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After the Storm

meghanewhite

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Forty-eight hours after Hurricane Beryl ripped through Houston, I was in my garden cleaning up from the devastation. A swallowtail was fluttering around drinking nectar from the flowers. Business as usual for this stunning pollinator. Life continues after the storm passes.

Thank God we are safe and suffered no real loss, or property damage. We lost power at around 5:45 AM on Monday morning. The only sound was the howling wind and heavy rain beating down on our house. My husband was on his way home from work. All I could do was pray. I held on to this verse, and put it in the notes on my phone the night before, glancing at it when fear started to creep in.

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. Matthew 7:25, NIV

There are very few things in this life we can control, and a hurricane is not one of them. You can prepare to the best of your ability, have lots of water, canned food, and maybe even a generator. That won’t stop the impending storm and the havoc it will wreak.

The storm will pass and what you’re left with can potentially be horrendous. Loss of life, and property. For us, we lost power for thirty hours. No too bad considering many are still without power in Houston, as of this writing. The heat and humidity in the middle of the summer in Southeast Texas is brutal. No air conditioning can be quite miserable here. We would cool off in our car, thank God we could.

When we started looking around our neighborhood we saw many downed fences and lots of branches and debris. We counted our blessings and thanked God for protecting us. Three years ago, the ice storm was not so kind to us with broken pipes. But God saw us through that storm.

The question is not if a storm in life will happen, it’s when. Life’s storms can be unrelenting, whether they are physical, spiritual, emotional, relational, or financial. You think you are prepared, and yet, you were flattened by the difficulty and the loss. Reeling in pain and wondering how you can go on after the catastrophic storm.

It all depends on the foundation of your house. What’s your foundation? Is it sand? Is it the Rock, Jesus?

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Matthew 7:26-27, NIV

I have withstood many storms, and the only reason I am still here is my foundation is on the Rock. Jesus has gotten me through every single storm and He will continue to do so. Do you need to rebuild? He is a redeemer. Do you need some repairs? He can restore. Do you need the right foundation? He is the Solid Rock, the Savior.

Storms are guaranteed in life. Don’t build on sand. Build on the Rock, Jesus Christ.

Love you all,

Meghan

If you need prayer go to my contact page and send me your request.

God

God’s Ways Are Perfect

meghanewhite

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This stunning flower is from a carrot. I never pulled up my carrots from last summer and just let them be, resulting in the most gorgeous flowers. The term for this is called bolting. It’s a survival mechanism in plants when conditions are no longer ideal for the plant. The plant is producing seed to continue on. There is no longer viable fruit or vegetables after bolting occurs, but the seeds remain. New life will emerge.

It would have been great to enjoy a large bunch of carrots, but that did not happen. There were a few carrots early in the summer. Later, the unbearable heat made it challenging for me to do much work in the garden so the carrots were neglected. However, along with the stunning flowers, I pulled up this gargantuan carrot.

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It’s hard to tell from the picture, but this carrot is massive. Bigger than any I’ve ever grown. That’s what happens when you leave them through the winter. I will not eat it, but it sure was fun to find that in my garden.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

God’s ways are perfect. He made every plant, fruit, and vegetable. Only God can make something beautiful from a plant in distress. The fruit is no longer viable but the flower produces seed which means new life can continue. That’s not how I would do things, but I’m not God. I would have chosen an abundant carrot harvest, but I would have missed the stunning flowers. Sure, lots of veggies was the goal, but the circumstances were not ideal, and the plant was in distress.

As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. Psalm 18:30

Whatever God allows is perfect. The hard things, painful things, and beautiful things, He allows. God’s way is perfect, not easy. Sometimes, His way is quite difficult for us. But He is a shield for us who take refuge in Him. He will help us. We don’t always understand His ways, but we can trust that He is faithful, and is working everything out for our good, and His glory.

We can trust God in all things. His ways are perfect.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your faithfulness and your perfect ways. Thank you for always working in our lives and turning beauty from ashes. Only you can do that Lord. You are our defender and protector as we take refuge in you. Help us, O God, to trust you more and give you everything that we are holding onto. Help us to place our fears and worries into your capable hands.

Amen

Love you all,

Meghan

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Photo credit: Meghan E. White

healing

The Root of the Problem

meghanewhite

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This ugly, gnarled up root ball does not want to leave my backyard. I don’t remember when this weed tree appeared, but it seemed like it just popped up along our wrought iron fence one day. The first few years I trimmed it and did my best to hack it down, not really knowing what exactly it was. It took a while until I realized it’s just a weed tree.

Weeds can be tricky to get rid of, and a tree that has taken up residence in your yard, without being invited, is even more difficult to destroy. I would trim all the branches off and cut it down to the stump. For a while it looked like the unwanted tree had died. Then a small sprout appeared while I wasn’t looking, which rapidly multiplied, and turned into branches, and the nasty thing got bigger.

There is only one way to dispose of this nuisance, kill it at the roots. If the roots die, the tree dies. As I was digging and clawing at this hideous eye sore I was going deeper to expose the roots. The deeper I dug, the more I saw just how vast the root system of this ugly tree was. I quickly figured out I needed help from someone bigger and stronger with way more experience, my husband.

Our sins, our secrets, our addictions, and those shameful things we never talk about can turn into weeds in our soul. We’ve covered it all up, buried it with a nice pile of dirt, and believed that took care of it. Yet, we never killed the roots and it keeps growing and we keep trimming branches and hoping and praying that maybe it will just go away.

With each push of the shovel, the Lord reminded me of all the stuff I can let take root in my life if I’m not careful. Resentments, unforgiveness, and past hurts that seems so small can grow over time and become weeds in my life. I am not strong enough on my own to get rid of these uninvited guests. Only God can heal me and set me free from my sins, pain, and heartache. There is no root system too big for the Lord to destroy if we let Him. He is bigger.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139: 23-24, NIV

Come in, Oh Lord, to every part of us. Heal our hearts and destroy, at the root, anything that is sinful, or causing us pain. Give us the courage and grace to face the ugly stuff and stop covering it up. Expose those nasty deep roots, dear Lord, and set us free! Amen!

Love you all,

Meghan

Bible

The Power of Memorizing Scripture

meghanewhite

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When I was in the sixth grade I was part of Awana, which I did not enjoy. We were brand new Christians and very involved in church, so that meant going to Awana. Picture me rolling my eyes. I know, sounds like an ungrateful child. I really wasn’t, but I did not enjoy the competition aspect of Awana, and I did not enjoy the Bible verse memorization. We had to memorize large passages of scripture, which I did. None of it stuck though. I could not tell you today a single verse I memorized all those years ago. There are probably super star Awana’s kids out there who memorize and retain it, that wasn’t me.

I understand the value and importance of memorizing scripture, but I am not a big scripture memory person. I love to read the Bible, meditate on it, and study it, but I have not made memorizing scripture a priority. I can recall verses, but I cannot always tell exact chapter and verse. There are some scriptures I have memorized just from reading them so many times. I write verses down on cards and place them where I can see them. Sometimes, I keep my Bible open to a particular passage so I can meditate on that during the day, but I still do not purposely memorize Bible verses.

As an American I have access to a Bible app on my phone at any time. I can look up any verse I want on a computer or phone. I can read my Bible and bring it with me anywhere I go. Because of this unlimited access I don’t even consider that I should start putting the Bible in my memory. Maybe I should though.

Heroic Christians living in Iran have made me reconsider the importance of memorizing scripture. The following story is from Voice of the Martyrs.

A prayer meeting in Shiraz, Iran at the home of Pastor Houmayoun was interrupted by the secret police. The pastor, his wife, their seventeen-year-old son, and four others were arrested. They were blindfolded and taken to an intelligence prison where they were interrogated for days. After being moved to a public prison they were told not to share why they were there.

In spite of being warned repeatedly not to talk about Jesus, they shared the gospel with their fellow Muslim inmates. They quickly realized they needed Bibles. So they wrote memorized Bible verses on any paper they could get their hands on. This was an encouragement to each other and a great way to share the gospel.

Once the pastor and the other believers were allowed to call family members they asked for chapters from the Bible written in English. The prison guards and an imam (person who leads prayers in a mosque) could not read English and passed these letters on to the pastor without knowing it was complete copies of books of the Bible.

The Christians who knew English translated the scriptures into Farsi so the inmates could read them. Because of his evangelism, and the positive response of the prisoners, the pastor eventually got sent to a part of the prison called “Hell”. Pastor Houmayoun continued sharing the gospel with the death row inmates, with several placing their faith in Christ before being executed.

Pastor Houmayoun was released after three years with the seeds of the gospel being planted in that prison. What an amazing story of the power of God. He cannot be stopped. His gospel will go forth regardless of the tactics of the enemy.

How awesome that the pastor, his family, and church leaders wrote down memorized scriptures to help encourage them and share the truth of the gospel with the Muslim inmates. They had no Bibles or apps to rely on. Those verses came from memory.

This powerful testimony got me thinking. How important is scripture memorization? And why am I not making it a priority? There are many believers who memorize scripture and entire books of the Bible. I have not made that a goal, yet.

Do you memorize Bible verses? If so, do you have any advice or tips?

I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11, BSB

Love you all,

Meghan

Photo credit: Meghan E. White

Love

Love Is

meghanewhite

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Love is patient.

Love is kind.

It does not envy.

It does not boast.

It is not proud.

It is not rude.

It is not self-seeking.

It is not easily angered.

It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth.

It always protects.

Always trusts.

Always hopes.

Always perseveres,

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, NIV 

This perfect love has no jealousy, or boasting, or pride, or unkindness, or rudeness, or selfishness. There is no place for impatience, short-temperedness, or keeping a list of wrongs. Love never delights in evil and always rejoices in truth. It protects and trusts, always hopes and perseveres. Godly love never fails.

Agape is the Greek word for love used in this infamous passage of scripture. This is God’s love. And this is how we are to love others. It’s impossible to show this kind of love without knowing Jesus. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit within every believer to share this agape love. We have to be filled before we can pour out God’s love on people.

Agape is self-sacrificing. It truly is death to ourselves. Jesus said in order to follow him we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). That is the only way this powerful love from God can flow from us. It’s not about us, It’s about Him.

How do we know what love is?

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16, NIV

Jesus laid down his life for us while we were still sinners. This is the highest form of love. We are to love our brothers and sisters with the same sacrificial love. Impossible in our strength. Only possible through Jesus.

Where does love come from?

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8, NIV

There is no real love apart from God. He himself is love and we cannot love without knowing Him through Jesus Christ.

As Christians we get to share this agape with those around us. This beautiful love that God gave us through Jesus can overflow from us to every single person we have in our lives and even those we cross paths with each day. This love is powerful and nothing like any kind of love in the world. We fall short at times, and don’t always love the way we should, but God’s love will never fail.

Help us Lord, to love like you do.

Love you all,

Meghan

If you need prayer please leave your request in the comments or drop me an email (go to my contact page).

Photo credit: Meghan E. White