Posted by: Administrator | January 7, 2025

Bless Your Holy Name

Bless Your Holy Name 
by Brenda D. Flowers

New beginnings…
Opportunities…
Blessings…
Joy…

As I enter this new year, I feel anticipation and excitement. Why? I believe God is revealing His love to us in deeper ways. He wants us to see Him as He is. As we honor and bless Him and humbly seek to trust Him in our daily walks, we will experience new life in abundant ways. 

I believe Jesus was sent on mission to not only save us from our sin but to give us everlasting life… a new life that starts when we believe He is the way, the truth and the life. (John 3 & John 14:6)

God is holy and worthy to be honored. His way is holy.

The apostle Matthew recorded Jesus’s words when Jesus gave His disciples a template for a way to pray. It is important to recognize the deep meaning of each word in the prayer Jesus taught His disciples in the past and is teaching us to pray today:

 In this manner, therefore, pray: 
Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. … (Matthew 6: 9-10, NKJV)

I have often meditated on the word, “hallowed” and its meaning. This beautiful word has many meanings depending upon its context. I like to sum up its meaning as purposely recognizing someone or some experience as holy, separate, worthy to be revered or honored. 

God’s name represents His total being. God is wholly holy. 

I believe Jesus taught His disciples, and us, to see the importance of approaching our Heavenly Father, with respect and honor when we pray, seeing spiritually God’s majesty, His greatness. 

God is holy and worthy to be praised by the way we speak and by our actions.

When we pray, as Jesus taught us to pray, we choose to honor God as Holy. We recognize who He truly is. All creation came from Him. In Him, we truly live, move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)  God’s complete character is worthy to be honored and praised. 

In the Old and New Testament, we can read how people, who truly loved God, hallowed His name. I treasure how God shows us His holiness and teaches us how to become holy as we read and trust the Bible and as we follow Jesus. His Word is also worthy to be honored and praised. 

As we enter this new year, may we start each day, revering the one true God by reading His Word and by honoring Him with our praise. Let’s bless His holy name. 

Sing these words of David with me, 

Bless the LORD O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! (Psalm 103: 1, NKJV)

Heavenly Father,
Hallowed, holy and worthy to be honored, is Your name. This year may we learn more and more about You as we read and study the Bible and focus on Your holiness. You are worthy to be praised by our words and our actions. Thank you for sending Jesus to show us the way to holiness. Thank You, for Your Spirit who is Your gift of holiness to guide us into all truth. 

I pray each one who reads this post and prays this prayer knows You and is on a quest with me to live fully to give You honor, praise and glory. In Your Son’s, Jesus’s, victorious and holy name, we pray. Amen

If you don’t yet know Jesus as Savior, I believe He is calling you to follow Him right now. At His Father’s request, Jesus, God’s Son, humbled Himself and came to earth to rescue You from sin and death. He sure does love you! 

Reader,  
In 2024, the focus of our blog posts was on the word, grace. We, writers for this site, pray our past posts will touch you in new ways as you review them. This year, God has guided us to write about the word, holiness. Please subscribe and join us as we seek to honor Him with the words we write. Blessings to you and yours in 2025.

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Posted by: judyhitson | December 23, 2024

The Grace of Giving

The Grace of Giving
by Judy Hitson

John 3:16 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Our Lord Jesus gave His all that we may have eternal life. He left His Home in heaven to live on earth as the Son of God and Son of Man. He sacrificed His life to die on a cross for the sake of sinners to be saved and live forever. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

Father in heaven gave His only begotten Son because of His love for the world that whoever believes in Him may have everlasting life.

How can we follow in His steps?

Are we, am I, willing to surrender all to Him, sacrificing our lives for His sake that others come to know Him and serve Him, Lord Jesus Christ?

To follow in the steps of our Father in heaven for the grace of giving is to love the world and give Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27) in sacrificial love that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. Some translations say eternal life.

In John 3:17 we learn Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world but that men might be saved through Him.

Let us bow down in worship of the King of kings and Lord of lords who gave His all for us.

Prayer: Lord help us deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow You Jesus Christ (Luke 9:23). Amen.

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Posted by: judyhitson | December 6, 2024

God’s Grace Settles Me

God’s Grace Settles Me
by Brenda D. Flowers

1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV)
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (Bold font added for emphasis.)

During the week of Thanksgiving, I tried to start each day thanking God for the many blessings in my life. I want to always have a heart of love and thankfulness.

As I contemplated how God has blessed me, I thought about how He had been with me through good times and difficult times.

 Jesus truly is Immanuel to me.

I reflected on how God has used times of suffering in my life to mature me. His grace was and is at work, as quoted above, perfecting, establishing, strengthening and settling me.

Think about the word, settle, with me.

 God settles all those who trust His Word. He makes our hearts His home. He settles our wandering soul. No longer are we wayward. We find our resting place in Him. We are able to truly love because He first loved us.

What a great wonder and gift this is:

 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (1 John 4: 12-16, NKJV)

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—-our faith. (1 John 5: 4, NKJV)

In these frantic times in which we live, God is calling us to Himself. He wants us to settle ourselves in His presence, trusting Jesus accomplished His mission. We are victorious in Him.

I pray you’ll pray this prayer with me:

Father in Heaven, thank You for Your grace and loving compassion. Thank You for settling us with Your Spirit as we trust You. May we live our lives in peace, overcoming the world. May we trust You with all of our hearts. What a present, Your presence is!

 We confess and believe:  Jesus is Immanuel! Thank You for Your great love in sending Your Son to save us and in giving us faith to believe. We want to live our lives to give You the glory. Amen

I’m praying if you don’t yet know Jesus as Immanuel, you will be granted faith to believe today.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7: 14, NKJV)

May our testimonies of God’s grace impact many who have lost their way and need to come home this Christmas season and into the new year!

 We have good news to share! Let’s be on mission.

Merry Christmas!

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Posted by: judyhitson | November 18, 2024

The Grace of Thanksgiving

The Grace of Thanksgiving
by Judy Hitson

2 Cor. 4:15 NLT All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

The phrase, “All of this” caused my curiosity to read the previous verses in 2 Cor. 4 to understand the benefits we have in regards to God’s grace and offer thanksgiving to Him. This chapter refers to the treasure we have in our hearts through Jesus Christ to live a new life in a new way.

My first thought on the grace of thanksgiving is God’s grace and mercy to save sinners as He did for me. My heart is filled with thanksgiving for so great a salvation.

As the Bible says, though my sins were as scarlet, He made me whiter than snow (See Is.1:18; Ps. 51:7).

Recalling a dramatic conversion in my own life, I identify with a parallel to Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead. Lazarus was bound in grave clothes. Jesus said, “Loose him and let him go,” John 11:44.

I also think of the grace of thanksgiving for God’s blessings of deliverance and healing. Getting rid of doubts and unbelief to walk in newness of life was a challenge to depend on God’s power and not myself.

Praise and thanksgiving for things only God can do in and through me as I spend time in prayer, in the Bible through Bible studies, mentors, preachers and teachers.

How thankful I am to learn we have the mind of Christ, 1 Cor. 2:16, to think His thoughts in exchange of my thoughts, (see Is. 55:8-9; Phil. 4:8)

I am thankful for God’s healing and provisions in my life and the lives of my family.

As we read in our key verse, 2 Cor. 4:15b, I see grace is spreading through many that causes thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Closing Prayer: Ephesians 5:20 NKJV giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Exhortation: 1 Peter 1: 14-15 NLT So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

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Posted by: Administrator | November 5, 2024

Grace Personified

Grace Personified
by Brenda D. Flowers

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, (Titus 2: 11-13, NASB 1995)

When God sent His Son, Jesus, on His redemptive mission to earth, God was doing so to show humanity Himself in a way we could understand. Jesus embodied God’s grace and love perfectly. To say it another way, Jesus, fully Man and fully God, revealed in human flesh the grace of God.

God’s unmerited favor was bestowed upon us.

Do we fully realize the gift Jesus Christ is to us?

Do we fully understand that God gives us the substance of faith to trust His gift of grace?

I have been meditating on these truths.

When we repent from our sins and trust God for salvation and sanctification, we trust His grace to transform us. We are changed by the power of who He is in us.

When we trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we are changed immediately, yet we are also being changed, becoming more like Jesus each day. We are sealed by His Spirit. It is amazing to realize we embody grace.

I ask myself, “Is grace personified in me?”

“Do I show God’s grace by the way I live my life?”

Luke records some of Jesus’s last words to His disciples before His ascension, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24: 49, NKJV)

The Apostle Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians that through faith in Christ Jesus we receive the promise of His Spirit. (See Galatians 3: 14)

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3: 27, ESV)

Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  (Galatians 4: 7, NKJV)

We are an heir of God. We inherit His grace.

Father in Heaven, please help us to fully grasp our inheritance in You. May we manifest Your grace each and everyday of our lives and give You the glory. Thank You for Your promised gift, Your Spirit, who transforms us as Your sons and daughters.

May we honor You, God, with hearts of thanksgiving as we experience Your transforming power at work in us. In Jesus’s name, we pray and in Him may we live, move and have our being. Amen

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Posted by: judyhitson | October 21, 2024

The Grace of Prayer

The Grace of Prayer
by Judy Hitson

1 Thess. 5:17 NKJV pray without ceasing,

This is one of my favorite Bible verses on prayer. It brings to mind Andrew Murray saying our verse today means prayer is like breathing. I asked the Lord about that and He illustrated my experiences of swimming laps in the pool, taking breaths as I swim. He reminded me that at first it is difficult but with practice it gets easier to breathe and get into a good rhythm while swimming freestyle. Through this experience the Lord taught me to pray without ceasing, like breathing. He is every breath I take.

Another illustration of God’s grace for me with prayer is when I wake in the night and have difficulty going back to sleep. I remember asking the Lord, “Do You want me to stay awake to read the Bible or is there someone or something You want me to pray about?”

There are times I’ve been up in the night watches when the Lord led me to either read the Scriptures or to pray. But this time, I heard, “Pray the Lord’s Prayer and I will give you sweet sleep.” (Proverbs 3:24) Since then, this has become a habit when I wake in the night.

The Lord’s Prayer (Matt.6:9-13) has taught me the importance of these words, they are living and active (Heb. 4:12) to call on our Father in heaven. First, acknowledging His holiness, asking His kingdom to come, His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, asking for our daily bread realizing Jesus is the Bread of Life. Asking His forgiveness for our debts as we forgive our debtors pierces my heart to always choose to walk in forgiveness, no matter what. Last, asking Father not to lead us into temptation but to deliver us from evil for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This reminds me of the importance for us to practice Kingdom Living through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by His Spirit, honoring our Father in heaven and being grateful for His grace of prayer.     

There is so much we can learn on prayer in the Bible. One profound thing is learning to pray the Word. Many times I like to start with Ps. 139:23-24 for a time of confession and repentance as needed.

After meditating on different translations through the years, this is my personal paraphrase prayer of Ps.139:23-24: Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts. Show me if there is any hurtful, offensive or wicked way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.

Ps.66:18 reminds me of the importance of asking the Lord to search my heart.

Ps.66:18 AMP If I regard sin and baseness in my heart
[that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it],
The Lord will not hear [me];

Powerful is the grace of prayer.

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Posted by: Administrator | October 9, 2024

Grace to Support Israel

Grace to Support Israel

by Brenda D. Flowers

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, … (Zechariah 12:10, NKJV)

I (Paul) say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Romans 11:1, NKJV)

Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. (Romans 11: 5, NKJV)

On October 6, 2024, I attended a special service at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (www.wochurch.org). I had heard about the service on Bott Radio.

Yael Eckstein, President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (www.ifc.org) and Pastor Allen Jackson were going to share with the body of Christ an important commemorative message to honor the October 7, 2023 victims and their families and to share the current state in war-torn Israel.

Although World Outreach Church is not my home church and is a 30 minute drive away, during my quiet time that morning, I sensed God’s prompting for me to attend this service.

 Yael had traveled with her children the long distance from Jerusalem, her home city, to be able to share her testimony in Tennessee.

What is a thirty minute drive compared to the thousands of miles she had traveled? (“How far is it from Nashville, Tennessee to Jerusalem, Israel?” “It is 6,427 miles as the crow flies.”, Siri answered.)

What an honor it was to hear Yael share her personal stories in real time in my home state.

As I entered the parking lot of the church, I saw small Israeli flags planted on the property. I was impressed by the number of flags.

When it was Yael’s turn to speak at the service, I learned from her that each of the 1,200 flags commemorated the lives of the over 1,200 innocent men, women and children massacred on October 7, 2023. Yael told stories of individuals she knew personally who had died that fateful day.

Yael further explained that these “Flags of Fellowship” could be seen on the grounds of churches and campuses in each state of the United States.

“Flags of Fellowship is an opportunity for thousands of Christians to take a BOLD stand and show solidarity for the Jewish people.” (www.ifc.org)

I realized a message of hope goes forth as people unite to show love and support for the people of Israel.

Yael, who lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four children, has been impacted personally by the ongoing attacks. She shared how recently she and her youngest children had to rush to a bomb shelter to be protected from on-going missile fire.

Yet, in spite of many dangers, she along with Christians and Jews are bravely taking steps to help the people of this special land. They are going to the frontlines to help hurting people no matter their ethnic background, sharing the love of God.

Her personal stories touched my heart.

I appreciated how Yael stressed that the battle being fought in Israel although physical is truly a spiritual battle. She emphasized how important it is for us as the body of Christ to pray for Israel and to stand up against anti-semitism and evil.

Pastor Allen ended the service with a prayer and with the encouragement for us to be ambassadors to share how God loves the people of the land of Israel.

As I thought about this, I realized how I need God’s grace to know how to pray and support Israel.

I trust that God, by His grace, will guide me and each of us to our part in being the hands and feet of Jesus. It is God’s will.

May we join together to pray as He calls us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122)

We can trust God’s promises. He is faithful and blesses us as we honor Him by being obedient to His Word.

Meditate on this truth:  One day King Jesus will reign in New Jerusalem. (Revelation 21)

Imagine when we Christians are with Jesus in all of His glory!

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Posted by: judyhitson | September 23, 2024

The Grace of Mourning

The Grace of Mourning
by Judy Hitson

Psalm 30:11 NLT You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.

After the loss of family members and friends the past few years and recent months, I consider God’s grace in the grief process on earth. I also think of God’s grace for our loved ones who are now absent from the body and present with the Lord, 2 Cor. 5:8.

The Word of God is vital for all stages of life and a true comfort in times of grief. As Christians, God’s Word tells us we grieve with hope. We have the hope of the Resurrection,

1 Thess. 4:13-15 NLT And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.  

The books written on grief can be a practical help to work through the process. Grief is a process. A book titled, Good Grief by Granger Westberg has been helpful in my life to work through ten stages of grief he outlines. This is a book I recommend for others to read in their times of grief.

For me, a time of grief is like embracing the grace of mourning. That is breaking through denial, working through sadness and depression, overcoming anger and coming through to the reality of the loss with forgiveness and acceptance. 

My most recent experience with grief was losing a dear sister in Christ who exhorted me in the faith as a new believer and through the succeeding years since we met at a Bible study in her home in 1980. She was a God friend, one of a few women God brought into my life to help me mature in Christ. The loss of her on earth is sad. She is missed. For many years we prayed together weekly in my home. When that season of life changed, we were sure to meet for prayer and share time on our birthdays each year. Now I am grateful to know she is with the Lord and that we will see each other again when the Lord returns or when He takes me to my heavenly Home.

Prayer: Thank You Lord for Your grace of mourning at this time. I look to You to be clothed with joy and my mourning to be turned into joyful dancing. In Your name Jesus. Amen.

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Posted by: Administrator | September 8, 2024

Grace to Testify

Grace To Testify

by Brenda D. Flowers

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.  (Psalm 71:15-16, ESV) 

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4: 33, ESV)

Each day for 33 days this summer, during my personal quiet time of Bible study and prayer, I spent part of that time reading personal testimonies of Olympic athletes (found in the Bible App devotional, “Struggle and Triumph:  Olympians’ Stories”).  Each story I  read touched my heart and challenged me to persevere in my personal faith “race”. Their words of tested faith also encouraged me to share my story of God’s intervention in my life with others.

At my church each week, a member gets to testify about their faith journey and how God has answered prayer or helped in some way. I had the opportunity to share recently. 

As I prepared to tell about how God had answered my prayers and how he had helped me, I thought about how the apostle Paul had written his letters testifying of God’s intervention in his life, too. When he wrote his letters to the churches, he challenged the followers of Christ in his day to continue testifying of God’s goodness and His great love. 

 Luke, a physician who traveled with Paul the apostle, recorded these words of Paul, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24, ESV) 

Laura Story (laurastorymusic.com) is a worship leader and Christian Songwriter and Recording Artist who sees the importance of testifying of God’s intervention in her life. She does so through the words of her songs and by sharing her story on-line and in person. Several years ago, I heard her speak at a women’s conference at a church in Tennessee. There she spoke about how each of us has a special story to tell. We are a part of God’s story. I purchased a T-shirt her team was selling that day. On the shirt are the words, “He’s the God of every story” When I wear this shirt, I am reminded of the great value of tested faith shared in one’s testimony.

God gives us the gift of testimony so we may share it.  

Have you recently opened one of God’s gifts by hearing someone’s testimony?

I try to do so daily. 

     One of the leaders of the organization Bible Study Fellowship recently shared on a Leadership training video, “ “Everything we do (in BSF) is by His grace and for His glory.” 

That challenges me as I step into a new season as a wife, mother, grandmother of five grandsons, sister, cousin, aunt, neighbor, friend, mentor and co-laborer in the body of Christ as children’s leader at BSF, a homeschool teacher for three of my grandsons and a writer called to write to testify of God’s goodness. 

That is my mission statement to glorify God with my actions and words. I’m trusting God to give me the grace to help me in my story. 

We all have a purpose in God’s great story!

Lord, may we devote ourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And may we see our part in Your story. May we trust You to give us the grace to testify of Your goodness. May we remember to pray for our country’s leaders, spiritual leaders and mentors. Please open doors for our messages of tested faith to touch many lives for Your glory. In Jesus’s victorious name, we pray. Amen

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Posted by: judyhitson | August 26, 2024

The Grace of a Solitary Place

The Grace of a Solitary Place
by Judy Hitson

Mark 1:35 NIV Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Soon after coming to know the Lord, I learned the importance of having a quiet time each morning in a quiet place. My heart leaped when I read this pattern of Jesus in Mark 1:35 and of David in Ps.5:3 NKJV My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You and will look up.

This pattern is essential in my life. That is to start each day with the Lord in quiet time in a solitary place. Last month I wrote, The Grace of Worship and see the next step of going to a solitary place in the
presence of God to hear His voice and follow Him is huge! A title of a booklet I treasure comes to mind, My Heart Christ’s Home. I’ve searched but cannot find it but sense the Lord has something He wants to say to me. Perhaps it is just the title. Think about it, “My Heart Christ’s Home.”

Do you practice this grace each morning of going to a solitary place to be with the Lord in prayer?


Take the time. Practice this discipline. It is worth it, for the Lord is worthy. The grace of a solitary place blesses us to grow to the full measure of Christ. How? By investing time with the Lord in prayer, in His
Word, in His presence and receive His power to live in the Spirit receiving His words of life to live Christ.
I think of Paul’s words in Phil.1:21 NKJV For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Yes, the best is yet to come when we are absent from the body and present with the Lord.

Our time on earth is just the beginning to establish and practice a quiet time with the Lord on this side of eternity. As we start our day in a solitary place in the presence of God, we develop an intimate love
relationship with Him through Jesus Christ by His Spirit. We learn to pray without ceasing, like breathing. We learn to practice the presence of God, knowing in Him we live and move and have our being.

Prayer: Thank You Lord for Your example while living on earth, leading us to get up in the early morning to go to a solitary place to pray with our Father in heaven. Amen.

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