couldn’t tell you where that even is. I like to just see the dress sometimes and remember what that day was like for me.

Most of us have clothes that we don’t wear much but which we don’t want to give up. I have downsized my closet several times since my retirement, donating all of the professional teaching outfits that I know I don’t need now. There are some articles of clothing that God urges us to wear daily, and the good news is that they don’t take up any room in a crowded closet.

These are the attributes of someone who maintains a close relationship with God and who strives to be more like Jesus. Opening Jesus’s closet is free to us but it cost Him everything. Today, as I sit quietly in my pajamas (my daily outfit since retirement), I am pondering whether I am properly dressed for the day. I don’t have to wonder about whether things match or are appropriate for the activities for the day. What I put on each morning for the Lord always goes with whatever I am wearing outwardly and they are always just what I need to get me through the day. Being tenderhearted, showing mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience not only ministers to those around me, but they also make me feel better about any challenges during the day. After all, God wants me to face the world with the same empathy and compassion that His Son showed to all whom He met. The outward clothes I wear will wear out (or more likely stop fitting properly), but the clothes I put on for the sake of the Lord will always fit just right and be the exact qualities I need at the exact moment I need them.

So, what are you wearing today?

Created to Love God

On March 25, 2025 By vickleaIn Scripture, testimony, YouVersion App2 Comments

The Most Important Thing (YouVersion Daily Refresh)

When Jesus was asked by the religious leaders what the most important command was, He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5. This verse contains one of the most important commands in all of Scripture.

The starting point for all of our lives is wrapped up in loving God. We were created to love God and have a relationship with Him. This relationship means that we were also made to be loved by God as well.

Amidst everything that you have to do in life, the most important thing is that you love God with everything that you are. If we become successful in life but do not love God, we’ve missed the most important thing.

God instructed the Israelites in Deuteronomy to constantly keep this command in their hearts and minds. They made physical reminders to help them remember to love God in everything they did. They taught this command to their children as the foundation of all other commands in Scripture.

Take some time to consider your life as well. Is loving God the primary motivation? Spend some time thinking about how good and merciful God has been in your life. Maybe create a physical reminder that you will see everyday to help focus your thoughts and heart on loving God.

Remember that God loves you more than you could ever imagine. The best motivation to love God is to constantly remember how much He loves us first.

My Thoughts

I grew up in a home in which I was not shown a lot of love, so when I found out that the God of the entire Universe loves me, specifically me, just the way He made me, I was overwhelmed. I remember that I cried, I praised, I cried more and then I sat silently and just soaked in all of that love that I had been missing.

The really good news is that God’s love is not fickle. It doesn’t depend on who I am or what I have done for Him. It just depends on His character. He is love and He desires to teach me how to love and be loved. I don’t have to get good grades, excel in all I do and shout to the heavens, “Hey, God, are you seeing this?” He sees me all the time and loves me just as I am.

In return for His devotion, God only wants me to love Him in the same way that He loves me, wholeheartedly and unashamedly. I can be quiet about my love for God or I can be loud. The way I love isn’t as important as the fact that I love Him with everything in me. I want to please Him, not because His displeasure would cause Him to withdraw from me, but because He shows me more every day how to love. The thing missing from my childhood has become the center of all of my adult life. I am loved, always and forever, by the God who accepts me just the way I am.

The Job of an Ambassador

On March 24, 2025 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App3 Comments

Becoming Like Christ (YouVersion Daily Refresh)

Scripture tells us that we who belong to Christ are now ambassadors for Christ. As ambassadors, we are tasked with two things: the mission of God and the character of Jesus.

The goal this passage sets out for us sounds pretty simple: to become more and more like Jesus in the way that we act, think, and feel, and to also accomplish the purposes that God has for our life. We are tasked to accomplish the work of God in the way He wants it done, following the “word of truth,” or the Bible.

As Christians, we should strive to be like Christ. We want to have the same mind and attitude that He had. Paul’s encouragement to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15 reinforces that mindset about our character. In the midst of a culture that is grumbling and fighting, act like Jesus.

In this letter, Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of his past, but instead to let his past be a testament to how Jesus has changed his life. Your past is part of your story, and it’s not something to be ashamed of. It’s a way that you can show others how Jesus changed your life.

The best way that we can continue to be transformed by Jesus is to continually seek His truth in Scripture. As we engage with Scripture and the Holy Spirit, our mind, heart, and hands are changed to be more like Christ.

How can you be more like Christ today? Think of a few small steps you can take to begin to shift your thinking and action towards the mission of God or the character of Christ. Ask God for His help as you seek to follow Him daily.

My Thoughts

I was so happy to hear that Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and a wonderful Christian, was tapped to be the ambassador to Israel. Since he is a staunch and vocally active supporter of Israel, I knew that he would be the perfect candidate. When I read today’s Daily Refresh, I realized once again that I am already an ambassador. What struck me as fresh or information that I hadn’t thought a lot about was that my job has two aspects to it.

Just as Mike Huckabee will represent the United States to the nation of Israel, I represent Christ to a lost and dying world. There are a lot of people who are afraid right now, terrified of the “orange man” in power who has the potential to disrupt their happy existence. My sister has been ranting online to me for days now, sending me articles about how we are about to lose our social security and the dictator in power is deranged. I have chosen to ignore her rants and to answer calmly about other topics, like health and current well-being of herself or family members. I figure that the best way to calm her storm is not to take part in it but to focus on blessings instead. To me, that is the best way I can represent Christ to someone determined to not believe or trust in Him.

The other part of my job is to fulfill His mission of telling others. I am not great at that, but I work at sowing seeds whenever I am prodded by the Holy Spirit. I know I can do better so I continue to strive to hear the Spirit’s voice and to know what to say and when to say it. I don’t want to offend, but I do want to commend others to the Lord and let them know that He is just waiting for them to open the door to their hearts.

Today is a busy day for me since I go to see my neurologist and have him check on some issues I have been having, like recent migraines and the effect of bass/percussion on my brain. I hope that I will be able to sow seeds while I am out and about and that I will be a good representative of Christ, representing love and hope rather than doom and gloom and despair. There is a lot to worry about, but I choose to count my blessings instead and let God handle the worrying part.

I hope your day is blessed with a fruitful day of being a good ambassador, wherever you go and whatever you do!

Depend on God’s Power

On March 23, 2025 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

A Way Out

Life is full of difficulties and challenges. Especially as Christians, our desire to follow God’s paths for our lives can sometimes go directly against what our culture tells us to do. Living according to God’s way can be particularly difficult because of various temptations that might cause us to get distracted.

1 Corinthians 10:13 acknowledges that we will all experience temptation. It also does not promise that all of our temptations will be easy to overcome.

But it also says that God promises to be faithful to help us through whatever temptations we face. God will provide a way for us to escape every temptation. God will strengthen us so we can endure through trials.

God has given us instructions and a pathway for right-living in His Word. Everything that we need in order to live a healthy, godly life is included in Scripture.

Paul, the author of the letters to the church in Corinth, cautions his readers not to be prideful in their spiritual life. When we are prideful, we can falsely believe that we’re immune to temptations. But when we’re prideful, we are actually most susceptible to fall into temptation.

So rather than being arrogant, we should be humble. We ought to depend on God’s power rather than our own. It is only through a growing relationship with Jesus that we truly find the strength to endure trials and temptations.

If you find yourself caught in temptations, draw near to God. Ask Him to give you His strength so that you can endure. Make it a priority to strengthen your relationship in Him through reading God’s Word and praying to Him. Never forget that God always provides a way for you to escape temptation. He is always faithful and always with you.

My Thoughts

Sometimes, I am like a child stomping my feet and declaring my independence when what I really need is to lean closer into God. Temptations come daily. The temptation to watch a show on TV that is not wholesome but everyone says it’s really good. The temptation to accept doing a book review on a book that is not Christian but it has good ratings and the author is well known. The temptation to choose to spend time on a device instead of with God. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose, but always I set out to win. The thing is that none of us can win the battle against temptation on our own. We have to depend on God’s power. We have to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us out of temptation and He will. But we have to ask and depend, not go our own way heedlessly of His warnings.

Favorite Hymns: Spotlight on “It Is Well With My Soul” Lyrics by Horatio Gates Spafford, Music by Phillip Bliss

On March 22, 2025 By vickleaIn Scripture, Song, testimony3 Comments

The story behind this hymn may be familiar to you. I heard it once many years ago and had to look it up to remind myself of what happened to inspire such a heartfelt song. Here is where you can find the story:

The Story Behind the Hymn

I have sung this song for years, especially when times are hard for me. The last month has been a real trial with my health. Hospitalized twice, once for a bacterial infection and the second time for blood pressure so high that I was in danger of having another stroke. Those incidents were closely followed by bronchitis and a secondary lung infection. I have been taking so many medicines that I had to write them down to make sure I took them as prescribed. One evening, as I was exhausted from coughing and lack of sleep, God reminded me of this song. No matter what is happening in my body, “it is well with my soul.” And that is what truly matters.

Here are the lyrics:

It Is Well With My Soul – Lyrics

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul.