Everyone suffers.
You may be suffering right now, or you have recently suffered, or you may soon suffer. But for a child of God, suffering is NEVER punishment!
Jesus took our punishment to the cross!
Read MoreJust as a sunset brings closure to a day, so this meditation brings closure to our “Beach Series” for another year. May you be blessed as you reflect along with us — another selection from our soon to be published book of meditations, Glory in Disguise: Seeing god in our Every Day.
I was walking one morning on the beach at sunrise, taking in the glory of the vastness of the Ocean (my favorite metaphor for God) and the littleness of me.
All of a sudden, I stopped dead in my tracks…Wait! I had just walked this way a few minutes ago.
Read MoreHi Friends, we have returned from our wonderful family time at the Jersey shore, my happy place. As many of you know, my favorite thing about the shore is walking early in the morning at sunrise.
So here are some current photos from our “down the shore” trip, along with another meditation from our upcoming book: Glory in Disguise: Seeing God in Our Every Day.
I pray you see Him afresh as you read and reflect.
Read MoreFrom my very first year of blogging and just about every year since (sometimes several times in a year) … I’ve been blogging my journeys to my “happy place”…the Jersey Shore.
This blogpost is a trip into yesteryear — one of my early Jersey shore blogs, Aug 2016.
And actually today, we are again on our way to that favorite place on earth for me. It’s not just the ocean that calls me. It’s my roots — the precious loved ones (family and friends) and memories of my growing up years. So off we go for another adventure…
Read MoreWe live under the illusion that a mature person is supposed to be enough to do life on this earth. And then the longer we live, we begin to realize that we are not enough. Life on this fallen planet is too much for us, no matter how mature we are … or self-sufficient.
Read More… I love Linda’s comment, “So glad this isn’t telling me I am enough! I am not, but He is!”
I had to say AMEN.
We both hate the lie that is being propagated that “You are enough.” Nobody seemed to be saying the truth. But then I remembered the book I saw at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.
Read MoreFor years this hymn has been my go to song…from the time I was “in the convent” back in the late 1960’s to this very day no matter my Christian context. And recently it has been my morning song as I awaken the dawn walking in my area — even as the darkness is departing and my neighborhood owl is singing out the final hoo-hoo of his “day.”
And so I sing…even aloud…despite the high school young people passing me by on their way to the bus stop, wondering about this weird, white haired woman softly singing. I love the focus. I love the plaintive melody. I love my indwelling God who draws me toward thoughts of HIM Alone. And I love the story behind the song…
Read More God often speaks to my just awaking soul.
Today, I woke up with an interesting Holy Spirit “version” of a favorite verse (see Galatians 2:20 KJV):
I dance, yet not I, Christ dances in and with me.
Today He was reminding me of my favorite metaphor for walking in the Spirit, living from the indwelling Christ…the imagery of the dance.
Read MoreThen she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her,
“You are a God who sees me” [El Roi]
for she said, “Have I even seen Him here and lived after He saw me?”
Genesis 16:13 NASB
Have you ever been “ghosted”? Made to feel invisible, not important, on the outside looking in?
Read More… all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
When we sang these words of praise this morning in worship, it took my breath away. In an instant, my life flashed by my soul with a profound sense of gratitude….
Read MoreNo longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15 ESV
One day, I had this conversation with my Friend:
ME: Yes, Lord. We are friends ... we go way back, don't we?
Read MoreHere at A Branch in the Vine, we are proclaiming our Declaration of Dependence! We are celebrating that every day is Dependence Day for those of us who "live from the life of Another."
Read MoreThank you, dear readers, for following along with us through these beautiful blessings and benedictions. We have only scratched the surface of the treasury of scripture blessings.
I would like to end our series with a benediction hymn that leaves me speechless… truly. I feel I must lay flat on my face before our Almighty, Glorious God. The hymn is Immortal, Invisible by William Chalmer Smith. We rarely sing this hymn these days. But we did sing it in our church just a few weeks ago. I was transported to “the Throne.”
Read MoreMany of us have “lost” families for various reasons. Maybe through death, geography, dysfunction, neglect, … ? But I love God’s promise that we never need to be family-less.
God places the lonely in families … Psalm 68:6a NLT
Read MoreThe Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord cause His face to shine on you, …
God loves families. He has placed each of us in our family at our birth. If we are adopted or marry, we gain another family. And so, we belong to each other.
God blesses families. Our human family is a picture of the family of God. In His family, we belong to each other, and we need each other.
This was especially true during the recent worldwide pandemic. During the quarantine, we were amazed how people across the miles connected with one another in many ways. We needed to “be together.”
Read MoreSunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days ...
So goes the beautiful wedding song from the movie, Fiddler on the Roof. And so go our days, don’t they? One day follows another – sunrise, sunset.
And so has followed the days of our Gulf Shores family vacation — from early morning sunrises together to all of a sudden a final sunset.
We are vacationing this week at Gulf Shores, Alabama. Our kids and grandkids have joined us at a beautiful, fun place along the coast.
Those of you who have followed A Branch in the Vine over the years know that I have a “thing” about sunrises…
Read MoreAging is hard. When we are young, aged people are often “invisible.” Life is so busy for parents of growing families, adults who are building careers, even middle aged people who are young enough to travel and serve. They all have “big, busy lives.”
As we get older, our lives can get smaller. Our capacity shrinks and much of our time, attention, and energies are absorbed by health issues. Life gets hard and can feel hopeless.
Read MoreMy husband John and I are currently on a long car trip. In the midst of it, we find ourselves heading to a beloved place — Tucson, Arizona. John is an Arizona “native son,” and Tucson is the home of our Alma Mater, the University of Arizona (Go! Wildcats!). Also back in the 1950’s, Tucson was my family home. So Tucson truly is special to us.
Read MoreJanet Renner Loyd has been a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ most of her life. Her formal education includes a degree in education from the University of Arizona and also a degree in Bible & Theology from Moody Bible Institute. For more than thirty years, she has been involved in teaching and leading women’s Bible studies, retreats, and meetings…most notably Precept upon Precept and various studies that she has personally developed. Professionally, Jan recently retired from teaching language and writing to GED and adult ESOL students.
About her life, Jan says, “The most important thing about me is my relationship with my Father God through my Lord Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful to Him for His love, mercy, and grace to me and my family and friends...and the world.”
Jan has been happily married to John Loyd for more than forty years. They have two adult, married children and five lively young grandsons.
