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







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!  

Friday, October 25, 2013

10.25.13

Psalm 96:11-13a Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praises! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the tress of the forest rustle with praise before the Lord, for he is coming!

My Thoughts
I love, love these verses!  My heart just gets all excited when I read them.  For weeks after I read them I can't hear the wind go through the trees without thinking of how the earth is praising God.  Nature knows how to praise God!!  I see storms as a rising up of the earth to praise and worship God. The earth just gets so excited...the earth is living and it loves God.  Sometimes I think that bad, unexpected storms are the earths way of catching up on all the praise that we as people fail to give God.  That there needs to be a balance ... the earth knows that balance... and when we neglect to praise God the earth must rise up and do it for us.  The more evil flourishes, the more the earth reaches out to God, in praise, to restore balance to the earth.  I don't know this to be a fact at all, but when I read these verses I always, always feel this way.  

When we do our part in praise, and when we do our part at being thankful...then the earth can function in a more balanced fashion... in a way that provides for the people and the animals of the earth...but when we don't do our part in praise and in being thankful the winds roar, the oceans rise up, the earth spills out from the mountains, the earth trembles so hard that it splits apart...it burst open with praise.  

I read these verses and think, "If the earth praises God in such fashion, how much more should I praise God?" It renews my resolve to be joyful, to be thankful, to show God how much I love him. The trees raise their branches high, the ocean waves rise up and fall down, the fields dance in the wind.  I should raise my hands high, I should rise and fall at the voice of God when He speaks to my heart, I should dance with great joy all because God is God, because God is my God. I should celebrate Him the way the earth does!! 

Thursday, October 24, 2013

10.24.13

2 Timothy 2:25-26 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.  Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth.  Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap.  For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.

My Thoughts
When I read the words, "held captive by him" I thought of Elizabeth Smart.  I watched her in an interview recently talking about her days of being held captive by an evil man.  People has ask her why she didn't run when she had a chance.... she said that his word were stronger than any chains that had held her.  And she had been held by chains too, so she knew how powerful words were.  Her captor had said that he would hurt her family if she ran. But first he had broken her, before he had ever let her go unchained. 

Sometimes people we meet have been held captive so long by Satan that they are easily lead around.  They can appear like they want to live like they are living, when in fact they are crying out for somebody to save them. So often we can do that with kindness, with loving words and actions.  Sometimes we can get through enough that they can hear God again. 

Once a police officer asked Elizabeth if she was Elizabeth Smart, she said no and he walked away.  The police officer that saved here didn't give up... he kept talking long enough to make her feel safe, he saved her life. 

What if you or I were held captive? Would we want somebody to judge us for who our captors made us be... or would we want somebody to see deep inside us and know that it was us?  I would hope someone would know that I was somewhere deep down inside and would stay around long enough to change my life. 

We never know what kind, loving words we say are the very words that make someone able to walk away from Satan. Our words may not seem to matter at the moment, but when day when we are way down the road, too far to see, our words make make somebody able to break down a door and run. Our words may want someone want to pick up their Bible and see what God has for them. If we share the truth of God, the love of God those unseen chains my fall away and that person may be able to run into the arms of the Almighty. 

That police officer that stood there and made Elizabeth Smart feel safe made her able to run into the arms of her earthly father... we need to be as kind and stand as firm as that man stood. Doing so could make all the difference. 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

10.23.13

2 Timothy 1:14 Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

My Thoughts
Oh wow... look at this... it is a precious truth!!  How do we guard this truth?  Why do we have to guard it?  We guard it by renewing our minds daily. By putting the word back into our brains...by thinking on God's word and forming it in a way that we can remember... I used word pictures whenever possible...then I am better able to use what I have learned.  Satan is always trying to steal the truth from us... he will do things to make us question of what we believe is true...that is when we go back to God's word and read it again... that is when we get with a godly friend that we trust and ask them what they think.  

Right here it tells us that we have been entrusted with the God's precious truth.  When I think of being entrusted with something special, I think of my grand-baby, Ripley. Her mom and dad trust me with her...they trust me to take care of her, to watch over her, to do the best that I possible can with her. When we are entrusted with God's word, with God's truth we are to treat is like it is precious, like it matters, like it is important. We are to guard it...make sure that it stays put in our hearts...we are to make sure that we use it wisely.  We are never to treat it like it does no matter... like it is something that we just put over into the corner and ignore.  The Holy Spirit will help us know what is true... the Holy Spirit will help us to know how to use what we have learned.  But first we must treat the truth like it is important enough to seek after.  

Once God makes us interested in knowing about His word, in knowing about Him, in knowing about Jesus, He has entrusted us... we do not ever need to take that lightly.  We need to treat it as something precious. It is, after all, a gift to us a treasure passed down to us. An important truth.  It is the secret to life, that God gives us all an opportunity to know...but we must do our part and seek after that truth. Then we are to hold tight to it once we have it!  It matters! It is life changing! 

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

10.22.13

1 Timothy 6:6-8 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.  After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the word, and we can't take anything with us when we leave it.  So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

My Thoughts
I remember one of my most favorite times in life was when my kids were little, when they had not started school yet.  We were just content.  We didn't need much, we had unhooked the TV so that they would learn to love books, and so we would not get so caught up in TV we missed out on them.  We spent time with family and friends and went to church.   There were no strangers telling us what we needed and what we had was enough.  The kids had "enough" clothes, they didn't need many. After all we were not comparing them to the kids around them, we were just making sure they were warm and clean and well fed.  We were content. They were content.  We felt rich in all things that mattered, we were rich in love.  I never think of those days without smiling.

Then they started school, and we started thinking they needed what the other kids had.  We thought we needed a bigger house, I thought I needed to go back to work. Then after several years in school we got busy, busy, busy... keeping up...with the world. We even turned the TV back on ... and on it there were commercials telling us that we needed even more.   Life got way to busy, and at times we felt like we didn't have enough.  That we couldn't do enough for our kids.  We lost our way.  We lost our way by trying to fit into the world.  We wanted the best for our children.... and by trying to give them "the best" we ran out of enough time to show love the best way you can show love, with your time.  We got to busy trying to show love with what we were able to do.  All along we loved our kids and each other...but we get busy trying to meet the needs of our kids through what the world said they needed instead of meeting the needs of our kids through what God teaches us we need.  Love and just enough food, just enough clothes, learning to be content with what we have...and the time to share the love that we feel for each other. 

We are fast approaching the Holiday season... and I say Holiday season because we treat it like the world would have us treat it.  We change our lives for a year so we can give people things, things that we will still be put in their closets, things that won't change the lives of the recipient but change our budgets for a whole year. Things that often we don't even remember next year.  We get so super busy during the Holidays buying "love" for that special moment of gift opening,  that we spend 2 months without any time to show love.  And often we spend months before or months after in worry about how we will pay for that moment of "love."  We spend so much time and money on that "magic moment" that we lose out on may magic moments.  Why? Because we have lost sight on how to be content with what we have, we are consumed with what others around us have and we want the same.  We have gotten so caught up in the world that when others don't have what we have we judge them instead of making sure that they have enough to be content too.  We spend so much time keeping up, that we stress ourselves for a year over a day that should be a celebration of LOVE not things. 

In America we have so much that we have lost sight of what enough really is.  And this verse tells us that enough to eat and "enough" clothes (probably to keep clean) is enough.  It also tells us to learn to be contentment with what we have is great wealth. 

When I was a little girl, a happy little girl, my mom and dad and I lived in a 4 room house.  It had two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen and one bathroom...oh, and a small sun porch, I forgot about that room.  Nothing about it was big or fancy...the closets were tiny...and when I started school we filled my closet with 5 new outfits for school... one for each day of the week.  When I look back on perfect I see that little house with my mom and dad and me.  I believe that when my kids look back on "perfect" they see us in our double-wide mobel home, with me at home and no TV and just enough clothes. The days of contentment and time to show the love we so deeply felt...the love we so deeply feel.

God knows what makes us truly happy!  Loving and depending on Him, loving each other and being content with what we have.  God knows what makes us feel truly wealthy, love for Him and each other and contentment with what we have. We just need to listen. 


Monday, October 21, 2013

10.21.13

1 Timothy 5:13 And if they (younger widows) are on the list (to be taken care of by the church) they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people's business and talking about things they shouldn't.

My Thoughts
I found this verse interesting.  I was applying it in my mind to those times when I have tried to decided when or if I should help somebody.  There are those times we should help people for sure!  It is obvious, it would be wrong not to do so.  Then there are those times when people ask for help and you know that if you help them they will go and buy something that is not good for them, like a drug addict. But there are also those times when you start to help somebody and you get that nudge not to do it.  It can be confusing, very confusing at times.  When this has happened to me I have wondered if my confusion was selfish or was is based on something that I needed to think about.

This verse helps me.  When those times of questioning come up in those moments of decision I will know to ask, "Will this help, help or will it enable this person to sin?"  This verse lets me know that it is important not to "enable" a person that is able, that is not good for them.  Sometimes the best help is not to help. 

I never, ever want to miss use this verse...but sometimes I do need help in knowing.  We, Robby and I, have at times when we didn't know "if" to help could have benefited from this verse.  God has all the answers, we just have to know where to look. 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

10.20.13

1 Timothy 4:8 "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.

My Thoughts
I read this and couldn't help but think of that 9 or 10 months I spent exercising almost every day.  It made me feel good.  It made me look good.  It got me up and got me going.  It gave me more energy to last the day.  It was good for my heart and lungs, my whole body.  Feeling good can even change your attitude.  It changed how the people around me viewed me.  It changed how I viewed myself.  

As wonderful as that was for me... it did not have the benefits that reading my Bible has had, it did not have the benefits that Bible Study has had.  It did not have the benefits that making godly friends has had.  It did not have the benefits that going to chruch in a godly church has had. 

Each day as I pick up my Bible to read I am amazed at the new things that I learn.  Each day it grows me into a better person. Each day it renews my spirit, my joy, my strength, my peace.  Each time I meet with people at my church my knowledge is expanded beyond what I understand in my reading... and my understanding expands the people around me.  Each day that I pick up my Bible I love God more, I love people more.  The peace that I receive can not be bought in pill bottles or at doctor's offices, it can't be found in any other book on earth.  My walk with God, my daily Bible reading grows me in amazing ways.. it has helped me overcome fear and anxiety, panic and depression.  It has taught me how to use the power of words to call down healing on my body from Heaven. It has healed relationships in my life and taught me how to love more completely than I was ever able to love before.  And as much as I loved and respected Robby all of our marriage, it has taught me how love, honor and respect Robby and our marriage even more.  The words that drop into my heart each day as I grow in God are life changing and I cherish each one of them. 

If you do not read your Bible daily I so encourage you to do so, I beg you to do so!  I so wish that I could put it into words how amazingly different my life is.  I just don't want a person missing out on the amazing things God can do in us when we pick up our Bibles and start to read. God's word never, ever returns void.  There is nothing that makes me happier than to hear that somebody has started reading their Bible each day... I feel so excited for their future. God has always, always returned to me the time that I use to read my Bible.  And in the process grew me by leaps and bounds. 

Friday, October 18, 2013

10.18.12

Jeremiah 32:38-39 They will be my people and I will be their God.  And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.

My Thoughts
I love this! When I allowed God to be the God of my life my world changed.  If you had been looking through the window of my house with no sound you might not think anything was different at all.  But if you could hear my words, my conversations with my husband, Robby.  If you could see the people God has put in my life you would see the difference.  

God made me feel so very loved, that it freed me to be totally in love with everything around me. God made me feel so loved that my thoughts can only be good thoughts. God made me feel so loved that I see the best in people, that I believe the best in people.  God made me feel so loved that it is hard to bad because He puts oh, so much good into my life! God loves me so much that He tells me when my thinking is all wrong, that He points out the good qualities of others. God loves me so much that He shows me the good in me and shows me how to love myself.  The more I am able to love me, the more I am able to love others.  God loves me so much that He taught me to see the harder things in people as something that I needed to pray for.  God loves me so much that He gives me His abounding grace to get over hurts, to see them for what they are, to now dwell on them, He teaches me to believe what He believes about others and about me.  

Before if you listened  at my window you would have seen moments of happiness and moments of great despair.  You would have seen someone that wore their feelings on their sleeve and took the weight of the world on their shoulders from worry.  You would have seen someone who wanted desperately to be loved, a person that was so lost that she couldn't feel the love around her.  You would have seen a people please-er who felt like she never pleased anyone.  

Now if you listened at my window you would see a wonderfully happy person.  Somebody that feels as loved as she is. I was always loved by the people around me, I just didn't love me so it was hard to feel the love others had for me.  If you listened at my window you would see somebody that doesn't worry because she knows that God can hold the weight of the world.  You would see someone that hardly ever gets her feelings hurt because she can see people as people that are all trying to do their best most of the time.  A person that understands that everybody has a bad day.  That knows even if someone was being intentional in inflicting hurting words that they are hurting and need love and prayers and forgiveness.  You would see a person that tries her best to please God and lets Him take care of the people around her.  You would see a happy, joyful person!  

The difference is that I learned to let God be my God.  I learned to worship Him...and the more I know Him the more reasons I have to worship Him.   The more I know Him the more I trust Him with and the happier I become, the safer I feel, the more confident I am, the healthier I get.  When I love and worship God it is good for my life. The more I have my eyes on Him and off of me the more I am able to love me, and the people around me. 

I love that God gives me one thing to do, love Him!  And when I do that all else falls right into place!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

10.17.13

1 Timothy 2:1-4 I [Paul] urge you [Timothy], first of all to pray for all people.  Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.  This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

My Thoughts
I keep reading verses that seem to be about how we are to respect our rulers... I don't think that is a coincidence. I think that it is a reminder from God. If we are praying for and interceding on behalf of all people, on behalf of our president and our congress so that we can live peaceful, quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. Doing this will please God and He will bless our nation.  We tend to look to rulers and leaders to make wise decisions on our behalf.  Instead we need to be talking to God, praying to God constantly...then He will soften the hearts of our leaders on our behalf.  

When I read in God's word about Him softening the hearts of kings... I always think, "Kings of old had it all, they had everything they want by just asking for it.  Anything they speak of wanting someone runs to get it for them. So if God can change the heart of a King, He can change the heart of anybody!" 

God can also change the hearts of the leaders in our country, in America. Isaiah 30:18 says this, 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. We have to ask!  We can make a difference by asking, by running to God.  Martha ran to Jesus for His help and Jesus raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. Her faith in what God could do brought her brother back to her.  Our faith in God, our cries to God will put God in motion and He can save our country.  

I believe without a doubt that our grumblings and our complaints set the evil spirits in motion.  When we grumble and complain they know exactly what to do to make our lives miserable. So they get busy.  

We can pray and change our great nation, or we can grumble and complain and destroy it.  I would love to see my Facebook news feed light up with prayers for our nations instead of word posters that put our nation down, that put our leaders down.  If we don't like our president, if we don't like our congressmen we change them by praying for them of we can keep them the same with our grumblings. 

I would love to see changes... so I am going to go to God and sent Him in motion. I am going to refuse to negate my prayers with grumbling and complaining. I am going to call on God for our country every time I feel a grumble rise up in me.  I am going to do my part in making a difference. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

10.16.13

Jeremiah 26:13 But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you.

My Thoughts
We each have the power to save our country, and we each have a responsibility to save our country. We can't do it by blaming others, pointing fingers, posting political posters on Facebook.  We can't do it by telling everybody THEY are doing wrong. We can't play the blame game and talk about how other people are sinning  while we are being all puffed up about how well we are doing because we are doing better than the next guy! 

But we can make a difference by doing our best each day to know God better. Doing our best each day to be more godly than we were the day before. We can make our country better by loving others into the kingdom.  By making our lives, lives that others want because they see love and joy in our actions. Because they see peace in our lives.  

We will never change our country by grumbling and complaining about our government.  But we can change our country by falling on our knees and thanking God for all the good that still abounds in our country.   

We will never draw others into the Kingdom of God by being critical and harsh.  We will never draw others into the Kingdom of God by being complainers.  We will never draw others into the Kingdom of God by trashing our government leaders.  We draw people into the Kingdom of God with love. Love in our actions, love in our words.  We draw people into the Kingdom of God with kindness and with a gentle spirit.

When we live our lives the way God wants us to live our lives, God will send down His protection over our city, over our state, over our country.  When we lead more people to God the larger His protection over our city grows.  When we act as godly people God is able to send down His protection. 

This verse does not tell us to be a voice against our government...this verse does not tell us to point fingers at others.  This verse tells us to obey the Lord your God and then disaster will not be announced against us! 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

10.15.13

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

My Thoughts
God does this, without a doubt, God comforts and and strengthens us in every good thing we say and so.  Think about it... when we are going about having a good day, being helpful to others.  When our words are kind and sweet and helpful,  we get to the end of our day with ease...we wonder where the day went so fast... we marvel at all we have accomplished. 

Then there are days when we grumble and complain.  We are so busy noticing the bad in life, in people that we end up exhausted and anxious.  The day drags... we wonder if we will ever get home.  We say things like, "This day has been ten days long."  Why? Because there is no comfort and hope in grumbling and complaining, in ignoring the needs of others.  

When we are kind in our actions and in our words, it is like a sunny day... we can actually see the rays of God shinning down on us. But when we are grumbling and complaining, ignoring the needs of others or speaking unkindly... it is like a rainy day the thick dark clouds get in the way of God's blessings on our lives. 

We have a choice, we can choose to act in love no matter how we feel... When we act in love then God sends down His blessings like the rays of the sun...and our feelings follow!

Monday, October 14, 2013

10.14.13

2 Thessalonians 1:11 So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call.  may he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.

My Thoughts
Two parts stand out in this verse, "asking our God to enable you" and "good things your faith prompts you to do."

God enables us!  He makes us able!  That is what God's grace is all about enabling us to accomplish more.  When God sends us down something to do for Him, He will give us the ability if we just step out in faith.  We grow by leaps and bounds when we listen to God.  I was reminded of that old TV show Macgyver where he was always accomplishing things with the tools he had on hand.  He could rig anything out of nothing.  We are like that in God's hands... we may go into a situation thinking that we don't have the tools to accomplish what God sends us out to do...  but God can always make a way for us.  We just have to be willing. 

Then there is the part about "doing good things your faith prompts you to do."  God is the author of goodness. Satan so often trips us up by putting questions in our head the minute we think about doing good.  That is when we begin the should I, shouldn't I questions.  That is where God's word comes in handy... we can always use the Bible to see if what we are prompted to do is good by God's standards. If the answer is yes, then we can know for sure we are prompted by faith.  We need to listen to that still, small voice inside of us called the Holy Spirit.  We need to work at hearing Him and letting Him lead our lives.  When we do that goodness that will come out of us will have the power to change the lives around us. 

With God's grace and the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do good, amazing thing begin to happen. And God in all His love for us does this amazing thing, He makes doing good for others affect our lives in the most wonderful ways.  I love that about God! 

Sunday, October 13, 2013

10.13.13

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy.  Encourage  those who are timid.  Take tender care of those who are weak.  Be patient with everyone.

See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

My Thoughts
I was struck by verse 14... then I kept wanting to write about verse 15.... something (I think the Holy Spirit) would not let me separate the two.   Since I could not separate the two I went back to read them and see how I needed to connect them.  And not matter how I tried I could not get away from the "warn people who are lazy" and always do good to each other."  The more that I thought about it the convinced I became that warning people who are lazy is being good to them.  I think that it is no coincidence that  "take care of those who are weak" was in the same chapter as "warn those who are lazy."  We don't do a lazy person any justice by taking care of them... we are being good to them by gently pointing out all they have to lose by being lazy. 

We are not being good to somebody when we don't warn them about their laziness. Just like we are not being good to our children when we do everything for them and don't teach them how to do for themselves.  Verse 14 also tells us to be patient with everyone... including the lazy...  we are to warn them gently and not be frustrated when they don't "get it" at first.  We need to keep after it being gentle and teaching them how the value of work.  They may have never learned. 

I am reminded of a story my mom told, she was a teacher.  One day she was asking the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up, one little boy said, "I want to be on welfare." This child's parents were on welfare, he wanted to grow up to be like his dad.  He needed someone to patiently teach him what he could have and could not have by learning not to be lazy.  He sure didn't need someone to preach to him.. he needed someone to teach him. 

We need to teach people... just like we don't need to leave this world not having taught our children to take care of themselves...we don't need to teach people to be dependent on the government.  One day the government may not be there to take care of all the people they have taught to be dependent on them.  We are not being cruel, we are being kind.  It is the difference in giving a man a fish and teaching him to fish.  If we always give him a fish and then go away one day, he will starve. If we teach him to fish we can go away and he can survive without us.  Teaching him to fish is acting in love.  Loving one another is what God called us to do, even when it is hard.

Friday, October 11, 2013

10.11.13

Jeremiah 17:27 "But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and if on the Sabbath day your bring loads of merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates.  The fire will be spread to the places, and no one will be able to put out the roaring flames."

My Thoughts
Wow! When I was a little girl... nothing was opened on Sunday and downtown even close up at lunch time on Wednesdays. And if you went to a Christian school you got out of school early on Wednesday. Why? So people had time and energy to make it to Church. Because worshiping God mattered to the whole.  Even when I was first married stores were closed on Sundays.  It was no big deal, you just made sure on Saturday that you had what you needed for Sunday.  They surly were not open on Easter and Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Now the only day not to shop is on Christmas day...and I am beginning to wonder if that will not change soon.  It started with not keeping the Sabbath day Holy. Now we don't even keep Holy days of celebration Holy.  

God gives us six days a week to do all that has to be done then He set aside a day where we are suppose to worship Him...and when we are suppose to rest... a day where families can get-to-gather and love each other. When Sundays were a day of rest people went to grandmothers on Sunday because you couldn't do anything else and it was nice. It kept families close.   But not being able to do anything else was a good thing. Because everybody was off together and could be together.  

I worked at Kmart the first year that they were opened on Thanksgiving...I worked that day.  I so remember a lady coming through my check-out line with a buggy full, piled high, she was holding stuff in.  She said to me, "I can't believe they are making you work today."  I remember thinking, "If you had not come to shop today we would not be open next year."  Walmart soon followed and now the mall is open on Thanksgiving too. 

I am keeping Ripley (my sweet grandbaby, our first) today.  So I read this after I arrived.  As soon as I did I called Robby at home.  I told him, "We can no longer shop on Sunday, or eat out after Church listen to what all these verses say!." He agreed.  We knew that we needed to do what God asked, what was good for us and for the people around us.    

You may say, "That is the Old Testament, the old law." We talked about that too.  Jesus taught us never to let "the law" get into our way of doing good, of loving others.  But Jesus also taught that we are to follow the law, that the law matters.  

In the verses that come before God say that if you keep the Sabbath Holy that Kings and Officials will always ride in and out among the people of Judah in chariots and on horses and the city will remain forever.  Chariots and horses symbolized wealth. And the officials riding among the people tells us that they will always know the people and their needs.  

When the people are greedy, so greedy that they can not have a day that they aren't making money or spending money. A day free of getting or having. Kings and officials, our leaders will reflect us... If we are selfish they will also live be selfishness. Greed begets greed.  

We have to change, to listen to God and His regulations. God ask us to do what is best for us, we should be listening.   You may ask, "How can I make a difference? I am, after all, only one person." You may say, "The stores are open anyway."  But what if you are the one person? What if that lady that came though my line at Kmart that first Thanksgiving was the very person that pushed the money that came into Kmart into the side of profit. Then she could have made the difference by not shopping.  Our actions do matter. God sees them.  The people around us see them.  And if I stay home on Sundays, then maybe my children will see my example and stay home, maybe my friends will see my example and stay home. God will see. God will know that I am honoring Him. If I stay home, I at least will be doing my part to bring wealth back to our country, to bring the leaders of our country back in tune with the true needs of the people. 

I do know that I need to do the best that I can do.  I do know that when I read God's word and learn...that I need to act on what God teaches me.  Today I learned that when I spend money or make money on the Sabbath I am contributing to the overall greed... that I am being greedy.  And that the effects of my greed are far reaching.  Trade on the Sabbath is not making more money for our country, it is breaking our county.  I don't want to be a part of that.  

Thursday, October 10, 2013

10.10.13

Psalm 80:3 Turn us again to yourself, O God.  Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.

My Thoughts
In Matthew 9:24 a father that has come to Jesus so Jesus will help his son says,  “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” ... When I read Psalm 80:3 I thought of Matthew 9:24...then I thought of Jesus saying The Lord answered, "If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,' and it would obey you! (Luke 17:6)  These verses comforted me! 

They comforted me because I knew that if my faith wavers...If I get into a place where I am close to forgetting, all I have to be able to do is call out to God to help me to have faith, to help me remember Him.  Even when our faith is a tiny as a mustard seed, we have strength because we  still believe...somewhere deep down we know that God has power over our lives. Our faith only has to be strong enough to call out!!

But it is also important not to leave our faith in such a weak state.  We need to grow our faith. When we grow our faith we live deeper in the protection of God.  I imagine it like being in a tree... you can climb a new tree and feel all the wind around you...touching you, like the things of the world can touch us... in a new tree you can feel the wind touching your skin, blowing your hair. It can reach you.  But if you grow your faith strong...it is like being in a hundred old oak tree.  You can hear the wind rattling the leaves, but you only know it's there because you hear it,  you don't feel it.  As we grow our faith we have more faith to draw on in more situations.  Growing our faith is like adding to the branches and leaves and roots of the tree.  The stronger out faith the more we can stand against. 

But even strong, strong storms can sometimes uproot mighty trees...and that is where the above verses come into play... that is when we grab onto just a leave...and hold to it tight... we grab the leaf that makes us know God can grow our faith stronger, God can help our unbelief...and with God's love our tree can grow big and strong in record time!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

10.19.13

1 Thessalonians 2:2 You know how badly were had been treated in Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered.  Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spire of great opposition.

My Thoughts
I love this... it says to me... "No matter what happened to you in the past, God is with you Jeannie. God will give you the courage to do what He ask you to do."  It does not matter who I was. It does not matter how shy I may have been in the past.  It does not matter if I have never done something before.  If God ask me to, he will make me able.  Sometimes God ask us and then makes us able.  Sometimes God makes us able because He is about to ask us.  

Dear God,
I am ready to do what you ask me to do, your words tells me that YOU will make me able.  I do not have to depend on me, I should never look to me and my abilities...I should always look to you, you who can make us able to do anything! Thank you God for caring about me.
In Jesus precious name,
Amen

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

10.8.13

Colossians 3:18-19 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and never treat then harshly.

My Thoughts
It is amazing what God does... just yesterday a dear friend of mine was talking about doing what her husband asked her to do.... and how God blessed her.  Then this morning I read these verses.  So heartwarming.

My sweet friend has three little girls who needed shoes.  Her husband, who loves and cherishes her, told her, "Don't get the shoes just yet we can't quite afford them."  So she waited a few weeks, even though she didn't really want to.  But she knew that she was suppose to submit to her husband.  Finally, well it felt like finally to her, he said, "You can go get the girls some shoes now."  When she got to the store where she gets her girls shoes (she likes to get nice shoes so they will last). The shoes she wanted were on sale for 75% off.  She said that she had never seen a sale that good at this shoe store.  God blessed her for submitting to her husband...and she was able to get 3 nice pair of shoes for the price of one pair.  That means that she had money left over. 

God watches over us, and He knows when we are doing what He would have us do so that we  honor Him.  He honored my sweet friend and her husband who loves her.  

We live in a world today that teaches women to be independent of their husbands.  It also teaches men that it is funny to put down their wives.  But what if we lived like God says instead of how the world tells us to act?  I know that my sweet Robby likes to take care of me... no he loves to take care of me. It is important to him that he takes care of me.  As a man it is important to him to provide for his family.  when he does that he feels good about himself.  To him that is the most important job that he has on this earth.  When I am dependent on him, when I submit to him, it makes his life have a purpose.  When I do that it also frees me up to love him, to concentrate on loving him. The more I have learned to let Robby take care of me, and the more that I take care of him the better our lives become. When we meet the needs of each other instead of always trying to meet our own needs our relationship flourishes. When I do what Robby ask of me....and when Robby treats me with love (which he always does)... God makes sure that our needs are met.  God softens my heart towards Robby and He softens Robby's heart toward me.  

Look back at my sweet friends story about the shoes... She waited like her husband asked, he loved her for it... they were both blessed in the end.    
 

Monday, October 7, 2013

10.7.13

Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the Lord says: "Stop at the crossroads and look around.  Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.  Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.

My Thoughts
I was really struck by this verse when I read it. This is what this verse says to me. It says that there is always a choice to choose to do what God would have us to do.  That we should not plow forward into anything... we need to stop and think about our choices.  Our decisions  should be based on  God's word.  It also tells me that if I have not found rest in my soul that I need to take a step back and re-examine the choices I have made. If I have not found rest, I most likely have made a choice that is not godly.  It is important that I understand that I will find rest for MY soul... there may be people around me that are not always happy with my choice, but God will give me peace when I choose to follow Him no matter how people respond.

The more that we understand how to recognize God's plans for us, or the Holy Spirit's promptings when we choose a wrong path... the better we are able to do better in the future.  God tells us in His word that He will grow us until the day of Jesus' return.  We don't need to beat ourselves up when we mess up, we need to learn from our mistakes how to do better.  When we ask God to forgive us, He does so we grow better when we are able to forgive ourselves and move forward. 

Today I have learned that when I don't have peace in my soul, I need to take time to talk to God about it and grow from my mistake. What a blessing that our God is the God that forgives, that loves us and teaches us to do better. The God that give us rest when we follow Him. 

Saturday, October 5, 2013

10.5.13

Psalm 77:10-12 And I said, "This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me."
But then I recalled all you have done, O Lord; I remembered your wonderful deeds of long ago.  They are constantly in my thoughts .  I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.

My Thoughts
In the verses before this Asaph is wondering where God is, then He remembers the stories of old. How God is always with us, we leave God. God doesn't leave us. After Asaph remembers what God has done, after he reminds himself of God's greatness and how God keeps his promises Asher starts praising God again. History brings Asaph back to God.

When we praise God it brings God near to us!  As we praise God, God's peace falls upon us because He is near.  Asaph brought God close again. He could not find praise for the moment but He could find praise for the past.  The past brought back Asaph's faith. The stories of old were important to Asaph current situation, not because of Asph'a situation but because they restored his faith.    

It is important for us to put the stories of the Bible in our hearts along with the stories of our own lives and the lives of the people around us. That way we know that we know that we know that God was there with us, helping us. We know that God helped the Israelites, God has helped us before, God has helped our friends and our families, God will help us now.  We need those stories to draw on when we are attacked by Satan. We need those stories to draw on when the stresses of life pile up around us. We need those stories to draw on when sickness strikes.  When we are not feeling very thankful, when we can't find God.  Then we can pull up those stories, they are important to us, they are important to our survival. When we pull up those stories we have something to send up praises for, a time when we knew God was present and before we know it we will once again feel God's presence and we will be able to draw from His strength.   We all have those moments in life that are so hard we can't seem to find God, even if He is right there with us. Moments where the trauma of life is like a dense fog and we can't seen anything clearly.  That is when those stories are most important... those stories are like turning on a fog light and then we see God standing right there in front of us, knowing He was there all along.

Friday, October 4, 2013

10.4.13

Jeremiah 3:23b Only in the Lord our God will Israel ever find salvation.  

My Thoughts
I read this and thought of the United States and our government. We put our faith in our government instead of putting our faith in God and letting God take care of our government.   Colossians 1:17 tell us that God existed before anything else, and that God holds all creation together.   He will hold our country together if we depend on Him, if we put our faith in Him.  Each time that we turn another part of our lives over to the government we are saying, "Government, I depend on you."  When what we should be doing is putting all our faith in God and saying, "God I depend on you."  Only in God will we ever find salvation.  

God even gives us an instruction book, the Bible.  It is never changing. It is always the same.  It tells us if you do this, then I will do this.  It is the same as when my grandmother read it and it is the same as where her grandmother read it.  It tells us how to have a good life, how to have a great nation.  We just have to pick it up and read it and act on what it tells us.  

The wonderful thing about God, about His word, is that we can each profit from doing our part.   We don't have to wait for people to decide together. We each get to decide for ourselves to do the "if's".... when we do the "if's" God begins to do the "then's" in our lives.  What I do matters and what you do matters.  God sees all of our efforts.  We just have to put our faith completely in God.   

Thursday, October 3, 2013

10.3.13

Philippians 4:8-9 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

My Thoughts
We can kill two birds with one stone here... Psalms 50:14 tells us, Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God." So if each day we make sure to spend the day being thankful, we will be fixing our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

God ask us to do this, I believe, because He wants us so totally aware of what He does for us so that we will depend on Him more and more and more.  And He wants us totally dependent on Him, because He loves us so much.  And God knows He can do so much more for us that we can ever do for ourselves.  God wants to do so much for us!  But because God gives us free will He only does these things for us if we invite Him into our lives to do them.  The more we fix our thoughts on good things, the more we know the good things are from God,  the more we will invite God into our lives and the better and better our lives will be. 

Some people come to know God and their whole lives change over night.  They "get it" all!  And they get it all at one time.  For most of us, I think, we get parts at a time.  We invite God in ... then we limit what He can do in our lives because we have invited Him into the guest room only.  We have not given him reign of the whole house.  Then we add rooms that we will let Him into.  What we don't get until we get to know God, really know God is that joy comes when we let Him into the attic where we have stored everything of value, and into the  basement where we have hidden all the things we want to forget about. 

Peace and love and change comes when we give God every part of our lives.  Not leaving one single thing out. And we can be most thankful when we aren't hiding anything from God.  We can better fix our minds on good and noble things when we are not busy trying to stand in front of the basement door. When we are not busy making sure we have locked the windows to our deepest darkest secrets. When we give God ever thing then we can fix our minds on the wonderful!  When we give God ever thing we can see joy in the ordinary.  We can be content with where God has us and know that He has so much more in store for our lives. 

Today I dare you to make a list of 100 things that you are thankful for. Yes 100.  Because then you begin to get past the obvious things...and you start remembering to notice the things we so take for granted, like the fact that we just flip a light switch in the dark!  Or that ................................... you fill in the blank.  Don't forget when you make the list to add, the Thank you God part! 

I find that when I send up thank you's to Heaven, joy falls down on my soul!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

10.2.13

Proverbs 24:16 The godly man may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.

My Thoughts
I look back over my life and think how easily I was knocked when when I was not walking with God like I should be.  Now that I am in constant contact with God, talking with Him daily, reading and learning and renewing my mind daily I am amazed at how hard it is to trip me up. Things that use to overwhelm me are just no big deal at all.  There have been a couple of big things to come along... and God gets me through to the other side.  And when He stands me back up on my feet, I am standing strong, happy and filled with joy! God has done so much in my life that I can not even imagine trying to get through a day again without Him.   

It is not enough to know who God is.  We have to spend time with Him.  That is how we get to know God. That is how we are able to call out to God.  That is how we know what we can ask for from God. I use to hope that God would answer my prayers.  Now I know that God will answer my prayers, because I know God enough to know what to ask for and how to ask.  The better I know God the more of my prayers that get answered. Each day I am more amazed at just how much God loves me.  And this verse tells me that even when I fall, I will get up!!  I love that!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

10.1.11

Isaiah 62:6-7 O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on  your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord. Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.

My Thoughts
My sweet Robby is on vacation this week, so I read this verse to him and we had a chance to talk about it.  I love when we do that!!  I thought of how Jesus is sitting next to God praying for us all the time, interceding for us! He is our watchman, then I paid close attention to the next line, it say, "take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord." We need to be in pray continually! 

Robby and I talked about the things we can do and pray, and the things that we can't do and pray.  He can paint and build (he has a house project going on right now) and pray while he works.  I can clean the kitchen and pray. I can sew and pray. I can solder jewelry and pray. There are times all through out his day at UPS where he can pray as he works. 

Then there are the things that distract us from prayer.  The TV... I can not watch TV and pray.... I can't pray if I am busy with idle talk and gossip. I can't pray and surf the Internet or read.  I can stop and pray while I surf but I can't do both at the same time.   

This verse tells me to be in constant prayer.  I am learning that if I am not learning about God, I need to be praying to God. If I am not busy acting in love towards others because I love God, I need to be in prayer.  I never, ever need to let my mind be idle, it needs to be busy with God.  Communicating with God in all that I do.  Busy sending prayers up or taking wisdom in, so that when I am called to act I am filled to the brim with God. 

As I wrote this I though to myself, "You know, if I am busy praying all the prayers that I need to pray, just think of what prayers Jesus can pray over me, because He is not busy taking up my slack!" 

You might be asking what I have asked myself, "What can I pray about alllllll day long?" I am learning that "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, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, God" is the most amazing pray that I pray!