Hello sweet and faithful friends!

Some of you are new to me and others have been traveling with me since I first starting blogging, 3 years ago! Well, sometimes change can rattle things up a bit, but for the most part, change is often good.

With that said, I wanted all of you to know that my URL has changed from www.aboutmyfathersbusiness.net to www.sunnyshell.org. It's a lot easier to remember and will afford me to creative freedom to change the title of my blog as God continues to transform me more into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ and enables me to write more content for His glory alone.

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I hope this doesn't cause too much trouble for you and I hope you will continue to journey with me as I strive to live my utmost for God's highest.

May the LORD's grace and peace be with you all!

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.’ ... Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

~Matt 7:21-23, 2 Corinthians 13:5

If you're genuinely concerned about your salvation because all you have to point to is a confession you made one day, please watch this video and share it with others you love.

Devotional: Mornings with Tozer

Matt 11:29-30

I feel great sorrow for those who read the Sermon on the Mount and then conclude that Jesus was providing a word picture of men and women comprising the human race. In this world, we find nothing approaching the virtues of which Jesus spoke in the Beatitudes.

Instead of poverty of spirit, we find the rankest kind of pride. Instead of mourners, we find pleasure seekers.

Instead of meekness, we find only arrogance, and instead of hunger after righteousness, we hear men saying, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing."

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How often do we read the Beatitudes this way? How often do our hearts echo the same self-assurance and self-applause of the "good" we think we've accomplished?

I know these things have been true in my life, more often than I care to admit. But I pray this same prayer that Tozer did...may God help me to trust Him and not my own reasoning for why I do, or do not do things.

The moment I consider what I think is right, and act on it, is the moment I have forgotten that Jesus is my Master and Lord.

If my faith is fully in Christ, and I see Him -- that is, truly recognize Him for who He is, I will neither falter, waver or wane when another saint does, nor will I crumble if a saint who discipled and loved me is taken from me somehow, or be crushed by my circumstances that seem to envelope me. Rather, if I am fully abandoned to Christ, like Isaiah, I will shout, “Here am I! Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) and I will relentlessly follow the Lord wherever He leads. I may follow in tears and with great heartache, but I will still follow (Psalm 126:5-6).

Why is it that some of us are caught up in depression and do not go on spiritually as God leads us by His Spirit (Galatians 5:25)? I know, because I’ve done it. When I was fifteen, I attempted suicide three times because I was deeply depressed about my life: the abuse, the high school drama, the enormity of life and just plain tired of going on. Because I was not abiding in Christ, but had trained myself to find inspiration from, by and through the faith and lives of others, I lost hope. Instead of actively participating in maturing in my own faith, unknowingly I settled in as a spectator. So when others failed or hurt me, I felt crushed, and seemingly beyond repair. But now I know this is impossible as God clearly states in 2 Cor 4:7-10, that while we may be afflicted and perplexed, we will not be crushed or driven to despair...the key is, that we abide in Christ and not merely stand next to someone who is.

Throughout Scripture we see evidences of those who live in the victorious life that Jesus said belonged to all who are found in Him (John 16:33).

Too often we forget where our help comes from, “the LORD who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2) and we get too caught up in the here and now and the who’s doing what or not doing what rather than focusing fully on Christ and what He has done, said, is doing and will do.

Fixing our eyes horizontally, rather than vertically will cause anyone, even a Christian to become depressed, and deeply so. Admittedly, there is much to be depressed about in this fallen world. So rather than focus on all that’s temporal (including your emotions) cry out to God, be comforted by Him through His Spirit as He reveals Himself through His word. Get to know who God is better than you know yourself or anyone else. Meditate on God rather than yourself or your circumstances. Just doing that will bring you out of depression or any kind of sorrow, for meditating on the Holy One of Israel is an awesome thing and will immediately draw you nearer to Him and Him to you (James 4:10).

For further reading on how to get out and stay out of depression and remain hid in Christ, firmly rooted in Him, read Psalm 73 in its entirety. Psalm 73 was written by Asaph, a Levite who was appointed by King David as the chief of all who were to minister before the ark of LORD to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD (1 Chronicles 16:4). Although Asaph’s job was grand, and it seemed ill-fitting that someone who was appointed to invoke praise and thanks to God to become bitter and depressed; he was. But he didn’t stay that way (Psalm 73:16-17).

Be encouraged that God graciously recorded in His holy word, examples of lives of many faithful saints who have come before us, who suffered what we have suffered, and so much more, yet kept their hope and trust in God alone. And better yet, know that Christ our Lord, has suffered beyond even them, and beyond anything you and I will ever experience; therefore, let us cry out to Him in our time of need, when we are tempted to despair rather than give thanks and worship Him.