October 28

Hunting season has begun! I come from a family of hunters that enjoy the thrill of it all. I love their concern for the preservation of the animal. They try first to harvest the older animals and leave the others for another season. I think they’re just spoiled and have killed so many that now they wait for the best to enter their sights. Don’t we all like the best of things? We were made in the image of God and He expects excellence. We bring our sacrifice or offering to Jesus, our High Priest, and He dissects it to make sure it’s worthy to be presented to the Father. Just like a hunter kills his game and carefully cuts it up with a sharp blade, saving the choicest parts for himself; the Lord Jesus is like the butcher and can see everything down to the joint and marrow. Don’t bring your sloppy substandard gifts to Him; He can see right through it. Give Him your best, He deserves it!

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13

October 27

I watch God recreate scripture when I failed to carry it out myself. My heart had been broken and my stubbornness had caused me not to remedy the situation as He has instructed. This woman, whom I once called a dear friend and I, attended the same conference. The people around us were all friends. When I walked in on the last day, there she was, right there! No longer would He allow me to ignore, avoid, or hide. We spoke and hugged, and I felt really good about it, but that wasn’t all! As the conference let out she came up to me and together we forgave! My husband and pastor witnessed the healing take place. He tells us to go to that person that has sinned against us, and to take others along if that doesn’t work. He orchestrated the whole thing because I was going to keep living with the pain, but He didn’t want either of us to live that way any longer. Now we can go on being friends again!

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. Matthew 18:15-16

October 26

There is a misconception that people who are unmarried should be continually on the hunt for their perfect mate. Those of us who are married tend to feed into that lie by always bringing it up to them. During a conference meeting I witnessed a young woman who began to feel that burden and believe the lie that she wasn’t good enough. We saw her raw, heartfelt emotion as she poured out to God and asked for healing. What lies do you believe about yourself that others are feeding you? Our hearts belong to God! He’s the only one who has the right to tell us who we are and He only says good things. When you see someone’s lips moving and hate is coming out of them, remember to pity that person because they have become a tool of the enemy. Today is a good day to begin a practice of building people up and be a tool for God. Say something nice to someone today!

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers, who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear. Psalms 64:2-4

So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. 1 Corinthians 7:38

October 25

I was invited to do a book signing in conjunction with the reopening of a church library. It was hosted by the women’s ministry, who also open their doors to the community for a free dinner. God’s love just poured from them making it obvious that they were covered by the precious Holy Spirit. It gave me the opportunity to speak and share my love for Jesus with them. It was a great relief from the battle that’s been brewing around me. The Lord knows when it’s time to give us a break and offers a reprieve from the craziness. Even if it was just a few hours, I felt like God had sent me away to hide like He did Elijah during the drought to be fed by the ravens until the brook dried up. Though I wouldn’t compare those ladies to ravens, they did take care of me and feed me. My hope is that you would also get a break from the madness that surrounds you and that God would send ravens to feed your soul.

"Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." 1 Kings 17:3-4

October 24

One of my favorite fruits is the lemon. It can be used for a variety of different things including; lemonade, desserts, cleaner, cosmetics, and so much more. It seems fitting that, as a Florida girl, I should have a lemon tree in my yard. So, my husband and I prepared an area of our yard, dug a hole, put the tree in the ground, fertilized, and watered it. Then we had to keep it watered and control the insects and weeds, and then be patient and wait for it to bear fruit. Once it bears fruit, we get to consume its deliciousness! As workers for Christ, we are to do the same thing for the sake of the elect. We must cultivate and help prepare others for eternity. It’s a tough job, especially fending off the weeds and insects! And being we endure everything for the chosen, we will also reign with Him if we hold out to the end. It’s worth the fight, for we want to leave no one behind!

It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 2 Timothy 2:6

October 23

I get the amazing sense of awe when I watch the sunrise over the water. Even when it’s a cloudy day, when the sun begins to rise, the things that were once hidden in darkness appear, and they are no longer as big and scary as you once thought.  When there is a slight breeze blowing, the tiny waves look like sparkling diamonds, doing a beautiful, shimmering dance upon the water. It’s like God is calling, ‘saying arise and wake up my love, the day is fresh and alive’! I pray that God blesses your day like a new dawn with fresh light. I hope that what appeared scary under the cover of darkness, is nothing more than childlike fear of the monster in the closet, so when the lights are turned on there’s nothing to be found. I hope the big noises you heard were only a tiny creature scampering across the leaves. You’ve got this! Go out and seize the day!

For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. Mark 4:22

October 22

My husband and I facilitate a class at church that encourages our members to plug into and get involved in the church ministries that suit the spiritual gifts that were given to them when they accepted Jesus as Savior. I encourage each of you to find out what your gifts are, so that you may also begin fulfilling God’s call on your life. If you connect your gift with the ministry that best matches the God given desires of your heart, you will thrive! What a wonderful way to serve our King and Savior! Just as Paul emboldened Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God, I want to inspire you to get fired up! Your heart will never be the same once you become enthralled in the plan that God has for you. Don’t wait for someone to push you into it, go out and grab everything God has for you now. Don’t let the spirit of fear stop you, because if God calls you to it, He will get you through it!

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:6-7

October 21

The glory of God will shine through during the darkest moments. He is powerful and mighty, magnificently beautiful, unchanging, reliable, always present, all knowing; He is more than words can describe. He is our comforter when we are weary, our counselor when we need direction, our peace when the world is in turmoil, our steady rock and foundation, our justice when the world is unjust; He is our everything. He is all of those things and more; we are the beneficiaries of His steadfast love, though we are undeserving, He says we are deserving, because of our faithfulness to our Savior. Our Savior covers us, cleanses us, and hides our sin, making us holy and blameless, as we come before the Father, and bow down at the foot of His throne; because of Him, we are not consumed. If you haven’t made Him the center of your life, today is a good day to start!

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." Revelation 4:8b & 11

October 20

I have a trusted friend who, when things get rocky, is by my side praying and encouraging me. There are things that we only tell one another, mostly because no one else would believe us. Sometimes when we are making a big decision, that will change everything, the enemy will viciously attack. So, I told my friend “The attacks have weakened me to the point of giving up. I’m waiting on an answer from God.” Before I hit send, I get this message from another friend captioned: “Wanted to share this revelation God gave me today.” What! Are you kidding me? I gave up striving and He sent me an immediate answer! Not only that, but the content of His answer was in the same format, through another human, that I hear His message daily. God saw the urgency in my heart to hear from Him and sent that message right on time! I must now move forward with the plan He gave me!

The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Exodus 14:14-15

October 19

My husband built two duplexes. It had its challenges, but after they were completed, there were four beautiful new homes. As a small part of the process, I did the final cleaning. You would think that because they were new that there wouldn’t be much to do. There are no dishes to wash or laundry to fold, but the dust and construction debris make it quite an undertaking. That is similar to the life of a new Christian. You get to start over with a new eternal life, but there is still a lot of cleaning that needs to be done. I am not saying your not good enough the way you are, it’s just for your own well being and peace. It doesn’t hurt for you to unload the weights from your past that chain you down. Even as an old Christian we must continually rid ourselves of hurt and sin from our past. The key is to live a free, unrestrained life in Jesus. You do that by asking for forgiveness and forgiving others.

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

October 18

After moving off the lake, where I had to be concerned about my dogs getting eaten by an alligator, I moved into the woods. Now my concerns are coyotes, bobcats, and owls. My dogs are very small, so they could become a tasty morsel for any predator. I took them outside and there, lurking in the trees was the mysterious, but not so wise, owl. He was not very wise because he let us know he was there by coming in for a closer look and making a blood curdling scream when he landed in a tree right overhead! He eyeballed our every move while I rebuked his demonic hunger. I grabbed my pups and carried them in the house to avoid any further exposure. We must become aware of the schemes of our enemy too. He will do anything to try and tear you apart and cause you to stumble and turn from God. Stand strong and do not let him pierce your armor. 

What armor? Your helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, belt of truth, shoes of peace, and the sword of the Spirit. If you armor up with the essential gear, the enemy doesn’t stand a chance!

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:13

October 17

I made my appointment and gathered the things I needed to renew my drivers license. You would think that my old license would suffice to prove my identity being they are the ones who gave it to me in the first place. The only thing I really care about is getting rid of that dusty old picture that makes me look like “The Church Lady!” I don’t know what I was thinking when I wore that floral print jacket! It’s such a dreaded day and the people at the counter don’t really care if I have better things to do than sit around for who knows how long waiting for them to hurry up. All I know is that it’s against the law for me to drive with an expired license and you can bet I’ll need it to show the kind officer who pulls me over for a violation. It’s just one of those things we have to do. Not only that, but the Bible makes it very clear that we are to follow the laws of the land even if it seems dreadful!

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:1-2

October 16

We all have struggles! Some weeks are worse than others. It’s during those really hard times that we learn to rely on the power of prayer and the broken heart of God. He sees our pain and wants to touch us and fix it, but He waits. He waits until we’ve given up our self reliance and completely turned it over to Him. He waits until we can no longer stand on our own, our knees buckle, and we are crumpled before His throne. He waits until we call on other saints for assistance so the power of the Holy Spirit will be increased. He waits until He knows we’ll know that He’s the One who defeated our foes and blew away the clouds of darkness that were covering us. Oh, what a relief to once again see the sun shining and feel its warmth. The relief didn’t come from anything we did, it came from Him! We will never be defeated because the King, our powerful Warrior is on our side!

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37

October 15

Even on a nice day, the sun can be blistering hot in Florida. It was a good day to enjoy an early breakfast and an art fair. Though it was crowded, the art was quite interesting, so we didn’t mind dealing with the people or the heat. Within that crowd was a man with a microphone and a speaker spreading the gospel. He walked through the street offering a flyer on how to have sins forgiven. From what I could see, no one took him up on his offer. We were either in a sea of Christians or the mass of those who will be left behind. He was doing his part even though it seemed more obnoxious than helpful, but there must have been someone there who needed to hear his message and who would only receive it if it was blaring. Everyone has a part in spreading the good news; I admire his tenacity. If only we all had a portion of his boldness to go out and bring others into the Kingdom.

 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

October 14

It is more important now than it ever has been for us to increase the number of followers of Jesus. Our country has steadily increased in nonbelievers. The common thread of God that once ran through our country has slowly diminished. Nonbelievers pouring into our country at an alarming rate are part of the problem, and we are not converting them quickly enough. The only way to drive out the enemy and take back our land is to fill it with more believers! We cannot devalue our relationship with Jesus by making covenants with them. Accepting their behavior will become our snare and may cause us to sin. This is the same way we should remove the enemy from our personal lives. We must live on a steady diet of God’s word to slowly drive him out. The increase of God’s presence will decrease the enemy. This is how we receive our freedom and remain free! 

Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. Exodus 23:30

October 13

If you read some of the parables that Jesus told, you come to realize that He isn’t playing any games. If a person doesn’t turn their life around and move closer to Him, accept Him as their savior, and move away from evil, He has no problem sending them to hell. It’s not what He wants to do, He wants everyone to follow Him with all their hearts, but He is also a God of justice. We wouldn’t need Him to save us if we all end up in heaven anyway. It’s so simple! He only requires us to believe in Him! Why don’t people accept His simple and free gift? They don’t know about Him! They look at the lives of Christians and think we are giving up a life of fun, when all we are giving up is a life of sin. They live like there are no consequences for what they do. It’s up to us to tell them the good news about Jesus so they too can turn away from evil and begin living for Him. Hell is forever, we need to tell them! 

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:40-41

October 12

We all have a special friend who has their nose in everyone’s business. You know, that person who gives you an earful every time you see them and fills you in on all the dirt! They know everything about everybody, including you! If you know this person is full of gossip, why do you give them an ear? Most of what’s being said are half-truths or flat out lies and someone is getting hurt because of it. The television news is an example of a lie filled gossiper, but the hurt is not any less than what is being spread by your “friend”, in fact, friendly chatter may be even more hurtful. No amount of good comes from this behavior. When you participate in gossip it works as a tool for the enemy. Keep the words of your mouth pure and peace loving. If you just can't help yourself, make sure you say only good things, lifting them up before others. That’s the heart of the Lord!

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

October 11

What do you do when you’re under attack from the enemy? What you may perceive as being human interference in your life may very well be the enemy using them as a tool to distract you from continuing with the good you are doing. Often times I will be forewarned of an impending attack and will pray fervently for help from the Lord. He doesn’t always stop the attack, but I can see that, what could have been a very vicious attack, was somewhat cooled. We have a loving Father who doesn’t like to see His children being toyed with and will command His angels concerning you. Don’t try to handle this on your own, call on the One who has already conquered the enemy and He will give you the strength and protection you need. There are many prayers in the book of Psalms that you can use. If you pray out loud, the forces of evil will know that you’ve armored up. There is no need to ever go this alone.

The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him. Psalms 37:39-40

October 10

After spending a couple of days on Sanibel Island, you learn quickly about the ugliness man creates by messing with our ecosystem. In the early days canals were dug to dry up the land south of Lake Okeechobee so farmers could take advantage of the rich soil. Today the nutrients from the farming runs off into the lake. The lake then flows into the Caloosahatchee River and the mouth empties near Sanibel, and its ugly brown mess flows into the Gulf of Mexico. What was poured into it comes out at the mouth. If clean water was all that was poured into Lake Okeechobee, then the water running out the mouth would also be clean. Isn’t that true for people too? Whatever you are filling your mind with, will eventually show in your actions and come out of your mouth. If you concentrate your efforts on filling up on the Word of God, your language will reflect your knowledge.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalms 19:14

October 9

During a trip to the beach to gather shells, I encountered a myriad of obstacles. I was on Sanibel Island as a storm was passing through the Gulf of Mexico and the island was experiencing higher and normal tides. As I rounded the corner near the lighthouse the tidewater was washing right up into the tree roots making it difficult for me to get through. However, I could see where some shells had gotten caught by the roots and were piling up. So, I climbed and traversed my way through them because I could see the treasure that was waiting for me to plunder. What would you do for great treasure? Would you give up comfort, change your lifestyle, turn away from old habits? Jesus is the most valuable possession we have. We must be willing to give up everything to follow Him. He is the pearl of great value and we should sell all we have for him.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46