LACED WITH GRACE...Don't be in the dark for April Fools!

Today, I have shared the following devotion with the readers of LACED WITH GRACE! Be sure to visit www.lacedwithgrace.com for other great Christian devotions!

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A few years ago, my husband and I had the blessing of being able to take a trip to Europe for our 25th Anniversary. Our trip took us to Rome, London and Paris. A trip of a lifetime! Our all time favorite place was definitely ROME! On one of our sight seeing excursions, we were able to spend the day at the historical catacombs in Rome.


In Rome, the Catacombs is the home of the oldest and longest underground burial tunnels in the world. Hundreds of kilometers of catacombs run underneath the city and its outskirts. Not all of the catacombs are open to the public but we were able to visit the catacombs of the said burial place of many Christians dating back to the first century.

To get down to the burial area, we had to take an elevator and once you stepped off, you found yourself in a dark, closed-in area where the graves were. Talk about eerie but yet interesting. The guide thought it would be funny to pull a little prank and dim his light for a minute, which caused everyone to draw real close to him. Of course he was only pulling a prank and quickly began giving us the history lesson of the historical catacombs.


Today is April Fools day and for some reason this trip to the catacombs came back to my remembrance. I remember the sigh of relief I felt when that tour guide shone his light again but I also remember that for the rest of the tour down in that gravesite, I clung pretty close to my husband. No doubt, this day will not end today without someone trying to pull a prank on you for that is what we do on April Fool’s day. But I want you to remember that many foolish things (and people) on any ordinary day can leave us feeling like I did down in the Rome Catacombs …afraid and clinging!


When life seems to turn the light dim on you, who or what do you find yourself clinging to?

“I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, You won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” -John 8:12

Jesus promises that as long as we follow Him, He will provide all of the light that we need to guide us through the dark journeys in life. Do not let the foolish ways of the enemy cause you to cling to the wrong thing. Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE …you can cling to that and never be fooled again!

DAILY DEVO: I write to encourage others, what do you do?

I had someone ask me "why do you send out daily devotions?"


Besides the fact that God has given me a love for writing devotions, God has given me a platform in which I can speak love and encouragement into people's hearts and lives.

Someone close to me once told me that they receive my devotions but rarely read them. At first that hurt my feelings but then God reminded me of why He has me writing...that if just ONE life is affected, it is worth it all!


We are commanded as Christians to encourage one another. Encouragement, in fact, can drastically change a persons life!


We all get distressed from time to time and need encouragement. If I write about comfort, you may not need comfort that particular day, but I promise you one day you will, and no doubt, you will rub shoulders with someone who is desperate for it.


Today's encouragement may not be for you at this time. But God knows the exact time and the exact person it is meant for. I don't have the power of knowing who needs what, but I do know that when I'm obedient in sharing encouragement from God's Word, He will build up the lonely, the depressed, and the hurting.

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

Be an encourager! I write to encourage, what are you doing to build others up?

DAILY DEVO...know the truth from a lie

Armor is the most vital thing that any warrior needs to have in place prior to engaging in battle.


Protection is deemed necessary for the soldier, and the firefighter and even the goalie for the hockey team, but when it comes to the average Christian, we assume position at the front lines unarmed, with vital pieces of our protection missing!

"The devil...does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies." - John 8:44

The only power that satan possesses is in the lie. He has no power over us except what we allow when we fall for his lies. When we expose him and his deceit, we break his power.


It grieves me so when I see once godly warriors who use to serve God not give Him the honor due Him.


How does that happen?


It happens when a Truth was traded for a lie. Just this past week I've heard of two beautiful ladies who listened to the voice of lies and attempted to take their life. One life was ended, the other hangs on.


The lies of the enemy is very real and we must be sure to have all the armor intact so to not listen to the wrong voice. Satan has no power over you, or your mind or your soul. Dealing with the enemy is not an encounter with his power, it's an encounter with God's truth!

"You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free". -John 8:32

Be free. Know the difference between the truth and a lie.

DAILY DEVO...Taking God seriously.

It is estimated that there are over a half a billion practicing Christians in the world. Half a billion? But yet, it all started with just a small group of disciples. Twelve men who were sold out for the love of Christ. The things of God were not a part time hobby or a convenience to the early believers, it was their highest priority...

'The believers met in the Temple every day...' (Acts 2:46)

Every day?


They took church seriously! It is difficult for Pastors to "pack a pew" on a selected Sunday nowadays, so how crazy would it be if your Pastor asked you to come to church EVERY day?


I don't know about you, but my life gets busy, and I have hobbies and sometimes I even get weary. These and more are the reasons some of us give but are we that much busier than the original twelve?


Probably not. They had far less convenience than we do but yet somehow they found themselves in the Temple daily.


Lord, give us a hunger like that for You! We may not be able to go to God's House daily, but at the very least, we can daily go to His Throne!


Examine your faithfulness to God and His house today. We may not be the first 12, but we are just as needed in the Kingdom. May we make our relationship with Christ top priority!

DAILY DEVO...Grow down in order to grow up!

Our lives are like tomato plants! Yes, that is right, even if you don't like tomatoes, in order to "grow up", we must "grow down"!

If you have ever worked in a garden, or watched someone work a garden, you know that in order for a tomato plant to grow up, it needs help. It needs a brace, or a support to help it along. While the plant may be strong enough to hold the tomatoes, it isn't firm enough to hold them up and the more it produces, the more help it needs.


The same is true in our lives, especially our spiritual life. The more we grow in Christ, the more structure and support we need...

"Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong." -Colossians 2:7

Paul knew that as we grow, we need deeper roots to support us. This is why so many times we see people walk away from their faith so easily. Their roots weren't anchored deeply.

If we want to grow in our relationship with God, we have to let our roots go down first. Now that you see you are nothing but a tomato (spiritually), let's do what tomatoes do...grow down to grow up!

DAILY DEVO...What's trending?

Every day, millions of people use Twitter, a social media platform to tweet some thought or event. Users determine by their hashtags (#) what issues deem to have the most importance. The problem with Twitter and other social media like it is that the real issues in this world can be overlooked or minimized.


Today on Twitter, the top "trending" topics were #HarrisonFord with 460.9k tweets and #BlackOutDay with 148.8k tweets. I am sure to some these topics are noteworthy but what about some of the serious topics around the world that can no longer be ignored or hidden?


Topics like the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warning or the ISIS threat, or the worldwide devastation taking place (360 in China killed by a quake or the dozens in Japan found dead near the peak of a volcano).


What is this world being transformed into?


While millions of Americans tune in at 10 pm to the TV series #Scandel, a show about adultery, murder and lies, only a small fraction of those same Americans will tune into #Jesus on Sunday morning at 10 am at the local church.


"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12:2


The world operates completely differently than God. If we want to see #Jesus trending in our world, we MUST allow #Him to #Transform our minds!


What is trending in your world today?

LACED WITH GRACE...a spiritual lesson from a roller coaster ride

Today I shared the following devotion with the readers of LACED WITH GRACE. Every day you can find inspirational devo's written by awesome Christian writers. I'm blessed to be part of the team. www.lacedwithgrace.com

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When I was younger, I loved the thrill and excitement of a roller coaster ride. The feeling of no fear as the amusement ride attendant buckled me in was awesome. Fast forward to today… you couldn’t drag me on a rollercoaster. I’m deathly afraid of the twists, turns and hanging upside down with nowhere to land my feet.


My husband, on the other hand, at the age of 54 absolutely loves the ride. Last summer, he went on every ride with our youth group from church when we took them to an amusement park. He even allowed himself to be buckled into a giant bungee cord that whipped him high in the air about 100 feet. He was all smiles and loved every exciting moment of the thrill, while I stood down below trying to capture it on camera, but the fear in me to even watch was more than I could stand. As he was thrust in the air, swinging back and forth, I squeezed my eyes closed and screamed in disbelief. My heart was pumping just as hard as his, if not more, and my feet never left the ground.


Do you know what the difference is between me and my husband at the amusement park? He is a risk taker and trusts the restraints to hold him in place, while I do not.


Taking a stand for Christ is similar, often times, defending our faith can be just as scary as riding a floorless rollercoaster. We trust God, but we wonder how we can convince the scaredy cats on the ground to take a leap of faith and enjoy the ride with us and God.


Look at how Elijah handled something similar…

“Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” -1 Kings 18:24

Elijah challenged a bunch of people who didn’t believe in God to prove that his God was real. You could say that Elijah was a risk taker when it came to taking a stand for God but he was also confident that God would come through for him and not leave him dangling. In fact, Elijah was not willing that anyone would be skeptical, so he poured tons of water on his wood, so it would be obvious that his God was a big God.


Some of us are like those looking towards the wet wood, skeptical in our faith. But, just as we can trust the restraints on a roller coaster ride to keep us intact and safe, we can trust God that He will keep us safe and land us on our feet if we would just take a risk on Him.


When is the last time you took a risk and took a bold, fearless stand for Christ?


PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to be a risk taker for You! Ease my fear and give me a boldness to stand firm in my faith, to share with others that there is nothing too wet for you to light. Light my wood God, let it burn bright.” AMEN