 
Devotions that will Replace Despair with Renewed Hope

Diane K Hiltz Chamberlain

Copyright by Diane K Hiltz Chamberlain

Smashwords Edition

Acknowledgements

I thank Jesus Christ, for these beautiful words that He has given me over time! If it wasn't for His wisdom; then there would be no words to write. Jesus is the main source, for everything in my life and I know that just as these words have healed my heart and soul; they will also touch your heart in a very special way.

Through time, I have come to see that Jesus' words are the only remedy and cure, for what ails me; whether it's a physical or emotional need. His words also have a way of soothing the mind, from the cares and worries that attempt to take over our thoughts, while going through times of distress.

In addition, I would like to dedicate this book; to those who are going through very difficult moments of pain and heartache, in their lives. Our circumstances have a way of leading us down dark and dismal paths that can allow us to feel, as though we will never be able to press on in life; but when we use God's words of hope to become medicine, to our hurting souls and spirits; then once more, we can see a glimpse of light; that can keep us focused on a powerful God, rather than a weak circumstance.

Introduction

Are you looking for the key that can unlock the circumstance; that has been attempting to keep you in bondage? Have you tried everything on your own; only to find yourself still at the bottom of your pit of despair? Come and find renewed hope and a way that will lead you out of your wilderness of despair, through Author Diane K Chamberlain's devotional e-book..."Devotions That Will Replace Despair with Renewed Hope." The devotional writings within this book were first given to the author, as she faced overwhelming moments of pain and heartache and became the tools that would cultivate her heart and produce new and lasting growth.

"Devotions That Will Replace Despair with Renewed Hope" is filled with 99 inspirational devotions that will shed light, on the darkest moment of despair; while replacing the weak moments of circumstance, with a renewed hope that can only be found through Jesus Christ. The devotions can be used on a daily basis or they can be used as a means of inspiration, for a specific need. As the author found her own way of escape, during the deepest darkest moments of trial; she is now sharing these beautiful words; that were truly inspired by God; as a means of also reaching out to others, who live in despair.

Table of Contents

The Light of God's Presence through a Dark Affliction

Seasons of the Past Bring Hope for the Seasons to Come

The Fragrance of God's Peace

No Matter What Crumbles Down...God Still Stands

Do we have a Clear Connection with God?

Pruned Back for a Greater Faith

Cared for by a Loving Creator

Dying to Ourselves

One Step at a Time

Turning to the One with the Battle Strategy

Are we in Alignment with God?

Darkness Cannot Reside with the Light

Deeply Rooted in God

Fighting the Evil Weapon of Evil

My Shepherd...My Friend

Jesus Our Everything

Communicating with God Brings Us One Step Closer to Him

Deeply Connected with God

The Holy Spirit...Our Comforter of Love

A Settled Feeling with God

God's Power is revealed through Weakness

Walking Past the Fault to Understand the Need

Going the Full Distance with God

Taking a Moment to Experience God's Power

Do we Know Him or do we Just Know of Him?

Unlimited Strength

God Works through Affliction

Are we seeing a Reflection of Christ in our Lives?

Does Worry Take the Place of Prayer?

An Easy Solution to Our Problems

Living the Example of Christ

What Can Make Me Whole?

Are we on a Detour Road or are we Walking down God's Pathway?

We Die to Live

The Final Piece of the Puzzle

Do we Serve Our Circumstances Rather than God?

An Obstacle of Despair

God Crowns Each Effort of Trust with Success

Why Do We Feel Cast down...Hope in God?

Are We Suffering Needlessly?

Listening for the Voice of God

Has Fear Become the Raging Storm within us?

A Clear Connection

Never Stripped of His Grace

Why do we Make Prayer a Last Resort?

Are we too Busy for God?

Are we receiving a Clear Signal with God?

Getting an Attitude against Evil

Love and Forgiveness

Committed through Adversity

True Happiness

A Melody that Carries Us into the Realm of Heaven

A God of New Beginnings

A Shelter from the Storm

A New Year of Renewed Hope

Looking for the Brightest Star of God's Presence

Applying God's Words to Our Lives

Resting and Renewed in the Presence of God

How do we View our Memories?

God is the Central Working Station for all we need

I can't make it a Day without Him

God walks us from Season to Season

I've lost it all to Find Him

Are we Taking God for Granted?

How are we beginning our Day?

Christ is Alive within us even through Moments of Dormancy

Walking with God throughout the Day

Working with God on a Relationship

Laughter...the Best Medicine for a Hurting Soul

Are we giving in to our Weaknesses?

Are we just a Follower?

When we have a Will...God Will Give us a Way

Communing with God through Adversity

Wings of Love

God is found in all of Creation

Are we listening for God's Voice?

A Weathered Storm

Are we looking into the Face of our Problems?

Do our thoughts Unlock Better Moments for Us?

Jesus Already Knows What's Wrong

Nothing can help but God

A Harvest of Growth

Are we looking at the Same Old View?

Day by Day...Always the Same

Preparing for a Storm

The Problem comes from Satan but the Purpose is from God

A Peaceful Creation

Do we Recognize God's Presence in our Day?

Communing with God

Trying Moments that turn into Blessings

God Will Fight for Us

A Refreshing Moment

Are We Being Debilitated By Evil?

God's Light Destroys Darkness

Truly Discovering Christ

The Purpose Behind our Problem can lead us to a Cure

We don't have to live on Yesterday's Strength

Rescued from Despair

A God Who Can Lift Us up and Over the Obstacle

Lessons through the Storm

The Light of God's Presence through a Dark Affliction

How do we view suffering? Do we see it as something that God has struck us down with? Do we see it as a punishment? I truly believe that we suffer at times, as a means of testing. It's so easy to say "God, I love you", but what happens when we are afflicted with pain, heartache or grief? Is our love for God the same, as it was before the affliction? Do we grow so tired of pain and heartache, that we learn anger from our affliction or do we look for the new growth that can spring forth from affliction?

When God allowed His only Son, Jesus Christ, to go to the cross; His death was meant as a sign of His true love for us. God turned His head away, for one moment of satisfaction, as His only Son died for the sins of this world. God could've just said..."I love you" but how could we truly experience His great love, by words alone. When God allowed His only Son...the closest one to Him, to die for the sins of the world; He was telling us that we mean so much to Him, that He was willing to give up His only Son for us.

How are we returning that love? I'm sure that it wasn't easy for Jesus to go through so much suffering but He did it because His love for us was greater than the suffering He would endure. When we go through pain, heartache or grief; how are we showing God our love back? Do we look for a heart that truly tells God that we love Him? Are we willing to look more deeply for the purpose of our pain, heartache or grief; rather than revealing anger? I remember many times, in my past, when the surgeries and heartache became so overwhelming, that I turned to anger instead of looking for the purpose behind my affliction but then a day came, when I began to realize, through God's word, that these moments were for a reason...not to punish or hurt me but to take me to a different pathway in life, where God could use the moments for Him.

How are we viewing the moments of pain and heartache that we may be going through right now? Are we willing to say..."Jesus, I love you and I know that you have a purpose for these moments in my life"? Are we willing to seek out, what can't be seen for the moment? How are we revealing our love to God, while going through great affliction? Philippians 1:29-30 reads..."For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; (30) having the same conflict which ye saw in me and now hear to be in me." God's love for us was so great, that He was willing to turn His head, while His Son died a painful death...just to say from His heart..."I love you!" Are we willing to share that same love back?

Seasons of the Past Bring Hope for the Seasons to Come

Today was a beautiful day in Washington State! The sun was shining and the temperature got to 60 degrees. It felt so much like an early spring, as I viewed the first robin of the season. As I was thinking about this day; God was also reminding me, that everything good comes in time. We can feel as though we have been physically, emotionally or spiritually caught up in cold and dreary days of winter in our lives. We can feel as though we will never experience anything new or good again because of all the storms that we have had to face.

Just as the seasons change; God will change things in our lives too. We may be experiencing a season of winter, when everything in our lives seems so drab but just as winter comes to an end and spring once more begins; we too will eventually walk out of the winter moments in our lives and once more, we will begin to experience a new springtime in our hearts.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 4 reads..."To everything there is a season, and time to every purpose under the heaven: (4) A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;" Weeping may endure for a night or season but we have the hope in Jesus Christ, that joy will come in the morning or in the springtime of our lives.

Life's struggles can become so real, that we no longer remember a time of laughter but just as a season doesn't go on throughout a whole year; our time of weeping or mourning will find it's end through God and then once more, we will see the rainbow of hope in the sky and the sunshine will once more peek it's head out to us.

If we could look back to the time when God turned our moments of weeping to moments of laughter and gladness, just as we remember the seasons before, then we would find renewed hope that this too shall pass.

The Fragrance of God's Peace

What footsteps are we stepping into each morning? Are we walking in our own footsteps or are we looking for the footprints that Gods laid out for us to follow each day? Whatever set of footprints we choose to step into, will determine which direction our day will take us. In Psalm 25:9, 10 it reads..."He will teach the ways that are right and best to those who humbly turn to him. And when we obey him, every path he guides us on is fragrant with his lovingkindness and his truth."

How can we know for sure, if we are stepping into the right set of footprints? First of all...do we feel the fragrant peace of His presence or do we feel anxiety and frustration? Do we feel as though we are gliding from one foot print into the next or do we feel like we're on shaky ground? When we are walking directly in step with God, then we will feel His guidance, through each footstep we take and we won't have doubts, fear or frustrations, accompanying us on our journey either.

On the other hand...when we begin a new day in our own footsteps, then we become more vulnerable to Satan and once he has control, we find that our footsteps are leading us into his, while we find ourselves taking a detour away from God and what He has for us.

As we begin a new week and we awaken to a new Monday morning, which footsteps will we be walking in? The journey with God may not always take us where we want to go and the footprints may not always be easy to find but when we are walking in His steps, instead of our own, then we will know He's with us, to guide us onward, until we walk out of the trial with Him.

Are we stepping into the right set of footprints? Can we see the difference between His footprint and our own? As we begin a new week, let's invite Him into our day, so we'll be sure to find the footprints we need to step into. I pray that His footprints will lead us into days of blessing!

No Matter What Crumbles Down...God Still Stands

No matter what crumbles down around us, God still remains with us. The tallest mountain can fall to the ground but God will still remain standing. No matter how powerful something can seem to us or no matter how big it may appear...God still remains, as the most powerful being.

When evil attempts to surround us, with its presence; the circumstance can appear to be something that is very difficult to overcome. These moments can seem to be the biggest obstacle in our lives, as though we have walked into the tallest and strongest mountain but this is only because we have made our problems to appear larger than what they really are, while experiencing the blunt of the storm. Isaiah 54:10 says..."For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but my kindness shall not leave you. My promise of peace for you will never be broken, says the Lord who has mercy upon you."

Everything may seem as though it's falling to pieces around us...as though we are standing alone but God says that no matter what happens, no matter what is stripped away from us and no matter what may crumble to the ground...His promise of love, kindness and peace will still remain.

We may lose things in our lives but as long as we are connected to the highest God, we will stand because He lives within us and even though we may feel weak at times...He is standing there for us. Just like Job...Satan may attempt to take certain things away from our lives but as long as God lives within us, Satan has no power or authority over us as a person. As long as God is standing in the gap for us, nothing will defeat us and take us down.

Our circumstances can become so overwhelming, that we feel like we are hanging onto a thread, instead of the rope we once clung to but no matter what we may feel; God will continually prove Himself faithful to us. God's promise of peace and goodness will never be broken...only if we are the one who walks away and even at those moments...His eye still remains upon us, as He continually seeks, to draw us back into His arms of love.

Do we have a Clear Connection with God?

How is our connection with God today? Do we hear His voice and do we know if He's hearing ours? Today, a song came to my thoughts and a little of it goes like this..."Nothing between my soul and the Savior....keep the way clear, let nothing between. We can block our connection with God, when we allow our circumstances or other things to get in the way. When something else comes between ourselves and God, then a blockage forms that keeps us from a clear connection with God.

In the summer, when we water our trees and plants, we take the hose out into the yard and turn on the water. Sometimes the water doesn't run properly out of the hose because there is a kink in the hose. As long as the hose remains that way, there will be no water for the trees and plants but once we walk back and straightened out the hose, then the water can run freely. In a similar way, we can be caught up too deeply in other things that we forget that we may be clogging up our connection with God. There may be times when we feel as though God isn't listening or maybe it's the other way around and we aren't hearing Him. Either way, we may need to walk back and see if we may have left something in the way that may have blocked the communication between ourselves and God. Once we discover the problem and resolve it, then we will once more be able to communicate more clearly with God.

We need to ask ourselves this question today...how can we be used by God, if He is trying to reach us and something is blocking the connection, so we can't hear His voice? When we let go of the things that can keep our connection blocked, then we will be able to hear His voice more often and more clearly. Once we have removed the blockages and we are beginning to communicate more often with God, we will find that the connection between ourselves and God will always remain open.

Pruned Back for a Greater Faith

If we don't go through anything in our lives, then how do we know how strong our faith is? How can our faith grow, if we aren't being pruned back, so new growth can begin once more?

I've come to realize that when we look through our own eyes, then we are not always seeing life, the way God sees it for us. For example...when we are going through a very difficult and trying circumstance in our lives and we look at our situation through our own eye, then we are seeing defeat and we question God, as to why He allows us to suffer; while on the other hand, if we were to look at our circumstance through the way God desires for us to see it, then maybe instead of viewing darkness and defeat, we would see a way to grow in Him, while leaving our old self behind.

When we plant a garden or flower seed, the seed needs to die before new growth begins. If everything is going well all the time, in our lives, then how do we grow? If we aren't dying to the older things in our lives, then how is new growth going to take place? If we aren't pruned back, then we will remain the same way forever. When a tree is being pruned back, we think we're hurting the tree, since it is a living thing but within time, new growth does begin to take place. In a similar way, when we are being pruned back, as we go through different circumstances in our lives, we can feel as though God may be hurting us instead of helping us but as time goes on, we see a new bud appear within our hearts that reveals new growth. We find that we don't think the same and we feel as though we are branching out into new things in our lives. We feel the growth, as God begins to remove the old and bring in the new.

We may feel as though something is wrong, when we go through a trying time in our lives but when we ask God to reveal the meaning of the circumstance to us, through His eyes, then we see a completely different view and we begin to find a renewed hope once more in God.

Cared for by a Loving Creator

When our minds are caught up into a circumstance; the circumstance can weigh so heavy on our hearts, that we tend to forget the loving care and power that can come to us, from the presence of the Most High God. This is the way Satan works and it's his desire to distract our minds and keep our thoughts away from God, so that he can keep us focused on the circumstance.

Recently, I was reading a couple of verses in Genesis 2:5-6, which reads..."And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground, (6) But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." Have we ever stopped to think about how powerful God can be? Before He created man, there was no one to till and plant the vegetation upon this earth but yet God planted it all and allowed a mist to come up from the ground, as though a gigantic sprinkler was watering the face of the earth. Here is a God that not only put everything in place the way He wanted it but He cared for it too, in His own special way.

If there is a God that can allow things to grow, without one man tilling the soil before it's been planted and if He can allow a mist to spring forth out of the ground and water every living thing, then why wouldn't He care for us? Just as He created the vegetation; He also created us and just as He allowed a mist to water the face of the earth, He can be there to care for His children too, in a much greater way.

We need to remember that what He creates, He also cares for. As I read these verses, I stand in awe, of a power that I may not always understand but yet remains to be the strongest power I've ever experienced in my life.

We have nothing to fear, when we have the assurance in our heart that God will always be there to help us through. We can sit back, with a settled feeling that everything is going to be fine; after all, if God had the power to allow a mist to spring forth from the ground and water every living thing, can you imagine what He can do for us? I pray that each of us will weigh out our circumstance, in comparison to the power of a mighty God; that we may find renewed hope once more in our lives!

Dying to Ourselves

Can our circumstances pull us down to a place, where we feel as though we are losing everything in our life? Do we sit and watch others go on with their lives, while we feel as though we are being completely stripped of everything around us?

John 12:24-25 says..."Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (25) He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." If a seed is going to produce corn, or wheat, then it has to die first, before it begins to grow. In a similar way, this is how we gain a closer relationship with God. In order for God to use us, we must die to ourselves, and the worldly aspect of life, so we can begin new growth and be used for Him.

When we lose the life we dream of; it's only because God wants to replace our desires and dreams, with His desires and purpose for our lives. If we are in the way, then He can't use us. In my own life, I have lost many things, due to my health problems. I wasn't able to have children. I use to love to ride a bike and walk down the road and now I am unable to do that and to top it off; I've had my driver's license taken away because of the rod in my right leg. As each loving desire is being stripped from our lives, we can feel as though something is wrong with us or maybe God doesn't love us anymore but that's not true because when we lose a desire or dream; it's only because God is wanting to replace the loss with something that will draw us closer to Him, instead of ourselves.

As I watched my brothers, sister and family enjoy their life; I always felt like I was in my own little world of disability, until God stepped in and filled each empty void with something special. Since those moments of loss in my life; I now am serving Him full time and He has given me a heart that hears His words instead of my own. As time goes by; I don't seem to crave the things I lost because each empty void is completely being filled with His presence.

One Step at a Time

How many days do we live, at one time? Do we live for just the day or do we find our thoughts taking us into more days that haven't even arrived?

As I was getting around this morning, I was beginning to think about all I had to do, in this week ahead. God spoke to my heart, as though to say..."it would be easier, if you just live for today". As I continued to think about what God had laid upon my heart, I began to realize that we can end up living in days that haven't even been created yet. As we go to sleep, God pulls the shade down on this day and while we are sleeping, He prepares a brand new day for each of us and when we rise in the morning, He will pull the shades back up and lead us into His new day. If our thoughts are taking us into days that haven't been created yet, could we be suffering needlessly, as we are trying to deal with things for the week, that haven't even arrived?

How many times do we think about something on Thursday, when we are still living for Monday? We wonder if the situation is going to work out and we find ourselves fretting over a moment that hasn't even happened. Half of the time, we realize that Thursday turns out better, than what we first thought on Monday, so this is where we are suffering needlessly in our lives.

In God's word it says..."This is the day that the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." He's not saying...This is the week that I'm making for you, so go ahead and think on it? God gives us one day to live at a time, so we will walk in His footsteps, one step at a time. We have enough to go through in one day, so why should we add other days to our circumstances, that haven't even been created yet? God wants us to take the day that He hath made and enjoy it to its fullest and then when the other days arrive...do the same. This way, we find ourselves walking right in step with God.

How many days are we living right now? Are we living this day or are we living in several days at a time? I think if we could take one step at a time, instead of running into steps that aren't there, then we would find our day to be more peaceful. May God bless you and may He lead you in His footsteps...one day at a time.

Turning to the One with the Battle Strategy

Tonight, as I was getting ready to write; I was asking God to give me something that would touch all of our hearts, as we begin a new week. I began to open up my Bible and this is where He lead me...to Psalm 44:5-6, which reads..."Through thee will we push down our enemies; through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. (6) For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me." What powerful words! Are we beginning each new day or week with our own self will, instead of God's power?

What if David would've gone to fight Goliath and the stone that was thrown at Goliath didn't have the power of God in it? As we think about others like Daniel, Moses, Joseph, Jeremiah, etc..., we know that they only overcame their moment of trial because of the power of God, instead of their own means.

Do we trust in our own ways? Are we sizing up our circumstances, while we try to convince ourselves that everything is going to be ok because of this or that? When David went to battle, he became a great warrior but not because of his own strength and might; only because God was there with him. The sword isn't what saved David and his army; it was the power that was in the sword. Do we trust in our own ways for overcoming a problem or are we allowing God to enter the problem and show us how we can overcome these moments through Him? The results of our days and weeks will be determined according to who is in control? When a situation arises; we need to slow down and seek the One who knows the battle strategies that can get us through our day or week. We need to ask Him to show us how to handle the problem, instead of rushing into battle, with only our means of making it through. Once God has stepped into the problem with us; we will be able to tread down the enemy, who tried to defeat us.

Are we in Alignment with God?

How do we line up with God? Are we right where He wants us to be or are we out of sequence with Him? Tonight, as I was working, I was thinking about my own life. I was thinking about the peace I have now, in comparison to times past. As I was thinking about this even more; it was as if God spoke to me and said, "Diane, it's because you are lined up with me now". His words seemed to hit me hard tonight. When we aren't lined up directly with God, on the pathway He has chosen for our lives, then we are going to experience feelings of fear and doubt, along with an unsettled feeling, that life isn't quite what it should be but when we are walking side by side with God; we are going to experience the feelings that radiate off of Him, like peace and contentment.

When we aren't lined up with God, it may be because we are either rushing ahead of Him or lingering behind Him. Maybe we are in too big of a hurry to get through life that we need to try it on our own? Or...maybe we are lagging behind because we have lost faith and hope, in what God can do? No matter which way it is; when we find ourselves out of sequence with God, we can't function the way we should.

Throughout a lot of my life, I had problems with my knees dislocating because of the way my knee joints were formed at birth. When the knee held in place, then I could continue on in my life but when the knee would dislocate, then I would fall unexpectedly to the ground, with severe pain and until the knee recovered, the knee would slow me down. In a similar way, when we are walking in line with God, then everything will fall into place and work well but when we fall out of sequence with Him, then we find our lives slowing down, as problems begin to weigh us down even more.

Are we in line with God today? Can we say that we are walking right beside Him? Do we feel the connection that gives us peace in our day? From the moment we rise, until the moment we settle down for the night; we should feel a connection with God that will ease and bring peace to the circumstances we may be facing. Yes...we may still go through the circumstance; but when we are walking through the fire with God, we will find more of His peace, instead of the heat that comes from the fiery trial.

Darkness Cannot Reside with the Light

We may have days, when all we feel around us is darkness. Either the weather has us down or an illness or maybe we are going through depression or we're just having a bad day. Many times we find ourselves sitting...waiting for the darkness to leave, while days go on into more darkness.

As I was getting around this evening, from a full day of work; God was placing a song in my thoughts and some of it goes like this..."Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." How many times do we sing these songs and walk away, with no thought to what we just sung?

As I was thinking on these words some more; God began to place a thought within my mind. Here we are; walking on a dark pathway, while we try to avoid other obstacles that Satan is trying to use against us. Seems as though the light has gone out, as depression begins to sink in but then we remember a verse from God's word, that has always helped us before and the minute the verse strikes us the right way; it's as if a match is lit and we begin to see a glimpse of light again. The more we meditate on God's words; the brighter the light becomes. Before we realize it; we can once more see the pathway and the words that are now racing through our thoughts are now becoming weapons to protect us, so the light will remain.

The meaning of each verse has now brought the spirit of God to light and where there is God's presence of light, there can be no darkness. How many times do we allow the darkness to overcome us; not realizing that God's word is all it takes, to bring light back unto our pathway? His words not only bring light to us but they also become a protective barrier, where Satan can't cross. Let God be the cure to a bad day and let the wisdom from His words lighten your pathway once more!

Deeply Rooted in God

Are we rooted deep enough in God, so when the storms come raging at us; we can remain standing? Most of us in the United States have had a rough winter. As spring is around the corner; many are waiting in anticipation for the first bud to appear and for the first flower to bloom. Many, who planted flower bulbs last fall, will be looking forward to the bright and beautiful colors of spring. If the flower bulbs were planted deep enough, then they will grow to be strong plants that will be able to endure the wind and rain.

The question is...are we planted deep enough in God or are we too close to the surface? When we are deeply rooted in faith, with a heart of thanksgiving, then we will begin to bud and bloom into something beautiful for Him. We will become strong and stable, so when the fiercest storms blow our direction; we will remain standing and true to God. When we are deeply embedded in the word of God, then we will grow even higher into the heavens. We may grow, to become afflicted with circumstances; but when we are deeply rooted in God's knowledge and wisdom, then even the circumstances won't affect the beauty of His presence, being seen through us.

One thing we need to remember; even though we are deeply rooted in Him, we must remain focused on our creator. For the moments we remain completely focused on Him; we will continue to grow stronger in Him but when we take our eyes off of God, then we will begin to lose strength and wither away. We all have struggles and it may not always be easy to stay focused on God or remain deeply embedded in Him but if we do, there will come a day when we will enter Heaven, where flowers will never die.

Fighting the Evil Weapon of Evil

When we walk with the Most High God, His cross becomes a shield of defense, while walking through enemy territory and His light destroys all darkness. As we walk with God, our pathway is lit by day and by night. His light becomes the sunshine of our day and moonlight by night. In Him, there is no darkness and evil cannot penetrate the power that shines forth from His presence, so why do we fear? Why do we feel that we have nothing to rejoice over?

Fear becomes debilitating, as we find ourselves walking into complete darkness. Fear becomes a weapon from Satan, to stop us from moving forward on the pathway with God but when we view God as something greater than fear; then God's presence once more shines through the dense fog of despair.

God has given us choices in this life and the choices we make, will determine whether we feel God's peace or the attack of evil. When we can praise God, even through moments of affliction, then we will find the peace of God surrounding us. When we praise God, we are not only thanking Him for His great power but we are sending a message from our hearts, that He is the only way out of despair.

A while back, when I was recovering from major knee surgery; I remember talking to God and asking Him to lift my spirits. The first thing He placed on my heart was "rejoice". He even took me to a place in the Bible, in II Cor. 12:9b that reads..."Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." I remember looking up to His picture over the fireplace and saying..."This doesn't make any sense to me."..."God, how do I rejoice, while going through pain and heartache?" He spoke to my heart and said, "when you are hurting the most, this is the time when my hand is upon you." I remember feeling, as though a bolt of lightning had just struck me. Finally it made sense! I was looking at it the wrong way. I was trying to figure out, how a person who is suffering could rejoice, while God was gently showing me, that when we are at our worse; these are the moments that we should find God to be the closest. I began to realize that I needed to see what He was telling me, through His eyes, instead of my own.

We may have our ups and down's in life; but this isn't a bad sign; in fact, it's a good sign because God is working through our pain, to make us stronger people for Him.

My prayer is that we all will be able to rejoice through suffering. While we are doing this; we will be sending a weapon of destruction back to Satan, while we wait on God to work everything out according to His perfect will for our lives.

My Shepherd...My Friend

What kind of a pathway can we experience, while walking with God each day? First, He becomes our shepherd and because He is our shepherd, we have no need of anything. He becomes the guide that leads us only in His direction. He can see the obstacles ahead of us that we may not see. As we walk with Him; He allows us to lie down in green pastures of sustainment and He leads us along still waters of His peace.

He is a God that restores us, and fixes the flaws in our lives, so we can be everything for Him and His pathways are only paths of righteousness. There may be times when we find ourselves walking through the valley of the shadow of death but we don't have to fear any evil because He remains with us, throughout the whole journey. He becomes a God of comfort instead, so that we can live with a settled feeling that everything is going to be just fine.

The pathway we share with Him may lead us through enemy territory but He anoints us with His presence and nothing, not even Satan himself can break through the power that God has placed upon us and around us.

When we have experienced such a presence, that walks so close to us, our hearts begin to overflow, like a harvest of blessings and as long as we continue to follow God on this pathway of life; surely goodness and mercy will continue to follow us the rest of our lives and when we reach the end of the journey; God will walk us through the gates of Heaven.

God is already there for us; the question is; are we there with Him? We have it made, when we become the sheep of the most high shepherd because with His cross before us and a loving hand to guide us; we can make it through anything because God will make the way.

Jesus Our Everything

How do we see Jesus? Do we see Him in ways that will help us in our daily lives? We can find peace, in knowing that Jesus is always available when we need Him. He becomes a great physician, when we are experiencing pain or sickness; He is the prince of all peace, when our circumstances cause us to feel anxious and most of all, He is a counselor to us, when we need a friend to talk to.

One year, I took a whole summer and while my husband was at work, I wrote over 60 poems. I would go out on our deck, where we lived at the time and sit and allow Jesus' presence to minister to me. As I was writing, He was filling my thoughts with a vision. In this vision, I saw us meeting together, as we sat in chairs across from each other. We would sit and talk for a while about all my problems and needs and the place where we met, was always in my heart.

Why do we allow ourselves to sit and suffer needlessly, while we continually dwell on our circumstances? Are we using our circumstances like a security blanket, so we can always know that our problem isn't getting worse? We don't always realize it at the time, but when we respond to our circumstances in this way; then we are creating a place where all we do is remain in despair. Thinking about our needs never takes us anywhere, except in circles. It's as though we are lost at sea, while we continually float aimlessly in a circle.

Jesus is waiting; ready to sit down with us, as we lay our problems before Him. If we would just give Him a chance, and be willing to wait and listen for His response, then in His time, he would bring us through our circumstance. In Psalm 16:7-8 it says..."I will bless the Lord who counsels me; he gives me wisdom in the night. He tells me what to do. I am always thinking of the Lord; and because he is so near, I never need to stumble or to fall." There may be restless nights when we can't sleep, due to what we are experiencing from the day but even in those late hours of the night, He is there for us. Jesus can take away the anxiety and not only replace it with His peace but also His wisdom. He can fill our thoughts with a wisdom that can help us stay on course, until the storm has ended. The more we experience His comfort and support; the more that our thoughts will be fixed on Him, instead of the problem. His ways will keep us safe, so we don't fall deeper into despair. The question to ask ourselves is this; are we allowing Jesus to become the best friend we could ever have or are we getting too close to our problems instead? When we allow Jesus to become a counselor to our needs, then He will sustain us and hold us in His comforting arms of love and peace and He will fill us with His wisdom, as we leave the problem with Him. Let us ask ourselves this question..."Is Jesus everything to us?"

Communicating with God

Brings Us One Step Closer to Him

What happens when we pray; read our Bible or just talk with God? Yes...we gain wisdom and we become connected to God but one other thing happens and that is that we become one step closer to God and one more step away from the circumstances.

Each time we talk to God, read His word or meditate on Him; we are being connected to Him, instead of the problem. God is becoming more visible, while the circumstance is beginning to fade out and become dim to our view.

Are you feeling as though the pathway is becoming more difficult to see, while you feel as though you are drifting into the darkness of your problems? I believe that when we begin to find it harder to see the obstacles in our pathway; it's because we have lost our main source of light and that is God's light. The darkness of our circumstance can creep in around us, like a thick fog and before we know it; the light of God's presence becomes more difficult to find.

There is hope though because God's light is only being hid behind the darkness of our problems. Once we turn away from the darkness and seek out the light, by meditating on God through His word and through prayer; we will once more experience His sunlight, as it begins to peak once more through the dense fog of our problems, so we can view the pathway ahead and find renewed hope in Him.

An old hymn goes like this..."Turn your eyes upon Jesus...look full in His wonderful face and the things of this world will grow strangely dim; in the light of His glory and grace." Are we only finding darkness because the darkness has been drawn in with our problems? We need to look upon the face of Jesus and discover once more, that His light can become brighter, than any dark circumstance that we may be facing today.

Deeply Connected with God

Tonight, as I was getting around; I was thinking about the depth of God's love. Do we truly experience a deep love that only God can offer us?

Tonight, I was in another room of our home and while I was getting ready to wrap up everything for the day, I was singing, which I love to do. The more I sang; other songs were being drawn into my thoughts, like a medley of music and the more that I listened to the words that I was singing; the words began to touch my heart and immediately I began to feel more deeply connected to God. I truly believe that we can communicate with God, while singing a song and feeling His love and peace.

I've had moments, when I was drained from the day or I was having more pain than usual. As I would cry out to God for His help, a song would come to my thoughts. One time, I decided to just soak in the meaning, to the words that I was singing. As I listened to each word that came out of my mouth; I began to feel as though God was relaying a message of comfort to my soul.

Have we as Christians found a place in our relationship with God, where we can experience the depth of His love? Discovering the presence of God comes from a heart that is seeking after the depth of His heart. When we are deeply connected to Him, then we experience all the benefits He has to offer us and we feel the warmth of His presence and beauty, as He completely surrounds us with His love.

Many times we only experience a surface relationship with God because we are either in a hurry or maybe we place limitations on how strong of a God He can be in our lives. God's love is a love that we should always crave more of. The deeper we go, in our relationship with Him; the more that we will be filled with His presence each day.

When we walk into a dark room and we plug a lamp into the socket and turn it on, then we have light. In a similar way, when we become connected to God, then His light floods the pathway before us and as long as we are walking in His light, there is no darkness.

God has already shown the depth of His love, through the death of His only Son on the cross. Now it's our turn. Are we listening, for the words of love and comfort, that He is offering us, so that we can relate back and form a relationship with Him or are we either too busy or too caught up in the darkness that surrounds us, that we have forgotten to plug completely into God?

The Holy Spirit...Our Comforter of Love

God can become a great comforter, when we are going through pain, heartache or grief. When we don't feel well, we climb into bed and we cover ourselves with comfortable blankets or quilts and we feel comforted by this, so when I think about the Holy Spirit as our comforter; I think about His presence covering us, like a huge comforter on our beds, while He consoles our spirits and brings peace into our hearts and minds.

When we ask for His comforting spirit; He covers and surrounds us with His protection and presence, in a way that allows us to feel better. He keeps us safe and warm, from the elements of pain and heartache that may be surrounding us for the moment.

When I was facing a major knee surgery, where the doctor was going to place a rod in my right knee; I remember being wheeled into the operating room and seeing all the utensils and objects, that were going to be used for the surgery. The operating room reminded me of a metal shop. The first thing that came to my mind, was..."I either want to get to sleep fast or I want to leave this place"; but as I began to get my focus back on God; I asked Him to be there for me and to stand by the operating table, so I wouldn't feel so alone. From that moment on; I began to feel His presence surrounding me, as I gently went to sleep. I've had other moments, when I've asked for His presence to surround me, while going through counseling for sexual abuse and other surgeries too and He has always been there. I have felt His presence close by, while tears began to flow and I've felt His arms around me, while feeling lost in despair.

When we ask for His comforting spirit to surround us, while going through trying times in our lives; it's as if His presence becomes a warm blanket or comforter that covers us and surrounds us with His presence. We don't have to suffer needlessly. Even though the problem may remain; He will stay close by, until He walks us into a new pathway of peace.

A Settled Feeling with God

How can negative thoughts or words affect our lives? I believe that what we speak and think will either make our lives easier or more difficult. When we are reacting to our circumstances with a positive thought or word, then we are relaying two messages. The first one is telling God that we trust Him, believe in Him and have faith in what He can do, while the second message is telling Satan, that he has lost the battle. If we were to reverse it though and we were to think or speak a negative thought, in regards to our circumstance, then the other two messages would be closing one door, while opening another door, which would lead us to further problems.

Psalm 112:7, 8 reads..."He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen; for he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. That is why he is not afraid, but can calmly face his foes." Fear is only one of the negative feelings that can debilitate us and keep us from feeling God's presence, while going through a difficult circumstance in our lives. No matter if it's fear or any other negative feeling; we may not realize it at the time but our response to our circumstance is either opening a door to God or a door to Satan. How we speak and think can either keep us down or lift us up.

We need to remember that Satan isn't out to just afflict us but to destroy us and how we respond, while going through these times will either give God more power in our lives or Satan. It's so easy to go from day to day and not even realize what our words and thoughts are relaying to God or evil.

When I was going through all of my knee surgeries; I began to feel so discouraged. I would get so angry at the situation because I couldn't understand why God was allowing so much in my life. I began to see the negative side of my circumstances and I found myself trying to fall prey to the negativity, until God brought it to my attention that this was only going to make my situation worse. I never realized the messages our words and thoughts relay.

We may be going through trying moments, which can make us feel like we are hanging onto a thread, of what use to be a rope. We can get into a place of weakness, where Satan tries to keep us down, through negative thoughts and words. This will only make our circumstances worse. Instead, we must allow God to lift us up, to a place where we can feel His perfect peace; where we can receive a settled feeling that God will take care of us.

God's Power is revealed through Weakness

In II Corinthians 12:9, it says..."My power shows up best in weak people". How many times do we feel as though we can't make it another step? There are times that we look at ourselves and all we see is weakness; but we also tend to forget that this is the time that God's strength is seen, in an even greater way.

When people see what we may be going through and they see a person that is drained from days of pain, heartache or any other thing and then God steps into the picture and takes us from a place of extreme weakness, to a place of greater strength, then people begin to take notice, which allows them to experience something that they've never seen before and that is "God".

When we keep the strength going on our own, we are blocking the presence of God from being seen in our lives. God doesn't want us to accept our weaknesses either, but instead, He wants us to use these moments to make Himself known to others around us. When we allow Him to take us out of the pit of weakness, so He can use our weakness to reveal His great strength, then God is seen, as He continually works through the weakness.

The last part of II Corinthians 12:10 says..."for when I am weak, then I am strong...the less I have, the more I depend on him." We actually gain a greater strength, when we are the weakest. Our minds tell us that weakness means defeat; but instead, we should be seeing our weakness as an opportunity to experience the greatest strength of all and that is God's strength. As we begin to see God at work through our weaknesses, we also learn to depend upon Him, instead of leaning on the weakness in our lives.

When these verses come alive within us; we also find a reason to rejoice, instead of feeling lost in despair because we are experiencing a renewed hope in God. We need to have a new view on life that only allows us to view our weaknesses through God's eyes.

Walking Past the Fault to Understand the Need

"Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34a. Jesus was setting an example before us, as He forgave those who had rejected Him. Are we following the example that Jesus set before us, within our own lives?

I can just see it now, as Jesus was on trial. Those who had longed for His presence at one time were now crying out..."Crucify Him, Crucify Him". Even though Jesus was God's Son; how was He able to forgive so many people who had risen against Him? The answer is...that Jesus saw the need of their heart, in a much greater way, than the wrong that was coming against Him. He loved them so much, as He does us, that instead of judging them and pointing out their faults; He was looking more deeply into the need of their heart.

When someone has done something wrong to us, do we see the fault or do we see a heart that is crying out through a need? There is no excuse for doing something wrong; but at the same time, if we were to look more deeply into a person's heart, instead of always looking for the fault, then maybe we would understand that person more. Someone may lash out at us but is it because they just take joy in doing this or could it be that they may have just received some bad news or had a rough day or are recovering from something from the past, etc..? All we see is that they had hurt us; but if we were to take the time to look more deeply into their life, then maybe we would see the real reason why.

If Jesus could bare His cross through deep pain and suffering and at the same time say, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do", then we should be able to follow His example, by seeing the need of a person's heart, instead of allowing the situation to worsen, through bitterness and unforgiveness.

When we live the example of Christ, then we need to look into the heart, rather than clinging to the fault. How are people going to see Jesus, if we have Him clouded over, through anger, bitterness and unforgiveness? I pray that we will strive to see each other, the way that God sees our hearts each day.

Going the Full Distance with God

Over the weekend, I was watching a Christian movie and it dealt with accepting God's will, so He can do His work in our lives, instead of what we desire. As I was watching the film; I saw how this man in the movie thanked God, for not only the blessings he received from God but he also thanked God, while walking through the moments of defeat. He was letting God know that no matter what came up in His life, whether good or bad, that he was placing his complete trust in God's will for his life.

What is our first reaction, when something either goes wrong or life just doesn't seem to go the way that we thought it would? Are we upset or are we saying to God..."that's alright because You must have a reason and purpose for what happened and I know that I can trust you, even though I don't understand the reasons." When we can bow our head, with an honest heart and thank God for all the moments He allows into our lives, then we have truly given Him complete control of our lives.

If we are going to say, "yes Jesus, I give you full control of my life", then that doesn't mean only part of the way, but instead, the full distance of our journey with Him. When we don't allow Him to work in our lives completely, then we are placing control on God, instead of allowing Him to control our lives.

When we are completely trusting God; we are saying that no matter what kind of a pathway You walk me through Lord; I know that we will make it together. My prayer is that we all will learn to let go and allow God to work the full distance, on this journey called life.

Taking a Moment to Experience God's Power

Do we see God's power in a greater way, than the circumstances we go through from day to day? If we were to look at the power that God holds within His hands, we would see that He's a God that suspends stars, to dance in the sky and releases them at the command of His voice. We would see a God that has placed a mark around lakes and oceans, so that they wouldn't flood the earth. We would see a power that can cause rain to fall from the sky or allow the raindrops to freeze, into beautiful snowflakes. Who else can create a brand new snow flake, for each one that falls?

If we could just see a sample of God's power, then we would also see that He holds the same power in His hands for each of our lives. Who is more powerful than God, to paint a beautiful rainbow in the sky or become the artist of sunrises and sunsets? Who else can take care of every living thing on this planet at one time? Who can listen to a broken heart, in one place in the United States, while listening to many other hearts around the world?

We need to stop and experience the most powerful being in this universe and remember that His power extends to all mankind. What we experience here on earth, is only an ounce of the power He holds within Himself.

It's so easy to make God a weak God, just by focusing on the intensity of our problems, instead of dwelling on His awesome presence. I truly believe that what we view each day, is what we receive for the day, so if we are looking towards God and we are concentrating on His power, then we will know His power but when we concentrate on the intensity of our problems, then this is the power we receive in return, which only opens more doors to Satan, until all we feel is the pouncing presence of evil.

We need to ask ourselves if we are truly viewing the awesome presence of God or the intensity of the problem. If we are focusing too much on the problem, there still is hope. All we need to do is place our attention back on God.

Do we Know Him or do we Just Know of Him?

Do we know God or do we just know of Him? Are we so caught up into religion, that we don't truly feel the presence of a living God at work in our lives? God has shown Himself to me, in ways that I don't often think of. He has shown me, that He not only takes care of me when I'm awake and in His presence but when I'm asleep and I have no control over decisions or anything else.

This example that I am about to share with you, may seem different to some but after completing a new page on my website, dealing with the strategies of Satan...I awoke to an email, from someone who was following me on twitter and when I opened up the email, it said that Satan was following me and his place of residence was hell. By time, I was able to check this out, twitter had removed this person. The first thing that came to my mind was that God had taken care of the problem, even before I was awake, to know what was happening.

As I write and encourage others in the Lord, I'm constantly being attacked by Satan but lately I've been getting an attitude towards Satan and I'm letting him know that I don't fear him because of the power that lives within me. Satan tried to use someone to deceive me but God was there to take care of the problem, while I was still sleeping. That's quite a God! God wants us to know that He's a full-time God but how can we identify with His desires for our lives and feel His presence at work, if we only know of Him? When we only know about God, it's as if we have read His word and that's as far as it goes but when we truly know Him, we will experience His presence at work in our lives each day. There will be more than knowledge about God but rather, we will be able to relate with Him and become close friends with Him.

A good question for all of us to ask ourselves, is do we truly know God? Do we feel His presence at work within us? Has He become the best friend we could ever have or do we just know of Him, by the stories we've been told or by what we have read in the Bible? We need to seek His presence daily and stand in amazement, at the presence of a God, who can truly work on our behalf. Religion will only allow us to know God but a personal relationship with Him, can allow us to see that He remains alive forevermore.

Unlimited Strength

How many times do we grow weary and tired in a day or at the end of the week and then we tell ourselves, that we can't go on anymore? What source are we turning to for added strength? Are we turning to God or ourselves?

Last night, as I was getting around for the evening, I was thinking about how busy of a week I've had and how tired I've been but then it was as if God spoke to me and said...don't you remember, that you can do ALL things through the strength I give you? Isn't it so easy to forget that our strength totally comes from God and not ourselves?

At times, while I'm getting around for the evening, I like to talk to God and share things that are on my mind or talk with Him about people who need His help. There are even times when I sing to Him and I notice that by the time, I'm around for the evening, that there is a renewed strength that I never had before those moments.

We need to do something, other than thinking about how weak we are. We need to love God, praise God, and sing unto God. When we are expressing our love and devotion to God; in return He fills us up with renewed hope and strength, so we can continue to travel down the pathway that He has laid out before us. If we are just sitting and thinking about our weaknesses all the time, then we aren't going to gain anything, except for more discouragement.

We shouldn't take God for granted and expect Him to fill us up with His strength, when we don't meet Him, at the place, where He can renew us with His presence. He wants us to share in the relationship and He wants us to magnify His name and give Him the love that He so rightfully deserves.

When we are tired and discouraged, from a long and difficult day or week, all we need to do is draw from His strength, through prayer, praise and singing.

God Works through Affliction

We all grow up with dreams of being this or being that. We seem to have our whole life planned out, until we walk into a day that shatters all our dreams. We feel as though life isn't worth it anymore because all we had to live for is gone; but we don't realize that the plans we made, were made by us. Why wouldn't we feel shattered, when we find ourselves following our dreams, instead of God's desires for our lives? This can be a trick from Satan, to take us away from God. We begin to feel angry and we find ourselves mourning over plans that maybe weren't even destined by God for our lives.

I know in my own life, I had dreams of becoming a nurse and I loved to ride my bike and enjoy the outdoors; but when one knee surgery after another came; I began to hear the doctors say...no more of this and no more of that. I think the hardest moment, was when I had my driver's license taken away because of the rod in my right knee. As I began to see each loving desire leave my life, there were moments when I felt like I was in a world of my own and it all had come crashing down upon me, until God allowed me to see my situation through His eyes. The reason why I felt such despair was because I had saw the end of my rope, as each desire became stripped from me, instead of seeing God's desires for my life. The minute I began to look His direction and see the floor plan He had for my life, I began to feel contentment, instead of loss in my life.

We all have something special, that we wish we could achieve in our lives and then the moment of disappointment comes and strips it away from us. We could be living with a health problem or chronic pain or maybe we have lost someone very dear to us and our lives have taken a different shift, than what we had planned on. We need to keep looking to Jesus for the answers because He may be allowing us to live out His desires, through the moments of pain.

In my own life; I never thought that I would write and have an outreach ministry. In fact, that was the farthest thing from my mind because I struggled so much in school; but again, I was not looking for God's desires, instead, I was planning my own life and when it didn't work; I found myself falling once more.

We don't know what God has for us, until we step into each new day but one thing I know; God doesn't waste what He allows in our lives. If you are going through very trying times with your health or you have lost someone or maybe you are lonely and discouraged...remember this...God has a plan, for whatever you are going through. He will not allow you to walk through these times, without a plan and purpose for your life.

Are we seeing a Reflection of Christ in our Lives?

Are we looking to God, as we do each day in a mirror? While we are standing in front of a mirror; we can see ourselves and the mirror becomes a way to see things, like our teeth, hair, and so forth that we normally couldn't view without the mirror. When we stand before the mirror, we see ourselves clearly but when we walk away from the mirror and become busy in our day; we forget the things that we once saw. Our relationship with God can be that way too. We can be viewing His presence, while we pray or talk with Him and while we read His word and go to church; but what happens when we walk away for a while? Do we forget what we saw in Him? Do we become reconnected with our problems instead and forget our whole experience with God?

When we begin our day, we should not only view God's presence when we are talking to Him or when we are in church; instead, we should walk throughout our day with God, so if we need Him, then we can find His reflection close by. We shouldn't have to wait until the evening or the next morning, to view Him again. We should always feel as though His reflection is with us wherever we go.

We need His reflection to follow and know the directions we are to take in our lives. We need the shadow of His presence walking with us, so that we don't have to feel alone, while facing uncertain times. When we are walking with the reflection of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then Satan will know that we aren't alone; but instead, we are with a higher power. If we are walking each day, within our own shadow or reflection, then we are walking down uncertain pathways, while we are always questioning ourselves; wondering if we are doing the right thing...heading the right direction and so forth.

God is there for us and He longs to walk with us into the doctor's office or into the operating room or the workplace. He just wants us to invite Him, to be there with us and for us. When we walk in the shadow of God's abiding presence, then we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

Nothing can be better, than to rise with the rays that reflect from the Holy Spirit. When God's presence shines down upon us, then we will always be able to walk in the reflection of His love and goodness.

Does Worry Take the Place of Prayer?

Does worry take the place of prayer in our lives? Isn't it amazing how we find it easier to worry, than to pray? Do our hearts experience the peace and tranquility that comes from prayer or does our hearts show symptoms of worry, through a restless heart?

It's so easy to go to God in prayer and then walk away, only to worry, as though it's a security blanket that we need to cling to, during difficult times in our lives. We say..."Oh God help us" one minute and then we become restless and impatient; only to run back to worry once more.

Worry can take us many miles down a pathway that hasn't even existed yet. Worry can increase the suffering in our lives and cause us to suffer needlessly. On the other hand, the pathway of peace will allow us to rest in the safety of God's loving arms, while we wait for His answers. His peace will cause us to have a thankful heart, even before He meets our need. We will not only feel His peace during the day; but during the night hour too. By talking with God, before going to bed, we will be able to turn everything over to God and leave it in His hands, while we rest in His perfect peace.

On one side we have worry, which becomes another pit of despair to wallow in, while on the other side, we have God, who holds the answers to our needs, along with a benefit of peace; but yet we still choose to worry. It's as if we find ourselves at the dead end of a problem and we've been given a choice, as to which direction we should go. Are we going to turn to the left and allow the pathway of worry to make life even more difficult or are we going to travel the pathway of peace, where we can find rest, while we wait for His answers?

When we travel the pathway of worry, we have our minds constantly on the problem but when we travel God's pathway of peace, we our turning our thoughts to the true source of hope, that can give us sustainment, until He gives us His response. Can we find strength, when we are traveling down the pathway of worry? No...worry will only drain us of the strength that we've been given. The more that we focus our attention on God; the more strength we will gain, which can be used to help us through a difficult journey.

We need to ask ourselves, are we traveling the pathway of worry or the pathway of God's peace. Did we get lost, so deeply in the problem, that we find ourselves traveling down the wrong pathway? If so, all we have to do is turn around and get reconnected to God through prayer and He will place us back on His pathway of peace, where we will be sustained and strengthened, until God places us on a brand new pathway.

An Easy Solution to Our Problems

Beauty for ashes and gladness for mourning; this is a sample of what our God can do for us. He is a God that can take the weight off of our heavy burdens and exchange our weaknesses for something greater and stronger.

We have days, when we feel as though the problems never end. The light at the end of our pathway appears dimmer at times and we begin to wonder if this is what life will be for us; just one long difficult road. We may not always know when our times of trial will end...only God knows; but we can take the heavy heart, that's keeping hope from entering our thoughts and allow God to exchange it for a lighter load. He will take our ashes of despair and replace them with His beauty. He will take our moments of grief and heartache and replace it with His heavenly gladness but we must be willing to make the exchange with Him too.

In Matthew 11:28-30, it says..."Come to me and I will give you rest...all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke...for it fits perfectly...and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens." There may be times when our trials become so overwhelming, that the weight of every detail is weighing us down, until we are drained and brought low but God says that if we will come to Him, then He will take the heavy load and He will exchange our weaknesses for His strength.

The trial itself can be enough to bear; but when we become overwhelmed with all that we have already been through; then we can end up even weaker, where we can become even more vulnerable to Satan's ways. In these verses, it says..."Wear my yoke...for it fits perfectly..." When God gives us His yoke of strength; everything will fit perfectly and fall into place. We will find His peace, instead of the overwhelming struggle and we will find that He is the only One who is great enough to handle our needs and while we are resting in His presence of peace; He will teach us how to deal with our circumstances and show us a better way of coping, until He has walked us out of the trial.

God may be allowing us to go through a trial, so we can discover new growth or be used for Him; but when He allows us to go through a time of trial; He only gives light burdens. When we aren't leaning on God during these times, then we panic and become overwhelmed with our circumstances and the load we experience begins to weigh even heavier on us.

Jesus is saying to us today...wear my yoke...for it fits perfectly. In other words, let me take the heaviest part of your load because I am strong enough to bare it. He's offering us an easier solution to our problems; all we need to do is reach out and make the exchange.

Living the Example of Christ

Tonight, I was thinking about people who have been spiritually hurt. They seem to feel that God can't love them because maybe their faith isn't strong enough or maybe they are too bad of a person, for such a great God but that's not true. We have trouble fathoming the love of God at times because we live in a world, where true love is hard to come by. We live with broken relationships, abuse and all kinds of heartache that has taken over real love, so it's hard to imagine at times, that there is a God that can have an even greater love, than what we experience here on earth.

The verse that I would like to share with you tonight, that goes along with this, is John 3:16, which reads..."For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We all have probably memorized this verse before but do we truly know it's meaning? We live in a world, where we have to work at relationships but with God; He has already done the work for us. All we need to do is believe in Him.

Have we ever known anyone who would go to such depths of suffering; just to show real love like this? We never knew Him in a personal relationship before His death on the cross; but yet He was still willing to lay His life down for us. To me, that's true love. How many of us could lay our lives down for someone we never even knew; let alone, for the people we already know? God's love for us is so deep, that He took the closest one to Himself, which was His Son and God turned His head for one moment of satisfaction, so He could show the depth of His love for us, through His Son Jesus Christ.

No one is perfect and none of us experience a sinless life; but yet God's love continues to surround us each day. If we could take God's love and see it, in a completely different way from the world's love, then we would know the greatest love that we could ever experience. If people could just see the need of a person's heart, instead of always pointing out their faults, then God's love would shine all around us. When we bring each other down through judgment, that's when a person misses out on the love of a real God who truly cares. We need to show Jesus to the world; the way Jesus would reveal Himself, through love. People need to know that they have hope and love in God, not rejection and a life with no hope. That's not what Jesus died for and that's not the example He set for us to follow.

The only way that people are going to find hope again, is by rediscovering Jesus' love and if we are going to show them His love, then we must live the example of Christ. We will either separate a person from God's love or we will lead them closer to His love. Let us all show the true love of God today!

What Can Make Me Whole?

What can make me whole again? What can remove me from this difficult pathway I'm facing? I see no end to this journey of darkness. How long will this journey continue...until the day I die? How many of us face trying moments in our lives like this, when all we wonder, is when it is all going to end? We know that God is there but why do our circumstances never seem to end?

We can have long days of chronic pain, chronic illness or even long periods of depression and heartache. We turn to God and we try to lean on Him; but yet the problems continue on. Does God love me anymore and why doesn't He seem to hear my prayers?

I believe that when we are allowed to walk down long and difficult pathways; it's so we will always need God. We will either do one of two things; we will either run to God or run away from God. The choice is up to us. We will either go through this journey in life with Him or alone. When we begin to see God as our source and need, instead of the problem, then we grow stronger, so we can reach a higher place with God. I see it as a staircase to Heaven. Each step resembles an obstacle in life, whether it be an illness, grief or heartache, or loss of job or income, etc... Sometimes the steps will be easy because of things we have already overcome through God; but then there may be new steps, that seem steeper. No matter what we do; we can't seem to reach them, so God allows what Satan sees as a failure and He uses these moments, so He can show us how to reach the new step of growth. For each step or obstacle we overcome in life, we are able to look back and know that we can climb to higher places with God because of what we have already overcome.

God never allows moments like these into our lives, just to watch us fail or fall, but rather, He's saying...look what I can do in your life, through a weak moment. We may be facing chronic pain or illness today or we may be facing grief or heartache. When we use these moments in a positive way, then we begin to discover the strength and growth we can receive from God, as we continually grow stronger in Him. There's a reading in II Cor. 12:10 that says..."for when I am weak, then I am strong...the less I have, the more I depend on him.", so new strength is gained through our weakest moments. The less we have to lean on, of our own, the more we will reach out to God and lean on Him instead.

What can make me whole again? Can we do it on our own? Will concentrating on our problems give us strength? We can only gain the perfect strength of God, when we quit allowing the dark pathway to control us and instead, turn to God as our main source of hope.

Are we on a Detour Road or are we Walking down God's Pathway?

Tonight, as I was listening to some music; I was thinking about the power of God and how He can make pathways appear before us, that we may not see. Our circumstance can be taking us down a dark and dismal pathway that seems empty and lonely, with no life; until God shows up.

We tend to forget that God can create brand new pathways of light, that can take us off and away from the dark and dead end pathways that we may be facing right now but how does this begin to happen? How can we leave the darkest pathway of despair, for the powerful pathway of God's light? What could we be doing wrong?

I believe that whatever our focus is fixed on, then that is where we are in life. We can be walking down this pathway and along the pathway, nothing seems to look good. The sky is dark and only weeds grow along this pathway of despair. Instead of a plain path; we find ourselves trying to climb over obstacles instead. We can be so discouraged and into the moments that surround us that we remain fixed on these moments and when we do this, then we can't see any good pathway that God may be trying to show us. Our surroundings may appear depressing and lacking in life; but if we can seek out His desires and His paths, then we will begin to rise above despair; to a place where we are no longer allowing our surroundings to control us. There are a few verses in my study bible that go like this..."For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest." Jeremiah 29:11-13. When we can begin to focus on what God is longing to show us, instead of focusing on our pathway of despair, then we will begin to see a ray of light at the end of our pathway and as we approach the light of God's presence; we will see the pathway that He longs for us to be on and we will be able to enter but we must be willing to lay aside our thoughts too and only let His presence lead us to the place, that He longs for us to be.

Where are you right now? Are you walking down a pathway that seems to be going nowhere? Is your pathway dark and dismal, with no life? Remember...God already knows the plans He has for all of us; all He wants us to do, is catch up with Him and connect onto the right pathway.

We Die to Live

Tonight, I was thinking about the character in the Bible named Joseph. Many times I think about the ones I can relate to because of what I've been through in my own life. Joseph is one, that I feel so connected to, when I've read his story in the Bible or when I've watched the film about him.

Joseph was a person who grew up, being disliked for the good that he did, even by his own brothers. He was thrown into a pit by his older brothers and for many years, he served as a slave for the Egyptians. Even at moments, when he might of felt forsaken by God; God never let him down; in fact, God used his imprisonment, to allow greater things into his life that would help not only him but his family too.

There are times when we all feel forsaken by God. The circumstance we are going through can become so overwhelming, that we don't feel the presence of God as close as before; but one thing we need to remember, is that God is never a defeated God. Everything that God allows into our lives will serve a purpose for Him in the end.

In my own life; there were days in the past, when I felt forsaken. As each one of the twenty-one knee surgeries kept coming and as I felt each loving desire slip through my fingers; I felt as though this was the way I was going to die. Just like Joseph; I felt like I had been thrown into a pit of despair; only to be brought out, to go through much more in my life. As days passed; I began to see God's plan unfold for my life and I now realize that God wasn't allowing my life to be stripped of everything, to harm me; instead, God was allowing everything to be stripped from my life, so I could have a clear vision, of the plan He had destined for my life.

We may not always like the way our lives turn out. We may feel as though everything has been totally stripped from us, including the dreams that we have carried for so long in our lives; but when we start viewing our lives according to God's desires, instead of viewing our lives through our own eyes; then we will begin to see His purpose unfold within ourselves.

When we plant seeds in a garden; the seed has to die before it can sprout new life and in a similar way, that is what God is allowing into our lives. He's allowing us to die to ourselves, so a new bud of growth can begin, as He gradually works to unveil His beautiful plan for our lives.

The Final Piece of the Puzzle

There are days when we are so overwhelmed with life, that we don't feel special, even to God. We may feel that if nothing is happening in our lives, then God doesn't see us as others but that's not true. No matter what a person does for God; He sees it all the same. As long as we are living out His desire for our life, then we are right where we should be with God. We are all a piece of His puzzle and whether we see our piece as something big or small; God sees our piece as something that makes the plan of His puzzle complete. If we try to do something; other than what He has designed for us, then our piece of the puzzle will make His plan incomplete.

I'm sure that we all have put a puzzle together, at one time or another. Each piece of the puzzle is cut out with a specific shape, so when all the pieces come together, then the puzzle reveals what the picture is. What if we were to take a piece of the puzzle and try to make it fit, even if it didn't belong in that particular spot? Would the picture be clearly seen? In a similar way; if we try to make something fit into our lives that God hasn't designed for us then His plan won't be clearly seen. No matter what we've been chosen to do in life, it all serves a purpose and if we do the things in our lives that God has called us to do for Him, then God will be clearly seen to the world. God has chosen each of us for a specific purpose; just as each shape of the puzzle is cut in a special way, to reveal the picture. There may be times when we feel like we don't do much at all but at the same time, that same piece of the puzzle may be what's needed to complete His plan.

If we could see our lives the way God sees them, then we wouldn't feel so incomplete. We need to seek out God's will for our own personal life. When we are seeking out His plan for our lives, no matter how large or small it may seem, then we will be content and we will know that we are living out the purpose, that God created us for. After each piece is completely in place, then we will not only see Him more clearly but He will be seen more clearly to the world too.

Do we Serve Our Circumstance Rather than God?

Could we be serving a symptom of our circumstance instead of God, without even realizing it? How can this happen? We could be going through a difficult circumstance in our life; to find that symptoms begin to arise from the circumstance, such as fear, doubt, anger, or any other negative feeling. When we become too deeply attached to these feelings; we find that we have lost our connection with God and we begin to serve the symptom of our circumstance even more.

Does it make sense? Can we really serve a symptom of our circumstance and how does this happen? When we find ourselves facing a difficult time in our lives; the circumstance can bring about negative feelings and sometimes we become too attached to them, that we end up serving them, instead of looking to God. We sit and wonder why we are still hurting or going through a difficult time; when we don't even realize that we have turned inwardly, to the symptom of our problem, instead of turning completely to God.

An example of this would be a person who is living with heartache, from grief or something from the past. The feelings that come out of those painful moments can bring about fear, deep heartache and even anger. When we get so deeply attached to these feelings; we can find ourselves slipping away from God, without even realizing it. This doesn't mean that we have lost our salvation; it just means that the symptom of our problem begins to dictate our life, instead of God. We become deeply wounded, as though the wound hasn't had a chance to heal. We may still talk with God about our problem; but where do we go from there? Do we remain connected to God, even after prayer or do we slip back into the feelings that may be crushing us and placing us into a pit of despair?

When I was going through counseling for a past sexual abuse; I did the same thing. My feelings became my god, even though I was still searching for the answers, through the true and living God. When I prayed; I would still go away with unbelief. In fact, there were moments, when I would say to God..."what's next!" I learned after a while not to say that because every time I said..."what's next"; something new would arise. At that time, I never realized how my words and feelings could continue to debilitate me and keep me from a healing in my life. How we speak or how we react to our circumstances, will relay to God our desires. If we are turning inwardly to our fear, doubt or anger, then those things will continue to dictate our lives and keep us away from the true answers that God longs to give us.

Today, I was thinking about how far God has brought me in my life. I remember the shattered moments of despair and even though my life won't be completely perfect until I reach Heaven; I realize, that I no longer follow after the feelings that kept me wounded.

An Obstacle of Despair

Our pain and heartache can become either an obstacle, that gets in our way or a crutch that we learn to lean on; but when we use God's strength and the power that He gives us through His word, to get through these times; then we can do anything.

Today, as I was writing for about 4 hours; I was thinking back to the moments when I said to myself, that I couldn't do the things that I'm doing now. Words can become a powerful obstacle that keeps us from pursuing God's will and purpose for our lives. Now, as I feel new growth springing up in my life; I see that I can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

When obstacles get in our way; we tend to stop moving forward and we have trouble believing in ourselves and what God can do in and through us. Sometimes we can become too spiritually weak, that we give in to the obstacle and remain in the same spot. God showed me today, that with His help and being totally connected to Him, that He can move the obstacle out of our way and place us back on a limitless pathway, where we can experience great and wondrous things with God. The question is...are we willing to accept, that there could be an obstacle in our way, so we can ask for God's help or do we become more comfortable with the obstacle that we end up making God a limited God?

This obstacle I speak of is like having a huge boulder in the middle of a pathway and this boulder is saying...this is where the pathway ends. If we believe in what this boulder is conveying to us, then we will cut off the power of God in our lives and we will never see or experience; all that God longs for us to live for. Whether we are a pastor, teacher, author, housewife or an everyday worker; God is the same to all of us. He has placed a purpose in each of our lives and we are never going to discover what that purpose may be, if we are sitting in the middle of our pathway, accepting defeat.

What about the many things we go through in life? Can that become an obstacle? First of all...God never wastes, the moments that He allows in our lives because if He did, then He would be a defeated God. If God is allowing you to go through a difficult circumstance; look to God and ask Him why? He doesn't want us to turn our circumstances into an obstacle that creates a dead end road for us. He wants us to move beyond the circumstance and use it to reach out to others in need.

Are you experiencing the limitless pathway of God or are you just sitting in despair; thinking that you are at the end of the road? When we allow our circumstance to become an obstacle in our pathway and we allow it to remain, by how we live, then this is where depression and despair begins and we lose hope. Talk to God and let Him show you how limitless He can be in your life.

God Crowns Each Effort of Trust with Success

Why do we try to trust in ourselves, when we know that we don't have the answers? Proverbs 3:5-6 says..."Trust in the Lord COMPLETELY; don't ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success." Why is it that we try to put trust in our own ways first and when everything fails, then we cry out to God in a state of panic? Many times we find that our circumstance keeps growing because we are in the way. We turn inwardly to ourselves, instead of trusting in a perfect God.

Think of life as a checkerboard game. We are the red pieces that represent good, while we are surrounded by the black pieces of evil. What must we do, to get across to the other side of the board? We need to have someone directing our moves, so we don't end up in the clutches of evil; but on the other hand, we can't just sit on the game board of life because evil will surround us and attempt to overcome us. We can't move and try to figure the right directions on our own either, so we will need to turn to God. If we listen to His still, small voice, then we will know which way to turn and we will move with His pace; but if we are distracted by the game of life, instead of trusting in God, then we may end up going the wrong direction, where evil can come against us. If we move across the board; trusting God all the way, then we will not only make it to the other side of the game board of life; but God will crown our efforts with His success and evil will be defeated. One thing we need to remember though; we must trust God completely. If we have our eyes on Him, for some of the journey but then we take our eyes off Him and back to what we think, then we will have more obstacles to encounter.

Think of it this way; can a blind person lead another blind person down the street, when neither one of them are familiar with the street? This is what we do, when we try to trust in a way that is unknown to us. We need someone who already knows the way. We need someone who knows where the obstacles are and how to get around them and that person is God. I believe that when He created us; He also created each pathway that we would go down in life. He knew what purpose we would have in life and how we would serve that purpose for Him; but if we are too busy following ourselves, then we will never know if we are going the right direction. Can we crown our own efforts with success? Can we know where evil is hiding, while on this journey with God? We need to take our minds off of our own thoughts and ideas and place our complete focus on God each day. We need to ask ourselves these questions, are we on the right pathway today? Who is leading us; God or ourselves?

Why Do We Feel Cast Down...Hope in God?

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." Psalm 42:5 Why are we cast down into despair and why do we allow depression and despair to bring our hearts low? Here we have a great God, that knows all things...sees all things...and can do all things; but yet we choose to allow ourselves to be cast down into a pit of despair.

God made everything, including us and He not only made us but He still holds the blueprints to our hearts and minds. He knows when something has been broken in our lives and He knows how to fix it; but are we allowing Him to do so? He's standing in front of us; holding a brand new heart and mind for us, while we continue to allow our circumstances to bring us low. God doesn't need to perform some great test on us; to see that our hearts are broken. God not only sees the tears that flow down our cheeks; but He's a God that looks deep within the heart and sees when the tears begin to flow inwardly, as our circumstances become overwhelming.

We need to disconnect ourselves from the problem, that is allowing ourselves to be cast down into despair and instead, we need to connect ourselves to God. When we have plugged ourselves into God, then we will also reap all of His benefits, of love, grace, care, peace, hope, etc...; but when we find ourselves too deeply attached to our problems, then we reap those benefits of fear, anxiety, doubt, and lack of faith, and so forth.

Are we cast down within our soul because we have allowed our problems to become an instant replay button, instead of looking at what God can do for us? The way to know, is this...are we feeling low, broken, depressed, or any other negative feeling that we could experience or are we feeling a heart of praise and thankfulness; knowing that God will help us through? Instead of allowing the circumstance to swallow us up in despair; we need to begin to praise God, even if we don't have the answers...that's faith. When we can't see the road ahead of us and we don't know what can happen because the fog of our circumstance has control; but yet we can settle in with God and praise Him, then we are sending Him a message, that even though we have been brought low; we know that He holds the keys, that can unlock the darkness and walk us out, into the safety and shelter of His presence. Maybe we need to ask ourselves this question..."why are we cast down and why do we feel forsaken and disquieted within our soul, when the answer stands right before us...Jesus.

Are We Suffering Needlessly?

Do we remember that God is close by, when we are having a difficult day or do we choose to suffer needlessly? This has always baffled me; wondering why we as human beings find it easier to suffer when we don't need to; in comparison to talking with God for one moment.

Today, God reminded me that He is only a prayer away. We don't need to set up an appointment with God or travel a long distance, in order to talk with Him. As I was struggling through a situation today; I took some time and stopped everything, to ask God for His peace, instead of the anxiety, frustration and bitterness. Within a few moments after going back to my work; I began to feel the peace overflowing my soul and the heavy heart leave. Not only did I get my work done; but I also accomplished something, that I hadn't planned on for the day. Later, as I went to get around for the evening; I was praising God and thanking Him for all the help and guidance that He had given me throughout my day.

We don't need to linger in our moments of hopelessness, when God is waiting, just a prayer away, to help and lead us from one moment of defeat, into His place of peace. If we were sick and we knew that a certain kind of medicine would help; would we just sit in our agony and suffer, when we knew that there was a way to come out of our sickness? In a similar way; when we know that God can help us and free us, from moments of hopelessness and despair; but yet we choose to just sit in our agony, then we will never find the peace that we are so desperately looking for.

It's amazing how life's little experiences can become messages from God. If we would look for the growth in life's situations, then we would have a new strength to live with each day; instead of allowing ourselves to wallow in despair.

We don't have to live with our heartache, grief and depression. We have a choice and one of our choices is only a prayer away. Our situation can continue on, when we choose to refrain from God's love and mercy or we can make the right choice and find freedom and peace, instead of despair.

What choices are we making each day? Do we really know that we have the solution or do we chose to allow the circumstance to take over and lead us down more pathways of pain and heartache?

Listening for the Voice of God

When we listen for the voice of God; it's amazing what we discover. Sometimes we can endure so much in life; that we wonder if God hears our voice too.

After a busy week; I woke up tired and drained and I needed the presence of God to minister to me this morning. After sitting for a while and resting and just taking some moments for myself; my husband and I went into God's word, to have devotion together. As we began to pray, before starting; I felt as though God was telling me repeatedly to read Psalm 94 this morning, so when we finished with prayer; we turned to Psalm 94 and began to read. As we read verse after verse; I suddenly became alive, as I felt the spirit of God speaking to me. Each verse seemed to be a message of encouragement to me this morning and by time we finished with prayer; I began to feel rejuvenated again.

Sometimes, in my relationship with God; I feel as though He allows me to go down difficult pathways, so when I come out with Him; I learn and grow enough, to share it with others. I see Him at work in my life, when I have just come out of a painful moment; to write something that touches another person's life. As I read Psalm 94:10b this morning, this verse seemed to stand out, above all the other verses I read. This part of the verse reads..."he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?" It's so true...we can't pass along God's wisdom, if we don't know it first. How can God work through us, if we haven't discovered, what He longs to share with others, through us?

Today was another eye opener for me. The moments we feel that God isn't there...He really is. Could be that we just aren't listening enough. Maybe we're too connected to our problems; that we miss out on the message He longs to give us. When we're communicating back and forth with the problem, then we become unplugged from the communication we use to have with God and when we do this; we lose sight of God's answers.

I remember, as I was feeling tired and out of it this morning, that I looked up to His picture over our fireplace and said..."Jesus, please don't let me lose touch with you today". He truly heard my cry and came to me, at the time I needed Him the most and He not only ministered to me; but He brought His perfect peace with Him too.

Has Fear Become the Raging Storm within us?

Today has felt more like spring, instead of winter; with temperatures in the low 50's, with wind and rain. Later in the day, the wind began to pick up and the huge, tall pine trees, in our neighbor's yard began to sway a bit. An instant fear came over me, as I thought about those trees coming down on the house but as I kept looking out the window; God reminded me, that when we have Him in our lives, that we don't have to fear anything. In fact, we should have a settled feeling that our God is looking out for us.

I have a study Bible that has references to different headings, like fear, frustration, anxiety and so forth, in the front section of this Bible. Under the heading of "fear"; I have a few favorite verses, which reads..."He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen; for he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. That is why he is not afraid, but can calmly face his foes." Psalm 112:7-8. When we truly are content in God and know that He loves us and cares for us, then we don't have to live in dread and fear. Instead, we can sit back, with a settled feeling that He is in control. God holds the control stick, to all that He has created and when we can truly believe that, then fear fades out of our vocabulary. When we find peace, in the midst of the storm, then we have truly connected with God.

Once, I was watching a documentary on storms and I learned that the calmest part is in the eye of the storm. We can feel as though we are on a raging sea and everything around us is out of control but when we take hold of the One who has control over everything in our lives, then it's as if we have entered the eye of the storm; where we find God as a place of refuge, until the storm comes to an end.

How is it, that we tell ourselves, that God is this great and powerful being; but yet we lose sight of our words, when the storms begin? We panic and lose hope and fear is all around us and we end up losing our connection with God. We need to get our thoughts back and concentrate on what God stands for in our lives. We need to make Him more powerful in our lives, instead of weaker than our circumstance. When we know that God is in control, then all the negative symptoms, of fear, anxiety, frustration and so forth will begin to fade away and God's peace will come in and calm the storm around us.

When Peter was walking on the water to Jesus; he did fine, as long as he remained connected and focused on Jesus; but the very moment, when Peter allowed the raging storm around him, to become more powerful; that is when Peter began to sink. As we are walking through the storms of life; are we looking for Jesus, instead of the storm? Are we remaining connected to Him, so we don't fall? When we can sit back, with a settled feeling, then God has already begun to help us through our storm.

A Clear Connection

Why do we end up in deep despair, while walking down the pathway with God? What separates us from the greatest power; into the deepest pit of pain and heartache? When we are connected to the most powerful being, which is God; nothing can take that power from us, unless we allow it, through the choices we make and how we look at our circumstances.

What happens if we don't connect a garden hose to the faucet, when we need to water our garden or flowers? Yes...the water won't be able to reach the place that needs the water. In a similar way; if we are too connected to our problems and not to God, then we will lose our connection with Him and all He longs to give us. We can either weaken our problems, by allowing ourselves to become more connected to God, while we are going through difficult times or we can make God weaker and our problems greater; by either focusing too much on our needs or by looking for more problems to come out of the original problem. If we are going to allow our moments of despair to dim out, then we need to keep our connection strong with God.

Many people feel that when we are in deep despair; it's because God has abandoned us; but actually it's the reverse. We have abandoned God, by focusing more deeply on the problem. Satan's desire is to not only afflict us with a circumstance; but it's his desire to keep the affliction alive and to increase the strength of the problem, so our relationship with God weakens. Satan already knows that he has the unbeliever, so he spends his time on the one who chooses to truly follow after God.

In my own life; I live with a disability and chronic pain. When I'm connected with God and God places His words upon my heart, for me to share with others; then guess who is strengthening me, so I can't remain focused on God? Satan will do anything, to stop the power of God and only our choices will determine if he succeeds or not.

Jesus also went through the difficult moments of temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane because it was Satan's plan to keep Jesus from going to the cross for us; but even though Jesus knew all He would have to go through for us; He rose above the temptation and went to the cross for us anyways. He saw our need; more than His own need and that became His demonstration of love to us. The question is; how are we showing our love and devotion back to God? Is it just through words or are we looking beyond the pain and heartache in our own lives, that is brought on by Satan, so we can remain connected to God and show our love back to Him? Our circumstances will either keep us connected and dependent on God or they will make us weaker.

Never Stripped of His Grace

When we as Christians go through overwhelming circumstances, we can feel stripped of everything in our lives; but one thing that can't be stripped away from us, is "grace". What Jesus did on the cross, became final. Evil may rage a battle within us and attempt to take everything away from us but there is someone who is greater than evil and that is Jesus and His G-R-A-C-E will never leave us.

We may have times, when our lives can feel like we're on a roller coaster. One minute we are up with God and the next minute, we find ourselves struggling to just remain a person but no matter where we make our place with God, His grace always remains faithful. When we experience this kind of love, we never have to feel alone.

We experience all kinds of love here on earth. We experience child/parent love...sibling love...true love between a man and a woman, along with other kinds of love but are they a lasting love? Do these kinds of love stick around, when times are tough and do they look beyond the fault, so a need can be found instead? Can these kinds of love, come back and pick up the broken pieces for us? Do we experience a kind of love down here on earth that will remain forever? It's hard to imagine at times but God's love can answer these questions. We live in a world, where we don't experience the type of love that God has to offer us and just as we have trouble with relationships here on earth; we also tend to compare God's love, to a worldly type of love...to the place that we can't imagine such an ongoing love as His.

There may have been times in our lives or even now, when we have gone our own way and we could never feel deserving of God's love; but just at the moment we need His help, there He is, with arms of forgiving love and a heart that's waiting to connect to ours. His love becomes a love that never asks "why". God's love just seems to walk right on by the fault, so He can take the need within His loving hands and work with it. Until we open up our hearts and allow ourselves to experience that kind of love, we will always feel lost and alone, within our circumstance.

So many times we miss out on the greatest love of all because we are placing limitations on God's love, by comparing His love, to the types of love we experience here on earth.

Why do we Make Prayer a Last Resort?

Why do we use prayer as a last resort? We hear people say..."well, all I can do is pray?" Why are we more willing to try everything that won't work; before we pray? Are we making our prayer life; something that sits on the back burner of our minds? Are we only praying, when a tragedy turns into an emergency?

God wants us to make Him our lifeline, for everything throughout our day. He wants us to know, that He can do so much more, than what we can even begin to think of. We exhaust ourselves, with every cure we can think of, to resolve our problems and when we find no end to our problems, then we call upon God, as a last resort.

Do we ever think that we could be suffering needlessly in our lives because we wait too long, before we ask God for His help? When we are sick; would we wait and go to the doctor at the last moment? When we are in pain; would we wait and take our medicine, when the pain got at it's worse? If not, then why do we make God a last resort? Yes, we have decisions to make, when it comes to our health or other things that happen in our lives; but we could add a dose of prayer and include God into our circumstance.

What really happens when we pray? To me; it's as if we are on the phone with God. Even though we can't see His face; we are still in His presence, when we talk with Him and it's as if our words are being transported directly before His throne, while He listens to our hearts cry. Prayer to me; isn't just a time when I bow my head and talk to God, instead, it's a time when I can talk to God, friend to friend. I can open up the deepest part of my heart and know that I can trust Him, as He listens to me. I know that He will cry with me, when my heart is hanging at the end of a thread. I know He will listen to me and not walk away, when I need someone to hear me.

When I pray; He becomes my counselor, when I need to talk with someone. He also becomes the prince of all peace, when I need someone to bring calmness to my spirit. He also becomes the great physician, when I'm in pain and I can't take the pain another moment. He not only lives in my heart but He is there to see what my heart experiences each day, whether good or bad. When my eyes have been out of tears; He turns inwardly to my heart and has seen the tears that flowed from my heart.

Prayer isn't just a ritual; it's a time when we share with the One who created us. We are in the midst of the Most High God; in our own "Holy of Holies". If we can feel this kind of connection with God when we pray, then we will always long to talk to Him and we will begin to see a renewed hope that comes from prayer.

Are we too Busy for God?

Today was a cold, frosty day. The snow has been gone for quite some time and only the frost is left behind. We see God in the little details of each day; just as He sees our needs through the little messages that are sent from our hearts to His.

I'm learning more and more, that when I slow down and drink in the day, then I see things that I never thought I'd experience or feel. We miss out on God's little messages because we tend to get too busy or caught up in the bigger things around us. I use to be a person that ran on high speed all week long. Since my husband has retired and I've been working more for God full-time; I'm seeing the little things, that I overlooked before, when I was living life at a much faster pace.

God isn't a silent God. He longs to relate to us each day but if we are too busy or caught up in our problems, then how are we going to hear His loving voice? Have you ever sat in a park and heard the sounds of many things that you wouldn't normally hear at home? Or you may notice new things, that maybe you have passed by many times before? In a similar way, that's how it is between God and us. Until we sit and listen for His voice within us or until we look for the things that He longs to offer us; we end up missing out on them all.

I remember when my husband and I moved out here to Washington State, for the very first time. I remember mentioning to him; that I noticed people who never seemed to enjoy the beauty that I was experiencing for the first time. Now that I have lived out here for 26 years; I find that I have moments, when I take for granted; the beauty that surrounds me too, until I slow down and take in a beautiful sunset or an eagle gliding through the sky or a majestic mountain. In fact, as my husband and I went out yesterday to do some shopping; I glanced up at Mt. Spokane and it was awesome. The background was in such a beautiful blue colored sky and the reflection of frost and snow hit my eyes, as though I was looking at white frosty jewels.

When we miss out on the little things, then we miss out on the messages that God is sending us too. God desires to give us His message of peace, while viewing His artistic hand at work during a sunset. He may be allowing us to see something in our day that could be an answer to a prayer request. Whatever He longs to show us; if we are too caught up in our day or the problems that surround us in a day, then these things become like a dense fog, that covers up His message to us.

We need to slow down; even if it's only for a moment in time, to see what God may be trying to show us. We could be missing out on a blessing that we have been waiting for.

Are we receiving a Clear Signal with God?

Who are we connected to today? When I think about my connection with God; I think about a phone wire connection. Signals are being sent back and forth; from one person to the other and then back again. As long as the connection remains; those two people can always communicate and share with each other.

Who are we connected to? Is our connection with God or our circumstance? Do we always have a clear communication with God, so we can hear His voice and feel His presence, while going through a difficult moment or is our connection so embedded in our problems that we only remain in contact with the problem?

When we have our communication connection with our circumstances; the only thing we experience, is the awful side effects from our circumstances. Our circumstances can't cure themselves; so why do we communicate with them? A communication connection with our circumstances, will only keep the communication open, so Satan can continue to abuse us and keep us so low, that we can't see the good that could take place in our lives. Satan's plan is to keep us so in touch with the problem, that we live for the problem, from one day into another day.

We need to hang up on the circumstance and place a call to God. When we have a communication with God, then we can tell Him about our problem and instead of the problem getting worse; He can communicate back and give us the answers through His word that will help us. We can dial Him any time of the day or night and the call is free; because He has already paid the price for us.

I'm learning more and more, in my own life; that when we become connected to our problems, instead of God, then we are in dangerous territory. When we are constantly connected to our problems, then we find that the connection gets worse. Our lives will tell us, who we are connected to. If we are experiencing bad connections and we find that we not only experience one thing; but many, then we need to break the connection and get back online with God. As you begin to live another day; what is your life revealing? Are the symptoms you're living; revealing a good connection with God or a bad connection with your circumstances?

Getting an Attitude against Evil

Seems like since the new year began; I am seeing more people struggling...people living with chronic pain, financial struggles and emotional struggles too. Today, as I was talking with several different people; a question came to my attention, that went like this..."So when we are being attacked by the evil one, then we are living the right life?" I responded; yes, in some ways because Satan doesn't attack those that he has already claimed to be his; those that have refused to accept God and walk in the ways of the world. Instead, Satan turns to the followers of Jesus. It's his plan to take us away from Jesus, so in the end; Jesus will be defeated, instead of him; but this cannot succeed, since Jesus' death on the cross became the victory over evil.

Satan's trick is to take us down and bring more weakness into our lives and then try to convince us that God is doing this to us. Satan will whisper thoughts into our heads, like..."Why would a God, who is supposed to be showing you love; allow these moments into your life?" or "God doesn't love you anymore". These are works of deception, to keep us from connecting to God. This is how we tend to view our circumstances from an earthly realm but if we were to see it as God sees our lives; we would probably see, that the more we turn to God; the problems in our lives increase. We would also see that we are even being attacked, after something good happens to us.

Satan wants us to believe that our weaknesses are brought about because of God; due to sin and other wrong in our lives; but when we read God's word; we realize that this isn't true because God is a God of love. How can a God of love, truth and goodness; strike us down with a weakness. Yes...God may allow what's happening; but not to make life worse; instead, He uses these moments, so the flaw within us can be made whole and strengthened.

When we blame God for the circumstances in our lives, then we have found ourselves; being drawn into a pit of deception. How can we relate to God and allow Him to work, if we are against Him, for something that He may be allowing for a season, to make us into better people for Him. Jesus didn't die to bring us down; but to lift us up and away from the weaknesses, that we may encounter on earth. He died to bring love; not a heart of destruction and anger.

We need to take a different look at our circumstances and try to see what God desires for us, through the circumstance, instead of allowing anger, hurt and bitterness to destroy the work He longs to begin within us. Instead of getting upset with God; we need to get an attitude towards Satan; the one who inflicted us, with the "thorn" of circumstance.

Love and Forgiveness

What truly is the meaning of love and forgiveness? This is what came to my thoughts today, as I was working on the web site. The word, "forgiveness" and "love" can be so easily spoken but God is teaching me more and more, that these words can be a bit more difficult, than what we think at times.

It's easy to love a person, while everything is going well; but what happens when one friend offends another friend? When a person has been deeply hurt; is it easy to just go on loving them; the way love was shown before the offense? If we were to truly follow the example of Jesus, then we would see beyond the fault and see a need in its place. The fault just keeps bitterness in our hearts and causes division but when a person can see beyond the fault and see that there is a need in that person's life, then true love and forgiveness has been experienced.

Isn't it easy though, to tell a person that we forgive them and love them; when there is a part; deep within the heart that is telling a different story? Forgiveness can become an obstacle, that may not be as easy to get over and if we haven't crossed over the obstacle of forgiveness, then love isn't real.

When a person has been hurt deeply; then that person may desire to forgive the other person; but until the heart sees, what the words are speaking; then the wound in the heart remains open. When a wounded heart hasn't been sealed over and healed through forgiveness, then the heart becomes vulnerable to Satan. He's lurking around; seeking whom he may devour and when he sees unforgiveness, as an open wound that hasn't healed; then he uses his evil to enhance the wound, so he can attempt to keep it from healing and keep us away from forgiveness and God too.

If we could just stop and think about how Jesus would handle forgiveness, then we would find it easier to truly forgive. Jesus would look beyond the fault and directly to the need of the heart; just as if the fault never existed. He cared even more about where the person was headed, than what was done wrong. When we do things wrong in life; they become only symptoms, that come from the root of the problem, which becomes the true need of our lives. If we are always more concerned about what this person did to us or that person, then the need will never be seen and resolved.

Committed through Adversity

What will God have for us in the days to come? Only He knows, as He has known since the day we were born into this world.

Tonight, as I have been watching a movie on "Abraham"; I began to realize that as Abraham was learning about the new god that He would follow; that he went through a lot of uncertainties. There were times when Abraham and his people were getting low on supplies, as they began to follow their new god. They couldn't understand how this god would bring them so far and not provide and meet their needs? I'm sure that Abraham even wondered if he had made the right decision, to leave family and friends and follow after God but even though he felt unsure; he continued to press on. Later, Abraham realized that he needed to depend completely on his God, instead of trying to figure life out on his own.

We all have moments, when we wonder where God is. We feel abandoned and forsaken, as we continue to face other difficulties in our lives but yet, there is something tugging at our hearts that allows us to keep following God, even when we say that we can't go on anymore. I believe that this feeling comes from a god that refuses to let go of us.

Just as Abraham and Sarah went through trying times; I believe that God was allowing those moments, so that they would turn to God and learn to depend on God. There may be moments when we can't figure out God either. We may be trying to figure Him out and wonder why He hasn't met our needs. Maybe He's trying to tell us that He hasn't abandoned us; but instead, He is using these moments, so we will focus our attention on Him, instead of the problems and the questions why.

From my own experiences; the closer I am to God; the easier life becomes. When we let Him know that we can't even breathe without His help and that He is the provider, for all things in our lives, then we will not only have a connection with Him; but we will also have a connection to all His benefits and sources of help. How can we expect to be blessed by God; when we aren't close to Him and connected with Him throughout each day? God doesn't want to just hear the words..."I Love You"! He wants to see them in action. I pray that we will find a connection with God that will bring His love, blessings and goodness into our lives!

True Happiness

What really is the meaning of happiness? How is happiness found? Is happiness something that we receive as a gift or how do we obtain happiness?

Tonight, as I was thinking about the word "happiness"; I began to realize that happiness is only found in one source and that's when we are connected to the inventor of happiness...God. How can we find an eternal happiness that continues to live within our hearts, in any other way but God?

Let's look at it this way; when we buy something for ourselves or for our homes; we enjoy it for a season but as days go by; that thing we bought seems to blend in with other things around us and the happiness we once experienced begins to fade away. How about a trip? We may go on a vacation for a week or two and we get all excited and nothing could ever bring us down; but what happens when the years pass by, after the trip we once enjoyed? What about a birthday or Christmas or a time when someone gives us a gift? Doesn't it seem as though the memory of that moment gets stored away within our thoughts, until our minds become preoccupied with other thoughts?

What's the difference between these moments and the happiness that can last with God? When we truly find ourselves connected with God, then the moments we share with Him become moments that remain alive within us. We find that these moments don't fade away like other things in our lives because we are not only experiencing happiness; but a happiness that comes from heaven itself.

When we are connected to God, then everything that is within Him becomes a part of us too. Think of it this way; when a computer is connected to the right source, then we are able to experience the complete internet, in a way that we couldn't do with just one book. I could go out and buy me a cookbook; but when I'm on the internet; I'm attached to the greatest source of recipes, in comparison to the cookbook I purchased. In a similar way; when we are connected to God, instead of just things, then we are connected to the main source of benefits that we could ever receive. We are connected to not only happiness; but we are also connected to peace, joy, patience, endurance, hope, etc... Instead of just having one resource of materialism; we are connected to the very best source, when it comes to God.

As we enter a new day or year; we have choices to make. Will we look for happiness in things around us or will we connect ourselves into the best resource of happiness, which is God?

A Melody that Carries Us into the Realm of Heaven

When we sing, talk or pray to God; could we actually be experiencing moments that allow us to travel in time? I've heard it said, that 1000 years down here; is but a moment in Heaven. When we are more connected to God, while we are doing something; could this be the reason why we feel time pass us by? What a thought to think on!

Oh the days that we could experience with God, if we would just allow ourselves these moments with Him. Instead of having a bad day, of dreaded chores; we could sing or talk to God while we are working. By doing this; we become connected to the more peaceful moments with God, instead of the depression or boredom, we normally experience. We could ask God for His peace...His perfect peace, before going to bed or going through a situation, that causes us to feel anxiety and instead of feeling frustrated or anxious; we could find rest, in His loving arms. We could ask for His help; while facing a problem that's too big for us; instead of finding ourselves in moments of continual failure. We could ask God to help us, while facing pain or some other illness; instead of suffering needlessly.

If we desire to experience a touch of Heaven; the only way that it's going to happen, is if we are connected to the main source of power; which is Jesus Christ. It's like a lamp. If we try to turn on the lamp but the lamp isn't plugged into the main source of power, then the light won't turn on. In a similar way; if we keep trying to make something work in our lives; while being disconnected from God, then we won't experience the things that He can do to help us.

I'm learning more and more, that I need to remain connected to God at all times. I'm learning that life can go easier and days can be filled with a touch of Heaven, instead of the same old kind of day. We don't have to live with dread; instead we can have a settled back feeling, that God will walk us through our day.

A God of New Beginnings

One of my favorite hymns goes like this..."Great is thy faithfulness; Oh God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow; blessings are mine, with ten thousand beside. Great is thy faithfulness...great is thy faithfulness...morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord onto me." As I sing this song, the hope I find within these words, is where it says..."morning by morning, new mercies I see." Every day with God becomes a gift and when we open the gift, we find that we have been given a brand new start. No matter what happened a day ago or even moments ago, God is renewing our moments with Him and giving us a fresh new start.

Why do we wait for a new year to begin, when a new day begins every morning? How many of us can say, that we have been given a gift, every day by God? God's love for us is so great, that He is willing to leave the yesterdays behind and help us focus on a new start. If He can do that for us, then we should be willing to join in with Him and celebrate a new day...a new day that's filled with new beginnings. To me, it's as though He has taken all the failures and problems from yesterday and has laid them before His cross, while He turns to us, as though to say..."My child, let's begin anew." God isn't only a god that gives us a new start each year but He's a God that brings new beginnings to us, each new day.

We need to shake the dust of circumstance, away from us and allow God to turn our yesterdays into new growth, so we can continue to move forward, as our journey continues to lead us closer to Him.

A Shelter from the Storm

Today was a great day of rest for me! After sleeping for 2 hours; I decided to take a shower and bring myself back alive for the evening. As I was getting around; a song came to me that reminded me of God's sheltering love.

What is a shelter from the storms; in relation to God? To me; it's when God covers us with Himself, during difficult times in our lives, until the storm of difficulties is over. Even though God is allowing the storm for a season of time; He shelters us and sustains us, until He knows the path is safe once more. He drapes His presence and sheltering wings around us, so the blunt of the storm won't harm us.

Whenever I think of this; I think about a mountain cabin that may be used during bad storms. To me, it's as if a person is wandering in the wilderness and a great storm is brewing. If that person was to come in sight of a cabin or shelter; wouldn't they enter that place of refuge, until the storm comes to an end and it's safe to once more travel on their way? In a similar way; God was reminding me tonight, that we may be wandering in a wilderness of trials and the circumstances can bring in a fierce storm; where we may need shelter, until it's safe to move on. Instead of the cabin; God becomes our place of refuge; where He can crouch over us, with His sheltering wings and reassure us that everything will be fine, until the storm passes by.

Someone today, may be going through such a fierce storm in their life; that they fear that they won't make it through. Let God shelter you and let Him become the refuge of safety you need, until the storm passes by. I have found that God will hold you and sustain you, until He knows that's it safe once more.

Last night, as I was sleeping; I woke up at about 4:30 in the morning and I couldn't get back to sleep. It seemed like every thought that could have walked into my mind was there. All of a sudden, I said..."Jesus, bring your peace to me...your perfect peace" and before I knew it, I had fallen back to sleep. Even through those restless moments; Jesus became my refuge. He watched over me, as I slept till morning.

Many times we try to weather the storms alone; instead of calling out to God, then we wonder where God was and why He wasn't there to help us. Yes...He can read our thoughts; but I believe that He's also waiting for our words. Our words become the request that He's there, waiting to fulfill. When we call out to Him, then we are sharing in the relationship and we are learning to lean on Him, instead of the circumstances that we may be facing. God is there; all we have to do is communicate with Him and He will come quickly to us, on angel's wings and surround us with His presence, until the storm passes by. May you find God as a shelter in your life today?

A New Year of Renewed Hope

Some people experience sadness, as each year leaves behind the memories that once danced within their hearts and made them feel full of life but that's not the case for me anymore. As I leave one more year behind; I realize that I've also left one more foot print behind, as I move one more step closer to Heaven. Days for me have increased with pain and sometimes it's hard to look forward to another day of pain; but these are the moments that continually draw me closer to God and Heaven, as I continue this journey in my life.

Time may have taken a toll on you too this year. You may have lost someone close to you, whether it be close to home or in the military. There may be people, who had a year turn from good health to a bad report of cancer and there may be people who are alone this year, that weren't last year. No matter what we face in this new year to come; time does move forward and lead us into better paths, that are fragrant, with the presence of God and good things once more.

Even though this year may have revealed a sad story in our lives; there's always the hope, that a new year ahead will bring better things; for we are just going through different seasons of time. Some seasons can seem as though they will never come to an end, as we face moments of heartache, pain and grief; but we must remember, that winter doesn't last forever. Winter will eventually lead us into springtime once more; where we will begin to see greener pathways and God will once more allow new growth and fresh buds, to spring forth and lead us to pathways that we never expected to enter.

A new year can be a difficult time for some and we need to pray for people like this, that we don't come in contact with each day. It's so easy to just view the people around us; while others in this world go through unbearable circumstances. Even though some are dealing with pain and heartache, throughout this Christmas season; we all have the hope that the true messiah came into this world and still reigns, to help us through these trying moments.

Looking for the Brightest Star of God's Presence

As I began my writing this morning, I began to think about the desperate search that took place, by shepherds, kings and wise men, as they longed to find the true messiah. During this time, these people traveled a very hard and difficult journey, just so they could see the place where Jesus was born. The journey didn't take them just a few hours, to reach their destination and they never thought about the discomfort and difficulties they faced but rather, their hearts and minds were focused on the search for the true messiah.

Do we search for Jesus in this way? No matter what difficulties we face on our journey, do we easily give in to the symptoms of our circumstances or is our search for Jesus more important to us? The journey we take can seem like its ongoing and the journey may seem, as though it will never come to an end but if we seek for Jesus and leave our problems behind, then we will find the presence of a powerful God, at work within our hearts.

We need to realize, that we just can't seek Jesus with our words and thoughts but the heart must follow after the words we speak and the desire of our minds, as though we are looking for a hidden treasure. Our words may speak messages of desire but the heart must search and search, until it reaches the destination, where Jesus lies within us.

Just as the shepherds and wise men followed the star that night; we too should look for the light of God's presence within us. His light will destroy the darkness of our circumstance, so we can walk out of the dark wilderness of despair and be lead to where God truly resides within us.

What if the shepherds and wise men would've followed their own thoughts and desires, rather than following the brightest star that night? They would've probably been lead further away from the place where Jesus was born. In a similar way, we too can become lost in the darkness of our circumstances, if we are not looking for the light of God's presence.

Who are we seeking for today? Are we looking for the brightest star of God's presence, to shine within our lives or are we so fixed on the darkness of our circumstance that we can't seem to find the way out? When we choose, to look deep within the true meaning of Christmas, we find that the story remains alive, as we continue to live it, within our hearts.

Applying God's Words to Our Lives

As I go from one day, into another, I have to remind myself, that I must apply the words to my own life that I hand out to others. Words can either make our lives easy or complicated. I find that speaking words can be so easy but living the words we speak, can be a completely different thing.

When we speak positive words but yet they don't have life within them, then they become light as air and fall to the ground but when we place a form of action with our words, then they become words that go to work for us and they come to life...working to do what they speak. We need words in our lives that will dance and bring real life within us and around us; not just words that remain for a moment's time and then fall away from us. When we speak something, our words should take flight, with wings that transport our words into God's desires for our lives.

When we speak words that are here one moment and gone the next, it's as though we have seen ourselves in a mirror but as soon as we walk away from the mirror, we no longer think about what we had just seen. Our words will either reveal that God is alive within us or our words will remain dormant, within our hearts.

We cannot see God in a human form, so how do we see Him and know He's real? We see Him, when He places thoughts within our hearts to live by and then those thoughts are processed into words, that we speak but the only way we will experience God and know He's alive within us, is when we place each word into action. It's as if He is within us and He begins to reveal Himself to us, as He speaks to us. As each word comes forth with action, then our words not only come to life but He comes to life too and this is when we truly experience the presence of God.

Do our words portray a life that reveals God's existence or do our words reveal that He is there sometimes but not at other times? When we wake up each day, have the words, from our yesterdays, revealed new growth and a steady relationship with God? Words are so important in life because they become like little messages from the heart that allows others and ourselves, to see how God resides within us. The question is this...are we allowing God to become alive or are we allowing His Spirit to suffocate, within our spirit?

Resting and Renewed in the Presence of God

Today is starting out, to be a good day! I love Sunday's because it's a time for me to relax from a busy week. When God created each day, He blessed us, with this special moment of rest, so we could be refreshed and renewed and ready, to begin another new week.

This morning, the air is cool and crisp, as everything around me has settled down for a winters rest. The squirrels that once were chasing each other in the yard have settled down in their nests, as they warm each other with a blanket of tails. Everything is preparing for a new day and a new week to come.

There can be days that can take us down, so that we feel like we may never have the strength for another new day but when we connect ourselves to God, He can fill us with a strength that will renew us, so we can continue to press on. The way we react to trying moments in our lives, can drain us and allow us to feel as though we may never be able to make it again but that's because we are allowing those moments, to control our lives, rather than allowing God to work for us.

Sometimes we just need to say, "It's ok... tomorrow's another new day," so we can lay our thoughts to rest, and allow God to rebuild, what's been torn apart. After a time of rest, our hearts and thoughts will become renewed and we will once more see that we can continue on and that we can survive the challenges of life and walk into another day.

Living one moment at a time, will allow us to walk in God's footprints and soon, we will discover, that following in God's footsteps, will lead us into brighter and better days. You ask me, "How do we do that?"..."How do we walk in the footprints of God?" We follow in God's footsteps, when we live one moment at a time and slow down. This way, we can feel His presence close beside us...speaking to our hearts, in a way that will allow us to know what to do for each new day.

There will be times when we fall because we are not perfect people but we must remember that when we have a bad day, that God is a god of new beginnings. He promises a new day, every day and He is willing to forget the day before and bless us with a new beginning. When we reflect too deeply, on the days that go wrong, then we remain in the past moments and never discover the new moments that God longs to give us.

The Christmas song I think of today, is "Silent Night, Holy Night; all is calm; all is bright". What a beautiful early Christmas morning and just as everything was calm and beautiful, on that holy night; God can also do the same, within our own lives, if we will look for the new mercies and love, He offers us each day.

How do we View our Memories?

Seems like this year has flown by so fast! Where has the time gone? Days seem to be moving along much faster than when I was a young child. There are times, when I wonder if the course of time is like an hour glass...the more that time passes by; the quicker the sand of time moves on.

As time passes by, memories continually become molded within our thoughts, to produce a huge file box within our minds. Is our file box a mixed up mess of memories, that allows us to stand still in a place of despair or is our file box organized, with the memories of the past in the back, while we continually create new memories that can fill the front section of our thoughts?

If we are having ongoing problems that come in from the past then maybe it's because Satan has been messing up the file box, within our minds. We seem to get everything in order and in its place, with God's help and then Satan comes along and enters our minds, where he doesn't belong. He looks continually, through the files, within our minds, until he finds a file, that's full of weakness from the past and if we aren't on the alert, he takes the file out and places it in the front section of our minds, where he can use it against us. When this happens, the thing we need to do, is ask God for His help because He's the only One who can straighten out the files for us, so that He is always in the front section of our thinking, while He continually creates better files for us to reflect on. Once we call for His help, then He will come and take the file, that Satan brought forth and He will take it away from our thoughts, where it can no longer be used against us, while He stamps the file with His precious blood...the blood that will stop Satan from controlling our thoughts.

Moments of adversity are never easy and these times can become such a raging battle; to the place, where we can't find the means to call out to God. We need to remember though, that God doesn't listen only to our words but He reads the desires of our hearts too, as though we have written a letter directly to Him. Our heart's desires become a message to God, as we cry out to Him in need.

Today, we need to ask ourselves this question; how is our files arranged, within our thinking? If we are allowing Satan, to use the files of the past against us, then there won't be any room for new and better memories to come and we will miss out, on the good things that God longs to share with us.

God is the Central Working Station for all we need

Who else has the power, to erase the sins of our past and love us for who we are, while never walking away from us? The only One that I have discovered is Jesus Christ. Even if we could try and make our own pain and sin go away, where would we begin and how would we ever be able to accomplish that much? Why would we need a God that strong and powerful, if we were already strong and powerful enough to heal ourselves? We never created ourselves, so why do we think that we can fix everything on our own? We could search and search for all of eternity and we would never be able to find the answers that are only held in the hands of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We need to seek the One who made us and know that He holds the answers to every frustrated and tear stained moment. Jesus knows how to fix all the broken pieces in our lives and He knows how to fill the voids that have been emptied out, through grief and loss in our lives. God is the One who has that special touch, to sooth the pain that racks our bodies. He knows the exact point of pain and He knows that just one touch will heal or ease the pain in our bodies and hearts. He knows how our minds and thoughts were meant to be and He automatically knows when something is not working properly. He sees the roads that can lead us to danger, before we even begin to sense a problem in our lives.

God is the central working station, for all we need...to be healed, helped or sustained. He has arms that can stretch out to many that are wounded and just the touch of His presence can calm the storm that's within us. Everything that we go through becomes connected to his presence and He's always on the alert. What about us? Where is our connection with Him? When we are completely connected to God, then we can settle back and know that He will take care of everything but what happens when we become disconnected, from His presence, through the way we think, feel and react to our circumstance? Can we hear, feel and know, when He is alerting us to danger? Can we feel His arms of love surrounding us and can we feel His touch, as He longs to reach out and heal what's been broken?

I can't make it a Day without Him

Tonight, as I was finishing a long and trying day; the first thought that came to my mind, is how can I exist without God in my life? The problems are bad enough; but to go through each one of them, without a strong crutch to lean on, would make it even more difficult. If God wasn't there, then who would detour us away from the dangers that we can't see? Who would be there to lead us to the people and places that can bring blessings into our lives? Who would open up a new pathway, when we face a dead end in the road?

I know personally, that I have moments, when I get so caught up in the busy moments of my day or the problems I may be facing, that I don't always stop to think about God and how much we truly need Him each day. We can be heading down God's pathway and think that we are heading the right direction; when all of a sudden Satan steps in and shows us a detour path, that can allow us to feel as though God is the one who is shifting us a different direction, when all along; it's a trick to keep us from following through with God's plan. How would we understand and see these things; if God wasn't there to point them out to us?

I remember several moments in my past, when I wasn't walking God's pathway; but as I look back, I know that He was still there, leading me back on to His pathway and pulling me away from the danger that Satan had planned for me. How many moments, do we go through a time in our life, when we say..."If it hadn't been for God, I don't know where I would be right now?" I know that I have said it several times in my lifetime.

As I was finishing a very busy day, I began to think..."If You, O Lord, wouldn't have been here with me today; then this day could've been much worse." We are always going to go through one thing or another in this life; but when we have God's presence surrounding us, He takes the edge off of us and places it upon Himself, just as He did at the cross. Instead of experiencing the full storm, we just experience the edge of the storm, with His presence near us.

If we could get our head out of the pit of our problems and the busy moments in our day, for just one moment, then we would feel and know the presence of God in a greater way and these moments would fill us with hope, that we are never alone and we can get through another day.

God walks us from Season to Season

Today there's been a chill in the air that a person could feel to the bone. Winter is drawing closer and the signs of fall are behind us now. The mountains that once showed their beauty through the colors of fall are now appearing to be darker in color, with specks of snow. It's amazing to watch the transition, from one season to the next. It's as though one season begins to overlap into the next season, until the season completes itself with the final signs that reveals its arrival.

Sometimes our lives can feel that way. We feel like the beauty of summertime will never end. Everything seems so beautiful, until God leads us into a new season. The early signs reveal, that God is doing something different in our lives and then finally...the season that God is allowing, comes in full force. There are times when we feel as though we are skipping from the beauty of summer, into the bitter, dormant signs of winter but just as God watches over every living thing and guides them through each season, He will also do the same for us. God doesn't allow us to walk into a season alone. He has full control of the seasons in our lives; from start to finish. This is the hope we can cling too, when the winter seasons in our lives feel as though they will never end.

When we know that God is walking through the seasons in our lives with us, then we can have a settled feeling that He is in control. He allows only so much to come into our lives but He has control over how much is brought into our lives at one time. Just as fall is about to end, so winter can come in; God allows us to go through one season and when He has accomplished His work in our lives for that particular season, then He brings us out into a better and brighter season.

If we could just walk through the seasons of our lives with God and have a settled feeling that God knows what He's up to, then we will have a much easier time, as we come out of one season and into the next. God has taught me much this weekend and now I have a new plateau to walk on in this week ahead.

I've lost it all to Find Him

Tonight, as I was getting around for the evening; God was placing a song on my mind. The song goes a little like this..."I lost it all; to find everything...I died a pauper, to become a King. When I learned how to lose, then I found out how to win; I lost it all, to find everything." As each word became imprinted upon my mind, this is the thought that came to me. When we go through chronic pain or any other kind of heartache in our lives that can become overwhelming; we can feel as though God has forsaken us. We can feel as though we are losing everything, while others around us have everything. After a while; we wonder if God really loves us.

Tonight, God showed me the true meaning of this song. Those who have lost so much in their lives; whether it be the loss of health, the loss of a friend or loved one, etc...;these overwhelming losses in our lives; are so we can find God in a greater way. When we find that we have lost everything and nothing is left to our lives; we begin to realize that we really have the greatest of all, which is God. In other words; as we are losing one thing in our life; God is filling that empty void in our lives, with more of Him and His wisdom.

In this world; we are raised to believe that we should have the best of health...the best of everything; but when we are so cluttered with these things, then where is there room for God? When we lose the things that mean the most to us; it's so we can find the life that God desires to offer us. The problem is that we are looking at our situations the wrong way. Seems like the more we lose...the more we fall into depression and despair but if we could see the loss in our lives; as an opportunity to gain God in a greater way, then we would have a reason to rejoice. His presence in us; is what is going to count in the end. I see this as prep to Heaven. God is gradually working with us now, as we gradually find Him in a greater way, until we enter Heaven, where our lives will be made complete.

Do you feel as though you have lost everything in your life? Do you feel as though you are just hanging by a piece of thread? God isn't allowing you to lose out on things in your life; just so He can allow you to become a failure. No...He's allowing these things to happen, so He can replenish the loss, with more of Himself. We need to remember, that this life isn't about ourselves and gaining the world. This life is about loving God...serving God...and finding Him, in a greater way, through loss and new growth.

Are we Taking God for Granted?

Today, I was thinking about how much we can take life for granted. We seem to see the pain and despair above the blessings that surround us each day. When Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem; they didn't have any of the luxuries that we have. They never had a hot shower or a means of brushing their teeth. They didn't have a refrigerator to go and get a cold drink or something to eat and they never had an automobile to drive. Instead they walked in sandals or rode donkeys to very distant places. They only had enough room to carry a bag or two, of the things that they would need for the journey and when they finally reached their destination in Bethlehem; they found no room to stay. There were no reservations; only first come, first serve.

Here... Mary was expecting a baby, while riding sideways on a donkey, for many miles in the cold. She never had the conveniences, for giving birth, like women have now days, instead she probably laid on the ground, with maybe some straw under her and instead of pillows to prop herself up; she probably leaned against a rock.

There was no emergency room to go to or doctors nearby. She depended on her husband to deliver the baby and even then; the baby was just wrapped in whatever kind of cloth that was available. Baby Jesus never rested in a beautiful crib, with toys in a room; instead He slept in a manger that was in the stable, with probably a little straw or hay. Yet, they never saw these moments as an inconvenience; only a blessing from God. All that mattered to Mary and Joseph; was that they were obeying God and following through with His will.

Jesus could have been born in a palace, with the best of everything; but instead He was born in a lowly stable. In another way; Jesus didn't have to die a brutal death on the cross but He did that too. He gave up everything of His own life; just to be here on earth and show His great love for us all.

I wonder why we find it so difficult to see our life that way. Why do we seem to concentrate and dwell on the things we don't have or the things that seem wrong, instead of seeing the best we can have, which is a beautiful relationship with God. I think that if we could put more thought into the blessings that God has already given us in this life; then we may not see the need for anything else but Jesus.

How are we beginning our Day?

Today, I awoke to another frosty morning. Even though the moments of the week had weighed heavy on me; God was showing me, that this was a new day of beginnings. The view of the morning hour seemed to be as a gift from God; to revive me and allow me to feel His presence.

When we wake up each day; we don't know exactly what kind of a day it will be. The sun could be out and shining, while at other times; the rain or snow could be falling; creating a whole new look for the day. This is what God is trying to relay to us. Just as each day shows a different view; each new day is given to us, to lay aside the things of yesterday; whether good or bad and find a new start with God.

We need to wake up in the morning, with anticipation, to what God may have for us. To me, it's as if we are going around a bend in the road. What surprise will catch our eye? When we get up and start our day, with the same old defeated attitude, then we will never be able to see the prize awaiting us in our day, due to the dense fog, that we surround ourselves with.

God is a mysterious God; always ready to show us something new that will draw us closer to Him. When we are looking for what He is trying to show us, then we are also finding Him and experiencing our day with Him but when we take our problems and put all our energy into what may stem from this or what may happen here, then we have not only missed out on the moments that God wanted to share with us in a day but we have also brought more depression and gloom into our lives.

How we react to our day; will show us the day. I guess what we never really take into account; is how our words dictate our lives. When we are positive about life, then we are going to find God's best but when we can only speak and view negativity, even before it happens, then our day is totally shot. When our feet touch the floor in the morning; what are we relaying to God? Are we longing for a good day; full of His blessing and special touch or is our heart relaying a message, that only evil can respond too?

Christ is Alive within us even through

Moments of Dormancy

Today, I woke up to a beautiful frosty morning! The rooftops had a look; as though God Himself had dusted them with a sparkling powdered sugar. The trees were showing their best look, with a gray/white formal color and the pine trees had a touch of white on the tips of their green needles. A fresh feeling surrounded me, as I opened the curtains, to such a lovely, early Christmas view. The coolness of the air brought refreshment; like the feeling one gets, when sucking on a peppermint candy and breathing in the fresh air at the same time and the grass had a layer of sparkling frost that crunched beneath the weight of a foot.

The world around me had opened a completely different personality, than what I had seen in a long time. It was as though the trees and everything that remained dormant were saying; I'm still alive. Within moments; the squirrels had left their cozy nest, for a breakfast of peanuts, while chasing each other around the yard to keep warm. As I thought of these moments; I began to realize that even though the trees and other living things around us show a moment of dormancy; they still have a way of showing that they remain alive and well, by how we view them each day.

We too, have moments of dormancy; when we feel as though our circumstances have caused life to slow down. We may feel as though we may never come out of dormancy; but even though we feel this way; there are still signs of life, to show that this is just a season of endurance. God shows us that we are still alive, by the feelings we feel each day.

God may be using these moments of dormancy; to prepare us for the springtime; when everything is made brand new again. While we are in these moments of dormancy; even though life doesn't seem to feel as though it's moving forward; it really is; only in a different way. God is slowing us down, so He can perform His work in our lives. We still show hints of His beauty, as He works; but just as the trees and other living things survive the winter of dormancy; to find the springtime of new growth; we too will find these moments in our lives, through God.

Walking with God throughout the Day

As today began a new week; I awoke with a bad headache and everything began to look gloomy, for a Monday morning; until God gave me a gentle reminder that my day would end, by how I reacted and viewed the beginning of my day. I had emails to catch up on and some work on the site and twitter to do, before beginning to clean my house. My pain had increased this morning and Satan was trying to show me a road of discouragement, until God spoke to my heart and said that we could get through this day together and we did.

As each trying moment tried to take over; I began to sing to God or just quietly meditate on Him. As my mind became fixed and connected to God; the moments became easier, until I finally realized it was already 5:00 in the evening. I stopped for a moment and began to realize that the moments that tried to defeat my day, were defeated. Philippians 4:13 says..." I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.", and that is so true. When we enter a moment in our day, when we see with our own eyes, that we may not make it; we can; but only when we keep our eyes focused on the One who has the strength to sustain us throughout our day.

When we arise in the morning; our attitude and view on the day, will defiantly determine the outcome of the day. When we start out with God's strength; then His strength will continually carry us through the day, no matter what may come our way. His strength will become a shield; to ward off all the evil that tries to take control.

I learned today, that I could do anything; even with a pounding headache and pain. I got through my day and God became victorious; over the ways of evil. We can either turn to God's strength or remain attached to the weakness of evil. How we think, speak, view and react to our problems; will determine the final outcome and who will win the battle between good and evil.

If we could see the battles we face, as moments for a greater strength in our lives, then we would have more determination to move forward with God and leave the problem behind. When we can

end a day and know that we were able to leap over every obstacle, that was thrown our way, during the day, then we will have a greater faith that we can continue to do all things through Christ!

Working with God on a Relationship

Seems like we prepare and work so hard during each holiday and then they leave us within a moment's time but yet we are so willing to work hard; just so we can enjoy this time with family and friends. What would happen, if we were to work at our relationship with God in the same way? What a relationship we would have. The time of giving; that we place into the relationship may be difficult at times but the moments that draw us closer to God, would make it worth it all.

Nothing comes free or easy in this life. We are placed on a journey that will either lead us closer to God or further away from God. Are we willing to put the time and energy into our relationship with Him? He's made it easier than the preparation of a holiday meal. He's already placed His love before us; all He wants us to do is reach out and accept it.

When we face difficult times in our lives; He's already willing to become the mighty warrior, that can step in and destroy; what has caused pain to one of His children but sometimes wrong choices get in the way and instead of allowing Him to be that strong and mighty warrior in our lives; we give in to the problem and make a wrong choice, that ends up giving more power to the one who wounded us to begin with.

God isn't the one who's ruining our lives; instead, we make wrong choices, by how we view or react to a problem that is thrown our direction. As my husband and I were discussing our devotion today; I mentioned to him, that we already have the cure; to everything, that can keep us away from despair. That cure is to make Satan weaker; but how do we do that? When we are hit, with a direct blow from Satan; we need to allow the circumstance to draw us closer to God. Satan only gets his power, by how we react to the circumstance. When we feed into the problem more, then we are also giving more power and strength to Satan but when we turn away from the circumstance and completely lean on God, then we are taking the power away from Satan, so he can't use it in a greater way. When we can work with God; in the same way we go all out to make a perfect dinner and other preparations for the different holidays of the year, then we are reaping the very best from God...a stronger defense from the enemy.

Laughter...the Best Medicine for a Hurting Soul

Laughter truly is the best medicine! Today, my husband and I decided to decorate our artificial Christmas tree; while in the midst of emails and other distractions. At first, it seemed to be getting a bit overwhelming but when I thought of the memories that I would miss; I began to turn my tiredness into laughter...that is out of control laughter.

My husband was trying to put our angel on the top of the tree. She needed a little assistance, so she could stand straight. I got this idea, that we could put an empty toilet paper roll at the top and sit her in there. Let's put it this way...I think I will stick to writing. Within a few minutes, our angel was flying through the air; by the cord that my husband was hanging on to. We got laughing so hard, that I had to leave the room. I had decided to leave the angel up to my husband; while I went to get around for the evening. As I was getting around; I began to think about laughter and how important it is to a person's well-being. This was the most, that we had laughed in such a long time but as we were enjoying the moments; I completely forgot about the overwhelming moments that existed in the previous hours of time.

I believe that laughter can be a key that unlocks the heart and frees the pain. We've been given the key by God; all we have to do is use it. Gloom becomes a symptom, that radiates off the problems we go through but when we can apply laughter to a problem, then the load can become lighter and not so overwhelming. It's when we give into the symptoms of despair; that we find ourselves in a dark pit that becomes hopeless. When we smile through a trial, then we are throwing a weapon into the evil one, who caused us to fall into despair.

Today...Satan tried to steel my joy and take me to a place of overwhelming feelings but God came in the room and brought laughter, as a dose of medicine, to make a special moment in my day. When we can see the good instead of the bad, then our hearts begin to warm up with the presence of God and life seems to appear to be easier. God is the only hope that can take a tear stained heart and allow the sunshine of His love to enter and cause it to smile.

Are we giving in to our Weaknesses?

When our strength begins to diminish; who do we turn to? Do we seek for a greater strength or do we just give into the weakness that we are facing for the moment? Just as a car needs gas to run on; we need strength, so we can face what God has called us to do for the day. When a car is almost out of gas; we take it to the gas station and fill it up, so we can continue to drive the car. Where do we go, when the tank of strength within us is almost on empty? Do we just become like a car and let ourselves remain idle or do we realize that we have responsibilities in our day and turn to God, so He can fill us up with His strength?

My husband and I have a favorite verse that we have carried with us throughout our 26 years of marriage and its Philippians 4:13, which says..."I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Why are there times, when we feel like we are struggling to move forward in our day or why do we feel like we can only make it so far in our week? Could be, it's because we are running out of God's strength. His strength is a strength that causes us to do ALL things. We will never fall, when He becomes the crutch of strength, to keep us lifted up and moving forward in life.

What happens when we make other things in our lives a crutch? For instance; we can use other people and we can even use our problems to become a crutch. The only problem with that; is that our problems resemble weakness, so how is weakness going to keep us lifted up in life? We can also depend on money or the material things in life to lift us up and they may for a while but we find that those things only become a temporary means of being lifted up. When we depend on other things in life to lift us up; other than God, then we experience a yo-yo effect; one minute we are up and the next minute we are down.

Leaning on God, as a crutch of strength will always maintain and keep our lives balanced, so we don't experience moments of feeling good one moment and down the next moment. His crutch of strength won't break or become weak; but instead, His crutch of strength is made from Himself, which will go on for all eternity. As I was thinking about this tonight; I began to understand, that our moments of failure come because we are either leaning on the wrong crutch of strength or we aren't remaining attached to the strongest crutch, that will carry our load of circumstances; which is God.

Are we just a Follower?

Today, as I was catching up on some things, I was wondering why we can feel as though we are in a standstill with God? Seems like we can be going merrily along; traveling a steady pace with God and then all of a sudden; life seems to be in a stand still. As I was thinking about this over the weekend and today, I began to realize, that we can get so caught up with God leading the way; that we just walk along, without sharing our moments with God. We can be depending on God so much that we forget to do our part and share in the relationship. We can find it so easy to talk to God and say..."hey God; this is what I want", that we forget to show some action with our words.

When we talk to God about our needs, we are communicating with God but what do we do from there? It's amazing how God begins to work, when we place our words into action. In other words, we need to allow our words to dance before the Most High God. When we place an action with our words, then we cause our words to dance up into the heavens, as though to say..."hey God I know I told you what I desire but I'm going to show you too." When we speak words without action, then the words drift to the floor, where they remain idle and of no use.

We can sit and complain because God isn't helping us or we can do some form of action to reach God's attention, as though we were sending our heart, along with its message directly to God.

This past week I was having a rough week, until God got my attention and spoke to my heart. He spoke to my heart as though to say..."Diane, don't be down because this will take you deeper into your problem...instead, show me your desire." After feeling His spirit speak to me, I decided to place my desire into an action and this week has become so much better already.

It's so easy to get caught up into the overwhelming moments of the week, that we forget where those actions are taking us. We must lift ourselves up and jump over the circumstance and give God something to work with...the desire of our heart. We all face struggles all the time. Not one person is perfect or can always handle life in a perfect way. God allows these moments into our lives; not to hurt us but to show us, that He can repair the flaw in our lives and make us into a stronger vessel for Him.

When we have a Will...God Will Give us a Way

It's amazing how a person with a disability, can think so differently, in comparison to someone who has good legs. One thing I have learned through my 40 years of knee problems is this; if a person has a will to make their life work out, then they always find a way. Sometimes I think it's something within us that kicks into place, when we find ourselves unable to do certain things. One year, I was out picking weeds, from my flowerbed and my neighbor came over to the fence and said; Diane, how can you bend over from your waist and do all you can do? I said, that over time, it's become a part of my life and I rarely notice the way I do things anymore.

God not only gives us arms to lift things and legs to walk but I believe that He also places something within us, so when a certain part of our body doesn't function right, then the body compensates for it. In a similar way, when we go through a trial and life just doesn't seem to be working out; God has a way to compensate, for the damage done by Satan.

Sometimes we can become wounded in life and we can feel as though we will never be able to go on again; but then God shows us how to handle a situation and come out of it and this is His way of compensating, after the damage has been done. Just as I have many scars on my legs; to the place that my knees look like a road map; God sees the scars that come from failures in our lives but even though the scars remain, life goes on.

When we look deeply to the scars, that we have experienced in battle, we seem to stop there and not feel the will to continue on but if we can see these scars, as a reminder, that we have overcome the battles in life, then they can become reminders to us, that if we made it through those battles or trials, then we can overcome other battles in our lives, with God's help.

As I went through 21 knee surgeries, I know that my legs will never be the same but yet I am still able to walk. In a similar way, when we have been wounded by a trial, our lives will never be the same again either but we have found a new way that God has given us, to compensate for the wounds that we have experienced in life. We just need to get our focus off the wounds that we have experienced and get our sight set back on the journey and continue forward. God will be the crutch we need, when we are wounded in life; but He will also compensate for the wound and lead us to a better pathway, that's full of His strength and power.

Communing with God through Adversity

Who is the main source of power in our lives; our circumstances or God? If we were to make a comparison; the circumstance would be nothing; in comparison to the power that comes from God, so why do we make our problems more like a little god; rather than seeking freedom from our problems through the living God?

Satan can allow us to feel so overwhelmed by our problems. He can enhance them; to the place, where they become so overwhelming, that the power that comes from them can seem more powerful than the power of God. If we were to think of it this way; we contribute to our problems and allow them to become more powerful than God at times. You ask me how? Each time that we dwell on our circumstances; we allow the problem to grow in our minds and hearts. With every doubt or fear that may arise from the problem; it's as if we have placed fuel on a fire that's about to burn out. The more that Satan sees these weaknesses; he adds our weaknesses to the circumstance and before we know it; we have quite a bon fire burning. Before we know it; we begin to see our problems in a greater way than God.

How do we find our way back, so we can diminish the strength of the fire, that's keeping our circumstance alive? By placing our thoughts on the power of God, rather than trying to figure out the problem and how it can get worse; we need to concentrate on how great of a God we serve. God made everything on this earth, including us, so why wouldn't He know how to fix the things that have been broken in our lives? The problem can't fix itself, so we need something greater than the problem and that is God.

We need to talk with God, instead of talking to ourselves about our problems. We need to listen for the voice of God, instead of listening to what our problem may be dictating to us. Instead of allowing fear, doubt and other negative feelings to arise; we need to meditate on God's words and long for His presence to enter us.

Days can be difficult; but we have been given a choice. Are we going to go to the left; with the problem and all it can do to bring us low or will we take the pathway to the right; where God resides and where He can allow His power and peace to enter us, so we can sit with a settled feeling, instead of fear, doubt, anxiety and frustration? When we face a circumstance; we're given a choice. How we react to our circumstances; will be able to tell us who's in charge.

Wings of Love

Early this afternoon; my husband and I decided to once more take a ride into the country. We have a favorite drive that seems to draw us closer to God's creation and further away from the cares and concerns of the week.

As we drove around each winding road; the snow that had just fallen yesterday wasn't much but just enough, to give a person a winter wonderland feeling. The pines stood tall; holding out their branches, as though they were alive; supporting the beauty of the snow at their fingertips. The bushes that once were full of leaves, were now dressed with a coat of snow. As we looked off in a distance; we could see beautiful clumps of pine trees, as though they were all dressed up for something special. Old ripened apples hung on trees with no leaves; supporting a layer of white snow. The beauty of the day gave me a feeling, as though we were viewing a scenic Christmas card. Most everything around us was now fast asleep and ready for a long winters nap. There were deer standing in the fields and pines, as though they were relaxed and at peace with their surroundings. As I took pictures of the scenery and deer surrounding us; I felt as though I was in an earlier era; just before Christmas. As we returned home; I came home; renewed and refreshed, with a feeling that God was even closer, than when I walked out the door.

Earlier this evening; I was in the other room...talking to God about some specific needs on our prayer sheet; I shared these needs with Him and a song came to my thoughts and it goes a little like this..."I will rise on eagles wings, where I can find Him there. I will rise on eagle's wings, as He hears my every prayer..." As I was singing these words to myself tonight; I began to realize, that when we rise above our problems; God becomes the eagle wings that lift and support us during difficult moments in our lives. As I continued to sing the song; I could picture my prayer requests being lifted up towards Heaven, with His wings below them. As I sang on; I began to feel a comforting spirit; just knowing that He has the strength within His wings to lift the heaviest burden.

God is found in all of Creation

Today, I awoke to a cooler day. There was a chill in the air that went through to the bone. The leaves are now completely off the trees and all of creation is nesting down for a long winters nap. Later in the afternoon; snow began to fall. Each flake of snow that fell; immediately brought memories back to old fashion winters, when neighborhood children were sledding down slopes of fresh fallen snow.

What an excitement to see the first snow of the season, as each flake of snow piled upon another, to make such a beautiful scene. It was as if each pine bow was reaching out to catch a snow flake. The house roofs appeared to look as though they had been dusted with powder sugar and the green grass was now glowing with the clean white color of snow.

How deep do we see things around us? Do we even take the time to look at our surroundings and find the peace that springs forth from each portrait we view? I remember the first time, when my husband brought me out to Washington State. I grew up in a small town in Michigan, so I had never seen the beautiful mountains, lakes and streams; as they have out here. I remember saying to him..."why do people live in this beautiful country but yet they seem too busy to remember the beauty that surrounds them each day?" Now, as I have lived out here for 26 years; I can understand how busy a person can become; to the place where they take the beauty that surrounds them for granted.

As I have become closer to God; I seem to see creation in such a different way, than when I was a child or when I was in my youth. I may look at a mountain top and wonder if anyone has ever touched or walked there. I never grow tired of the waterfalls, and clean lakes and streams that flow out here. I guess that we all just get too busy or caught up in our lives and this causes us to forget the beauty of our surroundings.

This can happen with God too. We can become so caught up in our problems or lifestyles, that we lose sight of God. We can easily forget the beauty of a good friend that we use to stand in awe of. Tonight, as I looked out the back door and saw the snow; God was reminding me, that He is ever present, in everything that surrounds us each day; even the snow. We just need to take the time to find Him. He's already there for us but are we there with Him?

Are we listening for God's Voice?

The song that came to my thoughts tonight goes like this..."when peace like a river attendeth my way; when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot; thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul."

As I was getting around; I had some things on my mind and I was talking with God about them, when this song came to my thoughts. I truly believe that God can relate to us through music. If we were to listen to the songs that enter our minds; the words would be sending a message to us from God. In this song, I believe that God was reassuring me that no matter what was on my mind for the moment, that it's always well, when God is in charge.

He's the One who can speak peace, as a river that floweth through the woods. His words of peace are the only perfect peace, that can truly sooth and bring a calmness to the hurting soul. It doesn't matter what we go through; God is there for every circumstance that may arise and as His words of peace hit our thoughts; we are put at ease, from all the cares and worries of the day.

Do we listen for His voice? Are we too busy to open our minds up to Him; for whatever He wants to relay to us in our day? God's words can make a person feel comforted, while going through deep and trying times. In my new book..."The Rainbow in the Storm; Finding Hope Where There Isn't Any"; I talk about a time in my life; where I felt such despair, that I couldn't even call out God's name. Instead, I wrote on the steam of the shower curtain..."Oh God, help me!" As I stood there, with tears running down my cheeks; feeling hopeless; God gave me a song. It wasn't a song that I had ever heard of before but as I began to listen to each word that came out of my mouth; I knew that God had read the message on the shower curtain that night. The words that came forth from the song, made me feel, as though He was speaking them through me...using them to comfort my broken down spirit. To this day, I can't remember the song or the words to the song. I feel that God had given me that song; just for that specific moment, as a means of comfort...to let me know that He had not forgotten me.

I believe that no matter how deep the pain or heartache; there is a part in all of us, that searches for relief from God, even if we don't speak a word. Even through despair; if we are willing to just be still and listen for God's response; I believe that He will speak to us, even if it's only through a song.

A Weathered Storm

Today, as we drove by an old barn; my mind began to wonder; what memories were formed and are still etched within its walls. Was there days, when the early morning hour brought someone to this old barn, to milk a cow or feed the animals? Did children play in the loft, with laughter ringing through the pines? Were there long hot days of work; just so a family could survive and make it through the tough times? If we were to stop and look at these old places; we would find some kind of a story.

What kind of a story is our life telling us? After the years that we lived within this shell of a body; what is our hearts feeling and where are we in life? Do we see moments of pain or do we see laughter and joy? Have we become so calloused over the tough times that we don't really know what we've become?

Just as that old barn is still standing, even though it looks weathered by the storm; we too are still making it. We may feel weathered, by the storms that have hit us hard but we are still moving forward every day, even if we can't see it for ourselves. All that really matters; is the story that our lives are telling. Even through pain and heartache; do people see a heart that has fallen into a pit of despair or do they see a heart that is weathered from the storms; but yet they can see that your heart has risen above despair, to find something greater?

I can speak from my own experiences that each moment of pain and heartache can bring us to a place, where all we feel is weathered and beaten down from the storms but I've also learned that if I don't remain standing, during and after those moments, then my life doesn't count for anything.

The barn I saw today looked as though it was struggling to stand up, after all the rain and snow, that has fallen upon each timber but yet it appeared to me, that it had a greater desire to remain standing. Even after being beaten up from the storms of our lives, no matter what they may be; are we more willing to fight through the storms and use our rugged moments of pain or heartache to make us stronger, so we can continually stand and be used by God? Our lives tell a story. What story can you see from your life today?

Are we looking into the Face of our Problems?

Why do we look into the face of our problems and feel defeat? Because we are too busy taking each fiber of the problem apart, that all we can see is the problem before our eyes. If a person was to walk down a rugged pathway and they were looking for the end of the pathway, then do you think that their concentration would be on all the rough and rugged parts of the pathway? No, because all that would matter to them, would be, to find where the pathway leads them. They would become so focused on the prize, at the end of their journey, that they would find no time for the obstacles or problems in their way. If we would spend more time, focusing on the prize, at the end of our journey, then we wouldn't see the problems and we would find the answers to our needs.

When we focus on the problem, instead of what could arise out of the problem, then we are taken down to a level in life that is controlled by Satan and when this happens, we only see the brokenness and despair that is surrounding us for the time. When we are captured into the clutches of evil, through our problems, then Satan works overtime, to keep us there...away from God.

As I have been talking to several people this week, I have come to see that we are living too much, in our darkened tunnel of problems, rather than anticipating the good that God can bring about, through the problem. We find it difficult to see the light because, when we focus on the problem...the problem sheds more darkness around us, rather than experiencing the light of God's presence. The longer that we anticipate the things that can stem from the problem...the more the problem will affect us and continue to control us and when we wallow in a pit that sheds no light, than we will never find the light.

Light comes from God and darkness surrounds evil, so whatever pathway or thought we choose; that pathway or thought will either bring the light or darkness to us. The more that we pursue and look, for the things that can go wrong; the more we will remain trapped, in a world that sheds no light but only brings despair.

Satan isn't only out to place the "thorn" of despair within us but it's his desire, for us to remain with the "thorn", so he can wiggle the "thorn", from time to time and keep the circumstance alive. We can either stop him in his tracks, by turning the negativity of the problem into something positive or we can keep him in control, by placing more fuel of negativity, on the fire of our despair. Our thoughts and actions will either deaden our circumstance through Christ or keep it alive.

Do our thoughts Unlock Better Moments for Us?

Today, as I began my Monday; I had a few things to do on the web site and twitter; then off to the housework I went. I've been feeling more pain in my legs, as the weather has been changing, so I woke up tired today but isn't it amazing how God shows His strength to us, even when nothing is left of our own strength? The minute I began to focus my attention on what needed to be done; I could feel His presence lifting me up, to a place where He was replenishing me with His strength.

Our thoughts can either be the key that unlocks our day to something good or something worse. If we use the wrong key, then we will never unlock our hearts or our days to better things. Our thoughts aim us in the right direction or the wrong direction, by what we allow, through our thoughts. Our thoughts allow us to step into God's footprints or out of them. In other words; what we think is what we become for each day.

When we have to come out of a negative thought; to find a positive thought, then we can face a battle. Satan wants the negative thoughts to remain, so he can use them against us throughout the day. His negativity can steer us away from God and what God has purposed for our day. Our best defense is to turn a negative thought into something positive. When we can do this, then we find a weapon to use against the enemy. When we take the time to slow down; when we are having a bad moment and begin to see something good; out of what may seem bad, then we have struck a blow into the face of evil. When we exchange a negative thought, for something positive; we are also sending God a message, that we do need His help. We are opening up a door to God that will allow Him to work; while we are closing another door and locking evil out.

The footprints we step into each day; will determine what direction we are headed. When we step into God's footprints; it's because we have found something to rejoice over but when we step into the tracks of evil; it's because we found Satan's tracks through negativity. This morning started out to be a trying day; but God gave me the strength and showed me how to steer clear of Satan's tracks, so I could walk the rest of my day in God's footprints.

Jesus Already Knows What's Wrong

Tonight, as I was getting ready to relax for the evening, I was singing a song to myself and it goes like this..."He knows my name, with every move that I make, with every step that I take, with every tear that I cry...He knows my name when I'm overwhelmed by the pain and I can't see the light of day." As I began to sing the song; that I have sung many times to myself; the meaning of the song hit me, as though I had been hit by lightning. God truly does know each of His children by their name. He knows the ones who are going through deep physical pain and illness and He knows the ones who are going through grief and heartache. Sometimes we can feel like God doesn't even hear us, let alone know our name. Times of pain and heartache or just a bad day can become so overwhelming to us, that we forget that God knows everything already, even before we speak our request to Him.

I'm just like any other person on this earth that has good days and bad days too. There can be days, when I feel so overwhelmed by the presence of God, that I cannot contain it and then it seems like when I'm at the peak of my joy, Satan comes in and uses a circumstance to take me down for a while. I notice that Satan's presence is even more noticeable, after writing something special, that God has placed upon my heart. I'm sure that Satan is not only angry because God gave it to me but he's angry because he knows it will touch other hearts too.

Life can be a constant battle as a Christian but we must remember that God does know our name and He does listen to us but we must be willing to listen back. We may be the one who ask the questions but we must remember that He is the ONLY ONE who can give us the answers that we are seeking for.

God knows every tear that falls from our cheeks or hearts. He knows when we are overwhelmed by the pain in our lives and He understands, when we tell Him that we can't see the light of day anymore. We aren't perfect and we will face these moments from time to time but we must remember that He not only knows us by name but He knows what we are going through. He may not always answer us, when we expect Him to or He may not answer us, in the way we long for Him to answer but we must be willing to be open to Him, especially if He has opened Himself up to us first. Isn't it a comfort to know, that He knows each of us by name and need. This is a good sign that He is in control.

Nothing can help but God

Today, as I took a Saturday drive with my husband in the country; I was mentioning to him that it's amazing how the hills and the trees can change; just within a weeks' time. As we drove through wooded areas and winding roads; I was seeing a completely different view, than in the previous weeks.

The trees were now bare, as the leaves laid across roadways and wooded areas. The highest peaks of the hills and mountains were now covered with a layer of frost. Where once; there was the look of bright green pine trees; now they seemed to appear bluish purple, in color. The air had a cool crisp feeling that made us feel that winter was right around the corner. With each winding curve of the road; a different view was before us. Pheasants were feeding in an open field; gathering the left over wheat from the harvest, while deer became a little more difficult to see, as the fields were showing similar colors. Everything around us was now showing a completely different view and personality, from weeks before. Even though the trees had lost their leaves, they still remained in place, as they had in the spring and summer months.

We can feel like the trees look in the fall, when they have lost their leaves. We can feel as though everything has been stripped away from us but yet we still keep going on in life. I'm learning more and more, that even though we may experience loss in our lives; God still remains too. We can lose material things or jobs or other things in our lives but no matter where we are or wherever we go; God goes with us. Nothing can take His love away from us. Overwhelming circumstances in our lives can allow us to feel like nothing is left but the problem but this is not true. God is standing in the background; waiting with open arms to lift us up and hold us, while we are going through these difficult moments in our lives.

When it comes to the things that we may lose in life; in comparison to God; I would rather have God. Can people or material things be there for us like God can? Sometimes in life; we have to lose friends, family or other things, so God can become greater in our lives. If we could please God; like we aim to please those around us, then we would have the greatest relationship with God.

Today a song came to me and some of it goes like this..."I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land; I'd rather be met by His nail pierced hand." When days can bring loss in any form; I know that I will one day be met by Jesus and that will make everything worth it all.

A Harvest of Growth

More and more...each day shows forth a slide show, of the days that God is unfolding within my life. The days become like a season of its own, as God displays His will a little at a time. There can be long days, when only cool and refreshing moments come and bring forth His blessings to me, while other days bring forth the long hot days of trials but just as each season is meant to bring growth for the harvest; God has our lives laid out in a way, so as we go through each day; these days will draw us closer to the harvest of growth that God desires for our lives.

God never promised that life would always be easy but He did promise that He would come and hold our hand and be the crutch we need to lean on, while we are going through these moments. Just because I am an author; doesn't mean that I live a perfect life. The moments of pain and heartache that I share with you; are to let you know that we are all the same in God's eyes. The important thing; is that we come out of these moments; reflecting Him within ourselves and to others around us. We all are going to have moments of failure and we are all going to have struggles but we must remember that growth can spring forth out of these difficult moments and that we do not have to remain within our struggles.

Time will show us; when we have done everything possible, so we can turn these moments over to God. We can put our best effort forth but God is the only one who can crown our efforts and bring forth success. Sometimes we have to accept, that we have done everything possible and that our strength isn't as strong as God's. We need to see that we need a strength that can kick into overdrive and take us beyond the normal, to a place that's beyond our own means. When we can let go of our difficult moments and say, "God I've done my best, but you can do better"; these will be the moments when we will begin to see new growth. When we have discovered the truth through God, then He will free us from the vine, that has kept us in one place for so long and we will reap the harvest of new growth within our lives.

Are we looking at the Same Old View?

How do we truly find the answers to our problems, if we are only willing to see them our way? As Christians; God holds the answers to all of our questions but through our own traditional way of thinking, we sometimes miss out on the answers because we are trying to find the answers, in the way we expect them to be answered. Why do we go to God, if we are only going to go after our own ideas for the cure? God doesn't come and live within us, just so He can watch us do the work.

Sometimes we forget, that God not only reigns in our hearts but He also should reign in our speech, the way we view life and the way we listen to Him. Why should we invite God to come and live within us, if we are going to continue on and do everything the way we always have done it?

While we are in our homes, we may hear something outside, so then we go to one window and we may not see anything but then we go into a different room, with a different view and then we see what was making all the noise. In a similar way; we had a worldly view, before we became Christians. We saw everything in a negative view and then one day, we came to Christ. Our hearts were changed but somehow we kept looking through the same view. Just like the example of the house; we have to go to a different window and view, so we can hear the voice of God, instead of our own voice. When we read God's word; His word is no longer a book of words and stories but of truth; that we see His way, instead of our own. We as people can become so tied down to old ways and thoughts, that we find ourselves listening to our own voices instead of God's and when we do this; we never find the answers of truth that can free us.

God showed me today, that we can't compromise the old ways for Him. When we view our problem the wrong way, then we receive the wrong message. We can't follow two pathways at the same time; our own and God's. Whatever pathway we choose, will either lead us down the right pathway, with the right answers or we will just find a dead end to our road, with no answers to help free us. We have to become committed to God. Our words of dedication to Him are nothing, unless we are following in the direction of our words. Our day can be an easy walk with God or a difficult walk with ourselves. God has left the choice up to us. Which pathway are we on today? Are we on our own pathway or God's?

Day by Day...Always the Same

Days can seem like a breath of air; here one minute and gone the next, while other days can bring moments, that seem to last as long as life itself. Today was a day, that seemed to be a little of both; a day of bittersweet moments. One moment came and flew by with ease, while other moments felt so attached to me and couldn't be so easily shaken.

Tonight, as I went to take a shower and refresh myself, from what seemed to be an up and down day; I began to sing to God. The song was a song that came from the heart of my day, as a message being sent to God. Oh, how I longed for God's moments of refreshment and renewal. I knew that He was the only One who could take and untangle the knots from my day, so I could feel as though everything was straight again.

As I continued to sing; I could feel His presence coming down upon me; granting me my heart's desire. As I finished getting around; I began to think about the moments that we miss with God because we feel that we have to remain strong and make it on our own. From my own experience; I've found my ways to only fail. How can I hold myself up, when I'm wounded? I need someone stronger to be the crutch, so that I can heal from a day of ups and downs.

As I continued to think more; I began to realize, that God is so powerful, that all we need from Him, is a breath of His presence upon us. One breath upon us or one touch of the Master's hand can instantly heal a day that has had its ups and downs. I wonder why we are more eager to push on, when we already know that there is nothing greater then God's presence.

I found today, that it was only in the moments, that I caught myself needing His presence; that I began to find the relief I was in need of, from a long and tiresome day. Suffering needlessly just delays what really needs to be fixed. We could experience happier moments and more peace; if we would just turn to the prince of all peace; which is God. Tomorrow will begin a new day, with new challenges and now I know that no matter how strong the challenges may be; I know that I will have the same God tomorrow, as I had tonight.

Preparing for a Storm

Life can bring so many unexpected things into a day. One day, a person can be experiencing a great day; even to the place, where they feel that nothing can ever go wrong and then another day comes in like a fierce storm, out of nowhere. Our lives can begin to feel like a yo-yo, as we leave one good day, into a day that isn't so good.

Why does life come at us this way? I suppose it's because we are always fighting a battle between good and evil. God begins by placing us into a new day, where nothing seems to go wrong. We feel blessed and not only one thing but many things continue to fall into place and then at the moment we least expect it; we crash. It's as if we were on a beautiful calm sea and out of nowhere a high wave comes in and hits us right in the face and knocks us down.

I guess that we need to keep reminding ourselves that this battle is raging all the time and it will never completely cease, until Christ returns. The battle starts, when we choose to follow Jesus. From there; Satan is lurking around; trying to find a way through our weak points, to place us on a detour road that goes nowhere, except for hell itself.

When we are facing these battles, this isn't bad news for us but good news. You ask me, "how could this be" because when we are being tugged back and forth, while we are just trying to survive each day, then this is a sign that we truly do belong to God. Why would Satan want to waste his time on us, if he already has us in his clutches?

How do we overcome these moments in our day? First of all; we know that life won't be perfect because we live in an imperfect world, so we have to be prepared. When a hurricane is about to arrive; people board up windows and gather up food and water, right? We need to be prepared in the same way. We need to have our lives so deeply rooted in God, instead of our problems. When we are rooted deep within the circumstance, then we don't have anything to keep us in place but the problem, so we need to make preparations and become rooted deep by reading God's word, so these tools we grasp onto will become something strong to hold to, during the raging storms. If we have Jesus to hold to, when the high waves come in, then we will have a place of refuge, so the storm can't affect us. Once we have overcome these moments of the storm, then God will walk us safely to shore and once more; we will enter a day of His presence.

We already know that the storms will come, so instead of concentrating on how fierce the storms in our lives may be; we need to build ourselves up continually with God and be prepared with His strength, until the storm passes by.

The Problem comes from Satan but the

Purpose is from God

The source of our problems comes from Satan; but the reason or purpose behind our problem is found in God, so why do we look so deeply into a problem, that can debilitate us and keep us wounded? This is what my husband and I came across today in our devotion time.

Satan throws a "thorn" or circumstance into our lives and we tend to become so busy trying to figure the problem out; that we miss the reason or purpose for the problem. After Satan throws the problem our way; we have to realize that God has the power to stop what he's doing in mid-air, unless God wants to use the problem, to make us stronger, where there may be a flaw in our life.

We have to realize that God isn't out to intentionally bring suffering into our lives. He only uses our mistakes or defeats, to increase our strength and bring us to a place, so when we face moments like these again, then we will have the weapons of wisdom and knowledge that we need, to be victorious the next time. This is what God calls "growth". No one wants to suffer or go through anything more than they have to but sometimes God has to allow us to become wounded, so when He heals our wound, then we will be in better shape, than even before the moment of pain.

Many times; I've gone through pain or heartache and as God walks out of the situation with me; I notice that my heart has a message of hope to share, through the moments I just experienced. As Christians, we aren't supposed to just remain on one part of the pathway forever. God longs for us to keep moving along the pathway and in order to do so; we must continually receive new strength and growth for the journey. We can't walk, if the strength isn't within us, so how can we move forward with God, unless new growth and strength is obtained first. As we learn new things, that we never knew before and as we grow, while coming out of our weaknesses; we gain new footing, so we can continue to follow in God's footprints.

When we view our problems with a worldly eye, then we will never come out of our problems because we will be so drawn to the problem, that we will miss the purpose that God wants us to achieve through it all. Problems produce growth, unless we are so busy taking them apart and trying to figure them out on our own. These moments will only keep us wallowing in the same place all the time.

The old saying is..."no pain; no gain". Our pain isn't meant to make us weaker; only unless we allow that to happen. We need to look beyond the pain and heartache and seek out the reasoning. We need to ask God, why He has allowed this moment into our lives. When we can do this, instead of dissecting the problem, then we will find the answers that will lead us into the growth that God desires for our lives.

A Peaceful Creation

As the curtains opened up; I felt the presence of God, opening up a brand new day for me. As the sun began to shine through the pines across the road; a feeling of a fresh new day broke through the window. There were last minute errands that needed to be done this morning and then back out to the country we went.

As we drove down roads that were now covered with pine needles and leaves; after a night of wind and rain; I could feel the freshness of a new day; begin to refresh me from a long and busy week. The trees on the foothills were bursting with colors of yellows and greens, as though they had been painted right into the backdrop of the sky. They glowed, with a darkened sky behind them, as though they were on display, for all to enjoy. As we went around winding roads; a feeling came over me that everything had been left behind and only what was before my face, was for me to enjoy. This was my portion for the moment, as God was allowing the stress of the week to be taken off me, as though I was taking off an old piece of clothing, for something new. As we came down a beautiful hill; filled with the feelings of fall; something caught my eye. At first, I thought it was a dog or coyote but to our surprise, we were in full view of a gray wolf. Within minutes from there; we climbed a beautiful slope and as we reached the top; a deer was walking through an open field, as though she was there for the day. Not a care in the world seemed to be on her mind.

These are the simple things in life that God uses to refresh us and bring us to a better place in life. There is no expense, when it comes to viewing all of God's creation and if a person allows themself to drift off with the moments; God has a way of renewing and rebuilding, what has been broken down. Pain can take its toll and the busy days of the week can make a person weary but when we wait on the Lord and let go of those busy and tiresome moments, then God will renew our strength as the eagles and when we begin again, in the weeks to come; we will walk and not grow weary and we will run and not faint. How are we to gain these moments of renewal, if we don't take the time to allow God to work?

For me...peace is found in the simple pleasures of life; like seeing a mountain stand tall into the sky or a waterfall that flows over the cliff. God not only works at supplying our needs but He also has given us the beauty of creation, so we can find refreshment and peace, when a long week has taken those moments away from us. Today, even though I experienced pain and tiredness; this has been a day of renewal and refreshment once more and now as I close this page to another day; I know that God will awaken me to a new day tomorrow; full of His presence.

Do we Recognize God's Presence in our Day?

Everything fell into place today; after what seemed to be a busy day. As the list of things grew last night; today I found myself crossing each thing off; faster than expected. Seems like I'm realizing more and more; how much I need God in everything I do. Things seem to flow in a smoother manner and there are even moments of surprise, when I see something accomplished in a better way, than what I had first expected.

As I was getting around this evening; I was thinking of how empty we would be without God. Who gives us the thoughts to think, each moment of the day? Who gives us the right words to speak and who fills our hearts with a presence that's indescribable? I guess when we think about it; we are empty shells and we decide who occupies our shell of a body. We can either choose God or the alternative choice, which is of the world and ends with evil. When we choose God to reign within this shell of a body, then His words will flow through our ears, until they reach our mouths, so we can speak His truth. His presence warms our hearts and at times; causes our inner being to overflow; like the steam of a volcano. How we speak; will show the world, who resides within us

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When we don't choose God, then our shell of a body has trouble determining what direction to go in life and our words and thoughts don't come from Him. Our hearts become dark, cold and vacant, until we no longer have a heart for anyone, including ourselves. No matter how hard we try to find God's direction for our lives; we fail. If God is the One who directs our steps and causes us to walk in His footsteps each day, then shouldn't He be residing within us first? How are we going to find the right footsteps to follow, if there aren't any to follow?

God isn't just the one who causes our hearts to beat and our organs to function; He's the One who breathes His will into our being. He made each of us and sent us down to earth for a reason and purpose. As we grow up to find Him; we are given a choice, as to what direction we choose for our lives. What direction we choose; will determine who lives within us. There is no in between; only up or down. The question is; who are we allowing to reign and reside within this shell of a body?

Do we hear His voice throughout the day? Do we feel His words of wisdom; coming up from our hearts and through our mouths, as we speak? Do we feel emptiness within our hearts or is our hearts so full of a loving presence that His presence begins to overflow within us? Can we see the footprints He sets before us each day to follow? God is known to us, by what we experience each day. This week started out busy but as I found myself working together with God; we accomplished everything, in no time at all.

Communing with God

Today has been a day with God. Oh how I love these moments; when God's spirit comes for a visit. To me; it's as if God comes down and knocks on my hearts door and then comes in and sits for a couple of hours, while we write together.

How do we miss these moments in our lives? Why do we feel as though God is distant or clouded over from our view? When we want to feel the presence of God; we need to make Him feel welcome, by cleaning up all the clutter around us, then we need to show Him that we long for His presence.

What if we wanted to invite someone over for dinner and we never sent them an invite to come over? Then would they ever never know that they are welcome to do so? In a similar way; if we are so tied up into our day and all that is going on around us, then how do we let God know that He is welcome to come and visit with us for a while? So, if we were planning on having some people over, then wouldn't we put our work or any other thing to the side, so we could make them feel welcome? This is the way we should reveal ourselves to God.

When we were created; we were only created in a way, where we could do one thing at a time or think about one thing at a time. We can't think about good, while our minds are on evil. We can't make a bed, while we are sweeping the floor, so how are we supposed to spend time with God, if we are too caught up into our problems? God knows that we have things to do each day but when we have a need or desire to spend time with God; can we say that we are laying all our problems to the side, so all we can feel and know for that present time, is the presence of God?

Nothing seemed to matter today; only the need to hear God's still, small voice. His words become the words that bring instant peace to a troubled mind. His words become a band-aide to a wounded heart and His words can sooth the most troubled mind. He becomes medicine to the soul, when nothing else will work. The words through His presence causes the heart to beat to a tune of rejoicing and the spirit that enters ours, helps us to know that we are never alone.

What more do we need? The only thing I can think of is to give more time to Him. We won't find a cure, by looking continually to the problem. We need something more powerful. We need to go to His cross and hand Him the brokenness of our hearts and allow Him to nail them there. As He takes our needs and places them on the cross; in return, He will give us Himself. There's only One medicine that can heal the body, heart, mind and spirit and that is the healing words of the One who created us. All we need is to give God some time and then place everything else to the side and sit and listen for His words of healing.

Trying Moments that turn into Blessings

There are days when we wake up and before we even reach the afternoon; we can become so overwhelmed, with all we need to do. It's as if our minds have lived the whole day, before we even get a chance to live out; what has been destined for us by God.

What happens when we begin to feel the overwhelming moments of the day but yet we choose to wait and live one moment at a time? This is when we are truly experiencing the presence of God. These are the moments when He has walked into our day and shed His light; to make all darkness disappear.

Today, as I awoke; I felt peace, until I reminded myself; of all that needed to be done. It hadn't even been an hour and I had felt as if I had already lived out my day but as I began to feel the struggles swell up within me; I asked for God's help. As the moments continued to pass in my day; all that needed to be done, was finally falling into place. I knew that the hand of God was in each moment. Even though I was tired at the end of my day; I felt an overwhelming heart of gratitude, for what God had done for me.

I believe that when we are asleep; God is planning and preparing us for a new day in His presence. He knows what needs to be accomplished and He doesn't allow one more thing to enter our lives; only what He desires. He has control over our days but when we feel as though everything is slipping through our fingers, then we have lost sight of His presence and evil is under control; working to destroy God's desires for our day.

We need to become humble before God; instead of thinking we can do it on our own. When we try to keep our day going alone; then Satan steps in and brings moments of despair with him. His plan is to bring us low, so we can't feel and experience the presence of God. We need to show God that we are nothing without Him. When we can do this; we are not showing weakness; we are just showing God that we need His strength.

What started out to be a trying morning; turned out to be a day of blessings and the presence of God. Weeping may endure for a night (moment) but joy (God' presence) cometh in the morning (after we cry out to God). The longer we persist in making life work; the longer we will live in needless despair. God is the only One who leads us down pathways of fragrance and beauty. Our pathways are empty, with no meaning and Satan's pathways only lead to destruction. I think that sometimes we need to take a moment and know what pathway we are heading down before we find ourselves lost and on the wrong pathway.

God Will Fight for Us

Today was a rainy and blusterous day. What a sight; to see the rain pouring down, while leaves began to fly through the air, as though they were taking flight like a bird. All the beautiful greenery in our backyard is now falling to the ground, while the trees are becoming more like statues of wood, as they slowly go to sleep for the season. Even throughout all the pouring rain; the squirrels were alive and well, as I saw them burying peanuts in our backyard, in preparation for the long months ahead. I love viewing creation because I not only see beauty but I see personalities changing, from one season to the next.

In the springtime; we see the trees and bushes slowly waking up, from a long winters nap and then as they completely open in the summertime; we see all of creation enjoying a new year of warmth and renewal, as though they were viewing the season for the first time. Once the long hot months of summer slowly wind down; we see creation slowing down too and beginning to prepare for months of rest during the winter months.

In a similar way; we too experience the different seasons that God allows us to go through. We have moments that are like the spring season; when we feel refreshing days, that make us feel happy and alive and we can also experience the warmth of God's presence; as we feel Him close to us, as though we are experiencing something for the first time but then comes the dismal and dormant days, when all we feel is loss, loneliness and heartache. We wonder where God is, as we continue to plummet downward into a pit of despair. We may experience long periods of darkness, when all around us seems to be dead and full of the bitter cold feelings that make us feel as though this season in our life will never come to an end. There is hope though because this season will eventually end, as the other seasons have and a new beginning will once more appear; full of new growth, that will allow more beauty back into our lives.

Today, as I woke up and saw the dreary and windy weather; my soul began to feel it too, after a long night of pain and exhaustion but as I called out to God for help; He not only came to answer my request but He even made Himself more profound, as several other prayers were answered too. Tonight, I sit with peace in my spirit because God has once more fought the battle for me. His peace has now covered the deepest part of my being and tonight; I will once more rest in His loving arms again.

A Refreshing Moment

After an all-day rain yesterday; I woke up to the most beautiful, sunny, fall day. Everything in the yard seemed to come back alive; after a day of rain.

Today I decided to get out and enjoy something, other than the four walls and computer I'm attached to most of the time. I needed a time, when I could just let my mind be carried away with the scenery, while we were out in the country. The hills today were showing a brand new personality. As I viewed the mountains and hills from a distant; they had a look, as though someone had sponge painted the trees, in different shades of yellow and green. The trees that were green last weekend were now in a beautiful pear yellow. Leaves were lying in the road, as they had been placed there by each raindrop. The magpies and the eagles we saw were gliding on the wings of the air, as though they had all day to just enjoy their flight.

As we passed old wooden fences, with dormant grass and weeds and colorful leaves; a feeling came into me, as though I was in an earlier day. Cattle and horses were grazing, with a look of contentment. Some of the bushes that shed beautiful colors of barn reds, oranges and yellows, were now bare, as they seemed to be preparing themselves for a long winters nap, after a long, hot summer.

The ponds we passed had darkened in deep shades of blue, as the air had cooled them down, from the reflective look they had lived out during the summer. All of creation around us was now out and rejoicing over the cool day, that their maker had created for them. They were no longer hiding in the shadows of the pines, to keep cool from the summer heat. They were enjoying the last days of refreshment, before settling down for the winter.

All of creation seems to run by the hand of their maker. God leads them in the coolness of the woods and hills during the heat of summer, while He leads them to other places of safety and warmth, throughout the winter months. They listen to their maker's voice, as they travel through the skies and fields.

As I was reflecting on this today; I was wondering why an ordinary animal or bird can depend so deeply on their creator, while we as humans persist to go our own direction. Just as God uses moments to protect His creation; He also uses the same moments for us but if we are so caught up; walking down our own pathway, then how will we even know His? Today has been a refreshing and beautiful day. A camera could never remember; what God has imprinted within my thoughts this day.

Are We Being Debilitated By Evil?

Today I wrote some new sayings down, that God gave me this morning, while my husband and I were having our devotion. The one that touched my heart the most was... "When we live with frustration; it's because we are connected to everything but God." The negative feelings we experience in life can connect us so deeply to our problems that we forget all about God and what He can do for us.

We become like the waves of the ocean; we find ourselves drifting into a problem; only to pull the problem back with us wherever we go. How do we allow ourselves to leave each problem behind, so we can receive a new hope in God? First, we need to form new habits. It seems as though we have been living with bad habits that have directed us right into the problem, while leaving the hope that God can give us behind.

As my husband and I were discussing this today in our devotion time; God laid it upon my heart, that we need to reverse the way we handle our problems. I have a special Bible and in the front of the Bible, there are subtitles, with Bible verses under them. For example; if I was to look under the word "Fear", as the subtitle, then I would find a verse that goes like this; "He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen; for he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes." Psalm 112:7-8. Let's say that we were going through a trying moment and it was causing us to have fear. If we were to go and read the verses under fear, then we could hold the tools from those verses within our hands that would help us to rise above each trying moment. The same can be done with a Bible concordance. Just look up whatever you may be experiencing for the moment and read a verse of hope that can help to overcome the problem. After a while of doing this; we would find ourselves running to God and His word, instead of falling prey to our problems. We need to start walking away from the debilitating problem and start walking towards the cure of the problem, which is God. Our problems will continue to disable us, until we reverse our actions and find God to be the source of our life instead.

Wisdom is the greatest gift that we can receive from God but if we don't use His wisdom to work as a tool in our lives, then we will never accomplish or overcome anything in life. His wisdom leads us into pathways that we would've never been able to discover on our own. His wisdom fills our speech, with special words that can sooth a broken spirit. His wisdom allows us to hear His voice and words of encouragement and hope. His wisdom fills our hearts, as His feelings overflow throughout our inner being. Maybe it's time that we discover God all over again and place our time and energy into the true source of hope and if we are plugged into Him, then our circumstances will fade away into thin air.

God's Light Destroys Darkness

Today was once more; another beautiful fall day! As I began my work; God began to speak to my heart, as words began to flow quickly through my fingertips to the computer screen. What a feeling; to experience the presence of God. Isn't it amazing how God brings new things into each new day? Sometimes we experience surprises in life; while other times we have disappointments that we may have never expected. I'm sure that's the reason why God doesn't allow us to see so far in advance. Each new day serves its own purpose; whether it is good or bad. There are days when we feel as though the rain in our heart never stops. In fact; there may be days when the storms just keep coming. God has His timing, even through the storms, so that He is there when we need Him; to hold our hand and be there for us until the storm is over.

When we can feel the depth of God within us; it doesn't seem to matter what kind of day we are experiencing. The rainy tears could be falling from our hearts but when God is there; He can bring brightness into the heart that can allow us to see His full colors. When His light shines upon our darkened hearts; the rainbow of His loving care appears.

When we are looking at the circumstance; instead of looking for God, then we don't feel these moments of serene peace. The darkness doesn't allow us to see anything else but the darkness and this is what keeps us imprisoned within our moments of despair. If we could but look beyond the dark, cloudy circumstances, that are keeping us from viewing God and lift our eyes towards the heavens, then we would see a glimpse of hope that can keep our focus off of despair.

We may have found despair, through that which is evil but God has given us a choice. We can either remain focused on the darkness or look through the darkness into the light and seek for the desires of our hearts. When we look deeper into darkness, then we have lost touch with God's desire and will for our lives.

Today has been a day; full of the presence of God! Tonight I feel drained but not because I worked out at a gym or because I did some physical task. I'm drained because I spent the day with God and that's a good feeling for anyone to experience.

Truly Discovering Christ

Today has been a relaxing type of day. As I sat, to rest my legs and work; I gazed out the window. It was a cloudy day but the brightness of the colored leaves became like florescent lights in our yard. The squirrels were chasing each other around the back yard; as if they had a reason to rejoice. It was amazing how a day that seemed to be so dismal, could reveal itself in a completely different way.

Seemed like the presence of God was working with my mind; as if He was standing right beside me; whispering His words in my ear. Sometimes we wonder why we can't hear the voice of God, when we need to hear His voice the most. Could it be that we are too busy listening to ourselves, instead of waiting to hear the voice of God. Are we so in tune to the reception that comes through our own way of thinking that we block out the reception that can cause the voice of the Lord to speak to us?

It's so amazing how God can speak to a person; if they are willing to listen. There are times when I go in another room and I tell God what's on my heart and then as I wait; His words come through, like chimes from the heavens. He has given me songs, while going through very trying moments in my life; songs that I had never heard of before and as I would listen to the words in the song; I would begin to realize that He was speaking through the song, with comforting and sustaining words of love.

The moment I first discovered the voice of God within me; I was never the same again. Some people say..."You have something special with God that I will never have." That's not true. A person only receives by what they seek after. If we are just waiting for God to drop a message down upon our heads, then we may never experience His loving presence. We must show Him the desire; of a close relationship with Him, by going after the things we long for the most. When we are so caught up with a worldly mind; we never find God; only that by which we go after. The Bible says..."Seek and ye shall find..." God has already given us the tool to use, that will help us to find Him and that is a heart that seeks after God. All He is asking is that we use the tool to find Him. When we truly find God; we will never be the same again. We will begin to feel as though a piece of Heaven has fallen down upon us. Once this has happened; it's amazing how much our problems grow dimmer.

Today seemed dreary but with God inside of me; the sun was still shining.

The Purpose Behind our Problem can lead us to a Cure

A person cannot continue to move forward on the pathway of life, until there is new growth, to help move them along. What happens when a person never experiences new growth or victory through defeat? It's as if they are experiencing the same view from the same spot.

I guess we take life for granted...always thinking that we are moving forward in life, no matter what we may be experiencing for the moment. When we experience new growth, then the new growth becomes fresh footprints to follow in and new growth also brings a nudge to help us move forward in life. When we don't allow our circumstances to produce new growth within us, then we remain the same and nothing changes in our lives and instead of pressing on, we find that we have discovered a place that only keeps us wallowing in despair.

While thinking about this today, a thought came to me. In this thought, there was a person and straight ahead of them was Heaven. This person was trying to make it there but no matter what they did on their own, they could not move forward. They just sat there in despair, while they viewed Heaven from a distance. This person could not move forward because they weren't experiencing any new growth that could help them move forward in life. In other words, this person was stuck in their despair and instead of looking for a way to move forward and out of their muck of despair, they were reflecting more on the problem, which prevented the growth from taking place.

Satan's plan is not only to shoot a "thorn of despair" within us but his desire is to also keep the "thorn" in place, so he has control over us. No matter how difficult it may be, we need to look beyond the problem and start looking for the purpose behind the problem, so God can use the purpose to produce new footprints of growth, for us to walk in. Today, God has truly touched my heart with this writing! He showed me that we must keep pressing on, no matter what comes our way. We need to remember, that the most dangerous place to be, is with the "thorn".

We don't have to live on Yesterday's Strength

After a long sleepless night, I began to think about all that needed to be done for the day. Isn't it amazing how we can perceive weakness, before anything happens, especially when we are tired? I could feel the power of evil, as Satan attempted to take the joy out of my day but as I was finishing up with some things, God was taking me back to one of my favorite Bible verses, which is found in Philippians 4:13. The verse reads..."I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

As I began to think on this verse, a certain part of the verse began to stand out, where it reads..."through Christ which strengtheneth me." It's not our own strength that is going to get us through a day but rather God's strength instead. We need to remember that our strength isn't a perfect strength, like the strength that comes from God. It doesn't matter if we need His strength for something small or something big; His strength will work the same way, no matter what we need to accomplish in our day.

Today, as I began to feel the end of my rope, I went into another room and said..."Oh God, please help me!" As I poured my tired thoughts out to God; His strength seemed to just step in and take over. The rest of my day fell into place, just as a child places a simple puzzle together. Everything that needed to be accomplished was accomplished, with more strength to spare.

Today, I began my day on the fumes that were left from yesterday, until God came along and took over. I pray that this will be a reminder to me every day that I don't have to suffer needlessly or go through my day exhausted, before I even begin the day. I may have started my day out weak but now I have a new strength to continue on with and its Gods strength! Thank you God!

Rescued from Despair

Today has been a nice day of rest. Just meditating on God's goodness and how He works each day in my life. Through the devotional I wrote on Thursday; God allowed me to see how we need His footsteps of wisdom and truth, to make it through each day.

Let's close our eyes and picture ourselves, as though we are in a pit of despair. The walls around us are nothing but unstable dirt. Through our own desires; we attempt to climb out of the pit but after a few steps; the wall gives way and we fall back into the pit; from where we first began. As we sit in the bottom of the pit; contemplating what to do next; we begin to realize that there is no way we are going to get out on our own. We bow our heads and cry out to God in desperation. He hears our cries and as we look up, we see solid steps begin to appear, as God is showing us, that He has made the way. As we begin the climb; we begin to realize that each step stands for something that can allow us to become stronger through the climb. The first step may teach us to see our situation through God's eyes. The second step may teach us how to react differently to our situation. As we begin to approach each new step; we begin to also see that each step is teaching us something new.

As we draw closer to the top of the pit, there is only one step left. This step represents our belief, in what God can do in our lives. Is our belief strong enough to get on top of that step? Finally we arrive and here we stand; on the very last step. All we have to do is place our foot on the ground above the pit but is there enough expectation, in our desire to be set free; to know that we can do it?

I'm learning more and more, that when we look for the steps that God has for us to follow, then we will always be on a firm foundation and as we overcome each step by faith, then we can make it out of the pit to higher ground. If we try to skip steps that God has laid out for us, then we are taking the risk of falling, to a place where we may have to begin all over again.

This has not only been a day of peace and rest but a day of renewal; in preparation for the week ahead. If we are willing to be quiet and be open to His still, small voice, then we will discover the way that leads us to freedom through God. I pray that as we all awake to a brand new week, that we will be able to see the footsteps that God has laid out before us to follow.

A God Who Can Lift Us up and Over the Obstacle

Today was a beautiful fall day and as the sun shone brightly into the room where I was working; that same feeling overflowed my heart, as I felt the warming presence of God working in my day. Before I start a project; I like to talk with God and ask Him to touch everything I do throughout my day. After struggling through a few days this week; God and I seemed to be working hand in hand again. It felt so good to have that connection back and to feel His presence.

We all have days that don't seem to go the way we plan but they do eventually work out. In a similar way; we may feel like God has let us down and all hope is gone but these moments shall pass. We may not see it this way, when we are going through the blunt of the problem but when we look back and see the moments we have come through in the past, then these moments that we reflect on will help to keep our hope alive.

I have had days, when the pain never seemed to stop and I felt as though my faith was being constantly tested. There were moments when I went to bed and woke up to the same kind of day. I would pray and ask God for His help but I could never understand why the help never came, at the moment I was begging for it the most. I guess that these trying moments in our lives are being used in a way that God sees best for us. We may never be able to figure out the questions why but in time we find that we learn to lean more on God, than we ever had before.

Just as there are days of rain and days of sunshine; this too must be the way in our own lives. God knows when the earth needs to be watered and refreshed and He knows when the earth needs the heat of the sun. In a similar way; God knows when we must go through the scorching days of trials but in due season; He brings the rain and refreshes us once again.

If we are going to invite God to live and reign within us, then we must also let His ways be our ways. When we can allow Him to live in and through us; knowing that He knows what's best for our lives, then we have found real trust in God. The road isn't always easy; especially when the rocks on our pathway seem to be continually in the way but when we can lean on the One in charge, then we won't have to struggle through it all because as we lean on Him; He will lift us up and over the obstacles that get in our way. When we don't give up but continue to follow God, no matter what; then our faith has grown and we have grown and those moments will lead us onto better pathways.

Lessons through the Storm

Today I awoke to rain. Often I wonder if it's God's tears falling around us; showing us that He is sharing in our pain, heartache or sorrow. One thing I've learned over and over again; is that He is in the midst of everything we go through. Sometimes we can look out a dreary window; while the rain and blustery weather only reminds us even more about the kind of day we are facing but when we think of it; we are viewing these moments through a worldly eye. If we were to look through God's eyes, then we would see a dreary day but we would also see that God is in the rain and wind, just as He is in the rainy and dreary moments of our lives.

As my husband and I began our day with our devotion; God was reminding me even more, that I need to take my attention away from the old way of thinking. This is the way we used to think about our problems before we came to know God. When we drift into the old ways of thinking, during trying times, then Satan will take us out to sea, where we are in danger of drowning beneath the weight of our circumstance.

When I was into writing poetry; I remember a poem that God gave me, that talked about meeting God in the central part of our heart or being. The poem talked about the moments that God and I sat across from each other, while I told Him all my needs. This is the kind of thinking we should have, while we are facing a dreary and depressing day. Instead of seeing the worst of the storm; we need to find God in the storm. When we find God, then He can be a comfort to us, while we wait the storm out together. When we can find the good out of the bad, then we are able to find a peace that sustains and keeps us from falling further down.

As I thought about my life today; first I caught myself looking at my life through the old set of eyes and as I thought this way; I felt the heaviness of those moments taking me down further but then it was as if the master of the sea stepped in. He once more reminded me; about the purpose behind all I've been through and as I began to see what He was showing me, through His eyes; the storm seemed to calm down and peace came instead.

There can be days when the sea is so calm, that all we can see is a reflection of everything beautiful around us, while there can be days, when the storm is so wild, that we struggle to make it from one moment to the next but the lessons that come out of the storm continue to give our minds renewed hope, that all will be well again soon.

Author Diane K Hiltz Chamberlain

Diane's Bio

I was raised in a small town in Michigan and was born with a congenital problem in both knees. I went through many surgeries, trying to correct the problem but there was never really a cure. Little did I know; that God had "branded" me at birth, for such a moment as this. Many in this world grow up and go to school or college, to get their education but that's not what God had in store for me. My education for writing came from twenty-one painful knee surgeries, heartache from sexual abuse as a child, and the loss of many things in my life, including the loss of children. As each painful moment came and as each loving desire left, God was taking all the brokenness in my life, and He was piecing it together, so I could have the heart He desired...a heart that could understand and care, for others, who live in despair.

As of this year, I have ministered to many in need, for over 12 years and God continues to open new doors for me to walk through. Now, I am serving God full-time, as I continue to reach out to others in need, through my writings and the Diane K Chamberlain Ministry. One thing that God has taught me over the years; is that no matter what we lose out on or experience in life; He will always be there to pick up the broken pieces and fill the empty voids in our lives. At the most difficult and heartbreaking moments of my life, I have come to see; that God never abandons His own but rather, He exchanges the painful moments, for the true plan He has, for each of our lives.

Visit Diane at Risen Hope Ministries – http://risenhopeministries.com

