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).


Saturday, May 18, 2019

3 Reasons Patience is a Positive Experience


by Barbara Latta
Fruit of the Spirit Series – Patience

3 reasons patience is a positive experience.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV).

You can read previous posts in this series here: love, joy, peace

As you can see in the verse above the New King James Version lists longsuffering as a fruit of the Spirit. This is also translated as patience in other versions. We don’t like to think of being patient when we want something, but to call it longsuffering makes it worse.

Why should we want to suffer at all and especially long? No way!

But when we look at the correct meaning of the word, we can get a better picture of what God is telling us.

“Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (Colossians 1:11 NKJV).

Scriptural patience is defined in Strong’s Concordance as, “forbearance or fortitude.” This gives us a different picture of waiting.

Patience is simply staying firm and steadfast in our faith without changing what we believe until our answer from God comes.

We can have joyful expectancy
When a woman is pregnant, she must wait for the baby to arrive at the perfect time. If the child was born too early, it would be dangerous and the infant might not survive. The process of growing brings the product of waiting to the perfect culmination. Even when the pregnancy is not evident to all, the mother knows the process has begun. She wants to hold and see this baby, but she knows she isn’t going to do it now. There is joyful expectancy because the outcome is known even though it is not in her possession yet. Yes, there are some uncomfortable moments. There is longsuffering with joy, but it is minimal compared to the gift she will behold.

We can have joyful expectancy when waiting for promises of God to be fulfilled in our lives the same way. Our waiting can be a positive experience rather than the painful image we have of longsuffering.

3 reasons patience is a positive experience

  • Patience shows we trust God: When we don’t see the answers to our prayers immediately, we sometimes question God. When we pray according to God’s will He is working, but we don’t always know what is going on behind the scenes in the spiritual world. God brings things into our lives through other people. When they don’t respond to His direction, what we wanted may be delayed. He may have to work in the hearts of someone else to accomplish His answer to us. All this time we are waiting and wondering where our answer is. But when we hold on to the Word of God, He will come through because He does not lie. (Jeremiah 29:11)
  • Patience is an example to others: When someone isn’t treating us right, our restraint against them can be an example of the way God wants them to be treated. Showing patience with them can be an example of God’s character. (1 Thessalonians 5:14)
  • Patience builds our faith: When we are experiencing a trial and waiting for an answer to prayer or the culmination of a seed we planted to sprout, we can look back at previous times in our lives where God has always fulfilled His promise. We can see that an answer did come, and it will materialize this time, too. (Galatians 6:9) 

When we pray, the answer to our problems is in the development stage the same way the unborn baby
is. All the solutions God has must come to fruition before they can be born. We can have joyful expectancy while waiting for the birth of our answers if we will see it from God’s perspective. We ask, believe, meditate on His word, and know He hears us (I John 5:14).

His glorious power gives us the ability to know our answer will be born at the right time.

What does patience mean to you? Share your thoughts.






Saturday, May 11, 2019

The Love of a Mother's Hands - Mother's Day 2019


by Barbara Latta

Mother's work tirelessly to care for their children. Washing, feeding, hugging and investigating, these hands are never idle. When we become mothers, we realize what our mothers did for us. This is a tribute to my mother and mothers everywhere.

The Love of a Mother's Hands


Loving hands held me when I was small, cuddled and fed me, and tucked me in at night.
Hands would pick me up when I would fall, soothe the hurt, and wipe away the tears.
Hands would feel my head when I had a fever and dispense bad tasting medicine with a spoon.
Those hands would be there all night in case the fever returned.

Hands would cook good food each day and wave a finger if I didn’t eat.
“What about all those starving children in the world?”
Hands would clean and scrub each day 
making our home sparkle and shine.

Hands would work at the sewing machine for hours, making clothes for me and even my dolls.
Hands would hold mine when I was afraid, pack my lunch, and wave good-bye when I went to school.
Those same hands would spank me when I was bad, but it was for my own good. It kept me from being bad again.

Hands would work hard to plant flowers, and then I would bring them in for a vase.
Those same hands just let me think that was okay.
Hands endured a pet turtle in my room and helped clean out the bowl, but those hands made the puppy stay outside.

Hands taught me to peel potatoes, to sew a stitch, and wash a dish.
They held the book while it was read and pointed to words I could learn.

Those hands grew older, moved slower and were sometimes swollen and filled with pain.
The wisdom of those hands held my babies and caressed their faces.
Those hands taught me to love.

My mother's wrinkled hands were laid to rest in death's repose
But are now raised to life to hold God's hand.
And those hands regenerated with youth
will welcome me when I pass through heaven's gates.

I will hold her hand again. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Please feel free to share a tribute to your mother here.


Saturday, May 4, 2019

Why Do Some People Reap Results From God's Word and Some Reap Little or Nothing?


by Barbara Latta

A trip to Home Depot had my gardening juices salivating at all the choices of beautiful plants I
wanted to get my hands into. I had a list of what I wanted because I knew what would happen if I went into the garden center without one. And I still picked up a couple of things that were not on my list simply because they were too beautiful to resist.

I had my muscle with me so after arriving back at home, my husband was the hole digger. I supervised, of course, and placed the plants where I wanted them to grow. To ensure healthy growth and beautiful blooms, we added topsoil and fertilizer to those in the yard and used specialty soil for the plants that grow in containers. I couldn’t expect to have an abundant harvest of flowers if all I did was stick them into the hard Georgia clay we are blessed with.

And wa-la, because of the good soil we used, we will have beauty to enjoy all summer long.

We can learn a lesson from planting experiences in reference to our relationship with God. Why do some people reap results from God’s Word and some reap little or nothing?

Jesus told a parable in Mark 4 relating how God’s Word is a seed we plant into our hearts. The difference in growth is the soil, not the seed. The seed is the same because the Word never changes, but some people see different results because of the condition of their heart when the Word is heard.

The types of heart ground Jesus talked about are:

Apathetic Heart: Some seed fell beside the road and birds came and ate them. These are like those who hear a message, but are not interested or don’t care. Satan can steal the word from their hearts before it has a chance to be understood.
Rootless Heart: The next seed fell on rocks without much soil, a plant grew quickly but because it had no depth the sun scorched it because there was no strong root. The Word can be received by these people and they are happy with the message they hear, but after temptation or trouble comes they give up because they have no deep roots in the Word and there is nothing to hold them up.
Distracted Heart: The seed that fell into thorns was choked up and didn’t yield a harvest. This group of people puts more emphasis on their problems and the desire for things than listening to the Word of God so the seed has no chance to grow in their lives.
Fertile Heart: The last seed fell into good soil and grew a large, abundant crop. These are the ones who spend time in the Word listening to God and praying so the seed of the Word produces results in their lives and every need is met.
This begonia was too beautiful to resist.

All of us who have been believers for any length of time have probably been in each of these groups at one time or another. The important lesson we learn from this parable is what Jesus said after sharing this story with his disciples:

And He was saying to the, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him (Mark 4:24-25 NASB).

We can learn from planting season as we watch seeds grow in gardens. Our heart is God’s garden and it is our responsibility to prepare the soil for the seed to be planted in so we can reap the harvest of understanding and living in God’s Word.

What are some ways you plant God’s Word as seeds? Share your thoughts and ideas.