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THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING: FAITH OF A CHILD
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (The Bible) With Thanksgiving only a week (or less 😊) away, the LORD has really been reminding me of the power of a grateful heart. It is so easy to look around at the world and give into despair or our own frustrations and pains while conveniently ignoring the many commands in Scripture to “give thanks in all things”. When we don’t feel like it or things around us are genuinely bad, the idea of “giving thanks” can seem ludicrous or downright wrong. Yet, that phrase “all things” is…
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KEEP STANDING
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” ~ Ephesians 6:13 (The Bible) One of my very favorite works of fiction is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As a writer, his powers of description, world-building, and language are tremendously inspiring; as a person, his themes of unconditional love, courage, and hope in the face of overwhelming evil deeply resonate within my heart. Truly, it would be difficult for me to pick a favorite aspect of Tolkien’s work but, if pressed, I would have to boil it down to a concept…
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WOMAN UP, AMERICA: IT’S TIME TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS
“The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.” ~ Proverbs 14:1 (The Bible) It’s time for we women to take responsibility for our actions. We’re embroiled in a current election war in our nation the likes of which most of us have never seen—or wanted to see. Our country is as divided as it has ever been except, perhaps, in the days before the Civil War (or “War Between the States”, if you’re from the South). If you look at the election map by counties, that division becomes painfully clear. Just like the 2016 election {map pictured}, almost every city and metropolitan area…
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LET ME LIVE
“Open your mouth for the speechless, and in the cause of all appointed to die. ” ~ Proverbs 31:8 In six days, our Nation will face what can only be described as a truly historic Election Day. Opinions and emotions are running high: seems like everyone has something to say. Yet, with all of the voices clamoring and crying out, there is one voice we can’t hear, one voice too small to perceive… One voice with more at stake in this election than any of the rest of us. Below is a song my Mother recently wrote(*) capturing the innocence and desperation of that one voice. As you go to…
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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE KING
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom you have sent. ” ~ Jesus Christ (John 17:3) And so we reach the conclusion of this series. We’ve talked about the heart of the Father, the heart of the Son, and how the heart of Jesus on earth was to do His Father’s business. We discussed what it means for man to be made in the image of God and the great sacrifice both God the Father and God the Son (including God the Holy Spirit) made to bring mankind back into the intimate relationship we were made for: adopted forever…
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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: THE SACRIFICE
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ” ~ John 3:16 “Oh Pa…What’ll I do now?” In one of my favorite episodes of The Rifleman (“The Schoolmaster”, Season 3, Episode 10), young Mark McCain has had about all he can take of a difficult (and, yes, unfair) teacher. He threatens to quit school but his wise father, Lucas, tells him he can’t run from his problems and that they will figure it out together. So what does Mark do? Skip school with his best friend, of course. In their thrill of freedom,…
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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: IN HIS IMAGE
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image…’ ” ~ Genesis 1:26 Have you ever wondered what it means to be somebody’s “spitting image”? I still have no idea where the “spitting” part comes from (and don’t really want to know 😊), but I’m pretty familiar with the whole “image” thing. It never fails. Wherever I go, if my family has gone before me, someone’s going to notice and feel the need to say it: “You look just like your Dad!” Those words are a bit strange to hear when you’re a girl, yet I always smile and say “thank you” because I know it’s true. I do…
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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: THE FATHER’S BUSINESS
“Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” ~ Jesus Christ (Luke 2:49) If someone were to ask you why Jesus came to this planet, what would you say? That He came to save sinners? Do good things? Teach people about Heaven? Or maybe you’d be like, “Wait: who’s Jesus?” If the answer is the latter, check out “The Hidden Meaning” on this blog before going any further. If not, let us proceed… 🙂 Why did Jesus come to this planet? If the question “Why does it matter?” comes to your mind, well, I’m glad you asked it because the answer to that question is the…
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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: HEART OF THE SON
“I have come in My Father’s name…” ~ Jesus Christ (John 5:43) “Jesus, what would You like for me to say in this blog post?” It’s taken over a month for me to be able to return to this series (“Like Father, Like Son”). The reasons for the delay have varied yet the desire to understand more clearly the heart of the son has remained ever constant. As I mentioned in my first post, the classic t.v. show The Rifleman has been a key element in this journey, showing so clearly the love of a father for his son and a son for his father: watch the show for about…
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LET ME BE A PATRIOT
“Patriot – A person who loves his country, and zealously supports and defends it and its interests.” ~ Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary This weekend marks the 244th birthday of the dearest place on the planet (to me, anyway): The United States of America! In celebration, I decided to take a brief pause from my latest series “Like Father, Like Son” and share something the Lord gave me last year about this time. I’m no poet, but the words come straight from my heart. I pray they touch yours as well… “LET ME BE A PATRIOT” “Let me be a patriot. I know you may not agree. You may not feel…
