From a Widow’s Journey: A Comforting Message from a Weed? God’s Quiet Messengers

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Romans 1:20 (KJV)

My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us, and will know in our hearts that He will never forsake us as we trust in Him.

Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer’s year. It brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.
Rev. Billy Graham

Listen with your heart, you will understand.
Pocahontas

***On a “me & God” retreat in Cherokee, NC in 2012, not long before God brought Keith back into my life.***

I’ve been through a lot of grief in my life, as a lot of us have. But nothing prepares you for the loss of your spouse, the one you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with. I became a widow on August 29, 2020, at 54 years old. This is a message of encouragement, from my heart to yours. I know that with so much tragedy going on in our world right now, we all need all the encouragement we can get. I also know that in my humble service to our Lord, I want to do as Paul told us, when he said we are to “comfort others with the comfort wherewith we ourselves have been comforted” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). So, with this in mind, I could not just keep this to myself.

You know, it never ceases to amaze me, the places encouragement can come from. I know what you’re thinking…How on earth would you find encouragement from a weed? Yet of all the places it could have come from, that’s what happened on one of my morning walks the other day…

***Keith and me at Soco Falls, near Cherokee, 2016***

You’re probably thinking I’m one of those eccentrics that think everything “talks” to you. Who knows, maybe we all get that way to a certain extent as we get older. No, I’m not, really. It’s just that, well, to be bluntly honest, becoming a widow during your empty nest years has a way of changing a person. In the now going on three years since I lost my husband, Keith, to Covid, I’ve gone through a lot of changes. I’ve evolved. I guess you could say, in the sometimes unbearably long periods of time spent living alone, I’ve become more quietly attentive. When you live alone, and there is no one left but the dog and the four walls, you quickly find that sometimes, it can seem the walls are closing in on you.

So, I’ve done a lot of thinking, praying, and spending time reading God’s Word. Sure, I’m active in my church, and I do try to spend time with family when I can. But that isn’t always possible when your kids are all spread out, working hard on their college careers and raising their kids. Plus, in addition to all of that, I am a writer, trying to balance all of this with time to work on my books. Yet through it all, it’s during this journey I never expected to be on that I’ve talked to God more, probably more than I ever have. I’ve walked the trails at the local trails park more than I did before. Sometimes just me and my “Gracie Girl”, my four-legged companion (she loves it) go just to walk and enjoy nature. It’s during these times that I have found myself connecting with our Creator more than ever before.

***Grace and me, enjoying a day of hitting the trails. She loves it.***

In truth, these times just getting out and enjoying God’s creation have been a big part of my healing journey. But it didn’t start out that easily. The first phases of adjusting to this new season were very difficult. I found myself going through some sort of phase of entertaining this never-ending need to go to all the places we’d gone to, do all the things we’d done together, like a part of my mind just couldn’t accept it. But as I gradually realized each time that all that was left was just a huge void by my side where he’d been, or just a cold, empty chair across the table from me, it was only then that I finally began to accept the fact that all I had left were the memories. It’s funny (strange) how it took me going through all of this to get it through my head that he was really gone. Like so many of us, that cold slap in the face of the reality, when it finally hits you, was probably the hardest for me. I finally realized what I had been denying. He’s gone, and he’s not coming back. Yet now, I know it’s only through God’s grace that I was finally able to let go and just learn to be at peace with cherishing the memories.

Now, it’s all crystal clear. That was just my way of processing it all, of finding my way through the long, dark, twisting corridors of the labyrinth of grief, from the initial stages of anger and denial, into the final easing into the acceptance/gratitude phase of it all. Of course, when you’re in denial, it’s like some uninformed child in the back of your poor, grief struck mind thinks that if you keep going to all those places, eating at all the same restaurants, doing all the things you did together, somehow, he’s going to be there, waiting for you. I guess it’s a control thing too, in a way. Same reason that for a long time, I couldn’t stop cooking enough for him. Call it crazy, but, well, we all have our ways of dealing with grief, and that was mine. This is my journey. But now, I know that I was never “alone” in it all. Jesus, our Lord and Savior, promised He would never leave us, nor forsake us, and He meant it (see Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:5).

For years, my mother cooked enough for my brother, Charles, whom we lost at 9 years old, when I was 12. It’s as if somehow, that’s part of your mind’s way of finding comfort, because in a sense, it’s your way of “keeping them there with you”. I’m at peace now with it all, though I don’t think the pain will ever truly go away. Yet, by the grace of God, it does become more bearable, as you gradually ease out of that denial phase. Through those much-needed nature trail walks, you do a lot of thinking and talking with God (or just in your own back yard 🙂 ). Over time, as you trust His grace, you finally feel yourself easing into that acceptance/gratitude phase. It’s during these times when I can just shut out the rest of the world, and it’s just “me and God”, as Josh Turner sings in his song, that I feel myself reconnecting with God and His healing power.

Now, I’m just thankful that God gave us another chance. You can read a little of our story here. I’m truly thankful for the precious memories I get to keep, of the time we spent together, and that I know because Jesus was his Lord and Savior, and he left this world with no unforgiveness in his heart, he is with Him.

Three months later, after my husband passed away, we lost my mother, though from different causes. I can tell you, there is no void left in your world quite like the one you feel after your mother is gone. So, at least I am most certainly not alone, as Dad and I are on this journey together. He and Mama were happily married for 56 years. Then too, losing my brother when I was just 12 years old pretty much marred the rest of my childhood. But then, over the years, as I have matured spiritually, God has helped me to see it all from a more positive perspective. I know that my little brother served the Lord all his short life, with all his heart, and I know that I will see him again, as we will all of those who rest in the Lord. We need only search the Scriptures to be comforted in God’s promises on this. His comforting reassurance of those who sleep in Christ being resurrected in the rapture is given in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

***Me and my girl, Grace on the trails. My grandsons love her too, as she was theirs before she came to me.***

Trail walks are great, and a weekend or day trip to the beach or the mountains, even better. But we need only look right in our front yard for God’s messengers. His creation is all around us, speaking volumes to us about His promises. Yet it is sometimes only in the face of the most unbearable tragedies and storms of life, when we have suddenly found ourselves alone, that we finally begin to notice these quiet messengers. It is only then that we will finally begin to hear what our Creator has been trying to tell us all along. If you only learn how to quiet yourself and look around, you’ll see that all of His creation speaks volumes to us. We have only to learn how to listen, not with our ears so much as with our heart.

So, it is with this perspective that I want to share with you the powerful message I felt emanating from this humble little messenger, a simple weed, in a simple moment of quiet listening with my heart. Of course, I heard no words. After all, we know weeds can’t really “talk” (oh, but the stories they could tell if they could). Yet I knew the words reverberating into my being, like water to a parched soul, were being translated from the Creator Himself, the One Who made it. It went something like this:

“I’m just a weed. I’m not a big, fancy flower, just a humble dandelion weed, with all my plain, simple pedals already fallen off. I’ll soon be gone. If they mow the grass tomorrow, it will be quicker, but don’t worry, it will be painless.

However my time here ends, in that moment, my brief life will be over. But if you are standing here in this moment, seeing me still here in all my humble simplicity, then my short time gracing this earth will not be in vain, for you see, it is our Creator, God, the Father that made us both, Who knew you would come along today and see me. So, it was He Who placed me here with this simple message I am giving you now.

It was Jesus Himself Who put me here, knowing you would walk by in this moment, carrying the deep wounds of grief and sadness you have endured. You see, I cannot walk as you can. I can only stand here, planted in this one spot until my time is over. But you can, so He walks with you and leads you. It was He Who put it in your heart to take that walk this morning, wasn’t it? He knew I couldn’t come to you, so He had to lead you to me, so that before my time was up, I could deliver His message to you.

You see, the message isn’t really from me. It’s from Him. I’m only the messenger He chose to convey it to you. No, I’m not a big, beautiful red rose, a pure, white lily, or even a simple daisy. I’m no stately sunflower, or pretty daffodil. Just a plain old weed, but I am still His creation. We’ve been hated, dug up, poisoned, and most of the time, we grow in all the wrong places. I’ve stood through many storms, and even been trampled on. Yet, I had a purpose for being here, because He saw you, and knew you would need this message.

I’m only a plain, simple weed, a dying weed flower that only blooms for a short time. But I have survived. Through His grace, I survived through it all, just to be here for you this morning, to give you the message He gave me for you. If you’re still standing here, you have survived too. He had a reason for you to still be here right now. You haven’t gone through your storms alone, for He’s been right there, walking by your side through it all.

He loves you so much, He even sent the Savior to die for you and take the punishment for your sins so you could be with Him in Heaven one day. That’s how special you are to Him. You mean so much more to Him than I do, and you are more precious to Him than all those birds singing. I don’t hear them, because He didn’t give me ears. I don’t see them, because He didn’t give me eyes. I don’t even feel the joy and peace their songs can bring you, because He didn’t give me a heart. But you can, because He made you in His image, and He gave you those gifts. So don’t take them for granted.

So, if you mean so much more to Him that I do, and even more than those birds singing, and He brought me through all of the storms I’ve faced just to be here for you, then how much more will He not also carry you through your storms by His divine grace and never-ending mercy?

I’ll be gone soon. I probably won’t be here when you come back. It was just in this moment, this one special moment that will never come again, that He chose for you to be here and planned your steps so you would see me. That’s why He chose this exact spot and placed me here. You see, He kept me through all the rain, the wind, and the storms, just so I could deliver this message to you…

…before I’m gone.

With all the love from our Creator’s heart, just for you,

A humble weed.

Well, there you have it. That’s just about as plain and clear as it gets. It speaks volumes to us all, about our wonderful Heavenly Father’s infinite wisdom and unlimited power to use any and all of His creation, in any way He chooses, to speak to us if we only learn how to listen. Actually, dandelion tea has some health benefits. if you’d like to do your own research on that. So, as it turns out, that pesky weed that is hated by so many, has its good qualities. I enjoyed a nice, hot cup of it this morning. Now, every time you sip a cup of it, I hope you will remember this message our Lord chose this humble dying dandelion to give us.

As I said, we must learn to listen with the heart if we are ever to learn to hear Him. After all, it only makes sense that if He created it all, then He can use any of it to speak to us. It’s speaking volumes all around us, just as the above Scripture verse at the beginning of this post says. But don’t just take my word for it. Jesus Himself had this to say…

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. – Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)

I’ve included a video for you below, with a song by Gordon Mote that I hope will bring you some comfort. Keith and I were blessed to sing with our church choir, accompanying him on 3 of his songs, when he came to our church, about a year before we got sick. Finally, I would like to offer up this prayer for you, spoken by Paul in Ephesians:

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.“ – Ephesians 3:14-18

God, our loving Heavenly Father is heralding the wonderful news of His perfect love, grace, healing, comfort, encouragement, and salvation all around us. He has embedded the messages of His promises in all His creation. It’s literally being blasted all throughout the universe. But take it from one who knows. It is only when the noise of the world is finally quieted, sometimes in ways we would have never wanted, that we will finally hear it. Are you listening?

**One of the local trail parks in our area that Keith and I used to visit**

I hope that this message has brought you some comfort in whatever way grief has touched your life. I also hope and pray that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will accept His invitation to walk with you and guide you by asking Him into your heart today. If you have been encouraged by this message, please feel free to share with someone you know who needs His message of comfort and love.

In Christ’s service,

From a widow‘s journey

Life Lessons: “In Season and out of Season”: the Path to Life’s Greatest Gifts

“And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’.” – Matthew 25:40 (NKJV)

So, November 2nd was my 57th birthday. My last day being 56 had its high points and low points. After my doctor’s appointment in town earlier, I had the blessing of being led to the Waffle House, where my pastor’s wife’s dear parents were just leaving.

Her mother has been in the hospital. They are precious to us all, and they have weathered a lot of storms. So, after speaking with them and praying with them before they left, I stayed at their table and had a little breakfast and devotional time. What a treat to run into them. It really brightened my day. But that was only the calm before the storm…

As if right on cue, after I’d almost finished eating and reading my devotions, some people came in with an elderly gentleman. I could tell they were having a bit of a rough time with him. Sadly, I let my guard down and just got up, paid, and left without being the more compassionate light of Christ that I should have been. I’d been focused more on my quiet experience being ruined, rather than being willing to just tighten it up and perhaps offer a little encouragement. I felt so bad about it for the rest of the day that it began to just eat away at me like a cancer. Before I realized what I had done, I had let my “mask” slip off. Only after I had left did I realize what a hypocrite I had just been. I had just betrayed my Master. I’d been tested, and I had failed.

As I drove home, I prayed my humble prayer of repentance to God and asked Him for a chance to make it up to Him. In the next few minutes, I got my prayer answered. As I pulled into my parking space at home, He laid it strongly on my heart to go on to the Walgreen’s to pick up my prescriptions, seeing as I tapped into the app, that they were ready.

It was on the way back home that it happened. I don’t like trying to get out onto Main St. in our little “Mayberry” town of Benson via the road beside McDonald’s as it’s practically impossible, so I will often drive around a back way. So, on my way back, I drove past the park and pulled up to the stop sign just in time to look over and see a man get hit by a woman coming out the back driveway from the McDonald’s. Who knows what could have been distracting her that she didn’t see him. I certainly was in no position to point fingers at her.

I watched as he fell and hit the pavement. I quickly pulled over off the road and ran over there to see if I could help. In just that few minutes after it happened, people came together, trying to calm him and see about him as the ambulance was called and the police arrived to direct traffic. I did the only thing I knew I had been sent to do. I knelt down and spoke to him reassuringly, as the others were doing, trying to keep him calm and still as we waited for the ambulance to arrive. Then I began to pray for him. As the emergency workers arrived and took over, I quietly eased back into the background and left them to do their job. My job was done, and my prayer answered.

Now, stepping into my 57th year on this earth, I can clearly look back and see the ways, the Father has provided these “training experiences” to help me and guide me on my journey to greater spiritual maturity. Lesson learned. I’m sharing this because I have a feeling, I am not the only one who has had one or more of these slip ups. We are human. We all mess up. We have all failed at one time or other. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But thankfully, we have a loving Heavenly Father Who is ready to forgive us and welcome us with open arms if we are only willing to humbly acknowledge our wrong, repent of it, and receive the forgiveness His Son, Jesus Christ died to give us. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So, I messed up. As we all have. But if you’re still breathing, it’s not too late to make a turn around. Now, as the Thanksgiving and Christmas season approaches, I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of these hurting and less fortunate people. Y’all, this is the stuff miracles are made of. But the enemy wants us to be all wrapped up in ourselves, or with our noses stuck in our phones, and miss them.

I speak to myself on this, as well as for all of us, when I say, we can do better. I know I can. If He places them in our path, it’s because He sees the potential in us to somehow be a blessing to them. We will always fail Him when we make it about ourselves, as I did that day. It’s not about us. It’s about learning, as we mature in Him spiritually, to rejoice when He sends us someone to bless.

So, maybe we can all work together and help each other with this. We will fail sometimes. But it’s when we are willing to admit it and let Him help us learn from it that we will be blessed in greater ways than we could ever imagine. So, let’s look up from our distractions, especially this busy holiday season, and pay attention to that pedestrian who may be homeless or unable to drive (because we all know it could have just as easily been one of us behind that wheel instead of her). Let’s pray for others instead of judging them (see Matthew 7:1-5). And let’s look for ways to be a blessing to the hurting around us (as I should have done), instead of merely seeing them as interruptions to our busy schedules or our “quiet time”. In being obedient to Him when He gave me a second chance, He showed me that I was not the only one who failed Him that day. And just like that, I felt a year’s worth of spiritual maturity as I woke up to my 57th year on this earth the next morning.

This season, and always, may we all be more “instant in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) and strive to not only love those in our own little “glory huddles” (quote credit: Cara Whitney, Author, “Unbridled Faith: 100 Devotions from the Horse Farm”), but also those poor, hurting souls He places in our path. In Matthew 5:46-48, Jesus said, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

May we humbly seek His readily available grace and forgiveness when we fail. Most importantly, may we never forget that our gracious and loving Father will always give us another chance when we ask Him. After all, some of our greatest blessings and unexpected gifts in this life often come in disguise. You won’t miss them if you look in the right places. They’re the ones that can’t be wrapped.

Being Alone for a Season: Trusting the Clock Maker

There are no ‘ifs’ in God’s Kingdom. His timing is perfect. His will is our hiding place. Lord Jesus, keep me in Your will! Don’t let me go mad by poking about outside it. ~ Corrie ten Boom.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” – Psalm 40:1-2

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”- Psalm 27:14

“Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;…But those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.” – Psalms 37: 5-7a, 9b (NKJV)

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:8-11

I’ve been “alone” for two years now. When I say “alone”, I don’t mean totally alone, because I know my Heavenly Father is always with me. But August 29th, 2022 marked two years since my precious husband passed away. Now, as the fall and Holiday seasons approach, I am looking around and seeing more and more people who have suddenly found themselves alone. For another powerful and thought-provoking post I did on this a few years ago, click here.

Sometimes, we question separations – seasons of life when someone’s part in our story may be over, and it can be hard to WAIT on God during these times. We tend to jump in and try to fix it ourselves when He doesn’t move on our timetable (I get into this some in my book). Sometimes, especially when it involves family or friends you had come to trust, it may only be for a season. But it is especially hard when it is a permanent separation, as in divorce, loss of a job, or the death of a loved one. Yet, for whatever reason, we have entered a season of being, or feeling, alone.

As far as temporary separations, I have come to think of it like Corrie ten Boom and her father must have thought of an old clock, or watch. Sometimes, our perfect, all-knowing Heavenly Father has to take the “clock” apart, fix the parts that are broken, and then, in His way and His perfect time, put it back together.

We will always mess up when we try to put our hands in there and “fix” it ourselves. It is in these seasons of temporary separations that we must learn to sit still and trust His process, wait on His perfect timing, and keep our eyes and our focus on Him. We need to use this time to pray and grow closer to Him and ask Him to help us learn what it is He is trying to teach us. Everything else will come together at the perfect time He has chosen (See Matthew 6:33).

As far as the more permanent separation, as in the passing of a loved one, or other circumstances in which you have suddenly found yourself alone, it may seem you can only think of your life like a broken watch or clock that is beyond repair. I know because that’s how I’ve felt many times after my sweet husband passed away, and my dear mother only 3 months later. And I know what I watched my parents go through in the years after we lost my brother, Charles, at only 9 years old, when I was 12. I know the void that it left in my life, growing up without him.

It is during these seasons of finding ourselves alone, broken, and hurting that we can only surrender the broken pieces to Him, our Heavenly Father, and trust Him to turn what the enemy meant to destroy us into a powerful testimony for His glory.

Trust the “Clock Maker” – He knows exactly what He’s doing. After all, only He can see what the broken pieces can be when He puts them back together as only He can. And only He can see whether another broken “watch”, or “clock” somewhere else may have a part that can help yours. Somewhere, someone else is going to be going through what you have gone through, and you have the strength and wisdom you have learned that can help them. Perhaps it helps to remember that He made us all, and He knows the perfect ways we can work to help each other, just as the “Clock Maker” knows that if He made all of the watches, or clocks, then He knows exactly how the parts can work interchangeably.

He has it all timed perfectly if we only trust Him. Your season is coming, right on time. You may feel broken beyond repair, but you can trust the “Clock Maker” who created you and knows just what it will take to fix you. You might not ever be exactly the same as you were before, but when you trust Him to complete the healing and repair process as only He can, it is then that you will be fully prepared and equipped to be His instrument to help repair others who are broken and fulfill a purpose that only He knows.

It may seem you are alone for now, but He is always there, watching over His own, and promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. He knows the plans He has for you, just as the watch maker knows the potential he sees for that one watch that seemed beyond repair. He not only knows the plans He has for you (Jeremiah 29:11), He’s already there.

If He made you, then He knows how to fix you. Trust the Clock Maker. After all, if you belong to Him, and you are walking with our precious Jesus, then you were never really “alone” after all. It only seems that way while He is gently repairing you as only He can, so that He can then use you to help Him fix another “broken watch”. After all, you might have just the part He needed. But you will never know until you surrender all those broken pieces to Him and simply trust Him. Who else could possibly understand the unfathomable concept of perfect timing better than the Great Clock Maker Himself, our Creator and Heavenly Father, Who knew the plans He had for us to begin with (Psalms 139:13-16) long before time began?

35th Year Revised Edition of “CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door” is here! Get Yours Now!

Have you been through a traumatic event? Have you felt like giving up? Does your faith need God’s CPR?

New, from Rivers of Grace Books (my imprint), it’s here! The 35th Year Revised Edition of my powerful, faith-building book, “CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door” is now available on Amazon. The print/paperback version is available now, and I should have the eBook and hard cover versions available soon.

**Available in print/paperback on Amazon. Get it now!**

GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION, YET THE PULSE OF THE BODY OF CHRIST HAS DANGEROUSLY WEAKENED…

Let’s face it, this past couple of years haven’t been easy for any of us. Many of us have lost loved ones to the pandemic or other causes. August 29th was a year since I lost my husband, and then my mother 3 months later. I have also survived other close calls the enemy has made on my life in the years since the accident that almost took my life at 20 years old. For many of those grieving the loss of family members or friends, the Thanksgiving and Christmas season this year has lost its joy. So many are giving up on their faith in God and even in life itself….

I’ve been there. I may not have gone through the same things you have suffered, but I know what it feels like to feel hopeless, and I know the cold, dark, painful feeling of grief depression. Paul warned us that in the last days, there would come a falling away like never before, and that this would precede the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ to rapture the Church. I believe we are in those days. Never before have so many begun to give up hope. But we must remember, we are not defined by these things that have happened to us. That’s why I felt led to release this new, revised edition of my book, because so much has happened since I first published it. It’s more important than ever before that we share our testimonies of what Christ has done in our lives, because that’s what encourages others. Those who are hurting, depressed, and losing their faith need to know that if we only surrender the broken pieces to Him of what the enemy meant to use to destroy us, He will turn it into a powerful testimony we can use to bring hope to them. So, I am happy to announce that it’s finally here!

The print version of this special 35th Year Revised Edition of my book is now available on Amazon. I hope to have the eBook and hardcover versions available soon. This is my testimony of my Near-Death Experience in a car accident with my first husband at 20 years old, what I have learned in the years since, and the “CPR” your faith needs, for those who have been discouraged by life’s hardships. The powerful concepts and life lessons I have shared in the book are strongly accented with scripture from the Word of God, and the book has been updated to reflect more recent events, including the loss of my husband. It also includes a special, encouraging new preface dedicated to all who have lost family members to the pandemic or other recent tragedies. The book is especially written for those who have suffered any type of traumatic event and felt close to giving up on their faith. Here are just a few of the powerful, faith-building concepts featured in the book…

The 5 main reasons your faith is under attack
God’s CPR and the importance of unclogging your “faith arteries”
The Great Physician’s recommendations for a healthy Christian heart
Throwing off excess baggage & preparing to sail toward God’s plan for you
Navigating your course with God’s “GPS”
The hidden part of the “iceberg” the enemy doesn’t want you to see
The crucial reasons giving up is NOT an option
How our “pulse” as the Body of Christ can beat strongly again, and more …

I know it’s actually been 36 years as of this year, 2021, but I had intended to have the book available before now, and November 16, 2020 marked the 35-year milestone of the day Jesus said to me, “No, go back. It’s not your time yet. I’m not through with you yet…“. I believe you are one of the reasons He sent me back that day. I also believe He has a special purpose and plan for your life, and that no matter how hopeless things may seem to you, if you will only surrender it all to Him as I have, He will take it all and make it into something greater than you ever dreamed possible. I know this because His Word promises He is no respecter of persons. What He has done for me, He will do for you. Each of us has the potential to reach countless others for Him through the power of our testimony. I truly hope my book will help you to learn how you can become a powerful witness for our Lord and triumph through His healing, restoring, and renewing grace and power, and that what I’ve shared in it will be the CPR your weakened faith has needed.

If you know someone who could be encouraged by this, please feel free to share this and help me get the word out. Thank you all and may we all work together and encourage one another in these trying times. I am a little later than I wanted to be in getting this out, so I can’t promise you will get it by Christmas unless you get the fast shipping option, but it’s here! I’ve also updated the description, so that should be reflecting on the page soon. So, I hope you will head on over and get yours and share the news with anyone you know who could use some encouragement! God brought me through, and He will bring you through as well! What He has done for me, He will do for you! So, from Rivers of Grace Books, Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year!

“CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door”, 35th Year Revised Edition, Get it on Amazon now.

Masks in the Church: Part 1 – The Masks We Hide Behind

“Life is but a masquerade ball. No one is ever really who they say they are, but sooner or later, the masks come off.”

Okay, I made that up, although if anyone else has ever said it, I don’t know who they are.) I have said at one time in the past that I had considered having these words put on my tombstone (Now, I know better). Still, if you think about it, there is a lot of truth in that.

A while back, I did a post on Facebook about “Masks”, and how many of us as Christians have hidden behind them for too long. With all that we have going on now, with the Covid 19 Pandemic, and other signs that Christ warned us about happening all around us, I have felt led to visit this topic again.

So, this will be the first of a series I am starting this week, on Masks in the Church. In this first of three posts I will be doing, I will just get into the basics of what it all means, and we’ll get deeper into it all in the next posts, so be sure and subscribe to my email if you haven’t, so you won’t miss out on any of these, or my future posts. I also get briefly into the subject of “masks” in my book, “CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door”, which is now available on Amazon and B&N, see more about that here. So, without further ado, let’s get started. Grab a cup of coffee and let’s sit down for a minute and talk about this. If you find it helpful, be sure and share it with someone!

Are We Hiding Behind Masks?

For too many of us, the ways we have adapted to the ways satan (no, I won’t capitalize his name) uses our past to control us and define us, we have allowed it all to cause us to develop this hardened outer layer of ourselves, all while trying to put on a fake outer front, or “mask”, a false facade for others, while inside, we slowly languish in our own self made “prison”, instead of trusting Christ to set us free.

Before I go on, I’m just going to “get real” with you myself. I recently found myself going through a trial that forced me to take my own “masks” off and get real with God, and with myself, and others. On July 17, 2020, I tested positive for Covid 19. Although I am mostly recovered, as I write this, my husband is in the hospital with it. This whole trial has forced me to take a long, hard look at myself in the “mirror” of God’s Word, and gone deeper in prayer and repentance myself than ever before, and I didn’t like what I saw…

If we as the Church are not careful and diligent to pray and seek Him and study His Word every day, the enemy will fool us into continuing to wear those masks and waste this life away drifting along in the world’s masquerade ball. His evil plan for us is that we will waste the precious life God has given us, hiding behind these masks and missing out on the real, true power of Jesus Christ and the plans He has for each of us to make a difference in this lost and dying world. Ultimately, as long as we let him fool us into living with this deception, he knows we will never truly bear fruit for Christ’s Kingdom, or complete His will for us, and that we will hear those three dreaded words that are more frightening even than dying from Covid 19: “Depart from Me…”

Types of Masks We Wear…

It’s easy to do. We do it all the time. You walk into the store. Someone you know recognizes you and calls out to you, “Hey (your name here), how are you doing?” It can be easy to give in to the temptation to put your “normal person, I’m fine” mask on, when in fact, on the inside, you’re a wreck. We don’t want others to see the trauma from emotional abuse, or other things we’ve endured, or the feelings of worthlessness from it all that we’ve suffered for years, so we hide it. We put our “smiley face” mask on, and say, “I’m fine, how are you?”. Realistically, most of us know when someone asks, “how are you doing?”, they really don’t have the time to listen to the laundry list of what most of us are dealing with these days.

We have all worn “masks” in too many different ways. “Selfish ambition” is one (see Phillipians 2:3-8). I wore that one for too long. Now, I know that the work I have been called to do for Him is more important than whether, as a writer, I ever make that coveted New York Times Best Seller List (By the way, “coveting” is a form of idolatry.). The attractions of wealth, material possessions, and fame are no longer important to me (see Matthew 6:19-34 and 1 Timothy 6:6-14), but what He is getting ready to do through me, and the souls I will win for Him, those I will encourage because I can say, I know what you’re going through, I’ve been there.

“Approval Addiction” is another one I hid behind for way too long (Joyce Meyer has a book on this) because of years of emotional abuse I suffered because of the choices I made. For too long, I was a prisoner of my past, controlled by the need for approval, constantly obsessed about and controlled by what people thought of me, the need to “fit in”. Even worse, I wasn’t really reaching out to others because of how worthless and insignificant I felt deep down inside. That only continued to feed that old monster weed of my insecurities, caused by that need for others’ approval. If you are going to serve Christ, you must be willing to be set apart! (See Phillipians 3:7-9.) Then, there’s the old, “I’m okay, I’m not really depressed” mask, you know, the one many of us wear to church. There are countless others. “Denial” is one many of us have struggled with.

Other examples of “masks” we can tend to hide behind are, “tolerance” and “political correctness” (Careful! Are we not denying Christ, as Peter did, by doing this?). Too many times, we as Christians have tried to “blend in” to society, when God calls us to stand out! We have let the devil trick us into wearing these masks, but they only keep us from seeing who we really are in Christ, and who He has called us to be.

Taking off the Masks – Who has God Called You to Be?

So, take a few minutes to start each day together with God’s word, pray for Him to show you the “masks” you may have been hiding behind, then ask Him to remove them and help you let go of the need to build false facades, “release” it all to Him, and speak the Word over your marriage, your family, and your finances. Make the decision today to “get real” and pray and agree on that Word God gives you together (see Matthew 18:19-20), and I can assure you, you will begin to see changes in your prayer life, your spiritual walk with God, and your marriage and family relationships.

I can honestly tell you right now, today, for me, those chains have been broken! The masks have fallen off! They are gone! I am FREE in my new identity in Jesus Christ, my Lord (also in that section in Phillipians 2:1-15, about seeking to have the mind of Christ).

If this series the Holy Spirit has laid upon my heart to share with you helps you somehow to take a closer look at your own life, and see, through His loving guidance, what masks you may have been wearing, then it will have achieved its purpose. After all, it is not me, but Him, lovingly calling out to you now, while there is yet time for us to make a difference. I am only the hands that typed the words you are reading here. I am only His willing vessel, one who has been broken in many ways, but He saved me, delivered and healed me, and I have answered His call to help as many as I can, just as I hope you have.

With this pandemic we are all facing now, we can only work together, pray and show our appreciation to all of those front line workers who are bravely doing their jobs to take care of us, and pray for those who are sick. The truth is, none of us are promised tomorrow. The path to prayerfully seeking His guidance to help us take the masks off that too many of us have worn for too long, and show us the plans He has for each of us to make an impact for His Kingdom is a journey each of us must take on our own. We can only work, love, and pray together, now, as never before, and believe in the miracles He wants to do in our lives.

There is Hope for You…

Covid 19 is not an automatic death sentence. Many have recovered, and gone on to appreciate the things in life they took for granted before. I am one of them, or you wouldn’t be reading this right now. But if your time should come, and your name isn’t written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and you haven’t accepted our Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, then after your last breath will be too late. You will have just allowed the devil to punch your ticket to the Masquerade Ball of no return.

Jesus loves each of us, so much He died for us to have a more abundant life of hope and fulfillment, leading others to Him. I hope you will accept Jesus as Lord of your life today. If you would like to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, all it takes is a simple prayer, and to believe in Him with all your heart, in total surrender to Him. If you’re ready to take that step, click here, and allow my 12 year old self to tell you how. (That got ya thinking, didn’t it? 🙂

What Will Your Choice Be?

I wore many masks for a long time, but thankfully, I have been set free by the power of Jesus Christ. I am no longer chained to the past. I gave my ticket to that masquerade ball the enemy had me going to for too long to my Lord and Savior, my Jesus. He took it and ripped it up and gave me a new hope and a new life. Right now, I am taking it one day at a time as we recover from this, and praying for healing for my sweet hubby. Again, none of us are promised tomorrow. But I can tell you this much: I’m done wearing any of those dumb, ugly masks. I know now that God truly cares about what we’re hiding behind that mask, and that the truth has set me free (John 8:32,36, and 14:6) just as it will set you free. I know that each new day I wake up with the breath of life He gave me in my lungs, I will praise Him with it, and never take it for granted again. I don’t want to be the person I was before all of this. I want now, more than ever before to strive to reach my full potential of what He has called me to do.

Which will you choose? Will you continue to be a part of the problem, as many of us have been for too long, or will you choose to make a great impact for the Kingdom of Christ? The clock is ticking for every one of us. Thankfully, we have a loving Savior Who standing there at the door of our hearts, waiting to come in and help us “get real”, with Him, and with those we will reach for Him. Now, let this song minister to your heart…

Have You Checked Out My New Book?

If you haven’t, be sure to check out my book, “CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door”, as I mentioned above. It has my testimony of my near death experience in a car accident in November of 1985, what I have learned since, and has been written as an encouraging message of faith, especially for those who have been through traumatic events and have felt like giving up. In the book, I also talk about throwing off the excess baggage from the past so you can sail forward to God’s wonderful plan for your life. I feel in any case, that it will help enrich your walk with Him, but it should by no means take the place of studying God’s Word. Jesus is the Lighthouse. I am only a flashlight to point the way to Him.

Know Someone Who Could Use This?

If you know someone who would be encouraged by this information, please share! Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to hit that ‘Subscribe’ tab so you won’t miss my next post in this series, and so you will be among the first to know about my upcoming new books. Now, let’s throw those masks out and start building the Kingdom together!

New Release! My NDE Testimony: CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door – Get Your Copy Now!

November 16, 1985 was almost the last day of my life…

As my family watched me being rushed from the ambulance into the emergency room, bleeding from a gaping head wound, and in agony from a fractured pelvis, they didn’t know if I was even going to make it…

BUT GOD…

BUT GOD…!!!

…GOD looked into the future and saw you…

Now available from Rivers of Grace Books…

“CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door” is here!

The book you don’t want to miss has arrived!

Now, at a time when giving up is simply not an option, more people than ever are giving up on their faith. We are the Body of Christ, yet the “pulse” has weakened…

…and the clock is ticking as we move ever toward the return of Jesus, our Lord, to rapture the Church…

In my powerful and encouraging new book, “CPR For Your Faith From Beyond Death’s Door”, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble from K&F Stewart Ministries, (initials of my husband’s and my first names, Keith & Flossie), under our new imprint, Rivers of Grace Books, I will share my story, along with what I’ve learned on my long road to healing, and what God has given me to share with you about the special kind of “CPR” your faith needs.

If you don’t read another book this coming year, you don’t want to miss this one!

Have you been through a traumatic event?

Felt like giving up?

Does your faith need God’s CPR?

Then you need CPR for Your Faith from Beyond Death’s Door!

In this powerful book, you will discover…

5 reasons your faith is under attack
God’s CPR and the importance of unclogging your “faith arteries”
The Great Physician’s recommendations for a healthy Christian heart
Throwing off excess baggage and preparing to sail toward God’s plan for you
Navigating your course with God’s “GPS”
The hidden part of the iceberg the enemy doesn’t want you to see
The crucial reasons giving up is absolutely NOT an option
How working together, our “pulse” as the Body of Christ can beat strongly again, and more…

Available on Amazon in paperback and ebook.

Available on Barnes & Noble in hard cover (paperback version should be available soon).

An imprint of K & F Stewart Ministries…

Know someone who is thinking of giving up? Please share this with them via the buttons below!

What if YOUR story could change someone’s life?

* * * * *

34 Years Later – A Celebration: 34 Promises of Our Soon Coming Lion of Judah!

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

34 Years ago today…

Thirty-four years ago today, on the morning of Saturday, November 16, 1985, my family drove to the hospital, and watched anxiously as I was wheeled into the ER on a stretcher, covered in blood from a gaping head wound, a concussion, and a fractured hip. By that time, I had stopped calling out, “What happened…”, etc. As they worked frantically to stabilize me, an IV in each arm, taking my blood pressure something like every 5 minutes, I felt myself fading from this life…for the 2nd time.

Although I have no conscious memory of the accident that almost took my life, I would later watch the entire scene unfold on the screen of my mind through hypnosis and the power of God’s Holy Spirit…only from about 20 feet above the car. Because of my injuries and extensive loss of blood, I had to drop out of nursing school, thus, my career I would have had as a nurse was derailed. I was left without much hope of a future. Diagnosed with PTSD, and other problems that would develop over time, I would eventually reach a point of nearly giving up on God and on life itself.

Now, 34 years later, I have written the book that will tell my story, using my testimony of my near death experience in the accident and my healing journey through the years as a backdrop to what God has given me on resuscitating the broken faith of those who have been through traumatic events and become discouraged to the point of giving up. But I will get more into all of this in the book, which will be published under my own imprint, Rivers of Grace Books. Finally, after years of working on it, in between life as a mother and grandmother, it is almost ready! I am excited! So excited in fact, that I have decided to celebrate by doing something a little different.

Here for you below, are 34 promises straight from the Word of God; one for each of the past 34 years that God’s healing, restoring, and renewing grace has led me on this journey. Oh, there are more, many more, but these are some I felt important to include for you now that I feel will be very helpful for you. This was adapted from a recent Facebook post I did, although I have edited it a bit and added a few more, for a total of 34. Feel free to share this post with anyone you know who might find it useful and encouraging.

Have YOU been through a traumatic event? Have you felt like giving up? Click here for more about the book.

As I will discuss in more detail in the book, I was given a 2nd chance at life, because He saw you and knew the encouragement and healing you would need at this time in your life. Whatever it is that you may have gone through, these promises of God’s undefeated Word have been tested and proven all through time. They will work for you too, just as they have for me.

Most of these are probably New King James Version, although some are KJV. I am pretty sure I mentioned most of these in the book, but here, I have condensed these for you into this handy little list. I hope you find it helpful and that it builds and encourages your faith. So, without further ado, here we go!

34 Promises of God, Celebrating Our Soon Returning King of Kings

1 – PROMISE OF HIS FORGIVENESS, SALVATION! – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

2 – HIS PROMISE OF SALVATION FOR OUR UNSAVED LOVED ONES – Acts 16:30-31 “And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Isaiah 54:13 “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.” Acts 2:38-39 “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 10:34 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:” Romans 2:11 “For there is no respect of persons with God.” – What He has done for one, He will do for another! Romans 8:28 (see number 3) – He is working all things for our good when we choose to serve Him, AND –> “Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

3 – HIS PROMISE TO THOSE WHO SERVE HIM – “All things work together for good to them that love God, that are the called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28

4 – OUR HERITAGE, HIS PROTECTION – NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US SHALL PROSPER! – Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

5 – OUR WEAKNESS, SICKNESS, HIS OPPORTUNITY – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “His strength is made perfect in our weakness…”And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

6 – HIS PROMISE OF HEALING, FORGIVENESS – James 5:15 “The prayer of faith shall save the sick…”And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” Isaiah 53:5 “…by His stripes we are healed.”

7 – PROMISE OF COURAGE TO HIS SERVANTS – Galatians 6:9 “Be not weary in well doing, for we shall reap in due season if we faint not.”

8 – PROMISE OF PROTECTION AGAINST EVIL – James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

9 – PROMISE OF HIS PROTECTION, GUIDANCE – Isaiah 43:2 “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

10 – PROMISE OF HIS FELLOWSHIP – Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

11 – PROMISE OF NEW BEGINNINGS – Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

12 – PROMISE OF HELP, STRENGTH, PROTECTION – Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

13 – PROMISE OF HIS GUIDANCE – Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

14 – PROVISION – Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

15 – HEALING – Psalm 23:2 “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”

16 – RESTORATION, GUIDANCE – Psalm 23:3 “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

17 – PROTECTION FROM EVIL – Psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

18 – PROVISION, VINDICATION – Psalm 23:5 “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

19 – PROVISION, PROTECTION, FAVOR FOR LIFE, ETERNAL REWARD FOR SERVICE TO HIM – Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

20 – ENCOURAGEMENT – HE WILL FINISH WHAT HE STARTS IN YOU! – Philippians 1:6 “He that began a good work in you will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”

21 – WISDOM AND GUIDANCE – James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

22 – PROMISE THAT WE ARE FORGIVEN! – 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ.”

23 – HIS HERITAGE FOR THE RIGHTEOUS – Psalm 37:3-6 “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.

24 – PROMISE OF COMFORT FOR THE GRIEVING – Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

25 – HIS CLOSENESS TO THE BROKENHEARTED – Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

26 – PROMISE OF VINDICATION – Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

27 – PROMISE OF HIS REWARD FOR HIS FAITHFUL SERVANTS – 1 Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

28 – HE WILL NOT ALLOW US TO BE TEMPTED BEYOND WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO BEAR – 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

29 – HE WILL NOT ALLOW US TO BE COMPLETELY BROKEN – 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

30 – STRENGTH IN TIME OF TROUBLE, PEACE, AND HIS INHERITANCE – Psalm 37 – all, click here to read. Psalm 57:1 – “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” Psalm 27 – Click here to read.

31 – PROMISE OF HIS PLAN FOR OUR FUTURE – Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

32 – HE HAS PROMISED US THAT HIS PROMISES WILL NOT FAIL! – “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:11

33 – PROMISE OF HIS RETURN FOR HIS SAINTS – Acts 1:11 “Men of Galilee,” they said. “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

HE CAME FIRST AS A HUMBLE LAMB…

HE’S COMING BACK AS THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH!

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

– 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

“Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome to open the scroll and its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:5

And, I saved the best for last (but it is certainly not the least!):

34 – HIS REWARD WITH HIM FOR OUR WORK FOR HIM ON EARTH – Revelation 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

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My book, “CPR For Your Faith From Beyond Death’s Door” (Resuscitating the Christian Heart, Yes, Your Ship is Coming In!”, is written especially for the broken, discouraged, and those who have been through traumatic events, such as what I went through, and have reached the point of giving up on their faith in God. I expect to have it available very soon! If you or someone you know would be interested in a copy, click here for more information, and be sure to subscribe so you’ll be among the first to know!

Do you have lost, unsaved loved ones who have not received Christ as their Lord and Savior? Are there some in your family, friends, co-workers, etc, who have become discouraged and broken and given up on their faith? I think we all have loved ones in these catagories. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” We have a special kind of unity at our church, a shared burden for the lost, the broken, and those who need God’s restoration, not only in our families, etc, but in our community as well. We pray with each other and lift each other up as we speak God’s Word in agreement over the salvation, restoration, and deliverance that is needed. When one of our church family members’ prayer is answered, the rest of us rejoice with them, knowing that what He has done for one of us, He will do for the rest of us. We need only speak His Word and agree on it together (see Matthew 18:19-20, Hebrews 11:1). Here is a special link to a post I found on scriptures we can pray over them: 14 Bible Verses To Pray For Your Unsaved Family Members.

Know someone who would find this information useful? Share! Hit the buttons below to share with your friends! Let us bear one another’s burdens and work to lift each other up until He comes! Believe and He will bring it to pass!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and may God bless you as you continue in your own journey to finding His wonderful plan for your life!

“Cookie Cutter” Authors or Writers for the King: Breaking the Mold as Christian Writers #ChristianWriters #ChristianAuthors

Am I a “Cookie Cutter” Author?

once-upon-a-time-719174_1920 — *Image by Fathromi Ramdlon from Pixabay*

“Cookie Cutter Authors?” You ask. What on earth do you mean by that? Well, let me try to explain. I will admit first off, that my first two books didn’t quite measure up to NYTBS list material. As a matter of fact, there probably aren’t many of us authors whose first books will make that highly coveted list. That doesn’t mean we give up of course. We simply learn from those experiences and become better writers. If yours haven’t done well either, don’t feel bad. Hey, we cut our “writers’ teeth” on those first books, and if we had never written them in the first place, we might never have come to be writers. We have to crawl before we can walk, right? That said, even though we may come from small beginnings, I have now been in this business long enough to know a few things. So, grab some coffee, sit down, and let’s talk about this.

Genre Expectations: Are Readers getting bored?

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I have well learned, at least at this point, that there are certain expectations for each genre that readers expect to see. (By the way, for any of you fellow authors still struggling to pin down a genre for your book, or just needing a brush up on the whole genre thing, check this handy Book Genre Finder site out.) Put a book in a wrong genre that’s not the right fit for it, and it will likely result in negative reviews. Thus, my coining the term “Cookie Cutter Authors”, if someone hasn’t already beat me to it. Hey, we can do that, we’re writers. 😉 Too often, this has caused increased pressure on us as authors to put out what our readers want to read. But more and more lately, I am seeing articles and posts with comments from readers saying they have begun to tire of what seems like the same story repeated in numerous books within a given genre, and the same, typical, even stereotyped characters, only the names, places, and scenes have changed. While many readers may continue to expect books they read to fit into those expectations, there are also a good number of them out there who have become bored with the same old scenarios repeated in books by authors trying to fit the old cookie cutter molds. It’s time for us to break the molds of pleasing the world, and write to please Him.

So, What’s Your Point?

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So, what’s my point, you ask? My point is this: There are too many Christian authors these days who have failed to “stand out” as Christ called us to do, for fear of “offending” their readers, and losing sales. They fall for the deception of writing what readers expect, to the point of settling for compromising, even sacrificing what our Lord expects of us as the writers He has called us to be. They have chosen to “blend in” rather than stand out for Him. I am at the point, I can no longer settle for just being one of these cookie cutter authors, just spitting out generic stories that “fit” into what the world wants to read. As a Christian author, I must answer the call to stand out and make a difference, to write that one unique story that’s not a “cookie cutter” copy of 800 others, but one that might just inspire its readers to change their lives for the better. We as Christian authors will not do that by “blending in”. There will never be a time that the money, riches, and fame this world has to offer will be worth more to me than what my precious Savior has called me to write.

A Choice to Make: Pleasing the World or Reaching Readers for Christ

So, for most of us who are Christian writers, it looks like we’ve come to a “fork in the road”. Every one of us has a choice to make. I know that for those of us who choose to represent the King, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, in our writing, it will likely mean that we may never see our books rise to popularity by the world’s standards. But then, I am no longer writing to please the world, but my Lord. If even one of my books somehow touches someone’s heart and inspires them to change their life for the better, maybe even accept Him as Lord and Savior, then it will all have been well worth it.

Avoiding the Idolatry of Selfish Ambition

desert-444833_1920 — *Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay*

Up until now, I have mainly worked on fiction, and, until now, like many other authors, I had aspirations of making that “NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR” list. That is, until God began to continually lead me to Philippians, chapter 2, verses 3-4, which says (NKJV): “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” The more that began to sink in, the more I have come to realize, through the intense spiritual awakening that has followed, that it is no longer important for me to make that “list”. I no longer subscribe to the covetous, selfish ambitions of worldly fame and recognition, or even the desire to maybe see my books made into movies. Coveting all those things more than the work God wants to do through my writing, and the people He wants to reach through my work falls under something the word of God explicitly warns us against: idolatry. Am I saying that’s a bad thing (Making the NYTBS List)? No, of course not! And if I ever do make it, wonderful! And if you are an author or know one with at least one book on that list, let me be the first to congratulate you, or even the 59th person to do so. Please understand here, that I am not saying that in itself is a bad thing. Not at all. I am just saying that I will no longer covet this above the difference God has called me to make and the plan and purpose that He has for me with the books He has given me to write (see Colossians 3:2 and 2 Corinthians 4:18).

God has really begun to drive this important truth home to me more than ever before. He recently spoke to me and said, “ANYTHING you put before ME becomes an idol!” He also warned us that idolaters will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and 1 Timothy 6:10-12). For too long, we have put on the “masks” of tolerance, political correctness, etc, and chosen to “blend in” to society, rather than stand out for Christ. I will no longer blend in, but I choose to stand out for Him, and help people see that what He has done for me, He will do for them. I choose to believe He is faithful and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (see Hebrews 11:6), and my work from this point onward will reflect that.

Oh sure, it would be easy to tailor my stories around “what the world wants to see”, and what will guarantee me a spot on that coveted list, but when I think of the price tag that is attached to that deceptive “selfish ambition”, no thank you! What my Lord and Savior did for me on Calvary is deserving of no less than my all for Him, and the complete surrender of those things I once considered important, for His will for me instead, and the lives He wants to touch through me. In Philippians 3:7-8, Paul says, “ But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” His will, and what He wants to do through it all, and my testimony reaching more readers through my work for Him is much more important now than the selfish ambition I held on to in the past. All of that other stuff is no longer important.

Mark 8:36 says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Indeed, the lure of worldly fame and recognition is the greatest illusion ever perpetrated on humanity by the deceiver we all know as the devil. Even my fiction work is now undergoing a huge “face lift”, as I re-evaluate my projects and seriously seek Him to show me how to write works that line up with the message He wants me to project to my readers. I will still, of course, do all I can to maintain the professional standards expected of any of us as writers, but at the same time, I will not compromise to the world’s standards (see 1 Corinthians 10:21 and Matthew 6:24). I want to be that one that’s different from the others.

God’s Version of Success: Choosing the Hidden Rewards of Writing for Christ

art-3343890_1920 — *Image by rawpixel from Pixabay*

I know that conflict and tension have to be there in order for readers to appreciate the big, powerful, “Wow-I-didn’t-see-that-one-coming” conclusion when it ends. But we as Christian writers can do this without sacrificing our God-given purpose and perspective. There may even be “pre-Christian” characters in my stories, or characters representing the hurting, lonely, and struggling. My soon coming book, “LOGAN – Chain of Grace”, is a good example of this. I feel that most readers will be able to identify with at least one of the characters, especially once they see how their lives are transformed by what happens in the story. Thus, it is my goal that as a result, readers will see how their own lives can be transformed if they are willing to surrender their all to Christ. (It is mainly for this reason that a couple of my current fiction works in progress have been delayed, but they are coming soon, promise!) But if we continue to settle for being “cookie cutter” authors, just writing the same tired old scenarios others have written, we may never see others’ lives touched like this. It is only in breaking free from the “fit-in-to-what-everyone-else-is-doing” mold that we will ever reach this hidden pinnacle of success in God’s eyes, as He sees it. He has gifted each of us with unique talents and insights, and we will never see these gifts come to fruition as long as we are busy trying to please the world instead of Him. But if we are willing to break free of that limited thinking and rise to His definition of “success”, who knows, we might just pen that best seller anyway. After all, you may never know the lives He wants to touch through you until you hand Him the quill, the pen, or these days, the keyboard/typewriter, and let Him write through you…

So, why don’t we stop being so afraid of losing sales, or missing out on the “big ticket”, or offending someone, and start being more concerned with reaching the world with the special, unique, encouraging, faith-building, life-renewing message that He has chosen you, out of all the other writers in the world, to write. Pray and ask Him to show you the bigger picture of what He has for you, and He will. And throw out the old cookie cutter image of yourself, break the mold, and get out there and get your message into the hands of the readers the Great Author Himself has already chosen for you to reach…

...That, you see, is how it works when you write for the King!

Besides, He makes BIGGER “cookies”… and no two are the same. We are all unique, just as He meant it to be. Now, wouldn’t it be a shame if you let the world miss out on that?

My NDE Testimony: CPR For Your Faith From Beyond Death’s Door-Book is Here! Get Your Copy Now!