When tragedy or trauma comes our way, we need to carefully put a guard on our hearts. Isaiah 26:3 States:” Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace , whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.”Jeremiah 29:1 says,” And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”The reason for guarding your heart is that our hearts may at times deceive us. We need to give priority to the word of God at these times. Though our hearts or minds may deceive us, we listen to the word of God and let His word be our guide during these difficult times. To the one who receives His sayings, who warmly treasures His commandments, who makes his ear alert to wisdom and his heart ready for understanding, the one who seeks understanding as if it were a hidden treasure – diligently, prayerfully, and purposefully as they intake the scriptures-search for that treasure. Prov 2:1-5

The word of God (Psalm 46:3) says “Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!” There is a river of joy flowing through the city of our God-the sacred home of the God of all Gods, God himself is living in that city; therefore it stands unmoved despite the turmoil everywhere. He will not delay His help. (vs 4-5) Maybe your life is in turmoil, or pain and you are confused what you are to do -given all your distress. In Psalm 46:11 – says that:” The commander of the heavenly armies is here among us! He, the God of Jacob has come to rescue us!” No matter what you see happening around you, trust in God to get you through to a safer place, and He will.

Psalm 121:1-2 states “I look up to the mountains-does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” For many years in my life I looked to man and myself to find my help and my strength, and I did not find it there.Many mistakes later I realized that I needed a savior who may help me find the strength that I needed to build trust in who I was and to sufficiently trust others.

I was abused from a very young age and this taught me that I was not safe. I had no ability to stop others from crossing into my space and hurting me or doing whatever they wanted to. I felt powerless. Over the years I have developed skills in boundaries which has given me the ability to feel more empowered in my life. It was my trust in God that gave me the strength to develop my own personal space and defend that space. I learned to say “no” to the bad.”The Lord tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made . I am adopted into His kingdom. I am not what the world says that I am. Where do you get your help from, what others say you are or what God says you are?

Hope literally means to have a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, grounds for believing that something good may happen. A sense or a feeling of trust. In this uncertain world , each one of us looks daily for this sense of expectation, or trust that something good is going to come our way, if we do not ever expect anything , our lives may feel empty. Everyone of us have different ways or means whereby we may fill our void of expectation, responsibilities at work, expectations from others in our lives, business as usual with everyday life, sharing with friends, loved ones, filling that space of hope. It’s all useful, rewarding at times , yet some people may find themselves unable to hope even given all the methods to fill the void of expectation. Lonely in a room full of friends or a place full of responsibilities. Today I awoke saying to myself , “It’s a beautiful day to hope!”I believe we choose daily to hope , choose daily to have an expectation that something good may come our way, choose daily to trust in a better way , it’s a choice that we make daily.Hope is our daily lifeline, we may choose to say “this is a day I choose to hope,” or “I choose to have no expectations at all, no hope at all.” Granted we all continue to be uncertain about the outcome of each choice, but I believe looking to hope daily will help us to continue to reach out and receive all that life has to offer. This is a beautiful day for me to hope-of course the choice is yours.

As we celebrate this Easter

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus-” this certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God Himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven, where Christ has gone ahead to plead for us from His position as our High Priest, with the honor and rank of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19-20. This Melchizedek’s name means justice. Our savior came so that we all may be set free, receive forgiveness of our sins, receive justice, salvation and that all may receive a new body one day, not because we deserve it but because He chose to take up His cross and take on all the sins of the world. He died, He arose again to life- so that all who receive Him as Lord and savior, will also have everlasting life. That is truly why we celebrate Easter. He is love and He wants love to always prevail among all families, friends and churches. I pray that your Easter is filled with the love of Christ and that you grow to know Him as your risen savior!!!