Faith L. Potts's Blog, page 5

Yes I Will

I count on one thing
the same God that never fails
will not fail me now

in the waiting
the same God who's never late
is working all things out 

I will sing for joy
when my heart is heavy
all my days
yes, I will

and I choose to praise
to glorify, glorify the Name of all names 

for all my days
yes, I will





one day there'll be no more lives taken too soonone day there'll be no more need for a hospital roomone day every tear that falls will be wiped by His hand we will see the promised land
we'll sing in the darkest nightcause we know that the light will come and there will be healing

hallelujah



my heart is heavy, but my joy is full.
my mind is crowded by worry and concerns, but peace overwhelms all else.

love to all <3

A Song of Home by Ryana Lynn Miller | blog tour + spotlight

Welcome, dear readers, to a stop on Ryana Lynn Miller's blog tour for her newest release, A Song of Home!

I've been friends with Ryana Lynn through the blogging realm for several years, and she's such a dear soul! I got to read her novella, Coffee Shop Christmas, a few December's ago and it was darling. I haven't gotten around to reading her Civil War era historical fiction series yet, but it's definitely on my TBR. Just listen to this series overview!


About the Series The Battle for Heritage Series (BHS) is an in-progress five book series on the War Between the States. Each book follows one year of the war, focusing on the Southern perspective. Unlike most books on this period, BHS does not focus on slavery but rather the reason the war was fought: the issue of states’ rights and the right of the people to restore the rightful government as designed by our forefathers. But even though this is important, this is not the main goal of BHS.
Every book includes a clear Gospel presentation, as well as other biblical topics designed to strengthen the believer and disciple the new convert. If you take nothing else from these stories, please take the lessons from Scripture to heart. If not, the goal is missed.
The series follows the Mason family, Silas and Ellen, and their children, Richard, Seth, Dixie, Michael, Thomas, and Virginia Rose, through the years 1861-1865. Having family on both sides allows the reader to discover viewpoints of both sides, though the story is focused on the South’s point of view. Having friends in the North and South, Ryana Lynn endeavors to keep things kind, while realistic and giving the facts.
BHS has reached people in a multitude of states, her best readerships being located in North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio. It is her prayer that someday, someone will come to know Christ through her writings. Her life verse, Jude 22, sums up her writing mission: “And of some, have compassion, making a difference.”



About A Song of HomeIn war time, everyone is called to fulfill their patriotic duty. But everyone's duty is not the same. For some, it's to soldier on the field of battle. For others, it is to stay back and defend the home front. Still others keep the soldiers clothed and cared for.“We’re gonna finish this,” Seth murmured. “We’re gonna finish this fight once and for all. They can’t just come in and threaten a man’s family and livelihood just because they feel like it.”“It’s a hard lesson to teach,” Silas interjected. “The Patriots were outmanned and outgunned, but they taught the redcoats right well. God’s will is most important, and God is the best Teacher. Sometimes He does it Himself, and other times He uses men to teach the lesson.”Join the Mason family as another year of war dawns with no end in sight. Despair, hatred and death surround them...will they ever know a time of hope, love and peace again? Bring your family along on another history packed journey full of battle, music, victory and defeat. The war ain't over ‘til the sabers quit clashing!


About the AuthorRyana Lynn Miller has a unique way of blending her love for history with her love for the Savior. Her continued research is fueled by her desire for truth and details. Her main concern, both historically and Biblically, is to show the past to the present to secure the future.
Blog | Life of Heritage
Giveaway 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

have you read the Battle for Heritage series? what's your favorite Civil War era read? 

Memorial Day 2020

There was a knock on the door 'round two o'clockTwo uniforms and her heart stoppedYellow ribbon 'round an oak treeBlowing in the breeze
Here's to the ones that didn't make it back homeThe ones we ain't seen in so longThe hold up a beer ones, the wish they were here onesThe not forgotten but gone
 • The Ones That Didn't Make it Back Home

Your baby would just about be hereAnd your very last tour would be upBut you won't be back, they're all dressin' in blackDrinkin' sweet tea in Styrofoam cups
Mamas and grand mamas love youAmerican boys hate to lose
Nobody here could forget youYou showed us what we had to loseYou never planned on the bombs in the sandOr sleepin' in your dress blues
• Dress Blues

We searched all dayTo find out where my granddad layWhen we finally found that crossHe said, "Son this is what it costsTo keep us free"
They folded up a flag and told my mom and dadWe're proud of your son
And every time I hear twenty-one gunsI know they brought another hero home to us
• Arlington

The second soldier we never got to seeAn army band was playingBy a long black limousine
Two soldiers coming homeReturning to their familiesThey've been away from the so long
There's gonna to be some flags wavingAnd some tear stained facesOh, the journeys over for two soldiersComing home
• Two Soldiers Coming Home



He found him a girlMade her his queenAnd he fought for his countryAnd he gave it everything
• The Dash

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.John 15:13


(Psst... In honor of Memorial Day, my novel Freedom is free today on Kindle. Or, if you're in the mood for something shorter, a short story I wrote a few years ago with a Memorial Day vibe can be found here.) 

we will always remember <3

Jesus Still Loves You

to the one who feels like a failure:

no matter how far you've fallen, Jesus loves you
no matter what you have—or haven't—done, Jesus loves you

if it's been weeks since you read your Bible
if you can't pray without getting distracted by all that's going on in your world
if you can't remember the last time you shared the story of grace with another struggling soul

Jesus still loves you

this isn't authorization to sin
this isn't permission to backslide
this isn't an "it's okay, you're fine, I don't mind"

this is "I love you anyway, please come back to Me"
this is a Savior with a broken heart and nail scarred hands, but wide-open arms

a God of unfathomable grace and incredible love and unsurpassable goodness
a God who designed your fingerprints before creation
a God of second chances, and tenth chances, and 347th chances

because no matter what

Jesus still loves you

For sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace.
// romans 6:14 

And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
// john 1:16 

"It is finished." May those words land on your bones for the nights when fear tells you the cross was a beginning and you must finish grace.
// Jon Acuff

how are y'all this week? prayer requests? <33

Strangers

This is not the endingNo, this is not the ending 
We're all strangers hereSo it's alright if you can't Stop the tears that you cry
'Cause someday we'll touch The face of our GodAnd the sorrow will disappear 
Until then, we're all strangers here 
Strangers here 
* 
Tenth Avenue North, 2012

"The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can't supply is proof that Heaven must be our home."
- C.S. Lewis

Find strength in each stepKnowing Heaven is cheering you on
We are almost home 
Brother, it won't be longSoon all your burdens will be gone
With all your strengthSister, run wild, run free
Hold up your head Keep pressing on
We are almost home
I know that the cross has brought Heaven to usBut make no mistakethere's still more to come
We are almost home
* 
MercyMe, 2019

"For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness."
- 1 Chronicles 29:15

We are almost home, my dears <3

Light Breaking Forth | Easter 2020

radiant light <3 

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.
// isaiah 58:8 

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
// 1 corinthians 15:55-57 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
// 1 peter 1:3

As someone was discussing in a radio broadcast I heard recently... We shouldn’t talk about Easter only one Sunday in the spring. We should be steeped in it. Easter should flavor our lives every day of the year. We don’t go to church on Easter Sunday to learn what Easter is—we go to celebrate what we already know, and to worship. 
Isn't that a thrilling thought? Christmas and Easter are wonderful holidays that serve well as timely reminders of what's important, days to make memories with family, and opportunities to share our faith with the world. 
But living for Jesus is about so much more than that. He should be the center of our lives every single day. We have too much to celebrate to cram it all into a couple days or weekends a year! 
Just think of it.
Our sin, an unimaginable debt that we could never even hope to repay, has been covered. Paid in full by the blood of Christ Jesus, our perfect sinless Savior. Hands that held nations, stretched out on a tree. Our very souls redeemed from a destiny in hell. The only One who could repossess the keys to death and the grave snatched them from the hand of the wicked one. The power of darkness holds no more dominion over us.

This is worth sharing, so very worthy.

Morning has dawned. Our Lord has risen. The light is breaking forth. His love is real. Hope abounds. Mercy flows anew.

This is what it's all about. This is the center, the core, where all our hope, our everything, rests.

Saturday has ended. The wait is over. Darkness and despair has passed. Sunday is here. The light has come. The Lord has come. Because He lives, all fear is gone. 
Our hope resides in the glory of the stone rolled away. We have this hope. 
A thought occurred to me earlier today. Can you imagine the rejoicing in Heaven on that first Easter morning? Doesn't that thought bring a smile to your face? Just imagine the coming day when we'll all be joined together for a celebration like that. Every believer, reunited with all those we love in the presence of our Jesus.

All because of a Savior whose love for a sinsick world was greater than all else.

This is redemption from an unimaginably fate.

This is hope, living hope.

This is light breaking forth.





more jumbled thoughts. happy resurrection day, dears <3 

When All is Darkness | Saturday

light in the darkness <3

For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.   // john 20:9 

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. ...

And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.
// luke 23:46, 49 

And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.  // mark 16:10  

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. // psalm 30:5b

It's Saturday.

The in-between day, wedged between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It has no official title (that I know of). Yet it holds such meaning and symbolism.

On that first Easter weekend, Christ had been crucified and laid to rest in the borrowed tomb. We're not told much of how the disciples and followers spent the time between the Crucifixion and Resurrection. But they certainly weren't living life as normal.

They were hurting and broken. They were grieving. Their very souls were crushed.

Peter was struggling, personally, with the knowledge that he'd audibly denied his Lord...thrice. The group must've also felt betrayed by Judas, one who they'd counted a friend and brother, yet he had sold their Lord by a deceptive kiss for thirty pieces of silver.

In a sense, they were waiting, too. But did they know what they were waiting for?

He had spoken of a home with Him someday, of eternity, of a Comforter. But they didn’t understand the meaning of these words yet. All they knew was their Lord—the Promised One, their everything—had been brutally killed before their eyes. Life as they’d known it had ceased, crashed, halted.

All their hope—gone.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

How often, in our darkest moments, do we cry out to God that we don’t understand? Maybe it's not even that we're doubting His goodness or rebelling against His will—we just don't know why it's happening. We want to understand. We want to comprehend. We want to be able to make sense of things. We want answers.

But you know, it's okay if things don't make sense to us. It's okay if we feel lost in the darkness, cracked and broken and crying out to the One who always hears. It's okay if answers elude us. It's okay if all we have the strength to do is cry out to Him, take it moment by moment, and make it through one day at a time.

It's okay.

Because He is good, no matter what.

Because He is with us, every single heartbeat.

Because this pain won't last forever.

In the wise words of my friend Mikayla, “Sunday’s on the way.”

We can believe that. We can rest in that.

The light will break thru. Darkness will not win. 
Even when I don't see, I still believe. 



what does this day of waiting mean to you? 

It is Finished | Good Friday 2020

wow, those clouds... 

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 

Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 

// matthew 27:45-46, 54  

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 

// john 19:30

It is finished...

As many of you know, I'm a student of American Sign Language pursing an education in interpreting. While ASL and English are essentially the same written language, the grammar, sentence structure, and sign/word definitions of ASL are vastly different than that of English.

The sign for finish/finished, for example, is very definite, final, and emphatic. It's not used to mean something that might be done soon, or will probably happen, or to exclaim that you're finished with someone in a non-literal sense.

It means it is done, in full, totally. Finished. Definitely. For certain. In the past. It means completion. It means finality.

On that day at Calvary as our Lord breathed His last, he cried out, "It is finished." Three simple words, yet a phrase so brimming with meaning and underlying truth.

It is finished. Forever and always, it's done. Taken care of. Over with. Completed. Never to have to be worried about or thought of again.

It is finished, Jesus cried, and every since, I'm satisfied... 

Satisfied. Satisfied by the heart of the One who fulfilled the sin debt we had no hope of ever repaying. He cleared our charges, he eases our hurting hearts, he brings love and peace and contentment—and asks only our love and faith and allegiance in return.

This Man. This Son of God. This Passover Lamb.

He is the Finisher. He is enough.

And He is good.




just some really disjointed thoughts, but maybe they make sense to someone <3

When Your Own Words Aren't Enough

'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

I am not skilled to understand what God has willed, what God has planned. I only know at His right hand, stands One who is my Savior. 


I don't know what You're doing, but I know Who You are. 

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal. 


I know Who Holds tomorrow. 

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; 
We are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken; 
Cast down, but not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, 
That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 


*


God is still good. He is patient and faithful, even when we don't understand His plan. A family that my family is close friends with suffer a tragic loss this week. Please remember them and all the family and friends in your prayers. My heart breaks for them. <3

Fearless.

I don't know what to write. I sit here, scrolling through my draft posts (and trust me, there's plenty), but I don't know what to write. I don't know what I want to write.

There's so much going on in my state and country and world this week, and as much as I feel like I should join in the barrage of coronavirus centered articles, I don't want to. I've talked about it with family and friends and co-workers until I'm tired of talking about. I've researched and analyzed until I drove myself crazy with it.

I'm tired of the fear and the panic and the chaos. I'm tired of the memes—even though some of them are...really funny. I'm tired of news articles—often contradicting each other. I'm tired of the arguments. I'm tired of the constant change in what is and isn't "allowed" as far as gatherings and events.

But here's the thing. I'm choosing to not be suffocated by the panic and alarm and frustration that surrounds this pandemic labeled "COVID-19." I specify labeled because, in my belief, the disease isn't the basis of the problem—fear is.

Yes, fear. That four-letter F-word that we don't like to think about.

So maybe that's what I'm really here to say. The panic, the hoarding, the chaos and confusion—it doesn't stem from a illness that's characterized by a fever and cough. It's created by the fear we allow to overtake us when we focus on the sickness instead of the Healer.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.   // 2 Timothy 1:7 kjv

As Christians, we shouldn't live burdened by fear. That's not how God intended for us to live our lives—before, during, or after COVID-19 has ran its course.

Things are crazy right now, I know. And I could be wrong, but I believe this won't last long. By the end of the year, we'll be able to look back on the month when stores were selling out of everything and remember the good aspects of these days instead of dwelling on the fear and turmoil.

If you're frightened by the events transpiring in the world over the past few days and weeks, that's totally understandable—it's a lot to take in at once. The important thing is to not allow that anxiety to control you.

Spend time with the Savior, and allow His presence and His word to remind you again and again that it's going to be okay. We serve a God that is so much greater than any pandemic, stock market dive, or nation in distress.

Through it all, life goes on, and we go on too. Tomorrow, the sun will rise and people will go to work (some of us, anyway). We'll talk and laugh and yawn and sneeze. We'll learn something new or reminisce about days gone by. We'll read books or watch television. We'll make jokes and remind our family members we love them.

And we'll be okay.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.   // Psalm 46:10 kjv 

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.    // John 14:27 kjv

To sum it up—God's got this, so we have no need to fear. Wash your hands. Prayer for those effected. Use necessary precaution. By all means, quit hoarding toilet paper. And be fearless.


thoughts, good or bad? opinions, agreeing or not?