so much to be thankful for ...

I am thankful for Greg and his dedication to this awesome way to show our thanks each week!

I am thankful that even though my husband was so sick during the revival, God graced him each night with the filling of the Holy Spirit and enabled him to preach and bring a Word straight from the Throne of the Almighty. Thank you Lord for a husband who is commited to You and Your gospel.

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I am thankful that God has such a wonderful sense of humor and is so patient with me. After a week of all the glorious and breathtaking sunrises and sunsets I soaked up in New Mexico, I was bemoaning the lack of beauty like that back home here in Louisiana. The night after we got home, God so graciously threw this beautiful sunset into the sky as if to say "how about this one?", and as I stepped outside my house, I just had to laugh and say "You are so amazing, God!"  I am indeed so thankful for the beautiful sunsets here at home.

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(Bryton and Sawyer)

I am so thankful for these little guys here. The day after we got back, Ashlie, Cody and the boys headed to Wyoming where Cody is working a pipeline job for a few months. I miss them terribly already, but I am so thankful that I can talk to them each day and hear their sweet little voices. Thank you Lord for Bryton, Sawyer and their parents!

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(Mercie, Silas, Mikaela and Eli)

I am so thankful for Megan's 4 little ones. They always put a smile on my face and in my heart.  I am certainly a blessed Nana with 6 (for now..) amazing grandkids. Thank you Lord for the gift of grandchildren.

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I am thankful for the fun that Megan and I had today when we took the kids shopping. Mercie and Mikaela kept us entertained trying on these hats. Never a dull moment when I am with them. Thank you precious Lord that I can spend so much time with my grandchildren and my daughters.

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I am so thankful for this little darling. Our newest little grandyoungin' is growing up so fast! Silas is 14 weeks old and he is the sweetest little thing ever! He loves to smile and he has 2 dimples just like big sister Mikaela. Thank you Lord for little Silas.

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I am so thankful for the Word of God. I love how it speaks to me in a new way each day. I can read the same scripture over and over and each time the Lord shows me something new in it. Thank you, my precious Father, for your Holy Word. May I never take it for granted and may I never fail to dig deep into it each day of my life.

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"Fear not, I have redeemed thee,

I have called thee by thy name;

thou art mine"

(Isaiah 43:1)

grace upon grace... thank you Lord!

"All that God does flows out of grace" (A.W. Tozer)

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I am so thankful for the presence of God's grace in my life. The favor of God bestowed so lovingly by a Sovereign God on a sinner saved only by that amazing grace.

Grace that was present even before the Cross.  Prevenient grace. A grace that proceeded everything. One that was working before our very existence.

Grace walked in the garden of Eden. Grace was present in the ark during the flood.

Grace forgave David. Sustained Moses Strengthened Job.

It was grace that rescued Daniel. And restored Israel.

God's grace. Majestic.... Matchless.  Marvelous.

Generous grace poured out lavishly by a loving God and dispersed according to our need.

Grace that overflows and spills out.

Undeserved.
Unearned.
Unmerited.

Grace that is unending and unlimited. God's grace is a well that will never run dry. Never lose its power. And never be unavailable.

God has an infinite supply of grace and so lovingly applies it to our lives. His precious hands reach down and anoint our heads with the sweet aroma of grace and allows it to penetrate, permeate, saturate and fill us.

Out of His fulness, God has given us, through Jesus Christ, His Son, grace upon grace.

More grace than I can ever deserve.

More grace than I can ever understand.

More grace than I can ever fathom is possible.

Grace like rain. Pouring down. Covering. Drenching.

Leaving behind the glorious mist of His presence. And the amazing peace that comes from knowing Him in an ever increasing intimate and personal relationship.

Just pure, unmitigated favor from God. His riches deeded to me in exchange only for my surrender to Him.

Thank you, Lord for the amazing grace that is mine because of Jesus. I love you with all of my heart and will serve you all the days of my life.

revival praise and thankful thursday

I am thankful that God reigned victorious over the revival services at Eternity Baptist Church in Alamagordo, New Mexico. Even more thankful that He allowed Jimbo and I to be part of it.

The enemy tried everything he could in his power to quench the spirit, stop the power and cause the servant of the Lord to falter. Jimbo began getting sick on our way here on Friday and by Sunday he was just barely making it. We began doctoring him with various medicines. We tried just about everything. For a man who never gets sick, he was almost down for the count. What started out as just a minor sinus problem escaladed into fever, chills, sore throat, headache and all over achiness. By last night, the final night of revival, he could hardly talk.

But as determined as satan was to get some sort of victory out of this and cause God's man to be unable to function, God was more determined to speak through His servant and do a mighty work. And a mighty work He did!

The winds of revival blew with a mighty roar through the church. People were moved by the Spirit of God. Lives have been touched and changed. Decisions were made. The altar was baptized in many tears of surrender. Hearts were pricked to get right with God. Recommitments were made before the Lord and His people. It was a glorious, awesome revival.

God took a humble servant that was at a low in physical health and just spoke a powerful Word through him. He reigned! He won the victory! He enabled Jimbo to muster up the strength to stand at the pulpit and be the mouthpiece for God. He indeed brought new life to the weary. He carried him from strength to strength. God is so good.

We saw God in a new and more intimate way this week. We felt His presence in each service and saw the invisible handprints of our Lord on each person present. We have been revived!

Thank you, Lord, for loving us enough to die for us that we might taste eternal life in glory with You forever.

In full surrender,

Beth

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Thank you GREG!



the majesty of God in New Mexico!

This is the sight I was greeted with as we pulled into the mountains of New Mexico. I was just blown away by the beauty of God's majesty. It was as if God had just dropped the most glorious sunset right in my lap so I could taste just a small portion of His glory at that moment.  And taste I did. I savored this image and soon realized it was just a preview of all the God had in store for me to partake of. He is so good!

We began revival services Sunday morning at Eternity Baptist Church. The pastor of the church is a long time friend of my husbands. He and his wife were actually Jimbo's youth leader way back in 1969 when Jimbo was 14 years old and they were about 30.  Precious servants of the Lord. Then and now. They served like second parents to him and he loves them so much and they feel the same way about him. It's been fun to see how Kat still mothers him just like he was 14 again!

(Larry and Jimbo)

We had awesome services on Sunday. The spirit of the Lord was so present. Jimbo had prepared several sermons for his time here and when he woke up Sunday morning, God had other plans for what He wanted Jimbo to preach, so he said, "OK, God, it's all you!".  The message was amazing. God spoke to His people and the message that was delivered was one that touched every person in that church. Hearts were pricked. Lives were changed. Decisions were made. God showed up and showed out and His presence just filled the sanctuary. I just love it when He does that!

By the time services started Sunday night, we all had such a hunger for a Word. For THE Word. We arrived at the church and couldn't find his notes anywhere. He doesn't use many notes, but he does like to have his scripture references written down and just a little outline to keep him from chasing too many rabbits. But they were no where to be found. But once again, God was in control and the message that he gave Jimbo to preach was just the Word that all of us needed to hear. 

Monday morning, 5 of us set out on motorcycles and left Alamagordo headed for the mountains. I climbed on the back of Jimbo's bike with camera in hand and we headed out. We rode to Ruidoso and Cloudcroft and God just painted picture after picture of the most majestic sights I had ever seen.  Everywhere I looked was the beauty of God. I could just hardly contain myself. I kept saying, "God you are so amazing!"

(me, Jimbo, Larry, Kat)

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the

firmament showeth His handywork"

(Psalm 19:1)

As we prepare for services tonight, Tuesday night and Wednesday night, I would love it if  y'all would just continue to pray for the people of  Eternity Baptist Church. Pray that God will continue to move among the people and that they will develop an even more fierce hunger for the Word and for growth in their spiritual lives. They are a precious body of Christ and I just want them to all get on fire for God! I just know they can be such a HUGE blessing to their community and just explode with the desire to reach out and show others the way to the CROSS! May God be glorified in all we do!

"For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore

for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me"

(Psalm 31:3)

an unholy christianity?

I heard someone say the other day that our Christianity today has no holiness in it. It kind of took me by surprise for a second as I contemplated that statement and let it kind of soak in. And then I realized how very true that statement is. We live in a world of Unholy Christianity. How sad is that? How tragic is it that the very thing that our Christianity should stand for is the very thing that is missing in it?

As Christians, we should be striving for a greater desire to obtain purity in all things. Right thinking - right behavior - right attitudes. But it seems like we lack this desire to live holy lives. Somehow we have it all wrong and have let the world take control and dictate our inclinations and we just kind of leave Christ out of it. How absurd. We leave Christ out of Christianity.

I am not really sure why we make being a Christian so hard, because in actuality living right seems to be a whole lot easier than not. It is easier to be nice than be mean. It is easier to think good thoughts than bad ones. It is easier to do the right thing than to spend all that energy doing the wrong thing!

I think that it is time for us to get back to the basics of living a Christian life. Filling ourselves up with the Word so that it just overflows out of us. Loving Jesus so much that it just spills out on others and we just love them too. Keeping our minds filled with things that uplift and edify and not spending time or money on those things that pervert and bring down. Putting back the Holy in Christianity! Amen?

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)

Paul never fails to get right to the point and I love how he covers it all in those verses. That is an amazing recipe for living a holy and sanctified Christian life. 

I know that I have wasted many years and much time not 'doing the thing' like I should. It saddens my heart to realize the lost opportunities of witnessing that God sent my way. I know that I have lacked holiness in my life in the past and possibly caused another person to stumble. Oh, how that just causes my heart to ache.

But you know the awesome thing about God?  He gives us new mercies every day. EVERY single day.  We can wake up each morning and know without a shadow of a doubt that God is a God of new beginnings. We have a new opportunity each day to live a life of holiness. A life of purity. A life that glorifies and edifies Christ. We can determine from this day forward to put the holiness back into our Christian walk and be the men and women of God that He has purposed us to be.  Throw off that which entangles and put on the cloak of righteousness and just 'do the thing!"

We just praise you, God, for all that you are in our lives. We just give you all honor and glory. Thank you for allowing us new mercies every day and help us to live our life with holiness and righteousness. Stir the hunger in our hearts and fan the flame in our spirits  for more of you and your Word. Thank you for loving us and thank you for your precious Son, Jesus. Amen