7.21.12

Romans 14:17-18 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and other will approve of you too.

My Thoughts

I love that God put all the answers in the Bible..there are there for us...the answers for everything!!  I love this verse because I am a people pleaser.... I am always, for some unknown reason in need of the approvals of others. Right here God tells me how to please Him and get approval of others... I just have to live a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  If I go about being good and keeping peace and finding joy in the Holy Spirit, which is easy if I let the Holy Spirit guide me, then God will be pleased with me and people will approve of me too!! I love God, even if somebody doesn't want to approve of me, God will soften their hearts toward me if I am doing what God ask!! Right here in God's word I have the answer to my people pleasing problems... Please God by being good and being a peacemaker, by by listening joyfully to the Holy Spirit and then God takes care of the rest!! 

God always wants to bless our lives, always!!  When we do what God ask us to do we put ourselves in a position for God to pour those blessing down from heaven until they are overflowing in our lives!!  We are so lucky to be children of the Most High God!!   

7.20.12

Romans 13:14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And don't let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

My Thoughts

Every time the Bible says clothe yourself...I think of how this takes effort, decision making, choosing just what we are going to ware.  When we put our clothes on we have first decided to get dressed. Then we make a choice in what we are going to ware.  Then it takes an effort to get those clothes on. For healthy people this is easy, for unhealthy  some days this can be an almost impossible task.

It is the same way with clothing ourselves in the presence of Jesus.  It is a a decision we make, an effort.  For healthy Christians it is almost automatic ... for unhealthy Christians it takes a lot more determination to make the time.  We must know God's word to be able to think on it all the time.  The devil is always busy, busy bombarding our thoughts with his thinking, making us think that they are out thoughts.  We can overcome these thoughts if we  have God's words stored in our minds and our hearts.  It is our choice to listen to what the devil tells us and then to dwell on those thoughts... or we can choose to clothe our minds with the presence of Jesus.

I find that the more I read and understand God's word the more I am able to draw on it. The more I know recognize the enemy!  The more I hear the Holy Spirit prompting me.  God's word brings blessing to our lives...blessing bigger than our minds are capable of dreaming.  God's word has great power, power for us to use, to have access to... we have to know God's word to be able to assess the power of God. When we do amazing things will begin to happen in our lives!

7.28.12

Proverbs 5:23 He will die for lack of self-control (on version uses the word discipline here); he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

My Thoughts

Discipline is so important in all parts of our lives. It is most important in our relationship with God...we need to discipline ourselves enough to make time in our busy days for God. In prayer and studying His word... it is one of the most life altering disciplines we can develop. 

Discipline is important too in our jobs, in our chores, in how we manage money, in how we manage our anger, in how we manage our love. If we are having a problem in any area of our lives one of the first things we can do is ask ourselves "Am I disciplined in this area?" then we need to be completely honest with ourselves when we answer that question.  If the answer is no... we need to get busy making a plan. Using self-control to put off our "want to's" until our "have to's" are done. We need to think of our "have to's" not as a burden...but as the steps to a better life.  Look at the whole picture when we are examining our "have to's" and see them as "if's and then's." ...the Bible is full of "if's and then's."  If Moses lifted his staff, God would part the sea.  If Noah built the ark, God would save him and his family.  If Joshua and his army marched around the walls of Jericho, then God would make the walls fall down. 

If we spend time with God, we will become more loving people.  If we manage our money we will have money when we need it. If we eat good foods we will be healither. If we go to work we will get a paycheck on Friday. 

I think so often we see the "if's" and don't look to the "then's" and that makes the "if's" seem not worth it.  And so often we want the "then's" and think we don't need to do the "if's."  Many times we use our credit cards to get the "then's" then doing the "if" part seems like it has no reward because we rewarded ourselves first. Our lives are so much better if we put things in their proper order... if we do the "if's" and wait on the "then's."  We can also get started on our "if's" so much easier if we will stop and pinpoint the "then's."  For instance if we need to eat healthier that is so much easier if we take time to truly pinpoint all the "then's" of eating healthy...then we can see the "if's" as a stepping stone to the "then" instead of seeing the "if" as a hardship.

The key is discipline and self control... and how we look at discipline and self control makes all the difference. If we choose to see the "if's" as stepping stones to our "then's" then the rewards for our "if's" are so much sweeter. 

7.27.12

1 Peter 1:5  The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.

My Thoughts

I love this...it is telling us that if we love God with all our heart and seek after Him, then the love that comes from us will be from a pure heart, a clear conscience and it will come from our faith.  When we love others because we love God, our love will never have it's own motives.  We won't expect in return, we won't even expect love in return we will just love. We the best love that we could ever love when we love with a pure heart, a clear conscience and with genuine faith.

The  wonderful thing about God is how He builds in rewards when we do what is right...when we learn to love, just to love with that pure love, people can't help but love us back. I love God!!  I love how He sets up our lives to be so wonderful if we just keep our eyes on Him and love Him with all our heart!!

7.25.12

2 Chronicles 16:12 In the 39th year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord's help but turned only to his physicians. So he died in the forty-first year of his reign.

My Thoughts

Wow... I think of how many times that I have been to the doctor with either minor things... or bigger things like my Lupus and and failed to pray. I have prayed to be healed over my Lupus. But am not sure that I have every prayed on my way to the doctor, or before I went to the doctor with a Lupus flair.  This verse will change ever visit I make to the doctor.

I do remember in November 2010  praying just before my Bible reading... God prompted me to call the doctor...in the middle of my prayers God said to me call Dr. Ayers now!!  I had, had a tummy ache for about a month ... not bad but constant...that weekend I had been really hot..I kept turning down the thermostat and all the kids came to visit...they complained because it was freezing...when I check the thermostat it was on 58 degrees...I was burning up wasn't I??  On Monday I had turned the thermostat back up to normal and thought nothing else of it... then I got that message from God right in my spirit... "Call Dr. Ayers now!" I did... even before I did my Bible reading.  I told them that I needed an appointment...but there was no hurry...I wasn't feeling my best...but I was not feeling bad either.  They told me to be there at 2:30.  I said Okay, who was I to argue with what God prompted?  I prayed that day, "God you know why you sent me here I put this into your hands."  When Dr. Ayers came into the room he asked me what was going  on... I told him two things 1. That I had had a tummy ache for a few weeks. 2. That I had been so hot on the weekend. He looked at me and said, without hesitation "I believe it is your gallbladder. I will schedule some test." I went on Wednesday... Thanksgiving was Thrusday... We got the results on Monday, and on Tuesday I had my gallbladder removed. I was never afraid. Not for one minute, God had told me to go to the doctor, if I was not going to be okay, why would he have sent me?

What I have learned over the past few months is that God prompts us in so many ways! He puts useful information in our paths so that we can understand it.  If we pray about what we have learned, God will tell us how to use that information. Or if that information is useful for our situation.  I believe that God has put so much healthy information in my path to show me how He is going to go about healing my body.  It is up to me to listen and to use that information.  I was praying about all the information that I have received lately about health  and God dropped in my spirit these words, "If Noah hadn't built the ark he would have drowned." I knew in that instance that if I didn't exercise and eat right I would get worse... if I did exercise and eat right that I was going to be more than just better!!

I love this verse... God does not tell us not to seek doctors here... He tells us that Asa didn't not seek Him, that he turned "only" to his physicians. I am lead to believe by this verse that if Asa had been seeking God too when he went to his doctor that God would have healed Asa through his doctor. 

We should constantly be seeking God in all that we do... but we need to be totally aware that we need to seek after God for his healing on our body as we seek our our physicians for the knowledge that God has placed in their hearts, heads and hands. 

Even when we have a small cut...and we watch that cut amazing heal .. watch it go away... look down later and not even be able to tell that it was ever there... we need to look up and thank God for that miracle of healing. We take so little notice of so much that we are use to seeing that we forget to be amazed, we forget to be in awe of God and all the everyday miracles He places in our lives every day!! We bandage little children's boboo's like the bandage is the healer and we forget to teach them at that tiny age that our wonderful God is at work under that band-aid. We forget to remember that in so many places in the world that big diseases get in through small cuts or scratches.  We are so blessed that God heals us.  We need to always remember to invite Him to be under our small bandages and with our doctor visits. We need to thank Him for each victory big and small that he has over our bodies!!  We need never to forget that our God is the great physician!

7.24.12

Psalms 18:47 He is the God who pays back those who harm me; he subdues the nations under me and rescued me from my enemies.

My Thoughts

I was thinking about how God loves all of His children...every one of us. Our only real enemy is the devil.  If I am God child and He will rescue me from people who mistreat me.  Then if I mistreat somebody that is God's child ...he will also rescue them from me!! 

In Matthew 5:42-24 Jesus tells us ⁴³ “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! ⁴⁵ In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

What we have to remember is that God loves us all...and the devil is fighting for all of us.  When we mess up don't we want people praying for us?? So when somebody else looses a momentary battle with the devil himself shouldn't we pray for them?  We should!!  Jesus tells us to. 

We have to learn to separate evil acts from people and know that the devil causes the evil ...we have to understand if at some weak moment the devil gets a hold us of us, that we need and want people praying for us, making us strong, putting us back on the right track with God. 

As Christians...as children of God we need to be loving, even when others are not loving. Jesus didn't come to this earth to pick out the "good"  and "perfect" people to love, He came to let the "bad" people know that they were loved by God... that God could change them... that He was here to die for their sins...that they were loved...and that they didn't have to be prisoners of satin!

In the mist of this Batman Movie Massacre I see Christians talk about praying for the victims and their families...oh we need to do that!!  Then I see Christians talk about how this lost soul...ow this man so young, needs to be put to death!!  Pure hate for this  young man. And I think... he did do something so awful... he does deserve to be punished for what he has done to so many...but above all the people it seems that he needs our prayers the most, he had a moment in time where satin was able to take hold so tight that this young man was lost to himself and lost to God.  If as Christians we are to do as Jesus preached love our enemies pray for those who persecute us.. we are to pray for the lost... even the people so lost, especially for the people so lost that the devil gets his claws in so tight that he uses a young man to do so much harm.

We are told in Luke 6:37 "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. We have to want for others what we want for ourselves... even if what others do is so much more than we can imagine.  If we want prayers when we mess up...we have to pray for others who mess up.  If we want a second chance to regain our lives when the devil gets a hold of us...we need to want that for others.

I am not suggesting that we let this man go... I believe that he needs to be locked away to keep people safe...to keep him safe from himself, but I am saying that we don't need to hate!!  Jesus tells us to love others.. to pray for others that way we will be acting as true Children of God when we do.   We should hate evil, but when we hate evil we need to remember that, that hate needs to be directed at satin himself.

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!

7.22.12

Ephesians 1:18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

My Thoughts

Amen

7.13.12

Romans 12:2 (Amplified Bible)  Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

My Thoughts

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Romans 7:13 tells us that Satin uses the knowledge of the commandments for his own evil purposes.  So often what we know of God is the commandment's and that Jesus died for our sins.  Our real true knowledge of God's promises stops there or somewhere close to there.  I know for so long that mind did.  I knew just enough for the devil to use what I knew against me.  I knew just enough that the devil could fill me with guilt.

The world is always putting things in our minds...through television, magazines, books, advertisements. Making things that were unacceptable, acceptable.  One of the ones that stick out in my mind that really bothered me was a recent Oreo commercial the mom says...with her children in the room "Well shut the front door."... we all know the phrase that was referring to... now people say that "Well shut the front door." all the time like it is ok... like it does not mean the "R" rated version.  But it does...we all know it does.  We think the "G" rated version is ok... because a commercial told us it was... but we all know that the "R" rated version is not ok. Yet they are one in the same.  Satin slipped that one in on some of us... conforming us to this world by modifying the bad into something that seems acceptable. It saddens me.

The only way that we can fight all the things that bombard our minds through media...and what others pick up from media is to constantly renew our minds with God's word.. we need to really know God's word... how much He loves us, how much He is willing to help us and grow us, what all God's word says about how we can go about being good people.  God tells us how to combat evil...but to do that we have to know what God's word says.  God's word has great power over Satin... over evil. God gives us His word to combat evil... but we have to have it stored up in our hearts... we have to keep our heads filled with God's word...and we have to renew our minds and hearts with God's word to be able to fight off the evil of this world.. if we don't renew our minds, our minds will get so filled with stuff that it crowds out what we have learned.  We need a constant renewal of our minds so that we will recognize evil when it happens. 

The wonderful thing about God's word is how powerful it is... it does not take much of our time to be a mighty force!.. We can spend just 15 or 30 minutes a day in God world...and be bombarded  for another 15 1/2 hours with other things...and God's word can win out. I we are going to watch TV, read magazines and books, listen to people give us advice for so many hours in the day... we need the power of God's word to help us discern the good from the evil.  It is a small investment that has huge rewards.

7.20.12

Psalms 50:15 When I call on God in the day of trouble; He will deliver me and I will honor and glorify Him.

My Thoughts

We all know that we can call on God... people that hardly ever pray, pray when things get really bad... we know that God will be there for us in times of trouble. Even people that know very little about God's word know this.  It is a wonderful thing that God is there for us and loves us so much. 

What we often forget is the last part of this verse... "I will honor and glorify Him!" I know that I am guilty of this in the past...and still today I am guilty of this at times. How dare me!!  Everything that we have is a gift from God, everything!!  Often we set our lives up in a way that gets us into a mess then we ask God to get us out of that mess...so often He does...then we go about thinking that we are lucky.  We are not lucky ...did we forget what we prayed???  We are blessed, not lucky.  Each and every time that we call on God and He delivers us...we need to stop and say "Thank you God! For loving me and saving me from this mess I got myself in." "Thank you God for loving me and taking care of me in this time of trouble." The we need to honor God and glorify Him ...by answering when people say.. "You were so lucky." our answer needs to be "No, I was so blessed, God did this." We need to make an effort, we need to decide to be constantly aware of what God does in our lives. If we are aware we have such a better opportunity to be thankful... to honor and glorify God. 

7.19.12

Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

My Thoughts

The more we hear God's word the more our faith grows.  I heard Joyce Meyer say, "We believe what we hear ourselves say more than we believe anything else." It got me to thinking that I need to hear myself say God's word our loud.  Then not only have I read it...I have also heard it.  That is when I started reading God's word out loud. It is amazing the difference. It is like multiplying what you read by three... you read it, you say it and you hear it.  It is like planting it 3 times in your heart. In Matthew 13 we are told that if we plant God's word in our heart it will indeed bear fruit and yield a good return!!  God's word grows us into better people...our faith grows with God's word. Reading God's word, really reading it... thinking about what it says .. will change our lives in amazing ways!!  In God's way...which is always perfect!! If we want to make changes for the better in our lives, the sure way to do that is to learn God's word...and let him grow our faith...which grows our hope...which grows our lives in amazing ways.

7.18.12

Romans 5:3-5 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

My Thoughts

I love this!! It is a beautiful verse!!  When we run into problems and trials and we learn to give them over to God...then the next time we have a problem or trial...we give it over sooner...we know we can get thought this trial because God got us through before... as our faith in God grows that He will get us through, we begin to handle the problems that come along in life with more and more character, with grace. Holding our heads up high... having confidence that God is going to be there with us..and God is going to get us through to the other side!!  As our faith grows, our confidence that God will save us grows!! How exciting!!

Then this is my favorite part... "we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love!"  Every time we are lead by the Holy Spirit inside of us... prompting us to do something, telling us not to do something else...we are being showered with God's love!! Every time that we feel deep down in our spirit that we are worthy, that we can, that all things are possible...that is God loving us through the Holy Spirit inside of us!!   God's words are loving and encouraging...when they tell us not to do something they are kind words. God words are words of forgiveness, and words of strength. God's words are words of peace and love.  When we hear those kind of words deep in our spirit..we can know they are from God, Himself, telling us through the Holy Spirit things He wants us to know...and those words mean that we are so loved by God. 

Next time you hear that prompting of love.. smile... because it is you, being loved so dearly by God, Himself!!

7.18.12

Romans 4:2-3 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about.  But that was not God's way.  For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith."

My Thoughts

You see this in David too... David did wrong... David questioned when God was going to do what He said...but David always had faith that God was going to do what God said He would do.  David was counted righteous by his faith too.

To have this kind of faith we need to know what God's word says.  When we know what God's promises are we can see them being answered all around us.  Witnessing God's promises being fulfilled grows our faith.  So often we are witness to God's promises being fulfilled and we don't know it...because we have failed to educate ourselves on the promises of God. 

Years ago I asked Jesus into my heart.  I tried to be good and do good... I was trying to get to heaven on my good works.  I would always wonder if I was good enough...would God want me in heaven?  If I had know I was dieing I would have been terrified. Oh I would go to church (on and off) and try to learn and understand...but I always felt empty somehow...not good enough to get into heaven. Then I would fail miserably...because I just couldn't keep up with being so good!! I would stop trying!  It was a never ending cycle.

Then I started reading my Bible every day...and slowly but surly understanding it... wanting more all the time to understand it!!  I begin to understand that God loves me no matter what!!  I begin to read about the promises of God...and see them played out in people's lives....and I started to become aware when those promises were played out in my life. I could be aware of then because I finally knew what they were.  The more I saw God answering people's prayers...the more my faith grew.  The more my faith grew the more I knew that God loves me, no matter! God loves me even when I mess up!  The more I understood just how much God loves me...the better I got at being good...not because being good would get me into heaven...but because being good would please my God that loves me so much!!  The more I understand God and just how much He loves me...the more I call on Him to help me be good, to help me make the right decisions...the more I put my faith in Him to make me a better person. 

Before I was trying to be right by what I did... now I am right because I am a child of the Most High God who makes me right because I love Him, because I have faith that He loves me. I don't give up when I mess up anymore...because I know that what it do is not what makes God love me.... God just loves me... I know that I don't have to be afraid to go to God and say "I did this _____." God already knows what I did and He loves me anyway...so much that Jesus died already for what I did wrong.  I don't have to pick myself up, God pick me up and puts me right back on solid ground..and I get to start moving forward in His love again. God doesn't condemn me...He picks me up and loves me... it is like he hugs me tight and says "I love you so much!" Then He takes my face in His hands and says "Let me help you, did you learn something? Good!!  Now here is how to do it better next time...don't forget to take my hand when you get there and I will help you do better...I am always here for you... I love you!! Everything is all right." I know these things because I know God's word now. 

If you don't feel these things..it is not because they are not there for you...they are... God loves you so much! You just have to learn what is there for you... you just have to read God word over and over and over so you can recognize when those promises are being fulfilled around  you, for you... that will grow your faith...and faith is what makes us right with God. 

7.16.12

Proverbs 19:13 A foolish child is a calamity to a father, a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.

My Thoughts

I wonder how often we annoy our husbands by just being disagreeable. No argumentative just disagreeable. I think I might be guilty of this, no I am guilty of this.  I try often to get Robby to see the other side of  a thing a happening. I say "but what if you look at it this way?"  I am trying to be sweet when I do this...but I think that I may be being "as annoying as constant dripping."  Often it is just his view on the world... do I really want him to see the world different than he does?  After all I did fall in love with this man.  He is a godly man, he loves God! If he needs to see something differently than I need to let God work on that and just be a good listener, a sounding block. I sure don't need to be quarrelsome in any way.  I want to be loving and kind, a wife that is there for her husband. I am going to pay better attention to what I say about what Robby is saying so I will never be "as annoying as constant dripping," don't you just hate that sound?!

How blessed I am that God would make me aware of my actions so that I could improve myself as a wife, as a mother, as a friend. 

7.15.12

Romans 2:2 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God.  And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit.  And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

My Thoughts

This verse is telling us that being a Christian is not about following religious laws...it is about loving God, seeking after Him, loving Him enough that what He thinks about our actions, our thoughts, our words is more important to us than what anybody else thinks!   When we seek after God.. praise Him and love Him... everything else will fall right into place.  We won't have to try to please God... we will want to please God and He will make us able to do it!!  His grace makes us able!!  He gives us the power to resist sin and win the battle against the devil.

The thing is.. Christianity is not about doing what is right and being perfect.. it is about loving God so much that we are in a place where God changes us...then we begin to do what is right because we love God... not to win prizes or favor...but out of pure love.  Doing right out of our love for God!  If we love God... if we seek God... if we love God so much that He is who we want to please...then God makes  us able to do all other things out of His love for us!!

The more I know God...the more I seek after Him, the more I understand this verse.  We don't have to be there...we just have to work toward getting there..then God takes over!

7.14.12

Proverbs 19:8 To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.

My Thoughts

When we seek to know God's word it improves us!!  It makes us better people.  We have to cherish God's word with passion!!  Like an Alabama fan or an Auburn fan cherishes football! A devout football fan doesn't miss a game...they know the stats of the games...they know which games their teams have won. A "real" football fan knows everything there is to know about their team.  They love that knowledge. And they plan their life around "the game."

That is how we should be about God's word...we should seek after it...we should not want to miss one day of reading it... we should study it so we know all the facts... it should be a part of who we are.  When God's word, the wisdom of God becomes a part of our everyday life it begins to shape our decisions, our words, our actions it becomes a part of who we are.. it becomes a part of all we do.  When we cherish God and His word .... that understanding  will make our lives prosperous.

We all want to do better...we all want our lives to become a little better and a little better and a little better. God's word tells us how... we have to start with the desire to acquire the wisdom written down in those wonderful words...once we get into God word then we begin to cherish the understanding that comes with those words.  The more we cherish them...the more they become a part of who we are.... we become better and better...and then all the things around us become better and better. 

God does not make mistakes.. and He he does no break His promises to us.  God tells us here that if we seek wisdom and cherish understanding that we will prosper!! We need to love God's word with the same passion a devoted football fan loves the game! When we do that God will make amazing changes in our lives!!

7.13.12

1 Chronicles 15:9 Sing to Him; yes, sing his praises.  Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

My Thoughts

We need to go about telling God thank you!!... Being aware of each thing that goes right in our days and sending up a thank you to God.  Praising God constantly for the things that He does for us...then we need to tell others. What better witness is there than letting people what God does for us!!

To be able to do this we have to learn to be aware of our blessing.  We have to take notice of all the things that are good in our life, in our day, in our spouses, in our children, in our friends, in our jobs. 

The devil reminds us all the time of the things that goes wrong...partly because he is bragging.. partly because he wants to trip us up and get our focus off of God. So often a 100 things can go right and we spend the whole day focusing on the one thing that went wrong. We can decide our life is terrible because all we see is the bad things.

We can decided how wonderful our life is if we choose to focus on the good things...and there are so many good things!  Sometimes the things that seem "bad" are blessing that we don't even know happened to us.  If we loose our car keys in the morning...that may just be a blessing that kept us from being at the wrong intersection at the wrong time.

Just yesterday when I took my step-mom Gail to the doctor...she had a late appointment...the doctor told her to put on a gown and he would be right back...he forgot her!!... He did... there only 2 nurses and the doctor left...all the lights were off...when they opened the door and saw us there!!  I saw it as a blessing because it kept us from being in the 5 o'clock traffic in B'ham!!... We laughed about it all the way home.  It could have made us angry and upset the rest of our night...but we chose to see the blessing in it!  How often could we have a perfectly wonderful day in spite of a bad happening if we would just choose to see a blessing??  This was a good lesson for me!! 

We have to set about seeking after the blessings... looking for them like they are the treasures that they are.  Our blessings are more valuable than diamonds or gold... think about how we would seek those if somebody told us they were hidden somewhere in our day..we would search diligently!  Yet we tend to overlook our everyday blessings!!  It is time that we take a stand, a stand to be thankful!!  To seek and to find each and every blessing in our day!!  It would make God smile that we took time to notice what he is doing for us...and it would change our lives in amazing ways!!! 

Will you make a commitment today to seek after the blessing in your day? I will seek the blessing that God has given me today!!  When we do that God even blesses us more!!

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!"

7.11.12

Matthew 17:20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

My Thoughts

Faith grows!!... When we get in God's word....and we surround ourselves with Godly people we have an opportunity for our faith to grow! As we learn the promises of God.. and watch them play out in lives of godly people our own faith begins to grow.  When we go to God in prayer... and I mean specific prayers it makes us aware when God answers them... that grows our faith. When we take a step toward something that seems impossible...and put the end results in God's hands...then we all the sudden find we are capable... our faith grows.. the more our faith grows... the more we depend on God.. the more God can accomplish thought us.

Ninety-two days ago I set off on a journey to feel like a healthy person...I asked God to help me!!  My goal was to exercise and get dressed every day for 80 days so that it would become a habit.. so that I will feel like a well person, a healthy person...so that maybe that good habit would trickle down into the rest of my life.  I knew that I needed God..I was not the exercising type at all...on top of that I was exhausted all the time from Lupus and Fibromyalgia... could I really do this... not without God!! I gave it to God.. stepped up and got started.  At first I could only exercise 5 minutes, just 5 minutes and I felt like my heart would explode... it was that way for a few weeks... but God stepped in because I asked Him too... Now, 92 days later I exercise every morning.. usually for a little over an hour.. and I have changed my diet drastically... and I am excited about it!!!  It is not always easy to do...but it is always exciting!!  I could not have moved that mountain without God!!  God made it possible... God grew me... God made sure that I saw myself as healthy!!  God grew my faith.

Sunday I went up to be prayed for for healing for my body..I have done this many times before.  But Sunday, because God grew my faith, it was different.  Before I went up hoping that somebody elses prayers would be answered and I would be healed... This time my faith in God had grown and when I went up to be prayed for for healing I told God "God, I feel you healing my body every day, I am here today to accept your healing over my body!"  Those prayers that were being prayed for me Sunday felt different...the oil that was placed on my head smelled stronger... my body felt different.  The Bible says that "Your faith will make you whole." and it says "Seek and you will find." I have  learned to seek after a stronger faith in what God can do!!  I have learned that my faith can grow if I give it all to God.  God keeps growing us!!  Our part is to seek after Him!!

7.10.12

Psalms 119:50 This is my comfort and consolation in my affliction: Your word has revived me and given me life.

My Thoughts

Oh I love this... I so know that God's word has revived me and given me life since I started reading it every day...making it a part of who I am.... and what I am to become.  God's word gives me strength, it gives me peace, it gives me joy, it makes me know that I am loved by God. It give me directions... it gives me answers...it gives me freedom ...it has taught me that God made me so I must be fine just the way I am...I have a purpose.

Now when times get hard..I do know that I can call out to God and that He hears me!!  I know that no matter how hard the situation at hand seems, God is with me and will get me through.  The more I know God through His word...the more I am able to depend on Him, to trust in Him.. The more I am able to have the faith I need to  put God's word into action in my life.

I love it when I read a verse that I have heard before...and it finally applies to my life...I can see it in action.. that means that I am growing in God.  God's word will change your life!!  God's word changed me in ways that I could have never imagined. 

If I could wave a magic wand over each and every person I meet and give them one thing...I would give them the desire to read their Bible every day...that would be something that would impact their lives every day forever in amazing ways. I feels so amazingly blessed that I picked up my Bible and didn't give up..that I kept reading long enough to know that I want to read it every day forever!!

7.9.12

Colossians 3:14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

My Thoughts

I love this... if you think about it... you have to make an effort to put your clothes on... you have to decide which ones you want to ware...then you have to get busy getting dressed. When you want to be your best you plan your outfit...every part of it.  If you are not dressed and emergency comes up you run and grab the first thing you can find...and are not really put together very well.. but if you have something important happening you make sure to look you best.

It takes an effort... a decision on our part to put on love. We have to make the plan...we have to lay those clothes out!!... Be ready.  We have to know what love is to clothes ourselves in love.  It takes our best effort to be loving.  It is what God ask us to do!! 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us exactly what love it... it says: ⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 

If we want to clothe ourselves in love we need to study, pray, make plans to be these thing.  Love its not a feeling... love is an action.   We must make the effort to be loving to others.. all others!!

7.8.12

John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.  But Jesus came that I may have life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

My Thoughts

God sent Jesus so that we could be forgiven of our sins... and be blessed!! When we trust in God...when we believe in Jesus...when we believe what God's word tells us and do our best to do what God would have us do .. God loves to fill our life with abundance!!

When things are going wrong ...that is the devil himself trying to distract us from God and all His love for us!!  ... We just need to keep our eyes, and mind, our heart on God and trust the He loves us and is working for our good... then things will get better... God loves to give us things...when we live in His love ...and we love Him and others He just pours out those blessings. 

The best way to chase away the devil is to trust God in the storms!! I can just see the devil now saying "I am not going to mess with her anymore... it just makes her love God more!!"  God sent Jesus, who died for our sins...and He sins His grace to make us able to do things we could not do on our own.  When we love Jesus...and trust God there is nothing that we can't accomplish if it is in the will of God!! 

God love us so much!!... The more we know and understand that the more that God can do in our lives... Jesus came so lour lives could be full and overflowing.. how special is that!!!

7.7.12

Psalms 5:3 Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my request to you and wait expectantly.

My Thoughts

I love this... I bring my request to You, God and wait expecting!!  We we love God and have faith in Him, we can expect answers to our request!!  The thought just makes me smile!

7.6.12

Psalms 4:4 Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.

My Thoughts

This does not say don't sin by being angry... we are all going to get angry at some point .... and sometimes we need to be angry when we see injustice in the world.  Sometimes anger bring about wonderful change.  What we don't need to do is let anger control us.. control our words.. cause us to act out in a way that we will regret later.  So often if we would just keep our mouth shut... send up a prayer to God and ask Him to help us with our thoughts...and our words.. when we wake up we find that we are not even angry any more.  How many marriages, friendships, relationships could be saved if we didn't let anger control us?? 

We can learn to recognize the signs of anger in our bodies... in our minds.. if we pay close attention.  Then we can learn to react by sending up a prayer to God and making the decision to talk about what upsets us tomorrow... after God has had time to work on our heart, our words.

We choose to give up control to anger.. and we have the choice to take that control back and give that anger to God... God knows every body's heart. God knows the whole situation. God will set our minds and hearts right if we just give Him the chance...if we choose not to sin by letting anger take control of our actions and words. 

7.5.12

Proverbs 18:14 The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?

My Thoughts

Oh this is so true!!... Haven't we all see it... sick people who practically willed themselves well.  They decide they are going to make it... the get involved in making it and they do! 

Then I have seen perfectly healthy people become distraught with sadness, depression and crumble...their health decline rapidly!  I have seen depressed people become a shadow of their former self.  I have been a shadow of myself.  So lost... so hopeless...even with the people around me doing all they could for me...I just couldn't find my way to the surface.

As sick as I have been with Lupus and Fibromyalgia ... the worse sick I have ever been was when I was in the deepest, darkest place of depression. When you get there the devil has his foothold on you!!  Your mind is always going...and the devil is filling it up with all kinds of negatives..."You can't do anything right, it is useless to even try." "Nobody really loves you!"... "Look at you you are worthless!" The devil will tell you anything to keep you in those deep dark places.  After all if you can't love even yourself you sure can't show love to the people around you. 

What I didn't really understand is that God was there with me all the time...I just had to call out to Him!!  Reading God's word gave me such hope!!... It changed me, little by little by little.  Slowly I begin to see just how much God loved me!!  I started to believe it when I read "You are wonderfully made!" I started to understand it was ME that was wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14)!!  God made me... He knitted me together in my mother's womb (Psaoms 139:13). Jesus died on the cross so that I, me, Jeannie Phillips could have an abundant life (John 10:10). I have learned to fill my mind and my heart so full of how much that God loves me, that when the devil tries to tell me I am useless I can just tell the devil how wonderfully righteous I am.  I can say to the devil "Sure I messed up...but that is not of your concern because I told my God about it and He made me right again!!"

The more I become right with God, the more I know God, the more confidence I have in the decisions I make over my life.  I let the Holy Spirit guide me.  Lately He has told me that I can be a better me!!... That I have control over my health and life. The devil told me that "Lupus is going to get you, there is no use trying!" God told me, I can heal you!!... God told me that I am amazing!!  God told me that I, me, Jeannie Phillips could make a difference in my health and that if I made the effort He would send down His grace and make me able to do more and more and more to make me better and better and better. 

God is where our hope is...we can endure a sick body... but we can not make it if we loose our hope... hope abounds when we love and trust in God!!

How do I start?  Here is how I started... I was given a One Year Bible by my son, thank you John-Robert for loving me that much!  I picked it up and started reading, day after day after day... if you couple prayers...and oh my prayers were simple, and choppy but they were honest, earnest prayers... I kept after it...and little by little by little I grew in amazing ways!!  I grow every day..I have so much growing to do... but oh I am growing... You can too!!!  You can too!!  God's word tells us that if we seek wisdom, wisdom will come to us.  We just have to want it and to go after it... then God drops it down into our understanding!!  If you want to change  your life pick up God's word and seek after Him... amazing things happen!!

7.7.12

1 John 5:14-15 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁴ And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.

¹⁵ And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

My Thoughts

We can ask God anything, according to His will and He will hear us and answer us. This is important to know.. so often we hear that we can ask God for anything and get it...then people ask for things that are not in line with what God wants for our lives or for the lives of the people around us. We need to know God's word so that we can know what to ask for.  God is all about making our lives better... but God does it His way, not our way... which is really what is best for us!  We have such power over our lives when we know God's word...there are so many promises written in the Bible... things that God wants to give us and do for us...all we have to do is ask!  But if we don't know what those promises are we miss out on so much.  The more of God's promises I know...the more I ask for... the better my life gets.  Our part, and we always have a part, is to get to know God's word. When we now God's word the possibilities in our lives are limitless!!

7.3.12

Psalms 1:1-3
Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.

But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.

My Thoughts

Oh the importance of God's word in our life!!  Here we are told that we should delight in God's word ...think about it day and night!!  When we do we will prosper even when times are hard!!  We prosper by knowing God's word.. thinking about it.. talking about it... learning how to apply it to our lives every day. 

My life has changed dramatically since I started reading my Bible every day.  If I had only known!!  From the outside looking in.. you might not really see it as very different... but if you lived in my head...and in my heart you would see amazing changes.  Peace, I have never known such peace!!  Love, I feel love all around me.. I feel the presence of God's love.. I love others more and I love myself. Calm..I have never known such calm in my spirit... things just don't worry me and bother me like they use to...sure I have moments.. but then I remember God's word and I take those thoughts captive and focus on God and all is better again.  Confidence...oh the confidence I have that God is here taking care of me!!... It is in His word that He will take care of me..that He loves me.. that He will give me strength to do things that I could not have imagined that I could do...and He does.  Wisdom.. God tells us that all we have to do is seek after wisdom and we will obtain it...we don't have to be scholars...we just have to want to know.. then God explains it to us in ways that we will understand... we just have to seek!!  Each day as I read God's word I learn a little more and a little more.. I am amazed at the things God is showing me.  Each day I get a little better at doing what God would have me do! 

I love these verse... the first time I read them I was not so impressed as I am now...I thought these words were for other people.. now they make me smile!!.. They give me peace.. they fill me with joy... because this time I know these words are for me too!!  I know that they are what God will do in my life!!  My part to love God and to seek after Him through His Word! 

So many of us wonder around looking for that "life changing" experience.  That "life changing" experience is in God's word... it will turn your world around..it will strengthen you and bring you joy.. it will make you feel loved... it will increase your knowledge ... it will grow you in places you didn't know you could grow... it is the most amazing thing you can do for you life once you ask Jesus into your life... somehow it takes root in your heart and grows the most amazing fruit. You want a positive, life altering, life changing experience in your life? Pick up your Bible..and read it...and read it again the next day and the next and the next...don't stop!! Then one day.. you will say "Joy Tingles!" Because it does!!

7.2.12

Psalms 16:6  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

My Thoughts
God sets boundaries for us all the time.. but what he gives us inside those boundaries are good things for us!  We should delight in them..show God how thankful we are for what He has chosen to give to us.  Be thankful.. show God that we will use what He has chosen to give us wisely.  I think when we do that God expands our boundaries. 

So often we want so much that we forget to take notice of what we have!  We forget to look around and enjoy all that God has provided for us!!  We get so busy getting caught up in what we don't have.  We walk around never saying "Thank You" to God.  We don't live like thankful people when we keep wanting more, and more, and more. 

God sets our boundaries in pleasant places..when we grow He gives us more.  When God give us things, He give them at the right time.  He cares about the desires of our hearts. 

So often what we get is straight from the devil himself... the devil wants us to have things that distract us from God... Often the devil will tell us we deserve something and talk us into getting it  before we have the money.  The devil attaches string...and as soon as we get that we want more...we can't sleep for worry of how we are going to pay for what we thought we deserved.

 When God gives us something special... something new...  one of the desires of our hearts... there are no string attached... he give us gifts when we can enjoy them to the fullest.  But to be able to do that we have to be aware of what God has given us... we have to be aware enough to be thankful... We have to understand that God will supply our needs... the wonderful thing is if we wait on God, he gives us things according to His riches and glory... those things have to be so much better than what we would ever go after be cause we think "we deserve it."  God give us things, not be cause "we deserve it" but because He loves us so much. And when it comes from God it is such a delightful inheritance!!

Does God set boundaries for us? You bet He does!!  Good boundaries... boundaries that keep us safe, that keep us happy, that fill us with joy and peace and love... God's boundaries are like a fence built on the side of a a cliff... He give us a beautiful view to enjoy, on that takes our breath away if we stop and notice it...the he puts up a fence to keep us from falling, all because He loves us so very much!!

7.1.12

Philippians 1:6 I am confident in this one thing, That He who begin a good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

My Thoughts

Don't you just love this!!  I love it!!  God will make us better and better and better.. He will keep working on us to make us better until Jesus comes.  Every day God will improve us ... we just have to keep our eye on Him... keep seeking Him, His wisdom and His love, and we will get better and better and better... our lives will get better and better and better!! 

I am living prof of this verse!!  I still have so far to go!!  But I have come so very far in such a short period of time... so very far!!!   Once I started seeking God ... truly pursuing all that He has to teach me, God made sure that what I needed to learn started to drop from my head to my heart!!  Each day my life gets better and better... one baby step at a time!!!  The fun thing is ...as you grow those steps get bigger and bigger. I see God making changes in me all the time.  God is healing me!  First my spirit...and now my body... I can feel it and it brings me such great joy!! 

I wish I had know how to seek after God 30 years ago... the wonderful news is that I know now!!  And God is growing me by leaps and bounds.  Every time I listen to God and make a step forward my life just get better!!

God wants to grow us.. He wants to make us the best we can be!!  It is so exciting that God can keep making us better no how far we have come so far...we get to be even better and better and better until Jesus comes to take us to heaven where we will be perfect!!

The thing is, God gives us free will.. so it is up to us to seek Him... All we have to do is seek... then God takes over and does the rest!!!