Light Lifts my Soul

       I know there is a science to why sunlight makes us feel good inside, I believe I read that it is that our skin absorbs the vitamin D from the sun's rays and that helps to fight off the feelings of depression but I don't know exactly how that works. I started to think about this this morning though when I was leaving for work, how it's like the darkness we see outside settles over our souls and leaves us depressed and moody, but that the sun lifts our spirits. Recently, when I have left it has not only been cold and miserable outside but dark too, and that's honestly left my motivation for the day pretty low, as well as my mood early on.
       This morning however was my first drive into work in a while where I had sunlight. Somehow, despite it still being cold and miserable out just seeing the light lifted my mood and helped me meet my day with some excitement and a positive attitude. These thoughts led me to another thought, one of my favorite passages, John 1-4 which reads '1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.' As I thought of this bit of scripture and how it refers to Jesus as the light, I was struck with what I felt was interesting parallel.
       Just like the dark cold weather of winter can be depressing, so can the dark sad state of our war torn world. Just like focusing too much on the dark cold weather can get us down, so can focusing on the world. But also, just like a warm sunny day can lift us from that depression, so can Yeshua. In John 1:5 Jesus is described as the light that shines in the darkness, and one verse before that as the light of the mankind, I point to these verses specifically because of two things, even in darkness, Jesus is still shinning, and that as the light of mankind, He is our true source of light and hope. He, as light, can and has overcome the darkness, and thru Him so can we.
       This morning sunlight beat my early morning, time for work blues, but as I prayed, drove, and meditated on things I realized I always had the light I needed to overcome those lows, all I had to do was focus on the true light, the light of this world (John 8:12; John 9:5), our Lord Jesus Christ. Be blessed brothers and sisters, and hold onto the light.

Psalm 27:1   
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Isaiah 60:20   
Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended

John 8:12   
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

1 Peter 2:9   
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.              

My Help Comes From the Lord

       "I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2; these words have echoed through my mind the last few days. My heart is aching and situations in my life are stressful right now, my car needs an expensive repair, and so does my husband's; the situations with my grandmother and aunt are worsening and we are beginning to look into assisted living for them, and there has been another family member recently who attempted to end their life, but thankfully he was stopped. It's heartbreaking to watch this all happening and feel helpless to do anything to make it better. To be unsure how you'll afford to fix your cars or if you could be doing more for those struggling around you.... but just when I feel like giving into the overwhelming grief and stress I have been feeling, when I feel like giving up, this verse comes back to me.

         I know what it feels like to be hopeless, I know what it feels like to want to give up, and I honestly can't say that it hasn't run across my mind in brief moments over the last few months; but I know the truth now and am able to overcome those feelings as I cling to my Father in heaven for comfort and I want that for others too. I want so much for others to know of God's love, this life changing love that gives me hope when things seem like they couldn't be worse and that the storm is never ending. I want people to know who Yeshua is and the price He paid for our freedom in Him, and I want people to know that because of what He did, hopelessness is a lie.  

       Psalm 34:19 says this: "The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;" and I believe it, not because it is in the Bible (though I do believe the bible to be the truth) but because as I have gone to God and His word increasingly over the last 3-4 years He has proven it to me, and even longer than that if I'm truly honest with myself, I just couldn't see it then. Not only in my life, but also the lives of others I have known I have seen God fulfill His promises, and provide when there looked like there would be no provision. I have seen desperate situations changed overnight, but I have also walked thru months and years of struggle, and I know now that God was with me. I understand now that in those periods of struggle had I turned to God sooner instead of to other 'wordly' things for comfort I could have gotten through them much easier. I understand now, that our Father always provides away and I can rest on that knowledge no matter how bad it may seem.              

            Troubles may surround me, but my hope is in the Lord. I know He has promised good to those who love and serve Him (Romans 8:28);  and I know that He will work all this heartache and trouble into something beautiful, perhaps He is doing so right now, maybe this heartache that has sent me running to share my hope and my pain will lift someone else from the pit. I pray that is true, because that thought gives me comfort and makes the burden easier to bare. Be blessed brothers and sisters, and may your relationship with God be ever deepening.

Psalm 43:5   
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Isaiah 40:31   
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint

Romans 8:24-27
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God

Romans 12:12   
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer

Saint John 1:1-18 --- Vlog

  Hi everyone,
    I decided to finish out this week by posting a video with some scripture reading and inviting you to read along. I hope you are blessed by it! Sorry for the text in the middle, still new to this program and I'm still trying to figure it out! Please bare with me!

Be blessed today and always in Yeshua's name.

 

January Update

     Happy New Year brothers and sisters in Christ! I wanted to take this moment to give you an another update and let you know what this new year has in store for this blog, and what's going on in my life right now. First, I have been getting some messages asking about when I may be back, and honestly I  can't say at this point when I will be back full time, things are not going as planned with the book or my health lately, but after some prayer and thought I decided I will at least do one-two regular post per week as I keep plucking away at the novel. (For those interested here is an excerpt of the novel: http://jennthorn.blogspot.com/2016/01/novel-excerpt-healing-of-eric-richardson.html)  
       Also this year there is another project I will be working on with my husband, we are starting a youtube vlog tentatively called "Tybalt's Travels" where we will post videos from our hiking trips, local history, and eventually branch out from there. This is something we are very excited about as it gives us a chance to travel around together, hike, explore, and learn history, some of our favorite things!
       Probably the thing I am most excited about this year though is working with the homeless. Thanks to the generous donations of the followers of this blog we were able to raise $170 in aid to the homeless. This money has already helped to provide food, hot hands, and some much needed clothes for those most in need. Thank you. I am looking forward to sharing with you all just what kind of impact this has made not only on those receiving but how by their graciousness it has effected my husband and I as well.
       I pray that this finds each and everyone well, and that our Lord blessed you much in the way of love, laughter, and family over the recent holidays. Be blessed brothers and sisters, and remember to walk in love towards one another, not just around the holiday season, but everyday.
      

Novel Excerpt --- The Healing Of Eric Richardson

    Please Note this is a small excerpt of the novel I have been working on, I wanted to share this just so you guys can see what I have been up to lately. The title is tentative, but I think I like it much better than the two previous working titles I had (The Job, or A work in Progress). I hope you enjoy this. God bless you!

After church service Victoria thought her head might burst with all the things rushing around in her mind as she stepped into the quiet of her bedroom and shut the door behind her. The whole morning had been bittersweet. She had enjoyed breakfast and the church she attended with Eric that morning. The boys had even seemed to enjoy the children services too. Drake had such a good time playing with the kids and hearing bible stories that he made Eric promise to bring him back the following week; which is exactly what she was hoped would happen. Victoria couldn’t feel happy about it though, not really, because Drake wanted her to go too, and she hadn’t made up her mind yet if she was staying.

She had to make a decision though and soon. Garret had given her deadline and refused to continue seeing her if she kept this job, sharing what Braden had told her with him had only made things worse. She didn’t want to quit a job just to make him happy, she liked her job and didn’t feel threatened by anyone there…except maybe Jessica. But was the job worth breaking up over? Victoria asked herself again for what felt like the hundredth time as the ache in her heart deepened.

She had stayed up most of the previous night praying for answers, and she still felt completely lost, she still had no idea what to do. The easiest thing to do would be to give in to Garret's demands, then she could keep her new boyfriend and just get a new job. The problem with this was the nagging feeling that God had brought her here for a reason, a purpose, one that she had not yet completed. Victoria had tried desperately to explain this to Garret, but that’s when he told her if she didn’t quit by the end of the week, they were over. Her heart broke when he said those words and they had echoed in her mind ever since making her question herself.

Victoria laid down on her bed and clutched a pillow to her chest, and started to cry again, her face buried deep in the cotton and foam to muffle the sounds and keep Eric from hearing her again. Less than twenty-four hours before she had felt like life was wonderful and everything was coming together,  but now it was all crashing down at her feet. She felt like Garret was forcing her to choose between a man and God, not a man and a job. She wanted both, she wanted to please Garret and to please God, but the more she thought about this, the more she realized she couldn’t have both, she couldn’t make Garret happy and God happy if they wanted her in different places. Finally she accepted the hard truth, she was going to have to break up with Garret.

The revelation of what was necessary for her to stay on the path God wanted her on was no easier than flip-flopping she had done earlier. This felt like a direct punch to her already tender heart, but she knew trusting God and walking in faith wasn’t always easy. Paul had wrote in Romans 8:28 ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, and have been called according to his purpose’ now Victoria was going to have live like she believed this, she was going to have to trust her heart and her pain to God, and she was going to have to let Him be her strength because she knew she couldn't do get through this on her own. Victoria was now starting to realize that life as an adult Christian was never going to be easy, that following God was an all or nothing commitment that sometimes meant walking away from what you loved or wanted.  

“Victoria,” came Eric’s voice from outside her bedroom door with gentle knock. He was still concerned for her, she clearly wasn’t herself today and he hoped if he got her out for a while she may perk up and open up to him. “My mom just called, she wants to take the boys for the afternoon. I was thinking of going out for lunch and wanted to see if you were feeling up to it too? ”

Sitting up, Victoria wiped the tears from her eyes and swallowed the lump that had been building in her throat before answering him. Now that she knew the course she had to take, spending time with Eric and Braden was a welcome distraction. “Thank you Eric, that sounds nice. When should I be ready by?”

“My mom will be by in an hour, could you be ready by then? Nothing fancy, just casual lunch.”

“Not a problem. I’ll get changed now. Thanks again.”

“Sure. Meet you downstairs in an hour.” Eric replied smiling before he walked back across the hall to the nursery so he could start changing the boys into play clothes for their trip to the park with their grandmother.

  Victoria sat on the edge of the bed looking at her tear stained reflection in the tall standing mirror she had brought from her bedroom at her parent’s house recently. She was going to move forward. She would go have lunch with Braden and Eric, enjoy herself then come home and call Garret. It wasn’t going to be easy, and part of her really didn’t want to do it at all, but no one said doing the right thing was easy. Victoria sighed and wiped the tears from her cheeks before standing to her feet and starting to get changed out of her church clothes. It was a hard day, but it didn’t all have to be bad, lunch could be enjoyable if she just kept a good attitude and her mind off what she had to do next.