One Night

One Child 

One Night 
One star 
Shone bright. 
One Gift 
One Promise 
One Savior 
One Light. 
This Gift 
Our Savior 
God's promise 
Eternal life. 

Joy

If you can’t be happy where you are, 

you won’t be happy where you are going.  

Faithful Love

We will never see God's back 

so let us lift our hands with praise 

and turn our face to Him with thanks,

thanks to our ever faithful, loving Creator.

All loving, merciful, gracious, forgiving God, 

Our Creator who first loved me. 

Holy, Holy, Holy is your name.  

God's Vision of You

God doesn't need glasses;

His vision never weakens,

is never blurred;

His eyesight never changes;

You are the apple of His eye.

His perspective remains the same;

His love stands forever. 

The Gate is Open

When life knocks you down,

Look up,

God is looking back. 

Sleep well

Psalm 4:8  "In peace I will  both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety."
Good night my friends, sleep well and dream.

Praying.......

I'm listening God.

Be Still

God will answer your prayers if you will just take the time to be still

and wait and listen for Him.  Even when you think He isn't doing

anything, He is there, right beside you. 

God may be invisible to you, but He sees you,

He is there.

Be still, wait on Him, and know He is God.  

Forgiveness

When you forgive, 

you set yourself free.  

We Are The Temple

 1 Chronicles 28:20       

"David also said to Solomon his son, Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished." 

We are the temple. 

Psalm 16:11

Psalm 16:11

“You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Walk by faith with joyful expectations, not by fear.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is free; 

grudges can cost you everything.

Night Blessings

Tonight as you close your eyes to sleep
remember that the One who created the 
universe holds you in His arms. 

Sleep well and dream, my friends.

HIS

I am never alone
because
I am HIS alone.

The Gift

Forgiveness is free; 

grudges can cost you everything.

Release it, move forward with your life

and feel the victory and the joy.  

Sunflowers

I love sunflowers!!! 

Did you know that God made sunflowers to follow the sun?  

The sunflower will turn as the sun moves.  

That is how I want to be.  

I want to follow the Son and move as He moves.  

Out of Chaos, Order

                   Priorities can take over our life.
We need to put our priorities in order,
                   in order to ensure that our priorities do not
order our life.

God Is Love

                                   God loves you.

He made you on purpose,
                                                He made you with purpose.

Celebrate God's love!

The Plank In My Eye

Before I point at my neighbor’s faults, 
I need to point one hand at myself 
and one hand towards God. 
That will leave me with no hand 
to point at my neighbor.

The Myth of Giving = Getting

What is a tithe?  A tithe is one tenth, so one tenth of what we earn should go right to God, before taxes, before any other deductions.  The first fruits belong to God.  Look around at how much God has given us.  We should be happy to give back one tenth; it really isn't that much when you think of all we have been given. 

Giving doesn’t mean getting.  Giving means giving.  There is no math equation where what you give goes from column A to column B and a matching amount gets placed in column C.  What you give goes from column A to column B and stays with the owner of column B.  If the motivation for our giving is just to receive, then we are giving for the wrong reasons.  The reason we give is to help others, not to help ourselves.  If God has already blessed us with enough to bless others, then that is what we should do as Christians.  If God chooses to bless us further, then blessed be His holy name, thank you Father, for the name of Jesus.  But if we tithe our first fruits and with the expectation of gaining in return, then we are tithing for the wrong reason.  The reason to tithe is because God said so.  Simple.  The reason for offerings is to praise Him.  

Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s and all its fullness, the work and those who dwell therein”

God owns everything and therefore it follows that we own nothing.  We are only the managers of God’s possessions.  The Christian owns nothing; all that he or she has is not “mine” but “Thine”.  Everyone has something from God, no matter how much or how little.   It is only right and natural to give something back to God when He has given so much to us. When we give, we give to further the gospel. 

(It is also true then that when we steal from our neighbor, we steal from God because God gave our neighbor his possessions.)  

We owe our gifts and talents to the Lord as well.  Whatever we have, whether talents, or gold or gifts or money and wealth, we have only One to thank and be grateful to for all that we have, and the One we should thank is God.  

In quiet times....

Sometimes the best way to be heard
is to be quiet.

Leave behind despair, disappointment, and pain; 
focus on your determination, strength, self-love, drive, 
zeal and commitment, and the negative feelings will vanish. 
Your talents and gifts will thrive.

Man stands with his back to the sun 

and wonders why he can’t see. 

Man blocks the Son 

with his sin and stands in darkness. 

God's Blessings Cannot Be Bought

God cannot be manipulated; worshiping Him should never be orchestrated. 

Prayer, like worship, should originate from the heart and 

be a pure offering to God.   

Prayer should never be treated like a formula for success to obtain

what you want from God. 

Worship Him with a clean heart and clean hands lifted high above 

and away from all the earthly distractions. 

God does not expect more from us 

then He has equipped us to do.  

Jeremiah 29:11-13  For I know the plans I have for you,” 
declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to 
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Peace is not the absence of problems;

It is the absence of worry in the midst of adversity.

Even in the storm, 

I can hear the song birds singing.  

Some people think God's grace is beyond their reach;
that God's love and grace is meant
for someone else and not for them,
but nothing could be farther from the truth.  

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given us: 

We are called God's children-and that is what we are! 
For this reason the world does not recognize us, 
because it did not recognize him, either."


Deuteronomy 14:1 You are the children of the Lord your God. 
Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead,  

---

Luke 20:36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. 
They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.

---

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in 
His name, he gave the right to become children of God--

God has so much love for us, He calls us His children.  
If we come to know Him,
we know His unending love and grace.  

Gratitude

I am amazed when I think of all of the things You have done for us,

all You have put into place for us,

all You have given to us,

all You have opened our minds to,

all You have healed us of,

all of the wounds You have bound up,

all of our talents You have given us,

all that You have created for us,

the flowers and the trees,

the animals we call pets and love,

the creatures that run wild,

mountains to climb, valleys to run through,  

the sun, the stars and the moon,

the planets in the night sky,

the sunsets and sunrises,

the snows that come too soon,

the beauty all around us, Thank you, but still,

This is the mystery of your love, the God 3 in One,

that when I consider this:

The gift of Your Son,

I am awed to see how much You love us.  

You call us Your children; Oh God of Love. 

1 John 3: ¹ See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.

Open the Door

If you can't be happy where you are
you won't be happy where you are going.
Your joy can't depend on your circumstances
because this life will never be perfect.
Find the joy in the little things as well as the big things

and joy for everything will follow.

Isaiah 55:12 - "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; 

the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, 

and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." 

Psalm 118:24 - "This is the day the LORD has made; 

let us rejoice and be glad in it." 

Proverbs 15:13 - "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, 

but heartache crushes the spirit." 

          You have to decide what you want

           before you can make a decision.

Insecurity = The world.
In security = The Word.

The Hunger Games

It wasn't that long ago that no matter what you were doing, whether you were 0n the Internet, watching TV or listening to the radio, all you heard  and read about was "The Hunger Games".  If you searched on the Web, to the right or the left, or above or below, there was an ad, a trailer and/or an icon for an advertisement touting "The Hunger Games".  Private conversations and social media were filled with witty comments, angst and clever rhetoric discussing the movie or the book; the news reported the movie mega bucks scores and hyped the movie event even more.  Late night shows, (really just another advertising vehicle) interviewed the stars and plugged the movie.  Whether or not it is a good story is not the point.  The point is that as quickly as this movie hype tornado touched down and whirled it's way across the land, it is gone.  Now, a few weeks later, not a sound, an ad, or a Face Book comment.  No tweeting, no Pinterest, no MySpace.  Apparently, the Games are over.  Maybe in the movies, it's over, maybe the books are back on the shelf, and the interest has waned in the media but there are real hunger games that are on going in this world. 

There are children starving to death in Africa, in South America, on the streets of Romania, in Mexico and here in the United States and not only children, but adults, teens, entire families.  There are some people who address the hungry and poor and there are those who out and out ignore the pain and suffering of others, happy as long as they have the things of this world, the desires of their hearts.  There are people who stop themselves from gadgetry overload and put their extra money towards helping others; there are also people who give over and above generosity to ease the hunger and suffering of others.  Unfortunately, there aren't enough of these people.  If there were more like minded people, there would be a lot less hunger and suffering in this world.  It doesn't take that much to help the poor to be able to eat or to have clean water, or to be free from slavery. 

When you review any of the Christian websites, you see what $1.00 can do for one person.  $10.00 donations can bring close to a miracle to a child in the Sudan or the Horn of Africa, or in South America.  Imagine if we all gave $10.00 a month to a worthy cause, to feeding someone, to giving a child clean drinking water, imagine the impact, the end to the real life Hunger Games.  Take a look at "Sevenly" or "The Clean Water Project".  It doesn't take much to help, but it means so much to the helpless.  


There is another hunger that is being felt all over the world.  A hunger so deep, a hunger so strong that people would debase themselves to fill the void, and would kill themselves when denied.  

A hunger, that in the absence of fulfillment,  is all consuming.  A hunger that leaves sleep behind, a hunger that will void all dreams, a hunger that burns inside, a hunger that won't let words flow onto the paper, a hunger that hugs the soul and pulls the air out of their lungs.  This hunger drives so many into drunken foolishness, into stupid decisions, into viewing porn, into empty streets, into dare devil leaps, into debt, into greed, into crime, trudging through the emptiness, all the while trying to obtain the peace that only unconditional love can bring.  That hunger is for love, and God holds that love for us and longs to release it to us.  It is a love so pure it can't be imagined, it can't be bought, it can't be contrived or constructed; it can't be written into a script and acted out.  This love is unconditional love.  Unconditional love encompasses forgiveness; forgiveness for what was done, forgiveness for the things left undone, forgiveness for the mistakes, bad decisions, sins, (a word we don't care to admit to) for everything we have ever done, or ever will do.  Unconditional love is also total and true, forever faithfulness.  There is only One who gives this and that is God, who gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to live here on earth, among men, He was loved and rejected; rejected in a way that is too horrible to describe.  While here on earth, Jesus, Son of God, gave of Himself, served, healed and taught for 33 years, and then, according to plan, He gave up His life and He died a horrible death to atone for our sins.  That is how much He loves us.  We are His and He loves us.  God loves us.   Through the death of His only begotten Son, has provided a Way for us to come to Him again.  Jesus took on our sins; He atoned for our sins before God so that we can come to the throne room and sit on the mercy seat.  After 3 days, Jesus raised again from the dead, conquering death and bringing eternal life for all of us.  There is no purchase price we can pay for this gift. All we have to do is believe.  
God is relentless in His pursuit of us.  He loves us so much that through belief of the miracle of His Son, His death and resurrection, we can become His children.  Yet somehow, we have forgotten Him, our Sovereign God.  Imagine for just a moment that we are children of God, His adopted sons and daughters, brothers and sisters to the King of Glory, and although undeserving of anything, this great God would give us everything.  Yahweh, Adonai, Yahweh-nissi, Yahweh-shalom, Yahweh-sabaoth, Yahweh-raah, Yahweh-tsidkenu, our God, an Almighty God, a God of forever, a God of faithfulness, our God who can destroy a mountain with half of a blink of His eye, longs to lift us up out of the mire and muck we surround ourselves in.  This God, this God who was and is and always will be longs to love us.  God, the creator of all things, who thought of us before we were created, who knows all about us, sees all we do and loves us anyway. He loves us with every breath we should know how fearfully and wonderfully we are made, so how do we run from such a wonderful God when He runs to us? 
 " Psalms 139: 14-18 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.  How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You."


Jesus, who was sacrificed like a lamb, comes roaring like a lion in defense of His beloveds.

The joy of freedom from sin, from the shackles of the world, from striving to be good, to understand and follow too many rules to try to earn salvation is a joy that is incredible to behold.  There is nothing else like it.  It is a joy that grabs hold from the inside out, a peace that soothes the wildest worries, and a love that will never fail and never end.

He gives us the power for victory over addictions, depression, our past oppression, the hate of this world.  With Him we are conquerors.  

God gave us a glorious gift that we cannot understand on our own, but when we trust the Word of the Lord, when we look on the cross, when we believe in the miracle of His Son, the One who came down from heaven on a cold winter's night, the King who was born in a manger of a virgin, this Jesus, who first chose us, asks only that we choose Him and for that we have eternal life in a place He has gone ahead to create of us.  
The gift of eternal life is free.  All that God asks is that we believe.  
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was with God in the beginning.  3.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  4.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  John 1: 1-5
" I am the way the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father except through me. John 14:6
It isn't about doing everything right, knowing the right words, at the right time, where to stand, when to kneel and when to sit.  It is about having a personal relationship with God.  God loves us.  
Just believe.

We win our battles when we approach each one
from an attitude of victory.

What ever the difficulty,
whatever the problem or need
know that God is ready to hear us
more than we are ready to ask.
Have faith that His help will come.

Just

BELIEVE 

Consider

When it comes to impossible, 

God says "I'm Possible".

Restoration

If you keep looking at the past, if you let the past pull 
at your coat tails, tug at your sleeves, 
if you try to repeat the past, even the good parts, 

you will never see the future God has planned for you.    

Look ahead, move forward, trust, have faith and believe.   

Night Blessings

Stars shine,

night comes still.

Planets whirl,

the day ends  

and night begins.

Dreams dance

for another chance to

make a difference.

Sleep tonight, then begin 

tomorrow's day with 

love, joy, hope and faith.  

Don’t allow problems to lead your thoughts.  

Be led by your dreams. Don’t think of failure; 

look to success.  

Keep God in all of your thoughts every day.  

Move by faith, not fear.  

Leave the burden of worry behind; 

pray expectantly.  
Forgive everyone, hold nothing back;
let all of the hurts go and lighten 
the burdens you carry through your life

Trust Jesus.  He is there for you. 

God's Love

God doesn’t just love, He is love.  

He doesn’t just show us mercy, 

God is mercy.  

God doesn’t just forgive, 

He is forgiveness. 

In His Hands

We may think we are holding onto Jesus, 
But He is holding onto us. 

Faith not Fear

The flames of confusion are fanned by doubt.  
Doubt grows from fear.  
When we have faith in the promises of God
we can focus on life and go forward with confidence 
following the dreams He has placed in our hearts.    
Walk with faith, not fear. 

The Lovely

The lost were not made
to be forgotten but to
be loved and cherished.

Ria