Saturday, May 25, 2019

All who enter, WILL WIN


All who enter, WILL WIN


While watching cartoons with Isaiah there was a commercial about a contest to win a gift cards to several place to make your child’s birthday awesome. The last line of the commercial said “Many will enter. Few will win.” That phrase caught my attention. My immediate thought was I am so glad that God is not that way.



Could you imagine if the way we were able to enter into Heaven is if God put our names into a big tub, spun it around and pulled out a name like a Bingo ball? But instead He sent His son to give us Grace, so that ALL may enter. ALL WILL WIN!  How do I know that? Here is what John 3:14-18 has to say:

“14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

John 3:15 Says EVERYONE who believes, not some, not a select few, not a random drawing of those who believe but EVERYONE!!

Okay. So you believe. Where do you go from here? Romans 10: 9-10 says

“9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

If you declare with your mouth and believe with your heart, YOU WILL BE SAVED!  Again, it’s not a selection process. There are no pre-requisites, no conditions, no ifs, ands or buts.  You WILL be saved.


You may say to yourself, you don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know the things I have thought. The places I have been. But let me assure you, you have never done, thought, or been anywhere to dark that Jesus, the light of the world, cannot find you.


Here is how I know.


King David, who is said to be highly favored by God, committed adultery with Bathsheba, they conceived a child, the problem was her husband Uriah was away at war. When King David found out she was expecting he had Uriah brought home, thinking/hoping he would lay with his wife. However, Uriah refused to go home when his brethren were still on the battlefield.


When King David sent him back to war, he sent along a messenger to tell Joab to put Uriah up on the front lines and then pull back to insure Uriah’s death.


How does this relate to us…. one of the most favored Kings was an adulterer and murderer and who knows what other sins he committed. If God loved him then there is nothing we can do to remove God’s love from us.  


So how do we move forward from sin into our calling? Into the prosperous life God for us?


Psalm 51: 1-15 lays out four steps of Restoration which David took:

Confession, Cleansing, Creating and Calling.


Now I can’t claim the four parts of restoration as my own thoughts. I am doing a Bible Study Called “It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way” ByLysa Terkeurst and some of this is her words. But it is so relevant to this topic and I must share it and elaborate what I see in these words.


CONFESSION: Psalm 51:1-6

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.”


I see this as a two part step. Confession your sins and confess your faith. Lord, I know I have sinned. I have fallen short. But I believe your son Jesus Christ died for me. I have faith that you will blot out my transgressions.


CLEANSING: Psalm 51: 7-9

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”


This step you are using faith to believe for cleansing. Jesus spilled his blood on the cross to wash away our sins. To wash us white as snow. The cleansing process is turning from the sins we are committing and trying our very best to walk in God’s word.


CREATION: Psalm 51:10-12

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”


God will heal the part of us that wants to commit sin and help us have an unwavering, firm purpose.


CALLING: Psalm 51:13-15

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise”


This is where to Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) comes in when Jesus tell us to go into the Nations in His name and teach them his commandments. We all have a calling. We have a part to play. One thing that Lysa Terkeurst said that caught my attention was, before we can step into our full calling we must do the first three steps: Confession, Cleansing and Creation.


It can be difficult to take a good long look at our inner self and see where we need confession, cleansing and creation. But it is so worth it. At the end of my life, I look forward to hearing the words well done, good and faithful one!


Entering into Heaven’s Gates is not a contest. All who confess with their mouth and believe with their heart will enter, WILL WIN.


There are four easy steps Confession, Cleansing, Creating and Calling.

Well Done - The Afters

Thursday, May 23, 2019

The thief lurks in the Darkness


In 2011, I lived in Sumter, South Carolina with my best friend and her husband. February 10th that year I went on my first date with Paul. In March I stated a new job as an Assistant Manager at a convenient store about 0.9 of a mile from Paul’s townhouse. I spent many days and evenings over there with Paul and I felt very safe where he lived.

 But in Sumter there was a dividing line. Something I never really experienced coming from the small quite country town of Canton. There was a street that separated to good part of town from the bad part of town. Paul’s townhouse was in the good side of town and my job was in the bad part of town. This was not something that I knew when I took my job. I later found out that I worked in the low income part of the bad part of town. People were desperate, some depressed, some drunk and some just out there.

 I worked mostly days and occasionally late nights but never alone. I had never felt scared or frightened by anything there. But that all changed on May 22. My boss had been working 16 hour days, 7 days a week for 6 weeks or so. She was beyond exhausted. I was supposed to be off that day for a doctor’s appointment. I volunteered to work so she could sleep in and get some much needed rest. I was scheduled to be at work at 4:30 a.m. and she would come relieve me at 8 a.m. It was a Monday and I was scheduled to go in early to count the weekend deposit. When I pulled up something felt wrong. The Holy Spirit quickened me not to get out of the car. I even thought about calling Paul or the Police for an escort to the door. It was the first time I had opened the store alone and I dismissed the feelings a nerves. After all the door was less than 10 feet from my car and I had always felt safe. I stepped out of the car, got my keys and headed for the door. Out of the corner of my right eye I seen something move and before I could react there was a man dressed in all black, from head-to-toe, with a facemask, gloves on and a gun to my back. I remember as he ran toward me I scream “OH MY, GOD!”  In that moment I needed my protector.



The assailant placed his hand over the door and asked for the alarm passcode, taking from me the few moments I should have had in my mind to remember the distress code. He commanded me to unlock the door, walked me to the alarm key pad and then demanded for me to unlock the safe. The keys to the safe were in the Manager’s office in the back of the store. With the gun still held to me he walked me back there to get the keys. There was another safe in the back room, a 2 door safe. The top door was unused and I didn’t have a code for it and the bottom was used to hold our register drawers. I unlocked the bottom one and emptied what was less than $200 into his bag. When he demanded the top be opened, I told him it was empty and there was not a code. Then he walked me back to the front of the store, where I opened the large safe. Just 2 weeks prior that safe had a 10 minute time delay on it, luckily it had been bypassed and removed. He commanded me to lie on the floor and kept telling me to back up until I was shoved against the back wall with my knees bent behind me. After he emptied the safe he walked me to the men’s restroom where he locked me in and told me to stay for 5 minutes. He never once stood up straight. He slithered around the store purposely hunched over.

As the bathroom door shut I counted to 30 to make sure he wasn’t coming back in, I slowly pulled my cell phone from my pocket, turned it on silent and sent Paul a text saying that I was quitting my job. Though, I didn’t give him a reason nor reply to his text of why. I did not want him coming down there and did not want to alarm him. After what I guess MAY have been a full minute I opened the bathroom door, ran to the front door, locked it and ran back to the office. I called my manager; she was frustrated that I woke her up until I told her why. She freaked out and said she would be right down. I then called the cops. I was still shaking when they showed up. I had to give my full report and sit outside, alone, in the dark, behind the yellow crime tape while they did their investigation. After the police arrived, I finally text Paul and let him know what was going on.

On that day, not only did that many rob my store and several others but he also robbed me. He took a piece of my security and piece of my innocence. I stayed locked in a house or tucked under Paul’s right arm for many months. Scared to step out alone, even in the daylight and sure didn’t want anyone walking behind me.

I learned two valuable lessons that day….

·         ALWAYS LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT!

·         JESUS ALWAYS HAS MY BACK

I could have easily died in that store. May 22, 2011 could have been my end BUT GOD! I lived John 10:10 that day. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they many have life, and have it to the full.”

I can look back on that day and tell you that even though I was shaken I was never scared. Never alone. Almost peaceful.  From the moment I yelled out for GOD, he was there. He comforted me. He assured me that I would be okay.

My Facebook post from a year after. 


Psalm 91: 9-13

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.


Thursday, May 16, 2019

Don’t get lost in Peter’s Storm


Are you like Peter and your storm is still raging, have you asked Jesus to help you walk on water? If the winds of doubt and fear have begun to whisper to you and you have begun to sink, cry out to Jesus. Reach for him. His hand is extended waiting for you.


Why is reaching for Jesus’ hand important in Peter’s walking on water? As he began to sink in the storm to reach up to Jesus, he had to re-center his focus on Jesus and not the storm around him.


There were several years that I was lost in the murkiness of my storm. You see all of my life I wanted to be a Mommy. It’s what I dream about, the sweet sounds of feet running through the house and laughter echoing through my ear. I had a plan. I was going to be just like every other woman in the world. I would get married and suddenly in the first year I would find myself expecting a sweet baby, a boy. But that didn’t happen the first year, the second year or even by the fifth year. I became lost in my grief of an empty womb. It affected every relationship that I had. I became with drawn, empty, lonely. As I trudged through this drenching storm, I had secluded myself. I was alone. Or at least the enemy whispered that to me daily. To be honest, at times I wondered why I was even on Earth. I slipped deeper and deeper into the darkness. Never did I readjust my focus. Through that pain I saw my first marriage completely fall apart and end.  I learned some hard lessons.

When I met Paul in 2011 my hope for babies renewed. After all he had kids…maybe his fertility would rub off on me. Again, I had a plan. We would get married and I would suddenly find myself expecting. Again, that didn’t happen the first year, the second year or even by the fourth year. I had set myself up for the same pit fall. At the end of 2015, I could feel myself slipping down that dark, slippery slope. I found myself wondering into the murky darkness of my storm. My focus was still in the wrong place.

On December 31, 2015 I decided that I was done. I would never be a Mom and that I didn’t want to live in this darkness. I told God that if I wasn’t going to be a Mom, that he needed to remove the deep want in my soul for a baby. In January 2016, I took apart the nursery we had set up. I boxed up the clothing we had purchase and I put it all on Facebook for sale at what I thought was a great price. NO one wanted my things. So they sat in a closed up room. I moved on. I decided to be happy right were God had me. To appreciate ALL the time I had with Paul and our dogs.  The want for a baby never left me but it no long consumed and controlled me. Somewhere in that I came to the full realization of God’s timing. If I rushed Him, if I forced opened doors that weren’t supposed to be open then my children, if I ever had them, would not be in the right place at the right time. You see God has a plan for them also. They have people to witness to and test to withstand themselves. So if I continued to force open a door then they would not be where they are supposed to be. So I cried out to Jesus and I reached for His hand, for the first time in my adult life, I was truly happy with where I was in life. 32 years old with an amazing husband, we had purchased a house and five acres, we had our dogs and I was content.  I was content with the purpose I had to live; I was unconditionally loved by Paul and our dogs and had a house and plenty of land that need my attention.

BUT GOD!   January 26, 2017 we suddenly found out we were expecting! It was a boy! Sweet Isaiah. Then again on December 18, 2018 we found out were expecting again! It’s a girl! Sweet Ily.

Who knows where I would be if I had stayed in that murkiness. When I finally decided to feel the pain, to mourn the fact that I may never be a Mom, God healed my brokenness and set me on a solid foundation.  When I re-center my focus on Jesus and not the storm around me, my soul found a peace and happiness I had never known. The Lord put a new praise in my mouth and I learned to praise Him through the storms that life will inevitably throw at me.

Psalm 40:1-3 “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.

Cry out to Jesus today. Reach for His hand. Your waters are never so murky that He can’t find you. Put your trust in Him today, He will guide you through the storms, set your feet upon a firm foundation and give you a new song!

Standing Firm as the Storm Rages


I want to talk about this tree…this very tree.
Right after the storm

Spring 2019
 It has stood the test of time. The test of this sometime cruel world. While it has weathered many storms in its life, it never expected what was going to hit it on April 29, 2017. It knew the storm was coming as the clouds began to darken and atmosphere around her began to change. The wind began to howl and the rain began to fall. It thought to itself here comes another storm. It quietly told its limbs to hunker down and its leaves to stick closely to the trunk. When the storm had passed and it looked around, most of its life’s work was gone. It had been ravaged by the tornado. ALL of its leaves were gone, most of its limbs were also and debris from the storm hung around its neck. But what remained was its core, firmly planted in its foundation.

You see its testimony is that while the storm raged around it and in those first moments, those first months, the first year it seemed it had lost everything. But its core remained. It existed. Its roots remained anchored in the soil. The following spring, a new chapter began. Its limbs began to lengthen and its leaves began to grow. This year is its second spring after the storm and its limbs are longer and filling out with new growth. While it is shaken from the storm, it will never be the same but it stayed anchored in its soil. It kept a solid trunk. It continued to take in nutrition and water and it began to grow.  After the storm it was bare for a while but that first spring it provided shade for our family and this year with its growth, we now have a shade tree again and protection from the harsh sun and from the next storm.  Is it scared, yes. Has it changed, yes. Will it ever look the same, probably not. But it is strong and beautiful. Just like its testimony.

Had it been anchored in sand instead of solid ground, it would have had a very different outcome.

What are your feet anchored in today? Are you firmly anchored God? Are you going to His word for your nutrition and water? Or are you anchored in sand? Do you need to replant your roots today?

John 6:35 Jesus declared, “I am the bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”