We Cannot Lose God!

There have been a few Christian artists and leaders that have publicly proclaimed that they no longer believe in Jesus Christ. Some say they lost their faith due to circumstances, others claim to just stop believing. So let me just say for the record, none of them where true believers, and I will prove to you using the words of Jesus, what I just said.

Jesus is with His a crowd, and His disciples, along with  others who were following Jesus and helping support His ministry. They were traveling from town to town and proclaiming the good news about the Kingdom of God. While the crowd was gathering around, Jesus tells them the parable of the Sower. Then His disciples ask Him to explain it. This is what He said:

Luke 8:11-15

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.  The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Jesus begins by explaining the seed is the Word of God. Some will hear the Word of God, and never believe. Satan steals the seeds. Some will say they believe and act joyful about their new found faith. But their belief is shallow and has no root. They only like the idea of Jesus. The warm, fuzzy, loving and forgiving idea of Jesus. They don’t want to know about the ‘pick up your cross and follow Me Jesus.’ So when it’s time for them to pick up their cross, they refuse to follow Jesus. Then there are the ones who hear the Word of God, but let life choke what they believe out of them. So in their case, riches, pleasures and worries are all bigger than Jesus. Jesus is teaching us that some will hear His Word, and it will appear as though they are His, but they are not. The word never takes root in them. These are the ones who claim to be followers of Jesus and then gave Him up and walk away. Satan uses them for two reasons:

1. He wants the children of God to think we can lose God, or that one day God will walk away from us.
2. He wants the rest of the world to doubt God and know that God isn’t for them or holds onto them.

Now there are some who hear the Word of God and take the Word to their heart and retain it always. The proof of our faith is found in our fruit. We grow as children of God, and as we grow, we share the Word of God. When something bad happens, we cling to God. When something good happens, we thank God. When something worries us we pray. We are the true believers of Jesus Christ. We are the ones who were planted in good soil. So allow me to address the two points from the devil.

• We don’t doubt God because as our passages for today teach, the Word of God landed in good soil. We don’t have to doubt Jesus; every Word He says it true.
• We can’t lose God, We cannot lose our faith. His Word is true. He will not leave us ever!

 

I am sorry that some are now saying they lost their faith, or gave up their faith. They never had faith. They only had an impostor. They didn’t belong to God. Those who belong to God do not lose Him, nor do they ever give Him up.

 

It is apostasy to say anything different!

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

 

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I know I can, I know I will, I know my God

Habakkuk 3:19

The Sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to tread on heights.

 

On August 9, 2010 I climbed the Unaka Mountain in Unicoi County Tennessee. I reached the Summit, and saw the Waterfall. My husband Gary was with me. Now for those of you who don’t know me, you may just think, “okay, big deal.” But it was a big deal, a really big deal. You see the girl who is telling this story  is me, and I was born a very girly girl.I have never ever been chosen for a team. I wouldn’t even choose myself. I played softball in grade school. It caused me to have an ulcer. Gary said I did so well because I trained. What was my training? I ran a 5K every morning. Now when I say I ran a 5K, let me explain. Running to some equals speed, to me it equals moving faster than my walk. It took me 28 minutes to run-jog- that 5K. I even broke a sweat doing it. My husband could run faster backwards. On top of my ‘run’ I lifted weights (10 pounds, after all its still me). This is what he called training.

A lot has happened since then, and most of it, was not good. Life decided to slap me a few times. Did I mention I’m also aging. Between the aging and the slaps, this girl was beginning to feel, worn out and defeated. I was alive but not living. Then one day as I was playing on Facebook, my memories popped up, I climbed a mountain. Just reading that reminded me how brave and strong I am. So I decided to change the course of my life. Only this time as I began a new climb (metaphorically speaking) Immediately I  began to feel my age and limitations. I retreated back to the couch to regroup. I would stay long enough to get a new burst of energy. This went on for awhile and just made me sad. Sad that my youth is leaving me and the strength I had is too. This by the way, is what a pity party looks like. You sit on the couch and you pity yourself for aging and, well for everything else you feel you lack.

It was around this time I decided to just complain to God. I reminded Him that I’m the girl who climbed a mountain. I can do amazing things. You know I can’t wait to see God in heaven. I want to really know, if at these times did He roll His eyes, or laugh at me. What He did do was bring me to my senses. I didn’t climb that mountain because I trained. Lets be honest here, lifting 10 pound weights for 16 reps isn’t exactly weight lifting worthy. Running a 5K at the same pace the street can be paved isn’t miraculous.

I climbed that mountain effortlessly because God was with me. I know this to be true. I look back at that day, and I’m impressed by what I did accomplish. What surprises me even more is that I thought I did it on my own. Me? This is how I know that no matter who you are, or what you think of yourself; you are capable of far more than you can imagine. I’m not going to sell you some gym membership, or try to get you to eat the food from a fad diet. I’m not saying there is something wrong with that, its just not where I’m at. I’m here to tell you that what you want to do, that mountain you want to climb, can be done with God. No matter how high or miserable that mountain in your life is, God will get you to the summit effortlessly. How do I know this is true? Read the first paragraph again.

Life hasn’t been good to me in the past 8 years. She has decided to slap me one too many times. That mountain before me is big and a difficult climb. I’m older and out of shape. But I’m climbing it, and I will reach the summit: I know I can, I know I will, I know my God.

God Keeps His Promises

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6

 

It was 8 years ago when my husband of 22 months suffered a cardiac event that left him with a severe anoxic brain injury. The results of this injury would remove from him, all memory, and the ability to form memory. All executive functioning skills. That’s the stuff that gives you the steps to brush your teeth, use the bathroom, get dressed and even eat. He is missing that function. He is also missing reasoning skills. So you cannot reason with someone without those skills. Its equivalent to reasoning with a toddler. He walks with a walker, and needs assistance with all things. The loss is great and each year gets worse. Worse is usually seen in behavior or other loss of things we take for granted.

Now here is where today’s verse comes in play.

Gary remembers God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Gary remembers hymns he has sung. I can begin to sing Amazing Grace and he joins me. He doesn’t know his birthday, he knows Amazing Grace!

I understand that what you are going through right now is devastating. I know it feels like you have been abandoned. Your whole world has crashed down. There is nothing left of your life or breath. You don’t know how you are surviving, and not sure you want to. I understand. So does God.

God tells you to be brave and courageous. There is nothing that can happen to you that will ever take you from God. You are His, and He promised to never leave you, and He will never break His Promise. You may doubt many things in this world but never, ever doubt God. For what He says He will do, He does. So when God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you, He is telling you the truth.

This is the anniversary of that awful night 8 years ago. It is also the night I found out every word of God is true.

 

If God is love…why do we hate?

There is a whole lot of hate going on right now. Many people will say they hate because President Trump is in office. Some hate Bernie Sanders. A lot hate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Everyone has their reasons. I don’t care about any of them. My question is this: Will you really allow hate to win?

I don’t care what side of the political platform you are standing on. We should never be a monolithic group. Diversity is what stretches us and helps us grow. If that were not so, and if you want to exclude one group, then what prevents the other groups from excluding you? Rushing in right now is a litany of disagreements and excuses. Everyone wants to justify their reason for hate. Go ahead. You are free to do so. But hate destroys from the inside out. So the one person you are doing the most damage to -is you! Now you may not believe me, but its true. I can give you several Biblical references as well as documented medical reasons. Hey – hate causes wrinkles and ages you faster. That alone should be an eye opener.

Bottom line…there is a million reasons to hate someone for something. There is only one reason to love. Love because God loves you. Love because God loves this world. It’s true, John 3:16…look it up. Or look up 1 Corinthians 13. The Chapter on love.

Learn to love everyone. You don’t have to agree with them. Do you seriously think God agrees with all you  do? Yet you expect Him to love you? Well He does love you, in spite of who you are and what you do. Go and love like God has loved you. By this they will know we are His.

 

Trust GOD

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

John 12:12-13

Trusting God in all things and at all times is the greatest struggle we humans have! Jesus is coming into Jerusalem. It is the Festival of Passover. He knows His time as come. He knows what He came for! The people are excited to see Him. They are laying down Psalms, shouting out praises. They are expecting Jesus to takeover Rome, to push away all obstacles and enemies. To restore to them all they lost, to repair all damages, and to be set free. Isn’t this all we pray for?

We go to church on Sunday and sing “Holy, Holy, Holy, You are Lord God Almighty!” Then get in our cars and become self sufficient people. We make plans, we try new ways, and we research new programs. At night we can’t sleep, because we struggle. During the day we drag because nothing is working. Perhaps you have the opposite results. You worked hard and it is paying off. You have the world by its tail. You are the epitome of self sufficiency! The One thing we all lack is trusting God.

How do any of us go from singing praise to God to distrust?

Gods timing. We feel like we gave God enough time to fix our problems. We feel that we achieved goals without God. We put a limit on God. We only gave Him so much time. When He doesn’t move quick enough, we move on without Him. As this week unfolds and we remember the sacrifice Jesus gave for us, we begin to understand that God really has a Greater Plan,

This week I encourage you to read the story of Jesus.

Matthew 26; Mark 14:1-31; Luke 19:28-47; John 12:12-19

 

Yes I am Pro Life

The day after Scotty was born, I looked at him, and tried to figure out how he fit in my body. I was amazed at this mystery. When I had Chantel and Danielle, I spent more time enjoying their life in me. Thinking this would help me understand.
It didn’t! What I do understand is that each time I learned I was pregnant, I understood there was life in me.

A baby’s heart begins to beat 22 days after conception. A woman hasn’t even missed her period at this time, and so she won’t know she is pregnant. When she does miss her period, she will take a pregnancy test. Although, she can find out as early as 8 days after conception.

After this, development moves along quickly. Most abortions are done between 8-13 weeks.

8-13 weeks
Beating heart
Brain
Nervous system
Spinal cord
Hormone glands
Baby can wiggle limbs
Gender is confirmed
Baby can feel touch/pain

Abortion is legal and there is no doubt that we kill babies! The baby we kill can feel it’s death. The baby has a gender. The baby’s heart is beating. The baby’s brain and spine is working.

I’m tired of hearing the oppositions arguments.

Yes a woman has a right to choose if she wants to be a mom. Tell her to
choose before sex not after!

Less then 1% of abortions are done to save the mothers life.

1% of abortions are because of rape or incest

The rest are done for various reasons.

Notice my argument is void of God’s law. Done for a reason. Too many times the opposition argues to keep State and Religion separated. So I am.

Just looking at the facts as they are, we can all agree that life begins,
If not at conception, when the heart beats. Certainly we all understand that a baby feels itself dying. Clearly we understand this is a baby with a heart, brain, limbs and spine.

Abortion is legal filicide!

And if we remain quiet- we allow it to continue and stand just as guilty!

Michele Beck

Motherhood IS a Profession

No Glenn Close, you do not speak for all women in the United States, or this world. Unlike others, I didn’t appreciate your speech, and this is why:

You said your mother sublimated herself to your father. Then in her 80’s stated she felt like she never accomplished anything. That is your mother’s experience. This may be the experience of others. This is not the experience of many of those that you, Hollywood, the government, and the press refer to as – Just A Mom!

There are many women who choose to pursue a career outside of her home; as well as have children. Please know I have nothing bad to say about you. This isn’t about you. I understand that many women have no other choice but to work. This isn’t about you either. This is about the women who do stay home and being a mom is their profession.

Just take one look at society and you can clearly see the importance of raising a child. I strongly believe that it takes both a dad and a mom to raise children. I tip my hat to those parents who make it work. I thank God for the men who support their wives so they can stay home to raise their children. I applaud the women who nobly choose motherhood as her profession. A woman who stays home works just as hard as a woman who works outside of her home. I have two daughters who are raising their children. One has two disabled children. One is a paraplegic in heart failure, the other on the autism spectrum. She also has a 2 year old. She is responsible for administering life saving, dangerous medications. Her child has a feeding tube. She has to know the correct dosage in liquid form and times to administer them. She must also keep her child fed, and the dangerous medicine away from the other children. In between this, she gets her son to ABA Therapy for school and entertains the toddler. She cooks, cleans, and does laundry. She gets no break.

My other daughter is raising her children on a farm. There is 4 of them. The farm has chickens, goats and ducks. The children are homeschooled. My daughter wakes up, tends to the farm, teachs the children, cares for her disabled father in law now living with her, and maintains her house. She drives the children to the Library and museums for field trips and her father in law the doctor. She hand made her curtains, seat cushions, pantry door, and decorations.

I’m very thankful for my two son in laws who recognize the importance of what they are doing and support them. I am thankful my daughters understand that living within their means teaches their children how to be responsible. These are billions of families out there doing the same thing. Women do choose to be moms and that is their career. A mom is extremely important to the development of her child. It is her quantity of time plus her quality of time paired together that brings about success for her child. Her decision to stay home and raise her children should be applauded. We have to stop looking down at this career choice.

The argument that Glenn Close made is that all women feel as her mom did. But that isn’t true. Many women love being moms and do that job in excellence. We have to stop telling young women that a decision to be a mom is wrong and unfulfilling. That she has two choices, abort before birth, or let someone else raise your child while you work. There are many moms who wish they could stay home with their children. We have to start to encourage and support them. Motherhood is the one of the oldest professions. Don’t let anyone talk it down- you’re important!

In closing,  Glenn Close stated her mom felt like she accomplished nothing in life. How sad. At the end of her days a mother looked at her child and didn’t consider the time she gave in raising her as an accomplishment. Even sadder is this child accepted what her mother said and looked down her nose at motherhood. Her life story with her parents isn’t a pretty picture. She left her family and the cult they belonged to (Her words) around the age of twenty two. Motherhood, like all other professions, isn’t for everyone. It is a profession, and it’s time for all of us to recognize this profession. Women who choose motherhood didn’t give up on life, they embrace it. They are visionary’s who prepare the next generation.

The top 4 holidays celebrated in the United States are: Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day.

MOMS: Thats how important you are! Thank you 💗

 

 

 

 

She Has Done

She has done what she could.

Mark 14:8a

 

I’m currently an intern for a Chaplaincy program. I feel called by God to this position, and I’m learning a lot. I’m learning a lot about God, and my relationship with God. I’m discovering more about our relationship. Since this is an Internship, it’s not a paid position. For income, I work as a substitute teacher. Adding to this is taking care of my husband who has a severe brain injury, and spending time with my family. I’m very busy and love my life.

Now, with that said, there are many times in my day when I truly wonder what good, if any, that I am doing in this world. I feel like I’ve let God down. I’m distracted easily, I forget to pray sometimes, I respond snarky or am quick to attitude when I feel offended. I get this far in my self assessment when I begin to add on: I’ve gained weight, became lazy, eat too much, exercise too little. I spend too much time on Facebook and other social media’s. The more I obsess about this, the more isolated I become.

Then the other day I saw a commercial for an interactive video game. My immediate thought was, “ My dear Lord, we are being lured into isolation.” As soon as the words were said, I realized no, we are in  isolation. Now they are just entertaining us to keep our attention. So I brought this to mine and God’s attention. Actually, He knew, I was just discovering this truth. I prayed for a couple of days, until this morning. A snowed in morning with quiet reflection. I was reading Mark 14:3-9.

Jesus is visiting the home of Simon, the leper. As the men are sitting around the table a woman comes in with an alabaster box. These boxes were used to hold precious and expensive ointment. She broke it, that is, she broke off the long neck of the box, so she could get to the ointment. Then she poured the ointment on Jesus’s head. Immediately she is hit with criticism. Jesus tells her critics to leave her alone, for she is doing all that she can.

We go around this world, our lives, carrying imaginary alabaster boxes. We gather everything that is significant to us. Some is good, some is bad. We have our joys and tears in that box, we carry accomplishments and failures. We hold on tightly and protect it, for we know the price we paid for the contents.

Take note that she is bringing it to Jesus. Jesus isn’t in a Synogague or a Church. In fact, Jesus is in the home of a leper. No one would willingly go to this home, but Jesus did, and so did she! She went there because Jesus went there. Are we willing to go where Jesus is? Seeing Jesus, she breaks the neck of this precious stone, to release the ointments. Are we willing to be broken before Jesus? She pours out the ointment on Jesus. Are we willing to be poured out on Jesus? When critisicm arises Jesus says, “leave her alone, she has preformed a good service for ME! She has done all she could.” Can we say the same?

That woman is me. Here I am today, all out of energy, no more zip in my step, I feel as useless as a 2 dollar bill. So I made myself pancakes and threw in the towel. I’m in the mood to stay in pajamas, eat, and watch television all day. God had plans. Today He called out to me. He silences my own self criticism, and He reminds me that He does know the cost of the oil. Have I given Him all I can? Have you?

 

 

Praise God

BREAKING>> Pastor Andrew Brunson has been freed by the Turkish court! Praise God!

BREAKING >>123 Missing Children found in Michigan Sex Trafficking Operation! Praise God!

 

God is on the move!

Now this is the way we wrap up a hard week!

Priase God for Whom all blessings flow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Can

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13

This morning I awoke singing “High Hopes”! This is the song about the ant who moves the rubber tree plant. Odd, I know. So I crawled out of bed, and went before God. This is when He brought to my mind Philippians 4:13.

Now if you’re anything like me, you read that verse and focus on two words – all things. Then you try to wrap your brain around it. Really all things? What does all things include? As I tried to reason with God that while all things are before me, I don’t do all things. I’m not trained or educated for all things. This is when the emphasis fell off of all things and landed on- I can.

Just what made that little ole ant, think he could move that rubber tree plant? He had high hopes. So do I, my Hope is in Jesus. I can because through Jesus I’m given the strength which is needed. An ant can lift up to 10-50 times their own body weight. I struggle lifting my grandchild. However, I have great eternal strength in Jesus. So do you. You just have to have High hopes.

I know life is difficult, trust me, I know. There are days when I feel so weighted down with responsibility and struggles. I don’t even ask anymore when it will all end. I pretty much threw in the white flag. Resigned myself to believe, this is as good as it will ever get. I sat down and poured some wine to have a pity party. I moved from one struggle to the next. The two words, all things, taunting me.

Then this morning I woke up singing a song.

I CAN make it through, I can thrive, I can start over, I can rise from ashes, I can do all these things because Jesus strengthens me. I can! So can you!