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There’s Bad News and Good News…

October 1, 2024

Today I am a bit overwhelmed with sadness. The news is FILLED with reports of evil things being committed…lies, thefts, rapes, murders and more. It breaks my heart to think of people living a life searching for self-satisfaction in sin. They are missing out on a joyful life with Jesus.

I am, right now, walking away from the tv asking myself…”What is YOUR part in this Tina? So you are sad. What are you going to DO about it?” Then…

My first answer would be to wallow in despair and hopelessness, but that will not do any good. I am definitely craving more “Jesus” so I could put more time into reading the Bible? That’s good, but does that affect the lost or the hurting? NOPE. Not unless I tell others where to find hope. Not unless it moves me to love more, with every interaction the Lord allows. Not unless I say something, do something. But what do I do? At a loss, I just opened a new prayer devotional. Wow, this verse…

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5

We do not always need to plan our own steps. We should tell God and HE can show us the way. I know that it is HE and not my virtue that makes me sad about the news. I know that it is HE who puts cravings for His Word in our hearts. HE makes me love others and want to help them. Everything is about Him.

So what can “little ‘ole me” do? Let God lead. Let God teach. Let God show me the way to love others more, how to pray for them more, deeply. He is a good, loving and patient teacher. It is unlike me to relinquish my former plans but I will do it for Him! I hope to be an encouragement to all who read the blog in the coming days, as the Lord guides me.

Dear God, You are the most important person in my life. All I want to do is serve You better. Forgive me for not allowing YOU to plan my steps. Forgive me for losing a bit of hope in this cruel word. Refresh me with Your love and wisdom to reach others for You in whatever way You think best. Write Your desires on my heart and I will do them. I love You! Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful, spirit-led day. God is able to make every single day hopeful when we walk in His way!

…thanks for reading:)

Tina

October 1, 2024

Happy Wednesday! Here is today’s devotion, one of my older poems, 2021) inspired by our amazing Lord. He is more than everything I can describe!!

Jesus is called many things by all of us and His names always point to what He does for us.

He is our Savior. He saved us. He’s our comforter. He is there for us. He is our rock. He supports us. He is our friend. Don’t you love that all of His names are based on His love for us? He is…More Precious Than Rubies!

More precious than rubies that dress up some ears

more shiny than diamonds that bring some to tears

more valued than emeralds whose color is rare

is Jesus my Savior to whom none compare.

Most precious my Father’s shed blood on the cross

most perfect His love that paid for my loss.

His mercy and hope, His love, peace and grace

a bounty to all when He died in our place.

Most prized the wisdom that flows from His word

my cornerstone gem is Jesus my Lord.

His presence I treasure deep in my soul

I’ll praise Him until eternity rolls.

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

Tina

Will We?

September 20, 2024

Image result for pixabay free image fearing God

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God. Ecclesiastes 5:4-7

It’s a poem day! I felt inspired to jot down these words in response to our pastor’s sermon about fearing God, as in respecting God and taking our commitment to Him seriously. I took it to heart…because Jesus took US to heart!

Another influencer of this poem is a study of the book of Amos in my Sunday morning class. It has impressed me how easy it is to take for granted what God has done for us. He deserves all respect and praise! Will we continually give it to Him? Will we honor our commitment to Him because we fear and respect and appreciate HIm?

Will We?

God planned a way, our souls to save. He vowed it from the start

To sacrifice His only Son to clean our sinful hearts

In order for His plan to work, obedience was due

The Lord and Son gave up His life to rescue me and you

He could have come down from the cross, to live without the pain

Instead He let Himself be used, to give all for our gain

What’s our commitment to the Lord? What promise we will make?

Do we avow all praise to Him for our souls needy sake?

And will we every day, anew, desire to serve Him well?

Appreciate the cleansing that we got from Mercy’s well?

Will we chase His will for us or strike out on our own?

Will we fear Him, King of Kings, our Savior on the throne?

Confident we tend to be of all that we’ve achieved

But only God deserves that praise. We must not be deceived.

A question lurks. An answer’s due, to keep us in the Way.

Will we submit our selfish will for fear of Him each day?

Will We?

God is so good, y’all! I am “preaching to myself” in this poem and praising God at the same time. He deserves the very best commitment I/we can give, which means we fear Him, desire Him more each day. Taking Him for granted at times is human. We like to think we are in control, but God allows what He allows for His purposes. We serve a great God!

With love from the Father to you, have a great day! He loves you so much!

Tina

We Are Followers

September 14, 2024

Free jesus apostles jerusalem illustration

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—they do no wrong but follow his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Psalm 119:1-4

I usually post in the mornings, but I felt so strongly that God had something I needed to learn that I just had to read His Word tonight. He showed me tonight, that following Him is easy, in that all we have to do is follow His Word. He will never steer us wrong:) We have the perfect resource for following Him!

I realized, while reading Psalm 119 that if we love Him, we will automatically follow Him. We will be seekers of Him, keepers of His Word, talkers about Him, walkers with Him, obeyers of His will, surveyors of all He has done for us, and learners of many lessons He teaches. Best of all, our honor is to call ourselves a sojourner of another place, heaven! Psalm 119’s focus on our desire to faithfully follow our Lord got me excited about knowing Him better and being known by Him. What a privilege!

So, as we start another week, let’s be Seekers, Keepers, Talkers, Walkers, Obeyers, Surveyors, Learners and Sojourners! Let’s follow Him with all of ourselves, so we have no time to follow the world. (but let’s do pray for them!)

Dear Father, Thank You for loving us so much. We love You and desire to do Your will always, but You know we fail at times. Refresh our desire to know You more and better so we can be better servants of Yours. Guide our speech, actions and thoughts to glorify You and love others deeply. Amen

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

Tina

Rolling River

September 9, 2024

Good morning! In God’s Word, the book of Amos has been surprising me with fresh insights into what the Lord desires from His children. He longs for our love and obedience and warns us of the imminent dangers of not realizing how much He does for us.

Through Amos, He tells us not only what He expects of Israel (and us) but also what we can expect from Him. Aren’t you glad we serve a God who makes it plain and simple?

Amos 5:14 says, “Seek good and not evil, that you may live and so the Lord, the God of hosts will be with you as you have said.”

The poem below is inspired by the above verse, but also Amos 5:24…”But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Our world may be a little crazy, but God is the same as He’s always been. He’s in control, ruling with justice, love, grace and compassion:) He’s like a rolling river.

Our desire, as Christ followers, is to be a river too…righteous, rolling through life gratefully glorifying Him, no matter the trials. His living water cleanses and refreshes us constantly, to be a better servant for Him.

A Rolling River

A rolling river, let me be…a moving source of good for Thee

Awash in Spirit, let me flow…how living streams are meant to go

Awake and moving, let me bend…my purpose to your will depend

I pray, dear Father, feed my soul…buoy me over rocks, to roll

With grace and wisdom, help me see…the servant You would have me be

No other pleasure will I ask…but glory in Your name and task.

I pray you have a blessed and close week with Jesus. Let’s be rolling rivers that move for Him, to Him, because of Him!

Love and prayers,

Tina

Paul Tells the Truth

August 20, 2024

The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”But Jesus answered, “It is written:‘ Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:3-4

Have you ever had your eyes opened to truth in God’s Word in a new and fresh way? Have you read a passage of the Bible many times, yet this one time you read it, you get so much more from it? That happened to me. I have read the book of Galatians many times, but a few days ago I REALLY read it!

Paul was upset, or more like surprised and disappointed that the Galatian church had false teachers in it. They were spreading their version of the truth about salvation. Of course, Jesus is the only way to salvation, yet these teachers convinced many that they still had to follow the custom of circumcision to be justified before God.

I wrote this poem, in an attempt to grasp what that situation must have felt like, how Paul must’ve felt. I sensed his disappointment that the people he preached to, were listening to these false teachers. After all, the truth was revealed to Paul, straight from God! So, he knows what He is talking about!

Paul Tells The Truth

Apostle Paul was led to write Galatians from the heart

Surprised, he was, that some believed the gospel changed, in part

Their church had teachers preaching false, that for God to atone

One’s circumcision was required and not just faith alone

So Paul reminded them of what he said before that’s true

Jeus is the only way. He paid salvation’s due

Our evil world, it still contains false teachers in disguise

They’re eager to dissolve God’s truth, replacing it with lies

Revealed to Paul, God IS the truth and that will never change

So, never can we alter Him or His truth rearrange

God’s the ONLY source of truth so to His Word we cling

The author of our faith, He is, and Father of our King.

Jesus, We love You and know You are our only salvation. You obeyed your Father, now our Father, to death and back to life. We will do as You did and live by the Word of God only. Help us do our human best but also Your amazing best in pursuing God’s will and way and not the popular trends, customs and lies of the world. We ask this in Your special and most holy, beautiful name of Jesus. Amen.

With love from the Father, have a beautiful day, knowing you have been bought by the Savior to live with Him forever!

Tina

Truth Is…

August 1, 2024

…if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 2 Peter 2:9-10

Good Morning! Have you read 1 and 2 Peter lately? I highly recommend taking just four or five verses at a time only, so you don’t miss anything. If we rush through,we might miss something. It’s good to read, pray, listen to God and apply His truth to our lives deeply. Truth is everything, everything we need.

So, Peter knows he will die soon, because the Lord told him, so he is trying to remind Christians of things they already know, but need to really remember after he is gone. He is all about holy living, loving and obeying God and being effective for God. No better goals!

Peter reminds us that…If God made Sodom and Gomorrah extinct , due to their ungodliness(which He did) and If He rescued Lot, the only righteous man in Sodom who was miserable, seeing so much sinful conduct(which He did) THEN…

He knows what’s going on, who is sinful or not and He is able to both punish and rescue us! It is not our job to punish anyone. Sidenote…I admit I took over God’s job a bit this past week and did a little judging. Oops! It made me feel awful! He understands when we mess up but is so good to forgive us:)

These verses remind me of something we already know, but need to remember about truth…that, in today’s world, we like to decide our own truths, but that leaves God out, which is wrong. He, THE ONLY JUDGE, will judge us all for how we obey or disobey His truth. We tend to obey our own truths. along with His truth… but is it really total obedience if we follow God AND wordly, popular trends, or what’s easiest or what suits us? NOPE! Truth, often is UNpopular…

We can’t create truth. Only God can and has. We can’t decide it or bend it to suit our desires. Since we can’t change His Word, His truth, then our only choice is to accept it or reject it. I am GLAD to accept truth from Truth Himself! I do not want a changeable god, one that humans can influence. Would we really want a god we could each change with our whims? Would he really be a god? NOPE!

I hope this makes sense.My heart has changed from anxious to peaceful today, by reading that God is still true and just, no matter what the world says or does. God’s got this, friends! He knows what is true and what’s not, and He will carry us through a sometimes dark world with His truth to light our way!

Dear Father ,Thank You for Your truth, our anchor in a dark and stormy world. Guide us all the way home to You as You desire. Keep us from falling in love with popular but ungodly lies. Thank You for being who You are, truth and goodness and light and love! We love You back! Amen.

With love from the Father to you, have a great day! Hang onto God’s truths!

Tina

How to Stay Healthy

July 27, 2024

Yesterday, I had my final check-up after two cataract surgeries. I am done! My long range vision is 20/20 and my close range vision only requires some reader’s glasses from Walgreens or CVS! I am so thankful for this blessing, that I asked my doctor…

“What can I do to make my eyes stay the healthiest they possibly can? My Dad has macular degeneration and I don’t want it anytime soon.”

“The key is simple” he said. “Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, wear sunglasses in the sun, always, and take a multi-vitamin or supplement.” He explained that those things will greatly affect when or if I get macular degeneration. That’s good news!

So as I am reading 2 Peter this morning, I get excited! As Christ followers, we have good news, too! Jesus gives us, through faith, supplements!! The divine nature of God gifts us with what we need to stay spiritually healthy and growing. How good is He!!

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8 ESV

He gives us what we need, to stave off sin’s effect on us. He shares His divine nature with us if we ask Him for it. He’s so wonderful. And…as if the Lord wanted me to totally get and relay this analogy to eyesight, look at verse 9! (I have been studying 5 verses a day of 1 and 2 Peter and this happened to be my fifth verse for today…)

For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 2 Peter 1:5-9

BAM! Just as we can keep our eyes healthy by supplementing our care of them, Jesus will keep us spiritually healthy by supplementing our souls with divine qualities. All we have to do is ask. I am blown away and feel like praying. Pray with me?

Lord Jesus,

You are so wonderful to not only earn our salvation to make our souls healthy, but You also supplement us in our Christ-like walk. Please keep giving us more desire for You and less desire for the world. Give us opportunities to share Your truth in a dark world. Above all, help us to love everyone with a holy love like Yours. Thank You, Lord for allowing us to be Your children. We love You. Amen.

With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful, supplemented, day! He is able!

Tina

It Is Time

July 15, 2024

If there was ever a time to exponentially increase our prayer and Bible study, it is now. In light of recent events, it’s time to take our time on earth way more seriously and our Father in heaven way more seriously. Engraved on my Bible is 1 Peter 4:1. I felt led to read verses 1 through 9 this morning and boy, do I thank the Lord for this inspired Word. It is so enlightening!

In my own limited understanding of 1Peter 4: 1-9…

A. The Overall Battle Plan-Peter compares our new life in Christ as a battle that’s ongoing. We are to arm ourselves with the right kind of thinking. No longer do we focus on selfish or sinful things we could enjoy; because we have been raised to new life in Christ, we do not strive for the flesh, but for God’s will. (v.1)

Hmm…Do I STRIVE for this or do I often relax, because I feel I have it figured out?

B. The Death of Sin- Peter says we are to live for Christ, since we have died to sin. I like how he says “the time is past” for pleasing ourselves and pursuing earthly pleasures like drunkeness, passions, sensualities and other things. People will judge and criticize you, as they are surprised at your not joining in their “debauchery.” However…We and they should fear God’s judgement, as EVERYONE will be judged.(v.4-5)

Hmm… How scary would that be for someone who does not believe! But, how wonderful that there is still time to die to sin and follow the Savior!

C. Judgement Comes for Everyone-We, they, everyone should fear God’s judgement, because it is for ALL believers, unbelievers, dead or alive. (v.5)

D. The Gospel Saves Lives- Peter explains that the gospel was preached to former believers to bring them back to life in Christ. We can either live in “the flesh” for self and sin or we can “live in the Spirit the way God does.” (v.6)

E. The End is Near, so Focus!- Verses 7-9 should be bolded and highlighted in our houses, offices, cars, hearts, souls and minds! Here goes the answer to the question, “What should my focus be, in these end times?

Peter says, The end is near so do something that is appropriate for the time. Be self-controlled, think straight, be soberly-minded devoted to prayer. But above all else…LOVE ONE ANOTHER! LOVE people despite their sins, their supposed sins, their appearance of sin, your suspicion of their sin. This is how my brain and heart read God’s Word today. Simply put, DO NOT JUDGE! Be hospitable, charitable, and loving to everyone, even if they are a republican or a democrat! They are God’s beloved!

Hmmm…Itd be cool if we stoppped watching any news that bashed the other political party, just saying. We are not to judge each other. That is not of God. God’s Word should be our guide to all we do, no matter if we don’t fit in to the world and because we are not MEANT to fit in this world, because if we do, we will not be fit in our world to come, with the Lord forever.

I pray that you readers and I both continue to grow in Christ, spreading love and God’s Word and praying with an urgency for others. Jesus is coming back and with our own gifts God has given us, we are meant to tell others that.

Dear Father,

Thank You for shining Your light on Your Word for us today. Lately the world has seemed to grow darker and a bit scary. Thank You for Your light that guides our minds, hearts and feet every day. Please comfort the families affected by the shooting at the Trump rally and guide others who know them to love them like Jesus does. Give us boldness to spread the gospel and to be constantly convicted of Your will for us. You are so great in every way, Lord and we are so thankful for You!

Sorry this was so long, friends. My heart is heavy for those affected by our world’s sin and violence. We ALL need love and the gospel. Let’s live it and share it generously, and love others deeply, as Jesus did and does:)

Tina

Solomon’s Chase

July 9, 2024

How about a poem day? Here is my reflection on Solomon’s chase for lasting happiness and meaning in life.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

In our church, we are studying the book of Ecclesiastes and I am grasping things in a fresh new way. It makes me want to testify to God’s everlasting goodness and joy. Solomon, over and over, stresses how futile it is to chase things that don’t last.

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 14:1 ESV

My brain considered the alternative to chasing the meaningless. What is the most meaningful thing I could do for God with whatever days I have left?” I asked myself. My answer?… to chase HIM, to fill up each day with praise to God, because that is worthy of the time He gives me, gives US!

Sooo..after much praying and soul-searching about all the “fun” and vain things I have chased, that did not leave me happy, I asked God to forgive me and help me put my realizations in a poem based on Solomon’s search for meaning. I hope this honors Him and encourages you to keep striving to enjoy all the blessings God gives, but also to resist the pull of the world to find happiness in things that do not bring lasting peace like He does. ( I am preaching to myself here!)

“Solomon’s Chase”

My vanity’s a futile chase, that ends up winning time erased

For nothing lasting have I found, I’d take with me when heaven-bound

Though many suns have come and gone, and I’ve exhausted all roads drawn

No lasting joy can I afford, save in the knowledge of the Lord

God’s truth outlasts the schemes of man, for joy without the Lord’s a scam

God-given hope lives past the grave where earthly sorrows will not save

Though trials seem to last too long and struggles take away our song

God has a plan for joy untold, while in His will and in His fold

The dreams of God, I now will seek, throught the day and through the week

Eyes focused on eternity, Lord send me what YOU want for me

I’ll treasure all Your hand will give, and love You ev’ry day I live

Though Your servant weak and small, my soul will gladly give You all.

With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful day and rest of the week!

Tina