TheWritePath

     I tried to turn away from what I was seeing in my mind's eye, but it held me captive; then suddenly, the image changed, and I could not refrain from crying out. Some time ago, I don't remember just when I had seen a picture of Christ crying as He held an unborn child in His hand. There are no memorials to these victims. No Hall of Names containing the Pages of Testimony symbolic of their gravestones. As a nation , we do not unite in reverence to their memory; instead, we stand divided, torn between the freedom of choice and the right to life. Oh, how it must grieve the heart of God.     When I look down on the cluster of six yellow tulips, I am reminded of that day. I came out of my prayer closet with a renewed sense of value towards life and a hope that as a nation we would repent and stand together, as the Jewish people have, to remember those lives we have taken by abortion. The Word of God says He is looking for those who will make up a hedge and stand ...

         Several months later, after I had returned home, the reality of what I experienced that day came like a flood  into my mind. Sometimes when praying, I like to have a reference point, something I can see or touch to help me stay focused on what I am praying for. The images of the children of the children filled my thoughts, but they had no faces. There were no candles lit. These were the babies lost to a present-day Holocaust on the abortion tables across our country. Children marked for extinction because we claim our freedom of choice. Mankind has not learned from the past; they have only found another way to eliminate what stands in their way. The choices we make have caused an endless number of babies to be thrown aside, not even to be recognized as human life. Never given a name. Most never to be remembered. The words of the Jewish poet filled my heart, "Unto every person, there is a name bestowed on him by God." These little ones were known ...

    The cold reality of what I was about to witness was first seen in a sculpture called Adolescence Broken Off, which stood on the cavern cradling the Children's Memorial and the Hall of Remembrance. This memorial is for the 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust. The money to fund the sculpture was donated by the surviving parents of a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who was put to death in Auschwitz. The memorial consist of several square pillars standing in rows like children lined up for a portrait. The ashen color of the stone, standing so still, was hard enough to bear until I noticed that the top of the pillars was left uncut and unfinished, just as the lives of these children were cut off before they were given the chance to live them. When I first entered the Hall of Remembrance, my eyes met with portraits, suspended from the ceiling, of the innocent children; the silence was deafening, broken only by the reading of their names, ages, and place of bi...

                                                                             IT HAD BEEN A LONG cold winter, and I was glad to see spring arrive with all the newness of life that it symbolizes.   I remember seeing my first robin of the year, knowing the spring flowers were soon to follow. There is something peaceful about a garden; perhaps it is in the beauty of the flowers of spring or their sweet fragrance that fills the air. To me, it is the flowers of spring that bring a feeling of renewed hope and restoration. Yet as I stand here looking down at a cluster of six yellow tulips that grace my flower garden, there is no beauty to be seen, no sweet fragrance that fills the air, only a feeling of renewed hope that fills my heart. You see, they were planted ...

                            What a truly delightful day I had shared with the Lord and the memories of all my loved ones who are now with Him. I felt such peace knowing one day I would be with them again, but for now, I had my roses. As I stood there amazed at all the Lord had shared with me, one last rose took my eye. It was the John F. Kennedy. The bush was in full bloom, from the tiniest bud to fully opened roes. A verse from the book of Revelation came flowing from my lips, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed  in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." (Revelation 19:7-8, KJV). How fitting this scripture should come to mind. You see, the Kennedy is a pure white rose, and I had seen my loved ones dressed in fine...

                              I continued to work in the garden for what seemed to be a very long time before the drawing of the flowers interrupted my thoughts again. My heart met with a large full-bloomed red rose called Chrysler Imperial. The red was so deep you could lose yourself in its beauty, and the fragrance brought a smile to my face with memories of my mother-in-law. This was one of her favorite roses. Mom felt the beauty of a rose was in the giving, so I decided to cut this one and give it away. My mind filled with wonderful memories of her, and I felt like she was there with me, if only for a moment, reminding me that I would see her again someday. As I continued to work, I could imagine her rending God's roses and sharing their beauty with the one who had created them.                          The next bush, th...

                                  The next to capture my attention was a lavender rose, just partially opened, called Royal Amethyst. In its early development, the color gives just a hint of being blue, which looks striking against the deep green leaves. As I leaned over to smell it, I could not help but notice it had a fragrance stronger than most of my other roses. As I looked at all the other's blooms on the bush, I thought of how wonderful each stage of a person's life could be seen in them. There were some buds just beginning to form, still wrapped so tightly that no color was visible; that reminded me of a baby yet in its mother's womb. Another, still in bud stage but just barely opened, brought to mind my young grandchildren just beginning life with all their potential yet to be seen. There were others in full bloom that brought a smile to my face as I thought of my husband and mys...

          IN THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, the pink rose is a symbol of innocence, while the red stands for love and the white for purity, but one day, in the quietness of my rose garden, the Lord showed me it was a symbol of life.      I had always loved roses, but it wasn't until my mother-in-law got me started growing my own that I fully understood their silent beauty. While I was pruning the bushes, I became increasingly aware of the different buds and flowers that appeared on each one. Some were just beginning to form, while others were partially opened. There were also roses in full bloom, yet others were beginning to lose their petals. I also noticed that, strangely enough, some had died in each stage of development, and as I continued with my work the Lord began to speak to my heart.    I was pruning one of my favorites, a soft pink rose called PeggyLee, which had been a Mother's Day gift from my oldest son. I remembered when the firs...

       It wasn't long until I felt the heat of the melting pot once again, as I was reminded of how others scrutinized our actions as Christians, so I went to the Word of God for direction. The Holy Spirit leading me to 1 Timothy and began to read, I was stopped at 4:12, “Be an example to the believer in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (NKJV). A word search on conduct and  life , did you know these two words are related to the word conversation?  God gave us His written Word as a blueprint for living, stating in James 1:22 we are told to be doers of His word and not just hears only for when we do, we deceive ourselves. Verse 26 (NKJV) states, “If anyone amount among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceived his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” An empty religion will betray itself in the way we present ourselves to others. They will not be easily fooled by religious sounding words and a sel...

      WHILE MY HUSBAND WAS AWAY on a hunting trip, I decided to tackle the dreaded chore of cleaning out the closets. It was getting late, but I just had one to go and was determined to get it finished before calling it a day. As I was sorting out a few things, I came across an old piece of pottery that at the time I could not bring myself to throw away, so I had put it on the back shelf and forgot about it. It wasn't expensive. It wasn't even a keepsake. But when I first saw it many years ago, it took my eye, and even now, to me, it was still beautiful. I didn't care that it was broken and pieces back together again, or that even had some pieces missing. I didn't even mind if it seemed to have no useful purpose anymore. I just liked it. After admiring it for a while, I sat it d. own on the dresser and continued my cleaning. When I finished, I had two piles, one for the Salvation Army and another to be thrown away. As I look around to see if I had forgotten anything, th...

                Just as my sister and I could not stand rightly before each other until Christ stood between us, our forefathers could not stand before God until the shed blood of the animal sacrifice, symbolic of the blood of Christ, made them at one with Him. In the New Testament, we are encouraged not only to be reconciled with God but with our fellowmen. He states if we remain angry with our others or harbor hate against them or continually speak unkindly against them, we are in danger of being judged as harshly, as we are guilty of judging them by our own words and actions. "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" Matthew 5:23-24, NKJV). In the Amplified Bible, the word peace is used for reconciliation.       My sister and I ...

       IT HAS BEEN WEEKS NOW without much sleep. Feelings of restlessness fill my days. I know the Lord is dealing with my heart, but I'm afraid of what I know He wants to say, so I keep busy. Busy doing nothing. I play my music loud to drown out the inner voice of God calling my name. I spend hours reading, but not my Bible, I knew He's was waiting for me on the pages. Finally, when I've done all I can do to run and find there is nowhere to go, I listen.     Within my heart, I hear the gentle voice of the Lord, and I cry out in response, "But, Lord, I've tried so many times, and every time, I get hurt. I've prayed and will continue to pray. She is my sister, and I love her, but it hurts when I feel so rejected. Yes, I miss her and long to know her, but I've always believed she has never wanted to know me as I have her. How can I span the distance between us, for You know it is more than miles that keep us apart, and You are the only one that can bring us t...

    I no longer have my mind set in the needs or on our circumstances, nor do I dwell on what others believe to be my inability, but my focus is fixed on the One who provides for all my needs according to His riches in glory. And as I greet each new day, I thank Him for all He has done in my life and all He has brought me through. My Heavenly Father has our lives in control, and I am learning to be satisfied in whatever state I am in. In Philippians 4:11-12 (NKJV), the apostle Paul gives us a beautiful example of how we should look at difficult circumstances in our lives. For a clearer understanding of the text, I want to quote it from the Amplified Bible, “For I have learned how to be content [satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted] in whatever state I am . . . I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and  enough to spare or going without and  being...

   The second area of scripture I turned to supported the first. In this passage, Jesus is telling the disciples not to worry about the necessities of life by stating, “Fir all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you have need of these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (Luke 12:39-31, NJKV). Yet our society seems determined to turn this principal around, and  we are conditioned from a very early age to accept it.         When I read this text, I know instantly what the Lord was saying to me. I was at a point in my life when I was feeling very anxious. I knew in my heart I was to wait on the Lord, but it had been a hard year. Our income had dropped drastically, the savings account was being depleted, and I was growing impatient. I had my eyes on the needs and not on the One who provided for them. When I went on the interviews, I stepped out of the will of God an...

    As I began to take inventory of what had resulted from these interviews and what the world as a whole considers successful, my list looked something like this: to a mother, it is raising her children to be responsible adults. To a father, it is providing for his family’s needs and being able to give them a stable home. To a businessman, it is obtaining a high position on the corporate ladder. To those in the medical profession, it is the ability to increase the quality of life for others. To some, it might even be the accumulation of wealth in both finances; possessions, and position within the community. Others believe it is the gaining of knowledge and powder. All these things are what the world looks to when measuring the success of an individual. And I am not saying, but have you ever asked yourself what God sees as success in a man's life? In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul gives us a glimpse into the heart of God concerning believers being influenced by the world’s va...

       TODAY, I WAS GIVEN THE opportunity to reflect upon my life, and for a while, I questioned what I saw.  You see, I realized in the eyes of man, I was a failure. I was lacking in experience. I had no formal education or training, and I was even told I was past the age for career opportunities. All this must have been the reason the gentleman giving me the job interview did not even show me the courtesy of looking at me as he spoke. Then there was the young women who seemed to question my ability because I answered her question, “Do you have a learning disability?” by stating I was an over comer of visual dyslexia. And, the most resent was a group interview, two of them interviewing four others and myself where it was stated that all if us would be given a written personality test followed by the statement, “This is to help us weed out the manic depressants and the bipolar’s.”     When I look back at what took place at what took place at these...

    You see, child of God, sin is anything that we place above God in our life. We all possess the faith we need to resist all the temptations the world offers to entice us away from God. That is why we are given such a strong warning in 1Timothy 6:10 when the apostle Paul states (for a clearer understanding of this scripture let's read it from the Amplified Bible), "For the love of money is a root of all evil; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and  have wandered from the faith." You see it is not money that is the root of all evil; it's the love of money  that brings destruction into a believer's life. God is not against His children gaining wealth. Quite the contrary, he says in his Word, " If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasure" (Job 36:11, NKJV).    We must all strive to have a balanced life, one in which we enjoy all the wonderful provisions God had given us, includi...

    As I sat there, the Lord gave me a vision of a bank vault packed from floor to ceiling with large bags stuffed with money. I could see a man walking in to gather up an armload of bags to carry them out, but when he got home, they were empty, so he returned and did the same thing all over again. In the end, he had nothing to show for all his work. The vault was empty, the money was gone. Puzzled, I asked the Lord if this was going to be the outcome of the two men I saw earlier in the park. Then I remembered a scripture in Haggai, “And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes” (Haggai 1:6, NKJV). As I turned to read to read the text, I realized this to was about a person whose loyalty was in question. They were more concerned in building their own homes while the temple of God lay in ruins. The word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai saying, “‘You look for much but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?’ says the ...

    The Word of God says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . For where your treasure is there will be your heart also” (Matthew 6:10-21, NKJV). Yet all the people I saw in the park that day were busy gathering the treasures of this world, which would fade away. The young children were gathered up by their mother’s and taken home while their treasures remained in their piles, left for another to find. The baseball card will become dog-eared and faded with time until it is traded away to yet another hopeful hunter. The young lovers will finds new love when the pleasure they seek in each other no longer satisfies the desires of their flesh.     Oh, how I wanted to share God’s Word with the two men I overheard talking about preparing for the future and placing all their security in gaining wealth; I wanted to tell them that God had a h...

   THE WORLD DESCRIBES TREASURE AS wealth, such as money, jewels, or precious metals like silver or gold, that has been stored up by an individual. Sometimes, treasure from years past can be found in the depths of the sea by people known as treasure hunters. Some find family treasures in things that have preserved over time and passed down from generation to generation, such as antiques. Today. I learned that treasure is much like beauty; it is in the eyes of the beholder.     It was a beautiful summer day, and I decided to have my lunch in the park; It was there I observed life’s treasure hunting. The first to capture my attention were two men, one was younger while the other was nearing retirement age, but their common goal was the same, wealth. As I listened to their conversation, I could tell their purpose for wanting to accumulate this wealth was so that they would be able to fulfill their dreams in life and gain worldly possessions. From their conversation...