Welcome! I greet you with the peace and love of Christ who is my Rock and Salvation. In him I find the most peaceful rest, my Sabbath rest, my Shalom. I'm like the lady at the well who is intently listening to Jesus. I am eager to learn all I can from the master teacher himself. The book of John is one of my favorite books of the bible. Now, doesn't the blue water pictured at the top of page look refreshingly cool and inviting? Jesus words can be likened to refreshing water that soothes the weary souls. He fills in all the empty spaces and broken places of many hearts including mine. My name is Faye (Faith) Gray Cross. founder of Hope Devotions (HSD), a unique online devotional and ministry. The song playing is called "After the Rain" which reminds me of a lovely meadow filled with spring flowers that are rejoicing in their radiance as they welcome the soothing rain upon their delicate petals. What thoughts come to your mind when you think about the time after the rain? For me it's a time of HOPE and great EXPECTATIONS because we serve an awesome GOD. After the rain comes new life, new growth and harvest time. God has rained on this world. He did it at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was initially poured out. It continues to rain in various measures today. We should take advantage of the time after the rain by going out to work in the fields gathering lilies, harvesting (SOULS) for the kingdom. Perhaps to cultivate the ground he has given us so that we may produce good fruit in our own lives. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are the primary focus of Hope Devotions. My dream is to produce enough godly fruit in my life that I can share with family, friends and my neighbors. Now you know that I'm a dreamer! Seed Ideas Nurture Dreamers Deep thinker and dreamer I am and I owe it all to God. Doesn't the bible say we are created in his image? Now someone once asked me why did I choose to start a ministry website that teaches about the pitfalls of dabbling in the occult. It was certainly not in my plans. I was not thinking about it til God asked me to do it. At the time I was concentrating on my hobby of songwriting among other things. However, when God speaks I must listen and obey. The first seed for this ministry was actually planted through my desire to replace the horrorscope readings popping up on a particular social media network page of mine which shall remain nameless with something more spiritually upbuilding. It would just irk my spirit when my friend's horrorscope readings would pop up on my page. The horrorscope readings often suggested a mood of doom and gloom for your day. Who wants to start out their day by being told you're going to be mean and hateful...hard to get along with...etc...etc. Not me...I was like Calgon, get me outta here. No kiddin. God through His Holy Spirit fertilized a tiny seed of an idea that had been planted in my heart. Shortly thereafter the idea grew into a dream for an online devotional. Now today, some 8 yrs later, here I have Hope Devotions that was conceived out of a tiny seed idea. That seed idea was nurtured so that it grew into a full blown online ministry website that was first launched in 2011. It educates our visitors about the real spirit behind horrorscopes among other things related to the occult. The main focus however is to glorify God by highlighting the fruits of His HOLY SPIRIT. HOPE is an acronym which stands for Healthy, Optimistic, Perspectives, Envisioned through the HOLY SPIRIT. When we walk after the spirit of God we become light bearers shining Christ who lives in us to a dark world. It stresses the significance of cultivating the fruits of the Holy Spirit which aid us in our perception of life and daily walk with God. It has truly blossomed into more than I ever imagined or hoped for. I have added a suicide help section to house up-to-date resourceful links for those feeling depressed or on the brink of suicide. As I continued to develop the site, God led me to create a daily blog website called Morning Manna with Love. From studying the bible, I learned that astrology is a MAJOR part of the occult. The roots of the occult are demonic, babylonish and paganistic. God is very clear and explicit with His instructions to not practice divination nor associate with anything related to the occult. Many Christians believe what the bible says about these matters to the effect that anything related to them should be uprooted out of the Christian's lifestyle... period. For me there is no room for compromise even though it doesn't seem to be a salvation issue. I find it more a heart issue. Only The Lord outside of ourselves can examine and thereby judge what is truly in our hearts towards Him. For more details and scriptural support please read my articles Visions Of Hope, and Astrology VS Pneumatology page. Mandated By God Hope Devotions Ministry(HDM) no doubt has a clear mandate to educate and enlighten about the dangers and pitfalls of dabbling in the occult, however I embrace a greater calling to reach out to those feeling left out, rejected and lonely. This all came about because of my own personal battles with depression, rejection and low self-esteem issues. Let me make this analogy to help you understand what is involved in battling a stronghold such as depression. Its like an alchoholic can get set free from the bondage of alcohol yet the enemy will never stop trying to cause that person's downfall. An alcoholic knows that to keep their healing they must stay away from alcohol, it would be foolish to bring alcohol into the home just to prove you have a handle on it. In other words you don't ever want to let your guard down. Same with fighting depression or any fleshly weakness we may have for that matter. So, even though God has set me free from the bondages of depression, I cannot let down my guard because I could lose my healing. I keep my guard up by making a daily effort to walk after the SPIRIT and keeping my eyes on JESUS. Even on a much deeper level I want to help those that may be feeling suicidal as well. This calling beckoned me out of the pain and despair I felt caused by the suicide of my sister Sharon some years ago. I have even thought about suicide myself in the past and even made an attempt many years ago which was really a cry for help. Many are crying for help today and feel like suicide is the only way out of their pain. Sharon was only 19 yrs old when she took her own life by hanging herself, leaving behind the most indelible marks of emotional scarring and pain upon both, myself and all in my immediate family as well as friends. Consequently, teen suicide statistics show that it is one of the leading causes of death among teenagers today. Social media networks have become the enemy's playground but God has permitted some of his children to play amongst themselves on the playground for the purpose of encouraging and building one another up in the faith, especially when we are feeling emotionally or spiritually weak. But more importantly we must take the opportunity on these networks to share the good news of God's kingdom with those that are lost and warn the wicked of God's coming wrath if they don't repent. Many of those that are lost and blind to the truth, and this includes some Christians, will hopefully be enlightened, set free from their bondages and join God's family through the ministry of Hope Devotions. We are now living under the dispensation of God's grace and mercy. Knowing this convinced me to accept the mantle God has extended to me because time is running out. |
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