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No Condemnation

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 Condemnation. We’ve all experienced it. Sometimes it surprises us … catches us off guard. But where does it come from? Friend and family? Neighbors and co-workers? Sometimes we find it online and other times on social media. But the worst is perhaps when it bubbles up in our own head and heart. Have you ever found yourself condemning yourself? Paul reminds us in Romans 8 what our enemy wants us to forget: we are no longer condemned! Our identity in Christ has set us free from the …

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Motivation

People are motivated by two things: They’re motivated by principle and pleasure, or they are motivated by pain. We create our own jail cells, where bars are made of anger, bitterness, resentment and grudges. What’s the key to all of this? Forgiveness. It’s your choice. Do you want to stay where you are, in misery, or do you want to be free of this state of mind? When we’re hurting it’s only human to want to blame someone else. Quit running away from it. Face the fear. Forgive. Once you forgive you’re given the opportunity to live an amazing life …

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Paralyzed

When my husband was temporarily paralyzed from a stroke, I got paralyzed too – by fear. Although hubby’s paralysis left and it’s never recurred, my paralysis tries to come back on occasion. Can anyone relate? Oh beloved, fear is the ultimate “paralyzer”. It will grab you and keep you from moving forward. It will tie you to the bed of sorrow and cause you to remain immobile and unmovable. But our God is a forward God. His momentum is to compel us to live a forward facing, continually moving in the Spirit life. No one is ever meant to succumb …

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Let Freedom RING!

My laptop screen died.  I possessed a God-given sense to self, just failed to have the sense to “Cart and Check-out” with the correct item.  The faithful UPS driver was certainly happy when I finally hit the screen lottery!  That little chasing my tail story to say this, blogging happens when the need arises and bless it, the need arises at odd times.  Odd places.  Odd places require a lap top.  Laptop died.  My freedom to blog as before was no more.  A silly thing really; but silly, real and hindered.  My freedom and a itty-bitty ministry was hindered. My …

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Pure Joy

Stress. That would be the single word that best describes the last few years of my life. So much so that when we rounded the corner into 2014, I began to pray, “Lord, will You please grant me a season of rest?” I was so weary that it didn’t seem like a selfish thing to ask for. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to keep going without some time to re-energize. Maybe I just wasn’t specific enough in my request… ‘cuz I was kind of thinking about several months, maybe even a whole year of rest! And initially, it …

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Soil of My Soul

I am going to be honest: I do not really know you that well. I don’t know if you are a 30-something mom, a divorced man, a hurting teenager or a heart broken widow. I don’t know what part of my testimony to offer you and what parts to withhold and keep guarded. So, as I write this I fully trust the Holy Spirit to intercede so that my words reflect God’s heart and encourage yours. Sticking to the theme of honesty, you do not really know me either. I am Katie. I just turned 30. I have experienced the …

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What If?

I keep asking myself the question, What if I lived my life as if I believed everything the Bible said is really true? What would THAT look like? I actually do believe that, but I know that through the years of life’s experiences I have unwittingly allowed little lies to creep in or built up protective walls to defend myself that can also be a barrier to real truth. Life seems to have brought one trial after another the last several years and this week dropped another bombshell. My initial reaction was not a calm reflection of the truth I …

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Embrace Your Beauty In Christ

We were in the giant discount store trying to find some discounts we really needed when a friend called out my name. I had already told Danny that because I had my hair up, I would see people. Self-conscious about the hair in a pony tail I laughed and told her about it. She responded by telling me she liked it and I ought to wear my hair up more often. We visited a moment longer and she I we were on our separate ways. That one statement changed the rest of my trip to the big store. We saw …

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Don’t Play Whack-a-Mole with Your Passion

I’m not sure I can quite convey the emotions I experienced in the garden last November. I had been dreading and putting off the garden cleanup for weeks. In previous years I would have had that soil ready for rest, but this year my plot still held a long-dried-up bean vine, matted black-eyed pea vines, and shriveled cucumber vines with rotting cucumbers on the ground. But even in the midst of the cleanup I found myself rejuvenated. What had taken me so long to get out here again? Although most of the garden’s lush growth had browned, I found joy in …

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His Way is Better

My life is not at all what I thought it would be, and nowhere close to what I “hoped” it would be when I was growing up. I don’t say that regretfully. The Lord has shown me so many times that my thoughts are not His thoughts and His ways are not my ways. Praise the Lord for that! Sometimes in life, we end up being most grateful for the things in life that at that time we hated the most. I look back over my life and see fingerprints of God all over it. Places I lived, people I …

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It’s All About Jesus

  An evangelist friend of ours coined a phrase “It’s all about Jesus” for his region several years ago. Although we’re not in the leadership of this evangelist anymore, we still use the phrase often. Especially times when we feel that things are chaotic or we get into issues. Breathing this simple phrase can be a prayer of sorts to remind us, “It’s all about Jesus”. Oh beloved, for the believer “It’s All About Jesus” is more than a phrase. It’s our banner! It’s our comfort, our shield and our fortress. When the gates of hell whisper prevail we say …

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Love Lifted Me

“I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, When God grabbed and held me. God’s my strength, he’s also my song, And now he’s my salvation. Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs in the camp of the saved? “The hand of God has turned the tide! The hand of God is raised in victory! The hand of God has turned the tide! I didn’t die. I lived! And now I’m telling the world what God did. God tested me, he pushed me hard But he didn’t hand me over to Death. Swing wide the city gates-the righteous gates! …