Refuge and Strength

A sacred space for the weary and the searching. Here, you’ll find reflections on our unchanging worth in Christ, for the seasons of grief, and honest testimonies of the Healer’s touch in our deepest trials.

Love’s Strong Cord

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory: Over the last few weeks, my Mom and I have been memorizing the lyrics of the hymn, Standing on the Promises. There were a couple of parts that really stuck out to me. In the third verse, it tells us that we are “bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord.” This made me think that because of what Jesus suffered for us, He created a cord of love that binds us to Him, one that is so strong that it can withstand anything and never break. The fourth verse says, “Resting in my Savior as my all in all.” This means to me that we can rest in Jesus when we are weary and discouraged because we don’t have to carry our burdens alone.

Love’s Strong Cord

Jesus suffered so we don’t have to suffer alone,
Even though we may feel like it, we are never on our own.
His love binds us to Him with a strong cord,
One that nothing can break because He is our Lord.

On days when the clouds and darkness inside
Grow heavy in our soul, Jesus will be by our side.
Even when the light inside us feels dim,
He is the light we need and we can always count on Him.

Even when others let us down,
Jesus is there so we don’t need to frown.
His love will see us through any storm,
And when we feel cold inside, He will help us feel warm.

When our burdens feel too heavy to bear,
We can trust that Jesus will always be there.
Even when we can’t take one more step forward,
He will help us carry our burdens onward.

So, if you feel like your back might break
From the weight, Jesus will be there for your sake.
You can always count on Him to help you,
And His love will see you through.

The Takeaway: Our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffered for us so that we don’t have to bear our burdens alone. He binds us to Him with a strong cord of love, which cannot be broken by anything. We can trust Him completely to be there for us whenever we need Him. When the weight of our burdens seems too heavy to bear, we can count on Jesus to help us carry what we cannot carry on our own.

Watch the YouTube Short of me reading part of the poem here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3io0lvYjac0

Watch the YouTube Short of me singing part of the hymn here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7fbuFXAt9XM

What does it mean to you to be “bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord”? How have you felt Christ’s love holding you close to Him during a difficult or discouraging time?

The Door of My Heart

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

The Door of My Heart

Thank you so much to all of my subscribers for your warmth, support, and for walking along this faith journey with me!
Backstory

Corrie ten Boom once said, “When we are powerless to do a thing, it is a great joy that we can come and step inside the ability of Jesus.” This made me think of Jesus standing outside a door. The door could represent our hearts. All we have to do is let Him in, and He will abide with us. But we may think that we don’t have everything together, or that our hearts are messy. If we let Him in, He will take what we have and make it more.

The Door of My Heart

I have so many things to do That I can’t keep going and I feel blue. I feel that I have nothing left to give, So I don’t know how I will live.
Just as I think this, I notice someone Standing outside my door, but it could be anyone. As I look out, I recognize who it is in an instant For it is my Savior, with His light shining so brilliant.
I look around my house and everything is messy So I don’t know if I should let Him in because I’m not ready. I open the door anyway and I let His light inside, I fall to my knees at His feet as I say that I have tried.
I apologize to Jesus about the mess, But it doesn’t matter to Him, so I don’t stress. He tells me that all He wants is my willing heart, And if I can give Him that, He will do His part.
I look inside my heart and I don’t like what I see, And I wonder, “Would He really want this version of me?” He embraces me and I feel His amazing love, That He brought with Him from His Father above.
The Takeaway: We might get so overwhelmed or stressed by our busy lives that we might consider giving up. We may sometimes feel that we are alone in our struggles. But we are never alone. When our strength gives out, we can always reach out to our Savior for help. He will take our messy hearts and make them into something beautiful.

Watch the YouTube Short here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E3EQq6C_zHw

Have you ever felt too overwhelmed to open the door to Jesus? Drop a comment below and let me know—I’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Shepherd of the One

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory:
I was thinking about the story in Luke 15:3-7 of the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to go after the one that was lost. The thought came to me that we are each the one for Jesus. He loves each one of us and cares for us individually. He would leave the 99 to go after each one of us when we are lost. He is the personal Savior for every one of us.

The Shepherd of the One

As a shepherd tends to his sheep,
Their safety in his heart runs deep.
If one of them lost its way,
He would go after it all day.

He would rejoice once his lost sheep was found,
And the joy that he felt would spread all around.
Jesus is our Master Shepherd,
And His depth of love cannot be measured.

As one of His sheep, if I went astray,
He’d lift up His voice to the Father to pray.
He would search for me all day long,
Because with Him, I always belong.

He would rejoice when He found me,
And the love in His eyes I would clearly see.
He is my Personal Redeemer and Savior,
And because of Him, I shouldn’t feel like a failure.

He suffered for me as if I was the only one,
And fulfilled His mission as the Chosen Son.
He weeps with me when I feel pain in my heart,
And from me, He never wants to depart.

The Takeaway: Jesus, as our Shepherd, loves each one of us very much. If we lose our way, He would search for us and rejoice when we are found. He suffered for each one of us individually. He will be beside us every day. We just need to reach out to Him, and He will help us through our hardest days.

Watch the YouTube Short of me reading part of this post here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tLxHx7GBbsE

He Helps Me Carry

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” This scripture held a deeper meaning for me this past week. The Hebrew word translated as “sustain” means to hold up or support. After pondering this meaning, I could picture a person climbing a huge mountain with a heavy backpack. Eventually, they cry out to their Savior to help them carry the heavy weight.

He Helps Me Carry

I looked up at the high mountain peak,
And my body felt so incredibly weak.
But I knew that I needed to climb
What was ahead of me at this time.

The load that I carried on my back
Seemed so heavy that I felt I would crack.
I only had myself to lean on as I started to ascend,
As I took step after another, not seeing the end.

As the weight of my pack got difficult to handle on my own,
I felt like my worries and cares were to everyone unknown.
I didn’t know if I could take one more step forward,
As I stumbled and fell to my feet backward.

In my moment of despair, I needed someone to help me,
As I knelt on the ground and whispered a silent plea.
“Please, help me to carry this heavy burden
Because I am desperate and I don’t know if I can rise again.”

In the stillness of the moment, I heard a gentle reply,
“You were never alone, for I have always been nearby.”
I could feel the weight of my pack get lighter
As the view ahead began to look brighter.

The Takeaway

Sometimes the weight of the burdens that we carry may seem too heavy to bear. We might feel like we are climbing a huge mountain with a heavy pack. But we don’t have to carry the weight on our own. Jesus is always there to help us carry what we can’t carry by ourselves. We only need to cry out to Him, and He will be there when we call upon Him.

Watch the YouTube short of me reading part of the post here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hhxpDcV-sLU

The Greatest Love of All

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory: Today at church, this scripture leapt out at me. John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” It made me think that Jesus has so much love for us that He laid down His life for us. But also, everything He did when He was on the earth was because of love. When He healed and taught people, He did it out of love for them. Then I wondered, “What can I learn about love from Jesus’ example? How can I love people better?”

The Greatest Love of All

Jesus was on the earth thousands of years ago,
He was the best example for the people to know.
Everything He did was out of great love
That came from His Father above.

Jesus taught the people and He went about doing good,
And His message was clearly and well understood.
He taught them how to love and forgive one another,
And how to be kind to their sister and brother.

Jesus healed everyone no matter their background,
And where He was, peace could always be found.
One woman was healed by just touching His hem,
Restored by the love that bloomed softly in Him.

He showed us great love in Gethsemane’s shade,
When the weight of our sorrows upon Him was laid.
Then He died on the cross and rose again three days later,
So that we could have a way back to our Creator.

Jesus is the perfect example to us today
Of how to love others as we go on our way.
We should be kind and loving to everyone,
Because of the example of Jesus, the Beloved Son.

The Takeaway: The perfect example of love came from our Savior, Jesus Christ. He ministered to and healed people, no matter their background. He suffered for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and died on the cross as the perfect expression of love. We should follow His example and be kind and loving to everyone we meet.

Watch the YouTube video of me reading part of the poem here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DZXGr4HawrI