abandoned to Christ.

Remember when we were little and there was always that older family member or teacher in our life that we could always trust to look out for our best interest...whether or not we wanted them to? Remember how they always spoke the truth to you, with a loving smile, a gentle touch and strong words of wisdom that cut your heart if you were in sin, yet was exactly what you needed to carry you through a trial? I'm grateful to my heavenly Father for all those adults who were used by God (whether they knew it or not) to make a frightened and often troubled little girl feel safe and loved. And as if that weren't more than I deserved, by God's grace and tender mercies, He provided me with the most magnificent husband who loves me better than anyone ever has because He loves me with God's perfect love that considers Christ first, rather than his personal desires, or even mine. I rest perfectly in that love. "but let him who boasts boast in this, that he u...

Unfortunately, no. The simple definition of a Christian worldview is to see all of life through the eyes of Christ (whether it be marriage, parenting, politics, work, etc.); causing believers to want to know Him more in order to love Him better ( 2 Cor 5:9-10 ;  1 Peter 1:13-16 ). "He must increase, but I must decrease....that I may know Him [Christ] and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way...” ~John 3:30; Philippians 3:10-11, 14-15 Once you’ve entered into a holy relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ [ read full article... ]

Today, many are remembering, praying for and honoring those who lost their lives on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. More than 3,000 innocent people died because 19 wicked people reveled in their murderous plots. But their revelry was short-lived. Rather than cripple us with fear, their evil and cowardice attack on the defenseless brought greater unity among Americans. United by what? By the God-given morality each of us lives by: no one wants to be killed, no one wants to lied to, no one wants someone to steal from them, and no one wants to live without a purpose or die alone. The reason why we all rallied together when a heinous crime was wrought upon our country, is because all these desires are put in our hearts by our Creator God, whether we want to admit it or not. We’re all united and governed by the law of morality ( Ten Commandments ) for the common good; and we ought to be grateful. “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity...

Mike Huckabee , former Governor of Arkansas has encouraged faithful Christians across our great nation to support Chick-fil-A and the Cathy Family (owner/founder of the company) as they uphold God's definition for marriage. As expected, the world is enraged with Christians who are honest and loving enough to stand firm in the faith they profess. Often Christians are called hypocrites because when push comes to shove, we don't stand firm in what we claim to believe. Like many, peer pressure cripples our personal convictions and sadly makes us deny the words of the Christ who died to save our lives. Ironically, these same people who are persecuting the Cathy family claim they would never want to believe in Christ because we don't always live what we claim to believe. Basically, if we don't stand firm and live holy lives as unto the Lord Jesus the world hates us and ridicules us, labeling us as spineless hypocrites. But if we do stand firm on the precepts of o...

It's been about four months since my back surgery , and though I still have five to eight months till full recovery, I'm grateful and amazed by all that the Lord has brought me through. I remember the day after the surgery, I decided that I no longer needed pain meds (I don't recommend this). Not realizing that the pain meds were what were helping me manage my pain, I requested I be taken off of them. When the effects of the pain meds wore off, my body screamed for mercy from the excruciating pain. It took a full day for the meds to kick in, but God's mercy worked faster and gave me comfort and peace better than any medication could. Because the medications hadn't set in yet, I couldn't even sleep though I was exhausted. So my darling husband began to read the Word of God while I lay there nearly in tears due to the pain. Within minutes, my soul was quenched and my body benefited from the eternal feeding I was receiving from the Word of our Lord. When my ...

Mary Kassian  is an award winning author, internationally renowned speaker and a distinguished professor at Southern Baptist Seminary. She’s the author of multiple books including  Girls Gone Wise ,  and   co-author (with  Nancy Leigh DeMoss ) of  True Woman 101: Divine Design  and one of the speakers at the  True Woman Conference 2012  that will be held in Indianapolis, Ind., on September 20-22. (Look for the giveaway at the end of this article). “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels...She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy...She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue...Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” ~Proverbs 31:10, 20, 26, 30 A woman who knows she was made to be a strong yet delicate, beautiful creation of God, is indeed an extreme rarity. Her value and contributio...

Read Psalm 145 click the photo to enlarge and read the Scripture It's been four weeks since I was diagnosed as being clinically and severely depressed  and was prescribed Lexapro, an SSRI (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor) which is a type of anti-depressant. I experienced some mild side-effects the first five days, but nothing since then, which I'm very grateful to the Lord for. My doctor said that it'll be about six weeks until I really notice a major difference, but I'm already noticing a little now. Getting out of bed isn't nearly as difficult as it used to be and neither is running some of my errands. I'm not as scared to got out in public by myself anymore and I've found ways to make dinner without overwhelming myself. I still don't make the bed often and sometimes get behind on laundry. But everyone is still well-fed, wearing clean clothes and I'm not biting everyone's head off anymore. It's a small improvement, an...

One of the most reassuring things in this world is knowing Christ and being known by Him—to be called by God Almighty as one of His children; to be saved by His grace through the sacrifice of His one and only Son and to live in His constant faithful love. There is nothing better than this. "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed ; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. " ~2 Corinthians 4:7-11 Though the LORD has allowed me to suffer a time of depression, knowing He is sovereign, good and loves me, brings me comfort and peace in the m...