Posted on by joyfuloneblog

Which Woman Are You?

A dream… Jesus… three women of faith.

[Photo Cred: DreamsTime]

[The following paragraph is a paraphrase from “Streams in the Desert” by L.B. Cowman; updated by James Reimann.]

A woman dreamt that she saw three women kneeling in prayer and Jesus appeared. He approached the first woman, laid His hand upon her and gave her a loving glance and kind words. For the second woman, He placed His hand upon her shoulder and gave her His look of approval. As He approached the third woman, He barely looked her way and kept on walking. The woman who had the dream was saddened and perplexed. “What could that third woman possibly have done for Jesus to walk right past her and not acknowledge her at all?” Jesus appeared to her and explained, “The first woman believes in Me, but she’s uncertain, not deeply rooted in her faith and she needs My loving hand upon her and my kind words of affirmation. The second woman has a stronger faith, has committed to following Me and shares her faith. The third woman has fully surrendered to My will and ways. She never wavers, never falters in her faith, and trusts me fully.” (Of note, when I mentioned above that this is a “paraphrase”, it truly is as I’m writing this from memory, but the message is the same.) I also dropped this on my podcast – here is the LINK if you’d like to check it out.

I’ve definitely been Woman number one; especially in the very beginning of my faith walk. I believed, I was saved, I was baptized, but I still “didn’t know, what I didn’t know”, or fully understand what it meant to surrender. For most of my journey, I’ve remained steadfast, comparatively like Woman number two, my roots continually growing deeply in my faith. I’d drop my “stuff” at the foot of the cross, but sometimes I’d make my way back with a tote bag and “take back” some of the small stuff… the things that I thought I could handle on my own, that I didn’t want to “bother” Him with. Ultimately, I couldn’t even handle the small stuff, so I’d trudge back to the foot of the cross and overturn my tote bag, giving it all back to Him.

Ah… Woman number three! How I WANT to be HER! But truth to tell, I think I’d still like Jesus’ loving glance of approval (ego, I guess). But when I imagine being so fully surrendered and obedient, I sometimes feel “unworthy”. I’ve struggled with “unworthiness” for a good part of my life, going back to my adolescence and early adulthood. When I was in high school, I was somewhere in the “middle”. I wasn’t one of the popular girls, nor was I an athletic girl… just someone in the middle who showed up, made a couple of close friends, figuring that’s all I deserved. But when I became a Christian, I believed that I was worthy of Jesus’ love. That as a Daughter of the King and having been saved by the blood of Christ on the cross, I was worthy. Sometimes. Not all the time. But probably most of the time. My struggle with unworthiness ebbs and flows and no doubt this is what keeps me from moving on to be more like Woman number three. But that’s okay… I’m a work in progress!

Where are you in your faith walk? Which woman are you?

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.” ~Proverbs 31:30

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” ~Proverbs 31:25

~Let Love Lead the Way~

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Posted on by joyfuloneblog

Can I get some earplugs, please?

It’s been so NOISY!

[Photo Cred: GoGraph]

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged because I’ve always felt as though I was divinely-guided to write, and I haven’t “heard” the Holy Spirit in a while. Not His fault by any means. Life has gotten in my way and I absolutely let it. COVID, weight gain, the loss of my job after twenty-four years, stress, anxiety, depression. (I wonder if I’ve forgotten anything?)

The cacophonous sounds of the world have overshadowed the tranquil and peaceful sounds of my love for Jesus and my faith walk. Sure, I’m in the Bible every day (which I committed to back when I was saved in January of 2017), but I’ve realized that of late, it’s become more perfunctory than with praise and thanksgiving. I’m ready to take my spiritual life back and in order to do that I need some earplugs. I want to drown out all of the noise in my life that’s constantly been living in my head. I want to fully turn back to God and fully commit to being a “good and faithful servant.”

During these last couple of years I have always remained thankful, grateful and blessed, never doubting for a minute how much God loves me and that He’s always with me. I’m not going to entirely blame the noise of the world for getting in my way and pulling me down. Apparently, I’d been a willing participant (insert eye-roll emoji here). Good grief. I’ve been so depressed, so anxious, so uncertain. But today, the Holy Spirit showed up and gave me a thoughtful and swift kick to get my attention and pull me out of the fog that I’ve been rolling around in.

There are so many uncertainties in our lives on this earth, but it’s with one-hundred percent certainty that when I’m done here, I know EXACTLY where I’m going and all I can say is, “Thank God”! Yes! Thank God for His gift of salvation and His promises. When I’ve let the world get in my head and in my way, my heart always knew that the eventual outcome would still be the same… heaven! But in the meantime, while I’m living in the here and now, I want to be deeply rooted in my faith, truly keeping my eyes on Him first and foremost.

When did I lose sight of Him? It’s like I was wearing glasses with an old prescription and I couldn’t keep Him in focus. I knew He was there, but it’s like there was a chasm between us. A large gaping ravine that I didn’t have the courage to attempt to jump over, so I didn’t even try. Had I been wearing the proper eyeglass prescription, I would’ve clearly seen His outstretched hand ready, willing and fully able to pull me across it and closer to Him. Even though He is always there, I have to put in the work. I can’t just expect Him to “fix” me. John 16:33 tells us that we “will have trials and tribulations”, but Romans 8:28 also tells us that “God works all things together for good”. I just need to remind myself that fully trusting in Him is all I need and He’ll take care of the rest.

Today, I chose joy when I woke up. It’s been a while since I’ve awakened with a light heart and I’m praying that my days ahead will be full of joy as I continue to rely on my confident, living hope…Jesus.

PRAYER: Thank You, God, for your steadfast and eternal faithfulness. I pray for clear discernment as I read Your Word so that I can “hear” what You’re saying to me. May my words, thoughts, actions, and deeds be true reflections of my life in You, and may I always share Your love with others. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
‭‭~John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ (‭NLT)‬‬

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
‭‭~Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ (NLT)‬‬

http://Www.instagram.com/tapintogodsword

~Let Love Lead The Way~

Posted on by joyfuloneblog

God Loves You, Whether You Like It Or Not!

I came across this pic somewhere on Facebook a while ago and saved it to my phone.  I don’t remember who posted it, so I’m unable to give credit where credit is due!

GLY

I haven’t blogged in a while, the reason being is that my writing has to come to me by way of the Holy Spirit.  There have been many times when I’ve sat down at my computer thinking, “Today’s a great day for a blog post”, and then I sit there…and sit…and sit, and I resign myself to the fact that, “I’ve got nothin’!”  When I recently poured over my previous blog posts, I realized that with each of them I was “moved” to write them.  A theme, phrase or word would be rolling around in my head (or maybe it was my heart), and as soon as I’d sit down to write, the words flowed effortlessly and that’s when I realized that they weren’t even my own.  Okay…maybe a few.

Prior to beginning my Christian walk (three years ago this month), I knew ABOUT God, but I didn’t KNOW Him.  I knew He existed – I never doubted that for one second – but what I did doubt was that I was important to Him, nor did I understand the unfathomable and eternal depths to which He loves me.  Let’s face it, I was a more-than-middle-aged woman, banging around on a Harley with a mouth that would make a longshoreman blush.  I wasn’t a “bad” person, but I was so far from God that I just figured that it was too late for me.  Too late for me to truly know the forgiveness and love of Jesus, too late for me to have a brand new start.  I was so ill-informed.

I gave my life to Christ the same day I walked into Granite United Church.  There, the Holy Spirit and I were formally introduced when I closed my eyes and prayed for Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to be my Lord and Savior.  I was forgiven, I was saved and I became a child of God, just as is promised in John 1:12 ~ “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.” (NLT)  What an AH-MAZING GIFT!  It still blows my mind that with that one decision to cross the line of faith, I had a brand new life in Him!

As I eagerly delved into my new life, which of course included reading the bible, I felt somewhat hesitant, intimidated, unsure if I would truly absorb His Word and be able to apply it to my life.  I mean the “old me” was lingering around (thus, the feelings of unworthiness and self-doubt were gnawing at me), but thankfully the “new me” began to feel empowered and confident.  I was blessed to participate in a weekly women’s bible study, the teacher of which I will never be able to thank enough for her guidance, friendship and mentorship.  If someone would have told me a few years ago that I would become a Born-Again Christian, that I would put Jesus first in my life, watch Him move mountains that I was convinced would NEVER move, and that I would think the bible is the coolest book EVER, I would’ve rolled my eyes into the back of my skull and I shudder to think of what would’ve come out of my mouth!  :::Whoops!:::

But here I am…living a new life…a life filled with joy, peace, love and HOPE!

God loves you, whether you like it or not….and I LOVE how He loves me!

“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” ~ Jeremiah 31:3 (NLT)

#LetLoveLeadTheWay – TP