Walking in the Light

"For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, 'Awake O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'" Ephesians 5:14

The first sentence struck me this morning. As is so often with God's word, it is filled with truth and is as plain as the nose on my face. It is the kind of sentence, that when reading the Bible, I don't even stop to think about it. Something said in such obvious truth gives no cause to dispute it.

If something is in the dark, like a shoe somewhere it doesn't belong, and I get up to investigate a noise and walk into it, it startles me, and causes me to lose my footing. I may trip and fall and hurt myself. There are two ways to avoid this. The first is to of course put my shoes away so this doesn't happen again, or turn on my tiny LED flashlight as soon as I slip my feet into my slippers. 

Once I have added the smallest amount of light necessary to not wake up my sleeping husband, everything is exposed that once lay hidden by the darkness.

The enemy lives this way. Just thriving in the darkness waiting to trip us up. He chooses to place himself dead center on the path we know as familiar in the light. Once we trip and fall, he has us. At least until we are able to find a light switch or to wait for the arrival of some godly help.

So we must never take our path for granted. There are those who would take great pleasure in making us believe that we should take a different way. Rest assured, our path is ordained by the Great Mapmaker Himself. So don't let go of the fact that the simple truth is--keep the light shining. Walk your path in righteousness and shine God's light before you. In this way, you will protect yourself, and you will also expose what's hidden to those who have also been trapped. The Word of God is and will always be our best defense!

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Matthew 4:4

Walking in Victory

A while back a friend asked me, "What does it mean to walk in victory? What does it look like?" 

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NKJV) says, "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ."

What God showed me what that victory can only come after a battle. A person crippled, legs broken and weak. He is at physical therapy. Jesus is holding him up with an arm around him and His hand on his arm. They are at the parallel bars used to aid someone walking. Jesus is also at the other end, cheering and clapping.

Victory is achieved one step at a time, but with growing strength, by walking in faith and hope, and relying on God to support us. We will make it to the end where we will meet Him at the finish line. He is with us and before us, He makes the way straight.

We wouldn't be able to walk outside of the bars, we need to remain in the boundary of their safety (walk on our own path). Look ahead at the delight in Jesus' eyes! Don't look down at your feet, go forward...one step at a time. Soon enough the braces will come off and we will run again in victory. How glorious to know that Jesus Himself walks every step with us. Have you thanked Him lately?

Don't Worry

We are living in times like no others. There are people talking about what they believe the truth behind this pandemic is, how our rights have been taken away, how this is just a dress rehearsal for what is to come, and many other theories. I am not here to add to any of these things. They may be true, they may not be.

I am here simply to declare that no matter what happens, today or in the future, we must remember that God is still in charge. He watches, He gets angry, He is the One who raises up kings and brings them down. These things will never change. The Bible is filled with stories of God's love and about His wrath. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow; and nothing, absolutely nothing, gets by unnoticed by Him. He is just and true. Since the beginning of time men have tried to take over the world. It has never happened, and it won't. 

Don't give in to fear, no matter what you hear. The devil is getting louder and louder these days because he knows his time is short. When he fills our heads with disaster that causes worry, we take our minds off God and place it on the current situation. And believe me, God is right in the middle of this current situation. Who else could have shut down every nation on earth at the same time? Perhaps to get our attention? What Satan means for evil, God will use for good. (Genesis 50:20 NKJV) Remember, the devil doesn't have the power that God has, and he still has to bow to the name of Jesus. I am of the belief that this year, here in the land of the living, we will witness with our physical and spiritual eyes the glory of God. We are a chosen generation, and I believe that when this happens it will change the world and so very many will come to Him, either for the first time or return after an absence.

Remember, Jesus died for us, those of us that are born again and those who have yet to make that decision. If you want to know where you will go when you die, just give your life to Him. The Prayer tab above will take you to the Prayer of Salvation.

He is the keeper of the Book of Life. Is your name in it?

I Have Such Hope!

A few days ago I wrote about Good Friday and what that day means to Christians around the world. It is the day that our Savior, Jesus the Christ (Messiah) was unjustly accused and brutally murdered and hung on a cross to die. Because of His life and death, many came to know of His miracles. But His death isn’t the most important thing. Yes, it was a horrific way to die, and it had to be so in order to fulfill scripture. It wasn’t His crucifixion that changed the world, it was His resurrection!

Many people wear a crucifix to remind them that Jesus died for them. I myself, in another lifetime many years ago, also wore a crucifix, and a large one - about 2” for years and years. One day a friend asked me why I wore it. I explained that it signified that Jesus died for me. He replied, “Aren’t you aware that He rose for you? He isn’t still on that cross, dead. He is alive, and the empty cross and tomb proves that!”

What a revelation to me! His dying wasn’t the miracle, we all die. No, His rising was! We celebrate Easter because that is when He rose from the dead, the first to be “born again.” He overcame the grave, the veil that signified our separation from God split in two, the earth shook and darkness filled the skies. The light of the world had gone out. Or so Satan thought. I imagine he was thrilled, licking his filthy lips and wringing his ugly villainous hands together knowing the world was his alone. He had full control from that time on. Or so he imagined. His thoughts of devastation and death and hatred were only his. God had other plans.

Jesus rose! He defeated death and took away its sting. He took the grave’s victory (I Corinthians 15:55). We have the choice to live with Him for eternity because of the empty tomb! We have the opportunity to also be resurrected from the dead. Life isn’t over at death, oh no, not at all. Life can truly begin if you just believe.

I spent a good deal of the last year and a half in a depressed state. It was a spiritual depression. I felt separated from God. I couldn’t feel Him. There was no anointing at church anymore, and even though I knew He was right beside me and within me, I couldn’t help feeling like He was distant. My journaling became one sided where once it was a conversation between the two of us. My soul ached with longing for Him. I couldn’t bear it. I cried and cried for him, but I never felt satisfied. It didn’t matter what great things may have been going on around me here in the world, my spirit was crushed, and the loneliness overwhelmed me. It didn’t matter how many friends and loved ones I had, all I wanted was Him. No one and nothing else would do. Day after day I’d cry and plead through my tears for Him to come to me in a vision, let me see Him again. But there was nothing. The only way I knew how to describe it was that I was like an astronaut whose tether had broken and was drifting all alone with no hope through space just waiting to die. No one could save me but Him. It was the loneliest place I’ve ever been. And I couldn’t really tell anyone. There was nothing they could do; this was between Jesus and me.

Very slowly things began to change. Something happened within me, something that could only come from one place - the Throne of Grace. Shortly after the New Year began I started to feel hope arise in me. It started small, just a flicker. But as days and weeks went by, it grew. The little spark caught and just like when kindling gets to a certain point, ‘whoompf’ a roaring fire took over! That little inkling of hope became something inside me that spread quickly and with abandon.

I knew I would have to write once again. I had completely lost any desire to write. I had fallen into the trap of writing for the world’s reward, accolades and wonderful pats on the back because my words were so good. But there were no comments and it was as if I never wrote a blog or posted on Facebook. If no one commented, obviously I wasn’t reaching anyone, and if that was the case, why should I bother? It was an exercise in futility. Nobody cared.

You see, dear Reader, I forgot that it was my gifting, and we give gifts away. I had stopped writing in order to encourage the weary and help the blind see. I stopped writing for God, and wrote for me. I lost my way. It became about me, not Him and who He could reach through me. I had to start over and die to what bore me down and rise up once again for God’s sake!

The excitement that is in me today is almost physical. It takes my breath away with hope! We are living in a time unlike any ever before. We are separated from each other. We are in lockdown in many places. We can only venture out for the essentials. People are working from home, and children are learning via computer. The world is still revolving. The sun comes up and the moon rises in the evening sky.

And people are still complaining. Now it’s about being cooped up and the kids are driving moms nuts, and my internet connection isn’t fast enough. “There’s nothing to do!” the children complain. The streets are empty and parks are closed, and the Stock Market is diving and what will happen to my job? There are many legitimate things to complain about, yes, and worry about? Oh yeah. The media loves putting a death toll on the bottom right of the screen to remind us that covid-19=death, which of course is not true.

So why am I so hopeful? Because in the beginning of the year God placed joy back in my heart. Not happiness, sheer joy! The kind you have when you just know that something really, really good is going to happen! There is an excitement in me, something unlike anything I had ever known or seen before. Something more than I could imagine! I have believed for a few months now that God was going to do something that we can’t ignore. Throughout mankind’s history, God has made Himself known in many amazing ways. This time, I believe we are as privileged as the Israelites were when He lived among them and they heard His voice with their physical ears and saw the cloud that led them through the wilderness. I believe with all my heart that He is going to show us His glory here in the land of the living.

Yes, His glory is all around us and because of this period of isolation people in India are able to see the Himalayas for the first time in 30 years. The skies are blue once again over Los Angeles and Bangkok. Wars have ceased, if only temporarily. Crime is at an all-time low. The night sky is visible in places where smog and pollution have hidden stars for many years. It’s only ambient light now that is keeping us from actually seeing the Milky Way clearly. People are healing from allergies, they are eating better foods. And best of all, people are turning to God in prayer and hope. Our eyes are opening to see Him through His works.

So many of us have been praying for a new awakening and maybe this is it. Thousands have begun watching virtual church and found a place they can call home. Many have come to know what the floor feels like on the side of their beds for the first time as we come together, parents and child, husband and wife, and tell Almighty God our heart’s prayers. More and more we are praying for each other and for our medical personnel-nurses and doctors and first responders. We pray that scientists will find answers, and acknowledge that God is the source of their wisdom. We pray that people will grow to appreciate what they have and they understand that it all comes from God. We pray for an end to this isolation and a cure for all our diseases. We are praying more for the truth to be made known, that there is an end to the lies and deceit that the world’s media have been telling us for decades. It is a time when we can see more clearly what is and isn’t true.

So instead of finding things to complain about, use your ingenuity and begin to come back to the things you love the most. Do you write? Write a letter to an old friend! I love getting letters in the mail. It’s almost a lost way to communicate. If you dance, dance your heart out, and teach your children how. If you sing, glorify God with the voice He gave you. If you work with numbers, figure out a new budget. Have you put off getting things done around the house? One room at a time. Or just sit outside on your porch or balcony or go for a walk and notice things you’ve never seen before, even if it is the architecture of the buildings in your neighborhood. Thank God for the sunrise or sunset that takes your breath away! Make a wish on a dandelion or on the first star you see tonight. Watch something uplifting with your family, learn a new recipe, call a neighbor and see how they are. All of these things make God happy because it makes you happy. That’s right; He’s that kind of God. The One that smiles on you, cheers you on during your trials, and gets up and dances when you accomplish great things. He even loves you enough to hold each one of your tears in a jar. He is for you and not against you!

I hold you all up in prayer and place you in God’s capable hands to meet all your needs. We will get through this. This is a time of renewal in so many ways. The earth is being cleansed, relationships are being healed, and the Church is growing more every day. We are the Church, it’s not a building, it’s not a certain denomination, it’s us. We are the Bride of Christ and we will be together with Him forever if we are saved.

In John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, who had asked what he needed to do to get to heaven, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He goes on to say in verses 14-17, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man [Jesus] be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God [Jesus].” (brackets are mine for clarification.)

If you died today, would you go to Heaven? Do you know the awesome love of Jesus? If you have a desire in your heart to know Jesus, and to know true life, and life everlasting; or if you have fallen away from Him and wish to renew your relationship, please pray the following prayer of salvation. 

"Heavenly Father,
I come to You admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, died on the cross to take away my sins. I also believe that He rose again from the dead so that I may be justified and made righteous through faith in Him. I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life. Jesus, I choose to follow You, and I ask that You fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. I declare right now that I am a born-again child of God. I am free from sin, and full of the righteousness of God. I am saved in Jesus' name, Amen."

Welcome (back) to the family of God! We are now in the same family!

He's Doing a New Thing!

"Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth, shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV

God will make a new way. Each year, each month, week, day, and even after each incident in our lives. If we have strayed and gone onto the Freeway of Failure because we missed our exit, the Road to Righteousness, He will, if we come before Him in humility and repentance, forgive us and put us back on the Street of Salvation. Keep in mind, it's never too late to start again.

When practicing a pitch, it may take hundreds of throws to get it right again and again. We must notice what the right throw 'feels' like. We must forget the wrong way and concentrate on the right way. So even in our everyday life, we are following what this verse says. So apply it to your life. God will help us! We don't have to struggle! Just stop looking at the old thing. We can't move forward if one leg is in the past. Allow God to do a new and wonderful thing in you. He knows the way and will make it clear to you. We are so blessed by His compassion!