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 …
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 …
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 …
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! …
Memorial Day: A Day for Gratitude
“I have not stopped giving thanks for you…” Ephesians 1: 16a We often think of Memorial Day as: A day for loading up on hotdogs and funnel cake A day for camping and hiking A day to celebrate the launch of summer Instead, would you consider making it the following: A day to remember A day to acknowledge our freedom to work, play, hike, and, yes, eat more than we should. A day to remember those who died so we could live Our U.S. Constitution grants us freedom to speak, worship, bear arms, assemble, vote, own …
Who are we pleasing?
A thought has been in my mind for quite some time. A thought that seems to judge, but I am just as guilty. A thought about parenting, about the past, about what my spirit is teaching, and about what I am learning… a thought about truth. You see I look around and see. I see more deeply than before. I see what my past has done to me; the thoughts, the inescapable connections in my brain that have been hard wired because of a choice or a thought, whichever it may be, that occurred a long time ago. Sometimes I …
Letting go and Letting GOD
Have you ever thought you were just living in survival mode? I often think I stay there. But, I believe I may finally have it figured out….we all STAY in survival mode! Just about the time we learn to work with what we have, life changes or throws us a curve and we have to learn to survive again. Let me back up, I am a wife and mom of four children, ages seven, five, two and a half, and four months. I have been married for nine years. My husband and I were married in June 2003, he finished …
Personal Liberty
Freedom: Personal liberty as opposed to bondage or slavery I am so glad to be born in America. So often I wonder why I was born in a land of so many freedoms, while someone else millions of miles away was born into an area of oppression and hardship. I know things are not always easy here in the US. As one of our writers brings to light this edition, there is a terrifying and growing slave trade here that rivals any other country. There is poverty, hunger, unemployment, abuse, and many other areas that are keeping America …
Becoming a Slave and Gaining Freedom
Freedom is, by definition, the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Slavery is, by definition, a relationship where one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty and fortune. As a teenager I had been engulfed in a life of sin. I was captivated by its lure and enticed by its stronghold. I was a slave to sin, until freedom pursued me and I began to allow God to draw me to Him. As I entered adulthood, I aspired to be happy. I longed for all the normal …
Here I am send me
There was a time in my life when I felt I just wasn’t good enough for God to use. No matter how hard I tried I just kept messing up. I had read books, done recovery, and had friends I talked to about it, but despite my best effort I continued to screw up. At one point I went to a friend from church for accountability and help in this particular area, but instead I received condemnation. I knew what I was doing was wrong, that wasn’t the issue. I wanted help to be victorious over this thing, instead I …
Nobody Has Time for That!
Time? I don’t have time! It often seems that time truly does fly and I find one moment I’m waking up for work on Monday morning and before I blink it is Friday afternoon. So as I think about the word time I hear God teaching about what we don’t have time for. I don’t have time for: The lies of the enemy– His cruel words say ashamed, useless, messed up, washed up, unworthy and more. You fill in whatever it is that haunts your mind. “Set your minds on things above…” Colossians 3: 2 says. If it doesn’t line up with God’s Word about us, we …
You Can Fly
When I was a little girl I thought I could fly. Seriously. I’d stand on the couch and jump and in my youthful imagination I’d sweep around the living room through the air and back to the couch. It was pretty exhilarating and gave me a sense of oh so much freedom. Eventually I quit “flying”. I got older and attributed that ability to fly to my imagination. Oh beloved, God reminds me of youthful flying this morning because He wants you to know your abilities in Christ including flying! Soaring in the Spirit is your birthright as a born …