Hello!~~~

Welcome!~

It has now been ten years since I started this blog. How quickly time goes by! We are many members but we are one in the body of Christ. Therefore you do not journey alone! Hopefully through this site you will be encouraged by the fact that many things you are going through in your own walk, others are going through (or have gone through) as well. Sometimes we think we are "going through things alone." But we are not. God said that "He would Never Leave Nor Forsake Us." (Hebrews 13:5) and that "There is Nothing New Under The Sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9). No man is an island. It's easy to forget that. May the words in this blog help you to think, encourage you in whatever spiritual state you are in and may the Lord use them to help us to grow in Him! He is the Author and Finisher of our faith!

I don’t want any readers to think that I am “promoting” being a prodigal. I definitely am not. But what I am hoping to do – is to encourage those of us who either have had or are currently experiencing a hard time in our walk to be honest about it. Personal conviction is a powerful thing, especially if you truly love the Lord. I think that sometimes the Body of Christ critiques and judges to the point where the person who is at the other end of that pointing finger feels ostracized, alienated and alone. I don't think that that is what Jesus intended. When I read through my Bible - I see a firm yet gentle restoration that Jesus ministered to those around Him. Look at John 21:15-19. When Peter who was at an all time low point in his walk - he was firmly, yet lovingly restored by Jesus. He didn't tear him down, or yell or make him feel any worse then he already did. He spoke to him lovingly and gently - and in doing so, Peter was able to repent and minister in a much more powerful, humble and confident way and it became one of the largest ministries ever.

Please note that I am only a vessel, my calling - to write. I dedicate this blog to the Lord and ask that He use it to reach out and touch whoever needs a special, loving, personal touch from Him. My hope is that the Holy Spirit allows you to see Him through the words (and not me). We go through things so that we can extend our right hand of fellowship behind us to assist and help someone else. Our Bible is the same today, as it was yesterday as it will be tomorrow. (I am far from perfect and do not profess to have all the answers...) but the good news is - Our Heavenly Father does! His love, forgiveness, grace and mercy is real!Nothing you are experiencing in your walk comes as a surprise to Him! May He be glorified through this blog and may God bless you at whatever stage in your walk you are in!~



I am a Breast Cancer Survivor

I am a Breast Cancer Survivor
I was diagnosed with early stage triple negative breast cancer on June 24th, 2010 - I have been cancer free for 10 years now. It was only a chapter in my life - NOT my life, but the impact is one that has changed my life forever. Its important for women to know that 80% of the breast cancer diagnosis come from women who don't have a history of it in their family (My family didn't). Early detection is the key. For more information please click on the pink ribbon above. It could save your life.
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July 11, 2017

Walk in the Light

The older I get, the more I realize how dependent upon the Lord I am. I have found myself wondering, “How did Jesus do it?” I think about the Scriptures and I wonder how Jesus kept focused, during the darkest time in His life.  Betrayal from within His inner-circle… Betrayal from someone who was one of His twelve…

I suppose you can say that because Jesus is God manifested in flesh, you would think: “Well, Jesus knew what was going to happen.”  Okay, but even so – betrayal is betrayal and nothing hurts more than it being someone in your inner circle, someone you deeply love -  yet still Jesus continued on.
And He was betrayed by a kiss…  A KISS!

We live in a world that grows darker by the minute but in living in it we need to realize how much brighter light is in darkness.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said:

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Are you walking in the light? Or are you walking in pitch black darkness?   God wants you to know that He has experienced your pain.  The Word of God IS the living Word.  We have it for a reason.  It is a guide to guide us through this life.  There is nothing that Jesus has not experienced that He cannot relate to you about - Walk towards the Light.
When someone betrays you, or lies to you or hurts you more often than not you cannot see past the pain.  There are so many songs that talk about “you always hurt the ones you love” but God didn’t mean life to be that way.  We live in a fallen world that grows darker and darker by the moment.  We cannot give people our faith but we can look to Jesus as our example and we can do what is the total opposite of what we feel like doing… LOVE THEM.  Everything inside of you wants revenge or to hurt them just as deeply as they have hurt you back so they can feel the pain you feel, in fact that is the way of this world.  Evening news is filled with violence, filled with “people hurting people” but that is not what God commands us to do.  He commands us to LOVE THEM.

LOVE THEM
Go against the grain.  Go against the tide of your feelings. Go against the crowd. DO the OPPOSITE of what your feelings are telling you to do – LOVE THEM. Are you feeling annoyed when you read that? It's okay if you are. Keep praying that God will change your heart.  Think about Jesus.  Think about how He felt as He was spat upon and ridiculed and jeered at by those He came to save.  Yet still He continued...  
When you can't love them - PRAY.  "Lord - I don't have it in me, so I need YOU to put it in me.  Help me Father.  Help ME to love them as YOU love me."  Because when you think about it - if you are to be honest and look at yourself you can see that there are times when you sinned.  You did the opposite of what God wanted you to do.  You went your own way.  You broke God's heart and still He loves you.  There are times when YOU may be the person who hurt someone else (either knowingly or unknowingly) and you may not even know how many people are having to do the same thing for YOU.  God wants us to love, and if you ask Him - He will put His love in your heart and show you how to see the person(s) that have betrayed you through His eyes.  That changes everything...

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. ... “(Luke 6:27-36)
“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46)
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32)
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” (Luke 6:35)

I’m not saying that type of love is “fake it until you make it” kind of love, I’m talking about asking God to open your heart and fill it with a genuine love for the person(s) who have betrayed you.  When the Holy Spirit has that love come flooding in it will take you by surprise.  It will flood you and in your mind you will be thinking, “How can I possibly be feeling this?” But it is an over pouring of the Holy Spirit filling you with a love that comes ONLY from God.   It may be that all you can do is pray for that person(s), but you will be doing it from a place of love.
That is the example that Jesus has set for us.  He is the One who we are to look to.  What would Jesus do?  What DID Jesus do? 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
"Father God, there is nothing in this life that You have not experienced, that You do not know about.  I hurt Father.  I was betrayed! I have been "spat" upon by the people in my life that matter most.  Help me to love them.  Help me to live a life worthy of the love YOU have for me.  Help me to turn to You in my raw pain and ask You to help me to love and to forgive."   And He will...

Remember, John 13:35 says:

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

And they will...

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