Fingerprints

Smudged again! My glasses can’t ever seem to stay clean! How DO they get so dirty? I mean, it isn’t like I’m putting my fingers all over my glasses every other second! At least I don’t THINK I am. However, there is some reason they are getting smudged!

Sliding glass doors – aren’t they wonderful? The view is so clear --- when they are clean! Usually they have to be cleaned often because someone left their fingerprints – not purposefully – just in passing . . .

Everyday we leave our fingerprints – most of the time we don’t even think about it! (Unless we have to clean them off!) In a much deeper sense of thinking, every day we leave fingerprints of the soul. Jesus tells us in Luke 6:43-45:“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, not does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

All of us touch someone – with our words, our actions, our reactions, our responses. We give, we take, and we live. By our every day living we leave behind the fingerprints of our soul. Many times they are unseen – but they are indelible – often creating an aura of legacy reaching beyond the span called a lifetime.

Recently my desire is strongly that the fingerprints I leave always have the Cross at the center. “Not I, but Christ!”

“O God, purify my soul so that the fingerprints I leave behind are not my own, but bear the markings of Christ. Gladly I exchange the shadows of the shallow to dive into You and allow You to make me into the person YOU desire me to become. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Take it with You

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

A Mission To Win

Recently my husband and I visited a sports store. We wandered around looking at anything that might pique our interest, and I must admit, because sports isn’t at the “top” of my “most interested” list, I grew a little weary. I found myself looking for a bench to sit down. Resting on shelving — even covering a few yawns.

As we were leaving the store, I saw a sign. It read something like this: “I never take the court without my mission.” THAT caught my eye! Yep, this person was a champion — and while many of the values, and lifestyle would definitely clash vehemently with mine, I could identify with the champion heart throb. This person saw the victory before it came. The mission was clear. Win.

Obviously a champion doesn’t become one overnight. Anything worth winning has to be worked for. Priorities take on a different light. Discipline, practice, effort become best friends of the winner.

Go for it. Fall down. Get up. Learn. Go for it. Fall down. Get up. Learn. Go for it. Fall down. Get up. WIN!!!!!

In the learning process things get left behind. Things with lesser value that hinder the progress. Things that prove stumbling blocks and cause us to fall down. Clearer and clearer becomes our mission as we realize the things that hinder and leave them far, far behind.

As a child, ice skating was a definite part of winter for me. In an effort to help me get started. my parents bought me “double runner” skates. However, their good intentions soon found me frustrated. We were skating on an outdoor pond. The snow packed into those things tight as could be, making it impossible to move. So, I had to leave those skates long behind, go for it on the single runner figure skates at hand. You guessed it. A few “bumps and bruises” with lots of “get up and go for it” I was soon rewarded with lots of time enjoying fun on the ice.

It’s time to grow! A brand new year in our sights is more than turning over a “new leaf.” Time to embrace it with a mission! A mission to leave behind ANYTHING that would hinder us from surrendering ALL to Jesus. A mission to “press on toward the goal,” as the Apostle Paul put it. A mission to mature in Christ and become useful in His Kingdom — following closely the very tone in His voice. A mission to share Jesus with others.

When do we win? Ah! THAT is the question with a very good answer. We WIN when we hear Him say, “Well done.” Each victory here causes us to live in His smile, and get a little closer to the day when the champions reach home. When we hear that voice we will know — We have WON!

By: Janene A. Dubbeld/ For God’s Glory

Take it with You

“But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to wind the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:13b-14



Called To Follow

The modern conveniences of American culture have replaced the team of horses, or oxen, and the plow with tractors and other machinery. However, there are a few farmers who still use them — especially in the areas of strong Amish influence — and, third world countries often don’t have any other way to plow.

When we lived in Florida, our yard consisted of sand burs and fire ants — so, a few years ago, after our move to Virginia, I was aching to get my “toes in the dirt” and have a garden. My wonderful neighbors heard the news, and so, Mr. C. decided to help me out. The first site we chose didn’t turn out so well, so we decided to move on up to “higher ground.” We didn’t need a “plow” since it was only a small piece of land — so he brought out his rote tiller. There was one slight problem . . . It was rocky soil. After popping off a very valuable screw of his machinery, and working diligently to overcome, we were quite thankful when one of my other neighbors saw our plight, and kindly came with a tractor. Steadily he plowed the earth — while we picked rocks. . . Believe it or not, we were able to make the soil ready for planting, and ended up with a nice garden.

It wasn’t so much the means of getting the soil ready for planting that Jesus was getting at in our Scripture today. He was using the commonplace things of life, the things those around Him were familiar with, to illustrate, and get across eternal messages.

The motive of the heart was Jesus’ concern. That’s where the truth of who we are really lives. Self proclaimed willingness to follow was one thing. Self abandoned following was another.

Steady following in hard times as well as good times. Steady following when others misunderstand our complete devotion and solid commitment to His call. Following fervently when earthly loves can’t comprehend the earnestness of obedience to Him alone. Following when all seems lost because we trust the One who called — to be faithful to complete His call in us. Steady, faithful, fervent, following.

This is the following our Christ demands. There simply is no other way to follow — for no other way would work. It is the wholehearted, passionate pursuit of Him and His will. This and only this will make us “fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” (Matthew 9:62 NIV)

By: Janene A. Dubbeld/FGG

“Not what I wish to be,

Nor where I wish to go,

For who am I, that I should choose my way?

The Lord shall choose for me

Tis better far I know

So let Him bid me go — or stay.”

                                                       —-Selected

Take it with You

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:37-38

Fried Green Tomatoes

“Guess what I had for supper?” My friend asked me in a text. “Fried green tomatoes . . . Aren’t you jealous?” I looked at my phone in amazement. Fried green tomatoes? Nope. I wasn’t jealous a bit. I had absolutely no appetite for fried greet tomatoes. Now, my husband . . . That was a different story! He DID have an appetite for them . . . So I texted my friend back, letting her know that she could have all the green tomatoes she wanted, and it wouldn’t matter to me . . . It was my husband’s mouth that would water! :)

If she would have said she was having corn on the cob and watermelon . . . Oooooo . . . My mouth WOULD water! The different foods of summer . . . the fresh fruits and veggies . . . How we enjoy them!

What is it that keeps us physically going out to the garden to pick fresh veggies, or picking certain things when we grocery shop — or in some cases, pulling through the drive-thru yet, again? We know it as our appetite . . . For what are we hungry?

Jesus talks to us about our spiritual appetite in Matthew 5:6. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,” He tells us, “for they shall be filled.” An appetite for things that are righteous will grant us His blessing — and He will fill us — with Himself. He is our righteousness!

One sure way we can tell if our physical bodies lack health is if they lack appetite. It’s the same way with our soul. A hunger after God and His word. A thirst — or a longing for His Spirit and His Presence daily in our lives. These things tells us our souls are healthy and on track. When we feel ourselves gravitating toward other things to try and “take the edge” off our spiritual hunger —instead of His Word — or we seek to quench our thirst with something or someone else — allowing Him to slip out of first place in our lives, we soon find ourselves dissatisfied.

An appetite for God is cultivated by being with Him. Spending time in His Word and communing with Him creates in us a love for Him that produces an appetite to keep coming back for more! Fall in love with Jesus — all over again! Keep the first love STRONG!

Just as we enjoy the fresh foods of summer, we can feast on fresh, new discoveries in our relationships with Christ. Let’s ask Him to help us keep our appetites healthy — for righteousness!

By Janene A. Dubbeld/FGG

Take it with You

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You,

O God.” Psalm 42:1 (NKJV)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

 Matthew 5:6 (NKJV)

Kick Off Those Shoes

Even as my ears heard the news and my mind began to reconcile the reality, my heart continued to bulk at acceptance. A college friend of mine was gone. Not “gone” as in taking a vacation — but gone as in a transfer of worlds.

She had been such a jovial person. Cheery, fun-loving, easily excited. When she loved something — her eyes lit up, and her whole face glowed. “Her grave is right up there on the hill,” her mother told me.

We were ministering in a family camp at the time, and had the afternoons free. So, one afternoon, we took a drive up the hill, past the other graves decorated so nicely, to one that overlooked the valley below. I stood and looked down on the tombstone. Around it were beautiful pink flowers, and on it were delicately engraved flowers and birds. It was the birth date the caught and kept my attention. April, 1968 — she was born two months before me. It was a sobering thought.

It lingered with me through the week . . . And beyond . . .

During that same week, my youngest son voiced a question that had nothing to do with the above circumstance, yet they somehow go together . . .

Being in the fourth week of family camp — and having been home only one night during those four weeks he was beginning to get a little “road weary.” Needless to say, even though we were enjoying the privilege to minister, we were all feeling a little that way! As we finished yet another mile in our van he longingly asked, “Mommy, when are we going to go home?”

Home. In an earthly, temporal sense there’s no place like it. No matter how grand the travels taken, or how enjoyable — there’s still nothing like home. You can kick off your shoes and relax. . . Until you have to put them on again . . .

Home. In the eternal, heavenly sense — THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE IT! No more pain, struggle, sorrow, temptation — simply peace in the Presence of God! Not a temporary resting place — an eternal place of rest! We won’t have to “hurry” — for time will be no more. We can “kick off our shoes” so to speak — and never have to put them on again!

Thousands of songs have been written in our feeble human attempt to express what is coming. Books continue being penned with great expectation. Sermons revealing the truth of our future ring in our ears and cause hope to rise in our hearts. Yet, one day our inadequate endeavors will be swallowed up in the glorious realization of the Truth — we will be home!

We smile through our tears as our hands stretch forward — reaching — reaching toward those who have gone on before. Not for one moment would we bring them back — it only deepens our longing — and our determination to meet them one day. And . . . Just imagine for a moment the welcoming of the One we live for, love, and serve. His Presence! Now, that’s home!

Take it with You

               “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,      wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

II Peter 3:13

Father Power

Many things in life are simply underestimated! Joy brought into our minds by a simple ray of sunshine through a window shade. Ripples of a brook waiting for feet to find the calming coolness of its waters. Shade from the sprawling tree spilling its shadows as a refuge from the midday heat. Sometimes untouched — often underestimated.

Father power is one of those amazing touchable untouchables that falls into this category! Dad, YOU are important! What you say by your presence is vital. What you say if you choose absence is absolutely deafening.

There is something very conscious involved in this subconscious phenomenon of “father power.” What “dad” breathes into his child through words! Words are something else we of the human race tend to grossly underestimate. We often fling them into the air at will — expecting the receiver to “deal with it.”

So . . . What did your dad say to you? “Good job,” or “Go for it.” Did he say, “I believe in you,” or “Here, let me help you with that.”

Perhaps you weren’t blessed to have a father who spoke positively into your life — and that, no doubt, had a less than positive effect on your life.

No matter what wounds or blessings came from the words of YOUR earthly father, you, as a dad have a chance to turn things around for your own children. As a dad, “father power” is yours — whether you want it or not.

Through prayer, hard work, proper discipline, laughter, playing, and yes, even tears, you are a key part in the masterpiece God is designing in each of your children. Through God, YOU have what it takes — “Father Power!”

“Dad, how do I hit the ball?”

He took the bat and showed him how

Patiently, deliberately — the child his focus in the now

And then he whispered in his ear

“Just do your best that’s all it takes,”

The swing — to dream — the crack of ball—

Or wind just whistling in his face?

“Dad, how do I handle this?”

A phone call with a broken sob

He knelt beside a well worn chair —

It filled the air with silent prayer—

And Father power prevailed once more.

By: Janene A. Dubbeld

For God’s Glory

Take it with You

“Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding;”

Proverbs 4:1



Change Your Style, Not Your Soul

The merchandise of the lovely bookstore called out to me. Titles of books begged my brain to devour them – if only my pocketbook would allow me to purchase! Standing to one side my eyes actually fell on one of the free stands boasting its stuff with this advertisement, “Change your style, not your sole.”

Magnetic strips for flip flops – different designs and colors – it piqued my interest. Why, you could change shoes just with a change of stripe! Again my eyes went to the top. The words penetrated my brain with a different message this time. “Change your style, not your soul!”

Our world is inundated with change. It’s the “progression” of the human race! Some of it is progression – while at times it seems to resemble regression . . .

But the soul . . . the soul of the creation still finds its home in its Creator! We are HIS workmanship – created by HIM! Styles come and styles go. We no longer drive the Model “T”! But our Creator? He remains the same!

Age to age HE stands. Timeless, steadfast, truth in love!

By Janene Dubbeld

For Gods Glory

Take it with You

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)