Pick Me!

For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicles 16:9a NASB1995

I have read this verse multiple times, but one day, when I was in a worship service, this verse was quoted. I suddenly imagined myself jumping up and down and waving my arms, shouting, ''Pick me! Pick me!"

This brought a smile to my lips. But I don't have to jump up and down to attract His attention.

I just need to make sure my heart is completely His.

This verse means God is searching for loyal hearts so He can defend them. He knows the enemy uses every means possible to derail us from believing. But God is greater and will defend and support every heart that wants to believe.

You can rest on that fact.

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

~~

This post was written in response to the Five Minute Friday prompt, "pick." As always, I wrote the post in 5 minutes, but took extra time to look up scripture and make a graphic.

Last October, I wrote a scripture prayer focusing on other verses that tells of God watching over us. I'd love to share it with you now:

The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night. 
The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
Psalm 121:6-8 New Living Translation

Father,

Such comforting verses! You are watching; and even when Harm comes our way, You are there. You will make it all work out for the good of Your children.

Why worry? Why fret?

We trust You, Lord, for You are good and there is not a shadow of darkness in You.

Lord, be with us as we begin our week. Give us divine appointments that we keep as we represent You in everything we say and do.

Cleanse us from all unrighteousness, Lord, and keep our eyes on YOU.

In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen.

~~

In light of what happened this week when believer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed for his beliefs, you might say, "Well, it doesn't look like God was watching over him." 

I believe God only allows events like this to happen to a believer when He has a plan to work something out for good. (See Romans 8:28) I believe Charlie's life will accomplish even more fruit now than before. (I had never even heard of Charlie Kirk until his death.)

It's a tough pill to swallow, but life on this earth isn't the main goal for the believer, or even the best thing. Being in the arms of Jesus is.

Charlie fulfilled his calling. May we go out and fulfill ours.

~~

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

Sharing at Five Minute Friday

Sweet Tea & Friends 

Tell His Story 

Let's Have Coffee

Everyone Leaves a Legacy

Everyone is born and eventually everyone will die. What you do with the time in between determines what legacy you leave behind.

People are watching your life. It doesn't matter whether you intend to leave a legacy or not, you WILL leave one.

For example, I had a great aunt who was an Avon lady. Each time I visited her as a child, two things happened. She opened the door when we knocked and showed great delight that we had come. She always made a point of greeting me, the child, separately from greeting my parents. It was like she was so honored I had come. And then, when we left, both my mom and me received some sort of Avon product. 

My memories of my aunt are that she was generous and welcoming.

I also had a relative who could never stay in one place. He left wives, children and locations all the time. He was your original rambling man, a person who ccrisscrossed the country by stowing away on trains. (It's a wonder he stayed alive as long as he did!)

I'm sure he didn't intend to leave a legacy of a life lived for himself ... but he did.

Your people are watching you. What example will you leave them?

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

~~

This post was written in response to this week's prompt, "legacy" at the Five Minute Friday community; but also because legacy is on my mind this month.

The book, "A Family Legacy: Passing Down Love, Wisdom and Tradition" releases this week. I am one of the authors of this book written in collaboration with 8 other authors.

In this book, you will read the stories of some incredible grandparents who modeled the values so important to them. You will meet people like my granny in the chapter, "Violet: The Color of Connection," who believed hospitality practiced by feeding people and playing games with them and praying for them was the best way of building a circle of connection.

You can order your copy here TODAY!

~~

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

Sharing at Five Minute Friday and Remember Me Monday, Let's Have Coffee

Look Who is Behind Me

This week's prompt for the Five Minute Friday Community is the word, "behind."

I'm first tempted to think I'm behind since this is now Monday and I have not written my five minute free write yet. But I'm not behind because the link-up is open through Thursday. (See what I did there?)

Thinking it over, I decided to go a different direction with this post. Here is my offering:

START

i try to keep my focus on Jesus. I really do. I know that keeping all my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ is the key to kingdom living. (See 2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

But, often, I fall prey thinking of the past, to reliving all the mistakes made, or even more futile, imagining what I would do differently if I had the chance.

I must put those things behind me and press forward in my race Home to the finish line. (See Philippians 3:13-14)

However, today something occurred to me. There is something else besides the past behind me. Goodness and mercy are on a mission to chase me down. (See Psalm 23:6)

I often tell of the time the Lord spoke to me in 2019 asking me the question, "What if you believed, really believed that goodness and mercy is chasing you down?'

Ever since that day,I've been working to remind myself there is something good behind me - the goodness and mercy of God. 

In fact, goodness and mercy are chasing behind every believer. Actually, they catch up to us more than we might think. Take a moment and list every blessing in your life.

Yep, that's goodness and mercy!

STOP

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

I'd love to share with you a prayer I wrote back in March about the goodness of God.

Psalm 27:13-14 NLT

Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness
    while I am here in the land of the living.

 Wait patiently for the Lord.

    Be brave and courageous.

    Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

 

Father,

I love the part where we will see Your goodness in the land of the living. We don’t have to wait until heaven to be blessed!

 

To be sure, heaven’s reward will be above and beyond what we can imagine in this life; but it’s good to know we will get good stuff here on earth, too.

 

Lord, today I ask for bravery and courage for all those who are hanging on by a thread, waiting to see Your goodness. I know You are behind the scenes, making things happen, working out Your will so that in the end, we will say it is good.

 

In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen.

~~

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday and at Sweet Tea & Friends, InstaEncouragements Link-Up, Let's Have Coffee

A Prayer to Travel the Opposite Path

But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.

    If you keep to my path,
    I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Psalm 50:23 NLT

Abba,

The giving of thanks is hardly a sacrifice when I consider all that You have done for me! 

I know I am human, and when going through a rough patch it is difficult to lift my eyes and see all the blessings I have been handed. The enemy wants me to focus on everything that is wrong, any perceived injustice, any slight, any time I feel taken for granted.

And it's true those things happen; and a big part of the reason why people around me zero in on those wrongs and dwell on them so much they are blinded to the goodness.

But as a believer, I should fixate my attention opposite from the focus of the worldly. My eyes should be on Jesus and the incredible gift of salvation and the promise of a forever Home where none of the trials and injustices here on earth will happen.

It's been said our destiny is determined by our choice. As a believer, I choose You and the future I have with You - not only in the hereafter but also in the here and now.

Because I know that trials will come, but You will deliver me out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)

I stand on Your promise to share my burden. (Matthew 11:28)

I know You have promised to guide us on the right path. (Psalm 48:14)

And finally, I believe with everything in my heart goodness and mercy are pursuing me all the way Home to You. (Psalm 23:6)

In Jesus' holy name, I pray, so be it, amen.

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

~~

This post was written in response to the Five Minute Friday community's prompt, "Obedience."  

Disclosure: I wrote the prayer in 5 minutes, but added the scriptures and graphic later.

I have been blogging a long time, so this subject has been discussed before. 

Check out the archives:  

The Opposite Life

But God Says

Opposite 

Relevant - the story of two opposite sisters

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday and 

InstaEncouragements Link-Up

Tell His Story 

Let's Have Coffee

Prayer of the Week - Preserved

This year, I've been focusing my written prayers on the names and attributes of God. Today, I'm sharing a prayer I wrote a few days ago about God being our hiding place. Several thoughts came to mind as I dwelt on this scripture:

Hiding Place
Psalm 32:7 New King James Version
⁷ You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
 
The NLT version says “You shall surround me with songs of victory!”
 
Abba,
 
I imagine David singing songs of victory to encourage himself in times of trouble; but I wonder if there is more to this idea than that because it says YOU shall surround Me with songs. Could it be You and your angels are singing songs in the heavens about our victory? Could we hear them if we listen closely? Or perhaps the Holy Spirit is singing them into our spirit?
 
However it is, I’m so thankful to know I can run to you and hide when life gets too much. Your word says you preserve me from trouble. I know trouble tries to touch us – life here is not heaven! – but it cannot destroy us. We are preserved.
 
Thank you for sustaining us, for defending us from evil! We glorify Your name, we praise and honor You, now and forever.
 
In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen.

~~

My first thought regarding this scripture was how amazing it is that the believer can live surrounded by songs of victory. Hopefully, we are in the mindset of joining in with the heavenly music; but even more mind-blowing is the thought of heaven  singing victory for us! Lord, open our spiritual ears to hear.

My second thought was about being preserved. When something is preserved, its goodness is stored up for later. I thought of blueberry preserves - because I love them - and how the blueberries go through a process before they end up being a sweet taste in my mouth. They are sweetened, heated, the bubbly scum drained off, then packed in clean, hot jars and sealed for later. 

Perhaps life has heated up for us, maybe we are getting unnecessary things drained off our lives, or maybe we feel we are sealed up, waiting to be used. However it is, our God is not a God who wastes anything. All will be well in the end.

Let us keep attached to the Vine. Fruitfulness is coming!

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

Sharing at Sweet Tea & Friends

InstaEncouragements Link-Up 

Let's Have Coffee

Casting Your Care

  

Is it ever okay to worry? Short answer: Not for the Christian.

Then He said to His disciples: "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life ... 

Don't worry - it's not a suggestion, it's a command. You can read His words in context here. They are from the most famous sermon ever, The Sermon on the Mount. Basically, He is telling us to trust Him. He knows what we need, and He has our best interest at heart.

God created us to have full abundant lives.  He doesn’t want us to be consumed with thoughts of things that are not our responsibility.  Our job is to trust.  His job is to provide.

But hey! We are human. Worry wants to sneak in. What if God doesn't notice or care about what is happening in my life?

Never fear, God will do His part. We are not to be filled with pride and think we can fix everything ourselves. Instead, we are to cast all our care on him!  Both the Old and New Testaments tell us this:

 

 “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22 HCSB

 

And

 

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 HCSB

 

Casting is not a passive word, it’s an active one.  You don’t limply hand your worry over – You vigorously sling it out there! 

 

To me, "casting" is a fisherman's term. (God loves fisherman, as we know from His choosing of several fishermen to be His disciples.) A fisherman casts his rod out there – he doesn’t just plop it near his feet. Also, there is aim when a fisherman casts. He intends to go to a certain area of the lake.

 

So, the casting of our care takes effort, because it is so human to keep it ourselves and stew over it ... and think we are accomplishing something.

 

We cast it upon the Lord, not just willy nilly over our backs ...

 

Also, when a fisherman casts, he must LET IT GO!  I don't mean he lets go of the pole, he knows where it is, but he releases the reel to let the bait go. Now, in Peter’s day, we know from the Word, that he cast nets. Throwing a net would be much more difficult and involve way more effort than a pole!

 

Finally, you let the bait go in hope of reaping a blessing in the form of a fish. We let the worry go and reap a blessing in answered prayer ... and in peace of mind.

 

When you can really believe He cares about YOU, worry won't be a problem.

 

~~~

What about you? Do you struggle with worry? Join me in focusing on this scripture and prayer:

 

Philippians 4:4-7 New Living Translation

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

 

Father,

 

I never saw it before. We are to tell You what we need and thank You for what You’ve done, THEN WE WILL HAVE PEACE!

 

So simple!

 

I mean, after all, we should be in relationship, right? We tell our best friend our needs. We praise our friends and family when they do good. (Or at least, we should!)

 

So, we should treat You the same. And then, because we trust You, knowing You have been there for us in the past; we can now have peace, knowing You will do it again.

 

You are the best! We praise You forever.

 

Now Lord, today I ask You to show up big in the lives of my readers. They might not understand the whole situation they are in, but You do. Father, give them mercy and favor, and we will give You the honor.

 

In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen

 

~~

Adapted from a previous post.

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

Sharing at InstaEncouragements Link-Up

Path to Becoming A Writer

Photo taken by Elissa Miller

I've had a life-long dream to becoming a writer but I didn't seriously pursue my dream until 2008 until I published my first blog.

What a trip! I could write anything I wanted and I was boss whether it got published or not.

I spent several years writing about family stories, participating in memes and writing bible studies.

Then, sometime in 2017, a divine appointment happened. I met an author who came to speak at our Ladies meeting, Adrienne Ross, who wrote "Push Your Way to Purpose."

Sometime later, Adrienne, who had been a creative writing teacher for a couple of decades, decided to put on Facebook some writing challenges. Anyone could participate for free, so of course, I dove in and had so much free writing on her prompts. Later, she held a writing club that I joined. Eventually, I even was a part of a John Maxwell Leadership Mastermind.

All of things stretched me as a writer. I discovered I loved writing fiction and dialogue.

In 2018, I was inspired to write a novel about a girl with a huge family secret. It took me a year to flesh out all my characters and discover there was more than one book in me. I wanted to become a series writer.

I felt God had given me this story, but it needed polishing. I knew I needed to learn how to make my characters and settings spring to life. But I also was afraid, so I saved my novel to my hard drive and just waited.

One day, Adrienne and I crossed paths again. She had some coaching slots open for writers. I decided to take the plunge and invest money into my dream. She and I worked on my novel for 14 months. (We both had very busy schedules!) 

And then, the novel was done! I felt very proud of what I had accomplished.

But now, the burning question in my mind: "How do I get published?"

I looked into the options. Frankly, they all looked scary and I either didn't have the social media platform or the money to do any of the options.

I prayed and waited and prayed some more. One day, I saw a little writing challenge about legacy that Hopewriters was sponsoring. They said to submit a story about someone whose legacy made a difference in your life. You might even be considered to be a part of their collaborative work honoring Family Legacy.

Right away, I knew I should write about my Granny Violet who was such an influence in our family and in her community.

So I did. And I was chosen to be one of the ten authors for the book, "Family Legacy: Passing Down Love, Wisdom, and Tradition." It will be published this September, 2025!

And that is how God led me down the path to becoming a published author.

I still intend to write my series but this is a first step in learning about publishing. I'm thankful for the opportunity.

~~

I began this post writing on the prompt, "Path," provided by the community at Five Minute Friday, but it took longer than five minutes to tell the story. Sorry, Kate and FMF writers, I will try to limit myself next time!

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

This time of year is the perfect time to consider how much margin is in your life. You may want to read my series  A Rich and Satisying Life on my other blog, (No, it’s not about money.)

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday and Let's Have Coffee