I know, I know, Lent is almost over but it's been a while since I posted personally that I just had to share with you my Lenten practice this year.

Many people fast and pray and give alms or do some kind of special activity to draw closer to God durning the forty days leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

I am no exception. Some years I participate, others I don't. Not as fully as I was brought up to do.

And, that's OK!

I've grown in my relationship with God enough to know I'm not going to hell or anything if I don't do this.

Neither are you.

Anyway, I remember one year I prayed and asked God what I should do for Lent and the thought came to me to give up bread. Now, if you know me at all, you know that bread is my favorite food. I L-O-V-E bread and anything breadlike... Cakes, cookies, pastries... You get my drift.

So, you can imagine my reaction: "Surely that's not what You mean, Lord?"

Then, I opened my daily scripture reading and guess what it was? You guessed it! Matthew 4:4 when Jesus said to satan, "It is written that man does not live by bread alone but by every word from the mouth of God."
​He couldn't make it any clearer than that LOL! So I gave up bread for the entire 6 weeks of Lent. Even on Sundays which are exempt.

​This year I decided to do something special again. Utilizing my YouTube Channel, Coaching in PJs™ I am doing 40 days of Ho'oponopono prayers around money using EFT.

If you've followed me for any length of time, you know how I found EFT/Tapping and I know I've mentioned this prayer before which I believe is totally in line with Jesus's teachings on love and forgiveness.

I know there are only a couple of weeks left in this Lenten season, but these prayers are short so there is time for you to catch up and follow along daily. Check out the Playlist HERE.

​That's all for today, friends. 

Until next time, take care and God bless.
PamT

It is with great pleasure I bring you another guest post! Please welcome my friend, Barbara M Britton to our blog with some beautiful sentiments on God's Word.

​Take it away Barb...
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Thanks Pam!
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God’s Word never ceases to amaze me. Even though I know a Bible story well, there are always details that deepen my faith. 
My latest release covers six stories in the Gospel of Mark that show the power and compassion of Jesus. In Jesus, we have the Son of the Most-High God, and someone who was fully human. Jesus never sinned, but He needed to take care of His physical self. 

This week I studied two other Bible heroes, who like Jesus, prayed to God in good times and challenging times.
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Let us start with Jesus. While Jesus is listening to His disciples debrief on their exploits of evangelism, so many people are disturbing them that Jesus says, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31 NIV)

If you know what comes next, Jesus doesn’t find rest right away. He and the disciples feed five thousand men, and the women and children with them. Preparing a banquet for thousands is not restful. Afterward, we are told that Jesus made His disciples get in a boat and go on ahead of Him. What did Jesus do? He went up on a mountainside to pray. (Mark 6:46).

Jesus knew prayer with the Father was critical to staying focused on His mission. He may have had to multiply loaves and fishes first, but He didn’t forget to talk to His Father.

Likewise, when Nehemiah received word that his home city of Jerusalem was in ruins, he “mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heavens.” (Nehemiah 1:4 NIV). Nehemiah also prayed while in the presence of King Artaxerxes. Long prayers or short prayers, Nehemiah stayed connected to God. He would need that connection to complete the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall while facing enemies from outside the city and from within.

And then there is Daniel. I taught this story to a group of elementary girls this week. I thought I knew this story by heart. Daniel is thrown into a lion’s den because he doesn’t stop praying to God. An edict had been given that everyone had to worship King Darius alone.

Daniel continued to pray at least three times a day to God. (Daniel 6:10).

The word that caught my eye regarding Daniel’s prayer life was uttered by King Darius. Before throwing Daniel into the lion’s den, something he didn’t want to do, the king states, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” (Daniel 6:16 NIV).

When the king goes back to the lion’s den in the morning, he asks something similar, “has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” (Daniel 6:20). Did you catch the word that stood out to me? Daniel prayed to God and worshiped God continually. People noticed, even the king.

Daniel’s prayer life affected the king and his new decree declared that everyone in Darius’s kingdom must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. Amen!

These accounts in the Bible encouraged me to pray to God more often.

I don’t know what you are facing in your life. Your days may be smooth sailing in a boat, or you may be facing your own den of lions. Pray continually and consistently to God. We need to stay connected to God and focused on His sovereignty and compassion.
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As you read Scripture this week, notice other prayer warriors in God’s Word. If you have a favorite, share it with us.

Discover the life changing power of Jesus in six short stories from the Gospel of Mark. The miracles of Jesus will leap from the page in a Biblical Fiction story, author reflection, and relatable study.

Travel with Jesus as he calms a storm, heals a desperate woman, raises a dead daughter to life, sends His disciples on a minimalist mission, feeds thousands on a hillside, and shows compassion to a persistent mother.

A perfect study for your small group, personal or family devotions, or even a book club.
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Barbara M. Britton is an author of Christian Fiction who loves to bring little-known Bible stories to light. She has taught the Bible in church and schools for thirty years. Barbara has a nutrition degree from Baylor University but loves to dip healthy strawberries in chocolate. You can find out more about Barbara and her books on her website barbarambritton.com.

As I step (sometimes quite awkwardly) into my “sunset years,” I notice that my values have changed—dramatically, in some areas. Priorities have executed a distinct about-face. Wants, needs, desires…all shifted, or shifting. Things matter less. Family is all-important. God is everything—first and last, beginning and end, over and above anyone, anything and everything else.

I kind of like the new outlook. It makes for an easier, more relaxed and satisfied, far less stressful existence. Why is it that most of us don’t reach this level in our mental, emotional, and spiritual outlook until we get…well, let me just say “rich in age.” How much sweeter life would be if we could arrive at this quieter, more peaceful mindset when we’re young! I can think of a lot of mistakes I made that might have been avoided.

Then again, without all those “mistakes”—you know them, the off-the-beaten track, lost and confused days that seemed unending and incredibly lonely. The heartbreaks and bumps in the road that looked like mountains at the time. Bad decisions and wrong moves. Lacking those experiences, would we ever gain the wisdom to enter our sunset years with any degree of grace? I’m inclined to believe every little and large experience we encounter is part of God’s plan. We need the tears that follow heartbreak to help wash away the pain—or, at the very least, to clear our vision so we can see how desperately we need God. We learn from the fallout after bad decisions. We gain directional aptitude after taking enough wrong turns along the way. Our faults and failures all serve as steppingstones. Learning experiences. Hard-earned moves forward on the path to becoming who we are in our latter years.

So we spend time feeding experiential knowledge into our psyches. Growing in wisdom. Becoming. Becoming the person God is shaping us into—someone in His perfect image. His precious child, whom He has taught—through example, discipline, and gentle persuasion—that being like dear ol’ (heavenly) Daddy isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s a beautiful goal, attained by difficult, hands-on experience, sometimes undertaken in the dark. A goal worthy of reward—and let me take a quick second to affirm what I’m sure you already know—our Father knows how to bestow the most amazing rewards on His beloved children!

As I worked my way through the years that led to this milestone, I took note of a few experiences that brought sunshine into my life. I jotted down a few of the lessons learned along the way and combined them into a little book called Morning Rendezvous. It’s a collection of Devotions and Musings from My Heart to Yours. I think you’ll enjoy the read. You may laugh a time or two. It’s possible you’ll shed a few tears. You may find that you learn some of the same lessons I learned, because I share them with you as clearly and concisely as I am capable of writing.

I hope you’ll pick up a copy. And then I’ll look eagerly forward to hearing from you. I love it when readers share the blessings they find within the pages of my books—all of them, but most of all Morning Rendezvous because…well, that’s the whole purpose of the book. To teach others easily a few things that I learned the hard way. And, quite simply, to bless you.

So…be blessed.

Thank you, Pamela, for the opportunity to spend a little time with you and your readers. It’s always a pleasure, and you’re a blessing.

Morning Rendezvous blurb:
A short collection of devotions and random musings by Inspirational Romance Author Delia Latham. Within its pages is a heaping heartful of love, hope, faith, encouragement...even a bit of humor. Grab your Bible and a cup of something warm and soothing. Make yourself comfortable, and come on in. Prepare to be blessed...

A world of sweet romance with a whisper of angels’ wings. Readers can count on a touch of the divine in DELIA LATHAM’S sweet, inspirational novels and novellas. An award-winning, best-selling author, Delia is both traditionally and self-published, with over thirty novels, novellas, and short stories to her credit. When this author isn’t spinning words into fictional worlds, she offers editing and proofreading services, as well as book cover and marketing material design. After calling California home for half a century, she moved to East Texas with her husband a full decade ago. And there the old CaliTexan couple will live happily ever after…

Follow Delia on Facebook.
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Visit her website.

Sign up to receive her monthly newsletter, Brushing Wings, and receive a FREE copy of Love Comes Lately, a short story from the Love at Heart’s Haven series, co-written with Tanya Stowe.

THANK YOU So Much, Delia for sharing your lovely thoughts and beautiful devotional book with us!

I'm sure my readers and friends enjoyed your post as much as I did.

If so, Friends, get your copy of Delia's devotional book, Morning Rendezvous at AMAZON.

Until next time, take care, God Bless and remember serenity comes with grace and grace builds upon grace given and grace received.

Something to think about!
PamT
"Inspirational with an Edge! ™
"Coaching in Pjs" ™

Have you ever gone through a bunch of old files and documents only to find some that you'd forgotten you'd written?

That's what happened to me and I thought I'd share one with you today.

The Bible talks about "entertaining angels unaware," and that God gives His angels charge over us. Back in 2024, on a cold, wet morning the 2nd of February, I was on my way to work in order to run end-of-month statements that hadn’t been done on January 30th because I had to bury my dog of 14 yrs who’d been put down the day before. I despise cold, wet weather and prayed for God’s hand of protection to be upon not only me and my husband -who was about three minutes ahead of me- but every driver on the road at that time. No sooner had the words left my mouth when taillights came into view. A car had left the eastbound lane of Interstate 10, spun through the median and was sliding backward into my westbound lane!
 
Unable to switch lanes, all I could do was hang on and pray, “oh, God. Oh, God,” when the back end of his car hit the back door on the driver’s side of my car, throwing me into a tailspin. When my car stopped spinning, I was facing oncoming traffic, and my car had died.
 
It is a sheer miracle that no one hit me head on! One on-comer barely had time to swerve into the median to avoid hitting me. Had he not been so observant, his full-sized pickup truck would have climbed all over the front end of my car. Others would come within mere feet, stop and stare a moment, then switch lanes and go on about their business.  On top of that, I called 911 twice and was put on hold!

After finally reaching the Louisiana State Police, it took a full ten minutes to get my car started and moved out of oncoming traffic.
 
There’s no doubt that even though the accident occurred, God’s hand was all over that car and His angels were encamped all around me.

Have you ever experienced something like this that reassured you God has His hand on you and His angels are looking out for you? Share your story in the comments!

Until next time take care, God Bless and remember to give gratitude to God and the angels for they many ways they protect us from seen and unseen forces.
PamT