By: Synora Cummings

The past month has been filled with sorrow for many loved ones around me.  It seems in every conversation I hear of someone diagnosed with this disease and that condition, someone undergoing treatment for this or that, and even more devastating the news of loved ones passed.

My heart aches and my heart cries.  No one really knows what to say in times like these.  No one truly knows how to help. And while we scramble for answers and grasp at hope, God extends his comfort.  There is no truer comfort than that of God and his only begotten son, Jesus Christ.

Here are a few words I scribbled when I found myself in hopeless despair some time ago. God is a god that will never leave us, nor will he forsake us.

Here I stand before the cross;A heartfelt sorrow for my loss.
Weeping. I bow my head and know not what to say,
I fall to my knees; have thine own way.
Searching. Your way is perfect; your way is true.
I offer my heart, fully trusting in you.
Leaning. This life within, I must live without.
Erase my worry, remove all doubt.
Believing. Here I stand before the cross; 
With much I have gained through this loss.
Rejoicing.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

By:  Amanda Highfil

We had just spent a beautiful, warm, sunny day touring around Philadelphia.  The kids were piled in the back of the van, and since Brent was still exhausted from the previous weeks’ work trips, I offered to drive and let him rest.  Less than an hour into our 2 hour drive back to the hotel, I found myself driving down a sunny hill straight into darkening shades of blue with a black spot as my destination.  UH-OH I thought as panic began to take over and my fists clenched the wheel…

That is much like us in the flesh – storm approaching, WE clench the wheel as if we know what direction is best!  What happens to letting God have control?  What happens to staying calm and resting in Him?

Now to be fair, as I drove I did call the name “Jesus” over and over and over and over….well you see, for the next 2 hours of 30 mph pelting hard rain, Jesus heard from me – if nothing more than his name, his daughter was calling out to him for protection.  Hmmm….again, why is it that many times He only hears from us in the storm?

You see, sisters, sometimes God produces storms in our lives to get our attention and change our focus back to Him and His direction for our lives.  Other times, God allows storms by Satan to test and refine us.  Either way, God remains God!  His grace remains sufficient at ALL times. 

I had a pastor one time explain grace as God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.  Certainly, if Jesus is strong enough to conquer the death that we earned, surely He is great enough to calm our daily storms no matter how big they may seem to us.  And, if we are truly walking each day with Him, even those big storms will not seem so big as we rest in His arms.

Psalm 91:1-2

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 

This is just the beginning of Psalm 91; however, the entire chapter is full of God’s protection over us.  In fact, the last verse of this chapter gives us God’s promise to us as daughters as we abide in Him, “with long life I will satisfy [her], and show [her] my salvation!”  

Sisters, let’s curl up under the protection and leadership of our Lord more now than ever before….He’s waiting on us to just climb in his lap and let Him be Abba!

What’s on Your Mind?

By: Stephanie Hall

Whew!  Last night was my daughter’s high school graduation followed by a lovely outdoor celebration afterward at my home.  As I survey the “aftermath” this morning, I am re-living the evening:  the excitement and nervousness on my daughter’s face, the family and friends who came to congratulate and love on her, the fact that it rained only 1 hour into the party (did I mention my house is too small for the number of guests), how I forgot to get people to write notes of advice for the graduate in the Dr. Seuss book,….  How quickly my thoughts turned to the negative!  Shame on me.

Focusing on the negative, the what DIDN’T happen, is a tactic from Satan to get us to overlook God’s blessing and His perfect plan.  We are called to think on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”  (Philippians 4:8).  I used to think my tendency to notice (and point out) the “mistakes” was because I am a teacher:  it’s my job to let students know what is wrong and how to fix it.  ….Mentally insert silence…crickets chirping….  The reality is that it’s a part of EVERY person’s human nature to focus on what we perceive as an error or as a fault in something or someone else.  Dwelling on the negative can lead to discontentment, broken relationships, and depression.  But thanks to Jesus, we do not have to submit to our human nature because we as Christians have the Holy Spirit, allowing us to overcome our flesh, be a new creation, and have the mind of Christ!  Hallelujah!

I have been so amazingly blessed by God, why would I focus on what I perceive as the negative?  Even when things aren’t as I’d like them to be, God is in control.  All the time.  (Psalm 103:19)  His will is good, pleasing, and perfect.   (Romans 12:2).  He causes ALL things to work for good for those who love Him.  (Romans 8:28).  Things that may even have been intended for evil, God will use for good.  (Genesis 50:20)  The bottom line is that, as Christians, we can rejoice in Jesus no matter what.  And that rejoicing is a witness to others.  (Philippians 4:4 – 5) 

Face it…some things are truly rotten:  death, sickness, separation, hurt.  And they truly are a real part of our lives on earth.  Sin brought some awful consequences to us while we inhabit the earth.  But not even these can separate us from the love of Christ.  So in the day-to-day things, let’s focus on the Philippians 4:8’s of life and of others.  Let’s not be misled by the Enemy who would seek to distract us from our God who loves and cares for us.  And let’s go clean up the “aftermath” of the graduation party…joyfully! J

I Hope You Smile!

By: Joanne Roy

One thing is certain, we live in a scary, dangerous world! We read the
newspapers and turn on the news and we hear about tornado's, earthquakes,
stock market and the economy teetering on the verge of collapse! So, when
we as Mom's who look after our children see this, it can be hard at times
to cope.

But... we are not just Mother's, we are daughter's of the King (insert
Hallelujah here). When we read God's Word in Proverbs 31: 25b it says,
 "... She smiles at the future."  You may read that and say, "How?",  "In
this world that I live in, how can I possibly smile at the future?"

I will tell you how. Because God is already there. God who is our
Father, is there in the future. He holds our tomorrows in His Almighty
hand. Whatever lies ahead, the trials and disappointments, God will be
right there with you, helping you bear your burdens each step down this
journey called life.  We are not promised an easy road.   But remember He
cares for you and loves you. Never forget that dear child... dearest
daughter of the King!

Another reason we can smile is because Romans 8:28 is true. This
beloved verse says, "And we know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  We
need to keep our minds focused on God, and focused on the precepts of
Scripture. Do you love God? Then this promise is for you.  All things are
not necessarily good. But all things will work for good. Maybe not right
now, and maybe not even in the near future, but they will. God's good is
that He is molding us into the image of His Son. He will use even the hard,
difficult things to do this.

Another reason we smile at the future is we know that in our future is
heaven! This is not our home. Once we have traveled all the way down this
road, and the Lord calls our name. We will go to heaven to be with Him and
all our loved ones who have gone on before us.  We will spend eternity with
God. Smile at that sweet sister in Christ!

In the earlier part of the same verse, (Proverbs 31: 25a) it says,
"Strength and dignity are her clothing," There is a sweet, older lady on
facebook that I have come to love. She often says, "Now don't forget to go
out today without your smile!" No matter what you wear, beautiful ladies,
you always look your prettiest with a smile on your face!

There was a country song that was popular a few years ago. The name of
it was, "I Hope You Dance".  Well not everyone can dance. So today my wish
for all you sweet, precious Mothers is...

The future is calling... I hope you smile!

Have you not heard?

By: Betsy Vaughan

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is unfathomable” Isaiah 40:28

God gave me this Word a few days ago and I haven’t been able to let it go!
He is reminding the people of Israel that God has not forgotten them and is not tired of hearing about all their problems. He never is tired or weary! He’s never tired or weary of anything we want to share with Him. Sometimes we think He may get tired of our calling out to Him for the salvation of a loved one….but not true. He never gets tired. I prayed for a loved one for 42 years until salvation came in a mighty way! He is the Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth!

Why would we even think that He would get tired of us? Maybe we tend to look at Him as we look at ourselves. We do get tired and weary. Some of us have a tendency to whine and complain! We even get into a rut of just feeling sorry for ourselves. We must remember that He is The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth!

What about His understanding is unfathomable? The dictionary meaning of the word unfathomable says “incapable of being investigated, analyzed or impenetrable, not easily understood, mysterious or inscrutable.” We cannot know God’s wisdom and understanding! There is no way we can investigate it or analyze it. One thing we can know is that God understands us. He loves us and He created us. He is the Creator of the ends of the earth!

Someone Stronger

Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Someone Stronger

On a gloomy, wet, and dreary day, it is easy to get caught up in the hum-glum feeling of the day. I am definitely guilty of this. If it's dreary and gloomy outside, I'm not the happiest person you have ever met. What I have learned over the years is that it's days like today when the devil tries to use your gloomy mood to his advantage.

The evil will use your gloomy attitude to invade your mind with thoughts that are not from God. He will push every single weakness and insecurity button possible to make you turn from God. And sometimes it works. Satan will bombard us with lies like "You're not good enough." "You're a horrible friend." "You're lazy and won't do anything productive or amazing with your life." "You're ugly." "No one really, truly loves you."

Let me tell you, dear friend, these are the worst lies that have ever been told in the history of the universe. I could go on and on telling you all the lies that Satan has used on me to try and get me to turn against God and grieve His spirit. There have been days, weeks, months, and even years where Satan has set up camp in my mind. He spent every waking moment of my days filling my mind with his poisonous lies.

Eventually, I had enough. I confided in my mom and told her what was going on in my mind. She told me that our battle with Satan is not so much physical as it is spiritual. Our battlefield is our mind.

So, go with me on this one. Our mind is like an open field. It's a perfect place for an all-out war. Satan gets to the field first and sets up camp. It takes him a while to get settled and he slowly adds more and more weapons to his arsenal. When he first comes to camp, he only has a few soldiers with a couple of swords. A couple days later, there is a whole army that has taken over the field and set up tents all over the field. In a few more days, more soldiers arrive with guns and cannons and lots of ammunition. A few more days pass and more soldiers arrive with helicopters, tanks, and atomic bombs. Finally, Satan and his army is ready for battle. They have completely taken over the field and it looks like whoever opposes them will be crushed, blown up, and killed on arrival.

Then, someone stronger arrives.

Jesus is on the scene.

He comes in and completely wipes out Satan, his army, and his weapons. There's absolutely nothing left. It's a waste land.

"When a strong man, armed to the teeth, stands guard in his front yard, his property is safe and sound. But what if a stronger man comes along with superior weapons? Then he's beaten at his own game, the arsenal that gave him so much confidence is hauled off, his possessions plundered."
(Luke 11:21-22 The Message)

Satan comes to our minds and our hearts armed to the teeth. He makes it his home and stands guard. He wants to protect what he thinks is his. Then Jesus comes along with superior weapons. His weapons are not swords or guns or bombs. He comes with the power to make the oceans rage and the winds calm. He comes with the strength to move mountains and raise the dead. He comes clothed in holiness, power, and perfection. He has come to claim what is really His. Satan is beaten, his confidence is stripped from him, and his weapons are made defective.

Dear friends, our minds do not belong to Satan. They belong to Christ Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. If you ever feel down and Satan has set up camp in your mind, Jesus can make it right. If we ask Him, He will fight for us. He will clear our mind of Satan's attacks. Jesus has also blessed us with weapons of our own to fight off the devil and his crafty schemes.

In Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul talks about the armor of God and what each piece of the armor does. It may seem like that armor might not make much of a difference when we first put it on but practice makes perfect. Satan will attack again. Sometimes, He attacks more than once a day. His attacks will give us plenty of chances to get good at using the armor of God and protecting our minds. The better we get, the less Satan will set up camp and take over everything.

"Be strong in the Lord and in his almighty power."
(Ephesians 6:10 NIV)

Posted by Allison Mozingo