1.10.12

Matthew 20:28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

My Thoughts

Wow!... I have read this many times... but this is the first time it struck me this way. Jesus could have came down to earth and ask just to be worshiped. He could have said that He was the Son of God and told us all He deserved to be worshiped. Another words he could have came to earth and said "I deserve!" He didn't he came to earth to die for our sins and while he was here he went about saying what else do you need?

In today's world we all think we deserve!  Even commercials tell us we deserve to have more than we have money for.... We deserve a priceless day. We could change the world if each person, each day would ask just one person, and mean it "What can I do for you?" ... What if we each ask just two people a day "What can I do for you?" ... What if we all started asking that instead of "What can I get for me?" "What will this company do for me?"

Imagine how businesses would change if all the people in a business asked, truly ask each morning "What can I do for this company that supplies me a job?" .. What if each boss asked "What can I do for these employees that make my joy possible?" The company would grow by leaps and bounds...and prosper and everybody would benefit.

Jesus was self-less! What if each of us could be self-less a least for a little while each day? If we all would do that our earth would never be the same again....the benefits that we would reap would be truly "priceless!"

1.29.11

Psalms 24:1 The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.

My Thoughts

I loved this today when I read it!  It just gave me a sense of peace and belonging! So often we go about wanting to belong.... all of us. It starts in school... but it happens every where we go. We want to belong to be a part of. Not to be left out. If we can get it to drop down into our heat, our souls that we do belong, we belong to God.  If we can really internalize this so much of our fear of loneliness would leave us.  So often when we choose to do the wrong things we choose to out of our fear of rejection. Our fear of not belonging. When we know, really know that we belong to God, always! .... no matter what, we then get better at making choices based on what will make God happy. We are less likely to become slaves of the need to belong.

Psalms 37:4 tells us that God cares about the desires of our hearts!  God knows that we "need to belong." If we spend our energy belonging to God.... God will make sure that our needs are met...even our  need to feel like we  belong.

1.28.12

Psalms 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
2 He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.


3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.


4 Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.


5 You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.


6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD
forever.
 

My Thoughts

David so knew this! It was in his heart...deep down in his soul. David was so sure of God's love.  So many of us have "known" this scripture since we were children.  Most all of us have at least heard it.  A large part of us at some point paid enough attention to these verses to understand them. But David felt them deep in his soul they were a part of him. We need to learn them enough that the drop from our mind right into our spirit.

 

I heard once that a psychiatrist decided to have his patients, that suffered from depression, read these verses, four times a day. Not memorize them...but have them handy and read them... paying attention to what the words actually said. They were to do this every day for a month (I think it was a month).... They were to read them first thing in the morning, at lunch time...then around dinner time and before going to bed. When his patients came back almost all of them showed great improvement..and something like 80% of them were no longer depressed.

 

There is something about knowing, deep in our souls, all that God wants for us. God wants to give us all we need. God wants to make sure we have peace. God wants us to choose the right path, he even wants to show us what the right path is. God wants to prove to the world he loves us. God wants us to know that even when times are really, really hard that he is right there with us. And even though we feel afraid that we don't have to be afraid because he is taking care of us. If we seek him we can actually feel his presence. God wants us to know and understand that when we choose to do the right things no matter what our enemies do to us..that we will prosper and they will see that we prosper. God give us all that we need and even more... he will pour out blessings that are more that we can hold. God is always chasing after us to love us and he always will! God wants to take us to live in his beautiful home forever.

 

When this drops down into our souls...when it is a so much a part of our heart that we feel it... that is when we will begin to see changes that we could never imagine for ourselves!  No wonder those people got better!!

1.27.12

Matthew 18:2-4 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.  Then he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

My Thoughts

Every time I read this verse I think of how much little kids love their daddy's. When my kids were little...I remember Robby driving up in the driveway....I would wait a minute, giving him time to get almost to the door and say "Daddy's home!" They would go running so excited to see their daddy! They could not wait to spend time with him. They had to tell him everything they could think of that happened in their day! Good and bad. They knew that no matter what they did...no matter how much they messed up that their daddy loved them.  If they had a broken toy they would get it and take it to their daddy to fix. I remember them breaking something and saying, "Daddy can fix it!"

We need to be just as excited to spend time with God.  We need to understand that we can tell him anything. Our triumphs and our failures. When we have a problem we need to take it directly to God. God is the one with the power to make it better. Yet we often go to our friends, our family talking, talking, talking about our problems before we go to God. My children took their broken things straight to their daddy. That is what we should do, take our problems straight to our Father in Heaven.

My kids laughed with their daddy, we should laugh with God! They felt joy when their daddy got home from work. We have God with us all the time, we should bask in the joy of His presence.

Robby went to work every day (still does) and worked hard because he loved Madison and John-Robert and me so much... and it was his job to take care of us. God loves us even more than that. God is always ready to take care of us. That is something to get excited about!

1.26.12

Matthew 17:27 However, we don't want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.

My Thoughts

Jesus and his deciples were in Capernaum and the tax collector came to collect taxes for Jesus and the deciples. Jesus and his deciples had been doing God's word and didn't have the money to pay the taxes. But look what happened... God took care of their needs. They needed money and there it was in a most unusual place, the mouth of the fish.

God will take care of us just the same. If we first seek after God, do the things God ask us to do... God will take care of the rest. Sometimes what we need will come from a must unusual place. A place we may not be expecting it to come from... but it will come. God ask us to love... to love Him and then to love others as much as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). When we do this God takes care of us.

1.25.12

1 John 4:12-13 2 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit

My Thoughts

"When I walk in love, God is present." that is how Joyce Meyer put this verse in her book The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word.  I love this... When we choose love we draw God close to us. How many times a day do we have the chance to choose love? So many times we have that opportunity. So often we can choose to be angry or we can choose to forgive. We can choose to be rude or we can choose to be patient. We can choose to be indifferent or we can choose to be kind. We can choose to ignore someone or we can choose to smile at them. We can choose to ignore or we can choose to speak to someone. We make choices all day long, every day. When we choose the loving choice we draw God near... When we listen to the Holy Spirit inside of us and choose to love, we have chosen to listen to God, to surrender to God and do what God would have us do.

When ask by the disciples Jesus what the greatest commandment was, Jesus told them to love God with all your heart, soul and mind. And to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 24: 36-39). We are called to love... All day long we have choices... we make choices... we should always ask ourselves when deciding what to do  "Which choice is loving?"

1.24.12

Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life.

My Thoughts

I was thinking, "How do I guard my heart?" I believe I guard it by what I allow to go into it. I guard it by building a wall around it with God's words. The more I know God's word...the more protected my heart is. The more I know God's word the better I am at knowing what is truth. The better I can recognize the lies of the devil.

I picture it like this... Each word of God that I put in my heart is like a stitch knitted into a blanket. When I get started I knit 10 stitches... and a bad day rips out 7.... I still have three... so the next day I knit 10 stitches to go with the 3 left over from the day before... now I have 13...then if I have another stressful day and 7 stitches are ripped out I have 6 left over... eventually the blanket is big enough to withstand loosing more than 10 stitches in a day ... there are the good days too...and if I knit daily... then there are no stitches removed. When I stay in God's word my blanket keeps growing... it grows big enough to wrap around me and keep me all safe for the outside elements.  But I have to keep knitting...always working on my blanket...so when the devil comes and rips out a few stitches I keep replacing them. If I get out of God's word...and wander away... I don't add stitches to my blanket..... eventually all the stitches can be ripped out.  I have to take care to mend my blanket.... and keep growing it...so I will always be protected. I have to make sure I guard my heart...filling it each day with the words of God. When my heart is full of the knowledge of God's love and the knowledge of God's promises, it stays guarded... it keeps me on the right path.

God gives us his words... it is up to us to seek them out... when we seek out God's word, earnestly, God makes sure that we get understanding. When we understand...that understanding falls down into our hearts and becomes a part of who we are. God used his words to speak the world into existence, to put the stars in the sky... to create the plants and animals. Look what an amazing place the earth is. Imagine what an amazing heart we can have when we fill our hearts with God powerful words.

1.23.12

Psalms 191:8a The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing Joy to the heart.

My Thoughts

Joy is defined as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.  People are always going about looking for happiness... buying stuff.... doing stuff... always searching. Yet most homes in America have at least one Bible... probably more.... and we have the Internet at our fingertips. Bibles of every edition can be found there. Yet we go about looking for happiness, when Joy can be found in God's word.

Now that I have learned that, the loss of Joy, for seemingly no reason, causes me to step back and ask myself where am I messing up? Where in my day have I not done what God would have wanted me to do. I also ask myself "Am I believing the lies the devil is telling me?" I take inventory and get my actions and my thoughts, my heart back on tract with God's word and then I feel that joy returning. I have my days...but the good think about where God has gotten me.... is when I go searching to feel happy, I now know where to search. That has made all the difference.

1.22.12

Psalms 18:37 I chased my enemies and caught them: I did not stop until they were conquered.

My Thoughts

I read this verse and immediately thought, "Our only true enemy is the devil, himself."  God's word will defeat the devil every time.  David was always ready for battle... he had his troops ready, but more importantly David was prepared for the enemy because he had God on his side.

We can always be prepared for the enemy just as David was. We can be ready to face anything by keeping God close to us. By learning God's word an using it as a sword to fight and win. By being aware, totally aware of the Holy Spirit inside of us directing us. By talking to God, by seeking God constantly in every decision we make.

David was always prepared, because David kept God's word in his heat...and David spent time with God... seeking after God in all that he did.

This verse says that David chased his enemies... David made the first steps... we can chase the devil instead of being chased by the devil..by being prepared always..by getting out ahead...by praying for each and every situation before it happens. David's power was God... we have that same power we just have to make the choice to have God on our side.

1.21.12

Psalms 18:24 The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he has seen my innocence.

My Thoughts

I love this! God sees us... he knows when we do what we are suppose to do... he rewards us when we do what he ask. Even if the world doesn't notice us God always does. We so often miss the rewards of God because we are not looking for them... we think "oh I was lucky." Sometimes we think what we did, is why we got what we got.  But the fact was actually that God gifted us because we chose to do the right think. We are really growing  when we stop and take notice enough to stop and thank God, when we acknowledge that the things we are blessed with are gifts God has showered down on us. Learning that... letting that fact drop down from our brain into our soul is a blessing too... because then we have the opportunity to feel just how much God does love us.

I have a story that is a good example of God's blessing.  Years ago we started paying off everything...and saving, saving for our purchases. We worked really hard at this!  We clipped coupons... gave up going out to eat. But we knew doing this was the right thing for us to do.  We had $6000 put back for our next car...we were paying ourselves a car payment.... then Robby needed a truck... his truck just finally gave out... it wouldn't go any more...we were disappointed because we had not had the chance to save more.  Then much to our amazement Robby found a truck for $6000 ... a one owner... good millage.. very well kept up. It was only $6000. It was exactly what Robby was looking for and it looked almost new! We were so proud of ourselves...but the fact is God gifted us for doing the right thing.  We could have decided we could afford payments on $6000 and never found that perfect truck...but because God wanted to reward us He put the perfect truck in Robbys path.... At the time we didn't understand this concept as much as we do now... but, God reward us anyway...so  that we did  understand we would have  something in our very own lives to keep in our hearts as an example of God keeping His promises to us. We were so blessed that day...not because we did something outstanding...we were blessed that day because God loves us all, and God had taken notice of our effort.

God sees what we do... all the time... even when people don't notice we can rest assure that God doesn't miss a thing!

1.20.12

Proverbs 4:4-6 4 My father taught me, “Take my words to heart. Follow my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them. Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you."

My Thoughts

"Love her" I was thinking about this choice of words.  I was thinking about how when we fall in love we want to spend every waking moment with that person. Getting to know them... learning everything about them... The more we learned about this person we loved the more we loved them. The more we knew how to make them happy...and we liked making them happy.

We need to love God's wisdon that much... Here we are told to love what he teaches us that deeply. We are told to hold on to God's wisdom... put it in our hearts so much so that it is actually a part of who we are. When we do what God tells us to do our lives are protected..we are guarded.  God wants us to always be protected and guarded...but we have to do our part.

One example I can think of right off hand is God warns us aginst borrowing ... God's words says that the borrower is the slave to the lender. If we put this in our hearts..and live by it we are protected ... we can pay our bills...because we don't have too many loans that  get in the way of our bills.  We are free-er to make career choices because we are not so bound to our lenders....God protects us when we do what he ask us to do...so if we make the wise choice...the choice learned from wisdom we put ourselves under the protection of God's promises. We have to do our part.

When we love somebody we spend time with them, we get to know them..we make choices based on knowing them... When we love wisdom we spend time in it... learning it...making choices based on growing wiser.... God made sure here, that we know that it is our job to learn what He has to teach us..and when we do, we will be protected.

Like in the example of money...if we don't do our part from the knowledge God gave us... we won't be protected...but if we do what wisdom tells us..we will be guarded.  We can't ignore everything God has told us and then run to Him for protection from the consequences of our actions. We suffer those consequences for a reason... so that we will learn and grow and hopefully do better.  But if we are wise.. we learn from God's word and we don't have to suffer from our actions... if we learn wisdom we make the right choices.

I can hear God talking to Himself about us.. cheering us on even... saying come on people...I have it all written down for you!... Just read and learn, please choose wisdom... please choose to be protected... I can't stand seeing you hurt!!

We can spend time suffering the consequences of our actions..which in some cases takes years to get through.. or we can spend quality time each day in God's word learning and growing and doing. As hard as making time to learn and grow seems to be... suffering is much harder.

God's wisdom is free for the taking... we just have to do the taking...which takes a bit of our time... it is always time well spent!



1.19.12

1 Peter 5:8 Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [[a]in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. (Amplified Bible)

My Thoughts

Joyce Meyer words it like this, in "The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word," "I will live a balanced life because God's word states that if we are not well balanced we open the door for Satin to come in and devour us."

God has really been dealing with me about balance...then I came across this scripture in Joyce's book... and it really spoke to my heart.  I have spent a couple of weeks thinking about it, on and off. Then today this came up in my reading again... and finally I could see it so clearly!  When there are things we need to do and don't do them...the devil loves to use that to tell us how unworthy we are, how lazy we are... how incapable we are...and soon we believe him...and instead of tackling what we have been putting off we begin to think "I can't"... as soon as that I can't comes in to play the devil has his hold.  As soon as we start believing the "I can't-'s" and the "I am useless-'s" the less productive we become... what the devil has first taken from us is our energy... negative thoughts zap of us our energy faster than a hard days work ever could. When we plan our days with balance...we can nurture our soul, get things done, be creative and spend time with loved ones and friends... all while feeling good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, when we believe what God tells us we are, and not what the devil says about us..the cracks in our armor begin to heal and the devil doesn't have a something to use against us. We then have room for the joy of the Lord...and joy..well that produces energy.

Balance was eluding me... even though I knew I needed balance I just didn't know how to go about getting any.... I am an all in person...or an all out person... so this balance thing is not something I really have ever mastered.  Over the last few weeks... after repeating "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)"...and then learning that "You have not, because you ask not (James 4:2).... I begin to understand that God wants me to have balance... so if I ask God for balance, something He wants for me, then God will give me answers, and strength to have that balance.

So just this morning several things came to mind just how to plan my day with more balance... not somebody else's plan... a plan for me. That is a God thing!  I am today putting that plan in order... it is basically very simple... it is 30 minutes of each activity... a little work, a little play, some folding of the hands... then a little work a little play, a little folding of the hands. God is so good to give us answers! God made us, he knows us...he knows what we need...  God knows what will work for each of us, based on our personality and our abilities. God has the answers...we just have to ask the questions. The thing is God wants us to have balance, God will always give us what He wants us to have, we just have to let God know that it is a desire of our heart.

1.18.12

Matthew 12:33-37 "A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! how could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.  A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for the idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you."

My Thoughts

Whew! This verse probably touches us all ... our mouths are always going.. needing to say something. And bad news, true or not, spreads like wildfire. This verse says to me that if we find ourselves speaking bad about someone that we need to stop and examine our hearts, the devil had found a crack...we need to seal that crack up. Idle words...I bet 80% or our words are idle... at least 50%. Just talking to be heard.  Yet we spend so little time talking to God.  Maybe God gave us so many words to speak, because we needed them to talk to Him with... but, instead we use them just to idly talk, talk, talk.  This is a reminder to me to use my words to keep a check on my heart.... and to spend more of my many words talking to God.

1.17.12

Proverbs 3:21-26 My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace.  They keep you safe on your way,  and your feet will not stumble.  You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.  You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

My Thoughts

I needed this... I looked up discernment...I vaguely knew what it meant...I wanted to be sure...to have the right words in my head... it is defined as "the ability to judge well." The more we read and study God's word... the more we talk to God and listen to the Holy Spirit inside of us the wiser we grow... in all areas including common sense and discernment.  We are told here to trust our common sense... trust our ability to judge well.  When something makes sense...and it feels right in our spirit, our gut... then we can trust that! If it feels wrong...we can trust that.  We all know the difference in talking ourselves into something being right or wrong...we know we are having that conversation with ourselves. We know when it is just common sense.. we know when we have used discernment. God gives us common sense and God gives us discernment...we are to use them wisely. The will refresh our soul.... they will protect us from traps the devil tries to put in our path. They will protect us from people that the devil uses to pull us in to something that is not good for us. Common sense tells us when something is too good to be true... discernment tells us to sit back and examine the big picture... look at all the parts and see if what we are looking at will work. I think God is telling us here...Look I have given you the tools to protect yourselves, trust them, use them! Don't second guess them, they are gifts I give you for your protection, use them wisely.

1.16.12

Genesis 33:10 But Jacob insisted, "No, I have found favor with you (Esau), please accept this gift from me. And what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God."

My Thoughts

In Chapter 32 Jacob has wrestled with God... Jacob had won...and God had given him the name Israel.  I think when God gave Jacob his new name God must have smiled.  That smile was on Jacob's mind the next day when Jacob met up with Esau.  Jacob had seen the face of God... and that warm, welcoming smile...that friendly smile reminded Jacob of God's face.

I don't think I will ever again see a friendly smile the same.  From this verse I will know that a friendly smile has a hint of God's face in it! I have finally internalized that all that we have is from God.. even a smile across a crowded room is from God.... now when I see a friendly smile I will know that not only is if from God, it looks like the face of God. Now I know that every friendly smile is so totally of God. How special is that. With this knowledge how can we not feel special each time someone smiles at us! Because every time someone smiles at is we are being loved by God himself... we are getting a fleeting glimpse of God and all the love He has in His heart for us at that very moment!

With this knowledge in our hearts we should never deny anybody that same moment! When we think to smile at someone we should always act on that urge to smile! So that they too can feel God's love...even if they don't know that is what they are feeling!

Today this made me feel so totally warm and happy inside... how does it make you feel?

1.14.12

Matthew 10:16 Look, I am sending you out among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and as harmless as doves.

My Thoughts

This says to me that as Christians we are to be harmless... and kind... but we don't have to be pushovers. We are allowed to be aware when we are being taken advantage of and we don't have to stand for that. We are to stand up and take notice, pay attention. We are actually suppose to be wise enough to protect ourselves.

Verse 14 says that if any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust from your feet and leave. Our part is to be kind... to spread God's word... to tell others about how much God loves them... our part isn't to make them accept...it is to make sure they know..what others do with the information we give them is their responsibility.

As Christians we are to spread God's word and be kind and loving, gentle.  But we don't have to take on the responsibility of others. We leave that part for them. We plant the seed and then let them choose to accept the seed. If someone comes to us and ask us to help that seed grow then that is exactly what we do.  We are to be kind and loving and gentle to others...but we don't have to sit back and be taken advantage of because of our kindness... we can protect ourselves from harm.

1.13.12

Psalms 11:2 The wicked are stinging their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows and at those whose hearts are right.

My Thoughts

When I read this verse... my thought was immediate, "The devil is always preparing for battle, for attack on us. He is always waiting, we need to always be ready."  The devil IS constantly preparing and attacking. God's word tells us to meditate on His word day and night.... we are to hide God's word in our hearts so that we will not sin against God (Psalms 119). When we learn God word, when we make sure it is in our hearts so that we can call on it whenever we need it, when we stay in constant contact with God through prayer....we can win against the devil every time. The devil is always hiding, looking for, preparing for the moment we have a crack in our armor. The more time we spend in God's word...the more time we think on what we have learned, the more time we spend talking to God, the stronger out armor is. The less cracks we have for the devil to get through. The devil is in constant preparation...and the only way to beat him is to be in constant preparation ourselves...then when the attacks come we have God's word to call upon...we have the grace of God to make us strong... we are not separated from the protection of God...and we are use to listening to the Holy Spirit inside of us so we recognize His voice. We have God on our side...we just have to make sure that we have taken the time to get prepared for the battle... instead of being lost in the wilderness. God gives us the tools for victory... it is our job to put those tools to good use!

1.12.12

Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything  you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain and your vats will overflow with good wine.

Romans 13:8a Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another.

My Thoughts

This year along with reading my One Year Bible through I am reading sections of The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word (Joyce Meyer) over my life, my family and the lives of my friends. There are some sections that I have marked that I am reading over my family weekly. I am loving this book!!  It divides scripture under sections.  Today I remembered a verse under the Prosperity, Finances and Giving section when I read this verse from Proverbs. Put together in my mind they got me thinking.

God's word tells us to honor God with our wealth, the best part of everything we produce.  We are told in Deuteronomy 26:2 to give the first part of what we harvest to God. Here in Romans we are told to owe nothing to anyone...except love.   When we get so lost in our wants, our desires of having we often put our selves in the position to not be able to give back to God the first part of what God has given to us. When we get ourselves so in debt, when we owe we become slaves to our debtors and often end up working so much that not only are we not able to give to God we are not around to give love to our families .. to love our friends... it is a vicious cycle! One that the devil loves to get us in.

God will give back to us more when we put Him first... if we want to make sure that we have what we need.. we must first give back to God his part of what He has given us.  When we choose not to do that we are choosing not to live under God's protection as far as our finances go!  You may feel like you don't have a choice...but at some point we all had the choice to put God at the top of our list above our bills.  One way to keep God at the top is to stay out of debt... to delay what we get by saving for it first.

The good thing is that if we have gotten ourselves in a place where we are totally unable to honor God with the first tenth of our income... God honors our efforts our earnest efforts... we can start out with what we can do...and work up to our tenth. With each bill we pay off we can add that to our giving to God... as we increase our giving...as we make the effort to get to our tenth... God will increase our provisions..in  Malachi 3:6-12 God talks about our tithes... and God even says that we can test Him and see if he protects our provisions when we give our tithes. God will take care of our money and what it will do for us... if we first acknowledge that our money comes straight from God.  When we give back to God the first part of what God has given to us.. that is us saying God I understand that all I have is from you! When God knows that we know that and we show that we know it by our actions... God will pour out his blessings on us so much that we won't have room to store it.. (Malachi 3:10).

We miss out on so much when we don't acknowledge God in all that we have... but on the other hand we are given so much when we stop and realize, and give God the credit for all he has given us. Our lives become more and more abundent when we understand that everything, every single thing we have is a gift straight from God. Our part is to show God that we we know, that we know, that we know, that what we have is all His... given as a gift to us!

1.11.12

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

My Thoughts

When my children were little I would always tell them "Pretty is as pretty does."  It is so true...we often meet a beautiful person with hateful actions and at some point we don't even seem them as pretty any more.  Then again we can meet a plain person that is loving and kind and when we get to know them all we see is beauty... we know that a room lights up when they walk in... in our minds and in our hearts they are beautiful.

We have also seen somebody that we knew could be beautiful  "if"...we are not sure of the "if" but we see the potential there for beauty.

Love shines through no matter! God is love... if we love God we are in turn filled with great love..... and that love will fill a room... no matter how old we get or how many wrinkles we have... love makes us beautiful.   There is a quote that I love that says "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you do, but people will never forget how you made them feel." When we people make us feel loved they are the most beautiful people in the world.

When we seek after God the fist thing that happens is we feel loved...that alone changes us... it shows. I remember just a couple of months after I started reading my Bible, I ran into a friend that I had worked with. She said "Jeannie, what is different about you? You glow!" I knew what was different about me...I felt totally loved and protected by God. I told her that too! God's love had made me glow!! The next thing that happens when we seek after God and get filled to overflowing with His love... that overflowing of love has to spill out..and it spills out to the people around us...we begin to make them fell loved. We become beautiful because we glow with God love..and because we make them feel good!  No cosmetic in the world can make us as beautiful as the love of God can! And God's love doesn't was off!

1.10.12

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

My Thoughts

We are to trust in God with ALL our heart... that means that when we are frustrated, or upset or even angry at someone we can tell God about it. When we trust God with this part of us He will help us. God will show us what to do.

This is the one I have the hardest time with myself.. I go to God with so much now... with my joy, with my pain...with my fears.... with my worry... with my excitement.... but I still have a hard time going to God with my anger and frustration.  Not because God does not want to hear it, God will help me with it!  I think its is more because I have always been the people pleas-er, the peace maker, I have always kept my anger and upset inside me, hidden from the world. God does not act like the world... God cares about what my frustrations are... God wants to help me work through everything... God has an answer for everything and He will show me what to do. I just have to be brave enough to trust God with even my anger and frustration.  Logically I understand this... I read it in my Bible... I know it is true.  I just have to let go and trust God with even the part of me that I am not comfortable with.

I so needed this verse!  God knows what I need...he made me aware today of this very verse in all my verses God made sure I saw this one. 

If we want God to help us with everything... we have to learn to give everything to God.

1.9.12

Matthew 7:20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruits, so you can identify people by their actions.

My Thoughts

I once worked with a man that talked all the time about being a Christian. When I met him I was impressed by his talk. Then the more I was around him the more I realized that all he was was talk. He was unkind and unfair to his employees. He denied people breaks they were suppose to have, he lied.  He  jeopardized every employee by not taking care of his duties as manager. He even stole from the store. The store was in danger of closing when he got there...his actions were the final nail in the coffin of the store, the doors did shut and many, many people lost their jobs. This man not only effected the people in the store he also effected their families and his family. His mouth said that he was a Christian, his actions said that he wasn't. The fruit of his spirit was not love.

When we become Christians God puts the Holy Spirit inside us... making us able to grow the fruits of the spirit where are  fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5: 22-23). We should be able to see these fruits in our lives.

This man I knew talked about being a Christian was not producing these kinds of fruits at all.

When we find that the fruit that we are producing is not loving and caring..when we find ourselves not being kind..when our lives don't produce goodness..and we feel no joy or peace..... we need to step back and examine our actions. Ask God to show us where our actions are coming from. Sometimes God will show us that we are not walking in love ourselves...sometimes God may show us that someone else is not walking in love and it is effecting us... our answer may be to remove ourselves from a situation that is causing changes in our hearts... we may need to put ourselves back on fertile ground where love can grow where the fruits of the spirit abound....  Either way once we find ourselves not producing fruits of love something in our hearts has changed... it is a caution that we need to refocus... talk with God and get back to a place where we produce the good things that God intended for us to have. We all have out moments...where something wrong gets grafted into our trees... when that happens we need to prune our tree so we only grow in goodness.

It is our duty to take care that our tree grows the fruits of the spirit..we are to be diligent (1 Timothy 4:15) to make sure that our lives reflect our hearts...as Christians our hearts are made for love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control and forbearance. When we go to God and say something had grafted the wrong fruit on my tree... God will gently prune our tree and make it right again. Our part is to make time to notice what is amiss and to go to God for help.



1.8.12

Matthew 7:3-5 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

My Thoughts

I have heard of this verse for a long as I can remember. I always understood it meant don't judge others for their sins when you are sinning yourself.  Now I better understand that if we ever get to the point where we don't have a speck in our eye, we will be to the point where we have enough love and compassion that we don't judge the person with the speck, we instead try to help them.  When we get that far we have the understanding that there is usually something that needs healing in a persons life that causes them to act the way they do.  Our part is to reach out and help. To heal the broken hearted... to share the love of Jesus.

I so try not to judge others.... I have always know that we could never really know why someone acted the way the act unless we had lived their lives... but so often I still find myself judging.... Verse 6 tells us not to waste what is holy on those who are unholy and not to throw our pearls to the pigs. They will be trampled on. This is where I get confused...when am I judging somebody and when am I making a sound judgment to step back and move on?  I never want to be judgmental...but I also don't want to be taken advantage of. Yet when I step back and try and figure out if I am being taken advantage of...due to examination of what I see I feel judgemental.  I would really love some input on this!

1.7.12

Mark 4:18-19 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.

My Thoughts

The devil loves to plant worries in our mind. Give us things we don't need to want to distract us. When we are busy wanting and worrying we are not busy thinking on God's words, God's promises, God's commandments. Psalms 43:10 tells us that if we seek God that we will not lack any good thing. So if we set our mind on God...everything else will be provided for by God.  The devil will take every opportunity, every situation he can to get our mind off God!... If making us want doesn't work he will make us worry.  God promises to take care of all our needs. God promises to make our lives overflowing with his blessings... God wants to pour out his blessings on us!... Our part, and we always have a part, is to keep our hearts and our minds on God, on God's word, on God commandments. Then God takes care of the rest.

When you find yourself wanting, when you find yourself worrying... have God's word handy. If you have to write a few verses on an index card and keep it in your pocket...or put a reminder in your phone that comes up several times a day with a verse... do what ever it takes to think on God and his promises... don't let the devil choke our the wonderful love of God. When we take time for God, with God... God takes care of us.

1 Corinthians 2:9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

My Thoughts 

 Most of us have always known that Jesus died for our sins... but the people that lived before Jesus died for our sins could not even imagine that kind of love. I think so often we have heard this without stopping to think, truly of Jesus dieing for us, each of us individually... actually dieing for the things that we have done wrong.

Then there are those things that God does for us daily, all the things we have, all the abilities we have, all the people that we have that love us...they are gifts straight from God.  They are there for us all the time yet we go through whole days, sometimes weeks... and sadly sometimes years without even giving notice that God provided all those things for us.

If we would stop and think about how much God does for us daily....then stop and think that God gave the ultimate gift, His Son, to die for our sins... just think of all there is out there that God has in store that  falls in-between what God gives us daily...and the great gift of His Son. There is so much that God has stored up for us... so much more than we can think of or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). God has blessing held in heaven that He can't wait to pour out on us. I believe that God waits for us to ask because God wants us to be aware of just how much He love us. If we just get it we often think it is by chance. We think it is because we did something wonderful. We think somebody else did something wonderful for us. We forget to notice that what we have been given is because God loves us so much. If God waits for us to ask...then He gives us something that we can't possibly get on our own...  we can have no doubt that our gift is straight from God...when that happens we have at least a moment of knowing, of being aware that "God loves me!" God wants us to be full of those moments... God wants us to feel wrapped in His love... God loves doing for us because He loves us so much. When we are aware of that we can open ourselves up for so many of God's blessings because it makes God happy to make us feel loved!

1.5.12

James 4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

My Thoughts

When we put God above us... when we make God more important than us ...  when we put what we want second to what God ask of us....that is humbling ourselves. When we do this...and stand firm against what the devil tempts us to do ... God makes sure that the devil flees. With God we are always stronger than the devil. That is God's grace working in is!  How awesome is that!!  I love it!

1.4.12

Isaiah 10:27 In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people.  He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.

My Thoughts

I love that God sent Jesus and that Jesus was willing to die for our sins that we can be free of the bondage of Satin! With God's grace we can always defeat the devil!  1 John 4:4 tells us that He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world... We can call on the Holy Spirit inside us. We are free of bondage.... we are no longer under the slavery of sin.  Each time we find ourselves defeating the urge to sin we have a history to draw from... the more we let the Holy Spirit lead us the more we are aware of his voice inside our souls. What a blessings that we know that we have the Grace of God, the Blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit inside us.... When we are tempted, when the devil keeps trying to thwart our plans of good... we have the strength every time to do what is right to persevere because Jesus removed our  yoke of slavery... and God provides us his Grace! We are so very blessed!



1.3.12

Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

My Thoughts

I love that God supplies us with His grace to make it possible to do anything He ask us to do. Here God ask us to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander and all type of evil behavior. God will send down His grace to make us able to rid ourselves of all these things.  Our part is to to ask for God to help us... we need to make ourselves aware of these behaviors so that we can work at doing what God ask and God will send down His grace to make us able.

I am finding that I can't get rid of one behavior without replacing it with another... in this scripture God give us exactly what we can replace our bad behaviors with good things. We can replace our bitterness with kindness...we can replace anger and rage by being tenderhearted... instead of being harsh toward one another and talking about each other we can be forgiving toward one another... if we find that hard to do we can remind ourselves that God forgave us of everything we have done... and God gives us His grace to forgive anybody of anything. 

We have all met bitter people, people filled with rage and anger...the longer we know them the worse their life seems to get... the harder they are to be around.  Then there are those people that are always kind, tenderhearted.... that seem to forgive everybody everything...they are like a magnet drawing people in. They seem to light up a room.... they make you feel good just to be in their presence..they are such a joy in our lives. This is just another example of how our lives improve when we listen to God and do what He ask.  God wants our lives to be overflowing... His word gives us the tools to make it so!  His grace gives us the ability to use those tools.

1.2.12

Psalms 2:1-3 Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Let us break the chains,"they cry, "and free ourselves from the slavery to God."

My Thoughts

We go about wondering why our economy is so bad. Why gas prices and grocery prices are so high. Why unemployment is high.  Why our country falls further and further behind. It is because we have failed to worship God, to put God first in our lives!  Deuteronomy 28:1-13 tells us that if we obey God's commands he will set us above all the nations of the earth! He will bless our towns, fields, crops, our children, our fruit baskets and our bread baskets that we will prosper wherever we go! God will establish us and give us prosperity if we obey His commands.

We keep putting our hope into our government to save us... to make rules that will protect us. We need to all get on our knees to God... we need to learn his commands so that we know what it is we are to be keeping. When we put God first our nation, our cities, our children, our land, our works will prosper... when we put God first he won't let us fail! When we put God first we don't even have to do things smart... God will take care of us. When we think we are so smart that we don't need God then it doesn't even matter how smart we become all our plans will be futile!

If we want unemployment to be smaller, gas prices to drop, groceries to be lower... if we want prosperity in our homes and in our land...in our country we as a nation have to turn back to God. The healing of the United States starts with Christians setting our hearts and minds on God... it starts with us getting on our knees... the rest God will take care of! America was built on the right to worship God, people flocked here and our nation grew by leaps and bound... America became great overnight because we loved God and kept his commands... We can be that great nation again...we can grow strong again! We can grow stronger than before... it is in our hands to put our country in God's hands...in God's hands everything prospers!

1.1.12

Psalms 1:1-3 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank,  bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

My Thoughts

I love this promise. It makes me feel happy.... it gives me hope! We can just do the first part without the second though. We have to delight in the law of God, meditating on it day and night. If we don't hang out with sinners... take advice from ungodly people... if we don't stand around with others making fun of people. If instead we learn out Bible verses and think about them....think of how to carry out what God has planted in our hearts to do. If that is what we put in our minds all through out the day and night. Then we will have joys..not joy, but joys and we will prosper in ALL that we do!

This verse makes me think of King David...he was always thinking about God... writing songs about all that God had done before him. King David always prospered. The only times that King David had problems is when he took his eyes off God.  God took care of David and God will take care of us. We just have to keep our eyes on Him. We have to get busy making time to think about God...learning his laws and thinking about them all the time.  We have to study people and make sure that they are Godly before we ask for their advice... we need to make sure that the people that we hang out with love the Lord...and we should never, ever make fun of people we have no idea why they do the things they do...instead if we ever have the urge to do so that should be our reminder to pray for these people.. to see if there is anything we can do to help them. When we do these things God will take care of us. Isn't this exciting!! 

I look back and see how much God took care of me when I didn't do these things... and it excites me to think of how much more God will take care of me when I do do these things!  Just the thought makes me happy!!