He promised to be with Us

26 09 2014

IMG_2084Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV

God’s promise to be with us gives us confidence. It is not a promise of ease or unfettered progress but it gives us so much more. He promised to be with us. He gave His unfailing Word that His presence would be with us always. His presence is a place of peace, joy and strength. In His Company, we can receive renewal, strength and confidence. We can be reassured to be strong and courageous. We can thrive. With Him, fear has no place. We can leave our anxiety behind. We can shed anything that hinders our walking fully in our purpose. In His presence we can be healed of the past and look focused toward the future. Growing, maturing, and completing the work of our hands. He promised to be with us. His presence in my life is sufficient for me.

“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 MSG


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A Present Help

25 09 2014

IMG_2082God is our refuge and strength,
    always ready to help in times of trouble.
So we will not fear when earthquakes come
    and the mountains crumble into the sea. 

 Let the oceans roar and foam.
    Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!

A river brings joy to the city of our God,
    the sacred home of the Most High.
God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
    From the very break of day, God will protect it.
The nations are in chaos,
    and their kingdoms crumble!
God’s voice thunders,
    and the earth melts!
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
    the God of Israel is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1-7


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What I Know

24 09 2014

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.  Proverbs 3:5-6 

At times my feelings and emotions run counter to what I know in my heart. This may happen to you too. I know that our God will provide for every need but I may feel a little anxious about one commitment or another. I know that my God is a healer but worry may set in with a negative doctor’s report. I know that God provides peace and calm in the midst of the storm when at times I want to scream at the winds. I have been working on getting better at aligning my emotions with what I know. I want my first response to be based on my knowledge of my Heavenly Father and His promises to His children. I am a child of the King. Peace, love and joy should be evident in my ways, my life and even my emotions. We can mature and deepen our trust in Him and align our what we know with what we feel.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. I Peter 1:5-9


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God’s Best

18 09 2014

NSun Raysow unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3:20

Many of us approach life with some knowledge, a portion of common sense and hopefully a good dose of wisdom. Armed with these components, we often think we can move forward in making good decisions. We try to figure what to do, how to do it and even when to make the right moves. We pray and ask for His leading and sometimes His favor in opening the right opportunities for our lives. We remember His word in Proverbs, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, He shall direct they path.” And God is faithful to hear our prayer and is also faithful to who He is as God. Despite our best thinking we know that God’s thinking is above all. His ways are above and beyond all that we can ask or think. We may think that He is moving on our behalf in one way and then He moves in a way that is best that might be totally different than we can ever imagine. I am so thankful to God for his unlimited ability to work in us and on our behalf. He is able to bless us with His Best.

God can do anything, you know-far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.  Ephesians 3:20 MSG


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Strength for Today

17 09 2014

IMG_0099Don’t be sad because the joy you have in the Lord is your strength.   Nehemiah 8:10

A new day brings with it a new opportunities for a whole new set of experiences. Occasionally, I have finished a day that was full of the unexpected.  Something happened that may have resulted in a series of events that I could not have even imagined. This is the nature of life and living.

Setting “the stage” or “our mindset” for each day can provide the strength or the endurance needed to make it through whatever the day brings.   If we approach each day with praises on our lips for our faithful Father, thanksgiving in our hearts for His goodness and rejoicing in our spirit for His peace and His love, it will help us to endure. It will help us to respond to the day’s events in faith and in love. It will remind us that Jesus is faithful to be with us each step of the way. The joy of the Lord is our strength.


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Eyes on the Prize

16 09 2014

focus on JesusI press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:14 

 A look of determination and focus is telling. I have seen it in the eyes of a runner before a race. I have also seen it in a picture on the faces of African-American women fighting for a Head Start program for their children in rural Mississippi in the 1960’s. They seem to know it was going to take a combination of determination, focus and hard work to accomplish the task. They seem to know that they were up against difficult odds in a community where their lives and the lives of their children were not valued but still they worked. And despite the odds, the lack of funds and the lack of history of success with fighting against the system, the look was on each of their faces. Their look and their determination is an inspiration to me. Sometimes we sit in a place of complacency when we have untold power through the Holy Spirit. The scripture says that we are more than conquerors but often we sit in a mental place of defeat. We often see injustices and choose to say nothing about it. But we are the light of the world.

Today, I am asking God for the direction, the strength and the boldness to do what He is calling us to do on behalf of His people. We will continue to press toward the mark and we are not turning back.

 

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. Philippians 3:14


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Strength for Today

15 09 2014

IMG_0173

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:13

Today is a precious gift.  No matter how the day ends, we will never be able to relive or recapture the time available to us on this day.  I have a lot of things and maybe an unreasonable amount of tasks that I hope to accomplish today.  So I want to put first things first.  I am so thankful for the opportunity of today that I am asking God for wisdom, clarity of direction and strength to accomplish what is needed according to His plan for my life. I don’t want to squander time with distractions and toiling.  I am asking our faithful Father to provide laser focus on His will and His ways for me.  I will honor God in my thinking and my actions, with full confidence that He is able to activate the gifts in me to advance His plans for my life today.


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Always…

12 09 2014

2014-08-25 15.21.39

 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!

Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.

Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.

Then the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:4-9 NLT

 Things we should do consistently at all times –  Always…


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@50

9 09 2014

It is finally here… I have lived 50 years on this earth.  50 years translates into more than 18,000 days and more than 26 million seconds.  It sounds like a long time but sitting here at my computer I realize that precious time passes us quickly.  One scripture advises us to number our days.  The New International translation of Psalm 90:12 reads “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”.  I meditate on these words and its meaning.  My first thought is that our time in this life is not infinite.  It is something to be treasured and to be prudently quantified and spent.  We in fact do not have forever to achieve purpose, meaning and fulfillment.  The time between our sunrise and sunset daily and over a lifetime are increments of existence that we should consider carefully.   Each day is an opportunity to move closer to who God is calling us to be.  Honoring God…  Loving His People… Doing His will…    Gaining a “heart of wisdom” is a life journey.  We can nurture all the things that God gives to us… the ability to love, to be loving and to use the gifts of our hands for His glory.  These gifts dedicated to God and His purpose puts us on a blessed journey of a lifetime.  Reaching the milestone of 50 seems like a good time to reflect upon where I have been, counting my blessings, and evaluating where and how to live the next segment of my journey.  I have so much to be thankful for, so much to give praise God for, and so much to look forward to in the days ahead.


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Categories : ENCOURAGEMENT

Celebrate

3 09 2014

Sparkling Fallview

 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Philippians 4:4-9 MSG


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