Sunday Devotional - This Easter, am I Judas or Peter?

It’s Easter Sunday, and I’ve had Judas on my heart. He walked closely with Jesus, saw the miracles, heard His voice and His teaching, even shared meals with Him, but Judas didn’t submit to Him. Even though he was that close to Him, Judas didn’t allow Jesus to change him. Am I the same? Even if I’m around Jesus, going to church, reading my bible, listening to worship music, am I surrendered? Am I allowing Jesus to change me and make me more like Him?

John 12:6 - Now Judas said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it. 

Judas couldn’t be trusted with the little things. He made compromises on little things. What was the big deal? As long as they had enough money to do what the disciples wanted to do, did it really matter if he took a little bit of something for himself? Small compromises weakened his integrity and made it easier for him to make bigger ones. It opened the door for the enemy to work. When I make small compromises, what am I setting myself up for? Every choice I make draws me closer to God or further away. Every choice is a battle for my soul, so what will I choose today?

Luke 22:3 Then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve [disciples].

Because of Judas’s sin and his lack of repentance, Satan found a way into his heart and caused the ultimate betrayal of Jesus. But even after this horrible mistake, Judas could have changed, he could have repented and run back to Jesus, but the enemy lied to him, and Judas believed him. When am I guilty of believing the enemy’s lie that my mistake is too bad for the Lord to forgive? Or that I can’t face the Lord now that I’ve failed in resisting temptation. God’s mercy is always stronger, coming to Him dirty and broken is expected. My mistakes aren’t final if I turn to the Lord and let Him forgive me. Who will I choose to believe? 

Matthew 27:3-4 When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,  saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They replied, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”

Even though Judas felt guilty, he didn’t turn to the Lord for forgiveness, and he didn’t repent. Instead of going to Jesus, he went back to the religious leaders, and they offered him no forgiveness, no grace, and no mercy. They didn’t care. So the guilt that he had drove him to despair. 

Matthew 26:74-75 Then Peter started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I do not know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Peter also betrayed Jesus that night be denying Him three times. Adamantly, with curses. But with his regret and guilt came repentance. He sought the Lord, and when Peter finally saw Him, he leapt from his boat and swam to shore, coming directly to him rather than letting the enemy have the final word.

John 21:17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love You.” “Feed My sheep,” Jesus said.

And the Lord gave him the opportunity to repent and say that he loved Him three times. One for each time Peter had denied Him. Each followed up with the command to feed His sheep. And Peter did as he was asked. He didn’t let his story end with his betrayal, but found repentance, love, grace, and redemption by coming back to the Lord.

Even when we mess up, Jesus loves us. He doesn’t quit just because we failed. He already knows everything bad we’ve ever done or are going to do and He still offers us forgiveness and grace. Even though Jesus already knew what Judas was going to do before he’d even started plotting, Jesus still washed his feet. He still looked at him lovingly at the Last Supper. His grace and love go beyond betrayal and denial. And He gives us the opportunity for redemption and repentance through is mercy and grace. 

Hebrews 4:16 - Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

So my prayer today is that we will be more like Peter than like Judas. That we will turn directly toward God when we make a mistake. That we will listen to Him rather than the enemy so that He can show us the mercy, kindness, and a love that can make us bold, even when we betray Him. Let us never let Satan have the final word and make us believe that we’re unworthy of even trying to come to Him. Of course we’re unworthy, but we’re not unloved. Let us remember that He already knows what we we’ve done, and there’s no reason to hide. He invites us instead, as always… to come.

Sunday Devotional ~ Making Room for God

 

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

As Christians we want more of God in our lives—more of Jesus. We are selfish for Him to give us greater, bigger, and more extravagant blessings. It reminds me of one of the old hymns we sang at the small church my family attended when I was younger:

Showers of blessing,
  Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
    But for the showers we plead. (Daniel Webster, 1883)

Yes, we are thankful for the drops of mercy we receive from the Lord, but we all want showers of blessing. And we know that our God is capable of doing this.

God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine… (Ephesians 3:20)

But exactly how do we get more from Him? By making room. We make room by decreasing—decreasing our wants, our desires, ourselves, and giving that space to the Lord. There is no such thing as “awkward silence” with the Lord. Silence is golden. It’s by waiting to hear from Him that we receive His word and His blessings. But do we want those things enough to give up things that might seem good to us now, but hold us back from receiving even better from our God? Do we let making ourselves comfortable take preference? Do we fill our time, our minds, our bellies so full of things that we provide that we don’t allow the Lord to provide even better?

I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. 

Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. (Psalm 81:10)

Instead of trying to fill ourselves up and doing our own thing, and making our own way, let us take a moment to allow ourselves to be empty and then allow God to fill us up. We may just find out that His showers of blessing were just one step, one choice away. While we’ve been busy trying to find a way to fill the void in us with other things, God has been waiting for us to just turn to Him.

Today my prayer is that we open ourselves up to God. That we make room for Him in a new way. If we listen to the Holy Spirit, He will tell us where we’ve been failing to make room. Then all we have to do is let go of that thing and allow God to fill us up!

Sunday Devotional - Dealing with Discontentment

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. 

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, 

whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

(Philippians 4:12)

Most of us know what it's like to be in need. But have we ever known what it's like to have plenty? We rarely have enough money, enough food, enough love in our lives to be satisfied and content. We're always striving, looking for the next big break, the next thing that will thrill us, the next meal. Being content is understanding when we've had enough.

“The leech has two daughters.

    ‘Give! Give!’ they cry.

“There are three things that are never satisfied,

    four that never say, ‘Enough!’:

the grave, the barren womb,

    land, which is never satisfied with water,

    and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

(Proverbs 30:15-16)

There are places in our lives where we feel we can never get enough. Whether we have addiction to approval, food, Netflix programs, attention, sports... the list could go on. But once we have finished with one thing, we're looking for the next, even when we really don't need it. We rarely know when to be satisfied.

Praise the Lord, my soul;

    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

 Praise the Lord, my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

    and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

    and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

(Psalm 103:1-5)

The only one who can satisfy us and truly show us contentment is God. He is the one who satisfies our desires--not food, other people, Netflix, or money. Nothing satisfies us except Him. So when we're feeling like we can't get enough, when we feel like we need something more in order to be happy, it's time for us to turn to God in prayer and praise Him for fulfilling our every need. When we feel a need in our heart for something more, He is the one who can fill it.

Today my prayer is that we will turn to the Lord when we feel empty. Let us not turn anything else into an idol by looking for it to satisfy us. Instead, let us turn to the one who provides true contentment.

Sunday Devotional: Pushing Past the Hardships

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for

extraordinary destiny.

-C.S. Lewis

We're often told that nothing worth keeping in life comes easy. If we want something, we have to work hard for it. Becoming a marathon runner often means losing your pinkie toenail. Ouch! While staying the course, the runner will feel aches and pains over their whole body, and could quit at any time and stop the pain, but to be a true marathon runner means staying in the race.

That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, 

who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

Command and teach these things. 

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, 

but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture,

to preaching and to teaching. 

Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy 

when the body of elders laid their hands on you.  

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, 

so that everyone may see your progress. 

Watch your life and doctrine closely. 

Persevere in them, because if you do, 

you will save both yourself and your hearers.(1 Timothy 4:10-16)

In order to stay the course, we have to make up our minds and set it. Persevere, watch closely, be diligent, devout ourselves. It's all about keeping our focus on God and the end goal... freedom. If we waver and can't make up our minds, then we'll consider quitting an option. Once quitting is not an option, that's when we'll see the fruits of our labor. 

The last six miles are the hardest in a marathon, when you've already got twenty miles behind you and you only have six left, many people find that's when the doubts come in on whether they can finish it or not. If we quit when we're almost at the end of our goal, we'll have to start over again at mile one next time, and pushing past those last six miles won't be any easier than this time.

If we worry that we can't do this, we need to see things God's way. We need to remember that we're already a winner. When trouble comes our way, we have to remember that God sees how this ends, and we've already won.

But thanks be to God, 

who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession 

and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

He always leads us in triumph... always. 

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you 

will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philipians 1:6)

Even if we keep messing things up, He won't give up on us. He picked us because He saw us as winners, so expect Him to keep at us until we become exactly what He knows we can be... victorious. More than conquerors.

We've got this.

He believes in us.

Our turn to believe in Him and push past whatever hardships are standing in our way and keep striving until we reach the finish line.

Sunday Devotional Blog: But I want it now!

Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act!

 Keep traveling steadily along his pathway and in due season 

he will honor you with every blessing, 

and you will see the wicked destroyed.

(Psalm 37:34 TLB)

I'm broken.

At 42 years old, I feel like I've been broken for so long that I'm beyond repair. But God promises me that there is nothing about me that He cannot change.

and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- 

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, 

the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise

 instead of a spirit of despair. (Isaiah 61:3 NIV)

Although there are times when He heals things miraculously and instantly, most of the time, He does not. Sometimes, we have to reap what we sow. Sometimes, we have to feel the pain of the sin that caused us to get into the predicament we're in and then rely completely on His strength and His timing to help us out of it. 

I cannot rush a broken bone's healing any more than I can rush this process of healing for myself.

Impatience is too much like unbelief. If we feel ourselves loathing God's timing, we start to doubt that He really has what is best for us in His mind. We start do doubt that He cares. And if He doesn't care, than why should we? Satan feeds us this line of lies because he wants for us to GIVE UP. It's too difficult, too painful to endure. Satan wants us to choose the easy way now because he knows that things will get harder for us in the future if we do.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood

 in your fighting against sin (Hebrews 12:4 NAS)

Sure, the struggle is hard. The fight is real. When we're battling against our demons, we feel the pain and suffering that comes with it, but we do not bleed. We do not die physically. The battle we are engaging in is not against flesh and blood. 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, 

unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, 

it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24 ESV)

And we are called to die to the flesh in order to live. Those people who have overcome their sins and been healed are much more alive than this broken version of me. There are so many things that my sin has robbed from me. If we take an honest look at whether our sins and addictions are worth the cost, I think we can wholeheartedly say that it is worth the little bit of suffering now for the joy we receive later.

Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5b NIV)

The night can seem like such a long time that we begin to wonder if the morning will ever come. But we need to remember that we're not alone in the night - we have a guide. He has better night vision than we do, and is guiding us along this tough trial. He won't let us stumble and hurt ourselves worse. We only need to hold His hand. Also we need to keep believing, keep the faith, and keep watching while we wait for the signs that the morning is coming. Listen for the birds that start singing before dawn. Watch for the first vestiges of light that prove the morning is on the way. We'll see God even more clearly in the morning than we do in the night right now. He's promised that the morning will come, we just need to trust Him and believe it.

Fruit of the Spirit: Love (Part 7)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

To demonstrate love, we have to remember the 15 attributes of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13~

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

Love does not envy.

Love does not boast.

Love is not arrogant.

Love is not rude.

Love is not selfish.

Love is not provoked.

Love thinks no evil.

Love does rejoices in truth.

Love bears all things.

Love believes all things.

Love hopes all things.

Love endures all things.

Love never fails.

In the rest of this blog series on Fruit of the Spirit: Love, we'll go over a few of these attributes per post.

Love does boast:

Boasting about what I have or have done is all about taking credit. It is showing off. But not in a good way. Instead of allowing God to reward me for my accomplishments, I want to see everyone patting me on the back and telling me what a good person I am and how wonderful I have done. Or I boast because I want to feel better about myself, because often I don't feel good about myself unless I compare myself to someone else.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and[b] prayed these things with reference to himself: ‘God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector! I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)

God doesn't want us to compare ourselves to anyone but Jesus. Not because He wants us to be down on ourselves that we can never be good enough, but so that we keep striving toward a goal with the understanding that we can do nothing on our own without Him. Once we understand that each of us are striving toward the same goal, we can do the opposite of boasting, encouraging.

Encouraging others is the opposite of boasting. Instead of pointing out to someone else how great we are or how much better we are than them in an attempt to make ourselves feel better, we'll often feel the opposite, empty. But in encouraging people and lifting them up, we'll find the fulfillment we were striving for.

A person of blessing will be enriched, and he who gives water also will be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:25)

So today my prayer for you is that you will find a way to encourage others and lift them up and in doing so, find yourself lifted up, too.

Fruit of the Spirit: Love (Part 4)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

The First Fruit: Love (Continued...)

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. (Luke 6:35)

"Do good..." Love must become an action. We can declare all day that we love this, or love that, but unless we can demonstrate our love through action, they are simply words.

How do we do it? How can we act in love?

To demonstrate love, we have to remember the 15 attributes of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13~

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

Love does not envy.

Love does not boast.

Love is not arrogant.

Love is not rude.

Love is not selfish.

Love is not provoked.

Love thinks no evil.

Love does rejoices in truth.

Love bears all things.

Love believes all things.

Love hopes all things.

Love endures all things.

Love never fails.

In the rest of this blog series on Fruit of the Spirit: Love, we'll go over a few of these attributes per post.

Love is patient - Love endures all things:

Our patience is our willingness to endure. Endure discomfort, endure inconvenience, endure disappointment, endure heartbreak. We may be asked to suffer any of these negative things and not let it affect us in such a way as to veer us from our path. We must love in spite of the things which happen to us. To stand out as a believer in Christ, we must be willing to endure.

 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. (Hebrews 10:36)

It's all about focus. If our focus is on ourselves, then we will not be able to endure. The first discomfort, inconvenience, disappointment, or heartbreak will send us off to recover. We want to avoid these negatives in our lives, because we don't deserve them. But love says endure it. Be patient. keep your focus on Jesus, and remember His promises. Remember how much He endured to save you and realize that this suffering is temporary. Though at times it may feel like forever that you've been suffering through it, this momentary lapse is just a blip in the face of eternity. So today, I pray that you will endure whatever is troubling you and act in the love that shows patience.

Weigh-in Wednesday 4/15

It's now been a little over a month since I started wearing a Fitbit, and here's what I've accomplished:

1. My resting heart rate is now a full 20 bpm lower than it was when I first started - this is huge. I was on the verge of needing to go to the hospital before, and now my body is working more efficiently because of my weight loss and fitness level.

2. I have walked 2 half-marathons. Over 13.2 miles in one day TWICE over the past month. I have logged in over 10 miles/day on average. And every step adds up to calories burned.

3. I can now run a full mile (and a half) without stopping to walk.

4. And I've lost a total of 14 lbs so far.

When I exercise, I keep my focus on the source of my strength, Jesus, by listening to praise music. It helps keep me motivated to just push a little further and go a little longer. And I thank Him for helping me stay on this journey and for picking me up when I fall down.

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Sunday Devotional - The Wearing of White

For a Christian, writing novels is like teaching Sunday school—the writer or teacher always learns more than the reader or student. 

What I learned while writing my latest novel is that in order to fully enjoy the plans God has for us, we need to first go through a sort of funeral.

I can hear the gasps. Please let’s not talk about funerals. Let’s talk weddings instead, which are so much nicer. Here in the west our brides wear white, while in the east they wear other colors to show their joy, usually red. The color white in eastern cultures is for wearing to funerals.  

Yet, people around the globe want the same thing—to experience the joy which weddings bring. 

As a Christian, I’m looking forward to when Christ calls His followers home and we have that grand wedding celebration when the Son of God claims His bride, the church. 

But in order to fully enjoy that wedding we need a funeral first. 

Oswald Chambers in the devotional book My Utmost for His Highest explains that as Christians we must have a sort of funeral for our life, our ambitions, our plans. We must wear the metaphoric white funeral garments. Once our life is dead and buried, we can allow Christ to live His life through us. But can we trust God to give us joy when we give up our dreams, and say “Thy Will be Done?”

What if He asks me to give up the work that I really love, like my writing career, and do something else? Gasp, what if He wants to send me to the mission field or a life of singleness?

What I’ve been learning—and sometimes the hard way—is that we can trust God’s plans. He will use our lives for His glory in more marvelous ways than anything we could ever devise. Even if it hurts for a while. Even if we have to put our preferred work on the shelf to obey the Lord’s schedule for our day. 

You might be surprised after your funeral what God will do in your life. You may find to your surprise that dying to your dreams may eventually become a dream-come-true.

Romans 6:4 “Buried with Him…that…even so we also should walk in newness of live.”

~*~

Christine Lindsay writes historical inspirational novels with strong love stories, but she doesn’t classify them as straight romances. Nor does she shy away from difficult topics such as spousal abuse in her debut novel, Shadowed in Silk, or the sex trade in Southeast Asia in Captured by Moonlight.  Christine takes pride in her Irish roots. Her great grandfather and grandfather worked as riveters in the Belfast shipyard. One of the ships her ancestors helped build was the Titanic. On her mother’s side it was stories of ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in India that seeded Christine’s long-time fascination with the British Raj and became the stimulus for her Twilight of the British Raj series.   The Pacific coast of Canada, about 200 miles north of Seattle, is Christine’s home where she lives with her husband, David, and they enjoy the visits from their adult children and grandchildren.

To keep updated on Christine, check her website: ChristineLindsay.com

God doesn't do what I say

Photo: © Jsternig | Dreamstime Stock Photos &Stock Free Images

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

God has never done things the way I want Him to. He doesn't come when I snap my fingers. He doesn't let me have candy for breakfast, and He doesn't let me skip brushing my teeth before going to bed. Does this make Him a bad parent? Quite the opposite. He doesn't want spoiled, lazy disrespectful, self-destructive children. He wants the best for us, so we can be at our best.

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:14 (NIV)

So we cannot blame him for the repercussions of our sin, our gluttony - nor can we expect Him to take our pain or our weight away from us without having to work for it.

But He will help us work toward our goals by giving us the means of escape when temptation comes. The strength to defeat our enemy when he comes to tell us we'll never make it and may as well give up.

Do not listen to the liar, no matter how loud he shouts. Instead focus on the still small voice. 

He loves you anyway. 

He will never leave you or forsake you. 

You can do this.

Sunday Devotional Blog - Seeing is Believing

Seeing is believing. We’ve all heard the saying. But as with most twisting of truth that Satan plays on us, this is another lie. Our eyes often play tricks on us, so that what we believe to be true based on what we’ve seen could be false. In psychology, they have several eye “tricks” like the one in the picture here.

In this figure both the lines are the same length (81 pixels) but the bottom one appears longer because of the way the brackets are placed on the sides. This is an example of how what you see does not always prove that what you believe is true.

If you saw a fellow coworker searching the drawers of the boss’ desk when they were out, what would you believe to be true? Is the coworker a thief? Playing a practical joke? Or maybe getting something the boss asked her to get? Seeing does not prove anything, often it’s the interior motives that provide the truth of what is actually going on.

In Luke 11, the crowd grew around Jesus, wanting for a miracle or some sign that Jesus was who He said He was. He answered: “Everybody’s looking for proof, but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you’re looking for is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles.” (Luke 11:29 MSG) 

How often do we look for proof that God is who He says he is before we’re ready to believe?

In John 20, Thomas had said that he would not believe that Jesus was raised from the dead until he’d seen and put his fingers in the scars of Jesus hand. After seeing, Thomas believed, but Jesus said “Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

Believing is seeing. The act of believing is an interior motive. It is what causes something to be true or false at least in our own minds. Jesus said in Mattew 21, “And whatever you ask for in prayer having faith and [really] believing, you will receive.” Are we supposed to believe that we got what we ask for before we get it or after? What would be the point in believing after?

So what are we believing about our God? Are we in a season of prayer right now, waiting for a miracle, but not sure if we’ll get it? Do we not believe in His goodness without seeing it? If we believe that God is good and that He wants our best, shouldn’t we believe he’ll give it to us?

“For we walk by faith, not by sight,” (2 Cor 5:7 HCSB)

God wants us to obey in faith, rather than waiting for a sign from Heaven. If you know that God would want you to do something (go on a missions trip, give more money to the church, volunteer in the nursery), don’t wait for a sign before you obey, before you “walk” in it. Prayerfully approach the project and if you believe it is what God wants you to do, do it. I’m sure you will “see” the results.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)

© Seesea | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

If you have to see before you believe, than you can’t call that faith. Faith is given before the event takes place, every time. You have faith that the sun will set tonight. You have faith that the chair you’re sitting in will hold your weight until you stand up again.

If your child comes to you in the morning and asks you to take them to the store, and you tell him that you will later, will your child have “faith” that you will take him?

If he went around the house all day depressed and saying, “Mom’s never going to take me to the store, why did I bother asking her?” Wouldn’t that show a lack of faith. Or if your child said, “Mom, I don’t believe you’ll take me to the store, will you take me now?” How would these two responses make you feel? Wouldn’t you want to make their belief a reality and not take them to the store because of their lack of faith in you, responding, “Well, I was going to take you to the store, but now I’m not.”

Now what if the child had faith in you and waited patiently? While he was waiting, he cleaned his room and mowed the lawn – walked by faith, showing obedience to the things he knew you wanted him to do, even if you didn’t ask. What if, even more so, he stopped in the kitchen just to tell you he loved you, and thank you for being willing to take him to the store. I know if that were my child, I might just give him a little extra money when I took him to the store, and I’d be more likely to take him to the store sooner as well.

So the question is: how is our response? When we ask God for something, are we walking in faith or are we murmuring and complaining? Do we thank God, or do we keep bugging him with our unbelief? Are we waiting to see what we ask for before we believe we’ll get it, or are we believing before we see?

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Sunday Devotional Blog - What is a Loser?

When my son was about five, we watched a show on TV where a character shaped a hand into the letter L and placed it on their forehead and then chanted “LOSER” to another character. Being curious about the world as only a child can be, he turned to me and asked, “Mommy, what’s a loser?”

I thought on it for a moment, not wanting to blurt out the wrong answer, because to me a loser is not simply someone who loses at a sport or game, but more. Then the voice in my heart taught me exactly what a loser is. I shared it with my son, “A loser is a person who quits. Because if you believe in yourself, and keep trying, even if you fail over and over again, eventually you’ll win – you’re not a loser until you give up.”

No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long; soon they’re up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces. (Proverbs 24:16 MSG)

One of the common misconceptions about Christians is that once you’ve been covered by Christ, you no longer sin or make bad decisions. But that’s not true. The difference is that when we fall down into the pit of sin, we don’t stay there, but get up and get going again. We don’t get up and get going by our own strength, nor are we asked to. It would be too much for us. When we fall down, the Lord himself supports us and helps us up.

The step of a good man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step]. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him. (Psalm 37 23-24 AMP)

Thank God we don’t have to believe in ourselves. We can trust Him to help us up. How many times would we give up if we felt that we had to get ourselves out of trouble, save ourselves, do the impossible?

This is why we can be called “more than conquerors,” in Romans 8:37. Because nothing can keep us down. We don’t fail once and for all, but eventually we win, as long as we believe, keep trying, and let Him help us up. To be called more than a conqueror raises us up above even Alexander the Great. Because he won his battles, conquered what he thought was the whole world, then sat on his laurels and quit. As long as we live we don’t give up - don’t let one failure keep us down - but press on and persevere.

So what has been bringing us down lately? What keeps tripping us up and making us want to give up? Consider for a moment the promises He’s given us, and let us reach up for His hand, and never give up.   

Sunday Devotional - Unfinished Business with God

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.  
Then the Lord called Samuel. 

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” (1 Sam 3:3-4 NIV)

There are times when the Lord calls me, and I'm busy. Like Samuel in the passage above. He was laying down and going to bed...after a hard day's work. His pillow was likely calling his name. But when the Lord called him, Samuel jumped up and said, "Here I am."

As Christians, we have to remember that God doesn't work according to our timing. He has His own. If we try to take the timing out of his hands and into our own, this is sin. It is not wasteful to leave a task unfinished. 

If I'm in the middle of doing the dishes, and God calls, I need to leave the dishes and answer. If I'm in the middle of eating, and God calls, I need to put down my fork and answer.

What we think is left unfinished might be exactly where God wants us to be. Sometimes people die leaving work in a state that seems unfinished, but is right where God wanted it to Be. We never see the full picture in this life, but we need to trust in His call, His word, and His timing.

What is God calling you to leave incomplete today?

Home is Where the Heart Is Blog Hop

Happy Valentine's Day!

You know, it's funny, but this little saying has so much truth. I have been married for nearly twenty years, and would be fine living in a car with my husband as long as I had him...and my family.

My most recent writing project is a Steampunk Fantasy series I am co-authoring with Paranormal Romance author, Melissa Turner Lee. The series, called Armored Hearts is set at the turn of the century and is a fantastic amalgam of Steam and Fae.

Here's our logo:

Tristan Gareth Smyth has lived in the same home his entire life. Although his grandfather often leaves for London, he never takes his grandson with him because he finds the wheelchair cumbersome. So Gareth is stuck at Waverley Park with the servants.

His single source of freedom is in the fact he can fly, but in order to keep this secret, his adventures must be kept under the cover of night. Tabitha, his friend and close relation, is the only one who knows his secret.

When debtors come to call on Grandfather, there becomes only one way Gareth can keep his home. He must marry rich, and do so quickly.

 What is a home without love?

And do you agree with me that you can make a home anywhere as long as love is present?

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Winter Fae - the short story prequel to Armored Hearts

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