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







Saturday, August 31, 2013

8.31.12

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; and new life has begun!

My Thoughts
When I woke up this morning Rita, a friend of mine had posted this:

SURRENDER-"the more we let God take us over, the more we truly ourselves we become- because he made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be... It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to his personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own." C. W. Lewis


Then I read this verse in my Bible reading... wow!!  How timely!  
What I do know from my experience is that the closer I get to God, the more the personality He gave me works in my life for the good!! Before I knew God like I do now it seemed to trip me up and make me feel different.  Now it just makes me feel special... it works in ways that matter.  The more I know God the more  I am able to become the person He intended me to be.  God didn't give me my personality for the world, to fit into the world, God gave me my personality to bring glory to Him. 

Friday, August 30, 2013

8.30.13

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly out weights them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

My Thoughts

I love this verse... my first time through the Bible it frustrated me a bit, not a bit, it bother me a whole bunch!!! This year is my fourth time through the Bible and I see this verse so differently now. Praise God that I do. Today when I read this I thought, "When I am grumbling and complaining I have my eyes on everything but God, when I have my eyes on God not even the pain in my body matters very much at all."
Yesterday was a good example of this, so reading this verse today was very timely. Wednesday night we were talking about healing in Church, I remember feeling so blessed that God had healed me of depression, anxiety and panic over Lupus. Lupus has never done to me what depression, anxiety and panic did! Then I woke up yesterday with such pain in my feet that I could hardly walk, Lupus can cause arthritis and the arthritis in all the joints in my feet was acting up like crazy. When I got back to my bed from making it to the bathroom, I smiled, I actually smiled. Why because I thought that this pain was not a big deal at all, God had my back, He would take care of me and I was not sad, I didn't panic, I was not anxious, I was blessed! I looked around me and felt so blessed that God had provided me with Lemongrass oil for my feet, a warm blanket to wrap them in... in a cool home on a hot morning. I felt wonderfully at peace and God allowed me to drift back off to sleep with a smile on my face and when I woke back up my feet were much better, with only a little pain.
Yesterday I had my eyes on God!! I didn't grumble and complain and get all caught up in self pity. I just kept my eyes on God. As I did this my day got better, my pain got better, but most importantly my spirits stayed high, I felt good in spite of pain. That is a huge victory. A gift straight from God!
I have in the past wallered in self pity. Spent the day feeling sorry for myself. Spend the day with my eyes on me, on this world and what I couldn't do... and all that did was intensify my pain because my mind was magnifying my pain instead of magnifying God.
I have learned a great lesson. God is growing me, making me more and more aware. When I grumble and complain I magnify my troubles, when I keep my eye on God I magnify Him, making Him so much bigger than my troubles that I barely see my troubles at all. God healed me of anxiety, panic and depression so that I see beyond the minute, so that I could see beyond myself, so I could see beyond the world, so that I could see Him and all the love He has for me. What a wonderful gift of healing He gave me.  This gift strengthens my faith beyond measure... and gives me hope like I didn't know was possible. I am blessed. I am loved, I am happy. 
Do I believe that God can heal my earthly body? Yes I do!! If God doesn't heal my body do I think He does not love me? No! God loves me so very much. God has a new body waiting for me in heaven that will be so much grander than this body healed or not healed. God has done for me what was necessary, He got me to Him, He put me in the hands of people that build me up, He put his word in my hand in a way that would get me to read it, He gave me wisdom because I seek it, just like He promises he will. He is teaching me to keep my eyes on Him no matter what comes my way. Those are the important things! Lupus is secondary or even less than that, and when I get healing in my body that will be just icing on the cake. When it happens I will celebrate and give God all the glory. While I wait on God's timing I will embrace the lessons I am learning, I will be thankful for all that I have and know that all that I have is a gift straight from God. And I will trust that God knows what is best for me. I will fix my gaze on things that can not be seen. Today I know that I am blessed, I am loved. Today I am so very thankful for all that God has done for me! Today my hope knows no limits!  Wow!



Thursday, August 29, 2013

8.29.13

2 Corinthians 4:8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandon by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.



My Thoughts
These are the words of Paul... who suffered so much to spread the word of Jesus. He was loved by God, protected by God, but suffered the effects of the world. But he was never, ever abandon by God.


I must remember these words on a bad day, on a day when the things of the world press in and effect me. I am pressed on every side, but I am not crushed. There was a time in my life when I would feel crushed... unable to deal with all that was going on around me. Now some days can still be hard...but I never ever feel crushed!! I know that God has my back and that He gives me new hours, new days, new weeks!! Life will always get better and probably by tomorrow! Sometimes I am perplexed, I don't understand why...but I know that God has the why so I don't feel despair!! God's word lives in my heart and I draw from it, instead of letting despair feed me! Just the other day I got knocked down for a minute, I had a fender bender. Before I knew God like I know God now, I would have felt knocked down, I would have felt panic and despair. I would not have been able to cope. I would have had to call Robby to come to my rescue. But now I have God, I informed Robby and God gave me His strength and His grace and I handled the situation. The next new hour of my day was a good one. Before God that could have effected me for a month!! Today I still suffer pain from Lupus and Fybromilgia, but Jesus is here with me... He shows His face in my life every day. Loving Jesus through my pain has touched way more people for Jesus than I ever would have without pain. It is not why I am in pain... but it is a wonderful consequence of what I am going through. Jesus is with me always, every day, He makes me able to get up and get out of bed, He makes me able to smile, He gives me strength that I didn't have before. I may suffer pain, but I am victorious in Jesus, I am blessed because of Jesus, I am able because of Jesus. I have great joy in my life because of Jesus. Any pain I suffer does not compare to how happy my heart is! I may feel pain but because of Jesus I am not held captive by pain!! And because of that I know that Jesus will heal me!!
Paul didn't choose an easy life...but he did have a full life because he was filled with the love of God. And the days that were hard were not hopeless. He was pressed on every side but not crushed... perplexed but not driven to despair!! He was knocked down but not destroyed...he was never abandoned by God. He suffered but Jesus shined in that suffering. Paul loved God and God never abandoned Paul. I love this!! It give me strength and hope.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

8.28.13

2 Corinthians 3:17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

My Thoughts
This just makes my heart happy!  And it makes me just laugh out loud at the lies the devil tells us!!  He tells us that if we do what God ask we don't have freedom... that we can't do anything we want.  But what God is telling us when He gives us something to live by is if you do this, then you will be set free from this!!   There is not a thing that I do that God tells me to do that does not make me feel free-er.  Free from worry, free from stress, free from burdens. And on the joy that comes with that freedom!! Oh the peace that comes from that freedom. And lots of times I am free from having to make a choice. 

The best example, in my life,  of being free from making a choice is this... I am a people pleaser, or I use to be... I still like to make people happy, but I am not so much a people pleaser...which is so freeing!!  Anyway I use to always feel like I was choosing between people when I was making choices.  Now I choose to please God and let the rest sort itself out... every time I do this everything else does work out.  And each time I am so amazed!  Then I get the added bonus of sleep without worry, without questioning myself.  And even if somebody else is unhappy with what I decided... I can feel good about my choice because I chose to please God. 

I am constantly amazed at how free I feel... the more I know God and the more I follow what He tells me the free-er I become.  The more I keep my eyes on God the free-er I become.  The more I know God the more of His grace I receive, grace that frees me from the desires to even want to do the things that could hold me captive!!

God and all His grace... God and all His love... God and all His care changed my life and made me free! Oh the joy that floods my soul!! 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

8.27.13

2 Corinthians 1:22 and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

My Thoughts

I love this!! Every time we feel the Holy Spirit prompting us to do good to choose the right thing, whispering in our spirit that we are making a bad choice, we can smile and know that God's promises are for us!! After all we have the first installment that guarantees everything God has promised us! That thought just makes me smile.

We have to remember that God's promises most always come with an if and a then. If you do this, then I will do this for you. When we are not receiving a promise from God, it is not God it is us failing to do the "if."

If we take responsibility for our actions then we can improve out lives. When we stop and say to ourselves, "What is my part in what I am not getting in life?" that is when we begin to grow. God always keeps His promises. But he gives us a part to do in those promises. So next time we have a thought about what God has not done for us yet, we need to find out the if part of what God does for us...and ask ourselves if we have done the "if." God after all wants to give us everything, He loves us and He started out by giving us the Holy Spirit. Even that had the if and then... If we believe that Jesus was the son of God, and confessed out sins, then the Holy Spirit is sent to live in our hearts If we ask. "If we confess, believe and ask, "then God sends the Holy Spirit.

So each morning as the Holy Spirit prompts me to sit down and do my Bible reading, I am assured that God is with me and that God will give me all that He has promised me, when I do the "if" parts. I love it!!

Monday, August 26, 2013

8.26.13

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do ever thing with love.

My Thoughts

Paul is talking to the Church, to believers, to Christians. He is telling is here that we have to be on guard... we must pay attention, the devil will use anything to trip us up, even our faith. Satin even used scripture on Jesus in the wilderness to try and get Him to sin. So we must know God's word so we can defend ourselves. And we must watch out for the people, or things that Satin sends our way to trip us up.

Then we must stand firm in our faith. I didn't know how to do that until I started reading my Bible every day. Until I surrounded myself with people that loved God. I stand firm by renewing my mind each day in God's word. I stand firm by getting what I know will be Godly advice from Godly people. I stand firm by choosing what God would have me do!! Do I mess up? All the time!! But I go to God and He forgives me and I learn from my mistakes and I ask God to give me His grace to do better next time I am faced with the same or a similar situation. I am learning... and I will continue to learn until Christ comes back. That is a promise from God that He will grow us until the day of Jesus' return. (Philippians 1:6)
We have to have courage...the courage to stand up for what we believe in. The courage to be different... The courage to be called a "Jesus freak." We have to have courage to stand strong if things ever get really hard for Christians. If we can't stand up to everyday challenges of being a Christians, how will we ever be able to stand up if the world turns against us? We must have courage. We must be strong in anything we face as God's child. And we must stand firm in being a child of God no matter what somebody else thinks!!
And last but so important is that we must do all of this in love. We must be on guard in love, we must be courageous in love, we must be strong in love. Everything we do needs to be done in love!! And that can be hard. So often we stand firm, in an argument. With an I am going to win this at all cost attitude! No matter what I do to you...I am standing firm. We must stand firm in love, we must take courage in love... we must at all times, in every situation act in love. I was not taught how to do this growing up, my mother was not taught how to do this growing up, I probably didn't teach my kids how to do this. But God's word tells me that I should do all things in love. In Matthew 7:11 it tells us that even the evil love know how to give gifts to people they love. The Christian thing is to love our enemies... to treat our enemies with love to treat strangers with love...and to stand firm in love to the people we love, to the people we don't know...and to stand firm in love to the people that don't like us.
Love is an actions not a feeling... it is easy for anybody to act in love toward people they feel love for... as Christians we are called to act in love toward everybody, even those who hate us. We have to be strong enough to act in love if somebody has a gun to our heads. We have to be strong enough to use our last words to try and win that soul into the kingdom of heaven out of love. We are called to be that courageous, that strong, that loving. And if we can't act in love to our family when we are standing firm, how could we ever act in love in the toughest of situations? We must practice, work at, be determined to stand firm, be courageous, to be strong and in everything, even the hardest of things act in love.



8.23.13

1 Corinthians 15:22 Just as ever one dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given a new life.



My Thoughts

I love how reading my Bible and growing my faith, growing my roots in to good soil makes me feel comforted when I read God's word. I would have read this verse a few years back and felt a bit of anxiety... "Will God really give me a new life?" "Am I really saved?" "Does God love me that much?" Then I would have told myself that I asked Jesus into my heart at age 9 that it would all be okay... but I would have still felt such anxiety.


Now that I take the time to know God, to really know and understand Him I read this verse and feel utter joy!! I could almost picture my new life when I read this verse today. I could feel my healthy body... my youngest prettiest face, my white dress and the smile on my face because I was in the glowing presence of God. Standing there in soaking it all in.

Now when the devil tries to tell me, "Oh you are not good enough to get to Heaven!" I just tell him, "I am covered in the blood!"
I encourage you, that if you feel that doubt that I felt... please, please pick up your Bible and start reading it. I love the New Living Translation it is easier for me to understand. Reading God's word each day changed my life. If you are thinking, "But I just don't understand what I am reading." Let me tell you this, when I started reading my Bible each day I was so lost!!! Beyond lost, but I kept reading each day. God's word tells us that if we seek wisdom, wisdom will find us. And I can tell you that this is so true. Now I love reading my Bible... there is always a little nugget there that reassures me. That grows me. God blesses our efforts. God changes us when we seek after Him!! Please, please pick up your Bible and start reading... you will be transformed.



Saturday, August 24, 2013

8.24.13

1 Corinthians 15:43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory.  They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.

My Thoughts
I read this this morning, after I struggled through some of Job.  Job is a hard book for me still.  Anyway I read this today and I wanted to just dance at the thought!!  It made me happy, to think of glory and strength in my body!!  It could make me happy because I believe God enough to know that this will be my truth one day!!  How exciting!!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

8.22.13

Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of an evil person is detestable, especially when it offers with wrong motives.

My Thoughts
I immediately thought of the Psalms 50:14 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God. We need to be constantly thankful.  Always aware that all that we have does come straight from God.We need to be thankful in the good times and in the bad times.  We can't wait until we need something...those are not thank you's at all those are bribes to get God to listen to us.  Our thankfulness needs to have no motive behind it at all...it needs to be pure..as pure as sacrifices had to be in the Old Testament.  That is when God hears us... God always knows our motives, always.  We need to be self-aware enough to see if we have a motive when we send up thanksgiving to God.  The more we are in line with God's will, the more thankful we are to God for all we have, the better we get at forgiving the more God is able to do for us... not because we want, want, want... but because we love. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

8.21.13

Proverbs 21:26 Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!



My Thoughts

I think this verse is a good verse to add to our check list. So many things from the Bible we could put in a book as a way to check ourselves. It could say, "Were you greedy today?" and "Did you give something of yourself today?" If we find ourselves wanting and wanting and wanting, and not giving we are not acting the way that God ask us to act.


It is so easy to get caught up in the "I want's" these days. Magazines have more advertisements than articles, telling us what we want. The TV is always telling us what we need... what our neighbors have. I have never heard a commercial tell me that I need to buy something for somebody else, they all tell me what I need for myself. Even at Christmas they tell us what we need to want! We want so much for our children that we get caught up in making sure they have what their friends have that we get in the mode of teaching them that they need what everybody else has. The size of an average house is much larger than when I was a child. All because we have a bad case of greed.


The devil gets us right where he wants us when he gets us so caught up in the "I want's" that our bills make us unable to give when we see the need. So often our bills are paying for the "I just gotta have" things... not anything we actually need at all. Then we pass by the real needy and think we don't have anything at all to give. When this happens the devil smiles.


A good test for ourselves would be the next time we find ourselves wanting, we ask ourselves, "Have I given to somebody else since last time I bought something for me?" If the answer is no we need to step back and find a way to give, then we can treat ourselves while living a godly life.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

8.20.13

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind, Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand it's own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no records 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.

My Thoughts
Notice that this says love is... it does not say love feels!!  Loving others is a choice not a feeling.  We can feel that we love somebody but not show it at all in our actions and they will not feel loved at all.  On the other hand we can not feel love at all and acting in a loving way and somebody will feel loved.  The thing is if we act in love, the feeling will follow.  Too often we wait to feel love before we act in love. God does not call us to feel love for everybody, God calls us to love everybody... love is an action word.  When God tells us to love our enemies He surley does not think we should wait on our feelings of love before we do so, they are after all our enemies.  What God knows is that if we act in love...the feelings will come.  

We need to commit these love is actions to our memory so that we can check ourselves and know if we are acting in love!!  Toward the people we feel love for...and toward others.  Even towards our enemies.  If we are not acting in love toward the people we feel love for, will we ever be able to act in love toward the people we see as our enemies?  This is our check list of what our actions should be.  And we should be checking them off daily.   


Monday, August 19, 2013

8.19.13

Esther 4:14 Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?
My Thoughts
This is the end of the verse. But it is such a powerful statement. Ester does risk her life by going to the king uninvited. She could have been killed. But she saved the Jews! Her roll had basically been to look pretty enough to please the king. The title queen may have seemed important...but it just meant that of all his wives she was the Kings best "arm candy." She became important enough to be mentioned in the Bible by this one act... an act that saved millions of people... people that would not have been born if the Jews had been wiped out!

What can we get from this story? Even tho we are not queens, or princes'? We each may have been born for "such a time as this." I think of great evangelist who go about saving many lives by preaching all over the world. I am not one of those people... but somebody lead those people to Christ. In some cases it was the words of several people in their lives that lead them to that place where they reached so many people. And if any one of those people had not imparted their words of wisdom, this person could have taken a different path. What if Billy Graham's mother's "such a times as this" was just to raise Billy Graham so that he could lead so many people to Christ? What if she had not taken her job as a mother seriously? My point is this... We never know what our words mean, we may never know who they grow into what... we need to make sure that our words are from God. Our "such a time at this" moment may be the words we speak to a cashier at Walmart... that raises a child that becomes somebody that leads hundreds to God. What if we had not spoken those words. We each have a "such a time as this" moment or moments in our lives. We just may not ever know exactly when our "such a time as this" moment has happened. But not knowing doesn't make it less important. And aren't we all children of the King, doesn't that make us royalty? Didn't God create each of us for a reason. I believe we all have "such a time as this" moments in our lives and when we listen to the Holy Spirit guiding us we change something for the good in this world when we love God.



Sunday, August 18, 2013

8.18.13

Proverbs 21:20 The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.

My Thoughts
God blesses when we use what He gives us wisely!  I believe that this verse is telling up to put our money back for rainy days, or grand opportunities.  Either way we are to be wise with our money and not spend it all.  We are to be careful... we are to plan for the future.  We are to give back to God the part that is His.  When we show God that we are wise with what He has blessed us with, then God will bless us with more.  

Friday, August 16, 2013

8.16.13

Psalms 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.



My Thoughts

I love this verse!! Because God rescued me when my spirit was crushed!! I have had anxiety disorder as far back as I can remember. My mom use to tell me the story of when she would send me off the the first grade, there was no K-5 in those days. I walked to school, we all did. And many, many days, just when my mom felt that she could settle down that I was all safe in my class, my little hand would knock on the back door because I had been unable to walk into school.

That anxiety never went away...and eventually turned into panic at times. I had no tools in my toolbox to deal with it. Then at 40 I found out that I had Lupus and eventually Fybromylgia developed to go along with the Lupus. Then a couple of years after that my mom got sick. Between the constant pain and exhaustion and flairs.... and taking care of my mom, who needed to be taken care of but didn't want to be taken care of (not a 24 hour things she always lived on her on.). And add in the anxiety an panic I slowly ended up a prisoner of my house... of myself. I would only leave the house to take care of my mom and go to Hobby Lobby unless Robby was with me. Sweet Robby even bought groceries on Sunday.
Then an amazing thing happened, my son gave me a One Year Bible and I began to read it. I would write something on my FB page so he would know I had read it for the day. Little did I know that that writing would help me understand so much of what I was reading!! And my life began to change in amazing ways. After being "saved" since I was 9, I finally began to know God, to really know Him. Those words in my Bible that at first almost seemed like a foreign luggage began to make sense. Then I met a girl at the doctor that invited me to Bible Study...and I went! Oh I cried, trembled with fear each time I opened my mouth the first few months. Now they probably, sometimes wish they could shut me up....and tone down my excitement just a bit. Those sweet ladies have surrounded me and grown me...and I have even grown them!! God put me in the arms of loving believers because He rescues the people with crushed spirits!!


Now I have to leave for church early so I will have time to hug all the people I need to hug... to make sure that people feel loved, because feeling loved is so important. Now I eat lunch with friends and buy groceries. Now I can be seen praying with strangers in Wal-Mart if I am given half the chance. Now I don't have anxiety... sometimes it tries to creep in and I fight it with the words of God!! Even in situations where almost anybody might have anxiety I find myself having none. Each time I am amazed and I know, without a doubt that that is a God thing!!


See why this verse means so much to me!! It is me... I am one of the people that God rescued who's spirit was crushed. And if you met me now you would be shocked to hear my story!! Especially if you knew it all!! God is amazing and He loves us so much.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

8.15.13

1 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!! It is so reassuring. First everybody, everybody experiences the same temptations we do. Don't let the devil fool you, you are not alone. It is just this is just something most people don't share. That is why sharing our testimonies is so important. We need to let people know that they are not alone. But look at the next line in this verse, "And God is faithful!" God is always faithful, always!! God never goes back on His promises!! Ever! Even in our hardest, worst temptations God will give us a way out.


When I look back at the times I have given into temptation I can see where God was giving me a choice a way to do the right thing. If I had only been aware that it was God giving me that choice I might have done better!! When we learn to recognize our escape routes and know that they are straight from God we can more confident when we choose to do the right thing. Confident that God provided us with a way out and that God is with us when we choose it.


So next time you hear you don't have to do this in your spirit, know that it is not your mind arguing with you over choices, it is God showing you your way out. God who is faithful, God who is with us, God who will make us strong. It is God showing us the way!! And God is always, always right.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

8.14.13

Psalm 33:18-19 But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love.  He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine.

My Thoughts
I was really struck by this. Here is a verse that tells us that we will go through things... that life will not be all sugar and cream. But even in the hard times God watches over us!!  I don't have to fear because God is with me... I will not starve... I may get hungry but I will not starve.  Even if I die an earthly death God is with me and will take me up to Heaven to be with Him. 

I think today of that ten year old girl in Egypt that they killed for being a Christian, for loving God.  What I picture is that with the first injury to her body, God reached down and took her hand. I imagine that in Heaven she was celebrated as a hero.  I know that God made her life matter, her live is known about around the world... she as young as she was chose to live for God even in a place and time where it was scary, scary, scary to do so.  Yet God reached down and took her home with Him...then he made her know around the world.  If the Bible were still being written that little girl's name would have a place, because God watches over us. 

We have to be strong, we have to store God's word in our hearts, we have to be able to stand strong in the face of death and know without a doubt that there is life waiting for us no matter what happens. One day we may be asked to be as strong as this ten year old girl in Egypt.  And to be that strong God's word has to be a part of our hearts.  

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

8.13.13

1 Corinthians 1:1b-3 But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.  Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much.  But the person who loves God is the one whom God recgonizes.

My Thoughts
Love it all that matters!!  Loving God and loving others.  Jesus said this when asked what the most important commandment was, He said in Luke 10:27 Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.  If we love God, God will give us the knowledge that we need when we need it.  I am not saying education in not important... but without love knowledge is useless.  Without love we often miss use knowledge. 

We spend years learning... we need to spend that much energy loving! 

Sunday, August 11, 2013

8.11.13

1 Corinthians 7:23 God paid a high price for you so don't be enslaved by the world.

My Thoughts
Wow!  How often are we enslaved?  So many things enslave us. Some people are enslaved by drugs or alcohol.. having to have what our neighbor has... having to be home to watch the big game.  Our credit card dept because we just had so have something last year that we couldn't wait for.  Having to dress like Susie or Jane... having to have bigger tires on our mud trucks then our neighbor... having to make more money so we can have more things.  Chocolate!   What are you enslaved by?? I am enslaved by so much... but we don't have to be!!  In fact it makes God so sad when we are... He watched his Son suffer for us... and then we get caught up in the world.  I really need to work on this oneneed to work on this one!! I need to take the time to identify what enslaves me. 

Saturday, August 10, 2013

8.10.13

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.  So you must honor God with your body.

My Thoughts
How do we do this?  When I read it I thought... I should ask myself this, "Would I invite God to sit or stand beside me when I do this?" "Would I invite God to watch this TV show with me?" "Would I invite God to listen to this conversation?" The list of questions could go on and on. If the answer is no...then I should not do what I am about to do... because the Holy Spirit is always with me.   Too simple? It really is as simple as that. It may not always seem easy... but it is that simple.   I am going to work on this.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

8.8.13

1 Corinthians 4:7b What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as thought it were not a gift?
 
My Thoughts
Powerful words!!  It made me think of how proud I am of gifts I get.  I will smile and say, with pride, "Look what Robby gave me!" or "Madison and Cory gave me that!!"  or "John-Robert gave me that!"  When somebody says I like you house I should smile with the same pride and say, "God gave  this to me!"   When somebody tells Robby he has a good job he should say, "God gave me this job."  When somebody says to me that I am so lucky that I have sweet Robby I should say, "He is a gift from God!"  We must learn to give God the credit for all the good in our lives!!  Just think of how much more we would love and depend on God if we became more and more aware of the fact that everything we have comes straight from Him!!  I am going to work on this one! The more I am aware the more often I will say, "It was a gift from God." And the more I recgonize that the more I will love and depend on Him.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

8.7.13

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 own hard work. 

 
My Thoughts
It is our job to love people into the Kingdom of God.  God will grow them... we just have to plant the seed of God's love...then water that seed with love and encouragement, celebrating each tiny step of growth... as God teaches that person what is right and what is wrong.  We each have a log in our own eyes... so no one is ever going to listen to us criticize... they will only hear our love.  So if we love people to God... God will take care of the rest.
 
I have been so very blessed in the last three and a half years by people that God placed in my path that just loved me... they met me where I was and loved me and celebrated my victories.. they watered me with love and knowledge without condemning my choices...they left the convicting  of my heart up to God... A God who supplies His grace to make me able to learn and grow and do better. 
 
Jesus taught us to love... He said that that was the most important thing... to love God and to love our neighbors.  We plant seeds with love, we water with love... we work on the log in our own eyes and we depend on God to do the rest!!   


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

8.6.13




My Thoughts

What God has in store for us has to be huge if He sent Jesus, His Son, to die for our sins so that we could have what He has planned for us!! Sometimes I think about it and I just feel tingly all over. I think about the first Christmas that I can remember and how excited I was that Santa was going to bring me some toys...I could not imagine that my toys would fill up the room, or so it seemed in my little mind. I remember my heart feeling so full and just being happy. I remember everybody around me being happy because I was happy. What God has in store for us is going to make that seem so small... I think we are going to look at each other, if we can take our eyes off of God, and say, "So this is what pure joy feels like!" It is going to be such a feeling that we are going to be excited that everybody around us is experiencing it too!! Each day as I love God more, and more and more, I am more and more and more amazed at just how much He loves me and how much He does for me. When we get to Heaven there will be no sin to block God's blessings on our lives and it is going to be beyond amazing!!

Monday, August 5, 2013

8.5.13

1 Corinthians 1:24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
 
My Thoughts
I think of Jesus, when he was walking on this earth, when I read this passage.  More than once it is written where Jesus said, I only do what my Father tells me and I only say what my father tells me to say.  When we depend on Jesus and His power, and His wisdom, He is depending on God and God does not make  mistakes.  The more we are able to learn and grow in Jesus, the more we are "tuned in" to the Holy Spirit the better our lives are because we are allowing God to make our decisions for us.  God is only going to choose the best thing for us, the right the for us.  God is also stronger than we can ever be, so when we have battles to fight if we let God fight them for us we are always on the winning team. 
 
God is good all the time.... and when we trust in Jesus and let Him lead our way our life can only get better!! 

Friday, August 2, 2013

8.2.13

 

2 Chronicles 32:6b-8 Then 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 and to fight our battles for us!" Hezekiah's words greatly encouraged the people.



My Thoughts

When I read this I thought of how often I have been afraid of people. People in charge of me... or just people I know. I have always been such a people pleaser. But the more I know God, really know Him by reading my Bible and going to Bible Study and surrounding myself with people that know Him... the more I become a God pleaser instead of a people pleaser. The more I seek to please God over people the less afraid of people I have become. The freedom of that alone in my life is amazing!! I still love for people to like me... but instead of depending on my actions of pleasing them, I depend on God to provide me with good favor with people. Now I go about loving on people not to get them to love me back, but to be a loving, sweet kind person, a person that spreads God's love to others. When we please God, God gives us the desires of our hearts. I desire to be loved, God has given me that in abundance these days!!


Before when I was depending on my actions to be loved I lived in fear, in a constant state of anxiety, did I please this person? Did I please that person? Now I have instructions on how to please God, He tells me in His word. When I don't please God He tells me, I confess and He forgives me.... I don't have to be anxious, I just have to have the desire to learn and grow. People are fickle, God is always the same. Then God sends me out to love others and He gives me favor with them... now I get to go about loving others, not pleasing them, just loving them.


My war was inside of myself, I lost the battle each morning as I got out of bed because I was always afraid of displeasing somebody, anybody. God has made me able to be courageous, God encourages me. God says I am with you in all that you do. God goes before me, for He is on my side!! Now that is freedom!!