Musings and Nuggets

  Life's journey can resemble " a maze"  with its unexpected twists, turns, walls, and road blocks.    God seldom takes us in a straight line to our destinies.  That being said, life can also be absolutely " amazing"  with tremendous learning opportunities, (sometimes painful), along the way.    I am one of those people who will take a shortcut by dodging excess traffic lights whenever it is feasible to save time.  In agreeing to go through one of those corn fields in the Fall that had been turned into a maze, I found no shortcuts.  It was not fun!  Thankfully, I was with some other people who thought it was, and found the way out.  However, on the journey of faith and our redemption to God through Christ, there are no shortcuts.  There is only one way .  There is no   redemption or   relationship with God without Christ.   Jesus said to him,  I am the way, and truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.    John 14:5 ESV    S ometimes we

                                     ZEPHANIAH 3:17                           Photo by Shutterstock At times my favorite scripture changes based on the season & what I may be experiencing during that time.  There is always a scripture that will apply to whatever may be happening at any time on the journey.  This scripture is and has been my favorite scripture for quite some time.  For me every line of this scripture is powerful. The Lord your God in your midst lets me know that He is always present and with me, even when I can't feel Him or trace what He is doing. The Mighty One, will save ; There is no one greater and no one whom I would want to be on my side more than the Lord.  This is a promise that He will save !  Numbers 23:19 lets us know that God cannot lie! He will rejoice over you with gladness .  A synonym for rejoice is delight which makes me smile . He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with  singing.  This is my favorite part of Zephaniah

                         TAKE THE LIMITS OFF! Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think , according to the power that works in us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.          Ephesians 3:20, 21 NKJV            There have been times in my walk with the Lord when He has been very stern in dealing with me.   I was praying about a situation with a co-worker on my job at the time.  It seemed to me that her sole purpose for waking up in the morning was to come to work to steal my joy with scriutiny and criticism.  As I was praying about it, I had the audacity to say to the Lord, "I know that You have never let me down, but I don't see how You are going to fix this!"  He checked me right away and put me in my place.  He responded with, "And...who are you (to question what I can or cannot do) ?!!"   I immediately came to my senses and repented. Since then, H

                                        "FAITH 2.0"  I imagine   that at some point in your life you may have received an invitation that had BYOB included.  Depending on where you were in your personal "journey" at the time, that would have meant either  B ring Y our O wn B oose/ B ottle or B ring Y our O wn B ible.  No shade intended, but the first one was probably because it was seen as a necessary part of your "having fun" at a party or some sort of celebration.           This week, let's look at B.Y.O.F. , B ring Y our O wn F aith . Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) reads But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him,      If we come to the Lord seeking a miracle, we need to come armed with our faith.   There were times when Jesus could not minister or perform miracles because of the  peoples'  lack of faith .  The woman with the issue of

  F.A.I.T.H                                                                             Photo by Shutterstock Now faith is the assurance ( title deed, confirmation ) of things hoped for ( divinely guaranteed ), and the evidence of things not seen [ the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses ]. Hebrews 11:1 AMP This can be a "mouth full" to digest, so try reading it twice.  First, read the parts NOT in parentheses, then read it in its entirety.   According to the internet, an acronym is 'a word or name formed from the initial letters of a longer name or phrase, pronounced as a word.  Here are a few such phrases for the word FAITH.         F --Forwarding                F --Full                      F --Forsaking A --All A --Assurance. A --All I ---Issues. I --In