Betty Whitaker Jackson

The beginning of a new year is an opportunity to assess where we are and where we’re going. Let me recommend two sites you might enjoy exploring: iBelieve.com and Proverbs 31.com. Both include devotional materials, encouragement, Bible studies, prayer prompts, and the encouragement we need after the two year isolation we’ve all experienced. I’m at a crossroads right now, completing one book and planning another. Both these sites are important to me today. I’ve sent for a Bible study with…..

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Psalms 105:4 says: “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.” I have had three spiritual encounters in the last two days, clearly out of the blue, unexpected, what I call Godincidences. One was the inspiration of beautiful music (I’m being led to write my next devotional book on the topic of music as a gift of God for His pleasure) so I’m tuned into that topic right now. I heard the legendary, but oh, so real,…..

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I am calling this blog “Truth We Can Count on, Peace and Grace.” It would be impossible to offer peace and grace to others, especially those who demean us and reject the gospel message, were it not for Paul’s strong reminder in Romans 8:1-2. So here are those verses to bolster us through difficult days. Because we are Christ’s heirs, we need nothing but to remember our eternal, not temporary status the world gives. While others treasure their popularity, wealth,…..

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Only in thanksliving can we share grace and peace with others. Only when we recognize that God loves us and cares for us and cares about us can we translate that thanksliving into acts of peace, grace, mercy, and love.

I choose to look upward to God, thanking Him for His provision, His gift of salvation, and His mercy. Others may look to wealth, status, politics, and the world’s allure to give them joy. These are fleeting, and all too…..

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One of the greatest means of expressing peace and grace is through music. Zephaniah 3:17 says: “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.”

This weekend, a warrior of the faith, Whitney Phipps, will sing his way into our hearts at two concerts. Come and be inspired. As you know, our three children (yes, I…..

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I suspect that if we consciously try to find the good in every day, God will reveal it to us. It’s an attitude of gratitude sort of thing. Yesterday our family went to the Wildlife Preserve in Titusville. We try to do this each year while migrating birds visit here for warmth. That, to them, must be a blessing of grace.

Although we didn’t see as many spoonbills and other beautiful birds, we were blessed by a day of totally…..

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Psalm 15 gives us advice as we ‘Just Do It! in Twenty-two.” My goal for the year is to increase grace and peace to a hurting world. Psalm 15 prescribes this: “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on Your holy hill?”

God’s answer: He whose walk is blameless, and who doe what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts…..

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Susie Larson in “Blessings for Every Day” reminds me today that although things may not be “going my way” and I am facing challenges, putting my trust in God who made me and loves me and redeemed me is a great deterrent to self-pity and depressing. If I choose to dwell on the negatives, I will give in to worry and concern. Those are negatives. She writes: “May you make up your mind to persevere and not quit. May you…..

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When you’re as old as I am, you put things into some sort of perspective. I was born in 1940. I walked to school, there was no such thing as cafeterias or school lunch programs. Thankfully I learned to read before I went to school, played piano at age 3 to strengthen my eyesight, and was bored to tears with Dick and Jane books’ repetitious nonsense. They advanced me out of kindergarten to first grade, but then reversed the decision…..

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Here’s a place to find poems for the new year. https://www.poetseers.org/poem-of-the-day-archive/poems-new-year/

I was reminded of the first one yesterday in a post. I remember singing it as a hauntingly beautiful anthem at Hope College while I was in the Chapel Choir.

Poets have always been seers, looking at life from unique perspectives. Their purpose is to encapsulate feelings and images into words, usually as few as possible.

My goal for 2022 is to spread peace. “Let’s Do It in Twenty-Twenty-Two……

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