Today I am writing about the ONE THING THAT IS TRUE MADNESS! I know I have written on MADNESS for the past three weeks. However, today’s post stands out above them all!

Even though it is madness to run in a direction we do not know the destination of…
Even though it is madness to exhibit extremely foolish behavior…
Even though it is madness to step in any direction except toward God…

The greatest madness of all is not realizing that TODAY is the only day we have, God made it, and we are to rejoice in it!

“This is the day The Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24

MADNESS is all around us. There is no escaping it! People left to their own devices do selfish, unkind, and at times, unthinkable acts. We can succumb to the MADNESS and join the angry protestors. We can rant, rave, march, protest, scream, cry or fall into a pit of despair and depression. However, in the end, selfish people will continue to do selfish things, and all of the promises made will once again result in MADNESS.

So, am I saying it is hopeless? Am I saying to give up?

NO! I am saying, “LET’S STOP THE MADNESS!”
Let’s do the ONLY THING THAT ISN’T TRUE MADNESS! LET’S PUT OUR ACTIONS INTO TRUE POWER!
Let’s give each and every day to THE ONLY ONE who can stop the madness! Acting any other way is THE ONE THING THAT IS TRUE MADNESS!

“THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE. WE WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”

God Himself gave us this day! He allowed us to breath air into our lungs for one more day. He allowed our eyes to open for one more day. He allowed our bodies to move and function for one more day. He allowed our voice to speak for one more day. He allowed our hands to help someone in need for one more day! He allowed our heart to break and demonstrate compassion for one more day. He allowed our arms to reach around and provide comfort for one more day. He allowed our feet to move into action one more day.

TRUTH BOMB

THE ONE THING THAT IS TRUE MADNESS IS NOT RECOGNIZING THE GIFT OF TODAY!

We are not promised tomorrow. It may never come. Yesterday is over and cannot be relived.
WE ONLY HAVE TODAY! IT IS A GIFT! DON’T WASTE IT!

I was blessed by God with a priceless treasure, a godly grandmother who not only demonstrated her faith in God, but she also lived it out!

She gave to me the secret of ending the MADNESS! She told me and she showed me how!

“Each and every day is a gift Lisa.”
She said, “Begin each day by thanking God for it, and committing it to Him!” Each and every day that you wake up, breath in the air around you, and open your eyes, put your feet on the floor and say, ‘THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE. I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!'”

Watching her live out her life doing this, encouraged me to do the same. I did not watch her slide into each day worry free. I watched her live each day out trusting in her faithful God to take care of the problems of the day! I did not watch her walk through each day healthy and strong. I watched her live each day out sharing her faith with others as she endured cancer treatment 5 times over! I did watch her live each day with the JOY OF THE LORD oozing out of her and spreading it to others because she lived out The Truth of God’s Word and allowed it to cut through the MADNESS!

The MADNESS is all around us and it isn’t going to go away because March is over. The true MADNESS we can stop is not recognizing each and every day as a gift from God, and rejoicing in it and living it for HIM! That is the key!

Today I am writing from a very personal place! The title I should have put on this week’s Blog was: ‘MOVING IS MADNESS!’       I have moved three times in the last four months and it is MADNESS! Send caffeine PLEASE…

I packed up a home after 11 years and sorted through all of the memories with lots of tears. I moved and relocated across the state and worked hard to set up what I believed to be our new home. However, God had a different plan. I am now in the middle of DAY 8, packing up that home and moving to another. Dear Friends, it feels like sheer MADNESS!
I have felt sad, lonely, isolated, fatigued, weary, confused, disappointed…and yet at times-renewed, strengthened, encouraged, blessed, and even exhilarated! Only because I had the example of a godly grandma who demonstrated for me the life that cuts through the MADNESS and gives true strength, meaning and purpose!

Today is the only day we are given! How are you going to live it?

I chose to get out of bed, put my feet on the floor, raise my hands to heaven and say,
“THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE. I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!”

I pray you will be able to do the same!

Speak Truth Love

I’ve been told that MADNESS is continuing to do something over and over, and over again even though it has produced nothing good!

Just look at this dedicated basketball fan as he proudly wears his team’s shirt during the infamous MARCH MADNESS college basketball tournament.

Did his team make it to the finals? Did they even make it to the “Sweet Sixteen” round where the final top 16 College basketball teams play to make it to the finals?

NO, they did not! But does that mean that his commitment and faithfulness to his hometown team equate to MADNESS? NO, it does not!
He will fold the shirt and put it away in a drawer until next year when he will pull it out again and faithfully cheer his team on!
He will trust that the team will work hard in the off season toward the goal of not only making it to the “SWEET SIXTEEN” next year, but all the way to the finals. Does the team or this enthusiastic fan have a guarantee that they will make it next season? NO, they do not, but they will still condition themselves, discipline their exercise and eating habits, work out individually and together as a team, listen to the coaches and their instruction, and once again play their hardest and best to make it to MARCH MADNESS!

What about us? What about you? What about me?

Do you find yourself during this month of MADNESS, in-between the cold weather we are leaving in our rear view mirrors, and the warm weather of Spring that beckons us to show our bear, pale arms again, doing the same thing over and over again with no good coming from it?
Or are you ready to take the steps necessary to walk this life with faithfulness and perseverance? Even when the steps seem repetitive and like they’re going no where or going much too slowly!

“Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He WILL make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

in another version it says;

“Trust in The Lord with ALL of your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His Will in ALL you do, and He WILL show you which path to take.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

Then I love the way the Message puts it next…

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in EVERYTHING you do, EVERYWHERE you go; He’s The One who will keep you on track.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Message
Don’t assume that you know it all!

Seriously, if that doesn’t hit you right between the eyes then nothing will!

It may be a familiar verse to some of us, but I believe it is one we more easily take a “nod” at, rather than absorb the whole TRUTH that lies within it!

I do not know about you, but I have been in a tough season these past 14 months. Most specifically, I have been putting one foot in front of the other each and every day for the past 4 months, not knowing where I am stepping, but trusting that God does!

God called us to a new ministry 4 months ago. It is in Northern California and we have lived the better part of our 33 plus years of marriage in Southern California. The packing, the moving and the leaving were hard. The leaving and saying goodbye to family and friends was more than I thought I could take at times. But God’s call was clear and we were headed to a beautiful, committed family of faith at the new church God had called us to!
We also believed we were headed to a beautiful new house that He had provided for us. However, that house was not meant to be, even though I had moved into it and made it our HOME. Three escrows later on our house in Southern California and our new house here in Sonoma County, I still find myself writing to you without a clear, concise picture of where my feet will step tomorrow.
It is looking more clear each day as God parts the clouds and rays of sunshine peak through. But it has been a consistent, step by step, daily walk of faith, trusting not in what we see or even hear, but in our GOD ALONE!

I will be the first to tell you that this kind of faith walk is NOT EASY! It causes you to doubt yourself and others around you at times. It causes you to lose trust in others and their words. It also causes you to lose heart and you continuously ask “WHY ME?”
BUT, it also causes wonderful happenings in your life if you allow it to! If you take the words of this verse to heart, and trust God to give you the strength and courage to live them out, then it can cause you to soar to greater heights with God than you ever dreamed possible. It causes your relationships with those you love and rely on for prayer support to grow deeper that you ever thought possible! It causes you to focus your eyes and steps on what God has truly called you to do and to not become obsessed with what you cannot control!

Living out THE TRUTH of PROVERBS 3:5-6, is not an easy life, but it is the only life that truly leads to peace and trust in the one who penned the words and stands behind them with His very life!
“TRUST IN ME, JESUS is saying, If I am the Lord of your life, than prove it by trusting in me every day even when you do not see the steps to take. Do not trust in what you can understand, because your understanding is limited, MINE IS NOT! In EVERYTHING you do, and in EVERY STEP YOU TAKE, acknowledge ME, AND I WILL DIRECT EVERY STEP AND SHOW YOU WHERE TO GO!”

TRUTH BOMB

STEPPING IN GOD’S DIRECTION IS ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD.

I AM NOT MAKING LIGHT OF THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD OR THE SERIOUSNESS OF IT! I am sincerely and truly putting into words what God has spoken to me and demonstrated to me about the living TRUTH of Proverbs 3:5-6.

This life you and I are living makes only false promises of what it will deliver: Fame, fortune, happiness, peace etc…

But God delivers on His promises each and every time! Trust Him as you take your steps each and every day.
“HE’S GOT THIS!”
“HE’S GOT YOU!”

Speak Truth Love

The Madness Continues…

One of my favorite definitions on MADNESS as I was researching the word was:
“EXTREMELY FOOLISH BEHAVIOR!”

Now, I relate to that!

I find myself in the second day of what I define clearly as MADNESS! The world refers to it as “DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!” I refer to it as Madness!

IT MESSES UP MY INTERNAL CLOCK! It makes me feel like someone set me alarm for 3:00 in the morning and played a cruel joke on me!

The first day I’m pretty much ok. It’s Sunday morning. I get up, go to church, and have the evening to catch up before Monday Morning hits! But then it hits! It’s Monday Morning, the alarm goes off, it’s DARK outside, and I feel like someone played that bad joke on me, of setting my alarm for 3:00am ALL OVER AGAIN! By the time evening rolls around I could care less that I have one more hour of sunshine! I’M TIRED and feel like someone pulled the rug out from under my feet!

Seriously, the experts say that it is done this year on Sunday March 12, at 2:00 a.m., and then again on Sunday November 5, at 2:00 a.m. when we “FALL BACK” TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED TIME!

Now you do the math with me…March to November, that is almost eight months! They are not even dividing the twelve months we have in a year evenly! What they are doing however, is telling us that we should make good use of our time. Now that I can agree with!

They say that the Main Purpose of DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME is to make better use of DAYLIGHT. We change our clocks during the warmer months to move an hour of DAYLIGHT from the morning to the evening.

Did you catch that phrase, “To make better use of DAYLIGHT”?

As much as I DO NOT LIKE getting up in the dark, having my internal clock messed up, or feeling like there is simply not enough caffeine in the world to jump start this time change in my body, I do like the idea of MAKING BETTER USE OF THE TIME, DAY OR NIGHT, THAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME!

I have to admit, it is a rather Biblical concept!

“As long as it is DAY, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:5

TIME, DAYTIME specifically, we truly should make the most of it!

However, TIME never seems to be on our side!
We never seem to have enough of it! We find ourselves saying, “If only they were two more hours in this day, I could finish all of the tasks that are on my “To Do List!’
Or, “If I had an eight day week instead of a seven day week, I could finish my work!”
“If I just had more time to…You fill in the blank. Our lists of what we wish we had more time for are endless!

And when we do have more TIME, we tend to wish it away…
“This clock is not moving fast enough, I wish this day would end!”

We are a FICKLE bunch, my friends. We want what we do not have, and when we get it we wish it away!

TIME is a gift. It is a gift from God that He grants us each day we wake up and watch the sunrise. It is a gift each day we complete and watch the sunset. It is up to us what we do with the TIME He has given us!

So, even though it feels like MADNESS to my body in this first week of DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME, I need to approach each day as an opportunity to “work for Him who sent me,” while there is still DAY!
For this life will soon be over. The clock continues to click, and the minutes speed by. No matter if the clocks Fall Back or Spring Forward, when the DAY is no more, and my NIGHT has come, only the work I have done for Him will last! I need to make the most out of each and every day I am given!

So Friends, whether you love this extra hour of daylight at the end of your day, or you are like me, and you long for the longer, cozy mornings wrapped in the comfy covers of your bed, and wish you did not have to “Spring Forward”, let’s commit to making the most out of every DAY we have. Even when our bodies tell us we can’t do this, we have the supernatural strength of our Lord telling us WE CAN!

“I can do ALL THINGS, (even the time change,) through Christ who gives me strength!” Philippians 4:13

TRUTH BOMB

Each day is a gift from God so make the most of it!

See you back here next week for more of the MADNESS!

Speak Truth Love

Can you feel it? It’s in the air!
That crazy unsettled feeling after something is over, and before something else happens.

It may be the Madness of Basketball? The season that overlaps every other season.
Football is over, and baseball has not yet begun, yet we are inundated with more basketball games than we have time to watch! Bets are being made on teams you hope will do well and produce a victory!
There are 64 college teams in the beginning with their eyes on the prize in what has been termed “The Big Dance.” They are all fighting to be the FINAL TWO to play each other and become the FINAL ONE, the Victor who will claim the ultimate prize and be crowned the number one college basketball team of the year! CRAZY MADNESS isn’t it?

Or, maybe it’s that unsettled feeling between Winter and Spring? You can feel the weather outside turning from cold, to warm, and then back to cold again! You put your umbrella and rain coat in the closet for the season, to only turn around and take them back out again. Sweatshirt or T-shirt, what should you wear today? You want to put your winter clothes in your closet away and replace them with your colorful, bright spring wardrobe, but the minute you do, it’s cold outside again!

What about ‘Spring cleaning?’ You have put away your winter decor, the dust has settled nicely on all of your shelves, and you long to push it all aside and clean it off for Spring. But, alas, as soon as you do it’s time to turn that heater back on and all of the dust is blown around and resettles on those clean, spotless shelves.

Maybe what you are reading today is just me, talking to myself. I have been in a season of unsettledness, “MADNESS” if you will. I have been running hard toward something that I am sure of, but cannot see.

Thinking about the things of heaven and eternity, the things that will last forever is the goal. Not about the things of earth which rot, decay, spoil, distract and discourage. This is the only way to live victoriously through this life of MADNESS that we are called to but cannot see the end of!

“Think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth.” Colossians 3:2

I have been affirmed of God’s clear call on my life to move to Northern California with my husband and begin a new ministry as Senior Pastor’s wife. We have taken all of the proper steps toward that call, packed our house up in Southern California, and moved it all to Northern California. We put our So Cal house on the market, said good-bye to our ministry of thirty years, and all of our dear friends and family, including our daughter, son-in-law, and precious grand babies! Then we PRAYED LIKE CRAZY, and we made the move! We stepped out in the direction God was calling us to. A new church, a new group of people, a new ministry, a new part of the state, a new neighborhood, a new grocery store, a new hair stylist etc, etc, etc…You name it, it was NEW! I found myself alone and confronted with everything new everyday!

Now, if you think that is the MADNESS I am sharing about, you are wrong! The madness came in the trial we have faced since we moved and are still facing. Our house in So Cal has now been on the market for four months, we have been in and out of escrow twice, and are now in it again for the third time! Everyone told us our house would sell quickly, our neighborhood moves fast! No rhyme nor reason, just fact, it hasn’t sold. The MADNESS has been that the house we found in Nor Cal and moved in to has been impossible to close due to the fact that our escrow has fallen through twice!

MADNESS sets in and what do we do? The world tells us that MADNESS is running hard in a direction you do NOT know the destination, outcome or end of! If that were the truth, then I have been running in MADNESS for four months!

The Truth, the Truth with a capital T, the only Truth that lasts for eternity, is ‘The Only Direction I need to be running toward is God!’

As long as I am running toward Him, staying in His Word Daily, Praying and Speaking and Listening to Him Daily, then the MADNESS around me will become peace and comfort as He transforms my MADNESS into Victory!

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So, I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
I Corinthians 9:24-27

I’M IN IT TO WIN IT! ARE YOU? I do not want to succumb to the MADNESS around me! I do not want it to cause me to doubt the One I am following! I do not want my circumstance to distract me from the end goal. I want to “RUN TO WIN” just like Paul says in verse 24. I want to “RUN WITH PURPOSE IN EVERY STEP,” verse 26, even when I cannot see the end!
For it is not MADNESS when you are running toward God, toward the prize that will never fade or tarnish.

TRUTH BOMB

Keeping your eyes fixed on heavenly things is the only way to navigate the MADNESS!

Setting our minds on the things of heaven, and not the things of this earth, even when the MADNESS is all around us, is the only True way to navigate this MADNESS we call life.

I’m in it to win it, are you?
Let’s meet back here next week as we take a further look at the MADNESS surrounding us and how we can discipline ourselves through it.

Love, prayers, strength and hope to you all,

Speak Truth Love

Have you ever felt like the desires of your heart are a distant thought throughout your day to day “daily grind?”

It’s so easy to get bogged down in our normal daily routines with our long lists of commitments, care taking, communication, and yes, even conflicts! We care deeply about being faithful to all of our responsibilities. We work diligently at putting forth our best effort in all of these areas, to never leave anyone wanting. Much of the time however, it feels like it’s our desires that get sidelined.  God cares very much about granting our hearts desires.

Psalm 20:4 says,

“May He grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.”

God’s desire is that our heart’s desires are fulfilled! However, it’s not as simple as a snap of our fingers or a blink of our eyes.

How then can our heart’s desires be fulfilled when we are daily overwhelmed with meeting the needs of others and the demands of this daily life?

God answers this question clearly and without reserve just a few Psalms later!

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.”

Psalm 37:4

Putting God first, and committing our ways to His ways, is the ONLY way to have our heart’s desires fulfilled.

Thinking of others before we think of ourselves; calling or texting that friend before we check our social media accounts; visiting that neighbor or family member even though it may be difficult; attending that Bible study or Life Group even after a long day or week; turning off the TV and communicating one on one with your spouse after a long, exhausting day; attending church every weekend even at the end of a busy week; serving faithfully on that committee that needs your assistance to meet the needs of others; committing the first minutes of your day to your prayer and devotion with God, even though the demands of the day are looming.

These are all choices each of us are faced with every single day and week of our lives. Taking delight in the Lord and placing Him as the top priority in our life, promises to give us our heart’s desires. Our heart’s desires are all around us when we put God first. Open your eyes, look around see that they are in your grasp.

This last week, brought that realization to my life, in a fresh wind, as He blessed me all week with the desire’s of my heart!

Friday day date  with my one and only!

Overnight visit from my Son and Daughter-in-Law!

Visiting my Daughter and Son-in-Law and blessing them so they could go serve at Jr High Winter Camp together!

Weekend full of fun, joy, and laughter with  my precious grand babies!

Our heart’s desires are gifts from God! When we put Him first He puts them into our lives in abundance! Open your eyes each and every day, they are all around us!

Truth Bomb

God gives us our heart’s desires!

Some days we get to experience them in abundance, like I had the blessing of doing so this week! Remember however, that my previous weeks felt endless at times and very lonely. Not tangibly filled with my heart’s desires. Yet, pressing forward to put God first in my life absolutely fulfills His plan and purposes for it. God’ does promise to us does not necessarily mean that we daily experience our desires, but they do mean that the gift and blessing of our hearts desires are there. In the pursuit of God’s plans and purposes, may our commitment to taking delight in the journey continue to form the desire’s of our hearts!

I’ll see you back here next week for March Madness! No bets will be made, no money will be spent, but we will look into the Madness of His Word!

Speak Truth Love

Have you ever sat beside a fire on a cold, damp night and relied on it’s flame for your warmth? Or, maybe you have found yourself curled up by a toasty fireplace and depended on the flame for comfort. Or, possibly you have even been stranded somewhere for a time, out camping or outdoors somewhere, where you have relied on the flames of a fire to sustain you with light until you were safely back home again.

In any of these cases you were dependent on “stoking the flame” to keep the fire going!

Whether the fire was providing you with warmth, security or light, you were committed to “Stoking” those flames to keep that fire going!

It has been proven by SERVIVALISTS, that the NUMBER ONE focus when alone in the wilderness, is to START A FIRE! The individual becomes completely obsessed with finding something, anything, to LIGHT A FIRE!

Then, once the fire is started, the SOLE FOCUS of the individual is to “FAN THAT FIRE INTO FLAME AND KEEP IT BURNING!

The individual guards it, protects it and stokes it, to ensure it does not go out!

It becomes an obsession! Nothing else takes president!

THE SURVIVAL OF THE INDIVIDUAL IS DEPENDENT ON THE FIRE STAYING LIT!

This is the intention and the imagery the Apostle Paul is speaking about as he instructs us to, “LIGHT A FIRE, AND KEEP IT LIT!”

“This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:6-7

The Fire Paul is referring to, is the spiritual fire inside each one of us, given to us by God’s Holy Spirit when we became followers of Jesus!

The question of each of us having this fire is answered here in verse 7, “For the Spirit God gave us…”

WE HAVE GOD’S FIRE IN US!

The real question is…

Is it burning brightly for others to see? Or is it smoldering, smoking, laying low with only a few dim embers?

IF THAT IS THE CASE, PAUL IS TELLING US TO FAN IT INTO FLAME!

If you had found yourself in any of the scenarios I mentioned in the beginning, you would be dependent on the FIRE BURNING BRIGHTLY! If it flickered at all, and even threatened to go out, you would frantically begin to fan it back into flame!

It is even more important for us to do this with our spiritual FLAME!

While it is obvious how to stoke a physical fire back into flame, it may not be as obvious how to FAN INTO FLAME our spiritual fire.

I propose there are two major ways to ensure our fires get lit and stay burning brightly!

THE FIRST WAY IS:

INDIVIDUALLY WITH ME!

I must keep my main priority in life to daily walk closely with God through reading His Word and through Prayer!

You can open God’s word through the pages of one of your favorite Bibles. Sometimes it helps to go get a new Bible every now and then.

I recently just did this after talking with a friend over a lunch date about her love for “Bible Journaling.” It has been exciting for me to go in each morning and pick up this new Bible and open it’s pages to find pretty illustrations alongside God’s TRUTHFUL and BEAUTIFUL words to me!

You may find it easier in your busy schedule to pick up a daily devotional and open it’s pages each day and read the verse of the day.

You may like to pull up an app on your smart phone or tablet and read God’s Word that way?

NO MATTER how you read God’s Word each day, the point is READ IT EVERY DAY!

You must depend on God’s Word daily, just like you depend on a fire burning when you are out alone in the wilderness!

It begins with ME as I pray to God each day and speak with Him!

There are many ways we speak to God…

We can speak to God silently or out loud!

We can speak to Him as we walk outside in His beautiful and magnificent creation!

We can speak to God quietly as we sit and sip a warm cup of coffee or tea curled up by those inviting flames by the fireplace.

No matter how and no matter where, we can fan our spiritual fires into flame when we pray to Him daily!

If you and I are going to “LIGHT A FIRE” in our spirit and keep it burning…

IT MUST FIRST START WITH ME!

By READING GOD’S WORD EVERY DAY, allowing Him to speak to me with His words of Love and Guidance, and PRAYING TO HIM EACH DAY, so I can speak to God, I am fanning that flame.

THE SECOND WAY IS:

TOGETHER WITH OTHERS!

“LIGHTING A FIRE” OR “FANNING A FIRE INTO FLAME” are both terms talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit of God, or being empowered by the Spirit of God!

There is no better way to do that than by being together with other followers of Jesus!

When you have a group of hot coals burning together brightly, and you take one out and set it aside, it burns our quickly!

Hot coals that burn together however, burn brighter and longer!

Through encouragement, support, love, and even laughter, we help keep each other’s fore burning brightly!

“But encourage one another daily as long as it is called today!” Hebrews 3:13

WE NEED EACH OTHER TO KEEP OUR FIRE LIT AND BURNING BRIGHT!

Truth Bomb

When we fan our spiritual flame it cannot be extinguished!

So let’s make a commitment to light a fire and fan it into flame through the two ways we’ve looked at!

(1) Individually with me, through daily Bible reading and prayer

AND

(2) Together in community with each other, through committing to our Church and Life groups each week!

We will be a fire no one can put out when we do!

BURN BRIGHTLY MY FRIENDS!

Speak Truth Love

Best Day Ever, Truth Bomb Tuesday, and BONUS… it’s Valentine’s Day!!!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR, and as promised last week….’THE LOVE WILL KEEP FLOWING IN TODAY’S BLOG!’ XOXOXOXOXO

Today I’m doing something different…I’m kicking off the Blog with the TRUTH BOMB!

Today’s TRUTH BOMB:

GOD IS LOVE!

It is not a part of who God is or a piece of who He is. It is not an attribute He has or a characteristic of His. IT IS ALL OF WHO HE IS! GOD IS LOVE!
He is the author of LOVE. He is the Creator God who created LOVE! We LOVE because He first LOVED us!

“Beloved, let us LOVE one another, for LOVE is from God; and everyone who LOVES is born of God and knows God. The one who does not LOVE does not know God, for God is LOVE.”
I John 4:7-8

Any LOVE that we have to celebrate today or any day for that matter, is only because of GOD’S LOVE!

So enjoy all of the chocolate shaped candy, cookies and cakes you want to today. Fly those heart shaped balloons, and swap those valentine cards. Share a coffee date with a friend or snuggle up next to your ‘favorite valentine,’ but above all share God’s LOVE with everyone!

On this Valentine’s Day I want to share my LOVE with you! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for sharing in this journey with me of ‘Speaking God’s Truth in Love.’

I love meeting you here each Tuesday! Can’t wait to be back here with you next week!

HAPPY HEART’S DAY!
IT’S TRULY ALL ABOUT GOD’S LOVE! Go spread some of that LOVE today!

Xoxo,

Speak Truth Love

“What’s LOVE got to do with it, got to do with it! What’s LOVE but a second hand emotion! What’s LOVE got to do with it, got to do with it? Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?”

It’s February, and hearts are EVERYWHERE! They pop up on every store front window we pass.
Hearts of chocolate glare at us from the candy store window. Hearts of paper beckon us to enter in and send a card from the stationary store window. Hearts of fabric tempt us to buy that adorable Valentine sweater from the department store window. Hearts of flowers, bright red, brilliant pink and soft white, catching us with their alluring aroma in the flower shop windows. Even hearts of Helium floating above us as we shop in the grocery store seem to call our name.
I mean after all, those ‘conversation hearts’ embedded in our childhood memories, tell us by their supreme wisdom what love is all about…
“Let’s Kiss”, “Love Me”, “Love You”, “You’re Mine”, Let’s Get together”, “XOXO”, “BE Mine”, and my favorite,”Cutie Pie.”
Seriously, who could go wrong in the LOVE department with such sound, solid advice?

WE COULD! That’s who! And sadly, WE DO, time and time again! Why, because we allow the world to define LOVE for us.

The world puts out Valentine Movies, and even title’s them “VALENTINES DAY”, with LOVE HATERS! Those who have defined LOVE in their lives by the song lyrics above! “WHAT’S LOVE BUT A SECOND HAND EMOTION?” And, “WHO NEEDS A HEART WHEN A HEART CAN BE BROKEN?”
So, they throw a ‘Valentine Party’, a “We Hate Valentine’s Day Party!” They take a baseball bat and take angry, hurt swings at a heart piñata, and curse every person or moment that has “BROKEN THEIR HEARTS!”
There is truth to their feelings. They have been hurt, let down, disappointed….WE ALL HAVE! Their hearts have been broken, just like ours have! Their emotions have been shared vulnerably with another, and then they have been shattered, smacked around and beat up just like the piñata heart swinging from the rope!
Yes, there is painful truth to those Valentine Movies. WE DO have hearts and they DO get broken. We do have emotions and they DO get shattered.

But, back to the song lyrics, “WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?”
LOVE has EVERYTHING to DO WITH IT! TRUE LOVE, REAL LOVE that doesn’t love you because of how you look, how you act or even what you give back!
LOVE that says, “I LOVE you just the way you are…on your good days and bad days, on your sick days and healthy days, when you remember me and when you don’t, I LOVE YOU EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE AND BEYOND!
I LOVE you so much that I gave my life for you so that you could know what TRUE LOVE REALLY IS….

“FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” JOHN 3:16

PLEASE DO NOT MISS THE POWERFUL TRUTH OF THIS VERSE!

Most of us learned this verse when we were very young, we see it printed on poster board at sporting events, and we hear it quoted frequently. My caution to you and me, is that, while this verse may be our most familiar verse, never let it grow “common!”
It holds great TRUTH AND POWER, it holds LOVE, TRUE LOVE!
It exposes the falsehood that the world exploits in all of the ways I shared above, that love is an EMOTION or a FEELING!
It proves the TRUTH that TRUE LOVE is an ACT, an ACTION! TRUE LOVES GIVES! The Father gave HIS SON! The SON gave HIS LIFE!

Truth Bomb

True Love Gives!

My dear, sweet friends, YOU ARE LOVED! This month when we celebrate Valentine’s Day and run into hearts everywhere we turn, remember you are loved every day that you live!
God LOVES you so much that HE GAVE you His most cherished possession HIS ONE AND ONLY SON!
This Act of Giving caused Him great agony and pain. He was forced to turn His face away from His Son as the weight of the sin of the entire world, MY SIN AND YOUR SIN INCLUDED, rested on His SON! He endured the physical, emotional and mental abuse the world put on His Son, unjustifiably! He allowed the world to kill and bury His Son…and then HIS GREAT LOVE FOR YOU, FOR ME, AND FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD proved TRUE when He raised Him from the dead!
JESUS LOVES you so much that He willingly allowed all of the weight of the world to fall upon Him so that YOU and I could know TRUE LOVE!

“GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAT THIS, THST HE LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.” JOHN 15:13

There is no doubt WE ARE LOVED! The question is, will we accept God and His TRUE LOVE to define LOVE in us? Or, will we allow the world to define LOVE for us?

LOVE HURTS! WE offer our hearts to another when we TRULY LOVE, and undeniably our hearts are often broken! However, don’t forget, God is the God of the Broken-hearted, His TRUE LOVE repairs and restores ALL HEARTS. The beauty of TRUE LOVE, GODS LOVE, is that it NEVER FAILS, DISAPPOINTS or REJECTS!
GOD IS LOVE!

So, Happy February! Let’s embrace this month as an opportunity that the world has already deemed appropriate, to demonstrate TRUE LOVE, and show the world what LOVE REALLY IS!

Feel Loved My Friends, because you TRULY are!

Meet you back here next week when the LOVE keeps flowing!

Speak Truth Love

Happy One Year Anniversary to SpeakTruthLove! This week marks the celebration of one year for the blog!

God has been faithful to help me keep my commitment to use this voice that He gave me to speak His love and truth! I am so grateful for each and every one of you that has come alongside me through this journey. Here’s to another year of following and living out the truth of Ephesians 4:15,

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the nature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

As I look back and reflect on this past year, I am so thankful for you, the incredible friends God has placed in my life! This leads us to our final week in our New Year, New You series,
A friend loves at all times!

True friends bless us, sustain us, and keep us when the burdens life deals out are too difficult to bear alone.
Once again, I find myself writing to you today as one who is not just “feeling” the fight, but who is whole heartedly engaged in the battle!
Friends, old and new(for me this includes my family, who are truly my very best friends), have blessed my life in this last year more than I have space on a page to write, words enough to tell, or time enough to express! What my friends have done for me this year is not just share in my burdens, but shoulder them right along with me. They have sustained me, encouraged me, loved me, supported me, stood beside me, cried with me, laughed with me, celebrated with me, mourned with me, and above all, PRAYED FOR ME AND WITH ME!

There’s an old saying that goes,
‘Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver, and the other is gold.’

Last January, my heart became burdened with knowing that God wanted to use Jim and I in our primary giftedness. Feeling the burden on our hearts to seek Him first and follow His direction for our lives, even though we knew that it could mean leaving family and friends, and the comfort and security of what we knew and were familiar with, we knew we had to follow His call. We called our faithful friends to pray with us and for us, for God’s clear direction. Our friends proved to be true gold as they walked through the process with us, every step of the way. There were long days that seemed as though they would never end, with questions, uncertainty, fear and doubt. Our friends stood beside us and shouldered every step of the process with us. There were also days of rejoicing, giving thanks and praise to God for His faithfulness! Our friends were there to share in the celebration, faithful and true-pure gold!

New friends have been given to us as we have embarked on our new ministry and His calling on our life! Although we are confident and sure we are in the place God has called us, it has not been without great effort, learning curves, growth steps, and continually trusting God to bring together and finalize all the pieces.
The new friends God has brought us have joined together with us, and walked through each day alongside us. They have proved to be sterling silver and I do not know where I would be today without them! A little over two months ago I didn’t even know them, can you believe that?

In keeping in the fight to maintain and have a positive attitude in 2017, the final piece to realizing we are not in this fight alone is to call a friend, share your burden!

JAB NUMBER FIVE: Call a friend, share your burden!

Truth Bomb

Faithful friends make our burdens lighter and keep our attitudes positive!

PUNCH LEFT-BE VULNERABLE-SHARE YOUR HEART WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND ALLOW THEM TO BLESS YOU!

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother(sister or friend) is born for adversity.”
Proverbs 17:17

We love our friends by allowing them to love us!

PUNCH RIGHT-BLESS YOUR FRIENDS BACK!

Loving our friends at all times, sharing in the good times and the bad, being vulnerable enough to allow them in to share each and every detail of our lives, allows us to be encouraged and built up! At the same time it allows them to be blessed, encouraged and built up!

As we end this series on how to fight for a good, positive attitude and maintain it, let’s recommit to take a time out, read the Bible, listen to spirit-lifting music, get physical, and call a friend and share our burdens!

Stay in the fight my friends!

Can’t wait to be back with you next week as we enter one of my favorite months, February! Love is in the air!

Speak Truth Love

“LET’S GET PHYSICAL”

Happy Truth Bomb Tuesday!

Getting Physical is key to having and maintaining a positive attitude!
Don’t believe me? Look at God’s Word! Look at Science!

I am writing to you today as one who is Feeling The Fight! There is nothing easy or simple about todays JAB! As promised we are about to “Get Physical!”

For those of you that are my age, or those of you who love to watch groovy movies and listen to groovy songs from the 80’s, those two words, preceded by one word “Let’s”, brings to our minds visions of leg warmers, high top tennies, leotards, tights, and off the shoulder sweatshirts! Olivia Newton John made “Getting Physical,” look fun. The movies that followed in the 80″s continued that fun-loving , sweat-inducing phenomenon, and before any of us knew it we were all attending aerobic classes dressed in the same gear we watched the girls wear on ‘Flash Dance’, and ‘Footloose!’

However, for me, those days are 37 plus years in my rear view mirror! Getting Physical is not as easy in this busy life we all lead! Just the thought of getting ready and looking half way decent after getting physically wrecked during the workout, can stop me from working out at all!
Being completely honest, I must admit that it is certainly not as easy physically to “get physical” as it used to be!
Rather, it is a FIGHT, and one I intend to win, no matter how hard the struggle. Let’s be clear, it is a struggle!

Lately, my FIGHT has been with my comfortable pillow, my warm, soft flannel sheets, and my cozy comforter! I have committed to God to “FAST FROM SLEEP” and get up early and be PHYSICAL! I fight to lift my head from that comfy pillow, pull back that cozy comforter, and slide out from under those warm, soft flannel sheets! They are so cute too! They have cute reindeer on them! Double Whamey!
The only reason I am finding success in getting up early and “Being Physical,” is because my “getting physical” has a purpose! It may not be the purpose that first comes to your mind. I am not getting up early and leaving my warm cozy bed to get thin! I am not gonna lie either, I do want to look good. I am a girl after all, and God put a heart inside of me that desires for others to like and approve of me. That however, cannot be the motivator for why I “Get Physical.”

I am not getting up early and leaving my inviting bed because I want to be in better shape. I will be perfectly honest and share that being in good shape and health, and maintaining energy to live this life well, matters a lot to me! I want to stay active and energetic to hike trails with my husband, to ski down mountains with my grandkids and to participate in any and every activity my grown children throw at me! I want to do those activities with them, not watch from the sidelines! However, as strong as that motivator is, it cannot be the motivator for why I “Get Physical.”

I am not “getting physical” because I want to continue to be attractive to my husband. I will tell you the truth, I care very much about my husband still looking at me and being physically attracted to what he sees. I want more than anything for my husband, who takes great physical care of himself, to be proud of the physical care I take of myself. Yes, ladies, the older you get, this desire for your husband to look at you and be attracted to you does not go away! However, as sincere as my longing is for my husbands attraction, it cannot be the motivator for why I “Get Physical!”

The only motivator that has any staying power at all, is the motivation and desire I have to please my God!
He and He alone deserves the best I have to give, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and YES, PHYSICALLY!

“For PHYSICAL training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” I Timothy 4:8

TRUTH BOMB

“Getting Physical” helps us grow and maintain godliness!

Getting Physical is important! It is also hard! It costs us something…time, effort, physical pain, exhaustion, sacrifice of something we would rather do, and the list goes on. The only way we will find success is to couple our commitment to “Getting Physical”, with God’s Purpose!

So let’s take a JAB, at our FIGHT to have and maintain a positive attitude! WE ARE IN CONTROL WHEN WE STAY IN THE FIGHT!

JAB NUMBER FOUR: GET PHYSICAL!

Physical Activity simply means MOVEMENT! So, Let’s Get Moving!
Any means by which we move and use energy works! We can walk, garden, briskly push a baby stroller, climb stairs, play soccer, or dance the night away! Movement is the key!

PUNCH LEFT – MAKE A PLAN WITH A PURPOSE!

Purpose to not only MOVE each day, but when you MOVE, whether it is at the gym, running or walking outside, to talk to God while you do it!
Challenge yourself to read a verse or passage of scripture before you begin moving, and reflect on that scripture as you “Get Physical!”
The only way I have been successful at climbing out of my warm, cozy bed each morning and exercising has been by combining my COMMITMENT WITH A PURPOSE! I have made a commitment to getting physical, and a purpose to setting my mind and heart on God while doing it!

PUNCH RIGHT – STAY CONSISTENT!

New Year’s Resolutions have become famous for starting, and then failing!
“Yo Yo Diets” have become as well known as the cupcakes and doughnuts we eat when we fail at them!
Frequent and regular physical exercise brings benefits beyond the physical, when we are CONSISTENT!
Not only will our physical bodies maintain and enhance overall health and wellness, but our mental bodies will find health as well!
Frequent, regular and consistent physical activity is proven to prevent stress, depression, and increase your quality of sleep and help promote and maintain self-esteem, mental health and steady your digestion! That equals a happy tummy my friends. And that makes all of us feel better!

Physical exercise also boosts our immune system and increases those wonderful, feel-good ENDORPHINS, we hear so much about! Endorphins are real! They have been put in the wonderful body God made for you, to be released and bring you physical and mental and emotional HEALTH! Endorphins are known to derive from Physical Activity and act as an ANTIDEPRESSANT! Medical reports show that exercise induced effects can result in increased NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR,( AKA BRAIN SIGNALING), and signal positive brain waves!

DID YOU CATCH THAT?
“GETTING PHYSICAL PRODUCES POSITIVE BRAIN WAVES!!”

This is an important PUNCH at our FIGHT to have and maintain a positive attitude!

SO “LET’S GET PHYSICAL!”

Let’s Get Moving and MAKE A PLAN WITH A PURPOSE AND STICK TO IT!

I thank God that I am not in this fight alone! We are in this fight together! You encourage me to “STICK TO IT!”
I hope and pray that I am an encouragement to you as well!

I believe in you, and even greater is my Hope and Trust in our Great Big God to provide us with everything we need to win this fight!

I’ll meet you here next week as we talk about FRIENDS!

Speak Truth Love