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Go Tell It…In Your Living Room

“So they ran into town, and eventually they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the feeding trough. After they saw the baby, they spread the story of what they had experienced and what had been said to them about this child. Everyone who heard their story couldn’t stop thinking about its meaning..”
Luke 2:16-18

I loved Christmas morning when my kids were little. Getting on the couch and sharing the story of Baby Jesus was my favorite part. It was important to me to share the real meaning of why we were celebrating and still is. I believe telling the story of Jesus, not shopping, baking, wrapping, hanging lights, writing cards…is the most important thing we should be doing at Christmas!

The carol “Go Tell it on The Mountain” has been a Christmas staple for over a century. When I hear these words the song goes off in my head and I see Shepherds in a Christmas play running out to tell other’s about Jesus! This Christmas I want to challenge you to: Go Tell It In Your Living room!

Danger Of Not Sharing Jesus’ Story

There’s a danger in not sharing the story of Jesus and how he came to save the world, how He saved us. The danger is that one-day the next generation may not even know Jesus and think Christmas is only about Santa and gifts. My fear is we’re almost there.

If one generation neglects to tell the story to the next, human nature will cause them to drift away from God. Judges 2 tells us how the people who went through the desert and saw God miraculously save them, faithfully followed Him. Sadly, the story doesn’t end there. Scripture confirms that the next generation abandoned faith in God because they didn’t know the Lord or what He had done for them. When I read that my heart was sick. It made me question…Why didn’t they know the Lord? Why didn’t they know what He had done for their parents and grandparents? No one must have told them.

People need to know the story of how Jesus came to save. They need to know your story of salvation! So this Christmas, Go Tell It In Your Living room!

Prayer

Father…I thank-you for giving the first Christmas gift when You sent Your son Jesus down to earth. Jesus, I thank-you for willingly coming and bringing salvation to the world! I thank-you for saving me! Help me to tell your story so the next generation knows you and what you’ve done so, they in turn pass it along. In Jesus Name…Amen.

If you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

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Christmas-Wonderful and Woeful

“a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”
Ecclesiastes 3:4 NIV

This week was jam packed with Christmas events. I decorated the house with my step-daughter and went to my friend Kevin Pauls’ “Spirit of Christmas” Musical event with my son and his girlfriend. It was so much fun! The night was filled with great laughter.

WONDERFUL AND WOEFUL Christmas

In stark contrast I attended our church’s Comfort Service. It was started to help those who have experienced great loss in their grieving. Today I heard my friends share the heart-wrenching story of how their 15 year old daughter is spending Christmas in heaven this year with her older sister. They spoke in brokenness but with such confidence in a God who is there, especially when it hurts and life doesn’t make sense. This week was a reminder of how WONDERFUL AND WOEFUL Christmas can be.

The writer of Ecclesiastes was so wise to understand that people are all going to be in different stages of life at different times. When one is weeping another is laughing, when one is dancing another is mourning. “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecc 3:1 NIV). We must allow people to embrace the season they are in and live out Romans 12:15 that says we are to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”

As Christians we are to walk alongside our brothers and sisters. This Christmas, be with friends in the WONDERFUL AND WOEFUL. Rejoicing or mourning, whatever THEIR season, so you can help them “walk through” in the confidence that God loves them, He’s with them and He’s proud of them, because they’re getting that from you!

Prayer

Father…I thank-you for being with me every season of life that I face. Help me to recognize what season I’m in and the seasons of others. Let us all be a comfort to each other and spur one another on to live life in the confidence of Your love. In Jesus Name…Amen!

If you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

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Surrender

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Luke 22:42 NIV

Gram and I skating together in 2012.

Three weeks ago my “just a couple years shy of 90” grandmother had to give up roller-skating! She had a nasty fall that resulted in an Emergency room visit so she’s decided it’s time to hang up her skates. This may seem trivial to some, but my gram has been skating for almost two decades with the same group of friends, 1-2 a week. Harder yet was her decision to SURRENDER her drivers’ license about a year ago. My heart aches for gram as she gracefully accepts her new limitations in order to keep herself safe.
For the past five years there has been a real work of God in my life to keep my life in a “state of SURRENDER” to all that God has for me. A yielding of my will to His. I’m doing my best to face each situation with grace, just like my gram. Aiming to willingly SURRENDER whatever God requires of me without Him having to take it away. It’s often a painful process that I wouldn’t go through if I didn’t know there was a benefit to the SURRENDER. I know that my choice to relinquish my stuff, my dreams, my life, my heart to Him will bring a greater reward in the end.
I’m so comforted when I read the verse above. To know that SURRENDER was even hard for Jesus makes me feel better. Hebrews 12:2 says, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross”. Jesus’ SURRENDER was so much greater than mine could ever be, but knowing that he understands my struggle in the SURRENDER somehow makes it easier. Like Gram, Jesus relinquished his rights without anyone having to take them from Him. May we follow their lead!
Prayer
Father…Please give me the courage to release to You whatever may be holding me back from becoming who you want me to be and accomplishing all you desire for me to do. May I have Your eyes to see the “joy set before me” and willingly surrender my all to You! In Jesus Name…Amen!

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Identity Theft

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
Genesis 32:28 NIV

Have you ever watched the movie Identity Thief with Melissa McCarthy? She hilariously and yes irreverently, portrayed a girl who takes on the financial identity of Jason Bateman’s character. This conwoman uses his credit to buy stuff and destroy his financial rating. In the end your heart turns toward this crazy thief as you learn of her troubled childhood. She was attracted to this type of crime to get away from her birth identity. She could relate to Jacob in the Bible who needed an Identity Theft.

Jacob the Deceiver

Jacob was the son of Abraham. His very nature was described in the meaning of his name; ‘deceiver’. You know him, He was the one who conned his brother out of his birthright and then tricked his father into pronouncing the blessing for the firstborn on him. This put Jacob ‘on the run’ to get away from his brother Essau. The saying ‘you reap what you sow’ played out in Jacob’s life as he was then tricked by his father-in-law Laban into marrying Leah when he thought he was marrying Rachel.

Years later, Jacob in turn tricks Laban and then flees that situation. On the run again, Jacob meets up with his brother Essau who surprisingly doesn’t kill him! I think at this point Jacob was finally ready to face his issues with deceit.

Jacob to Israel

After a long night of meeting with God and not giving up till he received God’s blessing, Jacob’s name was changed by God to ‘Israel’. He went from deceiver to overcomer when God pulled an ancient day Identity Theft!

Have you been ‘on the run’ from God for a long time or know someone who is? Trust that God is chasing you down to read this message. He wants you to know that He’s in the business of changing flawed identities and producing overcomers!

Prayer

Father…You know the flaws at the very core of my identity. I open my life to You and ask that You would change my heart. Write a new name over me and produce an overcoming spirit deep within so I don’t give up and can see your blessing touch my life! In Jesus name…Amen

If you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

WHERE YOU CAN OFTEN FIND ME LINKING UP MY BLOG WITH OR PLACES WHERE MY WRITING HAS BEEN FEATURED

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Change

“I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sara your wife will have a son.”
Genesis 18:10 NIV

Todd and I went to Florida for a relaxing vacation.   We stayed in the same resort we had stayed in with two of our kids about a year ago. The amount of new construction was shocking! The property next to our resort that had for a long time been “greenspace”, was now a small city of about 15 half-way completed high rise time-share villas. The Disney Boardwalk was in the midst of a major overhaul with crews working on new buildings, bridges, an overhead tram-system and a massive parking garage! Only Disney can make that kind of structural CHANGE in about a year. It’s amazing to see how quickly your life can CHANGE in about a year!
Sometimes, you feel that life is never going to CHANGE. Your situation is permanent and without possibility of transformation. That just isn’t so! God is in the CHANGE business. He loves to take a difficult situation and turn it around.   As my pastor says, “God often takes a long time to act suddenly!” Sara laughed when God sent angels to her and Abraham proclaiming they would have a child in about a year. She couldn’t accept that at 89 God could fulfill His promise made so long ago that she would have a child. Post-menopausal women just don’t get pregnant or have babies! True to His Promises, Scripture confirms in Genesis 21:2 that Sara did have a baby “at the very time God had promised him” They even named the boy Isaac which means, “he laughs” because sometimes God finds humor in showing us what He can do!
So what situation or person have you given up on? Don’t be like Sara and laugh at God’s promises. Trust God with your life and believe that He can bring about CHANGE!
Prayer
Father, I’m thankful that you never CHANGE, but that you never stop changing me!   You never CHANGE your mind on the promises you’ve given and fulfill them in your perfect timing. Help me to not doubt and work with you to see real CHANGE in my life this coming year. In Jesus name…Amen.

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Don't Take The Bait

“…We are taking prisoners of every thought, every emotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 The Voice

The strangest thing happened to me at work last week. I was listening to a Christian radio station online when all of a sudden I heard a voice on the radio that I hadn’t heard for about 3 years. Immediately I was angry. I could feel the resentment starting to churn inside of me, so I quickly changed stations hoping to free myself of the negative thoughts. For the rest of the day, memories kept popping into my head about how this person had hurt me. Events I hadn’t given thought to for so many years. Emotions were rising up that had been laid to rest years before. This time I was wise to the enemy’s tactic and fought the urge to pick up the offense again and trying to make me feel like I hadn’t forgiven. God’s spirit inside of me was setting off warning alarms saying…Don’t Take The Bait!
The battle continued raging inside of my head for a few days. Thoughts would come out of nowhere. There was a conflict in my spirit to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5 NIV) My flesh wanted to give in to the emotions and thoughts of self-pity. I was wronged and had every right to be hurt—didn’t I?
Recognizing it was a struggle to overcome, I shared what had happened to Todd and confessed my difficulties in letting it go. By exposing my weakness it helped me to live out 2 Corinthians 10:5, which says, “We are demolishing arguments and ideas, every high-and-mighty philosophy that pits itself against the knowledge of the one true God. We are taking prisoners of every thought, every emotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One.” (The Voice)
Keep your spiritual antenna up and be wise to the enemy’s tactics. Take those thoughts prisoner. Whatever you do…Don’t Take The Bait!
Prayer
Father, I thank-you for your wisdom to know when the enemy is on the prowl. Help me to come out victorious as you strengthen me to gain control over my thought life. May I bring you joy! In Jesus name…Amen.

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Restoration

“Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more.”
Psalm 71:20-21 NIV

RESTORING CARS

Growing up in a Drag Racing family you tend to love cars. Mustangs are my favorite, that’s why I drive one! I grew up seeing so many cars being restored at my dad’s shop. They would come in looking like rusty, old, beat up junkers. The full auto RESTORATION process of a vintage car takes months and sometimes years. From framework to engine work, finishing up with the ever-important paint job; each stage is critical to the finished product.
As a young teen I was so jealous of my cousin Billy. He drove this Metal Flake Blue ’65 Mustang Fastback 2+2. Originally my aunt drove the car, but after they restored the mustang into a gorgeous racecar Billy always had it at the track.
When the time came for him to go to College they just changed the tires and sent him off to school! (That’s the kind of family I come from.)
Billy’s mustang beside one of my dad’s hot rods.

Quite the RESTORATION job for sure, but the most incredible RESTORATION job to me is the one God has brought about in my life.

RESTORING LIVES

Today I reread the last devotional in my book WATER IN THE DESERT. I was overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness as I read the last scripture used above…Psalm 71:20-21. I have this scripture highlighted in my Bible with a date beside…October 2010.
To my readers, this date would most likely not mean anything but to me, it was a powerful reminder that God is true to his promises. In October 2010 I felt my life was over, completely destroyed. I was struggling to find the desire to live on. You see I had secretly been facing “troubles many and bitter” for so long and the next 10 months would be filled with some of the hardest events I’ve had to endure.
I was at my lowest point, ready to give up on God and His promises when I felt the impact of the words in Psalm 71:20-21. I felt God speaking directly to me that he was going to restore me! In faith I wrote the date beside the scriptures expecting that one day God would fulfill His promise to me, even though it just didn’t seem possible.
I had no idea how quickly God would begin His RESTORATION process in me. From my very framework to the finishing paint job, God didn’t miss a step. He completed a major overhaul! Four years later, I feel altogether restored. Blessed beyond measure! How wonderful that on a day when many are celebrating Thanksgiving here in Canada how my heavenly father would give me such a concrete reminder that He kept His promise, so I could encourage you to trust Him with yours!
Prayer
Father, I thank-you for your faithfulness to restore broken hearts and broken lives. In a world of broken promises, yours stand true. Help me to continue to stand in faith believing that every promise you have made will come true. May my life be marked by the same consistency. In Jesus name…Amen.

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WORD POWER

“And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.”
2 Chronicles 32:8 NIV
“Great Job! I’m so proud of you!”
“You’re an idiot. Don’t you know anything!”
Words are POWERFUL! No matter what you say, there is an effect attached to your words for good or bad. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” The truth of that verse is hard to believe. We can understand that God’s words are powerful since it only took Him speaking to create our universe and everything in it. To believe that human words are powerful you only need to speak to a counselor to understand the devastating or inspiring affect of words. Do you understand the effects of your WORD POWER?
Hezekiah was king of Judah in a dangerous time. The nation was being taken captive by a super-power named Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Daily he spoke threats to the people; demeaning them, elevating his strength and leaving them in fear. Hezekiah knew that God was with them as a nation and wasn’t willing to let Sennacherib have the last say. King Hezekiah assembled the troops and gave them a most powerful rally speech. He “encouraged them with these words: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.” (2 Chronicles 32:6-8 NIV) This confidence brought VICTORY!
Recognize your WORD POWER today! Choose to bring; life, not death; faith not fear; confidence not discouragement. You are that powerful!
Prayer
Father, I thank-you for the power of Your Word. May my speech be seasoned with Your words and Your encouragement, so that power of my words would bring people to confidence in You and who you’ve made them! In Jesus name…Amen.

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Perfume and The Ice Bucket Challenge

“While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.”
Matthew 26:6-7NIV
You can’t go on your computer or TV these days without seeing something about the Ice Bucket Challenge! It’s a far-reaching phenomenon that is beginning to go around the globe. According to the ALS Association website, it says that: “The ALS Association has received $70.2 million in donations compared to $2.5 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 24). These donations have come from existing donors and 1.3 million new donors to The Association.” ¹
Most people are speaking so positively about the campaign, but sadly there are always those negative voices. Shockingly, Maclean’s Magazine had an article condemning the Ice Bucket Challenge as merely a “marketing gimmick”, “slaktivism” and went so far as to say it is “bad for you” to donate to a cause in this manner! The writer seems to propose that ALS has enough funds and doesn’t deserve this much investment compared to other diseases. ² I can’t imagine that he ever has watched someone live and die with ALS. My roommate from College’s dad passed away with this horrible disease years ago. He went from being a strong carpenter and through all the debilitating stages inflicted on those suffering with Lou Gherig’s disease, until it took his life.
When I hear a story it often makes me think of a similar Bible Story or verse. Reading this article brought to my mind about the time when a woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ head. The disciples scoffed and tried to sound all spiritual saying she was wasting her money and should have given the value of the perfume to the poor. Too quickly we can negatively judge a person’s actions. Jesus reprimands the disciples and says how she has done a “beautiful thing”. Whenever we give of ourselves in time or money to help others we can rest assured that our heavenly father is pleased. From oil to ice buckets of water poured on the head, He sees it all as a “beautiful thing”!
PRAYER
Father…Help me to look for ways that I can give to ease someone else’s burden and bring You glory! May I take up the challenge to bless the life of others. In Jesus Name…Amen!
1 https://www.alsa.org/news/media/press-releases/ice-bucket-donations-082414.html
2 https://www.macleans.ca/society/health/why-the-ice-bucket-challenge-is-bad-for-you/
“What is ALS” from the ALS Association Website.

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To The Least Of These

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Matthew 25:40 NIV
My daughter Shelby is going away to College. Since the school she chose doesn’t have dorms we had to rent a condo for her and a friend. There are just so many things to get that we’ve had to find a few pieces used so we don’t break the budget! Shelby was given a shelf from Todd’s cousin. She wanted to get it, paint and distress it, but didn’t know how to. Todd surprised her for her birthday this week by refinishing and distressing the old shelf into a beautiful, new looking shelf that matched her bed. When I saw it I knew she would be so happy and, as you can see in the picture, she was! I told Todd that when he did things nice for my daughter he was doing something nice for me! As soon as it came out of my mouth I thought of Matthew 25:40 “whatever you do for the least of these…you do for me”

WE SHARE–WE CARE

I heard this scripture often growing up as my grandparents ran a ministry at my home church, Bethel Gospel Tabernacle in Hamilton called “WE SHARE, WE CARE”. It started out with just a box at the back of our church to donate food for Christmas hampers and grew into a large FREE store-like portable at the back of our church property. It was open year round to provide for refugees, new immigrants, single parents, families or anyone in need. The building was filled with groceries; clothes and furniture to meet whatever need arose. She did for so many of “the least of these”. At 86 Gram passed away and the funeral home said they had never seen such an immense attendance for someone of her age. There were about 800 people at her actual funeral. People from many nations came and told how Gram blessed their lives and led them to Christ. Gram reminded us often how we needed to help others with her words, but more loudly, by her actions. I remember as a teenager meeting a stranger at church. She had come to meet with my grandma and thank her for the impact Gram had made as her foster mother and let her know that she had given her life to Christ. She didn’t know where my grandma lived these 40 odd years later, but assumed correctly that she could find gram at church! I will never forget the stories Gram told of bringing groceries to people’s houses and watching them break down crying, thanking God as they checked off a list they could not afford, but God had provided for. This verse was the mandate of my grandmother’s life and she lived it out well!
So, may I ask, what have you done for The King lately?
PRAYER
Father…I thank-you for all that you have blessed me with. Help me to look beyond myself and search out those that I could bless for you. May I be your hands extended. In Jesus Name…Amen!
Bethel Gospel Tabernacle-Caring Ministry Webpage

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