Someday I would like to visit Israel, the Holy Land of the Bible. Whether I will get to do that or not I don’t know but I was really amazed to find out that since 2007 there has been a Holy Land right in our very homeland, the United States of America. Of course, it is not the genuine Israel, but it comes in as the next best thing if one is unable to fly to the Middle East.
The good thing about this park is that there are no extensive airplane flights and airport nightmares or costs ( unless you have to fly to Florida), there are no time-zone adjustments (well, maybe a couple of hours depending on where in the U.S. you are coming from), and the atmosphere, weather and climate are much friendlier.
Where is this Holy Land? Continue reading
Tag Archives: God
A Holy Land in America?
Reap From His Strength
We have a very mild winter so far in the northwest. It seems all our snow and frigid weather has moved east. We have hardly had any snow at all in the month of January and that is quite rare. Some of our days this month have been spring-like, with only a bearable chill.
The leader at the Bible study I went to today was talking about some trees she noticed that were beginning to bud.
“Oh, no!” she said. “Don’t do that.” She got to talking about how this was the time the roots needed to grow deeper into the soil.
I got to thinking about how winter is a time for trees, shrubs, and most plants to recuperate from the hard work of bearing and growing fruit in the summer and fall months. Continue reading
God Is Working, Please Be Patient
I saw this image on Facebook today and was quite touched by it. I decided to share it not because I want people to Type Amen, but because I am hoping anyone who sees it will be encouraged by what it represents, like I was when I saw it.
So often we feel like God is slumbering on a tropical island somewhere sipping Mai Tais, and has just left us to struggle on our own. But what we don’t see is that God is working in our lives, He’s constantly laboring behind the scenes to bring out the best in us.
Sometimes, if feels like we are prodded, squeezed, shoved, kicked, knocked around, and fired up till we are about to dissolve into nothingness. At least I do.
But we really must keep in mind that because God is not finished with us yet, the work must go on and on. Continue reading
A Time To Be Deliberate
Did you make any new year’s resolutions? If so, how’s that working for you?
If you are like most people, right about now you’ll start floundering. Mid-January begins to feel like a heavy lunch on a warm day. Sluggish.
- We begin to lose fervor for our resolution.
- We begin to see our goals as illusions.
- Our good intentions grow thinner with each day.
Does that sound like you at all?
New Year resolutions go unresolved because we often don’t take them seriously enough. We then give up. Many times we try too hard to fulfill them on our own, and don’t ask God for help, or family and friends for support.
In Ecclesiastes 3:1, Solomon the wisest man ever, says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”
This year, the Lord has been writing this in my heart’s wall:
“There is a time to turn bad habits into growth, and this is your time. Be deliberate.” Continue reading
Filed under Hope, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life Lessons, Seeds of Inspirations
Let Us See Through Your Eyes, Lord
I came across this verse during my Bible study devotion today.
Mathew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[ your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” NIV
I especially liked the wayThe Living Bible put it.
22 “Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. 23 But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!” Continue reading
Jesus Came to Earth to Bring Life
I find the amaryllis to be an enchanting flower of Christmas, though it is technically not a Christmas flower. Surely you have seen the six-by-eight inch boxes at your local stores that come out around Thanksgiving. The pictures on the boxes display a flower that looks much like the one above. These unique and beautiful flowers have the ability to bloom indoors. They come in white, pink, pinkish-yellow, red, orange, and variegated colors.
The box is quite inexpensive, about seven dollars, and it includes a five inch plastic pot, plenty of dehydrated soil, and of course the bulb. It also includes weeks of joy as you watch the dead bulb give birth to beautiful flowers. Continue reading
Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Hope, In a Kids World, Life Lessons
He Lives Because Jesus Lives!
Thinking of you, son. You live in my memories.
I hang on to mementos and childhood memories of jokes, smiles and laughter.
I am grateful for silly boy tactics, bouquets of wilted weeds, and a boy’s imagination.
I am grateful for the precious boy’s face I looked into and the hands I held.
I am grateful for the many “I lub you, Mommy!” and “I’m hungry!” I heard throughout his childhood. Continue reading
Filed under Everythingelse, Hope, Loss of a Child, Poetry, Seeds of Inspirations, The Miraculous
How Precious Are You to God?
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
The worth of something is based on what someone is willing to pay for it.
Jesus thought you and I were worth the very living blood in His body. He paid a great price for us because of His love for us. Just as most parents would go to any length to pay a great ransom price if their child is kidnapped.
EXCEPT that we willingly walk away from God. BUT—He still is willing to redeem us. Continue reading
Wiping the Slate Clean
Lets not let an unwholesome thought keep us imprisoned in a place of pain.
I sprained my ankle Memorial Day Weekend, and because I was foolish and did not nurse it properly, I found myself practically housebound most of this year. UGHHHH!!!!!
Eager for connection with humanity, I asked my sweet friend about the woman’s Bible study at her church. It was based on the book by Lysa Terkeurst, Made to Crave. Lysa writes that some of us tend to satisfy deep desires and emotional emptiness or stress with food, instead of God. We were created to crave God, but in our fallen state we curb that craving with anything else, including food.
This curbing only offers temporary satisfaction. Because when the food craving is over, all we are left with is guilt and a tighter pair of jeans. Continue reading
If a Tree Falls…
If a ninety foot tree falls in a very large front yard and leans towards a house, what are the chances it will be kept from hitting the house by the one lone tree planted fifteen feet from the house?
Only God knows, but that is exactly what happened.
In April of this year when I wrote God’s Hand Is Mightier Than A Falling Tree I had no idea I would be writing about another one of God’s falling tree miracles so soon. Continue reading
HIS EYE IS ON THIS SPARROW TOO Still Learning to Lean on God 