Orphan Sunday 2015

   Some people say I have the hardest job, others say I'm crazy to enjoy this kind of work. But they couldn't be more wrong! It's true that childcare isn't always easy, and I won't pretend that I enjoy changing diapers and wiping noses. But there's no job more rewarding, more fulfilling, than childcare. Every child that comes through that door each morning has a story, and while I don't always know those stories and am often unable to help them, the one thing I can do is love them.
 You see, that's what childcare is all about: providing a loving and stable environment for those children each day. The love that you give those children makes all the difference in their lives.

   Every child deserves a chance to be loved, but not all children get that chance. Orphan Sunday is an opportunity for Christians around the world to stand up for the orphans and advocate their cause. There are many different ways we can help a child in need. One of those ways is sponsorship. I personally sponsor two young girls in Africa. Yes, it can be a sacrifice, but let me tell you first hand, it is so worth it!

    There are millions of innocent children around the world with no home, no family and no food. Many of these have never even known what it was like to be loved. They struggle for survival, desperately seeking out stability and love. We may be the only voice those little ones will ever have. We cannot remain silent! We must speak up on their behalf! I beseech you to be praying about how you can help these little ones this year!! If you'd like to learn more about Orphan Sunday and how you can help, you can visit http://orphansunday.org and http://every orphan.org/sponsor-an-orphan/. "You're not just sending money, you're raising an orphan to life!"
   

    One day. One voice. One purpose. Orphan Sunday!

   "Religion that is pure and faultless is this: 

to look after orphans and widows in their distress...."   

James 1:27

"For the glory of God!"

 
 

 
 
 
 



   



 
 

 
 
 
 

A most beautiful journey

"Life ain't always beautiful but it's a beautiful ride." 

-Gary Allan 

    Let's face it. Sometimes it's really hard to give God control if our lives, especially when things aren't going the way we planned. As humans it is in our nature to want to control our life. We dream, we plan, we progress. All to ensure things go according to plan. OUR plan. But sometimes it's not our plan that needs to be happening. It's His.

   If we had our way, life would always be easy. Things would always go the way we'd planned and nothing unexpected would ever happen. But then we'd never grow, or learn new things, and we certainly wouldn't need God because we would never be in a situation we couldn't handle. Which is exactly why the Sovereign God allows hardship and confusion into our lives: to  show us that we are not in control of our lives and to teach us more about Him.
 
  In every season, whether painful or joyful, there is a beauty of it's own, hidden withing each moment. The beauty of hidden blessings, the beauty of seeing God's hand at work. There is even beauty in a broken heart, for it is within such a state that the soul cries out to God with yearnful longing. When the heart of the Father breaks for His children- when tears run down the face of the Divine- that is when our hearts are touched the most. Only when we have learned to see through the haze of pain and confusion, to see the Sovereign hand at work, will we see the symphony of beauty exploding within our lives: the beauty from the ashes.

    God has a beautiful journey planned for each of us. To see heaven and earth collide in a glorious display of love and splendor, we have only to say, "Let Thy will be done, not mine."

"For I know the plan I have for you," declares The Lord, 

"plans to prosper and not to harm you.

To give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

"For the glory of God!"

LOVE will prevail

  "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue."" 

-George Washington

~*~*~*~

   Oh America, how far you have fallen this day!! Can it be that you would  dare abandon morality and virtue for "love?" Have you no dignity?? What a disgrace you have made yourself in the eyes of our brother nations. When our forefathers founded this nation they built her upon two things: faith and morality. Without these our nation would be stripped bare of all that makes her revered of the world. Without these we shall no longer be, "one nation under God."

" If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth." 

Deuteronomy 28:1 

                                ~*~*~

   America is in hot water with God! We have forsaken nearly all of His commands, and for what? Lust! "Freedom!" "Pride!" We have taken something as beautiful and precious as love and stripped it of all it's fundamentals, to turn it into something corrupt, something that allows us to pursue the darkness of our hearts. Satan is working overtime to destroy all that represents God and because love is of God (1 John 4:8), it too must be dismantled before Satan can further discredit God and His love. 


    My friends, we are called to love our neighbors no matter what lifestyle they live. We are all sinners in God's eyes, just because we are not into this lifestyle does NOT make us better than those that are. We are not to judge them (that if for God to do) but to simply love them. Now, don't get me wrong, loving them does not mean we support their lifestyle. It just means that we love them for who they are in Christ, despite what they've chosen to do here. (Who knows, maybe our love will change their hearts?) I know this is hard. Satan has worked very hard to discredit God's love, so it is up to us as His followers to REDEFINE what love is, according to the Word and example of Christ. 

 "And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you.....for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant ... Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 

Genesis 9:11-16

"For the glory of God!"

Is this the day?

 Imagine waking up in a crowded safe house where you and your fellow believers are in hiding, fearing for your lives and those of your loved one. Your first thought when you opened your eyes was, "is this the day I die??" As you get out of bed you offer up thanks that He has given you one more day. You pray for strength. For faith. You tremble in fear lest ISIS or the government discovers you, knowing it is only a matter of time until you are found out and captured. Each day you walk a fine line between discovery and safety, begging God to keep your family safe. Such is the life of our persecuted brothers and sisters. Every day may very well be their last, and still they press on in the good fight, willing to lay aside their earthly lives for that of eternity.

   
  

  "Is this the day I die??"





        It is easy for us here in America, to distance ourselves from what's going on in the rest of the world. After all, that's happening over there, not here. So why worry, right? Wrong! My friends, do you really think this madness, this EVIL, is going to stop at the middle east?? Too many times I have heard people say this! Satan is at work in this world, spreading his darkness like a plague, across the planet. We know that God shall ultimately win the battle, but until that glorious day we shall be hard pressed to defend our faith. We need to stand with our brothers and sisters. It does not matter how far away we are, we are all family in Christ. Remember them in your prayers, lift up your voice on their behalf.

"I have learned that God is always on the winning side.

Even in the midst of horrific persecution,

 He is glorified." 

-Bekah Joy 

 

"Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, 

and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."

Hebrews 13:3

"For the glory of God!"

Greater love hath no man

      It often comes in the most unlikely source, in the most unexpected ways- when you're smelling a flower, greeting a friend, or holding a new baby for the first time- it is in moments like these that it comes; that gentle whisper brushing across your soul, reminding you of HIS love. That very same Love that died for us, has to remind us of what it cost Him to love us, because we in our ungratefulness, take Him for granted.

    Even though we know the cross was premeditated and came at no surprise to God, I still like to imagine how that converstaion went down in heaven. I invision the Godhead sitting there, discussing man and their errors. They're talking about how to mantain perfect justice while still upholding their love and compassion. Jesus throws Himself at His Father's feet. Tears of blood roll down His face as He pleads for our lives. "Father, take My life instead! I will die in their place!"
 

     Every day Jesus looks at us with more joy than a father does the birth of his child. He cradles us close to His heart, gazing at us with all the love in the universe. That love is the reason He died for us. He didn't hesitate to offer Himself in our stead, because we are worth the price. For every sin we commit, a drop of HIS blood fell upon the dirt; the very dirt He created. The thorns that marred that noble brow, the nails that peirced His loving hands; such was the price He paid.

 

    Let us never take for granted the trail of blood that flowed down that cross, nor allow life to distract us from having a thankful heart.

 

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

Rivers of blood

  "Why is there no peace...? Why do our brothers and sisters lie in piles of blood?  Why does Al Shabab seem to rule more than You do?"

 

      WHY?!? This word resounds through my mind as I stare in shocked numbness at the screen, watching as our brothers lay down their lives for Your sake; their dieing breath evidence of their faith as each man dies with Your name on his lips. WHY?? Why are such atrocities being committed against Your people Lord??  Why do You turn a blind eye? Where were You as our brothers blood stained the ocean scarlet; as their noble heads fell upon the sand? Were you not listening to your people's screams as we cried out to You??  

Did You watch it all happen and do NOTHING?!?

  Yes, God does see all things, and YES He did know these things were going to happen. In fact, He warned us about them (Mat. 24: 2-14). That doesn't mean He doesn't care, that He isn't listening or watching.We look with out earthly eyes and see only blood and death. He looks with His Sovereign eyes and see ALL. He sees the heart wrenching pain and sickening slaughters, but He also sees the ultimate outcome; the glory and beauty that will come of this.

     We weep with our brothers and sisters. We cry out with all our strength to a God who appears to have "turned a blind eye to His creation." We feel like the Israelites; stranded in Egypt for 430 years before God answered and delivered them. But that's just it: He DID answer. It took 430 years for His plan to be established, for His people to be ready for salvation, before He could act. God did not and never shall turn away from His children (when they're walking in righteousness and holiness.) We cry out now and He hears, but the time isn't right for His salvation. We watch in horror and pain as the world dissolves into evil. A bloodbath of martyrs flows across the sand causing the earth to groan in labor pains as we wait for the day of the Lord. It may seem as if Satan has the upper hand now; that he will win in the end. How can God win the war after losing so many "battles?" But we must remember, we serve the REAL GOD and all of this- every part of it- are part of His ultimate plan. Not one event in history has ever caught Him by surprise or been out of place. every being, supernatural and earthly, answers to God. Even Satan. God is allowing Satan to unleash his havoc now, but when his time is up God will come roaring  like a lion to save His people!!

"..Even when it seems there is no sound except the dripping of blood. YOUR tears are bigger than ours. YOUR heart broken in more pieces. We live on in the pain only because YOU are sovereign."

 "For the glory of God!"

 

Grace as new as the dawn

 "As the daystar crowns a new horizon, 
Night's silence is sundered and Light's symphony rings.
Divine rays colour the low-lying clouds 
a veritable plethora of hues, both bright and subtle. Cottonwool-spun gems are arrayed, 
layered and drifting about on the morning wind.
Heaven shows itself in the sky." 

-Dawn beckons by Stephen Purcell  

                            ~*~*~*~

    God has put so much of Himself into His creation. Even the very sunrise is a glimpse of His glory. God freely pours forth His love and grace upon His people every day. Every morning before I even awake, He is there. Waiting, watching. Delighting over me in song. (Zeph. 3:17), eagerly anticipating the moment I wake up so that He can be talk with me and walk with me throughout my day. It doesn't matter that I haven't done anything to deserve this love or grace, and I know I certainly don't deserve His forgiveness. But it's there all the same. I've sinned against Him and walked away from Him more times than I can count.  I've allowed myself to get busy and neglect my relationship with Him, but through it all He never withdrew His grace or love.

The truth is, I will never be able to live up to or deserve this grace, this love. He knows this, but He doesn't care. You see, He loves us not for what we could be or do but rather, for who we are in HIM. God's love and grace is never failing. It is everlasting, infinite, overflowing. It pours forth from His Father's heart towards His children. No matter how badly we sin or how far we stray, He will always be there, ready to forgive and forget. To pour forth his grace and remind you of His love.

               "Your  mercies are new every morning;

 great is Your faithfulness." 

Lamentations 3:23

"For the glory of God!"

A lily of the valley

 "I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.

 Like a lily among the thorns.."

 Song of Solomon 2:1-2a

 ~*~*~*~

  For those of you who know me, you know that my favorite color is yellow. I love all things yellow! So naturally, my favorite flower would my yellow rose bush. It is the most beautiful rose, with  petals that range from a soft butter yellow, to a vivid pink! I've seen a rose to pretty! I've been diligently tending this plant for a few months now, but no flowers have yet to grace it's leaves. Tonight, as I was tending it I was reminded of how this rose is like a young lady's life. As a gardener I am eagerly awaiting that first bud opening. I am excited to see the beauty that is hidden in that bud. Now, I can go out there and rip a bud open to see it's glory, but the petals are so delicate they would rip, and all it's beauty would be gone forever. A good gardener knows to let her plant be and when it is ready, it will bloom on it's own. Each bud blooms at it's own time, each one has it's own beauty, none are exactly alike. It is the same with us. 

      Young ladies, somewhere out there is a man of God just waiting to watch us unfold our petals. A man who has eagerly awaited and prayed for a "rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley." A woman who's purity and inward beauty shines forth like a rose newly bloomed. How do you think our man would feel if he came into our lives to find that we had already started blooming before the season was right- to find us torn and tarnished? Once we start blooming, it is too late to undo what has started. Just like a rose cannot fold back into it's self, so too we cannot. What has been given away can never be taken back. 

        Dear sisters, our hearts are "like a garden that needs to be protected and kept clean." (Sarah Maley)

The enemy will do anything to destroy that garden. We must stand strong in our fight to remain pure, to hide our beauty from that which would destroy it. I know this is hard. As we get older, our desire grows to find our "Prince Charming," to be loved with that kind of love. Trust me, I get this. The wait can often seem unending, and that is when Satan sneaks in to whisper his malicious lies into your heart. THAT is when we must guard our hearts more than ever before! But there is nothing more rewarding than the beauty of a God given relationship, in HIS timing.

 

"The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses." -Ovid 

   I believe in arranged marriages, but I believe that GOD is the one doing the arranging and when the time is right we will get our "happy ending," ( or rather, our happy beginning.) "Can you imagine anything better than a couple who is just right for each other coming together in exactly the right way at the right time?? Only GOD can bring about something so perfect!" -Sarah Maley

 
              "You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; 
                   you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain."
                                  Song of Solomon 4:12
                                          "For His glory!"

Suffering for the cross

I recently read a book about a pastor who challenged his congregation to live according to "WWJD" for a year. Everything about their lives was to be measured according to what Jesus would do. At the end of that year each member of that church had their own story of trial and tribulation but the pastor remained untouched. At the end of the book the pastor is challenged to ask himself, "what have I suffered for Christ?"

 

   These words have stuck with me since I read that book. I heard it said once, that if a Christian's life is easy then they're no giving their all to Christ. If a Christian is living luke-warm they are not a threat to Satan, therefore he has no reason to mess with them. However, when someone dedicates their life to Christ and lives each day accordingly, suddenly they're on Satan's radar. They pose a real threat to his evil and darkness. That's when he starts targeting them, and just as we see in Job, God often allows Satan access to our lives to test or strengthen us. As I pondered these words I realized: my life has been very easy this past year. True, I've had a few hiccups along the way, but nothing that has been a result of my faith. What does this say about my faith? If my life is so smooth, then how strong is my faith really? 

 If I was accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict me??

   I want to be the kind of Christian that makes Satan fear the moment I wake up each morning! The kind of prayer warrior that has all of heaven rejoicing. The sojourner with her homeland ever on her mind. But I have to ask myself:

 WHAT HAVE I SUFFERED FOR CHRIST?

Am I ready to take up my cross, whatever that may be, to follow Him in everything I do??

"...Anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me." 

Matthew 10:38 

"For the glory of God!" 

                            

 

Changing the world through love

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but     no one thinks of changing himself."-Leo Tolstoy 

~*~*~*~

A tree does not grow without water and sunlight. A flower cannot bloom until the weather is right.  In the same way, change cannot happen until someone rises up to set it in motion.

So many people desire to be world changers, to make a difference in this life, but very few of them are willing to make the effort to do so. Being a world changer does not always mean being a Mother Theresa or Bill Gates. It simply means loving those God brings to us. The things we do do not need to be great things, they just need to be done with great love. We might not always see the difference we make in this life, but when we're loving those around us we can be assured that we ARE making a difference.

    ~ SELFLESS LOVE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD~

God has not called us to understand everyone and everything, nor does He call everyone to be a great leader, but He calls all of us to love those around us.

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." 

-Amy Carmichael

         "For the glory of God!"

How wonderful are His gifts

Life is not a spinning wheel of repetition. Rather, it is like a good book. Each chapter is new and exciting, filled with blessings and gifts that God is just waiting for us to notice. God's gifts come in many different sizes, but all of them are precious in His sight. None of them should be taken for granted or passed over. Some of His gifts come into our lives for a short time then quietly pass out of the door they came through. Quite often we get so caught up in the big things in life that we miss those precious, little, moments that He gives us.

Everything in our lives is a gift from God. Each person in our lives is there for a reason and a season. Each day is a blessing. Every smile, every laugh, every conversation, is a passing gift that will never be repeated. We must take advantage of those. We must learn to see those moments in life, for the small and insignificant things are often the most beautiful gifts of all.

Our Father delights to bless us with His precious gifts. We cannot let them pass by without thanking Him.

  

"For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD;

  I sing for joy at what  your hands have done."

 Psalm 92:4 

"For the glory of God!"

Footprints of LOVE

“A heart to love, and in that heart, courage, to make love known”
-  Shakespeare

~  ~  ~

        It takes courage to selflessly love others, does it not? Selfless love is not part of our nature, rather it is part of Christ's nature. It was that very love that moved Him to die for us. The same love that He commands us to walk in, so that the world might see Him through us. When we love others we are dieing to ourselves; we are denying who we are without Christ so that we may live more fully in Him.

           "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

           Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 

1 John 4:7
   

      Everyday, we must learn to kill our flesh to walk in His love. It takes courage to do this. It takes faith. It takes prayer. One cannot slay the dragon in a single day. It takes weeks of practice before that knight becomes skilled in his swordsmanship. It is the same in our lives. We cannot expect to have our perspective changed over night. Because we were born into this world, our flesh is OF this world. Therefore, it is a daily fight to learn His ways.We must learn to seek out opportunities to practice this great love.

    When that mother gives up her sleep to care for her sick child; when that father works overtime to bring in extra income for his family; when that ministry diligently cares for HIS orphaned children, that is Christ's love. All life is like a song. A beautiful orchestra that God is conducting. Only when we love as He loved us, will we begin playing to the rhythm that He wrote, long before time began. That's when we will truly walk in HIS footsteps: the footprints of an everlasting LOVE. 

 "And walk in love as Christ also has loved us
 and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
 to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."
Ephesians 5:2
"For the glory of God!"