It’s a poem day! I was deeply moved by my church’s Good Friday praise service to write this …

Glory In my Soul

At times I cannot see the hope, the glory that’s to come

but my soul’s vision never fails to point my heart toward home

The hope that is invisible dwells ever in my soul

The Lord lives there and guides my voice to make His praises roll

In one accord the church sings on with Hope who lights the way

We soldier on to glory land where vision’s bright as day.

….Thank you, Lord, for hope that’s visible to our souls that makes us praise You. Thank you for Your spirit-led church.

With love from the Father to you, have a memorable Easter and a hopeful soul, for He lives!

Tina

Is your house like mine, in that when you want to add something new to the house, you have to get rid of something to fit it in? My husband and I down-sized to a pretty small house so we would have to keep the clutter to a minimum. It keeps us in check!

It dawns on me this morning, that a small house is kind of like our hearts. Like homes, we collect things we love in our hearts.We may need to de-clutter our hearts though, to give Jesus more room. As for me, I can sure get rid of more ‘self.’ Truth be told, it is often hard to part with old stuff you are used to, like selfishness, pride, even worry.

I think we try to fit more Jesus in our hearts with real intention. But to get more of Him, we have to free up space for Him. We do that by letting go of our love for worldly things and worldly habits and attitudes. Jesus is not of this world. He wants us to not “fit in” or be of this world also.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

When we desire to give up things that are not in Jesus’s character so that we can become more like Him, He will always help as much as we need, for as long as we need!

Dear Jesus,

Just as our house gets cluttered with things that we treasure, our hearts get cluttered as well. We don’t want to house the world’s values. We value You most of all. Please show us things that we need to get rid of, so we can give You more room to do Your work in us and we can become more like you. We love You so much! Amen

With love from our Father to you, have a great day!

Tina

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11

Have you ever tried to define joy? If not, you should! Trying to define joy is such a joyful process! It makes us consider what makes our hearts their happiest. Everyone’s definition will be slightly different, I am sure, but, here is my simple attempt this morning.

Spiritually, joy, to me, is anything that feels or looks like a glimpse of heaven. It is other-worldly and precious and wonderful, sent by the Father. To know Jesus is to know joy and to know joy is to catch a glimpse of what awaits us in heaven.

I feel joy when I hear my granddaughter laugh , when I consider grandchildren on the way, when I have ideas and a quiet time to write, when my adult children talk with me about their spiritual lives, when we gather with our family and I feel the blessing of God’s plan, when my husband and I worship in church together and when we travel to find a view that only God can create.

For me, joy is anything that only God can do. The world offers us plenty of fun and exciting things, but I like the things that no one but God can create. I am not sure that anything in the world can actually give real joy.That’s just me. I wonder what brings YOU joy! What things make you deep-down happy? Maybe think about those things!

Dear Father, Thank You for all that You have done for us and what You have allowed us to enjoy. You are too good to us. Help us to want joy for others as much as we want it for ourselves. Give us opportunity to share our joys and blessings with others so they feel blessed. Thank You for every joy that You give and for helping us to realize where it comes from. We love You! Amen.

I hope the Lord delivers joy today to you. With love from the Father to you, have a great day!

Tina

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.Colossians 3:12

I woke up at 3:30 this morning, craving to write about our precious Father. Yes, I know it’s not normal, that this unending desire to write about Him seems crazy at times. But… it’s just what He has laid on my heart to do for reasons and at times I cannot fully understand but I cannot ignore. I am okay with the “crazy” cravings, because our God is crazy for us!

I am not only okay. I am touched and humbled to the point of tears, at times. It humbles my heart to know I may be useful in the kingdom of God, not with my words, but with the words He gives me. Feeling this way, I jotted down this poem. It’s an acrostic. Each line begins with a letter of the word, “humbly.”

Humbly

He’s so great and I am not. I’ll

Usher up all selfish thought. I’ll

Make my praise to God alone. I’ll

Bow my soul before the throne.

Let me not a blogger be, but for

Yahweh’s grace to me.

Friends, have a lovely day. With love from the Father to you, I’ll “write” you later:)

Tina

 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Hebrews 10:35 NLT

Awhile ago, my husband and I streamed a movie titled “Shortcut to Happiness.”

Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Love Hewitt make a deal with each other. Alec is a struggling writer that makes a deal with the devil, Jennifer Love Hewitt. She will grant his main desire of success as a writer if he will give his soul to her.

When John and I got the premise of the movie, we almost turned it off, but something made us want to see how these famous actors portrayed a very real struggle in today’s world.

What is the struggle? Everyone, including Christians, wants happiness. We prefer joy to struggles. Feeling that way is not wrong; it’s human, but it’s also an opportunity to strengthen our focus on what we know about God and His plan for us.

Our focus needs to change as we remember…there is only one lasting happiness and it is found in God and His will for our lives. Our trials are temporary.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

God has already made a way for us to “have it all” through His Son and the Holy Spirit. The joy we have in Jesus is full, true and forever! Every minute of the day we can choose to commit to Jesus for the long haul. Short cuts that promise instant happiness will let us down. Jesus is the only way to joy and He is so worth it!

Let’s make some Monday decisions, mindsets of sorts. This week…

Let’s trust in the long-haul to joy, not a short-cut to happiness by making a deal with the enemy.

Let’s commit to this race for the long haul, for daily and eternal joy with our Savior!

Let’s worship God and not other idols/gods here on earth, like fame and money and houses and cars and popularity. These things will not last and they do not matter in the kingdom of God.

Let’s focus our lives on our godly purpose, to take the burdens of life as God allows, knowing that He has a plan for us that makes us better versions of ourselves and more importantly, Him.

Let’s embrace the joy of Jesus with our eyes on our heavenly home. He is our prize, waiting for us after the long haul of life.

Let’s remember that we are not here to love and serve ourselves, but to love and serve God. That is what brings joy!

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11 NIV

Dear Father, Only You know why we have to endure certain struggles. Even when we are not struggling we still seem to crave things that make us instantly happy. Do whatever it takes to make us as You made us to be, for You. We know that our joy cannot be more full than when we are focused on You! We love You. Guide us through this week with Your wisdom and peace and we will give You all glory. Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a great day!

Tina

When you’re scared that you can’t handle something God told you to do, just tell the lying enemy what to do! Just say, “Go!”

The enemy loves to influence us, away from God’s plan, so we need to be on alert, always, but especially when we are afraid. Our fear is the enemy’s opportunity to swoop in. Sometimes, he tells us we aren’t enough or ready for a task that God shows us. One hundred percent of the time, the devil lies!

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

So, let’s rejoice that our Father knows what He is doing and what we should do. He is our “swooper”; He is our rescuer from doubts. With anything that He calls us to do, He will also prepare us for it. He knows everything and IS everything we need!

Dear God, Please help me know when I am being lied to, so I can tell the enemy to go and then I can get on with Your work. Please instill in me a holy confidence that comes from You, that will end up bringing You glory and not me. Thank You for all the times You have helped me through insecure times, with Your wisdom and strength. I love You. Amen

With love from the Father to You, have a great, “confident-in-God” day!

Tina

There is a cost to being a writer and a poet, even average ones like me. At times, whole poems wake you up and beg to be written down before they disappear from your brain.

Last Wednesday’s poem was one of those. This is a short poem to illustrate that experience. It’s a happy annoyance,lol!

Too Early

Too early I awake, with stubborn eyes

Before the time I planned to start my day

A poem in mind that must be written down

Dragged me from the place I longed to lay.

Now at the ready pen, and paper found

My heart lets loose its treasure on the page

So happy am I to be one of them

A sleepy poet woken and amazed.

With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful, poetic, day!

Tina

We are all susceptible to something, whether it be germs, influence, or danger. We are likely to be harmed, by some people, things or situations.

These things can do some real damage if we are not careful. It’s important to know what we are susceptible to, so we can stay safe.

Just as children are susceptible to illnesses and parents teach them how to stay safe in germy environments, God teaches us, His children, what dangers lurk in our world. There is the danger of listening to foolish advice…

He who walks with wise men will be wise but the companion of fools will be destroyed. Proverbs 13:20

But do we heed this wisdom or do we think we are doing just fine? That “just fine” feeling can get us into trouble. When we get too comfy and feel like we can’t be influenced, the enemy will pounce.

I am not suggesting we be afraid of every influence, but worldly influence.

See, the world has a whole other view than what God has. It has a selfish, ‘dangerous to our spiritual life’ view. Since our perfect God made the world and made us, He should always be our “go-to” standard of excellence, of wisdom.

When in doubt, or needing confirmation, we should always measure the ways of the world against the ways of the world’s Creator!

Just as children love to do things on their own, adults, too, can get to a point of self-sufficiency. The problem is…

We are not self-sufficient. If we think we are self- sufficient, we are actually God- deficient.

We are ALWAYS susceptible,especially when we do not think we are! There is very real danger in getting too comfortable.

Sidenote…My Mom died when I was a teen but I still remember her saying to me, “If you are thinking of doing what “the whole world” is doing , it might be wrong, because that many people never, ever agree on anything.”

Now, I am not saying she was right, but so far, as I’ve grown up, I see the wisdom in not grabbing onto the most popular trends, at least until I measure the wisdom of it by God’s Word. He is our Father and He knows best!

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5

Dear God, If I am not aware of dangerous influences, please remind me that the enemy is always there. I am so thankful YOU are always there to help me navigate this life. Thank You for all of Your blessings and for listening to and answering prayer. I love You. Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a great God-centered day!

Tina

Happy Lords Day! How blessed are we to have been given knees:)

Here’s a quick little thought and poem for this morning.

Knees
Ever think about your knees?
They were made to bend.
To lower us, His servants
As our will we suspend.

Ever feel like giving up?
We were made to fall
Into loving arms of God
As on our knees we call.

Have a great day!

Tina