CrossReads Book Spotlight: Small Town Romances : Inspirational Boxed Set

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CrossReads Book Spotlight

CrossReads Book Spotlight

Small Town Romances

Inspirational Boxed Set

by Mary Davis

Small Town Romances

Mary Davis—The Daughter’s Predicament—As Isabelle Atwood’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. Despite gaining the attention of a handsome rancher, her parents are pressuring her to marry a man of their choosing to rescue her sister’s reputation. While a third suitor waits silently in the wings, hoping to sweep her off her feet. Whom will Isabelle choose?

Cynthia Herron—Her Hope Discovered—Is the sure thing worth risking for the possibility of maybe?

Charla Winthrop, a savvy business woman seeking a permanent lifestyle change in small-town Ruby, learns that things aren’t always what they appear when she takes up residence in a house steeped in charm and a hint of mystery.

Rumor has it that Sam Packard the town carpenter is her go-to guy for home remodeling, but can Charla convince him to help her—with no strings attached, of course? Alone far too long, Sam’s prayed that God would send him a wife and a mother for his daughters. However, the new Ruby resident is hardly what he imagined.

Christa MacDonald—At the Crossroad—Erin Sullivan has endured the rumor mill of Sweet River, Maine for years. Being the subject of small-town judgment taught her not to hope for good things. No matter how strong her feelings were for Pastor Dan Connors, she planned to keep them buried for the sake of his reputation and the good of her own heart.

Dan became a pastor thinking it would be temporary–three years later he is struggling in a job he never wanted. When Erin sees Dan struggling alone, she reaches out to help, and he comes to rely on her quiet strength and kindness. Dan is determined to find his way, but it may have to be without the woman he’s come to love.

Barbara Scott—Dreams of My Heart—If plucky Irish immigrant Kate O’Brien can’t pay off the loan on her deceased brother’s homestead, she’ll be forced to marry the banker’s son. When she’s attacked by a drunken gang, salvation comes from a total stranger—Texas cattleman Buck McKean. However, his kindness threatens her reputation, and they marry to prevent impending consequences. But love has a hard time growing within two hearts scarred from past hurts. When Kate asks Buck for the unthinkable, her choice endangers both their lives. Can God mend their hearts and save their love?

Kelsey Norman—Unbroken Spirit—Nina Anderson never expected to pull an unconscious man from a lake. Neither did she imagine that the unearthly man would claim he was sent to be her protector and help her with an impending future event. Nina’s mysterious new protector, Liam, brings her the respect she’s always wanted—and maybe even a chance at love. Will he have the power to save her and restore Nina’s faith in God?

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Posted by Staci Stallings on January 21, 2021

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CrossReads Short Takes: It All Started at the Masquerade & It Was Not My Time

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CrossReads Short Takes

It All Started at the Masquerade

by Janice Cole Hopkins

It All Started at the Masquerade

When Melanie Carter’s older brother decides she’s to marry Lott Jenkins, a wealthy man who has the reputation of being harsh and unbearable, she knows her life has just started on a downward spiral. However, she’s determined to trust that God would not want her with such a man and try to make the best of the awful situation. At a masquerade ball in Edenton, she meets a rather mysterious man dressed as a knight, and she can’t forget him.

Lucas Hall can’t forget Melanie either, but he might as well. Once she sees the hideously scarred side of his face, she’d be repulsed like everyone else. That’s why he wears a mask whenever he goes out, which isn’t often. He wouldn’t have gone to the masquerade ball if his housekeeper hadn’t tricked him into going. Now he’s haunted by a scene he saw between Lott Jenkins and Melanie. No woman should ever be treated with such disregard, but what can he do? If he tried to help, they’d take one look at him, and he’d be no help at all.

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It Was Not My Time

by Anna Mitchell

It Was Not My Time

It was not her time!

This is a story that will provide hope for someone fighting for their life. As a stage three breast cancer survivor, Anna Mitchell is a living testimony that God still performs miracles today. As you read, It Was Not My Time, you will be taken on a journey full of strength, faith and unbreakable trust. Through the power of prayer, a strong mindset and persistent positivity, she was physically touched and healed by God. Medical proof of her healing came three days later when she had a CT scan and the results returned negative. No sign of cancer!

Through experience, the author realizes, that when tragedy strikes, people need to cling to their faith. Struggling with the fact that God chose her, she wanted answers. She got her answers and found her mission. She was chosen to share her journey with others in hope of shedding light in the midst of dark times. Most importantly, she wants to help others wrestling through the worst days of their lives and to share with the world that He is real and He heals.

“For no word from God will ever fail.” Luke 1:37

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Posted by Staci Stallings on January 20, 2021

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Do You Want to be Successful in Everything You Do? 1/19/2020

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by Robin McKinley

At the end of the book of Exodus, Moses had passed away. Joshua was then named by God to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. In chapter 1 of Joshua, God motivated Joshua with these words from verse 5. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. God encouraged him to have strength and courage. He also told Joshua, “you can be successful in everything you do.”

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Joshua 1:7

Success that is recognized by the Lord isn’t a product of our personality or charisma. God reminded Joshua that his success wasn’t lying in some great inner strength he had. Nor did it rely on a vast supply of resources. No, his success rested solely on his obedience to God. 

The Lord didn’t expect Joshua to cross over the Jordan or conquer the new land in his own abilities. Those successes would only come by walking in faith and obedience to God’s Word. 

Do You Want to Be Successful 

The Lord reemphasized in verse 8 the importance of our knowing His Word if we want to prosper and succeed. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

Did you notice why the Lord wanted Joshua to meditate on His word day and night? So he was sure he wasn’t allowing any distractions to hinder his obeying it at all. We must let God’s Word sink into our minds and our thoughts as well.

When we look at verse 9, the Lord told Joshua for the third time to be strong and courageous. God encouraged Joshua the first time in verse 6. Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people. 

The second time is in our verse for today. He says Be strong and very courageous as He is telling Joshua how to succeed. The third time this phrase becomes a command. This is my command—be strong and courageous! 

God Wants Us to be Successful! 

Why would God make this into a command? Because as His children, the Lord wants you and me to be successful in everything we do. And that can’t happen if we are wimpy Christians. The great thing about this strength and courage is, we can’t muster them up within ourselves.

But however, God supplies them. In Philippians 4 it says, For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Therefore He is not commanding us to do something that’s impossible for us to do. 

The rest of verse 9 says, Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Wow, strength, courage, and being in the presence of God. That is my definition of being successful!

—–

Robin McKinleyRobin, with his wife Cindy, became children’s evangelists early in their ministry. They ministered to children full time for 8 years. During that time they developed a number of children’s stories which were told with visuals and puppets.

Robin recently turned two of those stories into children’s books. One is called “The Contest,” a book about the Fruit of the Spirit and the other is called “Twas the Night of Christmas”.  He has also authored 5 volumes of devotional books called, 3 Minutes Alone with God. Each entry is a product of his personal biblical Journaling.

These and his other writings are available on his website called Christian Perspectives at www.ramckinley.com . When you visit this site, you can sign-up for newly written devotions as they come out which will be emailed to you.

Presently Robin is the pastor of Calvary Christian Center in Pottstown, PA. He is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. He and his wife make their home in Birdsboro, Pa. He also serves as the president of the local ministerium. He and Cindy have two married sons and four grandchildren.  

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CrossReads Weekly Devotional: Gems From Pastor Jim 1/18/2021

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by Jim Hughes

CrossJonah 2:7 “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.”

Sadly, we are often just like Jonah was. We keep on trying to do things our way until there is just no hope left for it to work. We run from God as far as we can. We try to fill up our lives with those things which can never satisfy or bring us peace. We try to follow the advice of the world only to discover how foolish it really is. We keep busy so that we don’t have to deal with the gnawing feeling of emptiness in our souls. We stubbornly try to live our lives without God in it, only to discover how miserable of a life we really have.

Jonah had to get down to the lowest possible level he could possibly be in before he acknowledged it wasn’t working and he turned to the Lord. He once knew what it was like to live in fellowship with God, but he ran away from Him. He got himself in a mess that he could not get out of. He was facing certain death at the bottom of the sea in the belly of a fish. He was covered with seaweed and he was in the middle of water everywhere. It was dark and there was no way out. He had a choice to make; he could die in his misery or he could cry out to the Lord for help.

Just like Jonah, we too can discover that God is our only hope. The Lord will not rescue us without our willingness to let Him help us. He will not help us without our acknowledging that He is our only way, truth and life. He will not help us until we acknowledge that we are guilty of sin and seek His forgiveness. God will never turn away a sincere and humbled heart. He is more than willing to help us out of our messes if we will but turn to Him and let Him. Granted, not all of the messes we find ourselves in are our fault. Sometimes it’s the sin of others that creates our messes. Sometimes messes are the result of living in a fallen world.

Sometimes the Lord does not lift us out of our messes, but instead stays with us in our messes to help us. What we do need to know is that the Lord is willing and able to help us regardless of how hopeless our situation may be or how helpless we may feel.

About the Author:

Jim Hughes

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chaper on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.

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by on January 18, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Staci Stallings on January 18, 2021

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Wandering 1/15/2021

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by:  Staci Stallings

WanderingLet’s start with this:  I am not a Lord of the Rings fan. I apologize to those of you who love it, but I must confess that I am not among that number.

My children once had the movies on our television in the living room, and I didn’t leave my office the entire time.  Even if it’s a good story, I can’t take the fighting and the noise of violence.

So my next confession probably won’t surprise you either:  I have never read any of the books except for The Hobbit that I assigned my seventh grade English class back in the early 90’s because someone said they would like it.  I don’t know if they liked it. I didn’t get much out of it though that could be because I was reading three other books for other classes as well as doing lesson plans and grading. (Yes, I was a crazy teacher!)

Suffice it to say, I am not well-grounded in Middle Earth though I do know the term and where it comes from.

That’s why it’s so weird to me that LOTR, which is what all the cool kids call it, keeps showing up in my life and in this set of books I’m writing. At first it was just a passing mention because Taylor, the main character, loves books and Greg’s sisters were showing her their book collections. Then Clara, Greg’s ex-girlfriend mentioned it later on in When You Sing a Love Song, and it became a bonding moment between her and her new boyfriend, Ryan.

Then, the craziest thing just happened this weekend in real life that is destined to be included in the new book.  There is a whole thread in the books about how you need to try things and do different things to find the things that you love and that you’re good at.  Taylor, my current protagonist, is embarking on a whole new way of being, and it’s great fun to watch. However, she very much feels untethered to the world she once knew and believed she was headed toward.

She has come to the conclusion that she wants no part of the future she thought she was building (because that’s what everyone told her she should want), but she doesn’t really have a grasp on what a new future might look like either. There are a lot of references to being in the goo—that spot when a caterpillar is not a caterpillar nor a butterfly. It’s in process. It’s just goo.

Being someone who was driven and goal-oriented, this is unsettling in the extreme for Taylor. And then this great line comes waltzing in my life as if to ask what took you so long to get here?

Now a little on just how circuitous a route this line took to get to me.  My niece had come to stay with us last year, and she’s been doing a lot of growing up and becoming—just like Taylor. One of the things she dearly loves is Lord of the Rings. She even read the actual books although she is dyslexic. Over the Christmas break, she and her father watched the movies together, so she was telling me about all of it while she sat at my island and I did the dishes. (Hint to all the creative people out there:  Never underestimate just where and how God might throw a lightning bolt in your direction.)

So she’s talking about the films and she says quite innocently enough, “Wandering doesn’t mean you’re lost.”

That hit me like a truck, and I was like, “What?”

She said, “It’s the Riddle of Strider. ‘Not all who wander are lost.’ It’s not even in the movie because….” (insert long, drawn out explanation that I only barely followed)

But to say I was intrigued is putting it mildly. That quote is exactly what Taylor needs to hear right now, and I know just how to weave it in.

The crazy thing is, people who read this book are going to think I’m a Middle Earth aficionado, and strangely, nothing could be further from the truth. Just like I’ve never danced ballet (like in Dance With Me) or fixed up an old house (The Long Way Home, Raising Attabury), fixed old cars (Little Drops of Sunshine), or been in a plane that crashed (Flight 259), or my favorite, been in a burning high rise (To Protect & Serve).

And yet somehow, on this strange, wandering path called writing, I’ve gotten to do all of that and more.

I can’t wait for Taylor to hear this line!

So, dear reader, what is your work in progress that you are excited to be starting the new year out with?

Staci StallingsA stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe with her various Internet and writing endeavors.

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CrossReads Book Spotlight: In Due Season

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CrossReads Book Spotlight

CrossReads Book Spotlight

In Due Season

A Story of Colonial Williamsburg

In Due Season

Born in a London workhouse, John has suffered years of physical and verbal abuse. Finally managing to escape, he stows away on a ship bound for the colonies, only to be discovered while out at sea. After another failed attempt at freedom, he is sold as an indentured servant to the bootmaker in Williamsburg, Virginia. His new-found faith in Christ is tested daily by his master’s arrogant son. Then Elizabeth walks into his life… (A Christian Historical Romance Novel)

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CrossReads Short Takes: When Heaven Sighs & Romance Under Wraps

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CrossReads Short Takes

When Heaven Sighs

by Susan Guinn

When Heaven Sighs

Death & deceit stalk the city sidewalks of Nashville, Music City USA.
A scream in the night
A hideous sight
What message is told
arousing an ancient foe
with hatred unleashed
upon a sleeping world’s peace

Heaven on one side, hell on the other with man caught in the middle. Which side will he choose?
One victim, a college student dead on a steamy August afternoon on a sidewalk from the highly contagious Ebola virus. The second, a beloved young priest lying dead on cold, hard asphalt after a fatal plunge from the tip of the roof of the cathedral where he served.
Dedicated homicide detective Hayden Douglan struggles against time to stop the spread of the virus as evidence confirms both men were murdered. Both victims’ destinies seem to be linked only by their mutual interest and belief in a mysterious, ancient document from the Middle East. Faith and courage will be tested as information leads to corruption in the highest levels of the religious community and the police department itself then finally to a powerful mystic cloistered behind the walls of a beautiful monastery near Vienna, Austria.

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Romance Under Wraps

by Claire O’Sullivan

Romance Under Wraps

Catherine Cade Has a Problem

She’s an identity thief with partial amnesia impersonating a nurse practitioner—trying to go straight. When one of her patients dies a mysterious death, she is faced with an agonizing decision. When evidence points to murder, she must overcome her fear of prison for the truth. Her biggest problem is the cop who caught her.

Rick Calhoun is a homicide detective who knows more about Cade than she does. When he finds a murder scene and catches up with Cade, the chase begins.

She tries to keep her lies straight, and it’s a job while tending patients and opening a bakery. He has to keep the investigation quiet, tend to his homicide cases, and keep Cade out of trouble.

Cade’s biggest worry is the detective who found her. He’s onto her, and she‘s stuck. Calhoun’s biggest problem, he is in love with her and will sacrifice anything to give her safe passage.

Love means never having to hear your Miranda Rights …

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New Release: Groom for Altar 1/12/2021

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by Parker J. Cole

Groom for Altar
Altar Pennington isn’t like most of the widows in Last Chance, Nebraska. After a blizzard takes her husband’s life, she’s neither mournful nor joyful at his death. Her biggest concern isn’t how she’s going to live now that she’s a widow; but how is she going to raise a child on her own? When the preacher demands that all the widows remarry or leave town, she is forced to seek a husband to provide a father for her child. When former steel driver Wolfe Laingsburg receives Altar Pennington’s letter, he accepts her proposal to meet in Last Chance and from there decide if they can form a life together. Arriving in town, he unwittingly sets a chain of events that lead to Altar and himself being found in a compromising position. With the preacher breathing down their necks to wed for the sake of propriety, Wolfe must make the decision if he can marry a woman he doesn’t know much about. Altar and Wolfe are forced to trust each other…but is trust the only element needed to build a marriage upon, especially when a danger from her dead husband’s past rears its head, threatening her life and the life of her child. Will trust be enough for Altar to depend on Wolfe to protect her family? Would it be enough for Wolfe to risk his life to save a woman he barely knows?
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CrossReads Weekly Devotionals: Wave 1/11/2021

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by Rebekah Beene

One morning as I was preparing to write I looked down at my keyboard and saw the word “wave”. It’s an ergonomic keyboard with a slight curve to the keys.

As I thought about the word wave I was reminded of part of a nature show we watched last night. Dozens of people were riding a huge wave in the ocean. Inside the wave you could see shadows of either people or creatures. I wondered why anyone would take a chance to ride such a huge wave knowing that there could be danger lurking within. How long could I ride that wave and how long would I have to hold my breath if I was under that huge wall of water?

Oh beloved, God speaks to my heart. You may feel you are riding a huge wave yourself. And by now you are wondering if this wave will ever end. How much longer you can hold your breath you don’t even know. The pressure is great. The fear is real. What lurks within has you concerned.

God wants you to know this morning that you were born again to ride the waves of life. Within you is the fortitude of the Spirit – you have courage and stamina to go the distance. What lurks beneath the surface can’t scare you, because you know the Everlasting Arms are underneath you. Panic wants to overtake you. But God is the breath in your lungs. You aren’t alone nor do you have to rely on yourself to make it. You may have thought you could rely on another to be with you and to encourage you. But listen, beloved believer, you can ride the waves of life alone if you have to. Greater is He who is in you!

God loves you and He’s for you. Always. In good times. In bad times. In the heights of safety. In the depths of danger. Rejoice that you may be concerned but you aren’t desperate. Call out to the Father this morning and ask Him for His merciful care. Ask Him to show you the great and wonderful things that you need to see in the Spirit right now. And live joyously, breathe freely and  ride the waves all the way to heaven’s shore, in the Light of His Glorious plan.

Isaiah 43:1-2   But now, this is what the Lord says, He who is your Creator, Jacob, and He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…

Psalm 69:1-2 Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck. I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.

Psalm 69:13 But my prayer to You, O LORD, is for a time of favor. In Your abundant loving devotion, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation.

About the Author:

Rebekah Beene

 

In a Christian Women’s meeting in 1983, Rebekah was given a prophetic message that she would write books. Several years ago she began writing stories about special holiday memories and travels, sharing God’s love and care through each story. God has gifted Rebekah with the ability to look at the natural and see the supernatural. Both Rebekah and her husband Danny have a heart to share the Gospel and the riches of life in Christ to everyone they meet. They have served in the local church and in ministry to motorcyclists. Danny is an ordained minister and they both have been Bible study teachers for many years. Rebekah also speaks at women’s retreats and conferences. Her tag line says it all “God loves you and He’s for you”.

My website is http://rebekahbeene.wordpress.com

My first book in print is Oh Beloved! Live in the Light of His Word.
Link to buying the book via paypal is on the website.
As well a link to purchasing the ebook on Amazon is there too.
I’m also on twitter @rebekahbeene, tumblr http://rebekah-beene.tumblr.com/
and of course facebook as Rebekah Beene (Warren) I included my maiden name for old friends.
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The Point is … Step by Step 1/8/2021

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by James Collins

“It is of the Lord‘s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Since I retired from the Army, I have gained a pound or ten… For the New Year, I have decided to get into shape. Truthfully, my wife, Amanda, decided for me that I was going to get into shape. I said, “Honey, round is a shape.” She didn’t think that was funny. Consequently, I am now on a fat-free, gluten-free, low-carbohydrate, high-protein, sugar-free, low-sodium, macrobiotic consuming, metabolism boosting, organic, all-natural, cholesterol-free, calorie counting, detoxification, colon cleansing, diet. The only thing I can eat is cardboard flavored with essential oils… 

Part of Amanda’s New Year’s resolution was for us to exercise more. I came up with a great exercise regimen. Start with a five-pound potato bag in each hand. Extend your arms straight out from your sides, hold them there for a full minute, and then relax. After a few weeks, move up to ten-pound potato bags. Then try 50-pound potato bags, and eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-pound potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. Once you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.  

For Christmas, Amanda gave me a pedometer. A pedometer is a fitness tracker I wear on my belt which logs the steps I take each day. It helps to motivate me to get up from my desk and take a walk several times throughout the day. I have a daily goal of ten thousand steps. However, most days, I fall way short. When I come home at night, I unclip the step-tracker from my belt and look at the number. Usually, I am disappointed. I feel I should have tried harder to meet my goal. 

One unique feature of the pedometer is every night it resets. When I clip it on in the morning, the step-counter begins at zero. No matter what my count was the day before – two, two hundred, two thousand, or two hundred thousand – the next day I always have a clean slate. 

       My walk with God is a lot like that. Some days, I walk closely with the Lord. Some days, I align my steps with His steps. Those are the best days. Other days, I follow my own wants and desires. Other days, I barely check to see if I am following God’s path. Those are the worst days. 

The good news is every day with Jesus starts with a clean slate. The Bible tells us God’s mercies are new every morning. Just as sure as the sun comes up every morning, you can be confident God’s mercies never end. They are not based on how good you are, but only on His steadfast character. 

The point is: God sees you as you really are. He can see when you do well, and he can see when you miss the mark. You can find rest in Him today. Cast all your cares upon Him and find true peace. 

His mercies are new every morning. 

The Point Is...

James Collins

James Collins

James Collins is pastor, columnist, and author. You can write to him by email at james@thepointis.net.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotionals Podcast – Listen live at 6am Pacific and 6pm Pacific. Visit http://anchor.fm/russell-sherrard any other time to listen to all of our episodes. Now on EDIFI.APP. Download from GooglePlay or AppleStore and start listening.
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FREE eBook Interactive Romans Road American Standard Version This is the ideal and easy way to share the gospel using your Kindle http://bit.ly/2xvdXNY #free
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by on January 8, 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in Devotional, Faith -- Inspirational
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Posted by Staci Stallings on January 8, 2021

http://graceandfaith4u.com/posts/the-point-is-step-by-step-1-8-2021/

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