I have so much to thank God for. He is so wonderful to my family and me. I am blessed beyond belief in all things and in all areas and I cannot even begin to express the fullness of His love toward me and all others who love Him. Yet today my heart is sad. The tears flow and they flow for the loss of life that happened over the past few days in Mumbai. They flow for the young boy who is now an orphan and for his parents whose lives were taken too soon and in such a horrible way. I know it has been a while since I wrote anything on this blog. I will be getting back to my writing soon. I am just taking time to enjoy my family and friends and to spend time with my Father in heaven. The world continues to wax worse and worse and it is important to regain strength through fasting and spending time in the Word so that the light within us can shine boldly through the darkness that is ever closing in on today's society. So, I will be back to blogging regularly within the next few weeks. Until then may God bless you in all things and may your light continue to be a blessing to all.

Someone told me tonight that there better be a God waiting when we die. I told them oh there most definitely is a God. Then they asked me how I was so sure. There are many things in life that I am not sure of. I mean I ask myself often times if I am taking the right path, the right turn in this maze we call life; I ask myself am I listening to what my Heavenly Father is telling me? Am I allowing Him to direct my ways? These questions come at me daily. There is one thing that I never question though and that is that God is there; that He is with me always; that He protects me from the storms; that He shelters me from the rain; that He looks over me and holds me in the palm of His hands. I know without a shadow of a doubt that my Heavenly Father is looking down on His children and anticipating with all joy and gladness that day when we will be with Him in eternity.

How do I know this? Well for starters my Heavenly Father has never forsaken me. Through every trial and tribulation of my life, He has been right next to me. He has delivered me and placed me on safe ground. Sometimes I did not realize what His plan was. However, I have learned to not question the timing for His timing is always perfect. I have also gotten to the place where I do not question the plan. I may think it should go one way, but He knows best. I have now come to the place where I simply say Father you know my need. Your Will be done. He always puts me in the best place at just the right time. He always brings all things together for good. He always removes me from dire situations even if I had no idea that they were dire. Only looking back do I realize that my Father's hand was there, that He was at work in the situation making sure that everything worked out for the best for me, His child whom He loves. You see my Father hears my supplications, he knows my needs, and my prayers never come back void and my needs are always met. In this way, I know that He is there, I know that He is God, and I know that He loves me.

How else do I know that there is a God? I hear Him as He speaks to me. He encourages me; He girds me with His Word and gives me strength during the tough times. He guides me and leads me down the path of righteousness. He is a companion during times of lonliness; He is a confidante who always listens when I need Him too; He is a shoulder to cry on when I am hurt; He is the one who comforts me in times of distress and sorrow; He is the one who rejoices with me during times of celebration; He is a friend to talk to and share my thoughts with; He is never late; He is never absent; He is never too tired or too stressed or too busy. He is always there for me. He never gets bored of listening to me. He corrects me when there is need to but does it lovingly and gently brings me back to the straight and narrow path. He always welcomes me back to His loving embrace. So how do I know there is a God - well because I hear Him and feel Him and see Him in all that I do.

Simply look at the majesty of His creation. Why the clouds - they are the mountains of the sky. If you look at the clouds from the window of a plane you will see peaks of clouds that form foam covered mountain tops. The blue of the sky forms lakes that reflect the mirror image of the clouds. Such peaceful beauty; whiteness agains the blue ocean of the sky with lakes intertwined and lit up by the sun. Why there is a whole world of beauty in the air that is a mirror reflection of that on the ground. I can see the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom to Come in my mind as I look at the clouds and even then I know that it will be far more magnificent then what I can imagine. No man could create the rainbow; no man could create the peacock; no man could create the snowflake where no two are alike. Why only God, the creator of Heaven and Earth could create such beauty; such perfection.

How do I know that there is a God? Because I have Christ in me the Hope and Glory, such a wonderful gift of salvation wrought as a result of Jesus Christ dying on a cross so that I might be redeemed and have life. I am complete now - a three part being consisting of body, soul, and spirit. The Holy spirit that resides in me is the spirit of truth. Those things that are mysteries to those who are still trapped in the senses world are no longer mysteries to me. The love of my Father in Heaven is all around me. I feel Him, I hear Him, I know Him. He is love. He is grace. He is all good and He is with me always, every day until the end of the age no matter what may come my way. Most importantly though is that He does indeed exist and that all can come to know Him by accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Everyone can know that He exists. Everyone has the opportunity and ability to feel His presence in their lives. Oh how wonderful is the all encompassing love of God. How how wonderful to know Him and to walk with Him and to talk with Him. Nothing in this world compares to the overflowing joy and peace that is felt when one comes into a relationship with God through Christ. Oh How I love my Father in Heaven and Oh How I give thanks to His Son Jesus for laying down His life for me so that I may experience such complete and utter joy that results from a personal relationship with God my Father.

I pray that all will come to know God through Christ! May God bless you abundantly today and in the weeks to come.

Have you ever seen one of those Wish Pearls? We were on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas a few years ago and they were selling Wish Pearls in all of the souvenir shops. I never really paid much attention to what they actually were. However, I was just reading the description of these pearls.

Your Wish Pearl is all pearl. Whereas the inner core or nuclei of many expensive cultured pearls often consists of up to 90 percent shell, your Wish Pearl is a cultured pearl that takes a minimum of 3 to 5 years to develop within a mollusk. As the Wish Pearl reaches its final maturity of 5 to 7 millimeters in diameter, the original irritant naturally dissipates, leaving only the pearl itself. Only one in several hundred mollusks develops a quality of size, roundness, and luster that qualifies it to be a Wish Pearl. No two are alike.

Wow! This made me think of God's household, of his children. When we are born again, when we receive Christ in us the hope and glory, we start our journey toward maturity, toward the renewing of our mind. Our inner core becomes complete with spirit - the spirit that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned, the spirit that was given only to a select few until Christ came and died for us and made it available to all that would believe in Him and accept Him as their Saviour, the Son of God. As we stand on God's Word, as we fellowship with other believers, as we renew our mind and strive to live by Christ's example, we mature into a cultured pearl. The irritant of the flesh and this world naturally dissipates. We are left as a unique pearl and the joy of our hearts provides a light of such amazing luster that people wonder what it is in our life that brings such joy in the darkness of the world. We are unique and, like the Wish Pearl, no two of us are alike. As we stand firm on the Word, we become a light unto the world, we grow in strength, peace, love, compassion, and wisdom. We become completely, completely, complete without any shell, throughly filled with Christ in us the hope and glory, throughly filled with the love of God in the renewed mind. Because of our uniqueness, we each hold a special place and position in the Body of Christ. What joy! What glory and praise to give to our Father in Heaven. Oh how wonderful are His ways!

The Word says in Matthew 13:45-46:

45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

The Kingdom of Heaven is our pearl - it is of such value that our hearts desire should be to give up all we have in order to attain citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The amplified version of the bible compares a good woman to rubies and pearls and says that her value is far above them. Proverbs 31:10:

10A capable, intelligent, and [b]virtuous woman--who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.(D)

Those of us who stand on the Word and obey God have a value greater than that of pearls and rubies.

Walk in obedience to God, stand firm on His Word, forge a purity within that reflects the gift of Christ in you, shed the irritants of the flesh that try to pull us away from the welcoming arms of our Father and His Son, become a child of God fully complete in the love of God, in the redemption of Christ, in your standing as a joint heir with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom to come.

May God Bless you Abundantly in all things in the days and weeks to come!

There are days when I just need and want to connect with my Father. There is an overwhelming desire to just sit and be with Him. What I find is when I do this, the things that the world thinks should bring stress and chaos have no affect on me. That was the case today. I myself was even surprised. I could not even convince myself that I should be upset. I just shrugged my shoulders, said to myself oh well, and took my little one to the park. Frankly, there is nothing I can do about some things. I have come to the conclusion that those things are for God to handle. So I let Him handle it. I know that it will work out just the way it should.

Today, I took in the beauty of the day. The clouds these days have this wispy thinness about them. The rays of the sun shine through them and form a crown of gorgeous light that falls to the ground. The bright colors of fall meet the sky and color the air with such brilliance. The wind was blowing through a field of dried corn husks and I saw myself running with abandon through the field, my arms raised up in praise to my Father. I was in His arms and the fullness of my heart was completely reached and then some. Pure utter joy - that is how I describe it. Such joy I only feel when I just let go and give it all to Him. Oh His Love is magnificent and it is all around us. Just look at the world around you - I mean really look at it. Have you ever seen such splendor? Have you ever heard such wonderful music that only God can create - the sound of my child's laughter, the melody of the wind whistling through the trees, the perfect tone of a bird's song as he flits through the air finding rest on the tree branches. I find the absolute freedom of what we are supposed to be as humans in God's image as I lay more and more things at His feet and allow Him to lead the way. He is the only guide I will allow on my journey. He is the ultimate teacher, He is so utterly awesome and amazing that I am daily humbled by the knowledge of Him and His love for me. There is nothing in the world that can compare to my Heavenly Father, to His goodness, to His grace, to His heart for His children. I need Him, I love Him, I praise Him, I worship Him. I call out to Him, I speak with Him, I hear Him, and with each passing day I am learning to die to self and hand it all - ALL - over to Him. I am so blessed in all things and I have so much to thank Him for today and every day.

Who else loves you unconditionally? Who else only wants the best for you? Who else will take care of you even though you are not worthy? Who else will love you, every inch of you even though you are riddled by sin? Who else would sacrifice His only son so that you may be saved? Only God our Father in Heaven. Such love is a gift. Our Father freely gives us the gift if we will accept it. I am so glad I am part of His family. I am so thankful that He has adopted me. I am so blessed to call Him Father. I thank Jesus, my Saviour, for willingly giving up His life, enduring the pain of the cross so that I might be saved and be a part of this wonderful family of believers. What a marvelous example Jesus is of how we should live our lives always obeying the Word of God. There is no joy that will ever measure up to that felt when you have accepted Christ as your Savior and renewed your mind throwing off the old man nature and replacing it with the renewed mind that glorifies and obeys God. Only when one has done that will they know what it means to be completely, completely, completely complete and it is then that the feeling of total and utter complete joy will be realized. You see at that point your cares and your worries will fade away as you truly know without a shadow of a doubt that every need in your life will be met and then some. You see God is the ultimate provider. He is all that you need ever. All things fall into place when He is at the helm. He is truly all I need. Even more than that, I want nothing more than to sit at the feet of my Father and give Him praise and worship and thank His Son, my Saviour for the gift of life that he attained for me through His perfect sacrifice. My wants and needs are finally in perfect parallel - I only want and need to obey my Father in Heaven and follow His path of righteousness.

Father, I love you with all of my heart. I pray tonight that others may find you and in so doing feel the utter joy that I feel. I thank you tonight Father for every blessing that you have given me and every need that has been met in my life. I thank you for the beautiful splendor of the world around me. I thank you for the gift of Life everlasting that you have given us by grace that was made available through Christ Jesus my Saviour. I thank you for working in the lives of those who are lost that they may seek and find you. I thank you for giving me the wisdom and knowledge to speak and act in ways that glorify you. I thank you for your forgiving heart so that when I do fall short and stray from the path of righteousness you welcome me back to the straight and narrow path of truth with open arms. I love you Father. I love you so much. In the name of your son Jesus Christ, my Saviour.

I think this post says it all. I can really add nothing other than to say VOTE! We have been given the ability to elect our leaders. We are accountable for the stewardship of this country and the leaders we elect by our vote(and not voting is as bad as voting for a candidate that is on direct opposition to the commandments set forth by our Father in heaven). Vote for values that are in line with God's Word. Vote for Life. Vote for Liberty. The below post was taken from The Astute Blogger:

A German Lady Remembers and Speaks
In Germany, when Hitler came to power, it was a time of terrible financial depression. Money was worth nothing. In Germany people lost homes and jobs, just like in the American Depression in the 1930s, which we have read about in Thoene's Shiloh books.

In those days, in my homeland, Adolph Hitler was elected to power by promising "Change." He blamed the "Zionists" around the world for all our problems. He told everyone it was greedy Zionist Bankers who had caused every problem we had. He promised when he was leader, the greedy Zionist bankers would be punished. The Zionists, he promised, would be wiped off the face of the earth. So Hitler was elected to power by only 1/3 the popular vote. A coalition of other political parties in parliament made him supreme leader.

Then, when he was leader, he disgraced and expelled everyone in parliament who did not go along with him. Yes. Change came to my homeland as the new leader promised it would. The teachers in German schools began to teach the children to sing songs in praise of Hitler. This was the beginning of the Hitler Youth movement.

It began with praise of the Fuhrer's programs on the lips of innocent children. Hymns in praise of Hitler and his programs were being sung in the schoolrooms and in the playyard. Little girls and boys joined hands and sang these songs as they walked home from school. My brother came home and told Papa what was happening at school. The political hymns of children proclaimed Change was coming to our homeland and the Fuhrer was a leader we could trust.

I will never forget my father's face. Grief and fear. He knew that the best propaganda of the Nazis was song on the lips of little children. That evening before he said grace at the dinner table, he placed his hands upon the heads of my brothers and me and prayed the Living Word upon us from Jeremiah 1:4-5.

'Now the Word of the Lord came to me, saying,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to The nations."

Soon the children's songs praising the Fuhrer were heard everywhere on the streets and over the radio. "With our Fuhrer to lead us, we can do it! We can change the world!"

Soon after that Papa, a pastor, was turned away from visiting elderly parishioners in hospitals. The people he had come to bring comfort of God's Word, were "no longer there." Where had they vanished to while under nationalized health care? It became an open secret. The elderly and sick began to disappear from hospitals feet first as "mercy killing" became the policy. Children with disabilities and those who had Down syndrome were euthanized.

People whispered, "Maybe it is better for them now. Put them out of misery. They are no longer suffering.And, of course, their death is better for the treasury of our nation. Our taxes no longer must be spent to care for such a burden." And so murder was called mercy.

The government took over private business. Industry and health care were "nationalized." (NA-ZI means National Socialist Party) The businesses of all Jews were seized. (Perhaps you remember our story in Berlin on Kristalnacht in the book Munich Signature)

The world and God's word were turned upside down. Hitler promised the people economic Change? Not change. It was, rather, Lucifer's very ancient Delusion leading to Destruction. What began with the propaganda of children singing a catchy tune ended in the deaths of millions of children.

The reality of what came upon us is so horrible that you in this present generation cannot imagine it. Our suffering is too great to ever tell in a book or show in a black and white newsreel.

When I spoke to Bodie about some of these things, she wept and said she could not bear to write them. Perhaps one day she will, but I asked her, "who could bear to read our suffering?" Yet with my last breaths I warn every Christian and Jew now in the name of the Lord, Unless your course of the church in America is spiritually changed now, returning to the Lord, there are new horrors yet to come.

I trembled last night when I heard the voices of American children raised in song, praising the name of Obama, the charismatic fellow who claims he is the American Messiah. Yet I have heard what this man Obama says about abortion and the "mercy killing" of tiny babies who are not wanted.

There are so few of us left to warn you. I have heard that there are 69 million Catholics in America and 70 million Evangelical Christians. Where are your voices? Where is your outrage? Where is passion and your vote? Do you vote based on an abortionist's empty promises and economics? Or do you vote according to the Bible? Thus says the Lord about every living child still in the womb.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you."

I have experienced the signs of the politics of Death in my youth. I see them again now. Christians! Unless you stand up now, you will lose your freedom of religion. In America priests and preachers have already lost their freedom to speak openly from their pulpits of moral danger in political candidates. They cannot legally instruct you of which candidate holds fast to the precepts of scripture! American law forbids this freedom of speech to conservative pastors or they will lose their "tax exempt" status.

And yet I have heard the words of Obama's pastor Damning America! I have heard the words of Obama damning and mocking all of you in small towns because you "Cling to your religion." But I am a woman whose name is unknown. My life is recorded as a work of fiction. I have no fear of reprisal when I speak truth to you from the pages of a book.

I have no fear for myself, but for all of you and for your children, I tremble. I tremble at the hymns to a political leaders which your children will sing at school.. (Though even now a hymn or a prayer to God and our Lord Jesus is against the law in public school!)

Your vote must put a stop to what will come upon America if Barack Obama is elected. I pray you will personally heed this warning for the sake of your children and your grandchildren. Do not be deceived. The Lord in Jeremiah 1:7-8 commands every believer to speak up!

"Do not say, 'I am only a youth,' for to all whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you, declares the Lord!"