And the Soul Felt Its Worth

This past Monday, I was driving down the interstate and passed a cemetary. I noticed that a grave site was being prepared. Though I didn't know the family, I couldn't help but think about them...that they would gather under that green tent and bury the body of someone they loved. But then, immediately, my heart was filled with a burst of excitement, as I thought about the hope that we have in Christ! The body is buried but the soul... Oh the soul! Praise God for giving us a soul that can (if we choose salvation) live beyond death in Heaven with Him! But before the birth of Chirst, the 'soul' had no understanding of it's purpose. This is one of the reasons I am so thankful for the birth of Christ. Even though I had imagined the sadness of that family, I also imagined the joyous night Jesus was born. Inside of my head, it unfolds like this... I see Mary laying in the stable on hay that Joseph had fixed for her. He tries to make it as comfortable for her as he can. I see rolls of sweat falling from her brow as she thinks, "It shouldn't be this way. Not for this baby." I see Joseph pacing, his mind filled with concern for the 'love of his life' and now... a new love, that would be here any moment. It is time now. Joseph kneels beside of Mary and whispers that he loves her and that God would be faithful to them. He reminds her of what they had gone through and that it was almost over. Little did they know...it was only beginning for them. The baby is born and Mary wraps him in whatever she can find. She holds Him close to her. She whispers His name over and over again..."Jesus". I see that precious chosen couple holding this child. The child that changed everything they ever knew. They can't take their eyes off of Him. Of course they feel the happiness of being new parents, but, there is something else. It's their hearts... They feel a spiritul completeness that they had never felt before. And then... then I hear Heaven singing. I see God, the Father, stand up from His throne. The angels have gathered for the most wonderful thing they have ever seen or known. For they know that this baby, this Christ child, has changed the world. He has arrived! God's plan to save the world, is now in motion... Perhaps that is not exactly the way the night of the birth of Christ really happened, but in my mind... it is. I do believe that the night Christ was born, the world felt it. We know this from reading, in God's word, of how the shepherds (and later on, the wise men), were drawn to see this particular baby. I guess what I think is so wonderful is that because of this night, you and I have hope. Hope that can never be taken away by death or tragedy. Hope that won't waiver or fail. Hope that is not only certain, but actually grows bigger inside the heart of the believer. Hope, because of a Savior. I was singing, "O Holy Night" in church, the other day, and God showed me something about that song that will forever change the way I sing it. It was the phrase: "Til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth." Many Biblical commentaries say that the soul is what contains the spirit of the body. The soul can mean life, spirit, or breath. Genesis 2:7 says, "the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." God has breathed breath into all of us, thus giving us each a soul. I find it amazing to think that I am a part of God! He breathed life into me! And the night of Christ's birth, the soul felt it's worth! In other words, the soul always had purpose, but on that night, it realized it's value! Do we truly understand that a God as Holy as ours, loves us so much, that He would send down His son to be near us and to give us a place for our soul... Heaven. I guess my question is, does your soul feel it's worth? If you have never asked Christ in your life, you must do so to truly feel and understand how loved you are! Maybe you are a Christian, but lately, you don't feel worth anything to anyone. Let me encourage you in the Lord, today, and say that you are so very valuable to God. Maybe your eternity is secure, but you feel hopeless in your walk here on Earth. My sweet friend, don't buy into Satan's lies and allow him to rob you of what God says you are. We can rejoice, not because of ourselves, but because we have God's breath in us! How can we still feel the worth today? How can we feel His "worth" when we have buried those we loved? How can we feel His love when we feel abandoned by our family or feel as though we are drowning in depression? How? Because we have the best thing with us already... God's spoken word. Dive into His word and you will see Him change your life. When our soul hears the one who created it, it recognizes it's worth. You will find that in His spoken word, you do have hope, even though the world tells you there isn't any. You will find that this story that happened so long ago, will come alive in your heart! Why? Because the 'soul felt it's worth'! God came down as a baby and that's what changed everything. I pray that you will join me today in just meeting with God and telling Him that you want to draw near to Him... I pray God's blessings upon you and your household. May you have a very Merry Christmas and may you rejoice in the birth of our Savior, the whole year through! Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Father, I praise your Holy name for sending your son to this world! Thank you for loving us enough to find a way that I may spend eternity with you and not in Hell, apart from you. I pray that if there is someone who is reading this that doesn't know you, Lord, draw them unto you. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Chirst who are undergoing trials. Lord, run to them. Remind them of your love for them...

Forfeiting Peace

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3 Not long ago, I was sitting in church singing an old familiar song. I guess I have sang these words a thousand times in my life, even had it memorized, for the most part. But this time, God revealed something in that song and suddenly I realized my eyes were locked in on this phrase. My voice had stopped singing as God let this phrase take over my mind and my heart: "Oh what peace we often forfeit". My eyes filled up with tears when I realized how often I had forfeited peace, God's peace. Why do we do this? God answers that question in this post... One definition of peace is, 'freedom from oppressing thoughts or emotions'. One definition of forfeit is, 'to give up or to loose the right to, especially by some error, offense, or crime'. After reading these two definitions, why in the world would we ever want to use the words, forfeit and peace, in the same sentence? The reason is that Satan tells us they go together. He sells us the lie that we can't have peace in our hearts as God's children. God's word tells us differently. In fact, BECAUSE we are God's people, we are offered peace, daily peace. So why do we feel so empty at times? Why do we feel so uneasy? Why does our mind run and run, feeling as though we can't turn it off? Why do we wake up with an unsettling feeling, and go to bed with the same? It is because we are choosing to forfeit, or give up, our peace. Yes, I did say choosing. Once a person accepts Jesus into their heart, the Holy Spirit dwells within them. The Holy Spirit gives us the feeling and the concept of peace. All throughout the Bible, we find evidence of this (Rom. 15:1; Acts 9:21). So why do we abandon this peace we ALREADY have access too? Isaiah 26:3 tells us. It says that God will 'keep' us in perfect peace (not a little bit of peace but perfect peace!) if we keep our mind steadfast. So, forfeiting peace begins in the mind, the thoughts. Satan loves to lounge around an 'unguarded mind', placing defeating, depressing, and anxious thoughts about our life. God's word tells us to keep our mind steadfast. This means we must focus on God with our thoughts at all times. We do this by taking the thoughts captive, that shouldn't be there (the one's that are forfeiting our peace) and making them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). We then make up our mind not to worry (Luke 21:14) and replace unsettling thoughts with scripture, or in other words, find out what God has to say. We do this over and over again until the peace comes. And, my sweet friends, PEACE WILL COME!! We can then find joy in our trials!!! (James 1:2). Today is Thanksgiving Day. But maybe, you are finding it very hard to be thankful for your trials in your life right now. Maybe you woke up this morning with an empty feeling. If you are God's child, this means you have chosen to forfeit your peace. The song I wrote about at the beginning was "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". I can sing this song with a light heart today because He is my friend. He wants to be your friend too. Maybe you have forfeited your peace because of a relationship that has gone terribly wrong. Maybe it's because you have hurt God and others in your past and the guilt consumes you. Perhaps you can't feel peace because your health is failing or a loved one is very critical. God needs you to know that you don't have to feel that way. Because you are God's child, we are given peace...if we just seek Him for it and begin with making our thoughts obedient to Him. I will end this post with evidence of that. The following is the blessing God gave to the Israelites...His people. We, my friends, have this same blessing. Remember it today: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26 Happy Thanksgiving, Corrie

CrossRoads' Women's Retreat

Just a note to say "thank you" to my own church, CrossRoads Baptist, for giving me the honor to lead the Bible study for our annual women's retreat. Words cannot express the love that I have for my sisters in Christ in my own church family. I will never forget the fellowship, laughter, and tears we shared together (and of course, other 'memorable moments' that will forever keep me laughing!!!). But most of all, I will never forget how God revealed Himself to us in that cabin that weekend. Hearts (including mine)are forever changed because God showed us more about Him, ourselves, and the Body of Christ. We know that an intimate, personal relationship with God is possible in the 'land of the living'. Go West, my friends!! (wink) Love, Corrie

Depth Perception

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." 2 Timothy 4:18 "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name." Psalm 91:14 "...and I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17(b)-18 Let me begin by saying 'thank you' to those who have been praying for me and my family for the past few weeks. For those of you who don't know, Canaan had a terrible stomach virus and my grandmother's health has begun to severely decline. Canaan is well but my grandmother is continuing to collect fluid around her heart. Please continue to pray for her. Many of you have been asking about my health as well. I praise God to say that He answered alot of my questions through the visit with my vascular surgeon on Thursday! New medicine is going to be given to me to try and help control the problems caused by the blockages on my left side.Thank you, also, for patiently waiting for God to reveal to me another post. God's timing is always perfect. So, I know that God will use this post to speak to your heart as He did mine... Every time I have been to a public swimming pool, I always see the following scene: A mom, dad, or adult (of some importance to a child), standing in the water with their arms out stretched. They are reaching to an "unsure" child that is standing on the side of the pool. I always hear the adult say, "Come on. Jump to me! I promise I will catch you. I promise I will not drop you. Jump to me!" You can see the child's mind turning and assessing his/her surroundings, weighing the risks of jumping. They crouch down and get ready... then they back out. Why? It's not like they are jumping to strangers, right? I, myself have had this "pool" conversation with Canaan too. I found that when Canaan was smaller, he jumped to me without hesitation. But as he became older, it took more coaxing from me or from Shane. What causes the child to hesitate? Why must they ponder jumping out on the faith that this person, he/she trusts, will catch them? The reason is the same when we, as God's children, 'hesitate' to jump into the arms of a God we supposedly trust and that has 'never missed'. The reason? We, and those children on the side of a pool, are more concerned with the depth of the water than the depth of the love of the One who is waiting to catch us... Psychologist have studied depth perception for years. Countless numbers of tests and studies have been conducted to find out just how early humans recognize depth. One test was called the "Visual Cliff". In this particular test, a flat glass table was used. One side was considered 'flat', while the other side of the table presented an illusion of a drop off(with clear glass). Infants, who were able to crawl, were placed on the table and urged to crawl toward the pretend cliff. Most of the infants crawled, but stopped just shy of the pretend drop off. To many psychologists, this showed that even as early as infants, we have a sense of depth perception. As babies, the first thing we learn is our dependency on our caregivers, usually our parents. We learn that if we cry, we are responded to and our needs are met. We learn to trust. I noticed that during this stage, Canaan, at the swimming pool, would freely jump to my arms no matter the danger because he was only acting upon his trust for me. As we continue to grow, we learn that there is danger around us. We learn this through physical injuries (Lots of band aids!). As our mind learns to assess danger surrounding us and what 'could happen', it becomes harder to trust. We learn that humans fail, even our parents. The child, standing on the side of the pool, becomes clouded by the danger of the water, rather than focusing on the trust they have for the parent. What about our spiritual depth perception? Could it be that we are so busy giving God our excuses of why we can't give Him control of our problems, that we are standing, paralyzed on the side? Perhaps you are going through a difficult time of one problem after another in your life. You have asked God to 'help' you, yet you find you are in the same place you began. When you read His word, you find scriptures on how you can trust Him. When you talk to your Godly friends, you hear them tell you that you must let go of trying to control. And in your heart, you feel the Holy Spirit tell you to step out on faith and that God will help you if you trust Him. God is speaking to you. The reason I lacked a relationship with God for so many years is that I did not realize Ephesians 3:17-18... to know the depth of His love. Maybe you only know the 'pits' of the world, the heartaches, and struggles. Tell God you want to know the depth of His love in an intimate relationship with Him. This is what increases our faith. I noticed one more thing about Canaan and the other children when they stood in hesitation on the side of the pool: they only jumped when they locked eyes with the one they trusted. The more Canaan looked around, the more frightened he became. But when I said, "Look at me and jump," it changed everything. Where are your eyes and to what or whom are they locked in on? Only looking at God through His word will keep you from 'backing out' in your faith. Many of you have major decisions to make in your life right now. Fear is creeping in because the jump of faith to God would be so crazy! All I can tell you is, out of all the times His children have 'jumped to Him', He never missed...from Genesis through Revelation :-) Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, forgive me for the times I have doubted the very One who gave me eternal life. Why would I doubt a God who made a way for me to escape Hell? I know everything you do for me is for my good. I want to grow in knowing you each and every day. You are incapable of failure. Help those who read this and are struggling, to turn everything over to you. Help them and help me to trust in who you are and the power of your word. Thank you for your faithfulness...

Rainbow

"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless." Psalm 18:30 "My comfort in my suffering is this: You promise preserves my life." Psalm 119:50 (Solomon's prayer) ..."You have hept your promise to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it-as is is today." 1 Kings 8:24 ***Before reading the post, if at all possible, please go and get your Bible*** For the past couple of weeks, we have had so much rain in our area. It has rained day after day. Creeks were overflowing, water was standing everywhere, and dripping constantly from the trees and the rooftops. My son Canaan and I were riding in the car a few days ago. It was raining very hard as we were driving. Canaan asked me, "Mommy, is God mad or upset with us?" Even though I have learned that age 4 is an age of what seems like, 'never ending question-time for mommy', I will admit, this question made me smile. It made me smile because I knew God was about to teach me something through this child, as He has so many times before. I asked Canaan what had made him think that God was mad or angry. He said, "Well, you know a long time ago, God got upset with all those people that were being ugly and He told Noah to build a boat and then He sent rain. Lots of rain! And it flooded the whole world!" I told Canaan that he was right in what had happened in the story. But then I told him that he had forgotten the best part of the story... the rainbow. I told Canaan how God sent that rainbow to show Noah that He promised never to flood the Earth, in that way, again. I heard myself end the conversation with, "And when God promises something, we can always believe Him." At that moment, I felt the sweet, still, small voice of God say to me, "But in my word, I have promised much more, Corrie, than withholding a flood. The promises to you in my word are much greater than that of the rainbow. You must believe in all my promises like you believe in my promise that I won't flood again. My word is full of even greater one's for you." This moved me to probe deeper into my own heart. I hope you will too... Is is me or does life seem to be getting harder? Sometimes, I like to think back to my childhood and spending time at my grandparent's house in the country. When I was four, I stayed with them during the day while my mom worked at a local sewing plant. I can remember the only cares I had were if I would be able to watch Sesame Street that day (if I got up from my nap in time) and hoping that my mom would be a little late picking me up so I could stay with my Mamaw for a few more minutes :-) As a four year old, my heart was light. All I needed, I knew my parents could take care of. Now, the world is so very different. Stress is a feeling that all of us know too well. Anxiety, depression follow stress and can be frequent 'visitors'that weigh down our heart and mind. It is true, the world is changing and trials come harder and faster. But as Christians, this should come as no surprise. God's word tells us from the very beginning what we must prepare for. Currently, I am learning, in my walk with God, the importance of the His infallible word. God's word. The Bible. That is what this post is about: God's promises to us; Do we even know them? It's not to place focus on our trials because those are guaranteed. And to be honest, focusing on the trial is what brings us stress, depression, anxiety, etc. But it is better to place focus on how to seek answers from God through His word, while the trial is whirling around us. Kind of like, finding the eye of the storm. The question God was asking me through what Canaan had said was 'did I believe that His word is true and is it applicable to every single question, situation, or trial that comes to me?' The answer is 'yes'. God's word is not to be read just on a rainy day, or when just because it's Sunday, or only when something is wrong. It is not a last resort. It was given to us to help us to endure, be empowered, and stand firm. It is what sets us apart as His children. A simple Proverb may sound good to even a non believer, but it is the Holy Spirit who, for the believer, takes that wording on a piece of paper and speaks to our hearts, causing us to feel a 'lighter load' and to build our faith in our Lord. God's word has power. It has power because it is God's very breath spoken to you and to me. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." If you can, pick up your Bible and hold it in your hands (right now, as you continue to read). Thumb through the pages. Do you know that you are holding the very breath of God in your hands? Have you searched in that word for your answers to a problem that is on your mind right now? Not just a couple of times to let your finger fall on a verse and then read it, but have you begged for God to speak to you through His HOLY word? We must believe that just as God promised not to flood the entire world again, we must also believe the other promises He states in His word for you and for me. But we must search and read His word for these answers. I know that so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ are going through fiery trials. This includes myself. Sometimes those trials feel as though you are hanging on by a thread. But God is showing me that while He is a God who comforts, He is a God who helps. He is a God of miracles and He is a God of power! You and I must dive into His word to find our answers, these promises. I want to be in His word everyday. I want to study to find these golden nuggets of what God wants for me. We must understand that the answer to a distant relationship with Him is in His word. The answers on how to give to Him a relationship that is broken between you and your spouse, your child, or your friend, is found in His word. The answer to breaking free from a dark past, doubt, and fear is found in a new identity in His word. His word tells you how to finally feel His peace for the grief you feel in the death of someone you loved. His word offers direction to having financial security. I could go on and on. The point He is making is that what we need has to be sought in His word, not in the world. I was surprised to realize that in all the times I had seen heavy rain, even flooding in some areas, I had never worried that God would break His promise that He made that day with Noah. But how I have worried in other areas of my life... and He had given me His promise not to fail me in those situations either. It wasn't Him, it was me and my unbelief in His flawless word. His word is full of promises. Promises that He has never broken to you or to me. It is up to us to make the effort to go there first. The answers are there...the promises are there. It wasn't about a colorful rainbow, it was a promise to His children. We can count on Him to be faithful in every problem, every season, every detail. Next time you see a rainbow, I hope it means more. It definitely will to me now... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Father, I come to you, with your word laid our before me. Help me to remember your faithful promises, Lord. Prompt me to search for you day and night. For those who are reading this now and are weary, show them the answers that they need, God. Show them the power of your very breath leaping off the pages! For those who are reading this in places that they cannot have even one piece of paper of the Bible, bless them Father. Give them your word, somehow. Provide a way. Forgive me for taking this very copy of your inspiration for granted and sitting it aside while I look elsewhere for you. Thank you for you word. Teach me your promises for my life...

Midnight

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once the prison doors flew open, and every body's chains came loose." Acts 16:25-26 "At midnight I rise to give you thanks, for your righteous laws." Psalm 119:62 When I was a teenager, I always had a curfew. It was always earlier, it seemed, than the curfew of most of my friends. I thought it was horrible when it started at 11:00 p.m. and it stayed that way for a long time (my friends from high school are laughing because they know this was true!). My parents said that as long as I lived there, I would have a curfew. This curfew thing was always an issue with me and my parents. I would beg and plead to stay out until at least 12:00 a.m.. For some reason, that midnight hour seemed like such a mile marker for me and my maturity and Independence. But, my dad would always say, "If you can't do what you want to do before midnight, then there is no reason for you to be doing it." I hated that saying (of course, now I know he might have been right... ok, he was right. Shhhh!)! I remember the day that my curfew got moved up to midnight! 12:00 a.m. (you are going to laugh... I was a freshman in college!). Wait a minute.. As I pause to remember all of this, I also remember my younger brother, Kyle, NEVER had a curfew! Where is justice? Justice, I say! ( I will have to talk to my parents about that matter a little later...even though Kyle is married now :-) . Anyway, back to me. One thing that sticks out in my mind about my midnight curfew is that I viewed the 'midnight hour' as free and liberating. My father, however, viewed it as the darkest part of the night. I remember that when I came in, my dad was never asleep. He would be in his bed, but he never went to sleep until I was home... safe. Two very different views of midnight... Midnight by definition means, "Intense darkness; a period of darkness and gloom; an ending of one day and the beginning of another." As I was praying about this post, God revealed to me that so many of His children are going through very dark times. Trials that aren't just difficult but trials where no end is in sight. They are trials that push your mind and body to a limit you never knew you had. This post is God's very breath to speak to us with a simple message: He wants us to seek Him at midnight. I am not saying that we should all set our clocks to have a 'quiet time' with Him at 12:oo a.m. (We could and I bet it would be cool, though!). He wants us to seek Him in the darkness. To reach out for Him, even though we cannot see Him; to believe He is there and in complete control even though we don't feel Him. In Psalm 119:62, I found it interesting to find that David, the King, rose to pray to God at midnight. Why? I don't know for sure, but based on the rest of what I read from David, he wanted God to know he was making the effort to do everything he could to be close with Him. He was a man after God's own heart, remember? He chased God's heart to mirror it. We know that David went through very dark times. Many theologians believe David even battled depression. But in the midnight hour, the darkest time of the night, the time when you just can't seem to sleep for your mind turning and turning, David chose to go to God and praise Him, to give God thanks. How long has it been that you were able to just thank God, even through the darkness around you? David viewed midnight as intense darkness, but he saw God as his light, his hope, his ending of one day and the beginning of another. God also showed me the reward of seeking Him in the midnight hour of trouble in Paul and Silas. Here are two men who had devoted themselves to sharing about the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ... yet they found themselves at midnight shackled, chained, and guarded in a cell. Sometimes, Satan convinces us that our trials we are going through have us trapped, bound, and fill us with hopelessness. I found it interesting that instead of Paul and Silas worrying about the fact that it was midnight, almost time for them to start a terrible day over again, they were singing praises (like David) to God! And guess what? God moved at midnight. There chains were broken and they were set free! Paul and Silas even lead a guard and his family to Christ! You may say, "Corrie, you don't understand. I can't possibly praise God with what I am going through. I have drifted from Him. I don't even know where to start." My friend, all I know is what is true and who has never ever failed me. I know that God says all we have to do is utter His name and He will come to where we are. He heals the broken hearted. I will tell you that when it feels like midnight to me (and it so often does), I have learned that I can dread the next day or I can go to God with every fear, doubt, and tear that I have. And with a pure cleansed heart, only then am I able to praise Him. He changes my view. The shackles come off, the chains are broken, and my faith is strengthened that much more. I pray that if you are at the midnight hour, the hardest trial of your life, you will no longer view it as the darkest part of the night, but you will see it as liberating and a time to have freedom in Christ... "We can trust God not only above our emotions, but also above our thoughts."----Corrie ten Boom Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, how I love you. I am so thankful for those 'midnight' hours, for it is then when I see you and your power in my life. Without my trials, I would never know how deep your love is for me. I lift up every person who reads this post, Lord. Run to them, Father, as they seek you in the darkest time of their life. Help us to wait for you to come and break us free from our shackles, chains, and doors of the strongholds. We love you and give you thanks for who you are. Our identity lies in you...

Responding to the Power of God

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18 I first want to begin by thanking those of you who have been praying for me and my health. These last 2 and a half weeks have been very difficult, both physically and mentally. For those of you who don't know, I have a rare disease that (when active) causes my arteries to narrow and close, causing little to no blood flow to my heart and brain. The main artery in my left arm is almost completely closed due to the disease's beginning. Since then, every so often, I have problems with that arm constricting and minimizing my blood flow in my arm and to my heart. My doctors are beginning more tests to find what is causing this and to know how to stop it. As you can guess, I have been doing alot of thinking. I thought alot about my faith and God's power. I want to be able to have that faith that melts the very heart of God. I want to be in such a deep relationship with God that my eyes never fall away, that they stay locked in His. I want to have a trust in my Lord that is so great, no circumstance could make me doubt his power. Yet, sometimes, my eyes do fall away from His. The swirling wind and waves around me get my attention. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever wondered why, as a Christian, you feel so cowardly and confused in the trial you are going through? Have you ever asked yourself, "Why can't I just trust God like I'm 'supposed' too?" Well, for 22 days, I have prayed for God to reveal to me His next post. I am pleased to say that He answers those questions in this post... When I think about what happened at the cross all those years ago, my response is bitter sweet. It hurts me to think about how badly Jesus was beaten, how much He bled, how much pain He endured. It is difficult for me to think about the insults He heard, the thorns that were pushed into His head, and the nails driven deep into His hands and feet. But then, I am filled with so much love and gratitude that I smile when I think about the fact that He did that for me, for you. I think of how God gave up His own son so that you and I could have an eternity with Him and our loved ones. I am so happy Jesus has gone to prepare a place that is so beautiful, it is called Heaven. Even though what happened at the cross makes cry with both tears of joy and with tears of sadness, what happened at the cross was powerful! It was God's power! When we accept Christ into our hearts as Lord and Savior through salvation, we are responding to this very power (Romans 1:16-17). By making this profession of faith, our response is that we believe that we are sinners and are in need of being 'saved' from the eternal punishment for sin, which is Hell. We are also saying that we believe that God sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross in place of us and took on our sin (John 3:16). He became our Savior. By accepting this gift of salvation, this in turn, gives us eternal life in Heaven. We also believe that Jesus arose from the grave and ascended into Heaven and is someday, coming again for His Bride (Matt. 24:44; John 14:2-3; Rev. 19:7). Wow! We serve a God who is so powerful that He defeated death, sin, and is preparing a place for us to be with Him one day! POWER. As Christians, the power that God showed through His son's death and resurrection is our very reason for living. It ensures our eternity. As 1 Corinthians 1:18 states, it is the 'power of God' and certainly not 'foolishness'! But here is a question: Why doesn't our response to the power of what happened at the cross (the power of God), change our response to the trials in our lives? Ephesians 1:19-23 tells us that we (God's children), have the same power working within us that raised Chris from the dead. I believe this is a concept that Satan doesn't want the believer to know. Do we believe that God's power is limited to the cross? We believe that God could save us from an eternity in Hell, defeat death, but that He will fail to carry us through a fiery trial? My friends, we must realize that we are still responding to God's power in our lives today... we either believe Him to be faithful and at work within us or we believe Him to fail us. God is showing me that when I fail to believe Him and trust Him, it is because there are pieces of me that I have failed to give over to Him completely. These are also known as strongholds. They create distance between us and our Father. They are lies that Satan uses to keep us from having an intimate relationship with God. What about you? Are you a going through a trial in your life right now? Are you a Christian and wondering why you just can't seem to get rid of fear and doubt that God might not come through for you? We must go to God with those thoughts of fear, doubt, anger, etc. We must find out who He really is. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. He will provide you energy when you are tired (Col. 1:29). He will give you strength, endurance, and patience when you think you can't make it even one more day (Col. 1:11). Allow God to show His power in your life. It's the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! It's the same power that we believed at the moment we accepted Him into our hearts. We must let go of trying to control it and do it 'our way'. It never works that way. I hope you will join me in 'responding' daily to God's power. Give God complete control of your life. I would like to share one of my favorite passages in God's word with you. It is Isaiah 49:16: "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands: your walls are ever before me." In the earlier Jewish times, it was customary to puncture one's hands with a symbol of their city and their temple as a sign of commitment and devotion. This verse and the verses before it show us God's amazing compassion and His promise to never forget His children, even those children who disobey Him and then return. When you feel afraid that He is going to leave you or doubt that He won't come through for you, reflect on that verse: Close your eyes and imagine that you are standing at the foot of the cross. You can see Him hanging there. Jesus, the Deity living in bodily form. His arms are outstretched. Look closer at His hands. Closer. Do you see it? Your name is written on His palm. God won't forget us... Calvary has already proven that. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, I am so grateful for your power. Words can't express the love I feel for you when I think about the cross. But I know that you want to show that power in my life on a daily basis. Help me to give you every part of me. Break my strongholds. I want to deepen my trust in you. I want faith that is unshakable. I want a heart that mirrors yours. Help me to give you my life fully...daily...

Rockwood Women's Conference

Thank you, ladies of Rockwood Baptist Church in Russellville, Alabama, for hosting a wonderful women's conference! Our theme was, "Reflections of a Lovely Lady." Throughout the day, God revealed who He says that we are in Christ. The Holy Spirit moved in such a mighty way. It is so good to know our true identity in Christ! It was an honor for me to be with you and I am so thankful for the invitation to share God's word. May we continue to remember Debbie King and the entire Bolton family, in the loss of Bro. Oneal Bolton. We lift you up in prayer to be bathed in God's grace and His comfort. We also rejoice in the fact that Bro. Oneal has been called home by our Father... Love, Corrie

Hugging God

"The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him!" Deuteronomy 33:27 At 32, I finally understand why my dad used my brother and I as illustrations so often in his sermons: kids are great material. Yes, they are hilarious but they also say those things that are so very profound and leave you speechless; Especially when it comes to things about God. The other day, Canaan (my 4 year old son) and I were discussing things about God and I was answering his questions the best that I could (no one told me that when your kid is about 4, you need to take a class in theology!). You know, the usual questions about how God made everything and everyone, and how...why... and when. I had just finished answering a question that had something to do with God and dinosaurs. I breathed a sigh of relief (thinking the conversation had ended and hoped I had answered his questions without making anything up :-) when Canaan asked me a question that I think I will never forget. He said, "Mommy, how can I hug God?" He continued with, "I just want to hug Him but I don't know how." I felt a lump rise in my throat and wanted to cry right then and there. I wanted to cry because of the love I knew Canaan had for God. To him, a hug is one of the biggest ways to show someone you love them. I wanted to cry because Canaan's question made me check my own heart. How often do I really tell God how much I love Him? Do my actions reflect that my heart beats for Him above all else? I knelt down by Canaan and told him the only answer I could think of. I told Him that we show God how much we love Him by telling Him in prayer, showing Him by our actions, and telling other people about Him. Later that day, Canaan went on about his business, but that question about hugging God stayed with me. I looked up the definition of the word 'hug'. It means, "to press tightly, especially in the arms." I started thinking about God's arms and the times they were there for me. How that during my trials, God's arms were around me, protecting me, sheltering me, comforting me. Sometimes His arms were stern, as a loving disciplining father, directing me and keeping me from making harmful decisions. There were even times that I ran away from those arms and then wondered why I didn't feel Him near and felt afraid. I am slowly learning that as God's child, it is absolutely necessary to press into God's arms. This not a suggestion or something you 'could do'...it is a must. I was turning through my Bible and saw that Deuteronomy 33:27 was underlined. Out to the side are the words, "Proof that God Protects". As His people, we MUST believe this verse. This verse cannot be skimmed over, it must be broken down and studied piece by piece. The beginning of the verse tells us that God is eternal. He exists even when we don't believe He is there. No doubts that you or I have about Him, makes Him less powerful or effective. He is eternal. He has always been here and always will be. How? I don't know; that's one of the reasons I call Him God. The next part of the verse says that He is our refuge. He is that place of shelter in times of distress. His word doesn't say that times of distress won't come, but that when they come, we will press into the arms. The last part tells us that God will protect us from our enemies. I think that sometimes, we believe that people around us are where are battles are. But we forget that our biggest enemy is Satan. I believe that if God protects me from Satan himself, He can handle anyone on this earth that threatens me with harm. This whole verse is powerful, but I must say that my favorite part is the middle... 'underneath is the everlasting arms.' Underneath means 'beneath the surface'. This tells me that at the end of every trial, every tear, every struggle, there are the arms... His arms. To me, stepping out on faith feels like I am just free falling. Falling and falling and having no idea where I will land. How wonderful it is to know that at the end are His arms. The arms are everlasting. There is no end to His help. You and I never have to wonder when God will leave us or abandon us. He won't. Perhaps you feel like you are completely alone in a trial in your life right now. Maybe it is comfort you long for from His arms because of the pain that you feel. You must press into His arms. Perhaps you need protection from the fire that is flames from those around you. You must press into His arms. When you do this, He will deal with your enemies and not a hair on your head will be singed (Daniel 3:27 ). There are a million reasons to need God's arms. We must remember that as His people, we must not worry about 'what the arms will do'. Our job is to press tightly into them. I guess there is a way to 'hug' God after all... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, thank you for Canaan and showing me that I need to press tightly into your arms. Thank you for loving me, disciplining me, comforting me, and just simply holding me up with your everlasting arms. Help me to rid myself of arrogance and pride and know I am nothing without you...

Strings and Knots

"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things." Ecclesiastes 11:5

When I was younger, I used to love to cross stitch. Of course, back then I seemed to have more patience to sit there for hours. Moving the needle in and out, hoping that soon, what I was 'attempting' to make would look something like the picture it came with :-) One day, I was about to continue with one of my projects. As I went to get the cross stitch piece I was working on out of my sewing box (yes, I had a sewing box! What of it!!), I noticed all these knots and strings on the back of my picture. For a second, I was amazed that so many ugly looking pieces of strings and knots could actually turn out to make such a beautiful picture. God has since then brought my 'cross stitching' days of glory back to my mind. He reminds me that His children (myself included!) are always looking at the knots and strings of His will for our life, questioning, wondering, why, why why? Yet, our Father, the designer of our life, is looking at the finished product. He knows the purpose for every string, every knot, every turn, and every loop. We plead for glimpses of that finished product, but sometimes they come and sometimes there is only silence. What does this mean for us as God's people? He will tell us in this post... I think I could learn something new about God every second of my life until the day I die and I would have still never scratched the surface of who this magnificent God really is. However, at the present moment in my Christian walk, He is working with me on belief. A question that I have often asked myself is, "Why can't I just believe God?" The answer to this question goes back to the Garden of Eden. Believing God seems like such a simple concept. Though the concept is simple, God's people often find it to be so difficult. The reason is sin. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of life. He didn't tell them every detail or go over the complete plan, but He told them what He wanted them to know for the moment. You know, the 'strings and knots'? But then, Satan came into the picture. He gave Eve reasons (illusions) of why she should eat from that tree and not believe God. Sin is still the reason God's children find it difficult to believe Him today. You see, sin creates distance between us and God. We often think of sin to be murder, stealing, big lies (as opposed to little white ones), sexually sins, etc. But in God's eyes, sin is sin and sin equals distance. Do we ever think that pride is sin? Arrogance? Putting other people (even if it's our own family) before God... it's sin too. The reason we fail to believe God is because we allow (notice I said 'we' allow) sin to wedge itself between us and God, slowly creating distance. Satan does this by telling us lies. You may be saying, "Corrie, what lies? I know when I am being lied to!" No. Satan is very good at deceiving. Have you ever found yourself asking the question of, "Will God really help me in this trial?"; "What if He doesn't rescue me?"; "What if everything I know about God really isn't really true?" My friend, these are the lies that take our eyes off of our Father. And the moment we look down, the waves seem to wash over us, crashing, smothering us as if to feel as though we are drowning. So, how do we believe God and not the lies? How do we wait when we only see the 'strings and knots'? I believe the answer is in God's word. I started looking at people in the Bible who God gave instruction to trust Him, believe Him, with only knowing very limited information: Abraham- God tells him to just pack up everything and everybody, move'm out and follow Him! Strings and knots. Abraham is also a good example for us to see what can happen if you want to flip over the cross stitch to see the finished product way too early! (But after that, Abraham did believe God for the rest of his life); Moses-God tells him to go tell this big scary tyrant to just 'let the people go' and if he didn't, to threaten the big scary tyrant with a bunch of plagues! Strings and knots. Mary-God tells her she is having a baby (and we all know all the biology that was missing there!) and the baby would be the Messiah! Strings and knots. David, Samuel, Job...strings and knots. I could go on and on of people who believed God when they didn't know what the completed picture would be like. So, if sin existed then as it exists now, how did they believe God? The reason is the relationship these people had with God. These people spent time with God, talking to Him and listening to Him, confessing sin so that they could be close with Him. When they became afraid, they drew closer and closer to God (James 4:8). That is the answer for us today. We believe God when we are close to God. The closer I get to God, the more I seek to be like Him. The more of His identity I can take on, the less sin can wedge its way in between us. When the distance is gone, trust is built! Spending time with God also includes reading and studying His word. But, in order for God's word to bring us comfort, encouragement, power, etc, we must be able to believe the one who wrote it (Proverbs 30:5). What about you? Are you struggling to believe God in a trial right now? The way we can believe Him is to confess the sin that is causing the distance between us and God. We must stop buying into the lies of Satan and allowing him to intimidate us into doubting a God that is true. I love to read Hebrews chapter 11. It is a chapter completely devoted to God's people who believed Him when they only saw the 'strings and knots'. You and I must be willing to believe God even though the wind howls around us. We must choose to believe Him when Satan stages the illusion of no hope being anywhere in sight. When Satan roars in our face, we must remember he was stripped of power at Calvary and that he is a lion with no teeth. We are God's people. We must prove faithful. I will end the post with Lamentations 3:21-24: "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness, I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." ****Here's to 'strings and knots'! Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, forgive me for wanting to rush ahead of you in your plans for my life. Those strings and knots that I have seen have been so purposeful in my relationship with you and they still are. Help me to wait on you and boldly follow you with total belief in who you are... not only for what you do..

Fireworks

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage each other with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming." Matthew 24:42 As I have shared with you before, after God gives me the post to write, I immediately begin to pray for Him to give me the next one. Then, rather than panic, I have learned to wait for Him. Just a few hours ago, God overwhelmed my heart with this particular post. I must say, it is perhaps one of the most encouraging and exciting post He has ever given me. I hope in reading this, God will change the perception of your day today... I am sure many of you celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks (unless you are like me and live in the woods and can't because you might start a forest fire that would burn for days!). Anyway, tonight at my church, we continued the celebration by gathering together to honor both our Lord and our men and women of service. We also had the privilege of hearing our Congressman, Robert Aderholt, share his heart. After the service, hot dogs and ice cream were served. And then came the fireworks. As we all stood outside, everyone seemed to stop eating and talking as the fireworks show began. The sky was beautifully lit up with an array of color and explosions of loud sounds that indicated the beauty that would soon come behind them. All of a sudden, God allowed me to see something wonderful and exciting... so exciting that I have chills again writing about it. There, all around me, stood 2 or 3 hundred people, gazing up at the sky. They couldn't take their eyes of what was happening in the sky. Suddenly, I felt as though I had caught a tiny glimpse of what it will be like when our Lord returns for us. I feel as though some times, we begin to think that our lives, our trials, are to hard to bear here in this old world. Satan plants the doubts of 'is this man really coming back for us?' My friend, God placed this post on my heart tonight to encourage you who are weary. This includes me. So many of us are undergoing trials that seem to take away our very breath. The endurance for another day seems almost to hard to bear. We must remember that we are not orphans who have been abandoned or discarded. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords! We are royalty, but we wait as though we are forgotten children. You and I must understand that HE WILL BE BACK! Prophecies have been and are continuing to be fulfilled. It is getting closer and closer to the day when the trumpet sounds and our eyes are drawn to the activity in the sky, once again. But this time, not for fireworks. The Lord Jesus has come to do as He promised! Our loved ones ,who have accepted Him through salvation, will rise first and then us--His children! We will be changed! My heart beats faster as I write this post. But as much as I long to see my Saviour and those who have gone before me, there is much work to be done. Jesus did not tell us to rest with our feet up while He went to get everything ready. No, you and I must share with others about the day of our Lord. Even though I know I will be a part of that glorious day, if it were today, I would be heart broken. Heart broken for those I have not told about my Lord. Do you know if your spouse has accepted Christ into their heart? Other family members? Your best friend? What about that person who is sitting next to you right now? I have failed my God miserably in this area, but I am going to strive to change that. Perhaps your are going through a difficult trial in your life right now. You never seem to be able to 'get everything together' here on Earth. If your are God's child, He tells us that we are aliens and strangers to this world. We are temporary. And for that reason, we must depend on God and His power to take us through the 'land of the living'. We have work to do, guys and gals. He is returning. What we have read is true. My heart tells me it is. But for today or tonight, whenever you are reading this, I challenge you to do something that I did tonight: Look at the sky for just a moment. If you are His child, anticipate that day where we will be caught up in the air, the trumpet... the rapture. As for our trials we face today, 1 Thess. 4:18 tells us that the return of Christ should encourage us as believers. But until that day comes, we must continue to do the work... His work. Love, Corrie (Note: If you have never asked Christ into your heart to be your Lord and Saviour, I would be honored to share with you how to do that. Please contact me by phone or by email (both my email address and phone number can be found on the home page of the website). It will be the best decision you will ever make :-) My prayer for today: Lord, how thankful I am that you have gone to prepare a place for me. A place that I can't even imagine. I nailed you to that cross and you gave me eternity in return. I don't know what to say except that I am thankful. I will proclaim who you are until you return.

Against All Hope

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." Romans 4:18-22 My husband, Shane, and I had the privilege of attending a Christian marriage retreat, specifically for coaches and their wives, this past weekend (coachesoutreach.org, by the way;-). It was wonderful! In the worship sessions, we studied the first 5 chapters of Romans. As I was reading along with the pastor, we came across the above verses. It seemed at though time stood still for me as I read these verses over and over again. It was as if they were written in darker ink than any of the other text. The entire day and night, I thought about these verses. Then, God spoke to me and said this would be the post... You cannot study God's word without learning about Abraham. If Abraham lived in our world today, he would totally be on the front of every tabloid magazine. Why? Because he had an incredible life story. If you only knew the ending of Abraham's story, then you would think he had been this young, strong, well-educated man that was from a strong Christian home and had a beautiful young trophy wife to match. After all, who wouldn't choose this type of man to say he was 'the father of all nations'? Wouldn't this type of man be chosen to begin the bloodline of Jesus, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? The truth is, Abraham's life story is incredible because of one thing: Abraham believed God. That's it. We find in God's word that Abraham's father worshiped many gods, while Abraham worshiped the one true God. So, it wasn't his monumental upbringing that moved God's heart. And as for physical appearance, Abraham was an elderly man (and so was his wife for that matter!) when God decided to let the blessings begin. God showed me, after reading this text, that believing Him was the ultimate characteristic He is looking for. Abraham did not only believe God, but he put his hope in God when there was no reason to hope. The beginning of Romans 4:18 says, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed..." So here is a question: How do you hope in God when there is no reason to hope? The definition for the word 'hope' in the dictionary is very different from the definition of how 'hope' is used in God's word. The dictionary says hope is: 'to desire something, yet having no assurance that it will really happen'. The Bible tells us that here, hope means, 'strong and confident expectation'. That's it. Abraham was confident that God would come through on the promises He had made. Perhaps you are at a place in your life today that you are finding it extremely difficult to find hope 'against all hope'. Maybe you really wish God would come through, but that doubt that He just might not, takes your thoughts captive. How do we fix it? How can we have this confidence in God that Abraham had? Well, to be confident that someone will come through for you, you have to KNOW them. Right? I mean, would you meet a stranger or someone you talked to every once in a while, and ask them to do something for you and really be confident they would come through for you? I wouldn't! But don't we do it with God? We don't know Him. That is the problem with the hope. Abraham KNEW God. Verses 20 & 21 say that Abraham was actually strengthened in his faith after facing the fact that he was too old for this to be humanly possible! How often do we totally give up when we see how big our obstacle is and we run the stats on if we can get past it? It makes me want to jump up and down when I think about the fact that Abraham knew God so well, that he was 'fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised him'!! If you read through Genesis, you will find many examples of where Abraham is talking to God. He went to God with his problems. I also noticed that Abraham didn't forget to praise God in the good times too. The Bible tells us of numerous times Abraham stopped and build an alter and gave a sacrifice to God. This was done because He praised this Almighty God for just being with Him, being faithful. O how I forget to praise Him for just waking me up in the morning. If you feel hopeless about your situation, God wants you to know that He can provide you hope. To me, Abraham was the most blessed person by God in our history. God began a legacy with Abraham; a legacy that gave us a Saviour! God didn't choose to bless Abraham because of his physical, mental, or emotional characteristics. It wasn't about Abraham's status at work or the money he had or didn't have. It was the fact that Abraham believed God 'against all hope'. You may say, "Corrie, it's 2009 and my circumstances are alot different from Abraham." This may be true, but thank goodness having different circumstances won't matter... it's still the same God. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, thank you so much for recording your journey with Abraham in your word. It makes me feel so much better to know that when I feel hopeless, hope can be found in you. Help me to remember to take the time to get to know you so that I may be confident in who you are and your power. Draw me closer to you so that I may depend on you for my every breath...

Do Not Forget: Part Two

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." Galatians 5:16-17 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24 In the last post, 'Do Not Forget', God reminded me just how often I place other things and other people in front of Him. In writing that post, He refreshed my mind and heart in knowing how involved He wants to be in every aspect of my life... if I would just spend time with Him. As Christians, we know this. But, why is it so difficult for us to do this? Why do we find ourselves failing over and over again to spend more time with God? Thankfully, God gives us the answer in the following post. Part 2 begins... Have you ever been on a diet? I don't like diets because I don't do well on them. You know why? I don't like to NOT eat stuff that taste good! :-) Diets mess with my mind, I think. When I know I can't have something, it makes me want to eat it even more! I can be full up to my eyeballs and Canaan will leave a couple of chicken nuggets and you know what? I eat them!!! Why? Why? Why? The answer is lack of self-control (yep, I don't want God to go here any more than you do). But before I can use it in my eating, I must learn to use it in my spiritual life first. Self-control. Not a great topic for us but a necessary one, according to our Lord. This past month, God has opened up my heart to focusing on the fruit of the spirit. He began working with me on self-control. At first, I was confused by this because self-control is the last fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:23. But the more I learned, the more I realized this is the key in strengthening my relationship with God and that's why I needed to begin here. In Galatians 5:16-18, Paul tells us that, as Christians, we must be led by the Holy Spirit. If we are not, we will gratify our own desires, which are sinful. Several places in the Bible, we find Jesus saying that we must 'deny' our self in order to follow Him. Deny, by definition, means 'to restrain oneself from gratification of desires'. I began to think about that and I realized that there is very little that I 'restrain myself' from to follow Christ. What do I deny myself from or when do I exercise self-control with God? God sacrificed His son so that you and I can have a home in Heaven. He wants to be close to me and only asks for my time; Time to worship Him and praise Him before I do something I want to do; Time to ask Him for forgiveness for hurting Him before I need to go somewhere I want to go; Time to offer up my burdens that HE asked me to bring to Him before I spend my time with the very people He put in my life. That, my friends, is simply nothing for me to sacrifice or to deny myself. So, a closer walk with God, (going from an introduction to an intimate friendship) has alot to do with self-control. We must exercise self-control in putting Him first. This is difficult, I know. But God's word tells us that it is difficult because what we want and what God wants is contrary to each other (makes sense of why it's hard sometimes to do the right thing). God tells us we will feel this controversy, but we must choose Him. We can't afford to have distance between us and God, so this is extremely important. When we want to watch TV to wind down at night, we must go to God first. When we want to eat in the morning or get ready, we should spend the time with Him first. I hope you will join me in thinking about your day and night and finding ways to deny our self something in order to put Him above our wants and desires. If you are a Christian (meaning, you have accepted Christ into your heart as Lord and Savior), and you feel that there is distance between you and God, this is the way to close the gap. 1 John 1:5-6 says, "...this is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." Well, if there is one thing we know Jesus did, it was to spend time with the Father. He made time. Spending time with God was everything to Jesus. It must be everything to us. We will set the DVR or rush home early to prevent missing our favorite show. But, seldom do we deny ourselves or move something or someone out of our way if it threatens to come between the time we have with our Lord. I hope that you and I will exercise that necessary fruit of the spirit: self-control. If we do this, we will 'not forget' Him. If we are tempted to do something else when God is prompting our hearts to spend time with Him, may we remember Calvary... enough said. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, I want to be close with you. I hate when there is distance between us. And most of all, I hate that I caused the distance. I want to put you ahead of everyone and everything in my life. You have given so much for me. Help me to use this precious gift of self-control in every aspect of my life. i praise and honor you for my every heart beat and my every breath. May I live my life for you alone.

Do Not Forget

"Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them." Deuteronomy 4:9 "Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his decrees that I am giving you this day." Deuteronomy 8:11 I can't wait to get to Heaven. We will finally get to see Jesus face to face! We will be able to worship this God we have believed in for so long. And seeing all my loved ones! So exciting! You may laugh at this, but when I get to Heaven, there are people from the Bible that I really want to meet too. I want to meet David (I bet the Goliath story is even cooler hearing David tell it in person!) and I definitely want to meet Paul. I want to sit and talk with Moses for a while. I have a bone to pick with Eve, though (I blame all my pain of childbirth on her! Thanks Eve!--Just kidding). Heaven is going to be a wonderful place where we can worship our Lord. And, we will worship Him along side all these believers we read about in God's word. I believe one of those people will be Solomon. Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon. If you haven't read it, I challenge you to do so. It is only 12 chapters, but it is so very powerful. This is Corrieology, but when I read Ecclesiastes, I imagine it is being written as sort of an interview with Solomon on what he has learned in his life. Have you ever heard the phrase, "they've got everything under the sun" ? This comes from Solomon. He shares that though he was wise (the wisest man ever, as a matter of fact), had pleasure, power, and wealth, he was empty. He tells us that nothing mattered without God. He says that everything 'under the sun' was worthless and that a relationship with God was everything. He mentions more than once, to 'remember your creator'. Throughout God's word, we are told time and time again, not to forget God. At first, that seemed silly to me. I thought, "I could never forget God!" Then, I looked at the definitions for forget. One definition really bothered me. It read, "to treat with inattention or disregard". Wow. Do you know how many times I have paid more attention to something or someone else more than God? Countless times. In Judges, we read the story of how God's people, the Israelites, disobeyed God when He told them to drive out the Canaanites. The Canaanites were ungodly people, doing their 'own thing', living their 'own way.' God didn't want His children to conform. Judges 3:7 says, "The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord: they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs." They forgot God. They worshiped something else. Do we realize that we worship other things when we refuse to make time for God? That we are 'inattentive' or 'disregard' the fact that He wants us to talk with Him when we get up in the morning before we eat our breakfast or drink our coffee. BEFORE. I must stop trying to fit God in where it is the easiest for me then mark it off on my 'spiritual checklist'. This is my creator. As a Christian, sometimes we feel so very distant from God. Satan loves when we feel this way. We feel sorry for ourselves. We get down and out because we think, "God's just not hearing my prayers." We must not forget. God is teaching me that when I get into a spiritual rut, I can just go to God and tell Him that I remember. I remember the day He saved me. I remember the day He did 'this' for me and 'that' for me. And pretty soon, the distance is gone! We are together again. What about you? Do you feel distant from God today? If you are His child, all you have to do is remember. What has God done for you? Satan needs us to feel alone and isolated. He doesn't want us to remember how God rescued us before. God tells us all we have to do is utter His name and He will run to us. That name is powerful, my friends. That name conquered death! But that name can never be forgotten. I hope you will join me this week in remembering God on a daily basis. There will be a 'part two' to this post. But for now, we must not forget our creator. Look at the clock for 10 seconds before you read the rest of this post(Stop here). (Resume) Now, know that it was God who allowed you to breath during those 10 seconds... He is sustaining us even when we don't realize it... we must not forget Him. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, please forgive me for forgetting you. I break your heart so often, yet You continue to love me and bless me. I want to remember Your power, Your love, Your mercy every day. Help me to know I cannot exist without you, nor do I wish to...

Five Stones

"Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine." 1 Samuel 17: 40 Since I was a little girl, one of my favorite Bible stories is David and Goliath. When I read it as an adult to my little boy, I can't help but visualize of how that day of battle might have taken place. Let's look at the story more closely... I can just see David, this young shepherd boy who came to The Valley of Elah that day, bringing lunch to his big brothers. I am sure when David left, he didn't think bringing some cheese and bread would turn into such an eventful day! How creepy it must have been to hear the loud, obnoxious voice of a nine foot giant, yelling and screaming death threats! As his brothers shared their frustrations and fears of this angry man named Goliath, David listened. In 1 Samuel 17 verse 26, David couldn't believe that someone would actually challenge the 'armies of the living God'. Out of all the things David could have said, he is more worried about this man challenging the power of his God! No wonder the rest of them looked at him like, "This guy is going to kill us and your worried about what God thinks?" But you see, that is why David is known for having that phenomenal relationship with God. David immediately is defensive of his God. How often do we think about God's feelings in our battles? Then, David stands to basically say, "Well, I'll fight him." God's word says that people around him took this gesture as being arrogant and conceited. But the confidence that David exhibits, comes from the fact that he already knew the outcome of this battle. Why? Because he knew his Lord. David had such a close relationship with God that he knew God would prevail. I don't think he cared much about the 'how', but the outcome was a sure thing. We fail at this time and time again. We have a battle and then we worry and stress over the outcome. Why? Because we don't know the one who holds the outcome. The more I read God's word and the more time I spend with Him, the less doubts I find that come in my head. The worry is diminished because I know God is for my good. God has shown me that David agreed to fight Goliath because he knew he was only the 'body' that God would use. It was God's battle; not David's. David could have made it his battle, but he knew from the beginning and continued to remember that the battle was the Lord's (vs 45 ). Then I noticed that David meets with Saul because (let's face it) everybody wanted to meet this fool that was going to take on this giant! Saul gives David an armor. David refused. God then leads David to pick 5 smooth stones for his slingshot. It is interesting to me that David refused the defense the King offered him. Often times, we are in a battle in our life. And rather than trust what God gives us to fight with, we feel we need more protection, so we put on whatever the world suggests. The world suggests alcohol/drugs to numb things just a little; it suggests that maybe we just need to run away from it all; the world suggests harsh words that lash and cut; the world suggests we fight with self-help books and talk shows; the world suggests we hold resentment and put only distance between us and the ones who hurt us. Then we wonder why we feel as though we are drowning and the battle rages on. God gave David 5 stones. Not 4, not 6...5 stones. David had these 5 stones, a staff, and a sling shot. If I were David, I probably would have said, "God, are you kidding? Don't you think I need at least some kind of little dagger or a sharp- kind- of- something?!!! How about a bigger rock at least!!" David picked up the defense God gave him and defeated that giant. I guess what I am trying to say is that I want to be content with God in battle. I want to trust Him with every single aspect of my life. I want Him to control every part of me; my mind, my heart, my body. With this trust, I will be able to fight with whatever and however He leads. God placed this story on my heart tonight. I know many of us are facing battles in our lives at this very moment. If you are God's child, He promises to be your defender. I noticed that none of the circumstances surrounding David ever became an obstacle for him. He never said, "I'm too small; I'm too young; I'm not skilled; everybody is talking about me and saying I can't do this." David knew none of these factors changed the outcome of the battle. David knew who was 'really' fighting this battle. How often we get side-tracked by the obstacles around us. For you see, it wasn't the 5 stones that defeated Goliath, and it wasn't the boy who slung them...it was God's power which came because of David's obedience to fight the way God wanted. We have to remember that if we ask God to fight the battle, then we have to fight it His way. What are your stones God has given you to fight with? Is it silence in the heat of an argument? Is it forgiving someone who has hurt you? Is it simply waiting on Him? Is it burying yourself in His word for more time with Him? To me, the stones are symbolic of David's faith and obedience to God in the battle. This story tells me that the reason David won the battle with 5 stones is because David trusted the One who told him to gather them... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, thank you for this powerful story. Thank you for showing me the significance of David's 5 stones. Help me to grow closer to you so that I may know you more. Help me to give my battles to you and be obedient to fight with what you tell me to. I trust you with my life, Lord. Be my defender...

Mothers' Day Celebrations

Thanks to the ladies of New Prospect Baptist Church in Haleyville, Alabama, for allowing me to speak at their Mothers' Day Banquet. The fashion show was hilarious and God's presence was sweet as we opened our hearts to His word. I would also like to thank the women of Harmony Grove Baptist Church in Winfield, Alabama, for inviting me to share my heart at their Mothers and Others luncheon. After a time of wonderful fellowship (and the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten!), we learned of the great spiritual responsibility God has entrusted us with, as mothers, until He comes. I had a wonderful time with my sisters in Christ! Love, Corrie

Grace > Sin

"For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I but the grace of God that was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 I do not like math. I didn't like it in school and I don't like it any better now (and by the way, I don't use all that math in real life like some of my math teachers said that I would!). I guess when Canaan starts to get past addition/subtraction/ division/multiplication, I will have to call in a tutor! I can remember a section in math that was called: Greater than, less than, or equal to. It had these symbols at the top of the page: > < = Rember those? All I remember of that section was that it was about finding out how one particular number (or X...why X? :-) measured up in comparison to other numbers. This moved me to think about how we feel sometimes. We are given the illusion by Satan that our pasts and mistakes automatically make us 'less than' others. Let's see what God's word says... Have you ever compared yourself to other people and then walked away feeling so much less as a person? Perhaps you have said to yourself, "Well, I am just as good as they are." As humans, we are constantly motivated by the world to keep up with the latest fashions, technology, political issues, music, and the list goes on and on. We even become convinced that our body isn't like "so and so's" or that we need a better career, car, house, etc. This concept of comparing can spill over into our Christian walk as well. Many times, Satan preys on God's children. He tells us that we will never be close with God because of our past. He tells us we can never be the Godly spouse, parent, child, boss, employee, grandmother, etc., because our past sin is too great. When this lie from Satan is re-enforced with depression, an abusive childhood, a rocky marriage, or low self-esteem, distance from God is formed. So, what do we do to block these thoughts from creating distance from the God who loves us? To dispell a lie, one must know the truth. The truth about 'measuring up' with God is in His word. Grace is the word that destroys the lie of Satan. What is grace? Grace, by definition, means the 'unmerited favor' of God. Unmerited tells us that when we become God's child by salvation, we do not have to do anything to earn His love. Grace is given to us to help us live in the land of the living. God's favor is given to us because He loves us, not because of what we do or even who we are. Wow. It absolutely blows my mind that the God of Abraham, the God who knows the number of every grain of sand, wants to favor me! Insignificant, inadequite, me. Perhaps you struggle with feeling 'less than' in your Christian walk. God wants us to know that we don't have to worry about qualities that we do or don't possess, but that we understand that it is He that works within us. Understanding God's grace gives us the courage to walk in this old world until He retuns for us. Paul explains grace wonderfully in the verses above. Paul is one of the most renound warriors for proclaming the gospel. But Paul didn't begin that way. Paul's past was one of persecuting God's people. But because of grace, everything changed. Paul simply says that as a human, He is so unworthy. The fact that God worked through Paul, made the difference. Great things were done by Paul only by the grace of God working in and around him. Today is Mothers' Day. Are you a mother that feels as though she has failed at everything, especially with her children? Are you a mother that feels as though she is always less than other people in every aspect? Maybe you are God's child that has walked away. If you want to close this distance between you and God, take time to understand the awesome concept of His grace. Perhaps you are burdened by mistakes you have made in your past or even yesterday. Romans 5:20 tells us that where sin is increased, grace is increased all the more. How comforting this verse is to me. Though we must strive to flee from sin, it gives me hope to know that even though I fail in my walk with God, grace is greater than my failure. Grace is greater than sin. You must understand that God works through you to minister to your family. God reaches out through you to help others. God loves through you to your family and friends. That is the greatest news to me today. I know that as long as I stay close to God, Canaan will have everything he ever needs. God will love Canaan through me. What a concept!I hope you will join me in accepting that grace is greater than sin (grace > sin). That is one math concept I can use! :-) Give God your feelings of inadequacies and allow Him to do something awesome through you. Give Him your past so He can give you your future... Happy Mothers' Day! Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, how thankful I am for the concept of grace. I, alone, am nothing. But with your Holy Spirit living within me and working through me, great things will be done in your name. May you bless each person who reads this post. May they come to you and give you all their fears and failures. I pray that they come to know your grace and allow you to love and work through them...

Closing the Distance

(Please read 2 Samuel Chapters 11-12 before reading the post) "...and they said, "He is dead." So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate." 1 Samuel 12:19 (beginning in the last part of verse 19) - 20. I love studying the Bible and all the people God chose to let us read about. But, you know what? There is one person that I am extremely thankful that God didn't leave out... David! I love to study about David. To me, we can learn so much from him. When David was just a young boy, God let him defeat a giant and become a hero! Here is a man that God loved so much that he chose to be Israel's king. He even favored David so that He allowed Jesus to come from David's bloodline. Why? God loved David because David's passion was making his own heart reflect God's. In order to make your heart mirror someone else, you must know that person very well. David is one person that we can study in order to know exactly how to have a phenomenal relationship with God. That is one reason I am eager to learn about David. The closeness that was between David and God is what I want too. But, I also noticed another reason I am thankful for David's story being told in God's word. David shows us what to do when we mess up and how to 'get it back on the road' with God. Before God founded my ministry, I would find myself distant from God and had no clue how to 'get back' to Him. I kept wondering how I could keep this from happening with me and God again? God began to show me that preventing distance was all about maintaining closeness. Yep...Duh! Anyway, Filling the Gap is all about the relationship with God and learning that even though sin does distance us from our Father, the cross brings us back with Him again and again through forgiveness. Here's the kicker: God gets all this. We kind of.... don't. I always ask God to forgive me for allowing sin to come between Him and me but then I fail to believe He has forgiven me and continue wallowing in self pity(all the while keeping distance). Here's where David comes in as a great example. In 2 Samuel Chapter 11, David sets his eyes on another man's wife. To make the story shorter, David commits adultery with Bathsheba and then (to make matters worse) plots to make sure her husband dies on the front lines of battle. But then God sends Nathan to convict David of this sinful spiral he is in. Then, David closes the distance between him and God... he repents. David admits what he did was hurtful to God. David's sin had repercussion. David's child that he had with Bathsheba (apart from God's plan) was taken from him by death. Now, what happens next is the whole point of the post that God placed on my heart. David was honest with God about his emotions and pleaded with God not to take his child. But when the child died, when God did what God thought was best, David worshiped Him. Unbelievable. David worshiped God. Why? How? I believe it was because David knew God so well that He trusted God's plan for his life. It was that relationship that was in place before anything happened. This is the true meaning of Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." This verse does not say "some things" or "only the things we do that are good". God can even take our sin and work it out to be the very best for us! The question is do you trust Him? Maybe you feel distant with God right now in your Christian walk. We have proof and a road map on how to be close to God instantly. Tell God you want Him to forgive you, work on a new plan to keep from letting it happen again, and move on to worshiping Him. Why? Because God knows the very best for you and me. I want to have faith like David. I want to know that even when I fail the very God I love so much, I can trust Him with all my decisions. I hope you will too. The good news is that when we do trust God with everything, He proves Himself over and over again. David's proof of Romans 8:28? A spiritual legacy that gave us a Savior! Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, how often I fail you. I am so glad that you are the God of forgiveness and that you run to me before I even realize you are there. Forgive me for placing distance between you and I by not accepting that forgiveness. Help me to be like David. Help me to know that you do what you say you will do...

Heartbeat

"My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end." Psalm 119:112 I know it has been sometime since my last post. Many of you who know me, know that I ONLY write a post when God Himself prompts my heart to do so. These past two weeks, I kept waiting...wondering. Then, God gave me the post. It came about when my son, Canaan, said something so sweet and Innocent, yet inspired by the very God of Abraham, Moses, and Jacob. May God speak to your heart as He did to mine through the wisdom of a child.... "Mommy! I can feel my heart beating," Canaan said, with his little hand over his chest. " That's wonderful babe!" (I said, making a big deal over this as a proud momma does :-) But his next sentence caused me to be almost speechless. Turning to walk away, Canaan looked at me and said, "Mommy, it will just keep beating til' I get to Heaven." Wow. I began to think, "Am I really living day to day, with my heart 'beating' only for Him? Am I so attached to the world that I forget to see it as only my temporary destination? I searched for the definition of the word heartbeat. It means, 'one complete pulsation of the heart'. At that moment, it occurred to me that I must monitor my spiritual heartbeat. ''One complete pulsation"... I am not complete without my Lord as the driving force of my day and night. Once you have given your heart to God, He owns it. He possesses it. But the heartbeat of our spiritual life is all about the relationship with Him on a daily basis. We, as His children, must keep 'beating' until He returns or until He calls us to be with Him. I must confess that in my spiritual heart, the beat is sometimes so soft and slow it becomes dangerous. My spiritual heartbeat becomes irregular. Irregular, by one definition, means "lacking perfect symmetry." How descriptive of my relationship with God at times. I so very often lack that perfect symmetry when I am one with Him and He is leading all my decisions, all my emotions, all of my thoughts, resulting in all (not just some) of my words. Yes, it is no mystery that our world is a very difficult place to be. However, it is required by God's people to be His very heartbeat, reaching out to those who have no hope. You may say, "how can I reach out to others when I, myself, seem to have so much despair?" The answer comes through checking your own spiritual heartbeat before you can be His. It is about the relationship (the symmetry of your heartbeat with His). Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Wellspring means 'a source of continual supply'. Supply of what? Luke 6:45 tells us that whatever is stored up in the heart is whatever comes out of the heart. Today, will you join me in checking your spiritual heartbeat? Is is faint because of trials you are going through? Is is irregular because it is not one with our Lord in a close relationship? I pray that after reading this post, you will give your heart to Jesus if you don't know Him as Lord and Savior. If you have accepted Christ through salvation, I pray you check your spiritual heartbeat and run to Him, seeking a close relationship with Him. And then... may it be our passion to "beat" until He comes! Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, how I long for you to come back for your children. This world is such a struggle. Pain, sadness, and death whirl around me. Make my heart beat strong for you. Help me to remember that your power lives in me through your Holy Spirit. May I stay close to you to continue to run the race until you come again...

The Egg Tooth

OLD TESTAMENT: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7 NEW TESTAMENT: "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." Matthew 16:21 Easter is one week away. Every year, I find myself more and more excited about Easter. As a Christian, I love to celebrate the birth of Christ, because I know, without that special night in Bethlehem, we wouldn't have a Saviour. But the day that Savior arose? Wow! The day death was conquered! The day that made it possible for me to have an eternity and be forgiven! Chill Bumps, my friends, chill bumps. So, with that in mind.... The other day, I was making Canaan one of the many snacks that I make for him a day (you moms know what I mean :-). A commercial came on "his" station and it was one of those teaching/fact things. It said that birds are born with a sharp horn-like instrument on the edge of their beaks, called an egg tooth. This tool, which is given to them before birth (while they are in the egg), enables them to crack out of their egg and hatch. It provides them a way out of a situation that they don't need to be in any longer. I must tell you, that commercial stayed on my mind all day, all night, and all weekend. When it came time for my post today, I knew God wanted me to sit down and really apply the concept of the 'egg tooth' spiritually. You see, before the foundation of the earth, God knew that there would come a day that He would provide you and I a way to be forgiven for our sins. God cannot and will not, tolerate, look at, have any part of, sin. This plan He came up with? Our own "Egg Tooth"... Jesus. It is important for us to realize the strategy behind Easter. It is even more important for us to realize the reason behind the strategy---LOVE. John 3:16 tells us this. God didn't just look at the world and decide to do something. God knew beforehand. He always knows. Just as He knew the bird would need a way out of it's shell, He knew you and I would need someone to save us from our sins. We needed a way out of Hell. The scripture at the top of the post confirms this. Before we were born, before Jesus was born, God knew the way out. I wanted us to look at the fact that the plan of the crucifixion and resurrection was set in motion before Christ walked upon the Earth. Isaiah prophesied about the plan. Jesus told the disciples about the plan.What about you? Do you realize you have an 'egg tooth'? Have you realized that you have access to the greatest gift ever given? I hope you will accept the 'way out'. I hope you will ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and to come into your heart and save you. Oh. I almost forgot. There is another avenue to the whole 'egg tooth'. For the Christian, we continue to have a way to break free from the trials of this life. I am not saying the trials will be taken away, but I am saying we are equipped with an 'egg tooth' for the trials that come. It is the one thing Jesus left us with when He ascended: The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within the Christian and enables us to have God's attributes (fruits of the Spirit). For you see, without the Holy Spirit, I (Corrie) am nothing more than a sinner with nothing worthy to bring before my Lord. But with God's Holy Spirit dwelling with in me, I can be kind, peaceful, forgiving, merciful, loving, honorable, ... the list goes on. It is important that we know and remember the distinction. The Holy Spirit allows us to have an intimate relationship with God. It is the only way we can live in the land of the living. As the end of time draws near, perhaps you are going through a trial. Perhaps you are going through a trial that seems so dark and scary, you feel trapped and see no end to it whatsoever. I hope you will remember the 'egg tooth'. From salvation to the Holy Spirit, God never forgets to provide a way out. If He remembered it for the tiniest of animals, like the bird, He will also not forget you. May we remember our 'egg tooth' when we feel the following: " We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." 2 Corinthians 4:8-12. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Father, I am so thankful for your wisdom, your power, your forgiveness, and most of all, your love. Before I was ever born, you provided me a 'way out' of my sin. I can never repay the debt I owe but because of your heart, I don't have to. Help me to remember that not only do you provide salvation, you provide strength for my trials. Help it to be enough for me...

Siloam

'Thank you' to the ladies of Siloam Missionary Baptist Church in Russellville, Alabama, for inviting me to be a part of their annual women's luncheon. We came together this past Saturday for both physical and spiritual food. The theme was, "The many hats women wear", and God truly blessed each heart that attended. May we remember to be wise women who remember to give our 'hats' to God.... Love, Corrie

The Tear Bottle

"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?" Psalm 56:8

"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?" Psalm 56:8

Tears. Ever wondered why we have them? Scientist tell us that our bodies secrete tears to keep the eye moist and to prevent it from drying out. Tears are also a reaction to pain of our physical body and are often a result of experiencing emotional pain as well. I even cry when I am happy sometimes! While many animals do secrete tears, many researchers say that only humans produce tears linked with emotion. Nevertheless, tears are important to us. In our society, we sometimes view crying as weak and vulnerable. We often hide our tears. We hide our emotions. We even try to hide them from God. I am not sure why God wanted me to pick tonight to write on the topic of 'tears'. While He put this post on my heart weeks ago, He waited until tonight for me to write it. Only you know why He waited. He waited for you. I hope you will find this post both comforting and motivating. I know I do... If you were to ask me one of my most favorite verses in the Bible, I would have a very difficult time because there are so many. But Psalm 56:8 is one that takes my breath away. It all began with a sermon my dad preached years ago entitled, "God's Tear Bottle." I can remember looking at that verse and reading it over and over. Here, David is praying to God when he has been seized by the Philistines. I am so thankful for Psalms because it gives us such good documentation of what all David went through. It shows him as a man that often failed God, but a man whose heart loved God and accepted God's forgiveness. Because of all of David's trials, he mentions his 'tears' several times throughout the book. In Psalm 6:6, David says, " I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears." Many theologians even believe David battled depression. His circumstances seemed hopeless time and time again. In Psalm 56:8, David is saying that he has cried so much, no bottle could hold all his tears. But, (here's the good part!), David goes to God and asks God to put his tears in GOD'S tear bottle! Notice, David says 'in YOUR bottle'! David knew that his God cared that he was crying. David knew his God was keeping up with every single tear he cried. David believed God wrote the reason for every tear down. You are reading this because God wants you to know He cares that you cry. If you have accepted Him as your Lord and Saviour, He catches your tears. Maybe you have been crying over the death of someone you loved with all your heart. Maybe you are crying because of the baby you want to have or the child that you want to come home. Do you cry because your past keeps coming up day after day? Do you cry because you are sick and you hurt so bad, no one can understand? Maybe you cry because of a broken marriage. Perhaps you cry because of a decision you have to make. Maybe you cry because you fear the money you need may not be there. I am writing to tell you that God has caught every tear, my sweet friend. He hasn't missed one. He has sat right there beside you listening to every single word you cried. Why? Because He loves you. Wow. How comforting. I feel in my heart many of us need to know that tonight...including myself. While that is wonderful, we also have to consider one more thing about tears. Here's the question: Do we ever cry over our relationship with God? I guess what I am saying is do we care that we fail Him or put more people ahead of Him? Do we cry for those who don't know Him? Jeremiah is called 'the weeping prophet' because it broke his heart when the people of Jerusalem rejected God. This convicted me. I want my heart to be broken over those who still need to hear the gospel. I want to shed tears for those Christians who don't know about the relationship God desires with us. Listen to Psalm 119:136, "Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed." I truly feel God wanted this post to minister to us in two ways. First, I know God wants us to be comforted. There are many tears being shed for many reasons day and night, and God wants us to know that He hears us. He will come to our aide. He is a great parent and no great parent likes to see their children hurt. Second, I think He wants to remind us that while He will comfort us, are we ever crying over Him? I hope you will join me in redirecting our tears. I hope you and I will be broken over our relationship with Him and for those who don't know about Him. I believe if we begin to reach others for Him, we will see our own problems become as small as a grain of sand. May we run to Him and allow Him to take away the deep secrets that make us cry... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Father, how you have captivated me tonight. You have shown me how much you love me yet challenged my love for you and those around me. I want to weep over my relationship with you. I ask and accept your forgiveness for the distance I have placed between us and for failing to tell those around me about you. Give me a passion for you every single day...