Sparrows

 Hello—Susanne here.

Do you ever watch lyric videos of Christian songs? On occasion, I do, but this past week I've been using them for personal worship, prayer, or meditation.

Cory Asbury's "Sparrows" has been my favorite the past few days, and I wanted to share it with you. It's been a rough season, hasn't it? I confess the past year has been challenging. We've all had a challenging year, for various reasons, but the truth is, God is still active. He's busy, He's strong, He's loving, and He's good.

I'm working harder to remember those things and to tell Him I trust Him. Or when I don't trust Him, because of my fear, that I want to trust Him.

This song has been nice for that! I hope you enjoy a short break to watch. Sing along. Or ponder the words. 

God takes good care of us. Amen!

Man Plans, God Laughs

Just a few minutes ago, I turned in the first draft of a book I had written. It was number seventeen for me. Seventeen. It made me wonder how all this had happened.

When I was growing up, I thought I was going to be a teacher. When I was in high school, I realized that wasn’t for me, and I thought I would probably end up with some kind of office job. Practical. Respectable. Unremarkable.

But about that same time I also started writing. Nothing big. Certainly nothing memorable or worthy to be offered to the public. If I remember right, it was mostly “episodes” of TV shows I liked. Early fan fiction, I suppose.

I went on to get my degree in business and immediately found a job as an accountant. But still I wrote. I began writing on my lunch hour and at night and on the weekends. I didn’t plan to publish, I was just amusing myself, writing the book I wanted to read. Not books. Book. It took me eleven-and-a-half years and a lot of urging from the only friend I showed my story to, but I finally got it published. I thought that would be the only one. Forever and ever, amen.

Fast forward to a few minutes ago. I put the “The End” on Book Seventeen. How did this happen?

I’m so glad that, even when I don’t have a clue, God sees me and knows what He made me for and guides me the way He wants me to go.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

What have you looked back on, not seeing until then what God has done for you?

 

The Grammar Nazi

Maybe you’ve seen the merchandize that says, “I’m silently correctly your grammar.” (Here’s one place to start if you’d like to purchase any.) Or maybe you’re one of the types who already purchased some. Yes, I must confess. Grammar nazi is one of my vices. I’m a stickler for accuracy in anything I read. I recently heard about a man who sneaks around England at night correcting error’s errors on signs. It’s not something to which I aspire, but I understand his motivations.

Grammar. Punctuation. Spelling. Word usage. Years ago, I worked as a technical editor, and I still can’t turn off that side of me. Indeed, one thing I learned early in my writing career was to never read my work after publication, so I wouldn’t see the errors that made it into print. To this day, I silently wince when I see errors in books, on signs, in news stories, or on the projector screens at church (when I’m supposed to be concentrating on using the words of the song to praise God, and all I can think about is the punctuation error on the wall).

One of the songs that gets me every time is “Amazing Grace.”

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
Than when we first begun.

Do you see the phrase that annoys me? A common word usage mistake many people make is to misuse fewer/less. Use fewer for things you can count: I have fewer M&Ms than you (so hand some over). Use less for things you can’t count: I put less butter on my toast this morning because I’ve decided I need to cut back. (That’s what happens when I eat too many M&Ms.)

So why would the writer say “We’ve no less days”? Days can be counted, so fewer is the grammatically correct word choice…except the topic is eternity, and in eternity, the days can’t be counted.

Is this a usage error to keep the phrase to four syllables? Or is it a brilliant use of the English language to make a point? I haven’t decided, but I must admit, it certainly focuses my mind on the meaning of the words every time.

(Oh, and if you find a typo in this post? Please don't tell me. Its all ready published, so there's nothing I can due.)

Can We Be Civil?

By Niki Turner

When I was a child and got emotional or argumentative with my mother, she used to tell me, “Go to your room and don’t come out until you can be civil.”

I complied for years before I finally understood the definition of “civil.” It’s a concept I think we all need to review in our daily interactions, and model for our own children and grandchildren. (By the way, when you correct your toddlers and young children, use words they know the definitions to.)

In its simplest definition, to be civil means to be “adequate in courtesy and politeness.” In other words, it means to have reasonably decent manners and treat other people the way we would like to be treated. From a Bible definition, it's the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:32

Remember those things we were admonished not to do in grade school? Don’t call people names, even in jest. Don’t tell lies. Don’t cheat. Don’t spread rumors. Respect your elders. Say “please” and “thank you.” You know, the really basic stuff?

"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." - Proverbs 10:12

It’s easy to be rude. It’s easy to be negative and cranky and judgmental and unforgiving. And it's happening everywhere, as if someone took a lid off our self-control (a fruit of the Holy Spirit) and folks now have no boundaries. Don't believe me? Go check out some product reviews on Amazon, or the comments on a controversial post on social media. Even our elected and appointed officials are doing it, and their uncivil words and behavior seem to be trickling down to the general public.

"But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." - Psalm 86:15 

Well, it's a free country, and we have the right to speak our mind and say whatever we want about anyone. Sure, but all that rudeness and negativity is detrimental to our personal and societal health. The analogy has been made: words, like arrows, are easy to release from the bow of our mouth. They aren't so easy to remove from the hearts of our targets. And wounded people tend to become wounded people.

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." - Luke 6:35

The word civil is also where we get the words civilized and civilization. When we begin to rationalize exchanging common courtesy and politeness for bad behavior to boost our egos, promote our opinions, or for some other selfish agenda, civilization begins to unravel at the edges.

" Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes form God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." - John 4:7 

Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the co-owner and editor for the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper. Niki is also the current president of the ACFW CO-Western Slope chapter. Married 26 years to her high school sweetheart, she is the mother of 4 adult children and "Mimi" to 4 grandchildren. She devotes lots of time to her two West Highland White Terriers now that she isn't homeschooling or being a pastor's wife. She's the author of seven novellas with an eighth on the way this spring. You can find her at www.nikiturner,net or at her Amazon author page: http://amzn.to/2lwgfbF 

As may be best for us...

Sometimes it's hard to pray, especially when you think you know what someone needs and what would satisfy that need. Between my adult children whom I worry about all the time, and friends struggling with various issues, sometimes I sit helplessly in front of my prayer journal, unable to come up with cohesive thoughts and pleas.

I heard a prayer in church last week written by St. Chrysostom:

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

"As may be best for us..."

That, in my mind, sums up the ultimate prayer of faith. Who am I to surmise that I know what's best for my friends, family members, even myself? I can look back at my life and see many times when I thought I knew what was best, and God gave me something different. In hindsight I know why... He knew what was best for me when I couldn't see past my own hurts and wants.

There was a time when I thought I knew all the answers to every situation, when I knew all the "right" things to pray. These days I find myself returning again and again to prayers that resemble St. Chrysostom's: "as may be best for us," more aware than ever that I don't always know what's best, even for myself. 

My prayer for you, for all of you, is that God would fulfill your desires and petitions as may be best for you. 

Blessings!

Niki

Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the owner and editor of the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Colorado.She is a co-blogger at www.inkwellinspirations.com, and president of her local ACFW chapter. Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart 26 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West Highland White Terriers who are kind enough to take them for long walks.You can find all her new releases at www.nikiturner.net under BOOKS.

Poison Control

Do you recognize this plant?

Yes, it's the time of year when this obnoxious weed invades my yard. Leaves be three, leave it be, they say. Yeah, well good luck with that, unless you intend to spend the next four months indoors. In my little corner of paradise, poison ivy grows everywhere.

It's pretty easy to spot twining up the trunk of a Japanese cherry tree.

It's not as easy to see in the grass.

And here it cleverly hides among cute, inoffensive English ivy.

Every year I get out the sprays to rid my piece of ground of this itch-inducing plant. I'd rather not resort to chemicals, but there are few alternatives to ridding oneself of a plant that can't be touched. Did you know that a person can get a poison ivy rash without even touching the plant? All you need is to come into contact with something (gloves, shoes, clothing, pets) that brushed against the leaves. (This actually happened to one of my aunts, who got a reaction from washing her husband's blue jeans. Sounds like as good an excuse to avoid the laundry room as any.)

But here's the worst part. No matter how much I fight the creepy creeper, it always comes back the next year. Just when I think I've won, it invades from another direction.

As I had the spray out for the third time this year, I realized it's a lot like the sin in my life. I fight it constantly, but every time I think I have it under control, I find it growing in another spot. Like poison ivy, this is a battle I will fight for my entire life. Fortunately, I don't fight alone as there is one who gives me the ultimate victory.

Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.

For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

    -- Psalm 32:1-5 (NIV)

Savior... and Lord

By Niki Turner

There's a line of thought in current Christian circles that says accepting Jesus as your personal Savior is not quite enough to access all the benefits of salvation. You must also make Him the Lord of your life on this earth.

First, in my opinion, religious folk have spent the last 2000 years coming up with addenda to the requirements for salvation the way our current Congressmen spend most of their limited weeks of work adding extra details that benefit their personal agenda to every legislation they enact.

Second, I'm weird about "requirements." I like to dot my i's and cross my t's. Don't you?

We know what it means to call on Jesus as Savior (if you don't, please ask, because it's very simple and life-transforming!). But what does it mean to call on Him as LORD?

Well, what point of reference do we have for "lord"?
The Hebrew and Greek translations mean "someone who has complete ownership."

I'm OK with the idea of Jesus "owning" me. Someone needs to be responsible for me! But that puts all the responsibility on Jesus, and that doesn't work well with our modern DIY evangelical protestant perspective. What's OUR part? What are we supposed to DO? (This is, of course, AFTER we believe, after we accept, after we acknowledge our need for salvation.)

For myself, my point of reference for "Lordship" comes from medieval English history. The Lord of the manor, the Lord of the castle, the LORD was responsible for the health, the safety, the provision, the well-being of all who called on him as Lord. Some Lords were benevolent and gracious and good. Some were wicked.

Thankfully, Jesus is in the former group. He has our best interests at heart, is ever-ready to listen to our complaints, and has our best and highest good in mind. He wants what is best for us.

In my opinion, this is incredibly freeing. Our connection with God, what we believe He is doing for us, is not about what we do or how well we perform, it's about who HE is to us. He's our Lord. We can rely on Him. We can yield to Him. We can trust Him.

Have you ever considered what it means to make Jesus your Lord?
What does it mean to YOU


Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the production manager for the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Colorado. Her first completed manuscript earned second place in the Touched By Love 2009 contemporary category romance contest. She also blogs at www.nikiturner.net.

Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart 26 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West Highland White Terriers.

In 2014, she published “Sadie’s Gift” as one of the Christmas Traditions novella collection with eight other authors.  The Skiing Suitor, one of the Love’s Sporting Chance series published by Forget-Me-Not Romances, released in August 2015. Her most recent project, “Santiago Sol,” was published by Pelican Book Group as part of the Passport to Romance novella collection. She’s currently working on a new novella for Whitefire Publishing, one for Barbour House, and four for Forget-Me-Not Romances.

 

Writing Your Next Chapter IRL (In Real Life)

By Niki Turner

My 18-year-old baby's high school graduation announcements came today. I cried a little.

It's the end of an era. I've spent the last twenty-five years (happy birthday yesterday, dear daughter!) MOMMING. I'll always be a Mom, and now a Mimi, but things are a-changin'.

This afternoon I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection on my computer screen wearing my new reading glasses (in addition to my contact lenses, because I just couldn't keep adjusting the screen resolution and squinting at my Bible in denial).

Last week my husband and I were awakened at 10:30 p.m. (because we're TIRED!) by a strange sound in the kitchen. Hubby got up to investigate and discovered youngest son loading the dishwasher and doing his laundry. Without being told, threatened, or bribed. I nearly passed out.

One night last week hubby and I discovered ourselves HOME ALONE for the first time in... um... I can't remember when. We both fell asleep in the living room, in our respective "old people chairs," watching one of the late night shows. As I right this, I am alone in my house with three dogs. It's weird. I used to treasure the few, rare hours I had at home alone when my husband took the kids on an adventure. Now I treasure the few, rare hours when all my offspring are under one roof. (We're not fully empty nesting yet... Kiddo #2 and Kiddo #4 will be home while they attend our local community college, but it's different.)

I see the signs. It's the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Here's the problem: I don't have a PLOT for the next era! I never got this far in my planning process.
For some people this happens when they graduate from college, for others it strikes shortly after the honeymoon. They just didn't picture themselves past the toss of the tassel or the walk down the aisle. I plotted this far... get the kids grown.

Check. Mission accomplished.

But NOW WHAT?

Now I get to "write" the next chapter. Or risk getting stuck in the dreaded sagging middle. Or a squishy middle, which I'm finding more and more applicable, despite rigorous exercise... but that's another subject.

Proverbs 29:18 says "where there is no vision the people perish" (KJV). We need a vision, a hope, for our future. Many marriages fail because there's no vision, no hope for the future after the big, fancy wedding. I mean, it's all fun and games until the toilet's plugged and the bills aren't paid!

So now, in this new season, I have the opportunity to imagine how things will be, to "write" the next chapter. What do I want my marriage to look like? My relationship with my children and grandchildren? My work life? My writing life? My physical health? My social life? My recreation? What shall I do with all of that supposed "free" time I have now?

Everyone is in the midst of some kind of change. Some will falter, some will conquer. I hope to be in the latter category, so I'm building a vision that I hope will carry me through.

How about you? How do you respond to the changing seasons of life?



Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the production manager for the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Colorado. Her first completed manuscript earned second place in the Touched By Love 2009 contemporary category romance contest. She also blogs at www.nikiturner.net.

Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart 25 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West Highland White Terriers.

In 2014, she published “Sadie’s Gift” as one of the Christmas Traditions novella collection with eight other authors.  The Skiing Suitor, one of the Love’s Sporting Chance series published by Forget-Me-Not Romances, released in August 2015. Her most recent project, “Santiago Sol,” was published by Pelican Book Group as part of the Passport to Romance novella collection. She’s currently working on a new novella for Whitefire Publishing, one for Barbour House, and four for Forget-Me-Not Romances.

How to Overcome Self-Doubt

Self-Doubt: (noun) lack of confidence in oneself and one's abilities.

I don't know a writer who hasn't struggled at times with self-doubt. Lately, I've been wondering if we’re too quick to blame ourselves for our stinkin’ thinkin’.

Spirits (both angelic and demonic) have personalities and specific functions. I think what we call "self-doubt" is a demonic spirit speaking lies in our minds and hearts, yet Self-Doubt does it sooooo well that we think the thoughts are our own.

In his book Waking the Dead, John Eldredge writes tells a story that came from the life of Catherine of Sienna. See, Catherine was in the midst of prayer when her mind/ears/heart were assaulted by blasphemous words. She cried out to God for help. At this point many (okay, all) of us could say, "Been there, done that."

God revealed to Catherine that those words didn't come from her heart because her heart was good (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Likewise, if you have been redeemed in Christ, your heart is good. God equips us for the things He has for us to do.

Well, Catherine knew that God was greater than the demonic spirit attacking her so she called out to God to take it away. But God said no. Huh? Yep, God said, "No, do it yourself." That's when God opened Catherine's eyes to the spiritual authority she had because of the blood of Christ covering her, because Jesus said all authority He had He has given to us.

Did Catherine command it to leave and it left?

No. It took months of taking authority and commanding it to permanently leave. Eventually she was free of the harassment.

Consider this: Maybe you, me, we are plagued with self-doubt because we've never taken authority over the demonic spirit named "Self-Doubt" and commanded it to leave.

Can't we do all things through Christ who strengthens us?

ABOUT GINA

Gina Welborn worked for a news radio station until she fell in love with writing romances. She's the author of eight inspirational romances, including the 2014 Selah finalist "Mercy Mild" in ECPA-bestselling Mistletoe Memories. She serves on the ACFW Foundation Board by helping raise funds for scholarships. She is also the webmaster for the Southwest Oklahoma Corvette Club. Gina lives with her pastor husband, their five Okie-Hokie children, two rabbits, three guinea pigs, and a dog that doesn't realize rabbits and pigs are edible.

Austen in Austin: Volume 1  

featuring If I Loved You Less

The first novella in the Austen in Austin collection, based on Jane Austen’s Emma Hotel heiress Emmeline Travis knows true love. After all, thanks to her, her former governess is now happily married to the livery owner who works next to her father’s hotel. Austin banker Noah Whitley knows Emmeline. He has no qualms with insisting that his best friend’s matchmaking skills are more coincidence than reality. While Emmeline is determined to prove him wrong by matching her lovelorn protg with someone besides the local beet farmer, Noah realizes telling her to do something is one thing. Stopping her is another. When Emmeline’s schemes implode and her own heart is broken, Noah knows confiding the depth of his feelings to her would be far easier . . . if he loved her less.


Available at Amazon in print and digital format.

Can You Be Better than the Bible?

 by Dina Sleiman

I have an odd question today. Can you be better than the Bible? I suppose most Christians would summarily respond "no, of course not." Yet often people's lives and theology seem to suggest that they secretly think yes. What is it with Christians trying to sanitize everything and pretty it up and make it nice? The Bible isn't always nice. Recently during our morning devotionals I read the scripture in Galatians where Paul suggests that the circumcision advocates go all the way and chop off a certain key body part. LOL. I looked at my thirteen-year-old son and said, "I guess Paul was throwing a bit of a temper tantrum." And as a popular facebook meme suggests, when asked, "What would Jesus do?"--throwing over tables is an option.

Here's the thing. The Bible is not always neat and pretty and tied up with a bow. Sometimes daughter-in-laws seduce father-in-laws. Prostitutes make it into the lineage of Jesus. Men who are said to be after God's own heart also commit adultery and murder. Prophets smear poop on things. Then there's the Song of Solomon, a rather erotic book that I sometimes wonder if Christian parents even allow their kids to read.

I recently saw a facebook post by a fellow author asking someone to explain to her why Ruth lay down at Boaz's feet. She said this seemed rather risky and risque, and of course twenty or so comments tried to explain why it wasn't. Eventually I couldn't take it any longer and replied, "I think it was risky and risque, and I think God has a message for us in that."

If the Bible is indeed (as we claim we believe) God's inspired Word to mankind, then we need to accept all of it, even when it's messy. And if it is indeed God's inspired Word, we can't be "better" than the behavior recommended in it. Of course I'm not talking about bad behavior of specific individuals, but rather the Bible's prescribed behavior, particularly in the New Testament. When we try to be better, nicer, more pure, and more sanitized than the Bible itself, what we actually are is out of balance.

Tweet: We can't be better than the Bible, we can only be out of balance. And out of balance is just plain wrong. ~ Dina Sleiman

For example, while certain aspects of life like drinking alcohol or dancing can in some cases lead to sinful behavior, the Bible never says that either of these are sinful. Still, some denominations of Christianity try to turn them into sins. If someone chooses not to drink alcohol, that can be a wise decision, but if they judge others and treat it like a sin, they're out of balance. When they contrive elaborate theologies of why the wine Jesus turned the water into wasn't really wine, they're out of balance. And when you're out of balance, another word for that is: WRONG!

Paul says it is for freedom we've been made free. Satan wants us bound, God wants us to feel free to enjoy life so long as we follow the Spirit and stay within certain general guidelines. Getting drunk is a sin. Drinking wine is allowed if you can do it with self-control. Dancing with an intentional goal of seducing anyone but your own spouse would reasonably seem to fall outside of those prescribed guidelines (although I don't think it's anyone's job to judge the motives of another persons heart), but dancing as worship is encouraged, and dancing to enjoy life and music and community is fine.

Or let's take kissing before marriage. The Bible never says it's wrong, yet some Christians today treat it like a sin, or a lack of purity. The Bible DOES say not to have sex outside of marriage, and yes, excessive and indiscriminate kissing could lead one down a wrong path. But that doesn't make kissing before marriage a sin. You can't just go around making up sins for expediency. The same goes for dating. Adult Christians should feel free to make those sorts of choices for themselves and not be judged by other Christians.

Again, remember that when we try to be better than the Bible, something is dangerously off course. I have an acquaintance who recently wrote a book called Courtship in Crisis about the problem's within the new Christian courtship movement. Here's my thoughts on the issue. When young men and women are taught to feel impure every time their bodies experience natural, God-ordained sensations, they are being set up for problems later on in their marriages. How are they supposed to magically retrain their minds in one brief ceremony to enjoy what has been causing them perpetual guilt and turmoil for years? Guilt and turmoil that the Bible doesn't require.

Feelings aren't sin. Physical sensations aren't sin. What we do with those feelings and sensations determine our sinfulness or righteousness. If we choose to revel in them and fantasize over them, or worse yet to dive into them, that is very different than experiencing them and then making good decisions concerning them. It's very different than saying, "Dear Father God, I'm having these feelings and don't know what to do with them. Please guide me through this situation."

And even when we make poor decisions, God is there to forgive and restore us.

Of course I realize that some of my readers are teens, and so I remind you that children are instructed by the Bible to obey their parents. That message is clear. And adult children must still show their parents honor and respect, but they must also make their own decisions before God and take responsibility for their own choices.

On the flip side, to parents and church leaders I would say this. I grew up in the church, and trust me, kids who grow up in the church have excellent "b.s." detectors. They know when the adults in their lives are giving them rules that go beyond the Bible. And all that serves to do is undermine their credibility. When people try to make rock music, black fingernails, blue hair, and the like into "sin," they risk pushing others away from the true gospel message of freedom, grace, and redemption.

Okay, I may have fallen into rambling a bit, but this has been niggling at me for a while. So here's what it all comes back to. Can you be better than the Bible? No. Not if you believe it's truly God's Holy Word, as we Christians claim to believe it is. So let's get real, authentic, maybe a little vulnerable. Let's stop living nice, safe, clean, pretty lives and not be afraid of the riskier existence of walking by the Spirit of God. Let's present a version of Christianity to the world that is not based on rules and limits, but on the immeasurable gift of God.

We can't be better than the Bible, we can only be out of balance. And out of balance is just plain wrong.

The Truth Indicator

By Niki Turner

I've got an idea for a spec fiction novel... It's about Christians who have "truth indicators" embedded in their heads. Or necks. Or arms. Or somewhere. Truth indicators that would flash, or chime, or set off a siren whenever we encounter a falsehood, letting us know deception is afoot.

OK, it's not an idea for a novel, it's a daydream, or maybe just wishful thinking. But it's not totally unrealistic according to the Bible.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. (John 16:13)

As Christians indwelt by the Holy Spirit of the Living God we should be able to ferret out lies when we come across them. We should be alert to deception. And we should be actively in search of truth with the help of the Holy Spirit.

And yet it seems we're often among the most gullible... the first to share "clickbait," the easiest to offend, the ones who read and believe the junk e-mail. There's something wrong with that.

We've been given the ultimate "truth-o-meter" in the form of the Holy Spirit. We should be the first ones to spot deception, the first to point out a trick, the ones who can discern lies and reveal the truth in every situation. It's practically a superpower! We're called to be a light in a dark place... why are we so often surprised by the darkness?

Here's my prayer for myself and all my friends...

May we, every time we open our email, or our Facebook account, or Twitter, or watch the news, or read the newspaper, or whatever passes before our eyes, be alert and aware of the most Holy Spirit of Truth who lives within us, leading us and guiding us, separating truth from deception on every level. And may we be bold (and kind at the same time), in declaring and distributing the truth and in denouncing deception. May we be carriers of truth in all that we do!

Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the production manager for the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Colorado. Her first completed manuscript earned second place in the Touched By Love 2009 contemporary category romance contest. She also blogs at www.nikiturner.net.

Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart 25 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West Highland White Terriers.

In 2014, she published “Sadie’s Gift” as one of the Christmas Traditions novella collection with eight other authors.  The Skiing Suitor, one of the Love’s Sporting Chance series published by Forget-Me-Not Romances, released in August 2015. Her most recent project, “Santiago Sol,” was published by Pelican Book Group as part of the Passport to Romance novella collection. She’s currently working on a new novella for Whitefire Publishing and another one for Barbour House.

Know Fear

by Dina Sleiman

One of our teens sporting his "Know Fear" shirt

This summer I went on a short term mission trip with my church to a poor, rural part of West Virginia. While there, we were all challenged (including the middle school kids) to have an hour long quiet time, and it ended up being a big hit. Part of the reason it worked out so well was that we were given a devotional guide (which was actually more like an in depth Bible study) titled “Know Fear.” And we followed our quiet time with small group discussion about what the Lord was showing us.

Initially, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The mission organization was new to our church, and I was concerned that the “Know Fear” topic might be something judgmental and religious, trying to slap us upside the head with the fear of God. Instead, it was a very balanced and deep-probing analysis of fear: both the good and bad sides of the subject.

First we learned that fear is an important window into the soul. We shouldn’t just ignore, deny, or repress our fears, because our fears tell us a lot about what is really going on inside of us. Fear reveals certain needs and cravings that we have. And at the bottom of those needs and cravings are idolatry that we probably never even suspected. One fear in my heart that God revealed to me was certainly a new one. I had a fear of discomfort and pain, which I think comes from some of the middle-aged health challenges I’ve been facing for the last few years. Certainly not any exciting or impressive sin, and yet something that could pull me away from God’s best plans for my life it I let it.

Over the next two days we really took an in depth look at the fear of man and the fear of the unknown. Two areas that hold many Christians back from God’s best for their lives. And at the end of the day, both sinful responses that we need to overcome. I didn’t personally relate a lot to the fear of man, but it revealed a different fear. I long to be free and unique, and so I fear any sort of outward control on my life. Even on this trip, I had opportunities to challenge myself and face that fear.

It wasn’t until I got home that I finally got to read the author, Lauren Wright’s, perspective on the fear of God. And it was perfect. When we are not in right relationship with God, we have every reason to fear Him. But as we grow in relationship, that fear morphs into reverence, devotion, trust, and eventually pure worship.

This probably wasn’t a subject I would have ever thought to study on my own, but I feel like now I “Know Fear” much better than I ever have before, and I’m thankful for the revelations God gave me on this subject.

You can read more about the trip here, or check out our pictures here.

What fears have you struggled with? What fears have you overcome?