THANKful Thursday

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Thank you once again sweet SONYA for letting us join you with our thankful hearts today.



1. I am thankful that HE is my Healing Rain. He brings mercy and joy as He washes us and soaks us in the water that flows down from Him in Heaven.

".. Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord." (Lamentations 2:19)

2. I am thankful that HE is Jesus Messiah. He became sin that knew no sin. That spotless Lamb of God took on the sins of the world - our sins - for us.

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

3. I am thankful that HE is Mighty to Save. He is the Author of Salvation and we have the opportunity for eternal life through the precious shed blood of Jesus, through His burial and through His conquering of the grave!

"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)

4. I am thankful that HE is my All in All. He is everything to me. He is the only thing that I need. He is the beginning and the end.

"... but Christ is all and in all." (Colossians 3:11b)

5. I am thankful that HE is Omnipotent. Jesus knows Who we are. Jesus knows What we are and Jesus comes to Where we are. Praise You LORD!

"..Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!" (Revelation 19:6)

Praise Him for Restoration!

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t need a little restoration from time to time? I don’t know about you, but there are times that my soul just cries out to God for a good dose of it.

As I sat in the dentist office yesterday, I had a tooth that was in need of a little restoration. It wasn’t just new decay that needed removal. It was an old filling that had gotten some new decay around it. Just because that tooth had been filled previously, it didn’t prevent some further decay from creeping in.

The LORD spoke to me while I was calmly (ha!) waiting for the dentist to come in to begin the process. He showed me that we Christians are just like that tooth. Just because we have been covered in the blood of Christ, it doesn’t prevent us from getting some areas of decay or sin in our lives. We still have to guard ourselves against the wiles of the devil. We still have to guard ourselves against our own flesh. We can still let sin creep on in and take hold and begin the decaying process in our spiritual lives.

Our salvation is in no way an automatic protection against our sinful nature. We still have to take up the Cross on a daily basis. We still have to constantly be strengthening ourselves in the Word of God to help us guard our hearts from sin.

When the dentist came in, he didn’t just put a filling in that tooth on top of the decay. He had to get all that decay out before he could begin that process of restoring the tooth. He had to make sure he removed every trace of the decay so that the filling would take hold. The filling had to have a clean surface to adhere to. If any of the decay was left behind, it would just continue to spread further.

We are just like that. If we don’t fully get rid of the sin, it will just fester and continue to grow and spread until it does even more damage. God absolutely cannot begin to restore us until we are convicted of our sin and come face to face with it. He has to start with a clean surface. There has to be a cleansing before the renewal process begins. We have to acknowledge our sin and become broken by it. Once we get to that state of brokenness over our sin, we begin to seek His forgiveness. We have to totally turn that sin over to Him. We have to come to a place of repentance so we can rid ourselves of that sin once and for all.

Then and only then, can our precious Father begin to restore our souls. He continues to cleanse us. He can begin to send His rain of mercy and grace down upon us. He can wash us in the water of His Word. He will pour out forgiveness like a flood. The waterfall of His restoration will flow down upon us and over us and bring us back to full fellowship with our sweet Savior. To bring us back to full restoration in the One who satisfied His holiness with the sinless Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world so that we could become His righteousness.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit”

(Psalm 51:10-12)

The Lordship of Christ

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I love by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Last night we had a powerful Word delivered from God through His messenger. It was about how we are so quick to accept God as our Savior and we definitely want a Savior, but how we are lax about letting Him be Lord and Master of our lives.

It really made me stop and think about the times that I have put my own self in the position of being the Lord of my life and how I basically want God to be my Lord and Master on my terms. It was really an eye opener for me. I didn’t realize how many times I was in essence taking control of my own life’s journey and not really stopping to give God the reigns that belong to Him. The reigns that He so richly deserves and desires! In fact, He expects it!

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things and in Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16,17)

We were created by Him. No one else helped God with His mighty creation. He didn’t have to consult anyone about any of the details. He didn’t have to make a rough draft and get it okayed by anyone else. He didn’t require anyone’s stamp of approval. We are His workmanship alone. He is the Master Creator. He created us for Him. Nothing exists or consists without Him.

I know this and have always thought that I lived my life this way. I try to be submissive to His authority. I try to make sure that I pray about things and ask for His guidance and direction. I want to be in His will. But as I examined some of the ‘finer’details in my life, I see that I have at times rebelled against His authority. There are times that I have tried to do things on my own, that I should have taken to the feet of Jesus and submitted to His Sovereign authority. That I should have surrendered to His Lordship.

When we were on vacation earlier this month, as we were descending out of the mountains, we passed a construction vehicle parked on the side of the road that had a big sign on the back of it :

Pilot Vehicle
Follow Me
Do Not Pass

I didn’t give it much thought at the time, but last night, God brought that memory back to me. Perhaps it was God telling me even then to follow Him. Telling me not to get ahead of Him. Telling me to stay right behind Him and He would be my pilot.

I always want to be right where God intends for me to be. I am renewing my dedication to Him. I am making a more conscious effort to submit to His authority. I desire to say, without a shadow of a doubt – “He is my Lord. He is my Master. He is my King. He is my Ruler”.

I will follow. I will not pass. I will stay right behind Him and let Him lead me where He wants me to go. He is Lord of my life.

Saturday Steps of Faith - Believing God

I join my sweet friend LISA today in her pursuit of what we are believing God for in our lives.

We had the most fabulous VBS this week and had 6 children give their lives to the Lord! That, my friends, is what VBS is all about. It's about reaching out to the children who need Jesus in a BIG way. Children that won't have a chance if someone doesn't take that first step and invite them to church. Children that my husband spent 2 hours each day picking up and dropping off in the church van so that they could come and learn about their wonderful Savior. Praise His Holy Name and shout Hallelujah!! Oh, yes, God is so good. He is so faithful. He is so mighty. There's nothing my God can't do.

This coming week, we are having a parish-wide (county for you other 49 states!) Festival of Hope crusade. It is like a big revival that is non-denominational and it involves the whole parish and all the churches regardless of the name on the door.

The churches that are 'heading' it up, have divided the parish into sections and we have been going door to door and leaving tracts and other information and even praying for each house - each family. Every house in West Carroll Parish has been prayed for individually. That is 12,000 people. Our parish is about 37 miles long and 18 miles wide. Besides the main town of Oak Grove (about 3,000 people), there are 7 communities that make up this parish. We are really like one big family. We do alot of things that encompass that whole parish and we know people from all over.

I am believing God, that in the 6 nights of this crusade, that He is going to do mighty things in this parish. I pray that eyes will be opened. I pray that hearts will be humbled. I pray that people will see their need for a Savior. I pray that boundaries will be erased. I pray that bondages will be broken. I pray that we might be consumed with the love of and the love for our Precious Lord.

Oh, yes, my friends. I am believing God for MIGHTY things in the lives of this wonderful little parish that I live in.

Thank you Lord for what you are going to do in this place this coming week. Be with Scotty McDowell as he brings our message each night. Be with those of us who are playing in the orchestra and those that are singing, that we do it all for Your Glory. I praise you for the lives that will be changed and the hearts that will get right. I praise you for the wonderful opportunity you have given us to reach out and spread the gospel.

Just Because I Love Nanahood

Sweet Mercie girl

Precious Mikaela & Handsome Eli

Adorable brothers Bryton & Sawyer

Today I am just basking in the glorious blessing of being a Nana. My grandchildren bring me the greatest joy. They fill my heart with love unspeakable. They fill my life with riches unfathomable. They overwhelm me with their love for me. They bring back precious memories of my girls when they were young children.

They bring me to a place of marvelous blessings.

They delight me. They challenge me. They inspire me. They amuse me.

Thank you Lord, for the wonderful gift of grandchildren. May I always be a light for You to them. May I always be an example of Christ to them. May I always point them toward the Cross.