It’s the day after the Great American Eclipse and we are all still here 🙂 Life has gone on as it has and we are still awaiting the return of the King of kings!  See my post about the eclipse here.  So what do we prophecy watchers do now?  Continue to watch! It hasn’t happened yet, but we are assured by the Bible that it WILL happen!
Hi everyone! Well it looks like we all survived the eclipse; and as far as I know, we are all still here 🙂
It’s been a while since I shared a printable, so today I am sharing for us all, my newly created Proverbs 31 Woman Monthly Tracker for our bullet journals (or regular journals or planners).  It’s sized to fit an A5-journal (8″ x 5.5″).  I will share the pdf, then under that will be a short tutorial for how I’m planning to use mine.  So let’s get right to it 🙂
This is an update from my weekly tracker and last-minute attempt to turn that one into a monthly. You can get the weekly from that post here.
Click on the thumbnail here to pull up the full-sized pdf file to print –>
Now that you have the file, I suggest you Read more ›
This week I would like to contemplate the phrase, “Back to Life”. Â What does that mean when we consider that phrase? Â Most of us Christians would first think about Jesus’ death and resurrection, of course. Â Aside from that, what does it stir up in your spirit?
For me, I’m digging my way back to life after a season of deep depression. Â It all started with entering menopause at the same time we lost the house we had built and brought our son into the world in. Â An extremely hurting ending to a 10-year ministry and fellowship with a large women’s Bible study group happened about that same time as well and we moved back to my hometown to be near my mother who had to enter a nursing home having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Â Being an autism mom and daughter of an Alzheimer’s mother has taken its toll. Â I try to stay close to the Lord and having the commitment of reading the Bible to my son every night as he falls to sleep keeps me in the Word.
I encourage you to find a way to be accountable to read the Bible daily!
I read this devotional during my evening devotional readings on You Version after my regular read-through-the-Bible in a year plan during which my sweet son fell sleep with his head on my shoulder. Â It touched my spirit and I hope it does yours as well! —>
    Back To Life
    Devotional by Mandisa
I have read, meditated on, and heard messages on Ezekiel 37, the valley of dry bones, for as long as I can remember. It’s one of those passages that I’ve heard so many times, I wasn’t sure what else I could possibly get out of it! But after experiencing my own valley of dry bones, and inhabiting a pit of despair for several years, God has illuminated this familiar passage for me.
God very easily could have spoken to the dry bones Himself and seen them come to life. Instead, He commanded Ezekiel to listen to His words, then repeat them to the bones. It was only when Ezekiel obeyed and spoke life that the bones responded.
Similarly, I find that this is how God lifted me out of the dark. Rather than experiencing immediate deliverance, God lifted me out bit by bit, allowing me to learn valuable lessons in the process. He taught me how to prophesy His words over myself:
I breathed out shame, and breathed in grace
I breathed out fear, and breathed in peace
I breathed out weakness, and breathed in strength
This is not to say that I felt these things immediately. But in the beginning of this process, I knew I needed to do what Ezekiel did—prophesy God’s truth over what felt dead. As my friend TobyMac says, I needed to speak life!
I ended the deluxe edition of my ‘Out of the Dark’ album with a worship song that illustrates this process perfectly.
“Shame and depression And all anxieties They have no power over me Addiction and strongholds And every disease They have no power over me”
Even as I recorded those words, I felt shame. But as I repeated those words over and over, the shame lifted. Sometimes our behavior follows our acts of faith. For reasons we may not fully understand, there is great power in God’s Word, and in worship. When I least feel like opening my mouth to praise or proclaim Truth is when it is most important for me to do so. By magnifying Jesus, our circumstances grow smaller in comparison. In those moments when we feel like all signs of life are gone, proclaim the breath of heaven into that situation, and watch God bring those dry bones back to life.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Proverbs 18:21 ESV
You can check out Mandisa’s “Out of the Dark” CD here –>
The Rapture MIGHT happen Monday during the eclipse!  Don’t sneer –it just MIGHT 🙂
It might happen in my next breath. It might happen Tuesday or in September or two Septembers from now. Â The point is, it could happen ANY time. Â BE and STAY ready!
Just my two cents for those concerned that the Rapture will occur on Monday, during the eclipse:
We need to live every day as if Christ is returning that very day. No day should be less important to us than the one we are in right now. We are to watch, It could happen today or any day, but we cannot know the very day and hour. God gave us all the prophecy we need in the Bible. Any extra-Biblical prophecy isn’t necessary. He gave us enough. Â The point is: Â BE Ready!! STAY Ready!!
We can’t know WHEN EXACTLY it will happen, but it will happen! Be ready each and every day as if it will happen this very day because it just might!
It’s awesome to watch (Jesus told us to!!) BUT don’t pronounce that any given day will be THE day it will happen. Â Why? Â If the day you expect it to occur doesn’t happen, you will become discouraged (exactly what the enemy wants) and you will give the world a very bad testimony of Christians (again -the goal of the enemy). Â It’s enough that some unbelievers joke that those of us who believe in Bible prophecy are “tin-hat wearing” paranoid people (and worse). Don’t give them the ammunition!
We can’t know the DAY and the HOUR:
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” –Mark 13:32-33
Still we will know the SEASON, otherwise Jesus would not have told us to WATCH:
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” –Matt. 24:42
Â
We will not be in darkness referring to the Day of the Lord:
 “Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “Peace and safety,”destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”
–1 Thes 5:1-4
While reading this devotional the other night, in my YouVersion app, this one really struck home.  At first because of the story of Rich Mullins and his “Ragamuffin band“.  I’ve loved Rich’s music  for a long time and I came to appreciate his story so much when I saw the movie about his life, Ragamuffin.
I bought the DVD 3-4 years ago and when I first watched it, I cried like a baby. Â Not only for my compassion for his relationship with he and his father, but because of how parallel it was to my own relationship with my father. Â I watched part of it again last night on YouTube while preparing for this post and was on the verge of tears again when I closed it. Â That heart break never goes away even though I made peace with my father before he went on to be with the Lord in 1997. Â It stays with you.
I was a victim of severe bullying as child.  Not only at school (thought that was really bad) but also at home. I taught a Bible study on this and shared my testimony regarding it for my Bible study group and posted it on my YouTube Channel in hopes of it ministering to others.  It’s so much more rampant today than it was when I was a child in the 70’s and 80’s and I can’t image it being worse than it was for me, but at the same time I’m so grateful to not have to contend with cyber-bulling the kids have to endure today.
I share that to say this: Â The worst part of my bullying was the divide it placed between me and my heavenly father. Â It was really difficult to view my heavenly Father as a loving, giving, compassionate father, when the other father figure I’d ever know, my earthly father, was irate, berating, screaming and shaming. Â Now I see that my dad was a victim of sin as we all are, and that Jesus died for him just like he did me. Â My father died with us both loving each other very much. Â Thank you, Lord! Â However…those scars remain and those old tapes continue to play in my view of God no matter how much I fight it and stay in the Word and read the truth. Â I’ve come to understand that it’s a prime weapon of the enemy to discourage me in my faith. Â The thing I look forward to the most is meeting my Savior face to face and feel His arms of love around me, never again to struggle with the old tapes again.
Having said that…this week’s devotional:
In Awe of Love
Creation discloses a power that baffles our minds and beggars our speech. We are enamored and enchanted by God’s power. We stutter and stammer about God’s holiness. We tremble before God’s majesty…and yet we grow squeamish and skittish before God’s love.
Hello everyone 🙂  Is everyone else getting ready for back to school or are your kiddos already back in school?  This coming week is the last week of summer break for my son.  It’s a financially tight summer for us or we’d go and do something special.  My son is looking forward to school though. He can’t speak words (till the Lord’s timing…) but when I mention school he lights up.  When I ask him if he likes school he does his cute nodding he’s developed these past few years 🙂  He may have autism, but he is smart and bright and very present. I couldn’t ask for a better-behaved and sweeter child if I wanted to. He is so good and sweet and loving.
In light of all the world news and the scare we all feel (and fight to not feel), I’m trying to cling to my faith and the blessings the Lord has given me like the gift of my son.
How do you cope?
(Pastor J.D.’s Video List Here)
This week we’re talking about a topic that most of us know really well: Â Anxiety. Â So many of us seems to fight it on a daily basis. Â If not, we give in and let it overwhelm us while we climb under the covers and hope it will go away.
I’m definitely a resident of Anxiety Avenue. I was bullied badly as a child and young adult (a post to come about that soon) both at home and at school. Â Most recently, in the past 12 years: Â my then-baby son was diagnosed with autism, my husband had a heart attack, he went into kidney failure and endured 5 1/2 years of dialysis, had a kidney transplant, years of therapies for my son (who is 14 years now and still non-verbal but sweet and smart and very present. Â After two years of fighting tooth and nail, we lost the house we built and lived in for 12 1/2 years, moved back to my home town to be close to my mom who had to be put in a nursing home suffering with alzheimers.
I’m very acquainted with the beast of anxiety 🙂  I’ve come a long way and continue to be taught that God knows best and will guide us through the times of life that feel like our heart will be ripped out of our chest.  It didn’t take Him by surprise, and He will bring us out the other side and we will look back and be thankful for the things we learn through it that we could never learn any other way.  That’s a lesson we take with us into eternity and for that much, we can be thankful.
I hope this week’s devotional will minister to you and I both!
From the devotional, “Healing Negative Emotions“, by Kimberly Taylor in her book, “Take Back Your Temple”:
Feeling Anxious
When I read the 23rd Psalm, I am taken to a place of tranquility and peace instantly. My anxious thoughts quiet down at just the first sentence: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” I love the image of God being my Keeper, Protector, and Deliverer. I am not alone. I have His Presence with me at every hour of the day.
Have confidence that the Lord makes you to lie down in green pastures, which means that He is taking you to a place of rest and stillness in Him: “Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).”
If you are always running around and don’t have quiet time with the Lord, then how can you receive restoration in your mind, will, and emotions? Modern life can drain you dry if you let it. That is why so many people are emotional wrecks. They are running on empty. But God promises to restore us.
Once you receive rest and restoration in the Lord, then you can walk with Him as He leads you in paths of righteousness. He shows you how to think right, believe right, and live right.
Even though your circumstances may make you feel like you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, you will not fear because you know the Lord is with you. God’s goodness toward you will be so visible that even your enemies will see His handiwork upon your life. They will see God’s grace abounding toward you.
What is God’s grace? Grace is everything God is and God has made available to you. In old movies about royalty, you see people addressing the King or Queen as “Your Grace” as they bow down. Jesus is “Your Grace.” He gave His very life for you. In Him, you have a new identity as the beloved of God.
In Jesus, you have forgiveness of sin and victory over sin. In Him, you have peace and joy because He left you with both. In Him, you have love and with His love, you are empowered to love your neighbor as yourself. When you consider this, then you see that material things cannot compare with the riches of His grace! Because Jesus is your Shepherd, then you indeed shall not want when you meditate on all you have in Him.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalms 23:1â€-‬6 ESVYou can read this reading plan on YouVersion –>
Are the rest of you winding down your summer and getting ready for back to school? Â Where did that summer go? I’m really thankful, however, that the summer here in north central Ohio was pretty mild. Â Last year it was a brutally hot summer. It’s nice to always find things to be thankful for! Â Another thing to be thankful for is this brings us one season closer to the Lord’s return. I know many of us are thankful for that and clinging to that blessed hope!
Are the rest of you winding up your summer activities and getting ready for back to school?  Where did the summer go? 🙂 I’m grateful that it was a fairly mild summer here in north central Ohio and not overwhelmingly hot like it was last year.  There’s always something to be thankful for, isn’t there?  We’re one week closer to the return of Jesus and the end of the age which ushers in God’s Kingdom with Jesus as the ruler of the earth. That’s definitely our blessed hope!
(Pastor J.D.’s Video List Here)
I was just made aware of this video and wanted to get it out to share it with you all. Please pray for this situation and similar ones and share it with others. Â God bless!
The Mindful Monday devotional for this week is about Staying Centered.
There are so many programs and hot topics in Christian circles these days that at times we need to just take a deep breath and sit down and get back to the heart of what makes us Christians. Â I know in my case, I’m really active in last days prophecy circles and there’s always a hot topic being discussed. Â The Revelation 12 debate, is the planet Nibiru Revelation’s “wormwood”, is Jared Kushner the antichrist or maybe it’s France’s Macron? Â On and on it goes.
Being a good Berean and studying the scriptures to find out what’s true regarding these issues is definitely something we should be doing. BUT that’s after we first submerge ourselves into our relationship with the Creator of us all. Â The One true God who sent His Son to redeem us all. Â A true heart romance with the King of kings and Lord of lords.. Â Heidi Baker has a great devotional on this:
Centered
The longer I walk with God, the more I want to emphasize the basics of the Christian faith. Today, if we want to, we can attend all kinds of special conferences that emphasize particular areas – prophecy, apostolic ministry, spiritual gifts, intercession – all of which are valid expressions. But the more I hear about such things, the more I want to focus my attention on the essence of the basic Gospel.
I keep coming back to the most basic elements of our faith: the message of God’s grace, salvation, what makes life, life, why we should have joy.
Jesus is the center of our faith. I keep returning to the center because I want to be centered! Here, clinging close to Jesus, we are safe, protected, shielded from the storms of life. The storms will still come. We will still be challenged, stretched, wrung out. But we will be anchored in Him. Secure, unshaken.
Racing car drivers are trained to focus their attention on where they want to go (as opposed to where they don’t want to go). The premise is simple: they are traveling so fast that if something catches their attention and they look at it, they’ll hit it! So they learn to tune out the peripheral and focus on the road ahead.
We find ourselves moving in the right direction when we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, our gaze fixed on Him. I don’t want to pay too much attention to the peripheral. I don’t want to be drawn away to focus on specialty areas on the side. I want to keep my attention on Jesus.
If I take my eyes off Him, I can’t follow where He is going. I am less in tune with Him. Less aware of what’s on His heart. When I keep my eyes fixed on Him, I stay connected to the simplicity and power of the Gospel. My priorities are the same as His priorities. My heartbeat is in tune with His heartbeat.
I believe when others respond to Jesus, they respond because of the simple Gospel message: from darkness to light, from death to life, from hopelessness to hope, from unbelief to faith.
Let’s keep it simple, and let’s keep centered.
–from “Into the Heart of God -a 7-day Reading Plan with Heidi Baker”
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
–Romans 5:6â€-‬11 ESVThis and other devotions by Heidi Baker can be found in her book, “Reckless Devotion:  365 Days Into the Heart of Radical Love”
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