This week we celebrate Valentine’s Day. As my son has said that “hearty, chocolaty day.” I just watched a video about a man named John Ramirez who was a practicing Warlock. He was deeply involved in occultic practices, until God saved Him. He then completely turned His life over to God. And his biggest draw to God was the love and mercy God showed him. Someone, who in our eyes would be as far away as possible from God. Someone who literally sold his soul to Satan, became a believer. If you want encouragement, I suggest you watch this video. If you are a believer, it will definitely encourage you.

God is love. As we celebrate the so called day of love, how much does God love us? There are times in the believer’s life when we feel that we are somehow out of God’s love for us. We’re trapped. We find ourselves in a situation that we never asked for or wanted. Why me Lord? In that moment, in that agonizing, frustrating time does God love us? Yes He does. But we don’t feel it. We can’t see it. Where is He? Where did He go?

When I had my car accident back in November I wondered where God was. I had stepped out of the Son (sun) and stood under a cloud. When I couldn’t see God anymore, I got upset. Where was He? How come He left me? But He never left. I had moved away from the Son and under a cloud.

I had to go back. Go back to my Creator. I had to stop thinking He didn’t have my back. To stop thinking He was going to leave me in the dust, a Job, sitting on a pile of ashes, scraping my skin with a rock.

Are you stuck on an ash heap? God loves you.

Are your prayers seeming to bounce off the ceiling? God loves you.

Are you Elijah in the wilderness wishing God would just kill you and get it over with? God loves you.

Do you feel abandoned and alone? God loves you.

During this “hearty, chocolaty day” celebrate real love. God was our “ultimate valentine.” He didn’t give us roses, or chocolate. He gave us His Son. He gave us His Son to pay the price for our sins with His life.

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friend.” John 15:13

God’s love doesn’t run out. He doesn’t change His mind about you. You are not too much for God. You haven’t strayed so far away, you are beyond hope. Think of John Ramirez. And celebrate God’s love for us. It is never ending. It is eternal. He paid for our sins with His own life. Revel in that amazing love.

It’s Superbowl Sunday today. Not that I get too excited about football. I actually could care less. Oops, did I say that out loud? Did my husband hear me speak such blasphemy? Sorry dear, you know me. I can’t pretend to be someone else.

All the pomp, all the excitement, all the celebration for football. And then there’s me, bleh. I just can’t get excited about football. I have been thinking a lot about heaven lately. Probably because things are so chaotic in our country, it feels like the end of the world. I long for Jesus to come and take His children out of this world to be caught up with Him in the air. The rapture! I want to be there when it happens.

My salvation came through seeing the movie, “A Thief in the Night.” It’s a movie about the rapture taking place, in which this woman is left behind. That movie scared me so badly, I immediately went home and accepted the Lord in my bedroom. After my conversion, I became obsessed with the idea of a rapture. I was so excited, I tried to look up in my concordance to find all the verses talking about it. I couldn’t find the word “rapture” anywhere in there. I consulted my mom and she told me the word rapture wasn’t there, but the description of it was. Later on in life, I realized the word “Bible” wasn’t in there either. So not to worry.

I have always been fascinated with the rapture. When I went to a Bible College, I took every class I could on the subject: Revelations, Eschatology, Church and Last Things, and anything else having to do with the end. I’ve spent many hours studying the subject.

I know there’s talk in the Christian world about whether the rapture will take place before the tribulation or after. In fact, there’s a lot of debate about it. Personally, I am a strong pre-tribber. From what I have studied over the years, it’s fairly plain, that the rapture is going to happen before the tribulation. There’s more evidence for pre-trib than for anything else. For a post trib point of view, you have to do a lot of twisting and forcing round puzzle pieces into square holes. It just doesn’t add up. I know there are some that will argue with me. But that’s okay. You aren’t going to change my mind on the subject.

Some of the strongest evidence I have for pre-trib comes from 1 Thessalonians when Paul is trying to comfort the Thessalonians. You see, apparently, a letter went out, telling the early Christians, that the rapture had taken place. They were understandably freaked, thinking they were left behind. So Paul goes on to comfort them with when it should take place and that it hadn’t yet. The biggest key to that, is the revealing of the Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ will not be revealed until the great restrainer is taken out. Well the great restrainer is the Holy Spirit. And the only way He can be removed, is if God takes all the people out who the Holy Spirit inhabits. Thus, the rapture. It’s hard to argue with that.

If Paul used the idea of a rapture to comfort early Christians, we should comfort ourselves with the same idea. I like thinking about the rapture. It does comfort me. Sometimes, when I’m having a real bad day I think to myself, it could happen at any moment. And then, I tell God that now would be a really good time. I must amuse God.

Iam still reflecting on the goodness of God. He is so good. He is so kind. He loves His children. When my daughter and I walked away from the car accident that totaled our car, it could have been a different scenario all together. But it wasn’t. God restored us to a position, better than we were before the accident. God gives good gifts.

I’m thinking about a time, a long time ago, when I was trying to potty train my daughter. I say trying because it was oh so trying. It was exhausting. It was pull your hair out, kick the walls, aggravating. I thought, if I can potty train this kid, I could do anything. I could teach her Algebra. If I could get her to go potty in the potty, there was nothing that could stop me in teaching her anything else.

The child refused to go potty in the potty. It was like she had some serious phobia of piddling in the kid sized, little potty chair. I coaxed her. I encouraged her. I bribed her. I let her drink all the juice she wanted. The problem wasn’t that she didn’t want to sit on the potty. She would sit there all day, until the cows came home. But she would hold everything in. She would out maneuver me. As soon as I wore down and couldn’t take being in the bathroom any longer, I would give in and put on her pull-ups. That was her cue. Now it was time to go potty! And she did! My frustration built.

All day long, I spent, trying to coax my darling, sweet daughter into doing the deed in the toilet with absolutely no progress what so ever. By the time my husband was about to come home, I was about ready for the loony bin. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was ready to hand off the kid, walk out the door and never come back again. So that was my plan. I had made an appointment that evening for a free haircut. At that point in our lives, free was the only thing we could afford. Someone was advertising free haircuts in the Pennysaver and it just so happened that my appointment was that evening after my fun filled day of potty training. As soon as my husband walked in the door, I was out of there. I didn’t stop to cry and kick the walls, I just cruised out the door, said “bye” and “she’s all yours,” “I’m getting a haircut.”

I wasn’t sure why the free haircut, but I didn’t care. I could sit in a salon chair, stare at my morose reflection in the mirror and forget that I was a mother and my kid wasn’t potty trained.

I figured out, while waiting, what the deal was. The woman that was going to cut my hair, already had her hair cutting credential. She was being trained exclusively by the owner of the very nice salon how to really cut hair and charge a hefty price for it. I was going to get a nice haircut for free, so the woman could practice on my locks.

She was late in coming, so the owner of this nice salon told me she was going to be late and could he give me a makeover while we waited. I said sure, as long as no one mentioned potty training, I was game. He had all this nice makeup and started doing my face. The morose reflection began changing. He was an expert and knew what colors looked good on me. He did ask me what I had done all day and I quickly told him I had been potty training my child and was glad the day was over. He laughed and proceeded to complete my make over. When he was done, I looked good.

The woman arrived and she went right to work on my hair. She took her time, as the guy directed her on how to do things. She was meticulous. Then she blow dried it all and styled it. When she was done, I couldn’t believe how I looked. You would have never known I had spent the day potty training an obstinate toddler. I looked ready for a photo shoot. They both thanked me for coming in, but I was thanking them. I needed this so badly.

I walked out of that exclusive salon with an expensive makeover, haircut and style that I never would have been able to afford. God knew what I needed. God’s timing was perfect. He gives good gifts.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

God is true to His word. He does give good gifts to His children. He knew my frustration and His timing is impeccable. I got a free makeover and fancy haircut at the end of a frustrating day. Trust God. He really does give good gifts.

I am really caught up in this whole idea of a new year. I have been thinking and reflecting on that. I wrote about that two blogs ago. As I am thinking about living this life and living it more abundantly I am also aware that this life, as a Christian, comes with persecution from the enemy. The New Testament warns us to stay awake. I think the story of Jesus Christ, getting ready to be crucified, kept telling His disciples to stay awake, is an example of our lives today. God doesn’t want us ignorant of the world around us. He wants us awake and aware.

I was ignorant about the world around me, when I was a Junior in college. I was a good girl. I didn’t do drugs. I didn’t drink. I didn’t have sex. Like I said, I was a good girl. But with that idea of being a good girl, I think there was some pride on my part. And pride is one of those deadly sins that can snare the Christian. That was the sin that cost Satan to be kicked out of heaven. I had pride that I believed I really was a good girl.

I never really thought about the enemy. In the back of my mind, I thought I was untouchable. Since, I was a good girl, how could the enemy get me? How could he snare me? There was nothing he could snare me with…except, there was…pride. That insidious sin.

In the spring semester of my Junior year at a Christian college, the enemy decided to take me down. I was completely unsuspecting. I was living my good girl life, studying and trying to pass Spanish in college. Remember? I was a good girl.

The attack from Satan would come from a mixed up, lonely, lesbian, who I would later come to realize was very likely demon possessed. I disliked her immediately. But my pride got in the way, I was going to help this girl. She needed my help. So I tolerated her. I was set up for the perfect storm. I wasn’t going to church at all. (I justified it, because I went to chapel everyday and had at least one Bible class). I wasn’t praying a whole lot. And my pride in being a good girl. That set me up for the enemy to attack me and drag me so far down, I actually thought of suicide at the end of it.

There is so much to this story, but the big takeaway is I want you to realize how the enemy works. After tangling with the enemy, my eyes were wide open. And like God always does, he restored me, I met my husband right after I came through it all. I gained a couple of really close friends, and God lifted me up so I had such perfect peace.

Since that time I have become like a spiritual barometer. I can sniff out the enemy’s presence almost immediately. As soon as those feelings come to me, I know where they come from. Those feelings are feelings of hopelessness. Feelings of dread. Feelings of depression. When I feel them, I know, I need to fall on my knees immediately. The enemy is about, doing what he always does, seeking whom he can destroy.

God is not the author of chaos. The Fruits of the Holy Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. Know them. Hopelessness doesn’t come from God. That is from the enemy. Memorize the fruits of the Spirit.

If you are struggling with anything like feelings of hopelessness, anxiousness, depression, or anxiety, know that these things do not come from God. They are contrary to the Lord. Know the enemy’s work. The Believer’s life should have the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. If you don’t, know the enemy is messing with you.

Stay awake Believer. Keep your eyes wide open. We are living in perilous times. Keep yourself guarded in this new year!

This is the time of year we reflect on our lives. It’s a new year, how was the past one? What do we want to change? What should we keep the same? Like most of you, I’ve been thinking about this past year. As I do, I see God’s fingerprints all over my life.

In the believer’s life, there is no such thing as coincidences. In the believer’s life, God is moving throughout their life, making things happen, showing them things, teaching them things. A friend just wrote me a Christmas card, telling me how God was working in her life. It was a reaction to my post using Romans 8:28. That God works out all things for good for those who love Him. I see that so clearly throughout the past year. It’s clearly not coincidences. It’s clearly not luck or happenstance. For the believer, it is clearly God’s hand upon our lives.

I think of my nephew who now plays football for Azuza Pacific University. It wasn’t a coincidence that my husband happened to be in the same Bible study group as the Offensive Line coach for Azuza. That was a confirmation to my sister who was trying to figure out where my nephew should go for college.

It wasn’t a coincidence that during my car accident I just so happened to have my cell phone with me that I carry only half the time. It wasn’t a coincidence that my neighbor happened to come out and talk to me during the accident and remind me to take pictures of everything.

It wasn’t a coincidence that something inside of me told me to draw a line in the sand and make sure my son wore his helmet before skateboarding. The same activity, in which he spun out of control and broke his wrist in two places. If he didn’t have his helmet, it could’ve have been his head.

It wasn’t a coincidence when I was late coming out of school, when I was seven years old, to go home and find our house had been robbed. We were so relieved when the cops told us if we had come home any earlier we would have been killed. We would’ve interrupted the robbers. He had seen it happen all the time.

It wasn’t a coincidence when I heard a voice in my head to call my sister-in-law right at that moment. Right at that moment, when she needed a distraction.

It wasn’t a coincidence, when I just happen to read the homeschool catalog that mentions a book I needed to help my daughter with reading.

If you are a believer, look at your life. Notice the times when you arrived too soon or too late to something, but it worked out perfectly. The times when you mentioned something to someone just in passing, and that someone had answers for the questions you had at that moment. The times when you meet someone and somehow they are connected to someone else in your life and that friendship benefits the other person.

Look at your life, believer, and see what God has done. Note all those “coincidences” and thank Him for what He has done in your life. We’re supposed to count our blessings, but go further. Look for the coincidences in your life and see God’s fingerprints on your life. I guarantee it will greatly encourage you.