For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. Matthew 11:30
We as a congregation were challenged by the pastor to read Isaiah 48. The church I attend is more like a house church. We are encouraged to be an Acts church. Where we all bring a word of testimony, a song, a passage of scripture, a word of encouragement, whatever God lays on your heart. We encourage each other. We felt led to this church several weeks ago and I have no doubt that this is where God wants us. We are attending Destination Church out on FM 2446 for those who might wonder.
Wednesday night’s Bible study is a true gift of God. We are going over the prayers in the Bible, however, sometimes when God gives us something we go with that. For example, two weeks ago, everyone had a Romans 5 scripture. It was amazing to watch how God is speaking the same thing to all of us at different times that day. I just love it!
Anyway back
to Isaiah 48 – I encourage you too to read it!
In Isaiah 48 God is telling Israel how stubborn and obstinate they
were. In verse 4 (NLT) it says “For I
know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. Your
heads are as hard as bronze”. In the ESV it says, “Because I know that you are
obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass.” WOW does
God truly knows us or what? The metaphor for iron sinew or neck is unbending as
iron and it come from when you put on or try to put the yoke on an ox and they
keep their necks so tight and refuse to give to the yoke. It made me think… Lord, how often are we
unbending and stubborn? You are gently
trying to lead us with Your yoke and we just won’t give. We stubbornly stiffen up and pull against You
in a different direction. Lord, I pray
that each of us reading this today would soften under Your hand, that we would
go the direction You are gently leading us in.
Lord I pray peace when we are going in the right direction and when we
aren’t Lord thank You for gently disciplining us to listen! I thank You that in Matthew 11:30 (NLT) you
tell us, “For my yoke is easy to
bear, and the burden I give you is light”.
Whatever
direction you are going today, I encourage you to ask God is this Your
direction or my own? Have you prayed and
asked God about this – even the little things?
Our burden needs to be given to the Lord and He will take up the
heaviness and give you a light load you can easily carry. If you try to carry life’s burdens on your
own, you will bog down and feel light you can’t make it. When that load is transferred to God, then
and only then, will you be able to navigate through life with a sense of
freedom and you’ll have amazing peace. I
can give you plenty of stories of both ways.
I have finally found that if I rest in God and give Him my burdens I
feel so free that I can do the things that he calls me to do easily!
I pray peace
and joy for each of you! Choose to
receive peace and choose to have joy!
I was coming in from feeding the deer and the blue jays were
squawking and raising a ruckus, so I started looking for what was bothering
them. Usually it’s because my cats are
close by but I had just left them both in the barn happily eating. I looked behind my planter and there was the
culprit. First snake I’ve seen this
year. About a 3-4 foot chicken
snake. So I got a shovel and carried him
out into the woods and left him there.
Not in my yard dude! I figured there
was a baby bird on the ground somewhere because the birds were squawking so
much. Last night, during the storm,
apparently two baby blue jays fell out of their nest. They aren’t quite ready for flight. I caught them and put them in a flower pot with
some peat moss covering on the bottom and put it up in the tree. They have jumped out from time to time but I
have placed them back. One of them stayed,
after I put him back twice, and after I put the 2nd one in. The 2nd one keeps jumping out. He is a little more flight capable and he
flaps down to the ground, I put him back several times but he keeps flying out
so I figured he’d be okay. Later on this
evening, I’ll put him back before it gets dark.
Lord, we are like that, you have us safely in Your hand if
we will allow it and stay there, but we often jump out of that safety and
strike out on our own. You are faithful
to pick us up and restore us if we choose to listen and follow You and Your
Word.
I went back inside and saw online that the 5 yr old little
boy that had been missing up in the Plains somewhere was found in a shallow
grave not far from his home. They have
charged his parents. The story says that
he was born with drugs in his system and CPS had come out repeatedly but left
him there. It saddens me that people are
so wicked. So began my morning
conversation with God. Lord why are
people so wicked? He began to tell me
that it is the choices people make and that the devil wants all of us to be
evil, so we have a choice to make. To whom
do we listen to?
Lord, Why is it so easy to listen to the devil? Because he tells them what they want to
hear. They find other people who listen
to the devil and they get in agreement and that is how their hearts are
hardened away from Me! Lord it grieves
me when I see people make bad choices; I can only imagine how badly it grieves
You. It grieves Me greatly when people
choose the devil, I want fellowship with my creation. I won’t make someone choose me, it is their
free will. That free will is why there
is so much evil in this world, but it won’t be that way forever! Continue to press in to Me and press on
toward your calling.
I know everyone does not communicates with God the way I do,
but we all hear from God in
different ways, we all connect in a different way. Press in and ask God the hard questions. He will show you in the Bible, have a
conversation with you or impress upon you the answer. But don’t be afraid to ask, Come boldly to
the throne. Hebrews 4:16, “Therefore let
us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help us at the proper time.”
The throne is where we find God’s mercy and grace in abundance!
To whom are you listening to? Are you letting God lead you down the path He
wants for you or are you allowing yourself to get in agreement with irritation,
aggravation, offense at others, anger, sadness, I’m not good enough, drugs, alcohol, pornography, cursing,
cigarettes, or unhealthy eating etc.?
Those things come straight from the devil and remember he is the father
of all lies. John 8:44 CEV, “Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what
he wants. He has always been a murderer and a liar. There is nothing truthful
about him. He speaks on his own, and everything he says is a lie. Not only is he a liar himself, but he is
also the father of all lies.”
You can only follow one master, because a man cannot serve
two masters, you will hate one and cling to the other, so who are you allowing
and choosing to be the master of your life. God as The Master gives us joy,
peace, and hope. Choosing the devil as a
master gives us misery, hopelessness and continual suffering. Remember, the fence belong to the devil so you
can’t straddle it! I can tell you that
because I know! I used to be divided and
tried to serve my own interests. I
always tried to do the right thing, and on the outside it looked good, but I
can tell you on the inside it was a wreck!
Once I finally gave up and made Jesus not only my Savior, but Lord of my
life, it became a whole different life.
Peace, joy, strength came in and I was able to weather the storms
without it rocking my world. I know whom
I can trust and I trust Jesus whole heartedly to take care of me and He does in
all things! It’s not always the way I
want it or think it will be but I have learned to be content in God’s will. I know He has things greater than I could
ever think or imagine in store for my life in accordance with His power working
in me! Eph 3:20
I encourage you to choose our sweet Savior Jesus Christ not
only to save you and give you eternal life, but to be Lord of your life, the
ride is amazing! Choose Joy, Choose to
not listen to the lies of the devil.
Have a blessed day. Pray for
those that were affected by the storm, St. Augustine, TX and Ruston, LA and
another place in GA.
Praying peace and strength from our faithful Heavenly Father
today for each of you!
Love y’all,
Donna
#FranklinStrong, #StAugustineStrong, #Ruston Strong and
#OurLordtheSTRONGEST
Let us Rejoice that Jesus has risen from the grave!
What an eventful, sad, joyful and interesting week this has been. Last Saturday, April 13, 2019, the lives of myself and everyone in my communities were changed forever.
The day started out like any other
Saturday. We were excited because Jr./Sr. Prom for Franklin High School was
that evening and we were hustling trying to get all the Saturday chores done so
we could help the young people in our lives get ready for prom.
My daughter and I had gone to Bryan to
grocery shop and pick up the last minute items for prom. We knew the weather service had been
predicting thunderstorms and possibly hail and tornadoes, so we were hustling
and being watchful of the sky. I manage
an AirBNB in Calvert and the couple staying called and said that they had
extremely high wind and it blew over a tree on the fence and the cows were
getting out. So I called the man that
works for the ranch to let him know. He
then told me he was out there and there were trees busted everywhere and we had
a tornado. So I called home and my
husband said it had gotten really bad at the house in New Baden and that he had
been called into work in Franklin because it was torn up pretty bad. He suggested we go ahead and wait in Wheelock
until we heard from him to tel us what road we could use to get home.
We headed that way and the sky was
getting darker by the minute. We turned
off of OSR Road onto FM 46 to head to Wheelock to a friend’s house to wait it
out. As we drove, I looked to my right and there was a funnel
cloud dropping from the sky and another spot looking like it was coming down
but it was very wide. I started to drive
fast, but with all of the water on the road I was having to be careful. That is when my daughter said, Mama you need
to drive faster, its dropping down! We
began to speed down the road toward Wheelock, the traction control on the car
was beeping and flashing because we were sliding all over the road due to the
wind and the water on the road. Small limbs
and leaves began to pelt the car and it began to became hard to keep it in my
lane so I drove in the middle of the road. My daughter kept saying, We are
covered by the blood of Jesus! He is our
port in the storm! We made it to my
friends on Hughes’ Cutoff Road, jumped out of the car and ran onto the porch
where everyone was out watching the sky.
I have to say I was pretty nervous by that point and was hollering as we
ran, It’s coming, get in the house…” We
all ran into the hall and waited but Praise God it never touched down. Thank You JESUS!
My friend had a landline that was
working and we began to take turns calling loved ones to check on them and then
Anchor called and said he couldn’t get off of our road because of all the
downed trees and he would suggest we stay put until he could find out what
roads we could take to get home. As
reports from friends and family members began to come in, we found out just how
bad it was in Franklin, New Baden, Easterly, Ridge and also just east of
Franklin. As we all sat there in
disbelief, we decided the best thing we could do was pray for everyone affected. There were 3 families represented there and
it is wonderful to be with believers in a crisis!
In the hours and days to come we have
all had the opportunity to step up and help in the ways that we are able. Our
community is a community of action and love.
We rally together when there is a crisis. The outpouring of love from our county was
incredible and the surrounding communities in Texas that have stepped up is mind
blowing! People just started to show up
with chain saws, supplies, food and above all, love and care for those in need. It has been truly inspiring! The stories that are being shared, everywhere
I go, are ones of God’s hand protecting them from being killed. They might have bumps and bruises but are
alive. The stories of people that would
normally be home, but felt the need to go somewhere are also emerging, the
stories of I got out just in time, …. They go on and on. It just shows how much God loves people and
wants to protect them! I am truly so
touched by all of this that at times I am overcome with emotion.
I pray that the sense of community
continues; that division is broken off and that we will remember that the body
of Christ isn’t one denomination, it is all of the Christians together! I pray that the spirit of religion be broken
off and we truly becoming one, even if we attend a different denomination. It is so fitting that on this holy day of
Good Friday that we remember that Jesus’ broken body broke the dividing wall
and we should keep that dividing wall broken off between us. Ephesians 2:14, “For
Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one
people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility
that separated us.”
I pray that as we remember Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross that by His broken body we are redeemed by His
grace. That we no longer have to live by
law, but by grace and as God gave us such a wonderful gift of grace, we should
extend that same grace to others, especially when they mess up. I praise God that He loved me even when I was
a mess. And when I tried in my own strength to do the right thing, He still was
there and He never left me on my own. I pray we each reach for God to strengthen us
to do the things that He wants us to do.
That God will give us wisdom and knowledge to handle everything that
comes along in life. That we will seek
His face and not just His hand to give us what we need or want. When we experience a true relationship with
Christ it is better than anything else in this life. I can honestly it is amazing when you find
that relationship and there is NOTHING that compares to it. I pray peace for each of you no matter your
situation. I pray that you choose Joy –
that abounding joy that only comes from God!
Romans 15:13 – I pray that
God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because
you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power
of the Holy Spirit.
Here is the meaning of Easter given by Jentzen Franklin
Emmanuel – God is with us! – Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matt. 1:23
Atonement – He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 2:2
Sonrise – For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Rms 8:14
Truth – God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19
Eternal Life- For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 1 Peter 3:18
Resurrection – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” John 11:25
Have a blessed weekend remembering the sacrifice of Christ and the joyous resurrection for us to be resurrected as a new creation in Him!
Love y’all and hug those close to you. Say the things you want/need to say and do the things you want/need to do! Choose Joy!
Everyday we wake up, it is a given thing that people don’t
even think about. It just happens, many
take it for granted. It is the same with
the Word of God, people take it for granted.
They know that is there but many do not feed on it. They rely on what they have already read or
heard and don’t delve in everyday. Without
fuel in our fleshly bodies we will get weak, and so is it with the Word of God. The Word of God is the same whether we read
it or not, the message doesn’t change, we don’t change without getting the Word
in us.
We must eat everyday in order to get strength and
nourishment for our spirit, just like we do with food for our fleshly
bodies. John 6:35 says, “Jesus said to
them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who
believes in Me will never thirst.” If we
stay nourished with the Word then we will not hunger or thirst spiritually, nor
will we be weak from lack of nourishment.
As it says in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.”; so in order to get to the point where we no
longer are hungry or thirsty, we must eat God’s Word daily. In Jeremiah 15:16 it says, “Your words were
found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my
heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” If you seek God daily not only in prayer but
in reading His Word, I can tell you from experience that you find joy and
delight in it! It gives you peace in
trouble times because you are prepared by hiding the Word in your heart. Then in times of trouble the Holy Spirit will
bring it to your mind and you can find peace when the storm tries to sway you
and get you off course.
Reading the Word keeps you prepared, just like you would
prepare for a storm by stocking up so if you need water or batteries you have
them. I challenge you to get prepared and stay
prepared for the storms that will come your way! You will find joy and delight in reading God’s
Word.
I am sharing the picture of the sunrise from yesterday! It was so beautiful and it reminded me not to
take even one day for granted!
Have a blessed day and choose joy! Don’t let the storms sway you because you
stand on The Rock!
I found some nettle that was about to bloom in the yard
today. Spring has definitely sprung and
things are getting very green and colors abound! I pulled up the nettle, even though they put
on beautiful flowers and the bees love them.
I love bees and flowers, but nettles not only sting when you brush them,
we don’t need bees in the yard low to the ground. The dogs might get stung and/or the bees
might get mashed.
I thought about how even in our thorniest, hardest and
stickiest times we can still bloom, just like those nettles. Even though they are thorny and sticky, the flowers
are beautiful. It is those thorny times
in our lives that refine us, so that we can shine as the light God has called
us to be. Look at the apostles in the
Bible, like Paul, he was a pretty thorny and hard guy before he began to bloom
in His calling. His old prickly nature
didn’t disappear, it was forgiven! The
past is the past and it is always there, but Praise God, He doesn’t remember
that or use that to determine His calling on our lives. God uses that thorny, hard past (that the
devil intended for your demise) to show others that they too can overcome their
trials, their past. When we let go of
the past and press on toward the calling of God, that is when we truly begin to
bloom. The Word of God nurtures those
precious blooms within us, calling them out for us to use to help others! So bloom despite your thorny past!
Press into God’s Word, find new revelation by reading and
re-reading God’s Word. He will show you
His will and your purpose/calling to serve Him!
Choose joy, speak life not only over others, but over
yourself, nuture your blooms in His Word.
I had a dream about a rock. As I was walking along I noticed this large rock on top of a hill. I was talking with the Lord in my dream and I said, Wow! That is a big ole’ rock! My Lord said, that is your burden, your worries, your cares and your storms, I am carrying that burden for you! If you will continue to place those burdens on me, you won’t be weighed down by them. Each time you lay a worry, care or trial at my feet, it is a little rock that is added to the big rock. If you will let me be the Rock that you stand on and give me your cares, then your burden will be light and you will be able to rest! That is so comforting to me, to know that My Lord loves me enough to carry all of that for me so that I can have Joy and Peace!
Matthew 11:28-30
(ESV) 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light.”
What rock are you carrying around today? Do you want to be free? You can, you just ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and lay those things down on Him. Will it be easy to let go of what you’ve become so comfortable or used to? Nope, but with Christ all things are possible! With God nothing is impossible! Luke 1:37 It is your choice whether you keep all of that or lay it down and let Him carry it!
You cannot imagine the freedom once you do that. I can never remember a time in my life that I have felt so free, so joyful and care free. When you lay it all down, Jesus will give you rest. I am not saying you won’t get any trials, worries, cares, but it becomes easier each time you give it to the Lord!
Pray for Christians around the world, they are being persecuted in record numbers, but Jesus is calling more than every before to come to Him. Time is growing short.
I pray joy and peace for each of you today. I pray that God will show you how to lay down
the things that keep you stirred up, yes even the political scene today, the
craziness that is going on in today’s world.
Give it to God, pray for the ones doing the evil things, Matthew 5:44
Hey y’all! Sorry been
a crazy few weeks so I haven’t posted.
What a gorgeous morning! The
morning sun is shining on the leaves and casting a warm golden color on
them! The warm sunshine is moving across
the landscape as the sun rises above the tree line. That sunshine is making the shadows flee –
there’s a great vision! God shines His
light on each of us. As we move closer
to Him, He causes all those dark sinful places in our lives to be replaced with
His light causing the darkness to flee.
In His love, He wraps his arms around us, showing us the
path that is illuminated out of the shadows!
Praise God for His light, His love and direction. Praise His Holy Name! Thank You Lord for loving us and calling us
into Your Light and repentance! Acts
11:18,now that leads to life!
When we get busy with life, we (ME!) often forget to stop
and rest in His arms, in His Word. We
forget to be grateful for every blessing, the sunshine, the beauty around us,
our friends and family. The car that we
are blessed to drive, even if you’re stuck in traffic! For me it is the blessing that I don’t have
to be stuck in traffic anymore!
Take time today to just stop and thank Him for blessing you in so many ways! It is very difficult to be upset, angry, or hurt if we are being grateful! Praise Him thru your storm, whatever that may be. Choose joy and be at peace to the best of your ability today!
When God inspires us to a new thing it is very exciting and
sometimes very intimidating. I have to
remind myself, if God has truly brought me to this new adventure or new
whatever it is, then He will definitely provide for me and He has my back! It is often difficult to trust God when He
moves you to a new thing, a new job, a new relationship, a new revelation
even. When He reveals something about
ourselves to us it can be painful but through that pain we grow. We grow often in a way that we never would
expect. Don’t have expectations of the
way you think God will work, or you may miss it because you don’t see it the
way you think it should come!
I am thankful to God for my new beginning, my revelation and
my new relationship with Anchor. (*see
post 4 from 3-6-19 to get the first part of the story) After I turned down the
job in Tyler, I wasn’t sure what to do next.
I spent a lot of time alone praying.
Asking God, now what? I just felt like my whole world was on hold. Hanging, suspended in slow motion waiting on
the what’s next…. I knew that I could
trust God to take care of me, but what I wanted was for Him to fix my marriage,
you know POOF and it’s all better. I found
a spiritual mentor, actually God put them right in my daily life. That mentor helped me realize that because I
wasn’t reading my Bible I truly didn’t know what God was saying.
When life would get overwhelming, I would say I guess I am
just getting what I deserve. Because the
God I was taught about was a God that if I messed up, He was going to come down
hard on me and when that happened I would just have to suck it up because I
deserved what I was getting. One day my
friend, patted the Bible on the desk and said show me where it says that. Because from what I’ve read it says God loves
us and forgives us of our sins, yesterday, today and tomorrow! I thought okay, I’ll show you! Guess what, I couldn’t find anything just
thumbing through his. I went home pulled
out my very dusty Bible and found it wasn’t anywhere in there! Wow, maybe he’s right, that God loves me and
it doesn’t matter what I’ve done. I
started to read and listen to messages from many ministers. Joyce Meyer, Robert Morris, Jimmy Evans,
etc… Joyce told me things like God’s
not mad at you, Robert Morris things about God’s grace and mercy. Novel idea, I thought He was always mad at
me! People like Jimmy Evans who told me
to seek God with my whole heart and I would find him. Who gave me messages like the Hurt Pocket
series that showed me that I was allowing my past to affect my future and
explained things like why I was so willing to be busy. I began to pray and ask God to show me who I
was. That prayer my friend is NOT to be taken lightly. God began to show me and believe it or not I
did NOT like what I saw. He began to show me things like when you are hurt by
your present you lash out at those around you in anger, when your hurt by
dredging up the past you stay “motivated”, you stay so busy you can’t think
about the pain or the chaos that is going on around you. Another coping mechanism is you begin to “meditate”
on things that you believe will help you keep from being hurt. Even though that is not what you think at the
time. For me it looked like this. If I had a situation or one I thought might
come up, I would make plan A to Z just in case so that I could be in control of
the situation and in that control I would not be hurt. Guess what it doesn’t work! In order to be open to God’s plan, you have
to let go of your own plan. The other
thing is you “medicate”. For each of us
that looks different. For me it was
food, specifically sugar. If I was
having a bad day, a coke and a candy bar was as good as a stiff drink. For others it could be pills, alcohol or
anything that numbs the pain. I used all
three, what do you use to try to have your version of control? What do you use to keep the pain at bay?
As I began to get closer and closer to God, He began to show
me that I was at least 50% if not more of the problem in my marriage. OUCH, oooweee, what a revelation. In and through that pain, I began to see God’s
plan for me to have joy and peace. Wow,
the peace that He gives is amazing, but we have to let Him heal our pain in
order to find the fullness of joy He talks about in John 17:13. The closer I got to God the more I could see
Anchor changing as well. (**Hint Hint,
the Bible tells us that the godly life of a wife can draw a husband to God
without words) . NLT 1 Peter 3:1-2, “ In
the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good
News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure
and reverent lives.” Is it easy,
nope. I still wanted to choke him
sometimes. But I laid him down at the
feet of Jesus and said I have tried for 30 years to draw him close to You, but
I did it by my earthly means and not through You Lord. I give him over to you, he’s all yours. But also in that I also decided I wanted a
close personal relationship with Christ! Wow! If I had know 30 years ago, how
God would have worked had I just taken my hands off, I would have done it
then! What heartache and misery I would
have saved myself. That is why with the
power of my testimony, I hope to help those who are struggling with their
marriages. I encourage you to take your
hands off, give it over to God, and most importantly don’t take it back, leave
it there at the altar and work on your own relationship with Christ and let God
be the one to draw your husband. (or
wife as the case may be). It is so hard not to try to intervene or manipulate
things to try to “fix” our spouses.
Guess what, that isn’t our job, it’s GODS!
When I began to correct some of the things I was doing, like
blaming Anchor for all of our problems, blaming him for not wanting to talk,
things that I wanted him to change so we would be happy; God began to show me
if I would work on my relationship with Him then those old hurts would be
healed and I would stop hurting those around me! I began to choose to have joy through Christ
everyday and through that joy, our marriage began to change. It is a choice to choose joy, to choose not
to be angry. We all have control of our
own emotions and actions. We have to
decide that we will bring them into submission to God. The choice is yours, what do you choose?
Have a blessed day!
Choose joy! Stop trying to control people and situations to avoid being
hurt. Rely on God to do that for
you! Get in the Word of God because the
Word is what chases off the enemy who wants you to be miserable!
A few days ago, my daughter and I went to see Gone with the Wind, an epic movie that I
have always loved, but never seen on the big screen. It did not disappoint, it was amazing on the
big screen. I have loved that movie, not because of the story necessarily, but
because of the beautiful settings in the South and to be able to look back on
history and enjoy knowing we have come SOOO far. I realized this time that even though we have
come so far as a culture, we have forgotten some things along the way..
If you’ve never seen Gone
with the Wind, based on a book written by Margaret Mitchell, you’ve missed
out. Put it on your list of things to
watch – it is 2 minutes shy of 4 hours so be prepared!
After the movie, I pondered on it for a day or two. Thinking how sad it was that Scarlett could
not see what was right in front her because she wanted something that was
unobtainable. She only desired it
because she could not have it, when she finally realized what she truly wanted
it was too late. Isn’t it funny that
human nature is that way? We want what we think we want only to find
out once we get it or give up on it, it wasn’t really what we wanted or needed!
I found that to be the case in my marriage. I was always saying when we get to a new
house, when we get to a different city, when we get a little more money…. We will
be happy and things will smooth out.
Well guess what – that didn’t happen for 30 years. It would be one set back after another and
one disappointment or failed expectation to be realized after another. We were both discouraged. We knew that we loved each other but isn’t
there suppose to be happiness? Joy? Enjoying
our lives together? What was missing? I thought it was communication for a long
time. My other guess was we were too
different, we must want different things, we must just need to spend more time
together… Well sad thing is when we got
those things it still wasn’t what either of us wanted. The happiness was fleeting. So I began to earnestly pray, the Lord gave
me peace about a decision I was about to make.
We must just need a break from each other. So I started looking for jobs in other
cities. I didn’t want a divorce just a
break. I had been praying and asking for
guidance and I thought this is it. I was
very upfront with Anchor and through tears we agreed that this would be a good
thing and if God had given me peace it must be.
I applied for a job in Tyler, TX. The man called me and informed me I was one
of 3 to interview from 150 applicants. I
was beyond excited. It would be a great
job – so Anchor and I went to Tyler.
They interviewed us in alphabetic order and I was last. I was very confident because after all I had
peace! They interviewed the other ladies
for an hour each. It came my turn and
they only interviewed me for 15 minutes.
They said we’ll call y’all and let you know. I was very disappointed because after all if
they didn’t interview me long, they didn’t want me right? Anchor and I left and stopped to get a
drink. Anchor went in to get them. While he was gone, the phone rang, it was the
office saying they wanted to hire me and wanted me to start on Monday. It was Friday! Oh my, I was excited. The look on Anchor’s face as he stood outside
the car knowing I got the job was so sad.
He knew I would have to live in Tyler.
I asked him if he wanted me to take him back to Franklin while I looked
for a place to live. He said no, he
would help me. I got online and started
looking up houses. We made a plan and
started driving around looking. Every
house we looked at I got sadder and sadder.
I began to cry, I can’t explain why, I guess I knew that this was a life
changing decision. I could no longer
look and he kept asking “what’s wrong?” .
I couldn’t even talk. I said we
are going home. I cried all the way
home.
We got home about 9pm, Anchor went to bed and I sat at the
kitchen table. I prayed, I’d cry and
pray some more. I asked God I thought
you gave me peace, why am I so upset?
What is the matter with me?
Finally during the night I began to feel the answer in my Spirit. God
had allowed me to have the desire of my heart to show me that wasn’t what I
really wanted at all. Wow! What a heart breaking but eye opening lesson.
Anchor got up and said you are still at the kitchen table
didn’t you go to bed. I said I couldn’t
and I started to cry. He made
breakfast. We didn’t even talk, I don’t
think either of us knew quite what to say.
After breakfast I got on the phone and called the guy that offered me
the job. I told him I couldn’t take the
job. I hadn’t even told Anchor and he
sat in his chair in disbelief. I got off
the phone. I explained what God had
showed me and I knew that if I moved our marriage would be over. I wanted to follow what God wanted for us but
I told Anchor I didn’t know what that was.
At this point, we were even sleeping in different rooms. We didn’t like each other much, even though
we loved each other. If you haven’t been
there you’d never understand that statement.
That started a whole new relationship. Anchor finally realized I loved him and that
I wasn’t going to divorce him. He had
thought all of our marriage that everyone gets divorced so I will too. If you think that in your marriage; let me
just tell you that is a demonic spirit lying to you about your spouse and if
you get in agreement with it, it will indeed kill your marriage. That day started a whole new walk with the
Lord for me. I told him if I couldn’t be
happy in my marriage that I would serve Him with my whole heart and I would
just live together and enjoy the happy moments we did have. What a ride that started. And since this post is so long already I’ll
save that for another post.
So if you are dreaming of when….(fill
in the blank) happens I’ll be happy, or if only this or that would happen I’ll
be happy, when we move, when we get our kids grown, etc.. Don’t waste your time
on that thinking. That is the devil
trying to steal the joy you are suppose to have every day from the Lord. Don’t give him your joy, it is a choice. Pray every day, Lord give me joy abounding
and when (not if) the devil brings frustrations, aggravations or downright
anger to you, say nope not today Satan, you’re not getting my joy. I’m keeping it! Lean on Jesus, He is the Author and Finisher
of your faith. Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God. It is your
choice, who you listen to. Is it going
to be easy, no! But if you remember that it is your choice if you get mad,
hurt, angry or joyful. Then choose joy,
speak God’s Word over every situation ( You have to read the Word and renew
your mind to be able to do that!) It isn’t
mind over matter – it is the power of life and death in the tongue (Prov.
18:21).
I encourage each of you to choose Joy! I’ll continue the story tomorrow. Have a blessed day and I pray you too have sunshine! We finally do and even though its 21 degrees it is beautiful and warming up fast! Renew your mind daily (Rms 12:2) and remember there is the power of life and death in the power of the tongue and they that love it will eat its fruit. Prov 18:21
I heard a comment that left me wondering why? This comment was from someone who was raised in a church so that made me wonder, what was their church like? Was it like mine? I learned about God’s love but I also learned that God is gonna be angry with me if I don’t do everything right. *Now grant it that was not ALL that was taught in my church, but that was my take away. That feeling could have had something to do with my mother, who showed God’s love to everyone but her own family. My take away from my childhood was – if that was religion they could keep it! Praise God I had learned enough to know that I could have a personal relationship with Jesus outside of church. I don’t encourage the, “ wing it on your own” attitude because God does say “not to forsake the assembling of yourselves”, He says that we are “part” of the body of Christ. As a part, we need the other parts and God has called us to be a part and we do need each other’s gifts and callings to make up the entire church. You’ll miss out on a blessing and even being a blessing.
I think the hold up here is “religion”. We have made tradition something that is a ritual. Something we do, not who we are. We aren’t a particular religion, we should
strive to be followers of Christ . I don’t
remember ever reading anywhere in the Bible that said, the Baptist did this,
the Methodist did this, the Catholic did this.
Nope, that is a man made thing.
God calls for unity and right now in the body of Christ, we are anything
but unified. It makes me sad really that
many of our churches are lined up with the world ideology and not the Bible. Why can’t we just be unified to reach a lost
and dying world?
Okay on to what I really wanted to talk about. The comment I heard was, “ I’ve learned about
all religions and I just can’t say that God is it. You go to church too much and rely on that
stuff too much”. I was astonished. I was sad for that person because I know they
are missing out on such a wonderful relationship with our loving and faithful
Father! I am assuming that a crisis of
faith had a beginning somewhere. In
their childhood possibly, like mine? In
a failed relationship with someone who was suppose to be a “Christian”. From something they read, or maybe an answer
to prayer that wasn’t what they wanted? In my journey with God, I found that I cannot
let anyone else’s relationship with God, nor a person’s relationship with me
affect my relationship with God. If I
let anyone else, religion included, come between me and God, I am in the wrong,
not them. We all have choices to make
and those choices will determine our relationship with God. We can
have just as much of God as we desire.
If you find yourself
saying things like I don’t like _______ (fill in the blank) about this church,
I don’t like _________ about that church).
I would pray and ask God to show me what the condition of my heart
is. (*Oh and I can write about that
because that was ME!) If you find fault
with others, with every church you attend, then the issue is with you. Ouch, I know!
God showed me that after I prayed and asked Him to show me who I was in
Christ and how I could serve Him wholeheartedly and the answer was
painful. But out of that pain, came
amazing revelation and a closer walk with God.
Are there issues at every church, and in every relationship, You
betcha! But it is out of our hearts,
that God’s love can cover a multitude of sins/issues! 1 Peter 4:8 ESV, “Above
all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
God’s love is the spirit we should be
operating in and showing to everyone around us.
I KNOW it isn’t easy. Some people
make it so difficult to do that. But remember;
when that happens speak God’s Word. “All
things are possible through Christ who strengthens me”, I am more than a
conqueror in Christ.” It’s a matter of
choice really, you either choose to whole heartedly go after God and his plan
for you, or you are just waiting on Christ to return. Faith should be active, not passive, Eph.
2:10 “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
I pray for my friend, that they would open their heart to
God and that He would open their eyes of understanding and give them revelation
knowledge. Not because I think if you’re
not a Christian you are a bad person, but I know what a glorious life it is to
be free in Christ and I want that for everyone around me. When we learn to lean on Him, to walk hand in
hand with Him through difficulties, the hope that comes from that relationship,
because that hope is the Anchor of the soul, the Rock that you can stand on
when everything around you is sinking or
drowning, that relationship gives such security and freedom, I could never
explain it. I can tell you if you put
God first, your marriage will be totally different. But we will save that for another post.
I pray Joy abounding for each of you, and that God would
give you peace. Thank you for sharing my
daily walk with Jesus!
Donna's Porch 