Listen Up and Receive

Proverbs 15:31-33
“The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

Have you ever met anyone who just wouldn’t listen to wisdom? You know, that one to whom you could talk till you’re “blue in the face;” yet, he or she just simply refuses to open his or her ears to hear. To be honest, when this happens, I have to fight genuine anger within my heart and then I have to fight pure pity.

To watch someone who is so stubborn in their own will to refuse God time and time again infuriates me on the onset, because it is as if I am standing at the top of a waterfall screaming out to her of the coming danger. I am jumping up and down, waving my arms, yelling at the top of my lungs, desperately trying to make her see that if she continues to travel in her canoe, ignoring the rushing rapids, she will find herself busted and destroyed in just a short time, maybe even beyond repair. It is as if I am furiously throwing all lifelines out to help him get to safety, and yet, despite all my efforts, he shoves the ropes off the boat and scoffs at my concern.

Then, the undesirable but inevitable happens. She finally realizes the error of her ways, but it is now too late. She violently attempts to turn around, only to find the craft is teetering over the edge and racing toward the rocks below. There is nothing more you can do, except wait until he steps out of the destruction and finds himself again. You can pray, and you can cry, and rightly you should; yet, until he decides to remove himself from the debris, you will be struggling in vain.

That is when the pity and the sorrow settles into my view. To see her fighting against the hope which remains breaks my heart. To see her waring against her Maker draws tears to my eyes. To see him clawing and assaulting his Savior, refusing the grace and mercy right within his grasp, shatters my serenity and peace.

There is hope for all who are lost. There is redemption for all those broken and shattered by their own muck and mire. He loves you. He will redeem you. He is waiting there for you to see. Just call on His name. You will never be the same.

Power of Our Words

The words we choose to use will bring life or death, and it is up to us to choose the right one. For the last few weeks, I’ve been doing a study on the power of our words, and today a friend shared an incredible video to illustrate this fact of power portrayed through the letters we string together to communicate with our world.

This video got me to thinking… What if you could actually see the impact of your words on a daily basis? What if, when you spoke, the skin of your child turned brighter and healthier or darker and less healthy, all depending upon the words spoken? What if the hair of our spouse became glossy, healthy and beautiful or dry, brittle and profusely damaged, all dependent upon the conversations we had with him or her? What if mold built up within our homes when we spoke ill words and fragrance was spewed when we spoke kindness? What an interesting orbit of living we might have.

I believe if the immediate impact of our communication was seen more easily, it might just alter our interaction with the world around us…

I watched this video this morning, and it led me to several others who performed the experiment. I will share it with you at the end of this post. It is amazing. Our words have so much power, and we must choose wisely to bring life and not death into the lives of those we love.

*Note: I did not create nor do I own or possess any part this video. This comes straight from YouTube.

His Mercy and Goodness

His goodness simply amazes me again and again. His mercy isn’t just for one moment, one breath in time. It endures forever! This is the God I serve!

I am amazed. I just stand back in total awe and surrender, humbled by His grace and love. A God so Mighty, so true, and so faithful; yet, He cares for me? He cares enough that He sent His only Son to die a horrible death to atone for my sins before I was even created in my mother’s womb! “WHAT?! Are you kidding me??”

It is so incredible to even fathom. It is so mind-boggling that I cannot comprehend. The depth of love, mercy and grace He extends is so overwhelming. Once experienced, you’ll never be the same, and you’ll never want to be different 💗

No wonder the Psalmist repeats the phrase, “… His love endures forever,” 26 times in Psalm 136…

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.

13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.

16 to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.

17 to him who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel. His love endures forever.

23 He remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies. His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

What Holds You Back?

What holds you back from loving Jesus?

Is it 

SIN…

DISBELIEF… 

FEAR…

LIES…

APATHY…

NEGLIGENCE…? 

Whatever it is, these things are not worth it. He loves you, and He waits for you to come to Him. He waits patiently, and He waits lovingly. He waits wth anxious anticipation to show you all He has. 


In Him, you will find unconditional love and unending grace. You will find unmerited favor and undeserving mercy. You will find rest. You will find peace. You will find strength, and you will find HOPE. Without hope, our hearts grow weary and our lives grow dim. Without hope, we all persish. 

Love Me Challenge #27

Oops! So sorry, I thought I had posted this. 


What have I accepted about me through this LoveMe Challenge? I have definitely accepted that I’m unique. I’m quiet. I’m scarred. I’m doing some things right. I’m flawed. I have a past, and I have a future. I am loved, and I am an overcomer!

This has been fun! I hope you have enjoyed it, too. 😊

He Knows Your Name

Some people struggle with remembering names and faces of people whom they meet. Some people never forget a face, while others never forget a name. Personally, I work hard to remember both. 

You see, I work extra hard to remember a person’s name, not because I’ve got some “great gift,” but rather, because I know what it means to my heart when someone remembers mine. I have a very difficult name to remember, especially my full name, and so, often, people might mispronounce it or just ignore it all together. In school, so many made fun of my name that, when I entered college, I just decided to go by a nickname. Those scars of being made fun of, eventually healed, but they caused me to realize how precious a name can be to someone. 
I have not mastered this goal of remembering names, but I can say, I work hard on it. When someone asked me the other day if I remembered their name, my mind went absolutely blank! My eyes went to the “deer in the headlights” mode, I broke out in a cold sweat, and I couldn’t have remembered the person’s name to save my life! 

I could remember the last name. I could remember the spouse’s name. I could even see the spouse’s FB page in my head, but that first name just wasn’t going to break through the mental blank my mind had created! Ugh! What a terrible moment! I wanted to cry…yes, literally, I wanted to crawl away and cry. Remembering someone’s name means that much to me. 

Later on, this moment caused me come to a wonderful revelation. One that I know very well; however, in those hard moments of life, sometimes, my heart will try to deceive me to believe I don’t know this truth: Jesus knows my name!

He not only knows my name, but He knows every intricate little part of me. He knows the number of hairs on my head. He knows my likes, my dislikes, my hopes, my fears, my doubts and my dreams. He knows every time I’ve cried, every time I’ve laughed. He knows every sin I’ve committed and every aspiration I hope to have. He knows my name, and He loves me!!


You know else, He knows yours, too! He knew you before you were even born. He knew what you were going to look like and where you’d be right now. He knew what your life would be like, and He knew what your name would be even before you received it. He loves you so much, and He longs for you to know Him. I encourage you today, give Him a chance. I promise you, He will not disappoint. 

Love Me Challenge #26

I have a bottle of J’Adore, given to me by my sweet love, and because it is costly, I don’t wear it very often. Yet, every time I do, I feel beautiful. 

I have to say, it makes me feel beautiful not because of the particular smell and not because it costs so much. It makes me feel beautiful, because my husband and I had previously had a conversation about fragrances and how I’d like to know the kind he liked on me. So, that holiday season, he went off to the mall (keep in mind, he does not like to shop!!), wandered around the fragrance counters of a particular store, smelling all the different colognes and perfumes, and he finally came across this one. 

He said it made him think of me. He had it wrapped and gave it to me at Christmas. Call me a sap, but it made me cry.❤ This is one of the many reasons I love him…he makes me feel beautiful every day!

Love Me Challenge #25

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Our boys make me laugh all the time. They are so fun and funny. They really keep my on my toes! 😊

Comedians make me laugh sometimes, too, but it definitely depends on their humor and the condition of their words. Honestly, if they’re gonna cuss every other word or be crude and perverted, I just don’t see the humor in that. However, Tim Hawkins, Jeff Foxworthy or Jeff Allen can crack me up anytime! 😂 I even like some vintage humor like The Carol Burnett Show with Tim Conway and I Love Lucy!

Hope you get a good laugh from these! 
**Note: I do not own or possess any of these linked sites/videos. Simple google and link search to YouTube videos. If this has violated any copyrights or trademarks, please let me know, and I will gladly remove.**
 

Love Me Challenge #24

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This might seem like a little of a repeat from #19, but there’s really no way I can answer differently. My God, my husband and our boys make me happier than anything in this world! My God has become my Refuge, my Strength, my Peace, my Friend and so, so much more! My husband has become my best friend, my love, my confidante, and the list could go on and on. Our boys just bring so much joy, adventure and laughter in to our lives, I couldn’t imagine life without them!! …any of them!!

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I will have to say, another thing that makes me happy is great friends, especially lifelong or what I like to call “covenant” friends, because lifelong/covenant friends are hard to find. Covenant friendships don’t come into your life by chance nor are they birthed only from easy, fun-filled times together. Covenant friendships are birthed by choice and, often, through moments when you join arms and hearts and walk through the fires of life together. Life long friendships withstand the frivolous, the petty and even the physical miles that may grow over time. When you find one of these, hold onto them, cherish them and never let them go. Over the years, no matter the distance between you, you will be glad you did! 😉

Love Me Challenge #23

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Some might say my best feature is my smile. My friends might say it’s my eyes. I’ve heard others say it might be my hair or my tall physique. My husband would say…well, he just left the room when I asked him; so, I guess, I won’t be getting his answer for this post. If you ask me, my first response would be, “I don’t know.” This is really a difficult one for me, because I don’t like looking at myself and trying to figure out these kinds of answers. I’d rather talk about you and brag on your best feature(s). That is much more fun!

Yet, if I could say what I’d like my best feature to be is not something you will see at first glance, and it might not even be something you’ll notice at our first meeting of one another. However, once you get to know me, you’ll see I have a quiet, gentle way about me, and I have a knack for noticing small details. Sometimes, this trait will make me excruciatingly slow and meticulous, but when I’m “on it,” it allows me to see things others might miss. It causes me to see a pain in someone’s eyes when all the room sees their smile. It creates within me an ability to connect with the quiet, the lonely and the fearful. It allows me to see past the facade and smokescreen that someone may be giving in order to see the inner need to just belong and be loved.

I may not always see those little details, and I may very well “miss it” from time to time; however, when I’m listening closely to His voice and being in tune with His direction, this small ability becomes a great big asset in the Father’s hands, to be used for His glory, not because I’m ‘all that’ but because HE is.