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.

My Little Piece of Florida

 

     I lay basking in my bed lost somewhere between awake and the wonderful bliss of dreams.  From the dim greenish light filling the room I knew it was close to five in the morning.  I stretched but didn’t get up.  I could hear the birds singing and the whir of my ceiling fan added to the quiet noise and the quality of tranquility.  I said a prayer thanking God for where I live and all He has given me and then I asked Him to tell me what I could do for Him today.  When the coffee pot added its plop plop to the rhythm of my morning I knew it was time to rise and shine.  Besides that my bladder was screaming for relief.

     After washing my face and hands and pouring myself a cup of the dark brown brew I made my way to the back porch and my glider.  There’s a comforting hush over the world at this hour of the morning.  The sky is neither dark nor light it’s that in between dull gray. A light fog shrouds the trees beyond my privacy fence and gives a slight eerie touch.  This is my time.  The birds are chirping and hopping around the food and water I keep in my backyard for them.  My big old dog snuggles my legs wanting her ears scratched and afterwards curls up in a ball at my feet and promptly falls back to sleep.  She’s old and I know she won’t be here to share these mornings much longer.   

     I sigh and take a drink of coffee as I look out at my property, ‘my little piece of Florida,’ I like to call it.  It is not huge but it is not one of those yards that are almost as small as a postage stamp.  I have almost an acre and love it.  I do my own yard work.  A stranger can’t take care of it with the love I do.  I’m not one of those prissy, prissy girls.  As a matter of fact I don’t mind getting sweaty or my hands dirty.  I love cutting the grass with a push mower and watching the small bugs hopping out of the way of the sharp blade and the sweet smell of fresh-cut grass swirling around me.

     I turn and look along the privacy fence at my flower gardens.  It seems the weeds grow faster than the flowers.  By the time I finish weeding all the way around it is time to start all over again.  I have quite a collection there; roses, sunflowers, zinnias, Joe Pye weed, dog fennel (yeah I know some call that a weed but I think they are pretty and it’s my yard) periwinkles, Berbera daisies, lilies and many, many more.  Several my husband has adamantly told me are weeds but I tell him ‘one man’s weed is another man’s flower.’  If I like the way it looks I either keep it if it comes up on its own or plant it myself.

     A reddish gold ring is appearing on the horizon so I know the sun will be here soon.  I down the rest of my coffee and go get dressed but the tranquility and peace I found this morning out on my porch just me, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit will last me all day.  Unless someone tees me off.

     This blog really has no rhyme or reason it is just some of my thoughts.

      Thanks for stopping by and until next time if you have a porch slip out in the early morning hour just before daybreak and sit on it as you count your blessings.  You’ll find that they out weigh your hardships every time.  God bless.

The Man My Daddy Was

  

     By now we all know, if we didn’t before, that Sunday is Father’s Day.  I asked myself if I should jump on the wagon with everyone else and write something with that in mind.  The television is blasting about how great dads are and how we should be grateful to and for our dads.  And I know there are those that wish the day would just come and get it over.  Some never knew their fathers and some would have been better off if they never knew theirs.  Then there are those like me.

     I lost my Daddy when I was in my teens.  My Mom completely forgot what day it was and he was buried on my fourteenth birthday.  Happy birthday to me, right?  It didn’t matter because I was certainly in no mood to celebrate.  After that every year as I got older the day brought sad memories instead of time for a celebration.  Until I got old enough to realize it was a time to celebrate; not because Daddy died but because it was his graduation day so to speak.  He is in Heaven and no longer has to face the trials and hard work of this old world.

     He worked two jobs to make sure his family did not do without anything we needed right up to the day he died.  Both jobs were at a sawmills, he did what they regularly do at a mill from twelve-thirty to five and four or five nights a week  and/or weekends he was a night watchman (now they would have called it security) at another sawmill.  When I smell the clean, sweet scent of fresh-cut lumber I think of my Daddy.  That and Old Spice Cologne are the scents I relate to Daddy.  

     Sometimes when he worked weekends I would ride my bike out to the mill and stay with him.  It was a huge place and I tagged along beside him as he made the rounds making sure everything was secure. If it was in the winter he would build a fire in an old rusty drum and cook coffee in an old coffee can and heat soup for us on top.  As we drink and ate he told me stories about his youth.  I could not picture him being young because he was fifty-five when I was born.  When it wasn’t cold he would break out bologna, mayo and bread from the large cooler he carried.  We made our sandwiches on top of the cooler then sat on the huge logs and ate as he talked.  He gave me advice on how to live a good life.  One thing I remember was: ‘Whether a job is big or small do it right or not at all.’   That was his philosophy and how he lived his life and I try to make it mine.

       I’m well aware there are dads out there who could never measure up to the man my Daddy was.  Oh yes, some of them have more money because it’s a fact we were not rolling in the dough.  They buy their kids all kinds of expensive gifts and send them to the best private schools.  However, they are so busy chasing the almighty dollar that they never stop and sit on a log, eat a bologna sandwich and talk to their kids.  There are others who are such monsters they have no right to be called ‘Daddy’.  And there are those who are simply sperm donors.  When I look at them all I know God truly blessed me with a wonderful Daddy and I would not trade the time I spent with him for all the gold in China. 

     So if you have a good daddy go visit him, maybe make a sandwich and sit on the equivalent of a log and listen to what he has to say.  Remember God didn’t promise us tomorrow. Until next time God bless.

Surrounded by Beauty

     I have been laid up with the flu all week even though I took the shot in the fall.  My doctor said this is a different strain, so what do I know?  Only that I was very sick and I am glad to once again be back with the living.

     The weather here has been in the high seventies the last couple of days and so beautiful.  I sat out on my back porch enjoying the sunshine.  At the far rear of our property a large Laurel Leaf Cherry tree was bustling with robins as their “cheerio cheerio” call filled the air.  A few wrens joined their sweet melodies to the songs with the occasional chatter of a gray squirrel.  This is nature’s music and so pleasant to the ear.

     I took a stroll around the yard and discovered some tiny wildflowers.  Yes, to many they are weeds but their blooms are still beautiful works of art.  Several small yellow butterflies flirted from plant to plant and up in the clear blue sky a hawk circled and squawked.  My banana trees are coming back, along with the Angel Trumpet and several other trees and plants that I was certain the cold had destroyed.  I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful peaceful place.  I thank God for it.  Yes, I love to travel and see different things but one of the most serene places I have found is sitting on my back porch or taking a stroll through my yard.

Thanks for stopping by.

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.

What is Your House of Faith Built On

     When we hear that a storm is coming we rush to our homes to find safety.  We have made sure that it was built on a solid foundation.  But what do we do when the storms of life come our way; where do we run?  Is your house of faith built on a strong foundation?  Will it stand strong no matter what winds of trouble Satan may hurl your way?

     Our house of faith should be built on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  “How do I do that?” You might ask.  We build our foundation of trust by getting in the Bible on a daily basis;  not just reading it but actually studying it.  Before we start our study we should confess our sins to God and our Father will forgive the sins we confess and cleanse us of the sins we are unaware we committed.  1 John 1:9  Then we ask God to speak to our hearts and show us what we need to learn from the day’s scripture.  Of course we should also be in a church under a pastor/teacher’s teachings.  And we spend time with God in prayer talking to Him.  You can’t know someone you don’t spend time with and you can’t trust someone you don’t know.  That’s how we build our house of peace and faith.  He tells us in Psalm 55:22 to cast all our cares upon Him and He will give us rest.  He will actually carry the burden for you.  But you need to build that house of trust brick by brick of learning and claiming God’s principles.  We test God’s Word to see if it is true.  He doesn’t mind, in fact He tells us to in Malachi 3:8-10.  I can tell you this, the more you test the more you will see that God does not lie.  He has always kept His promises and He always will.  There is absolutely nothing too strong and big for God to handle.  We are His children and He wants His children to trust Him and rely on Him.  Just as we want to spend time with our kids God desires to spend time with us.  So I urge you to take a little time every day and set it aside for you and God; use that time to talk to Him and get to know Him.  I can tell you the more you know Him  the more you will want to know Him.  God is good all the time.

God bless you and thanks for stopping by.

There’s a Robber at the Door

 Philippians 4:6-7   

A robber has come to steal your peace and you opened the door and let him in.  Most of us know what anxiety feels like.  It robs us of our peace.  The world promises all kinds of solutions to this: if we just own this car or house, or our hair is this color, and if we join a gym so we can all walk around with prefect bodies. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not against owning a nice home or car.   If you can afford it without being consumed by worrying if you’ll be able to make the payments that is absolutely great.  And if you go to a gym to workout with staying healthy in mind that’s a good thing too.  What I’m saying is the world does not have the true answer for peace.  God is the only One Who can give us the gift of serenity.  We get there by trusting Him.  Instead of worrying we pray and seek God’s solution.  We let Him wrap our hearts in His love.  Now, if we have already sunk ourselves head over heels in debt we need to seek God’s solution for getting it paid off.  We might not like His way because He might tell us to get rid of the house and/or car or He might not.  If we want true peace we will seek His ways and follow them.  For true peace we must: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

Thanks for stopping by.