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HE DOES MORE THAN SIT ON A THRONE

November 28, 2016 By Mikki Jo 1 Comment

Life can change in the blink of an eye. People leave, hearts break, but time goes on. And we learn.  We learn from life altering circumstances that change who we are. Circumstances that not only rearrange our lives, but also our hearts and the way we view life as a whole.

We see things from a different perspective. I now live where my Grandparents lived, and my parents after them. A place I played and washed my toy dishes and picked dandelions and daisies. It’s where I picked apples and strawberries and ran from bumble bees. It’s where I learned to tie a string on a June bug’s leg and let it fly as I guided him. It’s where I learned to ride a horse and fill my bucket with water from the well box, and wash clothes with a scrub board. We went barefoot, and ate salted watermelon on the front porch. This old farm was heaven to me, or what heaven would be like one day.

I first learned about Jesus right here one lazy summer afternoon as I sat eating strawberries and cream on the steps of the old wash-house. Grandma sang “The Old Rugged Cross”,  while her hands kept near perfect rhythm as she washed clothes on a wooden scrub board.  I asked her about the old rugged cross and who the man was she spoke of.  She shared with me her Jesus and that day He became mine too as she taught me how to ask Him into my heart.  She taught me to pray and we would sing old hymns at the end of the day under the shade of an old oak tree. The old wash-house is weathered and worn, but it holds precious memories for me.

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Back in those days,  I saw this old farm through the eyes of an innocent child, beautiful with never ending days, forever carefree. Now, I see it through the eyes of my Grandparent’s. It’s still beautiful, there’s never enough time in the never-ending days. Did I say forever carefree, well these days I cast my cares on Jesus.

This has been a hard year for my family. But I have learned a lot.

I’ve learned what the “peace that passes all understanding” means in the Bible. One of my favorite scriptures.

I’ve learned by watching the sinking sun, that it casts light completely opposite of itself, on the darkest part of the sky, coloring the clouds with it’s hue. Jesus does this for us too.  In our darkest hour, His light is guiding us, encouraging us. Giving us hope for the days to come.

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I’ve learned that prayer is the most important part of my day, and to rise while it is yet night as Proverbs teaches me to. I’m far from the Proverbs 31 woman, but she has some amazing qualities.

I’ve learned to love deeply and accept loss, because it’s all a part of living.

We don’t have to go through any of it alone, because Jesus is always with us. Is He always on the throne? Yes. But He don’t just sit there.  He was the one who walked through the raging waters with us, how do you think we made it to the other side? It was Jesus after all, the whole time, It was Jesus.

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Isaiah 43:2 (NIV) When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 

P.S. I’m still learning a lot here on this old farm.

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BETTER THAN PASTEL SKIES AND APPLE PIE

October 22, 2015 By Mikki Jo 8 Comments

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The last dish is put away and I join the rest of the family on the porch. There’s a slight chill in the air on this fall evening and the conversation is, “That apple pie was delicious!” And everyone is in agreement.

I smile.

Everyone has a full belly and just enjoying each others company. Family, food, love. Peace and contentment fills the atmosphere as we watch the lazy pastel sky. Cotton candy sky is what my sister Jenni calls it. A beautiful sunset, family, and apple pie. Ahhh, what could be better than this?

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I wish I could take this sweet time of contentment and can it like apple pie filling and put it on a shelf, so I can pull it back down when I need it. Life can become so crazy and overwhelming. Chaos always seems to plop down right in the middle of my tenderest moments.

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I don’t like chaos. I don’t like change. I don’t like surprises, sometimes I don’t even like good surprises.

I like unchanging, same, stable, settled.

I equate insecurity with change, fear with surprise, irritation with interruption.

As long as we live there will be seasons of change, and surprises. Life is as ever-changing as the pastel skies. God wants us to seek His plan during change. We tend to make plans and forget to consider His plans. Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a persons heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

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We see interruptions as an inconvenience and sometimes even blame it on satan. (Yes the s in satan is supposed to be capitalized, but I have always refused to give him a capital s.) The truth is, the best of plans maybe edited by God for any number of reasons. It may be for our protection, for our spiritual growth or a need for ourselves or someone else.

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. There’s that word TRUST again, I spoke of trust in the last devotion. Keep our mind upon Him and trust Him, and He will keep us in perfect peace. I love that! In the middle of the CHAOS that got plopped down in my lap I can have perfect peace? Yessss, that’s what I want! Perfect peace IS contentment.

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Let a contented spirit be the contentment we seek. This world will never give us the contentment our heart hungers for. Jesus Christ is the only one who can fill that void. Prayer and daily reading of His word will help us to walk closer with Him. 1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

We can remain content no matter our circumstances when we cling to the fact that Jesus never changes. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

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How about you, don’t you want that? I think we all do. Let’s choose to trust Him with our life, our changes, our chaos and our fears. Lord keep our minds steadfast, that we may learn to trust you more and live in the perfect peace that you speak of. Perfect peace and contentment, nothing is better than that.

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WHEN BROKENNESS TURNS TO HOPEFULNESS

October 21, 2015 By Mikki Jo 8 Comments

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Have you ever been accused of being drunk? In the Bible Hannah was. She was in such anguish she poured her heart out to God and Eli the priest assumed she was drunk. She wanted a son and prayed for years for the Lord to give her one.

Her husband’s other wife made fun of her because she was childless and she herself had many children. I’ve met some catty women in my day. It’s hard enough being heartbroken and then to have someone rub salt in the wound hurts even more. (Catty women need prayer too.)

God saw Hannah’s brokenness, and He answered her prayer and gave her a son. She named him Samuel. What a beautiful story of God’s love and mercy in 1 Samuel Chapters 1 and 2.

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Whatever our situation is, for whatever reason we are distressed and broken, God has the answer.

A broken heart that comes to God with complete trust will be healed. If we trust Him with our eternity we can definitely trust Him with our heart. Sometimes we have to be broken before we learn to fully trust Him. Sometimes we have to be broken for Him to use us to minister to others that are broken.

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One of my favorite things, (did I just sound like Oprah?) is an old sugar bowl that belonged to my Grandma. Once while I was in Kentucky me and my sister and Mom stopped at an old flea market. I looked on a shelf up high and there was a teacup that matched my Grandma’s sugar bowl. It was cracked, and had a huge chip out of the rim. But I didn’t care, I took that little teacup home with me.

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I love my cup with it’s big crack and huge chip, and I don’t even notice them. I enjoy drinking my tea from this cup. I’m surprised it don’t leak with such a huge crack. But as I said, I love my sweet cup and I think it’s beautiful.

I know with every fiber of my being that God loves us, with all of our brokenness and cracks and chips. He loves us. He wants to mend our broken hearts.

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In Him we have hope, eternal hope is the anchor of our soul. Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20a Where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf

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Is your heart broken, is your spirit crushed? The only one with the answer is Jesus. He brings us victory in our distress. Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

He tends to our wounded heart. He heals us. Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

In all of our brokenness we can come to Him. If we are willing He is more than able. He’s waiting now. Pour out your heart to Him like Hannah did. Don’t let your circumstances allow you to remain broken, place your hope in Jesus.

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Give it to God; all of it. And let Him heal you and make you whole.

Signature p.s. I wrote a short poem about my little teacup. You can click on the highlighted word to go there now.

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