Friday, July 30, 2010

First of Creation

Today is my last post using the Droid App Bible verses.  It's been an interesting month and I'll probably do it again someday.  I have a couple of thing I would like you all to pray about.  First, my cousin, who is hearing-impaired and is a MRDD person has cancer and is having trouble understanding what is going on with himself.  It's very hard on his family, trying to help him understand.  His name is Eddie.

Secondly, tomorrow I am the featured blogger (writer) for Seeds of Faith.  I hope each of you will go the site and read what I put.  I pray that God will bless the site and will help my words be his words.  The site is http://www.seedsoffaithwomen.com.  I'm excited to be part of this group of Godly women.  I hope you get a chance to go see what all of write.

Okay, on with the show...

The funny thing about this being my last Droid App post is the verse that it gave me is Genesis 1:1!  The very first verse in the Bible.  God has such a sense of humor!  

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

 If he had not created the heaven and the earth, there would be no story.  There would have been no backdrop for anything.  How could we have a flood, earthquakes, armies fighting, angels falling from grace, Christ's birth and death or his resurrection?  Creation is one of those things most of us take for granted.  

I have a garden (if you go to http://cfoxes33.blogspot.com you can see some pictures of it).  Every year we grow different things.  We grow tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, peppers, whatever floats our boat.  We try to mix it up.  This year our green peppers didn't come up.  But we had radishes that did pretty great.  God has given us a wet spring and humid summer, so the tomatoes are full, the  beans are plump.  But sometimes we expect those things.  But there is always something going on.  I hate to weed.  I usually don't do it until I realize that the weeds are choking the good plants.

Everything has to have a beginning.  Luckily, God stated our beginning simply.  This is one Bible verse we can all remember.  Are there other verses we want to remember?  Make it a goal to take a verse and remember it.  Why is it we can remember your social security number, but not 10 words together from the Bible?  Say them everyday.  Our minister is starting a study on the Bible.  He wants everyone to learn the books of the Bible in order.  I use to know them all.  I know about half of them, getting the minor prophets mixed up.  So that is my goal for August.  Make a goal and go for it.  Let me know what it is and I will try and hold you accountable to it.

Once in a while we are all creative too.  I am probably the least creative person I know.  My daughter is very creative, as is Mike.  I have good ideas, but can't seem to get them out.  I will admit I am creative when it comes to music, but only to sing it.  But, being created in God's image we all have some creative juice flowing through us.  Some just got a whole lot more than others!

So as I ramble on today, remember that everything has a beginning, everything has been created, and we are the image of God.  What a mess things could have been without this verse explaining it all to us! 

Thursday, July 29, 2010

How Content Am I?

This month I've gone with an app on my Droid that gives me a Bible verse a day, and then do an impromptu devotion.

The verse that came up today is Hebrews 13:5.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

I also looked this verse up on the website BibleGateway.com.  Here is it's version.  
Let your manner of living be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. For He hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"; 21st Century King James Version.

The first version is easier to understand.  It's pretty straightforward.  I have tried to live my life being content with what I have.  I have a nice house, a great family, a job, clothes, food, etc.  I don't need the latest and greatest of things.  Lately we have been going to too many first run movies.  I also confess that I have been buying books more than borrowing them from the library.  But being content with "things" is just part of it.  Are you content with who you are?  Are you happy with everything in your life?

If I would say yes, I would be lying.  There are things in every aspect of my life that I am not content with.  I am not content with my looks, my thoughts, my attitude at times.  I try to be helpful, but end up making others upset.  I try to be content and most of the time I succeed.  But there are times that no matter how I try, I am not content.  I am not trying to change others, but am I trying to change myself? If I am truly content with what I have, then should I feel happy?

Happiness and contentment does not go hand in hand.  Being content means to be satisfied.  Some people are never satisfied.  They have to go, go, go.  Some people need the biggest and best.  Some need the newest and most improved.  In this society, we are advertised to get the newest, brightest and most improved items.  But if you have something that already works, then why do you need the newest or the most expensive?  Status?  What is that going to get you in heaven?  Do you really care what your neighbor thinks of your new "toy"?

No matter what your status here on earth, God is the judge to please.  And he promised to "never leave or forsake you." That is the thing I am most content with. 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Deciphering Paul

Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
    
My first thought when I read this verse is, when Paul starts writing, sometimes it is hard to follow him.  He seems to write in circles.  This is one of those times.  So let me see if I can break this down in something I can understand.  Maybe you can too.
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live;  That seems pretty easy to me.  When we are baptized, we go down in the watery grave, our sinful self dying to the world and raised in Christ.  He is now with us, dwelling in our hearts, even though we are still alive.
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.  It is not me anymore.  It is not my sinful ways, my selfish pleasures, that should concern me, but I need to be led by Christ and live for him.

And the life which I now life in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, I think this means I should live in the world, but not of the world.  We can live as Christians in this world, but we need to keep ourselves separate from it.  We need to have the faith that God will help us with the temptations of this world.

who loved me and gave Himself for me.  Praise God for saving me from my sinful self!

I hope this clears up something of this verse.  It seems easier to understand if I break it down into pieces and think about each part, instead of trying to decipher what seems like Paul's round-about writings.

Wednesday means iFellowship at Seeds of Faith

iFellowship

iFellowship was created by the team at Seeds Of Faith. We wanted Christian women to have a place to get to know each other and well, just fellowship! After all, as Christians we're called to fellowship with one another.



So, every Wednesday at 12:00 AM CST, there will be a linky tool provided for Christian women to post links to their blogs, twitter accounts, and facebook accounts.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Prayer of Jabez

I Chronicles 4:10

Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested.

I feel so blessed today!  This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  This and Isaiah 40:31.  Jabez is one of the only men in the book of Chronicles that is talked about a little.  It talks about how he was born and that he prayed to God.  I have a book somewhere, maybe one of you have my book, that talks about how praying this prayer for you will increase your ...land, knowledge, whatever it is you want to increase.  I loved this verse so much that when we had the National Day of Prayer services one time, I asked Tom McRoberts, one of our ministers, to talk about this.  He did such a wonderful job. 

Jabez wanted God's blessings and asked God to be with him through everything.  He asked for his territory to grow bigger and that he would be kept from harm.  Those are all things that we ask for too, isn't it?  What person wouldn't want to be painless, and under God's protection?  Well, pain free we are not, but we are under God's protection.   He loves us and wants us to depend on him for everything.  I try, but it is hard because sometimes I want something done the way I think it should be.  And I usually make it worse and jumble things up more.

We just need to learn to trust God and wait on him to do what he wants from us.  John 16:23 says, " In that day you will not question Me about anything Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you."  I think that says it all.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Desires of Heaven

Welcome to all the new readers!  I hope you are blessed in someway by this devotion!  On Saturday, I will be doing a piece for Seeds of Faith (www.seedsoffaithwomen.com).  It's a wonderful site for Christian woman (but men are welcome to read it too!  I hope you will join me there!

I also hope you have enjoyed this month's devotions.  I have used an app on my Droid to lead us through different verses in the Bible so that God on can speak to us, not necessarily in a random way, but as a different way.  I also wanted to challenge myself to see if I could make a devotional piece out of something unexpected.  I think I did okay and I hope you thought so too!  Thanks for all the comments.  I love the feedback I am given.

Psalm 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but You?
         And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 


Our Creator sits on a throne in heaven, looking down at his world.  How often, do we kneel before him, or as I used to do as a child, lay on my back in the yard, and look up at the sky?  I remember my sister and I would lay on the hill in our side yard and look up at the clouds and blue sky in the summer, trying to see what the passing clouds reminded us of.  Dragons, bears, spaceships, there was no end!  Did you ever look up and contemplate heaven?  

God is in heaven, and I desire to go there when it's my turn.  He is the one I want to please, the one I am serving, the one I live for.  There is nothing on this earth that I really desire.  I physically am in want or need of anything.  Praise God for that.  Emotionally, I want my family healthy and happy. Spiritually, I have the desire to be where Christians are.  But that is here on earth. 

I think the older you get, the "wiser" you get, and the more you realize the whole goal is heaven and eternal life.  As a young adult (I refuse to say I am anywhere in the middle), we want to experience family, kids, marriage, and all the other things that we can on earth.  We don't seem to have our mind set on heaven.  We know it's the goal, but it seems so far away.  Until it's not.  I was thinking last night how quickly it can go from life to death for us.  As children, there is no way we are close to dying.  As young adults, we are still too far away from that in our thinking, then we hit maybe a certain age, or illness hits us in the face, and there it is, heaven.  Where are we going?  Are we ready?  What's there?  All the questions loom and we start thinking about it.  The older we get, the more we desire heaven.  We have lived this life and know that there is more to it than what we've done here.  The older we get, the more we talk about death, eternal life, and heaven.  The more reassurance we need for the younger adults.  It's hard to contemplate heaven as a young person until you are faced with actually going there.  But, maybe it is something we do need to contemplate more than in passing.  We need to let our children know what we are here for.  What our reward is for living a life for Christ.  Then when a loved one passes, it will still hurt, but the reassurance of being with God may help ease the pain.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Patience is A Virtue

Psalms 40:1

 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard me cry.

How patient  are you in waiting?  I actually am pretty calm when waiting, or so I thought.  Then, the other night when I noticed the missed call from camp, I was not patient.  I called the camp (no answer), I text my friend and dumped all my worries on her, I prayed, a lot, and when I'm nervous, my leg starts shaking.  I get so antsy.  Usually I am very patient.  When someone gets upset, I am usually calm, cool and collective.

When God wants something done, I know that I have to wait on him.  When I ask the Lord for something, I usually forget about it.  I know that the answer will come.  I accept the fact that God-time is not Cheryl-time.  If I knew God's schedule, then that would take all the fun out of life, huh?

The good and best news in this passage is that God heard my cry.  His mind was tuned into me, leaning toward me and he heard me when I called out to him with my worry.  Thankfulness spreads through me like drinking hot chocolate on a cool day.  I so appreciate that God is tuned in to me and that he leans toward me.  He wants to help when he can.

Everything with Son at camp has been taken care of and Son stayed all week.  Foxy and Gpa will go pick him tonight, so I am excited to see him!  I can't wait to hear his stories and especially to see how he is doing with that knee he hurt.  I am thankful that God made me patient and is patient with me, even when I'm not inclined to be as patient with others.

 

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Have a Little Faith

Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 

Do you live by faith?  I find that that is easy for some things to go on faith and not so easy on others.  I find that sometimes it is easier to accept what we don't understand on faith, like the air we breathe, the Holy Spirit living in us, and our love for certain people.  It is hard to accept other things, like the evil of this world, other people's logic, and why bad things happen to good people.  Some times I just shake my head.

 My minister tells us that the way to remember what righteous means is that it is God's Right Way.  So a righteous man is someone who does things God's way and they live by faith.  Faith is best explained in Hebrews 11: 1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We hope for life everlasting, for loved ones to be in heaven and God gives us that assurance for those things with our obedience.  We also have to truly believe that what we don't understand, but truly believe in, as in heaven, salvation, and the judgment day.  We have to remain true and not waiver on these things.  For as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7  for we walk by faith, not by sight.  It is so much easier to believe something that you can use your senses to see, hear, touch, smell and taste.  But what about the things that are and you can't use your sense?  That is the kind of faith we need to have.


Do you have the faith of a righteous man?  You can as a Christian.  Just believe.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

1 Corinthians 16:14

1 Corinthians 16:14
Do everything in love.

Ouch!  That was my first thought.  What do you mean by that?  It's like God is pointing a finger at me.  

Okay, so maybe I have been acting wounded about something that I maybe should accept.  And then there was that thing that that lady said to me at work.  Lord, I tried to let it roll past my other cheek, but it really stung!  And maybe there was that time I grumbled and pouted when I should have been happy to help out my friend.

Obviously, I need some help with my attitude.  I usually am a mild-mannered person, but lately I let little things get to me.  I try to do a lot of things in love for other people.  Sometimes when it comes to my family, I get frustrated and don't do what I should for them.  The saying goes, You always treat outsiders better than the ones you live with.  For that, I apologize.  
Lord, help me to change my attitude.  Let my life be what you want, and change my heart to a grateful and loving one.  Thank you for loving me.  

In Your Son's name, Amen.


 iFellowship

Hook up with us for iFellowship Day, through Seeds of Faith!  It's a great way to meet other like-minded bloggers and make new friends!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Use it or Lose it!

Pray for my son.  He is at church camp this week and we got a call last night that he hurt his knee.  We had to drive 90 minutes to go pick him up, another 30 to a hospital to have his knee xrayed, found out it is sprained badly, another 30 minutes back to camp (because he was not going to leave), and another 90 minuets back home.  He is on crutches and in an immobilizer brace.
Pray for my mom too.  She had her hip replaced a few years ago.  When I called Dad this morning to tell him about Timm, he told he that mom's hip, leg, and foot hurt to the point where she was having trouble walking.  She goes to the doctor at 2ish.  I'll update when I know something.
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1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
What's your special gift?  I can tell you many people's gifts, but for me it's hard to tell my own.  Is it for you?  My husband is a worker, and loves to cook for others.  My daughter is an encourager and a loyal friend.  My son?  He is great with special needs kids, and loves to make people laugh.  Me?  Well, I guess I am okay with writing and I do sing pretty well. 

One thing that is wonderful about being apart of God's family and our church family is that we are all different.  None of us have the exact same talents.  But we have to learn to work together and get along to make things work.  Sometimes each of our ideas can get in the way of others and when we disagree it causes the "well oiled machine" not to work as well.  When Mike and I were planning our wedding, my mom would come to me with ideas.  I'd look at her and say, "No, we aren't doing that."  Then I would think about it for a while and mull it over.  I would then go back to her about three days later and say, "Yeah, I think that idea would be good."  We went on like this for quite a while.  Everything turned out well, so I am grateful for her ideas.

When each of us have our own gifts to bring to the table, we have to be willing to share them.  Does it matter that there are four other cooks?  Does it matter that Julie's creativity for making costumes is better than my sewing?  No!  Jump in there and use your gift, helping where you can.  You helping out another Christian and asking for nothing in return will just using the grace that God has given us.  Besides, someday you may needs someone's gifts to help you out.

Monday, July 19, 2010

You Complete Me.

1 John 4:12

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

 This is a hard verse for me to comment on.  No one has ever seen God.  We have seen the results that God has made through each other.  The miracles that have happened, the love and cooperation we show each other all should prove that God is real and with us.  But a lot of people still do not believe.  We need to live our lives as this verse says.  We need to love one another and show that through our love, God lives in us and it is a complete love.

How is love complete?  Does that mean it is ended?  No! I am not an expert in love, but I think that if we live our lives with love, kindness, and the right attitude, what God wants to accomplish in each of us is fulfilled.  It's always been funny to me that couples sometimes say to each other, "You complete me."  I think we need to say that to God.  He is the only true love that will make us whole.  Everything about God is what we should be searching for in our lives.  He is the one that lives in us and we should let his light shine through us.

Friday, July 16, 2010

To God be the Glory!

John 11: 40
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" 


In this verse, Jesus is talking to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, good friends of his.  Lazarus had died and been in the tomb for four days.  She was concerned with the stench and the body and now with what Christ was doing.  Aren't we like that?  We worry more about what someone thinks than what God is doing in our lives?


O how I want to see the glory of God work in my life!  How I want him to use me for what is good and of service to him.  Isn't there a time in our life where we feel that nothing we do is worthwhile?  We feel underappreciated?  How I dislike that feeling.  I need to always remember, even when it's just cleaning the church, fixing a wall, or listening to a friend I am encouraging others.  I am showing I care and laying up treasures in heaven.  What acknowledgement I receive here on earth is nice, but I want the glory to go to God.  


My favorite part is when God shows me that something I did pays off.  It isn't a "see what I did?" moment.  It's a "see what God did through me!" moment.  One time, as a teenager, I sang a song.  It was a song saying, what if you ran out of time.  What if you didn't become a Christian before the Lord came back?  That evening, a friend of mine came to church and told me he was being baptized.  He listen to the words of the song and was sitting in the back seat of his parents car.  They were on their way somewhere when he told them he wanted to be baptized.  The turned around and came back to be at church that night!  When I sing, I always pray that someone maybe touched.  I usually never know if they are or not, but this time, I saw the glory of God through my friend's baptism.  Thank you, Lord!


How have you seen the glory of God?  Let me know.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Heavy Burden

Deuteronomy 1:12
 'How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife?

This verse is Moses talking the tribes and how hard it is to be their leader.  As a parent of just two, I can not fathom the millions of people that Moses led across the Jordan, monitoring the tribes, being the go-between and referee.  I bet he aged very quickly!

Obviously with that many people, there was always a dispute, fight, and disgrunted family member.  There had to be he said/she said, 'I didn't do it', 'She's looking at me!', 'I hate you!' moments.  We can all relate to those.  So how did Moses do it?  He made each tribe elect someone to help him.  He delegated authority.  Just as we wives are to be helpmates to our husbands, the elected ones were helpers to Moses.  

Moses' shoulders must have been heavy with the load he carried for all of God's chosen people.  Christ carried the burdens of all humanity to the Cross.  I'm sure that we have all felt a heavy burden with our family and friends.  But not at the magnitude that Christ felt.  What sorrow, what suffering!  And all for the cost of our souls to spend eternity in heaven with him.  How can you not love God for this?  

Sonja from Becoming a Strong Woman of God asked me to join Thankful Thursdays, so here is my thankfulness.


I am thankful for all the new people I am meeting through Seeds of Faith.  I am thankful for my family and I am thankful mostly for Christ!

What are you thankful for?

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Lean on Me!

iFellowship


Welcome to all my new followers!  I pray that what is written is not for my glory but all goes to God.  I hope that everyday there is some food for thought for you to think or pray about.  I love hearing your ideas and thoughts on the subjects I write about, so leave me a comment if you would.  Have a blessed day.

This month, I am using an application on my Droid called Bible Verses.  So far it has been kind of interesting, and I've had to really think about what is being said and what I think the verse says to me.  I can read the same chapter every week and each time I get something new out of it.  Each time you study God's work, you get your eyes opened wider and your knowledge is enhanced. 

Today's verse is Ecclesiastes 4:12
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

The first thing I thought of with this verse is safety comes in numbers.  We always tell our children to stay with us, or stay with the group.  Most of us do not like to be alone.  We travel in groups.  We are not comfortable being alone with ourselves.

If you have a problem, most of us try to work it out alone.  We quietly pray and try to ignore it.  Usually that doesn't work.  So maybe we tell a trusted friend about the problem and ask them to pray for us.  We feel better, and we are getting double the prayers.  But if you really want to get rid of the problem, tell a group.  Tell your small Bible Study.  Tell your circle of friends and ask them to pray.  Then you have all these people going to God on your behalf and God answers prayer.  We may not like his answer, but he does answer them.  With a group, someone else has bound to go through a similar situation.  Then you don't feel so alone.  The problem doesn't seem to overwhelm you and you can better deal with it.

So don't be a loner.  God brought us together to sort our our lives together.  To pray for each other.  To be joyful for each other, to cry for each other.  Dependence is something we all need to learn.  Depend on me!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Mind, Heart and Soul

1 Corinthians 3:16 - 17
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?  If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. 

God made us in his likeness.  Not dogs, mosquitos or whales.  In the beginning of time, God needed someone to rule over this world.  He breathed life into Adam and Eve and Voila'!  Man and Woman.  Everything we are and are going to be is because of God. 

As an individual, we each dislike things about us.  We are overweight, our hair is to curly/straight, our noses too big.  All physical traits that have been given to us and only us.  So we try and change things.  Some changes are for the better like getting healthy and losing weight.  Some are not so good, a bad hair cut, and even can be harmful (certain types of enhancement drugs).

God wants us to take care of ourselves the best way we can.  And the Holy Spirit lives in each of us Christians.  The Spirit guides us and is helping us live our lives the best way possible. Our minds, hearts and souls are the three most powerful things I think God has given us.  Our hearts not only power our body, we say that with our hearts we love.  Love is a strong emotion that ties us to others.  Our minds set us apart from God's other creations.  We can logically think and fix problems.  Our souls is the life within us that makes us who we are.  God gave us our spirits and the Holy Spirit to become in tune with him. 

So today, take care of your temple.  Do what you can to keep your mind, heart, and spirit strong.  Read your Bible, pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God.  Take a walk, exercise and eat healthier.  And listen to yourself.  Listen to God's Spirit leading you along your path of life.  Don't destroy what he has given you.  Help keep your self in God's shape.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Psalm 63:1 Seeking God

Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where this is no water.

Tonight, a few of us are going to Fairfield High School to see Hailee Wright in her drum and bugle corp show.  We will be sitting in the stands watching these young people perform for us.  We will be sitting there, scouring the field, looking for her.  Our eyes will be earnestly seeking her face, wanting to see her.   All her family and friends will be there, along with others, hoping for a glimpse.  I'm sure her parents are excited about seeing her.  They want to see her, talk with her, hug her.  This daughter that they have raised and loved for eighteen years is passing through.  They want to make sure she is okay.  They long to talk to her, to seek that reassurance that she is making it in the world.

That is what this verse is, only not about God wanting to be with us, about us wanting to be with God.  We should want to be where he is, talk with him.  Our souls need to be burning, as a throat who needs liquid to quench it. We need God's approval, his will, his desire in our lives.  We need to love him willingly, hungrily. 

What can quench this thirst, this fire?  Hopefully, nothing.  I pray that we not quench it, but keep the fire burning in my soul for the knowledge, for the comfort, for the love that he provides.  We need the security and hopes that God provides for us.  But we need to keep longing for, and seeking God in all we do.

Friday, July 9, 2010

What a Promise!

Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

That is kinda depressing.  What man deems as the right way to do things, leads to death.  No matter what we do, it will one day lead to death.  Unless, unless you are a Christian.  If you have followed Christ and are obedient to his ways, then Romans 6:23 is your verse.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thank goodness we have the promise of life everlasting!  How else would I get through the day? 

Thursday, July 8, 2010

If God is for us....

Psalm 124:2-5
 2"Had it not been the LORD who was on our side
         When men rose up against us,
    3Then they would have swallowed us alive,
         When their anger was kindled against us;
    4Then the waters would have engulfed us,
         The stream would have swept over our soul;
    5Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul." 


I read these verses and said, "Amen!"

What would I have done if the Lord was not on my side?  I would have been drug down to the fiery pit, doomed with evil and oppressed.  I am not much of a fighter.  I hate arguing and rarely do it.  I may complain a lot, but try not to. 

This verse brought to mind another verse.  Romans 8:31
 31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 

I pray that no matter what we do, God will be for us.  We can not be in this world alone.  I have to have God surrounding me.  I feel safe with him leading me through.  I do not want to imagine anymore what could and would happen with God's protection.  Do you?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Wednesday iFellowship

  iFellowship

iFellowship was created by the team at Seeds Of Faith. We wanted Christian women to have a place to get to know each other and well, just fellowship! After all, as Christians we're called to fellowship with one another.

So, every Wednesday at 12:00 AM CST, there will be a linky tool provided for Christian women to post links to their blogs, twitter accounts, and facebook accounts.




Teach Your Children Well

Joel 1:3
"Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and thier children another generation."

Joel was prophesying about the invasion of his land and how terrible things were.  When I start talking to my kids about things that happened when I was younger, (and I'm not old!), they just roll their eyes at me and say "Here we go."   Sometimes they think I am trying to play down their situation.  I try really hard not to do that.  I try to let them know that they are not alone and others have gone through this situation or something similar. 

God wants us to tell our kids of everything going on.  We are to talk to them of the Lord and what he has done for us.  We are to live our lives so that everyone (not just our kids) will know we are not of this world.  We are to be examples of Christians.  But it's okay to let them see you fail.  To let them see how to forgive, how to forget, and how to be apart of something bigger than themselves.  I try to show them that everyday we are to be sincere, truthful, loving, kind, long-suffering...you know the fruits of the spirit.  Some of these things I am better at than others.  I keep working the ones I need to work on, and I hope they see that too.

I believe that your house is where you are the worst, but you should try and be your best.  If your children see your worst side all the time, how are they going to ever learn the correct way to do things?  Start in the home, that's where all things of importance should start.  Attend church, let them see you reading your Bible or a devotion, but let them know this is your time with God.  Give them something to think about.

Most importantly, talk to your children.  Have normal conversations about them and their day.  Show them you are interested in them and their lives.  Not as to what can they do for you, but what they want, their hopes and dreams.  Ask them about Sunday school and camp.  Love them!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Lifeline

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

I recently started twittering and facebook.  It asks you to search for and invite friends to join you.  Sometimes I want to look for certain people.  Sometimes I ignore the suggestions that is asked.  I guess it all depends on my mood. 

God wants you to look for him and focus on him, using all your heart and soul.  He wants you to love him with all your heart, mind and soul.  Later in Deuteronomy 6:5 Moses tells the Israelites:  "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."  What do you think this means?

He wants your heart.  God wants you to love him and have your heart in the right place at all times.  Your heart is your lifeline and your love-line.  God wants to be that too!  He is your lifelife to get through this life and he wants you to love him.  When my Dad had his heart trouble, the doctors worked on his heart.  He never lost faith that they would fix the problems, but he recovered and is such a strong person.  The second time, when the doctor put a hole in his heart, God saved him.  He probably should have never made it.  But Dad turned his heart over to God and asked the Elders of our church, as well as the members to pray for healing.  He had had pain for five weeks.  He went to bed that night, not feeling right, but when he woke up...he was singing.  It took him a few minutes to realize that the pain was gone!  God had heard our prayers and he answered them with a healing!  God wants your heart, more than you realize.  God wants you to pray for yourself as well as others.  He wants you to seek him this way.

The soul is still a mystery to me.  It  is our lifeline, our connection to God.  When we die, our soul leaves the shell of our body.  The soul, to me is the spirit that God created when he breathed life into Adam and Eve.  Our first breath isn't our soul, but maybe it awakens it.  Our soul is our yearning to know more.  Our hopes and dreams and wishes all come from the soul and sometimes our soul aches.  When we are distressed, we need to turn and seek God's will.  Whether we are doing that in the Bible by reading, or by learning through a devotion, God wants you to seek him.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Weak

2 Corinthians 12:9
 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 

What is your weaknesses?  Is it indifference?  Is it your attitude?  I have lots of weaknesses. I am in adequate in a lot of ways.  But through Christ, I am saved.  His grace is enough to get me through. He is sufficient for my inefficiencies.  I am not very good at many things.  I am a sinner saved by grace, and the last thing I want to do is proclaim it!  But Paul says he gladly talks about his weaknesses.  He freely admits them so Christ can take over where he fails.

Oh to be like Paul.  To be able to admit my failures.  Some failures none of us want to know about or talk about.  Christ is a great Savior because he makes up what we lack.  He doesn't rub in what I don't do well.  He just smiles, covers it up and keeps going.  Praise God for his power!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Psalm 42:1

Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
         So my soul pants for You, O God.


I have this application on my Droid that gives me a daily Bible verse.  For the month of July, I am going to use this as the verse I will write about.  This should make for some very interesting or very boring devotions.  I hope I can bring some insight to this with inspiration from God.

So I think this one has been used before.  I think it is one of the most poetic verses in the book of Psalm.  The imagery of a deer looking for water and panting sounds so much better than an dog panting.  Besides, in the Bible, dogs are not looked at as a thing of beauty, but something that tears apart, and begs for food.

The song that goes with this is so pretty.   The song is for God and how much the author wants to be with him and worship him.   The second verse talks about how Jesus is our brother and friend, but he is our King too.  The third verse, what stands out to me is that Jesus is the the reason for the author's joy and "the apple of his eye".  I love that part.  Here are the words. 

 As A Deer 

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee

(Chorus)
You alone are my strength, my shield 
To You alone may my spirit yield 
You alone are my heart's desire 
And I long to worship Thee 

You're my friend and You are my brother
Even though You are a king
I love You more than any other
So much more than anything   

I want You more than gold or silver 
Only You can satisfy 
You alone are the real joy giver
And the apple of my eye