😎🐫🎤 As the famous line from the movie A Few Good Men goes, “You can’t handle the truth!”  We are smack in the middle of Holy Week, which means we heard The Passion according to Mark last Sunday and we’ll read The Passion according to John on Good Friday.  There is one line in the reading of The Passion that stops me in my tracks, tears fill my eyes, my throat gets tight, and I can’t speak the words…”Crucify him, crucify him!” 

But every time I sin, that is exactly what I do. I crucify Him.  I put Him on that cross.  This is a truth that is hard to swallow.  And it’s a truth I need to remind myself of often.  Before I dare to speak ill of someone, I should just yell out “Crucify him, crucify him!”  Or maybe when I’m having a bad day and want to take it out on someone, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Or when I want to place undue blame on someone else, “Crucify him, crucify him!”  When I ignore someone that God has placed along my path or when I say, “God, I don’t have time for you.”  I might as well be saying “Crucify him, crucify him!”  I bet if I shouted that out first, I probably won’t say or do what I was going to, which could stop one more swing of the hammer, one more lash of the whip, one more thorn piercing his head. He died for our sins, but we don’t need to keep adding to those numbers.  Bless others and be blessed.

😎🐫🎤 Satan…how do you deal with him?  Sometimes it’s real obvious when he’s digging at us. Other times, he likes to just play games, like ringing a door bell then running away. That constant annoyance. Then there are those times that we can’t even see its him. We get so lost in saying…so and so did this and so and so did that. We totally lose sight of who’s really behind it all. Recognizing Satan in our lives is an important thing, but we can’t just stop there. How do you deal with him?  Do you try to hide, act like you’re dodging a bullet, or do you have the guts to face him head on?  How many times do we prolong the agony of dealing with Satan and his lies because we’re trying to avoid him? Don’t invite him into your life, but when he barges in without your permission, you have the One sure fire way to get him gone. Do you have the gut to face him head on?  You have the Triple Crown, Three in One, God Almighty!  What’s stopping you? Shout it out…RUN DEVIL RUN!  When you come knocking on my door, you’re going to wish you hadn’t.  In the name of JESUS CHRIST, be gone Satan!  Bless others and be blessed. 

#DavidCrowder – Run Devil Run

😎🐫🎤 Back in 2016 I was overjoyed with three great pieces of life changing news. Crystal and John were expecting their second child and Chessa was born in April 2017. Lori and Cody were engaged and married in Oct 2017. And Diana and Sam were engaged and married this past weekend.  All three were great moments, but I knew I would be seriously challenged because at both weddings I would have to face their dad, who I divorced almost 18 years ago. I knew I had a lot of praying to do about this. I even took a class about forgiveness at a local church back in Sept 2016 to help prepare myself.  After the forgiveness class and a year of praying, I felt pretty good about how things went and how I felt at Lori’s wedding. He and I even sat at the same table. Okay, not so bad, I thought. I survived and put that behind me…well, so I thought. It really knocked me down a notch when I found myself struggling when I was around him this past Friday and Saturday.  I didn’t want to see him, hear his voice, and it especially annoyed me when he said my name. I found myself just wanting to go off on him. He didn’t do anything wrong in those moments, so why was I feeling this way. It made me really mad at myself. Why was it so different this time?  Trying to figure out the source of my frustration, I realized that I’d stopped praying and forgiving.  Which made me frustrated for a different reason. I started relying on myself and stopped giving it to God. And then God told me…Forgive 70 x 7 times. I was so incredibly humbled and finally, truly understood what Matthew was saying in that passage.  I don’t like feeling angry like I did this weekend and I know I have a lot more praying and forgiveness that I need to be working on. 

There is a line in today’s song that goes “When You pull me closer, I come to life.”  But I really think it should say “When I pull You closer, I come to life.”  God is always there reaching out for us. We need to quite trying to do life on our own and pull Him into the center of our world. He taught me a very valuable lesson this weekend. Bless others and be blessed. 

#TobyMac – I Just Need U

😎🐫🎤 Lent is a season of preparation. It seems like this time in Jesus’ life, Christ was teaching His disciples a lot of tough lessons.  And they found themselves failing rather easily. When the going gets tough and the pressure is on, will you run and hide or maybe just stand firm and flat out deny Him?  God has so many lessons for us to learn. Or another way to put it is that God has so many graces to offer us. The choice is yours. Is what you’re dealing with a stumbling block or a gift?  Will you walk in defeat or rise victorious?  Will you sing the blues or sing so the back row hears you?  Choose to be the one that when others see you, they say I don’t know what’s gotten into them, but whatever it is I want it too!  Bless others and be blessed. 

#MercyMe – Grace Got You

😎🐫🎤 Monday morning I woke Brian up and said “Welcome to Monday.”  His response…”Grrrrr…I wish it was Saturday.”  I thought, wow, what would it be like if I missed a week?  What opportunities with God would I miss?  What opportunities would I miss sharing God and how could that possibly effect someone’s life and my life?  Then my mind shifted to, how precious would an extra week be at the end of my life.  What would I do with that precious time?  All the people I would want to see and call. What would I want my final earthly time and words to be with them?  Every day, every moment of your life is too precious to let it be squandered. Don’t hold back your love for God and others. Fearlessly and confidently tell them. Some will think you’re weird and won’t know how to handle it, but that’s okay. I would rather go down having people think I’m weird, than not knowing how much I care for and about them. 

I’ve not done this before, but I actually have two songs for you today. They each fit a different part of today’s thought. Bless others and be blessed. 

#ChrisRice – Life Means So Much

#DiamondRio – One More Day

😎🐫🎤 I was absolutely blessed this week by God’s presence and something a friend told me on Sunday night. Before I tell you what she said, I have to back this story up a year to February 2017 when God told me that I needed to invite this friend and her husband to an Emmaus Walk weekend. I had no idea how the offer would be received, but asked just as God instructed.  They accepted and he took his Walk in Aug 2017. She was scheduled to go in Sept 2017, but the weekend was moved to this past weekend.  What she told me Sunday was this…”If someone would have told me a year ago that you would give us a gift that would save our marriage, I would have told them they’re crazy.”  The thing is, the gift wasn’t from me. It was from God. He told me to ask. Which also made me think, what if I wouldn’t have listened and acted upon His request?  Where would they be today?  It’s so important to actively listen for God and do as He asks.  I had no idea what would come of the invitation, but that’s okay because we don’t need to know the outcome, we just need to act when instructed. Trust me, if God asks you to do something, you know His plan is for good.  Experiencing this life changing event was a great reminder that God still does miracles. Pray to hear His words and fearlessly act upon them. Bless others and be blessed. 

#HawkNelson – He Still Does (Miracles)

😎🐫🎤 Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, the feast before the fast of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  At our Shrove Tuesday service, we celebrate and sing the Alleluia one more time before it’s buried for the 40 days of Lent. Alleluia is my favorite word to say and sing, so it makes me very sad when we take the Alleluia banner down, put it in a wooden box, and slammed the lid shut. Hearing the lid slam shut instantly brings tears to my eyes.  These 40 days are a time of preparation and we all approach that very differently. Take some time to really focus on your faith journey and what that can look like as you travel through these next 40 days, towards the celebration of Easter.  I really like the video that goes with this song. Bless others and be blessed. 

#Newsboys – The Cross Has the Final Word

😎🐫🎤 The title of a class that Brian and I are working through at church is called Oremus, which is Latin for Let Us Pray. This week we are working through prayer, focusing on our spiritual senses and this was one of our discussion questions. “If you could be a part of a scene in Jesus’ life, which scene would you like to enter?  I thought that was an interesting question. Think about that for a moment and if you’re willing to share, I would like to hear which part of Jesus’ life you would have liked to experience in the flesh and why. 

Today’s song is one that I like to crank up in the car and sing as loud as I can. I’m just in awe when I think about my favorite line of this song, “To You my future is a memory.”  It’s incredible to think that God is with me and you every single breath of our lives. And He has walked every step of our journey before we even took one step. The joy, the pain, the sorry, the peace, He knows it all. Even the times we will reject and deny Him. But yet, He still reaches out to us, stretching as far as He can, hoping we will reach back for Him.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#CastingCrowns – Already There

😎🐫🎤 I enjoy ironing, but it absolutely amazes, okay frustrates me when it only takes a split second to make a wrong crease and then it takes 5 minutes to try to undue that mistake. I had a day this week that I just felt like I was putting creases all over my day. I headed for home that night feeling defeated and really doubting myself. Just like ironing a wrong crease, it’s amazing/frustrating how quickly we will allow ourselves to spiral downward and that climb back up seems to take forever. After dinner that night, I sat down to do my daily reading, and of course, God knows exactly what we need. That night my reading was Luke 12: 22-32. Very loud and clear God told me “Don’t worry about your life!”  I told God “I want people to know that they can trust my work and abilities to get things done right.”  I barely finished speaking those words and God excitedly responded “Exactly Shell!  I want you to trust in MY work and ability to get things done right.”  I know I’m not perfect and I can’t expect to be any more perfect, than perfectly flawed. It’s when I accept and embrace these flaws that I allow Him to complete me.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#Orianthi – According to You

😎🐫🎤 A good friend shared a very sobering experience with me Saturday. Four years ago that day, she nearly died from an illness. But she was celebrating that God gave her more time on earth with family and friends. This made me think of another good friend that was knocking on death’s door, but by God’s grace was offered another chance to serve Him here, a little while longer.  As I was thinking and praying for these friends, I realized that both of these situations happened just months before I met each of them.  That is what was so sobering, realizing that I may have never experienced or shared their lives, if it were not for His grace. God may call us at any given moment, which is why we need to celebrate and take full advantage of the time and relationships we’re given.  Love always, forgive often, and offer grace…God’s grace whenever the opportunity is given.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#MattRedman – Gracefully Broken