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, November 6, 2014

11.6.14

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.


My Thoughts

This can be so hard for me to do at time, I don't know why, God always, always takes care of me when I let Hin. I think it comes form so may years of not knowing how to trust God. Whatever cause me not to trust God at time, I wish i understood, because life is always, always better when I do.

Recently Robby and I went through something that had not been put into God's hands for a very long time, the minute it was given to God you could see Him working at ever turn along the way. In a matter of hours we knew all was going to be find and in a matter of days the problem we had been facing was solved. God was mighty once we invited Him into the matter. 

God knows the end from the start, we only see just what is in front of us. We are funny humans that God proves Himself over and over and over, then we go avout still trying to solve things all by ourselves. 

I so want to grow to the point in my life where at the beginning of everything I say, "I don't understand God, but you do, so here it is I am giving this to you and going about my day with no worries because you have this."  God always , always does a better job with my life than I do, I just need to let Him. 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

10.28.14

Psalm 100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people the Sheep of his pasture. 

My Thoughts
"We are his people the sheep of his pasture!" Don't you just love that line! When I read this I could not help but imagine just how perfect, safe, beautiful, far reaching God's pasture must be. How full of angels to help keep us safe. I couldn't help but think how fast God puts us back on our feet if we fall down. And how He goes out to find us if we are lost searching until He brings us back home. 

Then I thought of the stark contrast the pasture that Satan is over. Full of traps, grass that looks green but makes you sick. I thought of how Satan can't wait for us to fall down so he can stand over us and laugh. And if we get lost he could care less. His only interest in us is to keep us away from God.

We so have to learn to trust God, to quit relying on what our eyes see. Wanting what looks good. I can just see Satan spray painting the dry grass right outside God's pasture where the grass needs to grow. Luring us over to what looks like green pasture, just as God calls and tells us that we have to move over to the other side of His pasture. We are all full and ready for the travel to lush, green pasture planted and cared for just for us. But we want one more bite and we get pulled to the other side, the place that looks easiest, only to be fooled. But you know what? God always comes to find His lost sheep. I can picture Him overjoyed, taking us in his arms and saying, "There you are! I told you you need to be so careful. Listen to me sweet child so I can keep you safe. I love you always. Let's go get you clean, and full, so you can rest safely by me." 

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

10.22.14

Psalms 90:15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.

My Thoughts
I love this verse. We have had so much going in the last few of months. It is one of those times where you wonder how things got so hard. How it shouldn't be, but somehow everything is.  It's nothing that so many people don't face themselves but it seems to have just piled up all together. I am in a Lupus flair that just hangs on. My dad is facing yet another back surgery and my brother is having surgery next week and my husband the next. It has all overwhelmed me a bit.

Then today I read this verse. I thought of how gracious, how generous God is, that I can ask for gladness in proportion to my misery. I just need to be in God's will, and ask. I have asked for that gladness this morning...and I have joy in knowing that God answers our prayers when they line up with His word. One of my favorite things I have learned is that the angels understand God's word and His word sends them into action.

I have written this one down, so I can use it to call down gladness.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

9.9.14

Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

My Thoughts
I love that I came across this verse in the middle of a Lupus flair. A reminder that this flair will pass. God is here, with plans for a future for me, one with hope. God is our hope. We often think of the word prosper as a finical thing. But the first definition of prosper is flourish physically, grow strong and healthy. Don't you just love that! 

Each time that I have a flair, the moment that I realize that I can no longer ignore the truth that I am for sue in the middle of a flair, my first thought is, "God brought me through the last flair He will bring me through this one." Now I will think, "God has plans to prosper me!"   

The fact is, I have Lupus. In the mist of pain in my joints and muscles, my hair falling coming out by the handfulls, pleurisy in both my lungs, exhaustion upon waking like I have worked hard labor for the last 24 hours. In the mist of struggling to get out of bed, needing rest but being unable to sleep good. In the mist of crying at the least amount of happy, sad, stress because any emotion is a bit overwhelming I can't overlook that fact. There is just no way to ignore it. But in that very mist I know that the TRUTH on that is this, MY GOD IS BIGGER, MY GOD IS STRONGER. I know this without a doubt. It is that fact that gets me through to the other side. 

If you see my cry, don't mistake those tears as weakness,as giving in or giving up. So often when you see me cry in the mist of a Lupus flair it is because I a sewing God in every detail. I am seeing Him in the tiniest details and my emotions are in overdrive. My tears are more often than not at these times from being overwhelmed that God loves me so very much. I can sit in the room of my family or among my dearest friends and become overwhelmed with such joy in the fact that God places me amount such love. They are not tears of me giving into sickness, they are tears of me giving way to great joy of God being in every detail as He carries me through to the other side. 

Friday, October 3, 2014

10.3.14

Philippians 4:8 Now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts in 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
As I think about this verse I think how when I have gotten upset and stayed that way, I was not thinking on any of these things. I was thinking on just the opposite of these things. And I am reminded too of how I can be in the grips of despair and something wonderful happen and life can turn around in a second in time. All because of what I was thinking on. 

Sometimes in life, things happen where it seems impossible to find anything true and honorable and right and pure. But if we aren't looking because we are so very focused on all that is bad or hurtful we will stay so lost in the despair we will miss out on blessings that abound in our lives. How do we do this on times of trouble and pain? That is where God's amazing grace comes in.

How do we think on the good? We ask God. I am reminded of the father in Mark 9 who ask Jesus to heal his child. Jesus ask this man if he believes, and the man says yes, but help my unbelief. This father didn't want anything, any tiny bit of doubt to stand between him and the miracle of Jesus in his daughters life. In the same way we can say to God please help me to thin on things that are true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Things that are worthy of Your praise. And God will help us! We can say out loud, get behind me Satan, I will only think on what is good! 

And if the only good we can think on for a while is that we are to think on what is good. Well then that is good enough to bring the presence of God upon us. It is just what will change the gears in our brains to move in the right direction. It is enough to stop us from feeding the ugly things in life and making them grow bigger and bigger and bigger. And in time sometimes minutes sometimes a couple of day, good thoughts will start growing. They will grow because those are the thoughts we watered. They will grow because God honors our efforts! They will grow because God is good, because God is love, because God is bigger and we have invited Him in to fight the battles in our minds! 

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

10.1.14

Psalm 73:2-3 But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.

My Thoughts
There were a couple of other verses I want to ponder today. But the Holy Spirit kept leading me back to this verse. And it says here, I was almost gone. For I envied the proud despite their wickedness. Almost gone! Think about that.... Almost gone for I envied. Wow! We live in a society where advertisement is built on making us envy. What does that say about us as people. That the best way to sell to us is to make us what what everybody else has, no matter who they are or how they act? 

When my so. was about five years old, his sister was given yet another present by their great-grand parents while John-Robert, again, didn't receive one. As always it broke my heart for him. But this amazing thing happened. That night as I was tucking him in I said, "It is okay to be upset at Big PawPaw but if you forgive him, you will feel better." Those big brown eyes looked down at me from his upper bunk as he replied, "it's okay mom, I already forgot about it." I said, "You did?" And that wise innocent face of five years said to me, "Yea! I thought about it and if we all followed that one commandment we wouldn't break any of the others!" I ask him, not knowing what my five year old had figured out all on his own, he said, "Wanting what other people have." 

Envy is wanting, it's a deep wanting... And it is us slipping to the point of doing something we know we should not. Slipping, maybe into a place where it is almost impossible to return from. These words, these verses tell is, when you find yourself in a place of envy, stop, STOP! Stop and find God and ask for His help to put your feet back in His ground. 

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

9.30.14

Phillippians 1:12 And I want you to know my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the good news. 

My Thoughts
This is a letter from Paul and Timothy, they are writing from prison. And they see this as a great opportunity to spread the good news. Because of their imprisonment the whole palace guard knew who Christ was. 

This made me wonder how often God gives us a story to tell of His goodness while we are going through hard times? How many more people do we have the opportunity to reach during those times? Do we take me that opportunity or do we just grumble and complain about our circumstances? 

I live with Lupus, it is not something God gave me, but it is something God protects me from all the time. I can be very aware of all the ways God blesses me in each flair, in each remission and share God's story in my life. Or I can grumble  and complain, thinking only of poor me and miss opportunities to share God's amazing love, to share how God is always with me. I can miss the opportunity to share my struggles with compassion as I listen with understanding when another person struggles with something simular. I do have my poor me days! But I am learning all the time that God is in the details of my victories. They in fact are not my victories but His victories in my life. 

Paul and Timothy could have given up, they could have laid on the prison floors and succumb to all the horrors of being prisoners. But instead they reached a whole group of people that would have never heard them otherwise. 

God tells us in His word that we store up treasures I. Heaven for our good deeds. When we go through hardships, illinesses, pain and suffering...we can lay down and hurt, wallow in our misery or we can get up and fight the good fight. Fight the urge to give in and give up, we can move forward in our days, paying close attention to God's work in our lives and use those stories to share with others God's amazing love and care. And in doing so we can know that God is storing up such wonderful things for our efforts. And we will get to share them with the people we have touched because we didn't give up, because we didn't give in! 

Monday, September 29, 2014

9.29.14

Ephesians 5:33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

My Thoughts
I was a few days behind today, and as I skimmed over some of what I have missed this verse jumped out at me in a big way! I recently have been paying close attention to what God ask of me as a wife. How have I missed this important truth for so long? 

I looked up respect and it said this ....a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. As women we are suppose to respect our husbands! We are called by God to admire our husbands abilities, their qualities and their achievements. We are to build them up with our admiration for their abilities, qualities and achievements! We are to brag on them! This verse, that tells our husbands to love us, calls for us to respect them. If we are nagging we are not respecting and admiring. Wow! I don't tend to be a nag...but I don't reveal my admiration for my sweet Robby near enough. To me this verse says that I should brag on Robby as often as I want Robby to tell me he loves me! 

Each day when Robby walks out the door he tells me he loves me. He calls me from work 4 times each day and each time he tells me he loves me. He tells me each night before he goes to bed that he loves me. And I love hearing it every time. If I return respect for each time he says he loves me, just think how much more I will be aware of just what my sweet Robby does for me. And just how much more Robby would love me because I notice all he does and all he is! Wow! This takes my breath away! 


Friday, September 26, 2014

9.26.14

Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I (Paul) , a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

My Thoughts
We had a new to us man to teach Wednesday night in Pastor Keith's absence. He taught on the "unknown man" in Genesis 37. There was so much to learn about this unknown man. His roll in the history of the Jewish people was huge, even thought his action was seemed so tiny if you never stopped to think about it. That lesson made me very aware of the two words in this verse that teach us so very much. Those words are "a prisoner."

In this verse Paul says to "lead a life worthy of your calling, you have been called by God." We so often in love wonder what we can do as one person, we wonder how our busy, simple lives can even matter in the big scheme of things. How can we/I make a difference. Paul made a difference in the lives so so many, even us today. And he was a prisoner locked away behind four walls. A prisoner locked away behind four walls with only a pen and a piece of paper. Yet his words still teach us today how to live better loves for our a Lord Jesus. 

The unnamed man in the field in Genesis 37 was working in his field. All he did to be mentioned in God's word is be kind, kind enough to give Joseph directions that lead to a chain of events that brought the Children of Isreal out of slavery. What he did mattered. It was so important that he was mentioned in God's word. And it was one act of kindness in the mist of his normal, busy day. 

If a man plowing his field can be a part of freeing the Children of Isreal and a prisoner behind four walls can start a Christian movement with a pen and a piece of paper, what can we do? We have been called by God to lead a life worth of Him, how can we take action? 

The unknown man was kind and took a minute for a stranger. Paul was locked away but used the power of words. Sunday we learned from Pastor Kevin that 3/4th of  the world live on $300 dollars a year. ripoff we make more than $300 a year we are richer than 3/4 of the world. We have resources, we have the world at our finger tips through media. We have the ability to be kind, to give a stranger directions. Each of us probably have more than one Bible on the shelves in our homes. A book full of wisdom and love, full of instructions on how to make lives better. A book that is right at our fingertips. Words that God promises will not return void if we just read them. We have the ability to make a difference! 

We don't have to find our purpose, our purpose is to lead a life that God Gould be proud of. We can do that right in the places He has put us. When we do all we can, for Him, with what He has I trusted us with He will then be able to entrust us with more. 

As I think about this I begin to realize that if there is a place in my/our loves where we don't see fruit we are probably not using that part of our lives for God. Do we struggle in relationships? Are we treating those relationships how God would want us too? Do we struggle in our finances? Are we using our finances the way God ask us too? Are we struggling in our alone time? Are we using that time the way God would ask?   Paul sat in prison and prospered because he used that time to grow others. I have no doubt that the unnamed man in Genesis had a harvest he could not have imagined in his field after he took a few minutes of his day to be kind and give direction.  

We, right where we are can make a difference! We may be like the innamed man and never know, in earth, what we did. But if our lives are being lived for God we need not have one minute of doubt that  we do matter in the lives of the people we come into contact with each day.  YOU MATTER, I MATTER, WE MATTER. 

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

9.24.14

Plated by my friend Tammy Morgan Harvey
It spoke to my heart.

"A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense." Proverbs 19:11 ... This verse has been on my heart for several days now. It does not say that it is to your glory if you never encounter an offense, it clearly states you WILL encounter offenses. The glory comes when we look beyond the offense. Life, people, circumstances are all a breeding ground for hurt but what will we do with it. Will we act in wisdom that yields patience bringing with it glory? I hope so..this is my desire today.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

9.23.14

Ephesians 1:14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased  us to be his own people. He did this so that we would praise and glorify his name.

My Thoughts
I love this verse! It tells me that hearing the Holy Spirit guide me makes me know that I am God's. It makes me know that I will see Him in Heaven one day. Every time I hear the voice of the Holy Spirit I need to praise God!  I love the peace God's word gives me. 

Monday, September 22, 2014

9.22.14

As I was reading about God's grace, and our works. I can have such a hard time with this one. I can know it in my head but not always feel it in my heart. The Holy Spirit gave me this.
Robby always loves me! Always! He loves me at my worst and he loves me at my best, always the same. Robby's love does not depend how how good I am at doing my part, Robby just love ME. When I am able to do my very best at things like cleaning house, washing clothes, cooking. Those "wifely" things Robby can better spoil me, it gives him time and energy to do special things for me, to pour out blessings on me. But he does not love me more at those times, he gets to spoil me more, but he couldn't love me more. He couldn't love me more because he already loves me to his fullest capacity to love.
God always loves us, to His fullest. Which is way more than we can imagine! God loves to our down blessings on us and when He sees that we are able to receive those blessings without it effecting our relationship with Him, he pours out those blessings on our lives. When we do good God is able to entrust us with more. But no matter how we do, no matter how hard we work, God always loves us just the same.

Friday, September 19, 2014

9.19.14

Galatians 5:6b What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

My Thoughts
God calls us to love. To love others, to love our enemies, to love the seemingly  unloveable.  Not to feel love, to act in love. What is love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. ... We need to know this verse, so when we wonder of we are acting in love we can call it to mind and make sure. 

Thursday, September 18, 2014

9.18.14

Isaiah 28:26&29 The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. 29. The Lord of Heavens Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom. 

My Thoughts
When God ask us to tell others about Him, he knows just who He has sent us to! He will give us the right words when we know His word. He will give us the wisdom of how gentle or how firm to be. God will not send us out to plant seeds for Him without having equipped us with just what we need. I am finding that the best way to build my fait in God is to share Him with others. That is when I learn the most about what I know about what God has taught me. 

We were made to share God and His love with others... God will be with us...He will bring to our rememberence   what we need to know. We can do this! We can! 

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

9.18.14

Psalm 23:17-18 Don't envy sinners, but always continue to fear the Lord. You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. 

My Thoughts
When I read this I thought instantly, "We are all sinners!"  Then I reread it and the line' "your hope will not be disappointed."  I thought we don't need to ever hope we have what others have, we need to hope always to be more like Jesus. This is the only hope that doesn't come with some kind of disappointment.  That is powerful! The words "I hope" should always be followed by what God would want in our lives. 

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

9.16.14

Galatians 3:6 In the same way,  "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because if his faith." 

My Thoughts
This phrase is in the bible several times. Today in my reading it was talking about putting our trust in Jesus not in our works. But today as my Bible lay open beside me, I looked down and saw this verse all alone and was overwhelmed with how far our trust in God can take something.

God asked Abraham to take Isaac to the mountains and sacrifice him. God knew that this very act would further the Kingdom of God. And Abraham trusted that because God said so. But even in Abrahams wildest dreams he could not have imagined that this one act of total trust in God would touch the hearts of people hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years later. How many lives would have been different without Abrahams faith in God? We have no idea! 

But we also have no idea how many lives will be different because of our faith in God. We don't know who we touch with our examples of what God has done done for us. We have no idea how far our God stories go long after we share them. One day I will sit my granddaughter Ripley on my lap and read her a Bible story...and as I am I will say to her,  "My MawMaw, your great, great grandmother use to hold me in her lap and read me Bible stories. Just like I am holding you in my lap reading you Bible stories today."  Look how many generations away that one act will travel. And Ripley may one day say, "My Nana use to read me Bible stories, and her MawMaw, your great, great, great, great grandmother use to read her bible stories like I am reading to you."  That is just a simple act and look how many lives it touches. Not to count the other grandchildren I will have and they will have. Or the others my grandmother had and their grandchildren.  And that is a simple act nothing near as bold and as what Abraham did. 

In other words, what we do matters! It travels long past a place where our names are even remembered. Our stories of how God has touched our lives changes lives we will never know. But those stories can never change lives if we fail to share them. 

We share so many words in our days. We should never ever go a day without using our words to share something God has done for us. That one moment of sharing could make all the difference in a life somewhere. And though we may never know, God will. 

Sunday, September 14, 2014

9.15.14

Galatians 1:10 Obviously I am not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant.

My Thoughts
You would think for a people pleaser like myself that this would make my life harder. And sometimes it can make life a little bit harder. But for me it eased my burdens! It narrowed my choices. It made life so much easier when the people around me  expect different things. I just have to ask myself will saying yes to this please God? Sometimes I ask myself, "If I commit myself to this now, will it cause me to sin later?" 

That second question may be a bit confusing. But I use it in those times I am asked to commit to something that I know will stress me out. I ask will my thoughts and feeling about this project be good and kind as I get to the end?" It the answer is NO! I say no. If the answer is, this could get stressful but I can handle all that comes with it." Then I say yes. You have no idea how much this has helped me. This has freed my life up in amazing ways. And it has helped me learn that people still love me even when I have to choose to tell them no. 

I find it amazing at how loving and honoring God can simplify out lives so. Yes sometimes it makes life a bit harder in the inset of the change. But as I continue to choose what God would have me choose life just gets better and better and better. 

The more I choose to please .god over people, the more I have past successes to draw from. Successes that tell me that God is bigger, God is stronger, god will make me able when I choose to follow Him. 

Saturday, September 13, 2014

9.13.14

Psalm 57:1 Have mercy in me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.

My Thoughts
Oh that I would learn to do this the moment I sense danger. The moment I sense the attack of Satan in my life in any form. Once I get upset I seem to loose all my ability to think. When all I need to do is open the pages of my Bible and rest in the safety of God! I don't have to know what to pray, or what to think, what to say.  I just have to rest in Him as He covers me with His wings. And when it is safe to come out, God will have prepared my heart, my words and my actions. I must remember, just pick up my Bible and hide in God's word! 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

9.11.14

Isaiah 8:11 The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. 

My Thoughts
Breathing taking statement! How are we suppose to think? To know that we must, WE MUST get out our Bibles for ourselves and in prayer read what God's word tells us. As Christians we are not suppose to look like the world, think like the world, talk like the world, live like the world. We are not suppose to seek after the things of the world. 

It's funny it is not an easy thing to do, but it makes life easier when we do it! The world is always telling us, "You will be happy when...." Then that happiness promised last minutes, sometimes days. Then the world tells us "No, no you will be happy when...."  It keeps us chasing. Then we are left separated from our families for hours upon hours seeking or paying for that happiness the world promises. 

The minute we begin to think the way God tells us to think, the calmer our lives become. Peace fluids our souls, we find joy in the smallest of places we have strength when we need it and rest when we need it. We can feel fear leave our bodies.

We are not called to be like the world, we are called to stand out from the world! If we are thinking like the world, we are going to be like the world. 

The world likes to tell us that we can't help what we think...here God tells Isaiah that he can choose not to think like the world. It takes prayer and practice. It takes knowing God's word. Sometimes it takes writing down what our thoughts should be and reading what we need to be thinking over and over out loud to drown out the thoughts of the world. But it can be done! And in doing so we can find a peace that passes all understanding! 

I challenge you today to take at least one worldly thought captive and replace it with what .god tells us to think. Pay attention to how it effects your day!  If you don't know what to replace that thought with ask someone you trust to help you. Make the effort to make the change. God will honor that effort! 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

9.10.14

Isaiah 6:3 They were calling out to each other, "Holy, holy, holy is The Lord of Heaven's Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!"

My Thoughts
The definition of glory as a verb is, to exult with triumph. God gives us His glory when we love Him! That means that with God we have triumph! We have the victory over all things of this earth. The whole earth...I love that the whole earth is filled with His glory! God wants to give us the victory, we just have to believe and trust in God. 

I picture it like this... The earth from the depths of the deepest sea, the deepest caves to the edge of earths atmosphere. If we could give God's glory a color and it was a mist like fog we would not be able to see it would be dense and everywhere. It is so surrounding us that it fills our lungs when we breath. It is ours to use so we will have victory. It goes ahead of us, it stands beside us, it is behind us. Glory is above us and below us. I just had to take a second to soak the thought in. It is up to is to use, what will we do with it? 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

9.9.14

Isaiah 2:8 Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands.

My Thoughts
I saw this and decided to look up the definition for worship to truly put it in to context in my brain. Worship  noun. 1the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. "the worship of God". But to put this in context of worship of man mad things it would say, the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration of an object.  Thinking of this took my breath away! 

God was upset at the Israelites for worship of things they made with their hands. I could not help but think of how we take drives through nice neighborhoods to admire beautiful homes. How we stand in line for hours and hours to be the first to get the next new gadget. How we think we need the best of clothes and all the accessories. I thought of Black Friday shopping and how we must look to God as we grab, grab, grab. Then I thought of how much simpler our lives would be if all we adored, if all we worshiped was God. 

Our homes would look so different and be so much simpler, there would be so much left over to help our neighbors with. Families would work less hours and spend more quality time with each other. We would be so much more able to focus on God and on people.  We would live in love instead of living in want. Life would be so much less stressful. 

When we have reverence and adoration for God alone, God will supply all our other needs. To think of  worship in these terms really changes things. So often we think of worship is sending up praise and falling on our knees. And if we only think of worship in this way we can walk around fooling ourselves. But when we thin of it in the words of reverence and adoration I think we are all in a bit of trouble. I know that I am. 

This revelation hurts my heart. It brings tears to my eyes. Dear God please, please forgive me for not making a better effort to understand. Help me to revere and adore only you in this world where worship of everything is promoted in such large ways. Make me strong in you dear God. I am so sorry. I love you dear, dear God. In Jesus name. 


Monday, September 8, 2014

9.8.14

Psalm 51:4a Against you and you alone have I sinned; I have done evil in your sight.

My Thoughts
Oh my! We have all reacted to someone who did something to upset us in a way we knew was unkind. In fact I did this just yesterday in my frustration to a family member. I could look at it as pouting and try and just brush it off.  I could thin that the person that wronged me just a little deserved it. But my sin was not against a person, it was against God. 

The lesson to be learned from these few words is that we should always ask ourselves before reacting, or acting, "Would I act this way toward God?" If the answer is even an eye squint of doubt we should rethink our action. 

Forgive me dear God for I have sinned in this way so very many times in my life! My heart hurts that I would do this to YOU, to anyone that You love. Please forgive me and please help me have a better attitude. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

5.6.14

Psalm 50:23 But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God. 

My Thoughts
Robby and I talked about this this morning, how giving thanks was a sacrifice. Then he went to work outside and I thought in it some more. 

One thing Robby said what that paying attention enough to be in a state of thankfulness was giving up yourself and letting God increase in your life. That we were sacrificing who we were to be who we were intended to be. A person more like God every day. 

Then one of the things I thought of is how when times are hard, we can get so lost in ourselves. In our pain, in our hurt, in our life situation and how it is effecting us, that we can not even see past our own nose. We have no idea what there even is to be thankful for. At those moments it is so hard to see outside ourselves that there are things to be thankful for. It can take every bit of our concentration and energy to find something to be thankful for. We must sacrifice our moments of complete selfishness to see what God has done in our lives to be able to be thankful. It can be very had to do at times. 

Then there is the next line in the verse, "If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God." To me this says that God honors us when we honor Him. A definition of salvation is preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.... If we keep our hearts on God, if we walk in thankfulness, God will deliver is from harm and ruin, from loss. He will honor us if we walk in thankfulness to him. 

How can we accomplish this in our days? One example I can think of is if we get frustrated in traffic, instead of thinking angry, selfish thoughts.....instead of getting completely lost in them we can think of things in that very moment to be thankful for. Like the fact we have a car to drive, that we have a place we want to be, that we have a job we are about to be late to. We can thank God that He might be protecting us by delaying us.

 Thankfulness ..a sacrifice of our emotions and our thoughts, a way of keeping our hearts focused on God instead of ourselves and our situation. 

Thursday, September 4, 2014

9.4.18

Proverbs 22:17-19 Listen to the words of the wise; apply your heart to my instruction.  For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart and always ready on your lips. I am teaching you today--yes you-- so you will trust in the Lord.  

My Thoughts
To be able to keep Gods words in our hearts and on our lips, we must know them. To know God's word we must be reading it for ourselves over and over and over. If we know God's word, the stories of how is hips there for the people that love and trust in Him, we are better able to trust in Him ourselves. When we hear stories of those wise in God, stories of how God has been there for them, then we can better trust God. For God to be able to change our loves, we must know His stories, we must learn stories of how He is helping people in our lives today. Knowing makes all the difference in us running to Him when we are making decisions in our lives. 

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

9.3.14

2 Corinthians 6:4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 

My Thoughts
Just slap in the face! I do not do this very well at all, patiently endure troubles, hardships and calamities of every kind. I feel so ashamed at myself. The minute I thought this I felt The Holy Spirit saying,  "It's because you don't truly trust God with them!"  I must learn to say and believe, "God I know you have this, what can I do on my end to make it better?" Then go about my days doing what God tells me and finding joy in all that God has done for me and all that He has given me. I tend to take the knife of the situation and just stab myself over and over with it. Then in the end it all works out and I am left with forever scars from the situation that I inflicted on myself. All because I didn't just trust God. I need to write this verse down and learn it, internalize it. If I could just do this, no I can do this! I will do this, I will be determined to patiently endure! 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

9.2.14

Genesis 2:18-22 Genesis 2:18-22 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man[a] to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

My Thoughts
These verses have been on my heart a lot the past few weeks. We as as wives were created to be a helper to our husbands. That is our first and most important job as women. When I asked myself how to accomplish this I decided to go about thinking of all I do for  my sweet Robby as a gift to him from me.  It has completely changed how I go about my day. It has humbled me in our relationship. I have been very surprised at how calming it is to my soul. I should not be surprised doing what .god ask of us always makes life run more smoothly. I so wish I had understood this sooner, but so happy that I know it now. 



Monday, September 1, 2014

9.1.14

2 Corinthians 5:20 So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God."

My Thoughts
When we feel the need to tell someone to come back to God, God will be with us, he will be with our words. When we think, "Bit I just met this person." We may have been placed in their lives for such a time is this. So often, most often people don't hear their own families.  So we need to take those opportunities when they are placed in our lives. Would we want so one that could reach our families to walk away if there was a chance they would be the person our families would hear?  Remember God never ask us to do something that he does not give us the tools for. Also we should never be discouraged, we may be one piece to an unfinished puzzle that is getting someone right where they need to be. 

Sunday, August 31, 2014

8.31.14

Proverbs 22:13 The lazy person claims, "There's a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!"

My Thoughts
I always saw this verse before as lazy people making excuses. But today I saw it differently.  I saw it as a warning. A warning that if we do not keep busy Satan will have a chance for an open season with our thoughts. When he has such an opportunity he will use that chance to cripple our lives with fear. A fear so big that even the people around us have to use their time and talents to take care of us. If Satan can cripple one person in a family with fear, he can make the whole family less effective in reaching others for God. When we keep our hands and feet busy doing what God ask of us, Satan's opportunities to make his thoughts our own, he has less chance of taking over out lives and making ineffective for God. 

Saturday, August 30, 2014

8.30.14

2 Corinthians 4:7-8 We now have this light shinning in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.  We are perplexed, but not driven by despair. 

My Thoughts
My immediate visual of these two verses together was a full milk carton. If the carton is full you can't crush it, but if it is empty and you press it on all sides it will collapse. It might give a little when pressed but the liquid inside keeps the carton from collapsing. 

We are like that carton, if our soul is empty of God, stresses of this world can crush us. But if we are full of the Holy Spirit we are able to stand strong. Not because we are strong, but because God is strong and we are filled with His Spirit.  When we feel like we are not strong  enough for the problems facing us, we need to take the lid off and fill ourselves back up with God's word. His word is who He is and it is powerful, it builds us up. 

God even tells us He will fill us overflowing. If you think of this added to the picture of the carton of milk...if the liquid is overflowing over onto the floor around us it will trip evil up before it even gets to is to try and crush us. I just love that thought. 

Friday, August 29, 2014

8.29.14

Proverbs 22:7 Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is a slave to the lender.

My Thoughts
Robby read this verse yesterday, I had to catch up today. He said this verse brought to his mind Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 

Then today I read this verse in my Bible reading and I couldn't help but think how right Robby was to connect the two verses. If we get so caught up in debt we so often feel that we can't do what God has called us to do. Husbands are called to provide for their families, but also to be the head of their families. If we get too in debt then dads, husbands are too busy working to pay the bills to be at home to be the head of the household. If God calls us to the mission field and we are in debt we may feel there is no way we can go. But if we have not put ourselves in debt, and we have equity in our homes there would be no problem in changing our loves and doing what God ask. 

How often do we choose to put something on credit because the would says that we "need" this or that to be "normal?" How often wood we put ourselves in debt so that we can look like the world? How often are we so busy looking like the world that we forget to ask God if He approves of our purchase?  You know I have asked God to please let me have something that I wanted. But I have never asked God, "do I need to buy this?" Shame on me! How different would my personal world look if I had been asking that question all along? 

We have been very blessed to be on the Dave Ramsey plan for the last 17 years, but we have been married 33 years. What would our lives look like now if each time we had just asked ?God first befor we spent money?  If God blesses us when we tithe, and he does..... if God blesses us when we stay out of debt, and He does......how much more would he bless us of we just asked befor we opened our wallets? 

I so love when God's word gives me something to think about, something that will improve my life on a daily basis. What a blessing it is that words written so very long ago can be life so changing today! 

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

8.27.14

2 Corinthians 1:24 But that does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm.

My Thoughts
I love this! When we read God's word, and when we spend time learning and growing at church, we learn what God ask of us. But that plays out in each of our lives and in each of our personalities differently. And different things grow faith in each of us in different ways. Because God made each of us different. So as we help our brothers and sisters in Christ we should help them grow their faith and not expect it to look exactly like ours. After all we all have different strengths and different weaknesses. And we all have a past that changes how each of us see things, at least for a while.

We grow each others faith best by loving others, and by sharing our stories of how God has grown us. We grow best when encouraged. When cheered on as we take new steps toward a stronger faith. We never grow at all under a critical watch. Under a critical watch we can appear to grow, but if we are changing to look like other Christians, not growing because of true faith in what God tells us, then we will fall flat on our faces. Being like other Christians does not get us through the hard times, faith does. So we never need to spend our time figuring how to look like the people around us. We need to spend our time growing in God so that our faith is strong in Him. Then we will stand strong in the face of life's storms. 

This so speaks to us as believers who are helping others and as believers who are growing. When we help we need to be careful to share what we know without expectations of a certain outcome. And as a person growing in faith, we need to be sure we are trusting God to make us who He wants us to be. We need to be careful of trying to be the people around us. We have our own part as part of the body of  Christ and we need to nurture and grow our faith so that God can mold us into who He wants us to be. When we do that we are our strongest and we are more able to be a help to those around us. 

God loves us so much, He made each of us important in His Kingdom. We all have a part. The best way to be string in our part is to trust that God is growing us just like he needs us to be. And when we are what God grow us to be wonderful things happen in our lives and in the lives of the people around us. 

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

8.26.14Psalm 40:5 O Lord my God, you have preformed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them. My Thoughts How wonderful it would be as parents to hear our children list just a few if the things we do . It would thrill our soul to know that they noticed. Here David says that God's wonderful deeds are to many to list. How often do we dwell on stressful things in our lives, or things we can even control?! So often! Jus thin if we started listing the things God does for us, or the epwonderful things we know God has done for others, people of the Bible or people we know. It would draw God near to us, just like it would draw us near to our own children if they were praising us as parents. It would get our minds off of our troubles. Every good and perfect thing comes from God, His word tells us so. So what if we started listing the things others have done for us. It would be praising God and lifting up our feelings about the people around us, all at one time. This simple act could clear our mind of stress while it built our faith in God and in our friends and family. It would even build our faith in Strangers around us. Life changing! God's word changes our lives if we only let it.

2 Corinthians 1:10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

My Thoughts
When we are in mortal danger we are facing death. God rescues us from mortal danger. I wonder how often God does this in our lives and we don't even know it. Often when I am driving I think, "If God moved His had of protection over our country, we would know it right off. Wrecks would start happening on every street in every city all at one time." I think that very thought so often. We have no idea how many times a week God has protected us in our cars, from sickness, from a fall down the stairs. We take life for granted unless something bad is happening. Yet every time we get into our cars going at speeds that would make our founding father's heads spin, and arrive back home again. We have been protected by the mighty hand of God. And God does this for is over and over and over again. Because He loves us so very much. This alone should make us know that we are blessed. 

Monday, August 25, 2014

8.25.14

Psalm 40:5 O Lord my God, you have preformed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

My Thoughts
How wonderful it would be as parents to hear our children list just a few if the things we do . It would thrill our soul to know that they noticed. Here David says that God's wonderful deeds are to many to list.  How often do we dwell on stressful things in our lives, or things we can even control?! So often! Jus thin if we started listing the things God does for us, or the epwonderful things we know God has done for others, people of the Bible or people we know. It would draw God near to us, just like it would draw us near to our own children if they were praising us as parents. It would get our minds off of our troubles. 

Every good and perfect thing comes from God, His word tells us so. So what if we started listing the things others have done for us. It would be praising God and lifting up our feelings about the people around us, all at one time. This simple act could clear our mind of stress while it built our faith in God and in our friends and family. It would even build our faith in Strangers around us. 

Life changing! God's word changes our lives if we only let it. 

Friday, August 22, 2014

8.22.14

Psalm 37:37 Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful  future awaits those who love peace.

My Thoughts
I read this and thought of how wars were started with words. Oh what destruction words can do. The more I thought about this verse, the more I realized that we only truly love peace, only truly understand peace, when we learn to live at peace with the words that go on in our thoughts. How different would our lives be if we ask ourselves when we think something, "Would I say this out loud?" If the answer is "no" then we are not living in peace in our most private thoughts. True growth, or maybe ultimate growth is when we leant to love God's word in our minds. When we are totally honest not only with others but with ourselves. When we love to be at peace with our every thought. Can you imagine how much we can look forward to each new day with our thoughts at total peace? 

If you think about it, the future only exists in our thoughts. Because once tomorrow arrives, it is today, the present. So if we can learn to make our thoughts peaceful thoughts our future will always be wonderful. Complete rest of thought. God tells us not to worry about tomorrow. That tomorrow has enough worries if it's own. So if we can learn to start out our "today's" thinking only on what we can accomplish today, giving our "today" to God, focusing on acting in love just for today.  Taking control of only ourselves in this one day. If we could learn to be peaceful in just today, which is so doable, then we could so look forward to all our tomorrow's!

If we can learn to live in peace, at peace with ourselves, with our days that peace will flow over to our relationship with others.  


Thursday, August 21, 2014

8.21.14

Psalm 37:28-19 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that will last forever. They will not be disgraced in hard times, even in famine they will have more than enough.

My Thoughts
I love this. There was a time I read it and was actually terrified, I am so not innocent! But the more I know God the more I understand how he sees me as innocent when I love him! When I ask for forgiveness and learn and grow and do my best to be better! Now I read these words and think , no matter what comes my way, God will make sure I have food, that my tummy is full. If I live my life loving God the best I can. If I declare that God will take care if me, he will prove Himself by taking care of me.  That comforts me and gives me the determination to do my best! How awesome it is to be loved so much by our all knowing, all powerful God! 

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

8.20.14

Psalm 37:7 Be still in the presence of The Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

My Thoughts
How often do we get lost in worry about the evil going on around us?  How often do we forget that God is bigger, stronger, in control? Here it tells us that no matter what is going on around us that we just need to get ourselves in the presence of God and wait patiently. We don't need to do anything else... Just draw god close with prayer His word, songs of praise! We only put off what God has planned when we think we have to take action. We just have to give it to God and be patient while we wait in His presence. God has our back. 

As I typed, "God has our back." I got a perfect picture in my head.... Us on our knees with our face to the ground, only our backs exposed. Isn't this the best way for God to protect our all? 

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

8.19.14

1 Corinthians 12:22 In fact, some parts of the body that seam the weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.

My Thoughts
This tells me that everything we do for God matters! Everything! And that when we do something so tiny, thinking of God, it may be that very thing that makes the biggest difference in somebody's life. We should never, ever, ever think that anything we do for God is too little to even count.

Recently, as I was being very aware to be thankful to God for the things in my day, I became overwhelmed by the little thing God does for me. I thought about how busy God is, about all that he stakes care of, yet he takes time to do the tiniest things for me. I was overwhelmed at that moment at just how much God loves me. That our awesome, mighty God would care to make sure I got a smile or a hug. That God would care that I got a close park when I was in a bit of a hurry. Yet He does! 

A few years ago when I finally grasp the verse "Every good and perfect gift comes from  God" James 1:17.  It actually took my breath away! I thought of how a smile from a stranger can come at just the right time to change your day, and how that very smile was .god smiling down at me from Heaven through a stranger. We are so blessed when we cover ourselves with a blanket to get warm. That very blanket that keeps us warm and snuggled in, is a gift from God. A soft pillow on which we lay our heads at night is a gift straight from  God. My husband reaching over to hold my hand in the quiet of the night, on his sound sleep is a Gift from God. 

So often we feel we need to do great things for God, and if we can't, we give up and don't try at all. But the truth is it is the little things that can change a life. And how dare us not take the time to do one of those little things. We never know when just a smile or a touch on someone's shoulder makes all the difference. 

My mother has been gone from this earth for three years and four months. There is not one big thing I miss about her, it is the seemingly little things. A phone call, her voice. How her eyes twinkled when she smiled. How her laugh sounded. How her tiny hand felt in mine. There is not one big present I remember her giving me, but I do remember receiving in the mail a picture out of a magazine, or a cartoon clip, with a simple "love, Mother" written on a tine slip of paper attached to the note. 

My children could probably not tell you the big things Santa brought. But I am sure when they see those number puzzles, or a top you spin. When they see one of those small kaleidoscopes ... They will remember Christmas mornings. 

All good things come from God. And when we take the time to thank God for all the good things in our day,  big and small, we can start to notice how the little things mean the most. And the more we are aware of this fact, the more aware we will be to be kind in even the smallest of ways. Because we will know that the smallest things matter the most. 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

8.12.14

Psalm 32:3-4 When I refuse to confess my sins, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

My Thoughts
I wonder how often we are hurting and exhausted because we are choosing to walk in sin? This verse made such sense to me when I thought of times when I have been upset at a situation in my life that it consumed me to the point of exhaustion.  I can look back now at the thoughts I was having over the situation, at my actions, and know that I was waking right in the middle of several sins, and I was not asking for forgiveness at all. Literally exhausted in the justification of my feelings. To the point of bringing on sickness in my body. Please don't judge me, we have all done it. Satan loves to set the wheels in motion in a situation that he knows will get our goat. He pushes out buttons. We, WE choose to live in the thoughts Satan puts in our heads. When our choice can be to confess our sins, actions or thoughts and walk in forgiveness towards others.

These verses tell me that the minute I feel all my energy leave my body to examine myself, my actions, my words, my thoughts and see where I am sinning. To confess those sins and move forward    behaving  like a child of God. Even if the people around us choose to act in a way that feels hurtful, we can choose not to heap more pain on ourselves or others by our actions. And we can choose to act in love by praying for the person or persons that we have been hurt by.  

The absence  of energy in the absence of hard work is our red flag to do better. Wow! This is huge. 

Monday, August 11, 2014

8.11.14

Nehemiah 2:4-5 The king asked, "well how can I help you?" 

With a prayer to the God of Heaven, I replied, "If it pleases the king and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.

My Thoughts
The king told Nehemiah yes. What stood out to me so strong in this passage was that before Nehemiah spoke he sent a prayer up to God. We/I should always do this before we open our mouths. You know it was not a long prayer, the king who had the power to have Nehemiah killed had asked him a question. It was a prayer in his heart as he was preparing to speak. Nehemiah had already prayed over the situation, and over speaking to the king. Now before he opened his mouth to give an answer he prayed to God again. 

How much different would our lives be if we prayed each time before we speak. How often would God give us the valor of others if we just practiced this kne small act? I believe it would be life changing. 

Sunday, August 10, 2014

8.10.14

1 Corinthians 6:3 Don't you realize that we will judge the angels? So you should surly be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this   life.

My Thoughts
Oh my! Can you imagine judging the Angels in Heaven? I can't! Oh I so can't. I can run from a dispute faster that you can imagine. I just hate them. I don't want to face them much less try to resolve them. I am like the Ostrich and love putting my head in the sand. I must learn to face them head on, asking God for His amazing wisdom. Can you imagine judging an angel who has lived all his life in the presence of God? I better learn to size up a situation with complete truth and raw honesty with myself and in great love with others. The thought of it takes my breath away! But it is written and I must learn to make the effort! 

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

7.8.14

Acts 26:20 I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God--and prove they have changed by the good things they do.

My Thoughts
There is a difference in knowing who God is and what He does and knowing God. For years I knew who God was, I didn't really know God. Knowing God changes you, He makes you want to be a better, sweeter, kinder, more loving person. If we don't see those changes in our lives we only know who God is, we don't actually know our Father.  The only way to know God is to spend time with God. Not just in church on Sunday morning. But actually spend time knowing all about Him. 

I was at lunch with a friend yesterday, I asked her, "how did you meet your husband." I wanted to know more about her. When I was dating my sweet Robby we talked for hours and hours about who we were, what we liked, loved, hated. And now 33 years after getting married we are still learning about each other.  If Robby had had a book about his life I would have read it from cover to cover. 

I love my sweet Robby with all my heart. So I do my best not to do things that make him crazy, and I do my best to do things for Him that make him happy.  Things that make His life better. He calls me several times a day, because he loves me and wants to hear my voice. I feel so blessed when the phone rings and I know that it is him. Because I love him so much just being in the room with him comforts me.

That is how we should feel about God. We should do all we can each day to know Him better. We should learn what pleases God and what God hates and act on that knowledge. We need to learn how to draw God near to us so we can just feel His presence in a quiet room. We should desire to talk to Him. We should want to tell Him our victories and out troubles. We should always seek His advice about our lives. 

We talk about people we know ad love. Our spouses, our children, our grandchildren if we have grandchildren. And when people we love do things for us or give us wise advice we talk about that. If we know God, if we act on His advice and see the changes it makes in our loves we won't be able not to talk about God and all He does for us.

If we find ourselves not knowing what .god likes are dislikes. If we find ourselves not calling God near, if we find ourselves not wanting more of God's presence, if we find ourselves never mentioning .god in our everyday conversations. Then we need to ask ourselves, do I know God or do I just know who God is?  It is not a bad question to ask, it is an important question that we need to ask ourselves. It is a life changing question.  It is a life saving question. It won't make God unhappy or shocked. In fact it will please Him, it will make Heaven rejoice in the fact that we are learning the difference in really knowing God, that question answered is where the amazing change begins! 

Friday, June 27, 2014

6.27.14

Psalm 145:10-12 All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power. They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign.

My Thoughts
Oh wow! What this said to me today is that if I am not talking about how great God is, if I am not desiring to praise God then I have moved. God never moves. I am not close enough to God if my desire to talk about Him is not there. If I am not telling of the wonderful things God. is doing in my life, I don't have my eyes on Him, I have my eyes on the world. God needs to be so much a part of my day that if I talk about my day my conversation will include God. 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

6.26.14

Proverbs 16:28 Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut they seem intelligent.

My Thoughts
We all know somebody like this, so this can make us smile a bit. True wisdom comes when we stop and recognize it in ourselves.  I could work on this! 

Monday, June 23, 2014

6.23.14

Acts 15:24 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements. 

My Thoughts
I love this! It tells me that .god does not ever want to overwhelm us. He teaches us little bits at a time so that we won't be so overwhelmed that we can't grow. god loves us and wants to get us to a perfect place with Him, he knows that takes time. We need to give ourselves a break when we mess up. Know g we mess up means we are growing. Knowing we messed up means we can find a way to do better next time. I believe God celebrates our victories no matter how small they may seem to us becauseHe lives us and moving forward is growing. 

Sunday, June 22, 2014

6:22:14

Proverbs 17:19b Anyone who trust in high walls invites disaster. 

My Thoughts
This verse speaks volume! It is the confirmation of a truth God gave me just yesterday. When you read it and put it in the context of the Old Testament then you think if old cities with walls around them and you move on. But the Bible gives us truths for today.  

First the purpose of a high wall is to protect ourselves from future attacks that have not even happened yet. How do we do thins in our lives? First we choose to build a wall, a callous on our heart to make it tough enough to withstand a future attack. Sometimes we do this based in our past experience with another person, sometimes based on what we have lived through in our past. We project onto the future a hurt an offense is going to take place. We play it out in our minds to be prepared. We actually work up a hurt that might happen in our hearts, so that it won't hurt so much when and IF it happens.  When we do that it changes everything. It invites disaster! We walk into our next meeting less loving and friendly, we give Satan the exact ammunition he needs to destroy our next meeting. 

What we are doing is relying on callouses of the heart to protect us when we should be relying on God to protect us. Relying on God to be at our side even if things don't go quiet right.  So often we act like the child of an alcoholic, or a child of abuse. So often we are acting like a person that has been so hurt in the past. When what we need to be doing is acting like a child of the most high God. Expecting, knowing God is in control. Trusting God to prepare our hearts to act and react in love. Trusting that even if we do get hurt, that God is the almighty and can heal any broken heart if we let him. 

So next time I find myself projecting into the future it is my signal to ask myself, "Am I building a callous to protect my heart, or am I acting like a child of the most high God? 

Friday, June 20, 2014

5.20.14

Psalms 138:3 As soon as I pray you answer me and encourage me by giving me strength. 

My Thoughts
I love this! I love how God renews our strength. I have physically felt strength return to my body. Sometimes I miss out on a day or two or three of that strength by not moving on what God has told me to do when I prayed.  Then the minute I moved toward what God said I could feel myself be renewed by His strength entering my body. 

So often when we pray we expect everything to just be better because we ask. We forget to listen to what God tells us to do. I know I am so guilty of that in my despair. There is nothing Satan likes better than to zap us completely of our energy. He doesn't have to get us to do wrong if we are doing nothing at all. As soon as we feel energy leave our bodies from the stresses of the world that is our red flag that we need to call on God and ask Him what we need to be doing. Sometimes the answer may be a simple, "rest." Other times God may tell us to forgive, or to act in love (which we should always strive to do but sometimes we need reminding). Sometimes it may be as simple as get up and move, clean the kitchen. It may be to pick up the phone and call a friend. It may be to get started on that project you have put off. What ever it is, when We involve God, and move into action based on what He tells us, we will always feel strength return. 

Dear God please give me the wisdom to ask for your guidance and listen for the answer the moment I feel strength leave my body. In Jesus name. 

Thursday, June 19, 2014

1.20.14

Proverbs 17:16 It is foolish to pay tuition to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning.

My Thoughts
I thought of Mark 6:11, Luke 9:5 and Matthew 10:14 which all say, "But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate." Robby is always saying, "Time is money." Time is also something you can't get back. Telling people about our wonderful God and Jesus who died so we could be forgiven and set free is so important. But all we can do is share our story about how much Jesus has done for us. If we meet a person that does not want to hear us and get stuck with that person we spend our time foolishly when we could be telling our stories to people who are hungry for God, hungry to know Jesus, hungry for the Holy Spirits guidance. Moving on is not about not caring, it is about caring in a place where we can make a difference. 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

6.18.14

1 Kings 19:11-13 "Go out and stand before me on the mountain." the Lord told Him. and as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, "what are you dong here Elijah?"

My Thoughts
Wow! How often do we want God to come out mighty and powerful, when He is whispering to is exactly what we need to do in the mist of our problems?  How often in the mist of troubles do we forget what power there is in God's words?  How often do we forget that He spoke and the earth was formed? How often do we forget that if He speaks and tells us what He wants us to do and we act on those words, His power is in the whispering? And if we act on those whispers mountains can be moved without mighty winds, or earthquakes or fires. 




Tuesday, June 17, 2014

6.17.14

1 Kings 18:1 & 42-46 1. Later on, in the third year of the drought, The Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab. tell him I will soon send rain!"

42-46 so Ahab went to eat and drink. but Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and Bowden low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

Then he said to his servant, "Go and look out toward the sea."

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, "I didn't see anything." 

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. Finally the seventh time the servant told him, "I saw a little rain cloud about the size of a man's fist rising from the sea."

Then Elijah shouted, "Hurry to Ahab and tell him, "Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don't hurry the rain will stop you,"

And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Israel. Then the Lord gave a special strength to Elijah. he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab's chariot all the way to the entrance of Jazreel.

My Thoughts
In verse one God had told Elijah that He was sending the rain, in verse 46 Elijah knowing what God said still prayed for rain. He called down what God had promised. The Bible is full of God's promises to us but we need to do like Elijah did and call those promises down. 

Next in this story it looked like the rain God was sending was only a tiny amount, all they saw was a small rain cloud. But for Elijah it was confirmation that God was moving and Elijah knew that God moves in mighty ways!  All Elijah's servant saw was a tiny rain cloud, but Elijah told Ahab to hurry or he would be stopped by the rain. A terrific rain!

I think my lesson from this is when I see God moving, even though I only see the tiniest movement, the blessings are coming in a big way. I need to thank God at that moment for His answer to my prayers, enjoy life so I can be productive, and know God has my situation in His hands! 

This story today, although I have read it several times, spoke so much into my life. God is good.