Mathew 12:37 NIV “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Have you ever thought about the fact that people view you and associate you with your words!

They are hostile, funny, pessimistic, optimistic, rude, foul, refined, educated, uneducated, friendly…

Mathew 12:33b NCV “A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces.”

We all know people who, whenever their mouths open, something negative will fall out of it, ugly will spew forth, and the air becomes dank. We recoil a bit inside as they spout all the wrongs in the world and their lives!

On the flip side are those who choose to view the world through rose-colored glasses. They still walk amongst the filth, decay, worries, trials, and sorrows of this world, but rather than speaking of the thorns on the rose bush, they instead choose to marvel and enjoy its beauty and fragrance.

Mathew 12:35 NCV “Good people have good in their hearts, and so they say good things. But evil people have evil in their hearts, so they say evil things.”

Mathew 12:34b NCV “The mouth speaks things that are in the heart.”

I wish to point out that just because we may have some inappropriate thoughts, hurtful reactionary words, sadness, or anger, we are evil…it’s what we choose to do with those thoughts and words…Just because we have them doesn’t mean they need to be spoken!

Also, consider this…Spiritual Law will throw our words back at us…

“I’m sick and tired!” Are you? God Damn It! You truly wish him too? I hate! Are you hated? My life sucks! It might, but all of it?

OR…

Lord, I seem to be stuck in this situation and am getting weary; please, I humbly ask for your strength and deliverance.

Lord, I just used your Holy name as a cuss word and not only a cuss word, but I just damned my ________! You fill in the blank! Please forgive me!

I hate. Oh, what a simple word to use that packs a lot of damage! I personally have to work on this one…I hate this, I hate that…possibly we should dislike instead! It’s not so condemning! So final!

My life sucks; no, your moment in time might, your health might be needing attention, your marriage might be needing prayers and patience, your children may need a spanking or grounded, your finances may require a review, but continuing to speak it into the ground, keeps it there…in the dirt!

But aside from anything we may be throwing back at ourselves is nothing compared to the warning God gives us about our words!

Mathew 12:36-37 NCV “And I tell you that on the Judgment Day people will be responsible for every careless thing they have said. The words you have said will be used to judge you. Some of your words will prove you right, but some of your words will prove you wrong.”

What are your words saying about you? How are your words affecting your world? Are you speaking words of life or death?

“Dear Lord Jesus, I wish to speak words of life and love. I wish to speak four beautiful words I believe in you! I ask you Lord Jesus to come into my heart and spirit, cleans me with your righteousness and in your glory I will walk. I often have thoughts and words that are unacceptable to you and cause damage to me; help me please to resist ways of the evil one and to replace them with your words of life and encouragement. I thank you for your sacrifice on the cross, allowing me to boldly walk into the courtroom of God with you as my defense lawyer. I thank you and I love you. In your name I commit this prayer. Amen 🙏

I hope for you a blessed day of peace and sunshine…Thank you for joining me. 🥰

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.”

I am trusting right now, I don’t know what this message will be about or whom the Lord is sending it to but I imagine whoever you are, you will recognize that it’s you …

Trust in the Lord with all your heart! All your heart! Not your mind, not your current circumstances, not your windfall or downfall but your heart!

Our minds, moods, and emotions can change in a moment but the heart that’s another story! We love with our hearts. Love is the strongest cord, it binds us to both the good and the bad. Measure the strength that love has by remembering a relationship that ended without your desire for it to do so!

The mental anguish, the heartache, the tears, the songs, the stomach ache that doesn’t feel like it’s ever going to end. The brain knowledge knows that this is probably for the best but try convincing that to your heart! Doesn’t work, doesn’t happen, the heart goes on mourning and time becomes our worst enemy and best friend all at the same time.

So…trust in the Lord with all your heart!

The prayer’s prayed! The hope that follows! The wait!!! The answer!!!

Prayer’s prayed, easy peasy…the hope that follows a joyful high…the wait, here’s when or where it can get difficult…waiting, trusting, keeping that hope alive…no matter how long it takes…believing beyond a shadow of a doubt…That’s Faith…That’s trusting with all your heart!

Lean not on your own understanding…

I usually have a game plan, an idea, a solution and often try and help God out with my suggestions! God doesn’t need my help or yours and I have found the more ideas, solutions, and game plans I have the longer my answered prayers seem to take.

Submit to him and he will make your paths straight…

Get out of the way, once again…trust in the Lord and lean not on your understanding (ideas, ways). Let go and Let God, after all, you prayed for his help, let him!

Straight paths, peaceful walks, blue skies, and fresh air! Whatever it is that has you heartbroken, your world jumbled, your walk crooked, or your skies cloudy…

Commit and Submit!

Have a blessed day…God loves you! Thank you for joining me. 🥰

I am a type-A personality with a mild mix of OCD! I can wind myself up faster than the Tasmanian devil and do just as much destruction…

I can get ideas, situations, current issues, basic life stuck in my head and the soundtrack gets played on repeat to the point of serious distraction.

Take this morning for example; at some point, my brain decided I should have my devotions written and posted no later than 8:30 a.m.!!! Where this unwritten rule came from I have no idea but I woke up this morning at 8:00 a.m.!!! Great, I’ve missed my window! Now, What?

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to God.”

So, I demolished arguments and pretension!!! It’s never to late to share the word and love of God! I am retired and for the most part don’t punch a time clock, so there’s 24 hours in today…plenty of time to write! Okay, so what, it’s 9:00 a.m. write!!!

Are your thoughts a mess? Is your world a mess? Is your body a mess? Are your habits a mess? Too many wrong decisions! Too many wrong paths! Too many mistakes and failures! Too far gone!!! Are these thoughts you may need to make obedient to God?

Can you still breathe? Are you still alive?

Then it’s never to late!!!

Joel 2:12-13 MSG “But there’s also this, it’s not to late – God’s personal message! – ‘Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!’ Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, this most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe.”

Ready to cancel catastrophe!!!

I believe the catastrophe God is ready to cancel is the path of destruction we put ourselves on or are on! Turning back to God, or turning to God…puts us within his loving arms of protection. We may still have to clean up our messes but with his grace, mercy, and favor we can get the job done.

1 Peter 5:7 NCV “Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you.” Talk to him, ask for help, deliverance, strength, clarity, and guidance!

Philippians 4:13 NLT “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

I am thankful for the love and word of My God, the peace and salvation from My Lord Jesus Christ, and the promptings of The Holy Spirit leading me, guiding me, and teaching me.

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

Lord, I thank you for hearing and listening when we talk!

1 Peter 3:12 NLT “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against all who do evil.”

Ok, but what about the prayers you are praying for but still not receiving any answers to, no direction, not a word, nor a clue, dead silence! God, are you still there?

Of course He is, his word tells us he will never leave us!

Joshua 1:9 ESV “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Still, there’s the silence! Have you checked yourself? Is there sin you need to ask forgiveness for? Ask, if there’s sin you are unaware of! Is there a wrong you need to make right? Is there a wrong you need to forgive?

Is the radio frequency full of static? Ask, for peace and quiet of mind and spirit! Has there been a big change in your world and possibly the balance hasn’t quite settled. There has been no change for so long that the monotony has become torture! Possibly a loss and the grief just won’t seem to lift.

I have been going through all of the above and it has robbed me of something I love and that’s writing in Sunshine. I have been going through much and I have been praying for answers, direction, and inspiration. Why haven’t I felt like writing, why haven’t I heard from you Lord with my daily spiritual direction…why, why, why?

I have been trying to reinvent the wheel! A quiet, alone place where I can sit and ponder! I tried this spot and that room and discovered I needed to come back to my original spot, the one that feels right, the one that might have high traffic from time to time but it’s my routine.

Did the Star-Spangled Banner go off this morning? No! Was there a loud booming voice telling me to sit in the front room in my spot on the couch? No! But this morning as I was making my coffee I found myself drawn to the living room…no, then I’d have to go upstairs and haul all my bibles and devotions, highlighters and pens down the stairs, yet the front room kept beckoning. Fine!

As I sat and read in my usual spot, the morning felt right, normal! After the reading came to the same prayer for Sunshine that I have prayed for almost two years, that I receive from the Lord his inspiration to share his word and love…a few sips of coffee later a thought forms, an idea comes to mind, a ponder here another thought there and here we are.

Do I have prophetic wisdom to share! No! What I do know is, if there is something you are praying about, don’t cease, don’t let your mind overrule your spirit. Get into God’s word, Get into God! Go back to the basics. Sometimes it’s so elementary we miss it!

The Lord is always with us and when we stop wrestling and struggling with issues and questions; relax, slow down and trust. The answers appear as gentle as a butterfly floating by.

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

Max Lucado is one of my favorite authors hence teachers! One of my devotionals this year is: “Walking with the Savior” by Max Lucado

I wish to share today’s devotion because not only does it send a strong message but it echoes a conversation with a fellow sales rep, one evening after a long day of working a trade show in Vegas. Sharing a nightcap and a relaxing conversation with our trade show manager had become a tradition between the three of us!

More on that in a bit…

Psalm 59:10 NCV “My God loves me, and He goes in front of me. He will help me defeat my enemies.”

“Over and over Jesus would do the same thing and tell the same story: He would love Nicodemus, so caught up in false religion, but would hate the false religion; He would love the woman caught in adultery, but condemn the adultery; He would love Zaccheus, so obsessed by his possessions, but hate his materialism. He would love the sinner, but hate the sin!” Max Lucado “Walking with the Savior” Christian Art Publishers

This is something we need to really get a grasp of!!! God hates the sin but He loves the sinner!!!

You see that evening years ago my friend and fellow co-worker made a sad declaration “God hates me!” My friend is gay and somewhere along his travels through life, society, and pithy Christian’s he has been told a lie!

This is why today’s read hit me so hard as my exact words to him were, “God loves you…He hates your sin.” I am not writing today on sins as we all have them…All of Us!

Sin is our enemy. It covers it all from jealousy to coveting, slander, lying, cheating, robbing, addictions, lust, money, pride, greed…and the list goes on and on!

He will help me defeat my enemies! If you have an enemy in your life present it to God and ask him to help you overcome it.

But, my true message today, is we as Christians need to be aware of our speech, our personal opinions, our take on scripture, and the possible judgments that follow. We need to be aware of how damaging our mouths and opinions can be!

Lest, we leave an unbeliever, left unbelieving, out in the cold and with an entirely incorrect picture of our loving Lord.

He loves the sinner and hates the sin!

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

Have you ever noticed that God has no grandchildren?

His word speaks of sons and daughters, generations of sons and daughters but not grandchildren.

Why is that?

Because we don’t have the privilege of being born into God’s family.

We can be born a Jew and bear the title of God’s chosen people.

We can be born into a God fearing family and be raised in the church our whole lives.

We can be born with the desire to read the Bible, attend biblical study seminars, speak to the clouds floating by, chase rainbows all we want but until we confess with our mouths do we become one of his children.

We are all his creations and his ultimate desire is that we desire a relationship with Him as he does with us.

Revelation 3:20 ESV “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

The Lord God desires a personal relationship with us more than anything. Sure, we can give proper lip service, tithes, and offerings, great church attendance, have all the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed but that doesn’t count for anything without an honest relationship with him.

A relationship where you can walk in the throne room, plop down on a velvet couch and start talking! What about? Anything on your heart or mind! Our Lord is interested in everything that concerns us both the good and the bad!

Hebrews 4:16 ESV “Let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

James 4:8a NLT “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”

“Dear Lord, I sit before you this morning as I start my day. Thank you for being with me today and everyday. I long to have a relationship with you. Our own special friendship that is unique to you and I. Lord Jesus I ask you to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior and friend. Help me to spend the time needed to get to know you because you already know me. Thank you for growing me, changing me and bringing peace and joy within. I know that you aren’t a magic genie and by belonging to you life will still be hard but your word tells me to be strong in you, and so in you I shall stand. Thank you for your sacrifice on the cross for me, I believe you are the son of God and came to save those of us who are lost. Thank you I am found within you. I love you, I praise you and I thank you for all that is good in my life as it’s from you! In your glorious name I commit this prayer. Amen

It’s a new week and I pray blessings upon it. And, as always I thank you for joining me! 🥰

My friend passed away and I am heartbroken. I am going through all the normal emotions that partner with a death.

I have cried, shared tears with mutual friends as we share our shock, disbelief, sorrow, and memories. Smiles mingled with tears as Lucha gave us all plenty to smile about and remember.

However, her passing wasn’t the desired answer of our hopeful prayers. We of course prayed for the Lord’s will to be done!!! Then we loudly and continually prayed for healing, for her eyes to open as tho she had just taken an extended nap! For everything to go back to the way it was before Saturday evening.

The Lords will be done! That opens our prayer, it’s our way of asking for the very best! God’s Will-Not Ours. We only see one side, the side down here but we know there are always two sides to a story. God’s story!

So, along with prayers that Lucha wake up had to be accompanied by the unselfish prayers. Prayers for Lucha, not us! Lucha, was full of life and always on the go, doing something, taking care of someone, a helping heart, and had a natural spontaneous way of spreading her infectious joy and laughter. What if the heart attack, lack of oxygen to her brain because of, thus causing the coma would have robbed her of her! Then what??? To be possibly trapped in a body that no longer worked or her quick witted brain to have become slow and uncertain!!! Lucha would have hated that!!!

So, painful as it is, sad as it feels, we turn to the Lord for his word and comfort.

Ecclesiastes 3:2 NLT “A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time of harvest.”

Proverbs 3:5 NLT “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”

Matthew 5:4 ESV “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

“Lord Jesus, I come before you this morning in mourning of the loss of someone special in my life and in the lives of so many others. There is great sadness among us, shock, unbelief and we’re still reeling. I ask you Lord to comfort all who are hurting right now, please dry the tears that are falling and help your understanding to blossom in our hearts. We’ve lost some one special but heaven is adorned with her beauty. I will see you again dear Lucha, one day girlfriend as we will share eternity. Give her a hug dear Lord and let her know she’ll be so very missed. In your glorious name lord Jesus, I commit the broken hearts that you our mighty physician can start to mend. Amen 🙏

Thank you for joining me. 🥰

My heart is broken as I just found out our Sweet Lucha Girl has passed away. Thank you for all your prayers. 😣

Urgent Prayer Warriors Needed…

I play an online game and belong to a club with fourteen other women…we meet daily in our coffee lounge within the game and share coffee that equals energy for play. Within meeting daily, sharing competitions, laughter, and lives fifteen women from each time zone of the US and one player in Ireland have become close caring friends.

Two of our teammates are daughter and mother-in-law…Our dear Lucha is married to Pockets son.

Pocket sent us a horrific message yesterday in our coffee lounge! Saturday evening Lucha had a heart attack and is in a coma!!!

Needless to say, our prayers go out for Lucha and her two children and El Rey, her partner in crime. I use their game names to protect identity as it isn’t my place to announce such news but prayer is needed!!!

We of course have to pray God’s will be done and understand that we have time to be born and a time to die. I am praying for a mighty miracle and healing from our Mighty Physician and Healer, our Lord Jesus Christ!

“Jesus, I bow before you scared, fretful, and worried!!! All the emotions you ask us not to fall into! I’m scared for El Rey right now Lord whose world has turned into a dark nightmare as his love lays in a bed unable to wake up. Her two young adult children must be frantic at the thought of never seeing the look of love and pride coming from their momma’s eyes. The mother-in-law who has loved this woman for over 18 years, whose heart is breaking, and who also has to hold up her son. The fourteen JA hearts scattered all over who feel so disconnected right now.

Lord, I know I must pray that your will be done and I ask for your strength upon all of us that love Lucha. That we can face today and tomorrow with hope in you. I ask for a mighty miracle and healing in this beautiful woman we call Lucha Girl, in your name Lord Jesus I place her and our hearts. Amen!” 😔❤️🙏

Thank you for joining me this morning and lifting a prayer for Lucha and her family. 😔💔🙏

Today is my dad’s birthday and I am feeling blessed.

Blessed that my father is still with me and I will be able to talk to him today and hear his voice. My heart hurts for all the daughters whose fathers have passed, knowing they’d love to hear their dad’s voice just once again.

I was blessed as a little girl, a teenager, a young woman, and now a woman of age to have a dad who never told me I couldn’t achieve any desires or dreams. A dad who encouraged me supported me strengthened me, and never once told me I couldn’t accomplish something because I was a girl!

I was loved and cherished by my dad and because of him and his example I grew up very independent, self-assured and hardworking.

Do you know who else loves us like this? God, that’s who!

John 1:14 NIV “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

God became flesh, (human) and walked with us! Jesus Christ, the son of God the perfect example. Through Christ, we are made whole, loved, cherished actually, we are never told we can’t accomplish our goals.

Philippians 4:13 NLT “For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

We have a loving God who wants a relationship with us, you might not know the true love of an earthly father and for this, I grieve because trusting in a father comes much easier if you grew up with one however it is never too late to learn the love from the perfect Father!

Romans 8:14-17a NCV “The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, ‘Father.’ And the Spirit himself joins with our spirit to say we are God’s children. If we are God’s children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ.”

So whether you were blessed with a great earthly father or not the bottom line is God the Father and his love for you. Yep, You!

Be blessed today and as always…thank you for joining me. 🥰