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Belief vs Unbelief: The Enemy’s Influence
Read more: Belief vs Unbelief: The Enemy’s InfluenceDear friends, Ann here. We’re in a series about what goes into belief vs. unbelief. Part one was about free will, and I loved reading your comments. Today I want to talk about another factor: The influence of the demonic. One of the earliest questions I had for God was, “Is Satan really real?” It…
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A Blessing of Peace
Read more: A Blessing of PeaceImage courtesy of blackzheep at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hello, my SUMite friends. Ian, from Down Under here. I trust everyone is holding up okay under the continued stress of the global pandemic. It has sure been an unsettling time for all of us and finding ‘peace’ can be especially difficult. One of the blessings of the Beatitudes…
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Belief vs Unbelief: The Power of Free Will
Read more: Belief vs Unbelief: The Power of Free WillHi friends, Ann here! I've been thinking lately about the topic of belief vs. unbelief, and all the different spiritual ingredients that go into that. Like many of you, I have a mixture of believers and unbelievers in my life, and often look at those who don't believe and wonder what is going on there. …
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Pray This Prayer For Your Family and Marriage
Read more: Pray This Prayer For Your Family and MarriageThere are times we need to lean on other’s prayers. And today, I have a prayer that God gave me recently to pray for my home and family. Lean on it. Pray it aloud in your prayer time. Pray it often. It truly is from the Lord. Save it in your notes on your phone.…
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How Do We Linger Long with the Lord?
Read more: How Do We Linger Long with the Lord?Dear friends, Ann here. Last week I shared a story about a shift in my home. A good shift. If you missed that post, you can read it here. Essentially, a peace came and settled between me and my hubby, and we stopped having disagreements about faith or church. Wonderful! Perhaps at some point in…
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A Letter From Jesus. You Need This Today!
Read more: A Letter From Jesus. You Need This Today!SUMites, This post is for the weary. This post is for those who have been in the trenches and can’t feel their toes, their nose, and struggle at times to think clearly. This post is for those who feel hope draining from their future, and dreams appear dashed. This post is for all the warriors…
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One Big Shift In My Home
Read more: One Big Shift In My HomeHello friends, Ann here. Last week, I mentioned that things had shifted in my home — Quite a lot, in fact. Well, I want to tell you more about that. This photo here is of Bryce and me, on a recent holiday. You wouldn't think we'd had such drama, looking at that peaceful photo! We…
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The New Year – Beholding Jesus!
Read more: The New Year – Beholding Jesus!Image courtesy of KAZITAFAHNIZEER at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Happy New Year, dear friends. Wow, 2021 has come upon us and for many of us it hasn’t been a great start with lockdowns, restrictions and political chaos. I’ve been thinking about this post for a few weeks now. In the past few years, I’ve shared my ‘word for…
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SUM Community 2021 – Marching Forward!
Read more: SUM Community 2021 – Marching Forward!Dear SUM family, Ann here. I hope you are relishing the moments from last week's community fast. I’m still smiling at it all. And now we turn our minds towards 2021 in earnest. As you know, I’ve been praying about this coming year for us. But somewhat surprisingly, it seems that the word God wanted…
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Fast Day Four: Which Bible Character Captures Your Journey?
Read more: Fast Day Four: Which Bible Character Captures Your Journey?Ann here today, on Thursday morning, day four of our fast. How are you all doing? So far, I’ve had no food since Monday sunrise and am feeling doddery. Time with the Lord at this point is simply about ‘being’. I don’t have mental sharpness so am floating around the house, popping on a bit…
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FAST DAY THREE – TWO PRAYER POINTS
Read more: FAST DAY THREE – TWO PRAYER POINTSMy SUMer friends, I have LOVED Ann’s posts for this fast. I literally teared up yesterday. So touching. I am thrilled to lead today’s focus for our prayer and fasting. This is the midweek stretch. It will be very difficult today. But press in. I’m finding I’m overwhelmed by tremendous fatigue. Weird. I think it’s…
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Fast Day Two: The Tenderness of the Father
Read more: Fast Day Two: The Tenderness of the FatherAnn here! It’s the morning of day two here, and so far so good. Amazingly, my family are talking about ‘Mum’s fast’ and encouraging me along, which has been a new feature this year and it captures how things have shifted in my home. I have a little more to share on that shift below.…
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Fast Day One: What is the Story God Has Written?
Read more: Fast Day One: What is the Story God Has Written?Dear SUMites, here we are on day one of our SUM corporate fast! It's Ann here and I can’t help but think that this particular fast is going to be meaningful. There is so much for us to inquire from God about. Our world is literally groaning for healing, and so are we. So we…
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Listen to God’s Voice of Love in 2021!
Read more: Listen to God’s Voice of Love in 2021!My friends, I've been so humbled by the response to the 90 day devotion, Kingdom Conversations. This book is a collection of the words the Lord spoke to me and that I shared in our local newspaper for a few years. It's similar to Jesus Calling but listening to the Father's voice. Order a copy and…
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Prepping for Our Fast
Read more: Prepping for Our FastAnn here! With Christmas festivities behind us, and hopefully some happy memories made, it’s time to turn our minds to our annual SUM Community Fast. The fast will start in a week’s time, on Monday 4th January. If you haven't already, check out my video from last week. Personally, I’m so in need of this…
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May We Cling Tenaciously to Jesus
Read more: May We Cling Tenaciously to JesusDear friends, Ann here. With only a couple of days until Christmas I wanted to wish you a special time with your loved ones. And I know I speak on behalf of the rest of the team — Lynn, Ian, and Tiffany — in saying a heartfelt 'Merry Christmas' from us! Here is a beautiful…
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Oh, the Sweetness of a Friend!
Read more: Oh, the Sweetness of a Friend!Hi everyone — Ann here, and a happy Advent season to you all! In the spirit of Christmas, I'd wanted to pick one of the stories from the Gospels to talk about today, but which one to choose? These stories are all so full of wonder. After some thought, I finally landed on a favorite…
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Waiting in the Dark – some thoughts on Advent
Read more: Waiting in the Dark – some thoughts on AdventI’ve always loved December. Living in Australia, it’s summer, the end of the school year so we always had our long summer break over December/January. It’s also my birthday month and … it’s Christmas. I still recall those days approaching Christmas when the presents used to begin to pile up under the tree. Most of…
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The Soul Redeemer – A Note From Dineen Miller
Read more: The Soul Redeemer – A Note From Dineen MillerHello SUMITES! I’m thrilled to be here today! I’ve missed you dearly and it’s been so wonderful to continue to watch this community grow under Ann’s wonderful leadership. When Lynn asked me to share my newest book release, I was overjoyed, because it’s the conclusion to Lexie and Hugh’s story. When I wrote The Soul…
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Giving Tuesday 2020 A SUMite Blessing
Read more: Giving Tuesday 2020 A SUMite BlessingGive, 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 All of you who give even $5. I bless you in the name of Jesus. If…
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A Donovan Clan Update – Thanksgiving 2020
Read more: A Donovan Clan Update – Thanksgiving 2020Hi My SUMite Family, I’m so proud of Ann Hutchison and how she has stepped up to help me with the blogging. She really filled in a space that was desperately needed when Dineen stepped out. Today, I feel like it’s time for a Donovan Clan update. The last update was Thanksgiving 2019 when Mike…
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Happy Thanksgiving
Read more: Happy ThanksgivingSUMites, we are taking Thanksgiving week off. You should too!!! *grin* Spend time with your families. Eat way too much food. Enjoy a slice of pie. Kiss your husband and do something adventurous and new with your kids. Give Thanks! We will see you right after Thanksgiving with a few announcements. Woo Hoo!! Stay tuned!…
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When a Spouse Leaves the Faith — Part 3
Read more: When a Spouse Leaves the Faith — Part 3Hi friends, Ann here! When a spouse leaves the faith — part 1 When spouse leaves the faith – part 2 I’d like to thank those SUMites whose stories have helped inform the last two posts on this topic. It is an intensely difficult path. The grief of a lost shared faith in marriage is…
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When a Spouse Leaves the Faith — Part 2
Read more: When a Spouse Leaves the Faith — Part 2Ann here again! When a spouse leaves the faith, Part 1 Today we're going to continue with the above topic, and I thought I would start with a little story: Last year, I attended a ministry conference. We were a small group, perhaps 100 in the room, and Auckland is a small place so we…