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







Tuesday, December 31, 2013

12.31.13

Malachi 3:10-12 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies. Then your nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight, "says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.
My Thoughts
I love these verses. Why? It is the one way that you can see what God will do in your life! It took us a while to get here! First we gave when we would go to Church on Sunday, we gave what we had, or thought that we could give up and still have what we wanted or needed. Then we gave ten percent of our bring home pay.... then one day when we had both been thinking on this giving thing Robby said we have to give a whole ten percent of all that we earn. I said, "I know I have been thinking about that!" Amazing things began to happen in our lives. We could see it. We had to be aware, but every time we talk about giving our ten percent, we get excited! God has protected our money like you can not imagine. We spend more than we ever have, yet we have more than we ever had. Do we still have to live within our means? Of course we do, that is what God expects. Romans 13:8 tells us to "Owe no one anything." Which to me means that I must live within my means. But if I live within my means and tithe, God takes care of the rest! Since we have started tithing it is not unusual for us to need something and find a check in the mail for almost exactly that amount.

If to give I hand to hold my money and have someone take it from my hand there would have been a point where I would have held a little tight to that money, having a hard time letting it go. Now, after seeing what God does when I give, I would instead have it laying in the palms of my hands, with my hands open wide. I love it now when they take up the offering at Church... dropping that envelope in the bag feels a deposit into our future. It makes me smile to give back to God. After all I am only giving God ten percent of what God gave me to begin with. God truly does bless the 90% when we give Him, His 10%.

If you have not learned to tithe, I encourage you to start out the new year making this your habit. God promises that if we do He will bless us! God keeps all of his promises!!



Friday, December 27, 2013

12.27.13

Zachariah 10:1-2 Ask the Lord for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain so every field becomes a lush pasture. Household gods give worthless advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have so Shepard.

My Thoughts
God is who takes care of us. He can take care of us in any situation. He can make our money stretch, he can give our bodies abilities we didn't know they had. God can give us incredible knowledge where there was none. God can protect our homes in storms when all is destroyed around us. God is our provider in all things, when, WHEN we keep our eyes on Him. God will provide us with all of our needs when we love Him, and even bless us with things we didn't even know we wanted.

Here it tells us that "my people" are wandering like lost sheep. We tend to look out at the unsaved of the world and think that they are the problem. It would be easy if that were the case. But here it talks about "God's people" looking to the world for answers, for comfort, for provision. When we as God's people spend more time talking about the government and the stock market than we do God, we have lost our way. When we as God's people spend more time watching the news than reading our Bibles (me) then we, (I) have lost our way. When we as God's people spend more time talking about things like Obama Care then we do in prayer, we have lost our way. We, God's people, can make a difference, or we can play the blame game. The way we make a difference is by keeping our eyes, our words, our actions in line with God. Then God will take care of the economy, health care, our bank accounts, the food on our tables.

God's word talks about how God loves us all. God's word tells us that we can all be saved. Then God's word spends the rest of its print talking about how God's people need to act. It spends it's words telling the history of God's people turning from God to other things. God's word is talking to God's people most of the time...when it is not talking to God's people it is telling the rest of the world that Jesus loves them and they can be saved! We have the power to bring our nation back. We God's people! But we, God's people have to look different than the rest of the world. Not by criticizing the rest of the world, but by spending our time in prayer, in God's word, in love, in action. When we do this our crops get plenty of water, the right amount of sunshine, we keep out the weeds and our harvest is amazing. When we see something different happening in our world, we need to look at ourselves! We, I, myself is the only person I can change and when I change my life where it falls in line with God. The benefits that God will shower down on me will make others want what I have. We, God's people have the power of God on our side, IF we are doing what God ask of us.

I have grown so much, but I have so much growing to do! God has given me so many, many gifts these last four years and I can have more of His amazing blessings IF I continue to improve my life to align with His will. I must continue to grow! As God's people we can never accept where we are, we must always, always look to be better!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

12.26.13

Psalm 144:1 Praise The Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.

My Thoughts
I have never really looked down at my hands and thought to praise God for what my hands can do! My granddaughter is 5 months old. she is constantly amazed at her hands! We are amazed when her little hands do something new! God put those abilities in Sweet Ripley's hands. God puts abilities in my hands. God puts abilities in your hands.

When I have suffered arthritis from Lupus in my hands I have been frustrated at what my hands could not do, but have not thought to be thankful for when my hands could write, sew,  solder, draw, load the dishwasher, open a jar, tie my shoes, pet my animals, apply makeup, turn the page of a book, type on my computer, scratch an itch? I am not sure that I have! I know that if I have they were fleeting moments of thankfulness. But every day, every waking hour of every day and even in my sleep, I use my hands.

Oh the things we should and can be thankful for if we only stop to think! Today and hopefully every day forward, I will never look at my hands the same again. Thank you God, for all my hands can do!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

12.24.13

Zechariah 3:1-2 Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan was there at the angel's right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. And the Lord said to Satan, "I, the Lord reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire."
My Thoughts
As I read this, this morning, I thought of how all the things that Jeshua had done wrong were prompted by Satan, himself .... then Satan, himself stood and accused Jeshua! Satan does that to us all the time, He tells us to do something, that it is okay. Then the very minute we give in Satan tells us what a horrible person we are. Even after we have gone to God for forgiveness, Satan brings our sins up again and again and again. God does not do that He throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness! God does not remember them to bring them up again!! God also tells us the truth from the beginning... God tells us right from wrong. God tells us that when we do good "this" will happen and if we do bad "this" will happen. With God we know the truth from the beginning.

The wonderful thing about God is how much He loves us... the verses just after this, just after God saves Jeshua from the fire, He has the angels take Jeshua's filthy clothing and He has Jeshua dressed in white, all clean like he had never even been near the fire much less snatched from it. That, my friend, is love.

As I wrote this morning, I thought too of how we as humans, bring up the past, we accuse others when our feelings are hurt. To be like God we need to throw the past into the sea of forgetfulness and move forward with people without accusing them of the past again and again. We need to give people new beginnings in our hearts. We need to remember when that feels impossible to do, God will send down His grace to help us. Our hearts don't need to be screaming, "look what you did!" Our hearts need to be saying, "I forgive."


Saturday, December 21, 2013

12.21.13

Revelation 12:11a And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.

My Thoughts
We can never defeat Satan without Jesus dieing on the cross for our sins and us accepting that. But look here what is next they defeated Satan by their testimony!!  Our testimony gives us power over Satan. What God has done in our lives, and what God is doing in our lives has a might, mighty power when we live by God and when we share all that God has done in our lives.  Not only is it powerful to the people we share with, it is powerful to our lives as well. It is a reminder of where we were and where God put us.  When we tell "our story" we remember how far God has brought us.... and then we know how much further He can take us still.  Every time we tell our testimony it is one more arrow in the heart of Satan! Tell you story! 

Friday, December 20, 2013

12.20.13

Psalm 139:17-18 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They can not be numbered. I can't even count them; they out number the grains of sand. 

My Thoughts
I love this verse.to think that God thinks about me so often and thinks precious thoughts about me, about each of us, well it just makes my heart smile inside my chest.

Today as I read theses verses I thought about all the people around me, God thinks precious thoughts of them as well, and he thinks so many of them that they can't be counted. It made me acutely aware that all my thoughts of others should be precious thoughts. I should find precious things in the people a I meet.

You may say, "that is hard to do with some people!" I imagine that each of us have days where God has a time thinking precious thoughts of us too, yet He takes the time to find the precious things about each one of us. Next time I find myself with negative thoughts of people I will ask myself, what is precious about this person! If I have had three bad thoughts, I will do my best to remember to find six precious things.

Precious thoughts just may be my word for 2014! (Sheila Fritz)

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

11.18.13

Habakkuk 2:14 For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord.  

My Thoughts
The more I read my Bible the more I come to believe that the earth, all the plants and animals and people and the earth itself are meant to praise God. When we as people don't rise up and praise God the earth rises up in a mighty way to make up for what we as people have not done. The earth says to us,"their is a wonderful, almighty God, praise Him." When we as people praise God we bring balance to the earth. As I wrote these words I thought of me what I get frustrated, my body tempt urge raises. I can feel it. What if  Global Warming is the earth being frustrated because we are not praising God enough? The earth showing us the Glory of God!

When I love my personal life out of a balance that makes God happy things in. Y life rise up against me. So in my mind it makes sense that if we as people are not balancing out all that God gives us with praise for him that the earth would be out of balance enough to raise up and praise God itself.

Monday, December 16, 2013

12.16.13

Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will raise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.

My Thoughts
We will fall sometimes and we will sit in darkness sometimes. Why? Because we are human and we do things that separate us from God. Because we live in this world where there are so many people separated from God, where Satan tries all the time to keep us from God. What matters is how we spend that time! When we fall God will pick us back up if we go to Him and ask for forgiveness. We may spend time suffering the consequences for what we have done, but God will help us get through them. When we are surrounded by darkness if we look to God to be our light, to guide us we will rise up out of the darkness like a mighty ship!

As I wrote this I was reminded of a movie, and I can't remember which one... I just remember a couple of soldiers backed into a corner with no chance, it looked like there was no hope at all. Then a fully armed helicopter rose up behind them as the stood on the edge of a cliff and fought their battle for them. When we keep our eyes on God in the mist of our great battles God will rise up behind us as mighty as the helicopter in that movie and fight our battle for us. We just have to keep our eyes on God at all times, even when we fall, even when we are surrounded by darkness. When we do we are never alone!!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

12.15.13

Hosea 7:13a They look everywhere except to the Most High.


My Thoughts

How often do we do this? We do this all the time. We pop a pill for a headache, first thing, instead of sending up a prayer...then if it doesn't go away we send up a prayer. We open up a book for a good story, instead of opening up the Bible. We run to our friends when we have a problem then if the problem doesn't go away we beg God to help us. We grumble and complain to each other instead of telling God our troubles so that He can guide us to a solution. We shop to fill those empty places instead of spending time with God to fill those empty spaces. We spend money on things we don't really need then worry about money we don't have to cover our needs, instead of giving God back His ten percent so that He can give us what He promises, blessings shaken together, pressed down and running over. We make God our safety net without spending time to mend any places we have torn apart, instead of spending time with God and making Him our first line of defense so that we don't need a safety net.

We tend to look to the world, get so easily distracted by the world and take our eyes off of God. We forget that God holds all the answers. God gives us the answers along with a quiet in the storm of life.  We just have to stay focused on Him.  We tend to be like Peter and look at what we are doing instead of keeping our eyes on God.  We all look at Peter and know that he sank the minute he took His eyes off of Jesus, yet we do that all the time.  If our stories were written in God's word people would shake their heads at us too. 

The wonderful thing is this, when we find ourselves looking to the world we can call down God's grace to help us stay focused on God. 

Saturday, December 14, 2013

12.14.13

Jonah 3:3-5 This time Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.  On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds. "Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!" The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 

My Thoughts
Most all of us have heard the story of Jonah... he did want to go to Nineveh and went the in the opposite direction... he was throw over the ship and swallowed by a whale... then he was spit out on the land...and finally he went to Nineveh.  Nineveh was an evil, evil city.  What God knew is that the people were ready to listen. It says here that the people of Nineveh believed God's message.  

There are so many things to learn from Jonah's story... but what I get from this story is that if God tells me to tell somebody about Him, He already knows that they are ready to hear.  He already knows that their hearts are open. I do not have to be afraid, I just have to be willing to do what God ask me to do.    

Friday, December 13, 2013

12.13.13

Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.  For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased."

My Thoughts
All my life I heard the phrase, "He just does as he pleases!" This was not a good thing, I never heard it said in a good light about anybody. My grandmother used it, my mom used it, my step-dad used it, my mother-in-law used it, her mother used it.  I have gotten in trouble as a child and it started out with, "Do you think it is okay to do as you please?"  So I had to stop myself and think about this verse to be able to see it in a good light, and I knew that I should see it in a good light. The Holy Spirit helped me!  I do love the Holy Spirit! And somehow I missed out on Him for years!!!

When I stopped to think about it I fist thought about the twenty-four elders sitting in Heaven saying this... it had to be only good.  The I re-phrased the "what you pleased" into "what pleases you" in my mind and re-read it to myself, out loud.  Listen, say it out loud even, "For you created all things, and they exist because you created what pleases you."  Then I thought, "Wow! God created me! He chose to make "me." It brought tears to my eyes!!  To think God, chose to make me.  The same God that makes beautiful sunsets and oceans and mountains.  The same God that can paint the sky and make it take my breath away, chose to make me! The same God that created the tulips that fill fields in the Netherlands, chose to make me.  And He chose to make YOU! How can I ever again think that I don't matter?

Thursday, December 12, 2013

12.12.13

Psalm 131:1-2b Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don't concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself.

My Thoughts
We need to know God enough to trust Him. When we know God we can be calm and quiet... It is an amazing feeling to put something into God's hands and just trust Him to know. So May time we want to figure everything out...so many things are for God alone to know and this is a wonderful thing. To be able to sit back in the peace of knowing God knows and if we trust Him all will be taken care of, in the best way possible.

When we get busy trying to figure it all out we loose our focus on God, then we get confused and we get busy getting in God's way.  Nothing good comes from this! And it so much easier and peaceful to give things over to God, trust His answer and go about our day...joy can overtake us even in the hardest of situations when we learn to do this.

I pray for God's wonderful grace to help me do this more and more with each passing day. I too often get in the way of what God can do by not trusting in Him. When I do trust in Him amazing things happen in my life! I must remember these words!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

12.11.13

Revelation 2:19 "I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I see you constant improvement in all these things." 

My Thoughts
I love this! Jesus sees what we do! Jesus notices our improvements! Jesus knows that we have to grow as Christians and He appreciates our growth! He sees what we have to endure and when we endure in faith He knows! When we get lost for a day or two but find our way back, He knows. We don't ever need to feel like what we do does not matter, Jesus tells us here that He sees! I love that!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

12.10.13

Amos 3:3 Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction. 

My Thoughts
When I read this I thought, "Jesus said, 'Come follow me.'" Follow...when we agree to go with Jesus we agree to follow Him, no discuss with Him which direction we are going.  When we find ourselves lost and alone...it is because we stopped following.  Not because Jesus decided to go in a different direction and leave us behind.  The wonderful thing is that when we do find ourselves lost... Jesus will find us and bring us to the place in the road where we got lost.  

Monday, December 9, 2013

12.8.13

Hosea 10:1 How prosperous Israel is-- a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvest, the more beautiful their sacred pillars.



My Thoughts
I read this and thought of our country... of the huge difference in our lives just since I was a little girl. The even bigger difference in our lives since my parents were little. There was a time in America where mortgage had to be paid off in just 7 years. So you worked up to a larger house you didn't start with one. Or you lived most of your life in a paid for house. Look at the size of an average American home and how it has grown. Just look at the size of a closet when you were a child compared to the size of a closet today!! We keep thinking more is better.

I read this and my mind went to our trip to Auburn when John-Robert graduated this past year... we walked past statues of famous football players! Big statues. Yet our church buildings get simpler and simpler.
The more God gives us the more we think we deserve just for being! The more God gives us the more we pay for and idolize entertainment and it's figures.
If my house was as simple as the house I grew up in it would cost less to heat and cool...less to furnish...less to keep up. And I would have to own less because I would have less place to put what I owned. I would have more to give to others!
I believe that all that I have is a blessing from God! I do. But I also believe that when God blesses me with much, He expects much of me in return. I need to find that balance in life. We are getting better...but we have room for improvement. A change in our country begins with each one of us doing our part in loving God. Doing our part in putting God above all else in our lives. The richer we become the more humble we need to become. I fear that instead we have become like Israel, proud and fickle building pagan alters, forgetting God.
I imagine that if we were to fill up our churches just one week the way we fill up football stadiums..that we would see a difference in our nation. God would bless our effort...then if we did it yet again...the change would be even bigger. We need a revival...and those start in the hearts of each one of us. What we do, what we say, what we spend time doing, what we put first in our lives matters. Our one life does make a difference. I think that maybe the biggest lie that Satan tells each one of us is that what "we" do does no matter, because it matters so much!!
We can treat what we have as what it is, a gift from God. Or we can treat it as something we deserve just because. Which makes more sense? When I look around at all that I have.. it must be a gift! Now I need to treat it as such!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

12.8.13

Hosea 8:4 The people have appointed kings without my consent, and princes without my knowledge.  By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold they have brought about their own destruction.

My Thoughts
This really stood out to me today!!  I thought of all the people we put in charge with our votes.  How often do we listen to the news media, the person running, our friends, social media to influence who that we vote for?  How often do we rely on our own "ability" to access a person's character... by the ads that they run.  How often do we do online research and just believe the first few things that we read?  We don't have to depend on any of that!  We shouldn't depend on any of that.  We each truly don't have a true way of knowing the people we put in office, well at least most of us don't. We just tend to believe what we hear and access the person through that point of view. And when we go about putting people into high positions in our country this way it must make God frown!  All we really need to do is go to God in prayer, then listen! Listen to what He tells us. We don't need to decide on which party we are for... or if somebody believes what we believe... we just need to ask God, then God will take care of our country.

We make it so complicated!  Satan gets involved and stirs the pot and stirs up the confusion!  But really it is simple, God knows!!  God always knows! And if we go to God in our decision making then God will take care of the rest! 

Friday, December 6, 2013

12.6.13

Psalm 125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever. 

My Thoughts
This verse made me smile... with God I can endure!  He gives me His strength! I did think after a few minutes that, "It says here that I will not be defeated, so I can expect to go into battle."  I need to keep this verse with me...to remind me that staying close to God will keep me as secure as Mount Zion and I need to stay prepared for battle at all times...if I am prepared with God's word, God's love, God's grace then I can endure anything.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

12.5.13

1 John 5:21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.

My Thoughts
I imagine that this would be different for each of us, or maybe much the same. I am trying to think of what it might be for me.  If I  am truthful and spend time recognizing this, I keep myself safe.  Or maybe I don't need to figure it out at all, so I won't be tempted in the least.  Maybe I need to pray to God each day to keep me safe from anything that could take God's place in my heart.   I am learning that when I keep God first that He lines other things up in my life in such perfect order.  It is when I depend on myself that I tend to get all tangled up in things that distract me way too much! I do need to keep my eye out for things that get in the way of my prayer life, or my Bible reading.  Sometime I feel that life just gets in the way...but that is when I am just too busy, too busy for my own good! 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

12.4.13

Proverbs 29:2 When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.

My Thoughts
This took my breath away!  We ask so many questions of people running for office when we should only ask, "Do you know and love God?" Then maybe a few questions that show true faith. We should look in his/her background for acts of kindness, truth, love, fairness... we should find out if he/she has been just. Then if the answer is YES...we should vote YES.  You may say that we should then check into this person's policies... but there is no need... if we put a godly person into office, God will take care of the rest.  

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

12.3.13

1 John 2:27 But you have received the Holy Spirit and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true.  For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true--it is not a lie.  So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

My Thoughts
Forever I just didn't understand the Holy Spirit living inside of me, guiding me part of being a Christian.  And when I did it took me a while to know when He was guiding me...I had to learn to listen and know it was Him speaking.  Even now I have to remember to shut out everything else and listen.  Sometimes the more the Holy Spirit tries to guide me, the more Satan crowds my mind with things that sound okay to think of feel.  Sometimes the two are so close that either choice seems like it is okay.  Sometimes I choose wrong!  

What I am learning is that knowing the difference is where reading and learning my Bible comes in.  The Holy Spirit will not tell me to do something that goes against God's word.  I am learning to that sometimes I have to stop and call down God's grace to help me listen and to help me choose right from what I am feeling. I am also learning that Satan loves to use my emotions against me... telling me things like if I am hurt it is okay to pull away from those who hurt me.  Which sounds okay ... God doesn't want us hurt... but God's word tells me that I am to love those who hate me...I am to pray for them.  It tells me that it is easy to love those who love me! That is not walking away.  Even tho it feels like the right thing at the moment.  I am learning that the Holy Spirit lives deep withing my gut and that Satan wants to live deep within my head...and when I stop to listen I can even feel the difference of where that voice inside me is coming.  I am learning that Satan likes to produce anxiety and worry because anxiety and worry settle in your gut muffling the voice of the Holy Spirit.

But most importantly I am learning that God has my best interest in mind always and that the Holy Spirit inside of me can always hear God, the Holy Spirit is a part of God living in me...so I can't make a wrong decision when I listen to the Holy Spirit.  I am learning that my life is so much better when I hear the Holy Spirit on day one of a situation instead of day 3.  But I am also learning that I am learning and that I do eventually hear the Holy Spirit... so day 3 is better than day 30 or not hearing Him at all...I just have to keep moving forward...and hearing Him on day 2 will be progress!!  I am learning, and am very thankful that God sees my progress and knows that He is growing me. He forgives me when I mess up and celebrates my victories.  

I can look back and be sad for the "me" that didn't understand the Holy Spirit... but I would rather look forward to the "me" who knows the Holy Spirit even better than the "me" today.   

Monday, December 2, 2013

12.2.13

1 John 2:16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.



My Thoughts
I can read this and just say, "so true," but what I need to do is stop and think of how it really applies to my life. It is one of those times where I can grow if I stop and be totally honest with myself... and put it in my spirit how to deal with this in all my days to come.

I thought to myself, "How do I know the difference in having things that God has blessed me with?" The answer we really pretty simple... When I get something new that belongs in my life I feel at peace with it...it brings me a calm. It is always a more simple feeling of peaceful joy. It is never a "rush" when it belongs in my life. Then there are times when I buy something that feels like a rush...then when I get it home it is a bit of a let down. Sometime even more than a bit of a let down.

So I thought about the different things in my life that had come about in those different ways. And I could, when I stopped to look, see how the purchase felt different from the very beginning of the thought..and how if felt when I got it home ... and then again how if felt when I showed it to my friends and family. The purchase of a craving or desire came with an immediate, "I shouldn't buy this, but I want it feeling." Then it was followed by a bit of a let down when I got it home...and when I showed it off it was more of a na na na naaaa na feeling when I shared it with people. Even if I didn't want to or mean to feel that way, I could have that feeling. Then there was the long term feeling of the purchase where it never brings yous as much joy of happiness as it felt like it would. It just never looks quite right or fits quite right... it may not fit in the spot like you thought it would... but you notice it too late to take it back.. it is just never comfortable somehow.. if it is a piece of clothing or a pretty thing to sit around the house... it is never "just right" somehow.

Things that I have bought or acquired that were what I considered a gift from God felt different from the onset. When I made the purchase, I was more careful to consider how much money I was spending, if it was a good time to spend it, was it something I needed or would it really, really make me feel good in an every day way? Then there was the getting it home... that felt more like an, "Oh you belong here!" moment, a comfortable, ungreedy, it fits perfect moment. Then there is the show it to friends and family moment...which is more of a, "Oh look what I got!! I feel so blessed! I am so lucky to have this and I just had to share it with YOU." feeling. Those things that we get/purchase because they are a blessing stick with our hearts somehow. They can make you smile years and years later... you never want to get rid of them. It could be an old shirt that you have had for years that needs to be thrown away but feels so comforting... or a chair that sits "just right."

Have you ever tried to duplicate that "just right" shirt? You never can!! Why? I have become to believe after thinking on this verse and my life, that that just right shirt or that perfect quilt or best chair ever came with such peace that we feel it still each time we wrap ourselves in them. It something that we received as a gift from God without realizing it. It came into our lives in its perfect time. Not a must have craving...but it came with a warm peaceful joy! Because we waited on God's timing!

Those things we get that promise happiness in the store, then disappoint us even before we get home sometimes.. or maybe a week later...they were Satan's lie. They came with a promise at the beginning that couldn't be fulfilled at the end.

The things we get in God's timing come in gentle, and they feel right completely right! And the joy from them last and last and last...sometimes long after the item is worn out and gone.

Imagine how much our lives would change if we stop and take time to recognize everything we buy or do as a gift from God or a lie from Satan. We can tell the difference because it starts at the very beginning of the action... we just have to pause and reflect at the start! The thought makes me smile! I think of my closet being filled with things that God blessed me with...and each thing feeling like that perfect shirt... each room feeling like a safe haven from the world outside... each item feeling peaceful. When I think of it this way I think, "Why would I ever not wait on God?!?!"


Sunday, December 1, 2013

12.1.13

1 John 1:5-7 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

My Thoughts

Do you know how we live in spiritual darkness? We don't take time to learn the truth, we don't take time to really get to know God by knowing everything there is to know about Him. For years I would go to church and listen and try to learn....but I would leave saying, "I don't get it?" I didn't always think this...but way too much of the time I did. Then I would go about trying to be good and failing horribly and missing out on that peace that passes all understanding that I would hear some people talk about. I would know that something was missing, but I was going to church!! I was trying the best that I knew at the time. What I didn't know was that I needed to pick up my Bible and start learning, letting God's word tell me exactly who God is. And that made all the difference! Do I still mess up? All the time...but now I know how to try to do better, now I know how to call down God's grace to help me do better next time. Now when God throws my sins into the Sea of Forgetfulness, because Jesus died for me...I can better leave them there and not be tormented by Satan because I messed up. And this allows me to be able to grow and move forward. Now I don't have to try so hard to live better, I just have to love God and He teaches me exactly how to live better.

The worst lies that we tell are the ones that we tell ourselves. And when we tell ourselves that we know God "enough" we can find ourselves in real trouble. For years I knew God "enough" but all along I knew something was still missing... I felt it deep in my being. It was that relationship with God that I was missing. I knew who God was but I didn't know God for myself. That makes all the difference.
We can't go about trusting what others tell us about who God is... we must pick up our Bibles and find out for ourselves. I use to say, I tired but I don't understand! But let me tell you God tells us that if we seek wisdom, wisdom will find us. What I have learned is that if I seek after God, He will give me understanding. But I must show myself faithful by doing the seeking.

The wonderful thing about God's amazing light is that it cast no shadows for us to hide in, or for us to get lost in. Sometimes that light reveals things we need to be rid of. But in a loving way that says, If you quit doing this, if you ask for forgiveness and do better, I will be able to bless you with this!" If we are hearing you are worthless, you are useless, you will never recover from what you have done! That is Satan taking what he told us was okay and using it against us. God does not do that, God says, "I love you... lets get rid of this sin... cast it out and forget about it... don't do it again so that life will be good... so that I can shower you with My blessings... and hey I will even give you My grace to help you do better!" And God so often does this with His word.

If you want that life changing experience with God.... read, read, read His word! I promise you if you seek Him and don't give up your life will change in amazing ways!!

Saturday, November 30, 2013

11.30.13

Daniel 6:4-5 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn't find anything to criticize or condemn.  He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.  So the concluded, "Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion."

My Thoughts
Colossians 3:23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  This is what Daniel did... He worked just as if he were working for God and the people administrators and high offers no matter how much they searched could not find fault with Daniel.  We should live our lives in such a way.  And when we are talked about because we are "religious fanatics" we should ware it as a badge of honor.  Once people start attacking our religion because that is all that they can find fault with, we have done good.

On the flip side of that we never, ever want to be called a "religious fanatic" if we are always using our religion to put down others, or as an excuse not to act in a loving manner. We can only ware the title of "religious fanatic" proud if we are acting in love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us exactly what love is and how to act in love... it says, Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud  or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God,  if we work like we are working for God, and if we act in love... we too could face a lions den with confidence like Daniel did. 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

11.28.13

2 Peter 1:2a By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

My Thoughts
I am learning this... I seem to only be getting it in bits and pieces... but I am growing.  As much as I know that when we make excuses we can't change I can still find myself doing this... making excuses.  Then God gently sends down something that teaches me to do better. 

It seems to work like those sappy movies or TV shows work...in 30 minutes to a couple of hours everything comes together..everybody has something that fits too perfectly into the puzzle and the whole family learns something, the same something in the end.  Today as I was reading my Bible I was reminded of something in my past that I needed to ask forgiveness for.  Then Satan, himself tried to give me excuses...then in my reading I read in 2 Peter 2: 19 it said For you are a slave to whatever controls you. God put it all together for me...just like one of those cheesy movies. I do love cheesy.

We can let how others have treated us control us, or we can let our guilt controls us... just the same as we can let drugs or alcohol control us. We can let an "I can't help it." control us. We can even let the affirmation of others control us... or we can call down God's grace over our lives and take back the power over sin that God says that we can have.  

I am slowly learning that God has so much in Heaven waiting on me...there for me to keep me strong, to make me a better person, I just have to call it down.  I keep waiting on it... without calling down what I need...then when I call down what I need amazing things begin to happen.  Just recently I learned to call down God's grace...I know I am slow!!! I kept waiting on God's grace just to fall down from Heaven and help me.... when all I had to do was call it down!!  Silly me.  I had one of those moments that play over and over in your head happen.  One of those moments that you can talk to death with your spouse and you both get worked up.  Instead of getting carried away by it I just kept asking for God's grace. I ask for God's grace for my replaying thoughts, His grace for the thoughts I had about my thoughts, I asked for God's grace to kept my mouth closed....I asked for God's grace to make me feel love... I asked for God grace to help me act in a loving manner no matter what I felt.... and you know what? God sent His wonderful grace!  How many times have I lost my peace because I didn't call down God's grace? Too many to count. God recently sent me Isaiah 30:18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.  I am so thankful that God showed me this verse in a way that it stuck. It is changing my life, yet again He grows me.  So blessed ar we that God would keep growing us, giving us what we need to live Godly lives.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

11.26.13

Daniel 3:16-18 & 26 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us.  He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.  But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up."  26. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped our of the fire.

My Thoughts
Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego loved God so much that even if He didn't save them it was okay, they would serve Him no matter what! Then God did save them. Today I was really struck by these words. I had prayed to be healed for several years before God healed me... but just a few weeks before I was healed we had had a discussion at church.  I said that night and meant it with all my heart, "Even if God never heals me that is okay.  I know that He can but if He chooses not to I am going to be fine because I know that He loves me. He has brought me through so much already."  I believe that me getting to that point was key in my healing.  When we truly love God with all our heart, His blessings fall down on us! We must love God even if He never chooses to do anything here on earth for us.  We must get to the point that we trust God to take care of us in Heaven no matter what we see before us on earth.  What I choose to do for God needs to be out of my love for Him, not out of what I think He will do for me in return.  What He chooses to do for me is just extra... His love for me and my love for Him is what is important.  Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego knew God could save them and loved God even if He chose not to.  

Monday, November 25, 2013

11.25.13

1 Peter 3:13-14 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it.

My Thoughts
I use to be a people pleaser!  I still love it when I get to make the choice to please people... I have sometimes made the wrong choice because I want to please people so bad. I have even made bad choices in my past to just please people. As I have learned to choose to do what is good in God's eyes...I so often get to please others, but sometimes I can't and I am finding that that is okay too. I am learning to give it to God and say to Him, "God please soften their hearts towards me." And He does.  

One of the best things that has happened to me as I have learned to do what God ask is that it has made making choices much easier.  I find that my options are fewer and that is a good thing... it simplifies my life. If I take my list of options and take away anything that would not make God happy,  my list gets smaller. Then when I go that next step and ask what God would want me to choose  my list gets even smaller. I no longer have to spend days thinking what to do, or days wondering if I did the right thing.  And if somebody does get upset with me... I can know that I did what God wanted and that is what really matters. 

I still mess up sometimes and fall back into those old patterns.. patterns that I learned as a child... and that is where God's forgiveness comes in... I tell Him that I am sorry and ask Him to send down His grace to help me...and I get a little bit better each day.  I know without a doubt that God is rewarding me because the better I get at choosing to do what pleases God the better my life gets...and the better my life gets because of God's blessings the more I want to please God.  I am amazed at how God blesses us... how He pours down His blessings on our lives. When I take the time to stop and think of God's blessings on my life my heart can feel like it is going to burst with joy. And in that same moment I can feel such peace. Peace that feels like I am sitting on a gym sized cloud... right in the middle of it on a almost cold day... wrapped in a blanket that covers the whole cloud, floating in warmth and peace.  Choosing God, choosing what God wants for my life only brings good things. Yet it brings me enough strength that when I do face troubles I will be able to stand strong...I find that amazing!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

11.24.13

1 Peter 3:4-5 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful.  They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands.

My Thoughts
I know someone that does this.  If you knew the lady I am thinking of you would never guess her age. She is amazingly beautiful and if you knew her age you would know even more so how beautiful she is.  She is so soft spoken yet when she speaks the whole room listens because they know that wisdom will flow from her mouth.  Her husband has never fixed his own plate when she was home to do it for her, he respects her so much that he has taken her shoes off of her feet and slipped her house shoes on as she washed the dinner dishes. This lady loves God with her whole soul and she acts in that love of God by the way that she treats others.  She meets them where they are at and she helps grow them by her example.  The kindness she shows extends into others lives so much so that it reaches out and touches through the example of her actions, so many other people that she may never even meet.  Any time I walk into a room where she is at I feel comfort and love, because she allows the comfort and love of God flow through her.  She makes everybody around her want to be a better person.  I have been around people that I didn't want to see me mess up, but this lady makes you want to be better even when she is not looking.. not for her... but for God. The amazing thing about her is that even if you mess up, you know that you can tell her and she will love you still, pray for you to be stronger in the future, do all that she can to help you grow... and never see you differently than before.  I have learned so much from this lady, this amazingly beautiful lady.  Because she loves God so much, my life will never be the same. I feel beyond honored to call her my friend.  I feel special because she calls me friend. When we honor God with our lives people know. Do not pass up the chance to be all that you can be by loving God and honoring Him by living His word. 

Friday, November 22, 2013

11.22.13

1 Peter 2b May God give you more and more grace and peace. 

My Thoughts
I just felt joy when I read these words! Great joy!  I smiled so big that my face hurt.  To think that God gives us more and more grace and peace.  That means that we get stronger and stronger in Him.  That means that bigger and bigger things can come along and we will be able to deal with them with God's grace! It means that I wont be blown over by little things any more...that God is making me stronger and stronger .... and as much stronger as I am now than I was 4 years ago... in 4 years I will be even stronger... and when I face life's situations... I will have peace... lots of it!!  It means that the wonderful peace I feel now.. will just get better and better... no matter what I might face!!  There is no end...the more I study God's word.. the more I know God... the better life is going to get even in the mist of problems. Life is going to be better on the best days...and life is going to be better on the worse days because God sends down more and more grace and peace!!  The thought makes me want to dance!!    

Thursday, November 21, 2013

11.21.13

Matthew 6:10b May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.


My Thoughts
We studied the Lord's Prayer last night in church... but we skipped over this verse. When we did it rather broke my heart. The person teaching the class was getting to some important information about other parts of the Lord's Prayer that were very helpful... I learned so much. But when I read over this verse as we went on to the next verses I could not help but think of my healing.... a gift from God that was in Heaven all along waiting on me to call it down in faith. I secretly desired to stand up and say... please let's go over this part of the prayer too!! And let me tell you why it is important in my life.
We were taught last night that the Lord's Prayer was a model prayer...that we could use it to write or say prayers of our own... following this outline. Then we were given verses on some of the verses in the prayer that explained this. For me Matthew 16:19 is an example of this very verse... Matthew 16:19 says, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” for me this is the same as May your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus tells us in both places...that we can bind up evil and sickness and we can set loose love and healing. It is God's will that we love, that we are healed, that kindness abounds. God binds up evil and does not allow it in Heaven...there is no sickness in Heaven. So when we say our prayers modeled on the Lords Prayer this, to me, is our place to bind up all that is bad...and set loose all that is good.
Why did I notice this verse and feel so strongly about it? Because God gave me this verse when I was being prayed over for healing from sickness... from Lupus and Fybromylgia... God showed me that the keys were in my hands...no the keys were in my words and in my faith to call down from heaven what is in heaven...and to bind up here on heart what God binds up in Heaven. When I bound up sickness...and called down healing in faith... knowing that God was sending me that scripture because He wanted me healed... then God sent down His healing straight from Heaven for me!
Why did God wait... Isaiah 30:18 tells me that. It says, "So the Lord must wait for you to come to him o he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help." And you know what... God gave me this verse just as I went off to retreat ... just before He gave me the keys to the Kingdom.

My favorite line in the Lord's Prayer is this line... "May your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven" I will never again say that verse when I say the Lord's Prayer without smiling, without feeling blessed and thankful, without knowing that God wants me to have what is up in Heaven here on earth... I just have to go to God so He can show me His love and compassion!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

11.20.13

James 3:17 But the wisdom for above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

My Thoughts
This is one of those verses that we need to put into our memory...thinking of it every day as a way to measure our words and our actions against what is good and noble. It is a good checklist to discern if it is the Holy Spirit speaking to us or if it is Satan trying to disguise himself in something that looks like wisdom.

We couls ask ourselves, "Am I choosing peace?" "Are my thoughts/actions gentle?" "Am I demanding my own way or am I yielding?" "Is this decision merciful?" "Am I choosing to do good?" "Am I being sincere?"

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

11.19.13

James 2:17 So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

My Thoughts
This verse use to really throw me!!  We learn when we read God's word that our works don't save us. And here we learn that if we don't produce good deeds our faith is useless. Talk about confusion!!  In James chapter 2 James talks about how our faith  should change us... he warns us not to be fooled by what we believe... What he is telling us that if what we believe is not making us better people than what we believe is wrong.  So we need to re-examine and re-learn what we think we know about God.  We can try to be good enough to get into Heaven...but that is not true faith... and we can say we know God but still act worldly...that is not knowing God... that is more hoping we know God enough.  Truly knowing God makes us want to do better, to be better, to please God.  If we don't see these things in our lives it is a warning and we need to heed that warning.  How horrible it would be to think you knew you had faith to find out at your death that you didn't.  Here James gives us a way to know...but to know we must be honest with ourselves!  Sometimes being honest with ourselves is the hardest honest to be....but it will produce much good once we get over the sting! 

Monday, November 18, 2013

11.18.13

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth and the light.

My Thoughts
I was in Bible Study today when we read this verse.... when I say the I am the truth part...my brain went straight to the fact that God only tells the truth. He only tells the truth about us. So often we listen to what the world says about us, what Satan says about us....and what we say about ourselves... we don't listen to what God says about us. And what God says is the truth!

God says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 130:14). God says that we matter so much to Him that He even knows the number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7). God says that He has great plans for us..... plans to make us prosperous and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). God loves us so much, no matter what we have done in our lives we still matter to Him! (John 3:16). The list goes on and on and the more that we know God's word...the more we know God's truth! His truth about us and how much we matter to Him.

If you ever wonder whether God love you.. He does...and if you need me to tell you ... I can and I will... I want to!! Just let me know.

Friday, November 15, 2013

11.15.13

Proverbs 27:20 Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied. 

My Thoughts
I read this and it took my breath away.  It was like a big wind that engulfed me with truth.  I thought about how we, as humans, always want, want, want.  I often see people go shopping  get home and feel a great let down! Then they need a new shopping trip.  A moment of purchase feels good...then we need another moment of purchase.  Lucky for me I am not much of a shopper... But, I can make a pretty necklace and love it...then it is not pretty enough and I feel the need to make another one.  It seems I loose interest in a craft when I get as good as I am going to get.  I keep wanting to be better.  And when I get at my best I find something else new to do. And I do love all the gadgets that go with each new craft.  I like knowing how, maybe more than the craft... I like learning to use new things. When I save money, I have a goal in mind...then I reach that goal...and I set another one...because that amount that once seemed big... doesn't seem quiet so big anymore.  Why? Because all of those things are human desires. The list can go on and on... and it is different for each of us.  But the fact is no matter what it is... a lower golf score, a higher bowling score... when we seek after human desires we are going to keep needing more and more and more.  We can't seem to step back and say, "Okay this is enough, I am letting this get out of hand."

What I am learning in my walk with God is that what He gives me has a lasting effect.  I don't need more... what God gives me is always enough and it feels so perfectly good it fits just right. When God feels me with joy, it feels me completely, when God feels me with peace, it feels me completely.  It never gets old or goes out of style.  When I bask in what God provides for me it feels just right and I am content so completely content.

Is it bad to shop? To do crafts? To enjoy golf or bowling? Is it bad to save money? NO! Not when we use it for good and in right measure...but when we use it to fill up something that is missing, then we will never fill full ... we will never understand pressed down, shaken together and overflowing because we will be chasing the next fix.  When we seek after God, He fills us overflowing... pressed down, shaken together overflowing!!  Then when we go shopping we can stop and what we need, when so do a craft we can use it to love others, when we golf and bowl we can share in friendships without such need attached to it.  God put a place of desire in our souls... we are constantly trying to fill it up with things of this world... but it can only be filled with God things.

I picture it like a sifter... the things of the world are sand size...and the things of God are bolder size...when we put the things of the world in that sifter... it just all falls through and we are left in need... but when we put God things in that sifter it fills up completely.  We are never going to complete the task of filling up the sifter no matter how hard we try, if we put worldly things in it all the time.

The wonderful thing about God is that when we seek after Him, all else is added, but added in just the right amount to create balance in our lives.  

Thursday, November 14, 2013

11.14.13

Hebrews 12:10a For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how.

My Thoughts
This goes on to tell us how God's discipline is because He loves us and wants the best for us.  But this verse just stood out to me today!   When that happens I think it is a God thing.  All good things come from Him.  This verse comforted me me deeply.  As a parent I tried really hard.  All I ever wanted was to be a wife and mom...and I wanted to be a good mom!  So many times I failed so bad, it would have helped me so much if I had know God as deeply as I do now, but I didn't. I knew Him more on the surface.  But I read books and parenting magazines. I did what the doctor told me and I was pretty good at it...then we hit the teen years...and there just were not magazines that covered the teen years. I was not as good at those... but I still tried hard... even when it didn't always show.  Thank goodness God only puts us in charge of our children for a few years!! And I always, always loved my kids, even if they didn't always feel it...I believe they always know it. 

What comforted me when I read this verse is that God knows!!! God knows that we as parents do the best we can with what we know at the moment. God knows that some days are much harder than others.  God knows that sometimes life challenges get in the way of parenting. God knows that sometimes we under parent and sometimes we over parent.  God knows that sometimes we are too tired to parent.  God knows when we are doing the best we can and God knows that some days our best is more and some days I best is less.  God sees the big picture.  When we ask God forgives our mistakes and forget them, even when I children can't God knows that we are human.

What I am learning as the parent of adult children is that now I can lead by example.  That even if I didn't know God like I do now... now I can be a godly example. I can pray that what I do good in life now, that I didn't know how to do before, effects them in positive ways. I can be there for them when they need me... and I can move out of the way when they don't.  I an act in love.  Because now I know that love is action... not a feeling. The feeling might follow.... but love is an action. And I can love them by trying my best, with God's grace, by being patient and kind, never being envious, boastful, proud or rude by trying not to demand my own way.  I can do my best, with God's grace not to be irritable and I keep no record of being wronged.  I can rejoice when truth wins out...but never rejoice in injustice.  I can never give up on them, never lose faith in them and I can endure through ever circumstance with them.  (I Corinthians 13: 4-7).  I can pray for them... I can cheer them on. I can grow best by not dweling on what I didn't know how to do...and loving God all that I can.  Loveing God makes me a better person which in turn makes me a better parent!
 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

11.13.13

Psalm 111:5 He gives food to those who fear him, he always remembers his covenant.

My Thoughts
I read this and thought, "All I have to do is seek God then He takes care of the rest."   To fear God means to be in awe and reverence of Him.  I was trying to think of a moment that I was in awe...I remember the first time I saw the ocean...all I could do was look at it...I wanted to stand there and look at if for hours upon end.  Even when we left and did other things... I was excited to get back to see the ocean. We need to always be excited to get back to the presence of God. We should want to just stand in His presence!!  When we feel this way about God, He makes sure that our needs are met.  Our job is to love God, to thank God, to praise God... Matthew 6:33 tells us to see God first and all else will be added.

We as people make life so hard.  We want to work hard enough, be good enough!  God gives so much that often we feel like He expects so much from us.  But it is really so simple... we need to love God above all else and He will take care of the rest!!  Here in Psalm 11:5 it says He give us food if we are in awe of Him!!  Wow! 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

11.12.13

Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

My Thoughts
I love this...we must believe that God has good things in store for us!!  I have heard of people being criticized for saying, "If I do this God will reward me."  Treated like they were in "it" for the rewards.  Here we are told that we are to believe that God will reward us.  And the Bible is filled with promises of rewards!  There are all kinds of "if and then" statements in God's word.  Because Sarah believed that God would give her a child, even though she was too old, Sarah had a child.  But we have to believe in order for God to give us His promises.

In  Isaiah 30:18 it tells us that the Lord must wait for us to come to Him. For the Lord is a faithful God.  Matthew 16:19 says, "I give you the keys to the Kingdom. Whatever you bind up on earth is bound up in Heaven and what ever you loose on earth is loose in Heaven.    God waits for us to show our faith by asking with faith ...then he acts on what we ask for.  It was just recently that I "got it" when it said, "I give you the keys to the Kingdom." We have them, God gives them to us.. WE have to use what God has given us and WE have to open our mouths in faith. 

You might ask me how I know this to be true... I can tell you because I am living proof!  I lived with Lupus and Fybromylgia for 12+ year.. not sure how many + years I had...but I was told 12 years ago that I had Lupus, then Fybromylgia followed.  Then God gave me these two verse... first Isiah 30:18 just before I went off to retreat, and Matthew 16:19 once I got there.  I started using MY keys to God's Kingdom... binding up sickness and pain and calling down healing and restoration... 10 days later I woke up and was drying my hair, getting ready for Church and I knew, that I knew, that I knew that I felt healthy...not sick on a really good day, but healthy!!  I finally learned how to sincerely seek after God and all the rewards that He promises me!!

Please, please believe in the wonderful rewards of God. If you do... on there are so many wonderful things in store for you life... wonderful things. 

Monday, November 11, 2013

11.11.13

Hebrews 9:13-14 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people's bodies from ceremonial impurity.  Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our conscience from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God.  

My Thoughts
Conscience: the part of the mind that makes you aware of your actions as being either morally right or wrong : a feeling that something you have done is morally wrong

I knew what conscience meant...but I needed to read the definition!!  I know that the Bible talks about throwing our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:12... that God does not remember our sins. But I loved reading this and knowing that God does not want me to wallow in my past sins.  God wants me to be able to move forward so that I can focus on Him... not all that I have done wrong. 

I was taught to feel guilty... like you were not sorry for what you did wrong if you didn't feel guilty. We need to be sorry for our sins, we need to ask forgiveness and we need to ask for God's grace when we want to sin again.  But once we ask for forgiveness, God forgives us.  And we need to forgive ourselves too so that we can worship God.  If we are busy worrying about all that we have ever done wrong we are not free to worship God.  And that is exactly where the devil likes us to be...stuck so that we can't worship. We are told here that Christ purifies our conscience, the part of our mind that makes us aware that we have done morally wrong things.  God makes us right. God frees us to worship Him. 

God told me once after my mom died, "Jeannie if you are busy worrying about what you didn't know how to do, you won't be able to become the person I want you to be." This very verse confirms what God told me that day I was wallering in worry of things that I had not done, of my sins of omission. 

God does not want us waling around feeling bad all the time... God want us to feel so free of all burdens that we are able just to love and praise Him.  When we do this it honors God and it grows us!!  Wow I love that!

Friday, November 8, 2013

11.8.13

Ezekiel 19:21-22 But if wicked people turn from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is right, they will surely live and not die.  All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.

My Thoughts
I love that God gives us another chance... that He is a God of mercy... In verse 32 God says, "I don't want you to die. Turn back and live." He even gives us His Word so that we can learn to live a righteous life.  How special is that!  He forgets all of our sins!  When we are reminded of our sins it is not God, He does not remember!  It is Satan trying to trip us up... because God loves us so much He forgets...and we can tell Satan that we know that!!  We with boldness can say, "God has forgiven me, God loves me so much that He has even chose to forget my sins!" God wants us to grow in Him and He knows that we can't do that if we are living in the shadow of our past, so He forgets our past for us so that we can grow!!  We can never be so bad that God will not forgive us if we ask and begin to do better. That is love!  An amazing love.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

11.7.13

Proverbs 27:7 A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.



My Thoughts
I have read this at least 3 other times...no each time I go through my Bible I go through Proverbs twice...so this is the 6th time I have read this verse. FINALLY I get it!! Which means I am growing... so I will not beat myself up... I will just be so very thankful that I got here to the "getting it" part!

There have been stories, and sometimes there still are, that I have read in the Bible that just baffled me, upset me even that now I love!! Even when I have to hang my head in shame because I know that those verses that day are speaking directly at me. Telling me that I have done wrong and I must do better. Even the harshest stories of the Bible are sweet now... I am finally hungry enough... and I hope that I stay hungry for God's words, for God's truths...those truths no matter how harsh they may sometimes seem make my life better and better and better...and they help keep me focused on God.

Even today I thought how could I bet too full of God's word to be hungry, then I realized that when I am not hungry for God is not when I am too full of God's word, after all the more I read God's word the hungrier I am for it. It is when I am too full of myself that I am not hungry for God's word. The less full I am of me, and the more I hunger for God's word the more I am able to rejoice even in God's correction of my actions. Why? Because those corrections make me able to draw closer to God and all that He has for me. They make me able to know God more deeply... and in the process bring me closer and closer to God. Which also grow the joy God places in my heart.

I love that the more I know God the more starved I feel for His Word... and the more full of love I feel all at the same time. The hungrier I am, the less I get in my way. The hungrier I am the more blessings God can send to overflow my life with. What a blessing it is to read this verse and know that I know, that I know what it means to me and for me!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

11.6.13

Ezekiel 9:17-19 You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them.  This is adultery against me! You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I have you to dress your idols.  Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them.  Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.

My Thoughts
Verse 23 says, "What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness,  you built a pagan shrine and put alters to idols in every town square.

What all do we do this with today?  I think of stars having their hand prints in the sidewalk...of collages putting up statues of their sports hero's  and of Washington putting up statues to great presidents.  I thought of us spreading out a wonderful meal in front of the TV to watch our favorite teams play and of all the wonderful smells of food surrounding a football stadium by the tailgaters.  I though of how much pomp and circumstance we give so many things and then ponder on Sundays if we will go to Church or stay home.  How many times do we miss worshiping God because we stayed up late to watch "the game." I couldn't help but wonder what God thinks of all of that!!  It actually made my heart sad... the thought has truly brought tears to my eyes this morning.

God has given us so very much... so much of what He has given us gives us more time...yet we spend less and less time with God. I think of how much I have grown in the past 4 years by getting up each morning and reading my Bible and I feel proud of myself...but today I think... what if at night I gave up one more TV show and read that much more of God's word? I would have grown even more!!  

I have heard it said that if we are too busy to make time for God then we are way too busy.  So often we spend our days looking for a minutes peace...when peace would come in spending time with God.  Each night I look forward to settling in and turning on the TV for a couple of hours... a whole couple of hours of peace... have I neglected God in the process... have I made TV an idol?  It seems that I need to adjust my life a little more... I can see this as frustrating...as giving up something I enjoy... or I can see this as a wonderful chance to find more peace, to know God more, to grow my joy.... there are so many moments in my day where I have the chance for this.. yet I pass them up.  I have a couple of changes I need to make... I am sure there is more than a couple...but I can at least start with a couple and go from there.... I want so God to smile down on me....


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

11.5.13

Ezekiel 13:10 This will happen because these evil prophets deceived my people by saying, "All is peaceful" when there is no peace at all.  It's as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!

My Thoughts
When I read the words whitewash, I though of white lies.  These prophets didn't want people, especially kings who could have them killed to dislike them.  So they said what the people wanted to hear. God called them evil. 

As I child I was taught to tell "white lies" to spare hurt feelings.  You know the kind, the phone rings (back in the day of no caller id) and your mom says, "If that is so in so tell them I am not at home."  A white lie to spare someones feelings... my mom didn't want to talk to them, but didn't want to hurt their feelings.  There are other examples, "I love this dress! Do you like it" and you answer, "yes" when your mind screams NO!  The list can go on...and some of the white lies you learn to tell... become more of a gray.  When you are taught something as a child, by a parent who has good intentions... you do what you are taught.  And sometimes you even pass these things down to your children...and them to their children.

The more I read God's word the more I understand how harmful these things can be in our lives and in the lives of the people around us.  A white lie...is white wash...it is something that makes things look better than what the truth is. And as harmless as a white lie seems it does not please God.  And as small as a white lie seems it could have consequences that we never intended.  What if we told a "white" lie about a dress being pretty...and that dress was worn to a job interview? The way that person looked in that dress could make all the difference.  We never ever know how far the ripples of a "white" lie reach.  God understand this...and in this verse I learn that we are not to white wash anything... we are to say everything with love and kindness... even if it stings a little. 

If you think about it... white washing the truth only benefits you... we are taught that it is for the benefit of others... but in reality it isn't. It makes us look sweet while the person we told a white lie to walk around in an ugly dress.  Is that kind... or would the truth been kinder?  The truth is always kinder if we could see the big picture.  God sees the big picture enough to warn us that white washing things is evil in His eyes. 

Monday, November 4, 2013

11.4.13

Hebrews 6:19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.  It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary.

My Thoughts
I love this ...a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls!! An anchor for our souls!!  I love that word picture!!  Even tossed in a storm when we are anchored to God by Jesus we can weather the storms of life!! And when we are anchored and the sun is shining bright we don't have to stay at the controls of our ship...we get to go about the ship and enjoy life.  The anchor has everything under control! Held firm into place!! On top of all of that... when Jesus is our anchor He takes us straight to God.. to the safest place we can be.  An anchor with GPS...we throw it out into the waters, no matter where we are and it lands in the inner sanctuary of God.  We have to be smart enough to never cut that anchor from our lives even in the toughest storms then we will come through to the other side...better and stronger than we have ever been before.   

Sunday, November 3, 2013

11.3.13

Hebrews 4:15-16 This High Priest (Jesus) of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. there we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most!


My Thoughts

Jesus understands!! He understands every single feeling we have! So we can talk to Him about anything...we can boldly tell Him how we feel.

I loved reading this today... just loved it... I needed it! For most of my life I just did not understand this... I felt like I could only go to Jesus when I was being good. Now I understand that I can go to Jesus when I am at my worse, when I am having my worse thoughts ever and that is when He will go to God on my behalf and ask for God's grace to help keep us strong, to help us make the right decisions in spite of ourselves!!

How wonderful that God sent Jesus to earth to be a man, so that He could totally understand us! So that He would know exactly how we feel... how wonderful it is that Jesus called always on God's grace to help Him not sin... and God will give us that same grace to help us not to sin. We just have to learn to go to Jesus before we sin, so that we don't have to go after we sin. I never really understood that I could go to Jesus and say, "Oh I feel like sinning, I feel like giving in! Please help me!!" It seems an odd thing to say...but isn't it much better than saying, "I have sinned please forgive me!" Jesus "gets us"... He so understands... we just need to understand that we can go boldly and confess our desire to sin...and ask for help!!

Friday, November 1, 2013

11.1.13

Hebrews 3:19 So we see because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. 

My Thoughts
Oh wow! Looking back over my life this verse really hits home. For so long I thought I believed in God.  I did believe that God existed .... I believed that Jesus died of my sins. I had been taught that all of my life.  But there was so much that I missed...even when I thought I was trying.  All along there were things my Sunday School teachers would say, or that the preacher would preach on...that I just didn't believe.  I more felt like I didn't "get it" ...but really I didn't believe it.  Why? All because I didn't understand all that God says in His word.  Why didn't I understand?  Because I had not taken the time to read God's word for myself.  I had only read bits and pieces and then I had just gone on what the preacher preached. I probable had faith about a few things...but not about all the things that God promises me.  I just didn't know all the things that God promises me. I had not read them for myself. And all along I was never at rest... I didn't know how to enter God's rest.

If I think about it...what I believed is that Jesus died so that I could be forgiven and that I needed to be good.  That may be all that I really understood.  I sure didn't understand that if I loved God and kept my eyes and my heart on Him, He would make me want to be good, and He would make me able to be good. I had the Jesus died for my sins part right. I just had no grasp what so ever on God's amazing grace...that made me able, that gave me the deep desire to do better and better and better.  I was out in the world trying to please God by my actions, not by loving Him and accepting all that He had to give me.  Once that I learned about how God loves me so completely... I couldn't help but love Him... once I knew how to look for God's love around me, I couldn't help but feel loved by God.  Once I got that...the peace of God just flowed down from heaven into my life like a river filled from a never ending rain.

These days I just bask in the peace of God...sometimes I stop and feel a bit sad for the me that was trying so hard without direction...so void of God's wonderful peace.  Once I understood the Holy Spirit and learned to actually feel His presence inside of me... my life was, finally, forever changed.

You might be asking, as you read this, "How did you get to this place?" I always had that question in my mind when I met a Christian that glowed with God's peace and understanding.  But I would never ask for fear of looking like I was not a Christian myself.  What I was, is a Child of God stuck at the very beginning of a wonderful journey for years upon years... Found but so lost all at the same time.  And all along I was afraid to ask, "How do I get what you have?????!!!!" I can tell you how I got what I have today... I picked up my Bible and started reading.  God tells us that if we seek wisdom, wisdom will find us.  And that is just what happened to me. It happened when I had not ever known that promise of God.  I started seeking wisdom...and slowly but surly I begin to understand...and as I did I begin to live under the protection of God.  Then God wanted me so protected that He surrounded me by godly people, who taught me even more...now I live totally in the peace of God.  Every once in a while when I feel peace slipping away...I go running to God and find out where I put peace down and picked up the world... and I fix it fast... because peace, the peace of God is an amazing place to live!


Thursday, October 31, 2013

10.31.13

Hebrews 2:1 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

My Thoughts
I can so see this verse in my life.  We were always trying to do good. We would find a church and go for the longest time, trying our best to do good.  Then something would happen and we would drift away from Church. We never seemed to fit.  This time when we found our church, we did a couple of things very different, quite on accident. First we were reading our Bibles daily, each of us when we started Life Church.  Second we went to church and learned to be the church not get from church.  Oh we still get so much from church, but we are also very much a part of being the church. 

I have learned that I must listen carefully to God's word in more ways than just hearing the pastor preach on Sunday morning.  I just listen to the words of God as I read them.  I must renew my mind daily.  There is so much in God's word that it will take a whole lifetime to learn it all...and I got a late start.  When we would go to Chruch on Sunday and that was our lesson in godly things by the next Sunday we would forget what we learned...if we couldn't make God's word stick for a week how were we going to do better for a lifetime?  Now I know how to do better for a lifetime, study each day, every day of my life...then as I do what I learn each day... what God teaches me will become a part of who I am.  I just have to keep on keeping on forever.  As I do this my life just keeps getting better and better and better... such blessings follow our efforts.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

10.30.13

Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. 

My Thoughts
I read this and thought back at my life when I didn't know how to search for God. When I didn't really understand how to depend on Him. Then I looked at my life today and marveled at how much my life has changed since I have learned how to search for God in all things... since I have learned to truly depend on God. 

First I search for Him in His word each morning... as I learn God's word, I  can better see God in all that is my day.  I use to see God things and lucky moments.  Not I see those moments as blessings sent straight down from God  because he loves me so much.  The more I am able to see God in my day, in the every day things in my life, the more I am able to let God have my life.  Depending on the world left me frustrated and disappointed, but depending on God leaves me with joy, if leaves me feeling blessed beyond measure.  

In Bible Study Monday, Tammy talked about joy coming from deep within us...and "happiness" coming from things of this world.  I almost jumped out of my seat with excitement... what I feel these days is pure joy.. joy in every part of my life.  Because God is there.  God's word teaches us how to have joy. The movies tell us what is suppose to make us happy, and each movie tells us something different.  The world is never the same, always changing. When we search for the happiness of the world, just when we reach it, it changes.  Like this years fashion... finally we fill our closets with it only to turn on the TV and find that the hem line has gone down and the waste line has gone up and our closet doesn't look happy any more.  The wonderful things about God is that He is always, always the same...and if we learn to search for Him, He will give us joy...and then when we wake up tomorrow... God will still be the same...and we will get to stay put in our joy!!  

When I depended on the world for happiness it was always slipping away just when I thought I found it.  When I started searching for God and depending on Him.. joy filled my heart, pure joy!  And each day instead of slipping away it just grows bigger and better and better and better. I feel so thankful these days...and as each day passes God gives me more reasons to be thankful... and joy just overflows! 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

10.29.13

Psalm 100:4-5 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.  Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

My Thoughts
Recently a few dear friends and I attended at Ladies Retreat, two of my sweet friends went to a class on prayer.  One of the things they told to me that they learned was that we needed to start our prayers with thanks....then with praise...then our request. I loved the idea. A few days later I was talking with another friend of mine that reminded me of this very verse.  The basis for first giving thanks, then praise, then petition.  I knew then that I had been going about my prayers all wrong.  Not that prayers to God could be wrong, but there was a better way to go about praying the prayers that I pray. 

I must share with you that when we do things God's way, oh the joy!!  I have been practicing this way of praying now for several weeks. It is amazing... somehow I very seldom get past the thanks and the praise.  Only if I have prayer needs for others do I seem to get past the thanks and the praise.  The amazing thing is, my needs and my wants are being met abundantly these days.  Because I am being thankful, and praising God, He seems to be showering down blessings so much that I just seem to be tripping over them.  Then guess what happens!!  I have more thank you's to send up...and more praise to send up...and I never get around to the "can I have's."

As I sit here an write these words, God is telling me, "See Jeannie, I love you so much and all that I ask is that you love me back."  When we quit loving God for what He can do for us, and we start loving God because He is God, amazing things begin to happen in our lives.  When we quit telling God what we need, God has time to look down and see our needs...and His vision is so much clearer  and so much bigger than ours is!! When we let go and let God, as the saying goes, God can do so much more for us than we can think to imagine. 

Feeling so very blessed that God cares so much for me that He gives me such wonderful knowledge in such simple ways.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, GOD!