June Foster's Blog

Do You Really Know How To Trust God?

In lieu of making resolutions, every year around the first of January, I ask God what I need to focus on for the next three hundred sixty-five days. Most years I jot my goal down in my journal.

This year, I sensed Him saying trust, trust, trust. For a control freak and planner like me, that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Why is it so hard to trust the Maker of the universe, the mighty God of the Bible? One reason, I believe, is we haven’t completely internalized who He is. Deuteronomy 7:21 describes Him as the great and awesome God. He’s the God that parted the Red Sea to bring His people out of Egypt. He’s the One who gave Abraham and Sarah a child in their old age. He’s the God who sent His one and only Son to die for our sins.

Yes, but all that happened years ago. What about me? What does He say about me today so I can better trust Him? The Bible says we can’t even imagine what He’s prepared for the future. He is faithful and will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle. We are the temple of the living God and He calls us His people. These are only three out of hundreds of God’s promises to us. When we internalize Who God is and how much He loves us, it’s a lot easier to trust Him.

The Psalms tell us about trust. We can trust Him when we’ve afraid. It’s better to trust in the Lord than in man. Those who trust in the Lord cannot be shaken. He is a shield to all who trust Him. Just a few of the promises.

Get down in your spirit who God truly is and trust Him with your future.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3: 5-6

Dear Lord, each day impress upon me that You are indeed the Creator of all things. Impress upon me that You can do all things and are worthy of my trust. I love you, Lord. Amen     

Two Pictures

Contrasts. They’re everywhere. The bare trees, yellow grass, and dark skies of winter are eventually followed by the sunny, green days of summer featuring full, leafy trees and colorful flowers. A majestic mansion on a hill outside your hometown versus an old, dilapidated shack in a neighborhood where no one cares. A smelly garbage heap and a fragrant flower garden. As I observe our world, I see disparities everywhere.

An event caught my attention recently—the Asberry Revival. The 24 hours-a-day revival continued for over two weeks.

I viewed video after video of the event. Young people, some on their knees, humbled themselves and confessed their sins. Others stood, eyes closed, in praise and worship of God. The joyful expressions on faces spoke the message. God was among them.

Then there were other videos on TV and in the news. Other young people, mutilated and disfigured because they defied God. They claimed He didn’t know what He was doing when He created them. A girl decided to become a boy and took hormones and other measures to change her sex. Boys were butchered on a doctor’s operating table in an effort to become a girl.

Two opposing pictures? One portrayed youth who were filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Another group who defied God.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 

Easter

If you are a follower of the Messiah Jesus Christ and have trusted Him for salvation, then you celebrate the resurrection of our Lord every Easter with over two billion people. That’s about one third of the world’s population.

I thank God that I’m a member of His flock and that He chose me to follow Him. It boggles my mind that He could care for me individually.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me: your love, O Lord, endures forever. Psalm 138:8

Not only does He cherish and nurture me, but He also has a plan for me as a writer. I desire to pen the stories He puts on my heart. I need to know where to submit my work and to trust Him with the results – whether it’s an acceptance or a rejection. Then I want to know where to go next. I need to keep my sights on God’s purpose and perform each task in His strength, not my own.

God’s Word sustains me daily. The Bible is a lamp to my feet, a light for my path.

The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Hebrews 9:33

Dear Lord, increase my faith so I might serve You until the day You take me home. Amen.

What We Can Learn From the Thief on the Cross

How could the Romans and the Jewish leaders have been so deceived to put Jesus to death? It’s easy for us to sit back and say that. But 2000 years ago, they believed him to be a charlatan. Even His disciples who shared his days for 3 years believed he was to establish a kingdom in which the Jewish race would be free of the Romans. So when Jesus hung on a cross, vulnerable and near death, they lost all hope. They hadn’t grasped the truth.

Jesus endured the cross on that Friday before the Passover. The two thieves on either side of him, sentenced to die like Jesus, saw the situation in two very different ways. One jeered at him, but the other – a different story.

By all appearances, Jesus’ kingdom hadn’t worked out. But the one thief made a remarkable utterance. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” How could he say this when the King was dying? This man’s faith was awe-inspiring. His vision transported him past the gruesome torture, pain, and death on the cross to another Kingdom in which Jesus would reign for all eternity. Because of the man’s spiritual vision, he would share in that kingdom as well.

God is no respecter of persons. He will grant us wisdom and spiritual vision as well – for hope in the next life, but for this one as well. Do you sometimes wonder where the Lord is taking you on your writing journey? Maybe you’ve received some rejections and it stings, or maybe you can’t find as much time to work on your novel and it’s frustrating.

God has a plan for you. You can have vision like the thief on the cross. Trust Him, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings to be in charge of every word you pen.

“We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:41

Dear Lord, No matter where my life leads, I want to follow You, to honor You, to trust You. Though You’ve never done wrong, You took my punishment. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

A Prayer

Lord, You descended from Your lofty, rightful place in Heaven to come to me, where I dwell. Though You are Elohim, the Creator of heaven and earth, you bowed in holy humility to wash our feet. You showed us how to love one another. Like Peter, I say “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Thank You for declaring me clean. I deserve nothing yet You gave me everything—eternal life with You. If I could walk for only one minute in pure humility and love that You demonstrated by Your life, I’d rejoice. Thank You for making me Your child.  

How Do You Define Love?

I am a novelist and write contemporary romance and romantic suspense in the CBA market—Christian Booksellers Association. The heroine’s pulse hammers in her chest when the hero gazes at her with his piercing dark eyes. She’s loved and protected when he holds her in his muscular arms. The hero is captivated by her lovely shape and warm lips. Yes, we love to read about young love.

But this kind of love doesn’t last forever. As the years go by, our bodies age, skin becomes saggy, and glasses cover those attractive eyes. Is that the end of love? By no means. In a way, it’s the beginning.

Love, true love as defined by the Bible, is very different. A Biblical relationship would involve treating our spouses with kindness and patience. We think more of the other person than ourselves.

Recently, I pulled my back out on top of a broken tailbone and arthritis in my hips. I looked a mess with my old ratty bathrobe and hair in disarray. Though my husband was sick with a respiratory infection, he offered to give me a massage. Now that’s an example of the definition of love.

Love desires the best for another and easily forgives wrongs committed against them. Love trusts, hopes, and never gives up.

Everyone Worries

What? You worry about things, too?

Everyone worries—whether it’s a young person leaving home for the first time, parents raising their children, professionals building their careers, the elderly concerned about health—you get the idea. I’m pretty sure writers are in there somewhere.  

Questions continually plague me. Maybe my manuscript is lacking and my hero is unsympathetic. How do I fix him? Do I rewrite the whole book? It took me nine months just to write it the first time. Will that agent like my proposal? If not, what will I do next? Sometimes I feel like telling my computer good-bye and never turning it on again. Worry? You bet I do.

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” Matthew 6: 25. God says not to worry. Huh? Does He really mean that?

Lord, could You be telling me not worry about what I will write, or how I will create scenes that bless my readers? “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6: 27.

I get it. But how do I go about not fretting over my manuscript?

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” Okay, seek Him first. Once again, how do I accomplish that?

I believe the answer is trust God moment by moment to achieve His perfect will whether you are writing or doing something else. Pray and tell Him you are helpless without His strength and wisdom. Tell Him you want to live daily for His glory and ask Him for the ability to do it.

“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered, when you run, you will not stumble. Proverbs 4: 11-12.

If I free my mind from worry, I have more room to hear from Him and more energy to do the things God’s appointed me to do.

Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Psalms 34:10.

Dear Lord. I know that I cannot add one day to my life by worrying. Help me to trust in You night and day with everything in my life. Amen.

What Do You Treasure

What happens when we lose something so valuable, we grieve over it. Something material which can never be replaced? I pray we may say with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”

My husband and I lived in Germany for three years while he served in the army. I bought a gold charm in each of the memorable places we visited as well as a solid gold bracelet. A double-decker bus in London, the Parthenon from Athens, a beer stein from Germany. Other charms were from Denmark, Austria, Norway, and Italy. Then I attached some other special keepsakes such as my sorority pin from college and a medallion my stepfather gave me when he retired.

I treasured my bracelet, not for the monetary value it held, but for the sentimental worth. Each charm had special meaning. We returned to the States, and I began my teaching job. One day when I came home from work, I made a shocking, no, devastating discovery. Our home had been robbed. Probably some druggie trying to feed his habit. Yes, you guessed it, my solid gold charm bracelet was gone forever. Along with a lot of other valuables as well.

To top it all off, my husband was back in Europe on another tour of duty and couldn’t even be there to comfort me. I grieved for my bracelet when it dawned on me how much I’d lost. Every little shop I’d frequented to find that perfect, unique charm. I’d been violated. Someone had broken into my home and taken something I valued—that belonged to me. Finally, I had to try to resolve it all in my heart. As usual, God provided His word.

A Christian janitor who kept the school where I taught spick and span came to me one day with a piece of paper in his hand. In his masculine scrawl he’d written: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6: 19-21.

His note was the reminder I needed to move on. Though that happened years ago, I’ll always remember how the light of God’s word lifted me out of the regret of losing my bracelet. Nothing on this earth is more valuable than the Lord and His word. And no one can take that away from us.

“Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.'” Matthew 19:21

Dear Lord, earthly treasure pales in Your light. Thank you that nothing can separate us from You and Your love. Amen.

I Can Explain about Sunday Communion Part 3

While visiting Destin, Florida, in our RV, we attended an amazing church – Village Baptist. That Sunday happened to be communion Sunday which we gladly participated in. In fact, the pastor made it clear that one didn’t have to belong to the church to take communion, only to have professed Jesus Christ as Savior, which we both have.

As usual these days, communion was served in the little cups which the church goer is required to peel twice, once for the bread and then again for the juice. Since we’ve had quite a struggle in the past getting the little containers open, Joe decided to open them at the first of the service so we’d be prepared.

But then, where to place the cups during the service? Joe chose to put his on the floor, and I stuck mine in my purse. Thankfully, he’d only peeled the paper from the bread and not the juice or the interior of my purse would’ve been red if it had tipped over.

I know this method of receiving communion came about because of Covid, but I’ll be glad when we go back to the way we used to receive the Lord’s supper. Then I remind myself. It’s not whether Joe attacks the cups with his knife, or if I spill the juice on my white pants. It’s what’s in my heart and the purpose of the ritual. Each time we take communion in church, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

June’s communion cup tucked away in her purse

I Can Explain

I Can Explain How I Almost Didn’t Make my Flight to El Paso

I have to confess; technology has left me behind. For a while there, I thought I was pretty knowledgeable because I knew where to turn on a computer, how to use Microsoft Word, and how to operate my cell phone. But no, I found that there was much more I needed to conquer—like checking in at the airport as I prepared to fly to El Paso for a class reunion.

I tapped my name and flight number onto the screen, and the machine spit out a long piece of paper. I figured the papers were the tags for my bags. I pulled the sticky part off but then saw red words that said, “Do not peel this side of the tape.” Too late.

I rolled my bags into the Birmingham Airport and looked for the check-in line. The man behind me caught my attention and told me I was in the self-check-in line, and he pointed to a large machine in front of me. No problem. I could do this.

A clerk at the desk beyond rolled her eyes and beckoned me forward. She attached another paper around my bags and placed my luggage on the rolling carousel. Okay, but what was I to do with the excess long strips of papers? I figured I’d better keep them, so I stuck them in my purse.

When I got to my gate, I looked at the strips again. Where was my boarding pass? I didn’t have one. Finally, a friendly clerk issued my boarding passes and explained that I should’ve punched another button on the big self-check-in machine to get them. I’m grateful for helpful clerks. Otherwise, I may have missed the flight.

Sharing about my books at my highschool reunion Selfies after visiting the Sistene Chapel exhibit with Kelly and Nicole