abandoned to Christ.

I'm praying about some different things I have on my heart and thoughts that have popped into my head to do with this blog. I want so much to encourage all of you as you hunger and thirst after the only One who can truly satisfy you - the Lord Jesus Christ. But before I do anything, I am in much prayer about this and would appreciate your prayers as well. I want everything I have and everything I do to represent Christ and Christ alone. I want nothing more than for the brilliance of His beauty to emanate through all He has given me. And I want to honor the "mission" He's given me for my life; which is the same mission for this blog. So while I'm in this time of prayer, I thought it would be good to share a couple of personal journal entries with you, as this is the direction I am sensing the Lord leading me with regards to this blog. I know He wants me to get more personal, but what I don't know yet is how that will look and how it will all play out. ...

Ahhh….falling in love with Jesus, how can I count the ways? I cannot. For Who the Lord Jesus is, and all that He has done for me; there is no number, and no way to measure the splendor of His majesty. Therefore, how can a person ever choose one moment, one time, one instance, over any other: to recall and share His greatness, His kindness, His faithfulness? I believe this is difficult for any of us. As even the Apostle John felt the same way, for he chose to close his gospel letter with this profound and true statement: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” ~ John 21:25 (ESV) The memory I have chosen to share with you, is not one of extraordinary circumstance. Instead, I wanted to share one occasion that best depicts the epitome of my daily life, with my exceptional Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Several years ago, as I was driving home one morn...

Once again, Kim has inspired us to dig deeper into God's Word to shine His Light into our souls to reveal what is truly in us. "Whatever you do, work heartily , as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ ." ~ Colossians 3:23-24 (emphasis added) Today at Cafe Chat , Kim applies a very poignant question to us in accordance with Colossians 3:23-24 which commands us to "work heartily" in all things remembering it is Christ Jesus we are serving, not men. Below is the question she asked us to meditate on and consider: How would your life look differently if you embraced and believed fully what the verse in Colossians states? If the truth above is something you already believe and actively live out, how does this truth make a difference in your life? For me personally, I truly believe this passage of Scripture, but I don't always succeed in remembering it...

"Here was sovereignty. Impatient spirits may fret and fume, because they are not called to the highest places in the ministry; but reader be it thine to rejoice that Jesus calleth whom He wills. If He shall leave me to be a doorkeeper in His house, I will cheerfully bless Him for His grace in permitting me to do anything in His service. The call of Christ's servants comes from above. Jesus stands on the mountain, evermore above the world in holiness, earnestness, love and power. Those whom He calls must go up the mountain to Him, they must seek to rise to His level by living in constant communion with Him . They may not be able to mount to classic honours, or attain scholastic eminence, but they must like Moses go up into the mount of God and have familiar intercourse with the unseen God, or they will never be fitted to proclaim the Gospel of peace. Jesus went apart to hold high fellowship with the Father, and we must enter into the same divine companionship if we would ble...

There are many four letters words that can change the meaning or things. Like when you've watched a wonderful movie and then...suddenly, there it is...that four letter word that just messed it all up! And you think, "Now why did they do that?! It was a GREAT movie and they had to go and put that in there! That word didn't make the movie better! It made it bad! What a way to ruin a good movie!" I hate when that happens. And to think, it was over a very small four letter word. We often seem to look over the little things like that in our lives, don't we? I know I do! I'm always waiting for and looking for God to "give me a sign". I'm always looking for the parting of the Red Sea in a difficult situation or the pillar of cloud by day to follow and a pillar of fire by night to comfort and protect me in my fears. "And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Him they asked Him to show them a sign from Heaven. He answered them, "When it ...

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” ~ Psalm 37:4 (ESV) Don’t you love it when you read something God inspired another brother or sister in Christ to write hundreds or thousands of years ago in which they share the current state of your heart? I sure do! This morning, I was reading Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening and couldn’t help but rejoice in God my Savior as my brother Charles did nearly 200 years ago! Here’s an excerpt of my reading this morning based on Psalm 37:4: “The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is...

(thank you Meri for taking this beautiful picture for me to use today!) "Then Boaz said to Ruth, 'Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.' Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, 'Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?' " ~ Ruth 2:8-10 The Lord recently brought me to this passage again. Yes, like many of us, I've read the book of Ruth about a million times. And a million times, the Lord opens my eyes to truth He desires to reveal to me as I come to feast at His table. As I studied and meditated on what Boaz had done and what Ruth's response was, God asked me, "Would you, dear one, have ...

Hello dearest sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ! I just received an email from Lori yesterday, informing me that a devotional I wrote will be posted on the Internet Cafe on: Sunday, August 31, 2008 YAY!!! I don't know if any of you have visited with us at the Cafe, and if not....you MUST come! I know that God will bless you as much (hopefully more) than He's blessed me with the sisters I've met there! Living as a Biblical woman in today's world is increasingly becoming more and more difficult. And when we have other like-minded sisters in Christ standing with us, it just makes our journey here on earth a bit more pleasant. So slow down and smell the roses, the coffee and the fragrance of Christ as sisters come together to take a sip of encouragement as we meditate on the Word of God! Longing to meet with you,

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” ~ 3 John 1:4 God is constantly so gracious to us! How often I feel as if I will simply burst! This flesh is too weak to contain the joy, the immense pleasure and elation bubbling inside of me due to the incredible honor to live in the presence of my Creator! I am certain that’s why He will give us new bodies in Heaven, for now we only see in part, but then we will see Him as He Is, in His full glory; and I am confident, this frail physical form, will not be able to survive in the fullness of my Savior, Jesus Christ. It is up to my darling husband and two teenage boys to care for me and the household, as I recover from my surgery. I have been home for less than a week, and have already witnessed the miracle of God’s handiwork in the hearts of my family I’ve never had the privilege of knowing before now. And I am so grateful to God for choosing to reveal to me the secret things He has been doing in the hearts...

“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw – each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 The battle against mediocrity is constant indeed! We all struggle with the temptation to “just get by”. I know I sure do! Maybe it’s not throughout my entire life, but it creeps in here and there with what I might consider to be the “little” things. But as I tell my boys, “the little things will eventually add up, then will be too big to handle, so handle it now, while it’s still ‘little’ ”. For example, during the summer be...

By the time you read this, I should be at home recovering. As a matter of fact the last few posts you’ve read were written prior to my surgery and were set to post during my stay in the hospital. For the past four years, I have been very ill. I’ve had endless tests and procedures performed, had two (this being my second) surgeries in seven months, and I’ve even been radioactive! I was glowing from the inside…but we already knew that because the Holy Spirit of God lives in me! Due to my ever-declining health these past four years, I’ve been very limited in my activities due to frequent debilitating pain and exhaustion. I often felt I was a great burden on my family (they completely disagree, but I’ve struggled with this thought). Many times I asked my Heavenly Father if there was a sin I committed that I was too dunce to recognize, and if He was choosing to reveal it to me through the discipline of this trial. If this was the case, I begged God to make my sin clear to me so that I m...

Don’t you love it when you read something God inspired another brother or sister in Christ to write hundreds or thousands of years ago in which they share the current state of your heart? I sure do! This morning, I was reading Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening and couldn’t help but rejoice in God my Savior as my brother Charles did nearly 200 years ago! Here’s an excerpt of my reading this morning based on Psalm 37:4 : “The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most men, that no two words in their language stand further apart than ‘holin...

One day as I was studying the words of my Father God (my all time FAVORITE thing to do...well, I suppose it’s tied with worshiping Him, bringing Him honor, glory, praise, adoring Him...okay, you get the picture), I noticed something. I noticed that never at any point does God ever refer to us as His “adult children” or “grown children”. You know, like we do. Whenever you ask someone if they have kids and how many, they’ll say something like this: “Oh, I have 2 kids at home and 1 adult child.”, or “Yes, we have kids, but they’re all grown now.” What do people really mean when they answer this way? Why don’t they just say they have 3 kids, 4, 12 or whatever? Why do we differentiate between how many we have living at home and how many are “adult children” or “grown children”? We do this because this is our way of telling other people that while we may have an “x” number of children, some of them or all of them are no longer living with us, under our care, our protection, and o...

....so, it’s still a good day Do you ever talk to Satan? I do. I know it might sound crazy, but I do from time to time, especially when he starts nagging me about my past sins, my possible future failings due to my past sins, temptations...lies, lies, lies. Want to know what I say to him? I tell him, “At the end of the day, I’m not you, so, it’s still a good day!” I was just reminded of this as our youngest son came home from school yesterday, disappointed about not getting a solo in his last school choir concert. Our precious son tried out for every solo available. We’re so proud of him! But to make this disappointment sting, he was taunted by another student who did get a solo. This made my son do something I’ve done and something I’m sure we’ve all done...compare and judge. Yep, Satan opened up his nasty bag of tricks and threw out an old, yet faithful distraction to get Christians off track: the old compare and judge, which leads to self-righteousness and self-pity, then down the ...

Last year Michael's teacher gave his class a writing assignment. His teacher instructed each student to write a short story, poem, or prose on: What Makes a Difference? Below is the prose Michael wrote when he was only 14 years old and in the 8th. grade. Isn't it wonderful what God does with children who love Him? May your day be blessed, as you remember Who it is that makes all the difference...our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Christ, we have no life, no hope, no salvation - nothing good. What makes a difference? To help someone in need; To be friendly to someone who is unfriendly and love someone who seems unlovable; To share with a greedy person and endure the ridicule from others; To be thankful for an unpopular gift; To look at the positive side in others; To have eternal perspective, in good or bad times, a sharing heart or a grateful soul for His Gift; to realize how much you've been given because of Love; Jesus Christ makes a difference!

I'd like to tell you a story about four people, named: Everybody , Somebody , Anybody and Nobody There was a very important job to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did. So, Somebody got angry about this, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Somebody would do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. The moral of this story is: Be a Nobody and do what Everybody won’t! Live a life honoring to Christ alone and evangelize, evangelize, evangelize...GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES! Don’t strive to be like Everybody and follow the crowd; don’t pursue to make a name for yourself in this world and become Somebody ; and don’t settle to be just Anybody ; but make your life’s goal to become Nobody so that the Gift of Jesus Christ’s fullness may be displayed in you so that the...