Tag: faith

Sit-down with Lana Higginbotham: Get to know the spirit behind the stories

~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 1 Comment

Lana Lynn Higginbotham is one of the most gifted Authors writing today.
She has written Christian fiction and nonfiction books for both adults and young adults.
The following is a re-post of an interview with Lana Lynn by another excellent author, Ann Malley, from her Writer’s Blog https://annmalleybooks.com
You will find links to Lana’s books at the end of her article. All of Lana’s books would be great for summer reading!
Ann Malley has graciously given her permission to re-post her wonderful  interview with Lana on Angelsong.
Check out Ann’s blog site for her other interesting posts about different authors, books, and the world of writing.
Thank you so much, Ann

Ann Malley's avatarANN MALLEY

The awesome strength of nature is amazing to behold.

Hey guys. I hope everyone is enjoying the shift in seasons and that nasty weather is on the decline. (We had a corker lightning storm Saturday night. Full on cracking, white light flashing in the wee hours. Lovely. But I’m weird that way.)

Meanwhile, I’m back with another author interview. Why do I do them? Because learning keeps us fresh. And the best way to learn is to glean wisdom from those who have gone before. Those who are doing what we want to do — keep writing. (Reading, too!)

So who is Lana Higginbotham? And why WRITING?

Lana Lynne Higginbotham – well rounded, firmly grounded, and sharing the realities of God and family — the foundation for satisfying romance.

Firstly, I am Lana “Lynne” Higginbotham (Did you all catch that middle name? It’s important, but we’ll get there.) As a…

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God’s Measureless Gifts Of Mercy

~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 2 Comments
“ This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”~ Lamentations 3:21-23 (KJV)

God’s Measureless Gifts of Mercy

Lord, thank You for so many gifts

So many gifts You give

How often do I just accept

And keep my thanks within?

With every morning sunrise

The dawn of each new day

Thy mercies come in rivers

And none will be the same.

How often do I not look up

And ever see the sun

Rising up above the trees

And thank You for Thy love?

How often do I hear the birds

Welcoming the morn

In a myriad of choirs

Giving thanks to Thee, oh Lord?

Do I join them in their worship

And sing a song of praise

Giving thanks unto my God

For Thy gift of life today?

Oh Lord Jesus, God Most High

Father God above,

Holy Spirit, I will sing

And thank Thee now, O God!

Though the sun has set beyond

The western mountain trail

Though moon has risen with the stars

I will sing Thy praise

And think about Thy wondrous gifts,

Thy mercies poured on me

That began at sunrise

When birds began to sing.

New mercies that You poured on me

That never were before

Gifts You gave for just today

That I may see no more.

For I can no more keep them

Than I could hold the wind

But I can thank You for each one

As an eternal gem…

Each morning You will bring me more

And I’ll thank You, my God,

Priceless treasures from Thy heart

Emblems of Thy love,

In Jesus holy name. Amen.

Prayer Poem © 2019 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. All Glory To God

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Thy mercies You shower upon each of us every morning and all throughout the day, though we so often miss them as we go about our hours focusing more on trying to complete our tasks in a race to get to the next one.

Please forgive us for so often taking this beautiful gift of life you gave us and Thy wondrous treasures for granted.

May You help us to take a moment to pause, to look up, and say thank You for some blessing You gave us today.

May You help us to thank You for someone You have brought into our lives who is precious to us. May You help us to take a moment to whisper a prayer of gratitude, peace, love, and mercy for that soul.

May You help us take the time to say thank You for my life, Lord, I love You, in Jesus’ name, amen.

God’s Measureless Gifts Of Mercy (Prayer Poem) © Copyright 2019 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. All Glory To God. Original Daffodil Photo © 2019 M Harden All Rights Reserved. Scripture Quotation: King James Version Bible

Angel Song © 2019 SD Harden All Rights Reserved.

“To Everything A Season”

~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 1 Comment
~ King Solomon wrote “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
The Lord led me to call the new album of songs He inspired after this famous verse back in December when I’d originally planned to publish it.
The night before I had a dream that sent me to my knees for more guidance.
Indeed, though everything was finished and ready, the Lord wanted me to wait to publish that album. He would let me know when it was time.
I have learned in my walk with the Lord to listen to His Holy Spirit and wait on His perfect timing~ even if it does not make sense.

“The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again and causes us to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us God’s chosen children. And with that Spirit we cry out, “ Abba, Father.” Romans 8:14-15 (ERV)

The Lord has led me to create other albums of beautiful music and then asked me to set them aside for a future date. He expects that I will obey Him without needing to know why.

“The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes. 2 Corinthians 5:7 – (The Voice Bible)

But how do I know it’s God and not me? That is a very good question!
Our walk with Christ is a training ground in walking humbly with the Lord and living by faith and obedience to His Holy Spirit’s guidance within us.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]?” Micah 6:8 – Amplified Bible

We will stumble and fall many times because we are human.
I have missed the Lord very often because of more faults in me than the hairs on my head!
The wonder is that He still chooses to use someone so broken and inept at trying to accomplish what He’s given me to do.
The Lord does not expect perfection from His children. He only asks that we trust and obey Him.

“We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 (ERV)

Not one of us is perfect nor will we ever be this side of Heaven. God has no perfect children.
Only His Son Jesus Christ was perfect and He died to save us from our sins, and that we might be forgiven when we stumble.
God knew we would not be able to do everything He wanted us to perfectly. He forgives our mistakes.
He asks us to please get up again and be about His work.
Don’t let failures make you quit. Don’t let others make you quit either. Don’t let persecution or sickness or pain or troubles or anything in this world keep you from doing what God has asked you to do for His glory.
Right after my dream in December that warned me not to publish my album, I suffered a severe life threatening illness. How grateful I was to the Holy Spirit for His guidance!
Today I’m so thankful to be alive and praising my beautiful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His mercy and grace towards me, a sinner He saved through His death on the cross. I praise my Holy Abba Father for raising His Son Jesus Christ from the dead to redeem my soul and give me the righteousness of Christ.
I’m made right in His eyes by the spotless blood of Jesus! He forgives me for all my sins as far as the east is from the west, and He expects that I will forgive others just as He has forgiven me.
The Lord Jesus Christ died to save every person who had ever lived or would live because of God’s measureless love for every soul He created.

“For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9 GW

And this beautiful gift is available to all who will ask Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. “We have been saved by grace because we believed. We did not save ourselves. It was a gift from God. We are not saved by the things we have done, so there is nothing to boast about. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God has made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things He had already planned for us to do.” ~ Ephesians 2:8-10

May our Heavenly Father bless and encourage all who read this message today and fill each soul with His peace that passes all understanding and an abiding assurance of His measureless love for each one of them, in Jesus’ name amen.

Love always and forever in Christ,

Suzanne

*To preview the songs on my new Instrumental Album, “To Everything A Season,” Follow the link below to my HearNow Music Preview Website where you can listen to audio clips from each of the Album’s 17 Tracks. You will also find links to Spotify, Amazon, ITunes and other streaming services, as well as to cdbaby, where you should be able to stream the full version of all my songs any time.

https://suzannedavisharden.hearnow.com/to-everything-a-season

    To Everything A Season © 2019 Suzanne Davis Harden All rights reserved. May God be Glorified!
    Scripture Collage Design by SD Harden ~All Glory To God!
    Scriptures featuring quotes from:
    The Easy To Read Version Bible © 2006 Bible League International, All rights reserved./
    The Amplified Bible © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, All rights reserved./
    The Voice Bible Copyright 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice ™️ translation ©️ 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved./
    God’s Word to the Nations ©️ 1995 Baker Publishing Group All rights reserved./
    Holy Bible, New International Version®️ NIV®️ Copyright ©️ 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®️ All rights reserved worldwide./

Thank You for Your Prayers

~ Suzanne Davis Harden

 

Suffering For Christ Scripture Painting © SDH

My Dear Friends,

 I want to thank all of you who have been praying for me during the past several months.

You can’t imagine how much your prayers have meant to me during my recent illness.

The Lord knows who you are and I pray that He will give you a crown of glory someday for your faithful intercession.

 One of my medical team remarked when he saw the level of pain I was enduring each day, “Either you must pray a lot or there are a lot of people praying for you.”

“A lot of both!” I told him.

 This medical professional witnessed your faithfulness in prayer and gave glory to God!

 I want you to know that your lives are beautiful blessings to me, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to all whose lives you touch each day.

 May you know that you have continued to be in my prayers daily. Even though I have not been able to post or visit you for many months now, you have always been in my heart.

 Just before I became so ill with a severe flare up of the auto-immune illnesses that I suffer from, the Lord had given me a beautiful song, “Eye Has Not Seen.”

It was inspired by a beautiful scripture: “But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

 The song is about what the Word Of God promises.

Not long before I’d recorded it, a person had written to me that I should not “quote platitudes that were not true.”

 A platitude is a beautiful, usually moral statement, that has been quoted so often it has lost its meaning.

 How could I tell this person that the promises in the Bible were not platitudes~that all of the promises of God in Christ Jesus were true.

I believed this because the Bible said so and I had experienced God’s faithfulness to His Word many times throughout my life. Yet I had no way of convincing anyone of what it takes faith to believe.

 The Word of God reveals that all faith, if it is genuine, must be tested.

 “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 -NLT

 These Scriptures along with many others, teach us that God tests our faith through trials and suffering.

 “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” 1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT

 Our suffering and trials also bond us together with our Lord Jesus in a special way, so we should rejoice in them, Peter wrote.

 Not long after I had written “Eye Has Not Seen” and all of the songs for my Easter Album “Paths Of Grace,” it was as if the Lord took me to “God’s School of Affliction,” and then I literally felt like I had died and gone to hell. 😦

 Many times I felt like Jesus crying out on the cross, “My God, my God, Why hast Thou forsaken me!”

The good news is, despite my long dark sojourn in the worst pit of my life (so far) ~ Jesus never failed to comfort me in my pain and agony.

And I have every confidence that He will be with me no matter what nightmare I have yet to endure. God truly IS in control!

For He has taught me through my trials and suffering, that as long as I have Jesus, though I might lose everything else, I have everything when I have Him.

 To have Jesus Christ is to have Heaven right here on earth. Though I may lose my health, possess no wealth, no prosperity, lose my ability to work, live in chronic pain day and night, my Jesus is still with me and He won’t ever leave me. He won’t give up on me.

Though I may be able to do nothing for Him, He still loves me and He will go on loving me because He suffered and died on the cross to ransom me to become His very own. And when I suffer, I am sharing a bond with Him that I would never have known otherwise.

This is why the Apostle Paul wrote:

“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” Philippians 1:29

 Again, I can’t thank all who prayed for me enough. You will never know this side of eternity what you mean to me.

 May God bless you all with a thousand reminders of His immeasurable love for you, and meet your every need, in Jesus’ name, amen.

 Thank you, thank you, thank you again for your prayers!!!

Love Always & Forever in Christ,

Suzanne ❤

 Here is the Music Video “Eye Has Not Seen” May the Lord use this song and video to bless and encourage you today!

Original Music Video “Eye Has Not Seen” © ℗ 2018 SD Harden All rights reserved. All Glory to God.

Angel Song © 2018 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. Scripture Painting © 2018 SD Harden All Glory To God. Original Music Video “Eye Has Not Seen” © ℗ 2018 SD Harden All rights reserved. All Glory to God. Scripture references: King James version Bible, New Living Translation © 2007 Tyndale House Foundation All Rights Reserved.