Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

I want to be a HOPE giver!  Life is not all about darkness and trouble.  But it says in Proverbs 13:12 that "hope deferred makes the heart sick."   The darkness can and will really get you down, but take heart.  Read on.  It can feel hopeless sometimes.  That's when we have to know what is true about dark and light.  Yes there's a battle, yes it's dark, yes it's hard, yes we despair, yes we fall, yes we fear, yes we resist change, yes we hurt.  This is real, this is the hard stuff.  God does not hide this truth from us.  It says in Romans 8 that, "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope f...

Close call? That's what happens when we get distracted. Applies to the physical and spiritual realm of life. Whether driving, or planning your day, distraction can disarm us!  When I am distracted, I am prone to self sabotage!  Now if we are talking about our "old" self, that is good!   Galatians 2:20 says,  " My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."   The bad thing is when I self sabotage the "new" me .  It comes so easily.  It's my weak spot!   2 Corinthians 5:17 says,  " This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"   My CHRONIC PRAYER of "EMPTY ME AND FILL WITH THEE," is a very good and necessary prayer!  It's no secret that in my past, fear had a total grip on my life.  Now it just gri...