I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
When I was a child, one of our activities involved trading toys to neighbors for more coveted ones. I was a poor trader because I usually got the doll with the sparse hair or the “jacks” ball that looked like it had been chewed on by the family pet. I don’t remember how it all came about, but I do know that when I got home with my new treasures, I quickly put them away into the playroom because they were not what I wanted but they were what I got. In a similar fashion, my husband, an avid sports fan, tells me in great detail who has been traded up from one team to another and how it will or will not benefit the new team. I listen halfheartedly because sports do not interest me at all, but I have listened, making it possible for me to include that analogy in my thoughts today.
In exchange for accepting Jesus as Savior, you trade up. Instead of a broken heart, you have healing. Instead of captivity, you have freedom. And instead of darkness, you have light. Now, that is trading up! Jesus does not, however, promise that all will be easy on this new road. He simply promises that eternity is waiting and He will be with us through all of the difficult times. I traded my shame over my sin for redemption and belief in an eternal home where I can always be with the One who sacrificed His life for me. Jesus exchanged His home in Heaven for a home on earth so that He could sacrifice His life willingly to save each of us. He considered us a “trade up” and I’m so grateful that He considered me worthy!
Have a blessed day and enjoy the feelings of peace and security that come from knowing the Lord as your Savior.
What does “unity” mean and how do we get there in this world that seems more divided each day? Many years ago, I studied in a history class the root causes of division between people, with my teacher instructing us that the basic problem was that some people have and others don’t. The ones who don’t want what the “haves” possess, so thus begins bitterness, envy and division. I believed what the teacher said then and I believe that this division has spread to families and even churches. Sadly.
I have been staying in NC in a home filled with the opposite of unity. There is bitterness, anger and unhappiness abounding. So, instead of good and pleasant, it is awful and very unpleasant. I am not happy here because I don’t feel that I can change anything, caught as I am between the factions that are determined to attack each other. Without the Lord, this situation is unredeemable, and I am doing all I can to stand in the gap and present God to them, the God of love, forgiveness and acceptance.
I have to pray a lot here, with a constant attitude of prayer, lest I lash out and tell my sibling how I see her actions and how she is hurting others. I can say a few things to encourage but nothing much that seems to be making a difference and that is discouraging. Still I persist and pray with my husband daily for strength, physical, mental and spiritual. The whole armor of God is a necessity here!
Speaking quietly and with soothing words seems to help some but it isn’t bringing the unity that I crave to see. Years of bitterness and resentment are seething under the surface, waiting to bubble out. Do I understand what is actually happening? Yes, of course. This is spiritual warfare!
The greatest example of love that Jesus gave us was His sacrifice on the cross. Thus, I am attempting daily to show love in practical ways so that some peace is found in the environment. It’s hard to be with someone who hates people just because of what they believe, but that’s where I am now. I’m at the point where I am praying and then trying to muddle through and make it to the end of my visit without damaging my own health too much. I am sure this is not what God envisioned when he made us a family, and I feel guilty about disappointing Him, but I don’t know what else to do but pray and stand.
This week has been beyond difficult for me, and I sincerely appreciate all of the prayers for me and this situation. I have five more days here and then I can go home and recover.
Have a blessed Saturday, my friends! Remember to hold your loved ones close and to show love to all whom you meet. You never know what a difference you might make!
I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating that God always answers our prayers. It may not be at the time we expect or how we expect, but there is always an answer. The answer is always Yes, No, or Not yet.
Yesterday was a waiting period for me for answers. I had a high blood pressure reading that refused to go down. I stayed in the bedroom where I’m sleeping, praying, reading, calling my daughter to agree with me in prayer. After a couple of hours, my headache was worse and when I checked my blood pressure, it was higher still. Having had a stroke already, I knew I had to remain calm and focus on positive things. Thus, yesterday’s post about thoughts.
This has been a verse that I have leaned on repeatedly. I really need Jesus to always guard my heart and mind so those anxious thoughts don’t slip in and make themselves at home there.
After about six hours of the headache and elevated blood pressure and continued prayer, the pain eased and the pressure started to go down. Finally, in mid-afternoon, I felt normal again. God’s timing is always perfect, even when I think He’s arriving with an answer a little late. Just after I started praising God for feeling better, my sister got a phone call telling her that the issue at her doctor’s office was resolved. She was approved for the medicine she needed. Big praise from me there! Her negative attitude did not stop right away but it got better and so did I. Sometimes, it takes more praise and less anxiety for the answer to be revealed. But God never stopped working on my behalf or for my sister, the root of my anxiety.
I don’t know what today will bring. I haven’t taken my BP yet this morning. But whatever comes, I know that God is in control. As my friend here on WordPress said in her post, God is THE boss!
God knows where I am and He is examining the path before me, moving obstacles and helping me not to stray or stumble.
Have a blessed and wonderful day, enjoying God’s presence in your life and watching for answers to prayers.
There is a lot out of our control, but one thing we can reign in is how we think.
I have been having a tough time here in NC because my sister is angry and frustrated over her condition and I have become an unwilling target for her. As a result, my blood pressure has been climbing. So, today, I’m staying in the back room and thinking good thoughts (as much as I can) and asking for prayer. I can go home early but that would probably enrage her more, so I’m trying to stay calm and prayerful. I wish she knew the Lord but she doesn’t and says she doesn’t believe as I do. It’s all very sad and stressful. Thank you for prayers.
I know with certainty that I have read this verse many times throughout the years. I have sat in classes with Ephesians 6 as it’s focus. But for perhaps the first time, I really noticed a very important word in this verse. Do you see it? The word is “when”. It says WHEN the day of evil comes, not “if” it comes. It seems to be a foregone conclusion that the day of evil is coming, not just a possibility or a probability, but a reality of life.
To some, this might be a “whoa, hold on there, you prophet of doom.” This is not a prophecy about evil coming; I believe instead that it is a prophecy about our being able to stand firmly WHEN it comes. We prepare in advance and then we can stand through anything that the enemy throws at us. We have to always be prepared since we don’t know WHEN the enemy will hurl his fiery darts at us.
Having been a teacher for almost four decades, I know all about preparation and lack thereof. I would spend every Saturday preparing lesson plans for the upcoming week, and most days it took almost the entire Saturday to do them. I had to make sure that I was ready to stand before my classes and teach the subject matter in a way that would make sense to them and so that they could use it to further their knowledge of the Spanish language. Nowadays since I am retired, my preparation is to get ready for the day and I begin each day with a devotional and Bible reading. I like to think that I am preparing myself for WHEN the evil days come, just as I got ready for when the students asked hard questions.
There is no such thing as a sneak attack if you are vigilant and always prepared for whatever may come. Because evil is there, waiting for you to let down your guard. The word is WHEN, not IF!
May your day be blessed with the knowledge that you are fully prepared to face whatever happens because you started the day putting on the full armor of God!
Are you a morning lark or a night owl? I have always been a morning person, no matter how late I stay up. I awaken at about dawn and get up to start my day. However, there are many nights when I cannot sleep, tossing and turning, going to the bathroom, drinking water, etc. I discovered years ago when I am unable to sleep that it is a perfect time to talk to God. During the late night or early morning hours, with my husband sleeping next to me, I just tell God all that is troubling me and then I listen for Him to speak His loving reassurance into my heart. Sometimes though, my night watch becomes a praise session, thankfulness for all that has gone right recently in my life. I have found that these nighttime prayers, although rare for me, invigorate me for the new day when I awaken to face it.
God’s promises are many and I have found that as I speak them back to Him, I am not reminding Him of His promises, but rather, I am reminding myself of what is already in His Word and there for me. Psalm 91 is a favorite of mine to recite in the night when I cannot sleep. Hiding under His wings gives me comfort and often I fall asleep meditating on those verses or on a chorus that encourages me.
The night watch is a good time to intercede for loved ones as well as for strangers that I have encountered during the day. God knows their needs and I think He leads me to pray for those who need it most. Pouring out my heart before God is good for me; it allows my heart to be emptied and ready to be filled by His sweet presence again.
If the Son of God spent the night praying to God, it should not be hard to imagine that God may at times call each of us to spend time in a night watch. Perhaps a few minutes, an hour or more, or all night. That is between you and God. I just encourage you to be open to God’s speaking to you at night when you are having difficulty sleeping. Perhaps a better use of your time than tossing about is to just talk to our Heavenly Father and release any burdens you have left from the previous day, knowing that He is there listening no matter how late it is.
Mothers are not a big focus in the Bible; rather it is the men, the fathers, who are mentioned most often. Therefore, the fact that my devotional today was about mothers was instantly interesting to me, so I think I read very closely to see what the theme was.
“His” refers to Abraham and Paul is addressing a dispute about whether Christians must live under the Mosaic Law and be circumcised. His argument is centered around the mother of each of Abraham’s children. Isaac was a child of promise, the one who was led away to be sacrificed but for whom God provided a ram in his place. He was the promised child that Sarah and Abraham waited for, the one Sarah laughed about because she overheard the prophecy that she would have a child in her old age. God brought His will to pass and gave her Isaac. Ismael, however, was the son of a slave woman named Hagar. Impatient to have a child, Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham and urged him to have a child with her. She was a child who came from the fleshly desire to have a child right away instead of waiting for God’s promise.
So, I ask again. Whose child are you? Are you a child of the law and the flesh or a child of the promise? That sounds easy enough to answer, doesn’t it? But if you are bound up by the law instead of walking in the freedom of the promise, then you are not truly free. Christ died to set us free from sin and death, so remember who your mother is and don’t return to bondage.
Have a blessed day, rejoicing in the fact that you are a child of the promise and giving glory to God for His great plan of salvation for us all.
What does the word “seeking” actually mean? According to http://dictionary.com, “seek” means “to go in search or quest of.” Synonyms sited for “seek” include to pursue or to follow. So, having defined the word, why should you care what it means?
Do you see that? Jesus told us to love others as we love ourselves and Paul wrote to seek the good of others, to pursue their good, to look for it diligently. We are to show preference for others and their needs. In this world of constant competition and one-upmanship, we as Christians need to be an example of putting others above ourselves and our own needs. That may mean going back in a line further so the harried mom can take your place. It may mean yielding to the driver who cut you off instead of trying to “show them” how they should be driving. It also means fulfilling commitments because others are counting on you to be there when you said you would.
We are to value the interests of others more than we value our own. I can honestly say that my husband Harry has done this for me in more ways than I can count since I had my stroke seven years ago. He may really want to watch a football game on Saturday afternoon, but if I need to go to the library, he will leave the game and take me. More importantly, he takes me cheerfully without one word of complaint. If I need to eat an early dinner because I’m tired, he leaves the news that he enjoys nightly and makes an early dinner for me. In fact, Harry has made almost all of the meals since 2015 when I got home from the hospital. At first, it was because I couldn’t stand long enough to cook or even recall how to do so. But his cooking became a labor of love as he looked for new menu items that would entice me to eat without salt and now, with low potassium, too. There are too many things he does to name them all, but the same man who used to tell me to leave him alone until his game ends now leaves the game behind and helps me with whatever I need. So, what do I think happened? Well, he became more like Christ when he almost lost me in that ER and ICU. I think, although I do not know for sure, that God touched him in a special way while I was healing and the heart that had become accustomed to having me around saw me as more valuable to him. I like to think that we both see more value in each other and put each other’s interest higher than our own. Thus we have been married for almost fifty years and both regularly choose what the other prefers. Harry needs the radio on a high volume when we are traveling in the car because of his hearing deficit. I tolerate the loud noise because I know that he can’t hear the show otherwise. He, in turn, turns the radio down when a loud commercial comes on, especially if it has a lot of bass to it, because he knows that since my stroke I cannot tolerate those reverberations. There is a lot of give and take in our relationship and we work at making it work for us.
But this verse is not focused on marriage relationships. Instead, it focuses on all of our personal interactions with others. When you are shopping and give the clerk a ten dollar bill and they accidentally give you too much change back, do you return to them the extra amount? When you are walking down a crowded sidewalk, do you move to the side so the woman with packages and two small children has room to pass by? During the pandemic, items like toilet paper became hard to find. Did you step back and allow others to have the coveted item, deciding to wait longer to fulfill your own need? There are numerous ways daily in which we can show others that we value their interests above our own. Take a few minutes and think about how you are doing in this endeavor. Don’t beat yourself up because you fall short; we all do sometimes. Rather, strive to do and be better. That’s called growth.
As I write this, I am at my sister’s home in NC. She is adjusting better now and not as negative as before, so that is a praise report. While I am here, I know that my needs have to come secondary to hers, especially since she is going blind and is very unhappy with life in general. So, when I am tired, I stay awake anyway to keep her company because I know that she is lonely. We eat dinner on her time schedule, not mine, because she has to take meds at a certain time daily. In general, I knew before I came that her interests would need to be placed first and because I love her, that has been easy to do, not a sacrifice at all. That being said, I will be here for almost two weeks, so I need to keep my eyes focused on meeting her needs and not my own. For that, I would like your prayers.
Have a blessed day as you look for opportunities to seek the good of others!
Goodness! The new book in the Fallout Series by Lisa Harris is the best one yet! With spine-tingling, non-stop action and tension ratcheting up as the danger closes in, the story of Sam McQuaid, former firegfighter/paramedic and overall good guy is one that is unforgettable. Sam is in a caravan traveling to Texas from Colorado when the caravan is attacked. This scene sets the tone for the whole story…one horrifying event leads to a chain of others that have Sam falling in love and then running for his life. With brilliantly written characters and a plot that crackles with suspense, this book compelled me to keep reading. A great deal happens with Sam on his quest for the truth and his desire to prove that he is innocent of murder, and reading his story was not just entertaining. I felt as though I was with him, urging him on to the safety he needed and the love that overwhelmed him. I enjoyed meeting the new characters in this book, just as I have enjoyed the entire series and getting to know each McQuaid. Sam is my favorite character so far because his honesty and clear self-evaluation are realistic and appealing characteristics. This book can be read and enjoyed as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading the entire series as it is well worth the read, they are all short reads and they are all cleverly written with tight plots and meticulous research. The books are scary good with their realism and the faith that is a foundation of each book is clear and unwavering. Disclaimer Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via BookFunnel. I was not required to write a positive review. 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.”
Intense action, but this is Christian fiction, so it is suitable for all who enjoy a faith-filled romantic suspense.From Lisa Harris’s author page on Amazon at Amazon/LisaHarris: USA Today and CBA bestselling author LISA HARRIS is a Christy Award finalist for Blood Ransom, Port of Origin, and Vendetta, Christy Award winner for Dangerous Passage, and the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 (Blood Covenant) and 2015 (Vendetta) from Romantic Times. She has sold over half a million books. She and her family have spent two decades working as missionaries in Africa where she runs a small non-profit organization that works alongside their church-planting ministry. The ECHO Project promotes Education, Compassion, Health, and Opportunity and is a way to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” (Proverbs 31:8) When she’s not working she loves hanging out with her family, cooking different ethnic dishes, photography, and heading into the African bush on safari. For more information about her books and life in Africa visit her website at http://www.lisaharriswrites.comOther books in the series include SURVIVAL, HUNTED, and FREQUENCY.
This book releases on Tuesday, September 20th but it is available for pre-order now! Purchase Link:
