Today’s Scriptures

James 4:6-10

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Thoughts…

Quit living in a Pollyanna World! You don’t have to always be joyful. You don’t always have to have the perfect social media life. You don’t even have to always walk around with a smile on your face. Your little world does not have to run smoothly, look perfect, or be perfect. It is Ok to not be Ok!

The last part of this verse is actually telling you to let go and let God. Go ahead and grieve, mourn and wail. Don’t laugh and smile and walk around with joy just for show. Go to God and tell Him your world is spinning our of control. He will take care of you. He will bring you real peace and joy. 

Walking around like your world is all put together and there is nothing ever wrong, is just plain being proud! Did you see the first part of these verses? God opposes the proud and favors the humble. 

So, let your world fall apart. Humble yourself enough to say…HELP!!!! We got you and more importantly, God has you. He will get your world spinning again.

Prayer

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

I just wanted you to know that I am taking a ‘vacation’ for a week. I will be back, refreshed and ready to do our bible study blog again on August 3rd. Until then…

Numbers 6:24-26New International Version

May
²⁴ “The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”~ Amen

1 Peter 5:6-10

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

“Keep your face to the ‘SON’ and you will never see the shadows.” ― Helen Keller

I replaced the word ‘Sun’ with ‘Son’

Our lives are like sandcastles on the beach. We are exposed to the weather, the waves, the wind and even other people trying to tare us down. However, the Master Sandcastle maker is always molding us, recreating us, and keeping us safe from total destruction. All we have to do is allow Him to do His job. With every wave, wind gust or people stepping on us, we come back stronger. Just stand firm and bask in the Son! Satan can throw what he wants, but he can’t destroy the Master’s work!   

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

Luke 10:17-20

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Put Your Day to Rest
~Tabetha Frick

Please sit down for a while
Tell me about your day
These are the little things
You long to hear them say

Come now pull up a chair
Just take a moment here
Tell me all about it
Everything my dear

Give me all of your woes
Tell me about your best
I want you to be able
To put this day to rest

Please sit down for a while
Just put this day to rest
These are the little things
That put this day to rest

Have you ever thought of how nice it would be to just go sit on a beach and chat with Jesus? I don’t mean just prayer time. I mean a full, ‘how was your day’ conversation. What is stopping you? You don’t have to just speak to Him when you need something. Tell Him about your excitement, adventures, and dreams. He is sitting in the chair. He has one saved for you. He is waiting to hear from you. Listen carefully and you will hear, “Take a seat and tell me all about your day. I want to hear every little detail.”

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

1 John 4:2-6

This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 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. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Perspective- a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

In the picture below, is the beach ball going up or coming back down? You can’t tell can you? It is like asking if a cup is half full or half empty. It all depends on your perspective. Satan has his perspective. He tries to to persuade you to see the world from his point of view. We are not of this world. We are children of God and see the world from God’s point of view. That is why we speak from faith, love, hope, and grace. Others don’t hear us and often twist our words. It doesn’t mean we stop speaking. It means we start listening to God. We know the truth and it is about time we stopped listening to Satan’s lies! We don’t have to accept his perspective.

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

Zechariah 4:5-6

He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied. So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.

9 signs you need a break

1. You’re feeling negative.

2. You’re in physical pain.

3. You’re struggling to sleep.

4. You’re making mistakes at work.

5. You’re using unhealthy coping mechanisms.

6. You’re engaging in counterproductive work behaviors.

7. Even the smallest problem seems hard to overcome.

8. Work has become your life.

9. You’re having interpersonal problems

Have you ever hit an emotional brick wall? I mean just a total meltdown because you keep going and going until you are spent. No one can keep going at full power for very long. We all need a break. We all need a good book on a beach away from everything. Christians cannot stand on their strength either. It is the Holy Spirit within us that gives us the strength and the peace we need to face life. You want to walk through this world at full efficiency? Stop walking through it at full capacity. Let the Spirit guide you and balance your strength and peace.

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

Ephesians 6:14-18

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Marlin—a.k.a. Mr. Grumpy Gills—thinks he will never see his son Nemo again. So Dory has a fish-to-fish pep talk with him. She sings, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.” That’s Dory-speak for keep on truckin’, keep the faith, and keep your eyes on the prize.

https://www.shmoop.com/quotes/just-keep-swimming.html

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming (Dory, Finding Nemo). When you prepare to go swimming, do you grab your snowsuit? When you swim out do you just stop swimming and refuse to move any farther? So, why when you get up in the morning and prepare for your day and what battles you will face, why do you forget your armor? Why do you leave God out? Why are you not checking in with the Holy Spirit? Why do you not suit up? Then, as your day goes on, why do you stop praying? You strike out on your own and what happens? You sink and drown. Tomorrow try to face the waves that come at you, by starting by putting on your bathing suit and just keep swimming.

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

James 4:6-8
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

distraction –
the act of distracting.
the state of being distracted.
mental distress or derangement
that which distracts, divides the attention, or prevents concentration
that which amuses, entertains, or diverts; amusement; entertainment
division or disorder caused by dissension; tumult.

I will not eat the cupcake!
I will not eat the cupcake!
Yep! I just ate the cupcake!

Resisting the Devil can seem like this some days. Let me tell you a secret that will work, when YOU work it! Draw near to God! To draw near to God means to focus on Him. When your focus shifts to God, you can’t focus on the temptation at hand. Even you multitaskers out there can’t give your full attention to more than one thing at one time. To focus on God requires all of your attention. Now, remember the magic here is it works if YOU work it. If you don’t want to eat the cupcake, refocus and walk away!

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

John 8:31-32

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” is a Christian hymn with music by William J. Kirkpatrick and lyrics by Louisa M. R. Stead. The lyrics were written in 1882.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Even though I am in my 40’s, my daddy still offers to buy me an ice cream cone when I have worked hard to accomplish something. I am not kidding! When I brought home A’s while working on my doctorate, I got ice cream! The thing is, it was never about the cone.  It was about spending time with my dad and knowing he was proud of me. When we are following Jesus and His teachings we are rewarded with the truth. The truth is, He love us and cares for us. He is always there for us. We are never alone, even on are darkest days. That is the sweet truth! 

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

1 John 5:4-5

for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

When a storm is coming, all other birds seek shelter. The eagle alone avoids the storm by flying above it. So, in the storms of life may your heart be like an eagle’s and soar above.     

~Anonymous

We have already won the battles in our lives. We just need to learn to fly. Jesus came, died, and rose again. So shall we! Death has no hold on us. We are free. The answer to the question in this verse, “Who is it that overcomes the world” is US! YOU AND I! We believe Jesus is the Son of God. We have the victory. We overcome the world. Now spread your wings and fly!

 Copyright © 2020 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved