I decided to start this blog (2010) because my son, John-Robert gave me a One Year Bible for Christmas, the New Living Translation... reading it has changed my life... I post a daily Bible verse on my Facebook page every day and it has been well received... I thought that this would be a wonderful way to share part of what I read each day!... I hope that you enjoy it.



This Year 2012 I am going to do things a little different... not much...just a little. I am again reading through my One Year Bible (for the 3rd time). But I am also using "The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word" by Joyce Meyer. This book is divided by putting scriptures under different categories so they can be used to speak over our life situations. Each day I will read a category of scripture and pick a scripture in that category to write about.



Hugs

Jeannie







Friday, August 31, 2012

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
God has the answers... He knows the beginning from the end.  God's wisdom and understand can not be matched.  God only seeks the best for us, He loves us with more love than we can even understand.  God always works on our behalf, for our good.  We are always guessing, based on our past experience. God knows. God already has the answers.  When we trust in God and not on just what we understand, God will show us what to do that is best for our lives and for the lives of the people around us... we just have to ask and listen. The more we trust God and see the amazing results the easier it becomes to trust God.  God always, always, always has our best interest at heart.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Ephesians 4:29  Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
 
My Thoughts
Oh this verse is so important to our quality of life, and the quality of life of the people around us!!  Can we be frustrated, angry and upset? Yes! But we need to take those things to God. When we do God sorts them our in our hearts in the right way.  People tend to tell us what they think we want to hear, making us more frustrated, angry or upset.  God sets us straight... God gives us the best way to think through something.  Then our words don't make the situation worse for us or for others. 
 
We need too, to be careful of the words we say to ourselves about ourselves. We need to but us up, as well as others... we need to have helpful dialog in our head about ourselves and our lives... we need our words spoken about ourselves to be words of encouragement!  We need to remember what God says about us!! 
 
God tells us He loves us so much that He let His only son die for our sins (John 3:16). God tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14).  God tells us that we matter so much to Him that even the hairs on our heads are numbered (Luke 12:7). I don't know about you, but with me that changes ever few minutes...and God knows when it does!!  God tells us that He cares about the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). God cares about what we want!!... the list goes on and on. If we matter that much to God we should be kind to ourselves!!
 
We need to remember that we are all God's children!!  If we matter that much to God, the person next to us at any given time at any part of our day, matters that much to God to!!  Have you ever known a mother that didn't just love somebody to death that loved and encouraged her child. God feels the same way!!  When we love and encourage others we are loving one of God's children. That matters to God even more!! 
 
We need to remember the words of Thumper's that his mother taught him (from Bambi), "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin at all."  Proverbs 18:21 tells us that our words have the power of life and death and that we eat the fruit of our words.  We need to be mindful of our words, not just letting anything flow from our mouths... the words we choose should be loving and encouraging, good words, helpful words.  We need to remember if we hear ourselves saying something we shouldn't that it is never too late to shut our mouths!! 
 
If we start out watching our thoughts, and think on things that are good and noble and kind, honorable and pure and lovely (Philippians 4:8). Then good and noble, kind, honorable, pure and lovely words will follow.  By taking our thoughts captive, we take our words captive! 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

8.23.12

Philippians 4:8  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
 
My Thoughts
2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take our thoughts captive.  The only way to get rid of the bad thoughts is to replace our thoughts with good thoughts.  It is when I mind seems rather empty for a moment that the devil himself moves in and starts filling our head.  Philippians 4:8 is our weapon against the devil filling our minds with his thoughts, and convincing us that they are our own.  We can tell ourselves "I refuse to entertain that thought, instead I am going to think about true and honorable things, right and pure things, lovely and admirable things...I am going to fix my mind on God at this moment and thank Him and praise Him.
 
How you ever noticed that when you are busy being thankful...when you are busy praising God it is hard to think of anything else!!!   One way to think on the things that are good is to count  your blessings.  When I have been so troubled that I could not concentrate without my mind wandering to a problem,  I have actually gotten out a pen and paper and made myself write down 100 things that I am thankful for... it helps.  We can refuse to think negative things about ourselves and about others...we can instead choose to thing on things that are good. 
 
When we learn to think on things that are good, we begin to notice the good around us. When we notice the good, our mood changes, whole days can be transformed by our thoughts when we make an effort... it has to be more than an effort...it has to be more a determination.  Whole days can be changed when we become determined to think on things that are true, honorable, right and pure. When we think on things that are lovely and admirable, excellent and worthy of praise!! 
 
It is so important to take our thoughts captive... what stays in our  minds eventually drops in our hearts... so when we refuse to think on bad things and instead think on the good... the good drops into our hearts... what is in our hearts become our actions. The only way to act and react good is for our thoughts to be good thoughts. What will your thoughts be on today??

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

8.28.12

1 Corinthians 15:41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
 
My Thoughts
We sang this song at Chruch on Sunday morning it starts out like this "No one else can love you like I love you Lord.  My first thought was "Oh,  but so many people are so much better at loving God than me!".... then I heard the rest of the song and I had an "ahh haa" moment... let me share the words....
 
No one else can love You like I love You, Lord
'Cause I was made unique in Your heart heart
I was made to bring You joy

Now I have a purpose
Now I have a destiny
You made me for You glory
You made me for You glory

No one else can love You like I love You, Lord
'Cause I was made unique in Your heart heart
I was made to bring You joy

Now I have a purpose
Now I have a destiny
You made me for You glory
You made me for You glory

I was made for
I was made for
I was made for
I was made for
I was made for
I was made for love
 
Now I have come across this verse in my Bible.  I don't have to try and be like anybody else...I get to be me and love God the best I can the way that I know how to love God!!  God loves how I love him. 
 
It made think of how we can have two grandmothers who are so different but we love them both so much!!  We love the differences in them.  We love what each one of them separately, differently bring to our lives.
 
God loves what we bring to Him, and to the world, after all He made us!!  He planned for each of us to show our love in different ways... He knew that each of us would praise Him differently, pray to Him differently, love him in our own unique ways... God planned us the way we are!!  We need to keep learning and growing in Him and His love...but He we don't have to become anybody else in the process...we just have to do our best, our way. 
 
We need to embrace our differences, celebrate who we are! We need to love ourselves so that we can let God's love shine through us to others!! So that we can reach the people that God intended us to reach because we are just who God made us to be!!  Just like the sun was made for it's own glory and the moon for it's own glory. Just like all the stars differ from each other in their glory, we are made for our own glory... we each glorify God by being who we are and loving Him and loving others!!  Isn't that exciting!!

Monday, August 27, 2012

8.27.12

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ.  He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything that he has promised to us.
 
My Thoughts
I loved reading this... "He has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything that He has promised to us."  I love it because sometimes, even though I know better, I wonder if I have been good enough for God to love me.  I will tell myself that God loved me while I was still an unforgiven sinner... that God loves me in spite of myself.  But sometimes I end up believing what the devil whispers in my head, "You have not been good enough to earn God's love."  Yet I feel the Holy Spirit guiding me all the time!!  He leads me...he reminds me of what God says about how much He loves me.  He tells me when I am making miss steps. The Holy Spirit reminds me that I am a child of God. Some times the Holy Spirit shakes his head inside me and just says "Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie!" And I know that my thinking is all wrong.  I know that the Holy Spirit lives inside me.  This verse tells me that if I know that, then I can also count on all of God's other promises to me... the promises that He is will me and will take care of me... The promise that He cares about the desires my heart.   The promise that I will live one day in heaven with Him!!  It tells me that every time I feel the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart I can know that there is more wonderful things to come. It says that despite any way that I have messed up that God still loves me!!! 
 
Next time you feel the Holy Spirit talking to your heart... remember that is the first installment to all of God's promises to you!  When  you feel the Holy Spirit taking to you... remember He is talking to you because God loves you, YOU so very much!!!  How wonderful is that!!!
 
 

8.26.12

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.
 
My Thoughts
I love this ...when we love God we can go to Him and be safe!!  We don't have to be perfect, we just have to love God then we can go to Him and be safe.  From what I understand from reading God's word to be Godly I must love God and seek after him.... Go to God and repent of my sins so that I am right with Him, through His grace and  if I keep trying my best to do what God would have me do... earnestly trying, then God considers me Godly.
 
If I am wrong... then please feel free to let me know... because I want to be a child of God, I want to live a Godly life. I want to be able to run to God and be safe. Just as when I was little and ran to my daddy to be safe. 
 
God is teaching me all the time, through his words, through the wonderful Godly people He as placed in my life. God wants keep me safe and the only person  that can keep God from keeping me safe is me. The free will that God gives me gives me the choice to choose to be a Child of God or to be a child of this earth.  If I choose to be a child of God, I can always run to Him and be safe. 

Saturday, August 25, 2012

8.25.12

Psalm 40:8 I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.

My Thoughts
Right and wrong are always there... God puts what is right in our hearts and the devil whispers what is wrong in our heads.  Satin is cunning... he even used scripture with Jesus, while Jesus was in the wilderness, to try and get Jesus to sin. But what is right is always, always there in our hearts instructing us.  It is important to know God's word to help us know the difference in what is right and what is wrong, especially since the devil like to twist the scripture in our heads.  Prayer is important too.  When we are struggling we can go to God, we might not always like the answer God gives us, but God will make it clear what the right thing to do is.  I am learning that if the right thing is not clear to me just yet, then waiting is better than making a wrong choice.  Sometimes God ask us to wait... even if people are pressuring us God may want us to wait.  If waiting makes us "miss out" on something, just think what God can give us is so much more that what any man is able to give us.  No decision made without God is going to be as sweet as a decision made with God.  We just have to listen to our hearts, know God's word and ask for God to speak to us through the Holy Spirit.  We also have to be honest with ourselves when we are deciding by asking, "Is this what I want, or is this  what God would want." This question can always help us hear our heart over our head much better. 

Always remember God wants what is very best for us, always. And God always knows what is very best for us.  We can never go wrong by choosing what God wants for our lives. 

Friday, August 24, 2012

1 Corinthians 15:58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable.  Aways work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

My Thoughts
Be strong and immovable!!  We are so swayed by the world. It is so easy to be swayed...one of the most persuasive things we face each day is the media!! It is everywhere, it is central in our homes in the form of TV... and most of have more than one of those so we won't miss a thing.  We go do doctor's offices and there are magazines and now TV to keep us busy while we wait.  Telling us what we need, what we need to think, what we need to do to be acceptable to the world. And so often we listen.  We are much like kids who give in to peer pressure...we give into media pressure.

Here we are told to be strong and immovable!!  If it takes not opening those magazines or turning on that TV to stay strong and immovable in the values that God gives us, than that is just what we need to do.  When we choose God over media pressure, when we choose to live like God wants us to live and not like the world wants us to live God will bless us.  Nothing, even something that feels like the tiniest thing, goes unnoticed by God.  And God loves to shower us with blessings. 

When we feel the Holy Spirit nudging us to do something, or not to do something we need to listen. When we listen and act on His advice God takes notice and our lives become better and better and better.  

Thursday, August 23, 2012

8.23.12

Proverbs 21:29 The wicked bluff their way through, but the virtuous think before they act.

My Thoughts
I taught my kids "Patience is a virtue." I should have also taught them "It is virtuous to think before you act." Thank goodness they are both pretty good at that!  God often steps in when we try our best but just don't know what we need to know yet!  Thank you God.

We have all heard people state with a bit of pride "That is just how I am, I act before I think." Or "I am always speaking before I think."   It tells us right here that to be virtuous that we must think before we act.  If we bluff our way through we are doing what is wrong.  We need to stop and think before we speak, before we act...we need to be honest enough with ourselves and others to say "I just don't know." 

Deep down we all want to be virtuous, I hope, here is one way to be just that... think before we act.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

8.22.12

Psalm 37:30 The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.
 
My Thoughts
It is so important as a child of God to offer good counsel. To choose the right over the wrong. So often people go to people for advice when they want the ok to do what they know is wrong.  Our voices need to be their voice of reason.  And when we don't know the answer we need to be honest and say, "I am sorry I just don't know... I can find out for you if you want me to."  We need to always be honest no matter what people want to hear, when they come to us for advice.  We can even say... are you sure you want my advice because you may not like it.  If people are use to a person giving wise advice they usually want wise advice when they ask.  If a person is use to somebody ok-ing anything they do and they want to do something they know they shouldn't do, that is the person they will seek out.  As children of God we need to be the voice or reason, the voice that loving, kindly speaks the truth of God.   When we have to make a choice between pleasing God or a person we need to always please God.... if we do everything else will fall in its proper place.  This applies to giving advice just as it applies in all other areas of our lives.  We don't need to err on the side of caution we need to seek the side of God especially in our words to others.  Matthew 9:42 warns us about causing others to stumble. 
 
When somebody ask our advice, we need to seek God before we answer. If we don't know what God would want us to say, we need to ask for time to think about it and pray.  It is better to give no advice at all than to give the wrong advice. 

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

8.21.12

Psalm 37:18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that will last forever.

My Thoughts
These words made me think!!  Day by day... Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow that tomorrow has enough worries of its own (Matthew 6:34). In verse 19 it tells us that even in famine the innocent will have more than enough.  God does this day by day...God takes care of today.  This make me see my prayers different.... I am always praying for the future, I need to pray for just today. For what I face, for what Robby faces, for what my kids face and for what my friends face today.  When I think of being good forever, that seems impossible...but if I think of being good today, of being innocent for today, well that seems doable. I have lived 51+years...that means that God has taken care of 18,615+ days  in my life.  I am still going! Even on the days I wasn't very innocent at all God got me through them... how much better will God get me through my days if I work on pleasing Him.  I can please God today!!  God will watch over me today.  I can pray for today...I can see into this day...it is hard to pray for the future sometimes it seems so overwhelming.

I have had something that has been on my mind lately. Something that I have been worried about...something that I keep giving to God then taking right back.  I want to pray about it one way, but know God would want me to pray about it a different way so it has gotten in the way of all my prayers.  If I pray about this thing in my life for just today there is only one way to pray. 

God is so good to put scripture in my life that helps me work things out.  This one is so important I believe to how I approach life that I need to put it where I will see it...so that I will live for today, and I will pray for today...I will not look past where I lay down to sleep tonight...I will leave that in God's hands...and ask God to help me with only my plans for today. 

Thank you God for taking me back and back and back to this verse, this morning. Thank you God for making it clear to me that today is all that I have in front of me.  Thank you God for teaching me to pray for just today.  In Jesus name.

Monday, August 20, 2012

8.20.12

Psalms 37:3-4 Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.  Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your hearts desire.

My Thoughts
I have been watching the Waltons lately...it was on when I was a child... it depicts a time when my mother was a toddler.  There is prayer over the dinner table, talk of doing what God expects, thankfulness in the mist of a depression, Sunday services. There is sacrifice for others, doing for others, not always thinking of ones self.  It is a reflection of how we lived and at the least what we expected families to be like. 

During the Great Depression people turned to God. They knew it was God who would get them through.  I have heard my grandmother speak of this very thing.  It was a time when our great nation turned to God, thanked God for anything that they had. A time when we depended on God...and look what followed!!  Great prosperity that lasted for years... enormous growth.. my grandmother and my mother when from a time of having very little to super grocery stores and super Wal-Marts.. to 4 car families with TVs in every room.  My grandmother and mother went from no phone to cell phones...not to mention computers.... from tiny 4 room mill houses to sprawling houses in suburbs.   Now we don't even recognize large houses as anything but "normal."  

All of this growth was not because of man and what he could accomplish. It was because of God and all of the gifts He gives to the people that love Him. 

Look what is on our TV's now!!  TV shows tell us that there is no need for values, the characters talk about how they don't believe in God.  Sex is expected on the third date.  Kids disrespect their parents, wives and husbands disrespect each other.  TV once again reflects so many of our values.  Only now it reflects how we don't honor God! It talks of not even believing in God ... it makes our children question if God exist, instead of instilling in them how important God is in our lives.  It reflects selfishness... hatefulness instead of love.  Doing for ourselves and not doing for others. It shows murder and evil running rampant. TV does not instill love ... in fact it teaches us how to be good thief's and murders.

We and our children are seeing record numbers of job losses, record numbers of foreclosures. Families not even working on staying together.  Parents being selfish, kids being selfish.  Parents giving to their children not out of love but out of a need to show out.  People are so busy spending money to show off they are no longer able to give their children what they need...because keeping up with the Jones' is more important than taking care of a family. Families that are so far behind that they don't feel like going to Church.  Our selfishness and unbelief are why our country is not prospering... we like to blame it on the government...but is is because as a country we live in a way that puts us out side the protection of God. 

When we start "Trusting in the Lord and do good." we will see our country, our "land prosper:...we will live safely once again.  When we "delight in God" we will once again begin to see our "heart's desire" in our lives. 

The solution to prosperity in our land is not the laws that are made, or who becomes president... it is the people, you and me turning to God, doing good, taking delight in the Lord...then God will take care of the laws and the jobs, the banks and the housing market God is able to turn the hearts of our leaders! But it is up to us...each and every one of us to love God and to love our fellow man. We can't wait on our neighbor to do it...we must each do our part!!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

James 4:7-8 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

My Thoughts
Look here it tells us that if we resist the devil he will flee from us!!  How much easier life is when the devil is not whispering in our brain all the time!!  When we draw close to God, God will come close to us.  That is why when we don't know what to say, if we just praise God and thank Him, He will come close to us and take care of us!! The great thing is we can resist the devil by drawing close to God!!  We just have to preform one action and accomplish two things!!!

So often I get in a place in my life where I just don't know what to pray...where I can't find the words... where the verses that I have learned just won't come to  mind...I have learned in those times to praise God and to thank Him for all He has done for me...then I feel His presence. In fact it is those times that I often feel His presence the most. 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

8.18.12

Luke 21:34 “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware,  like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth.

My Thoughts
Wow! I never thought of worrying like I think of drunkenness!! I was raised by a worrier who was raised by a worrier. I remember even getting in trouble for not being worried enough.  I can feel guilty for not being worried. 

I was around a few drunks growing up. I really guarded my adult life from drinking and all that comes with it... and I tried to guard my children from it.  People can be so lost in being drunk that they would not recognize that the rapture even happened.

If I am really honest with myself I have been so lost in worry that I too would not recognize the rapture if happened during my distress.  I can read that worry is a sin. But, I can still feel guilty if I don't worry. Like worry will even help the situation..in fact I have made a situation worse by worry.  I have cause myself health problems with worry, just like someone who drinks too much has health problems. If I really think about it... worry effects me and the people around me, just like drinking effects more than the person that drinks.  Worry stops me in my tracks, makes me unable to move forward. Worry has actually made me unable to move at all.  Worry helps nothing.  There are even a couple of things in my life right now that I am trying to worry enough about to make it all better.  I can logically know that prayer will make it better and that worry can even make it worse.  Seems like old habits die hard sometimes.  They will never die at all if I don't stop and recognize what is going on when I do worry...and then remember what prayer has done for so many of my problems in the past.  Prayer works, worry doesn't!! 

There are numerous scriptures in the Bible about worry...and how we shouldn't. Scripture that tells me to cast my cares upon God.  But for some reason this scripture put it in perspective for me.  Now to get it to drop down from my brain into my spirit!!  Believe it or not I am so much better than I use to be!  A drunk can be better and than take on sip of alcohol and spiral out of control.  I have seen my worry spiral out of control...now I can tell myself, "Jeannie if you start this it is going to grow bigger than you are! Give it to God right now...and keep giving it to God when it crosses your mind. Tell the devil that he is not going to guilt you into worry!!"  I will take control of worry..and use the first peep of it to put me in prayer mode!! If the whisper of guilt from the devil puts me in prayer mode eventually the devil will leave me alone. He will realize that, that tiny whisper will send me running straight to God himself!!  I will do better!!

Friday, August 17, 2012

8.17.12

1 Peter 5:8 "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

My Thoughts
Do you ever feel out of control of your thoughts?? Has anybody ever told you what a good person you were and it made you feel guilty as you thought "If the only knew the thoughts in my head?" The place the devil likes to get us is in our head.  I loved learning that the devil was always putting thoughts in our head!! For the longest time I felt like I was fooling people with my sweetness, I would think "If they only knew what goes on in my head!"  But Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts above all else because our hearts determine our actions. So if my actions were sweet, I was a good person. Whew!!  What a relief!!  When we are alert, on lookout for the devil we are able to do what it tells us to do in 2 Corinthians 10:5, take our thoughts captive.  Now  I am aware that those bad thoughts about myself and about others, come straight for the devil himself. Now I can take those thoughts captive and tell the devil just what God says!!  For instance when the devil makes me think, "You are just stupid and useless." I can tell the devil, "No, I have a purpose. God made me for a purpose and He tells me I am fearfully and wonderfully made." If the devil tells me "You can't!" I can tell him, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"  I can take my thoughts captive so that what the devil tells me won't drop down into my heart and make my actions bad.  I can check  my actions against my thoughts and see if I am acting and reacting like God would have me act.  I can stay alert guarding my thoughts so they don't become my actions. I can remember that God word is so powerful that He spoke all things into existence... God simply said "Let there be light." and it happened. Just because He spoke it, it happened! God's word is powerful and I can use it to fight my enemy if I stay alert!  The devil likes to camouflage himself, like the animals in the jungle, but when we stay alert we can recognize him,  even in his camouflaged state.  And we can win the battle aginst him because we can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens us!! 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

8.16.12

Matthew 17:11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

My Thoughts
As a parent I love this verse...it gives me a tiny bit of insight into how much God loves me...how much God loves you!!  There is nothing that I would not do for my kids, if it is in their best interest...and if it is in my power.  Above everything I want them to live forever, love and be loved, have joy and happiness and peace.  Sometimes I have the answers, but they don't always listen and it is painful to watch them struggle with something when I know that if they would just listen life could be so much better.  Now that they have become adults they have total free will, apart from me to choose to do things their way.  As parents there comes a time when we have to stand back and let them make their choices and it is hard to do. 

God loves us so much...He wants  us to have eternal life, He wants us to love and be loved, He wants us to have peace and joy and happiness...God cares about the desires of our hearts. God give  us free will...He wants us to choose Him... He wants us to choose love, peace, joy, happiness, eternal life. God even gives us all the answers to have these things... but just as we have to give our adult children free will to make their own choices, God gives us free will to make our own choices. 

God puts His advice, his instructions in print, God has even seen to it that we have lots of different versions of the Bible so that we can find the words that make us understand it most. God tells us if we seek wisdom from His word that He will grant us wisdom.  If we just seek after the knowledge of God, God will make sure that we "get it."  There are so many Bible in print that most American homes have several...yet so many sit on the shelves and collect dust.  Just like our words often collect dust in the brains of our children.

Just think how much better God will make our lives if we listen to Him!!  If would could make the lives of our children a little better we would!!...God loves us more than we love our children. God's love is a perfect love... all encompassing, all knowing, flawless!!  God can give us so much and wants to give us so much. God will give us so much... we just have to listen and follow His instruction.   It is amazing how we can shake our heads at our children for not listening to us...and then we go about our lives not listening to God. 

No matter how good our lives seem...we all have a chance for a better life... God will make our lives better and better and better and better...our part is to listen, to seek and to learn. God will take care of the rest!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

8.15.12

I Corinthians 10:13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful.  He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

My Thoughts
I love this!!  We will be tempted...it it will seem easier to do what we know we shouldn't do! But, BUT,  God will show is a way out!!  We just have to remember this verse...we just have to stop and say God what is my way out??  There is always a way out... always!!  We just have to ask God to show us!!  When we ask God to show us everything else will fall right into place..it will all be ok.  When we choose to do what God ask of us...when we take the way out of doing wrong, of sinning God rewards us for our effort. 

Us people please-rs need to remember it is way more important, and way more profitable to please God than it is to please people.  God knows our needs and He cares about the desires of our hearts, when we choose to please Him, He will make sure that our needs are taken care of!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

8.14.12

2 Chronicles 7:14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

Psalms 33:12 What joy for the nations whose God is the Lord.

My Thoughts
Each day I read from three books... my One Year Bible, The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word, which puts scripture in catagories. And I read from Love Out Loud.  Two of my scriptures today made me think of the up comming election.  I see all this stuff written on Facebook...the media twist things for their liking...Union people like on party... no union people like the other. Each party twist and trun the truth about the other party. People act like who becomes president is the life or death of our country...and while it is important it is not the be all end all... in 4 years we can vote again (Thank goodness!). What is important is that we love God.

God is in control...our problem is that God gives us free will and we too often use that free will to make bad choices. And our bad choices are not who we put in Washington... after all Washington can't control this wild weather we are having. Even with laws about schools having snack machines or not Washington can't control our health.  But God can!!.. God can heal our land, God can soften the heart of any president, God can bring joy to our nation.  It is up to us to put God in control and we do that by humbling ourselves, praying, seeking God's face and turning from our wicked ways.  No matter how the voting comes out in November we still have a choice...we still have a chance for our nation to do better...we put that choice into action by seeking after God and choosing to do right over choosing to enjoy sin.

Our media likes to make it confusing and complicated, our media likes to paint a bleak picture of high prices and not enough gas or food.  Our media thrives on, makes money on the negative, no wonder they don't include God.  God's work is positive... God's work is powerful... God's work benefits his children.  But to benefit from all of God's glorious power we have to act like we are God's children. We have a choice every day to live in a great nation... we do this by loving God...then God will take care of even the worse possible president, the driest land, the out of control weather, the national dept, our health. 

We are not helpless...we are not hopeless... our can make a difference as just one person...we can choose to cry out to God...we can choose to turn from our wicked ways...when we do God will heal our land.  Because God keeps all his promises.

Monday, August 13, 2012

8.13.12

Nehemiah 6:9 They were just  trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.

My Thoughts
The devil has been trying to discourage me lately... so much going on ... so many stumbling blocks.  The devil even keeps putting things in my path that I have no control over and telling me that I do.  He is putting sickness in our way and financial things in our way... time robbing things in our way... trying to get us discouraged... just like he tried to discourage Nehemiah.  Nehemiah continued his work with even greater determination!!  That is what I will do!! 

I needed this verse today!!  Imagine what the devil will do if when we move forward doing what God would have us do, and he gets in our way, it makes us more determined!!  God's word tells us over and over again ...when we keep our eyes on Him, He will take care of us. Nehemiah's determination was God's grace coming down to make him stronger.  God can make me and you stronger... God will make us stronger if we call out to him...if we stand on His word against the things Satin brings against us.  I have no doubt that if I keep my eyes on God...if I stay determined ... God will bless my steps. God will bless my efforts!  God blessed Nehemiah's determination, Nehemiah finished the wall!! 

I know that God puts the stories in the Bible that will help us. Today...when I woke up discouraged and decided to press forward ... it was not by chance that I came upon this very verse..that I read it good and did not skim over it... it was not by chance that this verse stood out. It was God, telling me in His word to stay determined, that He is with me and the He will honor my steps!!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

8.12.12

Psalms 32:3-4 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt.   I said to myself, " I will confess my rebellion to the Lord." And you forgave me! And all my guilt is gone.

My Thoughts
I love this... when we confess our sins, God forgives us and all our guilt is gone.  God does not try to make us feel guilty.  When we have not confessed our sins He may remind us of them so that we can confess ...but once we have ask forgivness we don't have to feel guilty at all.  I use to tell my kids when they were little "A mistake is only a mistake if we don't learn something." I wanted them to know if they learned they could  do better next time, that everything was ok. I didn't want them feeling guilty all the time.  I think that is why God wants us to confess our sins by name...if we do then we recgonize what we have done wrong and we will be better able not to do it later.  If we just say forgive me of my sins and don't stop and recgonize what sins we have commited, we will do them again and again and again.  God does not remind us of our sins to make us feel guilty, He reminds us of them to help us grow.  Once we have asked forgivness God forgets them, He throws them as far as the east is from the west then we can begin to grow again. Once we have ask for forgiveness God never remembers our sins again.  All our guilt can be gone. 

The devil loves to remind us of past mistakes ...if he can get us feeling guilty he can stop us in our tracks.  He can keep us from being loving and kind, he can keep us from moving forward in God if we are wallering in guilt. He loves to stop us in our tracks.  If we have ask for forgiveness and are feeling guilty we can be sure that it is the devil that is prompting that guilt.  We can tell the devil that God has thrown that sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:12) and that he can just go away and leave us alone!

God loves us so much that He doesn't want to remember our sins... He doesn't want anything between us and His love for us.  God wants us to be able to grow in him.  We grow best when there is nothing between us and God.  God knows our steps before we take them, he is never surprised by what we do...God knew the things we would do wrong before Jesus died for our sins. God still sent Jesus to forgive us all!!  So we should never hide anything from God... He already knew we were going to do what we did. The wonderful thing is that He is up in heaven, knowing and ready to forgive us anything if we just ask.  God is waiting with open arms to love us and make life all better!! Waiting to make us whole again, guilt free and filled with His love!!  All we have to do is confess our sins to Him.  Isn't He amazing!!

Friday, August 10, 2012

8.10.12

Proverbs 21:3 The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer Him sacrifices.

My Thoughts
In Matthew 22 the disciples ask Jesus what the most important commandment was.. Jesus said that we are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. And that we are to love our neighbor as our self.  Psalms 54:13 says that we are to make thankfulness our sacrifice to God.  The verse above says to me that it is more important to be loving to God and others than it is to be thankful.  And it is so important to be thankful to God!  So important!  And as important as it is to be thankful it is even more important to be loving, to love God and to love people.  We can be thankful all day long.. but if we are not loving to the people around us we have pretty much voided out that thankfulness. I believe it is like this... If we are really thankful for all that God as done for us, we will choose to be loving to Him and to others.  When we are loving, when we treat people like we want to be treated.. we do what is right and we do what is just.  It all works together... when we love, like we should love all the following all the other commandments will fall right into place! Love is what matters the most!!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

8.9.12

Proverbs 21:2 People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.


My Thoughts
This made me think of how we try to talk ourselves in to being okay with our actions sometimes.  I think we do this because we know that in our heart we did what we should not have done and we want to make it okay in our minds.  When we start feeling ourselves justify our actions...we need to stop and ask ourselves, "Where was my heart?"  If our heart is in the wrong place we need to ask God for his forgivness and for His grace to do better in the future.  We need to be honest with ourselves so that we can learn and grow...so that we do better. 

I have come to believe that God celebrates our baby steps... anytime that we move foward God smiles.  When we do something that is questionable the devil smiles as soon  we start justifying our actions to ourselves.  When we are honest with ourselves we are taking that oppertunity to learn how to do better, that makes God smile.  When we realize we have done something wrong we need to ask forgiveness, ask for God's grace to do better, learn from our mistake and move foward. Then if we feel guilty we need to recognize that, that is the devil talking. He knows that if we are wallering in guilt we can't move foward and grow.  We tackle that guilt by telling the devil that God has forgiven us and he can just move on his way!!!  Then we do better next time.. even if it is just a pinch better we are doing better.  Foward growth is always, always a good thing! We need to recognize progress and be proud or ourselves, and thank God for His grace. His wonderful grace that helps us grow!!


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

8.8.12

1 Corinthians 4:20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.

My Thoughts
I love when I go to right about a verse so that I understand it more.  Sometimes I start out thinking it means one thing...and as I search through the different translations to see which one makes the verse more clear, I often find it means another.  Every time this happens I feel like the Holy Spirit is directing me so that I truly understand God's word.

I started out thinking this verse meant that we couldn't just say we love God, our actions needed to show we loved God.  But, what it really means is that God's word is not a lot of fancy words for people to use to look knowledgeable and holy. God's word are power, God's power.  The Bible is not just words we read... the Bible is full of our weapons of warfare against evil.  The more we seek after God the more of God's power we have to fight that evil.  The Bible is like a treasure chest of weapons against evil, against the devil himself.  We can open it up and use it or we can try to fight all on our own where our chances are slim.  We have the power of God here for our use against all darkness, we just have to open that treasure chest, know those weapons and use them and we can win against the evil that lives on this earth.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

8.7.12

1 Corinthians 3:6-8 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering.  What's important is that God makes the seed grow.  The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their hard work.

My Thoughts
This is what happened to me...when I was 9 I asked Jesus into my heart...but nobody watered the seed that was planted.  I didn't take time to water it.  No adult in my life either knew how or took the time to water the seed that was planted.  My parents were divorced so I went to one church one weekend and another church the next weekend.  I was kind of like a stray that never fit in.  That feeling followed me into my adult years and no matter where we went to church that I still had that feeling.  And I had never learned to water that seed that had been planted.

Then my son, who I had taught about God the best I new how. Who we also sent every summer to church camp, where he flet he fit in, there his seed was watered. He gave me a One Year Bible.  I felt like I had to read it at least one year...and in doing that I started watering that seed that had been planted 39 years earlier!!  God's word tells us that if we seek wisdom, wisdom will come to us (Proverbs 2). I started seeking, watering the seed that had been planted, and God started making it grow. I didn't even know that was what was happening...but it was exactly what was happening.... then God put me, and it was totally God, in the right church with the right people that would help water that wonderful seed that had been planted. 

We must water that seed...the seed in us, the seed in others!  When we do, oh  the harvest that will grow from that one little seed!!  God honors our efforts. God's word will not return void!!  If you have asked Jesus into your heart and you feel like your life is not changing... find a way to water that seed!! If you seek the wisdom of God, God will make sure that you receive understanding. When I started reading my Bible it was almost like reading a foreign language...then day by day... little by little I begin to "get" what I was reading!!  Little by little that seed was growing.

The wonderful thing about a seed that is growing is this.  If you see it like a tree...and the branches are the knowledge and the leaves are the understanding.. amazing things happen.  The tree is tiny and it grow a little and has a few leaves.  Next it grows more branches ....and as we prune it (and God prunes us)...then we get more branches and more leaves.... then more pruning...and the next time we get more branches we get 3 or 4 times the amount we got the first time... it grow exponentially!!  It is amazing!! It is comforting!!  It is exciting! It is life changing!!  Find a way to water that seed planted in you!!!

Monday, August 6, 2012

8.6.12

1 Corinthians 2:11-12 No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own spirit. And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so that we can know the wonderful things God as freely given us.

My Thoughts
When we believe Jesus is the Son of God and we confess our sins and ask God to come and live in our hearts, God sends down the Holy Spirit to live inside of us! To tell us what God wants for us and from us.  We get the wonderful privilege of being the home to the Holy Spirit, who has access to God's thoughts.  God sends His thoughts down to the Holy Spirit who then helps us, when we listen, to become the people that God intends us to be.  We need to take notice of the Holy Spirit inside of us... we need to listen and learn and grow.  The voice of the Holy Spirit can only make us better. Isn't that what we all want, to be better??  God has freely given us the Holy Spirit to live inside of us, we have this wonderful perfect resource with us at all times, we can become so much more when we learn to listen to that voice inside of us directing us and we can hear that voice so much better when we take time to close our mouths and quite the world around us and ask God to direct our words, our feet, our hands in a way that brings glory to Him.


Saturday, August 4, 2012

8.4.12

Proverbs 20:21 An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end.

My Thoughts
We have lost several important people in our lives over the last several years... too many, too fast.  In our loss we were blesses a couple of times with an inheritance.  We have been really careful with our inheritance.  Careful to use it in a way that would bless our lives for years to come. Careful not to just use it up.  Careful to use it in a way that would bring honor to the lives that worked so hard and left us with blessings. If we had gotten these inheritances earlier in our lives we would have spent the money in a much different way... we would have felt it helped us then...but it would have been gone now. I know that we would not have used it as wisely or thought to use it in a way that would honor the lives of the people who loved us so much.

When we become children of God, He has so much to give us...and since God will always be here with us we get to receive our inheritance from Him while He is alive.  I believe that God watches us and knows when we are best able to handle the gifts He wants to bestow on us. When we can handle those gifts in a way that will bring Him honor.  So often we wonder where God's blessing are in our lives when we have not taken the steps we need to take to grow.  So often we need to grow enough that we will use God's blessing wisely.  God knows if we will be wasteful or if we will us those gifts He gives us in a way that will honor Him, and change our lives forever.

I have seen people inherit something somebody worked for all their lives and then use it up in a matter of weeks or months. Taking something somebody took a lifetime to build and spend it up in a way that you would never know they ever even had such a blessing.  It is a very sad thing to see... sad for the person who is gone and sad for the person that wasted a life time of work in the blink of an eye.  Even worse, live and in person, I have seen people take something that was to be such a special gift and make their lives worse for having had it.  Imagine working all your life to leave somebody something and making their lives worse!!  How sad that would be!!! 

God does not withhold blessings from us because he does not love us... God withhold blessings from us because He loves us so much!!  In fact when God withhold a blessing from u,s I think it  makes a bit sad because He has to wait.  He loves us so much and wants to give us so much...He wants to shower us with His love!  But God's love is big  enough to let us grow when we need too before He sends down His blessings.  Our part is to do what we need to do to grow into the people that God needs us to be.  When we do that God does not have to hold back any good thing from us!!  And He won't!! All that God does for us, and blesses us with...all that God withholds from us is out of the abundant love that He has in his heart for us.  God's decisions over our lives are always in our best interest.  If we feel like we are missing blessings from God we need to buckle down and grow.  If we spend out time doing that in place of complaining then before we know it blessing will fall down from heaven bigger that we could even wish for ourselves.

Friday, August 3, 2012

8.3.12

Romans 12:6-8  In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

My Thoughts
I love this verse... it says to me "God made you, and He made you just like He needed you to be! What you can do is valuable, it is a gift from God! Use it as the gift it is and use it to help others!"

For so long I thought that God didn't give me a gift...nothing that stood out.... there are lots of things I can do..I am more that "Jack of many trades, but master of none."  I have always been a bit crafty and can pick up most crafts pretty easy...but I have never been wonderful at any of them.  I can loom knit but I make hats and scarves and shawls and sometimes blankets...and I can crochet a bit...and do the same with that.  I use to make cards...but never got published in a magazine, even though I tried!!  I made pretty cards...but as wonderful as that is it was not exactly like being an "artist"...one that could make money!!  I have painted shirts... sewed pretty things for my kids when they were little.  I have painted paintings...I am ok at that!  I don't sing...in fact when Madison was little, like 3 she would say "Momma pease (sic) don't sing!" And she can't even sing herself. 

When I worked .. I was a hard worker... a perfectionist in many ways...but somehow never a really stand out worker... I was liked and appreciated...but I was not "going places."  And even though I have had a passion for many things it has never been a passion that would "take me places."

I don't have a good memory for birthdays, or even things people tell me. I care, I care deeply about people...but sometimes it may not look that way just because I don't always remember who told me what...I just don't have that attention for that kind of detail no matter how much I try.

Some people are good business people... some housewives are perfect housekeepers!! There are nurses, thank God for them...I could not do what they do!!  And teachers who make sure that our children know so much in so little time (not my gift either).  There are people wonderful with numbers and laws... I am good with numbers ... but again not a master of them.  The list goes on and on.

I use to let the devil really beat me up about not being "gifted" at anything. It could really get me down. I would hear that God made each one of us special, but could never find out where my "special" was!! Then I came across this verse and in it it said "And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly."

One thing I knew about me was that I was kind. To find out it was a gift!! Wow.. to get to know that being sweet to others could actually be a gift!!!  Maybe I was special after all!!  People all my life have told me how sweet I am. I often stop and ask myself what it is that I do that is so sweet...I can't really figure it out. And as sweet as I could be, and as sweet as I wanted to be I never realized that I could use that "kindness" for God.  Once I realized it was a gift, I started making an effort to use it that way.  To make sure that people saw God's sweetness and kindness in me. I want people to know that my kindness, my being sweet, is a gift that come through me but it is a gift straight from God to them. I don't have to be a great painter, or a nurse, wonderful with numbers or laws. I don't have to be able to sing (thank goodness!). I just have to be me...and let God work through me utilizing the gift that He designed especially for me. I, me, Jeannie Phillips get to just go around being sweet to others! I get to use something that I am already good at, and somehow, even if I never see it, it makes a difference in the world, if I use it to glorify God!!

We all have something that we are good at, something that comes naturally. Something that we see as easy and ordinary because it does come so naturally. If we just stop and look at our lives.  What we are good at matters, it is after all one of God's gifts to us!! What we are good at can be used for God!  So often we don't see our gifts as gifts, oh but they are!!  Take a look at what you can do and ask God, "How can I use my gift to serve you!!"

P.S. If you are good at organizing and cleaning you are more than welcome to bless me!!! If you lived in my mind you would know that what  you can do is, for sure, gift!!! ;o)

Thursday, August 2, 2012

8.2.12

2 Chronicles 32:7-8 The Hezekiah encouraged them by saying, "Be strong and courageous! Don't be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side! He may have a great army, but they are merely men.  We have the Lord our God to help us to fight our battles for us!" Hezekiah's words greatly encouraged the people.

My Thoughts
I love this!! The  more I read the Bible and know God the more I love scripture.  The Assyria army was huge..was strong... had trampled so many kingdoms... it was something to be feared!  But Hezekiah knew that God was greater than even the biggest, strongest army of that time!!  Hezekiah trusted in God.  God sent an angel to destroy the army of Assyria and the kind of Assyria went home and was killed by his own sons.  The king of Assyria had made fun of Hezekiah for believing in God and he had mocked God. God took care of Hezekiah because Hezekiah loved and honored God.  God protected Hezekiah from something bigger than him or his city! 

When we love God and honor God, He will also protect us!! There is nothing bigger than God, nothing!!  Our part is to love and honor God and put our problems in God's hands.

Not only was the Assyrian arm defeated, King Hezekiah became highly respected among all the surrounding nations and many gifts were brought for the Lord and valuable presents were brought to King Hezekiah too (v. 32)  God not only saved Hezekiah and his people, God made sure that Hezekiah was honored for trusting in God.

God will bring us honor... He will make sure that people admire us when we love Him and choose to do the things that honor God!! When we love and honor God we not only receive love back from God, we also receive wonderful gifts that God wants to shower on us because He love us so very much.  In my mind I see it like a grandparent that loves a grandchild...the grandparent is in a place in his or her life where they are able to shower those grand-babies, that they love so much, with wonderful gifts. They love those babies so much that they just can't help themselves...they have to buy presents and give hugs and love.  They just can't stop themselves that love just pours over. That is how God is when we love and honor God he just can't help himself. He loves us so much that His blessings just pour over into our lives in great abundance!! 

God is like a wonderful mixture of  parents and grandparents all rolled up into one.  He protects us, and He disciplines us when we need it...then He can't help Himself, He pours out His blessings on our lives in amazing ways!!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

8.1.12

2 Chronicles 31:5-10 5 When the people of Israel heard these requirements, they responded generously by bringing the first share of their grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a large quantity—a tithe of all they produced. 6 The people who had moved to Judah from Israel, and the people of Judah themselves, brought in the tithes of their cattle, sheep, and goats and a tithe of the things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them up in great heaps. 7 They began piling them up in late spring, and the heaps continued to grow until early autumn.[a] 8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, they thanked the Lord and his people Israel!
9 “Where did all this come from?” Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites.
10 And Azariah the high priest, from the family of Zadok, replied, “Since the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord’s Temple, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare. The Lord has blessed his people, and all this is left over.”

My Thoughts
I love this ... a promise made by God in the New Testament ... many years before this happened was honored before the promise was made!!  In Luke 6:38 it says "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." When we give to God, God takes care of us.  It is that simple!!  If we want to prosper again as a nation, if we want our families to prosper we must remember that all that we have comes straight from God and give Him back the first part of what we have!  When we do this we will have nothing to worry about!!