It’s a new year. The other night as I was contemplating this new year I heard the words “narrow gate of a new year”. And I like that idea. The Narrow Gate in Scripture referred to Jesus as being the Only Way to salvation. But this morning the Lord refers to this new year as a narrow gate as well. It’s time to drop anything that held you back in 2021. Oh beloved, what held you back last year? What kept you from moving on in your life? What stopped you from fulfilling God’s purpose for your life? What caused …
Serving Our Country
I drive in my car today and watch the sun dance across my windshield. It is cold outside, and the extra warmth from the light feels good. I am on my way home from a special presentation by some military people on Veteran’s Day. I am so thankful for life in a free country. I heard some interesting information. One surprising fact was that only one percent of the population in our country has direct experience with the military. This creates a gap in community understanding. Used to be a person served a tour and then was back home, but …
How Heavy Is That You’re Carrying
One of our grands’ backpacks has a strap that is fraying loose. I’ve got to sew it back tightly. The weight of what is carried in that backpack has found a weak spot. Without sewing it back the strap will eventually come totally loose. Oh beloved, God reminds me to sew that backpack. And He remind us all that sometimes the contents we carry is so heavy that our faith starts to fray. We’ve all tried to carry more than we were meant to. We can even get bent over with the heaviness of it all. Pretty soon we think …
Filled to Overflowing
For years, I was a stale and stagnate Christian. Christ had deposited His living water within my sole, but it was more like a trickling creek than the gushing river He desired. I wasn’t thriving. In many ways, I was barely surviving. Then one weekend, I went on a women’s retreat and heard the account of the Samaritan woman (John 4) who’d gone through a string of relationships and, I felt certain, lived as empty as I was. She may have been widowed numerous times, abandoned by her past husbands, or she may have chosen divorce. Regardless, she’d …
Freed from Guilt
Psalm 51:1-2 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Psalm 32:5 “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Whenever I make mistakes, I would often feel guilty, more so when …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 to the coming year, 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! …
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 …
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 …
