Tag Archive | Salvation

In Just a Moment

We have all heard the saying…”It is not the breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away” but have you ever really stopped to reflect on the moments? All too often we take the “awe” moments for granted. In-fact they pass us by and all we don’t even realized they’ve occurred…

If you think about it some truly AMAZING events have occurred in a moment!!!

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting on him. (Matthew 3:16)
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has
healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment. (Matthew 9:22)
Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that
moment (Matthew 17:18)
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. (Matthew 27:51)

Wow…moments with eternal impact captured and recorded in God’s word!!!

I have experienced some AMAZING moments; life events worth recording:

The moment I asked Jesus to be my personal Lord and Saviour
The moment I said I do to Richard Dallas Smith
The moment my first-born, Tori Rene Smith arrived
The moment the doctor said “It’s a Girl
The moment Cheyenne Mary Darrell, our granddaughter came into our lives

But, I have also had some pretty incredible moments which occur in every day life that take my breath away:

The moment I walk in the door after a long day at work and am greeted by the sounds, sights, and smells of home
The moment Richard walks up behind me while I am cooking dinner. wraps his arms around me and says “I love you”
The moment I pick up the phone to hear, “Hi Meme, whatcha doing?”
The moment when all my family is here and I realize I am surrounded by laughter

Wow…what can you do to impact a life

In Just A Moment

Love Lee ♥

A Burning Heart

Jan24

I frequently come in from work after dark and last night was no different. As I pull through the gate and made my way down the drive toward home I saw a yellow-orange glow. Then, the closer I got the bigger the glow got.

YES…That man of mine had built a fire!!!

We love to sit out in the evenings around the fire pit and discuss the events of our day. However, last night the discussion was delay a bit as our daughter had walked over to enjoy the fire with us. At some point in the conversation she realized she got a little chilled and decided to stand and move closer to the fire. As she stood over the fire watching it burn, she exclaimed…”Cheyenne come look…There is a burning heart inside the log”. Cheyenne reluctantly got up off the ground where she was playing with her dog and walked over to take a look. Then I heard “Wow…that is cool mom”. While their excitement peaked my interest, it wasn’t peaked enough to cause me to hoist myself up out of the chair I had waited for all day .

After the girls headed home and Richard and I shared the highlights of our day while Richard “tinkers” with the fire. As he looked into the fire he said, “You really should come see this burning heart. The girls weren’t kidding it is really beautiful”. Now for Richard to tell me it was beautiful, I knew I needed to take a look. Looking down into the hollow log the opposite end of the log was shaped like a heart and the embers were glowing with brilliant color…vibrant oranges, deep blue reds, and brilliant yellows.

As I stood and stared into the log, I couldn’t help but think…

Wow…I could see the glow of burning heart from the road but it wasn’t until I got close that I could see the buried embers and feel the intense warmth of the burning heart.

You know…it is very much the same with Jesus. From a distance we know He is there…but it is not until we get close enough to Him that we are able to see His “Burning Heart”

David Crowder says it best!!!

“How He Loves”

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us.

He Loves Us With His Burning Heart!!!

Love Lee ♥

A Trip To The Pig Pen

Sep23

I love the story of the prodigal son. Here is a young man who has it all…a home, wealth, food, and his father’s love. He becomes discontent and restless so he goes to his father and asks for his inheritance early. The father grants his son’s wishes and the son takes the money and runs.

The little party animal goes out and squanders away all the money his father gave him. With no money he is forced to go to work for a pig farmer. While working for the pig farmer he doesn’t even make enough money to buy food. He is forced to eat the same food the pigs eat.

After living in this state for a while he decides to go back home. He felt certain being a servant for his father would be better than working for the pig farmer. So he heads home…

As he approaches his father’s place, his dad sees him and runs out to greet him. His dad embraces him and welcomes him home. Not as a servant but as a son.

This young man like many of us, we don’t recognize what we have and are never satisfied so we go out and experiment to find those things and people who bring us “happiness”. Sometimes it just takes a…

A Trip To The Pig Pen

For us to change our mindset and recognize how truly blessed we are!!!

PS: For you parents who have kids in the “Pig Pen” you hold on to the promises of God…They will return home!!!

Love Lee ♥

What A Mess

Sep20

Recently we put our home on the market so we could pursue our lifelong dream of building a house. Whoop Whoop….

Who knew selling a house could be so much work? How on earth did all this stuff get into my closets? Where did all this dust come from? These are the questions that kept going through my mind as I was getting the house ready to put on the market.

All the time I was cleaning I kept saying…

What A Mess!

Then it dawned on me, our lives become much the same. Before we even realize it our lives become cluttered with negative thoughts and emotions, stress, illness, unhealthy habits, white lies…Hmmm wait, let’s just call it what it is…SIN

As with keeping up a house so to avoid clutter, dust, and depreciation, we must perform routine maintenance on our lives. And, just as there are times we are forced to ask for help around the house,we must call on the name of Jesus; an ever-present help in time of need for a Spiritual cleaning.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Confessing our sins is our Spiritual house cleaning…What is it that is cluttering up your Spiritual Life? It’s time to clean it up so we no longer have to say…

What A Mess

Love Lee ♥

There Is A Winner Within

Sep19

Wow, who would have thought…

Landau Eugene Murphy Jr takes the stage and appears to be the least likely person to audition much less win America’s Got Talent.

As you will see in the video, none of the judges were expecting to hear such a spectacular audition. In-fact their body language and reaction to Landau’s appearance indicates they have absolutely no confidence in his ability. In-fact, the judges had judged him before he had even opened his mouth.

As I watched this episode of America’s Got Talent and then watched again in the video, I couldn’t help but wonder…How would we respond if Landau had walked through the doors of our church and sat down next to us? Oh I know, we all would like to believe we would welcome him with open arms. But, would we really?

As much as Christians hate to admit it we are such a judgmental group of people. I’m sure you are thinking… “Not Me!” Are you sure about that? Below are some scenarios, as you read them being totally honest with yourself…What would be your gut reaction to this person who decides to sit next to you in church?

A 15-year-old female wearing Daisy Dukes
A derelict who reeks of alcohol
An elderly man who’s clothing smells of old urine
A teenage boy wearing a baseball cap
A group of young men wearing black trench coats
A woman in her 40’s wearing a t-shirt and no bra
A young mother with a screaming baby
A teenager eating a hot dog and drinking a coke

Hmmm…did you get up and move from your pew, ignore them, or embrace them?

I would venture to say if we are totally honest with ourselves if we did embrace them, we did not embrace them with our heart but in gesture only.

My friend, we cannot continue to judge a book by its cover. We must open up the hard external cover of broken lives and begin to read the pages chalked full of experiences. We must begin to see the internal person; the one screaming to come out.

We are so bound by tradition and religion we lose track of who we are and our calling. We are called to love the “Unlovely” and the “Rule Breakers”.

“Church is not a household for saints. It is a hospital for sinners.” ~Robin Butler

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

Don’t Judge the Book by Its Cover…

There Is A Winner Within!!!

Love Lee ♥

There Is A Way Out

Sep18

Are you feeling trapped by circumstances beyond your control? Perhaps you can’t make your bills, the kids are out of control, or you are forced to deal with difficult people.

There is a way out!!!

The trap in which we are held prisoner is our mindset. We allow our perceptions to set our limits…Often times we perceive the situation to be worse than it is because we cannot recognize it for what it is.

The Way Out is to Change Your Mindset

Rather than view everything as negative we can choose to view each and everything we endure as our Testimony. Our very own story of how God has been so good to us. Think about it…Would you be able to truly testify of God’s goodness if you never had those difficult challenges in life?

I like to view the adversity as “Walking Out My Testimony”.

I could not testify to God’s provision if I did not know financial ruin.
I could not testify to God’s healing hand if I did not almost died from Lyme’s Disease
I could not testify to God’s comfort if I did not loose a loved one
I could not testify to God’s grace if I did not sin
I could not testify to God’s peace of mind if I did not have to trust Him with my children
I could not testify to God’s love if I had not felt what it was like to be unloved
I could not testify to God’s understanding if I have not been misunderstood
I could not testify to God’s companionship if I had not know what it was like to be alone and without a friend

You see every form of adversity is part of my testimony if I believe God is with me and believe…

There Is A Way Out…

He is my Way Out no matter the circumstance!!!

Love Lee ♥

Trusting His Heart

Sep6

It has been a week…

We have been reminded life is fleeting and we are only promised the here and now. With Richard’s mother in ICU fighting for life, our grandson lost his half-brother in a car wreck today, and my loss of a beloved pet our hearts are hurting.

When life doesn’t make sense or seem fair and we feel all alone we have to learn to trust His heart…

This song is so incredibly perfect for where we are in our lives today…Listen closely to the words of this song. When everything in our world falls apart we have to…

Trust His Heart

Love Lee ♥

Powering Up

Aug26

Wow…soft music playing, scented plug-ins, accent lamps…Yep, everything is perfect as I walk out the door for work. A scheduled appointment to show our home was set for the early afternoon. I returned home at 6pm to find a silent house, I can’t smell the plug-ins, and my accent lamps are off.

Yes, you guessed it…the rain storm that blew through took out the power.

Of all days for this to happen! But isn’t that just like our lives?

When we least expect it a storm blows through and we lose our power. With the disconnect from our power source; Jesus Christ, we begin to stop speaking in love, our lights go out, and we begin to stink..

Thank goodness once we plug back into Jesus Christ we power up and our light is restored, our responses are tempered with love, and we take on His sweet aroma…

So, the next time you find yourself out of energy…

Power Up!!!

God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. 2 Samuel 22:33

Love Lee ♥

But…It’s Paid For

Aug25

Do you ever feel like everything is falling apart?

I recently began to focus on all the repairs that were needed on my vehicle when a friend opened the passenger door on my car and a piece of trim fell off. Initially I was embarrassed and then before I knew it I was focused on every flaw. Then like a goober, I began to point out all the issues to my friend by saying, “Oh Girl, that’s nothing…the engine light is on, the cover on my ashtray falls off easily, the back window tint is lifting, and oh as if that were not enough I think I need to replace a tire.” Then after I pointed out all the flaws, I followed up with..

“But…It’s Paid For”

My friend said, “You know when I was younger all of that would have mattered; I wanted everything perfect. Isn’t it interesting how things don’t matter as much as we get older?”

Our dialogue reminded me of my life…I have aches, pains, sin, baggage, and on occasion “attitude”. All associated with negative connotations but one statement makes it all better…

“But…It’s Paid For”

I don’t have to wallow in emotional pain, self-pity or guilt of my sin because all my sin is covered by the blood of Jesus. The debt has been paid in full…It is up to me to remember this prior to allowing my mind to wonder to the negative side and instead focus on the positive. I, bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ am paid in full. And, that purchase comes with a guarantee of eternal life in heaven.

Often it is the enemy’s ploy is to remind us of those areas in our lives that are lacking but we know it is up to us to say to the adversary…

“But…It’s Paid For”

Love Lee ♥

Are You Blowing Hot Air

Aug23

Have you heard the phrase “she is just radiant”?

A radiant personality is much like radiant heat.

Radiant heat is a unique transfer of energy that naturally searches out colder objects to warm. Instead of rising like warm air, radiant heat starts by warming the coldest and closest objects from its source.

Radiant heat unlike forced hot air is a gentle slow warming while forced hot air from air vents tends to be dry, dusty and even loud. I am sure you have met that person as well…

So here are some characteristics of a radiant personality?