Praise Him Anyway~

Photo Credit~ Gypsy Girl

Most times I am a happy camper~ I love life. I enjoy life with my whole heart and soul.  But once in a while I get downright depressed when I see the direction of a world who is rejecting God. It just hurts! People are hurting and how do you share that there is a God who is crazy and passionately in love with them ~ so much that He sent His only begotten Son to take away the sin sick hurt out of our lives? I know because that is what He did for me. He came into my life  and saved me in 1984 and I will never be the same. So what can we do when the darkness threatens to rob us of our joy.

I am reminded in my devotional this morning of Paul and Silas. They were beaten and thrown into jail for preaching the very message I just shared with you.  The account is written in Acts 16. It says at midnight they prayed and sang praises unto God. They praised Him anyway. They praised Him in a dark and cold jail. They praised Him when they were treated unfairly. They praised Him when it hurt. They praised Him and the other prisoners heard them. It is a wonderful story. The keeper of the prison accepted Christ for himself that night. God used the darkness for His will and His glory.

Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

May we be challenged to use the darkness to draw us into a closer walk with Jesus. May God use our prayers and praises to reach those around us. Our world is hurting and we have the answer. Lets
praise Him anyway and see just what He will do. I think we will be amazed.

Acts 16:29-31 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

You can read the entire account of Paul and Silas and the conversion of the Prisoner Guard here. 
 It is a wonderful account of God's grace.

I pray you have a wonderful and joy filled day. Lets just keep praising Him anyway no matter what may come our way today.

Devotions For Christmas~

I love Christmas~ it is my favorite time of the year. Each year I promise to get ahead of the chaos so I can just enjoy the reason for the season. Are you with me? It is sneaking up on me once again. 

However~ I do have a plan to keep Christ in Christmas this year with this sweet little devotional. I can hardly wait for December 1st. This devotion features how to keep our focus on Jesus. Did you know there is a season called Hallothanksmas? In this devotion we are encouraged to take back December and not rush through the celebration of our Saviour's birth. Each devotion is right on target and just the reminder we need to keep our focus above. 

This book is a wonderful gift to yourself or anyone on your Christmas list. This book was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion. I give it 5 stars. 

Love Amish Fiction? These Are Two Great Books For The Holidays And A Chance To Enter A Giveaway!

Grab a blanket and a cup of hot tea and curl up with this book. It is set in an Autumn time of the year which I just love. It grabs your attention from the first page. Amelia is trying to keep the home fires burning after the loss of both her parents while her siblings run the family business.  She never notices that her siblings treat her as a little child until an accident draws the attention to the fact that she has been seeing an Amish bad boy with a past. Her siblings just don't believe Simon is good enough for her.  She is determined to set them all straight.

This is a great book and I really enjoyed reading it. It is such an easy read and I love the Autumn setting. 

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2e2XBTQ

An Amish Family Christmas picks up where A Sister's Wish left off. Nothing is more exciting than when you come to the end of a book that you loved and have the chance to dive into the rest of the story. I absolutely love this book as much as I did the first one. This is one set of books you just don't want to miss this Holiday season. 

These books were given to me in exchange for my honest review and I give them both 5 stars.  

 Enter the giveaway below to win a copy of these wonderful books. 

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2dYRwqr

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town's bike trail.

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Ronald Reagan Is Not Coming Back~

Photo Credit~ My Gypsy Girl

In our lifetime we have never seen an election like this one. If I could sum up this presidential  campaign~ it would be pure anger. Americans on both sides are angry. I am angry for the lost days of integrity, morals and just old fashioned propriety.  Standards of behavior and morality displayed by the leaders of our country seem to be long gone. What happened to old fashioned propriety?

My Pastor said last week that Ronald Reagan is not coming back again but Jesus is. The Holy Spirit reminds me that my trust can't be placed in the outcome of this election. (That's a really good thing.) Even though my hope at times is that America can once again be great~ that hope is displaced. Our hope must be placed in Jesus Christ and Him alone. 

Let's keep our focus on King Jesus instead of national news and headlines for the next week. We need to pray like we have never prayed before for America and as my Pastor says~ be nice.  We need to pray for peace and trust God for the future of our country. He is still on the throne and He can still be trusted. 

Psalm 146:3-4King James Version (KJV)

3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

"My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"

by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

3. His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year~ Ready Or Not Here It Comes

Why not decide now to overcome the hustle and bustle of the season with a plan. This sweet little book is a countdown to Christmas which features 31 days of devotions. On December 1st it starts with a devotion titled~It Is A Wonderful Life. It is  a great devotion and it is followed by a history lesson about the Christmas Carol ~ Angels From The Realms Of Glory. For that day also is a recipe idea to pamper the one you love. Each day boasts more of the same. December 2nd's devotion is titled ~ Cherishing The Past, short history lesson about the carol, Hark! The Harold Angels Sing, followed by a recipe for Sugar Plum Shortbread Christmas Cookies.

31 days of wonderful devotions, historical accounts about our favorite Christmas Carols and great recipes to pamper the one you love.

This is sure to be a treasure I intend to keep and bring out each new December. I absolutely love this little book. It is stacked full of treasures.

 Visit the author~Ace Collins at AceCollins.com. I rate this book 5 stars!

This book was provided to me in exchange for my honest review.