Author Archives: VoW

New Year Resolutions

Posted on by under How To/Advice

New year resolutions are a funny thing. They’re usually abstract goals with no real objectives attached to them and thus, they rarely stick.

I think we should call them new year habits instead. Because this is what we’re really after, right? To rid ourselves of old habits that no longer serve us and form new, better and healthier habits in their place.

We’re creatures of habit. Whether we want to go to the gym more, eat healthier, or spend more time with friends, if we want the change to be long lasting, it needs to become a habit.

Research says it only takes two weeks to form a habit. So if we do something every day for two weeks, it’ll likely become a routine part of our life.

This is my hope for you, for everyone, and for myself. That we form new habits. Habits that will serve to further our goals for the year ahead.

Happy New Year!

New Year (A Poem)

Posted on by under Poetry

My hope for you this New Year

is forgiveness of yourself and others,

revival of what matters most,

relationships with friends and lovers.

My hope for you is motivation,

bigger dreams, and inspiration.

Realistic goals and follow through,

these things are my hope for you.

My hope for you this New Year

is healing what you’ve broken;

repairing, mending, letting go

of all apologies left unspoken.

I hope when you look back to where

 you were this time last year,

you’re in an entirely different place.

Your truest self is ever near.

I hope that you have grown and changed.

With open arms embrace the pain,

search for joy and new love, too. 

These things are my hope for you.

The Faces of Christmas (A Poem)

Posted on by under Poetry

Cold streets, winter nights

Warm windows, wrapped with lights

Loneliness and hands that freeze

Mistletoes and sparkling trees

Santa Clause finds some, not all

Some are at the Christmas Ball

While some are huddled close together

Under bridges, facing weather

Some are warm, by a fire

Some at stores, the constant buyer

Some in Church, singing praise

Some are gone, been so for days

As you join family and friends

Think of all the faces that Christmas lends

And don’t complain, whatever you do

There’s always someone who has it worse than you.

Good Work

Posted on by under Conversations with God

It is written, “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

My beloved child, you are my creation. Made in my image. When you surrender to me daily, I’m able to use you for My will. And when I do, we both take great delight in the results.

You love to see the fruits of your labor. But be careful not to idolize them. This can be a very subtle sin, when you produce good works for me, and then begin to identify with those good works.

When people praise you with admiration and appreciation, always point them back to me, your Creator. The One who made such works possible. After all, your joy doesn’t come from anything you’ve done or produced. It comes from me alone.

Keep pride at bay and humble yourself before me, so that I may use you how I please. And then we can both delight in the good work that I’m doing in you and through you.

I Will Guide You

Posted on by under Conversations with God

It is written, “We pray that you’ll have that strength to stick it out over the long haul – not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy.” (Colossians 1:11)

I love our quiet time together. It’s not your strength, but mine which carries you through. Since you do not know when your work will be done, you must rely on my strength for the long haul. Likewise, you can’t know what work I’m doing behind the scenes, so you will need extraordinary faith to trust in my plan for your life. Extraordinary faith is a gift from my Holy Spirit. You already have this within you. As my Holy Spirit also resides in you.

So you are wise to continue speaking with me and clinging to me. As my work is completed, so will your faith be strengthened. It’s really that simple. We work together. And I will guide you, if you let me.

God’s Gym is Now Open

Posted on by under Christian Spirituality

Below is a guest blog post from my father, Jim Anthony. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. 😉

Believers in the United States and around the world have always been invited into God’s Gymnasium for faith training. Some, but not enough, know that our personal trainer is the Holy Spirit. We get to choose to join the gym or not, or meet our trainer or not. The obvious fact is that we as a people have been mortally out of shape. God sees it and now is His appointed Time for transformation, and an intensive spiritual fitness challenge is calling to us. 

Blissfully fat on false faith, empty hope, lustful love, fanned fear, and misplaced trust in the world and its idols, we desperately need the severe exercises of God-sourced faith, hope, and love, all placed squarely on the one and only truly healthy object: God Himself.

We have been reliant on our eyes and what they see, mesmerized by materialism, deceived by our hope in human authorities, and malnourished by the junk food of earth. We need the Bread and treasure of Heaven, the Reign of our King, and the real Faith that leads us through fear and darkness.

Exercising our spiritual muscles actually strengthens our physical, emotional, and intellectual muscles. We can and will live victoriously rather than as slaves once we get ourselves back in shape, and “In shape” is Biblically defined as “In Him.”

Here’s a few of the exercise routines presented to us daily:
        1.      Pray for our enemies. That prayer can and must include their defeat and destruction.  
        2.      Recognize we are not fighting flesh and blood, but powers of darkness. 
        3.      Use supernatural discernment. See the lost souls God loves behind the monster masks. 
        4.      Learn how to wage spiritual warfare, using all the spiritual gifts, such as worship and the Word of God as both a shield and weaponry. 
        5.      Trust that God’s plan will prevail. Choose faith over fear. 
        6.      Learn to see, hear, think and speak with His eyes, ears, mind and mouth. 
        7.      Find your strength in His Holy Spirit, not in your body or self. 

So we must go to the God’s Gym every moment of every day to get instruction and personal training. Ask Him for the training you need, and He will train you. Listen to Him, and act accordingly. “How can I hear him,” you might ask? In the deep quiet of your soul/mind/heart, you will hear his Revelatory voice. Look for God-incidences and divine appointments on a daily basis. Listen for His voice through others. Read the signs of the times and events in your life and those around you. Ask Him to explain it all to you and He will. Make sure that you make time to listen, internalize, and then act. 

As we do this, Heaven will manifest itself on earth, His Kingdom will come, and His will shall be done, in your world as it is being done in heaven. 

His workouts are worth it. 

You can read more of his work over on his blog – Waking Up the Walking Dead.

Thanksgiving

Posted on by under Daily Inspiration

Maybe you could bare your shoulders,
lend that jacket that you’re over
to the man who’s standing there
waving cars down at the corner.
You know he’s only getting older
and Christmas is getting closer.
Give before Thanksgiving’s over
’cause it’s only getting colder.

Last night God asked me, “How much do you trust me?”

Posted on by under Conversations with God

Last night God asked me, “How much do you trust me?”

“A lot,” I said.

He laughed, as He often does. “Okay. But do you trust me enough?”

He continued, “Enough to stop worrying about time and how much of it you have? Have you not seen how My timing is perfect?

Enough to stop obsessing over your To Do list? What if I have better things for you to do?

When you pray to me, ‘Jesus, take the wheel’, do you really mean it? Will you let me?

Do you trust me enough to lay your head on the pillow at night, without your mind racing?

Will you accept My offering of peace?

Will you find your rest in Me?”

I sat, once again, dumbfounded in His presence.

“You say you trust me a lot, but is it enough?”

If You Could Grasp My Love for You…

Posted on by under Conversations with God

It is written, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1)

My precious child, a grateful heart is the best medicine. This is why I’ve called you to give thanks in all circumstances. When you find yourself feeling ungrateful, remember the goal of your faith – the salvation of your soul.

No matter what trials we face together here, there’s a place for your soul in heaven. An eternity with me awaits. So rejoice! Contemplate the love that I have for you. It’s immeasurable.

Truly, if you could grasp my love for you, then all of your prayers would be praise.

Halloween

Posted on by under Daily Inspiration

Halloween has become a day for the living to dress up, wear masks, and pretend to be dead. The irony is that most people spend the rest of the year dressing up, wearing masks, and pretending to live.