FAKE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--FAKE

Five minutes to free write about it

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Fake plants and flowers look so real these days I often have to go over and feel the leaves to try and determine whether they are or not. 

To add to the illusion, some flowers (like my white roses in the picture) even come in vases that appear to have water in them.

There seems to be no limit to the incredibly real looking fake things advances in technology have made possible. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's not.

Items such as faux furs and imitation jewelry, for example, can be a delightful blessing to people who are unable to afford the real thing, but what a shocking nightmare they could turn out to be for those who spend a small fortune for what they think is genuine, only to discover down the road that they have been duped.

In our world today there are many intangible fakes as well, such as fake news, fake IDs, cyber hijackers who fake their way into computer systems to gain control, and con artists who phish the vulnerable by sending them fake messages or emails made to look like they're from a reputable source in order to get them to reveal personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers.

I'm basically a trusting person, and don't like having to always be on my guard, but I guess that's part of living in a fallen world and being in the midst of a spiritual battle  for control of our minds.

I am so grateful that God is in control and that He is always faithful and true. I am grateful that He can be trusted one hundred percent of the time, and that He has not left us helpless or hopeless. I am grateful for the spiritual weapons of warfare He has given us to fight with, and for the instructions and admonitions in His Book. Most of all, I am so grateful that He loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ, His only Son, to die on the cross for us so that we could be forgiven of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16).

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Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. -- 1 Peter 5:8, NLT

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. -- Ephesians 6:12, NLT

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. -- 2 Corinthians 10:4, ESV

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. -- John 10:10, NLT

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. -- James 4:7, ESV

These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. -- 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, NLT

For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones. Then if anyone tells you, "Look, here is the Messiah," or "There he is," don't believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. -- Matthew 21-25, NL

AN EVERGREEN THAT ISN'T

This is something I meant to write about in the fall when the colors were at their peak, and I came across this golden beauty that I thought was a pine tree, except that pine trees don't change colors in the fall.

Blog friend, @Mari, commented that she thought it was a larch tree. Jake's Nature Blog (which I found on Google) confirmed this to be true.

Larch trees are evergreens that change color in the fall and shed their needles (sounds like an oxymoron to me, haha). They are the only conifer trees that are deciduous. Another distinguishing feature is that they have a very thick bark that helps protect them from fire.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Did you know that you were not a mistake? 


• Did you know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and that the Lord determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live?


• Did you know that you are a Divine, one-of-a-kind, original, created for a special purpose no one else can fulfill?


• Did you know that you are God's treasured possession and that He loves you with an everlasting love?


• Did you know that His love for you is so great that even if you were the only person on this earth, He still would have sent Jesus to die for you so that you could be forgiven of your sins and reconciled to Him?


• Did you know?



(For Scripture references click here to read The Father's Love Letter). 

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This is a copy of an old post from 2010 that I came across when I searched my blog to see if I had used the title before. Maybe it's something someone needed to hear or be reminded of today?

DOUBT

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--DOUBT

Five minutes to free write about it

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This week's prompt is most timely. As is Rishie's post, Reflecting on Doubt (FMF #2), in which she wrote a simple, but beautiful poem that depicts the struggle I've been going through in a way I was unable to find the right words to express myself.

Why I have these doubts, I do not know. No matter my challenges, no matter the hurts, God has always had my back. He has always been faithful and trustworthy. The one person I could always depend on, and who has never ever let me down. So why do I doubt?

Our church starts every year with 21 days of prayer and fasting. This year the theme is "Our Father." Each week focuses on a different aspect of our relationship with our heavenly Father. This week's was on hearing God's voice. 

After listening to one of the live daily devotionals, I felt led to take the book, Experiencing God, out of my bookshelf and go through it again. It's a study I've done many times in the past and, to be honest, I really didn't want to do it again, but then, reluctantly, I obeyed.

In a nutshell, for anyone not familiar with the course, it's about how God is always at work around us and He invites us to become involved with Him in His work. But rather than tell us what He wants us to do and have us go off and do it ourselves, He wants us to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him and allow Him to mold us and shape us into instruments of His choosing so He can accomplish His work through us. Then, as we obey Him and see how He accomplishes His work through us, we come to know Him and experience Him in an even deeper and more meaningful way.

The section I was reading today said that when God is about to do something through you, He has to get you from where you are to where He is,  Flipping through an old notebook I found in the book, it was most discouraging to note that the two major things in my life that I knew could not be accomplished unless God intervened back then in 2014, were the same two issues that I'm dealing with today. 

That led to many more doubts as I pondered why nothing had changed, and what, if anything, God was preparing me for, and why He wanted me to do this study yet again. But then God's ways are not our ways, and His timing is not our time. Like it says in Psalm 90:4, to God a thousand years are as a passing day or as a few night hours would be to us. 

Finally, I'm not sure what this has to do with anything, but maybe this Scripture that's been running through my head is God trying to tell me something?  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast in His presence. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29, BSB).'

RECEIVE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--RECEIVE

Five minutes to free write about it

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At first I drew a blank, but thoughts of all the many blessings I've received quickly flooded my mind after reading these words in one of my devotionals: Are you having a bad day? I mean, a really bad day? Are you ready for the rain to stop pouring down on your parade? Look up!

From the breathtaking sunrises I can see from my window, to miraculous provision when there seems to be no way, the gifts I receive every single day are innumerable. Not to mention the ones so often taken for granted such as being able to see, hear, walk, talk and breathe. All have been freely given, as has the greatest gift of all--the gift of salvation through the death of Jesus on the cross. 

Eugene Peterson wrote, "Christian consciousness begins in the powerful realization that what we had assumed was the truth is in fact a lie." This rings so true for me. I think of how grateful I am that God did not leave me where I was, convinced that I had all the answers and that the lie I believed in was the truth. He came to my rescue by way of an improbable journey I documented in my memoir Sincerely Wrong. I am thankful beyond words that I received this gift instead of turning it away.

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -- John 3:16, NIV

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. -- Revelation 3:20, ESV