Month: June 2022

Psalms 103:17 (MSG)
GOD’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, Making everything right for them and their children.

A friend of mine posted the meme “When it’s not God’s timing you can’t force it. When it is God’s timing you can’t stop it!” Then I read today’s verse, Psalms 103:17 in the Message bible, “GOD’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, Making everything right for them and their children.” Something clicked in my brain!

We often get caught up in blessings. We are all guilty of expecting a “genie in the bottle” kind of God from time to time. We pray for something, but we add in our own plan for how the prayer should be answered. Face it, we come from a Burger King kind of world, “Have it your way.” I have a sneaky suspicion God giggles at us sometimes when we pray that way.

I know I have looked at people of done things and just wanted to ask, “When did you think that was going to be a good idea.” I have also looked at my own children and said words like, “Now that that didn’t work, shall we try it my way?” Believe it or not, God did make us curious people and part of that whole free-will thing is letting us try things and screw up. We also serve a God who loves us enough to dust us off and help us make everything right. Maybe one of these days I will learn to not try to force things in my way and time. Maybe. . . LOL!

Lord, I am sorry for trying to have it all my way. I am learning to trust Your judgment and let things go. ~amen

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Philippians 3:20
But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ (MSG)

We don’t have to live this life as if the endgame is just to survive. God wants so much more for us. As the old song goes, “When all the Earth is sinking sand, on Christ the solid rock I stand!” Sin entered the world a long, long time ago. Evil is still running a much. It will continue to run a muck until Christ returns to set all the records straight. However, that does not mean we have to play the game by the world’s set of rules!

Like today’s verse says, “there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven!” We don’t have to stand and take it when the world tumbles around us. We can choose to not let it steal our joy! We can stand on our faith and hope. We can spread love when all the world returns to us is hate. Even when we sit among the rubble of broken dreams and hearts, we know we can rest in His arms and carry on tomorrow.

Your world may not be all Candy Land. However, don’t let Satan dictate the rules to the game of Life. He always cheats by changing the rules and trying to cause Trouble. He doesn’t have a Monopoly on us. We can sink his Battleship any time we want. You are part of the ultimate Connect 4, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and you. Believe me, Satan will be Sorry in the end when we yell, “YAHTZEE!”

Lord, I am tired of playing the game by the world’s rules. I choose to play by Yours! ~amen

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1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

I needed to hear today’s verse in 1 Chronicles 16:34. It has been a pity party couple of days. My husband is a Pastor, EMT, and Fireman. I often feel like I am at the bottom of his list. It seems like everything chooses to fall apart when he is serving others. My emergencies take second place to everyone else’s in the world. Yep, I am defiantly having a pity party and I don’t even have any chocolate to serve!

Now that the party is over and clean-up is almost done, this verse is making me re-examine my party guests. My guests tell me I am all alone. They say things like no one care about me or my problems. I will never come first in my husband’s life. Everyone else’s problems are bigger and much more important.

God on the other hand tells me I am loved. I am so very important to Him. I am so much stronger than I think because He is in me. I am never alone. He is prepared to handle any situation that flies my way. He also reminds me that He is in my marriage and is He will sustain me as I support my husband.

Well, it is time now to remind my guests they have overstayed their welcome. Today, I will give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love for me endures forever!

Lord, this pity party is over. Thank you for loving me and helping me send the unwelcomed guests home. ~amen

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

I have had a rough 24 hours. I even got angry with God. Thank goodness He has big shoulders and let me just cry it all out. No, there was no death or bad news. I was just trying to be helpful and it all fell apart.

Like most people, we have a long to-do list around the house. My husband works 24-hour shifts and has been pulling a lot of overtime. We bought a new thermostat that I really thought would be easy to put together. I watched all the videos. I followed the directions completely, but still, something went wrong. So, I put the old one back on and boy did it all go wrong because nothing worked at that point. Of course, it was now late at night and HOT and HUMID! I was in tears!

My husband, mother, father, and even some very close friends came to my rescue. No, they couldn’t fix it, but they went over everything I did and couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. Now, yes, I would have loved to have had it fixed right then and there, but there was something comforting knowing that they couldn’t figure it out either. I know that sounds silly, but it made me feel less stupid.

I am sure they all felt helpless but believe me, none of them were. They showed their love just by being there for me and sitting through my problem and not berating me for failing. Heck, even the company that is coming to fix my problem laughed and told me not to worry because their techs go through tons of training and still screw things up sometimes . . . LOL! I didn’t need to be angry with God. He provided all the love and help I needed when I needed it.

Lord, I am happy to report that there are still people down here devoted to one another in love and honoring others above themselves. ~amen

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Matthew 7:8
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

God is better than Google! My husband is always asking me questions and I will often say, “Did you google it?” Wait, I should explain, I only say that when I don’t know the answer. I really am not just being a pain. Today’s verse came from a women’s bible study. It made me think about my answer about googling things. I quickly realized how many times I have an issue and don’t immediately stop and pray about it. Instead, I either try to figure it out on my own or ask for advice from others. I think I am going to remind myself when I have a problem “Did you God it?”

This week I was blessed three times in really big ways. With all of those blessings came lots of prayers beforehand. Yes, I did ‘God it’ first! Now, I am not saying God is a genie in a bottle. I am not even saying God answered them in the way I requested . . . LOL! Oh, and I am not saying these were the only blessings this week. I am saying, I got answers to three large issues to me that I was faced with this week.

Sometimes God will answer with “No or wait.” Those aren’t easy answers, but they are answers. If you ask, seek, and knock you will get answers. When faced with anything, all you have to do is ‘God it’. He is just waiting for you to ask, seek, and knock.

I know where to find all my answers. Thank You, Lord! ~amen

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Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

“What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of” (Jackie DeShannon). I think the form of love it needs is discipline. So maybe we can change the verse in the song to read, “What the world needs now is discipline, sweet discipline. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”

I want to go on the books right now is saying there is a HUGE difference between discipline and punishment. Punishment is what you do to harm someone else. You use it for revenge or to break someone. Discipline is used to help someone grow, guide them, and build them up. With discipline comes love and grace. Two things the world lacks today!

I am not sure exactly where we stopped disciplining children, but you can see in society today that something went wrong somewhere. We now have adults who seemed to be living for themselves only with no regard for anyone else. Respect for people and things is a passé. We are not seeing a harvest of righteousness and peace.

So where do we begin to make a change? We start by learning to discipline ourselves. Learning to let God show us where and how to change. I know it is easier to blame someone else for everything, but it is time we learned to ask God to change our hearts and mind to His will before we pray for the other guy.

I want to see change, Lord. Start with me! ~amen

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1 Peter 5:7-8
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

When you were a kid, did you close your eyes you thought there was a monster about to come out from under your bed or closet? Maybe you still close them when you watch a scary movie. What about those flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz (insert shiver here!) It seems to be a human reaction to close our eyes when we know something bad is going to happen. It is as if we think it will all go away if we just close our eyes. Like a child playing peek-a-boo. If I can’t see you, then you can’t see me. If only that were true.

No, when we close our eyes to what is around us, we leave ourselves vulnerable. We have no idea how to attack the problem that is coming our way. Peter passed on some Godly wisdom in 1 Peter 7:7-8. We are to handle problems in two steps. First, don’t get anxious about it. God is in control and so there is no reason to worry over it. Second, don’t ignore it. Satan is just waiting for you to close your eyes or turn your back. That is when he attacks best!

So, fix your eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2) and strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees (Heb 12:12). We are surrounded by lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh my! Don’t worry though, our Wizard has laid out the perfect yellow brick road and He will never leave us!

Lord, I know there are many things in this world that are frightening, but I can face them with You by my side. ~amen

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Luke 10:19
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

Some days we need to be reminded who is in control. Other days, we need to remind Satan who is in control. Then there are days we need to remind ourselves Satan cannot control us!

Our God is bigger than the boogieman! One of my favorite VeggieTales. The theme song for it runs through my head when fears start to rise all around me. Then I see flashes of the storm on the sea and Jesus standing up in the boat and everything stops. I have to remind myself it states 365 times in the bible to “FEAR NOT!” So, why does my stomach still get queazy, and my jitters still shake my body? That is easy because I am still human.

Let’s be honest, would God have said fear not so many times, if He thought we didn’t need to be reminded? No. He expects us to face hard times, frightening times, and shake in our boots so hard you almost puke times. What He doesn’t want is for us to live there. There is no reason for us to remain afraid. Yes, situations around us can be bad, but we have to power to tell Satan, I will not let this stop me anymore. Fearless doesn’t mean not being you will never be afraid, it means doing it despite the fear. Satan may try and influence the circumstances around you, but he cannot control you!

Lord, today I am facing some anxiety in my world. I know You are in control. I will choose to walk on through the storms. Satan has no control over me! ~amen

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1 John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Here I go again! The message bible spoke to me louder today!

“My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world” (1 John 4:4, MSG).

What caught my eye first was you belong to God. This may be a little silly but when I take my dog’s collar off for his bath, the first thing he wants after toweling off is that collar right back on. I always thought it was strange. Then I heard someone mention that one of the first things a shelter dog loves is putting on a collar when they are adopted. You can almost see the joy in their eyes. Now, I know we are all probably anthropomorphizing, but one thing is true, dogs are pack animals and they need to belong. We are similar in that fact. So, my being excited about belonging to God is much like my pupster’s need to put that collar back on to show he belongs to me.

My strength comes from my belonging to God. My victory is from my belonging to God. I can face anything in this world because I belong to God. So, yes, I am overly excited reading this verse today because it reminds me I belong to God!

Lord, I am so thankful I belong to You! ~amen

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Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

There is an old English proverb that I swear was our family mantra when the kids were little, “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” I am sure the saying came from today’s verse in Proverbs 15:1. I have to admit, it is very true!

I know when I was teaching, instead of yelling to get students’ attention, I would get quieter. Yes, it really did work. I found that raising my voice only made them raise theirs more. As a matter of fact, I was once told that I was actually scarier when I got quiet. . . LOL! The point is it didn’t do me any good to get louder or angrier because it just kept the fires burning.

We most often apply this verse to the people around us. Did you know it works from within as well? Have you noticed when you do something wrong, your immediate reaction is to chastise yourself? That usually leads to frustration, anger, and more often than not just plain giving up. On the other hand, if you give yourself some grace, remind yourself it is Ok you will try again.

When I sit in front of a blank screen or canvas, instead of telling me how many ways not to do something, I find myself saying, “Let’s just try it and see how it comes out!” No things are not always going to work out in your life. Things are not always going to make you happy. However, God’s advice here will sure make it easier, and certainly more joyful along the way.

Lord, remind me to treat myself to honey and not vinegar today, just like You do! ~amen

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