Psalm 119: 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalm 119: 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.
When I first decided to write this blog I have to admit I was a little nervous. Pouring out my personal thoughts about such an intimate subject for all the world to read made me feel a little vulnerable. I didn't take this lightly. I have prayed about this blog, and each of you that read it. My prayer is that God will work through me to speak to you as you read my words. This blog was not started so that you may become more familiar with me, but with our Father. I am so happy that so many of you have felt His peace and love through reading this! I am planning to continue this blog, but I'm going to post every 2 weeks or so instead of every week. In the mean time I pray that you will continue to grow in your relationship with Christ by reading His word everyday. Having time set aside each day to read my devotional and His word has greatly affected my understanding and comprehension of the love that He has for me. William Romaine said "The longer you read the Bible, the more you will like it; it will grow sweeter and sweeter; and the more you get into the spirit of it, the more you will get into the spirit of Christ."
We cannot navigate through life without intimately knowing the One who created it for us. Reading His word is the only way to truly know and love Him. If you don't have a time set aside each day to do this, I encourage you to start. Start with just 5 minutes a day and watch how much your heart begins to change as you become more intimate with the One who gives us our breath of life.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Whatever Is Noble
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.
Our world is filled with unpleasant things. Very seldom can you turn on the TV or listen to the radio without hearing or seeing something that is grotesque or vulgar. Our society thrives on things that are more than just offensive, and because of this I often find myself at war with the world. It is so hard to live a Christian life when everyday things can seem like a constant battle against sin. Not only can it be a struggle to find a "clean" TV show or "clean" secular music, but it can be a struggle to surround yourself with people who strive to do what Paul is talking about in this verse. We are ALL sinners. We all succumb to gossip, jealousy, greed...the list goes on. The good news is God allows us to make choices in our lives that make it easier to live for Him. Sometimes we just have to pick up that remote and change the channel!! Not just on TV, but in our everyday lives. We control our thoughts, words, and actions. If we constantly subject ourselves to temptation, then chances are we will fail. However, if we constantly subject ourselves to His word, and strive to make Him the center of our hearts and minds then we WILL overcome!
After reading this verse in my devotion I have begun to question everything I do. Even if I am doing household chores, I ask myself if what I'm doing can be described by one of the words Paul used. Even when doing household chores I try to make them more excellent & praiseworthy by being thankful for the opportunity to do them! (Although with some chores I'm still working on it!) Try thinking about this verse for one whole day and see how much you decide to change in your life!
Another great verse to think about is Psalm 19:14.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Our world is filled with unpleasant things. Very seldom can you turn on the TV or listen to the radio without hearing or seeing something that is grotesque or vulgar. Our society thrives on things that are more than just offensive, and because of this I often find myself at war with the world. It is so hard to live a Christian life when everyday things can seem like a constant battle against sin. Not only can it be a struggle to find a "clean" TV show or "clean" secular music, but it can be a struggle to surround yourself with people who strive to do what Paul is talking about in this verse. We are ALL sinners. We all succumb to gossip, jealousy, greed...the list goes on. The good news is God allows us to make choices in our lives that make it easier to live for Him. Sometimes we just have to pick up that remote and change the channel!! Not just on TV, but in our everyday lives. We control our thoughts, words, and actions. If we constantly subject ourselves to temptation, then chances are we will fail. However, if we constantly subject ourselves to His word, and strive to make Him the center of our hearts and minds then we WILL overcome!
After reading this verse in my devotion I have begun to question everything I do. Even if I am doing household chores, I ask myself if what I'm doing can be described by one of the words Paul used. Even when doing household chores I try to make them more excellent & praiseworthy by being thankful for the opportunity to do them! (Although with some chores I'm still working on it!) Try thinking about this verse for one whole day and see how much you decide to change in your life!
Another great verse to think about is Psalm 19:14.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Wait.
This week’s devotional is not based on “A Daybook of Grace”, but from God’s work in my own heart. I pray that you will feel His love for you and understand how miraculous His plan is for your life.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you" says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me".
Waiting can be so frustrating. Whether it's waiting in line at the grocery store, on hold on the phone, or that big check to come in the mail, we've all had to experience the anguish and frustration of waiting. We know what we want, but something seems to always stand in our way. Sometimes it’s because of people or things getting in our way, other times it’s ourselves. These are all very petty things when you think about it. But what about the more important things we must wait for?
I find that the hardest thing for us to wait on is God. We often find ourselves asking questions, wanting to know the why or how of things and seem to never receive a reply. Or do we? I’m sure you can think of many instances in your life when you’ve wondered “why God?, why me?, why now?”, or often times “why not now?”. We wait…on a job, on a house, for more money, for a spouse, for a child, for the sick to be healed…for answers. At the time it can feel as though God isn’t listening, or you feel distant from Him. It’s during these times when God is silent that I feel myself becoming more intimate with Him. In waiting for answers I find myself searching my own heart and in turn getting to know His. In His time God always reveals to us the meaning of it all…Love. HIS LOVE. Even when we feel as though He’s not there or we can’t bear another second of waiting God is waiting ever so patiently on us. God has the most perfect and wonderful plan for your life. He knows every part of us; our thoughts, our desires, our heart. Psalm 139 is the best illustration of how intimately God knows us and loves us. If you haven’t read it you should pause here and take a few minutes to do so now! It’s mind-boggling to think of how amazing He is. His grace, love, and patience are absolutely overwhelming. I pray that you will earnestly seek His will in your life and find yourself overwhelmed by His love for you while you wait for Him.
A wonderful friend of mine who, like all of us, has been struggling with waiting shared this poem with me this week, and I'd like to share it with you. I love you HS!
"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you" says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me".
Waiting can be so frustrating. Whether it's waiting in line at the grocery store, on hold on the phone, or that big check to come in the mail, we've all had to experience the anguish and frustration of waiting. We know what we want, but something seems to always stand in our way. Sometimes it’s because of people or things getting in our way, other times it’s ourselves. These are all very petty things when you think about it. But what about the more important things we must wait for?
I find that the hardest thing for us to wait on is God. We often find ourselves asking questions, wanting to know the why or how of things and seem to never receive a reply. Or do we? I’m sure you can think of many instances in your life when you’ve wondered “why God?, why me?, why now?”, or often times “why not now?”. We wait…on a job, on a house, for more money, for a spouse, for a child, for the sick to be healed…for answers. At the time it can feel as though God isn’t listening, or you feel distant from Him. It’s during these times when God is silent that I feel myself becoming more intimate with Him. In waiting for answers I find myself searching my own heart and in turn getting to know His. In His time God always reveals to us the meaning of it all…Love. HIS LOVE. Even when we feel as though He’s not there or we can’t bear another second of waiting God is waiting ever so patiently on us. God has the most perfect and wonderful plan for your life. He knows every part of us; our thoughts, our desires, our heart. Psalm 139 is the best illustration of how intimately God knows us and loves us. If you haven’t read it you should pause here and take a few minutes to do so now! It’s mind-boggling to think of how amazing He is. His grace, love, and patience are absolutely overwhelming. I pray that you will earnestly seek His will in your life and find yourself overwhelmed by His love for you while you wait for Him.
A wonderful friend of mine who, like all of us, has been struggling with waiting shared this poem with me this week, and I'd like to share it with you. I love you HS!
Wait
by Russell Kelfer
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."
"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."
Monday, May 30, 2011
Forgive to Live
Colossians 3:12-13 Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
"Forgive as the Lord forgave you." This is by far one of the hardest things for me to do. Saying I forgive you to someone and actually doing it are two totally different things. When someone does or says something hurtful, or disappoints me I sometimes struggle with actually forgiving them. The words "I forgive you" come out, but my heart remains unchanged. Later on the resentment or bitterness I feel reappears in the form of words or actions I may show. How can I call myself a Christ follower if I cannot forgive the smallest offense toward me and yet He can forgive me for all of my sins and offenses towards Him? This devotion has been very humbling. Just this week I have been tested by this and have truly had to be conscious in my feelings toward someone after an argument. After saying I forgive you I prayed about what happened, and handed it over to God. I immediately felt the situation and feelings associated with it being taken from me. The person I had the argument with is not a Christian and when I spoke with him the next day he was very surprised that I was not reigniting the argument or mad about what had happened. When he asked why I wasn't doing these things I was able to tell him about what my devotion had reminded me of and what the Bible says about forgiveness. What a great way to show how great our God is!! Truly forgiving others as the Lord forgave me brings peace to my heart and strengthens my faith in Him. I pray that we all may continue to remember His love for us and show it to others through our forgiveness towards them....just as He forgave us.
"Forgive as the Lord forgave you." This is by far one of the hardest things for me to do. Saying I forgive you to someone and actually doing it are two totally different things. When someone does or says something hurtful, or disappoints me I sometimes struggle with actually forgiving them. The words "I forgive you" come out, but my heart remains unchanged. Later on the resentment or bitterness I feel reappears in the form of words or actions I may show. How can I call myself a Christ follower if I cannot forgive the smallest offense toward me and yet He can forgive me for all of my sins and offenses towards Him? This devotion has been very humbling. Just this week I have been tested by this and have truly had to be conscious in my feelings toward someone after an argument. After saying I forgive you I prayed about what happened, and handed it over to God. I immediately felt the situation and feelings associated with it being taken from me. The person I had the argument with is not a Christian and when I spoke with him the next day he was very surprised that I was not reigniting the argument or mad about what had happened. When he asked why I wasn't doing these things I was able to tell him about what my devotion had reminded me of and what the Bible says about forgiveness. What a great way to show how great our God is!! Truly forgiving others as the Lord forgave me brings peace to my heart and strengthens my faith in Him. I pray that we all may continue to remember His love for us and show it to others through our forgiveness towards them....just as He forgave us.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Worry and Faith
Ephesians 3: 16-17 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may stregthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
When I first read the heading of this devotion (Worry and Faith) I thought to myself "hmmm, that sounds strange". Fear and faith are diametrically opposed. When we worry about things in our life we are taking our trust and faith away from God and placing it in ourselves. It's as if we're saying, "I love you God, and I know you're amazing, I mean you are the one who breathed life into me, but I'm gonna try to work this problem out on my own because I think I can do it just as well as you could". How crazy does that sound!?! Despite the fact of how crazy it is I find myself saying this all the time. I'm sure we all worry about similar things...money, work, friends, family, school, etc.. Instead of worrying about these things and allowing them to pull us away from God, why not let them draw us closer to him? Seeking His will in our lives and remaining in constant conversation with Him about our worries and fears will eliminate them and cause our faith to grow. This week I have felt so overwhelmed with class, the end of school, and things going on in my personal life. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly take anymore stress and worry, because if I did I was going to get an ulcer, I read this devotion. WOW! I love it when God winks at me! I think we've all had a time in our lives when we've felt this way, and it's as if He's speaking right to you! I hope that this week we will all turn our worries over to Him!
One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
I pray that He will strengthen our faith so that we may experience His peace, which is greater than all else.
I hope you have a WONDERFUL week!
When I first read the heading of this devotion (Worry and Faith) I thought to myself "hmmm, that sounds strange". Fear and faith are diametrically opposed. When we worry about things in our life we are taking our trust and faith away from God and placing it in ourselves. It's as if we're saying, "I love you God, and I know you're amazing, I mean you are the one who breathed life into me, but I'm gonna try to work this problem out on my own because I think I can do it just as well as you could". How crazy does that sound!?! Despite the fact of how crazy it is I find myself saying this all the time. I'm sure we all worry about similar things...money, work, friends, family, school, etc.. Instead of worrying about these things and allowing them to pull us away from God, why not let them draw us closer to him? Seeking His will in our lives and remaining in constant conversation with Him about our worries and fears will eliminate them and cause our faith to grow. This week I have felt so overwhelmed with class, the end of school, and things going on in my personal life. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly take anymore stress and worry, because if I did I was going to get an ulcer, I read this devotion. WOW! I love it when God winks at me! I think we've all had a time in our lives when we've felt this way, and it's as if He's speaking right to you! I hope that this week we will all turn our worries over to Him!
One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
I pray that He will strengthen our faith so that we may experience His peace, which is greater than all else.
I hope you have a WONDERFUL week!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog! I hope that in reading this you will be provided with a weekly "scripture vitamin" that will sustain your joy and encourage you to see and receive God's blessings in your life each week. Since I began doing a daily devotional I have been able to see God's glorious works more prominently in my life. My faith has grown and I have truly felt myself draw near to Him. Although I know God is always present and ever-faithful, sometimes the hum drum of daily life hinders us from truly seeing Him work in us. I do a daily devotional from A Daybook of Grace and I will post a weekly blog of the scripture and my reflections of the devotion that really speaks to me each week. I hope that the words I share with you will encourage and strengthen you in your own walk with Christ! "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ!" Ephesians 3:17-19
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