“HOPE”

by Marcella Meeks

Inspirational Thought for Wednesday.

“Mark 9: 22, 23. (V 22) And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, the waters, to destroy him; but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help me. (V 23) Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”    

     There are days that things go really well for me in my life, but there are days I feel discouraged and down. It’s hard pulling myself back up on these days. I have good days and bad ones, as well. I have been dealing with things like constant diarrhea, sinus headaches, severe arthritis and swelling in my hands and feet. I get down not only physically but also spiritually as well, and discouragement sets in, leaving me with feelings of doubt and unbelief.

     But you know, there is hope in times of troubles for you and for me. My faith in God keeps me going. When I feel myself getting discouraged, I just start praying because I know God is my only hope in this life. I have felt better the last few days than I have in a long time but I still have good days and bad. There’s no room in my life for doubt, unbelief and discouragement. I have enough problems with the physical side which are bad enough.

    II Corinthians 1:10 reminds us that “He delivered us From great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.”

     I am hoping and trusting that the Lord delivers me from the pain and my ailments are healed as well as discouragement and unbelief that I have. Mark 23 clearly states that “all things are possible to him that believeth.” I do believe that God will help me. He is my hope, my strength and my life. I do believe that no matter how long I have been down physically, God is going to change that. And like the father in verse 24, I do believe: help mine unbelief.” How much more can I expect? Something good is going to happen to me when God is ready. I am waiting and expecting with hope in my heart.

     I am believing with all my heart that the Lord is going to turn things around for me, in Jesus name. No matter what you may be going through in your life, turn it over to God. Grasp the hope He has given you.

     Do you believe? God wants us to know that He loves you and if you trust in Him, He can work miracles for you. God is bigger than any of our problems.

     Thank you Lord for hope, and for the love you have shown us. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Spending Time with God

By Marcella S. Meeks

Inspirational Thought for Sunday

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Mark 4:24 “And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.”

     I’ve always been an early riser, getting up at about 5:30 a.m. every morning. I want to be the first one up and make my coffee and enjoy a few moments alone before starting my day. I usually write because I am a writer and that’s what I have done for years.

     But for the past seventeen months, just getting up and getting my grandson up and ready for school is pretty much been it since I’ve had this last bout with cancer. I write only when I feel like writing, and that is only occasionally.

     But for the last few weeks, God has put a calling on my life and it’s hard to ignore. He wants me to get up in the mornings, spend time with Him in prayer, reading His Word and reading my devotional each day, and then write my own devotional when He puts a story idea on my heart.

     There’s not enough time in my mornings for this along with my parental duties and coffee time.  But who am I to question the Lord?

     He wants me to get up and spend time with Him for strength and guidance for each day.

     Since this whole cancer thing started in June 2025, my strength hasn’t been that good. I am weak most of the time and it is hard getting through a morning. Some things just never get done anymore.

     But this calling is there and I can’t ignore God. Where on earth am I going to have time for much more in the mornings, let alone finding the strength to do it? I’ve asked God to help me, and He has in so many ways.

     Another problem is waking up earlier than 5:30. Some mornings, it’s hard getting up. My body is physically exhausted from the day before and I simply want to pull the covers over my head and go to sleep. Waking up any earlier is almost impossible.

     But God makes a way for us when we ask. He knows I want to serve and please Him in every way.  

     You may not believe this, but our dog Rusty usually gets up at 5:30 with me every morning so he can go out to potty. He’s lazy and doesn’t like getting up either but when Mother Nature calls, he lets me know.

     But lately, he comes to my door around 4:15 or 4:30 instead of 5:30 like he normally does. He whines or barks until I get up. Since I am already up, I stay up and do my morning routine, except now I pray and spend time with God, I read the Bible and read my devotional and write like I normally do.

     Sure, I am tired sometimes especially getting up a little earlier, but I have gotten use to it. God gives me the strength I need to do what He wants and for that, I am grateful. Having a dog that God can use to get me up out of bed to do His work is a blessing and I am thankful for that extra prompting to get me up in the mornings. Who needs an alarm when you have a dog that is obeying the Lord in his own way?

     Weekends are no different. Rusty still wakes me up. And I get up and after letting him out for his morning duties, I spend time with God.

     My physical and spiritual strength has started improving so much more than it has in quite awhile.

     You may not have a dog like Rusty, but if God puts a calling on your heart, don’t ignore it. Find a way to do what He asks you to do. Wake uo forty-five minutes or an hour earlier and do what you know you should be doing. God will give you the strength to do it if you ask. As soon as you start spending more time in His Word and being with Him, you’ll see a difference in your spiritual life.

     I love God and want to spend my time with Him as much as I can. I want to spend the rest of my life serving Him. And I pray you do, too.

     Thank you, Lord, for giving me the strength and desire to do what You want me to do. I am grateful to do what I need to do to serve You. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

PRE-APPROVED

By Marcella S. Meeks

Inspirational Thought for Sunday

9/27/26

James 4:3 KJV

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

I have never liked asking anyone for anything unless I could repay them in some way. I try not to ask if it’s not necessary.

Recently, I received a letter in the mail from a loan company. It contained a check inside worth $50,000 and it said I was pre-approved for a loan up to $50,000. All I had to do was fill out the paperwork and email it to them. The offer sounded so convincing and those digits really looked tempting on that check. It was a legitimate check and I was pre-approved. But there is a little more to this story than that.

I had to present all the documents they needed, and at the end of the day, it would have to be paid back.

At the moment I was struggling financially and needed money quickly, the offer sounded appealing, but I also knew it wasn’t right for me so I tore the letter apart and passed up the offer. It would solve a quick fix in my situation, but at the end of the day, I knew I’d regret accepting it.

Not too long afterwards, the Lord answered my prayers and I got through the struggle I was in without going into debt and I am so thankful for that, simply because I asked.

But sometimes, spiritually, we go through things and we pray about it, yet we fail to ask God for help. We never have to worry about paying Him back for anything He does for us. Through grace, mercy and love, God will do for us if we ask in His name.

James 4:3 KJV says, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

God has already pre-approved our credit and is willing to give according to His will. We just need to go before Him and ask. I’m not talking about $50,000 loans – I’m talking about asking for our needs to be met and our problems taken care of.

This was hard for me because I never liked to ask for anything. Praying is easy. Asking is not. But I have learned through the years that God likes for us to ask Him for things we need. He likes it when we come to Him and let Him know our weaknesses and what we need. He may not do it right then, and He may not do it all, but it never hurts to ask.

If you’re going through something whether it’s a spiritual, financial problem or whatever you are facing, turn to God and ask Him for help. At the end of the day, you’ll be happy you did. Remember, this is one offer you’re always pre-approved for and never have to pay back. If you love and serve God, that’s His payment reward.

That’s the only repayment you’ll ever need.

Thank you, Jesus for your love, mercy and grace. I love you. In Jesus name, amen.

Monday’s Inspirational Thought

8/31/26

My God-Given Talent/My Gift

By Marcella S. Meeks

1 Timothy 4:14Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

Romans 12:6-8

Romans 12:6 “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;”

Proverbs 18:16

“A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

     The Lord blessed me with a writing gift when I was very young but I never knew it was a gift or that I would ever use it for His purpose. I started writing before I could write letters or spell words. I scribbled (I was only three or four at the time). I created lists in neat rows that I thought were actual words and sentences. My sisters and brothers kept encouraging me to keep practicing and I did.

     By the time I was six or seven, I was actually writing sentences. This was the beginning of my writing career.

     I never thought about it as a God-given gift or talent until later in life when I started writing Christian children’s stories and devotionals. I write other genres as well but these are my main line of focus these days.

     Writing inspirational devotionals and children’s stories for Christian publications comes easily to me, and I give God the glory for all of it. If He hadn’t given me the talent (gift) when I was born, I wouldn’t be writing today. My children’s writing ministry is my calling, and I need to pursue that for the rest of my life.

     I want to teach children, but I always failed at it in the classroom but when it comes to putting my words on paper, that is totally different. I can relate to children in a whole different way. I use my own experience from a lifetime of my inner child, and my life as a mother and grandmother to write my stories.

     I love the Lord with all my heart, and do my best to live for Him. I am not perfect. I fall short of being anything but good but I try. I believe in faith and prayer and love doing whatever I can to please God. He knows my spirit. He knows my soul. He knows how much I rely on Him on a daily basis.

     Since I got sick several years ago with mouth cancer (I am currently in remission), it changed my entire life, and even writing is hard these days. But I am still using my God-given talent (my gift) to tell others about God and all that He has done for me.

     I am alive today because of His mercy and grace, and I want to continue living because I know that I still have a work to do for Him. I have the calling on my life to

write for children and adults and that is exactly what I intend to do with the time I have left on earth.

     Pray for me everyday that the Lord gives me stories for everyone that will encourage, lift others up, as well as myself and help them in their walk with God in some small way. I need daily prayer especially at this time in mylife when my health is not as good as it should be. But I am still utilizing my gift/talent as often as I can. I encourage you to do the same. If God has given you a talent, use it for His glory. Bless others with your gift but always bless God as well for blessing you.

     In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

     1 Peter 4:10 says, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

***

By Marcella S. Meeks

James 4:17 “If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

1 John 1:8 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

There is nothing more annoying than when a person researches stores like Walmart and Amazon about their merchandise return policy, and then uses it to their advantage to get extra time use out of products for free. I’ve seen people who order merchandise, use it for thirty or ninety days, return it right before the return policy grace period ends and they get their money back. That way, they can make sure if they like the merchandise or not.
If they decide it’s what they want, after they’ve returned it, and got their money back, they go into the store and buy it or they simply order again and do the same with it.

That is wrong. It is sin, simple as that. James 4:17 says, “If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” They already did the research and knew ahead of time they were returning it for a full refund after using it for thirty or ninety days. That’s not a good thing, it’s a sin. They already knew what they were doing to begin with.

That is not what the store return policies are set up for, to let someone decide if it was what they want or not. It’s not a ‘try it for free’ policy.

The policy is set up for customers who may not be satisfied with the quality or how it works or doesn’t work. They shouldn’t be allowed to use the merchandise for a month or longer and decide that it wasn’t what they wanted, and then return it.

That costs the business owners money. Packaging, shipping costs, staff payment, right on down the line. Someone has to pay for all that.

The thing is, this person already knows from the offset that he is going to send it back after he uses it for the thirty or ninety days. That is plenty of time to make up his mind if he wants to buy it or not. He gets several months of use out of it for free to make up his mind.

He has done his homework by knowing the return policy and how it works.

The business owner cannot sell it as new after a customer uses it and returns it like this. That is deceitful and wrong. No matter how small it seems, it is wrong. The person who does it knows it’s wrong, too.

People have no right doing this to businesses but they do it everyday. Some people may think this is OKAY and that no one is watching, but God is. He sees it.

Anytime you cheat a business like this, no matter how you try to justify it, it is wrong.

Pay for the merchandise like everyone else if you want it. It’s deceiving when someone already knows he is going to return something before the return policy grace period is up. Don’t be tempted and think that you’re getting by with it because God sees it all before you ever do it.

***

James 1: 13-15 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”