Author: carriedinthecross

I am a young woman who grew up in British Columbia. In BC was all I ever wanted; I had my poodle (Max) and all my friends, Saturdays at the Vancouver Aquarium and Sunday afternoons at one of my favorite beaches it was paradise. But God had a different plan for my life and my dad's job landed us in Alberta and now where I remain, in small town Souris Manitoba. The transitions from paradise to prairie were difficult and I will admit that now 10 years later I still refer to home as Abbotsford BC. Through this crazy pathway trek across Canada I have had one true constant, God; and though none of it was easy, everything that has happened in my life has formed in me a true lasting friendship with the one I call Immanuel. Because no matter how far from home we are God is with us, and thanks to God I have found an almost completely over looked beauty in Manitoba. If you open your eyes you will see that God has planted wondrous things everywhere you go.
The theme of Acts and what we can learn from it
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · power of God · Prayer · searching

The theme of Acts and what we can learn from it

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In truth, Acts is very repetitive. A deciple preaches Jesus’s kingdom and heals people. Then he is hated by those who are jealous of him and tortured. Then he goes and preaches Jesus again.
What do we learn from this common string that we see throughout Act? Keep fighting.
Keep telling of Jesus, keep letting them hate you. Do not give up!
Yesterday a friend of ours said, “I keep telling people about Jesus no matter what. I figure they’re going to hell without Him anyway, I can’t make things worse.” And she’s totally right. They are already headed for the worst thing that can happen to them, so you aren’t going to hurt them by telling them about Jesus. The bad thing that can happen is that they might hurt you. Or block you on Social Media, it’s Canada, there’s not a lot people are going to do.
So then why not? Why not tell them? Unless we are afraid for ourselves. Which most of us are. I do not enjoy sharing Jesus. Its the most terrifying thing you will do. Why? Because the devil makes us afraid. He lies to us and tells us to hide our faith our we will lose things. Our friends. Our jobs. Our Twitter following.
In the end what does any of that matter? As long as another soul is in Heaven.

[36] In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. [37] About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. [38] Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” [39] Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. [40] Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. [41] He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. [42] This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. [43] Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
I want us to take two things from this verse.
1. Nothing can stop God’s work in your life. Not even death.
2. Your work may look different than Peter’s work.

Tabitha did good work. The women showed Peter the clothes she had made for the poor. She probably became sick by being with the sick. She was a minister. Not a pastor. Not an evangelist. She made clothes. This was what she had been gifted by God to do. This makes me think of Linus. There is a group in town that makes blankets for the firetrucks. They make them in bold and beautiful designs. When something tragic happens and the firemen have to wrap someone up in a blanket they wrap them in one of these quilts and then send them home with the quilt.
This is a talent these ladies use to care for these people.
Peter then goes and stays with a tanner. A man who tanned hides for use.
He was able to serve God by letting Peter stay in his home.
We all have something we can do. It might be knitting booties to give to crises pregnancy center. Or making a hot meal for a neighbor. Or teaching someone how to do something they need to be able to do.
God told us to wear boots of readiness not slippers of “meh, maybe later.” Be ready to do God’s work. Who knows what that will look like or what day that will happen. Perhaps you are the smile someone needs. Perhaps you are the home made cookies that helped someone keep going.
We all face battles and darkness. Everyone here has a monster who paces the corners of their mind from time to time. But one way to fight the beast that we don’t alway remember, is to help people.
Tabitha fought the monster of illness, and God sent Peter to help her back on her feet. How many people had she helped back on their feet over the years?
Don’t let the darkness win. Shine light. Be the light. And be willing to let others be the light to you.

Too far away from the fire
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Too far away from the fire

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When you don’t spend enough time with God, you begin to lose something. You lose the warmth. There is a warmth in the connection between you and God, a steady feeling of health for your soul. You may have days on end where your day was lousy, but you felt okay once you sat down and spent time with Him. Then things change. You get busy. Distracted. Sick. Tired. Something happens, and you are suddenly not spending the time with God that you used to. Then the cold slips in. Like a frost slipping its fingers under the door in December. A chill enters your bones, and you don’t know why or where it has come from. You wrap up in a blanket of comfort, TV, social media, a good book, but it’s never enough. Then, one day, you open your Bible, and suddenly, a wave of warmth floods back into your soul. You stop and pray for a bit, and more warmth comes. Soon, you are praying and worshiping and feel like you are sitting on a warm beach in the sun because your soul has its fire back.

Isaiah 53:6-12 NIV
[6] We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. [8] By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. [9] He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. [10] Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. [11] After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.53.6-12.NIV

Devotional

The introduction to Saul

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Generally, when we see someone change and convert to Jesus, there is some sort of lead up. An inner turmoil where the person is in constant battle with themselves, the battle they face in the hall.
Saul was different. He was actually on the road with papers from the high priest saying that he had the right to capture all men and women of Jesus’s following. He had no inner fight, his demons had won his convictions long ago, but they weren’t stronger than the living God, and He had a purpose for Saul.
Saul was a man who had let his dark side win. He was a killer. He was evil in many ways. But God.
Acts 9:1-9

Devotional
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Jeremiah 3:10

In spite all of this, her unfaithful, sister, Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense declares the Lord.

When Israel was offending God by running off and taking on the worship of false idols, God gave her lots and lots of chances to repent, but then he mentions in Jeremiah 3:10, that even after He punished Israel for what she did Judah went and did the same thing. They also worshiped false idols.

However, that is not what I am stuck on in this verse.
God covers how when the nation of Judah repented before God, it was only in word, a pretence, a facade if you will.
How often do we repent and fully plan on doing what we did wrong the first time again?
We say ‘I’m sorry Jesus.’ Just to have the verse about God removing our sin whenever we ask come into play. We aren’t really sorry. We dobt really care. Like a child who apologizes because he’s told to, not because he’s sorry. How often is that us?
God isn’t dumb. He knows when you are honest and when you are not.
How things come down in the end I do not know. How God will sort the sins we repent for and the ones we don’t in the last days is up to Him.
But setting that aside. Don’t we want to love Him enough to truly serve Him? To truly be sorry when we mess up? To try and change?
Isn’t He worthy of that!

The battle in the hall
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

The battle in the hall

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The real battle, he fought alone, in the hall before the great door and the monster within. – The Hobbit

We often feel like our times of fighting with ourselves and forcing ourselves forward to do things that terrify us is not the true battle. In fact, we look on it as weakness. Yet, it is often in the hallways before the interview, before the operation, before the exam, before whatever is facing you, that is where we fought the true battle. The greatest battle to overcome, because we are fighting ourselves.

In a way, we are all members of Fight Club. We are all fighters against the enemy of our own thoughts and actions. For every time God tells you to do something, the devil tells you not to, and vice-versa. If God tells you to invite your friend to church, the devil will tell you not to. If God tells you not to go to that party, the devil will tell you you should.
You always fight your biggest battles, but yourself, in the hall.
Except one thing. You aren’t by yourself. Jesus fights with you. When the devil gets in your head, Jesus is right there attacking his defenses and stopping him from making strongholds.
Jesus is your only true defense.
Don’t let the battle of the hall hold you back from the path and the future God has set before you.

Devotional

Still in the boat?

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Peter was the only one to get out of the boat.
Everyone always criticizes Peter for losing faith and sinking. How many of us have walked on water? Even for a second? None of us? Exactly.
Peter looked down and was afraid. But at least he wasn’t still in the boat.
We all say we want to walk where Jesus leads, and we mock those who fail. But how many of us have actually tried to follow Him? If you are trying to follow Him, you will fail almost every day. Its the ones who don’t try who look they are always succeeding. It’s a scam. No effort means no failure and gives a false illusion of success. But only those who try fail. Only those who fail come back and try again after learning from their mistakes.
Are you still in the boat?

Some days
Christianity · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Some days

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Some days, it hurts. Some days you wonder why you are there and how you even got there. Some days, it feels like everyone is after you and not in a good way. But God.
It’s like climbing through a thick cloud. You can’t see where you are going, but you keep going, and then finally, you see the light at the top. That’s what it’s like to turn your eyes upon Jesus. He will show that you are okay because of Him. He will give you great friends. He will give you great family. He Himself will be your support team.
You have wounds. But you are not defined by them. You are strong despite them and because of them, but they are not who you are.
Jesus cried tears of blood for a people He loved, in a place He did not want to be, about to do something He did not want to do. But He did it anyway.
He lives inside of us. His strength to carry on through the impossible is with us. He is our God.
Even when you feel like a tree who has had her bark wounded by a deer, stripped and torn but not so deep it will die, Jesus sees you. He hasn’t let you go or left you. He will get you through this.
Trust Him!

Mist and light
Christianity · encouragement · found · free · guidance · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God

Mist and light

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Have you ever noticed the mist?
I mean really noticed it.
It’s beautiful. It changes everything so that scenes you have seen all your life, sudden you don’t recognize. But that’s also why it can be so dangerous.
If you don’t recognize where you are you can get lost. Or fall and get hurt. Or drive the wrong way.
Sin is like that. It can look so beautiful that we crave it. But then it makes everything you once knew was right and true look blurry. Suddenly you no longer know where you are or how you got there. You’re lost. But the Light of the world comes and burns back the mist showing you your way home.
If you’re lost right now, talk to Jesus and let His light terrify the dark.

Devotional

Insects

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Insects

Today, as I was walking, I had an unpleasant insect land on me. I flicked it off and shuddered, and kept walking. Then, two butterflies flew past me. The bees and the butterflies, the dragonflies and the lady bugs. Such insects are why I don’t spray pesticides. Though the mosquitoes and black flies are a constant problem and make me regret my choice some days.
In this tiny way, I understand a little more about God when He he is speaking with His men of Faith in the Bible and saying, “For your sake I do not.” For the sake of the Righteous God did not destroy humanity (a second time) for the sake of His people He stayed His hand. Then, for the sake of those He loved (us), He sent His Son to die so we could be saved.
In saving the butterflies, I am also sparing the mosquitoes. But unlike mosquitoes, when God, in sparing the Righteous, spares the sinners as well, He is also giving them another chance to change. A mosquito will always be what it is, but when God’s people pray for God to spare the country or town they live in despite it’s evil, God is also giving the evil a chance to change and to find Him. He wants all people to turn to Him and will give them chances again and again and again. That’s love.

Devotional

Basketball

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When I was a teen, I was scouted by our school’s basketball coach to play for the team. I chose not to because of driving distance from my house, but the fact that it happened always stayed with me. Why? Because in elementary school, when they first taught us basketball, it broke me. I was terrible. (When I think on it, getting a grade for PE should not have happened. Because for every sport someone is good at, there are three or four they can’t do at all.) My dad was the difference. I came home in tears after our teacher had told me off for being so bad at dribbling and shooting. So, He bought me a pink ‘girl power’ basketball, and we went to the outdoor court at the high school until he taught me properly how to play the game. Then I learned to enjoy it. It’s not about how many times the ball hits the rim. It’s about keeping going until ever shot is nothing but net.        God is like that. We have things in our lives that scare and overwhelm us, we try, and we fail again and again until we break down. Then we go to Jesus. (We really should go to Him before the breakdown, but we almost never do.) We tell Jesus our troubles and we cry, then He lifts us up and says, “Let’s try again. Together this time.” Because of that, we are able to go forward and learn what we did wrong the first time. He shows us how to do things. It’s amazing when He opens our minds to understanding. He will teach us, we just have to ask Him.