Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thankfulness–continued!


My Jesus

Knows my frailties and weaknesses and loves me still

Does NOT change

Is in CONTROL, in all things, holding all things together

Bends over the edge of Heaven to hear my whispers

Walks with me through the fire

Carries me in the flood

Quiets the earthquakes

Holds me in His arms

Guides me with infinite love, gentleness and unwavering patience

Dances with me in the joys of life

Holds me close when the tears flow

Casts out my fear and fills my hearts with His love

Carries my burdens, worries and cares

Replaces all these with His peace

 Surrounds me – He is my rear guard

 Goes before me and His loving hand is on my head

Hears my voice and knows my name

LOVES ME STILL

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Today, I am Thankful!


My Jesus:

Redeemed me with His blood, I am FORGIVEN

Stands with arms open wide in love, grace and mercy

Will never leave me, I am never alone

Knows me intimately and completely and loves me still

Knows my thoughts and hears my words and loves me still

Loves me with an infinite love

Knows my name, it is written on His hand and in His heart

Thinks about me all the time, I can’t count the thoughts

Is preparing our beautiful, indescribable Home right now

Meets all my needs our of His limitless riches

Is my SHIELD

Is my REFUGE and STRENGTH

delights in me, loves me – and it’s not because of what I do or don’t do

presents us to God, covered in His RIGHTEOUSNESS, always

LOVES ME






Thursday, November 15, 2012

But they thought they knew better–part 2


This phrase still rings in my head . . . “But they thought they knew better”

Adam and Eve listened to Satan and decided they knew more about what they should do than God.  No magical fruit – a trust and obey issue. It was their thinking, their desires, their attitude, their thinking they knew better, their disobedience that caused sin to become a part of the human race. 

Satan, in his fall from grace “thought he knew better”!

Imagine, he was created as:
A model of perfection
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,
was in the Garden of Eden with God,
every precious stone set in gold, adorned him,
He was anointed and ordained as a guardian,
was blameless in all his ways till . . .
HE THOUGHT HE KNEW BETTER!
His heart became proud and knew he was beautiful,
He was filled with violence and sinned
He said, “I will ascent to heaven,
I will raise my throne above the stars of God
I will sit on  my throne on the sacred mount of the assembly
I WILL MAKE MYSELF LIKE THE MOST HIGH”– Ezekiel 28

and you know the rest!

In contrast –Christ, the Son of the Most HighHE KNOWS BEST and yet:

Being in the very NATURE of God
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped
but made Himself nothing,
taking  the very nature of a servant, became a human
and became obedient to death  -  even the cross
SO
God has highly exalted Him to the highest place on the sacred mount!
and gave Him a name above every name, that at the name of JESUS every knee will bow
in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell
and every tongue WILL confess that Jesus Christ is LORD
to the glory of God the Father! – Philippians 2:5-11

In the process of learning who our God is, we see how ludicrous the thought – 

“But I think I know better!”

And even more precious is the fact – when we sin and blow it, He holds out His loving arms full of forgiveness, grace and mercy, to pull us close and grow us to be more like HIM!





Wednesday, November 14, 2012

But they thought they knew better . . .


Just read in a devotional these words “But they thought they knew better” 

The story? Adam and Eve – God gave them freedom throughout the Garden of Eden. All the luscious fruit and veggies were for them to enjoy, EXCEPT one. A conversation with Satan, a doubt planted and suddenly “they thought they knew better” than God.

You know the rest of the story . . .

Me???? I don’t think I know better than God! . . . 

or do I?

How often have I argued with God. Expressed my opinion about  events that effect my life. Ranted and raved about circumstances that made me uncomfortable, threatened “my world” and caused me not to have . . . Stormed the gates of Heaven with my wants and desires, not taking time to consider God’s perfect plan. Demanding what I want, when I want it and how soon it needs to be delivered. Sat down, devastated at the bill, the doctor’s report, the pink slip, the phone call, “unanswered” prayer . . .and wondered how a loving God could do this to me!

BUT I thought I knew better . . .

“Cease striving” and KNOW I AM GOD!    Psalm 42:10








Saturday, November 10, 2012

Windows 8 and God!




Windows 8!

How exciting! I have read about it, seen the promos, looked forward to when I can download it onto my computer. I have talked about it to others, believe it to be good and helpful and an advancement over Windows 7. 

BUT, until I use it, learn its secrets, work with it and experience all it can offer – I do not know it. I can talk about its attributes, I can imagine all that I think it can do, BUT, all this means nothing until I take time to read, learn and use it.

Are we that way with our relationship with our God? Do we merely scratch the surface of our Christianity? Do we skip reading His Message to us and depend on what others tell us? Do we live our lives only on hearsay and not studying for ourselves?

What if our relationships with our friends were based on just input from others? How deep would our love be for those special to us, our spouse, if we only made contact occasionally and through other people instead of spending precious time digging deep into their hearts, learning their characters, appreciating the specialness of who they are, loving their smile and relaxing in their embrace?

Join me in getting our Bibles from off the table! Dust it off – let’s ask the Holy Spirit to awaken our souls to the riches of God in His incredible Love Letter to us and let’s dive deep into a wondrous world of grace, mercy, truth and love!

A WORD OF WARNING!

Commitment to this JOURNEY is life changing.
 You will never be the same!


Friday, November 9, 2012

a new set of rules!



As a patient in the hospital, you live according to a new set of rules. 

Time is marked by visits from family and friends, medication administration, IV machines beeping and humming, Doctor’s visits and vital signs.

 Yet in this mechanized world there is a heartbeat of Heaven. I heard it during my stay. I felt God’s care and love through each staff member, loving friend and my precious family as they spoke to me, touched me gently, informed me of tests and procedures, comforted me and listened.

Another nugget of truth during this time:

During our difficult times,
Our unpleasant experiences,
He stands beside us
He is in

A touch during pain
A hand to hold during a scary procedure
A kind word
A helping hand
A giving spirit
A phone call with encouraging words
A smile
An ear and time to listen

All through the Bible we read of God using others to fulfill His purpose and will. How wonderful it is to know that we can not only be touched by God through others but can be used of God to reach out to do His bidding and show in a real and tangible way His love and tenderness in times of need.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Anxious about the future?

Anxiety is the result of envisioning the future without ME!”

Jesus Calling – October 17th
So appropriate for today. The daily devotional goes on to say the best defense against worry is communication with Jesus. In considering events in the future – don’t allow your mind to dwell there (we become anxious), remember Christ’s promise that He will be there with You!

Luke 12:22-31 encapsulates God’s care and provision for us. His love is infinite and He will meet our needs.

We see our needs as comfort, ease, health, lack of want. We seek our security in things, in bank accounts and relationships. He gently pries our fingers off these things and places our hands in His. He redirects our focus back to Himself. He shows us in Luke to not run after clothes, food, riches, security of things, but to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto us.

His work is to “clear out the debris and clutter, making room for the Holy Spirit to take full possession of our hearts” (Jesus calling today)

Our job is to allow Him to reveal those things we cling to for our security and safety and let go. Things, people, money, investments, government cannot provide the type of Security – eternal provision, that Christ can.

HE KNOWS WHAT WE NEED. He delights in giving us the desires of our hearts. He promises us life abundant. He stands ready to bless us till our “cup runs over”

 BUT FIRST HE MUST TRAIN US TO DEPEND ON HIMSELF ALONE

Truly it is time to take our faith in Christ seriously.

 We see the devastation brought on by Sandy and the loss of everything to many. Can we say with confidence “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord?” He is dealing gently with us – we still have our homes, our bank accounts and our loved ones. Can we release our hold on these  things and the future, putting them trustingly into our loving Father’s hands? In doing this, can we say to our Lord, “Your will, not mine”, “You lead, I will follow”, “You will meet my greatest need – a vibrant, life changing, trusting relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – all else is your bountiful blessings to me. “



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