Archive
3 Things Make Life Better
I love the story of the little girl whose mother found her crying in the kitchen. When her mother asked her what was wrong, she said, “I’m in the kitchen, but I still don’t know how to cook.” Her mother put her up on a kitchen stool and proceeded to help her bake some cookies. Later, as they munched on the delicacies, the little girl observed, “If I let you do it, I can do anything.”
There are times when I’m standing in the middle of life, and I suddenly realize I don’t know how to live. That’s when I try to remember to do these three things. By doing so, I feel as if I can do anything.
1. Ask God to take over.
There’s a popular song entitled “Jesus Take The Wheel.” It’s almost comical to think of Jesus of Nazareth in a long white robe and dusty sandals sitting in the driver’s seat and tooling along the highway of life with me in the passenger seat. However, while the picture may be amusing, the concept is theologically sound. John 16:33, “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.” You can have peace; He’s overcome all the obstacles. Trust Him.
2. Allow others to help you.
It’s an all-American ideal to “make it on our own” or to “act independently,” but, that’s not a Biblical concept. When Paul speaks of believers in Christ, he describes each one as part of a whole. In fact, he sees this whole as if it were a human body. He says in 1 Corinthians 12:14, “the body is not one member, but many.” When I ask help from a fellow believer, I’m functioning in the way God intended His Spiritual body on earth to function.
3. Accept the personality God gave you.
Are you an introvert? Then don’t expect to live as an extrovert. Do you enjoy talking? Then don’t expect to stay silent. God says in Psalm 17, “You are the apple of my eye,” and in Isaiah 44:2, “This is what the LORD says– he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you:” Perhaps the best passage for understanding the hand of God upon the life of every individual is Psalm 139. The message in these verses is that God made you the way you are, and you glorify Him when you accept this truth.
Ask God.
Allow Others.
Accept Yourself.
Remember this pyramid with God at the pinnacle. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13.
New Release: Two Days in Caracas, A Titus Ray Thriller
Today I’m announcing the release of the second book in the Titus Ray Thriller Series, Two Days in Caracas.
My first Christian fiction novel, One Night in Tehran, introduced Titus Alan Ray, a CIA intelligence officer, who is brought to faith in Christ after hiding out with a group of Iranian Christians in Tehran, Iran. Their unwavering faith so touched his heart, he was compelled to make his own commitment to Christ, thus beginning a journey more mystifying, yet more rewarding, than any of his previous missions.
In Book 1, Titus tries taking his first “baby steps” in his faith walk when he attempts to pray before a debriefing on his blown mission to Tehran. He fails miserably, but he doesn’t give up. After he learns he’s been targeted by a Hezbollah assassin and arrives in Norman, Oklahoma (no spoilers here, but his visit to Oklahoma was not his choice), he decides it might be a good idea to start reading the Bible. His venture into a Christian bookstore to purchase a Bible is a nerve-wracking experience for this hardened covert officer. This event is followed by his first visit to a church worship service, where he encounters people who want to shake his hand and other strange phenomenon, including a new type of vocabulary he must learn.
In the midst of figuring out what it means to be a follower of Christ, Titus gets involved in a murder, meets a beautiful, local detective—who is also a believer—and tries to evade Ahmed Al-Amin, the Hezbollah assassin who wants to murder him.
In Book 2, Titus Ray, travels from Costa Rica to Venezuela in an effort to stop Ahmed Al-Amin from assassinating a high-profile government official. Along the way, a family crisis jeopardizes his mission, and an Agency division head threatens to destroy his career. As the danger mounts, he’s forced to partner with an untested operative to complete the mission and bring Ahmed to justice.
In this second book, Titus is thrust into several situations where he’s faced with the need to offer forgiveness for past sins. These are gut-wrenching episodes, and he’s not always successful. Then, when he encounters a physically debilitating crisis in the midst of his mission, he reaches out to God to provide the answer and, what happens next, is something many new believers in Christ often experience for themselves.
Because this blog is mostly devoted to insights into God’s Word, here are some of Titus’ own words after reading his Bible one morning during his latest mission.
My self-analysis did little to lighten my mood, so I opened the drawer of the nightstand and pulled out the hotel’s Bible. It fell open to Psalm 42. After reading a few verses, I realized whoever had written the psalm had experienced the same emotions I was having.
He said his soul was downcast, and that’s exactly how I felt.
Unlike me, though, he had the solution.
He advised, “Put your hope in God.”
Feeling foolish because I hadn’t considered this, I bowed my head. (Titus Ray, Two Days in Caracas, Chapter 20).
Two Days in Caracas will release on Amazon on June 26th. The Kindle copy is available now for preorder, and you can order the print copy on June 26th. Many of my readers have said One Night in Tehran is an non-intimidating way of sharing the gospel with unbelievers. I pray Two Days in Caracas will also open up witnessing opportunities, while, at the same time, providing readers with a fast-paced, pulse-racing thriller full of intrigue, romance and suspense.
Link to Two Days in Caracas on Amazon.
A Bar Full Of Blue
If you would have asked me the moment I made my commitment to Christ if I loved the Lord, I would have said yes. Of course I did. Now though, as I look back on it, it’s hard to measure that kind of love. That’s because I know more about Him now, so I feel I love Him more. My relationship with Him now, as compared to when I first came into a relationship with Him at the age of six, makes that initial claim of loving him seem as nothing.
I was thinking about this as I sat in front of my computer watching a new program get downloaded. A pop-up box dominated the screen with a line of text assuring me that the process of downloading was taking place. Even though I wasn’t able to see it, I was supposed to believe it was going on in the background.
To help me visualize the progress of the download, a long bar appeared in the pop-up box. It was clear with no color showing, but because I’d done this before, I knew that as the software elements were added to my hard drive, the bar would begin to fill up with blue. The colorization would begin on the left side and gradually make its way over to the right, culminating in a solid blue bar. Once that happened, success! The download was complete, and I was encouraged to begin using my new program.
How the blue download bar related to my thoughts about my love for Christ is easy to describe but hard to explain. Picture the clear bar as the moment I accepted Him as my Savior and the bar completely filled in with blue as knowing Him fully and loving Him perfectly. Now, sixty years later, what kind of progress can I see on the blue bar? Practically none. Perhaps a little sliver of blue on the far left-hand side. Nothing more.
However, like the message on the pop-up box, God’s Word is continually reassuring us our lives are being changed and the elements of our sanctification are being added. Though we may not see any progress, we must believe the message. Then, as we wait patiently for the download to be complete, one day we’ll hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:23).
One day, the download will be complete, and we’ll be able to use our new program.
In the meantime, be patient and keep reading His Message of hope.
God Has A Bell; He Wants To Hear You Ring It
Last week, when my grandson was too sick to go to school, he spent the day at our house. Right after I’d tucked him in bed, he asked, “Do I get to have the bell?”
The “bell” is a hand-sized figurine of an angel gazing at a bird in her hands–not exactly the sort of thing an eleven-year old boy usually wants. However, there’s a small clapper in the hollow of the figurine, and when he grasps the head of the angel and shakes it, the high-pitched sound is loud enough to be heard throughout the house.
I’ve had the bell for a number of years—it was given to me by a Bible study group—and a few years ago, I decided to put it to good use. Now, whenever anyone in my household gets sick, I put the bell within easy reach of their bedside. That way, if they need something, I can be summoned to their side.
My mother, who was in a wheelchair during the last years of her life, had to use the bell a lot more than most family members. Whenever she did, she would apologize for having to ring the bell. “It’s nice to have an angel when I need help,” she’d say, “but I hate to be a bother.”
My grandson, though, voiced no such sentiment when he rang the bell.
He rang it just to see if I could hear him ringing it. He rang it to ask for a drink, a cracker, a bowl of ice cream. He rang it to call attention to something on the television screen. He rang it to ask for a bowl of ice cream. He rang it because he said he was bored. He rang it to tell me he was happy to be at my house and not in school.
God also has a bell. He calls it prayer. Whenever I ring His angel bell, He’s at my side immediately. Sometimes, I think I’m using it too often, and I need to apologize. “I’m so sorry I have to ask for this again. I’m so sorry I can’t remember what you told me. I’m so sorry I have to ask forgiveness for this sin.”
However, at other times, I act just like my grandson. I ring it often and long, and I’m continually asking for something that I don’t even need. But, like a grandma who’s just happy her grandson wants to have her at his side, God doesn’t mind when He hears the angel bell ringing. He’s delighted His children want to spend time with Him, even if it’s just to ask Him for something. He’s happy His children believe He’s the answer to everything that matters.
He’s always overjoyed to hear that bell ringing! Ring away!
Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
I Want To Know God
Last week, I talked with a young lady who had been a believer for several years, but who had just recently decided to become involved in a Bible study. She said, “I want to know God, and I know that’s only going to happen if I study my Bible.”
Without realizing it, this young lady had made a profound statement. There’s no way anyone can know God except through the study of Scriptures, except through studying the revelation He’s given us through the Word He’s given us. The best way to learn about God is to read and study and meditate on the love letter He’s written to us.
Although I met my husband-to-be when I was sixteen years old, for the next two years, we lived a thousand miles away from each other and never had the opportunity to spend any time together. I understood why my friends and family were surprised when I announced James and I were getting married only a couple of months after my eighteenth birthday. What they failed to grasp was that James and I had been corresponding with each other regularly, and, through those letters, we had come to know each other as well as many couples who had been dating for several years.
While this illustrates the concept of getting to know God through reading His Word, it fails to portray the real picture of how intimacy with God is possible through the study of His Word. This truth can only be experienced when a believer spends time in the Word every day. This is the way God has chosen to build a relationship with His children. This is the way God speaks to His children, and this is the way His children learn to recognize the voice of the Father.
Jesus said His followers are able to discern His voice. John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Read His Word, become familiar with the sound of His voice, if you truly “want to know God.”
Six Things I Discovered This Week
I made six important discoveries this week. These weren’t earthshaking discoveries or anything like that. They were just personal observations I made as I came to the end of a strange week. It was strange for several reasons, but mainly because my husband and I were snowed in for two days, and it just so happened it was the week we were supposed to keep our grandsons–plus the granddog–while my daughter was out of town.
I discovered:
1. There are just sometimes in life when you have to stuff your obsessive compulsive disorder and let your house resemble a guy’s messy dorm room.
2. A bowl of vanilla ice cream, with sprinkles on top, is a good cure for boredom.
3. My oldest grandson now knows more about the computer than I do, even though I bought him his first computer game when he was nine months old.
4. Although a dog may refuse to go outside to do his business before going to bed, he will always do so at 3:00 a.m. when it’s snowing outside.
5. A hand-drawn game made out of a piece of discarded cardboard is a whole lot more fun than playing the deluxe version of Monopoly.
6. There’s nothing quite like having one of your grandsons ask you, “Is it time for our Bible study yet?”
While certainly not a discovery, I also had a reminder this week. It was from Psalm 139:15: “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
The Reason Behind This
Whenever I have the privilege of signing my book for someone, I do so with this inscription: “Walk in His Light.” I follow that with my name, and, of course, if the request comes from someone who wants a personal inscription, I begin my inscription with a personalized autograph.
However, from this point forward, I’ve decided to add a Scripture reference to my inscription of “Walk in His Light.” I’m doing so because some readers seem puzzled when they read that phrase, and I want to make it perfectly clear what I mean by pointing them to a verse summarizing the thought behind my words.
Although the Bible references God as Light throughout both the Old and New Testaments (Psalm 119:105; John 8:12), I’ve always loved 2 Corinthians 4:6 as a beautiful, yet understandable, verse which explains what happens when a person begins a personal relationship with the God of the Universe in the person of His son Jesus.
This reference will now appear below my signature. 2 Corinthians 4:6.
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
When I write “Walk in His Light,” I’m voicing a prayer that my reader will look in the face of Jesus, see the glory of God, cling to His provision for salvation in Christ, and follow that Light wherever He may lead.
May you “Walk in His Light” today.
Do You Believe In Aliens?
Following an “in-depth” discussion about this question with my fourth-grade grandson, I began considering the reason he gave for why there had to be aliens in outer space. He said he believed there had to be different kinds of creatures in other galaxies, because when they came to earth and found human beings, God would use them to teach us earthlings how to . . . well, at that point, the conversation advanced to a stage beyond my ability to comprehend.
His concepts of what mankind should be able to do–as taught by aliens–encompassed a plethora of not only physical achievements, but mental gymnastics as well. Let’s just say there wouldn’t be any need for homework in fourth grade because children would have all math and reading knowledge already implanted in their brains when they were born!
As engrossing as his thoughts were on this subject, his abilities to think of these things fascinated me even more. If a fourth grade boy can imagine God’s creatures being changed into incredible specimens of marvelous capacities, how much more can that boy’s Creator conceive of fashioning His from-dirt-to-living-flesh creation into a New Creation?
God promised our future resurrected bodies would be like nothing our limited human minds could comprehend. Isaiah 43:18, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing.”
Ezekiel 36:25, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
While it remains a mystery (far deeper than a fourth-grade boy’s mind), what kind of capacities God will give His children as we dwell together with Him, there is one certainty. The apostle John wrote of it in 1 John 3:2-3: “. . . what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
God’s Waiting Room
Because of some recent health issues with my dad, I’ve had to spend several hours in doctors’ offices, imaging centers, and hospitals. Most of that time has been spent in a “waiting room.” Such places are appropriately named.
During one long day, I found myself thinking about all the times I’ve been placed in God’s Waiting Room. This is a place familiar to all praying believers. Those who petition the Father for answers, for relief, for deliverance, for guidance, and for comfort often find such requests are not answered immediately. Thus, time spent in God’s Waiting Room is a necessity. If the waiting goes on for months, even years, God’s Waiting Room can become a place of discontentment, anger, frustration, and unbelief.
Don’t let that happen.
Waiting—on God or a doctor—doesn’t have to be unbearable if a few simple rules are followed.
1. Don’t wait alone. Waiting is always easier if the wait is shared.
2. Find something to do while waiting. Occupying body, mind, and spirit makes the wait easier.
3. Encourage others as you wait. Empathy for others going through similar circumstances lightens burdens and blesses your own soul.
4. Recognize God has a sovereign purpose in the length of your wait. Waiting is no different from anything in your life—God is working all things for His Glory and your benefit.
Those willing to wait on God are given a special promise. It’s found in Isaiah 64:4: “No eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him.” While you’re in God’s Waiting Room, He’s out there working for you.
Keep on waiting.
God Planted A Garden
I planted my flower garden this week. As I was working the dirt and digging the holes, I kept reminding myself of how much I was going to love sitting on my patio this summer surrounded by thriving, flowering plants. I had to keep repeating this mantra because gardening is hard work.
In the midst of one of my many “rest periods,” I thought of the verse from Genesis 2:8, “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden.” That sounded good to me, especially the part about God doing the planting. When Adam and Eve showed up in Eden, they had a ready-made garden, because God had already done all the heavy lifting for them.
This concept of God “serving” or “working” for His children is present throughout the Bible; yet, most believers are taught the opposite. That is, as followers of Christ, we are urged to find ways to serve Him. While it’s true we are to “serve the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:2), we are never to think our service toward God is anything He actually needs, that somehow He would be lacking something if we did not render Him our service.
In fact, when Paul was preaching to the Athenians, he tried to dissuade them from having such an attitude. He says in Acts 17:24-25, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.” God doesn’t need anything from us, because he is the Giver of all things; He is the self-sufficient One..
The proper response to our Giver is to receive His gifts with an abundantly grateful heart, acknowledging we have nothing to give in return but our own utter dependence. Peter tells us to serve “as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 4:11).
The service that glorifies God is service rendered through Him alone.
Book 8 in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series, Click on cover
Book 5 in the Silas McKay Suspense Series, Click on cover
Book 11 in the Titus Ray Thriller Series. Click cover
Book 7 in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover.
Book 4 in the Silas McKay Suspense Series on Amazon. Click cover.
Book 10 in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click cover.
PREQUEL to the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book VI in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book III in the Silas McKay Suspense Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book IX in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book V in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book II in the Silas McKay Suspense Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book I in the Silas McKay Suspense Series, Available in Winter Deceptions
Ben in Trouble follows Four Steps Missed in the Titus Ray Thriller Series
Book IV in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book VIII in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click cover.
Ben in Charge, Follows Three Steps Away in the Titus Ray Thriller Series
Ben in Love, Follows Two Steps Forward in the Titus Ray Thriller Series
Two Days Taken:Book II in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series; Click cover.
Book VII in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover
One Day Gone: Book I in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series; Click on Cover
NEWEST BOOK: Available on Amazon. Click on Cover.
Prequel to the Titus Ray Thriller Series is $0.99 on Amazon. Click book cover
Book I in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click book cover
Book II in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover
Book III in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon: Click on book cover
Book IV in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover.
Book V in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover.
Book VI in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover.
Books 1 & 2 in the Titus Ray Series Available on Amazon. Click on cover.
His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich 
You must be logged in to post a comment.