Author Archives: Marie

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About Marie

Happily married to the same awesome guy for many years. Love God, reading, cats, and travel. Avid crafter especially counted cross stitch and crochet.

Loving God

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How prepared are we to give our absolute loyalty and obedience in all we think, do, and say to God? That’s what loving Him means.

To love God with our whole mind we have to know Him. To know Him we have to know His Word. Yes, we certainly should read it but there is more to it than that. We need to study it, pray it, memorize it, ponder it, and live it.

 

 

To love Him with our whole being we have to make a conscious choice to make every action we take, every choice we make, every word we speak, acceptable to God. David, in Psalm 19 wrote these words, and they often come to my mind when difficult choices happen: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

 

 

 

And then, we must love Him with all our strength which means using our time, talents, and resources for Him. You might be thinking that doesn’t make sense but it takes physical and mental power to ensure that everything we are given by Him is being used for Him.

I hope you’ll find some time today, every day, to love on Him!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

This post is in response to week 8 of Deb Wolf’s 52 Week Devotional Journal For Women.

 

 

Gospelbound – Book Review

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I had just spoken to one of my ESL students who said she has little or no hope for the world in which we live. Her vocal tone was almost a monotone and she rarely smiles. I am not sure how I can help this beautiful young woman. I want to help. I want everyone to understand that they were put on earth, at just this time and place, because God has a plan and purpose for their lives. Then I came across this book – Gospel Bound by Collin Hansen and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra.

The authors of this book suggest that the key to living a hopeful and rewarding life is ‘to think big and small at the same time.’  What does that mean? Thinking big for me means trusting God for everything. Thinking small means helping others. Buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk and take it to the young mother who commented she didn’t have any. Call the friend who is making some tough decisions and simply listen to her talk. Giving what I can when I can is often just a little thing but it makes a God-sized difference in someone else’s life.

One of the problems in the US right now is that we do not understand or perhaps even recognize the amount of suffering that is going on around us. We have isolated our thoughts and actions to our own small group of people and rarely reach out to others. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be. The question becomes – is what I’m doing making any difference at all?  Gospel Bound suggests that it’s rare to be able to change someone else’s habits. But we must keep on helping others. Some will eventually see the Light. Others will go on as they always have. The Bible doesn’t say each endeavor will be successful, it just says do it! (Be obedient!) We are not asked to do miracles, that’s God’s job anyway, we’re asked to use what we have been given and get on with it.

How do we show God’s love in this topsy-turvy world? Here are a few examples from the book:

God’s Word is and must be our guide.

Live and work with integrity.

Give the best we have in all circumstances.

Show hospitality by sitting with newcomers in worship.

Volunteer in ways we never thought we could.

GET INVOLVED. Don’t just sit back when you see a need.

Be holy, godly, diligent, at peace (2 Peter 3:11,14).

Work while we wait because our minds are set on heaven.

Invest your love (of Jesus) in all your relationships. Take the focus off yourself.

Visit the lonely, feed the hungry, care for the sick.

Do what’s right even when you don’t want to. Even if no one notices. In other words, live with honor. Romans 12:17

Plant a church.

Pray through all your decisions and then stick with them.

Favorite Quote: “When billionaires like Bill Gates give away their fortunes to fight diseases and help the world’s poorest people, we recognize God’s provision, even if Gates does not recognize God.”

Although I recognized the value of this book I was a bit disturbed by some vulgar language and way too much explicit description of sexual activity. I simply want to warn you with this statement. I hope it doesn’t keep you from reading it.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

This book will be published on April 6, 2021

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Net Galley/Walter Brook & Multnomah Press. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

I Surrender

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There is a beautiful hymn with these words: All to Jesus I surrender, all to Thee I freely give. As I listened to them I wondered, is that even possible? Don’t get me wrong. I want to. I really want to! I want to put every one of my shortcomings on the altar, at the foot of the cross, and leave them there, permanently. The problem is I give the junk of my life and my thoughts to Him, and then take them right back. Don’t you? I’ll bet you do. You just may not be able or want to admit it.

So, then, how can we get past this. Are we able to? Certainly not on our own. Here’s the thing. There is One who really wants to take our stuff, our negative thoughts and ideas, our falling short, our ‘I disease’. Not only does He want it, He died for it. He stretched out his arms on the cross, gathered every sin that ever was, and said, “IT IS FINISHED”!

At this point, I’ll bet you’re saying, OK, I get it! But how? Pray! Go to Him! Talk to Him!

He knows! He hears! He will listen! And, He will give the answers you and I need. He will give you the strength, wisdom, understanding, and courage to get through the day.

Take my life and let it be…

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

This post is in response to Deb Wolf’s 52-Week Devotional Journal For Women Week 7

Why Me?

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Although I don’t usually give a lot of thought to the title of this post, verbatim, I do wonder why I struggle with some of life’s challenges. Why is there so much evil, meanness, negativity, self-centeredness…? Why can’t I put complete trust in God? Why don’t others understand…?

In Week 6 of The 52-Week Devotional for Women, Deb Wolf asks this question, “Why do you think it can be so hard to give up our struggles to God sometimes?”

Maybe, we’ve been taught so well by our culture (and parents) that we must be independent. When we take the I(n) out of this word it becomes dependent. That’s the key, our dependence must be placed totally on God. It’s all about trusting Him, totally and completely.

Maybe, it’s because the answer takes to long. We want instant gratification. Now! No waiting. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long to realize that’s not how God works. Most of the time He takes His time. Have you noticed that? Then by the time we get to the result of our prayers it’s not what we thought we wanted. God knows best…

 

 

 

 

Perhaps, there are just to many possibilities. After all, with that many choices, God may choose something I really don’t want. Because God loves us so completely He knows all there is to know about us. He will make the best choice. Especially when we understand that all He does is for the good of His Kingdom. If it’s good enough for God, it’s good enough for me!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Thank you to Bible Gateway for the links to the scripture.

 

 

For Such A Time As This

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Happy Purim! This Jewish holiday is special to me because I can really relate to being put in situations that I don’t understand why I’m there.

If you remember the story of Esther – she was an orphan, raised by her uncle, Mordecai.

King Xerxes had thrown a big party, got really drunk, and ordered his wife to appear naked. She refused and he, with the advice of his council, determined to depose her. After all, they advised him, if she doesn’t obey him, other wives will think it’s OK to do that.

The king determined to get a new wife. He sent a notice that all the most beautiful, young, women of the land were to become part of his harem. He would choose one from among them to replace Vashti.  And so he did.

Sometime later, King Xerxes appointed Haman to be his next in command. With that came the ruling and expectation that everyone would bow to him.  Mordecai was having none of that. He would bow to no one but God. That upset Haman a great deal and he convinced Xerxes to make an edict that if you refused to bow to the king you would be hanged.  In fact, Haman even offered to give 10,000 pieces of silver to the king’s treasury.

There were many Jews at the time that were refusing to bow to the king so they also fell under this ruling. Well, Haman told the king and between them, they created a ruling that all Jews would be annihilated.

When Mordecai heard about this he told Esther that she needed to intervene. She was not sure how she would be able to do that so she told him she didn’t have the power to do so. He, basically, responded that perhaps she had been placed in her position ‘for such a time as this’. She said she would fast and pray and would then make a decision.

She came up with a plan but in the meantime, Haman had built a scaffold upon which to hang Mordecai because he refused to bow to him.

Her uncle was a scribe for the king and had saved his (the king) life at one point when he heard about a group that wanted to assassinate him. Well, one night King Xerxes couldn’t sleep so he got out the scroll that talked about his actions and what had happened in his country while he was king.  He came across the notation that talked about how Mordecai had saved his life. The king quickly called Haman into his chambers and asked him what should be done for someone like this. Haman thought the king was talking about him and said he should have a king’s robe put on him and sit on a steed and go through the city while people bowed to him.

Well, it wasn’t about him. The king made him lead the horse that his enemy sat on. Then, the king found out what Haman was building the gallows for and had him hanged on it instead.

Esther went to Xerxes and told him about what was about to happen to her people. She was able to stop the slaughter. Now Jewish people celebrate Purim every year on the 14th and 15th days of Adar to remind them of the time they were rescued. The actual verses say this:

  •  Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, calling on them to celebrate an annual festival on these two days. He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy. Esther 9:20-22

I hope you are able to celebrate this special holiday in your own way. God is good!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Thank you to Bible Gateway for providing scripture links.