Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 22, 2019

With Open Arms

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life…..” John 3:36a (HCSB)

W-2 sends me gathering…searching for receipts. It’s almost the end of March – hard to believe. Seems like yesterday was Christmas and today, I’m trying to remember where I put all those papers I need to file my taxes. I’ve been busy uncovering my piles and making new stacks that I dare anyone to move. Clusters of little papers occupying a corner of my desk – my hopes of breaking even.

Wonder if we ever gather in hopes of breaking even with God? Do we search for proof of all we’ve done? This deed supersedes that wrong attitude. Serving others will replace my lack of tithing. Forgiving someone else exchanged for my pursuit of selfish ambition. The balancing of the scales as if I can earn, achieve or buy God’s approval.

Love the fact God spells it out clearly – there is none righteous no not one. He makes it plan, concrete and without excuse – we all fall short of His glory. There is no earning of heaven – the price well beyond our reach. There is no exchange of good deeds versus bad deeds or convincing God we’re worthy. Our list of achievements, sacrifices and financial gifts will never earn us God’s approval.

Instead, God sees our sin and failures. He watches us walk in disobedience. He witnesses the thoughts and inner workings motivated by our sinful hearts that perhaps no one ever glimpses. Hidden and tucked away concealed by pretense. And the amazing truth despite our unworthiness, God invites, compels and draws us to Himself. Willingly, He offers us forgiveness and redemption bathed in mercy and grace. Knowing it all, seeing it all – yet God welcomes us with open arms.

“Sweet Jesus, our future is secured with You – Heaven is our eternal home – we are so blessed.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Faith, Hope, Mercy

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 20, 2019

When Instability Overwhelms – We Draw Close

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7 (ESV)

No one wants to hear the dreaded words, “your credit card has been compromised.” Ouch! Sends chills down my spine. The very thought of someone getting access to our information and yet worse spending our hard earned money on their shopping spree – not a happy moment. Actually terrifying, scary and angry better describe the emotions emerging when what we thought was safe and secure is now exposed.

While surviving a hacked card is doable none of us want to go through the hassle and red tape to get it all straight. And the very thought of being safe and secure vanishes in the blink of an eye. Distrust and fear can loom large impacting our every move. Why? Women need security. We long to feel safe so when events rob us of peace and dishonesty reigns, we cower.

Gotta admit there are lots of things and people in this world seeking to steal away our safe. Truth is fleeting and the face of trust has definitely changed.

So what’s a girl to do when the threat of instability overwhelms? We plant our gaze firmly on the One who protects. We shield ourselves under the shadow of God’s wing and find shelter and rest in His presence. We take all our insecurities before His throne and allow Him to fill us with the truth of who we are and who He is. With God’s help we learn to discern trustworthiness, and we wait patiently for character to be revealed rather than rushing ahead. We cling to the solid rock of our Almighty God who is unshakeable, unmovable and impenetrable. And when shaky ground crumbles and safe runs out the door, we chose to avoid cower. We remain steadfast on our knees before the One who holds us safely in His hands.

Sweet friend no need to fear – our God is always near. Ready, equipped and fully aware of all we need to experience peace and security. Constantly reassured of His protective stance, we can thrive even in the midst of instability….ever growing….ever clinging…holding tightly to His nail-pierced hands.

“Father, nothing in this world can protects us like You do. Our constant guide and protector, we are eternally yours.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Encouragement, Faith, Hope, Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 19, 2019

Restoring The Music of My Soul

“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my victory.” Psalm 118:14 (NLT)

Classical music extraordinaire like Beethoven, Mozart and Bach, composers that lived during the “classical music period,” who left a legacy of classical masterpiece compositions. Musical geniuses scripting well-crafted music into art with just the right notes, chords and arrangements. Elaborate musical symphonies still marveled, revered and applauded to this very day.

Life is a masterpiece composition; and more importantly YOUR life. Constructed not by mere human hands, but the Maestro of the rhythm and rhyme of life. The Master of your life Who before the foundation of the world crafted an exquisite symphony written with your name as the title; just for your heart, soul and mind. In your very beginning, in secret, forming you note by note and string by string. Charting your life as lyrics sung from a worship hymnal.

Life’s trials to triumphs sketch the chords for your testimony composing a symphony created by the greatest Conductor. When broken and discarded instruments are surrendered to the Luthier’s (/loodeer/) loving and skillful hands; your previously poor performance transposes to a symphony that is music to the ear. The Composer takes your tears and scripts musical notes comprising a beautiful harmony singing praises to God’s faithfulness. A melody only you and your Father will know the verses to. Do not allow humankind or the evil one to destroy the hymn written from your teardrops; your Melodist will not permit your tune to end on a sour note. Sing your anthem of restoration with hums of joy and shouts of praise with an ending finale and a standing ovation directed to the greatest Composer of your life.

“Father, in Your hands, I become an accomplished medley with in sync heartbeats between the sheet music of my life and You the Songsmith. You have taken my silent life by the world’s standard and made it a supernatural opus. Thank you for restoring the music of my life to an alluring sound drawing others to a rhapsody of Your praise.”

For His Glory

Kim Lacey Schock, (www.KimLaceySchock.com)
Women’s Life Devotional

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Posted in Encouragement, Hope, Spiritual Growth

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 18, 2019

Caught Up In His Lavish Compassion

“For we are not presenting our petitions before You (God) based on our righteous acts, but based on the Your abundant compassion.” Daniel 9:18b (HCSB)

We’d probably all love to consider ourselves caring people. You know the kind who stop to reach out to others. The type of person who puts others before self. The one who gives, serves and plans acts of kindness. Sounds like someone we’d love to be….doesn’t it? But if we’re really honest, if we’re really looking self in the mirror, we’d have to admit we often fall short in the caring department. Probably not because we don’t care – more likely because we are too consumed, busy and distracted to even notice.

Take it a step deeper and we’d probably miss the mark on compassion towards those who definably aren’t doing life the way we think they should. Understandable when we consider the actions and reactions of those who turn their back on us. Never thinking twice about kindness, mercy or compassion in those moments.

Reminds me of why I so love our God. His love, mercy and compassion are not dependent on us; its simply who He is. A divine DNA of the One who perfectly considers us even in the midst of our walking away.
As Daniel confessed the sins of his people and sought God’s mercy, he was fully aware of God’s abundant compassion. He was acquainted with God’s holiness and righteousness. And for that very reason, Daniel reminded his Creator of his own sinfulness and sins of his people, Israel. No sugarcoating or denial – just simply the truth – God we are unworthy yet we appeal to Your lavish compassion.

Don’t know about you but just the thought that God would even hear my voice draws me to my knees. The One who formed us, shaped us and lavishes us with His love and compassion never turns His back or runs away. Fully aware of our tendencies to disobey, He patiently waits for our return. While God’s holiness cannot excuse away our wrongs, He mercifully extends grace to those who come humbly before Him.
Sweet reminder when caring is far from our lips – we’re all unworthy – we all fall short. Yet God loves us, reaches out to us and bestows abundant compassion to those who call upon His name.

“Father, Your compassion is fresh and new every morning. Your loving mercy is abundant. There is no shortage of grace with You.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Faith, Love, Mercy

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 15, 2019

A Way of Escape

“All this I will give you (Jesus), he said, if you will bow down and worship me (Satan).” Matthew 3:9 (NIV)

Hunger always leaves us seeking. You know like in the middle of the night when tummy growls and your search for sweetness overwhelms you. Or midday when stress robs our energy and hunger screams loud. Or stretching and reaching, we begin our day starved and empty from the lack of yesterday. Desperation loves to reign where hunger and lack camouflage plenty. And if we’re not careful, we’ll bow down to hunger and worship the falseness of more.

What are we hungry for? A quick fix to soothe the ache of emptiness? A flashy demonstration of what we can do to quench our insecurities? A wide open canvas – everything we ever dreamed of – easily within our grasp? Jesus listening, hearing the beckoning call to compromise for the sake of it all, and the price tag – simply bow down and worship “me.” Hunger now cleverly disguised as control, power and position. Standing at the top, the love of His life – the world staring back – the reason He came. And His resounding answer – “It is written.”

Jesus met the temptation to satisfy, press the limits and seek His own agenda with the words of His Father. His desperate, hungry places were feasting on the food of the Father’s will. What appeared to be all that Jesus could have ever wanted was simply a mirage created by the one whose hunger couldn’t be quenched. An illusion designed to steal away the reason He came.

How are we handling our hunger – with compromise or conviction? Love the abundance found in the truths of His word. Love the empowerment gained from trusting in Him. Love the sweet taste of victory won with armor on. Hungry places fully satisfied at His table – feasting on the Father’s will.

“Father, empower us to resist the enticement to take what You have promised into our own hands. Help us to know Your words and use them in moments of weakness. Thank You for making a way of escape that leads to the abundant life.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Attitude, Faith, Freedom, Hope, Spiritual Growth

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 14, 2019

Let There Be Light

“And God said, ‘Let there be light!’ And there was light.” Genesis 1:3 (NIV)

I am a lover of light. If I am at home, I like to enjoy the brightness of those light bulbs. But there is nothing better than sitting and enjoying the light of the sun touching my skin, or watching the sun setting over the Blue Ridge Mountains. And then, at night, savor the splendor and shine of the moon and the stars. I often jokingly greet the light with the famous, legendary Biblical phrase, as spoken by God in the book of Genesis, “Let there be light!”

Light brings out the shapes and sizes of what lies ahead of us. It illuminates the path, so we can see what dangers may be imminent, such as a cliff or precipice, or what hurdles may be impending. the presence of light exposes anything or anyone which may be hiding or concealed from sight, awaiting to prey on us, taking advantage of the darkness.

Jesus said in John 12:35, “whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going.” Now, at the time He spoke those words, Jesus was speaking to the crowd that was attending the festival of tabernacles, and He was trying to prepare them for his eminent death. Jesus wanted the people to have a chance to choose between light and darkness, life and death, Him and the ruler of this world.

I was the first member of my household to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in June 1982. During my growing years, however, I witnessed my parents seeking God in all the wrong places, which involved my mother becoming a practicing medium in Spiritism. The meetings they attended took place in the dark, otherwise the “spirits” would not show up. As you can probably imagine, those practices infused terrible fear of the dark in my heart. I could never stay alone at home unless every single light bulb was lit; that was how badly I was afraid of the dark.

On the day I chose to publicly profess the Lord Jesus as my Lord and Savior all that changed. He filled the areas where fear indwelled in my life and gave me the assurance that even if physical light bulbs were turned off, He would be there in the dark with me. From that day forward I learned that the power that comes with the name of Jesus is way more powerful than anything else in the world and that if I want to be in light, I can simply call out His name, because He is light (John 8:12).

“Father, thank You for extinguishing darkness in our lives.”

For His Glory

Luska Natali
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Faith, Freedom, Wisdom

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 13, 2019

The Beauty of Before & After

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

Don’t know about you, but I always love to see the before picture and the after picture. You know like the house that gets renovated by an amazing designer and looks radically different. What was once outdated, old and messy welcomes new, fresh and inviting. Quite the contrast – what used to be and what is now. TV makes it look ever so easy. In an hour time slot, we witness the grand renovation from start to finish. Not quite that fast and effortless in real time. Moving from before to after requires a lot of intentional and consistent hard work.

This December, my husband tackled a project in our living room. For over a year, we had wanted to do something different with the wall where our tv was displayed. We even picked out a beautiful stone that would have looked amazing, but the sample piece gathered dust, lots of dust in the corner of our room. Project definitely never got off the ground. Fast forward a year later and we found this sleek, modern tile – absolutely loved it. Husband bought the tile, installed the tile and project was done. But now the rest of the décor in the room didn’t seem to fit this modern look. So new drapes were hung, new rug was bought, decorations were updated; the after picture was so much more than we imagined.

Need a little before and after in your life? Change can be challenging, unwanted, delayed and pushed aside. But there’s nothing like the beauty birthed when we realize the after was so worth the work. And the incredible thing is when we recognize the difference, we’re motivated to be intentional and consistent in welcoming transformation into our lives. One little change can spark another change and then another change – I think you get the picture. Before we know it, the new “us” doesn’t even resemble old version of us. We’re moving closer and closer to becoming a woman of God not of perfection but one who walks in obedience and pursues His holiness.

“Father, I so love the way You patiently and gracefully work in our lives. Never giving up. Never condemning. Just simply loving us each step of the way.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Encouragement, Hope, Spiritual Growth

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 12, 2019

Daughters, Princesses & Peacemakers

“God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9 (NLT)

It was only the first day of school. We were all hungry. We were tired and cranky. One of my sons struggled with an assignment he did not understand. He was so overwhelmed that tears welled up, threatening to overflow. My other son’s computer was not allowing him access to the website for his online classes. He was already feeling the pressure of completing a much larger workload this year. Now his stress level soared even higher as he considered an entire day wasted as we tried in vain to fix his computer.

Tempers flared. Cutting remarks flew across the kitchen. Eyes glared. Every innocent gesture was taken as an act of war. Inconsiderate slights were considered aggressive attacks. I tried my best to calm the situation. Issues with school and technology are never worth damage to a relationship. I worked (more accurately, I fought) for peace in our home that day.

Our key verse tells us that “God blesses those who work for peace.” Is my attempt to make peace between brothers what the Bible is referring to here? The original Greek word means far more. Interestingly, this particular Greek word is only found in this context, this verse. The literal translation “peacemaker” is someone who has received the peace of God through the gospel. She then spreads this good news of peace with others. Though attempting to make peace between brothers is a necessary act in order to restore the sanity of the mother, this peace speaks of reconciliation with God.

When we spread the gospel of peace with others, we are called “children of God.” We wear the righteousness of God. God loves and cherishes us as a Father. We are children of the King of kings and Lord of lords. May we, as daughters and princesses, extend that love and peace to all others. Let’s not keep the peace we have experienced to ourselves.

Who do you need to spread the good news of the peace of God with today?

“Lord, we thank You for the peace we have received through salvation. Open up doors for us to share that peace with others.”

For His Glory

Tammy Randlett (http://staletoast.com)
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Attitude, Encouragement, Hope, Love, Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 8, 2019

Clouding Influence

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

When my schedule is tight and there’s not much margin, I move into super planner mode. A busy weekend sent me into stretching every minute. Strategically, I leveraged my time to reap the greatest productivity. By Friday morning, the perfect plan was in place.

Early rise on a Saturday, I edged into my jam packed day. Love the new grocery pickup options. Put my order in Friday with pickup 8:00 am on Saturday. Plenty of time for my husband to pick them up while I finished getting ready for a conference. Breakfast would be waiting when he returned, I would put up groceries and head out by 9:00 am. Kink #1 arises – no text message on my phone for pickup. Easy solution just give them a call. Thirty minutes of hold and research time revealed my order didn’t go through. Order replaced for pickup when my meeting ended, got dressed and rushed out the door.

Kink #2 didn’t show up until I left my meeting at 2:00 pm and there was still no pickup text. Drove to the store and found my order wasn’t ready. Did I happen to mention, I was leaving to go out of town at 3:00 pm? Panic set in as my plan unraveled right before my eyes. An update on the store’s website created some unforeseen delays. Thirty minutes later, I’m driving home with groceries in the trunk – mission accomplished.

No matter how much we plan there are things that simply happen. When life merges into our hectic schedule, we have two options. First, we could rant and rave claiming our “right” and demand others fix our “wrong.” Second option requires a lot more constraint, yet births greater glory. It sees the people involved as imperfect human beings just like us and works to resolve the issue. My gut reaction was option #1, but I had just finished listening to someone talk about being “Jesus” imitators in our world. To reach out to others despite our agendas and desire for margin. This was an opportunity to seize the moment to share God’s love to a sweet girl apologizing for my delay.

Pulling out of that parking lot, I left with more than I arrived with. The chip on my shoulder dissolved in the stark reality that productivity almost propelled me to shortchange my testimony. Note to self: Don’t cloud influence with your frustrations.

“Father, thankful for Your mercies when I miss the mark and demand “perfect” at the expense of others. Grateful for Your Holiness that teaches me the value of influence.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Attitude, Spiritual Living, Success

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 6, 2019

When Our Days Are Short

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13 (ESV)

Don’t know if you noticed, but the days are getting longer. Sun rises and light shines brighter in the morning. Leaving work, I’m not driving home in the dark…sunsets later. And you just can’t have missed the pink trees already in bloom. Yes, I realize its just the first of March and snow is in the forecast, but I can’t help but think all the signs of Spring mean it’s coming soon.

Don’t know if you noticed, but life in this world is getting harder. Truth seems evasive…stretching, covering up and simply lying are every day occurrences. Weather patterns are out of sync – whoever heard of tornados in the winter months. Catastrophic floods, volcanic eruptions and pounding winter snow plummeted the mid-west. Unpredictable.

We really don’t have to look far to realize the self-centeredness surrounding our culture. Its all about “me” stares us in the face. And if that wasn’t enough, ingratitude looms large. We want we don’t have – we brag about what we do have. We idolize people, things, jobs, etc. anything visible. We slander others without even a hint of conviction. Self-control rolls out the door ever so easily, and we grab grace on the go forgetting the high price of our freedom.

Glad this world isn’t the end of our story! Praise Jesus this is the worst we will ever experience. Life here will get worse and worse as the second coming of Jesus approaches, but we need not fear. If we have put our faith and hope in Him then we are heaven bound sweet friends! Life here will be but a distant memory. Eternity is our unending future living in the presence of our Lord and Savior. Can’t even imagine what heaven will be like but I know we won’t be disappointed. For the first time in our lives, we will be utterly speechless at the wonder and beauty that surrounds us.

Yes, the signs of the end of life on this earth are definitely present. No one knows when Jesus will return for us – no one knows the hour or day. Wise Jesus girls will make sure they are intentional in drawing others to Jesus. We’ll carve in time for relationship building and invest in others. We will avoid neglecting the things we know God desires for us to do because the days are short…..He just might come back at any time. And yes, if we are wise we won’t miss an opportunity to share His love, truth and grace with others.

“Father, one day we will leave this world and enjoy our forever home with You. What a glorious moment that will be….but for now, we promise to remain faithful servants fulfilling Your purposes until you call us home.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Faith, Spiritual Living, Wisdom

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