Tag Archives: Spirituality

Don’t Look Back!

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Is there a pillar of salt in your past?

In Genesis Chapters 18 and 19, we read about God’s appearance to Abraham in the form of a man, along with two other men who are actually two angels.  They come to declare to Abraham and Sarah that in a year their son Isaac, the promised child, will be born.

Then God shares with Abraham that He is about to set judgment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous” Genesis 18:20

Abraham, concerned for his nephew Lot and Lot’s family who live in Sodom, tries to bargain with God not to destroy the city if there are at least 10 righteous people there.

In God’s eyes, Sodom and Gomorrah’s wickedness is so vile there is no other option to do but destroy it.  He cannot even find 10 righteous people in the entire city of Sodom.  God is gracious with Lot’s family for Abraham’s sakes.

The two angels are sent to Sodom to rescue Lot, his wife, and two daughters from being destroyed along with the city. Continue reading

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Filed under Hope, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life and Relationships, Life with Chronic Pain

Are We So Different From the Children of Israel?

In Exodus, God has shown the children of Israel that not only He’s there with them, but that He is a Mighty God. Because of Pharaoh’s rebellion, He has steadily pummeled Egypt with unbelievably supernatural plagues. Here are a few: all water is turned into blood, their homes and land are obscenely overrun with frogs, locusts devour their crops, boils afflict them, and finally the death of their first born sons.
Throughout the ten supernatural plagues that ravage Egypt, the children of Israel go untouched. And though some of Pharaoh’s magicians duplicate the first few plagues, they cannot remove them or duplicate the rest.
If all of their water is turned to blood and the place is overrun by frogs, why on earth would the magicians cause more grief upon themselves by adding to the problem?  Hmmm. Just curious. Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life Lessons, Loss, Marriage and Relationships, Single Parent Struggles

Let Us See Through Your Eyes, Lord

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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

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Filed under Following Christ Has Changed My Life, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life and Relationships, Life Lessons

Trust God No-matter What

God loves you and has your best interest at heart.

Often, the world makes no sense at all,

that is why it is so important to trust God completely, especially then.

imageBelieve it.

We don’t always see it at the time,

but as time passes and we look back, we can usually say,

“Oh yeah, now I see why that happened!

Thank you God for looking out for me!” Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Hope, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life and Relationships, Life Lessons

Rejoicing in Jesus’ Birth

imageHow Much Does God Love the World?

God So Loved The World That He Gave…

HIMSELF

in the body of a frail newborn named Jesus.

But…why would He do that?

He came in our form so that we could better relate to Him.

So that He could teach us about Himself.

So that He could show us what real love looks like. Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Christmas, Following Christ Has Changed My Life, Hope, Seeds of Inspirations, The Impossible, The Miraculous

Does God Celebrate Christmas?

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Well, seeing how Christmas is a mixture of pagan and Christian traditions, I don’t believe God has a Christmas tree decorated with lights and cherubs.

I don’t believe He adorns the halls of Heaven with twinkling lights and bows of greenery.

I don’t believe the heavenly host rush around their kitchens making millions of divine delights for their annual cookie exchange.

I don’t believe God has shopping requests, or naughty or nice lists. (Though He does say all the names of those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb have been written in His Book of Life)

I don’t believe December 25th is highlighted on God’s calendar.

God certainly is not a Santa, swooping down as earth sleeps, dropping gifts into chimneys. Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Christmas, Hope, Humor, Life and Relationships, The Miraculous

Jesus Came to Earth to Bring Life

imageI 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

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Hope, In a Kids World, Life Lessons

Celebrate Jesus This Christmas

imageDon’t let the world dictate your Christmas with its pressure to buy this and that at every turn.  Of all the toys and the gifts given this year, most will be forgotten or broken by next Christmas.  But, what is really going to matter in fifty or one hundred years? Or a thousand years!   Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Following Christ Has Changed My Life, Hope, Life and Relationships, The Miraculous

Surviving the Loss of a Child During the Holidays

Thanksgiving Day was not even over this year when Black Friday rushed in like a runaway train.  I hope as people abruptly switched mode from thankfulness to Christmas shopping and all the festivities of the season such as: office parties, school plays, the hustle and the bustle, planning holiday meals, stressing over prickly relatives; they don’t forget what it truly means to be grateful for what one has.  As the old saying goes,

“We don’t appreciate what we have until it is gone.”

Those of us who have lost a loved one, especially a child, know this too well.

I barely survived  my son Jonathan’s funeral.   It would be the last time I would see his earthly body.

For one, I had a splitting headache from the grief, the stress, and sleep deprivation.  It felt as if the same icepick that had been driven through my heart had also been driven through my skull when I numbly sat a few feet from the coffin that held my son’s body. Continue reading

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Filed under Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Loss of a Child

He Lives Because Jesus Lives!

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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

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Filed under Everythingelse, Hope, Loss of a Child, Poetry, Seeds of Inspirations, The Miraculous