Faithful

“God, who has called you into fellowship

with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”

1 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)

            “. . . fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ” God desires that we share together with Jesus. This sharing together might look like our sharing with a friend, which our Lord is. “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24) 

            Having Christ as a friend means we spend time with Him-time communicating, talking and listening in prayer and Bible study. This means we make an appointment to be in His presence, intentionally setting aside time for these activities. As we devote our time in these ways, we grow closer to Him. 

            “God . . . is faithful.” He is always vigilant. Our heavenly Father stands by us when we have doubts. He helps us to gain perspective as we face our fears. He walks with us when we endure stressful circumstances. He calms our nerves. During times of hardships God guides us through until we come to a resolution of the difficulties. He is true to His word. He tells us He will not leave us or forsake us. (Deut.31:6) We will have times when we decide we can handle issues ourselves and take things into our own hands, living as though we have all the answers. He permits us to do this and waits for us to humbly approach Him and ask for forgiveness and guidance when we realize we have made a mess of things.

            It is when we come to God with our messes and He forgives us that we realize how authentic His faithfulness is.

Meet Jeanette Levellie and her Two Scoops of Grace

I am proud to introduce you to my friend Jeanette Levellie. She has consented to  answer a few questions I have for her that you might have wondered about.  Welcome to Following My King, Jeanette, It is such a pleasure to have you here today.

Picture yourself sitting in a booth at your favorite restaurant and talking with a new friend. You find yourself laughing at her antics and the situations she tells. The next minute you listen to her tell how God uses these incidents to speak to us. This is how the book “Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top” has affected me.


Jeanette Levellie, a pastor’s wife in the Midwest, writes conversationally about life’s events that she has experienced and how God has used them to speak to her. She captures these happenings in a series of snapshots and follows each one with thoughts she has derived from her experience. We could almost call these observations “Jeanette’s Philosophy.”



In this book, you will read of God’s grace, our need to be transparent to those to whom we minister and witness. She tells stories of her children when they were young, as well as humorous happenings with her husband, Jeanette explains how she hesitates telling others she is a pastor’s wife because of their expectations. She also tells of her struggles to do what God expects in light of His calling on her life when people ask her to do things. It was hard for me to decide which one of her devotional essays is my favorite, although there are some that I believe readers will not forget.



Besides writing, she manages an office supply store; she takes on speaking engagements and also sings.She writes a bi-weekly column, God is Bigger,  in the Paris, IL Beacon News. Jeanette is active in the blogosphere, contributing to other blogs as well as writing her own, On Wings of Mirth and Worth at http://www.jeanettelevellie.blogspot.com/


Jeanette’s Giveaways
You can win one of ten free downloads of my debut humor devotional, Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top for your eReader. Here are the very simple rules:

For each share of this post link on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog, you will receive one entry.

For each like on Jeanette’s Author Page or my Two Scoops Book Page on Facebook, or follow on my Twitter page or this blog, you will receive one entry. If you already like and/or follow me, mention that and I will count it.

Please send her ONE comment at the end of a post on her blog to tell me how many times you shared, liked, or followed, so I can give you the correct amount of entries. I reserve the right to verify all information given me, and disqualify anyone from the drawing who falsifies information. (Do not leave comments here to be entered, you MUST go to Jeanette’s blog post for the giveaway.)

Contest starts today and ends midnight, May 10, 2012. Jeanette will announce the winners in a blog post Sunday, May 13, 2012.

. . .and a $100 Gift Card Drawing~~~WOWZA!!!

After you have read/reviewed Two Scoops, check out my blog at www.jeanettelevellie.com for a contest to win a $100 gift card by answering ten easy questions about the book! After I receive your entry, your name will go into the hat for a $100 gift card to one of the following places (your choice): Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CBD, Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, Wal-Mart, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, or Ruby Tuesday. This giveaway will run until August 10, 2012 so there is PLENTY of time for you to enter!

The author sent me the above book for review purposes. She will allow me to keep the book. I have no other connection to and have received no other compensation from Jeanette Levellie. The entire blog tour can be found at  http://jeanettelevellie.blogspot.com/p/blog-tour.html .

God Guides Me

Random Journal Day: (entry from 2010)

“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

“Psalm 27:1 (NIV)

God guides me through this place called life. When I face adverse circumstances, I never know when, where or how they will end.

I found this to be true in 1984 and 1985. It was true in 1989 and again in 1995 through 1997 and again in 1998. The next two years were stressful. The year 2000, I had to go with God and trust he was there with me during a very difficult time.

God helped me through a court hearing in February 2003 that didn’t go my way. Strange, it took a full year before the outcome of the court decision was completed. He helped me to do my best when I took a job. God allowed me to stay strong at the end of that time.

My Lord was with me in June, 2009 when we received word from the mortician that Dad had died. God walked with us through Hubby’s sister’s accident and her home-going in June 2010. He continues to help me through the times when Hubby’s health issues come to the forefront of our days.

Jehovah-jirah, He provides what I need and guides me through the dark paths that seem to always lie ahead.

He keeps me strong. I shall no longer fear.

If you would like to participate in this project or just read some amazing blogs go to Beneath the Surface- Breath of Faith Wanted Joy

Recognition of Grace

“James. Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars,

 gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship

when they recognized the grace given to me.

They agreed we should go to the Gentiles and then to the Jews.”

Galatians 2:9 (NIV)

            Paul had difficulties in trying to be recognized for his new spiritual heart. In his pre-salvation days, his plan was to put an end to the sect that called themselves Christians. He had killed several of those who claimed to follow the Lord.

            In Jerusalem, a man named Joseph, an encourager, earned the nickname,” Son of Encouragement’ or Barnabas. He felt drawn to those who needed to be built up. Thus, he befriended Paul. Barnabas saw the change of heart in Paul and encouraged him to continue in his new found mission to expand God’s kingdom.

            Because of Barnabas’ standing with him, Paul was accepted and approved by the Jerusalem Christians. The body of believers extended the right hand of fellowship to both Paul and Barnabas.

            James, Peter, and John recognized the grace- the unmerited favor- given to Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ. Seeing this must have come as a result of lots of prayer to the three who had been very close to the Lord. The apostles accepted Paul and granted their approval of him.

            In my teen and early adult years, the denomination in which I worshipped extended the right hand of fellowship to believers who aligned themselves in their churches when they came from another church of that group. I haven’t heard of this expression in several years. As I have researched this I wonder if people on both sides of the act realize the meaning of this term-acceptance and approval.

            As children of God, we seek His approval. We should measure ourselves according to God’s standard. All other instances of judgment fall under His purview.

Becoming Like Christ

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection

and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

Philippians 3:10 (NIV)

            “. . . power of his resurrection . . .” Christianity is the only religion in the world that claims a risen Savior. Our beliefs stem from Jesus’ being resurrected and risen from the grave. This basis of our Christianity influences those who come to the cross. We serve a risen Savior.

            “. . . fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. . . ” As we get to know Jesus as our personal Savior, we begin to see things with His eyes. Our perspective changes from a ‘me’ outlook to more circumspect outlook. We learn to think in terms of how we model Christ to those around us.

            “. . . becoming like him in his death” Jesus displayed obedience to the Father-at Gethsemane, before Pilate, and by going to the cross. In becoming like Jesus we learn to develop and exhibit compassion for those who hurt, patience for those who struggle to find their way, and model obedience to God.

            We can only display godly attributes as we learn of His ways. As we grow closer to God we will become more like Him in our lives.

Accepting What We Cannot Change

God, Grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change.

Courage to change the things I can

and the wisdom to know the difference.

-Reinhold Niebuhr

Often we hear of events that happen which leave people with a bad feeling. We wonder why they or even we have to experience these traumas. When we choose to follow Christ and we see evil inflicted on those who share our faith, we wonder why.

We live in a fallen world. Crime rates soar in spite of having well-trained police forces.

As I watch the crime dramas on television, I see crimes committed that society didn’t

know about when I was a child. People didn’t lock their doors. My parents didn’t even lock up when we went away, until we came home one night and found things missing. The television which normally sat on a heavy wrought iron stand was in the floor as we entered through the front door.

Present day, we can’t read the paper or listen to the news without hearing of crimes involving drugs, unspeakable acts against women and children, and man’s inhumanity to man. Recently, a man shot another man a couple of blocks from where a friend of mine lives. When I told my husband about our city having a shooting, his answer was, “Another one?” I took it to mean “We have them all the time.”

God allows events to happen to us in order to draw us closer to Him. We experience certain circumstances in our lives that we have to work through with God’s help. When we realize someone or a happening in our daily walk has hurt us, all we can do is seek His guidance.

When we realize we have caught a cold or the current ‘bug’ going around, we have to alter our habits and activities in order to care for ourselves. That usually means we take on more fluids to flush out the germs. We may or may not need to go to the doctor to receive help in getting well. We can not ignore the signs. While we exercise habits to keep these illnesses away, sometimes they do get through our lines of defense.

Learning to accept what comes our way is a result of Christian growth and maturity. I especially like the ending of the Serenity Prayer. Sometimes, things happen we can change. We may not want to because the change requires work or establishing new habits on our part. We do have to exercise wisdom to discern whether we can change or accept the situation. There are times the thing that needs to change is our heart.

I remember a time when I cried out for God to give me His wisdom. My grandmother, a nursing home resident, had to go to the ER. There was a mix up as to which hospital she was to go to. The nurse on duty made arrangements for transportation to the facility across town. Her new doctor saw his patients at the hospital practically next door. My mother and her husband were on vacation. I was ‘in charge’ of seeing to Grandma’s needs. I didn't know what to do. Was I supposed to call them home? Was I supposed to handle this on my own and then tell them about it when they called? After I cried out to God, I went over to the hospital and checked in on her. She told me she had a spell of some sort earlier. A couple from our church visited her while she had this sensation. I came straight home and called my mother and told her what had happened. God did answer my prayer. I am thankful He did.

Thankfulness for Friendship

            I am doing the Random Journal Day exercise with Dawn over at Beneath the Surface and others. The way it works is we look through our old journals and find an entry that speaks to us and we post it. The poem I posted last week was my first try at posting anything from a journal entry.

            The following has some personal thoughts but that was what I thought as I reflected on the idea of friendship and how thankful I am to have the relationships I have.

This was originally written on November 24, 2008

            God does something for His children that blesses us all. He creates friendships among them.

            Several years ago, a mother with a teenage son chose to worship in another church. The woman faced a dire prospect in her life—her husband, involved in self-destructive behavior, could have succumbed to his life-style. Her son, who had a physical disability, hadn’t done well in school and had no close ties to anyone among his peers.

            She made the change in churches as a scared, troubled, and depression-prone person. She met people who looked past her problems and saw her heart. Because of these people, she grew in the Lord. Her son established some friendships, as well.

            Most of these friendships are strong, even today. (That small church has closed its doors and the people have scattered.) But several of those people are worshipping in the church where she and her husband now attend. God did an outstanding work when He forged friendships for this woman.

            I am the woman in this journal entry. At this ‘new’ church I have been able to make more friends. Due to the size of the church, I don’t get to know everyone as well as I would like but I know this: When I have a need, people do not hesitate to call and ask how we are doing. When my dad died, three sisters were coming in the front door of the church as I was going out. They each one stopped and gave me a big hug. When they put together a slideshow of the veterans’ pictures, I asked if I could submit one of my dad, since he had been a Marine. They let me. When I started in with depression a short time later, one of the ladies showed concern. When my husband was in the hospital and had undergone two surgeries similar to Peyton Manning in less than a week. The doctor talked about going in a third time. He was panicked, I was trying to be there for him and still didn’t understand what was happening, One of those dear friends who took me in all those many years ago said she’d come sit with me at the hospital, no matter how early it was.

            I thank God for forging these friendships.