Category: Devotional

Giveaway | Finding Joy in Forgiveness by Darlene L. Turner

Today I have a guest post from Canadian Romantic Suspense author, Darlene L Turner. And she has a giveaway—one ebook copy of her latest release, Abducted in Alaska. Welcome, Darlene!

Early morning is my favourite time, especially during the warmer months. I love to sit outside on my patio listening to the cardinals sing during the summer. I enjoy smelling the freshness in the air, and marvelling in the creation of the brilliant heavenly blue morning glories climbing my fence. It’s almost like they smile at me with their huge faces. I smile back.

Blue Morning Glories

When I look at them, I see one thing. Joy.

But joy wasn’t always there. Many mornings I didn’t feel like smiling. Inside, I was wilting like a flower without water. Happiness was zapped out of me after my first husband left me. I had wondered if I would ever get it back.

Anger crept in and took me to a place of bitterness.  I was mad at him for leaving, and yes, even at God for allowing it to happen. But did I stay there?

No, I couldn’t.

I knew even though God allowed this journey to happen in my life, He knew the bigger picture. He wanted me to trust, so I slowly left my anger at the foot of the cross. I began to choose joy and forgiveness.

Did it happen easily? Of course not. It was a difficult journey. A few steps forward, many steps back. I worked through the anger, confusion, and defeat with the help of a counsellor, family, friends, and many prayers. I chose to forgiveness because I did not want the bitterness to consume my life. No one likes to be around someone filled with resentment. We avoid it at all costs. And doesn’t God command us to forgive? Yes, seventy times seven.

In Abducted in Alaska, Layke struggles with forgiving his mother for the years of abuse he suffered by her hand. This causes him trust issues and he holds back in any of his relationships. Throughout the book he has to deal with this in order to move on. Will he? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

However, in my story after months had subsided, I met with my spouse to sign the divorce papers. I felt surprisingly calm. The bitterness was gone and I knew it was time to move on. So I did.

Joy came in the morning, and brought back my smile.

Bitterness can consume our lives so easily. We must learn to recognize it, forgive, and then move on. When we do, God will give us a peace and help us to find joy again.

Question for giveaway: Share a book on forgiveness that has helped you (fiction or non-fiction).

Prize

Answer the question above in the comments below and one random commenter will win an e-book copy of Abducted in Alaska!

Comment on the question before 11:59pm New Zealand Time on 3 March 2021 and you’re automatically entered into the contest.

Prize is open internationally. Here’s how it works. The number of entries are input into a Random Sequence Generator (i.e. 1 through 20). After Darlene clicks the Generate button, whoever’s number corresponds with the number the random generator generates wins!

Note: If the winner is Canadian, they will be required to answer a skill-testing question before being awarded the prize.

Psalm 30:11-12 (The Message)
You did it: you changed wild lament into whirling dance;
You ripped off my black mourning band and decked me with wildflowers.
I’m about to burst with song; I can’t keep quiet about you.
God, my God, I can’t thank you enough.

About Darlene L Turner

Darlene L Turner

Darlene L. Turner’s love of suspense began when she read her first Nancy Drew book. She’s turned that passion into her writing and believes readers will be captured by her plots, inspired by her strong characters, and moved by her inspirational message.

Darlene won the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense twice and an ACFW Genesis award. She’s represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. Her debut book, Border Breach, released in April, 2020 with Love Inspired Suspense. She has two books releasing in 2021: Abducted in Alaska (March) and Lethal Cover-Up (August).

Darlene met her husband Jeff at the turtle races in Ontario, Canada. She loves flavored coffee and plaid shirts. You can connect with Darlene at www.darlenelturner.com where there’s suspense beyond borders.

Find Darlene L Turner online at:

Website | BookBub | Facebook | Instagram  |LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

We serve a God of Miracles

A Thought for Today | We Serve a God of Miracles

A while back, I read a Facebook comment where the writer said she didn’t believe in miracles.

This stopped me scrolling through Facebook.

How could she not believe in miracles? The New Testament is full of them. She did have a reason. It wasn’t one I’d heard before, but that wasn’t what got me thinking.

What got me thinking was: do I believe miracles?

Yes, I do. Lots of miracles.

I believe in everyday miracles.

There is the miracle of birth, of a baby coming into the world. The miracle of germination, of putting a seed in the ground, and it turning into something I can eat. (I will clarify that. My husband put the seed in the ground, and I eat what comes up. I have a black thumb. In case you’re wondering, that’s the polar opposite of a green thumb).

There is the miracle of pollination. Of bees buzzing around collecting pollen from flowers to make their honey, and in that way allowing the flowers and vegetables to produce fruit. Which produces food. Without bees and pollination, humanity would be in big trouble. Isn’t it a miracle that our survival depends on something we often consider a pest?

And there is the miracle of salvation. Gods plan makes no sense to many people. We need a miracle to accept His word is true. Every person who accepts Jesus as saviour is the outward demonstration of an inward miracle.

I believe in small miracles.

There are small miracles, miracles of healing, of finance, of health. These might not always seem like much to the outside observer. Many people will try and explain them away through logic. But they are miracles to the recipients.

I’ll give you an example.

I used to work with an evangelist who had a healing ministry. Attending his meetings was eye-opening. He’d pray for hours in preparation, asking God to show him the people who would be at the meeting, and their health problems.

During one of the last meetings he held before Jesus called him home, he prayed for a woman who had a problem sitting without pain. She couldn’t. She was only in her forties, but she couldn’t sit down without it hurting. After he prayed, he asked her to sit on the hard stage.

She did. I could see her apprehension in her face … then the surprise when she sat and it didn’t hurt. She sat down several times, each time harder and harder, until she was practically bouncing up and down on the hard wooden stage. Look on her face was unforgettable. She emailed the following week, saying that was the first time she’d sat without pain in years.

That is, to me, was a miracle, and it was a miracle for that lady as well.

After the evangelist died, a thick book was compiled, of all the testimonies the evangelist had received over the years of the miracles God performed through him. It’s called Miracles in Aotearoa (New Zealand, for those of you who don’t speak Maori).

I believe in big miracles.

These might not be big miracles like Jesus performed. He didn’t turn water into wine. He didn’t raise anyone from the dead. But they were miracles all the same.

But I’ve heard stories of big miracles from people I trust, people who have no reason to lie to me. Their stories encourage me to believe in a God of miracles. As Christians, we believe in things seen and unseen. A God of miracles.

It struck me that if I didn’t believe in miracles, I would be placing limits on God. I would be saying God isn’t omnipotent. And I believe God is omnipotent. To believe anything else is believing in a lesser God.

Do I want to serve a God who can’t perform miracles? No. I want to serve a God who can. A God of miracles.

Do I demand that I see those miracles? No. I accept by faith the words of those who have seen them. And I give thanks for the everyday miracles, the small miracles, the big miracles. And for the God of miracles.

After all, we’re about to celebrate Christmas, the time when we remember the birth of Jesus our Saviour. If that’s not a miracle, what is?

What is Success?

A Thought for Today | What is Success?

This post first appeared at Australasian Christian Writers in February 2015.

How do we define success?

I’ve recently read two Christian romance novels which looked completely different on the surface, but ended up both addressing two issues we all have to grapple with. I then read an article on Writer Unboxed which addressed the same issues, although not from a Christian perspective.

This got me thinking … if it came up three times in a day, it must be important.

The first novel was The Doctor’s Return by Narelle Atkins.

In the novel, Megan has to decide between chasing career success by pursuing an advanced degree in the city, or staying in her hometown and marrying her high school sweetheart. Towards the end, Megan says:

I don’t need to chase academic accolades to feel like I’m a success.

I’ve spent twenty years working in a corporate environment, and I’ve seen a lot of people chasing career success, whether measured by the degrees they hold, the promotions they are awarded, the position title they hold, or the salary they earn.

Yes, we all need to work, and many of us are lucky enough to be able to earn a living doing a job we enjoy. But degrees, money or position shouldn’t be our sole source of recognition, our sole measure of success.

As Christians, we have a higher calling.

The second book I read was Too Pretty by Andrea Grigg.

This is the story of Ellie, who meets the gorgeous Nate about ten minutes after declaring a six-month moratorium on dating. She realises that in the absence of her family (serving as missionaries in countries such as Papua New Guinea and Uganda), she has been turning to a succession of loser boyfriends to fill the void inside. She decides:

I want to allow God to fill up those spaces, not boyfriends or even my family.

I’m sure we all remember that girl at high school, the one who always had a boyfriend, and managed to acquire another one within days (hours?) of breaking up with the previous one. We’ve all seen the photographs of the ageing lothario with a beautiful new wife young enough to be his granddaughter.

This is another way of chasing success: instead of searching for identity and success in work, some people seek to find their identity in their partner or spouse. They don’t consider themselves successful without the right man (or woman) on their arm.

Expectations

Writers (and probably other creative types) have a third issue: the crushing weight of expectation, the temptation:

For our self-worth to become wrapped up in our commercial performance.

For the hope or dream that this will be:

the manuscript that validates me in the eyes of my family, my friends or my peers.

While the writer isn’t a Christian (as far as I know), it strikes me that many Christians experience this same compulsion to seek validation, to chase success.

Why?

We know the verses. God has a plan for my life. God shall supply all my needs. God will grant the desires of my heart.

But will He?

Yes. And no.

Whether we are writing as a calling from God or an offering to God, I believe he will honour that sacrifice as long as we are being obedient to Him and to His plan for us. To obey is better than sacrifice. We are deceiving ourselves if we believe anything else.

There can be a fine line between writing (or doing anything else) to serve God, versus writing to serve ourselves, and the emphasis on marketing ourselves can make it hard to see that line (like the log and the splinter).

There is a danger that we can turn our writing into an idol. A danger that we measure “success” by the number of sales or blog comments or website hits or Twitter followers. We look for external validation rather than seeking to obey the author and perfecter of our faith. It’s something I need to remind myself of all the time.

We are called to be His disciples: that means disciplining ourselves to follow His plan. Not our own.

God can’t bless our writing unless it’s His plan for our lives. And His plan for our writing might not be that we sell it for megabucks. It might be that we give it away (like on a free blog!). It might be that the “audience of one” you are writing to help is actually yourself.

Where do we seek validation for our writing? How do we measure success? Through God—or others?

Law or Mercy

Law or Mercy?

It’s Throwback Thursday! Law or Mercy previously appeared at International Christian Fiction Writers on 13 July 2016.

I recently had the opportunity (if that’s the right word) to serve my local community as the member of a jury, one of twelve men and women charged with determining whether a local man was guilty of robbery (spoiler: we agreed he was).

I found the whole process fascinating, and not just as a long-time fan of legal thrillers (and I’m pleased my jury service was nothing like Demi Moore’s, in The Jury by John Grisham). Our defendant, predictably, pleaded not guilty.

By the end of the trial I was convinced of two things:

  1. He was guilty
  2. He genuinely believed he hadn’t done anything that warranted a court appearance, let alone a guilty verdict.

I see the same thing in society: non-Christians who genuinely believe it’s enough to be a “good person”. That when the day of judgement comes, they’ll be on the high side of the scales of justice.

I won’t go into why I and the rest of the jury decided our defendant was guilty: It’s a requirement of jury service that we don’t talk about the case except in general terms, and that we don’t discuss the debates conducted in the privacy of the jury room. But I will comment on my perception of the defendant’s beliefs, based on what he said.

Guilty or Not Guilty?

The defendant believed he was innocent because he didn’t know New Zealand law considers the person who aids or abets or influences to be an equal party to the crime as the person who actually commits the crime. It didn’t matter that the defendant wan’t the robber, because the law gives no mercy.

In the same way, God’s law applies whether you know the law or not. Break God’s law, and we’re guilty.

But with God, there is mercy.

The defendant believed he was innocent because he knew nothing about the crime actually committed. He thought they were going to do a big robbery, not a small one. But he knew a crime was going to be committed, and the law gives no mercy.

In the same way, God’s law doesn’t take the severity of the sin into account. Break God’s law, and we’re guilty.

But with God, there is mercy.

The defendant believed he was innocent because the intended victim was a rival criminal, as if robbing a criminal is somehow less of a crime than robbing an innocent member of society. But the defendant intended to commit a crime, and the law gives no mercy.

In the same way, God’s law applies whether the sin was intentional or unintentional. Break God’s law, and we’re guilty.

But with God, there is mercy.

The defendant believed he was innocent because he hadn’t participated of his own free will—he was coerced. But he did participate, and the law gives no mercy.

In the same way, God’s law applies whether we are forced into sin or we walk into sin with our eyes wide open. Break God’s law, and we’re guilty.

But with God, there is mercy.

The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, his standard. That if we fall in one area of the law, we are guilty of all. It’s guilty or not guilty. Black and white. Judgement is not a set of scales— being on the high side of the scales isn’t enough.

But the Bible also shows us a way out: Jesus. He has taken the punishment for our sin whether we know it or not, whether we believe it or not, whether we accept it or not.

All we have to do is acknowledge we have sinned and repent, believe Jesus paid the price for that sin, and accept His sacrifice in our place.

Hallelujah!

(As an aside, isn’t it an interesting contrast that in court, a defendant gives his testimony in an attempt to prove his innocence, but as Christians we give our testimony to our guilt and God’s forgiveness!)

Have you ever sat of a jury? What was your experience?

Identity and Essence and Writing. And God.

I’ve recently returned from a three-day Romance Writers of New Zealand conference. Although it wasn’t a Christian conference, it was excellent, both for the content and for connecting with other local writers.

Identity and Essence and Writing. And God.

One thing which surprised me (but perhaps shouldn’t have) was the number of Christian attendees. The thing which surprised me more was that many of them had never read or even heard of Christian fiction and Christian romance. It didn’t surprise me that the non-Christians didn’t know, but the Christians? Yes, that surprised me. It seems I’m not alone in this: Ginger Solomon has recently made similar observations.

It was great to connect with other Christian writers, including the lovely Rebekah Orr—who won the 2016 Pacific Hearts Award (for unpublished manuscripts).

Rebekah Orr

But the highlight for me were the sessions with Hollywood scriptwriting consultant Michael Hauge. I thought he was going to be talking about the technical side of plot and structure. But his main message was actually more about characterisation, because our number one goal as writers (especially romance writers) is about our characters:

Your #1 goal is to elicit emotion.

We must take our character on a personal journey, a journey that will create an emotional response in the reader.

Hauge’s basic premise of character development is that the character starts with an identity: believing something about themselves or the world around them that isn’t actually true. The character believes this lie because of some kind of internal wound. (Authors Angela Ackerman and Becky Puglasi have spent months examining various character wounds on their blog, Writers Helping Writers.)

There is also the essence: who the character really is. The novel therefore shows the character moving from identity to essence as the story moves forward. In a novel, we expect the hero or heroine to achieve this essence by the end of the story. The romance novels of today typically take place over a relatively short timeframe: months, if not weeks. Yet we know from personal experience this isn’t how life works. Our lives are more like the epic novels of the past, which often covered decades.

It struck me that this is basically how our lives run as Christians:

  • We start in our identity, the person we think we are, a view that has been formed by all our life experience.
  • There comes a time when we, as characters in our own stories, experience what Hauge calls the turning point: that moment of change, when we become a Christian.
  • From then on we are working through our fears to move wholly into our essence: our identity in Christ. And as we know, this is a continual process.

It is easier said than done. Hauge took us each through a series of questions designed to examine our long-term and short-term personal goals (which wasn’t too difficult). But we then had to move into the harder questions: what is stopping us reaching those goals? What false beliefs or fears have we embraced that stop us moving forward? Are those beliefs real … or just logical? And—most importantly—are we prepared to move beyond that fear into our essence? It was a challenging session as we were all forced to confront some long-held beliefs and see them for the lies they are.

As Christians, we know our Christian walk, our journey to become more like Jesus, to become the person He created us to be is a lifelong journey. During that journey we will experience victories and setbacks (just like in a novel or movie). We will fight self (identity) in our struggle to reach our essence (identity in Christ). And that is how we become the hero (or heroine) in our own story.

I’m trying to do that. To be the star of my own story. To discover and pursue my essence, to become the person God meant me to be.

Will you?

On Truth and Lies and Fiction and Life

I’m sure many of you can quote John 10:10:

John 10:10 (NIV)

Our preacher spoke about this at church a couple of weeks ago, but he focused on the first half of the scripture. The preacher asked:

What is satan* trying to steal?

Our identity. The devil is trying to steal our identity in Christ, that internal spirit that produces our external ability to do God’s work.

As an author, that concept struck home with me. Writing instructors will talk about how our characters need to have a GMC:

Goal:

The character has to want something

Motivation:

They have to want that something for a reason

Conflict:

But something is stopping them getting what they want

GMC will be both external and internal, with the external being outside circumstances and events, and the internal being the beliefs and misbeliefs of the main character. If you think about the best novels you’ve read, you’ll notice the best books have characters with both an internal and an external GMC, and there will be a relationship between them. Often a character won’t be able to beat the external conflict until they’ve beaten the internal conflict.

This holds true in real life.

If we believe we’re no good and that God can’t use us … then He can’t. Because we’re not making ourselves available to be used, and He won’t force us (it’s that whole concept of free will).

Instead, we’ve got to remember we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, we can complete the race set before us, we can fulfil God’s plan for our lives. We can’t let satan steal our hopes or kill our dreams or destroy our God-given destiny. Instead, we to reach out to Jesus and claim the life He promises us, this full and abundant life.

Some people don’t read fiction, claiming it’s a lie and they only want to read books that are true. Yet Jesus told stories—parables—using stories as a lie that demonstrates the Truth. In the same way, good fiction can be a lie that shows the way to the truth.

And the Truth.

And that’s what I want to write.

 

*satan is lowercased because his name is not worthy of being capitalised. At least, that’s the approach taken by the evangelist I worked with before he was promoted to Glory. I’ve adopted it because I like it, even though I know it breaks all the ‘rules’.

 

 

 

Achieving Our Goals

How do we achieve our goals?

One of the questions I’ve been asked several times over the last few months is how do we go about achieving our writing goals. How do we actually get those words on paper?

It’s something I’ve been struggling with recently, perhaps because I have a huge list of things I want to achieve and I want to achieve them all now. Or yesterday.

I know that’s not reasonable. But if I look at my goals for the year, they are all achievable. Not all achievable in January, sure. Or even February. But they’re annual goals, and I have to remind myself I have a whole year to achieve them (well, nine months now).

Have a Plan

One of my 2016 goals is to complete a Read-The-Bible-In-A-Year challenge. I’ve done this for the last two years, and have found the easiest way is to pick a plan that has seven readings for each week, then (wait for it!) read one each day. Not an original concept, sure, but one that works.

Other goals include declutter the house (I’ve taken about five carloads of stuff to the dump, the recycle centre, and the Salvation Army), deep-clean the house (easier after it’s been decluttered) and lose weight (moving right along . . .).

Step by Step

I’ve taken the Bible-in-a-Year approach and set up a plan. Each Saturday, I plan to declutter a drawer or a shelf. Not too much. Baby steps. But it’s only April, and I’m more than halfway through the house.

What else do I want to achieve this year? Read some books, of course. Including a whole bunch of novels off my to-read pile. (One year I also pledged not to buy new books until I’d got to the bottom of the to-read pile, but that was a recipe for failure.)

I’m sure you all know this already, but step by step holds true for all goals. It’s like how to eat the elephant: one bite at a time (although why would anyone want to eat an elephant?).

To-Do Lists

I like lists, so I find it helpful to have my household tasks, work tasks, and daily writing goal each set as recurring Tasks in my Outlook To-Do list. It gives me immense pleasure to check each task off, as each task represents a step towards my longer-term goals (as an added bonus, this post is 2,000 words, so I can tick my 1,000 word daily target off twice, and give myself a day off sometime.).

Ticking a list might not be your idea of a reward, but it works for me (I’d prefer to give myself chocolate, but that would be inconsistent with that “lose weight” goal). If ticking a list works for you, great. Do it. If it doesn’t, find something that does. Perhaps reward yourself with a new Christian novel from my list of recommendations?

What rewards motivate you?

It’s generally agreed that it’s a good idea to give yourself something for completing tasks or achieving a goal, because that will incentivise and motivate you to keep going. And when you achieve a bigger goal (e.g. cleaning the house, getting to your target weight, or finishing the book), you can have a bigger reward.

I also have to allow myself to forgive failure and move on. Unexpected things come up, and if there’s a family member in hospital, a friend in need, or a funeral to attend, do that and don’t feel guilty about getting behind on your tasks for a day, a week, a month.

But don’t let a temporary roadblock become a permanent blockade.

Take Paul’s approach: forget the past and move forward.

Hebrews 12:1-2

What are your hints and tips to getting things done and achieving your goals?

The Pursuit of . . . Sin?

Pursuit of Sin

As you may know, in my ‘other’ life I’m a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. I’ve recently finished a manuscript assessment for Australian author Jo Wanmer, and while it’s still a draft full of spelling mistakes and missing commas, the powerful Christian message is shining through.

One of the main threads in the novel is the relationship between Milly, the main character, and God. Jo Wanmer shows God speaking directly to Milly, and I thought many of the conversations were excellent as they show how God desires a relationship with us, and how that means being real with Him (Milly rages at Him, blames Him, and doesn’t mince words in her conversations with Him). It also shows God has a sense of humour, which some readers might find a little irreverent but which I loved.

One snippet from one conversation in particular struck me (with God in bold):

Such is the consequence of man’s decision to choose knowledge instead of relationship with me.
I thought mankind sinned?
That’s what I said.

Now, I’ve read Genesis. In several versions of the Bible. I understand Adam and Eve’s sin wasn’t nakedness (covering themselves was a physical gesture of a spiritual problem, trying to cover their sin). Their sin was disobedience, in eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil after they had specifically been told not to eat fruit from that one tree. They were tempted by the devil, and gave in to that temptation.

But this short excerpt from Jo’s novel brought their sin home in a new way: their sin was the pursuit of knowledge. They wanted that knowledge enough to disobey God. To break that relationship with God, through their disobedience.

And they both chose this, Adam as well as Eve. Eve didn’t force the fruit down his throat. He took it willingly, perhaps because he wanted that knowledge, or perhaps because he wanted to please Eve more than he wanted to please God.

It wasn’t just the pursuit of knowledge—there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with pursuing knowledge, even though Solomon describes knowledge as vanity. Meaningless. Futile.

1

The problem was choosing the pursuit of knowledge over the pursuit of relationship with God, with Jesus.

That’s sin.

It’s a sin we see in the world around us all the time.

There are other, similar, sins. For example, when writing to Timothy, Paul says the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10). He didn’t say money is the root of all evil, but the love of money.

It’s like the love of knowledge.

The love of money leads us to pursue money when we should be pursuing relationship with Jesus.

Earning money, having money, isn’t wrong. It isn’t sin. But loving and pursuing money to the exclusion of relationship with Jesus is wrong. It is sin.

And happiness. Many people in the Western world believe the purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness. Hey, it’s even the title of a movie. Trying to be happy isn’t wrong—it sure beats trying to be unhappy. But pursuing happiness at the expense of relationship with Jesus is wrong. It is sin.

As Jesus says:

3

Seek God first. Jesus first.
Anything else is sin.

Seek relationship with Jesus. Then the other things will be added to us. But not as some kind of if-you-do-x-God-will-give-you-y pseudo prosperity doctrine. Seek God first. Because anything else is sin.

Seek God first. Then the other things will be added to us. Those other things might be knowledge, money, happiness. But they might also be health, home, joy. And like Paul, we must learn to be content, to accept His gifts and not seek senselessly after knowledge, money, happiness or anything else. In that we will find God’s joy.

Everything else is meaningless.

Be Thou My Vision

Book Cover - The Wonder of YouI’ve recently finished reading The Wonder of You by Susan May Warren, in which the heroine was influenced by the old Celtic hymn, Be Thou My Vision. By some strange coincidence (or God-incidence), three of the novels I read over the next two weeks also referenced this same hymn.

It struck me that now, at the beginning of the year, is a good time to reconsider this hymn and what it has to say to me. To us.

Be Thou My Vision

What is my vision for 2016? What is God’s vision for me? And what am I going to do to achieve that vision?

I’ve been reminded that I need to plan in order to achieve. Things don’t just happen. Well, they do. But ‘things that just happen’ usually take us off the planned path. Without a planned path, we have no way of knowing if we are heading in the right direction. And without a planned path, we have no way of getting back on that path when ‘things’ take us off.

I need that vision, and I need a plan for getting there. And planning TO do one thing may well mean I have to give up something else.

Be Thou my Wisdom

Along with vision, I need wisdom. Wisdom to show me the right path. Wisdom to show me the way back to the path. Wisdom to prevent me going down the wrong path. Wisdom to listen to the warnings of others.

Riches I Heed Not, Nor Man’s Empty Praise

Remind me that the focus is on God and His Vision, His reward. Success is defined by God and His vision for me, not by my family, friends, acquaintances . . . or the people who don’t know me.

Remind me that my success will be based on my obedience to God and His vision, that if I am obedient to God, I will have exactly the level of success He desires for me.

Remind me that God alone defines success, and while it might be riches and the praise of men, it may not. Remind me that God’s riches and praise are worth an infinite amount more than the riches and praise of men. And women.

Amen.