A Knight's Journey

"Did you think it would be easy? Listen, with every task you are given by Me, there will be trials and difficulties.  These are meant to teach you to lean on Me--not do things on your own but in concert with Me.   Too many times, you want to give up right on the edge of the completion and success of the task.  If you could see what I see, you would take those times of extreme exhaustion and press in harder.  One last push.  Stop trying to go it alone--get in timing with Me.  One step ahead or one step behind is not where you belong--it's not where the promises are fulfilled.  Walk WITH Me.   Trust Me when I tell you I am here and I will never leave you. You are not responsible for anyone's dedication and prayer life but your own.  See that you remember that.  It's your time, freely given, anticipating My every word that I desire to walk into and work through." One morning, towards the end of December 2024, I prayed and waited in my quie...

I wanted a catchy first line to begin this devotion.  A hook.  Something to really pull you in so that you would pause and take a seat and talk with me just a minute.  But honestly, the words that popped in my mind as I was waking up came with a tune: We three kings of Orient are; bearing gifts we traverse afar, field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star. I know it sounds ridiculous.  After all, most people have stopped listening to Christmas music.  I know I have.  Haven't played any since Christmas Day.  (Of course, the GAC Christmas movies are still playing.) But when I woke up, those lyrics and the music began.  Completely out of nowhere.  Why?  I wondered that myself, but then, as I lay there to get my brain fixed on what day it was--it came to me.  I was reminded that the wise men didn't show up at the birth.  They showed up on the doorstep.  They popped in for a quick visit at the house.  Unex...

As I have been praying about the new year—I contemplated some of the matters of the heart I have dealt with the past several years and what I wanted to pass down to my children and grandchildren.  I thought of these life reminders to help them live with more “peace” and less “chaos and stress”.   Grow where you are planted.   If you don’t like where you are, try to keep in mind nothing is ever permanent. Make a difference where you are- while you are there.  Be productive.     Real plants can’t grow if you surround them with fake plants.  This past year, I did what I’ve seen a few others do: I tucked some brightly colored artificial plants in with some real plants in a couple of pots that I had outside.  They looked great!  But I soon noticed the real plants withering.  I added more water.  I waited. In a few weeks, the real plants had completely died from the outside to the soil!  Something in the plastic caused serious ...

On October 25th, of this year, I had been praying in my prayer time, and the Holy Spirit gave me a word that I wrote out in my prayer journal.  I found it again this morning, feeling prompted to pull that particular book open- as tears filled my eyes--it spoke afresh to me this morning.  I feel like there is another who needs this word this morning: "For I, the Lord God, am your everlasting Provider.  There is nothing that I cannot supply.  Your trust is secure in Me.  I do not fail.  I have called you and will keep you.  Do you understand how I had all these things already in My sight?  I knew you before you were born.  I have already equipped you with the necessary weaponry to fight any battle--use what you know.  I am FAITHFUL.  Don't forget all I have already brought you through." In all my years of walking with God, I have learned that HE is always faithful.  We will go through battles and times when we feel are the deepes...

"The way to overcome what overwhelms you is to get a picture of yourself not as you see yourself, but as God sees you. God does not see you defeated. God does not see you bound. God does not see you as poor and broke. He does not see you as walked on and kicked by life. God sees you as an overcomer. God sees you as the head and not the tail. God sees you as blessed and highly favored. God's way of bringing victory into your life is to show you yourself--not the way you see yourself but the way HE sees you. You may think you were, are and will always be depressed. You may see yourself as having to battle with limited or less than. BUT this is not what God sees. He has different information about you." ( Jentezen Franklin , Overcoming When You Feel Overwhelmed, page 84.) . (YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK) Our small group is reading this book, and again, God chose it at the perfect time for us. This is the season--when things around us seem to be going haywire- or blear...

Have you ever considered the timing of the miracles in your life? The ones that you know - without a doubt - are bonafide miracles from God.  The  "eleventh-hour"   kind.  The   "just in the nick of time"   kind.   There is nothing about our miracles and the timing that is happenstance.  Every detail of our lives is perfectly planned out and orchestrated according to God's timing... Let's visit with two women in the Bible who have unique miracle stories...both involving a baby--miraculously born--at a very unexpected time in both their lives:  Sarah and Elizabeth.   Since day one of marriage, I am sure they both dreamed of holding their own babies in their arms--nursing and protecting the little hoped-for infants.  But as the years for both women rolled on by and all their friends' homes were filled with midnight crying infants, the homes of Sarah and Elizabeth remained utterly silent, save for the steady breathing and possible snor...