Why it Matters

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." ~Ephesians 6:11-13

Every single day, we witness things going on in the world that make this admonition from the Lord

more vital than we can even begin to fathom or understand. The meme below is one of my absolute favorites, however, I decided, just for fun, to search for some other memes online because I love this scripture so much; there are many - countless ones, but sadly on most of them, there is a major difference in word choice due to the different Bible versions. And that one change in word, to me, completely changes the admonition.

The difference? While the translation (in the widely-used King James version, and the 1599 Geneva version) is "the whole armour of God," in some other versions of the Holy Bible, "whole" is changed to "full," which weakens the admonition and takes away some of the urgency, and we CANNOT afford to do that. EVER.
Now, the difference between whole and full is that whole is something complete and entire, nothing missing, while full is utmost measure or extent, the highest state or degree. That is why words are so important. Many people may say, "Oh, it just semantics," but it isn't.

In any case, may we all put on the whole armour of God that we may be entirely and completely protected from the ever-growing evils of this world.

"There You Are, Lord."

Do you ever have moments when you feel so steeped in your own pain and sorrows that you feel completely isolated - even in a room full of loving Relief Society sisters?

So, you've been working your way through the Sabbath morning, enjoying the time with your husband, as well as the added bonus of having a couple of your grand-daughters attending church with you after their fun sleepover with "Mamaw and Boppa."
When you finally get to your meeting, you sit down and suck it up, thinking, "I've got this." Because you know that as long as the Lord is with you, everything is fine.

But this time, you aren't really fine.

Still, the lesson is great, and one that you need at exact moment. Because as you continue to listen,
your eyes begin to wander around the room to various women dealing with trials and griefs of their own, and then your heart follows your eyes, stopping on every person. The love in your heart for these amazing ladies quickly fills you up, warming you from the inside out.

Then you smile and think, "There you are, Lord. Of course, I knew you were here all along. Thank you."

Our Calling

"Today, move away from anything ungodly that is hindering your calling." ~Jonathan Cahn

As children of God, we are taught that we are partakers of a heavenly calling, but many times we forget that there are two parts to a calling - and in order to get to our calling, we must move away from something else. Even though we can't see the full picture or where we will end up in the Lord's calling for us, we CAN see what we need to move away from to get to where the Lord wants us. He

shows us those things for a reason. He does not want anything hindering us from His plans for us, and many times that means moving away from something good or better and on to the best things.

Many fans of my stories have asked when I will be writing more books and my answer is always the same: After years of writing inspirational romance, the Lord shifted my focus and called me another way, and though I shared messages of God's love through those stories, the time came when He wanted my mind and heart completely focused on Him, thereby taking me away from good and better things and shifting my focus onto the best. But this is just me; there is absolutely nothing wrong with good things or better things that put us on the path to God. It is about where the Lord wants us and where He leads us in His time, and it is about our hearts being open and in tune enough to be lead by Him. I still write a story here and there when prompted, but only when prompted.

As I have said many times before, I pray daily for the Lord to help me become the righteous, virtuous, holy woman He would have me be - to remember and become the woman I was before I came to this earth. I know that in order to be righteous, I must avoid unrighteous things. To be holy, I must avoid unholy things. To be virtuous, I must stay away from things that are without virtue. I must strive to be as the Savior is.

Jonathan Cahn said, "You are called to glory - that's the "to" of your call. The glory doesn't start when you get "to" where you're going, but when you come away "from" the old life. So start with the "from" and God will take care of the "to."
I'm still on my way "To" but the Lord is still walking that path with me, and He never lets go of my hand.