My Home

 

This isn’t a picture from the first time I saw 318 Main Street in Oxford and fell in love with it. This picture is from the Blizzard of 1993 after we had raised our two kids and they had left the nest. I love the snow-burdened magnolia bent to the ground and the glistening white welcoming you to the front door. It reminds me of all those years we welcomed many into our home. It was a big house and often filled with friends and family. After school or church, it often became a respite for teenagers. This old house welcomed me from the first moment I saw it through the thirteen years we made it our own.

In 1997, my husband and I sold this old home on Main and moved to a smaller one. Several years ago, we received pictures of the house from our son. It had been condemned, and he had asked to walk through it. The house was in horrible condition, the result of people who had abused it. The home on Main Street that had become ours in 1984—the home where we had raised our children and welcomed many into its embrace was finally torn down. And with it, a piece of my life on this earth seemed to vanish.

Even if the house is no longer on Main Street, the memories are alive in my heart just as much as the home that once was a part of them. Life was life. It wasn’t perfect. There was pain, heartbreak, and joy within those walls. We were a family with two adults trying to help our teenagers discover a life of integrity and faith and often making incredible mistakes in the process. We were a family with two kids striving to learn who they were, and, who like any other teenager, tested their boundaries. But despite all the times that challenged us, we were a family forged by love, respect, and grace. We didn’t labor in vain to build a loving home. We had one. We've been blessed throughout this life with a love for each other that has withstood many challenges.

Recently, I had a dream. In the dream, I knew I was in heaven. I could see something hazy in the distance. I was drawn to it. As it came into focus, it looked like our old home on Main Street. But not only did it look like it. I slowly came to realize it was our home that had been torn down! And now it was incredibly beautiful and perfect! It welcomed me. I instinctively knew this was my home prepared for me in heaven, and it was just waiting for my return. What had been destroyed on earth had come to life in heaven. What I had lost was found. Just as Jesus had given me new life, my home lived again.

Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Is there really meant to be a difference between here and there? Eternal life isn’t something to be attained but something I have already received by faith. The house I believed dead, lives. The dream I believed dead, lives again. This life that is meant for abundance here on earth is an unending overflow in heaven. The things I believe are gone forever aren’t. His gifts and calling are forever. His Kingdom lives in me. I live in His realm. There is so much I cannot grasp now, but I know that one day I shall clearly see. 

Whatever you have lost, still lives. Whatever you believed dead, still lives in Him. Never despair. Never fear. There is no loss there. Your dream was here, but it also lives there. It’s eternal. It’s forever. You have nothing to lose in Him. The loss you have endured on this earth is no loss at all. It’s found and waiting for you.


 

Where Is Your Faith?

In 2021, my husband, Pat, became increasingly aware that the discomfort he had endured for several years in his leg and foot was intensifying. He had taken care of me while I had gone through an eight month period of sickness. After I was healed early in 2021, he didn’t bother to tell me how bad his pain was becoming. By the fall of that year, he had had enough. An MRI revealed a calcium buildup in his first five vertebrae, pressing on nerves and causing his pain. His orthopedist said there was nothing he could do. If Pat wanted, he would refer him to a neurosurgeon to see if there was anything that could be done.

The neurosurgeon told Pat that he couldn’t guarantee he could help him. But Pat didn’t care. He wanted the surgery, trusting it would take care of his pain. The Lord had healed me months earlier when I put my faith in 1 Peter 2:24. Now Pat was determined to place his faith in this neurosurgeon. So I put my faith with his.

The surgery was supposed to begin early in the morning but didn’t begin until two o’clock. Early evening, the neurosurgeon came and spoke with me. He indicated the five vertebrae were a real mess, and he was so sorry, he didn’t believe anything he’d done was going to make a difference in Pat’s pain. I dreaded telling Pat what the doctor had told me. But when I first saw him after surgery, the first thing he said was that he felt so much better. During the days that followed, he said the surgery had taken care of his pain. When Pat returned to the neurosurgeon two weeks later, he was amazed Pat’s pain was gone. 

The Holy Spirit knows you intimately. He will reveal to you where you can believe and put your faith in God. Where you have faith in Him is where He is able to provide. Trust God to supply your need. Don’t waver. Remain steadfast. He is your healer, your provider, and faith is the way you receive. 

You can trust what the Holy Spirit reveals in the Word about your need. Pat and I both found faith to believe and trust in something our doctors couldn’t see. We experienced the love of God setting us free.

What hope do you believe and profess? Where do you place the faith God has given you? Keep your eyes on Jesus, my friend. He’s the author and finisher of faith. Don’t waver or let go of your confession of hope because when Jesus makes a promise, He keeps it. He’s faithful (Hebrews 12:2, 10:23).
 

Your Dream Isn't Over

 

Has there ever been a time when it felt like no hope was left? Were you at a point in your life where it seemed like your dream had ended?

At some point in our lives, each of us comes to a place where we don’t know what to do next, how to respond, or even how to pray. The dream around which our life has revolved suddenly seems over. If you have ever found yourself in a situation where you were convinced your dream was over, you know how hard it is.

When we reach the point where we discover that we can’t resolve the issues we face, we stop trying to live out of our own strength and learn to trust in the wisdom and power of God.

The Apostle Paul came to understand this. In 2 Corinthians 1:9, Paul found himself in such a place: “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves,” Paul wrote, “that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

Paul was undoubtedly in one of those places where there appeared to be no hope! The situation before him was so perilous that he referred to it as “the sentence of death!” 

In a trial, a “sentence” is issued after all the evidence has been examined by the judge or jurors. By using this word, Paul indicated that, by all appearances, there seemed to be no way he and his friends would survive what they faced. As far as they were concerned, the court’s final verdict was in, and their sentence was death.

No matter that Paul’s life and ministry appeared over, he survived and fulfilled God’s calling. Instead of death, it was the start of a new supernatural release of God’s power in his life. Paul had been under such extreme stress that he was certain death was inevitable. Then, in the midst of what seemed like sure death, God spoke life. His supernatural power was released, and Paul and his companions were saved. Paul certainly learned not to trust in himself but in God, who “raises the dead.”

When you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom and all hope is gone, remember that you haven’t and it isn’t. If you surrender to God, “who raises the dead,” His resurrection power begins to work in and through you. When you have the Lord, there is, in fact, no such thing as having no hope. He is the God of hope. As long as you know you have a loving Abba Father to whom you can call for help, there is still hope for you and your situation right now. If you learn to trust God and rely on Him, your dream can find new life. Whatever you face can become a new beginning filled with God’s overflowing abundance. 

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). 

Deep within, strong and unshakeable, you can know that the God of hope will raise your dream from the dead. 

Today, January 2, 2026

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when desire comes, it is a tree of life. 
—Proverbs 13:12


Hope that never comes, Lord, makes my heart sick. Never let me settle with where I am. Let me see the desire You inspire. If I seek You with my whole heart, I shall find You and experience Your desire fulfilled in me. Never let me fail in faith. I see many with problems and sickness, and instead of seeking You, they have just settled. They have given up. But I have chosen You, Jesus, and I pray never to become passive about You. You are never passive about me. You see me as You perfectly created me. I’ll fight the good fight of faith and not settle for where I am in this battle. I'll not settle for the enemy's lies that come to steal my faith. I don’t want to live by empty wishes that produce no faith.

I’ll always pursue what I desire—whether it be of Your Spirit or of my flesh. I’ll always make time for what inspires me. The desire You give me creates a real passion in me and focuses me on Your goodness. It encourages me to study and drives me to doggedly pursue the promises You have made me. I want to be addicted to knowing You Jesus. I want to continually pursue You, my Redeemer, my Healer, my Restorer, and my Conqueror. Instead of being consumed by circumstances, sickness, or lack, I choose You. 

Lord, You give desires and visions that simply weren’t there before. Too often, things that could have been never happen because I had no vision. The vision to create a better life is often lost because I haven’t communed in deepest fellowship with You. When I truly surrender, seeking You instead of what I have always experienced, You begin to reveal Yourself to me. You birth Your desire in me. When I envision that desire, when I see myself living that desire fulfilled, it begins to come to life. And as I continually come into agreement with Your Word, that vision is realized. Your Promise is manifested in me. Oh, Lord, Jesus, I want to experience You in every part of me. I want to be a living testament to Your wonderful goodness in my life.

I love this promise, Jesus. If I abide in You, and Your Words abide in me, I can ask what I desire, and it shall be done for me. 

What will I allow You to put in my heart, Jesus? Am I ready for a new vision? Can I see myself focused, dedicated, steadfast, and full of faith? Your desires will be life to me. You will give me the desires of my heart and fulfill Your purpose in me.









 

Today, January 1, 2026

Lord I believe, but help my unbelief. I want a faith that sees beyond me. I want a faith that overcomes destructive emotions and sickness and loss. Lead me to find it in the Word. I long for a profound faith that receives your promises. Help me to take possession of your Word. I desire a faith that experiences the revelation of your wisdom and knowledge. Thank you for your promise that through faith and patience I will never lack but inherit your promises. Having tried everything else, I now draw a line in the sand. I choose a bold and unrelenting faith, believing I shall see your spoken Word manifested in my life. Help me to acknowledge the authority of your Word with my whole heart and allow it to speak “life” to me. 

“The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130).

Lord, I’ve made this too hard. Keep me simple. I desire your Word coming to life in me. Thank you, Jesus.

Am I Passive Or A Partner?

A new year is coming and a season I’ve never experienced. It’s one that I can only live by faith. I can’t make anything perfect, but I can experience perfect joy and perfect peace in the midst of  difficulty and hardship. Circumstances aren’t meant to reign in my life. Jesus Christ is meant to reign in me (Romans 5:17).

God calls me to be an overcomer who is learning to control my life, not a passive onlooker. God didn’t invest His Son, the power of His Name, the truth of His Word, the revelation of His Spirit. His blood, His gifts, and His power in me so I could aimlessly wander through life, passively accepting everything that comes my way. God has redeemed me with a purpose. My purpose is to reign in Him no matter what season, good or bad, I find myself in.

Don’t let the world’s evils, problems, and circumstances crush God’s purpose in your life and instill their purpose. The righteous live by faith, not fate. Just look up and see the harvest that is waiting for those who labor with God (John 4:35). In God’s heart, each one of us has a place and a purpose to help and reach other people for Christ. We are to partner with Him and not live as if we have nothing required of us.

Passive acceptance is fatalistic. Fatalism offers no hope and reveals an incorrect understanding of God’s nature and man’s potential. A statement such as “God has everything under control” offers no chance for you to work with Him. Another statement like “There is a purpose in everything that happens” offers no hope to one who longs to believe God’s promises, but can’t because everything that happens must be God’s will. Those who make such statements have misinterpreted God and His intentions. They have ascribed everything in the world, good and evil, to Him. 

“Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light’” (Ephesians 5:14).

Fatalism is a kind of death from which we must wake. God has created us in His image to represent Him, emulate Him, and spread His message of love and forgiveness. He has equipped us for His vision and victory. 

Whatever a season brings, He has equipped us to reign in Him. Don’t say, “If only God would move.” Don’t be passive and simply accept your circumstances. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:19). Fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). Walk by faith, and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is only in Christ you live, move, and have your being (Acts 17:28). You are called to serve Him. But you will fail if you don’t partner with Him so He can manifest His life and purpose in you.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Do I truly believe He is able to work in me? If I believe, each day I will surrender my feelings, struggles, desires, and partner with Him, so He can manifest Himself in me. Life in Him isn’t a dead end. The blood of Christ has cleansed my conscience of dead works (Hebrews 9:14). I have great hope, faith, and purpose. God has chosen me to partner with Him. If I choose Him, He will do exceedingly more than I can ever think or ask. This is His guarantee. 

Once

 

Once I made Christmas about me. 
Once it was about things that never last.
Once my value was in what others thought of me.
Now I know my value is in Him.

Once I was broken. 
Now I am healed.
Once I was lost.
Now I am found.
 
He is my gift of new life.
He made His life all about me.
May mine be all about Him.
 
 
May you be able to comprehend what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18-19).

 
My friend, He made His life all about you. Have a wonderful Christmas!
 

The Message Of The Angels

 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

—Luke 2:14
 
 
Where is peace in this world?  Each crisis that develops has the potential of becoming worldwide. People are living lives that are in direct opposition to God’s Word.  It seems people are hurting more than ever. Where is the peace on earth the angels proclaimed?  It is critical to understand that the angels were not proclaiming peace among men. 
 
Jesus said as much in Matthew 10:34: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword.”
 
The angels were praising God because Jesus would bring peace on earth between God and man. They were proclaiming the end of God’s war on sin. This would be accomplished by Jesus taking our sin into His own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24) and thoroughly paying the sin debt that we owed (Romans 6:23).
 
Sin had separated man from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). God loved sinful man despite his sin. But because He was holy, He had to punish sin just as He had promised Adam in Genesis 2:17. Under the Old Covenant, the Lord allowed men to substitute the death of an animal for their own death. But that was only symbolic and a shadow of the perfect sacrifice for our sins that was to come (Hebrews 10:1). In a sense, under the Old Covenant, God forgave sin on credit. 
 
But with the birth of Jesus, the real debt would be paid in full. There would be an end of God’s wrath toward those who would put faith in Jesus’s sacrifice for their sins. This was why the angels were praising the birth of Jesus!  And we should be praising what Jesus has done for us!
 
What does Scripture say?
 
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12).
 
“And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15).
 
“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
 
“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).
 
The war is over for those who accept God’s gift of salvation. Jesus completely paid for all our sins over two thousand years ago before we were even born or had ever sinned. When we believe in Jesus Christ's atonement for our sins, we are sanctified through the offering of Jesus’s body once and for all (Hebrews 10:10). By His one offering for our sins, we have been perfected forever (Hebrews 10:14). All of our sin debt has been paid (Colossians 2:12-14), and we are forgiven for all our sins—past, present, and future.
 
I pray for you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, that the message of the angels will take on new meaning this Christmas. You have peace with God through faith in His grace (Romans 5:1-2). 
 
And for you who don't know Him? Jesus is God’s greatest gift to you! I pray that you hunger to receive the grace of Jesus in your heart and to know His forgiveness that sets you free.
 


 

Seize and Hold On To Your Victory In Christ

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
—Hebrews 6:18 NLT
 
 
God cannot lie. We can trust every Word God has ever said. Hebrews 1:3 says all things are held together by the power of God’s Words. If God were to break His Word, creation would collapse. Since creation is still intact, we can be assured every promise of God has been kept absolutely perfectly.

The very fact that God cannot lie should have been enough to prove Himself to us. But because of His incredible love and mercy, He also gave us something more: His oath that His Word is true. The fact that God cannot lie and His oath that His Word is true are two absolute, indisputable, unchangeable, irreversible things we can totally put our faith in. 

The Greek word “krateo,” which was translated as “hold to” in this verse, means “to use strength, i.e., seize or retain (literally or figuratively)” (Strong’s Concordance). We must seize and hold on to this hope God has given us with all our strength (Mark 12:30).
 
If God tells us to hold on to the hope He has given us, why do some people advise us to just “let go and let God” when we are faced with a difficult situation? 
 
What does the Word of God say?
 
“Lay hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18). “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12). “I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).
 
Does “letting go and letting God” really press on to lay hold of what Christ has done for us?
 
When we attempt to make sense of our problems in our own strength and do what we know to do, we ultimately end up defeated. That isn’t faith. Instead of fighting the good fight of faith, we have let go and surrendered to our circumstances when we should be “laying hold” of God’s promises.
 
Faith isn’t passive acceptance. It doesn’t yield to circumstances. Faith brings God's power to overcome circumstances that do not reflect His will. 
 
Faith isn’t a human determination to bring about change. Faith is the conviction that comes from hearing God and knowing that your circumstances will change if you remain “fully convinced” that whatever God has promised, He can perform (Romans 4:21). How many have lost out on what God promised them because they let go of holding on?
 
Trusting God is peace, yet, peace isn’t passive.Trust is an action verb. It’s exercising your faith. Trust doesn’t yield to your problem. It’s believing God has overcome it. When a person is outwardly unconcerned about his circumstances, you can be sure God’s peace is very active deep within his heart.
 
“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20).

God’s peace is His righteous power to stand against the enemy and overcome in your life. The believer who has a “fully convinced” attitude of faith will continually “see” the victory, declare the Word, and never let go of the promises of God. 
 
God is faithful to His Word and what He has promised. Stir up your faith. Seize and hold on to the victory He has given you with all your strength.

My Aunt Leona

 

Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.
—Colossians 1:9 (NLT)


As a young child, my grandfather’s sister, was important to me. She is one of my earliest memories. Although I learned about God at home and in church, it was my great Aunt Leona through her times of prayer, who instilled in me the desire to know her Savior. It wasn't that my grandfather, Big Tom, or my grandmother, Gigi, didn’t talk to me about God. It wasn’t that my parents never shared Jesus with me. They all did. Big Tom wrote songs and sang about Him. I sang with Him until he died with I was twelve. Gigi had a generous heart. She probably gave me too many things. Daddy quietly lived his faith. Times I broke his heart, I was drawn to repentance with just one look. Mother read Bible stories and often sent me to find my own stick when I needed correction. Each person drew me to Jesus. But Aunt Leona taught me something that has changed my life. She taught me about the power of prayer.

When I was a toddler until I was almost four, Aunt Leona kept me many times for my working mother. Even though I was so young, I distinctly remember two things about her. The first one was in her kitchen. She would place a huge pottery bowl in front of me on the kitchen table, fill it with hot water and dish detergent. She’d put me in a chair and hand me an egg beater. I would turn and turn that handle until fluffy white froth poured over the edge of the bowl and streamed down onto the vinyl covered table. Laughing, she'd pick me up and hug me so tight. My other distinct memory was Aunt Leona putting me on the couch in her living. She’d give me a picture book of the twelve disciples to look at, go into the front bedroom, and commence praying. How Aunt Leona prayed! She cried; she sang; she rejoiced! I had no desire to leave the couch. Her words, often not understood, were full of a joy that reached my heart. When finished, she’s return from her bedroom, face beaming. 

Her radiance is what always comes to my mind. Although her eyes were red and slightly swollen, the joy and smile on her face, were wonderful to this young child. Hair tousled, apron askew, she'd smooth out the wrinkles, settle down with me on the couch, and I would crawl up in her lap for a Bible story. I heard about the disciples in the book she’d given me. I heard about people of faith in the Bible. At such a young age, I didn't really know what that meant or who they were, but her voice was soft, peaceful, and filled with love. She drew me into a safe cocoon of peace and safety. The desire for that peace she had became instilled in me. She always brought it to me after her prayer times. As I grew older, I wanted to know the person she talked to. At the age of seven, I asked Jesus into my life. Through the years, I grew to realize the peace Aunt Leona had brought to me after each prayer time with Jesus could be my own.

Through the years, I know that many have prayed for me. But I also know now that those times my Aunt Leona prayed, she wasn’t only praying for things beyond the grasp of my young mind. She was praying for me—a little girl— to one day be filled with a spirit of wisdom and revelation in my knowledge of Jesus. Each time the Holy Spirit prays in me, changes me, pours through me, I know it’s because my great Aunt Leona faithfully prayed for me.

Your prayers are never forgotten, but held by His love, to one day bring about His purpose in the life of the person you have brought before Him. The memory of my Aunt Leona still inspires me to inspire others. The Holy Spirit draws me to pray and instill the miracle of His unconditional love and grace and purpose into my family, my life group, my friends, and anyone He brings into my life. If I don’t pray for each person the Holy Spirit entrusts to me, they may never realize His power and potential in their life.

Who are you praying for? Don’t ever stop praying for the Holy Spirit’s revelation of God’s purpose and power in their life. God hears every prayer. Your prayer soars through the years, bringing about His purpose in the life of the person God has entrusted to you.