Your Responsibility and Their Choice

     This post has absolutely nothing to do with chickens but since I haven’t shown you any pictures of my girls I thought I would share this one.  I have six and hope to get six more soon; just as soon as I feel all the cold weather is behind us.  Even though I will keep the babies in a warm brooder I like for the weather to be nice as well.

One month ago today I had a heart attack and was in the hospital for a lengthy stay.  I’m home now and slowly but surely getting back to my normal self.  While down and not out it gave me a lot of time to think about a lot of things; as you can imagine.  I sit at my dinning room table and look out the big window at a wonderful view of the back yard and the wild birds that we feed.  Yesterday we had a visit from a Painted Bunting!  What a beautiful creature; so bright and cheerful!  It made me think of how God makes so many magnificent things.  How could anyone not believe in Him?  How could anyone not teach their children and grandchildren about God and His mighty love?  But sadly they don’t.

They say “We want to let him/her make their own choice.”  Wrong!  What choice?  If you don’t teach them about God what choice can they make?  What do they have to choose from?  You let them watch television and use their ipads and flood their minds with worldly concepts but you say no to God and His principles and virtues.  Then we wonder why our kids are killing each other.  Boys shooting girls because they said they didn’t want to be their girlfriends or killing other kids because they didn’t do as they wanted them to do.  People setting bombs and harming or killing complete strangers just for the heck of it.  Where did this start and where will it stop?

I fully believe it all started when we took prayer out of school.  When I was in school (and granted that was years ago ) we started every day with a verse from the Bible, the Lord’s prayer and Pledge of Alliance.  If one did not want to say the prayer they didn’t have to but they had to be quiet what the others participated.  Back then we respected out teachers and elders.  Back then you did not hear of all this kids killing kids.  But along came someone who said “We should not have prayer or talk about God in our schools.” So they stopped the prayers and devotionals and said “We don’t need You in our schools God.”

Since then we have been like a snowball rolling down hill!  Our world is getting worse and more evil it seems by the day.  Where does it stop?  I’ll tell you where.  In the home!!  Parents and grandparents can’t say we’ll let him or her make a choice and then not give them role models to choose from.  Oh it’s easy to blame television and computer games and I can see why.  That’s all you are giving your children to choose from. Violence, disregard for human life (we are killing babies by the thousands but that is fodder for another post) that is the choices we are giving them.

Absolutely they should have a choice.  God gives us the choice to choose Him or the world.  But if we don’t teach our children God’s principles and virtues all they have is the world view (and we know the devil controls the world ) to choose from.  Yes it is their choice but it is your responsibility.

Yes I am on my podium but I feel this is an epidemic we need to deal with.  God tells us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 what we need to do so He will heal our land.  And you must agree our land needs healing.

Thank you for stopping by please come back soon.  God bless.

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I WEAR A CROSS

Footsteps

I wear a cross on a chain around my neck.  It isn’t meant to bring me good luck or protect me from anything. It is there as a reminder of the price my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ paid for my salvation.  It reminds me of the footsteps He took  on His was to be crucified.  He knew the pain He would suffer and worse than physical pain the anguish He would suffer from being separated from our Father for even a second.  He took that walk and the Cross as a substitute for me.  He paid my sin debt in full.  But not only mine but all sins past, present and future.  He knew no sin yet He became sin so I would not have to.  Now sin is not the issue; faith is the issue “Faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ alone.”

Yes, I wear a cross on a chain around my neck but not for luck.  Every time I touch that cross I think of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His free gift of salvation.  He gave His all so we will not have to.  When you see a cross please remember the price He paid.  If you have not accepted His free gift please think about it, pray and ask God to accept you as a member of His family.

Thank you for stopping by I hope you come back soon.  Have a Happy Easter and remember it is not about the Easter Bunny hiding eggs, please remember the real reason for the celebration.

WE CAN HAVE GOD’S FAVOR

    

Well the election is over and it doesn’t matter who you voted for and it really is none of my business.  I’ve heard people who are ecstatic that President Obama has been given another chance to see what he can do.  Whether it is good or bad, fair or unfair is not for me to say.  And, on the other hand I’ve heard people say that now our country will go to hell in a hand basket; that President Obama will not only give away the farm but will toss in the livestock.  Again, it is not for me to say what my opinion is on the subject.  Honestly, I’m not worried one way or the other.  Long before last Tuesday my son reminded me that no matter who is president that Jesus is still King.  To me that’s all that’s important.  I know no matter what that God will always take care of me and my family.  He always has.

     Are you worried about the country?  Come on… do you honestly think one man can build our country up or tear it down?  Only God can destroy our country.  We must exercise our faith in Him.  Remember what He promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14  if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear their prayers from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.  So there you go!  Christians should not be wasting their time pointing fingers and blaming others.  The reason our country is in the mess it is in is because God’s people, His children have turned away from listening to Him and following His principles and virtues and have started living like the world.  Today it is hard sometimes to tell the Christians from the world.  We accept far more than we should and we fail to stand up and speak up for our beliefs.  When they wanted to take prayer and devotionals out of the public schools we sat on our hands and let them.  Then they wanted to remove the Ten Commandments from all public buildings and again we did not speak up.  They said it is all right to kill unborn babies and we allowed that and same-sex marriage and on and on and on…  Where does it stop?

     It will stop when Christians get on their knees and humble themselves, pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways!  So stop blaming President Obama or whoever is in office and start putting the blame on our backs where it belongs.  If God’s children will pray and stand up for God’s principles and virtues (and apply them to their lives) this country can once again be a wonderful place to live.  Our children can play outside or walk a block to the store without having to worry about being kidnapped, raped and/or murdered.  Neighbors will be willing to help neighbors.  Yes, there will be jobs for everyone and we can once again freely seek the American Dream.  It is up to us, not one of us but all of us.  Christians you should never have to tell someone you are a Christian they should be able to tell it by the way you live.

     Thanks for stopping by and until next time please read your Bible, seek God’s way and keep praying.  We can once again be God’s Client Nation and have His favor.

DOUBTING MY WRITING SKILLS

    

Do you ever doubt your writing skills?  You know you are a writer maybe you’ve even have published books to prove it.  But you sit down at the computer and you think, “I can’t do this.  I can’t get my thoughts to come out the way I want them to.”  And a small internal voice whispers, “Of course you can’t.  Who are you trying to fool?  You can’t write and even if you put words on the paper no one will want to read them.”  Then you hear.  “Writing is a hard world to break into.  You have to know somebody who knows somebody to even get your big toe in the door.  You might as well give it up.”  And you think “Who do I know?”  And you come up with “On one.”

     But you are wrong!  If you are a Christian you know God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and they are bigger than anything, even the publishing business.  If God has given you the talent to write He will open the doors that He wants open for you.  We don’t need to worry about which doors will get open and how they get open.  That is not our job!  Our job is to write and keep writing.  We know God gave us the talent so we have to trust Him to guide us where we should be. 

     In James 1; 1 – 8 James tells us to trust God and not be double minded.  If we know God gave us our writing talent then we can trust Him to show us how to succeed.

     We must practice our faith in our every day lives.  When a problem arises we should think of God immediately.  Once we have talked to Him we know He has worked the situation out for our benefit. (Romans 8: 28)  When we ask we must have faith that it is done.  Jesus was the perfect example to this.  He would get alone to talk to God and we read where He knew what to do and say.  Jesus didn’t doubt God because He knew God was and is bigger and more powerful than anything this world can throw at us.  We too must know this.  We are God’s children and He works all things for our good.  So when we go to our Father we should go knowing whatever we ask will be done.

     Satan wants us to be full of doubts and fail.  He wants to destroy us.  If we are destroyed and fail what glory does that bring God?  But on the other hand God wants us to succeed and be prosperous.  I fully believe He would not have given us the desire to write if He didn’t want us to be authors.

     A good practice is when you sit down to write, first bow your head and ask God to guide you; ask Him to write the story through you.  Then start writing and leave the consequences to Him.  You will have more confidence in yourself and the work you produce.

     Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time keep writing but more important keep believing and praying and remember God is greater.  God bless.

DOES GOD CARE ABOUT OUR WRITING CAREER

     I’m feeling better but still a little weak.  I tell you that was one bad virus.  Once it grabs you it just doesn’t want to let go.  But God is stronger and I will heal one place or the other. Being sick I just haven’t felt like putting any effort in my writing.  I know I need to sit myself down and work on finishing the Southern Drama and Suspense novels that I’ve been working on forever.  Then there is the Southern Drama that I need to rewrite and a new one that is playing around in my head with faint sketches on paper.  So I certainly don’t have Writer’s Block what I have is lazy block.  And the only cure for that is to get over it period; which I absolutely plan to do.

    Some of my blogs will be about writing and some about my life and some about God and His wonderful love for us. 

     Today I would like to talk about Hebrews chapter 11.  The people in Hebrews 11 show a strong faith.  This is the kind of faith we Christians should experience.  Like a weak muscle we must exercise our faith so it becomes strong.  When we have faith and see God do the little things we ask we began to ask for bigger things.  This is how we build strong trust in God.  We know He can and will but we must teach ourselves not only is He will or able but He HAS done what we seek.  That is the kind of faith we need to practice. When we come asking our Father for something we need to go away knowing it has been done.  It is a done deal so we thank Him for it.  God is so good and He wants us to build a strong fellowship with Him.

     I know God answers prayers today.  Is it wrong to pray about our writing careers?  I don’t think so.  God gave us this desire and talent to write.  I fully believe He wants us to talk to Him about what we write.  We need to make sure we are writing what He wants us to write and the only way to do that is to talk to Him and give Him a chance to talk back to us.  I also like to say a prayer before each writing session and ask God and the Holy Spirit to write the story through me.  At the end of the session I like to thank God for showing me how and what to write.  Does God care about our writing career?  My answer to that is ABSOLUTELY!  God cares about everything in our lives.

     Thanks for stopping by.  Try talking to God about your writing and see what He says.  No… you won’t hear a booming voice because God speaks softly to our hearts and spirits. God bless and keep you.

WHO CAN SOLVE THE UNITED STATE’S PROBLEMS

 

     My thoughts for today might seem a bit scrambled.   And I will blame that on too many political commercials or should we call it what it is and say too much mud-slinging by the candidates.  Are you like me and inundated information that says each man is the best and if elected he will turn this country around and once again make us a “kick-ass” country instead of a “kiss-ass” country.  (Pardon the language please?)  If so my two cents might help you make up your mind about who to vote for or you will simply take it along with the other politics.

     No one man got us in the fix we are in today and no one man can get us out.  Period!  We, the Christians can take the blame for that.  There was a time when the husband was head of the home and he went out made the living for the family and was proud to do so.  The wife was happy to stay home and take care of the home and family.  She taught her children Christian principles and manners.  She did not expect the school to do.  And she taught her children to respect authority.  When I say husband and wife I mean one man and one woman who are married and not just living together first to see how it works and certainly not two men or two women.  During that time the children were born after the wedding. 

     Now a days Christians are not standing up for our values and the Christians principles that we are taught.  We accept the world’s standards!  In so many cases you can’t tell the Christians from the world we have come to accept and be so much like them. We want the schools and churches to teach our children right from wrong but even if they do we fail to support their teaching.  We, Christians are living together out-of-wedlock, we’re having babies without marriage, and we accept homosexuality; to name a few.  The list goes on and on just look around.  If little Johnny sees his daddy cheat on his taxes then he figures it is all right for him to cheat on his school test.  If we say “Don’t drink” but our children see a cabinet in our home filled with alcoholic beverages then they get a double message which leads to a double standard.

     Back when I was growing up the family all sat around the table and had dinner together.  That was a time when we could talk and discuss our day and what was happening in our lives.  Today most parents are too busy to sit down and eat with their children.  This starts when the kids are babies and continues.  So when do they communicate with each other?  Almost never!  The parents are more interested in their careers.  They hardly know their own children because some other woman called a nanny or housekeeper is raising them.  And while she is raising their children someone else is caring for hers.  Oh…I know they say it takes two salaries in today’s economy.  But there is a reason for that.  Today they must have a big houses, two cars, boats, and on and on.  Today even the Jones are keeping up with the Jones.  And I ask why?  Why are we throwing the important thing out the window?  Our family!  And striving for what’s important to the world.

     No Satan is doing what he should be doing.  He is destroying our families thus our Christian principles and values.  It is we Christians who are failing to do what we should be doing.  We don’t need a whole village to raise our children we need to do the job ourselves and do it based on Christian values.

     Thanks for listening to my thoughts today.  Until next time give it some thought and keep believing, keep trusting God and keep praying.  The world needs more praying parents.  God bless.

Some of God’s Greatest Gifts

    

We are getting some much-needed rain here in Florida.  It rained several days last week and so far for three days this week.  This is a good thing because all our rivers, creeks, canals and etc. were so low.  Everybody was saying how things were going to dry up if we didn’t get rain.  I didn’t worry because I know our God is an on-time God and He will give us what we need exactly when we need it. Oh we might think He is dragging His heels or running late but remember He always knows what’s best.  We just need to have faith in Him.  I know there have been times when I’ve prayed for something and I didn’t get the answer for over a year.  But He came through when I actually needed it. 

     You have probably, as I have many times, heard people say that God will never put more on you than you can bear.  Well most of the time they are thinking about problems, heartaches etc.  But the same holds true for blessings.  God will never give us anything that we are not mature enough to handle.  We might thing “If I had a million dollars I’d do…”  But God knows exactly what you would do if you had that kind of money.  Not saying that you would but some just can not handle being rich.  Look at all the athletes and actress/actors who have made the big bucks then got hooked on drugs or alcohol.  They were not mature enough in their faith to handle the big money.

     If you are asking God for something and He doesn’t seem to be answering then go to Him again but this time ask Him what is standing in your way.  Ask Him what is in your life that you need to put aside or grow in understanding so you will be able to deal with whatever you are asking for.  Get in His Word and pray for maturity, ask Him to guide you in the paths that are right (Proverbs 3: 5-6.)  He will absolutely lead you in the way you should go.  I won’t guarantee that this will happen but farther down the road of life you will most probably look back and say “Thank You God for not answering that prayer.”  They say that some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

     Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time stay safe and dry.

National Day of Prayer

     Today is the National Day of Prayer and all of God’s children should be seeking His presence and guidance.

      As we pray today for our Nation please lets remember our Government Leaders, local, state and federal.  Lets pray that these men/women will be statesmen/women and not politicians; that they will seek God’s guidance for both this country and their personal lives; that they will make decisions based on God’s Word and His plans not what some group of people have decided is the right thing to do.  And pray for their families.

     Pray for our churches that we will seek God in our midst.  If He is there everything else will fall into place.

     Let us pray for our military and their families.  These people are putting their lives on the line so we can enjoy our freedom.  And please don’t forget law enforcement and firemen.  They put their lives on the line so we can live safely.

     And we need to ask God for Christian influence in the media industry and until that happens ask God to shield the children and young people from the immorality that is in the movies and on television today.

     And I will say last but certainly not least let us pray for strength for Christians that they will have the courage to stand up for God and His principles and virtues. 

     I fully believe that this wonderful nation we live in is under Divine Discipline.  God is very patient with us but He will not put up with the way we are going forever.  I don’t have to tell you all that is going on because you are aware of it without my bringing one single thing to your attention. But we, God’s people, can make a difference.  God told us “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14  It is not the pagans but God’s people who should be seeking God’s will and asking Him to save our nation.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a blessed day and stay safe.

The Cross

 

     I’ve heard the story about how the pine tree knows when to celebrate Easter and that their blooms (or new shoots at the end of a branch) look like a cross.  My husband and I went hiking this past Wednesday and I happen to look up at this tree and sure enough, a cross!  Amazing!  At least it is to me so I had to snap a photo. 

     When I see the cross I think about the plan for Salvation our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ provided for us by His death on the Cross.  He paid our sin debt in full, past, present and future.  Now don’t say you don’t sin or that you won’t sin.  Of course you have and you will.  We’re human and God knows our weak flesh thus He provided a prefect substitute for us.  Now sin is not the issue for us.  All we need to do is have faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ alone. Don’t add anything to it, like walking an aisle or getting baptized or it is not faith alone. 

     God is so good to us all the time.  He loves us more than we can get our finite minds around.  Remember we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)  So… when you see a cross let it remind you of the price our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ paid for our freedom.  It wouldn’t hurt to give Him a minute of thanks.

     Until next time keep walking with God and being kind and patient with others.

God bless.

Who Can Separate Us

   We hear so many stories today of divorce and families being separated for one reason or an other.  There is one relationship that we never have to worry about anything separating us from:  our relationship with God.

     As I have stated before I base this blog on my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and my devotional from Dr. Charles Stanley.  I most definitely want to give credit where credit is due. The main credit for our existence should be given to God our Father.  As Dr. Stanley teaches:  the lord designed us for a close intimate relationship with Him.  God loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross as a substitute for us.  When Jesus hung on that old cross all sins past, present and future were imputed to Him.  He did this in obedience to God the Father and because of His love for us.  God even sends us a Guide and Teacher, the Holy Spirit, to teach us His ways and to intercede for us when we pray and just don’t know how to pray or what to pray for. 

     When we trust in Jesus God adopts us as His very own children, we are part of the family of God!  Now think about it.  Think about your love for your children and family.  When they are in need is there anything you would not do for them?  If they are hungry, need clothes or are sick wouldn’t you go to any measure to take care of their needs?  Then why do you think God would do any less for us?  He loves us far more than we are capable of loving anyone or anything: yet we doubt Him.  When we have a problem we fret and worry instead of calling “Father!”  He is here with us and He loves us yet we don’t believe.  God wants us to turn to Him.  He wants to supply everything we need no matter how large or how small.  I’ll be honest with you, He has even helped me find a parking place.  And He helps me merge into the flow of traffic when I am driving on a busy highway.  If I misplace or lose something I ask and He leads me to it.  What He does for me He will do for you.  Try it, trust Him.  The Bible is full of His love for us.  And once we have faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ no force can pluck us from His hand.  Which mean absolutely nothing can separate us from God’s love.  All He asks is that we trust Him.

Thanks for stopping by, please come back soon.  God bless.