God's Roadmap

Now may the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, who loved us and in his wonderful grace gave us eternal comfort and a beautiful hope that cannot fail, encourage your hearts and inspire you with strength to always do and speak what is good and beautiful in his eyes (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 TPT).


Sunday, May 28, 2017

Remembering Forgotten Heroes

by Barbara Latta


Many heroes have given their lives for others.
Heroes saved many lives during all the wars and conflicts fought during the life of the United States. So many lie unknown, but their acts of valor preserved freedom and the life of their comrades.

One of the unknown stories is of Airman 1st Class William H. Pitsenbarger, an Air Force Para rescue and medical specialist from Piqua, Ohio who served during the Vietnam War. On April 11, 1966, Pitsenbarger, known as Pit to his comrades, left the safety of a helicopter to descend into a jungle under intense fire to treat and care for wounded Army soldiers of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division. After landing, Pitsenbarger ministered first aid to those he could find and dragged men behind trees and logs to get them out of the line of fire. He placed those who could be evacuated into wire baskets while others were ducking for cover. He refused to be evacuated himself several times. For two hours he crawled through dense jungle looking for wounded.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Using Faith and Spiritual Authority to Speak to the Mountain

by Barbara Latta

Have you ever lost something valuable and felt that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realized the item was gone?

I recently looked through my jewelry and discovered one of the blue diamond studs my
Faith restored a lost item.
husband had given me was missing. I searched all over the floor, under the dresser, under the bed and even went through the dust in the vacuum cleaner in case I had sucked it up. No earring. I totally emptied the entire jewelry box and ran my hands inside in case the earring was stuck in some of the seams. I still did not find it.

My heart sank. I kept telling myself it was just a “thing” and yes it wasn’t a matter of life’s importance, but because my husband had given the earrings to me they had special meaning. I also wasn’t thrilled about losing something of value.

The Bible says in Mark 11:23-24, “Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them. Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours (Berean Study Bible).

I decided to do what the Bible said and took command of my situation and said, “I am standing in faith believing I am finding that earring. I call it to come back to me the way Jesus said to take authority over our mountain.”

I then stopped thinking about the loss and a couple of weeks went by. One morning I opened the jewelry bag and that blue earring was lying on top of the earring section. I know most people would say it was there all along, but I had scoured the entire container and the surrounding area when it was lost and the jewel was not there. My prayer was answered and I received a miracle.

I can identify with the woman who found her lost coin and the joy she felt when she spied
Our faith takes the message of the cross to the world.
her find (Luke 15:8-10).

How much more valuable a lost soul is to God. Heaven rejoices when a person comes to Christ and hell loses a citizen.  Our calling as believers is to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We may not individually be going to foreign countries, but we can support those who do and also expand God’s kingdom in our own world—which is our neighborhood, to places we go and to people we meet.

Finding the lost requires our faith whether it is an item, or more importantly a lost person. Without faith we have no message to share because our belief in a risen Savior doesn’t make sense to the world. The reason we believe can shine from our life because we have used our faith.

Share some examples of how you have used your faith.


Sunday, May 14, 2017

The Challenges of Raising the Son of God

by Barbara Latta

The most miraculous birth was in Bethlehem.
Stories of mothers are woven throughout the Bible. Divine intervention delivered many babies from previously barren mothers. Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel all had children after all hope had been given up. Hannah prayed for a son and God intervened. Ruth married a man the population said would never want her because she was a foreigner but her son was the great grandfather of King David. But the most miraculous birth of all time took place in Bethlehem because a virgin conceived when the Holy Spirit came upon her and chose her to bear the Son of God.

What a responsibility to be laid upon young shoulders. Can’t you see her having to bite her tongue when neighborhood mothers were bragging on their children and she so desperately wanted to 
say, “Hey, mine is the Messiah?”  And how did the other children of Joseph and Mary react when they heard slurs cast against their parents about the birth of the firstborn?

If Mary had kept a journal, is this what she would write?

Sunday, May 7, 2017

How to Prepare for a Natural Disaster

by Barbara Latta

I posted this information several months ago, but with the advent of hurricane season and
Several people were killed by tornadoes last week.
recent disastrous weather events, we all need a reminder of stay ready for emergencies.

Tornadoes in Texas killed several people and caused widespread damage to property. Flooding in several states, including my home town in Arkansas, abounded last week. Most of the time we do not think about the possibility of evacuation, but a few tips and preparedness can save us a lot of heartache if we will plan ahead.

In the event of a disaster that does not require leaving the home, living for days or weeks without electricity can be a possibility. Pre-planning can avoid scarcity and empty shelves. If homes do not have electrical power, neither will the stores, banks, ATM’s or gas stations.

The following steps can be a start in the preparation process: