Devotionals for the Heart: God's Grace is available for all humankind

The Gift of Grace
A devotional by Angela Anderson

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

–Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)

One of the areas with which some people struggle during their Christian journey is the concept of grace. The Bible very clearly indicates that grace is a gift from God. 

This gift is available the moment we believe and receive Jesus in our hearts. It is not something that we can do for ourselves, nor can we take any credit for it. It is actually very simple, yet we tend to make it so very complicated. Perhaps many of us are accustomed to earning everything in life, and so it becomes difficult to just accept this gift.

Grace is the power of God that enables us to be free from whatever is holding us down or preventing us from moving forward in life. God wants so badly for us to experience the freedom found in His grace. Even though we do not deserve this and many of His wonderful blessings, He still covers us in grace every day of our lives.

To counteract grace, the enemy offers us disgrace. Many of us readily accept this, not even realizing just how harmful it is to our very being. Disgrace shames us into thinking that God would never love us or accept us after what we have done or what was done to us. Disgrace presents itself in so many ways including the negative self-talk that brings us down. We dislike ourselves, reject ourselves and then convince ourselves that God feels the same way about us.

But we can be sure of this one thing: The blood of Jesus Christ washes us clean from all wrong. When Jesus wraps us in His robe of righteousness and presents us faultless before the throne of God, our Heavenly Father (God) looks at us and sees His Son (Jesus) standing there in our place. Regardless of how we feel about ourselves, God still loves us and showers us with grace.

Although by ourselves we may not be worthy of God’s grace, we can still accept this gift by placing our faith in the One who freely gives it to us.

Let’s Pray: Heavenly Father, we cannot thank You enough for Your grace. Please help us to grow into an understanding of righteousness through the blood of Jesus. May we never take advantage of Your grace, but may we be grateful that grace saves us through our faith in You. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “Were It Not For Grace” by Larnelle Harris. Listen to it here.

~*~
Author Bio:

Angela Anderson was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in NJ. She found her love for writing when she was in elementary school. She continued writing through high school, college, and into adulthood.

Angela is the author of a devotional book titled, Just When I Thought I Knew God, and a children's book that is not yet published.

In 2021, Angela started writing articles for an online magazine called Christian Women Living, where she focuses on writing messages for mothers and sharing advice on parenting. In addition to this, Angela wrote a devotional that is featured in a book published by Proverbs 31 Ministries. The book title is Hope When Your Heart is Heavy.

Angela has a passion for inspiring and impacting others through her writing as well as speaking. She is the co-founder of Anchor Moms, a ministry to cure loneliness in Motherhood. Currently, this ministry meets via a group on Facebook.

Angela has been married to the love of her life, Duane Anderson, for 17 years. Together, they have two sons: Thomas (age 9) and Ryan (age 4). Angela’s favorite pastime is journaling, and she also enjoys spending quality time with her family. Her personal mission is to empower others to achieve their goals and dreams.

~*~
Connect with Angela:
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/angela.thomasanderson
Facebook fan page for her devotional book, Just When I Thought I Knew God:
https://www.facebook.com/jwitikg/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelanderson1104/

Devotionals for the Heart: When God helps you to bless someone in need

A Mother’s Day Blessing
A devotional by Angela Anderson

“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.”

–Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

My husband was on his way to go shopping for me because Mother’s Day was approaching.

Although he was not certain of what he would purchase, he knew what stores he wanted to visit in his quest for the perfect gift. As he was traveling down the road in his car, he realized that he did not have as much time as he thought—he would soon have to return home. Nonetheless, he felt the urge to visit a particular store that was not on his original list of locations to shop.

Once he was in the store, he started aimlessly walking through the aisles. In less than five minutes, he heard a quiet voice behind him: “Excuse me, Sir.”

He turned around and saw a lady standing in the middle of the aisle. As she approached my husband, he noticed that the lady had a robe and a pair of slippers in her hands. The lady started telling my husband about her mother who was now in a nursing home. The lady wanted to give the robe and slippers to her mother for Mother’s Day, but she did not have any money to purchase the items. She asked, “Can you please buy this robe and slippers for my mother?” My husband accepted the request. He walked with the lady to the register and paid for the gifts.

As my husband left the store empty-handed, he thought for a moment about what had just happened. He was not planning to go to that store. A matter of fact, he did not buy anything that he was looking for from that store. He also noticed that there were quite a few people in that store, even before he arrived. He was only there for about two minutes when the lady approached him and asked him to buy the gifts for her mother. He then knew that he was in that store for that purpose. Perhaps the lady had prayed, asking God to provide a way for her to give her mother a gift for Mother’s Day, especially now that her mother was in a nursing home. My husband was part of God’s plan of provision for the lady.

There are times in our lives when we may make plans, but God is the One who already has the agenda. We may not know why things happen in our lives, or why people come and go, but one thing is for sure: There is no such thing as a coincidence in the life of a Christian. Once you give God control of your life, that means you are willing to follow His plan for your life. Even when the plan does not seem to make sense, just trust that God is ordering your steps.

Let’s Pray: Dear God, we are so thankful for You! We acknowledge and thank You for Your presence in our lives. Open our hearts and our minds to receive Your Word and obey Your will. Help us to make ourselves available to be used in Your service. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

~*~
Note from Alexis: Angela’s devotional message reminds me of the song “Your Steps Are Ordered” by Fred Hammond. Listen to it here.

~*~
Author Bio:

Angela Anderson was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in NJ. She found her love for writing when she was in elementary school. She continued writing through high school, college, and into adulthood.

Angela is the author of a devotional book titled, Just When I Thought I Knew God, and a children's book that is not yet published.

In 2021, Angela started writing articles for an online magazine called Christian Women Living, where she focuses on writing messages for mothers and sharing advice on parenting. In addition to this, Angela wrote a devotional that is featured in a book published by Proverbs 31 Ministries. The book title is Hope When Your Heart is Heavy.

Angela has a passion for inspiring and impacting others through her writing as well as speaking. She is the co-founder of Anchor Moms, a ministry to cure loneliness in Motherhood. Currently, this ministry meets via a group on Facebook.

Angela has been married to the love of her life, Duane Anderson, for 17 years. Together, they have two sons: Thomas (age 9) and Ryan (age 4). Angela’s favorite pastime is journaling, and she also enjoys spending quality time with her family. Her personal mission is to empower others to achieve their goals and dreams.

~*~
Connect with Angela:
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/angela.thomasanderson
Facebook fan page for her devotional book, Just When I Thought I Knew God:
https://www.facebook.com/jwitikg/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelanderson1104/

My Blog turns 10 this August 2020! You are invited to the celebration!

 

Dear Blog Friends,

My blogging journey on "God is Love" began when I published my first post on August 2, 2010. I shared a song "I Still Want You" performed by Tramaine Hawkins.

Holley Gerth, one of my favorite writers who used to work for DaySpring Cards (company), was the first and only reader to comment on my first blog post! She made my day!

Since then, I've discovered my "voice" as a blogger and God connected me with wonderful people who now provide most of the content for my blog through guest posts, stories and author interviews.

Over the years, many of my guest bloggers have become good friends. And you (my blog readers) have also become special to my heart. I hope that my "God is Love" blog has been and will continue to be a blessing for your heart.

Now that my blog is turning 10 years old in only two days, I'd like for you to help me celebrate this amazing milestone!

My author friends who have been guests on my blog over these past ten years, have graciously agreed to help me celebrate my blog's birthday! They want to celebrate this milestone by giving away some of their beautiful books!

Every day in August 2020, there will be a book giveaway contest that you can enter via Rafflecopter. One of my author friends will be featured each day here on my blog. All of the info you need to know about their book(s) that they're giving away will be in the daily blog posts this August.

This grand giveaway event starts on August 1 and will end on August 31. The winners of each book giveaway contest will be announced on my blog by September 2, 2020 and they will be connected with the authors via email so that the authors may send their book(s) to the winners.

I say "book(s)" because some of my author friends have offered to give away more than one book! One of my author friends has agreed to give away 10 e-books! Other authors have agreed to give away at least one, signed paperback copy.

I am SO excited to celebrate my blog's 10th birthday! I hope you are too.

May God bless you and keep you!

Love,

Alexis A. Goring, MFA
Founder of "God is Love" blog

True Love Stories: Worth the Wait

A common scene in Christian circles is the scenario where a single Christian lady is approached by a wife-seeking Christian male who declares, "GOD told ME that YOU are my WIFE!"

Depending on the person, such a comment can make you or break you. If you've been praying to God for Him to send a spouse to you and a guy at church tells you this "news," you may or may not be happy to hear it. If you like him you're elated but if you don't like the man you're deflated. 

Luckily, if you have a good relationship with God--one where you are spending devotional time with Him in prayer and are living for Him every day--then you know His voice. God will give you wisdom to tell the difference between a man who's pursuing you from His heart vs. a man who wants you for the wrong reasons. So then you're not troubled by this common scenario because as they say when you "know" you "just know" who the person is that God has called you to spend the rest of your life with on this Earth. So clearly you can tell the counterfeit mate from the genuine, God-sent match for you to marry. 

Such is the case with the married couple in today's featured true love story. Natasha and Mario sought God before they sought each other. They knew the importance of being a complete person in their walk with the Lord and they embraced the practice of praying for their future spouse even before they met. So when God worked through a church lady named Karen to bring Natasha and Mario together, they "just knew" the timing was right.

Read the rest of this wonderful couple's true love story and be encouraged as they share their journey. 

~*~
Worth the Wait
Natasha Broussard’s true love story

“Three years and seven months ago, Mario placed receiving a wife on the altar to God. It was the exact same time that I started praying for God to send me my husband…and approximately one week later, Mario and I met. Seven months later, we were married. God is and will always be our foundation!” 

~Mrs. Natasha Broussard

About four years ago, Mario was asked to record a devotional thought for his home church in Columbus, Ohio. After the recording, one of the church members (Karen) asked Mario if he was single, and stated that she had a single friend. She asked Mario to look at pictures of me on Facebook to see if he would at least be interested in giving me a call. Smiling at my pictures, he promised Karen that he would send me a message, in hopes of meeting me one day.

On Friday June 10 2010, I received this message from Mario:

“Hello! It was a pleasure hearing about you from Karen. Her description of you was intriguing, so I decided that I wanted to (at the very least) be associated with such a great person. Hope to hear from you.”

I wrote Mario back that same day because I, too, was intrigued. However, two weeks went by without a response from him. I had even went out on a limb and left him my number in the message.

One day while talking to Karen, she asked me if I had heard from Mario. I told her only once, and she suggested that if I ever saw him online, to just start a conversation and see if it lead anywhere. Although hesitant, one night I did see him online and we ended up “chatting” via Facebook for hours.

Circumstances kept us from talking on the phone that evening, but he called me the next afternoon. Not far into the conversation I said “God is going to do some amazing things with you – He has so much planned for you!” Mind you, I am saying this to a man who was nowhere near where he wanted to be in his life, so he laughed at me. But I felt the Holy Spirit when I spoke to Mario, and we had not even met face-to-face yet. We talked until I had to go to class that evening, and decided to meet each other the next day.

Mario met me at my apartment and all we could do was smile; it was such a sweet moment. Again, we spent hours talking. The next day, God told me that Mario was my husband. I had spent years praying and waiting for this, so it was almost hard to believe that my husband was finally here! But I did not tell Mario what God told me – I waited for him to hear it for himself. 

We saw each other almost every day after our first date, and soon after, we started dating officially. One afternoon we were at the State Fair, and Mario received a phone call that there was a position for him to take in Maryland. I was confused because I knew God had told me he was my husband, but now we found out that he would be moving 325 miles away!

Despite selfish disappointment, we were both excited for Mario’s transition, because this was a door that God opened. We stuffed his car with his belongings, and drove from Ohio to Maryland. Only a few hours after arriving, I had to catch a plane back to Ohio. Mario dropped me off at the airport, and we embraced each other, trying to hold back tears.

We spoke every day, making the best of our long distance relationship. About a month after Mario moved to Maryland, he called me and said “God told me that you are my wife!” The holidays were approaching and Mario came back to Ohio for winter break.

On January 3, 2011 Mario got on one knee, and held a sign that said, “Natasha, will you marry me?” I believe my response included approximately twenty YES’s! We knew we were supposed to be together and wanted to wed soon, despite being long distance, so we set a date. Soon after, I received a phone call that I was chosen for a job in Bethesda, Md. and that they wanted me to start one week after our set wedding date–this was confirmation from the Lord!

So on February 20, 2011 Mario and I married in Takoma Park, Md. 

Everything fell into place perfectly, because we let God take control. After the proposal, amazing friends paid for our wedding insisting that they wanted to be a part of our journey! We even received the Presidential Suite at a beautiful hotel in Washington, D.C. practically free of charge, for three nights after the wedding.

Mario and I want our story to be a testament to the fact that future spouses are worth the wait, and current spouses are worth the fight. The Lord gave us a series of confirmations throughout our journey, leading us to the altar together, which reassures us during our tough times. Although it has only been three years, we remain in the “honeymoon phase".

I hope that in thirty years, you will see that we have never left this spot!

~*~

Author bio: Mrs. Natasha Broussard graduated from Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio where she earned a Master of Science in Business Administration. She also has a bachelor’s degree in Management, with a minor in Accounting. 

Directly after high school, Natasha served in the U.S. Army for four years as a Unit Supply Specialist. Her duty assignments after training included Ft. Polk, La. and Yongsan, South Korea. After returning back to her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, she began working for the Defense Logistics Agency as an Inventory Management Specialist which was her position prior to moving to the Maryland area. 

Currently, Natasha works as the Branch Financial Manager for the Nuclear Weapons Surety Division located in Washington, D.C. Her short term goals include becoming a Certified Financial Planner, and owning her own agency to help others understand and manage their finances to a greater degree. 

Natasha and her husband of three years live in Silver Spring, Md. They enjoy outdoor activities and traveling.