Confess and ....

 Numbers 4 - 5

In Numbers 5, the people are told that they are to confess their sin and make full restitution for what they have done, adding an additional 20 percent and returning it to the person wronged.  What?  People aren't rewarded for bad behavior?  

Confession is difficult when it stands alone.  Why?  Because it causes us to swallow our pride and that just isn't easy to swallow.  So the people were told to confess and then add 20 % more...Wow!

Let's quit rewarding bad behavior and confess our wrongdoings.  Truly it is healing.  The best medicine in the world!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Whose leading you?

Numbers 2 and 3

Today, the words are to lead you just jumped off the page at me!  Read it for yourself it is very clear that God had a set apart  a tribe to lead His people and that is the tribe of Judah which is the same tribe that Jesus is from, so figure it out for yourself!  Who is suppose to be leading us?

Instead, we allow the latest fad, the latest whose it in the society page or the latest elected official that is elected by a bunch of flawed folks to start with (us) LEAD US.  Something is wrong with this world.  We forgot who is suppose to lead all of us and it is clearly stated right here in Numbers...Our Father!

Grab His Hand today and let's turn this world around together because the correct leader will be leading all of us.

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Real thing or bad imitation?

Leviticus 17 - 19

The Academy awards are this coming Sunday in Hollywood.  The Oscar is awarded to the person that pretends better than the other people in the same category.  Don't get me wrong I love a good movie, but it is all about pretending or imitating.  

What saddens me is that our world is being built daily into a world of pretending;  we pretend we are something we aren't or we desire to pretend that we are something we aren't.  Some of you are probably saying what do you mean Debbie it's all about doing better, it's about deserving more, it's about rewarding ourselves for something well no I don't think so.  It's about pretending to be something so someone will like us more, want to be around us more, we aren't sure if they will like the real me, so I'll pretend I'm something else.  It's about approval, but whose?

Today in Leviticus 18:3, God's Word clearly tells us You must not imitate their way of life.  Now here it is referencing the Egyptians that the Israelies had just left and the Canaanites that they were about to meet, but it means the same thing to us!  We are not to look like others.  Christians are set apart by God.  God gives us His Word to live by with very clear instructions; whether it was then or now, whether is in Egypt a long time ago or America now our thoughts and actions should be and are suppose to be different from the world.  

The people from Israel were leaving behind a country filled with pagan gods and they were about to enter a new land filled with idols that weren't real, so God was telling them very clearly do not act like them.  God knew it would be easy to conform to way of life around a person rather than stand out and  look different!  He knew this and He knows this, but He expects us to be "set apart" and be different from the world!

Today, the question that God was asking me and in turn I ask you ~ Are we the real thing or a poor imitation?

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Headed to battle?

Recently, I received "Beautiful Battlefields" written by Bo Stern to review by the publisher.  It was sent for me to give my opinion on and I want to say right off the bat...get it for yourself!  I've already ordered more for the ministry to have for women that are facing struggles, a huge fight, or the biggest enemy you could ever imagine!

Bo speaks from the heart about the illness of ALS that her husband has been diagnosed with and her family is waging a war against!  She is real, she is vulnerable, and she knows she is loved!  Yes, her family is in the middle of fighting a war, but yet she shows such grace and hope in the midst of the suffering.

It touched me in the beginning when Bo shared the scripture that God gave her in the story of Joseph about all the suffering that Joseph went through and how God spoke to her in Genesis 50:20 that it is about many lives, not just one!  Our struggles may be for many not just us!  Think about it!

All of us at some time have allowed this question to leave our mouths or our hearts, "Why LORD?".  It is for many lives to be saved!  Wow, this book just touches you through the pain, but at the same time inspires you to do more, to share more, to allow others to see your suffering in hopes that it might save someone!  Share! Share!

Bo shares hope through a very difficult journey!  She walks allowing her faith to show through the most difficult choices and how they will allow God to shine through each decision they make along the way.  Give yourself a gift that will give you hope to face whatever your battle might be ~ God speaks through this beautiful book written out of love for Him!  Do you need encouragement?  Do you need hope?  Do you need to find the beauty in your battlefield?  Allow God through the words given to Bo to show you the beauty in the middle of your battle!

Honestly, I don't want to give any more of this beautiful story other than get it!  The story shared of her husband taking their son to dinner to give him the news of this battle was so touching and yet so humorous and real!  The honest words of children when faced with such terrible truths definitely puts a new perspective on life!

Sweet blessings,