Boojoyful

  "Reconciliation brings an end to estrangement and rebuilds a relationship.  Jesus acted as a mediator and made the way for our reconciliation with God the Father, and He can do the same thing in human relationships." Thoughts from Francine Rivers layout of the process of our reconciliation with God. Building Faith Through Prayer We are to be in relationship with the Lord through prayer, bringing our concerns to him whether they are big or small.   Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you. Psalm 55:22 "Throughout Scripture, the Israelites were instructed to remember their past history and how God acted on their behalf."  We are to tell others how God has answered our prayers and grown our faith in the process. The Fruit of Suffering "Do we trust that God has a reason for what He allows in our lives?...Desperate situations clarify what's important and push us to call on God....We tend to ask 'Why?' rather than 'How can thins experi

More from Francine Rivers... "To be redeemed  is to have our freedom purchased by someone else, someone who is willing to pay the price for our freedom, no matter the cost...Spiritually, we are free from the consequences of every bad thing we've ever done, every evil thought we've ever held, every cruel, untrue, unkind, nasty word we've said.  No, it's not fair. It's not just.  It's not deserved. That's why it's called God's grace." Learning what Love Is  The other day I was chatting with a young woman who just experienced her first Christmas as a married woman.  She shared how difficult it was to make everyone feel loved, by being certain all the parents and in laws had equal time.  Long standing traditions had to be changed and it was very stressful. I told her expectations  cause life to be very messy at times. Rivers states- " Human love is ultimately about getting what we want and need.  But God doesn't need anything from us.

There were some major rescues taking place at Shiloh last weekend in order to keep sledders and tubers out of the lake. Part 3 from Francine Rivers and the Redeeming Love devotional. These posts are   lengthy but packed full of God's goodness. Rescued - "We are often more comfortable in captivity than freedom, even when captivity is deadly. We cling to what we know because it is familiar, even though not comfortable." Rivers illuminates this quote in a haunting way through the life of her main character, Angel, a young orphan forced into prostitution in her book.  It's such a heart tug when we see people stuck and unwilling to choose the way out of a bad situation or a sin that is holding them captive. Our church has established a Tuesday night church service called "Recovery Church" and it is thriving as it nurtures people in a safe environment where they come and learn how to be "set free" though Christ. Turning Away From Rescue "In Romans

  Ask God to prepare our hearts to receive a transforming work which He most likely wants to do through his Word in our hearts today. Nothing is too difficult for Him to change.   Believe and receive His transforming power. On to the next section of excerpts from  A Path to Redeeming Love . It's lengthy.  You may want to print off these points for reflection. Rivers writes-" Resignation  means giving in to something unpleasant that one can't change. We encounter resigned people every day. We see the hopelessness in their eyes and hear it in their voices." She shares how after having an abortion she felt this way and when she had three miscarriages she felt she deserved to lose these children because of what she had done. "Resignation can smother hope, breed depression, and strip away joy.  Resignation can become surrender to captivity...It's embracing this idea: 'This is the way things are.  Nothing is going to get better. It's my fault.'  It'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev03TgUPqzw Francine Rivers'  award winning novel   Redeeming Love  has hit the big screen and is now in  theaters.  While I loved the book I haven't decided if I will be able to watch the movie due to the violent content.  My plan in the weeks ahead are to post a 5 part series of highlights from Rivers' companion,  40 day devotional book called  A Path to Redeeming Love .  The lessons and scriptures within this book are powerful.  Section one is on  rejection. Before digging in the Spirit led me to Google and looked up the definition of rejection.   As I read, visions of people I've seen being rejected  in my life time flashed back and it made me feel ill. Eldridge, the severely handicapped and deformed girl in elementary school sitting with her walker and later wheel chair by the playground wall.  While I was always kind to her, but why did I never invite her home or ask to go to her  house and visit after school. Middle school and inte

A puddle of cuddles! Sometimes the best gift we can give is our time! Within an hour a quadruple whammy came from the Lord and He had my attention. "Check your heart and GIVE!" Under " Seven Things to Pray for your Children " on PrayerMate #6 popped up. "Pray that their hearts will be stirred to give generously to the Lord's work." All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord. Exodus 35:29 At that moment my heart stirred to encourage you all to give an unexpected gift to your church.  "The germ" we all are so tired of these past two years has kept so many people out of our churches, but our churches haven't stopped their ministry, in fact I know for ours we've upped the out pouring of love and money into to the community. Bowing my head, I just asked the Lord to show me today where He is c

  Kind words are like honey–sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.  Proverbs 16:24   A person's words can be life-giving water ;  words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.  Proverbs 18:4 Last year my daughter and I began a tradition of a winter trip to celebrate my birthday. While sitting pool side we decided to people watch and give awards.  It began as an activity that made us giggle, but in our boldness we began verbally bestowing these words of affirmation upon individuals and the results were impactful.  These people were elated by being known and receiving the gift of a positive "aWORD"! The categories were wide ranged. Most stunning bathing suit, coverup or hat. Best smile.  Most friendly. Best baby belly for pregnant mamas.  Cutest baby.  Happiest toddler. Best shades or flip flops.  Employee of the day! The tiniest and sometimes most significant words of affirmation thrilled these people.  Next year we have to up our game and hand out actua

Quick post today, because there is too much fun going on.  When you reach my age the greatest gift is time with those you love.  This gang flew and drove in Thursday for a surprise, early birthday celebration for me and my heart is full. Today's Biblegateaway verse is below. I could not have asked the Lord for a better way to celebrate my birthday.  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."   Matthew 7:7-8 How blessed those of you are who have your children and grandchildren in town.  I'll take mine whenever I can get  them.  Life is short.

The blame game, we do it in big ways and small.  My nerves were shot concerning an upcoming flight I was to take.  Ever since the stroke, I am not comfortable traveling alone.  One of my besties was going with me, but Winter Storm Izzy caused our flight to be cancelled and the only way we could get to our destination was to take separate flights and meet in Charlotte, NC. My sweet husband was going to drive me to an airport an hour away and gently noted that our scheduled departure was running behind.  I said, "It's the sports bra's fought!" In order to avoid the wire bra issue in security, I had bought a new, rather cheap, sports bra.  I'd worn it once and washed it. When I put it on, the lining pad on one side was all askew. The top I was wearing was clingy and friends, one side of my chest was smooth and the other very lumpy. (This just made me stop and pray for all my breast cancer friends who have much greater issues.)  What does God say about placing the bla

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.   Mark 16:15-16 It was 2:30 PM as I settled into my seat on an American Airlines puddle jumper from Charlotte to Lynchburg. I explained to the young woman beside me I'd been up since 3:30AM and would probably fall fast asleep and if my head ended up on her shoulder she could just push me back up.  When the pilot came on for his initial announcements I learned over to her and said, "He sounds all of 14 years old."  She agreed he could use a little more authority in his voice. As we were making our descent I could tell she was a bit nervous. She looked out the window at all the snow and asked me, is that the airport ahead. I couldn't see but told her from the proximity of Liberty University, which I could see out the window, yes the airport would be right in front of us.  She said, &q

  My friends and I are laughing that we have become the older women at most gatherings. These girls were with us on a trip Gain wisdom! How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! Proverbs 16:16 Do you have an older person in your life who loves the Lord deeply and is willing to invest in your life by sharing wisdom?   Some of my favs who spoke truth over me are now with the Lord.  Oh how I thank God for them. One wise woman will celebrate her 99th birthday next month. I lived two doors from her my entire childhood. She always had time for the neighborhood children. My stroke and now COVID  have robbed our ability to have tea and visit. Another women who walks closely to the Lord, came into my life later. She moved out of state several years ago to be near her children. We were chatting about life recently by email and this is the nugget of truth she left me with referencing her need to move away from the lake. "Each season has its challenges and bl

Hold on there's a story!  God goes before us in all things.  He thrills my heart every time I draw near to Him and he reveals things to my heart preparing me for what is to come. One of my middle of the night words the Lord gave me was "intoxicated." The song  "Your Love is Extravagant" ran across my brain. "Your love is extravagant.   Your friendship, it is intimate. I feel like moving to the rhythm of Your grace.   Your fragrance is intoxicating in our secret place. Your love is extravagant.  Spread wide in the arms of Christ is the love that covers sin. No greater love have I ever known. You considered me a friend  Capture my heart again." The above photo was taken last January on a birthday getaway our daughter treated me to at a resort property the company here husband works for owns and gets amazing employee deals!  We were so out of our element.  Being joyful, LOL, I decided to introduce myself to the two young women lounge chairs beside us.   W

Keep God's Word present and open. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. Romans 1:21-22 Our pastor shared this quote he saw somewhere which is an excellent reminder.... " Be careful what you grab and bring into your life, it may be grabbing you." I've probably written the story before of being a young child at a beach in Florida.  On the sea wall a man had a shell that was open and looked like a baked potato, but inside was the shiniest black shell you've ever seen. As I reached towards it the man grabbed my hand.  Just as he did that living creature clamped its shell shut. The man explained it would have taken smashing the shell to get my fingers released and they may have even been broken from the impact. There are so many things that look enticing in this world, but they are just waiting to grab us a

The back side of our property has a beach area bordered by pompous grasses.  In the summer they are bright green and shaking their sassy plumes.  Come fall they lose their color and await the need to be cut down so they will shine again. Looking out at them I thought how reflective they were of our lives.  We have seasons.  There are times we are in full bloom and shaking our tail feathers. Other times we are dried up and feel as if we will never experience joy again. He heals the brokenhearted   and binds up their wounds.   Psalm 147:3 Today we will listen to another Danny Gokey song.  The first time I heard this song it was being sung by a guest artist visiting Shiloh. I asked this 40 year old, single woman to select a song to sing for the Summer Women's Bible Study.  Never married, she longed for a husband. On top of that she was going through a job loss and heading into the unknown.  "What heartache are you holding onto?  Who has gotten you this far?   Yesterday's a cl