Tag: Donald Trump

The Hope in 2020

Margaret2 Comments
Apple Valley Storefront, Townsend, TN

While the enemy has the free world arguing over whose life matter’s more, God is saying, “Children, draw near to Me.  Seek Me first.  Love your neighbors as yourselves.   Treat others the way you want to be treated.  Forgive.”

It is important to remember that not everyone claiming to be a Christian is, in fact, a child of God.  False teachers will always be among us, and they are well-followed.  Often their ideologies are quite inviting.  If what you are hearing causes even small red flags to wave, compare what you are hearing with what is in the Word of God.   And if it doesn’t line up…no matter how “good” it sounds, shake the dust off your feet quickly, and shun the very appearance of evil.  Not every Bible-quoter is of a pure heart, and often they twist the words just enough to make the wrong way sound enticing.  Know the Word well enough to not be drawn in.

Conversely, Christians make mistakes, say the wrong things, take the wrong action…sin.  Yep.  We sin.  And it rarely goes unnoticed; that alone should make us always aware of how we act and the choices we make.  Others are watching, and we should be light in this dark world.  Forgive others, forgive yourselves, and make the time daily to be in your prayer closet for alone time with Jesus…wherever your “closet” may be!  With more time spent in prayer, we just may find ourselves consistently choosing the right way over the easy, often sinful, way.  

You will not convince anyone else that you are right any more than they will convince you that they are right. We are living in a world where people are confused and deceived, and they do not care about truth or facts.  We can’t fight that…and the battle isn’t ours, anyway, it belongs to the Lord.  Don’t allow yourselves to be drawn into arguments over whether or not black vs blue vs all lives matter…or any other current social debate.  The stench of the world will envelop you if you get involved in the fracas.  Just don’t go there…no matter how hard it is (and keeping our mouth closed can be quite hard at times).   You have to remember that when people aren’t seeking truth, truth will make them mad.  It must matter to us, though, and the one who can pour out Truth is the one we need to be talking to…not the one who is convinced you are a bigot. 

We have an election coming up.  It’s going to be a very volatile time in our country, even more so than it is right now, though that is hard to imagine.   We need to start covering the election in prayer, and I cannot stress the importance of it enough, my Christian brothers and sisters!  The devil is desperately seeking to steal kill and destroy us; and in our mortal bodies, we are useless to fight him, and the greater masses of our population are standing with the devil, not with God.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:12

I would like to think a godly person already knows who NOT to vote for, but I’d be wrong in thinking that.  Deception is so much louder than Truth!  So while we are praying for an honest and fair election, let’s cover Donald Trump in prayer, as well.  And why stop with him?   Pray for all the candidates…from the local ones all the way up.   This mission isn’t a minute or two a day project.   It requires a real commitment.   Are you ready to commit to prayer for a better, safer, God blessed, Holy Spirit infused country?  

Friends, don’t be distracted by the very things that are put in place by the enemy to divide!   America is in peril, and it does no good to point fingers and place blame on any one person or entity.  We must start doing what God has instructed us to do, starting with repentance.  Then we do those other things He instructed us to do:  Seek Him first.  Draw near to Him.  Do good.  Love others.  Forgive.   It has to start somewhere, and it may as well be you and me.  We cannot change others, but we know the One who can. Pray, Friends, pray! 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.  Ephesians 6:10-18

Hot Saturday Musings

Margaret6 Comments
Deibert Park, Florence, Alabama

I am feeling a little like Elizabeth Warren
My great-great-something maternal grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee.  I’ve always believed I have Native American blood running in my veins.  I received my Ancestory.com DNA results a week or so ago.   No Native American in my genes.  I’m surprised at how misplaced this information has made me feel.  This must be fake news!!  I’m going to try 23andMe.com!  Maybe they will tell me the truth!  Or maybe I should save my money and snap out of the denial.

Beaver Dam, Rock Springs Nature Trail, Natchez Trace Parkway

L’Oreal Tans and Lashes
Are you a self-tanner?   L’Oreal has a product called Sublime Bronze self-tanning mist that works pretty well.  If you’ve never done it yourself, just know you’re going to not be perfect with it the first time and own the unevenness.  The next time will be better.  This stuff is better than the professional tan folks pay $35-$50 for at Palm Beach Tan (which I did back in the spring).

I did have an incident with self-spraying, though.  The directions say to use a moisturizer for dry skin before misting.  I have some Avon Signature Silk lotion and the creamy body wash, which are in very similar containers.  I slathered the body wash on, thinking to myself as I applied it “I don’t remember this lotion being so hard to rub in.”  It works pretty well as a moisturizer (not really! There is just no way to tell this story and not look ridiculous.)  But you should see the designer tan (by designer I mean abstract design) I have on my legs…which mercifully has begun to fade in the places that didn’t rub off from the beginning from the coat of soap.  Just use regular lotion is all I’m trying to say.

On another note, L’Oreal’s Telescopic mascara was for years my favorite, and still would be if the wand hadn’t broken on the last two tubes I bought.  Now I’m in the market for a new favorite, and I’ve tried many over the years.   What do you use?

Speaking of Politics
Not that we were, but we are now.  What a spectacle politics is since Donald Trump’s election!  The hate for him began before he became the stumbling block to the election of Hillary Clinton, so I wonder if somehow they recognized he was a threat to her presidency quest long before conservatives did. 

President Trump doesn’t use a filter for his words, and if he thinks it, he tweets it.  I do wish he would rein that in a little!  Using Twitter to say what he wants is his weapon of choice for his voice because, I suppose, the media has twisted his words so many times.  I’ve said this before:  President Trump does exaggerate, but he’s not lying near as much as the lying media says he does. 

He does give the opposition fodder, doesn’t he?   He spins the web, the other side gets all tangled up.  Have you ever seen a fight between a wasp and a spider?  The wasp loses.  Maybe Donald Trump is the spider of society, there to catch some stinging varmints.  And people hate spiders, don’t they?  But they serve a purpose.

Personal Shame
Shame is an emotion long ago squelched.  Consciences are so seared, and the cloud of deception hangs so low that the shamed don’t recognize they are shameful.  Good is bad, bad is good.  God’s word told us it would be this way.

I have some personal shame that even though I have no cable TV, I know what’s going on with the Bachelorette. Social media keeps me informed, which says a lot about where I have allowed myself to land when surfing the ‘net.  I need to repent and turn away from the pollution.  The young (she’s 23) bachelorette acts a little like she’s been on a two-year mission trip to a third world country and suddenly finds herself in a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop.  After all the cheers and jeers of her season have quietened down, we will find that she took that particular show to a different level, a lower level that began several seasons ago, which is one reason I no longer watch the show (but obviously keep up with it enough to make judgments, right?) 

Back to Politics
There’s enough pride, deception, and shame to go around in Washington. Hell’s tool shed has been raided and tools are everywhere, strategically placed to divide this great country, while the duped continue to watch, believe, and applaud.  It reminds me of a song from my childhood, “Oh, be careful little ears what you hear…Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.”  As it turns out the song was correct, and if you’re not careful, you just may believe what they are telling you and see only what they want you to see.  It’s the whole spiritual vs physical seeing and hearing, a much too heavy topic to cover this fine Saturday morning.

But Christians must remain vigilant and prayerful for His will on earth as it is in Heaven, not our own wills.  That’s really hard because most of us think we know best.  I know I’m guilty of that.  November 2020 will be here quicker than we realize, but we still have over a year of political bickering.  All the more reason for prayer!   

This Blog/My Book
I’ve had no passion for blogging lately.  I have some giveaways still packed away that I planned to use to gain a bigger following (a shameless self-marketing ploy), but I realized that if I’m not writing, I don’t need a following.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with this blog, but here’s my idea:

I’m writing a (yet unnamed) book about Christians in chains.  Personal freedom, getting out of the pit…I mention weight and weight loss a lot because that has been my issue my whole life, but it’s not about the weight, it’s about the freedom and how Christ paid the heaviest price for the freedom we have but don’t know how to access.  I have thought about posting excerpts here from the book. 

Again.  I don’t know. 
Have a wonderful weekend!