Devot. Mother's Day

 HI Folks,

I hope you have had a good week!  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers-those who are biological/adopted moms,  biological/ adoptive aunties and those ladies (young and old alike) who are making a spiritual impact  as a mother in the lives of those around them.   For any who have lost their mothers, my prayers will be with you this weekend for the Lord to comfort your hearts.

I pray the below would be a blessing to some mother, or you know a mom who could be greatly blessed by it.  I have said to my own mother many times that I can see (from the lives of the moms around me) that mothers are superheroes and deserve recognition, support and honor for what they go through to raise Godly children to love Jesus.  It's tough, hard, painful work!   I remember a homeschool mother of 4 that I know saying to me once, "I'm raising these children with eternity (Heaven) in mind. That is my main priority right now."  She was encouraging them to personally accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior and then love, serve and honor Him now and for the rest of their lives and she knew that was her purpose for this point in her life, and she took it seriously. 

For those that are mothers in any way, may the Lord bless you for the love, care you have invested in your children!  

I pray the below devots. and podcast are a blessing to your weekend.  Below the podcast is some info from a well known, reputable organization if you would care to help a momma overseas someway.  (This organization has been on the front lines of helping in Ukraine as well).

Lord bless your weekend!

Devot. She Shall Be Praised: (From Prov. 31:)

https://www.icr.org/article/20606

(Used by permission.  Taken from https://www.icr.org/)

Devot. 3 Reasons Your Mess Makes You a Great Momma:

https://www.dayspring.com/articles/3-reasons-your-mess-makes-you-a-great-mama?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220501YourMessMakesYouAGreatMamaArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List

(Used by permission.  Taken from https://www.dayspring.com/)

Podcast: Humility: A Mom's Secret Weapon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLT0UOmFEIg&list=WL&index=14

Devot Born to Die

 Dear Friends,

I hope you had a blessed Resurrection weekend!  Can you imagine being born and knowing from the beginning that your whole purpose in being born, was to die for the sins of the world?  What a heavy weight and yet, that was what Jesus did for us.....Pray that the devot. below ministers to your heart this week.  

Have a blessed weekend! 

"Unless there is a Good Friday in your life there can be no Easter Sunday." (Toby Mac, #SpeakLife)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

(Devot. Below Used by permission.  Taken from https://www.icr.org/)

April 15, 2022 Born to Die “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) Especially as noted in the gospel of John, Christ identified many reasons why He had been born. Consider the following sampling of verses and references. First and foremost, Christ came to redeem those who would believe: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). But under that umbrella of redemption come many other aspects. Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34). God’s will was paramount even in judgment (John 5:30) as well as resurrection. “This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). It also governed His teaching (7:16-17). In everything, Christ sought to bring glory to His Father (7:18). Many aspects of Christ’s work are to be realized in this life, for He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). His desire in it all was that we might have an eternal relationship with God. “That they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). But the primary goal was to bring to climax His redemptive strategy. He knew that none of the other aspects of His work had any effect without atonement for sin, which was only possible if a blood sacrifice was made for that sin. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). This was the reason He came to Earth. JDM

Devot. The Shedding of Blood

 Hi Folks,

I hope everyone is having a blessed and contemplative Good Friday.

Below are 2 devots. on why Jesus had to die, why the shedding of His blood was so necessary in order for the sins of the world to be forgiven.

The devot. from ICR below does a super job of explaining but one verse from Scripture also comes to mind as well, "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission (forgiveness)."

According to Old New Testament law, blood had to be shed in order for sins to be forgiven.  In the Old Testament it was the shed of spotless, perfect in appearance lambs that was used to represent the covering and forgiveness of sins.  In the New testament, it was the Lord Jesus that become that sacrifice ("The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29)

I pray the devots. below teach you a valuable, Biblical truth that unfortunately is not as well spoken of in churches as it should be.

Have a blessed weekend!

Journey to the Cross: In the Blood

https://www.dayspring.com/articles/journey-to-the-cross-in-the-blood?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220413JourneytoTheCrossInTheBloodArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List

(Used by permission.  Taken from https://www.dayspring.com/)

Devot. Below Used by permission.  Taken from https://icr.org/)

April 9, 2022 Without the Shedding of Blood “Andalmost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22) It is strange that so many people object to the biblical doctrine of salvation through the shed blood of Christ. Even some evangelicals will argue that the blood is merely a chemical mixture, and that it was the death of Christ that was the price of our redemption. Chemistry aside, the Bible does indeed stress that “we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14), that He has “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20), and that we are “now justified by his blood” (Romans 5:9). We receive His great work of propitiation—that is His sacrificial death for our sins—“through faith in his blood” (Romans 3:25). Why this emphasis on the shedding of His blood, which seems offensive to so many people? Could He not have been put to death in other ways—drowning, stoning, asphyxiation, etc.—ways not involving the ugliness of bloodshed? One can speculate with many “what if?” questions, but we must go by the Word of God. It remains true, theologically as well as biologically, that “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11, also Genesis 9:4). The basic rationale of sacrifice—the death of an innocent substitute to provide life for the guilty—has centered from the beginning (when God provided coats of skin for the nakedness of Adam and Eve) on the spilled blood of sacrificial animals to atone for (that is “to cover”) the sins of the one bringing the offering, until finally “the Lamb of God” could be offered by God as “one sacrifice for sins for ever” (Hebrews 10:12). When the blood gushed from His pierced side, His spotless life was poured out at the foot of the cross, and the price of our redemption was fully paid. HMM

Devot. Journey to the Cross: Pride and Fasting

 Hello Friends,

In Philippians 2:4-11, we read, "Let each of you look out not only for his own 

interests, but also for the interests of others.  Let this mind be in you which was 

also in Christ Jesus,  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery 

to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form 

of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him 

the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee 

should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under 

the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father."

We are commanded to first consider others ahead of ourselves-be selfless instead of selfish.  Then we are given the most powerful example of selflessness-the Lord Jesus.  Can you imagine Jesus, being God Himself (states He was equal with God=because He was God), took the form of a lowly servant here on earth, took the form of mortal man yet was 100% God, but did not rub that fact in ("made Himself of no reputation").

But as a man, He obeyed His purpose for coming to earth-to die a painful death and pay the sin debt for sinful mankind which only God Himself could. And because of His obedience, He has been exalted to the extent that-one day-every, single knee-those alive, those who have died, those in Heaven and hell, will bow before Him and confess that He is indeed Savior and God! 

Now lately I've been around a lot of folks who are Christians, but I'm not seeing them live it out in the sense of being selfless-considering others around them, whether it's being patient and holding a door open for someone behind them or offering Christian encouragement. 

We're called to be like Christ-selfless, not thinking of only ourselves or being prideful...It's made me think a lot...Am I being Christ like in my interactions with others?

Below are 2 devots. that spoke to my heart this week,  and a  song that describes our Savior  Blessings!

Song: My King is Known by Love: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwRg7C6dADw&list=RDMMzxjvNUNXhkU&index=2

(Devots. used by permission.  Taken from https://dayspring.com/)

JOURNEY TO THE CROSS: PRIDE

https://www.dayspring.com/articles/journey-to-the-cross-pride?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220323JourneyToTheCrossPrideArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List

JOURNEY TO THE CROSS:

https://www.dayspring.com/articles/journey-to-the-cross-fasting-as-service?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220330JourneytotheCrossFastingAsServiceArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List

Devot. Journey to the Cross-Quiet Time and Facing Sin

 Hello Folks,

I hope you have had a good week!!  

I am going to start moving into some "Resurrection Week devots."

I pray the below are a blessing, give you something to think about.

I am also including a link below the devots. that a dear friend sent to me.  It's a Brother in Christ, a Ukraine Refugee speaking about  the situation in Ukraine (it's only 20 minutes).  (Several New Testament Scriptures state that for those who have trusted Christ, they are Brothers and Sisters in Christ to one another).  As I said a few weeks ago, the only way to get the truth, know what's really going on, is from those who have lived it.   From what I have watched so far, I think it will bless your heart.   

Have a blessed weekend! 

(Devots. used by permission.   Taken from https://www.dayspring.com/)

Journey to the Cross: Quiet Time 

https://www.dayspring.com/articles/quiet-time-2021?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220309JourneyToTheCrossQuietTimeArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List

Journey to the Cross: Facing Sin

https://www.dayspring.com/articles/facing-sin-2021?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220316JourneyToTheCrossFacingSinArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List

Testimony from a Ukraine Christian Refugee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGZ_YBjCggE

Devot. A Thankful Spirit in the Midst of Adversity

 Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a good start to your week!! Below is something that encouraged my heart greatly and convicted it as well-How to keep a spirit of gratefulness in the midst of adversity.  

A read an email from a ministry here in the US that supports Ukrainian pastors.   It was the story of a pastor's wife in Ukraine on how she is retaining a spirit of thankfulness in the midst of their great hardship and then a short lesson from Scripture on thankfulness in the midst of adversity.

I know for myself, I am not as consciously thankful as I should be on a daily basis and I tend to complain over the little things. (My mom reminded me this week that any bumps in my road pale in comparison to what Ukraine is experiencing-that was the reality I needed to get my heart right!)  When I returned from my mission trip overseas last year, I was daily thinking of the things I was grateful to have and thanking the Lord for it (clean water, clean clothes), but I haven't been as conscious these days.

I pray you will take the time to think of the above, with the examination of heart, asking yourselves, "I am even thinking to lift up a 'thank you' to God in my day for even the little things, or do I take it for granted?" and then the challenge yourself, "I am going to find things in my day that I can say 'thank You for!" (even a close parking spot or a green light).  As I have quoted many times, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!" (Ps. 107:31-a command!)

I will also link a short podcast that you could listen to through your week of an update on Ukraine from a Christian on the ground.

I feel that the best source of reality and truth is from someone who is there, but it's also refreshing to hear it from a Sister in Christ.

Pray you will be blessed by the below this week!

PODCAST, UPDATE ON UKRAINE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3tk11rnGjs

(THIS PODCAST WAS IN THE EARLY WEEKS OF THE UKRAINE CONFLICT, BUT I STILL THINK YOU WOULD FIND IT ENCOURGAING!)

Keep Praying for Ukraine!

 DEAR FRIENDS,

I PRAY YOU HAVE A HAD A PEACEFUL WEEK....BELOW ARE SOME RESOURCES TO ENCOURAGE YOU THIS WEEK IN LIGHT OF THE CRISIS IN UKRAINE.  KEEP UP PRAYING FOR THEM!!

EACH OF THE BELOW HAS ENCOURAGED ME A GREAT DEAL AND I PRAY THAT WOULD UPLIFT YOUR HEART THIS WEEKEND.......GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS! 

PODCAST: Hope and Perspective for the Crises in Ukraine:

(TO LISTEN TO, VERY ENCOURAGING!!!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDXvPZOi_LM

News Article: 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ukraine-russia-churches-nonprofit-donations

A link to receive daily, updated prayer requests from Ukraine:

https://www.sga.org/. 

Devot. Praise Him in the Storm

 Hello Folks,

I hope you had a super week!  

Below I think is a timely reminder for all of us in the midst of the uncertainty in our world.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."  Jesus was saying to NOT worry about the next day, not to borrow trouble or look ahead, because today had enough problems of its own.

But then Jesus said in Matthew 10:29-31,  "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? (a half of a penny) and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

The Lord Jesus is saving that if God Himself notices when a bird falls out of a tree, He knows the tiny details of our lives (how many hairs we have exactly at any given time!)- and that if He cares about that little bird, we are of even more value to Him.    

I pray that the devots below remind you that the Lord Jesus is with you in whatever storms you are facing right now, He already tomorrow in His view, you and every detail of your life are very valuable to Him.  Lord bless your weekend!

Praise Him in the Storm:

https://www.dayspring.com/dailydevotion?date=2022-02-05&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DaySpring%20Daily%20Devotion%202022-02-05&utm_term=DaySpring%20Daily%20Devotion

(Used by permission.  Taken from https://www.dayspring.com/)

Devot. Love and the Heart

 DEAR FRIENDS,

BELOW ARE 2 VALENTINE THEMED DEVOTS. THAT I THOUGHT WERE THOUGHT PROVOKING AND I ALSO INCLUDED A LINK FOR A FREE BOOK.

IT'S TRUE STORIES OF LADIES WHO LIVED OUT THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST IN UNCERTAIN TIMES.  

THIS BOOK KEPT ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT AND I PLOWED THROUGH IT IN 2 NIGHTS!  I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!! IT STRENGTHENED MY FAITH...THIS WOULD BE IDEAL FOR ANYONE, BUT IF YOU HAVE TEEN OR COLLEGE GIRLS IN YOUR FAMILY, THIS WOULD BE A SUPER GIFT 🎉!

PRAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND!

FREE BOOK:

https://www.persecution.com/HEARTSOFFIRE/

DEVOT. ACCEPTING GOD'S GIFT OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE:  (CAN LISTEN TO OR READ)

https://www.intouch.org/read/daily-devotions/accepting-god-s-gift-of-love    

(USED BY PERMISSION.  TAKEN FROM https://www.intouch.org/)

DEVOT. LOVE AND THE HEART BELOW.  

USED BY PERMISSION.  TAKEN FROM https://icr.org/)

February 14, 2022 Love and the Heart “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37) According to Jesus, this is “the great commandment of the law” and this is also the first verse in the New Testament to associate “love” and the “heart.” This “love,” of course, is not romantic love (the Greek word for that love is never used in the New Testament at all), but the divine type of love (Greek agape), as in “God so loved the world.” The “heart” (Greek kardia, from which come such English words as cardiology) is mentioned often in the Bible, but almost never means the actual physical organ. It refers to the emotional and spiritual components of man’s nature—“the hidden man of the heart” (1 Peter 3:4). We use “heart” for the same purposes in English. Just how this particular date came to celebrate the heart as a symbol of romantic love and to be called Valentine’s Day is uncertain. There were various emperors, popes, and religious leaders named Valentine in the early history of Christendom, including two Roman Catholics designated as Saint Valentine. In any case, Christians should remember that true Christian agape love should be manifested in our lives every day of the year. To that end, “see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Peter 1:22). True Christian love can only be expressed out of a heart that has been made pure. As Paul wrote young Timothy, “Now the end of the commandment is charity [that is, agape love] out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned” (1 Timothy 1:5). And remember that, first of all, we must “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). HMM

Devot. Showing Christ Like Love to Others

 Hello Folks,

I hope you had a super week!!!  

Below are some practical ways that we can express God's love to others.... Jesus said in John 13:35, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

Jesus was saying, "People will know that you love and follow me, especially if you show Christian love towards each other."   

The connotation and context of this verse (based on verse 34)  is Christians showing Christ-like love to other Christians,  but we can also apply it more broadly.  

I remember a Christian in my circle of friends relating that folks where he worked said to him, "You're different, you're not like everyone else.   What makes you different?"  They were then able to share that Christ made the difference in their lives.  These folks saw Christ in him and felt His love through them.

Below are 2 practical devots. on how we can reflect Christ's love to those who need to see that He can make a difference in their lives.

Have a blessed weekend! 

(Devot. used by permission.   https://www.dayspring.com/)

6 Ways to Show Love this Year: 

https://www.dayspring.com/articles/ways-to-show-love-in-2018?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220209WaysToShowLoveThisYearArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List

A Recipe for Love from Ephesians 4:

 https://www.dayspring.com/articles/a-recipe-for-love-from-ephesians-4?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEBNANN20220123LoveYourNeighborAsYourselfArticles&utm_term=DaySpring%20Newsletter%20%2B%20Daily%20Devotion%20List