Must Read List

With Summer around the corner, it’s the perfect time to sit outside with a good book and soak in some sun and good words as well.

Here is a few Must reads I love:

1)      “Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Women’s Soul”.by John and Stasi Eldredge. This is one of my favorites and I have read it at least three times. This book explores femininity and explains many of the desires girls carry on to adulthood. This book explains that many women desire to be swept up in romance and beautiful and how each woman can find their beauty in God.

2)      “Heaven in for Real” By Todd Burpo. This is a must-read. I am reading it now and have not been able to put it down. In this book the author describes his son’s visit to heaven after a near death experience. The boy was only three years old and describes things that he saw with a childlike honesty. Colton describes scenes in the bible that he could not possibly know and people who died before he was born. This is a great book for doubters or believers that just want a glimpse of heaven.

3)      “The Shack” By: William P. Young. In this fiction story, Mack the main character struggles with the death of his daughter who is killed by a serial killer known as the Little Lady Killer. Mack who is angry with God for taking his daughter away goes into a secluded shack where he has a face to face in counter with God.

4)      “The Wedding” By Nicholas Sparks. This is one of my favorites by Nicholas Sparks. It is the prequel to “The Notebook.” The main characters are the daughter and son-in-law of Allie from “The Notebook” In this inspiring love story. Jane and Wilson have been married for 30 years, but like many couples who have been married 30 years their love is fading. The book describes the love that once was, and the regret Wilson feels for letting it slip away. While Jane and Wilson are  planning their daughter’s wedding, he begins courting his wife again in an attempt to save their marriage.

5)      “Safe Haven” By Nicholas Sparks. While I’m throwing in Nicholas Sparks books I have to throw this one into mix. This recently turned movie is one of my favorites of Sparks as well. Katie moves to South Carolina in order to run from her dark past. Her only friends are a neighbor named Jo and a widow named Alex and his two children. While she tries to avoid falling for Alex, she soon discovers that love has the power to overcome fears.

6)      “The Guardian” By Nicholas Sparks. (I apologize to all non- Sparks fans, I am a Sparks fan. This is the last one my list. I promise.) Julie, a widow is left with a dog that her husband Jim always wanted to own. The dog is a Great Dane named Singer. Julie begins dating again, but is unimpressed with the men she dates. She develops a close friendship with Mike, who was Jim’s best friend. The title the guardian refers to Singer, and this book is a great example of the loyalty and protection of man’s best friend.

7)      “Alice” By Sara Flanigan. A powerful tale of a young girl’s journey in finding the true meaning of love and compassion. In this heart wrenching tale Ellie finds a deaf girl named Alice who is locked in a shed by her parents and treated like an animal. Ellie and her brother begin teaching the girl how to speak, play, and count transforming an entire town encompassed by ignorance and cruelty. While no one wants to help Alice, Ellie, fights for her right to be treated with loved until she is heard.

8)      “The Chronicles of Narnia “By C.S Lewis. I read this book series, as a kid, but would recommend it to fantasy lovers. This series chronicles the events of Narnia, a fantasy world filled with mythological creatures and talking animals. In this series many children play a vital role in the struggle between the good and evil of the land.

9)      “Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II. This is the true story of Darlene Deibler Rose and the courage and faith she displayed as a missionary in New Guinea. Her husband was killed in the mission field and she is forced to admit to a crime she did not commit. Then she is placed in a Japanese prison, where she gets a death sentence, only to be spared.

10)   “Love Letters from God” By Bonnie G Schluter. These are beautiful and intimate love letters written as if they were written from God himself. It is a reminder of how much he loves us. 

Grief

If you dealing with the grief of losing a loved one here are some bible verses you can meditate on and promises you can hold on to. 

“Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

“And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes and there shall no longer  be any death there shall no longer be mourning or crying or pain.” Revelation 21:4


“The lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

“Cast your anxiety on him for he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

“Where o death is your victory? Where o death is your sting? The sting of death Is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to god. He gives us the victory through our lord Jesus Christ. “1 Corinthians 15:55-57

" My comfort in my suffering is this: your promise preserves my life." Psalm 119:50

“When you pass through the waters I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze" Isaiah 43:2

“This is my comfort that thy word has revived thee.” Psalm 119:50

“The lord is my rock and My fortress and my deliverer, my god my rock in whom I take refuge my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  Psalm 18:1

“Come to you all that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

“For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. “Romans 8:18

A Crown of Beauty for the Brokenhearted

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18.

The above verse is such a sweet promise for those who are grieving for the death of a loved one. It is a wonderful promise that God would draw close to us in our brokenness and save us. Lately I have been no stranger to grief. Last week I found out I had a miscarriage and I had one in October as well. This is a trying time, but in my grief I can sense God’s love and care for me more than I have before. If you are experience some sort of grief whether from a miscarriage or the death of a family member or friend, I hope this entry will give you hope. Here are some things that you can do, some of which have helped me in dealing with my grief.

Allow yourself time to grieve.  There is no proper time frame that suggests how long you should fill sad and at what point you should be healed from the pain of grief. Don’t feel guilty that time has passed and you are still hurting. I know from experience that there may be some people who try to tell you that you shouldn’t feel sad anymore or that you need to get over it. Don’t allow anyone to tell you that you do not hav  a right to feel sad or that it is time for you to get over it. Allow yourself to take time in the healing process.

Talk to a trusted friend about your feelings and your grief.

Consider joining a support group for those who are grieving or attending grief counseling. Compassionate friends is a support group that meets in Lafayette for those who are grieving from the loss of a child. Those suffering from the loss of a miscarriage or stillbirth are welcome to go as well. The Healing House in Lafayette offers support group for children age 4-18 who have lost a loved one. The Greif Recovery Center in Baton Rouge and the Seasons Greif Center in New Orleans also offer counseling and support group services.

Cry out to God in your mourning. “To all those who mourn in Israel he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,  a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”  Isaiah 61:3

Journal. Journaling always helps me to express my feelings and discover feelings I may not have known I had prior to journaling.

Find scriptural promises you can stand on dealing with grief. A couple to look up are Matthew 5:4 and Revelations 21:4. Next week I will be posting more bible verses for those who are grieving.

You want me to love who?

Everyone knows that God wants us to love others. Most of us are familiar with the two great commandments of the bible the first being “Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your mind and all your strength” and the second command being.  “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:31 says of these two commandments “There is no commandment greater than these.”

Sometimes loving our neighbors, friends, and family is not a difficult command to follow, because these or some of the people who have loved us when we thought that we were unlovable. However, the command of loving others goes even further than this. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus says to us “Love your enemies, Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.”  According to this we are not just called to love those who are loveable, but we are called to love the unlovable, those that hate us, those who do not like us, those who have hurt us. This has been an issue I have been dealing with lately. There is a person in my life that I know doesn’t like me, and will reject me if I try to reach out to her, but I am being called to love her anyway.  This is a very challenging task. It’s difficult to love someone who you know will not show you that love back, but I believe that this a good opportunity for us to search our hearts and determine our true motives. It’s normal to want to receive love from others, but if we only love others so that we can get love back from them, then our hearts are in the wrong place.

I don’t have to ask you if there is someone in your life that is hard to love. I’m sure that as you are reading this people are coming to your mind, maybe an old friend you had a disagreement with, a difficult family member, a cranky neighbor, an annoying boss or coworker. I challenge you to do everything you can to love that person. Treat this person with kindness, even when they don’t do the same for you. Pray for that person daily. Pray for grace to deal with that person. Remember that we are called to  love even the unlovable.

You are no longer a catepillar so fly!

" If anyone is in Christ the new creation the old has gone the new has come" 2 Corinthians 5:17.
When I read this verse, I always wonder how can I become a "new" creation. How does a person who has been one way their entire way become a new creation? Can I truley become a new creature, when I commit my life to Christ?

So I started thinking..... Are their  any expample in nature when one being becomes an entirely new creation?  Of course, the caterpillar came to my mind. When a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it becomes a completely new creation? Isn't that just a fasinating metophor of what Jesus does to us when we become christians? Have you ever walk up to a butterfly and said to it "You are still a caterpillar. Your not a butterfly. You were once a caterpillar you will always be a caterpillar." Of course not. That would be silly, and you would get some strange looks if anyone ever caught you doing that.

However, don't Christians do this to ourselves everyday? We look back on the past and let it define the person that we are to day. We allow ourselves to be overcome with guilt and condemnation for the person that we used to be.

Does this sound like you? Are you holding on to the person you used to be? Are you allowing you were define who you are today? I want to encourage you to let go of the person that you used to be. If unconfessed sins come to your mind, confess those sins and let them go. However, if confessed sins come to your mind ask Jesus to show you that the debt has already been payed for those sins. You are forgiven. Find scriptures that will remind you of the person that you are forgiven. A few you can look at are Romans 8:1, Hebrews 4: 16, 1 John 9,and Act 3: 19,

I challenge you to find a picture/sticker of a butterfly and put it in a place you can see it. Let it be a reminder of that you are forgiven, that you are a new creation in Christ. Don't look back at the times when you crawled in the dirt like a caterpillar. Allow Jesus to take you to new depths and dimensions as he continues to transform you.You are beautiful! You are Christlike! You are a butterfly!

The Most Difficult Decision

The most difficult decision you will make

One of the most difficult decisions you will make in your life will be concerning forgiveness. Even if it is not something you are dealing with at the moment at some point you will have to decide whether or not you will forgive the person who has hurt you. As you are reading this, someone who has hurt you may be coming to your mind, and you may be thinking you don't know what this person has done to me. They don't deserve my forgiveness. However, forgiveness is a choice, and you can choose to forgive that person no matter what they did to you.

Lewis B Smedes once said "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover that prisoner was you." When we choose to resent another person for what they have done to us, we are not hurting that person, we are only hurting ourselves. Recently, I was reminded of that. I had chosen not to forgive someone who had hurt me. I had told that person that I had forgiven her, but I realized later that it was merely words and I had not forgiven her. I was carrying bitterness and anger towards her and was consumed with what she had done to me. I had a heaviness within me and I did not even realize the root of that heaviness. It wasn't until I finally forgave that person that that heaviness lifted and I felt free.

If someone came to your mind while you were reading this, I urge you to forgive that person, not so that they can be free, but so that you can. If you have resentment in your heart ask God to free you from feelings of resentment towards that person. Tell that person that you have forgiven them, and chose to forgive them, whether or not they accept your forgiveness and if they have forgiven you.

Idols

"Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. I am the Lord your God." Lev. 26:1

If you are anything like me you have probably read the above verse and did not give it much thought. You may have even thought to yourself " I don't worship any idols. I am not bowing down to carved sculptures, worshipping other gods or carving up any statues so I can worship." That was my first instinct in dealing with this verse. I brushed off this verse as a outdated command pertaining to the ancient people who worshiped various gods and carved idols, so that they can bow down to them. Then one day I really thought about it and I realized that even though I wasn't carving statues or bowing down to other gods, I probably had just as many idols as the ancient Egyptians did.

What are idols? Websters dictionary defines an idol as "a respresentation of an object of worship;broadly; a false god." So in this sense an idol would be anything that steals me away from God. An idol would be anything that I make more important in my life than God. An idol does not have to be a carved statue or another false diety, but can be a relationship, a career, a television show, the internet, or even yourself. Of course, I am not saying that any of these things are bad things. There is nothing wrong with watching a good television show,having a career, or going on the internet. We all need to be in healthy, godly relationships However, if these things cut into your prayer time with God you are making them your idol.

How can you identify the idols in your life? These are some questions you can ask yourself to identify if there are idols in your life:

Is there anything that is distracting you from spending time with God? This could be anything from television to the internet to the people in your life.

Is there anything that prevents you from giving your whole heart to God?

What are the things that are consuming most of your thought?

Do you have any habbits or addictions that consume you?

What are the things you are spending too much money on? Recall Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is your heart will also be."

Is there anything in your life that you feel like you can not live without?

Is there a thing or person you always turn to instead of God when going through a difficulty? We all need an outlet or a friend to talk to when going through a struggle and sometimes God uses the people in our lives to speak to us. The question would be are we seeking this person or thing MORE than we are seeking God. Are we asking a person what to do every time we have a problem INSTEAD of asking God.

What are the things you are always worried and obssesed about?

If God did not answer any of your prayers would that make you turn away from God. If an unanswered pray would make you turn from God than you are making that prayer request an idol.

When trying to identify your idols spend some time with God in prayer asking him to reveal these things to you. Ask him to help you eliminate the idols from your life. Next week I will be posting a blog entry