Your my brother, your my sister!

Now that the tornado and wicked thunderstorms have come and gone, we are left with nothing but the debris and damage to clean up. It never ceases to amaze me how people come together in times of distress.

Our neighbor across the street had his big tree in the front yard ripped up and tossed into the street. Since it lay straight across the road, no traffic could come or go. Not only did that big tree lay across our street blocking it, but it lay right on top of our neighbors sons sports car. The evening after the storm left our town, our city was left in a blackout.

No power.

But that did not stop our neighborhood from coming to the aid of our neighbor in distress. Vehicles parked in front of the fallen tree to bring light and men from all directions came with their chainsaws. Together, they worked to free the car and to get the tree removed from the road.

Needless to say, even though we are not blood related, we are all brothers and sisters! When we come to the Lord, we are adopted into a new family. A family of believers. When one rejoices, we all rejoice. When one is troubled, we all feel their pain. God has made us a family so we can love one another and encourage one another. And in times of distress, He has made us family so we can help one another, just like our neighborhood helped in a time of need.

MATTHEW 5:16 NKJ
16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Whether you know this or not...we are brothers and sisters. And just like my blood family, even though we may disagree or fight, when the rubber meets the road, when my siblings are in trouble, I am there for them. I have their back. I stand alongside of them. And that may mean I need to show up with my chainsaw and take care of some business.

The enemy is much like that fallen tree. It likes to keep us from where we need to be going. His vile antics keeps us from going where God is leading us. His snare and trap is like a roadblock. But together, hand in hand, Christian brothers and sisters can work together to remove the rubble and debris that the sneaky little devil thrusts on us. All we have to do is show up with our chainsaws.

Is your chainsaw gassed up and ready to go?

THANKFUL THURSDAY...Master of the wind

"Rain, rain go away...we would like to live another day!"

Here in the south, we have been blasted with torrential rain and wicked storms. Last night was the worst storm I have seen. We watched the tornado path all day on the weather channel and it hit us about 6:30 last night. As soon as the tornado sirens went off, we hightailed it into the bathroom. The tornado was headed right towards our little town. I knew the severity of it as just earlier an entire small town was wiped out by it.

We could hear the rain pounding on our little house, then we heard the hail. The high winds could be heard as it seared all around us. In our small bathroom, my husband listened to the local news on his iPhone for minute to minute updates, I was texting the information to our son and his wife who lived across town. They do not have a television and had no power and had no other way of knowing what was going on. And then everything went quiet. We lost power. And then my husband lost his connection on his iPhone and my cellphone went dead because I could not charge it up. The only thing that we could hear was the wicked wind.

For a moment, a feeling of great fear came over me. We were in the middle of a wicked storm and I had no way to reach my loved ones. I didn't know if they were alright. I didn't know if we were going to be alright. My other sons, who live in different cities were checking on us every 5 minutes or so, but now they had no way to reach us. About that time, the words of Candy Christmas from the Gaither praise show came to me:

"I know the Master of the wind.
I know the Maker of the rain.
He can calm a storm, make the sun shine again.
I know the Master of the wind."
 
No matter what kind of storm you find yourself in, you can rest in knowing that the One Who created the wind is also the same One Who can calm the wind. There is no reason to fear and no reason to worry about your loved ones, for the Master of the wind will calm our storm.
 
I am happy to report that we survived that tornado that came thru our town. As I look around our town today I see roofs torn off buildings, trees down everywhere, fences tore up, and street after street flooded. I realize that even in moments of disaster, God is with us.
     

 

the funnel cloud

trees uprooted

yards and streets flooded

 
Thank You God for Your protection and thank You for calming the wind! Today is THANKFUL THURSDAY, Lynn is hosting this month, please link up with us over HERE!

LACED WITH GRACE... a new look at Easter!

Today I shared a devo with the readers over at LACED WITH GRACE, entitled "A New Look at Easter!"

This was the first Easter since the children were small that we have not had a huge Easter egg hunt in our yard. The kids are grown now and live in different states. We traded hiding eggs and filling baskets for a packed suitcase and traveled 6 hours to visit with our son and daughter in law.

Even though I missed our past Easter traditions this year, God showed me something new about Easter. I have always known the real reason for Easter, it isn’t the candy or the eggs or even buying a new dress. Easter is about death, burial and resurrection. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Not only did He die, but He arose again 3 days later. Jesus was laid in that tomb as a crucified Man but He came out in a whole different way.

It is almost unfathomable for me to comprehend such great love, but ....

CLICK HERE to read the rest of today's devo!

It's Friday...but Sunday is coming!

Good Friday is a day to reflect on the greatest sacrifice ever given for mankind. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the greatest gift one could ever receive. Today is Friday, but the hope is that Sunday is coming - CELEBRATION SUNDAY that is! Have a blessed Resurrection weekend!

THANKFUL THURSDAY...Power that survives any storm

Here in the south, we have been having all kinds of thunderstorms and tornadoes. In fact, this past Tuesday evening we had a wicked storm rush in that knocked down tree limbs and tore roofs off of barns. Our lights flickered for awhile until finally it was too much ... and then we lost power. Luckily our power came back on, not everyone was so lucky though.

In Memphis, thousands and thousands of folks were without power. In fact, this morning on the news, I heard that there are still 20,000 people without power and that it looks like it will be Sunday before they have power again. That is 5 days without power!

I can't imagine going 5 days without power. Oh, we would survive without lights and electricity, I'm talking about going 5 days without His Power! The Holy Spirit lifts me up when I am down. He gives me hope when I feel defeated. He replenishes my strength when I feel weak. He heals my body when I am sick. He forgives when I feel unforgivable. He cleanses me when I mess up. He is my hope, my love, my strength and indeed He is the Power on which I can stand during any kind of storm of life.

MARK 4:39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

Are you in the midst of a storm today?

 God rebukes it and His Power will sustain you while you wait out the waves of turmoil. You don't have to wait for His Power to come on ...It is always available to us. All we have to do is receive it and His peace will calm our storm.

Today on THANKFUL THURSDAY, I am thankful for the Power that I can run to in the midst of any storm and even in the calm. What are you grateful for today? Link up with us over at Lynn's, she is hosting TT this week!

Blessed Assurance!

I can't seem to get the hymn Blessed Assurance out of my head. It keeps playing over and over in my head. Having assurance in my life is certainly something that I need. Gas prices are going up and up. Jobs are limited. The strength of our economy is shaky. It gets more and more difficult to stretch the American dollar.

Where is my assurance when I can't trust what lies ahead in my future?

I wish that I could trust and have assurance in what lies ahead. But honestly, without blessed assurance, nothing will make sense to me. Having blessed assurance means that I place my trust in the promises of God and His inspired Word. When we have blessed assurance we place our focus not on the size of our faith but on Whom we have faith in.

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith...Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He Who promised is faithful." HEBREWS 10:22,23

I don't know what my tomorrow is going to bring. But this I know...that having the assurance that God has it all in the palm of His hand is very blessed to me.

Have you found Blessed Assurance?

A PIECE OF MY HEART...two sides to every story!

I have always heard the saying, "There are two sides to every story." That statement came alive to me several years ago when I had to serve on a jury. For 6 consecutive days, I sat in that jury bench and listened to people share their account of what they saw or heard the night that 3 children were killed in a fire. Some of the witnesses were testifying for the victims. While others testified for the one charged setting the fire. It was our job as the jury to cipher through what we heard and figure out what was the truth.

I am reminded of another jury that was set to find out the truth. Except their idea of finding truth was alittle twisted and their corruptness led to the unfolding drama that led to the death of Jesus. Pilate, Herod, along with Judas and the entire Supreme Court of Israel served on the jury that felt that they had the power to determine the destiny of Jesus. They listened to the voices of those accusing Jesus. But they didn't listen to both sides of the story. If they had, they would have heard the voice of God!

When we hear about the injustice of that day that Jesus was accused and condemned to die, we think about how Jesus was the victim. But He was not a victim of human decisions. He wasn't the victim of a corrupt disciple that betrayed Him. He wasn't the victim of a couple of corrupt high priests that arraigned Him. He wasn't the victim of Pilate and Herod who ultimately executed Him. Jesus was chosen by God, He was God's chosen lamb.

So, if it was already determined by God that Jesus would die, I guess you could say on that day, their corruptness is not what determined the destiny of Jesus, rather, it determined their own destiny.

In Matthew 27:22, Pilate asks this question..."What shall I do with Jesus Who is called the Christ?" Even though Pilate is over-assuming his power, for there was really nothing he could with Jesus that God could not overrule. But his question is a legitimate one and one that we all need to ask ourselves..."What are we going to do with Jesus Who is called Christ?"

Our answer to that question will not have an effect on Jesus, but it will have a eternal effect on us. There are two sides to the story of Jesus. Accept Him ... and live. Reject Him ... and die. Light or darkness. Life or death. Heaven or hell. Which side of the story will you believe and accept?

Don't forget there is always two sides to every story!

and this has been a piece of my heart today;