Here am I for my February blog!
I have been pondering for a few days about what to post, and after praying and reflecting I thought…let’s keep this simple.
February…the month of love. Valentines Day and all that, right?
Romance. Hearts and flowers. Dinner and a movie, dancing with your spouse…are you already rolling your eyes and saying “okay, whatever” or are your eyes lit up like stars thinking about it?
There’s nothing wrong with romance and romantic love…read the Song of Solomon lately? BUT…that side of love is so, so hard to sustain every day. The reality is, if you’re blessed to get and stay married, there’s more “non” romantic times than not…but you know your spouse still loves you.
A quick hug and kiss, telling them “I love you”, them making your coffee, someone different making dinner for a change up..that all says “I love you” as well.
There’s one more huge, amazing way we are loved.
By God.
John 3:16-“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (KJV)
Why did I emphasize so??
I never really thought about that little word until I was at a Triumphant Quartet concert. After they sang the song Even Me, which is based on John 3:16, Eric (their bass singer) remarked that God not only loved us, but He SO loved us.
We use it all that left time, that little word…”That dress is so pretty on you!” “That is so stupid!” “You are so…(insert whatever insult or compliment you want here…ha!). But you get the idea.
The definition of “so”: “to a great extent or degree: very, extremely” (www.merriam-webster.com). It’s basically adding much emphasis to something.
God not only loved us enough to give us Jesus, He so loved us. He loved us to a great extent. Loved us extremely. Like, giving us His only Son to save us from our sins and restore a relationship with us version of loved us extremely.
And He loves us enough still that He provides for us daily. He cares for us, and tells us to cast our cares on Him (I Peter 5:7). He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). I could fill a whole book…or maybe 10…with how God loves us.
And His love will never, ever fail us. Our spouse will fail us. Our parents will. Friends will. Children will. Every human will fail you…some meaning to; I would dare say more is unintentional. But God won’t.
So this Valentine’s Day, whatever relationship status you have, know and believe that even if you don’t feel loved on this earth…even if you don’t feel like you have anyone…if you have Jesus as your Savior, you have the source of perfect love.
I pray you know Him, and if not I would be happy to help you!! And if you have Jesus as your Savior, remember and know just how much…how so much….He loves us!!
Ahhhh, spring…
For so many people, spring is their favorite time of the year. (Just to be different, I’m a fall girl!)
For some reason this year, though, spring has been more…special.
What does spring signify to you?
To me, spring signifies hope. It signifies new life. Beauty and color from the dull of winter. Warmth instead of cold.
I firmly believe there are reasons for winter, though…there is healing that happens in times of rest. I’m a nurse, and I firmly believe in the power of healing rest. This month, many Christians will celebrate the observance of Easter…I phrase it like that because truly, we need to remember our risen Savior every day!! That said, there is something extra special, for whatever reason, for the remembrance of Easter to fall in the month hailing spring.
What does Easter mean to you, dear friend?
Is it about cute fluffy bunnies? Chocolate? Colored eggs and jellybeans? Or is about the Lamb of God, first giving His life a living sacrifice for us (Hebrews 10:12) but then taking the keys of death and hell and walking out of Joseph’s tomb alive? I do love me some chocolate, don’t get me wrong…but no Cadbury crème egg ever did for me what Jesus did! There was no jellybean that was able to redeem my soul from
hell; and as much as I love sweet fluffy rabbits, they cannot ever begin to do for me what the Lamb of God did. He arose!! Jesus lives forevermore!!
His leaving the tomb was celebrated in what seems a small way, with only a small handful of people initially knowing about His resurrection. What must it have been like, for Mary Magdalene and Mary, Jesus’ own mother, realizing that He had “risen, just as He said”? (Matthew 28:6, paraphrasing mine.)
Shellshocked. Some disbelief…would I have run to tell the others or asked for proof, as Thomas did?
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the very essence of new life. This season, as I feel hope coming out of a season of some personal winter, I am feeling the joy and wonder of growth and change…not only because of spring coming, but knowing that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me!! (Romans 8:11)
No matter how bad your winter might have been…how dreary and gray, how weary, how long that time of no growth might have seemed…if you are a believer that season will not last forever. But this is where faith comes in…even as the disciples had heard Jesus tell them that He would rise again; even knowing the Old Testament Scriptures that prophesied of Jesus, His time in the tomb had to seem interminable.
But oh, the joy of that third day!!! Believer, hang on for your “third day”. Hang on for your hope, your spring. And in the meantime, rejoice in knowing we serve a risen Savior who gives us the very
reason for all hope in our darkest times.
May this Easter season and this spring bring joy and a renewing of hope to you!
Ahhh, April.
The month where the weather is as unpredictable as my mood swings currently. Oh wait, I shouldn’t admit that, should I? My bad!! I went with my bestie to hear some amazing Southern Gospel music…so thankful for the time away, the music, the worship, and my friends! I had the opportunity to share my testimony via a Zoom call, and whoa…it was…wow. I pray that my testimony points others to Jesus. That’s the whole point of it, right?? Had some prayers answered that you would think would sustain me for life, they were so miraculous!! But oh…when God is moving, when you are trusting Him, boy oh boy does the enemy attack. And he has. And I’ve whimpered and crumbled a few times. Allowed the victories that God allowed, the prayers He has answered be overshadowed by all the other…stuff.
The prayers He didn’t seem to answer. The “no” answers…or the “wait”…I don’t even know which is worse! I’m writing tonight, low-key wracked in pain by a rainy weather front (12 joint surgeries and you, too, will feel like a lightning rod!!), trying to fight off a pity party over what God hasn’t done yet instead of shouting victory over what He has done. I’m a doofus and I will own it… But yet in all this…I can sense His presence, because I’ve already poured out my heart to Him.
Prayed and asked Him to forgive my lack of faith and thanked Him where He has moved. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” My pastor preached about this…and how praise will stop the devil in his tracks. Be careful for nothing means…don’t worry about anything. Don’t be anxious about anything!!!
Bring it ALL to God. He wants to hear from us!! But as my pastor said, tell Him…and thank Him for what He has done!! Friends, I want to rush Him…I want things my way and at the time I want…at the same
time telling God I trust Him, and I will do His will. (Pssstttt…those two thoughts are many times diametrically opposed, in case you didn’t know!)
So folks, this month…I just wanted to be real. Wanted to reassure someone that might be struggling the same way…God is still moving. He hears and He is listening. But His timeline and mine are not the same.
Until He makes things clearer…be faithful where you are, where He has you now. Be thankful for what you have…I promise He will provide what you need!! But most of all…keep a tight hold on your shield of faith (Ephesians 6 tells the whole armor of God.). We serve a mighty God Who works miracles and is a prayer-answering God!
Until next month!!
Blessings!
I am loved by a holy God!
(I was pulled in what felt like a million directions in May and didn’t get my blog done…now it’s June and I’m making up for lost time!) In so many ways recently, God has been showing me His love. Oh to know the love of God! But His love is shown to us in many different ways…
We always want to equate His love with warm and fuzzy feelings, but in Psalm 139:23-24 David wrote, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
I prayed the other day…felt a little self-righteous as I prayed it. Lord, show me what is weak in me…show me where I need to change. (This isn’t the first time I’ve prayed something similar to this, but it’s the first I’ve prayed with this attitude…should have tipped me off!)
It was great until He did just that. Kinda reminded me of the time I was at physical therapy, and I was feeling good that day…then I made the mistake (jokingly) and asked, “Is that all you’ve got??” Just lob a soft one over the plate next time, why don’tcha??
Hebrews 12:6a states, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” Folks, it’s been a rough couple of days since that prayer. I am so thankful, though…in respond to my prayer to our holy Father to show me where I needed to change…to repent, to turn away from…He showed me.
Did it feel good at the time! NOOOOO!!! Honestly? I was initially more than slightly off-put by it. But our God, our holy Father, is not just a “big squishy hug” God – He is a righteous, holy Father.
Like a good earthly father to his children who guides them because he loves them and wants their best…knows more than they do what they will need in life, what could cause them harm…so our Heavenly Father is with His children who have received Jesus as their Savior…His children who have been adopted into the family of God. What kind of Father would He be if He never chastened me? (Hint: I’ve seen what
happens when earthly fathers never guide their children in love…sometimes it ain’t pretty!!)
Now, a couple of days after my day of spiritually wrestling with God…feeling a little hurt, stung…once I bowed my head to Him, literally and figuratively…told Him it has to be His will…the end result was peace.
And oh, what a precious commodity peace is today!! Truthfully, as hard as correction is to receive in a “it’s my way or the highway” world, as humbling as it can be…once I got over that stupid, stubborn pride I battle on occasion…there is a quietness that settles over my soul. I don’t have to have my way all the time…don’t have to try to figure everything out…I can trust my Father.
He settles me. I respond better to Him. My prayer life is more active, more engaged, more real. I’m more likely to remember to pray. I want to keep that close communion. And in turn, I am calmer with others…my kids…my husband. My friends. I can help, by God’s grace, serve others in love. It becomes less of me and more of Him. And that is how it should be. As God molds me more into the image of Jesus, He should take more and more preeminence.
I’m so thankful for a holy, righteous God who loves me enough to want the best for me.
It is November 15th .
It’s early morning (or late night for me, however you see it!).
I haven’t blogged in a while…it’s been a super busy few months for me.
My first book, Confessions of Grace, was republished.
My third book, Mom, I’m Mater: My Life as an Autism Mom, was published just last month! (It’s
available on westbowpress.com, Amazon, and barnesandnoble.com)
And truthfully, I should have better armed myself for the spiritual battles I knew would be coming.
Satan isn’t hot on Christians having victory, after all…
This past battle, just last week, was bad enough I was questioning God’s goodness…mercy. Honestly, I
was mad. There were circumstances that came up that just tore at me and stretched me beyond my
limits.
What broke me out of the funk??
A Facebook reel. Seriously.
A pastor I enjoy listening to was speaking of God’s will. How he felt like he was missing it at times. (Me
too! Me tooooooo….)
What is God’s will?
Look in I Thessalonians 5:16-18.
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you.”
Wait…is that all?? That’s His will?
Seems too easy, right?
Not even a little bit…at least not for me.
I struggle with finding the dark lining in the most lovely white fluffy cloud.
I sure don’t rejoice evermore. Nor do I pray without ceasing.
And thanking Him in everything? Oh that’s not even funny how I fail Him there…God forgive me.
Even in that, though…as I battled where He wanted me to be, what He wanted me to do…what He
wants me to do…He had the mercy to take me back to the basics.
Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks.
Start there. It’s an every day battle, at least for me.
But I decided at that point this is where I needed to get back to…and then let God do His work. Let Him
get the increase and the glory.
If I’m focused on Him, I don’t focus on….me.
If I focus on Him and praising Him, it’s a lot harder to see the bad.
So this Thanksgiving season and into Christmas, focus on the basics.
Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks.
Love you all,
Mel
