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As I have been praying for this week..not knowing what to pray for, what to hope for, what words to write, I am given God’s words in Isaiah
“I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.”-Isaiah 43:11
Can me mediate on this? Can we remember He goes before Wednesday and after Wednesday? Can we remember what He has done for us? Is doing? And will do? Amen.
-Annie ... See MoreSee Less
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The great I AM: My God, my Lord, my Savior, my Friend!
Praise the Lord
Amen!
God is good!
“Jeremiah received the LORD's word: Go down to the potter's house, and I'll give you instructions about what to do there. So I went down to the potter's house; he was working on the potter's wheel. But the piece he was making was flawed while still in his hands, so the potter started on another, as seemed best to him.” Jeremiah 18:1-9
I can just picture this story. Jeremiah is sitting in his living room, having a conversation with God. God tells him to go down the hill to the local potter’s house, and wait for the Lord. Jeremiah reluctantly gets off his couch and starts to gingerly walk down the path to the potter’s house. It’s a small path of stone and dirt, it’s on a slight incline. He thinks, ‘what does this potter have anything to do with this situation?’ He stands in the doorway, leaned up against the door frame with his arms and legs crossed…waiting… reluctantly.
He stands there, unnoticed by the potter. He observes the potter working intently at his wheel. He is an older man, his hair is grey, his hands beginning to show wear from the years of working with them. He is hunched over the wheel. The potter does not see him, he is focused on making the piece at hand. He completes his work, inspects it carefully, holding it up close to his eyes and uses the light through the window to see it closely. The potter gets frustrated because there is a flaw in the curve of the pot he is making. So he lets out a big sigh, discards the clay pot into the pile…breaking it into several pieces, never to think of it again.
He instantly sets out to start a new piece…hoping it will be the perfect piece made. This scene is unassuming and ordinary to Jeremiah, he kind of rolls his eyes and is waiting for God to give him instruction as He promised. The potter continues to be hunched over his potter’s wheel, intently working on the next piece. Jeremiah is somewhat bored waiting for the Lord. He then hears a familiar voice. Jeremiah hears the word of the Lord; “House of Israel, can't I deal with you like this potter, declares the LORD? Like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in mine, house of Israel! At any time, I may announce that I will dig up, pull down, and destroy a nation or kingdom; but if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I'll relent and not carry out the harm I intended for it. At the same time, I may announce that I will build and plant a nation or kingdom;”
Jeremiah instantly swallows hard and doubles over as if he had a gut punch. He is immediately convicted by the Lord. He immediately realizes that we are ALL flawed and despite that, He decides to save us. Unlike the potter who makes, judges, and throws away flawed pottery. He saves us, uses us, redeems us, DESPITE us. Praise be to God that He will use a flawed piece like you and me and call us into His fold!
John 1:16 comes to mind: for from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
Praise the Lord for not throwing me away even though I am full of flaws! There is nothing that I did to deserve to be called into His fold, it is from His grace that I am called. Can we all call out:
But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.-Isaiah 64:8
If you need prayer, please message us.
-Annie Powell
On His Path ... See MoreSee Less
Love this Annie
Very good
This is what it’s all about and what truly brings us joy! In the words of our Lord Jesus, he himself said”it is more blessed to give than to receive.” ... See MoreSee Less
Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
I am not sure what “times” you have been in this past year, but I know for CERTAIN that this Christmas season we are in a time to rejoice and celebrate. Even if it has not been a “good” year, this season…right now… is to be celebrated. I know, that can be hard. I can imagine myself taking you by the hand to show you how we can celebrate. We can peer into the cradle. We can see what God has done for us. We can celebrate that our salvation has come through a baby, wrapped in unassuming clothing, laying in an animal barn. He was promised to come and all of Israel was waiting for Him. He is the best gift, worthy of celebration! This moment.. right here..is what scripture in the old testament spoke about.
Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. -Isaiah 7:14
Do you see that? The scriptures are talking about Mary! They are also talking about Jesus being referred as Immanuel…God with us. God came as a man to rescue us.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.-Jeremiah 23:5-6
Jeremiah is talking about the Messiah coming from the lineage of Jesse and that is exactly where Jesus came from.
And then, when Jesus was born, there was an angel that appeared before the shepherds.
‘And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”’ -Luke 2:10-14
The angel was bringing the good news that their savior was born. This is full circle from where we began, peering into the manger looking at a baby in cloths. And the best news is for ALL people. That means for you and for me!
But, do you see what the heavenly host of angels say? I don’t want anyone to miss this part:
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”-Luke 2:14
They praise God (Glory to God in the highest) but then they go on to say “and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Peace? I want that! Whom he is pleased? What does that mean? The peace of salvation that comes through Jesus Christ will come to those who faithfully accept Jesus as their savior. God can not be pleased with anyone who is not reconciled to Him. Because God is so Holy and we are sinful, the only way that we can be reconciled to him is through Jesus. There is no other way.
I love illustration of this scripture in Malachi 4:2
“ But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.”
I know 2020 has been rough. It has been rough for you and for me. But, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ as your savior, you can go LEAPING around because you have received healing from your King. So, no matter what “time” you are in, we can all take a moment and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our King.
If you are uncertain about this or have questions, please message us. We do not want you to miss this free gift of salvation this Christmas season.
-Annie Powell
On His Path ... See MoreSee Less
Good news it is
Praise God
Amen! Great job Annie!
We are in good company when it comes to waiting. There are examples of waiting throughout all scripture. From the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament; there was waiting. We know the Israelites were waiting for the coming Messiah to come and rule faithfully over them. In their waiting, they would have been studying scripture like this:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.-Isaiah 9:6
I am sure they were looking for this child, waiting for it to be born.
There was anticipation and longing for this to happen…they waited over 400 years. Because God rescued them from Egypt, they knew God would send them the promised Messiah.
Not only as a whole, did the Israelites wait in anticipation…there are mentions of many individuals that were waiting and anticipating the coming king.
Mary waited to see the Savior be born through her as the angel of the Lord said to her AND the profit Isaiah spoke of this in the Old Testament. Could you imagine how long THAT 40 weeks would have seemed?!?!
“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:31:33
“ Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”-Isaiah 7:14
Anna waited at the temple worshiping with fasting and prayer until she was 84. She was anticipating redemption of Jerusalem. She praised God when Simeon acknowledged that God’s salvation (Jesus) had come.
Like the Israelites waiting for the Messiah, we are now waiting for Jesus Christ to come back. The year 2020 is a reminder of what we are truly waiting for. I can now understand what Paul meant when he wrote this in Romans:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”-Romans 8:18-19
We can look forward to the glory that is coming despite the trouble we have seen this year. The next time you find yourself waiting, remember what we are truly waiting for; we are waiting for the time when Jesus comes back. And He is Coming back!
If you need prayer or would like to talk more about God’s redemptive plan of Salvation, please message us.
-Annie Powell
On His Path ... See MoreSee Less
Amazing. Such a wonderful message for our time. You are a great writer Annie
Come Lord Jesus, come!!!
Amen ❤
Amen! Waiting for the Lord 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
One of my friends was recently Baptized with water in front of our church. The water trough, that he was baptized in, was nothing special. In fact, it was bought at a local farm store (by the way I did say trough…as in animal trough…I love our church!). The water was nothing special…it was filled with tap water…just like what I get from my kitchen sink. Thankfully it was heated!
After his public proclamation, a group of us gathered around him, and prayed for him. I prayed that he was a pickle and not a cucumber. Instantly, I could hear some snickers. I don’t blame them. It is a weird thing to pray, I know. Sometimes I am weird. I am ok with that.
You see, all pickles were once a cucumber, but not all cucumbers are pickles. Once you are a pickle, you physically cannot become a cucumber again: the cucumber has been permanently changed into a pickle. All believers were once unbelievers. You are not born a believer, you become a believer in Christ. A believer is a pickle, that was once a cucumber. Once a believer knows that Jesus Christ is the Son of God AND accepts Him as their savior, they cannot change back to who they were before they knew that information. It’s not possible. So that is why I prayed he was a pickle!
The word “baptize” comes from the Greek verbs “Bapto” and “Baptizo”. Both have similar meanings…but are still very distinctive. The word Bapto means to clean by dipping. An example of this word is often illustrated through the pickle making process. Bapto is the first process of dipping a cucumber in a water bath to clean it. Getting it ready to become a pickle.
Baptizo is an intensive form of the verb Bapto, meaning a permanent change. I love the thought of an intensive cleaning that creates a permanent change. It seems as though it would be a cleaning from the inside out. Baptizo means to overwhelming immerse; to change the property of the object. Baptizo is a verb that means to dip into changing property (such as the vinegar solution when making pickles). The vinegar will change the property of the cucumber and it will be a pickle, not being able to be changed back to a cucumber. When you accept Christ into your heart as your Savior, this is the change that happens. When you immerse a cucumber in the water, it will just make the cucumber soggy and it will still taste like a cucumber.
This reminds me of when Jesus said this in Luke 11:39;
‘And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.’
The Pharisees have only been dipped in water, not changed through vinegar.
When John the Baptist was preaching repentance in Matthew 3:1-3. He was preparing them for the word of our Lord…he was cleaning them in order that they could be pickled!
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ “-Matthew 3:1-3
Have you been changed into a pickle? I am confident that I have. The day that I heard the good new of Jesus Christ, I was instantly changed. When I heard that all of us are sinners and there is nothing, I can do, to earn my way into God’s Holy relationship; I listened. When I understood the only way that I could have a relationship with Him is through accepting Jesus Christ as the payment for my sins, I was changed. I was pickled.
Are you a cucumber? Are you a pickle? If you have questions about your salvation or need prayer please message us.
-Annie Powell
On His Path ... See MoreSee Less
Education was pretty important to him. He used to help me and my sisters with our math homework. I understood standard math, but when it got into solving a problem with a scientific calculator…you can count me out! My dad was VERY patient with me. Sitting down, showing me the problem, solving the problem by hand, encouraging me to follow the same steps. I just couldn’t get it. And sometimes, I just didn’t want to get it…I just wanted the answer.
Math is constant, true, with only one correct answer to the problem. Math seems very tidy, neat, and predictable. But have you ever noticed how different God’s math is? It’s like teaching us the new math, or common core math, or whatever you call that stuff our kids are bringing home to us. It just doesn’t add up!
Let me give you a few examples from scripture:
In 2Kings 4:1-7 Elisha runs into a woman who lost her husband. Her husband had a large debt that needed to be settled. The only way to settle it was to sell her sons. God showed her another solution:
1 jar of oil + X amount of empty jars of oil=Enough to get out of debt + live the rest of her life with support
It doesn’t make sense. But it is true. It happened.
Or how about these:
5 loaves + 2 fish=5000 people fed + 12 baskets left over
7 loaves+ a few fish=4000 people fed + 7 baskets left over
Again, doesn’t make sense. It drove the disciples crazy trying to figure this one out. In fact, God had to show them the concept of this equation TWICE!
This is the equation that we all can get tripped up on today:
Me and my relationship with God
We want it to look like this Me=God. But it can’t. We are unable to have a relationship with God in this equation. We think we can solve this and have a relationship with Him…but we cannot. He is too Holy and we are too sinful for this equation to work. The only possible solution is Me + Jesus=God. We need Jesus’s atonement for our sins to make our relationship justified with God.
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”-Romans 3:21-26
Do you have a story of God’s unbelievable math? Are you adding Jesus to the equation? If you need prayer today or would like to talk about why Jesus is important in your equation, please message us.
-Annie Powell
On His Path ... See MoreSee Less
Excellent illustration of the way God works.
Scarves and wallets, from the sewing rescue mission in India, will help fund more rescues and training for those that have been enslaved in sex trafficking.
Winter scarves from Uganda, will help to continue to train the poor and disabled in Uganda with a self-sustaining skill such as tailoring, welding, carpentry, and electrical training.
Buying an Action Bible will help fund Bibles for a jail ministry in Muscatine, IA.
There is a silent auction for paintings from India, Haiti, Uganda, and the USA.
Stop in. Shop. Have a cookie. Join us in prayer for these missionaries.
When: Thursday, December 3rd, 5:00-8:00PM
Where: On His Path - 120 South Main, Suite 103, Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641 ... See MoreSee Less
Susana Ramos Làzaro gracias!!!
DIOS bendiga grandemente y los prospere en todo, para su gloria. 🙏🙏🙏

#GivingTuesday
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38 ... See MoreSee Less
Great work
Thank you Jesus
They are really beautiful
Are you open tomorrow?
Are you guys there Wednesday?
Love this!! 💗
Those that like to bake seem to be rule followers…they follow a recipe to the tee. Measuring carefully, rounding the baking soda, using their measuring cups. It is a careful balance to create the perfect science project that can be predicable and be achieved over and over again.
Those that like to cook (like me) kind of make their own rules up and cook through feelings and dependent on what ingredients are on hand. I have lost my measuring cups over the years and do not have a complete set. I add this and that this time to the meal and maybe next time I switch it up. I generally know what direction I am heading, but not the specific path to get that meal on the table. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.
And those that just eat the food are just really living the good life, aren’t they?!?!
I wouldn’t say that I am a super healthy when it comes to cooking. However, I am conscious about certain things…such as adding salt to a recipe. If a recipe calls for salt, I tend to ignore it and move on. Until one day, when I was actually making chocolate chip cookies. I hardly ever bake, but this girl LOVES chocolate chip cookies! Every other time I have made chocolate chip cookies, I skip right over putting the salt in the dough. But one day, I was curious to why someone would put salt into cookies. So, I did what any other curious person would do: I googled it!
I can’t remember what article it was, but it explained that just the right amount of salt brings out the goodness in the other ingredients. So, this means the sweetness of the sugar becomes sweeter. The buttery goodness of the butter becomes MORE buttery goodness, the chocolate flavor becomes more chocolaty! You get the picture. Salt is like the enhancer of the of all the other ingredients. It’s like the super force for all recipes, only needing a tiny bit to add the certain pzazz that the recipe calls for. Ok, maybe a little over dramatic…but I want you to understand how excited I am about salt now!
I never understood the scripture in Colossians 4:6 until I reflected on the use of salt. Colossians 4:6 says “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” I always thought that the “your” in this scripture was to be the emphases; putting me smack dab in the middle as the important part of a conversation. But really the emphasis is on how your words encourage others to be followers of Christ. Salt is not the ingredient to be enhanced in a recipe, it is used to enhance OTHER ingredients. We are to speak to enhance the characteristics of others. When we are speaking, are we encouraging to others? Are we trying to bring out the best in others so that we can encourage them in their walk with Jesus?
I came to this conclusion because throughout the new testament, there are accounts of Paul encouraging others in the ministry. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” And Romans 14:19 says “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”
So, the next time you add salt to your food, would you think about how you are encouraging others? I know I will. If you need prayer please message us.
-Annie Powell
On His Path ... See MoreSee Less
Love this
This is so awesome Annie. I am definately the baker. I love your analogy that we are not the "show" but are to bring out the best in others thru the love of Jesus. Love you Annie
Excellent devotional, I loved it.
“We love because He first loved us.” - 1John 4:19 ... See MoreSee Less
That’s wonderful! It was fun shopping for this project! Great looking boxes, too.
Great to be apart of that👍❤️
Wonderful! 💗 Praise God!
We can’t wait to share the smiling faces on this end!! 🥰
So awesome ❤️
It was a super-hot day; probably in July. My husband was very thirsty, so he sent our oldest son, who was about 8 at the time, into the house to get him a large glass of ice water. He got the ice-cold water from the kitchen faucet, stopped at the fridge and got some ice for the glass of water. And then he went on his way to give my husband his tall glass of water.
He gave the water to my husband. Instantly, my husband chugs the glass of water expecting refreshing, ice cold, thirst quenching water. Instead, he was met with warm, brown, iron tasting water. He instantly spit it out! How could this be?
We then find out, from the time our son walked into the house, got the refreshing water, and then started the trek back to the fence, he had gotten super thirsty himself. So, HE drank the cold glass of water. He then realized the water was gone. Instead of going back into the house to get his dad ice water, he stopped at our cistern well and filled the glass with that water. Now many people love well water, but this water is coming straight out of our ground with no filter. It also was hooked up to a hose, so the water in the hose was hot.
When my husband spit that water out, our son knew he was going to hear about it. He immediately said “What? I love well water”. So every so often, when our oldest son comes to visit we will remind him how much he loves well water. We will offer him a glass of our cistern water…he always declines.
So the question I have is if we are given a choice to drink ice cold water from a faucet or a warm, rusty water from a well what would we chose?
Throughout scripture, water, fountains, cisterns, and living water are mentioned. They are mentioned to warn us of where we put our hope and to give us hope in Jesus.
Jeremiah the profit gives us God’s word:
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.-Jeremiah 2:13
Have we taken matters of living into our own hands? Have we made our own cisterns expecting them to fulfill us and make us satisfied? Are we making our own cisterns out of our family, prosperity, money, pornography, friends, social media posts? Jesus is inviting us to disregard the manmade cisterns of this world and come to Him to be satisfied.
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[a] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”-John 4:13-14
Do you really love cistern water? Are you thirsty? Are you feeling unsatisfied? Come to Jesus.
-Annie Powell
On His Path ... See MoreSee Less
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