When You Need Rest

A Blessing for You

May you rest in His embrace,

His friendship strengthen you.

May you believe His love,

His kindness make you secure.

May you flourish in His goodness,

His favor pursue you.

May the well of His grace

Give you courage to start over.

May His mighty power protect you,

His generosity make you great,

His faithfulness delight you,

His majesty awe you.

He is the gift

And the giver as well.

His blood will make you right.

His light will give you

All the wisdom and all the guidance

You’ll ever need.

He is for you.

Yes, Jesus is for you.

So, may you dance in His sweetness,

May you never doubt his affection,

May you walk in all His glory,

And may you be bathed in His riches.

--JEL

Do you like poetry? Have you written any?

How does this blessing make you feel? 

When You Feel Like You've Lost Your Joy

An excerpt from my prayer journal on a day I felt like I'd lost my joy…

“Lord, I need encouragement today. I really don’t want to go by my feelings, or I wouldn’t have a good day at all. I know I have to choose joy and choose to have peace rather than turmoil, but I need Your help even in the choosing. I need you to show me what to do and how to think in order to choose joy rather than sorrow. And I need You to send me encouragement, because right now I just don’t care about anything. To care would mean work, and I’d rather rest and sleep and escape.”

“Jeanette, I don’t want you to CARE. I will care for you. When you TAKE CARE, it means you aren’t giving me a chance to help you and care for you. You are trying to do it yourself and that’s pride. When you let go and relax, My spirit takes over and gets the job done in an almost effortless way. You know it’s Me when you don’t have to struggle to get it and struggle to keep it. For Me to carry you, you need to simply relax and not wiggle down and run off. Trusting Me means allowing Me to carry you. JUST QUIT TRYING SO HARD.” 

I am forever amazed at the timelessness of God’s words. I hope His shepherding of my heart spoke to yours today. May you rest in Him, allowing Him to care for you. 

The above prayer journal excerpt is now a chapter in my new book, Hello, Beautiful! Finally Love Yourself Just as You Are, co-authored with Beth Gormong. 

What's Good about Good Friday?

What's Good about Good Friday?

You see them throughout the world. We make them of gold and jewels and drape them around our necks. We carve them of exotic wood and adorn church buildings with them. We fashion them of different sizes and shapes of stained glass, pieced together to form exquisite works of art that fly our souls heavenward.

            But the cross was not designed to sparkle on throats or beautify a place of worship. Invented before the 4^th century B.C. by the Persians, its purpose was as an instrument of slow, torturous execution. By the time of Jesus, the Romans had begun using this way of hanging their worst criminals. Making it a public spectacle served as added humiliation. Anyone could walk by a murderer or thief as they hung on the rough-hewn boards and spit on them or cast abuse up at them.   

          Thus hung Jesus, naked before the world, nailed between two real criminals while the world gaped, supposing Him a fool. After all, He’d raised three people from the dead, multiplied food for thousands, and healed multitudes. Why was He submitting to this mockery and abuse, like a stupid lamb? They railed at Him, “You saved others; but you can’t even save yourself!” Why did He not use His power to subdue the Roman guards and come down from that cross, if He truly was the Son of God?        

            The answer to this question, my friend, is why we call the Friday before Easter “Good Friday.” The goodness in His heart compelled Him to hang in our place, so you and I could have a relationship with the God of the Universe.

            Don’t believe for a second that if Jesus had wanted to, He could not have freed Himself and jumped down. He told the crowd, “Don’t you know that I could at this very moment call ten legions of angels to come and rescue me?” Yet He remained to the end, although it meant God turning His face from Him. Not because He was a fool. No. Because He loved us too much to let us die in our sins and spend forever in Hell.

No one kept Jesus on the cross but Jesus.

            Next time you put your favorite crucifix around your neck or gaze upon the loveliness of a stained glass cross, remember how it came to mean a sweet symbol of love and beauty, rather than an instrument of death. Remember that Jesus went there of His own free will, to give you a future and a hope.

            And, if you’ve made Him the Lord of your life, you’ll hear Him say one day very soon, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into my joy” as He welcomes you to Heaven. Cross my heart.

Have you made Jesus the Lord of your life? If not, please email me at Jeanette@jeanettelevellie.com. I'd like to share the Gospel with you, so you can share Heaven with me.

It's Okay to ask God "Why?"

In this crazy, mixed-up world, 

Sometimes our prayers don't get answered the way we want. It's okay to ask God "Why?"

And it's also okay to cry. 

But know that often, God has a huge "YES" hiding behind a little "no."So don't give up yet, because "hope that is seen is not hope (Romans 8)", and . . .

God is a Master at Plans B through Z. 

Have you had some answers to prayers that were not what you wanted?  

How did God work it out for your good? 

Does Collaborating on A Book Work?

Lisa Buske invited Beth and I to share our experiences on her podcast, Keeping it Real with Lisa.

We chatted about our experiences collaborating on our recent book, Hello, Beautiful!, talked about how we hate housework, and other fun topics I hope you enjoy listening! 

P.S. I will be taking a blogging break for a few weeks. See you at the end of the summer!