Category Archives: self care

Leaving 2025 Behind — All Things New!

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““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus always makes all things new! What was dead always comes to life at the sound of His beautiful voice!

Today marks the last day of 2025. A New Year is a time of eager expectation of a new beginning. However, we do not have to experience newness just once a year! We can live our lives with each new morning as a new beginning as we pursue a relationship with God!

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

In Jesus, our past is complete. Whatever happened there can be forgiven, restored, and healed. In Jesus, our present is full and alive. He never leaves us alone or forsakes us. He fills each moment with Himself— the true and abundant LIFE. In Jesus, our future is secure! We have nothing to fear of what is to come!

In Jesus, we can forget the troubling, former things of 2025. We don’t have to dwell in the could have’s, should have’s, would have’s… God is more than willing to do a new thing when we surrender our lives to Him! He has a way of turning things around. What was a dry deserted land inside of our spiritual hearts becomes a beautiful oasis with His living water flowing strong! Whatever was a wasteland and a total loss becomes NEW!

Walk with Jesus every moment of 2026 in the present! Spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer. Then on December 31, 2026 you will be amazed to see all the transformation (making all things new) He has done!

Leave 2025 in the past! Jesus is ever present in our now, and the hope (confident expectation) of what is to come!

A Happy New Year is found in Jesus alone!

James: I Am The Problem…

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(This week we are reading James 4)

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Self focus is deadly!!! It produces fights and quarrels with others. It leads us to atrocious sins.

The self focused person wants what they want when and how they want it. Their theme is “it’s all about me…” But when we live our lives focused on us and our desires, we cannot receive from God. That is because our motives are wrong. Our desires are set on getting what we want — our pleasures.

If our lives lack peace and God feels distant, there is one phrase that will describe the root of what is going on. It is worthy of saying it out loud so understanding can come. “ I am the problem…” I need to get my eyes off of me and onto God who holds everything I need.

Life is not about me at all. It is all about Him!!! If my desires are set on Him, if I ask God for His provision from a heart that is surrendered to Him entirely, totally, and completely, if my life is all about God, I will dwell in God. His peace, joy, and love will fill my life.

“I am the problem” can be changed to “Jesus is the answer.” He is to be our lives. That is the only way to live as we were created to be.

New Beginnings in the Book of Acts — Too Good to Not Believe!

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“They said to her, “You are out of your mind.”” Acts 12:18 ESV

Today is Acts 12.

Things were looking pretty bleak… Herod the king, had James the brother of John, killed. He was one of the 12 disciples that followed Jesus during His earthly ministry. He was Peter’s friend. Then Herod decided to arrest Peter too. BUT, “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”  (Verse 9)

Four squads of soldiers, chains, and the iron gates of the city are no match for God. An angel sent by God came to Peter and led him out of the prison and into the city. It was so incredible that Peter thought it was just a vision he was seeing until the angel left him, and he stood free in a street of a city.

When Peter arrived at Mary’s house, the servant girl who went to the door to answer his knocking was amazed and left him there outside. She reported the miracle to those inside, and they said, “You are out of our mind.”

God is a God of miracles! These miracles are “mind blowing”!  People who hear them may have a hard time believing that what has happened is true or could even occur. I have seen “mind blowing” miracles in my own life. God still works wonders that the world would tell you are impossible. For me, a woman held in the chains of a prison of anxiety — meds,  secular therapy, eastern meditation apps, mindfulness, you name it… I’ve probably tried it… has seen the chains drop off, walked passed the guards, and am standing totally free! Some may say, “you are out of your mind.” Because it doesn’t match the pattern of the world.  A person in prison should stay there… But God!

Earnest prayer was made on Peter’s behalf, and God answered! God is still the same! He answers prayer!

He is too good to not believe!

 

The Bible Book of the Month Club The Gospel of Mark — Mark 9:30-50

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Today is Mark 9:30-50 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

We are born selfish. Our tendency is to figure out how to put our thoughts, our desires, and our feelings first. Our world tells us to “live our own truth”, “follow our hearts”, and “chase our dreams.” The disciples exhibited this selfish nature as they walked along the road arguing with each other over who was the greatest.

Jesus told His disciples the way to greatness in His kingdom. “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” The nature of a servant is to serve and to give up their selfish ambitions in order to please their master.

Life is not about the positions we attain, but the pursuit of Jesus. His Lordship means we give up ourselves, listen to His Word and obey it fully. We serve Him and those whom He puts in our path to serve. This is greatness in His Kingdom!

What is God showing you? Post it below 👇 👇👇

(Tomorrow’s reading is Mark 10:1-31)

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 5:21-43

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Today is Mark 5:21-43 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

“She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭5‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Desperation! A woman who had suffered much from a bleeding issue pressed through a crowd. She had hope that somehow she would come into contact with the Jesus she had heard about. She knew if she could just “touch his clothes” she would be healed.

What impresses me about this account is that she had tried everything to be better and had only grown worse. I can relate to that. One time I tried to calculate the amount of money I spent trying to fix myself and the anxiety that I suffered with: professional counseling, meds, self help books I purchased, subscriptions to Headspace — eastern meditation app, gas to drive to the counseling sessions, over $700 on a workshop that offered a cure (15 years ago I haven’t checked its price now), coloring books to distract me from my anxious thoughts, the list could go on… AND what I was suffering with did not get better. It grew worse.

All I really needed was just reach out to Jesus. He had paid the price for me to be free long ago on the cross. When I finally came to an end of myself and my ways and I came to Him, I was healed.

What is it that needs a miraculous touch in your life? Jesus has power flowing out of Him that can free you from your suffering. Come to Him in faith believing He can!

What is God showing you today in our reading? Share it below 👇 👇👇

(Tomorrow we read Mark 6:1-29)

The Problem…

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“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sin is an uncomfortable topic in our modern world. Many have come to believe that we are beyond that concept. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions cannot be the problem. The problem is the environment we have lived, the people we have interacted with and the situations that have made us. Victims… we are just victims floating aimlessly in a torrent of occurrences that have shaped who we have become. In order to experience differently we must make ourselves what we want to be, chasing what we want, when and how we want it. However, this way of thinking only digs a deeper and deeper hole for the individual who embraces them. Why? It is a complete denial of the truth written in God’s word. It is pursuit of a way outside of relationship with the only one who holds the cure for the death, darkness, and destruction in our lives…Jesus.

We are not self made, and the solution for all the “negative emotions” we feel within ourselves is not found within ourselves. We have a Creator. This Creator designed us for connection to Him in a deep and intimate relationship. When we live our lives separated from this design, we experience lives far from what He created us for. Our Creator is good, loving, kind, peaceful, true, just, etc. He is the only source of these characteristics. So our disconnection from Him means that we live disconnected from all that He is. Apart from God there is no good thing. (Psalm 16:2)

The question then becomes, if separation from my Creator is what is bringing all the anger, anxiety, hatred, bitterness, fear, control issues, etc., WHY am I separated from Him? Who separated me from the source of life I desperately need? The answer is you and I. Our deliberate choice to sin has separated us. We are sinners.

The good news is as we come to terms with what we are is there is a solution for what separates us from the peace, joy, love, faithfulness, self- control, etc. that we all need. It is a solution that is far more simple than our repeated attempts of “self- help” techniques. Because quite truthfully, we cannot help ourselves. We cannot fix what is wrong inside of us. This is only fixed by the one who created us, God.

God has provided the solution to the sin that destroys us, Jesus. Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection provided the way. As we come to Him in repentance, asking Him to cleanse us from the sin we have in our heart. He begins a good work within us. He gives us a new heart that is inclined to live in a relationship pursing Him. As we see it is our choice to sin and to pursue ourselves over God that is separating us from living a life of abundance, we have come to a place we can accept the Good News!

The problem — our iniquity and sin. The solution — repentance and surrender to Jesus!

“Jesus Have It All”

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Today is a very special day for me. After many years of being held captive by anxiety and trying many things to get free, God heard my cry for freedom and set me free. After 6 years on anxiety meds, I no longer needed them. Two years ago on this date was my first day of freedom from taking both Prozac and Buspar.

God has worked a change in my life, and for those of you who know me, it may be a bit of a surprise for me to tell you this. Because I have always been active in church and made it no secret that I believed in Jesus. In fact, I have thought throughout my adult years that I was living my life surrendered to God. The truth is In some ways I was, but in many ways I was not.
‘Make no mistake, God wants all of us.

About 5 months prior to taking my last anxiety pill I was at a revival service at my church with Pastor Denbow speaking (October 2021). He was speaking about “syncretism”- trying to mix the gospel with the worlds ways. In that service I realized that I had been trying to mix secular humanist thought and practices, as well as the widely accepted practice of eastern meditation, with the Bible. That does not work! In my love for God, He does not want to compete with me having other “spiritual” lovers — my ways or the worlds. He wants all of me, all of my heart— entirely, totally, and completely given up to Him. This is Teachings that the Bible Study group WOW has helped me to come to understand better and better through the past few years. (God has used WOW tremendously in my life to help me walk in freedom)

At that revival 2 1/2 years ago, I went to the front and repented for the sin I had held in my heart, and told God He could have all of me. On a morning, shortly after that I went to my pill box and heard the Holy Spirit tell me “that is not your inheritance.” I quit one medicine instantly. The other one I weaned off and took my last pill almost 5 months later.

Two years later to this day, I am free! The change in me since that time has been huge. So much so that I have told my friends, “I feel like I have been born again…again.”

Friday night I was talking to my husband, his brother, and my sister in law about this change. I said it almost makes you think about getting baptized again. I didn’t think I needed to since I was baptized as a teenager.
Saturday morning I woke up with the desire to be baptized burning within my heart.

So tonight, I am going to be baptized. I want to publicly declare that I have been changed by Jesus and His power alone. I want to do whatever He tells me to do. Because He is life. And I do not want my way of doing things ever again. They have died. I am raised to new life.

Jesus have it all!

Slave to Sin… Caught in Anxieties Grip — WOW Devotion February 29, 2024

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“I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”  
Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

For several years, I lived my life subjected to the cruel taskmaster of anxiety. It ruled over my life. Anxiety dictated my daily routine: Get out of bed. Take your first anxiety pill of the day: Do your daily exercise of Eastern Meditation on Headspace. Now start your day. Throughout the day anxiety would exercise its control over my feelings and emotions. Time to do breathing techniques, practice mindfulness, engage in the 5,4,3,2,1 method, then repeat. Often, I could not shake the feelings of a tight throat and a tight chest. Then it was time for my evening anxiety pill. I crawled into bed. I hoped for a night free of an anxious awakening at 2 am, lying awake for hours, and experiencing what I did in the day. This scenario was repeated day after day, night after night. I was a slave to my sin of anxiety. I was subject to its control, and it was producing death, darkness, and destruction inside of me.

Our verses this week are once again about holiness. This holiness is a benefit as we live our lives as “slaves to righteousness.” It is a life of freedom from sin as we live our lives set apart for His sacred use – a life of love, faith, holiness, and prayer. In this life, we are “slaves to God,” under His control and His rule. This submission to Him is always for our benefit, because He is a good Lord and Master. Being His slave results in more than holiness. Through it we experience “eternal life.”

Three years ago, I learned that we were created to serve someone. The words of this verse were proved true in my life. I came to understand that I had a choice. I could continue to “offer the parts of my body in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness” that the sin of anxiety was producing, or I could become a “slave to God.” I would either serve an evil master of sin or our loving and Holy God. I could not serve them both. I had to choose. This is the truth for each and every one of us. To not choose God is to choose the enemy.

God is holy. He is perfectly and impeccably pure, completely immaculate, and uncompromisingly righteous and just. He desires for us to be in relationship with Him, but in order for us to be close to Him, we must be holy as He is holy. To do so, we must “offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness.” The benefit we receive is a pure heart and freedom from sin and sinful affections, conformed to the image of God. We will be holy and the “result will be eternal life” with Him.

As you have read the words above, have you become aware that you are a “slave to impurity?”  Is there an addiction or a sin that keeps you from experiencing a close relationship with God and the freedom from sin that He alone gives? God desires for us to live our lives surrendered to Him as a “slave to righteousness” that will lead to holiness. He desires us to be close to Him in a relationship of intimacy filled with His goodness, joy, peace, and love. We can only experience this when we live our lives fully surrendered to Him!

Our song this week is once again by Charity Gayle, “Because of Jesus.” Because of what Jesus has done, we can know that we are finally free of the sin that destroys! He has redeemed us and made us holy as He is holy. May our hearts desire to serve Him in complete obedience to His Word. May we live as His “slaves to righteousness” which leads to holiness – holiness in heart and in everything we do!

Love,

Janet

https://www.wowjcmo.com/

https://mailchi.mp/wowjcmo/wow-devotion-john-6219253?e=6c56f70e45

A Woman Who Fears the Lord- Reflections on Proverbs 31

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”“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.“.       Proverbs 31:29-30 NIV

A wife of Noble character… Who would not want to be a woman that is distinguished and honored? Today’s chapter speaks of the characteristics of that woman: hard working, generous, strong, etc…. It all culminates with the verses above and the phrase, “a woman who fears the Lord.”

To fear the Lord is to see Him rightly and have a reverential awe of Him. This leads us to love Him. When we see Him as He is: holy- impeccably pure and uncompromisingly righteous, just, true, etc., we understand that He is worthy of our complete obedience, complete submission, and complete dependence. We desire to hate or shun sin that will destroy us. We desire to live after God’s ways. The woman who lives desiring to follow God with all of her heart, soul, and mind is to be praised, or in the Hebrew it says “to shine.” A Godly woman will display His glory and beauty everywhere.

When we, as women, put God first in our lives and live our lives filled with His love. His love will naturally flow out of us onto all those around us. We will live our lives with His characteristics flowing out of us. We will be the women that God created us to be. We will reflect His image to everyone around.

True beauty is not found in all the make up and hair products at Ulta or perfectly toned bodies from a gym. True beauty is found in a woman who fears the Lord and lives only for Him and His glory!

Noise Warfare

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A few months ago, I was praying. I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, “Janet, do you know that Satan uses noise warfare?” Since the term “noise warfare” was not exactly on my mind, I decided to do a google search. When I did, I found an article about Manuel Noriega. The implications of his story have been eye opening to me as one who has been subject to “noise warfare” for most of my life.

US Soldiers blaring rock and roll music in 1989

On Christmas Day 1989, The United States decided it was time to arrest and bring to justice General Manuel Noriega, the dictator of Panama. Indicted for drug trafficking charges, Mr. Noriega had holed himself up in the embassy of the Vatican in Panama. The US forces did not want to destroy buildings in order to accomplish a surrender of the surrounded General. So, they engaged in “noise warfare”. They surrounded the Embassy and with a flight of Humvees that were mounted with loudspeakers from which they blasted rock in roll music, nonstop for three days. Noriega, who loved classical music surrendered shortly after. As I read the news report of the events surrounding Noriega’s surrender, the truth set in. This is the exact type of spiritual warfare I have been engaged in most of my life.

Make no doubt about it. Our enemy, Satan, is a liar. Not only is he a liar, he takes great pleasure in repeating lies in our ears over and over and over again. His voice does not tire from spewing lies 24/7 that lead us to choose anxiety, anger, depression, hatred, bitterness, envy, selfishness, jealousy, etc. However, we do not have to be subject to the noise warfare going on within our heads.

About three years ago, I contacted my friend from college. In our conversation, I revealed to her that I was suffering from horrible anxiety. She told me something that to this day rings true, “Janet, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. You know His voice. All you have to do is listen.” It occurred to me that moment that I had listened to the lies of the enemy so long that I had forgotten what it was like to listen for the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit. I had allowed Satan to shout in my ears and I had been internalizing his lies. It was time to draw a line in the sand and FIGHT!

Do you know that God has a victory plan for the “noise warfare” of our enemy? It is the praise of our glorious God! It silences Satan!

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory
in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. “ Psalm 8:1-2 NIV

We must make a determined effort to use this weapon we have graciously been given. Satan knows this is true. So he once again will shout his lies, “That won’t work! You look like an idiot praising when you are who you are!” May I encourage you, tell him to “shut it!” and then get your praise on!

Even if the praise you struggle to get out starts with a feeble, “I praise you God, because you are good.” Build on those words with more and more praise. He cannot continue to blare his noise when the praises start! The truth of who God is as you praise Him with His Word will prevail! So, praise and then listen. You will hear His voice. It has been gently speaking all along. In Him is the Victory!

I have rediscovered the past few years how beautiful the sound of God’s voice is! I love it! What I did not know as I listened to the noise of the enemy is that God’s voice was speaking the whole time. Praise helped me to turn the channel of what was being broadcasted in my head. God’s voice is loving. His voice is peace. It is gentle, kind, patient, and good. And best of all, it can be heard! In fact, God longs for us to hear it! He wants us to know His voice and follow no other! Because He loves us and wants what is best for us!

We do not have to live under the constant barrage of the enemy’s lies and his “noise warfare”! We must immerse ourselves in the truth- God’s Word, the Bible, and lift up our voices in praise! Our God still breaks the chains of torment off of the minds of His children! Believe it is so!