Posted on Apr 25, 2020 in Dena's Corner | Tags: baptism, baptist, baptist church, Christian Blog, christianblog, church, church blog, churchblog, coronavirus, COVID-19, covid19, devotion, devotional, faith, god, hope, Jesus, Love, Oakwood, Oakwood Church, Saline, Saline MI, southern baptist
“What would I do at this time without hope?” I’ve asked myself that question many times over the last few weeks of being at home in isolation. The coronavirus is front and center everywhere. Jobs are being lost, people are getting sick, some losing their lives, the economy is falling quicker than a lead balloon and we can’t escape any of it when turning on the tv.
I’m not going to sugar coat it – week one of isolation (5 weeks ago for me starting to work from home daily) was a bit tough for me. Everyone was nervous and we didn’t know much about this virus (not that we Read more…
Posted on Aug 24, 2019 in Rita's Corner | Tags: baptism, baptist, baptist church, Christian Blog, christianblog, church, church blog, churchblog, devotion, devotional, faith, god, hope, Jesus, Love, Oakwood, Oakwood Church, Saline, Saline MI, southern baptist
Challenges are part of life. Things get put in our paths everyday that can cause us to stumble and slow down. We can start to wonder why things aren’t happening as quickly as we think they should. Life can really throw us some curve balls. Starting to question God and asking Him where He is at in our lives is something we can find ourselves doing. We want the answer now. God, why am I going through this? Why can’t You fix this now? I don’t understand, where are You? It’s hard for us to wrap our human brains around God’s timing. We live in a world where we want immediate results. We don’t have time to wait, we have things to do. Getting so wrapped up in our own issues and struggles and trying to keep up with everything is something that’s taken over our lives. When things happen that slow us down, we can forget that God has a plan, He is in control, He is our hope. He’s promised to take care of us. We very often forget that we live in a fallen world and things are far from perfect. What we have to remember is that Jesus paid our debt. Our eternity is with Him. When our faith and our trust are in Him, He takes care of us. We have a place in heaven free from the challenges of this sinful world. When things get rough and we find ourselves in quicksand, we have to remember our precious Savior, and know that He’s going to take care of us.
John 16:33 ESV- I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 10:10 ESV- The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.
It’s hard for us to relax while we’re going through a rough time. We get stressed, we get anxious, we wear ourselves down with frustration. God understands. He doesn’t want the weight of the world to be on our shoulders. He willingly shoulders our burdens and walks through fire for us. We have to be patient. We have to trust God. We have to put our hope in His promises and let go of the frustrations of this world. He is our hope!!! Romans 8:39 NLT- No power in the sky above or the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Have a blessed day!!!
~Rita
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About Rita:
“Being a Christ follower throughout my life has been quite the journey. He’s taken me through deep waters and trials that have tested me over the years. I have fallen so many times, and He’s always been there to lift me back up on my feet. Through a series of broken relationships, I finally figured out what was important to me, putting God first and letting Him lead me. I love writing and learning, and growing with God. I have a beautiful, adult daughter that I love spending time with whenever I can. My hope is to be a tool for God to use to lead others to Him.“
Posted on Jan 5, 2019 in Kent's Corner | Tags: baptist, baptist church, Christian Blog, Christmas, faith, god, hope, Jesus, MI, Oakwood Church, Saline, southern baptist
My evolution as a Christian continues. The other day, A Charlie Brown Christmas comes on. It was perfectly timed because my daughter had one of those ‘playing indoors and hitting the 55” HD TV’ wrong moments (see the 12/29 ‘God’s Righteous Anger’ Devotion), and I really wasn’t up for my initial reaction. So, I’m laughing as Snoopy boos the announcement of Charlie Brown, his owner, as the director and Schroeder plays ‘Jingle Bells’ practically breaking each piano key for emphasis. Then of course my heart warms as the Peanuts gang Read more…
Posted on Nov 3, 2018 in Dena's Corner | Tags: change, Christian Blog, church, Deuteronomy 32:11, faith, hope, Lamentations 3:27, Love, Oakwood, Oakwood Church, Saline MI
I’ve experienced it many times. Change. This change usually occurs when God wants to close a door – so what does He do? He closes the door. Have you been in this situation before? Where God just closes a door (and most likely it was a door you thought you wanted to walk through)? We all know how it feels to continue going through life comfortable. Or even if we’re not entirely “comfortable”, we will stay somewhere just because we’re not fond of change. We’ll settle for mediocrity, when God didn’t intend for us to “settle” for that. So, when that door closes, and a “shake-up” happens, we don’t know what to do. We sometimes become scared and upset and wonder why this is happening to us. Or – we thought we were relying on God during seasons of our lives, but looking back – we see that we just wanted to be in “control”. I fully believe that God intended hardships in my life to bring me closer to Him. I’m thankful that God may actually use my hardships Read more…
Posted on Sep 15, 2018 in Dena's Corner | Tags: Broken, Christian Blog, faith, god, hope, Isaiah 30:1, Jeremiah 6:16, Jesus, Love, Oakwood Church, Proverbs 23:26, Psalm 119:165, Psalm 119:97, Saline, Saline MI
I remember when my nephew was younger, he was very much into Lego’s. He’d so badly want a Star Wars ship, a Batman car, or any other various Lego set. The picture on the box looked so cool and he was excited to have this item, but once it was brought home, and the box was opened, it surely didn’t look like the picture on the box! As the little plastic packages inside would come out of the box one by one, there instead of a ship or a car were a bunch of little block pieces in bags – and when I say a bunch, I mean no less than 1000 pieces!! For fun, I researched and found the largest Lego set of all time:
Source: Lego. It’s 7,541 pieces. That’s the number of Lego bricks in the newly updated Ultimate Collectors Series Millennium Falcon set that Lego announced today. August 31, 2017 Read more…
Posted on Sep 15, 2018 in Rita's Corner | Tags: 2 Peter 3:8-9, Christian Blog, Ecclesiastes 3:1, faith, god, hope, Jeremiah 29:11, Jesus, Love, Oakwood Church, Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 27:1, Saline, Saline MI, timing
In today’s world we live for immediate gratification. We have everything right at our fingertips. We want the next best thing even though what we currently have is perfectly fine. There is always something bigger, better and more powerful. Instant feedback is great, and the internet and social media help keep us connected to important issues when used properly. We don’t have to wait for a response, we simply type in a question (or use our voice control option), and we instantly have answers. We have what we want when we want it, no waiting.
Being impatient tends to get us in trouble. We make bad decisions that we regret later. We make mistakes Read more…
Posted on Sep 15, 2018 in Kent's Corner | Tags: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Christian Blog, faith, god, hope, Jesus, Love, Oakwood Church, Romans 12:9, Saline, Saline MI
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love truly does overcome everything. It is not something that has not just been words. It is something God has proven repeatedly in my life. The story below is an example of how God moves in man’s heart and soul even against what worldly belief he has.
There was a squash instructor (the sport, not the vegetable :)) at one of Boston’s most exclusive and prestigious schools. He did not understand much about being prejudice let alone his own prejudices. God decided it was time that he confront it head on. One year, a freshman started at his school as the Read more…
Posted on Sep 15, 2018 in Tabetha's Corner | Tags: 1 Corinthians 13:4, 1 Corinthians 13:5, Christian Blog, faith, god, hope, Jesus, Love, Oakwood Church, Saline, Saline MI
Dearest Reader:
There are so many words I want to share with you… so much I want to say. Whenever a new adventure is started, sometimes it’s unclear where the first steps should be taken. So perhaps, my friends, we can grow and walk together.
Let me preface our journey with this: I pray that in these blogs you hear my heart. I pray the words touch a piece of your soul that hasn’t been reached in quite some time. I pray that you are moved to conversation and to ask questions or just simply to share a piece of yourself.
I’ve found that God uses vulnerability and transparency to bring growth and understanding that simply can not be discovered in any other way. So without further ado, allow me to tell you the beginning of my story.
For the majority of my life, I have lived without the heart knowledge of how much God loves me. I may have known this truth in my mind but it never truly settled into my heart. I’ve witnessed many experience the same struggle. And by no means can I come before you today and claim to understand the wonders and depths of His love, but I Read more…
