Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

What better time than this weekend to do some investigating? Investigate your devotions. Investigate your motivations. Investigate your heart attitude. Investigate your wants and needs. Investigate your many daily blessings. Make this a weekend of investigating how you appreciate the important things in life - those that center around the Lord.

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. John 10:9 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. Psalm 118:21 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:4 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Isaiah 26:2 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13-14

There are many choices we can use when we need something sweet. We put "the pink stuff" in our coffee, a sprinkle of sweetener over our fruit and heaps of sugar in our desserts. Even though a little goes a long way. God gave us the sweetness of natural honey and the sugar cane. They will tame our sweet tooth for a little while, and then we start craving more. My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. Proverbs 24:13-14 The Lord says that knowledge and wisdom will be even sweeter than the sweetness of the honey comb. The craving to be immersed in God's Word should be just like the fleshly desire for candy and cookies. But what about the other stuff - the artificial sweeteners. They don't occur naturally, but are created by man to be a substitute for the sweetness of sugar. O...

The yard looked beautiful from a distance - full, lush and a deep green. The grass seemed to be resisting the intense heat of the summer. Upon closer inspection, most of it wasn't grass at all. A fluffy weed had traveled across the yard, leaving an expanse of leaves and green in its wake. The more it wandered from its original planting spot, the thicker it became. And nestled in among the tangle of weeds was a single, dark red berry. It wasn't just any weed spreading over the property, but wild strawberries! In the middle of this lush, winding weed was a small touch of sweetness. I probably would have overlooked this beautiful little fruit if I hadn't been working right alongside it. But it was so tiny and so perfect that it caught my attention. It looked like it was thriving among the healthy plant it was surrounded by. Imagine your heart as that yard of weeds. From the outside, from a distance, it may look wonderful and full. It's the right color, the right texture an...

Over the past two weeks I've spent more than 32 hours in the car. It was time for a road trip home to Iowa to see family and get in some R&R. So it's a good thing I enjoy traveling! Most of our country's roads are bordered with wall-to-wall billboards. Advertising everything from food to shopping to the next gas station, it's impossible to ignore them. This is how businesses attract your attention and draw you into their establishments. Before I even left town - I hadn't even been in the car for half an hour yet - a sign caught my attention. It was for a restaurant chain and it read: "Deep breaths. We're closer than you think." The restaurant wanted the billboard readers to get to their establishment quickly and satisfy their cravings for food. Since I don't particularly like this type of restaurant, I didn't stop. In fact, I probably sped past and didn't even realize it. The truth is that I was thinking about that sign in an entirely d...

Sometimes I just get tired of being around people. Don't look at me that way - you know that you do too. People in the neighborhood have loud parties until late at night. Other cars ride your bumper because you're not speeding like they are. You have to listen to crude conversations every time you venture out in public. It honestly makes you want to become a hermitess and move far away from eyes and voices and noise. Wouldn't it be nice to only hear your music, have silence whenever you want it, and not have to worry about who's doing what to whom and how many times? But our Heavenly example, Jesus Christ, placed Himself right in the midst of people. He had numerous situations when people were disrespectful, spoke with evil words and questioned His every move. Of all people, Jesus had every reason to hide Himself away and be away from people. Praise His holy name that He didn't. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and ...

Have you ever been dissatisfied with frozen foods? They're overly processed and they never cook up to the right texture. You can tell they're fried, whether you like it or not. In less time than you can thaw and cook up frozen mozzarella sticks, you can make your own. Not just ready in three steps, they're also fabulously delicious! Ingredients: 12 pieces Mozzarella cheese sticks vegetable oil all-purpose flour Italian seasoning 2 eggs Italian bread crumbs marinara sauce for dipping 1. Cut each cheese stick in half so you have 24 little pieces. Place them on a plate and put them in the freezer for about 2 hours. 2. Set up your breading station. Bowl one: flour and Italian seasoning. Bowl 2: two beaten eggs. Bowl three: bread crumbs and more Italian seasoning. (I like seasoning!) Dip and bread all 24 sticks before beginning to fry. They'll go quickly. 3. Heat enough oil in a skillet on high heat to half-cover the sticks. Add coated cheese and pan fry, turning once. Serve...