Love Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Tabetha’s Devotions

May 30, 2018

The Wrong Side of the Bed

Colossians 4:5-6
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Boy did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed!

I actually considered crawling back in and getting out on the other side…hahaha!

My poor husband. I was neither wise in my actions, nor were my words seasoned or full of grace. As a matter of fact, I felt so badly that I arranged to have lunch with him to refresh our day. I am happy to report that it did.

We all have those days. Maybe something went wrong to throw your day off. Maybe you didn’t sleep well or woke up sick. It doesn’t matter what started it. It is how you finish it.

I know taking words back is like putting toothpaste back in the tube. If like me, you let things get out of control before you could get a hold of them, then make up for it. I know this isn’t always possible, but try.

Whenever possible, be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:5-6). But when it is not and the damage is done please remember foolish people laugh at making things right when they sin. But honest people try to do the right thing (Proverbs 14:9, NIRV).

May 9, 2018

I Will Be Strong Tomorrow, but Not Right Now

1 Corinthians 12:9
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

I remember my brother’s funeral like it was yesterday, instead of 23 years ago. I remember standing tall and stiff. I remember saying over and over again, “I am an army wife. I must be strong. I cannot cry. I have to support my mom and dad.”

It was a very difficult day for all of us. My brother had been taken away in a very brutal way and much too young. He left a wife and two beautiful daughters behind.

No one ever wants to get a phone call saying your loved one is dead. I can’t explain how hard it is to hear the person on the other end of the phone tell you they were murdered.

For me, it was like the wind was knocked out of me and at the same time the world just stopped spinning and fell away. I couldn’t feel my body at all. I remember having my newborn in my arms and my friend quickly grabbing her then turning to me and setting me down on the couch.

It was in that very moment, I knew without God, I wasn’t even going to be able to take my next breath. I had no strength for anything.

At the time, I lived 12 hours away, but I don’t even remember the drive home.

When I reached my parents house and saw my parents faces, I could only mutter a quick prayer of “God, get us through this!”

The voice I heard came back with, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

I knew from that moment on, it was not going to be easy. I was going to be very hard. The days to come would even seem impossible to get through at times. However, I knew I was going to get through them. I knew God was going to go through them for me.

Yes, you read that last statement correctly. He was going to get through them for me and not just with me. He had already been down that road watching a group of people murder His son. He knew the pain I was going through.

In one of my weakest hours, he was my strength. It wasn’t easy at all, but there was hope for the sun to shine again. That is what got me through. Everything was going to be OK, just not right now. And that was OK too.

April 18, 2018

The LORD’s Great Love

Leviticus 3:22-23
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Days turn into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. Some seasons we go through are down right tough. But we must always rememer that the LORD’s great love for us is what sees us through any stormy sea.

Tonight I would like to just pray for you just as Paul did over the Ephisians.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephisians 3:14-21).

April 2, 2018

Matthew 11:30 Friend

Matthew 11:30
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be Matthew 11:30 friends? I think if we followed the commandments we would be just that!

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal 6:2)

This is my command love one another. (John 15:17)

And let us consider how we may, spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up on meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Heb 10:24-25)

If we spent more time loving each other instead of gossiping

If we spent more time walking next to each other instead of tearing each other down.

If we turned to encourage instead of turning to criticize.

As Christians, we are to reflect Jesus. Jesus described himself as a Matthew 11:30 friend. Isn’t it about time we try our hand at it too?

You want the pain to cease
Extend the yoke of peace
We may not agree
But believe you me
What a lighter burden it will be!

March 30, 2018

You Can’t Earn It

Luke 22:42
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.

Daddy, if I am really good, can I have ice cream?

Mommy, if I clean my room, can I go to the park?

If I exercise all week, I can eat out on Saturday!

If I lose weight, I can go on vacation.

There is nothing wrong with rewards and incentives. We all respond better when we get something for our efforts. If you don’t believe that, ask yourself how long you would continue working at your job without a paycheck!

There is one place where rewards and incentives don’t apply. God! No matter how good we are we cannot earn our grace. We cannot earn our salvation. We can’t even gain blessings and the answers we want to prayers for our “goodness.”

How can I say this with such boldness? That is easy. Can you come up with anyone full of more goodness than Jesus? He is perfect. He is blameless. He is sinless. He asked for one thing, he really wanted out. He didn’t want to suffer. His will was to find another way. He asked to please “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

If anyone deserved a reward, it was Jesus! He did everything he was asked. Yet he was not rewarded with what he wanted.

So what makes you think you deserve something just because you have been a “good Christian”? It doesn’t work that way. Grace and blessings are gifts. God loves to bless his children. Blessings come in many shapes and sizes. Yes, they even come as “No!”

God loves you right where you are, even when you make mistakes. That is one blessing I am glad I don’t have to earn. I am pretty sure I am not the only Christian who stumbles and fells. I am sure glad I don’t get the rewards that I deserve.

Thank you, Jesus, for taking the reward I deserved and giving to me grace and unfailing love that I will never earn.

March 8, 2018

Brick by Brick

2 Corinthians 4:8-9
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

I am struggling today with a couple of personal issues. My father is in the hospital with pneumonia. Praise God he is doing well, but it was quite a fright for all of us last night.

While in the ER, I received some life-altering news that part of my dissertation examination was rejected. Besides feeling like a failure, I am not sure where this path is leading me.

What I do know is this, there is a plan for me. I may not see the path right now but it is being laid out brick by brick.

I don’t know what you are going through today, but I woke up this morning after a horrible day and the Son still shined! He brought me these verses for comfort and now I pray them over you.

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

4A43A7F7-EF5F-4DB6-912D-6CFE2A8D301B

February 9, 2018

Waiting On Trains

Romans 12:12
Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.

So I am currently stuck in my car waiting on a train. What do I mean by stuck? Well, there was a train on the track in front of me so I turned on the road before I got to it.

That didn’t work out so well because there was a train stopped on that road too!

Can you say a lesson in patience?

Yes, friends and family and all those that know me all too well, I CAN hear your laughter!

No one has ever accused me of being patient.

However, today I am taking a minute (or 30) to take a breath and laugh.

Yes, laugh!

Let me let you in on the joke…

I had been driving a car that I am pretty sure was held together by tape and chicken wire. It has selective heat. I mean it has heat as long as the car is moving. However, stop moving, for a light, stop sign or perhaps a train and Boom! Nothing but cold air. On my way home from work, I am generally stopped by a train 2 to 3 times a week.

Earlier this week, I found myself blessed with a new Jeep. I was so excited! God not only gave me heat. He gave me heated seats!

That is what I call a God wink. you know that moment when you can feel God winking at you and saying,”I got ya, girl! I love you!”

Well… now comes today. On my way home, I laughed as I drove over those tracks. I was thinking now that I have heat, I haven’t been stopped by a train.

I am sure somewhere in Heaven angels rolled their eyes as God said, “Challenge Accepted!” you know the rest. Or almost…

The train finally cleared the tracks thirty minutes later and I thought I had finished my blog. However, I had to add to it once I got home. You see, after going over the tracks, I managed to hit EVER SINGLE red light the rest of the way home.

Yep, somewhere God is getting a good laugh at this. You know what, so am I! Because I had heat AND a warm behind!

February 5, 2018

Grace and Love

1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud

I realized I forgot to blog on Friday. Actually, I had a lot on my mind. I had a migraine on my mind.

My doctor had me give up coffee and tea. Cold Turkey! Can you say major withdrawal? I had severe migraines, flu-like symptoms and oh yes, I was cranky! I am not sure I have apologized to everyone enough.

I am so lucky my family and friends were able to exhibit some 1 Corinthians 13 love. I sure needed their grace and understanding.

Aren’t you glad God gives us gace and love? How good are you at extending that same grace and love to those around you? Do you give grace and love to only those you believe deserve it?

News Flash!

That is not grace or love!

God does not dole out grace to only those he finds worthy. Thank Goodness! I am sure I would not be one of those worthy people.

Next time someone has you at your wit’s end, remember to fall back! Thank God! He has never left you without grace or love. So don’t give up on this person either. I am guessing you could both use some grace and love. I know I could!

January 31, 2018

SHMILY

Song of Solomon 6:1
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine

My hubby turns 50 today! The past year has been so awesome! He has seen his granddaughter turned two, a grandson was born, and we found out another grandchild is on the way. Don’t get me wrong, we had some downs too, like losing our beloved Annie. However, through it all, we have made one thing constant. We stuck together.

On his card, I wrote one simple message SHMILY. I wish I could take credit for it. However, the idea actually came from our first year of marriage while we were reading a devotion by Dr. James Dobson. He and his wife always play this game. They hide SHMILY on little things around the house. SHMILY stands for see how much I love you! Since reading that Todd and I have also played the same game.

You never know where SHMILY might end up, or when it might show up. Sometimes it is a simple text message just to make the other person smile. Sometimes it’s written on a card. Sometimes it even makes its way onto the bathroom mirror. Where or whenever it shows up, it always means the same thing. I’m thinking about you. I love you and I want you to know just how much I love you.

January 29, 2018

Yet I Rejoice!

Habakkuk 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

I want to begin by apologizing for not blogging last week. It was a rather difficult week for me. For those of you who know me or have read my story, you know I am accompanied by a service dog. Meshach is my current service dog. He is actually my second service dog.

Annie was my first. We met when she was just six weeks old and were a service dog team for 8 years before I had to retire her because she was going blind.

This past week she had a stroke. We believed she was going to come out of it fine because she got up the next day as if nothing had happened. By Monday evening though, it was a very different story. She began to have seizures. She was no longer able to get up and move around. By midnight we knew we were going to have to make a hard decision the next day.

Tuesday morning I had to say goodbye to a dog that had saved my life so many times. I held her until her very last breath. She was surrounded by family and friends and made as comfortable as possible.

It has been a week since I came home and found her totally disorientated. It has been a long hard road, but I can now say her name and smile. I can remember all the funny things she did and laugh again.

Tomorrow will probably be rough because it will be one week since I said good-bye. The day the veterinarian calls to let me know I can pick up her ashes will be another. However, through this whole situation, the verse in Habakkuk has kept ringing in my ears. “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Every time I would begin to cry and get upset, I just kept repeating this verse. I won’t lie and tell you it made me smile right away, but it did make me breathe. It made me realize I would go on and I would smile again.

I can’t say for sure that our pets will meet us again in heaven, but I sure hope so. One of my friends put it to me this way. “Love is in heaven and Annie was pure love!”

Tag: Love

The Wrong Side of the Bed

Like this:

I Will Be Strong Tomorrow, but Not Right Now

Like this:

The LORD’s Great Love

Like this:

Matthew 11:30 Friend

Like this:

You Can’t Earn It

Like this:

Brick by Brick

Like this:

Waiting On Trains

Like this:

Grace and Love

Like this:

SHMILY

Like this:

Yet I Rejoice!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this:

Thanks For Sharing!

Like this: