Transforming

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

...in the spiritual realm, there is a balm. There is a transfusion. His name is Jesus. Your renewing started the day He transfused you with His life and came to live in you by your invitation. But when we deliberately expose our hearts to His tender transforming love, the process accelerates. When we immerse our thoughts in His Word and let its living, active power suffuse our minds and recreate our thought patterns, the process set in motion at our new birth advances more quickly. ...

For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't know that Jesus loves me..., but I understand it better every day. I've realized that the more I give of myself to Him, the more His love for me becomes real in my experience, not just my theology. The power and effect of His love for me has changed me. Not simply changed my behaviors or even my attitudes but changed who I am.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

What was the joy set before Him? What did He have after the cross that He didn't have before the cross? What did the cross gain for Him? It gained Him you and me. Nothing else. Just us. He considered you and me worth the price He paid. You are His goal. You are His prize. Is He yours?

[Mostly taken from Prized by Jennifer Kennedy Dean]

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The Characters Take Over in a New MAP

I write character-driven novels, so I'm accustomed to my characters taking over and dictating the novel to me. However, in the latest book I've started, it came with a new twist. This time, I would not have chosen for one of my main characters to be half Indian, but she insisted that's who she was from the very beginning. I've never had this happen before I started to write the rough draft.

Grandma's Match for Garrett was a last-minute addition to my 2024 schedule, and it's set to publish in January. Caryl McAdoo offered me the opportunity to write in her new multiple-author project, Grandmother Knows Best. I was intrigued and agreed. Beginning a new novel or a new MAP is always exciting, and I can't wait to see how this one unfolds.

I have my two main characters, Garrett Oliver from Cades Cove, Tennessee, and Wren Hudson from Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Grandma Hazel Griffin will also play an important secondary role. After her second husband dies, Hazel asks that her sister's family send one of the four boys west to help her out on her ranch, and they send the youngest, Garrett. 

Cover designer, Randi Gammons is working on my cover now. I've never worked with Randi before, but I've seen some of her work, and it's lovely, so I'm looking forward to seeing what she creates for me. I'll be giving more details about all this later, as things progress. I hope my readers are as excited about the possibilities as I am.

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Nebuchadnezzar Recognizes God

Daniel became a favorite of King Nebuchadnezzar after he and his friends were taken captive to Babylon. He was able to interpret the king's dream about a statue made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron when no one else could, and when Daniel gave God the glory, Nebuchadnezzar began to recognize that this young man worshipped a powerful God. He gave Daniel important positions, and this evoked jealousy among some of the Babylonians.

Nebuchadnezzar made a nine-foot golden statue, set it up on the plain of Dura, and ordered that everyone bow down and worship it. When Daniel's friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship it, the king had them thrown into a fiery furnace so hot that it killed the guards who threw them in. But God sent an angel to spare them, and they were unharmed. When Nebuchadnezzar looked, he saw four people in the furnace and not three. He said the fourth person looked like the Son of God. But even after seeing all these miracles, Nebuchadnezzar didn't see Daniel's God as the One True God. He only added Him to the plethora of other gods he recognized.

King Nebuchadnezzar had another dream of a great tree, but the tree was cut down. Again, Daniel hesitantly tells the king what it means. For a while, the king will live as an animal outside, grazing on grass. This came true too. But later, when Nebuchadnezzar recognizes God is in control, he is restored to his senses and takes the throne again. He now understands the majesty and perhaps even the sovereignty of God. Here is what the Bible says:

At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. And the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned to me; and the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase (Daniel 4:34-37).

Do you recognize God's perfection, glorious majesty, and power? He is beyond description and worthy of all worship and praise. We can never honor Him enough.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let the inhabitants of the world

stand in awe of him!

Psalm 33:8

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Bretta's Business

Bretta's Business just published Tuesday. It's an intriguing story of a woman who owns her own construction business in Wyoming in 1889. Although she learned the business from her father, he's not very supportive of her independence or her interest in the women's rights movement. Bretta hasn't even been able to find any help who's willing to work for a woman until Alec Peterson shows up for an interview. The newspaper had misprinted her name as Brett Shaw, and Alec thinks she's a man. However, he agrees to take the job on a trial basis. Now, why does she get the impression he's hiding something?

Bretta's Business

The novel has a little mystery and suspense as well as a slow-developing romance. It's a sweet story that has a couple of twists along the way. It's the second book I've written in The Suffrage Spinisters series. Ingrid's Intention, my first book, has gotten some great reviews, and I'm hoping Bretta's Business does just as well if not better.

Ingrid's Intention

I needed a new female narrator for the Audible edition of this book, and I found her in Wendy Arcega. Wendy has a background in music as well as being a professional voice artist. She has a passion for Christian literature and children's books. I was impressed with her talent and range of voices, and I think listeners will be too. 

Bretta's Business Audible

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Having Idols in Your Heart

"...these men have set up idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them: (Ezekiel 14:3).

Many people, even people who claim to be Christians and often attend church, have set up idols in their hearts. They would never call them idols, but that's exactly what they've become. Anything that we give more allegiance to than we do to the things of God are our idols. We should keep a log of our discretionary time. How do we use it? What occupies most of our thoughts and desires? What excites us, pulls us, and even makes us sacrifice other things to be involved with it? Is it God or something else?

To some today, it's a political party they support, or it may be a sports team they follow. It might be a quest for some sort of worldly success, money, prestige, position, or power. Hobbies aren't bad in themselves because we all need to relax on occasion, but if taken too far, they, too, can become idols. Food can become an idol and so can any addictions: tobacco, alcohol, or drugs. Television or video games have become idols to some. Examine your life carefully. Do you have an idol? Even someone you care about can become an idol if you put them above God. Selfish people can become their own idols.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). It begins the Ten Commandments. We need to honor God in all that we think and do and with our whole lives. He should be first in our lives, far above everything else. Nothing else is as crucial. At the end of our lives, only what we've done with our Lord will matter. Everything else will be left behind. If you have any idols in your life, dethrone them right now and put God where He belongs, to reign supreme forevermore.

Read Ezekiel 14

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Prices of Print Books

Amazon recently raised the amount they charge authors for printed books, citing increased publishing costs as the reason. I had hoped to absorb the increase and not have to raise my prices, so I gave it time to see what happened. The numbers were not good.

After much consideration, I decided I would need to raise my prices after all. All my profits go to a scholarship fund for missionary children, and if I kept the prices the way they were, I wasn't certain that I'd have enough to fund the program each year. Therefore, I've raised the prices of my paperback books on Amazon.

Paperback book sales on Amazon only make up about 1% of my total sales. About 88% or more come from Kindle Unlimited, and 11% come from Kindle ebook sales. Therefore, this price change shouldn't affect many people. For now, I'll keep my personal print books for sale priced as they are, at ten dollars each, until my present inventory has dwindled. I'm pleased and thank God that my book sales, in general, have been consistently growing, and I hope this will continue.

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Captivity and Restoration

See Ezekiel, especially Chapter 37.

All through the book of Ezekiel, God warned the Israelites what He was going to do if they didn't change their wicked ways and turn back to Him. He would bring all sorts of devastation to the nation, including allowing them to be captured. But despite all the many warnings, the Israelites wouldn't listen. Instead, they became even more evil and perverse.

Just as God had warned, both the divided nations of Israel and Judah were taken captive. The northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians first in 722 B.C. The Babylonians invaded Judah in 586 B.C. and destroyed much of Jerusalem, including the temple. Judah's captivity lasted for seventy-five years.

However, just as God promised, He also eventually restored His people. He brought good to the Israelites after they were taken into captivity in Ezekiel's time. Not only were they able to come back to the land of their forefathers after seventy-five years, but they came back as one nation, not two. Israel and Judah were united again.  As He often does, He used a bad situation to bring about good. He does the same with us, but we may not see it until much later. 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

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