Tag Archives: trials

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Book Review for “Elderberry Croft- Volume 4”- Christian Fiction

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I have so thoroughly enjoyed this series. It has everything. Humor, heartache, quirky characters, and forgiveness. This last book in the “Elderberry Croft” series finally tells us the whole story of Willow Goodhope’s past. A great book about redemption and restoration. I can recommend this book for Jr. High and up, though it will probably appeal most to adult. Most of the characters are senior citizens and the main character in her 30’s. I will definitely be reading more from Becky Doughty. Good job! I give it 5 stars!

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Book Review for “Unclouded Day”-YA Christian Fantasy/Allegory

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This is a great story about a young man who, despite his awful lifestyle, finds God’s help and favor. There is a lot of first person narrative in this book. If that bothers you, you might not like it as much as I did. The story is told through the eyes of a fourteen year old boy. This is the first of a series and in my opinion you should read the books in order. I had a chance to Beta read the third book and parts of it were pretty confusing without reading this one first. The author, William Woodall was gracious enough to give me books one and two. I am so glad. This is a refreshing fantasy written with a Christian view. I give it 4 stars. A good read for ages Jr. High and Up.

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Are You Surrendered?

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We no longer live under the law! We are free from the law! Isn’t that wonderful?

Romans 8:1-2 (NIV), “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

John 8:36 (NIV), “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Now we can do whatever we want. Right?

People use that as an excuse to excuse just about anything. There is still sin. We still live in a fallen world. As a child of God I don’t have to pay the penalty of my sin, but does that mean I can really just do whatever I want. Paul answers this question for us.

I Corinthians 10:23 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up.”

What God calls sin, its still sin. Can I live with someone before I get married? Of course! Is that beneficial to my marriage? Absolutely not! I know we did it that backwards way. Can I live an alternate lifestyle? You bet. Will God bless that? Not a bit. There are some things God asked us not to do because He is Holy and He wants us to live Holy. Some things He has asked us to do, or not to do, because it is simply harmful to us or to others. Overdrinking, overeating, drug addiction, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and sexual immorality are all harmful practices.

Ok, so maybe you like some of those things that God says don’t do. What is my answer to that? If you love Him, really truly love Him, and you aren’t just doing lip service, you will want to please Him more than your flesh. Simply put: if you continue in sinful behavior, you are not in a true relationship with Him.

When we have surrendered our hearts to Jesus and let Him sit on the throne there, we change. Our way of thinking changes and our habits change. The more we read His word and spend quiet time with God, allowing Him to speak into our lives, the more we change. As we are being led by His Spirit, those ungodly desires just seem to fade away. I know from experience that it isn’t always easy, but it is best. God’s desire for us is a more wonderful, spectacular life than we could ever even dream about. Why would we want to keep doing things our own way and not surrender to His will?

What about all of those other people out there. They seem to do just fine living in the flesh and doing whatever they want. They blatantly live the opposite of the way God instructs us, and people applaud them for their honesty. How do we handle that?

We never accept sin. God doesn’t. However, He never stops loving them. We shouldn’t either. If I love them, do I have to ignore their sin? No! Just don’t beat them up, don’t beat them over the head with your Bible. Don’t call them names, ridicule, or belittle them. None of those things are loving. We need to make friends with people. We have to show them the love of God. The dividing line is if you start to behave more like them, than them behaving more like you. We can’t be everyone’s friend. It’s permissible or lawful, but not beneficial. Be honest, we have all had a friend at some point in our lives that used, abused, or influenced us in a bad way. Stay away from those people.

I Thessalonians 5:22 (Jubilee Bible 2000), “Separate yourselves from all appearance of evil.”

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. We are supposed to separate (some versions say “flee”, others say “abstain”) from all appearance of evil. Does it look like sin? Does it taste, feel, sound, or smell like sin? Stay away.

Paul also tells us in I Corinthians 15:33 (NIV), “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” In verse 34 (NLT), “Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.”

Paul likes to “tell it like it is.” I would probably be afraid of him, had I known him in person. Most of us are afraid of confrontation. We may be timid and too worried about what people think. However, Paul practiced what he preached.

Ephesians 4:15 (NLT), “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”

So if you have surrendered your life to God, stay that way. Daily allow His Spirit to guide you. If you haven’t surrendered, please do. I promise, it is easier than kicking against the thorn. Just ask Paul. Are you friends with unbelievers? Be patient, live right in their sight, be generous and full of God’s love. Show them the father. Let God be your guide in when to cut the ties with an unrepentant friend and when to keep on working with them. He knows.

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Drama Queen or Noble King?

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We all know a few Drama Queens. You know the ones who live soap opera lives. They love drama and the latest gossip. They are busybodies, they think they have to know and try to fix everyone else’s problems, when their own seem too huge to even attempt to fix. Anything that happens in their lives is a BIG DEAL! Mountains are made out of molehills. A bad report becomes headline news (everyone has to know.) Most of the time we grow out of that stage around the age of sixteen, but for some, it becomes a way of life.

Those kind of people drain me. How about you? It feels like they sap the strength right out of you. Suck you dry. They are so needy.

At Church they are always in the prayer line, always asking for prayer, wanting someone to “stand in the gap” for them. All good things, but they never receive. Or if they do, they just move onto the next big deal. What is the problem?

They don’t trust God. Or, I may even venture to say, they don’t know God. Sure they may know who He is, they may even believe He is real and that He sent Jesus to die for them, but they don’t really know Him. How do I know that?

I’ve had my drama queen moments.

Always, those times have been when I looked at the circumstances, believed the bad doctors report, or the balance in my checkbook, more than I looked at Him, or believed His word. Sometimes we believe, we know Him in an intimate way, but we still go into panic mode. Most often, in my own life it is because I haven’t been listening to Him, or I listened but didn’t do what He said.

Years ago when I was having heart issues, and had some equipment malfunction while on the operating table, fully awake, I lived a few months of the Drama Queen life. From the beginning, God was trying to tell me that He had it all under control, that I had already been healed, and to act like it, declare it. However, I chose to listen to the doctors and some well-meaning people and things went from bad to worse. It took me finally listening, and obeying Him before I saw the issue totally healed. He healed me before the foundation of the world, way before He ever took those stripes, but it took months for it to manifest due to my lack of obedience. Thankfully, a good Christian friend told me that God said, “I’ve got your back. It’s all taken care of.” The exact same thing He had been trying to tell me for months. Some of the worst days in my entire life ended up being a stepping stone for my faith to grow. I know I can trust Him! He proved it, again.

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV), “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

That is a word to stand on!

Now, before I finish up today, I don’t want to just say “don’t be a Drama Queen,” I want to also encourage you to be who God created you to be. A Noble King.

Revelations 5:10 (Aramaic Bible In Plain English), “And you have made them a Kingdom, Priests and Kings to our God, and they shall reign over The Earth.”

He has made us kings! I didn’t say it, He did.

When you think of a good king, David always seems to come to mind. He was intimate with God. He refused to take any action against his enemy Saul, recognizing that King Saul was anointed by God. When he sinned, he repented. One scripture stands out to me in the life of King David that helps prove the nobleness of his character.

II Samuel 9:1-7 (NIV), Then David said, “Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” The king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.” So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly.”

Saul and his sons are dead. David is king. He is subduing his enemies with the Lord’s leading. He has built himself a fine home out of the cedars of Lebanon. All is good for David, yet there is one thing is still on his heart. He remembers the good things about King Saul. He recalls the friendship he had with Jonathan, so he wants to show some kindness to anyone who is left. David accepts this cripples man into his home and restores all of his grandfathers land to him. He thought of others. He wanted to bless, to give, and wasn’t thinking of how he could get.

That is nobility.

Yes, he was king and had more than he needed. But, you must remember, he started as shepherd boy. In fact, that’s when God anointed him as king.

Drama Queens live in the temporal, Noble Kings live in eternity.

It’s a choice really.
How do you choose to see your life?
How do you choose to see God?
Who do you want to be?
A Drama Queen or a Noble King?

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Book Review for “Elderberry Croft-volume 3”- Christian Fiction

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Book number three in the series and they just keep getting better. We find out much more about Willows past in this book with hints at some interesting relationships in book four. I love these books. The characters are interesting, the writing is simple and easy to read. These have been great reads so far. I give Book three in the “Elderberry Croft” series five stars. Good job Becky Doughty. I can recommend these books to any age, though all of the characters are over 30 (mostly seniors). No swearing or sexual content. I also have to say I love the covers!

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Don’t be a Fool

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Galatians 3:1-4 (NIV), “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?”

The Galatians had been let to Jesus by the Spirit of the Living God. They had accepted Jesus as crucified, their penalty paid. They had gloried in their new freedom from sin, begun a Church family, and behaved like all new believers. Then something terrible happened…

They went back to the confines of the law!

Paul calls them fools. Elsewhere in the scripture (Proverbs) it says, “A fool says in their heart that there is no God.” That sounds harsh, but let’s think about this for a minute. After having been set free from the law and sin, why would anyone want to go back? In my own experience it is because we believe the lie that God hasn’t done it, won’t do it, or can’t do it. Or even worse, the lie that says we don’t deserve it. So we try to manipulate, and work our way into His Grace. That is someone who doesn’t know God intimately. I’ve been there! I thought I knew Him, but when hit with something hard, I doubted and believed those lies. Of course He came through like He always did. It took me accepting what He had already done! How did I get to that point of acceptance? I allowed the Holy Spirit to lead and guide me into all truth. I listened to His voice and stop listening to the lie.

God isn’t withholding anything from us! That was the original lie that Satan told Adam and Eve in the Garden. After all this time, shouldn’t we recognize that lie for what it really is? I know God. Personally! I am in relationship with Him. Be guided by the Holy Spirit. Not by your flesh, not by your reasoning or intellect, and certainly not by any lie.

Don’t be a fool!

God loves you and He wants only good for you. He gave Jesus, why would he withhold anything else?

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Book Review for “Journey into the Deep”- Christian Fiction

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Guy Stanton III has begun a new series “Water Wars” with “Journey into the Deep.” I have to say there are still some grammar and editing issues with Guy’s writing, but again I must also say the writing is good. The story line is interesting and from an unapologetic Christian view. Guy’s characters are flawed and his writing never comes across as preachy. Good for men and women as it includes action, fighting, and romance. In this story a treasure hunter with a death wish finds more than he wants to in a strange artifact. I give it 4 stars. Didn’t love this one, but I liked it and it was a good read. I am sure I will read the rest of the series as I have read all of the other two series. Just a warning, if you like your Christian fiction without talk of passion, killing, and or imperfect people, these books aren’t for you. However, if you like it to be real…