If you live here in the United States as I do, I don’t think that you nor I has ever seriously considered the cost of following Christ. We live in a country where we are free to worship our Lord and where people are not generally murdered for their faith. But others around the world are not so blessed. I was amazed to hear that the dangerous and despicable al-Baghadi was at last killed by U.S. forces. I was happily surprised that they dedicated their mission to Kayla Mueller. I read her story this morning from Dr. Denison’s Forum and I’m sharing it with you below. We must always be ready to suffer as Kayla did, to sacrifice all so that others may live and so that we never deny our faith.

https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/daily-article/the-martyrdom-of-kayla-mueller-the-transforming-power-of-courage/

This is a breathtaking and heartbreaking story of the undying love a mother has for her child. Harriet was the private maid to Mrs. Cecilia Barton. Cecilia is a gorgeous young society wife who finds herself in a loveless marriage. Harriet is married to Jacob, the love of her life who comes back from Normandy with a horrible case of PTSD. Rebecca is Harriet’s devoted daughter. Now grown with her own two daughters, Rebecca is faced with a crisis in both of their lives. Iris cannot get pregnant and Jessie suffers from postpartum psychosis. Written with poignancy and compassion, this is a story spanning three generations of strong women who overcome insurmountable obstacles in order to survive a harsh world. Fans of women’s literature will applaud this author’s efforts to deal with such difficult topics in such a forthright and empathetic manner.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher/Amazon via a Goodreads Giveaway. 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.”

This wonderful story is available now from Amazon. I highly recommend it, but there is some violence in it that is necessary to tell the story.

I’m getting ready to go on another trip, but before I leave for about a week, I want to share these verses with you. They give me hope, and I pray that they do the same for you all.

Blessings to you all for a day, a weekend and a week filled with God’s Word. May you keep His Word in your hearts so that it is there close to you just when you need it.

This is more of a prayer for where I want to be than a declaration of where I am right now. I want the sound wisdom of God to reverberate through me, letting me know when I am on the right path and when I stray. I want to follow the “good path”, don’t you? How do I hear God’s voice? Well, He spoke to me about that, too.

That “still, small voice” is only heard when I am quiet before Him, waiting and listening attentively. I’m sure you all remember classes in school in which you daydreamed. The teacher would be speaking and you would go off into your little world and then come back and the teacher would be talking about something else. I didn’t do that often, but I did it. Guilty! I’m also guilty of a wandering mind when I am supposed to be focusing on God and hearing His voice. I have to reign in my wandering thoughts and get myself back to where I am just listening, not telling God all of my problems or wants. Just listening. That way, I can work on finding that right path that He wants me to be on.

How about you guys, my readers? Do you ever struggle with just sitting quietly before the Lord? Our prayers, in my opinion, are not meant to be a one-way monologue or “wish list” that we present to God before we move on to our day. It is supposed to be a conversation with God, and in conversations, both participate. God is teaching me not to be in such a hurry to get on with my day, but to wait for His affirming or correcting words. No matter what He says to me, it is always encouraging and necessary for me to hear. This is not to say that God cannot and does not speak to me throughout the day. Of course, He does! But my special devotional time is when I hear Him most clearly and when He seems to speak to me the words that I need to hear to change the me that needs to conform more to him.

Have a blessed day, everyone, with listening ears and hearts.

This little book is absolutely full of encouraging words for those who are weary of walking through life and all of the problems that entails. There are ninety little devotionals in this book that is just short of 200 pages. You can read straight through them and let them speak to your heart, which is the way that I did. Or, you can read the Table of Contents and choose one that deals with whatever you are going through. This is a practical and easy-to-read devotional, with each one starting with a Scripture verse and then the author writing down what seems to be her meditation on that verse. Each devotional ends with encouragement for the reader to be and do better in life. Readers who are seeking a book filled with daily words of hope will want to read this book and keep it on the shelf to find just the words that are needed at just the right time.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Revell. 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.”

This awesome little book is available now online or at your local bookseller. It would make a wonderful gift!

This little devotional is perfect for everyday and for crises! When you need to call out to the Lord and need His touch and His encouragement but you just don’t have the words, author Carolyn Larsen has provided just the remedy. This little book has ninety devotionals in it which you can read just one a day or you can find the one that applies to your current need and soak in the warmth of its wisdom. This is a book that gives comfort to all who need a daily touch from the Lord, and don’t all of us need that? I highly recommend this book to all women who serve and worship the Lord! We all have times when we need a helping hand, and when no one is around to reach out to you, this little book will do just that. It touched me in so many ways. I rushed through it to be able to review it, but now I will go back and savor its wisdom and loving words that speak to my soul and heart.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell. 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.”

This wonderful little devotional is perfect for a gift or for yourself and is available now online or from your local bookseller. The size makes it perfect to fit into your handbag so that you can carry it along with you on errands and have an uplifting devotional on hand all day.

The Daily Article by Ryan Denison

The 2019 World Series starts tonight, pitting the Houston Astros against the Washington Nationals. While there are many storylines worth following with the series, the play of Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon is among the most interesting.

Rendon is coming off the best season of his career and is one of the leading candidates for MVP. Despite his play, though, his team had one of the toughest paths to get to this point.

They began the playoffs with a one-game, winner-take-all match against the Brewers in which they were three runs behind heading into the final two innings. Rendon scored what became the deciding run. From there, they went on to beat the heavily favored Dodgers before sweeping the Cardinals to earn their ticket to play for a championship.

Through it all, Rendon has been one of the Nationals’ best players. But, in hearing him discuss his career, you get the clear sense that what’s most important to him is that he plays in a way that glorifies the Lord.

As he told the Washington Post, “You want to plan for the future. But I’ve come to learn your plans don’t always come to fruition. Obviously, with my faith, too, I don’t want to seem like it’s all about me, me, me. It takes away from what I do for Him, for the Lord.”

Because of those priorities, Rendon stresses that “I want to be known as a Christian baseball player and I’m still trying to grow into that. But in the end, I want to be more Christian than baseball player.”

Keeping your focus on Who rather than what

Imagine what the church would look like if we all embraced that perspective.

What if we all understood our identity to revolve less around what we do than Who has called us to do it?

What difference could it make in our schools if Christian teachers saw each of their students as a divinely appointed mission field?

How different would our hospitals be if Christian doctors and nurses took the same approach to their patients?

What would it look like in your place of business if your coworkers understood that you showed up each day, not because attendance was mandatory or to earn a paycheck, but because you genuinely believed it was God’s will for you to do so?

What if each of us learned to see our home as the most important place to live this out?

Think of the difference it would make if we saw ourselves as Christian parents and Christian spouses, Christian brothers and Christian sisters, never separating the identity established by the first from the responsibilities borne by the second.

And, lest we think that sounds too idealized or utopian, Scripture clearly teaches that those who made the biggest impact for the kingdom of God were those who, more often than not, embraced this perspective.

Joshua, for example, was God’s general. David was God’s king. Elijah was God’s prophet. Paul was God’s Apostle. And while none of them did the job perfectly, at their best each had an outsized influence on the development of God’s kingdom because they kept their focus on Who called them more than what they were called to do.

The same can and should be true of us as well.

Nothing is common when it’s done for Christ

While it would be easy to sit back and think of all the great things we might accomplish for the kingdom if we had a platform as large as that of Anthony Rendon, never underestimate what God can do through you in whatever capacity he has called you to serve.

As A. W. Tozer once wrote, “It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.”

Nothing is common when it’s done for Christ.

How common will your life be today?

Note that I thought it was important to pass this on to my readers since the author has excellent insight into how we should view our lives.

I’m sure that you have noticed how negative everything is in our world. The newsmakers have a saying, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Nice, huh? Well, we as Christians should have a saying, too. “If someone needs, I lead.” What am I leading the needy to? Christ, of course. Now you may be scratching your head and asking what am I talking about. I have noticed myself getting caught up in the negativity of the world. When someone bashes a candidate that I support, I jump into the fray with both feet, hoping that my words will change someone’s mind. You know what? It will NEVER happen. Again, there is an old saying, “Someone changed against their will is of the same opinion still.” So, the only thing that I can do is remain positive in the negative world. I can refuse to argue, to debate, if you will. I have been trying that lately with my sons. They are extremely liberal and I am extremely conservative, so in their liberal, “I know everything” world, they are adamant about changing my mind and baiting me to argue with them, online for all of the world to see. One of them uses really foul language in his debates. My reply? I silence the argument by deleting it. Did you know that you can do that? I found that out and it was like a huge relief to me. They could continue to argue back and forth with others, but not with me, and I would not see the disagreement at all. I continue to post my positive messages and ignore the negative ones. It is no small thing in today’s world to be positive, but it is a necessary part of being a good witness. You aren’t going to touch or change the lives of others by demanding that they believe the way that you do. I think that you just have to maintain a positive attitude and let God do the changing of the hearts. In the end, the change is up to them because they have choices, but if you remove yourself from the middle of the fray, you won’t be stressed about their choice or lack thereof. Or, at least not as stressed. I confess that it bothers me that my own sons won’t listen to reason about not using horrible language online. But, that is their choice. They are adults and they will have to answer to God for their choices, just as I will have to answer to Him for mine. I just want to try to keep my mind fixed on Him. It’s hard in a negative world, but God didn’t say it would be easy. He just gave us the instructions to follow.

I hope that you all have a blessed day, filled with positivity!

Good morning, my friends! I have been nominated/tagged for this new award by Stu at Something to Stu Over. Elisha over at Africa Boy created this award entitled The Future Goals Award.

Here are the guidelines:

Ping back to the creator, Elisha at Africa Boy.

Use the graphic pictured above.

Share five goals for your blog.

Share five goals for your life.

Nominate at least five people.

Goals are very important in life! Without goals, we become complacent and unproductive. And often that leads one to feel unaccomplished in life.

So set goals and strive to meet them with integrity!

Here are five goals for Vickie’s Book Nook and Meditation Corner:

1. To share my faith in God.

2. To share uplifting news and notes about our world.

3. To share my love for reading books by sharing book reviews.

4. To answer God’s call to be honest and direct in my relationship with Him.

5. To establish online friendships with others who enjoy a close relationship with Jesus Christ and who may also enjoy reading.

Here are my five personal goals:

1. To stay close to God, realizing that it is not He who moves away, but that if I am feeling distant, I am the one who moved.

2. To see my grandchildren at least three times per year.

3. To be a good witness to unsaved family members.

4. To help out others whenever I can because I realize that I am Jesus’s hands and feet here on this earth.

5. To do a new Bible study at least once per quarter, in addition to my regular daily Bible reading and study.

I am tagging/nominating the following people for this award:

Kally

Lilly Eves World

It’s All About Love

Michelle

Riverside Peace

If anyone else whom I neglected to nominate would like to participate, feel free to do so. And for those whom I nominated, please do not feel obligated or pressured in any way to participate. I look forward to reading the goals of those of you who choose to do so.

Blessings!