Author: bonniejeancarr

One need only glance inches, not miles, to see fellow children of God under attack. Diseases, fractured families, broken dreams, etc., etc., etc. surround our lives. My hunch is you, like me, out of loving hope encourage God’s hurting children to “HANG IN THERE” and keep faith burning in their hearts and souls.

God corrected me and challenged me to see the error of my words. I share the following not as a put down of my (or your) good intentions gone astray but as a reminding re-commitment to what God calls us to impart to His hurting children. Plain and simple, God’s children, no matter what trial or tribulation they are enduring, are not supposed to HANG IN THERE. Christ did all the HANGING that was, is or ever will be needed for any, and all, of us to be freed from our trials and tribulations. We are not to HANG IN THERE but to REST in the accomplishment, truth and promises of Christ HANGING IN THERE.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:38 (NIV). We are called not to HANG IN THERE but to REST in our Lord. HANG IN THERE implies clinging to a thread while the garment of our belief and hope is being frayed in a fierce storm. REST proclaims we are sheltered by our God in even the most savage of worldly furors.

I don’t think God calls us to wash away the word HANG from our mouths and memory. Quite the opposite, He calls us to share the reality of HANG IN THERE in a different and completely accurate connotation. We are to recall for others, who are facing the hardest of battles, that the trial of Christ and the unrighteous verdict rendered Him the one to HANG IN THERE so we could be proclaimed righteous and granted the security of being able to REST in God’s protection when worldly tribulations engulf us.

Christ conquered HANGING. We are to grasp REST. Next time we offer words of heavenly Hope to one going through worldly hell may they be ones not from our mortal mouths but from God’s eternal love, protection and promises. “The Lord replied, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14 (NIV)

Lately, I have found myself lamenting what God sees as He gazes upon our fallen world. How disappointing and upsetting it must be for our Heavenly Father to see mankind plummeting farther and farther away from His way and will. What an ugly picture for His eyes to behold. Truthfully, my sight has been locked on this vision. That is until yesterday when God showed me His more insightful perspective.

God is multifocal. When looking at mankind, He is not tunnel visioned on the evil illuminated in many and much of planet earth. Yes, He is fully aware of how far society has strayed from His laws and love; but He also sees all that His children do which is good and reflective of His character and care. Our hateful and sinning nation is not overlooked by God, but neither are the acts of faith, hope, love and outreach that are depicted in the lives of those who follow God’s commands and commission.

Our God is a God of judgement but also a God of reward. He views in mankind both who will be judged and who will be rewarded. It is extremely shortsighted of me to limit God’s eyesight to only staring at what is evil. The apples of His eye, His children living for Him and in Him, are never blurred by pictures of evil.

My eyes, now being opened to this, have new illumination. Like God, the wrong doing glaring forth in this world will not blind me from seeing all the God seeded goodness happening in my midst. I no longer give way to discouragement from seeing who and what are fallen but uplifted by viewing who and what have risen up, defy the worldly trend and reflect the grace, mercy, compassion and love of God.

God never overlooks His future saints because of present sinners. May this be a guiding light of hope and inspiration which helps us all secure our sight beyond the darkness of the moment.

If my Hubby was not tending the gardens of Heaven, today would mark his 70th birthday. As I meander through the day, my heart re-listens to some of his comical, but never forgotten, wisdom. One of my favorites was his understanding that all careers/ jobs, be they successes or failures, are best measured by the scale of the significance of their outcome. I still hear his voice proclaiming “if a pizza maker ruins the dough, he can discard it and start over. No significant loss occurs. However, a surgeon is not allowed the solution of tossing the failure and freshly starting over”. For the pizza maker, opportunity and results are a luxury that can always be granted a do over. For the physician, outcomes do not get a replay but rather stand alone as only one chance to help render the miracle of God’s healing.

By now, I’m pretty sure you must be wondering where on earth am I going with this! Actually, I’m not going anywhere on earth. I am navigating a route from, and to, heaven for Christ’s disciples. When we, as Christ’s ambassadors, take up the role of representing God, defending Christianity and delivering spiritual food and health to others, are we pizza makers or members of the surgeon’s team? Honestly, I’m seeing a lot more dough thrown into a trash can than souls saved through M.D.’s (“M”essiah’s “D”isciples) hooking those in need to Heaven’s Healing Surgeon’s lifeline.

The question is when given the opportunity to touch another’s life for God, do we see ourselves as pizza makers or M.D.’s — “M”essiah’s “D”isciples? Who we see ourselves as, in truth, reflects not our profile but God’s image.

We live in a world where the vast majority are not seeking responsibility for their own needs, let alone the needs of others. None the less, God calls us to make a difference by being different than the world. We are charged to serve God, care for others and help change the earth from selfish to selfless; and all is to be done with God, in God and for God.

Satan loves for us to approach this calling with pizza dough in hand. On the contrary, God puts our hand in His and solely asks us to bring lost souls to Him, the powerful Physician who will cure all addictions, heal all afflictions and lovingly feed all His hungry flock Christ’s lifesaving bread and wine.

We are not commissioned to think of leading others to their Divine Maker as our being a maker of pizzas. No soul can, or should, ever be thrown away and another reached for. Our job is to value and lead all who are lost to Heaven’s Surgeon, who alone can save each and every soul in need of eternal life.

Thanks, Hubby, for using your sense of humor to remind me of my responsibility in the employment of helping lead lost souls to God’s redemption. Happy Birthday; you are loved and missed.

“So, we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God’!” (2 Corinthians 5:20) NLT

T’was bright and early one morn, when a little lassie jumped out of bed. She had a mission to do. As her mommy was contemplating what to make for family breakfast, this petite miss raced past her toward the kitchen door announcing, “I promise I won’t go out of my yard, but I need to do something important for God”.

In curiosity, her mommy peeked out the window and witnessed her daughter picking up garden stones and plopping them into her tiny bucket. With a chuckle, the mother accepted that dirty stones were about to decorate the breakfast table.

Pancakes grilled, mommy poked her head outside and announced breakfast was ready and hands needed to be washed before the first bite was eaten. The little lassie, still clutching her bucket, raced inside. Her morning task resulted in a very hungry tummy. Hands cleansed; she parked her bucket under the chair into which she plunked her diminutive frame. Mommy sighed relief that dirty stones were not perched upon her table. Their presence in a bucket on the floor was much more appetizing.

Hands folded and head bowed, this small child of God sang Grace for her family. After a unison Amen, all reached for the flap jack platter.

Between yummy bites, daddy was curious and inquired what motivation led his little girl to her early morning adventure. In a matter-of-fact explanation, the apple of this daddy’s eye replied, “I was obeying God”. Her mommy added, “I’m glad you, also, honored me and didn’t put those dirty stones in your bucket upon my clean table”.

Puzzled, the wise youngster inquired, “what stones, Mommy?”. With a loving, factual tone, the mother interjected, “the ones I saw you putting into your bucket”. “Oh Mommy,” the lass responded, “those stones weren’t for my bucket. They were for God. His wish is for me, for you, for everyone to give the stained stones in our lives to Him, and He will carry them for us. So, I gave God all our messy rocks!”. Lifting her bucket up for all to examine, this child of God exclaimed, “See, my bucket’s empty! God’s hands, not mine, now carry them all!”.

What about my and your bucket? Are they overbrimming with the rocky issues of our lives, or are they empty because, with trust, we have poured all our rubble boulders into God’s almighty palm? “Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)

No matter where I am or where I go, the conversation seems the same. Be they politicians, corporate executives, media analysts, sports enthusiasts or average Americans, each and everyone proclaims their knowledge, wisdom and expertise would change our broken, dysfunctional world. Only ones not preaching this message are the vast majority of preachers. This ordained segment of our population, sadly, might be America’s last chance for hope, yet their guidance seems silent.

Not as an attempt to usurp anyone, but as one who fully knows and accepts I, myself, have no power to change the world, may I boldly declare I do know from whence comes the power for change to happen.

Truth be told, man can only rearrange. God alone can change. Man can rearrange till the Kingdom comes, and though, the overrunning of evil might change its course, the downward direction of society will continue onward. Only when mankind returns to God and dons Godly character will the world return to peace as its core value. Solely returning to God can change the souls of mankind from hate to love, war to peace, death to life and enemy to brothers and sisters in Christ.

God can change the world, but for this to happen, man must elect God as the leader they choose to follow. There is no other way for change to happen than for humans to rearrange their lives to honor God and plea for God to save His flock.

How might our Country go from failing in personal self proclaimed power to returning under the almighty power of God? There is only one answer, and it is found in the Bible. There’s not a joint chief of staff assembly, cabinet meeting or voting booth that holds the direction needed. God’s word, and His word alone, can chart this course.

Call me a dreamer, but I long for preachers to lead us back to God to find our way going forward. In today’s society this might not be the popular thing, but it might be the only lifeboat that will save our land, our families and our souls.

Recently, while preparing for a Grammy Prayer gathering, I asked God to share His wisdom. I inquired how we, Grams, could pray deeper and more in accordance with His intentions. God’s answer, at first, confused me. The guidance He shared was to meditate on the reality that humans tend to “PLATE” pray; and while doing so, the majority completely miss the deep message contained within this form of intercession. My response informed Our Lord that I had asked Him for clarity, and He answered with confusion. God retorted back for me to ponder His words, and so I did.

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Psalm 51:2). In “PLATE” prayer, humans ask God to “take stuff off” and “put stuff on” their platter. God intends for prayer to, additionally, wash the plate. Let’s think about this.

We all come to God in prayer as plates. God, please take ______ off my plate; or God, please add ______ to my plate. This is not wrong prayer, but it is incomplete. The greatest power of prayer is not a give or take. It is a cleansing of the remaining tidbits of stains in our lives — the crumbs of sin left over from our choosing to, at times, allow “Satan to put “a forbidden apple” in our diets and on our plates. With plate in hand, we pray to God for takeout and delivery of our nourishment needs. God longs for our prayers to, also, include (and even prioritize) the washing of our plates through our seeking the continual flow of baptismal waters over our lives.

Do I, you, we see prayer only as a “remove or put on” plea? Truthfully, upon examination, too often I do. Frequently, my prayers are a “need to return or purchase” shopping spree at the mall. Sadly, I also routinely overlook my responsibility to take the soiled apparel of my life to the cleaners, both on my way to and from the shopping center.

Closer contemplation revealed to me that the aspects of “PLATE” prayer (take off, put on and wash) reflect the three Theological Virtues of Christian belief — Faith, Hope and Love. Is not Faith the belief that what we cannot handle alone, we can prayerfully give to God and await deliverance? Doesn’t the presence of Hope in our prayers add God’s power to feed into our lives what is good and longed for? What about Love? Without denial, our prayers must implore God’s love for us to, over and over again, remind us of the cleansing that occurred when our lives were submerged in the stain removal of our baptismal water. And yes, we do need to bring our new stains to God and ask for them to be washed away by His love.

The long and short of “PLATE” prayer is that “taking off and putting on” our plates is simple addition and subtraction. However, if our plates (life on earth) are to multiply into an eternity of feasting in Heaven, then prayer for us must, also, include reoccurring recall of (and reaching out for) God’s love, which forever washes our plates in the cleansing stream of Baptismal waters.

It’s time for all Children of God to set not only our tables, but also our prayers, with plates that nourish not solely our days on earth but “soul”y our eternity in Heaven.

The world lectures us to race faster, climb higher and scream louder. The whisper of God’s Word speaks otherwise. “Be Still and Know That I Am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

May the wisdom of taking time to rest in the knowledge of God be the destination that fuels our life’s journey to both the here and the hereafter. Only then, will we arrive at the unique sole, and SOUL, purpose God created each of us to fulfill.

2024 has been a rough season. Looking at the world, this statement most likely burns deep in many other lives. Broken hearts, broken spirits and broken dreams rain on the lives of many of God’s children. Past couple of weeks, I’ve found myself asking God to stop all the breaking. His response has not been to instantaneously stop the breaking of my heart; but rather, to yield His wisdom through one additional break. God broke my way of thinking. Cutting deep to my core, God sent me a newsflash announcing, “Satan breaks; God reassembles”. Though a struggle, I pulled this apart in hope of putting my life back together. Praise God, His wisdom was revealed and turned into the adhesive bond my heart and soul are seeking.

It is Satan, not God, who shreds our lives, our families and our dreams. Satan’s goal is to break all that is good, and of God, into pieces. The devil desires our fragmented scraps to forever remain in ruin. Breaking is an end goal for Satan. God never breaks. He allows only disassemblement. There is magnanimous difference between break and disassemble. Understanding this polar-opposite reality is the glue that seals a Christian life in faith and hope.

A break destroys. Disassemble takes something apart and allows the splinters to be reconfigured into a better, stronger and even more beautiful entity. Satan breaks to tear down, demolish and end. God allows disassembly so the dismantled pieces can be re-birthed into wisdom and a new beginning. Blame Satan for the broken pieces of our lives. Praise God that He is waiting to guide us toward reassembling our lives into better accord, so we might love mightier and rejoice gratefully in the blessing of His will and way re-cementing our lives.

Once we collapse in broken pieces, what are we to do? Two choices are ours to make. Either, we can solely see the ruin, blame others for the destruction and remain surrounded in shattered hopes and dreams; or we can “soul”y choose to see with God’s insight. We can let go of blame and anger and cling to allowing God’s lead and guidance help reassemble our lives into a better reflection of the image of Christ. Herein, lies God’s miracle of broken pieces being turned into new and greater creations.

We can choose between the blame game or the name game. The blame game is to fault God, or His children, for the wrong that occurred and resulted in the broken pieces of our lives. The name game is to bring our splintered fragments to God; place them in His hands and beg Him to reassemble, in the name of Jesus Christ, our brokenness, so we better reflect God’s will, way, forgiveness and redemption.

Don’t know about you, but my life is drowning right now in the sea of broken pieces. God handed me His life saver 2,024 years ago on Mt, Calvary. It’s more than time for me to, once and for all, sever Satan’s brokenness and tether my life to God’s reassembly line. My hope and prayer are all my family and extended sisters and brothers in Christ join me in this restoration of the broken pieces of our lives.

When a soldier marches into battle, where are his treasures? This is the question God placed in my soul when I asked Him how I might best help His little (and big) children learn it’s not the size of their toy box but the gift of invisible love that is their most valuable treasure. My initial response was “God, isn’t this apples and oranges? God retorted back “Nope, it’s the fruit of all wisdom”.

After deeper thought, I sensed God’s message and meaning. We can line up, display and even flaunt the ownership of all our physical assets, but are they really everlasting, never leaving treasures? Can they uphold us as we climb the mountains in our lives? Will they even sparkle when we are thrust into our darkest moments? Don’t they often become burdensome baggage we can’t carry with us, so we leave them behind?

A soldier, going off to war, must lay down all his nonessential riches and pick up the call of duty. What matters most to him can solely (and “soul”y) be carried in his heart. The strength to march forward comes only from the mighty weapon of looking in. The mightiest of warriors look into their soul to discover the faith and hope in God that is needed to fight all wars. To find inner peace and direction to march into the unknown, the greatest of soldiers look into their hearts to become armored in their treasure trove -the present of loved ones’ forever presence.

Material possessions come and go. The irony of cherishing them as wealth is that, most often, their importance and value becomes a fleeting worth. Frequently, we forget or outgrow tomorrow what we feel we can’t live without today. Shouldn’t we, therefore, guide all God’s children to stop looking through store windows to find their treasures and start looking into their hearts and discover blessings money can’t buy, and the world can’t take away?

God’s message to me was plain and simple. No matter how young or old a child of God may be, teach them to see their hearts as the suitcase that carries their most cherished treasures. Let us not forget children learn what they live. Thus, to better guide our children, maybe we grown-ups need to more deeply reflect on, and be reflective of, a soldier marching into war.

I am fully, completely and totally aware of one thing that I am not. Just ask my eldest grandchild, as well as my grown children. This Grammy/Mom is not anywhere near perfect. She makes mistakes. The flaws that my five-year-old grandson picks up on and reminds me of are somewhat comical. Ga’s Ga, you turned at the wrong street. GaGa, better let me fetch your racecar cause you are too slow getting up from the floor. GaGa, that’s not how Mommy fixes my yogurt. GaGa, Daddy gives me OOT’s (dessert) for lunch, too. Etc., etc., etc.,. My children’s reminders are not so comical but, none the less, accurate.

The significant issue is not my many mistakes but rather if my grandchildren, children and I, myself, learn from them. A pie-in-the-sky goal is for me to stop making mistakes. I’m human!! My down to earth hope is that my mistakes lead my family not to misstep in the same manner as I. For you see, I’m of the conviction that my mistakes, not my successes, can be my loved ones’ greatest lesson tool.

Somehow the present-day world seems under the delusion that humans are perfect and not that this crown rests on God alone. Society falsely believes our mistakes are to be ignored or, at least, covered up. Our planet teaches that one should never believe, admit or proclaim to be anything but perfect. This is the Twenty-First Century’s mantra for success, but should it be?

How can family be there for each other, when need is greatest, if mistakes are to be hidden? Children of God cannot love unconditionally if the condition under which they love is perfection. Whether we admit it or not, each and every human being is imperfect. Simply spoken, we are all sinners making mistakes.

In my heart, I desire my successes to inspire my family. In my soul, I long for my mistakes to be the perspiration my family sheds to learn from me. May they labor not to fall prey to my downfalls. Additionally, I yearn for them to cling to the truth that God forgives all mistakes, and family is called to love and grow through each and every one.

To the world, successes define us; but to God mistakes grow us, mature us and refine us. May we all take time to ponder if possibly one of the greatest successes we can own is to own up to our mistakes and work on correcting them as an example for those God most calls us to guide — our grandchildren and children.