Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas to all those who have followed this blog! Thank you for sticking around and putting up with my rambling posts. I hope my words encouraged you, enlightened you, made you smile, or comforted you. 

I don't post often because posts to this blog are different. I never know what I'll write about because I try to let my heart speak or let the Spirit speak through my heart. Sometimes the words were for me alone. Others, they were for someone else. I hope they found their home. 

Does anyone feel that we're watching the last grains of sand slip through the narrow opening of the glass? Time is running out so quickly. This year is almost over and I don't know anyone who would say it's been a good year. I pray the Lord blesses the coming year for us all, but I believe we're living in a time of rising evil. My view is that this is the devil's final onslaught before the end. We're being bombarded with every form of wickedness he can throw at us. The minds and actions of people are twisted and depraved beyond my wildest imaginings. 

When I pray these days, I find I'm praying for protection over those I pray for and for a purging of wicked people. That sounds awful, doesn't it? However, I believe God has offered us all an opportunity to choose who we will serve. If they will not heed His voice, then they are part of the problem we face. We are in the fight of our lives and the battle is with unseen forces. 

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12.

Do not let the old year pass before you take a stand for righteousness. I believe we will be forced to pick sides in this thing. If you have not already, you will. Choose wisely. This may be the last major decision of your life. 

May the blessings of God fill your hearts and homes, may His protection surround you, may His hand guide you, and may his peace comfort you.

Pray for the Peace

Pixabay.com

Most of those who know me well, know I don't watch the news. None on television if I can avoid it. I pick and choose what I read on my news feed on my phone. I tell Google I'm not interested in many things. They stop showing up.

One thing I'm seeing that is troubling is this anti Israel sentiment that is growing. Whether you believe it or not, this is a prophecy being fulfilled. The muslim world and it's friends are actually making the Bible come true! I wonder if they know this  or if they're just that stupid. The Bible is very clear that the world will turn against Israel. That there will be a war to attempt to wipe them out, not Armageddon but a war specifically to destroy Israel. And that those involved in that war will lose and lose horribly. The blood of the attackers will be as deep as a horse's bridle and it will take 6 months to bury the dead. They will lie in the desert and rot. The ancient version of countries involved in that attack are even named.

You think what you want but the drive that is happening against Israel is actually going to make it happen.

For a long time I felt very strongly that I had to pray for Israel, not Bible thumping, floor pounding prayer calling on eternal damnation to Israel's enemies. That isn't Biblical or Christian.

No, what I began to do years ago and have felt more so recently was how the Bible told me to address it. I've begun to do it more so as the hatred has increased. I posted this a couple of weeks ago and shared it. I would encourage every Christian who professes faith in the Word of God to take it to heart and begin to pray for Israel.

Peace in Your Palaces

We're to pray for peace and prosperity for Israel. Those of us who love Israel should be daily keeping this in their prayers. And while we're at it, we ought to be praying for the Savior to be revealed to her enemies more and more as the evil day approaches.

Peace In Your Palaces

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:“May they prosper who love you.Peace be within your walls,Prosperity within your palaces.”For the sake of my brethren and companions,I will now say, “Peace be within you.”Because of the house of the Lord our GodI will seek your good.

Psalms 122:6-9

I Am Not Strong

I've survived hard times,

pain, sickness, and stress.

Not because I am strong

But because God is.

At times abandoned, forgotten,

broken, and alone in my grief.

He found me and invited me to sit at his feet.

Not because I am strong

But because God is.

I survived because He sustained me

with His grace, mercy, and peace

Not because I am strong

But because God is.

I am His child

And I am not strong.

God is.

by  Cynthia Maddox, 01/24/2019

The Face in the Mirror

For years I looked in the mirror every morning and wondered who was staring at me. The face was familiar. I thought I knew it. And she had titles: Jerry's wife, Jerry's social security number (Army wife), Mike & Dave's mother, office manager, Housing Specialist, writer, sister, aunt, Jerry's widow. I'm surprised at how many of them I had and that there are more. Maybe that was why I'd always been secure and certain. I'd felt safe. I was safe. Wasn't I?

One night a storm came, and the world changed. When the sun came up everything was shaken, turned upside down, and life was frozen into glittering shards tearing me apart. There was no confidence, no courage, and no thankfulness.

The face in the mirror was tired, strained, and afraid. It was the face of a woman alone and devastated by things she never dreamed could happen to her. I didn't know her. I couldn't begin to understand her.

Sometimes, the things that happen to us seem so pointless. We're inundated by whys to the point we feel we're drowning in them. What purpose did that serve? Why did that happen? Where is God when you need him?

There are books designed to help you find answers to those kinds of questions. I've read a few of them. They don't know either. When you're searching they seem trite and a bit arrogant. What do they know? They haven't looked in my mirror.

This year some things happened that forced me to change my perspective ... and my position. The face in my mirror was showing the stress. I had to make a choice that placed me in an unfamiliar environment and I wasn't happy with it. This change had been pushing at me for at least 5 years. I always resisted. I knew me. I knew what was best for me. Didn't I?

Life got complicated. I got sicker. I had to make a decision. I cried. I moved.

There is a moment when we've actually done the right thing, made the right decision, or changed our perspective that is unlike any other experience. A clarity and a buoyancy washes over you and everything glows. Colors are vivid. The sun shines brighter, the sky is bluer, and clouds are fluffier. We even feel lighter. I suspect this is what some call a "light bulb moment".

Life has a way of twisting back on itself so that we often end where we began but in a different state. That's how I felt. I was back where I started, but this time, all alone. I looked for a term that defined this sensation and the only thing that came close was equilibrium: The condition in which all acting influences are balanced or canceled by equal opposing forces, resulting in a stable system. From: http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Equilibrium

We refer to this state as balance. Life is constantly seeking balance. We're constantly seeking to shift this balance because we think we know best. We push ahead, seeking our own way. Life pushes back to reestablish true equilibrium. Sometimes it pushes hard. It hurts. Things we don't like happen. We're out of balance. If we stop pushing, life will stop pushing. Balance will reassert itself. You'll feel better, maybe not well, but better. Things may even make sense or you'll feel like they do. Life will still be hard, but it will be less confusing, less frustrating, and less disappointing. And you might find peace. Not happiness, peace. They're not the same.

The face in my mirror now is older. There are these lines that were not there 7 years ago. The emotional chaos of my life has left an impact, but then, so has the weather. I never used sunblock. However, the strain has lessened. The effects of the storm are swept away, and new construction replaced the destruction. It is a smaller existence. I'm still tired, but I take naps. I'm still sick, but I'm feeling better in many ways. I'm still alone, but there are worse things. Slowly, balance is reasserting itself. I'm not exactly happy, but I'm satisfied.

I don't know how those darn mirrors survived the devastation, but they polish up well. The face that looks back at me is acceptable. Finally, I'm content with who I am and where He is leading me. I'm confident that He knows the way. And I am more than thankful.