A Prayer of Love

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Dear Heavenly Father,
I love you. Help me to accept more of your love. I thank you that, through your Holy Spirit, you have poured out your love, bountifully in my heart. I thank you that you loved me while I was yet a sinner. Help me to love others while they are still in their messes. To show them your unconditional, unfailing love. I pray that by my example, they can taste and see that you are good, that you love them. Thank you for my family. For those you have given me to love. May I be slow to anger and quick to forgive. May our relationships grow on the foundation of your love. Thank you for right relationships, Godly relationships. Bind us together, my natural and my spiritual families, with bonds of peace an love. That with one accord we can lift our praises to you. Help us to put our trust fully in you, Lord, because you love us, and that makes you trust worthy. I pray that by our love for one another, the world will see that we are your children-for you are LOVE.
In the name of your beloved Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen-so be it.

The Foundation of Hope

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We all hope in something. Some of us place it in fate, in our abilities, our jobs, our education, in the government, or maybe our family and friends around us. Maybe all of the above. A lack of hope or hope that doesn’t come to an expected in can get us down and depressed. God says in Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” We have all expected something, hoped for it and then when the outcome was delayed or didn’t come to pass, were heartbroken over it. Maybe you prayed for your marriage, only to see it come to a divorce, or prayed for your child, only to see them walk down the wrong path. There are so many letdowns in this life, not getting that promotion or that raise, no tax return, no weight loss, no publishers sweepstakes, etc. That is why it is so important that we place our hope in God. All the other places aren’t able to give us what we hope for. They will come through part of the time, or part of the way, at best. But they will never give us our hearts desire. (Psalm 37:4).

“But I have placed my hope in God, and I still got passed over for that promotion, my child is still in jail, and the government kept my money and I didn’t get a return.” Sound familiar? I’ve heard it, thought it, and (surprise) even said it.In Hebrews 11, verse one says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We tend to hope, but leave out faith. We hope for it, that is the foundation of our faith. Faith only comes when we first have hope. We hope for better, then we ask God for it, next we stand in faith, in His promises, and believe He will do it. It may not be in our timeframe, or exactly how we envisioned it, but it will come. I waited twenty three years for the miracle in my marriage. I had “hope deferred” and a sick heart. But God came through. I honestly think it would have happened so much faster had we both cooperated more and whined less.

Maybe you are facing the hardest battle in your life up until now, cancer, betrayal, death of a loved one, financial ruin… Let’s take a look at Job. We all know his story. Satan accused God of too much protection and favor, when God pointed out His righteous servant Job. (Yep, God called attention to him.) Satan in his love for suffering asked God to take His hand of protection off of Job and promised God that Job would curse Him. Job lost everything, and I mean everything. All he had left was a wife, who told him to “curse God and die” after Satan was given permission to inflict his body, but not take his life. In Chapter 17 he seemingly loses hope, “where then is my hope—who can see any hope for me?” But later in Chapter 19, versed 25-26 Job responds in hope, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Finally in Chapter 33 Job not only gets more than he started with concerning his possessions, God grants him seven more children. “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.” (verses 16-17).

Hope in the wrong source is worthless. Hope in God without faith is useless. Get to know Him, and you will trust Him more. Hope makes us stronger and stronger. Hope is the only foundation for faith. Romans 8:24 says,
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” We hope for things we do not already possess. Then true faith is the evidence that we are hoping for it. If there is no faith, then there isn’t a true hope. No true trust in the one who is able to perform for us. (Hebrews 10:23).

Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Book Review for “Tales of Ever”-YA Fantasy

I was given a copy of “Tales of Ever” by the author, Jen Wylie, in exchange for an honest review. I love fantasy, and though I am only a few months from 50, I enjoy YA fantasy. One of the reasons is they are usually not so packed with sex and foul language. This one was perfect! It lacked both of those things, but had romance and danger. This was such a fun book. The characters were strong, yet vulnerable, the creatures were weird and some downright funny. The hostile world that our heroin finds herself in is filled with magic, good and bad. The writing is simple with just enough description. I think it is great for ages 12 and up. There is some violence and fighting. I give it a solid 5 stars and say “way to go Jen Wylie!”

Book Review for “Amalgam”-Sci Fi Fiction

I was given a copy of this book by the author, Augustin Guerrero, in exchange for an honest review. This book is a sci fi/dystopian military story. To me equal to a man’s action movie, with a small touch of heart. Par for the coarse, there is some swearing, including the f-bomb with several variations. So if you find that offensive, delete a star. There was no sexual content besides some joking between the boys. So if you are guy who likes sci do or military stories, you’ll love it. Or if you are a woman like me who loves the comrade-ery and the whole “brothers in arms” “no man left behind” themes that can be found in military stories, you will enjoy it (if the language doesn’t get to you). I give it 4 stars due to my dislike for the swearing. I can only recommend it for adults due to the language.