September 19, 2026

Let Anger Warn You, Not Rule You

By altarofheaven

Anger is danger.

Anger should be an indicator, not a dictator of our actions. It alarms us that something is wrong, but it does not have to control our response. There are levels of anger that begin with irritation and can progress to rage. Anger can reveal:

  • Hurt
  • Offense
  • Disappointment
  • Fear
  • Injustice
  • Unmet expectations
  • Betrayal
  • Deeper wounds

Anger can be stirred when someone cuts you off, cuts you with their words, or maybe cuts you deeply and causes a soul wound. Maybe they cut and hurt someone you love. 

Anger tells us something is happening inside us, it doesn’t tell us what to do next. We have a choice.

When we allow anger to take over and remain unresolved, a progression can occur:

  • We are offended
  • We are angry
  • We are bitter
  • We are unforgiving
  • We say harsh words
  • We may retaliate
  • Destruction can occur, beginning within our own hearts

Anger is not a sin, and there are times we should be angry. Serving at a ministry that helps young ladies that have been deeply wounded, I have heard stories that have pushed me to the point of deep anger. There have been times I wanted to avenge them. 

With angry tears I have asked God many times to teach me how to “Be angry and yet do not sin…” (Ephesians 4:26). 

So what do I do with this anger before it comes sin?

I am learning to give my anger to the Righteous Judge. 

Psalm 7:11 says:

“God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.” 

Indignation is “anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean.” 

If God sees and is angered by the injustice in this world, why do I believe I need to carry the weight of it too?

When I choose to stay angry it’s usually because I feel something is unresolved, I want the person to apologize, I want to see the justice, or I want someone to acknowledge what happened. 

For 33 years I carried anger and didn’t know what to do with it. It was killing me softly. 

Today I’m learning vengeance and justice are too heavy for me to carry. I need to make sure I am yoked to the One who told me to learn from Him (Matthew 11:28-29). 

His name is Jesus Christ. 

Jesus not only tells us what to do with injustice He showed us what to do:

 “…He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly… “(1 Peter 2:21-25)

That truth confronts me with a question: 

Am I entrusting this offense to God? 

I have had to admit that sometimes beneath my anger was unbelief. My anger was exposing places where I struggled to trust God.

  • Will God handle this?
  • Will He protect me?
  • Will justice ever come?
  • Why should I forgive if they didn’t apologize?
  • Why did God allow this?

Confessing these doubts and questions to God allows me to admit my inadequacy and call on Him for help. 

That does not mean ignoring that an offense has taken place. It does not mean allowing an unhealthy relationship to continue without boundaries. I can acknowledge that someone sinned against me while still asking God to give me a heart willing to forgive and he wisdom to know what steps to take next. 

So what can we do with our anger?

  • Identify the trigger 
  • Name what is beneath the anger 
  • Tell God honestly what we feel
  • Surrender vengeance to God
  • Recognize that forgiveness may require repeated surrender
  • Establish boundaries when needed
  • Choose our response before anger chooses it for us

What if we began to see anger as an early warning signal, an invitation to go to God and ask for His help? We can bring our anger to the Righteous Judge, trust Him with what we cannot carry, and ask the Holy Spirit to help us remain vessels of mercy and grace in this world, instead of vessels of wrath. 

*I also published this on my substack Thanks for reading!

May God be glorified, Christ magnified and the Brethren edified.

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June 7, 2026

The Sanctifying Call of Motherhood

By altarofheaven

Looking through old journal entries and photos, I found this gem.

I’ve been a mother for over 20 years, but only 17 of those years as a Christian mother. There is a difference.

Before Christ, much of my focus was on outward behavior. I wanted our children to obey so we would look like a “good family” and so there would be peace in our home. But as God transformed my heart, the focus became love…God’s love.

We knew what it was like to live in this sinful world apart from God and to be slaves to sin. In our early years as Christian parents, we often leaned toward legalism because we did not yet understand that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. We were still learning that obedience flows from a loving relationship with God, not merely from rules.

At times, fear also dictated our actions, fear of man, fear of our children getting hurt, fear they would never believe and trust in Christ. That fear sometimes wounded the very children we were trying to protect. There are things we said and did that we wish we could take back.

We know that God’s perfect love casts out fear. I have learned that when fear takes hold of our hearts, it can choke out love. Yet I am deeply thankful for God’s grace and forgiveness.

It was by grace that I was saved, and it is by grace that I am being sanctified, shaped, and conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

To my children: I rise and call you blessed. You have shown me tremendous grace, love, and forgiveness. My prayer is that through all my imperfections, you saw Christ in me, and that His irresistible love continues to draw you closer to Him and mature you in your walk with Him.

My prayer for our family remains the same: that we would love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves.

I love you.

I share this publicly to glorify God, magnify Christ, and edify the brethren. To the mothers in the midst of child-rearing: this is one of the hardest, holiest, and most sanctifying callings God gives. Do not grow weary. God sees your labor, your prayers, your tears, and your faithfulness.

Keep going, Mama. The Lord is at work in your children…and in you.

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.”

— Colossians 1:28–29

“The process of shaping the child… shapes also the mother herself. Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good, that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example.”

— Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family

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May 25, 2026

Stewarding Freedom Faithfully

By altarofheaven

Freedom is not free. 

We live in a time where it seems many Americans are quick to demand rights, but slow to remember the price paid for them. White crosses rise in the fields of the national cemeteries, reminding us freedom is secured by the blood of others. 

Jesus Christ gave His life to set us free from sin and death enabling us to become citizens of Heaven. American military members gave their lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of this nation. I am thankful for both and do not take them for granted. I pray I steward this freedom faithfully. 

May we pause today with humility and gratitude. May we confess, repent and reject the spirit of entitlement and forgetfulness that can rise within us. 

Have a thoughtful and thankful Memorial Day!

I also posted to my substack

“Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

John 15:13-15

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May 10, 2026

Storms of Sorrow

By altarofheaven

Mother’s Day has brought me sorrow in many seasons of my life. At times, it has felt like waves in a storm threatening to tip the boat, leaving me gasping for air.

I’m learning that no one can escape sorrow.

Growing up, Mother’s Day was difficult because it reminded me of the void in my life without my mom. Later, it became painful in a different way, watching others have children while, after five years of marriage, it felt like we might never have one of our own. Another storm came when we lost a child in my womb, leaving behind an ache that began to harden my heart.

But one day it seemed as if the sun broke through the clouds, and the storm quieted bringing forth the joyful days of being a mom. But I won’t glamorize it. There have been many days of sanctifying sorrow in parenting, mostly moments that revealed my own selfishness and need for growth.

Today, my children are almost 21 and 19, and I feel another kind of sorrow returning. The journey is changing, and life at home looks different now.

What I’m learning is this: we can all relate to sorrow. Our circumstances may differ, but the ache is familiar.

Maybe you grew up without your mom, or without good memories of her.

Maybe you’re still waiting for children while others around you have them.


Maybe motherhood has been harder than you imagined.

Maybe you’re a mom with an empty nest due to a transition to a different location here…or in heaven. 

Today may carry an ache for you. I acknowledge that ache.

There is something we all share besides sorrow, whether we knew our mother’s or not: each of us was knit together in our mother’s womb by God. And this same God meets us in our storms.

He can speak to the wind and calm it.
Or… we can go deeper by calling out to Him and rest with Him in the boat of the storm. He can teach us to trust Him in the middle of the storms of sorrow. It won’t be easy, but it’s worth it.

The choice of trusting Him keeps our hearts tender and grows our faith in Him and compassion for others, allowing us to experience a comfort only He can provide. He knows the ache of sorrow. He is the man of sorrows, His name is Jesus. 

Dear reader, whether this is a happy or hurtful Mother’s Day I pray you are comforted by the One who knitted you in your Mother’s womb. May you know the One who carries your sorrows. You are loved.

*Inspired by my personal sorrow and by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Matthew 8:23-27 and Isaiah 53:3-5

Matthew 8:23-27

“When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, a violent storm developed on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He *said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Isaiah 53:3-5

“He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”

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March 31, 2026

Sharing in the Sufferings of Christ

By altarofheaven

Have you ever paused to consider what it truly means to share in the sufferings of Christ?

I have pondered this many times, especially as I have grown in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When you walk through this world with a tender and humble heart, you cannot help but begin to share in His sufferings

When I reflect on the sufferings of Jesus, they were many.
He was misunderstood.
He was mocked and taunted.
The Pharisees constantly tried to trap Him.
And ultimately, He bore the wrath of God and carried the sins of the world.

Even the physical cross He carried on the way to Golgotha was heavy. Though Simon of Cyrene helped Him carry it, that moment itself reflects what it means to share in His suffering, walking alongside Him on the road to His death…and to His purpose.

And today, we are called into that same invitation, to share in the sufferings of Christ.

We, too, may be misunderstood.
We may look upon others with deep compassion and feel their pain without numbing our hearts.
We are invited to be true disciples of Jesus.

Jesus Christ told us that no one can be His disciple unless we pick up our cross and follow Him.

The cross represents dying to self, a daily surrender. At times, this calling will require enduring misunderstanding, rejection, and even pain.

But I was encouraged this morning by 1 Peter 4:12–16:

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you…
But to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing…
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed…
But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”

So, fellow brethren, let’s pick up our crosses and follow Jesus.

Die daily.
Surrender daily.

So that God would be glorified.

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February 14, 2026

Dormant Seed: A Valentine Story

By altarofheaven

Have you ever sown a seed without seeing a harvest?
Did you get discouraged and ask yourself, “What’s the point?”

There are seeds sown in the ground… and seeds sown in hearts.
And it can be discouraging when you don’t see fruit.

But do not stop sowing,  because you never know when there will be fruit.

It was Valentine’s Day 1997. I was stationed at my first duty station at Beale Air Force Base in California. There was a young woman in the dorms who had decorated her door for Valentine’s Day. It was peculiar, it was different.

She had written out 1 Corinthians 13:
“Love is patient, love is kind…”

And next to it, John 3:16.

At the time, I had no idea how those related, but I was intrigued.

What she had written on her door was reinforced by the way she lived. She was set apart. She was from Oklahoma and she reminded me of Annie Oakley, a sharp shooter, strong outdoors, yet still feminine and classy.

She didn’t preach at me. She simply lived her faith.

She was a letter I was reading that sowed seeds on a hardened heart

I remembered those words two years later. When I got married in 1999, I made sure 1 Corinthians 13 was read at the ceremony because it sounded beautiful.

But it wasn’t until twelve years later that those words penetrated my heart.

I realized:

• God’s greatest commandment is to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
• I re-read the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 and saw that I was none of those things.
• I cried out, “God, HOW can I love You the way You are commanding me to love?”

That’s when I met Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, giving me access to God the Father by one Spirit.

Jesus is THE WAY I could love the way I was commanded to love.

A sprout of faith popped up in February 2009… and it has been growing ever since.

To that young lady, who was simply loving her Savior and carrying His fragrance,  thank you. You were a vessel of mercy and grace. You sowed many seeds… and it only took one.

God said it best:

“Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether one or the other will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.”  Ecclesiastes 11:6

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9

Happy Valentine’s Day. Keep sowing….

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January 31, 2026

When Sin Meets the Heart: Conviction, Condemnation and Compassion

By altarofheaven

A sin is committed

A heart is convicted

A choice must be made….

Do you conceal or reveal your sin?

Do you hide in the darkness or come to the light?

The path you choose to walk down will determine whether you experience condemnation or compassion.  

Condemnation is that feeling of self-hatred, when you are defensive in what you did, and don’t want forgiveness. Deep inside you know you are wrong but you harden your heart. You become angry, bitter and insecure.

Compassion is what you experience when you admit you are wrong, and turn from your sin, to God knowing you do NOT deserve forgiveness but know you are forgiven because of what Jesus Christ has done. You place your faith not in turning a ‘new leaf’ but turning to Christ. The insecurity leaves and you become joyful, thankful and secure in Christ.

Brethren, keep confessing, keep repenting, keep living by faith in Christ…

“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” Proverbs 28:13

“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.” Psalm 32:3

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in ChristJesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh,, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, sot that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace..”Romans 7:25–8:6

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December 31, 2025

Revisiting & Reviving Convictions

By altarofheaven

How often do you visit your habits and behaviors?

It’s a good practice to examine them daily, and even better to set aside intentional time before the beginning of a new year. Our habits and behavior are shaped by our convictions. A conviction is, “a firmly held belief or opinion.” Our belief system drives our thought, choices and plans.

Sixteen years ago, my husband and I embarked on an adventure with God when my husband said, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Our new conviction was simple but seismic: God is real and can be trusted. He was calling us to move from comfort and convenience to trust and obedience.

Yesterday we were given the gift of spending the final hours of 2025 being still, dwelling with God alongside a seasoned saint of Jesus Christ who asked us thoughtful and probing questions. “A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out” (Proverbs 20:5). This gentleman drew out living water in us. As we shared our stones of remembrances, the many ways God had been faithful, even before we acknowledged His existence, something awakened again.

A revival stirred in our hearts, reminding us of convictions we hold dear:

  • Our lives are not our own.
  • Everything we have is not ours.
  • We are stewards.
  • This world is not our home.

We must stay the course and remain obedient to the daily assignments of God.

This post-it note and prayer card from my husband, written almost sixteen years ago, is a treasure to me. It serves as a quiet but powerful reminder that we are still walking on the path of righteousness for God’s namesake.

When we first moved here, someone once said, “I used to be on fire for Jesus Christ like you, but it will fade.” That comment used to haunt me. Now I understand how it can fade, if we do not dwell daily with the Lord. Without time in His word, confession and repentance, we begin operating in our own strength. Weariness sets in.

This world is dark, demanding and discouraging. If we’re not careful those conditions can cloud the place where our convictions live. We begin to hear the voice, “Did God really say?” Doubt creeps in about God’s faithfulness, His presence and even His existence. Left unchecked and un-exchanged for Truth, we can become forgetful hearers, living in quiet delusion.

May we be people who revisit and revive our convictions daily so that we are not only hearers of God’s word but doers of it. May 2026 be a year of GROWING in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The best is yet to come.

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November 8, 2025

Garlic and the Gospel: Becoming the Fragrance of Christ

By altarofheaven
Photo of a loaf of bread, garlic cloves, and a Bible on a wooden table illustrating the devotional theme “Garlic and the Gospel: Becoming the Fragrance of Christ.”

Garlic is one of my favorite ingredients in food. I absolutely enjoy garlic! The thing about garlic is that when you eat a lot of it, it begins to seep out of your pores. You quite literally carry its fragrance with you. The more you eat, the more you smell like garlic.

This reminds me of what our lives should look like as Christians. We should be partaking of the Bread of Life so often that we carry the fragrance of Christ. That’s the only way to truly bear His aroma. Sermons, devotionals, podcast and commentaries all have their place, but they are kind of like processed food. 

If you want the purity of the Bread you must sit still in the presence of God, you must ingest His Word for yourself.  When you do, you’ll carry His fragrance wherever you go. Just remember, just as not everyone enjoys the smell of garlic (and it even repels insects), the fragrance of Christ can also repel some. Yet to those who are being saved, it is the sweetest aroma of all.

So may you ingest and digest the Word of God today, and bring the fragrant aroma of Christ into every space you enter.

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” John 6:35

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?” 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

Prayer: May I ingest your Word daily sitting at Your presence ready to be Your fragrance wherever I go so that I might make you known. 

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August 7, 2025

Identity found in surRENDER

By altarofheaven

I’m learning that our true identity can only be found in the One who created us.

Not our parents, but the One whose likeness we bear.
The more we seek Him, the more we discover who we truly are.

Just as a coin bears Caesar’s image and belongs to him,
we bear God’s image and we belong to Him.

May we surRENDER to Him, giving to God what is God’s: our hearts, our lives, our identity.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matthew 22:21
“So God created mankind in His own image…” Genesis 1:27

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