Thank you for all that you do in protecting America!!! You are appreciated!!

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”— Oswald Chambers

Most of the peace we know is borrowed: from a quiet day, a bit of good news, a problem finally solved. For a little while, we breathe easier. But borrowed peace always has to be given back. Let one thing go wrong, and it’s gone. Isaiah wrote a song about another kind: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.” God doesn’t lend this peace and then ask for it back. He keeps us in it, through every kind of day. A steadfast mind isn’t one that never feels shaken. It’s one that leans its whole weight on the One who can’t be shaken. Maybe your mind has been anywhere but steady lately. You can still lean on Him, just as you are. He isn’t waiting for you to feel calm first. Right now, as you read these words, HE IS HOLDING YOU CLOSE. You are not the one keeping everything together. YOU ARE THE ONE BEING KEPT. 🙏 Prayer of the Day Heavenly Father, YOU ARE MY ROCK, even when my thoughts won’t sit still. Thank You for keeping me in more ways than I’ll ever see, and for staying close even when my mind wanders. Sometimes I try to carry everything in my own head, and peace feels far away. Help me bring each worry back to You, one at a time, and trust You with it. Keep my mind steady on You today, Lord, and let Your perfect peace hold me when nothing else can. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

1 John 2:1 "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."

I NEVER WANT TO BE THAT BITTER OLD WOMAN by Sharon Jaynes Have you ever heard someone say, “She’s just a bitter old woman.” I have. And whenever I do, I know exactly what the person means. The image comes instantly to mind—a woman whose smile has been replaced by a scowl, whose conversations are peppered with complaints, and whose heart seems trapped in yesterday’s hurts. I don’t want to be that woman. Webster defines bitter as “exhibiting intense animosity, harshly reproachful, marked by cynicism and rancor.” But bitterness doesn’t happen overnight. It begins as a wound that never heals because it is never surrendered to God. It takes root when we replay an offense over and over in the theater of our minds, rehearsing what happened, what should have happened, and what we wish we had said. The more we revisit the hurt, the deeper the roots grow. What you repeatedly replay eventually reshapes your heart. If ever there was a person who had a reason to be bitter, it was Joseph. His own brothers threw him into a pit and left him for dead. They sold him into slavery for a handful of silver. In Egypt, he was falsely accused of a crime he did not commit and thrown into prison. Then, when he finally helped someone by interpreting a dream, a person who promised to remember him when he was released, Joseph was forgotten and left behind for years. Joseph had every reason to nurture resentment. Every reason to collect grudges. Every reason to seek revenge. But he didn’t. After God raised him from being a prisoner in Egypt to governor of Egypt, Joseph came face-to-face with the very brothers who tried to shatter his life. Standing in a position of power, he could have settled every score. Instead, he spoke words that revealed the secret of his freedom: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). Joseph refused to let what happened to him define him. He chose to see God’s Hand above man’s actions. He allowed his suffering to make him better rather than bitter. And with God’s help, we can do the same. The only way to be free from bitterness is to release past offenses and refuse to collect them. Collect antiques, Beanie Babies, recipes, or even shoes. But don’t collect grudges. There isn’t enough storage space in your heart to carry them. Besides, grudges never stay neatly tucked away. They spill out in our words, our attitudes, our relationships, and our reactions. Whatever fills the heart eventually finds its way out of the mouth. A friend once told me, “My mother used to be a bitter woman. But then she got Alzheimer’s disease and forgot what she was so angry about. She actually became a very pleasant person to be around.” His words made me stop and think. Oh, that we would forget while we are still healthy enough to enjoy the freedom. Poet Ernest Lawrence Thayer wrote: For every hill I’ve had to climb, For every stone that bruised my feet, For all the blood and sweat and grime, For blinding storms and burning heat, My heart sings but a grateful song— These were the things that made me strong. Those are not the words of a bitter person. They are the words of someone who has allowed God to transform pain into purpose and wounds into wisdom. The truth is that hurt is inevitable. We live among imperfect people in a broken world. We will be disappointed, betrayed, overlooked, misunderstood, and wounded. But we get to choose what those experiences produce in us. Will they make us bitter? Or will they make us better? The only way to become better rather than bitter is to extend the same GRACE to others that GOD HAS EXTENDED TO US THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. GRACE does not excuse wrong. It releases our right to keep reliving it. I’ve discovered that the key to writing a beautiful life story is having a pencil with a good eraser. One thing I never want someone to say about me is, “She’s just a bitter old woman.” The time to make sure that never happens isn’t someday. It’s today. Pray with me: Father, I know I can’t move forward while dragging yesterday’s grudges behind me. Today, I choose to release every hurt, every offense, and every disappointment into Your hands. I refuse to keep replaying old wounds or allowing bitterness to take root in my heart. Thank You for the countless blessings You have poured into my life. Forgive me for focusing on what I’ve lost while overlooking what You’ve given. Help me remember Your goodness more than I remember my grievances. Clean out every trace of bitterness and make me a collector of blessings instead of burdens, gratitude instead of grudges, GRACE instead of resentment. Transform my pain into purpose and my wounds into wisdom. And when I am tempted to look back in anger, help me look up in faith. May my heart grow softer, not harder, sweeter, not sharper, better, not bitter. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

“You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good.”— Max Lucado

Some nights feel longer than others. The house goes quiet, but the heart doesn’t, and morning seems a very long way off. David knew nights like that. Yet he wrote one of the most hopeful lines in the Bible: “weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” In this verse, weeping is a traveler who arrives at dusk. It may stay the night. It doesn’t get to move in. The first Easter began that way too, with Mary Magdalene weeping outside an empty tomb. Before that morning was over, she was telling the disciples the best news the world has ever heard: “I have seen the Lord!” Maybe you’re in a long night right now, or a long season. God won’t rush you through it, and He won’t leave you alone in it. His favor lasts a lifetime, and even now, He is bringing your morning. Weeping may stay the night. Joy is coming to stay. 🙏 Prayer of the Day Dear Father, Thank You for every sunrise that has followed my hardest nights, and for every time You’ve turned my sorrow into praise. Your favor has been with me all my life, and I’m so grateful. There are nights when the tears come easier than the prayers. Thank You for hearing me anyway, and for never once leaving me alone in the dark. Whatever today brings, fill it with Your joy, Lord, the kind that comes from You and stays. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Hebrews 10:35-36 "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised."

"God is never late, and rarely early, and always right on time."— Mark Batterson

Have you ever looked back at a difficult season and suddenly seen the beauty in it? The way challenges shaped you, closed doors guided you, or waiting times prepared you? That's the promise tucked into this verse—God makes everything beautiful in its time. ➡️‼️Notice the word "makes"—not "made." It's ongoing.‼️⬅️ Even now, in your unfinished chapters, He's weaving beauty out of what feels messy or incomplete. And that stirring in your heart that whispers "there must be more"? That's the eternity He's placed within us, reminding us that this life isn't all there is. Your story is part of something bigger. We won't always understand His timing. We can't always see how the pieces fit. But we can trust the Heart of the One who sees the full picture. The same God who turns winters into springs, caterpillars into butterflies, is at work in your story. Today, rest in this truth: your unfinished chapters are safe in the Hands of the One who makes ALL, not some, ALL things beautiful in His perfect time. 🙏 Prayer of the Day Father in Heaven, I come to You with all my unfinished chapters and messy pages. Forgive me when I try to wrestle the pen from Your Hands as You write my story. Thank You for seeing beauty where I see brokenness, and purpose where I see confusion. It brings such peace to know that every page of my life rests in Your loving Hands, and that even now, You're writing something more beautiful than I could ever imagine. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Romans 5:3-4 "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

“Do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.” — Corrie Ten Boom

Love, as Peter teaches, isn't just a feeling—it's a deliberate act of the will. To love deeply means to love beyond mistakes, beyond faults, to love in a way that forgives and heals. This kind of love is robust; it doesn’t ignore sin but covers it in grace, offering forgiveness as freely as God offers it to us. Every day, in every interaction with family, friends, or even strangers, we face choices. We can choose to point out flaws, or we can decide to cover them with love. It’s about extending a hand instead of pointing a finger, about building bridges where walls might easily rise. Today, let's embrace this incredible love. Let's choose to see potential in others and offer healing grace. As we practice this transformative love, we'll not only change the world around us, but we'll become radiant reflections of God's own unconditional Love – the kind of Love that transforms, the kind of Love that genuinely covers a multitude of sins. 🙏 Prayer of the Day Dear God, Help me embrace Your call to love deeply, beyond the visible faults and the mistakes we all make. Grant me a heart generous enough to see the potential in others, just as You see in me. Give me the strength to offer kindness instead of criticism and to build connections where there could be walls. As I go through today, let me be a bridge-builder in this divided world, reflecting Your transformative Love in every interaction. May my actions not only heal others but also change my own heart, making it more like Yours. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Romans 15:7 "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."