Boldly Come

My heart was heavy laden, with no relief in sight,
when I heard, “Come learn of Jesus, his yoke is easy, his burden light.”
They said he’s meek and lowly, and he would give me rest,
so I turned my heart to Jesus,

asked God’s forgiveness; my sins confessed.
Now I boldly come unto the throne of grace,

knowing Jesus will intercede.
There I find his mercy so great; his grace to help in time of need.
Oh, bring your heavy burden before the throne of grace.
Through the precious blood of Jesus,

you’ll find redemption; your sin debt paid.
A new life, he will give you; your sin, he’ll wash away,
When you turn your heart to Jesus,

receive forgiveness, then you’ll proclaim,
Now I boldly come unto the throne of grace,

knowing Jesus will intercede.
There I find his mercy so great; his grace to help in time of need.

How thankful I am that Jesus came and took my heavy burden of sin and that he is always there, ready to intercede on my behalf. As I continue on this journey, I pray that I will not forget the many people who cared enough to bring me the message of God’s forgiveness. May I not only come boldly before God’s throne of grace to plead for other lost souls, but may I speak boldly to them of Jesus’ mercy and grace as others did for me.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us.

Manitoba Gardens and More

Check out my new Garden Blog I hope you enjoy strolling through my parents' garden as much as I do!

I have been following a series of posts by a wonderful lady. Her testimony has been such a blessing and an inspiration to me that I wanted to share it with others. To read this most amazing testimony of God's grace in the midst of a valley visit Watering Wells Of Hope and be blessed!


Song of Solomon 6:2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

Let Jesus

Let Jesus be your Lord, is my constant prayer for you,
and may you always seek God’s wisdom, knowing his word is true.
Trust Jesus in your trials, for he will bring you through,
and may you give God all the glory in everything you do.
Let Jesus be your refuge from the struggles of this world.
Let Jesus be your strength, for the arm of flesh will fail.
Let Jesus be your Shepherd to guide you with his light.
Let Jesus be your rock and salvation, for in him alone is life.

Trust Jesus in your trials.........
.....to guide you with his light

This is my prayer for all of my children. Unfortunately, over the twenty three plus years since I’ve been saved, I haven’t always put this prayer into practice in my own life. I’ve often failed to seek God’s wisdom, even though I know his word is true. I haven’t always trusted him during the trials of my life, choosing instead to find my own way through. I’ve looked to others to be my refuge, rather than hiding my life in Christ. I’ve too often depended on my own strength, in spite of past failures. I’ve stumbled through dark days, while my Shepherd was waiting to guide me. I’ve tried to build on sinking sand instead of standing on the solid rock. There have been too many times that I’ve allowed the dead man inside me to take control, when it’s only in Jesus that I have life. I’m ashamed that I haven’t been a better example, and I pray that as my walk with the Lord grows closer, my children will see that Jesus truly is Lord of my life, and will want that for themselves.

The Strength Of My Life

Many years ago, Christ came to dwell within.
On that day he made me whole, as I gave my life to him.
He’s filled my life with music; with joy my heart abounds,
and he’s ever leading on to higher ground.
As the years have passed, I’ve learned to wait on him;
to live my life by faith, for the victory is won.
Abiding in my Saviour is where sweet peace is found,
for he’s ever leading on to higher ground.
When the struggles of life grow hard, he’s just a prayer away.
He answers through his word; he’s with me come what may.
He hides me in times of trouble, and guides me through the night.
The Lord is my light and salvation; he is the strength of my life.

Although I was saved many years ago, learning to wait on the Lord in every circumstance is an ongoing process. Just when I think I’ve surrendered all, he shows me another area where I still don’t have the victory. No, I haven’t yet arrived, but the Lord truly is the strength of my life, and when I determine to follow him through those times of trouble and surrender the struggles of this life to him, he does indeed lead me on to higher ground.

Psalm 27:1,5 The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock.
Psalm 118:14 The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

Thanks for joining me! ~~~Deb

Catching The Habit

I was almost twenty seven years old when I got saved. I had a lot of old habits to break and new habits to make. After all those years of depending on myself or going to my husband with my problems, prayer did not come naturally for me. The habit of taking all of my problems to my heavenly Father did not develop overnight. It was not ‘second nature’ for me to immediately pray about every situation, and even when I learned to do this, it didn’t occur to me to teach this practice to my children.
As my children grew up, prayer became a natural part of my life, and I spent a lot of time talking to my heavenly Father. But I still didn’t make my kids a part of that relationship. Sure, they had prayer at meal time, bedtime, and prayer time at church, but I never helped them form the habit of taking even the smallest everyday needs to the Lord, throughout the day. Now, all these years later, as I am raising three more children, I realize the importance of leading them, by example, into a close relationship with the Lord, by showing them my dependence on him in every area of my life. It’s such a joy to see them ‘catching’ the habit of prayer!
Danny, one of my little boys, is very temperamental, and at times can be down right mean. Punishing him for hurting others seemed to have no lasting effect, so I began encouraging him to stop and talk to God whenever he was about to do something mean. I told him that if he asked, the Lord would help him to do right. One day, I noticed that he was being unusually kind and helpful to a little girl who was staying with us. When I commented on how nice he was being, and asked about the change, Danny answered, very matter of factly, “I talked to God.” More recently, during my dad’s illness, I noticed that as soon as I mentioned Grandpa not being well, Jerry’s immediate reaction was to bow his head and pray. Praise the Lord! My little boys were learning something that took me years to figure out!


Luke 11:1c Lord, teach us to pray...
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your cares on him; for he careth for you.
Mark 10:14b Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Psalm 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.


Thanks for joining me! ~~~Deb

Take All

Take all of the trials and turmoil that you have brought me through,
and use them in some way that brings glory to you.
Lord, may I glorify you.
Take all of the pain and heartache that I’ve surrendered to you,
and then lead me to hearts that I might reach out to.
Lord, may I reach out for you.
Take all of the gifts and talents that I’ve received from you,
and direct all my paths that I serve only you.
Lord, may I serve only you.
Take all my desires and burdens, I have on my heart to give,
and transform them all into your perfect will.
Lord, may I be in your will.
All that I am, and all that I’ve been; all that you’ve given,
and all that I’ve gleaned.
All of my life I lay at your feet.
Take all of it, Lord, and somehow use me.

I know that I have learned and grown as a Christian through the trials and difficult situations that God has brought me through. It’s wonderful to give thanks for all that the Lord has done in my life and all that he has taught me, but if I’m so focused on my own trials and triumphs, that I never look beyond myself, I’m of no use to him. I know that he wants me to use my experiences to help others who may be facing similar circumstances in their lives. He can even use the experiences of my life before salvation to give me an understanding heart and a burden for the lost. But all of my life’s experiences, good or bad, and the wisdom gleaned from them, must be surrendered to him before he can use me.

2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Thanks for joining me! ~~~Deb

The Depth Of God's Love

In the Christian film I watched the night before I was saved, I heard a story that seemed to answer all of my questions about the person of Jesus Christ. At the time I was hearing conflicting opinions and beliefs about who Jesus really was. This story was so simple that even a child could understand it, and at the time that’s what I needed, not some deep theological argument about whether Jesus was God, or whether he was merely a created being who came into existence at the time of the virgin birth. I needed something concrete that I could wrap my mind around.
In this story, a father and son are walking along, when they step on an ant hill. Many of the ants died from being stepped on, and others were wounded. The rest were scrambling to rebuild their home. The father says to his little boy, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could go down there and tell the ants we didn’t mean to hurt them? We could even help them rebuild their home.” The little boy thought it would be a good idea, but said, “We’re too big, and they’re too little.” His father replied, “You’re right, and that’s what God thought when he looked down at the world he had made, and saw all the people who were lost and away from him. How could the mighty God of heaven communicate with these people?” then he continued, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just become an ant and go down there and help them?” His son agreed that it would. The man telling the story went on to explain that this is exactly what God did. God loved us so much that he became a man, and that is who Jesus Christ is –the God-man; fully God and fully man. Suddenly it all made sense!
The thought that God loves me so much that he came to earth in the form of a baby, still leaves me in awe, and I will never fully comprehend all that he does for me, but put in a context such as the story of the ants, even a child can understand the gospel message. Sometimes we need to be reminded to just keep it simple!

The Depth Of God's Love

I stand in awe of a love that’s so great; a love so strong and true;
a love that offered this sinner grace; a love that makes my heart new.
I marvel at a love that’s so pure; a love so good and just;
a love that gives me the strength to stand; a love that I can trust.
How can I measure a love with no boundaries?
How can I weigh Christ’s sacrifice?
How can I comprehend the depth of God’s love?
How can I thank him for giving me life?

Philippians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Thanks for joining me!~~~Deb

Forgiveness

I just want to elaborate a little on my testimony today. Knowing how many conflicting messages I was hearing before that day, and how confusing it can be to sort it all out, I never want to be guilty of leaving people with the idea that salvation is just about praying a prayer.

Although I claim the moment I prayed on March 18th, 1985, as my salvation date, God was obviously working in my heart over a period of many years and through many situations to draw me to him. Everything that happened in my life led up to that date. Salvation is a process, and I truly believe that the change in my heart began the night before, in a rather unlikely place; a theater. That particular Sunday, my brother had told us about a Christian film being shown in a nearby city. The conversation that day had forced me to face the fact that although I knew I needed to ask Jesus to be my Saviour, I had not done so. I still had unanswered questions, so I convinced my husband to take me to the movie.
The Lord used that film to answer so many of my questions. If there had been an actual altar call in that theater, aside from the one on the screen, I know I would have gone forward for salvation. But since I wasn’t given that opportunity, I put it off until the next morning, when on my own, I asked the Lord to save me. The work had already been done. I didn’t need any more explanations, or someone to lead me in a prayer. I just needed to take that final step of confessing Jesus Christ as my Saviour. There was nothing magical in the words I prayed or the tears I shed as I received Jesus as my Saviour. The miracle was in what Christ had done for me and in the change that God had already wrought in my heart.

Forgiveness, precious gift of God.
Forgiveness, promised in his word.
Jesus paid the price, became the sacrifice,
when he laid down his life for me on Calvary.
Forgiveness, precious gift to me.
Forgiveness, God’s love pardoned me.
Jesus cleansed within, my heart so stained with sin,
when I reached out and took the gift he offered me.
For so long I’d spurned God’s grace; hiding from his face.
But in his mercy he opened up his arms and drew me in.
When I was lost, undone, with nowhere else to run,
I found forgiveness and now have peace within.
Forgiveness, precious gift to share.
Forgiveness, answer to my prayer.
Jesus gave to me, such joy, such victory,
when I learned to forgive as he forgiveth me.

Romans 10:9,10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Thanks for joining me!~~~Deb

New Life

Today is my spiritual birthday!