The mouse in the dog's mouth

James 1: 2-4

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't read it myself, but someone I trust once said C S Lewis linked a man facing temptation to a rat being shaken by the mouth of a dog.
I can relate to that scene.
Little did I know how hard it would be to break free from the habit of falling
again and again in the old pits of destruction...until now.
Yeah...breaking free is hard, specially if I try to do it on my own.

So let me tell you what I'm doing...
Placing it all in His hands.
Surrendering my agony to Him.
My prayer this week has been, among tears:
-Oh, Lord, give me the strength because I don't have any; this battle overwhelms me.

And yes...He's answered back. I know if I faint now, and fall, He'll pick me up.
But our relationship might not be the same as now.
I may be like Adam in the garden...hiding from Him, ashamed.
There's no need to stain something so beautiful:
A girl's love bond with her Heavenly Father.
So I lift up my voice, and praise Him.
Because only Jesus has the power to break the chains of sin in our lives.
If you have Faith, please pray.

Love,

Janet

"Sorrow is turned into joy before Him."
Job 41:22b

Celebrating the birth of Jesus: a chorus and the healing wings of the rising sun

Luke 1: 26-33

26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

******* ******* *******
My dear Friend,
The month of December has been a month of celebration for me and my Christian friends.
I don’t know about you, but when the birthday draws near of a person I love, I celebrate not just one day…but all days…and I am so thankful to God for the birth of Jesus.
Thank You, Heavenly Daddy…your Son is the best gift of all!!!
I was invited to His birthday celebration at a stadium here in South Florida; thousands of believers and I sang happy birthday to our Savior illuminated by an ocean of candles. Some souls came to Him for the first time that evening…I have no words to express how awesome it was.
And being Jesus as contemporary as He is, the celebration was divine…full of surprises, Joy…and Love.
By the time the actual Christmas evening arrived, I was invited to join a very special chorus to sing carols to our Lord. Although I didn’t know the songs very well, and my voice became shy at times, my heart, my lungs, and my spirit worshiped Him with each bit of life I carry in me.
I hope You liked it, Lord!!! I know you did!
After church and the chorus, disaster happened; my little niece had a little –though scary- accident. My family didn’t have a chance to actually get together for Christmas. What we did, was thank God for His infinite Mercy in protecting the baby and delivering her from harm.
On the 25th, after the sun rose bringing forth healing from the Lord, my family joined for a barbeque and we got a chance to love each other.
Wherever Love is…His light shines.

Jesus, you’re the light of my life.
May you also be the light to the person reading these words.
I love you with all my being.
Happy birthday!
Your daughter, your friend, yours forever…
Janet.

For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder.—Isaiah 9:6

Grace and a Christmas party.

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
"But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Matthew 9:12-13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although I'm probably better off not saying this,
I'll open up to you
Because I got a point to make...
Yesterday I got drunk.
Hold it, don't crucify me yet...after all,
Jesus died for ALL of us.
I had four cups of red wine
(I have very little tolerance to alcohol)
And after the party was over,
I drove home.
My best friend allowed me to drive!
He said I told him I wanted to go home.
Today I called him,
and asked: how could you let me drive in that state?
I questioned his friendship
But somehow I knew arguing was pointless.
We're all sick
In need of a physician.
So I decided
To let go and forgive my friend
Not because he deserves it
But because is the right thing to do.
Who do you need to show mercy today?
Who?
Don't be so full of self that you
Can't freely give to others
What the God of the universe has first given you.

Love, my friend, the rest has no meaning at all.

Besos,

janet

Keep on trucking

“He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.”
Hebrews 7:25a

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are seasons in life
When everything is a mess
And many times the cross becomes almost unbearable
All you can do is cry, and
Each tear becomes a river of pain
…
If you’re hurting
Like I am
All I can say
Is that you need to let go
And let God
Be God
Let yourself be healed
By His Love
…
Keep walking!
Go through the storm
Don’t let it bring your spirit down
Lift your head up high
Fix your eyes on the horizon
And
While your heart rests in the hands of God
Confidently
Walk
In the direction
Of your dreams.

Jesus is love!

“He shall set me up upon a rock.”
Psalm 27:5c

Whisper

John 12:44-50
44 Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

**********************7************7*************7************************

This is a difficult passage to write about. Yet is so simple. Jesus’ voice is always like that: firm, clear, and loving. Sometimes, when standing in the presence of God is best to remain silent...to just let Him penetrate our being and surrender to His peace. Although is very hard to detach oneself from the cares of the world and swim against its current, when we swim towards God, He always provides the strength needed. Somehow His whisper makes it to our ears, even though we’re so accustomed to the noise.
Dear Father: you know my heart
Better than no one else.
You know my pride and my shortcomings
You know I fall down every time I ignore your voice
Help me to always have ears to listen and eyes to see
And a heart that beats only because of You.
I need you...help me to be like Jesus.
Love,
Your daughter.

Glory and Praise to the God of the universe!

The crying puppy

“Your heavenly Father knoweth that
ye have need of all these things.”

Matthew 6:32b


Have you ever done something that you knew it was wrong to do,
But you did it anyways?
Have you ever felt the physical pain of suffering the consequences of your actions?
Have you ever run to God, to find comfort in His lap,
Knowing He had warned you not to touch the fire?
If God wasn’t God, I’d be desperate right now...
Cause I touched the fire.
And I find myself at this hour,
Crying like a little puppy
To my loving Master.
I know He forgives me,
But He tells me that’s not the main issue.
Can I forgive myself?
Can I forgive others?
Can I really live if I don’t?
God has an answer for that:
Love!

“The liberal soul shall be made fat:
and he that watereth shall be watered
also himself.”

Proverbs 11:25

The leaf on the river current

“I am with you, and will keep you
in all places where you go.”

Genesis 28:15a


I’m reading a book called “Love is a choice”; written by three PHD psychiatrists who have a clinic in Texas and decided they would write a book about “codependency”, a concept they consider has become an epidemic in modern life. Codependency simply means addiction to a certain behavior, thing, or person. As I read the book, obviously I’m uncovering the ghosts of my personal life, but I also find pretty much every single person I know could benefit from reading this book. It’s so easy to go through life suffering in silence, letting circumstances and people dictate our behavior, emotions, and -most importantly- our steps.

Sometimes life is like a river and we’re a leaf that fell down from a tree into the water, and the leaf is being swept by the currents...thinking she has a sense of direction and that she has everything figured out. Yet, reality is the leaf is living in denial, in ignorance, and in desperation. Perhaps she lives in the illusion she’s really just having fun. Life can be very deceiving and is very easy to lie to ourselves. How could we not be in desperation when our life is just being swept away in the currents of the world? How could we say we’re free from the currents when all we do is conform to norms and pre-determined concepts to satisfy other people? How can we say we’re truly enjoying the ride if every single time things don’t go our way we hide under social masks and pretend we’re ok?

Why can we admit we’re just creatures hungry for love? Who’s not hungry for love? Who? Lie to yourself if you must, but I think most people are. We’re experts in disguising our need under our masks, and we’re in the business of showing the world how “perfect” we are. We have been taught we ought to be perfect: perfect mate, perfect body, perfect bank account, perfect family, perfect job...you name it!!!
I know one person that has the fakest, most nervous laugh I know. She’s going thru a bitter divorce, her ex took one of her kids, her life is just a mess, yet she puts up a show every single day. She’s broken inside, yet she wants to hide it, fake it and convince everyone of her lie…and WHY in the world would she go thru such lengths to accomplish all this? To be accepted by others, to be loved! If only that love was real…

Have you ever wondered how long you will be able to lie to your own soul? I know I can’t do it to mine any longer. I am hungry…in fact I am desperately hungry for love! And this desperation has driven me to do some crazy things…really crazy things…involved with the wrong people, abandoned projects that could have brought great, lasting joy to my life, bought more than I could pay off at the end of the month so that I could get even a crumb of love from people...at 27, I’ve finally realized crumbs will not satisfy my soul’s hunger for love; just like I will never find diamonds in the streets of life...I’ll have to dig for them, I’m digging for love. Real, lasting love...

Diamonds are hidden for a very special reason: to teach us very special things we must dig for!

And I find myself like the leaf, floating in the river of life,
Only that for some greater reason,
Too great for some to grasp,
I’ve been “rescued” from the river currents and I’m relaxing quietly in a spot under the protection of a Big Rock. From that spot, I get to read my new book and study what my life has been and what’s ahead.
I’ve had a chance to pause and reflect
While watching the river push and abuse many other leaves that are passing by.
Some look at me, and are curious...
They wonder: “what’s up with her?”
I look back at them and smile.
I’m enjoying this moment and honestly,
I’ve grown a certain respect for the river: it can either be a blessing or a curse.
Under my Rock, a blessing it is.
I know I’ll get to a point in time
When I’ll move from my healing spot,
I’ll be ready to ride –and enjoy- the currents.
I’ll be able to “rescue” other leaves from the river’s cruelty.
And show them my special Rock, Whom will LOVE to be their Rock also.
Until then, I’m getting more than love crumbs
And will always do...
From Him that created life, diamonds, and your friend.

“I will instruct thee and teach thee
In the way which thou shalt go.”

Psalm 32:8a


Love Always…only for you, and very especially for you: a crumb...a hug...a kiss...a smile...

Janet.