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Do You Look Back? – Norma Thurston Holtman
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The power of Lightning

But Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26

Lightning hit our house. The jolt sent the glow of sparks through the closed window blinds. “Smoke,” Dad said. “Get out of the house, now.”

It was 1:30 a.m. and I didn’t waste a second. I ran barefoot in my pajamas only to realize I’d left my glasses on my nightstand. I couldn’t see, but I couldn’t go back.

Lot and his family were told to get out of Sodom and not look back. The temptation to look back, to hesitate, thinking about what you are leaving behind, is great. We weren’t told not to look, but as I read his story I understood the temptation.

I thought my glasses would burn in the house and I would be left half blind, maybe for weeks. Those glasses meant a lot to me, but they were just things. Even though a fire didn’t result, I couldn’t go back into the house until the firemen finished their inspection and gave the okay. Once they did, I rushed inside to retrieve them.

Lot’s wife valued something she left behind enough to ignore the warning of the angels. She looked back and lost her life.

We cling so tightly to things in our life—home, friends, habits, and material possessions. Sometimes I need to leave things behind, like habits, temptations, and my desires for things of this world. Often the things that I long for the most are things I have been warned to leave behind. The story of Lot’s wife teaches us to run from the things that tempt us away from God.

Have you been warned to leave something behind and not look back? When you’re tempted to cling to what is replaceable, choose to leave it behind today. Let Christ save you.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.
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*Photo by Suvro Datta – used by permission freedigitialphotos.net

In the Shadow – Norma Thurston Holtman
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Praise be to the God…the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble…For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

A shadow fell over their lives. I recognized a striking parallel while gazing at the sunrise from my mountain home one morning as I prayed.

My dear friend died from a very aggressive cancer. Her suffering was intense, but within three months she received her ultimate healing in heaven. Before cancer confined her to bed, my friend showed the light of Christ everywhere—she talked about salvation to neighbors, co-workers, and friends.

The spiritual meaning of shadow and light were plain as I helped care for her during her last months. She became a light to others during her darkest days. Cancer—her shadow, opened doors once closed. Second Corinthians shows how our own troubles prepare and enable us to reach out to others in any kind of need. These verses secure the promise of God to be our God of compassion and comfort. No matter our situation, we need a Savior and He is there.

The sun kisses the peaks above when dark shadows still engulf the valley below my mountain home in the early morning. Suffering forced me to look upward and long for the light. The closer my friend grew to death, the greater her desire for the light. She hungered for the warmth of prayer and God’s word as the shadow of death closed its grip.

Is something casting a shadow in your life? Don’t be overcome by it. Look to the One who bore all our sufferings. Once you have received His salvation, He can give you His comfort and His light. Then share that comfort with those He brings into your life.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.

Read Norma’s devotions and poems.

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Do What Is Right – Norma Thurston Holtman
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I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel….” Philippians 4:2-3

The words stung like a whip striking out of nowhere, biting and tearing at my heartstrings. What had I said to deserve this? A seemingly innocuous comment had provoked a harsh and unexpected response and my first response was to strike back.

Just as I began to formulate my answer, the phone rang. On the other end I heard the voice of my sister—my “loyal yoke-fellow.” She listened to the angry words I had planned and said, “Remember what Dad would have said. No matter what anyone else does, it is your responsibility to do the right thing.”

I was reminded of these two women in the Philippian church with the unpronounceable names, Euodia and Syntyche. These Christian women worked hard alongside Paul for the sake of the gospel but they must have had an ongoing dispute that affected other people enough for him to address it publicly. Agreeing with one another in the Lord means to set aside our own feelings in order to do what pleases Him — to make God and His kingdom the priority.

With my sister’s help, I formulated an answer that addressed the circumstances and the angry response. I offered to pray for the person who’d hurt me, and thanked them for a recent kindness I’d planned to ignore in light of their hurtful words.

It wasn’t easy—doing the right thing seldom is. But when we do, there’s satisfaction in knowing God works through us to ease a hurt we don’t even understand. Try it. I guarantee it will change your heart attitude and allow you to grow. It helped me. Look at your differences with others and do the right thing.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.
Read Norma’s devotions and poems. 

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For a Tiny Child – Norma Thurston Holtman
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For A Tiny Child

We never heard your tiny voice,
We never saw your smile,
We don’t understand why your unseen presence
Filled our hearts for a brief little while.
You turned our eyes on Jesus…
Maybe that’s the reason why…
We saw the sovereignty of Mighty God…
How fragile the gift of life.
So we say goodbye dear baby,
Before we’ve said hello.
You’ve gone to the Heavenly Father
Who sent you such a short time ago.
There will be beauty all around you,
And love so deep and strong,
God’s own loving arms will hold you,
There nothing can hurt or harm.
We’ll be together in that bright morning…
There your precious face we will see.
In that land beyond sorrow and parting,
We’ll be together for eternity.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.

Read Norma’s devotions and poems.

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My Portion Forever – Norma Thurston Holtman
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Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26

We had not been used to financial difficulties but with the crash of the stock market in November of 2008, we suddenly were in a serious situation.

Following years of prosperity and blessing, my husband and I had prayerfully decided to build a new home in the mountains east of town. It was to be a pre-retirement home where we could enjoy a slower pace of life. We had seen my parents lose their dreams when my father died a few days before he was to begin transitioning to full retirement. God had blessed us abundantly and with our children grown, the timing had seemed right.

Very quickly, the price of our old home dropped to considerably lower than its worth. Prices on materials for the new house rapidly increased  and the builder announced he was possibly going bankrupt. We had to accept it unfinished and without a builder’s warranty.

At the same time, we were presented with some health crises that put everything in perspective. Our first and greatest desire was to be for God. He, and not our worldly wealth and possessions, was to be first in our hearts. If we had Him, nothing that happened could shake us inwardly because He was all we needed.

Then, just a few weeks before we were to move, we got an offer on our house in town. It was far less than one we had earlier turned down, but the timing was perfect. I had prayed we would only have to make one move and we did. Though we had to do without some of the niceties we would have liked, we survived far better than many. We were unprepared for the events that took place, but God wasn’t. Through all of it, He gave us Himself.

How tight do you hold to the things of this world? All that we possess is loaned to us by our heavenly Father and He will do as He sees fit. But when God is your strength and portion, you have all you need.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.

Read Norma’s devotions.

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True Freedom’s Symbol – Norma Thurston Holtman
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Tall and proud against the sky,
Our country’s beacon stands.
Each star and stripe the symbol
Of sacrifice by willing hands.

Each thread within its fabric,
A reminder of the tears;
Of sweat and toil and suffering
By men and women through the years.

Our flag, a sign to all the world,
Of freedom, hope, and peace,
Of triumph over hardship,
And victory’s sweet release.

We all saw Lady Liberty
Framed against the smoke…
Of attacks by men in ignorance
Of the promise which she spoke.

Her words cry out to men like them,
The “tired”, and “poor” who suffer,
To the “huddled masses,” “tempest-tost,”
A hope of plenty, she offers.

But there stands a Symbol greater,
Which will endure beyond the years.
Born by our Savior in sacrifice
To wipe away all tears.

The Cross of Christ is the reason
Our Founding Fathers came,
And the only hope for our nation
Is to return to Him again.

The only hope for this country
Is to seek the Creator’s plan,
His Cross the same from age to age,
Dwarfs the symbols of this land.

(Quotations come from “The New Colossus”, by Emma Lazarus, 1883,
engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty.)

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.
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One More Mountain – Norma Thurston Holtman
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I’m tired and weary, and I need a rest,
But, dear Lord, I know that You always know best.
When I’m battle-weary and feel alone,
When I beg for bread but it seems like a stone.
I know there is something You are working in me—
There is something new You have to show me.
There is something I haven’t become just yet,
There is some other challenge I’ve not ever met.
You’ve carried me through so many before—
Lord, help me now to face one more.
When I look in the mirror I want to see
A reflection of You looking back at me.
So once more, Lord, pick me up and let’s go—
So I never forget how I need you so.
It is not in smooth sailing that we lean on You so,
But in knowing we have one more mountain to go.
And I have the feeling that when this one is through,
I’ll see, just beyond, there is something else new.
So thank You, Lord for not forgetting me,
For never letting me rest till it’s You that I see.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.

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My Refuge – Norma Thurston Holtman
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I have asked the Lord many evenings
Why my days seemed filled with pain,
I have begged and pleaded with tears on my face,
And over the years His answer came:

“I have another path for you
Than some of my children trod;
It won’t be easy, you’ll not always see,
But you will learn to know your God.”

“I may lead you through the desert
On a road of shifting sands;
But there’s joy at the end of the journey
If you never let go of My hands.”

“Sometimes the way may be rocky,
It will bruise and scrape and shred,
You’ll feel that you can’t take another step,
But My strong shoulder will cradle your head.”

“There are dark caves and many shadows,
But in My presence you will always be,
For the only way through the darkness
Is to take strong hold of Me.”

“Yes, my child, other’s paths may seem easy,
It may appear that I shield their pain;
But there’s no greater joy in the sunshine
Unless you’ve first been through the rain.”

“Your Savior was made perfect through suffering,
He had a heavy Cross to bear;
I won’t allow pain and struggle
Without the promise that His glory you’ll share.”

So if it seems you’re walking in darkness,
When the enemy is seeming to win;
Take your refuge in the arms of Jesus,
Heavenly Savior and earthly Friend.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool mom. Now a homemaker and the mother of two adult children, she and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She spent fourteen years in Bible Study Fellowship, eight of them as a Discussion Leader. In 2003, she and a friend began the first weekly women’s Bible studies at their small, nondenominational church in Albuquerque, where she continues to lead a weekly small group Bible study. She has written all her life, but has recently been convicted to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers.
Read Norma’s poetry.

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