Author: Faith

“Do not keep silent, O God!  Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!  For behold, Your enemies make a ^[]tumult;
And those who hate You have ^[]lifted up their head. “

“They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.  They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” -Psalm 83:1-4

“Crafty counsel” indeed!  America can only be destroyed from the inside.  And that is happening right now.  But as my Pastor once said, “Prayer Changes Things”  ?

Ezekiel 33 begins with the story of a “watchman” on the wall, who blows his trumpet to warn the people of the trouble coming. If the people listen and heed the warning, they survive. But if they do not, than they do not survive.

The same is true with God. We can either heed God’s MANY warnings and be Saved, or we can refuse to heed God’s warning – and not be Saved.

God also commands us to warn our brothers and sisters. Perhaps they will not listen, but by heeding God’s Command, we are Saved 🙂

God takes “no pleasure” when one of His children, who He loves so much, refuses to heed His warning. (Verse Ezekiel 33:11). But God is also as Just as He is Merciful.

“¹¹ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel” – Ezekiel 33:11

Heed God’s warning today. Ask Christ to be your Savior now, while there is still time 🙂

“Oh My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. And I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you.” – Angel of Fatima.

One of my favorite prayers, this prayer is short enough to say through out the day 🙂

There are so many stories about Fatima, but here is one in Lucia, Servant of God’s, own words:

“The apparitions and miracles that occurred at Fatima, Portugal in 1916 and 1917 rocked the country at the time and the rest of the world soon after. Let us look back on the events of Fatima — in Servant of God Lucia dos Santos’ own words.” Use this link to read the rest: In Servant of God Lucia’s Own Words 🙂

And Have Hope 🙂

“What if Jesus was asking His followers to value things differently?  Not just things, such as our possessions, but our children, our egos, our health, our bodies, looks and abilities, our reputations, our intellects, memories and accomplishments?  Matthew’s Gospel today tells us that true followers of Jesus have radically different orientation to our earthly, embodied experience.  That which we think of as our is not ours, but gifts for use in the span of a lifetime.” -Author Unknown

With inflation growing by leaps and bounds (“Groceries up 12%, Gas up 60%, Electricity up 14%, Rent up 5.8%…”), it’s important that we remember the above message.  We will all  need to share with those in need, no matter how much or little we have.  God’s Gifts are a Trust.  A Trust that we will use the Gifts He has so kindly given to us – as He would.

And so that always needs to be our first question when deciding how to allocate God’s resources, “What would Jesus do?”

Difficult days are ahead, we need to Pray and Prepare now.  Be Ready.

“I will remember the works of the LORD: Surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, And talk of thy doings.”-Psalm 77:11-12

“O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.”-Psalm 105-1

So basically, we need to say Thank You and Share the wonderful, amazing things that God, Our Father, has done for us! 

Just to name a few, He created the world in which we live, He created us!  He created the Sun and the Stars, the Mountains and Seas.  And when we created a chasm between God and us, He created a Plan to Save us.  And those are just the things He created for everyone!

And then there are the things He has done for each of us!  Personal prayers that were answered!  A still, quiet voice that directs and comforts us ?.  He is our Hope.  He is our ever present anchor when we face life’s storms.  He is our shelter, when we face a fear or temptation bigger than our abilities.  He protects us when we can’t protect ourselves.  And most of all, His love for us always surrounds us and goes before us ?

Remembering all God has done in my personal life helps me to grow in faith, love and trust. It’s easy to forget in the throws of life’s struggles, that is why a prayer journal, or even a photo journal, help so much!

God is with us!  And He loves us! We can Trust Him during good times and bad ones ?

A Pastor I like and respect a lot, gave a sermon on how Christians should handle disagreements, much of which I agreed with ?.  I especially liked the way he set up some of the categories:  Beliefs, Convictions and Preferences.  He said in Beliefs unity, Convictions Liberty and in Preferences charity.  And in all things:  Love. (although I am paraphrasing that last line:).

In taking a deeper dive:  what falls into beliefs and what falls into convictions matters.  Because what is dividing this country today is – Beliefs.  Some Americans simply do not like what the Bible teaches us about beliefs.  For example:  abortion ( we shouldn’t argue with a person about our Beliefs every time we see them.  He’s so right!  It’s hard for a person to feel our love, if every time they see us, they also get an argument!  But we do have to share our Beliefs at some point.

The Pastor said that we shouldn’t argue with a person about our Beliefs every time we see them.  He’s so right!  It’s hard for a person to feel our love, if every time they see us, they also get an argument!  But we do have to share our Beliefs at some point.

In Ezekiel 33:9, it says, “ Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have ^[]delivered your soul.”  It can be hard to share the Bible’s Beliefs if we are expecting a negative response, but we really don’t have a choice when it comes to sharing the Bible’s Beliefs, not if we want to follow Jesus Home ?

“In all things Love”.  People must know they are loved first!  And if we hope that the people we care about so much will one day share the Bible’s Beliefs, we must love them just as they are, where they are.  Just like Jesus did for us ?. 

There are not enough pages in the world to write about the Goodness of God :). Because He is so Good and so Faithful, even when we are not!

“For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.” – Isaiah 60:2

It even says “deep darkness”! But in the last sentence, it is clear that the darkness will not stay! For God’s will “arise” over us. How Good is our God 🙂

” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”- Jeremiah 29:11

This is one of my very favorite verses. It’s planted in my heart and easily comes to mind whenever the day is long or hard. For I know that God’s Plans are always better than mine :), and that gives me great hope!

Plant your favorite Bible verses in your heart. One’s about the goodness of God and Hope. And when you need them the most, they will be there 🙂

Find your Joy! God’s Grace will always be enough 🙂

God loves us. Jesus is coming back and the Holy Spirit will live inside us until He does :). It really does not get better than that 🙂

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28″

Because we now belong to Jesus, no one can ever destroy our soul. It’s just not possible. So do not fear!