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James 1:19
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

So, I love reading the Message bible. Today’s verse is one of my favorites. “Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear” (James 1:19, MSG). I would love to post this on billboards all over the world.

Have you ever found yourself deep into an argument only to have someone ask, “Are you even listening to each other?” You stop talking and look at them with a snotty face, thinking to yourself, “Of course! I am right and he is wrong!” Then you close your mouth, open your ears and really listen. You find that both of you have been agreeing the entire time. You were just saying it in a different way! I have been there and done that one! Something tells me Washington DC experiences this A LOT!

Hearing others is easy, listening not so much. You see in order to listen, you must first shut your mouth. To REALLY listen, you have to give someone your full attention. I love my husband dearly, but multitasking is NOT his forte. I have learned over the years to not say or ask anything important unless he is looking at me. Likewise, when he wants to talk I put everything down. I am not saying we are always perfect about this, but it has warded off many fights. We could all learn to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry more often.

Lord, help me shut my mouth and open my ears more. ~amen

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Romans 12:11
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master,

Burnout is a real thing, even for Christians doing God’s work. There is a reason God modeled a rest day for us. We all need rest and refilling. You can’t give out of an empty cup and Satan knows this. He will take advantage of it, trust me. I have been there and done that.

We are called to serve others. There is no question about that. God has told us over and over again to be a servant. Even as leaders, we are to be servant leaders just like Jesus. Jesus also stole away several times to refuel. He knew exactly where his fuel came from and refilled to overflowing.

You must take time for yourself. You need time for prayer, personal bible study, and just plain rest. Ephesians 6:13 says,
“Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet” (MSG). You can’t stand against the enemy if you are exhausted. You can’t stand if you are drained. You can’t stand if your body is not properly fueled.

So, today take the time to go and be by yourself and refuel. When you are finished check on your friends, family, loved ones, and yes even your Pastor. See if they need a little refueling. Let’s all grab some Holy Ghost Gatorade and get back out there!

Lord, thank You for your perfect rest and refilling You provide for me. ~amen

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James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Oh my goodness! It is 9:30 at night and I am just now getting around to actually finishing my blog. I am really wishing I would have looked at it more closely this morning. Maybe I would have avoided this day!

Most people talk about Friday the 13th. My husband kept saying well, it is Monday the 23rd . . . LOL! From the moment we got up until about 5:30 tonite, I can see we were so under attack. I mean EVERYTHING that could go wrong, DID! Let me tell you, tempers flared, angry words were exchanged and apologies had to be made. I can also say as the night went on, laughs were shared.

This morning, when I looked at James 4:7-8, I fell in love with how the Message bible put it. “So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field.” Little did I know I was going to live it today. It took us a good part of the day to put this advice into action, but we did and God was true to His word.

You know, come to think of it, I am glad today played out the way it did. It would have been so easy to pay lip service to these verses for my blog today. Instead, I lived
the action and am here to say, “I not only survived, I battled and won!” Victory is ours. We just need to claim it!

Lord, I am listening! It took me a while, but I am listening now, and you are so good to answer! ~amen

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Romans 15:5-6
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

No one should be required to look, dress, or sound a certain way to enter church doors! No one should be offended by anyone who does walk in those doors! Yes, I put exclamation marks at the end of those two statements because I am VERY passionate about them. God called everyone through those doors, including you. Who are we to tell someone they are not welcome when they first walk in by giving “that look”, gasping, or even whispering to the person sitting next to us. I hope you have never experienced this in your church and I sure hope you have never participated. However, my intent is not to shame you, but to open your eyes.

Romans 15:7, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” God once accepted you right where you stood, filthy sin and all. You have been commanded by Him to do the same for everyone that walks in the door. You love on them just like God loved on you. Now is the time for us to glorify God the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Come now is the time for us to all worship God together.

Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are before your God

Lord, I want to come together because now is the time to worship you just as we are! ~amen

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Revelation 4:11
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

God is there around the clock. Your morning starts off bad, you call upon the Lord. Your afternoon goes downhill, you call upon the Lord. Evening comes and you find your life has fallen apart, you call upon the Lord. Can’t sleep because your whole day has you tied up in knots, you call upon the Lord. You are so thankful He is there every single second of the day. But have you told Him?

God is truly worthy of our glory and honor and power. It is so much more than just being thankful that He was there every time we cried out for Him. He created you, me, and everything around us. Not only that, but He wanted to create everything, Yes, He even created you because He wanted you. He wanted you this morning, this afternoon, this evening, and even during the night. He wanted you yesterday, today, and forever. That is enough reason to praise HIm.

The key is, have you? Have you told Him thank you lately? Did you tell Him throughout your day today? How many a times did you call upon Him? Did you thank Him at least that many times? Did you just take the time to say I love You, Lord? Maybe tomorrow when you get up you can say, “I love You”. When the afternoon sets in say it again. Then as evening comes, yep, again. Then as you slide into bed finish your day with, “I love You, Lord, and thank you for the day!”

Lord, I love you! ~amen

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Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Have you ever been going along really smoothly in life and then you make a mistake? You are positive everyone is always going to remember you for that mistake. Nothing you can ever do is going to erase that memory. Perhaps you have known someone whose whole life has been destroyed over one mistake. Any of the wonderful things they ever did were never remembered again. I can give you an extreme example. Most people do not know all the good Hitler actually did for the German people after World War 1. The German economy and pride were at an all-time low. Hitler came in and turned that all around. Germany became a thriving country again. Well, we all know what happened next and yes, it was horrific!

I am going to let you in on a little secret you probably already know. When God sees sin, He sees sin. He doesn’t distinguish between a big sin and a little sin. To Him, all sin is horrific. He is so wonderful to forgive ALL of our sins through grace given to us by the death of Jesus on the Cross. It says He doesn’t remember the sins. This is great because I am sure those sins would surely blot out all the good we have done.

Isn’t it wonderful that our salvation allows God to forgive the bad in our past and remember the good? We are human and we are still going to make mistakes. However, those will never make God forget all the good that is still in us.

Lord, I am sorry for my sins. Thank you for remembering there is still good in me. ~amen

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Romans 11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

I remember teaching a lesson in my classroom. It would be a great lesson. I would show them how to do the math problems. We would do the math problems together. Then, I would walk around while they did a couple on their own. I would be so proud of them and send them on their way to finish the problems all by themselves. I would return to my desk or whatever, I needed to do. I would inevitably hear, “Mrs. Frick?” I would look up and there would be a student telling me they couldn’t do the problems. I usually found it wasn’t they could don’t them, they were just afraid to do them themselves. They were afraid of messing up. They wanted me to hold their hand and reassure them every step of the way that they were doing it correctly.

Eventually, my students did have to learn to do things on their own. I couldn’t follow them around for the rest of their lives. God has given us all the tools we need in life. He has even shown us what He expects of us and how to do it. Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. We can deal with the problems. The best part comes in today’s verse. We have the depths of His wisdom and knowledge of God. In other words, unlike me leaving my students, He will never
leave your side. We always have Him to walk with and do the problems with us!

Lord, I will forever be that kid saying I can’t do it. Thank You for always being there to do the problems with me. ~amen

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Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.

It has been a wonderful day. I had a great time with my family. It was a beautiful sunny day with a cool breeze. I even went out to the lake to draw. However, my clouds started coming in and coming in hard. I know no one really knows why one person gets hit with depression and someone else doesn’t. I know when you have met one person with depression, you have met one person. I mean we all experience it so differently. For me today, it is a sudden feeling of doom and gloom. I am fighting with myself to do anything. Even writing today’s belong has been a 10-round boxing match. I guess I one. I am here.

I keep reading today’s verse and hanging on for dear life. I know even when I feel like I am sitting in the pit and darkness is closing in fast, God delights in me. He loves me. He is fighting for me. Even when I am ready to put my gloves down and sink to the bottom of the mat, He is still fighting on, and better than that He will win for me.

So, what do I do now? Well, I go put on my favorite Christian artist, for King and Country and turn up the volume to “Fight on Fighter”. I sing. I play it over and over again until I start to feel again. Then I sing louder and louder. Eventually, I will be right back in that ring again, fighting alongside God and you. But for today, it is OK to not be Ok and just let God be my Mighty Warrior!

Lord, I will be back in the fight soon, but today I need to rest in Your arms. ~amen

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Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Isn’t it amazing how you read a verse or passage in the bible one time and you get a message? Then you read it again at a later date and you get a totally different message. I am not saying God’s word changes. I am saying your circumstances change and you hear His word differently. Sometimes it is because you have grown in your Spirituality and now you see a deeper meaning.

I have read and heard countless sermons using today’s verse. They usually talk about not worrying about material things in life and instead put your concentration on the spiritual. Now I totally agree with that. However, I got an extra nugget today. I got a message about growing in your relationship with God.

Like it or not, physical attraction is the beginning of every relationship. Someone catches your eye. We aren’t the on;y ones. Animals and plants function the same way. Where we differ is we need more to continue that relationship and strengthen it. Our relationship with God is very similar.

People become Christians because of an attraction to God. Something pulls them into that church or conversation about salvation. They have a need, a hole, a longing for something and God seems to fit it. However, soon life becomes so much more than what can God do for you and becomes what can you do with God. You worry less about your daily needs and concentrate on your eternal need more. Your relationship grows and strengthens. That is when you know you are beyond a physical attraction and have entered a relationship with God

Lord, thank You for loving me and wanting our relationship to grow beyond the everyday. ~amen

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John 15:2
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

When I was a kid, I remember a time I went skating on the driveway. For all of you younglings, that is what we used to do before rollerblades. . . LOL! I fell and filled the side of my calf with some road rash, including small rocks. I ran inside and covered it with bandaids. Later, my dad came in and asked me what was with all the band-aids and I told him what had happened. He looked at me and told me he would need to take all of them off and clean the wound. Now, I will skip all the screaming and gore and just let you know. OUCH!!!!!! My father was right though. It would have never healed correctly if I had kept all the band-aids over the dirty skinned-up leg.

The word prune in Greek also means to clean. We, as humans, have nasty habits of putting band-aids over problems and trying to go on with our lives. We don’t like digging deep and getting to the root of the problem. We certainly do not like confronting it and cleaning it up. It is too painful. But our Father in heaven knows that is the only way to get the wounds to heal. It is the only way to get the new skin to grow and become a productive part of the body again.

Yes, ouchies hurt. We experience a lot of them in life. If you have been sticking band-aids on them, it is time to rip them off. Let God clean them out. It will hurt, but it will finally start to heal and you can move on with life.

I am not sure I am ready, Lord! But let’s rip off those bandaids and start the growing process. ~amen

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