1.9.14

Psalm 9:1 I will praise you Lord, with all my heart; I will tell you of all the marvelous things you have done.

My Thoughts

Just last night I asked God to help me learn how to pray better. Psalm 104 tells us to enter God's gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Here I am told just how to praise God. I am to tell Him of the marvelous things He has done. I praise God by noticing what He does, what He does for me, for my family, for my Church family, for my friends, for my country, for our earth.

I thought about being told about all that you have done. Could you imagine your spouse walking in and saying, "Look what you did today!! You ran to Walmart, you put the things away that you picked up. You emptied the dishwasher!! Look you washed off the cabinets and wash, dried, and folded a load of clothes, then you put them away. I see that you made the bed too! And on that quilt must have taken you forever to make... all that cutting and stacking the squares. Sewing them together...then laying it all out. You did all that and then you made this wonderful dinner for me. It must have taken you a while to peel the potatoes and carrots for the soup...when did you have time to shop for this dinner? Thank you!" Tomorrow I would be trying to do more that is for sure! God likes to know that we have noticed all of our wonderful gifts He has showered us with. It is also good for us to notice...then we become so aware of God that we learn to depend on Him even more.

God taught me so much in 2013.. I am so excited to see what I will learn in 2914!

1.8.14

Matthew 6:31-33 So don't worry about these things, saying, "what will we eat? What will we drink? What will we ware? These thing dominate the thoughts if unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 

My Thoughts

My Study notes, today, for the Old Testament said, "We are most likely to sin when we are desperate-feeling that we must have something. Then I read this right after. The world teaches us to want and want and want, then to want more. When I was a little girl I got new toys two times a year in my birthday and at Christmas. I got new clothes when school started and toward the end of the school year when weather started to warm up. I learned not to "want" except at these times if the year. I must admit that now I want something almost all the time. I can get pretty focused on buying stuff  for my next craft/art project. It is hard to buy things for people at Christmas because people tend to go out and by pretty much what they want. We get so focused on our next want, that we forget to stay focused on God. We can tend to feel a little desperate for things we want when we have all that we need. The more "things" that are created the more "things" we put in the necessary pile...we can have all that we really actually "need," in fact we can have an abundance of what we "need" Then still think we need more. We get so focused on seeking the next new gadget that we forget to focus on God. We forget to notice that God has already supplied all that we do "need" and he has even given us so many of the desires of our hearts. Yet we forget to keep our eyes in Him.

This has been a good lesson to me! A very good lesson. There are some things I am about to change in my life.  I need to focus more on God and less on my wants. Then I need to be very aware of how God is supplying all of my needs. Evey single one of them! 

1.7.14

Proverbs 2:1-5 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.

My Thoughts

Right here it tells us that it is our responsibility to seek the wisdom of God. We have a duty to do all that we can to understand what God is telling us in His word. It tells us too that if we seek understanding and cry out for out that we will gain knowledge. It does not however say that we will gain knowledge without seeking.

If we run a red light we will still get a ticket even if we say, "I didn't know!" What will they say at the gates of Heaven if we say, "I didn't know?" I for years had Bibles in my house that collected dust, or looked pretty on my arm when I went off to Church. I didn't know! Know when I read God's word, I am shocked at the things that I didn't know!! I didn't know because I didn't take the time, or make the effort to know. There is so much more that I have to learn...I just pray that I live long enough to learn all that God requires of me. I feel so blessed by God's grace that will help me understand and make me strong. Before I started reading my Bible I didn't understand what grace was at all.

I am in no way saying, "I do this right!" I fall so shot all the time! I should have been seeking knowledge for years and years instead of the last 4 years. I shutter to think about how far behind I am now. I just share my experience because I what other people that have not thought to pick up their Bibles to do so... this process has changed my life in the most amazing ways. Each day that I pick up my Bible and read it I become more dependent on God and less dependent on me and my life just gets better. God takes so much better care of me than I was ever or could ever take of myself. The more I learn to give over to God the better my life becomes. I am amazed by that fact alone. The more that I understand, truly understand, that all I have comes from God, the more amazed I am at how much that God loves me.

Reading our Bibles, seeking knowledge does not increase the burdens on our lives. It does not give us more to do. It give us a better way to live. God's word is full of covenants that God has made for us. A covenant is a promise based on an action. If we don't know what those covenants we can not benefit from them by choosing to do our part. The more of God's covenant promises I learn the more my life changes for the better.

If we leave the learning of these wonderful blessings up to others, we may just miss out on blessings that best fit our personal lives. Bible Info.com tells me that there are 3573 promises in the Bible... What if the people teaching me focus on 30 of those... there may be another 30 there that would benefit my personal life more. The fact is the more of those promises I know the better my life will be...and 52 Sunday mornings are just not enough to learn them all. So for my life to be the best it can be I have to pick up God's word and seek His wisdom for my life.

What I have learned to love about God is that everything that He ask me to do for Him, benefits me in amazing ways...now that is love people! That is love!



1.6.14

Psalm 5:12 O Lord, hear me as I pray, pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you.

My Thoughts

I looked up groanings.. it means To voice a deep, inarticulate sound, as of pain, grief, or displeasure. This really got me to thinking.  We so often go to God for help and for forgiveness or when we are worried about a sick loved one...but we tend to go to people for our pain and displeasure. We moan and groan to people.  When we do this are we asking them to solve our problems.  I never really thought of moaning and groaning to people as a prayer to them, but what if God sees it that way?  When I do go to God with my moaning and groaning He gives me an answer, maybe not one I always want to hear.  But it is always the right answer. How much better would our lives be if we, like David, would learn to go to God with our goraning instead of groaning to the people around us?  I think it would be life changing.  I must do better!

1.3.14

Matthew 3:10-11 "Get out if here Satan," Jesus told him, "for the Scriptures say, 'You must worship The Lord your God and serve him only.'" 

Then the devil went away, and the angels came and took care of Jesus.

My Thoughts
This was the third time that Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, every time Jesus replied, "The Scriptures say." Jesus used the scriptures to fight, to resist what Satan offered. Jesus knew how important the Scriptures were when dealing with the devil! If perfect Jesus needed Scripture, don't we?

I am learning every day, the power of Scripture. I still have a long way to go before I am using Scripture in every part of my life...but I am getting there...little by little. Thank God that He honors our efforts and allows us time to grow.

I am so thankful that when I have used scripture in my life it works so wonderfully! I have used it to quiet my fears, give me strength, heal my body, quiet anxiety, keep depression at bay, to help me fall asleep.  The more Scripture I learn the better able I am to fight off Satan and the moe successful I am at living life.

1.2.14

Genesis 4:7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is waiting at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be it's master. 

My Thoughts
We have a choice, we can control sin or we can let sin control us. The first step in controlling sin is to do what is right. When we do that we keep the door to sin shut. Some choices me make open the door a little, some open the door wide, really wide and sin takes over. Even when we do our best, sin can slither in through the crack in the bottom. We must stay on our toes and be constantly aware.

I know when I have let sin in that all control escapes me. My kind runs wild, what seemed right seems all wrong.  It seems impossible to take my thoughts captive. Anxiety takes hold, it is next to impossible to control my emotions. When I let sin in and it takes control of me, Satan has me where he wants me, unable to function. Then I am more open to suggestion.

When I take control enough to give God control, I am peaceful, filled with joy, able to take my thoughts captive with God's word. I am open to suggestion, but not so relieved by it that I make unwise choices. I am able to discern good from bad. I am best able to take control when I renew my mind daily with God's word then I have wisdom that helps me take control with wise choices.

Satan loves to make us think he is giving us control, then have our lives spiral out of control. God tells us the truth up front. God tells us that at times life will be hard. God tells us that there are things we will have to give up. God tells us what He will reward us with when we make right choices. God even tells us that He will send down His grace to make us able. God stays with us all the way. God loves us and acts in that love.  Satan lures us in with lies then let's us fall after he says it's okay to jump.

We have a choice, we can take control of sin, or we can let sin control us. Taking control of sin takes effort, but it is an effort that God rewards. How amazing is God that he gives us rules that make our lives better,then He rewards us for following those rules!

1.1.14

Matthew 2:1-3 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the regin of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

My Thoughts

Pride! Finally I understand pride! I have sort of got "pride" but somehow I would get so completely confused. We teach our children to be proud of their achievements. We learn to be proud of ourselves when we accomplish something. Yet we are not suppose to be prideful! I just somehow could not wrap my mind around this. It bothered me greatly, because I knew that I should not be prideful and I didn't want to be. But I also knew that pride in my accomplishments was a good thing, it helped me want to accomplish more and we are suppose to be fruitful.

As I read this my thought about King Herod being deeply disturbed by the birth of Jesus was because he was prideful! I almost jumped out of my seat because I finally "got it".... I finally understood pride. Herod thought he was best suited to be King, Herod thought he knew more than anybody what was best for Jerusalem. All the people that loved King Herod were disturbed too, because they liked what King Herod was doing for them, they liked having what they had and they didn't want to give it up. They didn't want change. They didn't want a new king because they had a king that suited what they wanted in life. They didn't want someone to tell them to do things differently. King Herod didn't want someone to be king over him. Pride is thinking that we know better. Pride is not listening to others. Pride is not accepting change because we are happy with what we have now. Pride is not falling under the will of God because we think we know better or because we like things they way they are even if things could be better. Pride is thinking we are better than the next person. Pride is being too proud of where we are in life to allow change. Pride is thinking we do things all on our own and not giving God the credit for all that we have. Pride is thinking that we deserve more than somebody else. Pride is forgetting that all that we have belongs to God.

I am so relieved to finally "get" the meaning of pride as it is talked about in the Bible. Knowledge is power... knowing what God means makes us more powerful Christians because it makes us more able to fall under the will of God. I pray that God gives me more and more understanding of His word so that I can be a better follower of His instruction.