Life

In all of God's power and might, I find it amazing that there are certain moments in life when He has chosen me to be His messenger.  Today as you look around you, remember that you are His hands, His eyes, His voice, His ears.  Use these gifts according to His will.

He said to him, "Run, and tell that young man this, 'Jerusalem is to remain unwalled, because of the great number of men and cattle inside. For I  - Yahweh declares - shall be a wall of fire all around her and I shall be the Glory with in her.'" - Zachariah 2:8,9

Beginnings

Each day is a new beginning; yet, within each day are many moments wherein lies a new beginning as well: chances to mend bridges, or build new ones. Seeking God in each moment of the day will make every day a good one.

Draw close to God and He will draw close to you. - James 4:8a

Overcome

When you start to think that your world is falling apart, it’s become time to take inventory of your world. There is something greater than this moment. No matter how much seems to be against you, how hard it is to move forward, how painful it is to feel out of control, you must reach out and grab hold, in faith, to Your Heavenly Father. Place your hope in Him, seek the goodness of His love, and feel the blessings of resting in His world. With Him, you can overcome.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Comfort

An easy path, does not necessarily make the right one. God has graced us with the talent and perseverance to obtain His promises in our lifetime. Whether we receive them or not is up to us. When we step out of our comfort zone and make that extra effort, we will be amazed at what unfolds for us in our journey of life.

The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your loving kindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands. - Psalm 138:8

July 27, 2017 - Love

You never truly know how much you love someone until you have to say goodbye.

And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. – 1 John 4:10

July 26, 2017 – Test

When we are tested by God, it is not for Our Creator to find our breaking point; rather, it is for mankind to find our strength.

Approach the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling. – Exodus 16:9b

July 25, 2017 – Servant

What does it mean to be a servant . . . to the employee; to the boss; to the homemaker; to the teacher; to the student? Christ speaks of being a servant to all and, in this teaching, He empowers us. He never said we are to be subservient, but that we should serve. We work, we govern, we mold, we teach, and we learn. In His Grace, we place ourselves before another in love with a true desire that Jesus is seen within us. This is the servant. This is true service for God.

But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; - Matthew 20:25,26

July 24, 2017 - Grumblings

Do you ever find yourself grumbling at or about someone who you felt brought about discomfort in your life?  The people of God did this very thing when they grumbled to Moses and Aaron about their situation in the dessert. They had little to sustain them in the dessert and hadn’t the faith to call on God for help. This is the people who actually walked through walls of water a few days prior.  This is the people who saw the power of God revealed in plagues and the miraculous salvation of their very selves when His angel of death passed them by, because they were His. The pettiness of our day to day seems almost irrelevant to these moments, yet, we all do it. We all find that instance of blaming another for our moment, grumbling at them or about them, and thinking “really, you brought THIS to me today?” In these times, let’s remember that it is not the messenger we should address, but our Father, our God, who is truly the source of all of moments. When you embrace His Will in faithful obedience, you will find your grumblings melt into praise.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. – Exodus 16:4

July 23, 2017 - Interruptions

Spotted from the car. We just had to stop and check him out.

Life is filled with interruptions: some subtle, some direct. Whether God sends them, or Satan is tempting to divert you away from Your Father’s plans, keeping your focus on God and on His purpose for your life makes the way clearer and the lesson in the interruptions more obvious. I pray that in each interruption of life, you will stop and look to the face of Our Lord, and find peace in knowing all is good in His hands.

Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace. – Luke 2:29

July 22, 2017 – Dispute

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in proving our point, we forget to fight for the cause.  The focus of any dispute should be to reveal truth, not to win the argument. We must face each disagreement with an open mind, willing to compromise, even at risk of abandoning our own fervor if we find a greater truth is revealed.

But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. – John 16:13

July 21, 2017 - Confirmation

God always gives us confirmation that we are on the right path.  We may not receive it fully, though, until the task is completed.  When we move in faith, God will direct us. Sometimes we feel His direction in soft nudgings. Other times, He takes things totally out of our hands to move us forward.  But when we place our hope in Him, we can be assured that all is as it should be. 

And Moses said to God. “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah?…He answered, “I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain. – Exodus 3:11-12

July 20, 2017 - Empty

When words are hard to find and motivation escapes me; all I have left is to sit in God's presence and gather His warmth. For when I do not feel, when nothing is left within me, then God can finally come in. 

Now it happened that he was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray. . . Luke 11:1

July 19, 2017 – Encourage

When we are faced with a journey that calls us to be something greater than we suppose we are, remember; Christ is before us and is leading us in every moment. It is in Him that we have our strength and through our faith and trust in Him we will find success. His Glory will prevail.

To end then, brothers, we wish you joy; try to grow perfect; encourage one another; have a common mind and live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. - 2 Corinthians 13:11

July 18, 2017 - Friendship

Sisters . . . forever friends

One of God’s greatest gifts is friends.  A good friend is one who can laugh, cry, celebrate, morn, cheer, chastise, hope and dream alongside every moment. Blessed are those who have found that friend.  Blessed more the one who is.

But where their friends and those who relied on them were concerned, they had always stood by their friendship. – 1 Maccabees 8:12a

July 17, 2017 – Reality

Life sometimes creates unbelievable times that jolt our system and test our faith. When we find ourselves lost in these surreal moments, our peace shattered, and our yoke heavy, reaching out to our very real God is the only answer to get us through.

Whoever does not firmly hold to the fear of the Lord, his house will soon be overthrown. – Ecclesiastics 27:3

July 16, 2017 - Cause

Cause and effect; it is a theory learned in school and proven throughout life.  Whenever something happens, no matter where, when, or why, it affects something and someone else. There will be times in our lives when something happens beyond our control that will be devastating and impact our lives in ways we feel we are not prepared to take on. We must remember, however, that as we do carry on, the way we embrace our own pain and suffering will impact the loved one next to us. It is a hard battle and a tough choice to release our pain to God and allow each choice we make to affect another as one of grace instead of sorrow.  May we align ourselves so closely with our Father that our actions reflect His very being and the effect becomes one of eternal grace.

Remember the last things and stop hating, corruption and death, and be faithful to the commandments. Remember the commandments, and do not bear you fellow ill-will, remember the covenant of the Most High, and ignore the offence. - Ecclesiasticus 28:6,7

July 15, 2017 – Good Choices

The really important choices in life – the choice to believe in Jesus Christ as one’s personal Savior, to keep learning from the word, to say yes to God, regardless – shape all the other choices we will make throughout life. – Lord, Bless My Child, p. 183

God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. – 1 John 5:11

July 14, 2017 – Advice

Giving advice is so much easier than following it. We know all the right things to do, yet when the moment comes, it is hard to turn over our own desires and let God take the lead. This is life’s absolute hardest challenge. The purest advice anyone can give, or take, is to simply let go. In faith and hope, trust God as He unfolds His Will for you.

I am able to do nothing of Myself. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My will, but the will of the One having sent Me. – John 5:30

July 12, 2017 - God

Jesus did not become man in order to relate to our humanity. He became man so that humanity can relate to God.

And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" It was Peter who spoke up, "The Christ of God," he said. – Luke 9:20

July 11, 2017 – Actions

I've heard it said that to argue with a fool proves there are two in the room. We have the tools for peace: the living Word of God. No spoken words can be as profound. Yet even these do not break the barrier unless we are willing to act on them. Jesus showed the purest example of stating a case when He stood before Pontius Pilot. He spoke no words but Truth and let His actions say the rest.

It is God's Will that by your good deeds you should silence the ignorant talk of fools.- 1Peter 1:15

July 10, 2017 – Thankful

The tiniest things of life, moments that sneak in totally unexpected, can bring greater joy than any item of material wealth or power. Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful moments where you remind me that all is wonderful in this world and I am doing ok.

As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

July 9, 2017 – Load Bearer

God, in His Omnipotent knowledge, is far wiser with His plans than any I could make. However, even with belief in God, it is still easy to let myself be tempted through dismay and anxiety. When these emotions enter in, I must stand firm in my faith that God is in control. He knows my situation and is not surprised by the events that are, or are not, unfolding. The greater tragedy would be to lose faith and act without spiritual guidance. In standing firm to my beliefs and trusting in God, I will be prepared when His time is right.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. Ecclesiasticus 7:8

July 8, 2017 – Spirit

Our lives are meant for so much more than for this moment. The Holy Spirit is here to help us whenever we feel doubt and disparity. We just have to call on Him to receive His strength, self-control, confidence and love. When you find yourself down, remember you are God's beloved creation.  You are beautiful and perfectly formed through His glorious will. God has great plans for you and in this perfect love, He calls you His.

They we're all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves.  – Acts 2:4

July 7, 2017 - Difficult

Which trail to take? - love, love, love my girls

Jesus had a habit of surrounding himself with unlikely people. Whenever he shared a meal with others, He seemed to have a knack of drawing the most unlikely people together: difficult people, awkward people, people with opposing and sometimes violent views, and people full of animosity toward those around Him* For many, this sounds like a typical holiday family gathering. Yet, when we listen to what Jesus has to say, people come together and a beautiful community forms. Whenever we look at others with the heart of Jesus, our love for one another will win out over opinions and ideals. We were all created in His image. We all have worth and find favor in His sight when we rest in His love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

*paraphrased from laudete.com, Friday, July 7, pray-as-you-go.org daily meditation podcast

July 6, 2017 – Comfort

We personally bring on much of our own pain and aggravations.  Of course, there are some things out of our control, but the majority of our discomfort is our own doing. We don't feel like the hassle of one more errand in our day so we pass on picking up the milk on the way home.  We wake every morning to stiffness and aches because we can't find the time to shop for a new mattress and have other things we want to spend our money on anyway.  In putting off these tasks, we know full well what the next morning will bring, yet we justify this through our busyness. Too many times we find our spiritual lives in this same dysfunction. We know we should pray. We know we should spend time in His presence, but we fill ourselves instead with other thoughts in our day and wonder why things seem to be going so wrong. Let us come before God. Give him your time, worries and cares, and let God remove your pain and show you the beauty of the life he has for you.

Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested. - 1 Chronicles 4:10

July 5, 2017 - Prepare

One of my delights is to travel. I should have the flight attendants' speech memorized by now. I do remember one thing: in the case of emergency, you should always take care of yourself first. You are no good to another if you are depleted of your own life support. How true this is in all of life's situations. We cannot possibly help guide another if we, ourselves, do not hold God's grace. No advice is worthwhile, no motive pure enough unless we are filled with the conviction, strength, endurance, and mercy of God's Holy Spirit. Life is filled with many unexpected turns. We must prepared ourselves and through this grace, enable ourselves to be a true witness of God's mercy and aid.
A true witness delivers souls, and a false witness speaks deceit. - Proverbs 14:25

July 4, 2017 – Freedom

On this day that celebrates Freedom, my prayer for you is that you will be filled with moments of joy. Let your worries find the hand of God and your pain and doubt melt away in His presence.  Through His Grace, may your soul find the freedom to be thankful for all of His many righteous and glorious blessings.

In all his activities he gave thanks to the Holy One Most High; in words of glory he put all his heart into his songs out of love for his Creator. - Ecclesiasticus 47:8

July 3, 2017 – Best

God has gifted each of us with individuality. We have the freedom to be the best "me" we can be. This does not mean that we can all be leaders, winners, or stars. What it does mean is that in everything we do achieve, we do so with the Grace of God. We can each run with our own ability, reach with our own hands, sing with our own voice. Seek God in every way and find the freedom to be yourself. Rejoice in His Creation and glorify His amazing Name.

What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not. What is committed to you, attend to; for what is hidden is not your concern. - Sirach, 4:20-21

July 2, 2017 – Trust

Past experience has revealed many moments of a day that did not unfold as I originally perceived and I know that there will be many more unexpected turns in my future.  Through each daily walk with God, He grows me and molds me for His Instrument. It is up to me to retain the watchful mind that allows me to see Him in every moment and to be prepared for every turn He gives me. Just as King David unknowingly prepare for his day with Goliath by battling bears and wolfs among his flocks, I also prepare daily by striving to face each conflict with my best effort. 

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

July 1, 2017 – Wishes

My mom always warned me to be careful what I wished for. Abraham laughed at God’s promise to give Sarah a son, and asked Our Creator to bless his firstborn conceived with his slave, Hagar. God granted this request, yet still held to His promise to Sarah. Today, the unrest between Ishmael’s and Isaac’s descendants is astronomical. When we seek the Lord’s guidance, let go of your desires, rest in His Wisdom, and find peace knowing He is in control.

Blessed are all who fear the LORD, and who walk in his ways. What your hands provide you will enjoy; you will be blessed and prosper. – Psalm 128:1,2