We are all so busy – we talk about making time… time is actually more valuable than money. Money purchases things and things do not last. But your time can be infinite. Those memories go on. So who and what you make time for is very important and extremely impactful.

Making time for your little ones goes so far. You may not see it in the immediate, but it is an investment that pays back years later.

Making time for GOD is the same. I admit when my life gets busy – I squeeze GOD in where I can. That is so sinful. AND..... GOD loves me anyway. However, what does happen is a feeling of separation. That is completely humanistic but it is a fact. In order to maintain any relationship, you must put forth time and effort into it, or else it withers.

Take and make time for your MAKER. HE appreciates it and you will be blessed!  Mathew 6:33 says this perfectly…. I am not going to put the text of that verse here. Instead, I implore you to look it up, you know… make some time to take a peek!

Have you ever heard the phrase, taking your issue to an empty well? Or perhaps you have heard that you can become an empty well if you do not fill up properly. As a mother of five kids, I have operated with an empty well often. Children, work, household responsibilities, family and friends can all deplete our wells. SO then, where does one go to “refill”. Depletion can leave one vulnerable to reaching for fill-ups in bad places. So I ask: What well do you drink from?

Does this sound familiar? It has been one of those days; your boss is yelling, the kids have projects due, you just had a disagreement with your mate, car has a flat tire, paycheck is not lasting, just lost a job, the doc called with bad news……. (you get the picture). What do you do in those circumstances? Often, I will admit, this is what it looks like for me: I scream at my husband, complain to my friends, take a sleeping pill and call it a night. I will also admit that I have used food, and have probably drank a few too many drinks in the past. THESE ARE EMPTY WELLS….. they are pits that will only lead to destruction.

Now, let’s take a look at the good “well”. The well of faith; the never ending well… the one that JESUS offers.

 In Isaiah 12:3 the bible says: “Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.” And then in John 4:14, “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up eternal life.”

We see here that JESUS offers us eternal life and salvation from HIS well. However, in Psalm 23:27 where the word exclaims: “For a harlot is a deep pit and an adulterous woman is a narrow well”

TRY THIS: Replace the words “harlot: and adulterous woman” with whatever you use as a “bad well” …. Gossiping, over-eating, drugs, drinking, short temperament – ---not so good huh?

The next time you see yourself reaching for that dried up narrow deep pit of a well, instead, PRAY to JESUS to refill you with HIM. OR if you have not accepted JESUS as your “well” – then now is a good a time as any. Go ahead, tell JESUS you want to accept HIM into your life and want to turn your life and will over to HIM who will provide the well of eternal life. I promise you that once you start going or refilling from THAT well, you WILL see a miracle occur…. What do you have to lose?  

What well do you want to drink from?

I read about GOD throughout the day; most days. I read daily meditations in hard-back form, ones sent to my email, an app on my phone and through Facebook. Overkill, perhaps but I often find that throughout the day when I am faced with the daily grind of being in this world, I usually get a message, on how to survive. I often pray that the HOLY SPIRIT fill me and allow me to understand. Sometimes, this stuff is hard reading. My bible is a children’s version and it has been a GOD send. Not only do I understand it more BUT it creates more of a desire to get into the actual WORD.

I have those days where whether it is stress, physical illness, depression, or worry when I feel disconnected from GOD. Those are really tough days. I tend to feel just “off”. However, these constant reminders in my face do help me remember that I am never – NEVER separated from GOD.

The evil one is conniving, he tends to work in our emotions because that is where much havoc can be created. As a woman (I do not mean to be sexist here) we suffer from the roller-coaster of emotions and they tend to come on strong and quickly. Now before I am stoned here, I will say this may not pertain to all women but in my experience, many women.

Your day goes along and then you find that you forgot to pay a bill, or your child is in distress, or you get horrible news about someone you care about. You get that feeling, swelling of emotion, starts in the pit of your stomach and rises up like a fire towards your neck. Your heart beats, it may knock the wind out of you and you feel like a deflated balloon. In that current moment, that is your reality. NOW HEAR THIS!

IT IS YOUR REALITY but it is NOT GOD’S reality. HE created us amazing beings to be emotional, loving, mistake-ridden, giving, selfish, beautiful and specifically and exactly who we are. Nevertheless, HE also created us because HE loves us and wants us to love HIM.

Emotions can get the best of us. Crap, I can go from happy to downtrodden in 5 seconds flat. Ironically, it takes me a lot longer to go from downtrodden back to happy. That is where I NEED to pray like I need oxygen.

In Luke 24:50-53, we see that when JESUS was done teaching the disciples after he rose from the dead, he rises into the air and disappears into heaven. BUT JESUS does not or has not EVER left us. We just “feel” that way sometimes. It is not an accurate feeling. After JESUS was taken up to the heavens, the disciples worshipped HIM and returned to spreading the gospel with great joy. Don’t you think they were probably scared? Perhaps, sad? Maybe even for a moment they felt alone?

The glory and the grace here is that we still experience this and we still have the same answer. GOD is the same today that HE was then and HE will be forever. HE IS WITH US ALWAYS!

All we have to do is take the step to reach out to HIM. So those moments when you feel overwhelmed in life and nothing is going right….. seek HIM, reach out to HIM! Arms wide open as always HE welcomes us.

Loss – it is usually not a positive word. But when speaking of the loss of someone’s life, it is probably one of the toughest words. No matter what your beliefs are, when we lose someone through death here on earth, it is heart-wrenching. For me, it is harder than thinking about my own demise. I know that one day I will leave this world. And if I am to be honest, I am scared. I have faith that GOD has a beautiful indescribable place for me; utopic and everything wonderful. BUT… I do not hate my life here. I love my family, friends and I am happy in my life. And I do thank GOD for that.

However, there are many who are not happy with life and we hear of devastating ways people try and leave before GOD wants them. Taking your own life knows nothing about wealth, or status. Destroying yourself with the tools of the devil, such as hate, drugs, and self-mutilation only knows despair. It is void of any hope. Generally, it is void of GOD. Why? Because GOD is hope.

Watching someone we love go through this is devastating. Watching someone we love who is destroying themselves  because they are  lost is agonizing!  You feel there is not much else I can do to “save” this person. And you feel that you just stand by and watch as evil instead consumes them thinking you are helpless EXCEPT for something very powerful….. PRAYER!

Sue Sikking in “A Letter to Adam” says “Prayer is not a duty or a habit, but a pouring forth of the heart in gratitude for every breath, every moment of life, every experience.”

I am grateful that I have JESUS and JESUS has me. And I do not walk alone, but I walk with GOD in prayer. And it is that that tells me there are no lost causes; there are no wastes of sharing; there are no squanders of love. Never give up! I am saved ONLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD. So by the grace of GOD, others shall come to him as well. It is by prayer and the crying out of my spirit to JESUS and never ceasing and never giving up that miracles DO OCCUR! TYJ

GOD’s will…. I want to abide by GOD’s WILL but the thought sometimes is scary. IT really requires complete and devoted faith. I have this consistent need to comprehend “why” things happen or feel sometimes, situations occur because I did something right or wrong. However, my children exclaim on many occasions “IT is not always about you, MOM!”

With JESUS it is rarely about us, it is ALL about HIM! BUT that is why HE came. HE knew we would need his blood to protect us from everything including ourselves. GOD wants and requires our love and devotion. We get the better end of the deal here: we receive blessings, promises and everlasting life. I mean “beating death” is big.

When saying “YOUR (GOD’S) WILL be done, that is exclaiming that you are truly ready to serve completely. MY intentions ARE there. But if I am to be honest, when things go bad; the doc calls with bad news, fire runs through the house and takes everything including my beloved pet of twelve years, my marriage hurts, my kids are in trouble, my money is running out before my next pay, I lose a job, or I lose someone I love – chanting “THY WILL BE DONE” is hard.

GOD is so amazing, HE already knows this. HE KNOWS!!!! It is so evident where JESUS prays on the Mount of Olives: (Luke 22:39-44) JESUS knows all along what the end will be, that HE will be murdered and mocked.

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.[a]

JESUS truly went through everything we could ever have to experience. The line that sticks out here is “and being IN anguish, he prayed more earnestly”.

That is IT FOLKS, easier said than done, sure! But when we are in our pit, our storm, our personal hell on earth, we are to pray and pray without ceasing. Cry unto HIM! We do that until we are strengthened, and that is how we abide and follow GOD’s WILL not ours.

Hard stuff- YESSERREEEEE!!!! But do-able; of course, we have a GOD who understands and will NOT leave us standing alone. It is a promise.

“JESUS, forgive me for wanting my desires before yours and each day FATHER I ask that you strengthen me so that each day that my desires become THY WILL only! Thank YOU LORD for providing me with strength, grace and everything I have FATHER and YOUR forgiveness – because you knew we would be weak without YOU and YOU provided the CROSS to pave the way. AMEN GOD, PRAISE YOU and I LOVE YOU!”