He Is Forever Faithful

Psalm 139:13 states, "Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother's womb." The Lord knows us intimately. He knows us better than we know ourselves. So, obviously, He knows that I am a visual learner.  I learn through nature and every day happenings. If we pay attention, there are spiritual lessons and applications in abundance all around us, every day.   In a recent visit to the beach, I had a few "aha" moments with the Lord. Those of you that know me, know that the beach is my happy place. Perhaps it's the lull of the ocean waves, the gentle breeze upon my face or the warmth of the sun (Son) embracing  me that puts me at such peace when I am there.   On this particular visit, the beach portion was very small and disappeared as the tide came in. There was a large wall at the back of the beach just before the street that ran along the shoreline. Therefore, when the tide came in, it reached all the way to the wall ...

When I say the word memories are you filled with joy, or are you filled with regret? Did you know the Scriptures command us time and time again to remember? But God didn't just tell us to remember. He told us WHAT to remember. We are to remember His faithfulness, His goodness, His mercies, His lovingkindness, His commandments, His ways, His presence, His character, His forgiveness, etc. You see, God, in His infinite wisdom, gave us the ability to CHOOSE what we remember. We can choose what we dwell on. Like many of you, I have a lot of terrible memories. I used to let those memories consume me. They would awaken me in the middle of the night filled with terror.  I would find myself so distraught, sometimes to the point of not even wanting to function for the day. After a lot of wasted hours, I realized that the Lord desires for us to deal with our past and its memories and move on. Why revisit it over and over again? Why dwell on the injustice of it all? Why wonder why a...

I often wish the scar on my abdomen were not so unattractive. My youngest son, Seth was 10 lbs 11 oz and had to be taken cesarean section. Because of his size the incision was vertical rather than horizontal. Many years later due to a benign tumor, that same incision would be reopened. It is a significant scar but I’ve come to the realization that everything we face in life and all of our experiences are framed with perspective.   I can choose to focus on how unattractive this scar is and feel ashamed or I can choose to focus on the fact that this scar resulted in producing the life of an amazing young man that I adore.   This same scar reminds me that God was faithful at a very scary time in my life when doctors were certain something terrible would be found in my body.   In addition, I have another scar on my neck that is a result of my battle with cancer. These scars share a common thread, they all tell a story and they are all framed by the way I choose to view them...

LIFE: Before receiving Christ and committing my life to Him, I had a sense of emptiness. Even when I felt happy, there seemed to be something missing. I always felt there had to be a greater purpose in life. Satisfaction and contentment seemed to elude me. In the bad times the hopelessness seemed almost too much to bear and the sense of aloneness overwhelming. I look back now and realize how thirsty my soul was for a relationship with its Creator. I believed in the existence of God. I believed in the existence of Jesus and even in the existence of the Holy Spirit. But I realize that even the demons believe and they tremble. If I am drowning and someone throws me a life preserver, I have to know how to utilize that life preserver to save my life. If I don't go beyond knowing God exists and arrive at a relationship with Him, I will never fill the emptiness in my heart. The age old question, "What is the meaning of life" is easily answered in the Word of God. We were creat...

Over the 30 plus years I have served the Lord, I have heard Bible verses, quotes and statements made by many believers about growing in grace. However, recently, this idea came alive to me. I am currently enrolled an a theology class being taught by my Pastor. Over the years I have heard him on multiple occasions give the definition of grace (unmerited favor) and even heard him expound on how grace is not a license to sin. Recently, however, he has repeatedly taught us the difference between mercy and grace. Even though they are in some instances very interchangeable, they are two distinct and different characteristics altogether. In rather simple terms, he defines the difference this way: Mercy is what I need when I fail. Grace is what I need so I won't fail. In our theology class last night, Pastor mentioned that the more intimately we are acquainted with Christ, the more grace we receive. I meditated on this for quite some time and of course this makes perfect sense. The mo...

I can remember as a child going to birthday parties and playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey. I didn't particularly like this game because I remember feeling very vulnerable with blindfolded eyes and being spun around and losing all my bearings and sense of stability. To fully surrender and completely trust another with your safety as well as point you in the right direction can be very intimidating.   I have been meditating on this thought lately and how many times in my walk with God, I would not fully surrender. I would feel my plans and my thoughts were better for my life than His. Inevitably, I would find myself in a mess and crying out to God for help. I have come to the realization that I'd rather be in the middle of the most uncomfortable situation and feeling helpless if it's the Lord's will than to be heading on a path of my own desires destined for destruction and less than God has planned for me.   We have all suffered broken trust. Som...

I have an entire list of things from the Bible that I wish to NEVER hear the Lord say to me. Along with Matthew 7:21-23 when the Lord says, "......depart from me you worker of iniquity. I never knew you....", the following passage is right up there at the top of that list:   The passage (Matthew 23:27) reads like this in the New King James:   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness."   In The Message it reads:   "You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds."   I have been pondering this verse as of late for many reasons and have had some life experiences ...

Have you ever felt unimportant? Have you ever felt insignificant? Have you ever felt as if you didn't matter? If you have not, count yourself extremely fortunate. Most of us can so clearly identify with feelings of inadequacy and insufficiency. Contrary to our feelings, God places great value on us. He sacrificed it all just to reconcile us back to Himself. The Bible likens us to a valuable lost coin and so important that everything else ceases until we are found and returned to Him. (Luke 15:8-10) We are also compared to lost sheep (one among many) and the Shepherd leaves the 99 sheep to come after just one of us because we are THAT important to Him. (Luke 15:3-7) I would be remiss if I did not balance out this encouraging post with a healthy dose of humility. We live in a society filled with narcissism where all the focus is on self. "Do what feels good." "Look out for number one." "I, I, I." "Me, me, me." As a result, we have a gen...

I have never proclaimed to be a poet nor the daughter of a poet. In fact, I have never written a poem in my life. However, throughout this week during my quiet time I had phrases and poetic "lines" coming to mind. I began to journal those thoughts and this is what they yielded: SWEETLY BROKEN: Well acquainted with heartache, calling loneliness her friend Under the weight of abuse and betrayal she’d bend Cruelty and violence were visiting kin While mistreatment and insults clothed her skin Where could she turn, who would understand? Is there one who would lovingly offer their hand? Secrets so plentiful and pain that abounds, She found it much safer to quietly drown No solace to be found neither day nor night; Her memories torment and fill her with fright Year after year she resolved this was her life, Convinced she was destined to be companioned to strife She embraced self-loathing and shame like lovers And dreamed of the day this life would be over Greetin...

As Christians we have been taught that if we just put the correct boundaries in place (have a mentor, limit where we go, guard what we watch, be cautious whom we befriend), read the Bible and pray every day, etc. then we will be empowered to live victorious lives, free from choosing sin. But, I disagree with this school of thought. I am not saying these practices are bad, but I have seen in my lifetime many that put these safeguards in place and in spite of it all, still continually fall into deliberate repeated sin. I am convinced; the only way to live life victorious over sin is through a heart transformation. Once our desires align with an unquenchable thirst to please the Lord, then we alter our choices, we walk differently and talk differently. Christianity is not a set of rules and regulations, it’s a relationship with Christ, and just like we do not purposely behave in a way that hurts the hearts of our friends and family whom we love deeply, so too, we do not make choices tha...