Looking Beyond the Election: Realizing the Power of God's Word for the Days Ahead

Getting tired of this election? Got one more week until we the people decide who is going to be the next president of the United States. But do you know what will be interesting to see, after all the hype, how after sometime things will wear off and very little will care with what's going on. But the reality is our nation, and I guess I need to include the rest of the world, needs to go back to the word of God.

Truth is no longer truth anymore. I remember talking about post modernism in college. We long gone past that. No one tells the truth anymore. There is always an biased agenda. Religion is long gone out the door decades ago but does anyone notice how even in the small things that the government are trying to take it out completely through rules that are not even placed in correctly. Then there is all this talk about the One World Order. Or have you heard about the Arab refugee "boy" who an European women adopted and took to the dentist to only find out he isn't 13 but 21? The world doesn't seem safe. The world no longer holds onto what is true. But as Christians we know what is true and we need to take hold of it before it is too late.

This is the point of this month's series, realizing the power of God's word in our lives and how we need it and to really know it. How else will we know the truth we don't have it in our hearts? How do we know what's right from wrong if the Bible is resting on our nightstands? How can we have hope that if someone we didn't want elected got voted into office? How can we know that God is ultimately still in control no matter what? God's word is what we have to hold onto, breathe into our nostrils, hold onto with a tight grasp in order to survive. 

You going to read about having faith in God's word. One writer is going to challenge you with a history lesson combined with the Bible to show God's ultimate sovereignty over all. Another is going to show us ways to prepare using God's word. A little bit for everyone that I hope God will use to bless but also challenge you. 

Before I end, I just want to press on you the importance God's word in your life personally. It was made to makes changes in people's hearts which in return can be transferred to others who will read it themselves and who also can have a heart change. So I challenge you. If you are unhappy with how things are in the our world now, start reading and applying God's word in your life. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Seriously think of one way you can start soaking in the words of God. Here are some ways I have used or I have heard from others:

- Index cards placed in routine places around the house or car- switch them up every once in awhile
-set an alarm on your phone and put your favorite verse on your phone's background picture
-instead of going on your phone, leave your Bible open in the bathroom and read it when you go
-download at app that helps keep you accountable
-have a friend who is willing to text you once a week to remind you of your verse

Do you have any ideas? It is all about intentionality, setting a plan and doing it.

Linking up with Jennifer #tellhisstory and Holley Coffee for your heart

Five Minute Friday- Eat- What Faithful Thing has He done?

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "eat".

There is a verse in Psalm 37 that I immediately thought of when I heard our word "eat". It is in verse 3, "Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the Land and feed on His faithfulness."

Feeding on something is eating. We are called to indulge in God's faithfulness when we want to trust in Him and do good. There is no other way. You cannot be able to trust in God and do good without eating on the faithful things He has done in your life.

One story I eat on is a time when my husband and I worked at a group home. It was rough the first 6 months because the kids clearly were unhappy beings and didn't want to be there. Who can blame them? But I took it personally because my life was built on how others made me feel. Until one night when I got angry at some sisters who decided to gang up on me about some consequences they had. I got upset and left the house very mad. When I came back after the supervisor was called, I even threw my socks at them and ran off. I was hurting.

Stop

I have to go on of course. : )

I realized that I couldn't go on feeling this way. So I contact the pastor who did my husband's and I premarital counseling and he led me to my mentor, Jo. She was a gift from God. A year and half later of struggling, God opened my eyes through her and His most powerful life changing word to show me that He was ultimately in control with those kids lives but also mine. He knows every single detail about my life and I could trust that.

So every time a person or a situation makes me feel powerless or the uncertainty is unbearable, I turn to the verse in Psalm 37 and eat on His faithfulness on what He did at the group home.

What stories can you hold onto that allows you to eat on His faithfulness to get through what you are going through right now? 

Distant Lights- My Book Review

I am excited to share with you Distant Lights, an amazing book that just came out today on Amazon written by my talented and creative friend Marie Gregg. She has graciously allowed me to read before it came out so I can tell you as my readers a little bit about it and what I liked about it and why and who should read it. So here I go.

Distant Lights is a climatic book of poems about Marie's journey through the hard and dark times of her life. Her struggles are some like her husband's scary health problems to her health problems that could not be answered to her struggling with deep depression to having peace in the God who is in control of every detail of her life but also our own lives. Some poems are long and some are short. Some poems are just one word on each line to long and convincing conversations with God. She gives us a glimpse inside her mind to show us that the questions and experiences she has can be similar to our own, that we are not alone in the thoughts that we have about God. But the question is how can we learn from our pain and deep hurts and questioning to draw near to God? Marie addresses this in her book.

There are a lot of things I liked about this book. For starters, I love how it was so relatable to my own thoughts towards God. I have never dealt with depression but through Marie's dark times of doubting God or wanting to understand God's will, her book brought to light that we are all human and we all need God.

We live in an imperfect world. We deal with those hard things that sometimes people don't like to talk about. Marie addresses some of those things in her book, such as the flaws of people at church, difficult relationships with those who we love, going through health problems that cant be answered and having thoughts of wanting to hurt oneself. Through her straightforward and honest words, Marie shows us the battles with having these things but how God is always the answer even when we don't want to admit it.   

The visuals Marie write about are unbelievable. My personal favorite when she had a dream like vision of entering a dark and smelly place. But then a red rushing river appears with no source and light follows after. She can see flowers, birds trees, and two dogs playing. God comes to talk to her telling her this is the abundant life He wants to give to her. She falls on her face because of His holiness but all the while feeling His love and kindness towards her. They have a conversation of her feeling ashamed and how God still loves her and wants her to have this life. She ends it in her poetic and creative way by saying that the red rushing waters is Christ's cleansing blood in our lives.

I also have to put it out there that she has two poems called "I said, He said". These two poems represent a conversation between her and God. They were just plain awesome and real. You just have to read them for yourself.

Some of her poems were inspired from scriptures. She either rewrote it pertaining to her life or used the subject to write about what she was going through. They are found by the title of each poem to encourage you to read it yourself.

I want to challenge you as reader to read this book. If you have ever been over to Marie's blog, you can clearly see she has been blessed with insight and such a precise way to word how she sees things. She does the same with this book where you can get a glimpse of what is going through her mind during these dark times of her life. Maybe you know someone who is a Christian who struggles with depression or health problems. This can give you insight and encouragement.

For those who daily live the life we are called to as Christians, this book makes you feel normal. We all struggle with why God allows situations in our lives. We all struggle with feelings of unworthiness of God's love. We all struggle with how to live life when things are hard. Marie shows us that we are all human and it is ok because we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior who can help us and knows us inside and out.

Just one more thing about this book that you should know. I wanted to read this book because of the psychology point of view of depression but still see her journey of where God took her. But I am not a poetry person and it was hard for me to read it and gain stuff for the long term in order to write this. That is just any poetry not hers. But if you are like me and want a challenge, it is soooo worth the read even if you don't like poetry.

I am glad you were able to hear about Marie's new book Distant Lights. I hope I gave you enough insight to build a desire to buy this book and read it to be blessed but also challenged.

linking up with Jennifer #tellhisstory and Holly coffee for your heart

Five Minute Friday- Park- Do You want to go to the Park?

 

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "park".

I love going to the park with my two year old.

There is a nice size playground where the kids of all ages can play at. The swings are there for both the big kids and for the babies. It also has a smaller playground area for my big kid's age group but then a bigger one for the older kids. It is so much fun watching my big kid run around playground to playground trying new things but also doing what is familiar to her.

Another thing about the park is the farmer's market that goes on during late spring through early fall. There are a few tents set up with various farmers and Amish people who sell their veggies and fruits and some of their amazing baked goods. My big kid likes to go over there because of the farmers gave her an apple for free once.

A huge characteristic of this park is the huge river beside it. There is constantly ducks and geese hanging around the water but always ready and eager to eat anything you give them. Sometimes they are stubborn though and wont move out of the way when I am driving to get the park. They need those duck crossing signs.

Stop

Plus I have to add that they also have this mile long walking path, a doggie park, a small theater that has local actors who act out a play twice a year, and then they have their annual carnival. Even during Christmas, they have lights all along the path. Such a nice park.  

A Conversation with God

 

I feel so distant from you, God.

"Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

(Isaiah 41:10 NLT)"

 

I feel so anxious and alone, Lord.

"Do not worry! Tell Me everything on your heart

and reflect on who I am.

Cast your cares on Me because I care for you

(Phil 4:6 NLT and 1 Peter 5:7 NKJV)!"

 

I am lost for words!

"You don't have to come up with them by yourself

Ask the Holy Spirit and He will intercede for you!

He knows your heart and groanings. 

He will come through

(Romans 8:26-27 NKJV)."

 

I feel lonely with so much hurt and pain in my heart.

"I have number all your wanderings

and had every one of your tears in a bottle!

You can trust in me!

Man cannot do anything to you

(Psalm 56:8,11 NKJV)!"

 

Why do I feel like I am the only one who is going through this?

"You are not the only one going through this.

There are many others who have gone or am going through

what you are going through.

At the end, I am going to perfect, established, strengthen, and settle you.

It is by my grace

(1 Peter 5:9-10 NKJV)!"

 

I know that you have not changed but why does it feel that way?

"Hold onto that thought!

You are right!

I am the same yesterday, today, and forever

(Hebrews 13:8)"!

 

I hate feeling so attacked all the time!

"Yes you are being attacked

because he doesn't want you to trust in Me.

He doesn't want you to draw near to Me.

Take up My words and lean on them!

Take up My righteousness that is in you!

Hold onto your salvation and what that means!

All of this means you are going somewhere.

It isn't your husband or your kid.

It is your flesh and him.

Stand firm! Resist him!

He will flee

 (Eph 6:11,13; 1 Peter 5:9 NKJV)!" 

 

I know I need to read Your word to draw near

but why is it so hard?

"Keep doing it!

Trust in Me!

Keeping drawing near to Me

because I WILL draw near to you

(James 4:8a NKJV)"

 

Linking up with Jennifer #tellhisstory and Holley Coffee for your heart

Five Minute Friday- Mail- A Long Time ago before Email

 

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "mail".

The summer that I turned 14 I went to Awana camp in New Mexico like I always did. Awana camp was always something I wanted to earn to go to every summer. There you got to experience a week of fun and competition but also meet some awesome people. This particular year I met this guy named Fred Herrmann (yes that was his real name) and it was love at first sight. At the end of the week we switch addresses so that we could write each other. The goal was to keep writing until the following summer. And that's what we did.
 
He wrote the first letter almost immediately. Of course as any teenager girl, I could write the letter but couldn't send it until two days after I received it. Don't ask me why. When I would send it, the following days I would stalk the mailbox hoping to get a letter from him which I did. We seriously hear from each other once a week.

But then I found out that we were moving overseas. That was unexpected and very rough. We continued writing, but I didn't get his letters in the mail as fast because of being overseas. But then something what I thought was glorious came into our lives: EMAIL! But we soon found out that nothing really exciting happened in 24 hours and soon our writing quickly dwindled into nothing. Email was no longer cool.

An Unbelievable Peace: Three Generations Made Whole - 31 Days of Miracles

My grandma has always been such an inspiration to me. God gave me the grandma that I have to show that through God our lives can dramatically change forever. Life for grandma has never been easy. There has been constant dysfunction and pain in every aspect of her life. But grandma keeps pressing on. Her constant leaning on God and always dwelling in His word wasn't always like that for her. 

Want to read more? Head over to my friend's, Anna Smit, blog to continue on.

Five Minute Friday- Test- A Simple Test

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "test".

Every single one of us struggle with having bad thoughts. They might be anxious ones or resentful ones or angry ones. But sometimes we have thoughts that we are not sure if they are of God or of our flesh. Here is a simple test to see what they are.

1) Does it glorify God? Are you focusing on yourself or what is right?

2) Does it bring you peace or leave you unsettled?

3) Does it keep coming up or you have automatic peace?

4) What does God's word says about it?

5) Does it harm someone else? You know, to see someone fail or something that doesn't seem like that big of a deal?

It is so important to keep our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. If our thoughts are bad, it will affect our witness and our attitude. It is important to have a simple test like this.

The Only Thing that We all need

The past two or three weeks I have been really thinking about our world and how to the human eye everything is falling apart.

There is no more right or wrong.

You really cannot trust anyone anymore when it comes to public issues. 

Our election is a joke. No matter who we vote for, our country will just continue to plummet down further.

People who you thought had values and morals let you down.

Our internet is officially given over to communist countries such as Russia and China. 

The Social Security fund is being robbed because of our government's poor spending. 

It seems like every other day there is a terrorist attack in some public place filled with innocent people.

When people say they fear for their children and their children's children, they have every right. One can believed that of course if you don't know the word of God.

God has been challenging me to pour myself into His word and I want to challenge you to do the same.

It is the only truth!
It is the only thing that is firm and stable.
It is the only thing that has not changed and will not ever change.  
It is real and active and can change people's lives.

It is going to be the only thing that will help us in the future to come. It is going to be the only thing that we can hold onto. It is the only thing that will help our children and their children. Things are going to be twisted and we have to know the truth. Otherwise we will succumb to this world. We need God's word.

Here are some verses that I want to share with you

 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12NKJV

 

I will meditate on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word. Psalm 119:15-16

 

Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord—Your salvation according to Your word.
⁴² So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me,
For I trust in Your word. Psalm 119:41-42

 

The cords of the wicked have bound me,
But I have not forgotten Your law. Psalm 119:61

 

I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
⁷⁶ Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to Your word to Your servant. Psalm 119:75-76

 

You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in Your word. Psalm 119:114

 

 

But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, ¹¹ persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. ¹² Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:10-16

 

Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. ¹⁶ Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Tim 4:15-16

 

 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4

 

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward Psalm 19:7-11

 

Linking up Jennifer #tellhisstory and Holley coffee for your heart