August 22, 2021
“So may the words of my mouth, my meditation-thoughts, and every movement of my heart be always pure and pleasing, acceptable before your eyes, my only Redeemer, my Protector-God.”  Psalm 19:14 TPT
The verse above, Psalm 19:14, has been one of my favorite verses for years. I have learned, and continue to grow in His wisdom, that our words bring life or death. The words of my mouth need to be words that bring Him glory! Then the next part is the mediation of my thoughts. That’s a big thing. People hear my words but only He and I know my thoughts. Thoughts are easy to get going on and we end up meditating hours, days, years on good or bad thoughts. When we are focused on the Lord, we will have thoughts that are all about Him and His love. When our thoughts are not on Him, we get to thinking about all that is wrong or messed up in our lives. Our words and thoughts effect our heart. How vital it is to keep on our heart on Him. Now more than ever we need to keep our thoughts and heart on Him. What is in our hearts effect our every issue of our life. What’s in our hearts comes out through our words, actions or attitude. We want all that is in us to glorify Him!
 
The world is in a turmoil. Daily things are changing for the worse and also for the better. There’s more pressure put on those standing firm for what they believe to give in for the betterment of others. There is persecution when you stand on what the Lord has said, when you stand on His Word. BUT more people are deciding to stand firm and not give in. The “fruit” of the events of this last year are rotten and people are smelling the stench. This is not an easy time but it’s a time to see His victorious works in everything around us. Many issues in our country and the world are raising their ugly heads and the enemy is doing all he can to bring division and strife. As I pray, I continue to hear the Lord say that we must stand strong and we must encourage one another.
 
Standing strong. I’ve had people ask what does that mean? There are many ways we have to stand strong right now and the most important area is to stand strong and firm in Him. This means that you know that you know the Lord is your Rock and Salvation and that He will guide and direct you in all you do, never leave you or forsake you, love you unconditionally and that He cause is not causing this mess to happen to judge or punish the world because of sin. You must know in your heart that you are righteous in Him no matter what, He is your Healer, your Provider, your Savior, your everything. You must know and believe that His Word is true and that He is Truth. If you have doubts about any of this you will find yourself being tossed too and fro and not able to stand strong.  
 
“And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace. Just make sure you ask empowered by confident faith without doubting that you will receive. For the ambivalent person believes one minute and doubts the next. Being undecided makes you become like the rough seas driven and tossed by the wind. You’re up one minute and tossed down the next. When you are half-hearted and wavering it leaves you unstable. Can you really expect to receive anything from the Lord when you’re in that condition?” James 1:5-8
 
When it says Can you really expect to receive anything from the Lord when you’re in that condition?”, it is not saying the Lord will withhold anything from you if you doubt. What it says is you are not able to hear Him clearly when you are in this frame of mind. To stand strong you must believe something beyond a shadow of a doubt and not be willing to give into it any other ways. To stand strong in the Lord is simply surrendering your thoughts and ideas to Him, letting go and taking a step of faith. This doesn’t happen with every belief all at once, usually, but you persuade your heart one truth at a time. The most important truth to know first is that Jesus died for you, rose again to give you His life if you receive it. Once you know that you know how much He loves you no matter what then you have an open heart that the other truths can be built on.
 
Standing strong and firm in Him takes courage and His strength. To not give in when the enemy comes to tell you some lies about who you are not in Jesus can cause you to face criticism and judgment. “But those who wait for Yahweh’s grace will experience divine strength. They will rise up on soaring wings and fly like eagles, run their race without growing weary, and walk through life without giving up.” Isaiah 40:31 TPT
Awesome verse of truth! Notice you soar and fly like eagles but you also run your race without getting weary. That’s because He is your strength and you are standing on a truth that is firm in your heart. Then you are walking through life without giving up. Extremely important to know your life is in Him and you can never fail or give up in Him.
 
“Here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Don’t give up; don’t be impatient; be entwined as one with the Lord. Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope. Yes, keep on waiting—for he will never disappoint you!” Psalm 27:14 TPT This powerful verse says:
“This is what I have learned through it all.” –
#1 - Don’t give up;
#2 - Don’t be impatient;
#3 – Do be entwined as one with the Lord.
#4 - Be brave and courageous,
#5 - Never lose hope.
#6 - Yes, keep on waiting—for he will never disappoint you!”
 
We may ask “How can I do this?” I think the key thing of this verse is: Be entwined as one with the Lord. There is no way you can stand strong without giving up and losing hope if you don’t know what you are believing. The ONLY way to know who Jesus is in your life is to have a relationship with Him. The only way to build a strong foundation is spend time in His word – hearing and listening to what He is saying and spending time talking to Him through prayer and times of meditation. “Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 TPT
 
Wow! What a life verse for this season of our lives! Yielding to fear is doubting, giving in, giving up, and losing hope. It can happen every day in some area of our lives but we must quickly get our gaze – our eyes back on Him and His love. He will infuse you with His strength and help you in every situation! Can you believe and receive that? That is such a powerful truth. Sometimes I just sit and meditate on these verses that give me hope and promises. I let these words sink deep into my hearts. I meditate until the verse is hidden in my heart. “Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart, That I may not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11
 
There will be times of not seeing and hearing things clearly. But we have an answer and can quickly come back to His truths and promises. We must come back to the first verse I shared, “So may the words of my mouth, my meditation-thoughts, and every movement of my heart be always pure and pleasing, acceptable before your eyes, my only Redeemer, my Protector-God.”  When you start to doubt, give in, give up - stop and check out what your words have been and what you been meditating on. Take those thoughts captive and surrender them to Him. This is a daily surrender and prayer. Problems happen daily, daily we take them and surrender them to Him. This is the truth on how to stand strong and firm in Him. It’s His strength, not ours, because we have surrendered our heart and let go of the issues of life that hold us back we are able to walk in His strength. He’s made a way for us and now we must believe and take that step forward in faith knowing we have it all in Him!! Praying for you all and knowing we are standing strong together in Him!!

ugust 15, 2021
A few years ago the Lord gave me a word and vision of this ministry. This is what I heard.
“A time of hope. A time of healing. A time of opportunity and 2nd chances. A time of peace. As I sit and pray, seek the Lord and close my eyes – I see an actual newness – a new time. Every day is a day of faith but now it will bring the fruit of that faith. Our church – our ministry won’t look like it has the past 20 or more years. As a church family we will be close, real relational, in agreement, working together – hand in hand like no other time in Mtn High history. We are strong, determined, courageous and full of love. Never before has this small church body been such a beacon of light to this community and beyond to the world.” Psalm 32:8-9 Passion Bible - “I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathways for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with My eyes as your guide. So don’t make it difficult, don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before. Don’t make Me tug you and pull you along. Just come with Me!” It’s a time to go deeper in Him. His voice will call us closer to His heart. “When your heart responds to My voice, there you will find your true self, your divine destiny.” It is not a time to back off – back up – or back away. It is a time of new thinking.”
 
That is powerful! He gave me this a few years back and lately has again been speaking to me about Him doing something new. The Lord gave us Isaiah 43:19 as a declaration a couple years ago but it’s so true today too. There is always something new, sprouting, growing and maturing. “I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” Passion Bible Look into your own heart and see what that something new is. Perceive it and let it continue to bring harvest in your life.
 
This week the Lord was speaking to me about unity and our relationships. The world has become so noncontact that people are not used to working together. The Lord brought to mind verses of unity, working together as a family and encouraging one another. I believe we are living what the Word is saying but these verses are such a good reminder of how we can love one another.
All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves
steadfastly to prayer...” Acts 1:14   “And they steadfastly persevered, devoting themselves constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostles, to the breaking of the bread together, including the Lord’s Supper, and prayers.” Acts 2:42  
 
These verses from Acts have always been powerful to me. I have had this vision for 25+ years of us coming together, sometimes daily, united in praying together. There is power, strength, comfort, joy, peace and unity that comes from truly being steadfast and devoted. Together as a church family we are unstoppable. “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. Matthew 18:19
 
“We may not have it all together but together we have it all.”
This is a quote we have on a sign at the church. I saw this saying several years ago and the first thing I thought of was our church and ministry. How true this is. I can’t say that we have everything together or know everything we should be doing or how to do things. But I can say that when we are working together with the Lord as our Shepherd guiding the way – we have all we need. The last couple years the Lord continues to put on my heart just how vital it is that we are together as a church body and family. We may not see everything exactly the same – we may not approach every situation in the same way. Our togetherness is a unity that encourages, protects, instructs, praises, works with, supports, gives to, prays for and has love for one another. Together we help and encourage one another in every way.
 
We have seen so many deaths the last few months. Most of them sudden. Today being Caleb’s birthday, I was thinking about how I could have maybe hugged him one more time, told him I loved him and cared. I did this almost every time I talked to him or saw but know I missed a few opportunities. Today Ed is at the service of our friend, Glenda, in Kansas City. I would love to go back to that evening a couple weeks ago and give her one more hug or tell her how much she means to me. I’m not in condemnation but I know in my heart and realize the Lord had led me to show His love more.
 
People are important. People are treasures. The many other things we think are important and necessary aren’t always as important as we think. Time is one of the most valuable gifts that we have and we do have time for people and relationships. It’s God’s way. We stay busy most of our waking hours and for myself I know I do a lot of busy work instead of being relational. Having my Mom live with us has helped me realize that these moments are not coming back so I need to cherish them NOW.
 
Lately, I’ve noticed how much people stay away from one another. Some are in fear of getting covid, some use this deceitful distraction as an excuse to stay home and not be involved. No matter what reason we have to not come together it is not according to His Word. His word continuously tells us to come together to love and encourage one another.
 
 “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being in one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also the interests of others.” Philippians 2:1-4
 
 “We are standing firm and united in spirit and purpose, striving side by side and contending with a single mind for the faith of the Gospel.” Philippians 1:27
 
“So now we must cling tightly to the hope that lives within us, knowing that God always keeps His promises! Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them towards acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing, because we need each other! In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.” Hebrew 10: 23-25 Passion translation
 
“Be strengthened, perfected, completed, made what you ought to be; be encouraged and consoled and comforted; be of the same agreeable mind one with another; live in peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and love of God and the presence and fellowship – communion and sharing together and participation in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen” 2 Corinthians 13:11, 14
 
As we go forward in Him, ministering here in our church family, reaching those in our community that are hurting and longing for real acceptance and love and as we reach across the oceans to countries far away we need to do it all in one accord and together. Our church is powerful and unstoppable but even more so as more of us bind together in unity and all of us doing the work of the ministry. Thank you for being such as awesome church family. We love you all so much and so blessed by each of you!!
“Five of you shall chase a hundred,
and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight;…” Leviticus 26:8 

August 1, 2021
“Thank You, Father, for another beautiful day! For Your mercies that are new every morning and for Your love that flows over and in me. I thank You for Your breath that You breathe in me.”
 
This morning I’m thankful for our church family and your love and patience. July was a crazy, busy month for us and I missed quite a few times of being able to share. Even now, I don’t have lots of time but I want to write a few things. Some times over the last couple months I just ran out of time to do many things, including the devotional. Other times there was so much going on in my heart I wasn’t sure which way to go. The challenges of the last 9 months have made me look deeper into my heart. I’ve learned about what I was missing in Him when these challenges came. I have EVERYTHING in Him but I found out just how much I depended on my own thoughts and plans. The last 9 months have not been void of loss and tragedy. Seems like it came 1 thing on top of another. I hadn’t even had time to heal before life hit us again with more. I had different emotions through this than I am used to. One emotion I felt more than any other time I remember is anger. My heart is more about being a peace maker but 2020 brought some anger and some righteous anger as well. Many situations throughout the year I let myself get angry over instead of casting my cares on Him.
 
Most of the life changing situations in our life this past year were blatant attacks of the enemy.  There were attacks but we saw miracles - unbelievable answers to prayers – provision – peace that passes our understanding – exceedingly, abundant answers above our thoughts and imaginations. Our Father God never left us - never abandoned us to do it alone. A couple of thousand years ago He sent the Comforter to be with us, the Holy Spirit.
 
Yet, in all He was doing in our days of challenges I made the choice to sometimes focus on my hurt more than on all He was and is doing. When things piled up I got behind on many responsibilities, communications and relationships. The more I tried to catch up the more I wasn’t resting in Him. My heartaches were wearing me down physically and emotionally. I would cast them on Him but somehow ended up carrying more before I could heal. The grief and shock that came with our grandson Caleb’s death just left me numb. For over 2 months we, Ed and I, have had to continuously be united in not being divided. We both have different ways of handling grief and the Lord has given us His Holy Spirit to help us ministering to one another in the pain.
 
My Mom is living with us also which we are so thankful for and feel honored and blessed to help her through this time of grief in her life. Her grief, rejection and abandonment bring all of us heartache. Through these times, any of the 3 of us have opportunities to get down, discouraged, feel alone emotionally, have feelings of anger, and confusion. But the Word says count it all joy when you fall into various trials. He made a way for us in these hard times.
 
“My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!”
James 1:2
 
One translation says to throw yourself a party. But many times, we throw ourselves a PITY PARTY instead of rejoicing in Him.  It’s easy to get going down the road of survival, hurrying here and there, covering up the tears, hurts and grief with busyness instead of casting it on Him. Sometimes in my daze I wander in circles desiring clarity in my heart and mind when all I feel and see is fog. BUT He has held us all close. Our home is full of peace in the mist of the hurts. It’s been a season like no other we have experienced and life challenges probably won’t go away but my heart is learning to rest in Him. He is our Redeemer and He is redeeming what the enemy stole. We are thankful, grateful, and rejoicing in Him always.
 
Here’s a few things the Lord has spoken to me. There’s so much more that I will share another time. Just these make a difference in knowing who I am in Him and that He is in me and cares for me and for my whole family.
 
**Take a break from the distractions in life that cause unnecessary worrying.
 
**As surely as the sun rises in the east, so will I come through for you😊
 
“So now we draw near freely and boldly to where grace is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness.” Hebrews 4:16
 
**I must take my limited view and exchange it for His view.
 
**It is a day for celebrating. The sadness that flowed into your life with pain, grief, loss, death, confusion, anger did not sweep you away!
 
**Let go of fears about not being comfortable – comfort is over rated.
 
“All who are obsessed with being secure in life will lose it all—including their lives. But those who let go of their lives and surrender them to me will discover true life.”
Luke 17:33
 
“Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10
 
“Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
 
“And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” John 16:33