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Proverbs 24:16
New Living Translation

The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.
But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.

Good morning to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you.

Today looks to be a potentially soggy day again. I checked the weather on my phone and it was a muddy puddle. This brings me to my funny story for you today.

Yesterday, my husband and I had a meeting with our VA lawyer in a new town. Because of all the storms and flooding issues, the crowd was much smaller. We actually got to ask a couple of questions when we sat down with him. We did not feel rushed. As good as that was, it was not the highlight of the trip. While waiting for our turn, we met some new friends. Two of which just happened to be authors. One of which just happens to run a podcast. Hmmm. Any thoughts on why we went to ‘this’ meeting with the lawyer and not the meeting place? I wonder if Someone knew who we were going to meet.

One of these two individuals’ spouses has memory issues. The other is applying for their survivor’s benefits with the lawyer’s help. I wonder Who designed this meeting?

Since I have been retired, I have been hyper-focused on making sure that I take care of my husband and keep his medical stuff straight and on track. I have been hyper-focused on keeping our lives as smooth as possible. So hyper-focused that when my littles from across the pond arrived, I was not the fun American grandma. I was grumpy grandma. That changed yesterday.

On our way home from the lawyer, I was thinking about all this rain, the flooding, and then I thought about the muddy puddles in my yard. I decided on the way home that we were going to play in the muddy puddles. God gave them to us, why not play in them? So, when I got home, I changed into shorts, kicked off my shoes, and challenged the grandkids to a splash fest. I do not know how long we played, but we all needed showers when it was over with … and that is after washing off with the garden hose. I even got the other grandma to play in the muddy puddle. We all were muddy puddle winners.

Too often, the enemy gets grown-ups to think they have to be adults all the time. When in fact, Jesus tells us that we are to come to Him as children. In all these storms, there have been ugly skies, so dancing in the rain has not been possible … however … splashing in the muddy puddles … well now, that is an awesome stress reliever.

Today is His day. Today we are going to his house to worship him, whether in a church or a prayer closet. Today we are going to thank Him for his blessings and for the trials. Today, we give God the glory and enter His presence as children. Will you join me on the heavenly playground of muddy puddles?

Be blessed.

**And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:3-4

Friends & Neighbors
As you start this new week > just know >
whatever or whoever ole devil puts in your
path to try and trip you up> you can TRUST
JESUS to help you overcome it .
Sadly we are living in a time where you we
just don’t know who to trust or what to believe.
Just about every issue we have to deal with on
a daily basis > we have to evaluate honesty
against deception > especially with everyone
using A-I as a tool to knowingly deceive us .
So - Who are you going to trust
To determine who you should trust > ask
yourself questions like these:
Who always has your best interest in mind
What’s in it for them
Who wants to see you succeed
If you’re going to entrust your life and your
future to someone or something > you better
choose someone who has your best interest at
heart - knows everything - will never lie to you
and perfect in every way.
Hmmm - that pretty much limits your options
to ><> JESUS !
No one else is ever going to always tell you the
truth like JESUS will. They’re likely going to
shade it- filter it and make it sound so nice it’s
hard not to believe. They may even tell you
exactly what you want to hear.
But will it be the truth
Well-thats exactly what you’ll get from JESUS !
Psalm 33:4 says,
“For the word of the LORD holds true, and we
can trust everything He does”
GOD said it - and that settles it !
The LORD isn’t waiting on your opinion to
figure out what’s right and what’s wrong.
If GOD says it ><> My friend It Is The Truth !
Each day voices all around you are trying to
get you to trust them. But there’s only one
voice you can trust that will always have your
best in mind. Trust JESUS for your present
and your future. He will never let you down !

I’m lifting you/yours up to Father GOD to have
a good-safe-healthy-productive-prosperous
week full of peace and joy. I pray He favors you
with wisdom to spot deception and overcome
anything or anyone ole devil puts in your path.
We ask it > We believe for it and by faith >
We claim it ><> in JESUS CHRIST Mighty Name
Amen

Keep trusting JESUS and every chance you get>
tell folks that don’t Him what and where they
are missing out on .
GOD Bless !!

Chaplain David Baker
Saddle Up Ministries

Good morning to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been cleaning my house to prepare for my littles from across the pond. Taking on one room at a time. I am a slob by nature, but when I clean … I clean. This round is not as deep as I have done, but I am happy with it. For those worried that the pod people have taken me over … my office is still a four-train trainwreck. Tomorrow is the day I get my first round of hugs.

When I am cleaning, I like to turn on the music loud and just keep moving. The tempo and mood set by the music keeps me focused and on task. Also, while I clean, I do a lot of thinking. Different things will catch my eye and I will end up on a trip down memory lane. During this clean, I found myself getting very short-tempered. My husband would offer to help and I would cut him off with a sharp response. He had done nothing to deserve that tone, but I was so focused on the task and whatever memory was running through my head that he did not have a chance for civility. When I get hyper-focused, I get mean. One of many areas that I must work on with His help.

Sometimes I wonder if my temperament in those cleaning times is a reflection of how many times I felt dismissed by my dad when I was little. It is a far reach, I know; however, that is the only logical conclusion that I can muster inside my little brain. That I was always trying to prove myself strong and capable of anything a boy could do to him, that I still am.

So, before I go on, know this … I have no ‘trauma’ from the way my dad raised me. I loved him. I disagreed with him a lot, but I never stopped loving him. Because of him, his old-fashioned ways, his desire to protect his first little girl … he formed me into the person that I am today. Independent. Strong. Loving. Fun-loving. Caring. Dependable. My dad was not a perfect man, but he was the perfect one for me.

In this day and age of seeking past problems to account for current actions, is overshadowing personal responsibility. My dad was a strong man with strong views. There was never any doubt what he felt was right or wrong. He raised me to be the same way. The enemy wants us to live in the past so that we cannot see the beautiful future.

Yes, there is trauma that needs help working through and you never really ‘leave’ it behind; however … at some point, we must make the choice to make it a part of our story … not just our story. At some point, we need to lay it at the feet of Jesus and see the beauty that we can bring into the new beginnings because that trauma has helped form us into who we are. A child of God. We were chosen to live in that time to be able to witness to those are currently living it and show them the Light. That the trauma does not always win. That the past is just that … the past. That Victory is ours for the claiming.

How do we do that? First, we surrender to Christ. Truly surrender. Giving Him our day from the get-go all the way through to the end. Any past trauma triggers that arise, we give to Him. WE do not act on them; we lay them at his feet. We forgive instantly the person who created this trigger. And we take this as a learning moment that we need Him more than ever to guide us. It is not always easy, but it is doable. The enemy would have us live in the past and be untrusting or untrustworthy, but the Spirit wants us to see the beauty that is before us. We do that by accepting that the past is the past and we are not staying there.

Today we focus on His Light. No matter what trigger arises. Today we lay it all at His feet. Today we start anew with Victory in our hearts. Today is a new day.

Be blessed.

**There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to mourn and a time to dance. – Ecclesiastes3:1,3,4b

The boardwalk is my place. My girls love it. I take them every summer. this last trip I explained to them why I go there so often and most times alone. its my silent time with God. No music in my ear. Just His creation. Time with him in this place saved me in my darkest moments.

IN CHRIST, YOU HAVE PEACE

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33 KJV

Beloved, as Jesus prepared to go to the Cross, He assured His disciples that in Him, they would have peace. The word ‘peace’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘Shalom,’ which signifies completeness, nothing broken, nothing missing. In Him, we have that perfect peace! Jesus is free from sickness, poverty, and sin; therefore, you too are free from them.

The world is full of tribulation, yet in Christ, you have peace. So, do not fear or be anxious. Be of good cheer, for Jesus has already taken care of it all. He has stripped the world of its power to harm you. The enemy may bring challenges against your life, but Jesus lifts you up and protects you.

The Bible declares in 1 John 5:4: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” As a child of God, you are a world overcomer. The systems and struggles of the world are already under your feet. Do not allow the world to intimidate or discourage you. In Christ, you are above every worldly system because you are born of God.

The enemy cannot trip you. Sin cannot dominate your life because you know who you are. You cannot fail, and you cannot be overtaken by sickness, for the seed of God resides in you. The seed of God and sin cannot coexist. The seed of God and failure cannot coexist. The seed of God and sickness cannot coexist.

You carry the seed of God in you. The evil one cannot touch you. In all things, you are more than a conqueror. In Him, you have peace. You will not die; you will live and prosper in the fullness of His victory.

Further Reading: John 16:20-33, Isaiah 26:3.

thank Godbfor all the travel mercies. now back with family.praising God for the Blessed Ireland Scotland England trip.thank you all for prayers

thank Godbfor all the travel mercies. now back with family.praising God for the Blessed Ireland Scotland England trip.thank you all for prayers

Being utterly alone in a walk no one can understand or see is grueling and every step takes everything you have to not cave into the pit that the fallen are trying hard to trip you into and manipulate you into. The mental anguish is heavy. The blanketed weight is so hard to even drag around. In these present times, you can be surrounded by folk who pride themselves on the appearance of "Christianity" but void of the character markings of Jesus Christ. Recognition and Popularity are the sign of the times and the deep rooted egoism is only branching out. God, save me from myself. I beg of your divine ax to lay its blade to root or shaft that is within me and would cause me to stumble and blind myself so much so that would lead my direction into darkness and blind my spiritual eyes to not even see that I'm doing so. Lay your ax to the root of any sliver of self righteousness or such low self esteem that jealousy would give way to a door that the evil ones use to divide but let me understand the difference between pride and your authority within me. Let me be kind to others even if they are mean, ugly and rude especially, the ones calling themselves followers of your word. Let me rise up again and walk with your name saturated in my entire existence. Amen