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!

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! 

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.  

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. 

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.   

5.25.13

Psalm 119:36-37 Give me and eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. 

 

My Thoughts

I love this verse!  I immediately thought of Jeremiah 29:11 when I read it.  Jeremiah 29:11 says  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.  We so get caught up in money. After all we need it to live...to eat, to have shelter...and then there are all those things to want. We can find ourselves working so hard to obtain enough money, and when we get there to that point that would be "enough" we find ourselves wanting more. 

 

But when we fix our eyes on God...when we are eager to spend time with God and please God, God will make sure that all that we need follows. God will make sure that we prosper and we have hope all the time.  God makes sure that our future is bright.  And you know what else.... God also cares about those things that delight us...it says so in Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

 

Look God cares about our future, He cares if we are prosperous, He cares about the desires of our heart. When we love God all else follows!! And it is so much easier to spend time with God that it is to spend time in worry!!! 

 

 

 

11.4.12

Proverbs 27:1 Don't brag about tomorrow, since you don't know what the day will bring.

 

My Thoughts

In James 4:13-16 it says that boasting about tomorrow and all that we are going to do is evil.  We are also told that in Matthew 6:34 not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough troubles of it's own.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has plans for us, plans for our future plans to prosper us, good plans not evil plans. Plans for a future and plans that will give us hope.

 

We don't know what tomorrow brings for us... but God does!  He loves us! He wants us to live in this day, today and take it all in. When we worry and plan for tomorrow we miss so much that today has for us!  We need to live wisely like there will be a tomorrow but beyond that we are to do our best today! We are to love God like there will not be a tomorrow! 

 

One Wednesday night at Church we were talking about not sinning and the question was asked if we could go without sinning. In John 3:11 Jesus tells the woman at the well to "Go forth and sin no more." He doesn't tell her to go forth and try not to sin, He tells her to sin no more. He would not tell her to do something that is impossible.  I thought about this for a long time and I thought "For one day I could not sin...but not for a lifetime."  How much better could we be at not sinning, at all, if we lived one day at a time?  If we didn't think about tomorrow and left it in God's hands?

 

So often when I feel overwhelmed it is when I am thinking way to far ahead. Those thoughts of I will never get this done by this time or that time.  Oh, how am I going to accomplish all of that? In 24 hours there is only so much that I can do.  If I plan just for today I won't get bogged down with worry and I can do so much more!  If tomorrow comes to mind I need to ask myself only this question, "Is there anything that I can do today that will make that easier?" If the answer is no I need to focus on just today... if the answer is yes then I need to focus on just what I can do today.  As hard as a bad day can sometimes be we can get through one day at a time.  Just think how much easier it would be to get through if we don't put all of our tomorrows on our shoulders.. if we just leave those tomorrows in God's hands. 

 

God is always telling us how to make our lives easier, better.  Living in today seems to be pretty important. Living in today will make every day of our lives better. God has only our best interest in his heart. He says today is important all by itself.  We don't know what tomorrow brings for us. God does know what tomorrow brings for us ... we are so much more protected when we leave it all in His hands!

 

I so needed this reminder!

 

10.11.12

Jeremiah 16:18 I will double their punishment for all their sins, because they have defiled my land with lifeless images of detestable gods and have filled my territory with their evil deed.

 

My Thoughts

When I got to this verse the first thing I thought of was bill boards, bill boards everywhere advertisements of every kind!! Then my mind went to the first place of bright and shinny bill boards... Las Vegas sometimes called "Sin City." I thought of how we want, want, want material goods all the time! For the first time ever I saw bill boards and advertisements as images of what we worship most "things!" How scary is that!!!  We want, want, want which makes us go, go, go and we neglect first of all God, then our families and our friends. For "things," we think we "have" to have.  When God looks down at us I wonder how he sees those bill boards?

 

I wounder how different our  lives would be, how different our job situation would be, how different our family life would be, how different our thinking and our words would be, how different our wants would be if for just a month we changed every bill board and every advertisement in America to a Bible verse, or a praise to God... or a, "Thank you, God!"  If we put God everywhere, so we were constantly reminded that what we want is not things, what we want, what that empty place in our bodies need is God!!

 

If we got busy loving God, putting God everywhere in our world, we would have no needs at all. God would supply our every need. People talk about peace...I remember it being what "everybody" wanted in the 70's. Peace even to those who do not love God, who do not believe that God exist see peace as a virtuous thing to want.  Peace comes straight from God. We have peace when we love God...when we worship God... when God is central in our lives!  If God and His word replaced every advertisement and we took in God's word like we take in the "need for stuff," I imagine that we would know a peace like we have never experienced ever.

 

You might say "Jeannie, you are being ridiculous! This is not even possible." I would counter it is possible with each one of us as individuals to make a choice to put God first.  It is possible for me to decide that ever time I see an advertisement that I will use that as a reminder to fix my thoughts on God, no on what somebody, some company tells me I "need."  We may not be able to change the world, but we can change ourselves! When we changes ourselves it effects the world around us!  All things are possible for me with God!!  All things are possible for YOU with God.  I have a choice, I can always choose God!

7.23.11

Jeremiah 1:12 I am alert and active, watching over my word to perform it.

My Thoughts

God is always listening!!!... Always paying attention...then when He hears us use the scripture over our lives and the lives of the people around us...He is active... busy making sure that His word does not return void.  All the promises to God's children became promises to us when Jesus died on the cross for our sins... Jesus made us able to become one of God's chosen!!  God chose us when He sent Jesus here to die for our sins.  God keeps his promises.  The more we know God's word to speak over our lives the better our lives get!! Because God is alert and active, watching over His word to perform it!! God's words are living and life changing..we can not make a better investment of our time than spending time learning all that God wants us to know!

7:12.12

Jeremiah 29:13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

My Thoughts

The Amplified Bible says it this way "Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require me [as vital and necessary] and find me when you search for Me with all your heart.

When we look for God, He is there... when we call out to Him.. when we put Him first...when we truly seek Him to be a part of our lives!!  He is there!!

We talked about how going to God should always be our first response in any situation, last night at church.  I am getting better at this...the more I know God...the more I study His word.. I get better at this.

Sometimes, like today when I felt panic...I let the panic take over... I get washed over with anxiety...but only for a while...then I turn to God... I feel like I am making progress... I don't get lost in the panic and anxiety for long any more...I am able to recognize the words that come straight from the devil himself... I seem to start there knowing it is time to turn to God.  At first it feels like my thoughts...those "Oh I can't do this!! This one is just too hard." I feel the panic come on me..the anxiety...then the devil dig in his heals and starts saying it louder "You can't" "You are not capable!" ..when I hear that "You Can't" I know it is from the devil...that is when I say I am not listening to you!!  I can do all things through Christ!! Then I start praying.  I will save myself so much trouble when I hear myself say "I can't" and start there with my prayers. 

Today I have to drive in B'ham traffic...it makes me crazy...and so nervous. Especially when I don't know where I am going...My dad could tell me streets... my step-mom couldn't tell me streets.. they sure couldn't tell me which lanes to plan to get in.  I was in a panic!!.. A full out panic..tears, anxiety... thinking I couldn't do this!!... I couldn't imagine how God was going to tell me how either...I was to panicked to think of all the ways God does tell us!!  Then I heard the devil tell me "You can't do this!!" and I recognized his voice...I begin to earnestly seek after God.. to inquire of him.. to ask Him with all my heart to tell me which lanes to get into.. to open up the traffic for me... to keep us safe...to give my panicked self some peace.  My sweet cousin Jeff called just a few minutes after that... after I had, had time to calm down through my prayers...he had seen my panicked post on Facebook... not only could he tell me how to go...which I had from Google (looking at them made me crazier!!), he told me which lanes to get into when and told me he would be in the office all day to call him if I needed more help... He called with the kind of information I needed!!  God answered my prayer... God didn't wait either...once I sought God, he answered!!  Oh the tears I would have saved myself if I had just asked God first!! 

God is always there for His children, always. He is just polite about it, waiting patiently for us to say "God, I need you!"

3.30.12

Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the Lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."

My Thoughts

I love this!!  We we seek God...when we read our Bible and learn about what people did in the past.... then we make the choices that give our souls rest!!  We so often make choices that make us worry later...that keep us from sleeping... But when we ask God what we should do...when we take time and wait for his answer...the follow His direction... our choice will be a choice that is easy to live with...it will not make us worry and toss and turn and loose sleep. God only chooses what is right for us!  So off then we make our choices then ask God to help us with the consequences. Here it tells us to stand and look and ask what the good way is..then to walk in the good way!! Wouldn't we save ourselves so much trouble if we would just ask God first!!

2.11.12

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

My Thoughts

I love this... God has plans for us... God's plans for our lives are good... God wants us to have good... I find this so comforting.  In John 10:10 Jesus tells us  "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." God sent Jesus...and Jesus died for us so that our life could be wonderful.... full. The devil likes for us to believe that we don't deserve... that God is always mad at us.. the devil likes for us to be discouraged. God does not give to any of us because we deserve it .... God gives to us because he loves us. God forgives us not for something we do to deserve forgiveness...but because He loves us. God wants our lives to be full... because He loves us. God loves us so much!! God's plans for us are wonderful, wonderful plans.... when we get how much God loves us we have hope, hope is an amazing thing! I love knowing this! I love knowing that God loves me no matter... the thought just makes me want to be a better person!!

10.23.11

2 Timothy 2:16-17a Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. This kind of talk spreads like cancer.

My Thoughts
We so often talk to be heard... just to be heard.  All of us have been guilty of thinking about what we can add to a conversation instead of really, actually listening to the conversation.  We all want to be heard... we all need to be heard. But, we don't always need to be talking.  Oh, and I do love to talk!! I am learning to listen, to stop and think "Do I really need to be adding to 'this' conversation?" If the conversation is about somebody, or about how people act I am learning to keep my mouth shut. To just be a listener. If the conversation is complaining, complaining about anything and everything I am learning to keep my mouth shut.

In my quite I have noticed how conversations of complaining just spread like wildfire.  People jump on those conversations like they are a new roller coaster at the amusement park.  Before you know a happy room full of people have traveled down the tracks at a breakneck speed and before you know it they are at the end of the ride with a changed attitude.

When the talk is about people the ride seems to take a turn into dark places ... a lot like haunted houses getting worse with each turn of the ride.  Before you know it somebody that was having a bad day and didn't speak to somebody, has become somebody too stuck up to ever speak to anybody. 

Now that I am learning to keep my mouth shut when I see that a conversation is going in a direction that would make God shake his head I hear so much of what happens to to those kind of conversations.  It is amazing to watch and listen when you are not intent on being heard. Now I am not saying it is always easy!!  But in the end I am finding it so worth it. I am learning when I don't add to conversation about people I feel better about me!! When I don't add to conversation about how lousy our government is... I feel better about me.  I have also noticed how my thought pattern has changed when I know I am just going to keep my mouth shut.  So often I see how I can improve.  For instance the other night I was at a place where people just keep talking bad about our government.  Mind you our government could use some improvement... but this conversation just lead to unhappiness and grumbling and complaining. Then a room full of women who were having a good time up until this point lost all their joy and people started going home.  They were having fun!! I thought as I sat there about how the Bible says that we are not to talk about our leaders ( Ecclesiastes 10:20).  I also though about how the Bible says that we are to pray for our government. Jeremiah 29:7 says  "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” I knew that I would never change what I didn't like about our government by sitting there complaining... in fact I could add to the destruction of our nation by compiling and speaking destruction over our country.  Instead of complaining about our government I needed to be in prayer about our government. Right then and there I knew that each time I heard people complain that my job was to say a prayer, to ask God for help.

Our words have the power to destroy peoplem lives and cities. Or our words have the power to build each other up.  To compliment, to encourage to teach. Our prayers have the power of God behind them... and there is nothing more powerful than God. I am learning that I want my words to add strength to the people around me...I want my words to make my country stronger... I want my words to make people feel loved.  I must avoid worthless, foolish talk, God tells me to avoid worthless, foolish talk. God wants only good for us!!  When we learn to be quite and listen he tells us so much!

10.18.11

Jeremiah 31:34b For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already," says the Lord. "And I will forgive them their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."

My Thoughts

I love that God tells us several times in the Bible that he will never again remember our sins.  Psalms 103:12 tells us that God moves our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.  Micah 7:19 tells us that God cast our sins into the depths of the sea. If God chooses to forget our sins I believe that he wants us to forget our sins and move forward. The devil loves to tells us how we have sinned and how we can't do better... he loves to  put those thoughts in our heads "You did this or that, what makes you think you are worthy!?!?" What God tells us is that we are made right with Him through Jesus (Romans 3:22).  All we have to do is ask forgiveness and God makes us right with Him again..and remembers our sins no more.  Our part is to strive to be like Jesus... we are to learn and grow...and do better and better and better.  We are to work at being better at doing what God ask... no where in the Bible does it tell us to woller in our sins, constantly remembering them..... to the point that we can't function.  If we are living in our past sins, condemning ourselves daily for the mistakes we made in the past, we can't be our best in God.  God wants us to do our best to be our best for us. God wants  us to be our best so that we can have good lives.  Jesus came so that we could have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Abundance is not in our sins, or in the remembering or revisiting of them... abundance is in God and the plans that he has for our lives.  When we use the scripture to fight the thoughts the devil puts in our head it is like throwing flaming arrows at him.  God's word is stronger that Satin!! God's word is there for our use.  When the devil brings up my past sins... I have learned to tell him... The Bible tells me that I am made right with God...I am in right standing with God. I say this over and over until the urge to "woller" goes away.  Then I get the chance to experience more joy in my day.  Remember "The thief comes to still, kill and destroy" our days our joy, our happiness. Jesus came so that we can "have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Each time the devil tries to remind us of our past, of our sins he is stilling, killing or destroying our sense of self, our joy, he is trying to take a day away from us.  God forgets our sins!!... Jesus came to make us right with God... he came so that we could have joy and peace. He came so we could feel love. What we have to learn to do is make the choice to believe God and his word... and move forward into being good, better, best.

10.16.11

Jeremiah 29:7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare."

My Thoughts

No matter where God puts us he expects us to do our best.... He expects us to pray to him for the good of the place that we are in.  If we are in a bad work situation, we need to pray and work hard.  If we are in a bad relationship we need to pray for it and work hard at doing what is right.  No matter where God places we are suppose to do our best, to be our best... we are suppose to bring good to where God has put us.  We are suppose to work for peace and prosperity...   When we do this ... God can trust us with more.

If we are in a job we don't like... that is not suited for us... or the management isn't good... we are to work like we are working for God.... Colossians 3:23-24 tells us Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

God even ask the Israelites to work for their masters, while they were slaves. They were to work in  a way that would bring peace in prosperity to the city.  God told the Iseralites to pray for the city.  God knew when when the city did good they would be better off.  If we do good at  our jobs... our employers will be better off... the better off he is the better off we will be.  If we work like we are working for God.. do what God ask of us... then even if our employer doesn't make sure we prosper from doing good... God will.

When we are diligent in working hard, working without complaint... when we do our best to prosper at the place we have been put...then God sees that he can entrust us with more. We are to bloom where we are planted... we are to be peaceful and loving ...we are to work hard... and be in prayer with God all the time.  When we do our part... God takes over and does the rest. 

10.15.11

2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

My Thoughts

This is beautiful... I wish that somebody had prayed this prayer over me years and years ago.. I love it.  This is what I wish for everybody, everybody. If you are reading this... if your best friend isn't I pray for you both '"May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.' In Jesus Precious Name" I love how God is changing me as I read His word...I love how much more I understand now than I did when I started.  I love how now that I know God better I can truly feel his love....I feel how much God loves ME... I know how much God loves YOU!!  I love that I now know that I can endure anything because Christ is with me ALL the time. I pray that each and every person, every person could feel what I feel now.  I can feel sad that I have spent so many years not knowing... but get so excited, so, so excited that I have so many years left to feel wrapped in God's love.. I have so many years left to be strong enough to endure anything that comes my way.  If I was given just one wish... any wish that I wanted.... I would not ask for money... or a new house... or a new car.... now I wouldn't have to ask for happiness or to feel loved.... I would ask that each and every person on this earth would pick up their Bible each morning and make time to really get to know God... I know that if this wish was granted... not only would it change each person... it could and would change the world in amazing ways!!  God is amazing!! God's love is amazing! God has great plans for each of us and Jeremiah 29:11 tells us this... For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." God wants amazing things for us!!  Amazing things! Take time to learn all that God has to give!!  His love and his hopes for us are far beyond anything we might think to imagine. (Ephesians 3:20).

10.11.11

Jermiah 17:7-8 "But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heart or worried by long months of droubt.  Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit."

My Thoughts

I love this.... love it... I used to not quite get it... how it applied to my spiritual life.  I could have put it into words... but feeling it...well that is a whole nother story.  The more I read God's word...the more it stick in my heart and head....it is just there.... like the water is there for the roots of a tree by the riverbank... The more I take time for God's word the more God plants it in my heart the deeper my roots are in His power. Then when times get tough... or a I face a situation where I feel lost about what to do.... I remember God's word.... Me I don't remember that it is in Mark, or Luke.... or Jeremiah...(I use the Internet for that) but I know what God's world has told me... it is there deep in me and I can call upon it and use it all the time... no matter how far from the Bible my physical body is.  It amazes me each time a scripture comes to my remembrance.... I can now wake up in the middle of the night with scripture on my mind!!  When the devil tells me I am afraid...I can tell him that God is with me... that "He who is with me is stronger than he that is in the world." .... when I do that I feel stronger...use to I listened to the devil and got more and more afraid.  When the devil tells me I can't... I tell the devil "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"... when the devil tells me that I have no right to be happy... I tell the devil "Jesus came that I could have life and have it in abundance." If the devil tries to tell me that I am no good... I say "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." When the devil reminds me of my past sins I say "Those sins are forgive by the blood of Jesus!" then when he says "God remembers them ." I say... "You may remember them but God has thrown the knowledge of my sins as far as the east is from the west, he wants me to do the same and to move forward and do better." I love what my roots have done for my life!.. I am learning the more I read God's word... the stronger and stronger I get...there seems to be less storms...but actually ... there are always storms here on earth... with God's word I weather them so much better... use to a breeze could feel like a storm in my life...now storms pass right over and I stand strong in God's word.

If I could encourage just one person to read their Bible daily...commit to it for one year...I would be so excited that I might just explode!!  My commitment was to get through my One Year Bible once...now I have almost read it the second time.... my plans now are to read it daily for the rest of my life... if my life has changed this much in that amount of time what will I be like in 20 years!  I can't wait to find out!

If every you find me in the hospital...and want to know what to do for me.... just sit beside my bed, read to me from the Bible and grow my roots!  God's word is a powerful thing.  God's word spoke the world into being...just a word from God and there was the sun, the moon and the stars.  Imagine what it can do spoken into our lives on a daily basis!!

10.4.11

Jeremiah 3:22 “My wayward children,” says the Lord, “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." “Yes, we’re coming,” the people reply, “for you are the Lord our God.

My Thoughts

We can never get so far from God that he can't reach us when we call out. The Children of Israel strayed from God over and over and over again. God always loved them!!  God took them back.... God said to them and he says to us "come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." We all mess up...even when we are trying to do our very best and especially when we are not trying at all. God loves us still... all we have to do is confess our sins, tell God that we are sorry...and God says right here in his word that he will "heal our wayward hearts!" I love this!  God loves us so much... I love that I can say to God "I want to have great faith, I want to do what you ask of me... but, God sometimes I have such a hard time... I need your help!" and God helps me, he helps me every single time.

It is so important for us to know that we can always call out to God, always! God loves us so much and is there, ever present, for us! Always! So often we attribute human qualities to God.  So often people don't forgive and we feel like God can never forgive us. Think of the person you love most in the world...how often have you forgiven that person, even when you thought that you couldn't. God forgives more than we can even think to forgive, God loves more than we can imagine loving. God can heal more than we can fathom. God says "My wayward children, come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." Our part is to always, always come back to God...our biggest mess up in so much smaller than God's great love.

10.25.10

Jeremiah 48:7 Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive.

My Thoughts

Have you ever worked really hard at something just to have somebody else come along and take the credit!!... That is an awful feeling isn't it!!  That is just what we do to God when we put our faith in things instead of putting our faith in God.... Everything we have is a gift from God... I have heard people say, as I cringe "Why should I thank God for that?? I worked for it!"... our ability to work hard, to do a job well comes from God.... we often recognize that a person with a beautiful voice has a gift that is from God... or that a painter that paints beautiful pictures has a gift from God.... we need to stop and notice the gifts from God that we have in our lives... the ability we have in our lives and give God the credit... The things I know about me are that I am sweet... that is a gift from God... I didn't know it for a long time.. but once I figured it out I could see that being sweet is a gift. Not everybody is sweet... I can make pretty cards... that too is a gift from God... God gives me the ability to see the cuts that I put together in a different way than a lot of other people see them and that makes me able to create a little bit of "art"... and now I can knit on my Knifty Knitters... and I understand more each day how the stitches work and how to use those stitches in different ways to create different things...I prayed for this gift... when I picked up my looms I said "God will you please help me to understand this and be good at it."  and God helps me more every day... I was even able to sell one!!... I know that was a gift from God!... My husband, Robby has the ability to go to work every day at UPS from sun up to sun down... he has been at this for more than 30 years now... God gave him that endurance, that ability to keep going... the healthy body to lift those boxes...God gave Robby the ability to provide for his family... and the willing spirit to do so day in and day out... that is a gift from God... Today when we are able to pay our bills, when we are able to buy something knew.. when we are able to make or do something that enhances our lives, lets remember that we need to trust in God and thank God for these things... we don not need to take the credit for all that God has done for us.  We need to remember that when we accomplish something that we like to get the credit... when God accomplishes something through us God likes to get the credit...Today will you thank God for all that you have and all that you can do?... Will you put your trust where it belongs and tell God today... Dear God I trust in you to provide for me and my family... I trust in you to supply all my needs both physically and mentally and spiritually... I thank you God for my skills and my wealth  because I know that these things are a gift from you.... today lets make God smile down on us by letting God know that we know that all we have is because he made sure that we had!

10.18.10

Jeremiah 31:33 "But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Isreal on that day." says the Lord. "I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their heearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people."

My Thougts

God tells us right here that his instructions are written on our heart... to follow God one thing we can do is follow our heart... our body tells us when we do something wrong, or are about to do something we shouldn't ... we need to listen to our bodies... this is a good step towards doing what God ask of us... if you body tells you no, listen... that is God's word nudging you to do the right thing.