"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Last week as I was walking, I took this picture.  The same evening my pastor asked me to put this verse in our church newsletter.   As I was searching the internet for this verse with a picture, none really spoke to me.  However,  this picture that I had taken earlier came to mind.   So I paired the two together.   I think this picture and verse go together so well.   Sometimes, all I can see are the “bare trees” in my life.  I fail to see the “Son” shining through what I consider to be barren.  Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite promises from the Lord.  When I see difficulties, hopelessness, lack of purpose, and disappointment in my life, my Lord is still declaring “I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  I’m so thankful that He is sovereign, and that I can truly say “God’s got this”.   I have hope, purpose, joy… even when things are difficult and disappointing.  I have a future with my Lord!

Please know dear friends that you can claim this promise in your life too if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior!   He is in control and has our best interest in mind!   This past Friday, I did something as I was leaving home to go to work that I considered to be really stupid on my part.   This “stupid” thing involved my car, and my thinking that something serious was wrong with the car.   So I turned around, come home and switched to our truck.    Later that evening, I realized that the “serious” problem wasn’t a problem at all.   I kept thinking about how dumb I had been until the following evening when the Lord kind of shouted out to me that although I thought what I did was stupid; it was possibly Him keeping me from harm instead.   What I considered to be an inconvenience and aggravating, could possibly have saved my life.   God has promised me that He has plans for my life.   I may not understand them all-  like last Friday, but I know He has my best interest in mind!  His good plan, purpose, and future for my life far outweigh anything I could possibly imagine!  For that, I am thankful!

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  John 15:5

A few months back several of my African Violets were blooming, and I thought it would be fun to share them with you.   African Violets have always been a favorite of mine .  Immediately John 15:5 came to mind in planning to share my violets.   Just as these violets must have the vine to flourish with beautiful leaves and flowers, so must we abide in the True Vine to flourish in our lives.

How do we abide in the Vine?   First of all a personal relationship with Jesus-   asking Jesus to forgive our sins, and be Lord and Master of our lives.

Second, we remain attached to the Vine by spending time in God’s word, The Bible.  Study His word, memorize it, dwell on it, and apply it in our lives (Rooted and Watered).

Third, we abide in the Vine through prayer.   Prayer is so important to a Christ follower.   Through prayer, a Christ follower receives direction for life (growth), is convicted of sin and receives forgiveness (pruning),  and realizes true comfort, strength, and joy (flourishes).

Fourth, we remain in the Vine when we obey Him, and share the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ! (Bearing Fruit).

We have just embarked into a new year.   Many have looked ahead to 2021 with hope and anticipation for a better year than 2020. Whatever 2021 holds for us, the best thing we can do this year is abide in the True Vine, Jesus Christ.   Remember as we abide in Him, we will be rooted and watered.  We will grow, be pruned, flourish, and bear fruit for Him.  After Jesus talks about abiding in Him, He talks about joy.  Was your joy lacking in 2020?  Listen to Jesus’ words in John 15:11   “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  Let’s abide in Jesus this year, and experience true joy!

We’ve heard a lot about essential things, essential workers, etc., over the past few months.  What really is essential?  Just the other day, I saw an advertisement for a t-shirt as I was scrolling through social media.  The message on the t-shirt was simple but so true!   “Jesus is Essential”  was the message displayed in simple letters on the t-shirt.

There are a lot things that we consider to be essential such as our spouses, family, homes, food, clothing, transportation, and the list could go on.   Honestly, though, Jesus is the only true “essential” for our lives.

2 Chronicles 14 tells the story of King Asa who did what was “right in the sight of the Lord his God.”  King Asa commanded Judah to seek the Lord God.   The Amplified version explains to seek the Lord God as “[to inquire of and for Him and seek Him as a vital necessity].”    A “vital necessity”- sounds “essential” to me.   King Asa, and the people of Judah did indeed seek God and they observed the laws God gave to Moses.   As a result of seeking God and realizing Him as essential to their lives, and obeying His commandments, their kingdom experienced rest-  their kingdom was undisturbed.  No one was at war with them during this time.

King Asa was quick to give credit to God for this time of rest.   King Asa says “we have sought Him [longing for Him with all our heart] and He has given us peace on every side.”  Oh, how we need the kind of peace that comes from longing for God with all our heart, from seeking Him as our “vital necessity”- peace that comes from realizing Jesus is essential in our lives.

Later on in 2 Chronicles 14, an Ethiopian army comes out against King Asa and the Kingdom of Judah.  King Asa then does something very important as he comes out in battle formation he “called out to the Lord his God, saying, “O Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and the weak; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in and rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.”

He called out to God!   He placed his trust in, and relied on God as they come against the multitude of the Ethiopian army.   He begged God not to let evil prevail.   There is a lot for us to learn from this.   First, we have come up against a “multitude” the past few months as the Coronavirus has come against us, and as tension, hatred, and sin seems to have gripped our country.  This is a massive situation unlike anything we have ever faced.  What should we do?  I pray that we respond  by calling out to God to help us just like King Asa did.     Second, but not least, we need to recognize Jesus is essential to our lives.  Third, and certainly not least, we need to give credit to God, to worship Him and give Him glory and praise for how He is working through this time unlike anything we’ve ever experienced.   We need to thank Him for giving us rest and peace.   We need to thank Him that we can call out to Him when we are faced with a “multitude” that has come against us.

Call out to God- He desires us to call out to Him!   He’s waiting for us to call out to Him, to humble ourselves before Him, ask for forgiveness, and long for Him with all our hearts!

Jesus is essential!

Ruth Chou Simmons, one of my favorites, has teamed up with her husband, Troy, for another wonderful book that I would like to share with you!   Foundations 12 Biblical Truths to Shape a Family is a must read!   Ruth and Troy share 12 foundational truths from God’s Word that are not only for families but for individuals or couples.   These foundational truths are an encouragement to Christ followers to really dive into God’s Word, and realize the significance of God’s Word in our every day lives.   Loving God, sin, hiding God’s Word in our hearts, encouraging each other, are some of the foundational truths they share in a short format suitable for individual quiet times or family worship times.   One of my favorite quotes  is:  “God’s Word is not a magic pill that keeps you from sinning.  Instead, when we store it up in our hearts, it floods us with truth, filling us up with the gospel’s good news melody–so much so that it’s the one song we sing.”  Do you want this to be your “one song”?   I encourage to you to get a copy of Foundations and start applying these foundational truths today!

Foundations releases tomorrow, March 3.  There are some great pre-order bonuses, and if you order by Friday, March 6, you can still get the pre-order bonuses by submitting your receipt info here.  Also, please see my early release review on Goodreads below.

Foundations: 12 Biblical Truths to Shape a Family By Ruth Chou Simons & Troy Simons / Harvest House Publishers

My early release review on Goodreads:

Foundations: 12 Biblical Truths to Shape a Family by Ruth Chou Simons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Foundations by Ruth Chou Simons & Troy Simons is such a wonderful book about laying foundations in God’s Word. Whether you are single, married, have children, or no children, I highly recommend Foundations! The basis of Foundations is laid out in the introduction where Ruth is sharing how she was “flustered and angry” from exhaustion from a child who was a horrible sleeper. Ruth shares how she would see “Troy getting out of bed to spend time in the Word”, and she asked him “How can you afford to get up and read your Bible? I’m so exhausted and fed up with the lack of sleep!” Troy’s gentle answer was “Babe, honestly, I’m not sure if I can afford not to.” This is so important because Troy has hit the nail on the head…We desperately need God’s Word daily applied to our lives.

Ruth and Troy share 12 foundational truths from God’s Word concerning loving God , sin, hiding God’s Word in our hearts, being an encourager, thinking of others as God does, etc. Very important truths that every Christ follower needs to hear and apply in our lives. Another favorite quote…”God’s Word is not a magic pill that keeps you from sinning. Instead, when we store it up in our hearts, it floods us with truth, filling us up with the gospel’s good news melody–so much so that it’s the one song we sing.” Do you want this to be your “one song”? I encourage to you to get a copy of Foundations and start applying these foundational truths today!

View all my reviews

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Let me begin by wishing everyone a happy new year!   God is good and He has blessed me and my family in so many ways in 2019.  I’m excited to see Him at work in 2020!   Psalm 65 is a joyful Psalm of thanksgiving for God’s provision and salvation!  Here the Psalmist shares of the goodness of God.   Verse 11 says “You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.” Friends, it’s my prayer that you know the God who “crowns the year”.  It is He who has provided for our salvation.   Verse 3 states “Iniquities prevail against me;  As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.”  First and foremost, God has provided for the forgiveness of our sins through giving His son, Jesus, who paid the penalty for our sin.   Secondly, Psalm 65 attests to how God provides for us even through the hard times we may experience!   As we begin this new year, may we stand in awe of God, be joyful, and be encouraged by His goodness and provisions in our lives.  

I had the opportunity this past week to serve at Shelby Mission Camp once again.   I always enjoy going to Shelby Mission Camp.   David and Janet Brown who operate Shelby Mission Camp are great hosts!  We were only able to stay one night this trip, but God blessed with a great day of serving as we went out to work on reparing a room at a ladies’ home that was damaged from a major roof leak.   Another group before us had already re-roofed the house.   Our job was to tear out the old ceiling and insulation, and install new sheetrock ceiling and insulation.  As you can imagine tearing out the old ceiling and insulation created quit a mess.   Old moldy, mildewed sheetrock, insulation, and alot of DUST lay around us.  A big pile of rubble surrounded us!   As we began, to carry out and sweep out all of that rubble, a song from my teenage years came to mind.  Old Man’s Rubble  was wrote and sung by Amy Grant, and also sung by The Imperials.   The song lyrics asks “Are you living in an old man’s rubble; Are you listenin’ to the father of lies; Are you walking’ with unnecessary burdens; Are you trying to take them upon yourself; If you are then you’re living in bondage; And you know that’s bad for your spiritual health; And are you trying to live by your emotions; Are you puttin’ your faith in what you feel and see; Then you’re living just to satisfy your passions; And you better be careful, ’cause you’re being deceived; Are you living in an old man’s rubble; Are you listenin’ to the father of lies; If you are then you’re headed for trouble; If you listen too long, you’ll eventually die.”  

2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.   As the song lyrics continue they proclaim the wonderful truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17 “If you’re living as a new creation; If you’re listening to the Father of light; Then you’re living in a mighty fortress; And you’re gonna’ be clothed in power and might.   

It’s my prayer today that you are living as a new creation- that you are listening to the Father of Light, and not living in an old man’s rubble full of dispair, lies and bondage!   If you are, come to Jesus today!  He stands ready to rescue you from an old man’s rubble!