W3vina.COM Free Wordpress Themes Joomla Templates Best Wordpress Themes Premium Wordpress Themes Top Best Wordpress Themes 2012

Beauty Cheers the Heart

Beauty Cheers the Heart

Proverbs 17:22 says “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

White scenes of winter soothe me because I grew up in Minnesota and enjoyed a wonderful childhood full of love, play, and no worries. These days, I grieve for children who do not have the benefit of a fearless childhood.

I wept watching the news of the school shooting in Florida. So, so tragic! More loss of innocent lives, so full of promise.  And when ordinary people become heroes and pay the ultimate price . . . we feel sympathy for their families and friends.  We see the funerals on the news. I pray for those who mourn everyone lost and injured. And what about the survivors? They’ll never be the same . . but for God’s grace and help.

Below is a photograph of a scene in Kuhmo, Finland. It lifted me into God’s arms because its beauty cheered my heart. I hope it does the same for you. Scroll down . . . This is a real place.

Even though the horrors of evil abound, the beauty, majesty, and reality of God is greater. One day all will be restored and there will be no more evil. Jesus promised. We will live in a restored, new world where Beauty and Goodness is all we will know.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” Proverbs 21:4.

Read More

The God of Great and Small

In a pottery and glass gift shop in the mountains of North Carolina, I came across a tiny piece of glass art and bought it. When I first saw it, I wondered how the artist managed to make something so tiny, about 1/4″ in size, yet with unique, distinctive parts. Its smallness is what made it special to me. I named her “Suzie the flea” because of the joy she gave me. I also saw she had a destiny to fulfill in God’s kingdom of love. Since then, she’s flown by airmail many thousands of miles across the country to bear witness to God’s creative love and favor. The recipients have sent her back to me after she’s lifted their hearts. Suzie represents to me persons who are “little” in God’s kingdom yet each one holds a dear place in His heart.  Their smallness is endearing to Him. These are the hidden ones who stay in the background; they are not in the spotlight of God’s kingdom. He’s jealous to keep them there for His own reasons. I take great comfort in that. No more striving to be someone I am not. I am confident in this alone: God favors me and has destined to use me with messages of His love. I am small, like Suzie. Yet I am dear and can be greatly used in His kingdom. As can you.

 

 

Read More

Hope

It’s Sunday today. One week after the senseless, violent murders that took place in a small Christian church family in Texas. What a horrible, tragic thing!—and to happen in a place of worship. Our country is still mourning the deaths of too many innocents taken in Las Vegas. What is happening to our society? Why is there so much hatred everywhere? We are worried about the evil in the hearts of the leader of North Korea and in ISIS terrorists, but evil is lurking in countless, lost souls worldwide.

And it is everywhere. Nowhere is safe. The cliché “What is this world coming to?” is a resounding cry that echoes from our hearts in our everyday thoughts. Lord, God of heaven and earth, save us!

A generation shows how fast things are becoming evil. When I was growing up, I could freely play outdoors all day long. At age twelve, I took a city bus on my own to a large metropolitan downtown. When I left the house on summer days, I’d take off on my bicycle early in the day and return in time for dinner. My parents never worried about me. I had no cell phone or tracking device on me. We didn’t need it.  Now my children are parents. They are afraid to let their children play in the backyard.  As grandma, I’m sometimes brought in to help keep their kids safe. If we lose sight of a child for a few moments at the store, we panic. One of us must escort the kids to the school bus stop and meet them there when they are dropped off. A school bus is still considered potentially dangerous for my twelve-year-old grandson.

I am reading John Eldredge’s new book, ALL THINGS NEW. Talk about the need we have for hope, this book couldn’t be better timed. I have been praying with this book, turning every truth and insight into communication with God. I haven’t gotten far into the book’s pages to know the author is reminding me of what I’ve known, as a follower of Jesus, for a long time. I just needed to hear about my “hope” in depth from a man of God, a person who understands human hearts and God’s heart and has a way with words that hits the mark in our souls. Thank you, John Eldredge, for being sensitive to God’s heart at this time and for giving us the reminder we so desperately need.

People of the Kingdom of Jesus, we have what we need for these days. We are in the know, even though we still ask “Why? Why? Why?” as we hear the “bad news” on the News every night. Beloved brothers and sisters, we know where we are headed. It’s just that at this time, we need the Lord’s comfort and His reminder. Hang on to your hope.

Lord, let us “see” that we are in the Last Days with eyes of HOPE, focused on You and Your promises. What we most hope for is around the corner.

I told the Lord this morning that my hope lies in Him, in His promises for the GOOD, love, and beauty He wants for all people. His Kingdom is about to fully come and will invade the darkness and cast it away. God wants us to be comforted and uplifted. Faith, hope, and love are the strongest powers we have—and they come from God. What is happening in our world is that we are spinning faster and faster towards the “restoration of all things” that Jesus promised us. It will get darker before the DAWN. Let your hope rise. We were made for the kind of life that began at the dawn of Creation—our paradise lost. But Jesus promised to make all things new here on this earth. Do yourself a favor, pick up John Eldredge’s book. It will do your heart good.

Read More

The “Last Days” are These Days

When our daily news sounds like The Tribulation spoken about in Revelation, as well as what Jesus foretold in Matthew 24, we have to realize these are the biblical Last Days we are living in. We might be tempted to focus on all the terrible and horrifying events happening but I don’t think the Lord would want His own to be dwelling on that.  We need to be about His kingdom work as never before.  And, most important, we need to give the Lord our  hearts and ears these days to draw close to Him. He loves us so much and is longing for us. Think of all He has done to have us.

In our world, the dark grows darker; the Light becomes brighter. Jesus is returning soon for His Beloved (we are His Bride).  That’s where our focus should be. We need to be lovingly close to Him. Be encouraged in that we are nearing the climax in God’s Story and our Lord Jesus is soon to be fully revealed.

The Art of Loving God is my current writing project and I believe dear to the Lord’s heart. I covet your prayers especially now as a wonderful Christian literature agent has taken on the book and will be submitting it to Christian publishers at this time. The writing is going well. I would be blessed to share chapters by email to get your feedback and discernment while the project is ongoing. I am working on Chapters 4 and 5 now. I have 10 chapters outlined. Send me an email at [email protected] and I will send you chapters.

 

I came across a booklet I wrote to convince Jewish people that their own descendant of King David is Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah; and to convince anyone else as well.  It is amazing how extraordinarily and perfectly Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in Scripture.

You can easily download the PDF of the booklet (see link below) and share it in emails, in person, or you can copy it and spread it around by any means possible. I put this together in 2014 because I had looked all over for a list of prohecies Jesus fulfilled, anything of that nature, but I found nothing.  I wanted handouts for a “Jewish and Christian Librarians” conference–yes, it was different to see the two camps together, in which I was invited to share my books.  I created this document/booklet to give away at that conference. The Word of God is proven throughout history as well as well as in the world today. Please click on the link to the PDF.  I revised it in case you have an older copy from 2014.

The Jewish Messiah Prophecies Fulfulled 3 10. 12.2017

Shalom and blessings,

 

Margaret

 

 

Read More

The Diversity of Love to God is Art

I am on Chapter 4 of  The Art of Loving God, a book I’ve wanted to write for twenty years but wasn’t ready. Not sure I can begin to do the topic justice, but I am enjoying the attempt. It amazes me how God confirms us along our way. I just wrote about how we need to follow our own unique hearts and personalities in expressing ourselves creatively to God. In an illustration, I show how some people love the passionate, rock-concert type of worship complete with a darkened auditorium with colorful lights flashing and swirling with the music. Other people like a more contemplative style, like the purity of beautiful voices singing hymns in an echoing chapel. God loves, loves, loves diversity! We must follow our hearts and express our love to God as individuals, free to be ourselves with the Creator. Amazing how this beautiful video of men singing in a train station found its way to my Facebook feed today. I couldn’t help but smile. This is an 800-year old Icelantic hymn. Listening to these men sing made my heart smile. It makes me imagine how beautiful heaven will be.

Scroll down to see the second one — which happened spontaneously in a Jerusalem synagogue by Christians singing praise to Jesus (Yeshua). Wow!

 

 

Read More

The Gift of Free Hearts

I’ve been writing The Art of Loving God and an image of two horses running free along a beach persists and just won’t go away. The symbolic idea has been with me since I first thought about this book idea. Today, I finally gave in and sought God to help me see whatever it is He is saying through it. In fact, going a step further, I thought I’d find a photograph of what I have been seeing and share it here. This picture I bought online matches and now I’m pondering deeply what God is saying through it.

I have been writing about the idea that God gave us free wills and what a tremendous power that is. Some call this free will, but the will is governed by the heart. The greatest gift our Creator has given each of us is a free heart. That gift cost Him. God values what freedom means because love, to be real, cannot be forced or manipulated. He knows our hearts lead us in the pursuit of what we hold most dear.

Most of us cannot wrap our minds around the idea that we are, particularly, most dear to God. Once we get it, God becomes most dear to us. Loving the Lord above all is more than obeying the First Commandment. Our hearts are like horses that run wherever they please, but when our hearts find God’s heart, well, think of two horses running and frolicking on the beach.

Read More