Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Today my friend Malissa won a cake decorating contest. She makes a lot of cakes she could have chosen from over 100 of the cakes she has decorated to enter into the contest. She picked one she liked the best and hoped that she would win. At no point during the contest could she have known that she was certain to win the contest, there were a lot of incredible cakes that were entries along with her cake. When she won nothing could rob her of her joy. I’m sure even now, 12 hours later she is still on cloud nine.
The cake she baked was of Yankee Stadium. It was a large cube cake with a circle cut out and the baseball diamond in the center. Here’s a link so you can see the whole cake. http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/food/2009/09/creative-cake-contest-winners.html
When we become christians we get to be one of God’s most valuable players. Our lives are much like a baseball game and in order to play we have to master the fundamentals.
When we are up to bat we are there for everyone to see what skills we bring to the game. Home plate is when you decide to follow Jesus Christ and step up to the plate. First base is being born again and having that new life in Christ. Second base is Baptism, you get to be washed free from your sins and it symbolizes a life with Christ. Third base is Disipleship which requires stydying the word and having verses in your heart for a heart to know and love God. Homerun is when we reach heaven.
A lot can happen as a MVP makes their way around the bases. Trials and temptations and struggles can happen along the way and get you thrown right out of the game. During the game it is important to keep focused on a vision of getting to a homerun. Seeing God’s plan for us to be in heaven allows Christians to know where they are going. Stay on the path follow the bases. It will be hard but Christians have to stay the course and not let distractions or obsticals that sin allows to throw us out of the game. As a MVP we are to stay productive in our prayer and worship. Strive for the best and lift up other MVP’s along the way. Have the team spirit as an encourager and don’t give up on the vision God has for every believer to live eternity with him in Heaven.
A life with Jesus Christ will change our ordinary existence on Earth. Facing challenges in this game called life we never thought we could face and become supertnaural with the Holy Spirit in our lives. The ordinary will become extraordinary!
I hope for that same joy, much like my friend Malissa experienced when she won the contest today,for every person that finds Jesus Chirst. The joy of knowing we are going to heaven is going to be our prize. The joy, will be indescribable.
I thank God for granting each of us a talent. I sometimes feel I haven’t found my talent and that’s not a bad thing, it makes me seek God more and pray for Him to reveil His vision for me, and as a MVP for God’s team, I can strive to do my best to glorify God in all I do. Extraordinary!
Grace and peace be with you from God our father.
Amen.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Twenty- three
Today I had the opportunity to visit with a dear friend of mine who will be 70 next month. We talked about the things going on in one another’s lives. I told her about my separation from my husband and how I am trying to seek God’s will in our marriage. I told her it is a struggle to see myself single again after nine years of marriage. She said that she just fell in love again and thought that she would be married once again. She and the guy dated for many months and seemed to her inseparable, then one day he just quit coming around. He began seeing someone else and just broke it of with her. Her heart is broken and she shared with me she is feeling the same as I am feeling now, trying even at the age of 70 trying to rebuild her life of being single.
I loved talking to her and am glad that she shared with me her story. I see how loneliness can come in our lives and how easy it is to dwell on our feelings and how we individually have to handle these times of our lives. It is always nice to have another person to share talking about the loneliness that comes when these life changes happen, even if it is only to talk about it. Spending time with God in prayer is always a comfort he will always listen and not pass judgment and He already knows your heart.
I am thankful that God is giving me some great friends that invite me to do things with them and yesterday I spent the day with a friend working on her scarecrow entries. Spending time with my friends is a blessing and I need these people in my life, they do take away some of the loneliness in my life.
I know that God will send companions into my life as I need for them. If it is God’s will for me to have a companion in a husband God will provide that for me. Sometimes I think that is what I am used to and it is what I want. I want someone to come home to each day and someone to be that every day companion. It is my prayer that God will guide me and my husband back to our life together or close that door and open it for the person that would be God’s will.
I realize that God is in control of the events and I am having patience in what He wants. I still love my husband and the reasons we are not together make neither of us right or wrong, but it comes down to if one of us wants to live alone and make their own decisions about the choices they make, then I will have to respect that marriage is not for him and pray for Jody. And that whatever made me so unhappy and caused my depression for so long will be changed so that I can know what makes me happy and allow myself to be happy with him or without him if that is God’s will.
In our marriage it is not so much about either of us being right or wrong. It is just that maybe we want different things, or a different life we can’t live together. I am sad about it.
Talking to my friend helped to let me know that these life changes are difficult and it doesn’t matter what age we are, we can still have the same difficulties and we don’t have to bear them alone. I will be in prayer for God to send my friend a love and companion again even at the age of 70 she can have the desire of her heart.
Romans 12:9-16
Love
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
I loved talking to her and am glad that she shared with me her story. I see how loneliness can come in our lives and how easy it is to dwell on our feelings and how we individually have to handle these times of our lives. It is always nice to have another person to share talking about the loneliness that comes when these life changes happen, even if it is only to talk about it. Spending time with God in prayer is always a comfort he will always listen and not pass judgment and He already knows your heart.
I am thankful that God is giving me some great friends that invite me to do things with them and yesterday I spent the day with a friend working on her scarecrow entries. Spending time with my friends is a blessing and I need these people in my life, they do take away some of the loneliness in my life.
I know that God will send companions into my life as I need for them. If it is God’s will for me to have a companion in a husband God will provide that for me. Sometimes I think that is what I am used to and it is what I want. I want someone to come home to each day and someone to be that every day companion. It is my prayer that God will guide me and my husband back to our life together or close that door and open it for the person that would be God’s will.
I realize that God is in control of the events and I am having patience in what He wants. I still love my husband and the reasons we are not together make neither of us right or wrong, but it comes down to if one of us wants to live alone and make their own decisions about the choices they make, then I will have to respect that marriage is not for him and pray for Jody. And that whatever made me so unhappy and caused my depression for so long will be changed so that I can know what makes me happy and allow myself to be happy with him or without him if that is God’s will.
In our marriage it is not so much about either of us being right or wrong. It is just that maybe we want different things, or a different life we can’t live together. I am sad about it.
Talking to my friend helped to let me know that these life changes are difficult and it doesn’t matter what age we are, we can still have the same difficulties and we don’t have to bear them alone. I will be in prayer for God to send my friend a love and companion again even at the age of 70 she can have the desire of her heart.
Romans 12:9-16
Love
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Twenty-two
In this extraordinary day I have an amazing God that gave me several blessings today.
I had a tooth pulled on Thursday and I took the pain meds on Friday and they did not agree with me. I had an upset stomach all day Friday and was puny and sick all day.
My husband brought me ginger ale and checked on me. Today we had lunch together and took the dog out to the Botanical gardens to pay my scarecrow entry fee.
The weather was terrific and the gardens were beautiful. It was a workday for the hubs but he took the time for lunch out playing with the dog at the gardens and eating scupplings with me from the gardens. We even took time to smell the roses and pointed out the beautiful ones. There are talented groups of Master Gardeners that keep the gardens beautiful. It was a rare and nice time we spent together. I really feel weak and vulnerable sometimes about our marriage especially that we are living apart. These times that we spend together are blessings and I thank God for the goodwill and love that we genuinely feel for each other. I know that God is at work for what He wants for our marriage.
The enemy is there trying to destroy marriages every day. It entices lust and puts temptations in our lives to test us where we need to be the most faithful. When we realize there are sins or situations in our life that we feel we can’t overcome, that is when we really need to turn to God and ask to for a new heart- one that is inclined to obey.
Ezekiel 36: 26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”
It is in seeking God that we get that new heart. It is the Holy Spirit that will accomplish his work in us. God can transform lives and situations.
You can be transformed when you find your faith in God. He can accomplish what He wants in your life. You have to abandon your will to God’s will and watch for things to change.
In my own life I get in God’s way a lot. There are times when He put things in order for me and my doubt did not allow me to trust in it completely. Loosing that doubt is a difficult thing but trust requires belief.
It is my prayer today to let go and let God handle the things in my life that I cannot control. Seek God and He will lead you in the way that you are to go.
Thank God for the beautiful day He gave us to enjoy and good health we are given.
Amen.
I had a tooth pulled on Thursday and I took the pain meds on Friday and they did not agree with me. I had an upset stomach all day Friday and was puny and sick all day.
My husband brought me ginger ale and checked on me. Today we had lunch together and took the dog out to the Botanical gardens to pay my scarecrow entry fee.
The weather was terrific and the gardens were beautiful. It was a workday for the hubs but he took the time for lunch out playing with the dog at the gardens and eating scupplings with me from the gardens. We even took time to smell the roses and pointed out the beautiful ones. There are talented groups of Master Gardeners that keep the gardens beautiful. It was a rare and nice time we spent together. I really feel weak and vulnerable sometimes about our marriage especially that we are living apart. These times that we spend together are blessings and I thank God for the goodwill and love that we genuinely feel for each other. I know that God is at work for what He wants for our marriage.
The enemy is there trying to destroy marriages every day. It entices lust and puts temptations in our lives to test us where we need to be the most faithful. When we realize there are sins or situations in our life that we feel we can’t overcome, that is when we really need to turn to God and ask to for a new heart- one that is inclined to obey.
Ezekiel 36: 26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”
It is in seeking God that we get that new heart. It is the Holy Spirit that will accomplish his work in us. God can transform lives and situations.
You can be transformed when you find your faith in God. He can accomplish what He wants in your life. You have to abandon your will to God’s will and watch for things to change.
In my own life I get in God’s way a lot. There are times when He put things in order for me and my doubt did not allow me to trust in it completely. Loosing that doubt is a difficult thing but trust requires belief.
It is my prayer today to let go and let God handle the things in my life that I cannot control. Seek God and He will lead you in the way that you are to go.
Thank God for the beautiful day He gave us to enjoy and good health we are given.
Amen.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Twenty-one
Yesterday I had a tooth pulled and didn't post.
Today I have a quick post, Paul's secret for happiness:
Colossians 3:12-17
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I need to read this passage daily.
May we all know the secret to happiness and live by it. Thanks to God the Father for the fantastic day we were able to live today.
Amen.
Today I have a quick post, Paul's secret for happiness:
Colossians 3:12-17
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I need to read this passage daily.
May we all know the secret to happiness and live by it. Thanks to God the Father for the fantastic day we were able to live today.
Amen.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Twenty
I was thinking today about verses that I have in my heart. I am someone that has a hard time remembering almost anything. I carry a notebook at work and write everything down that I can because with all that I have going on I seldom have a complete thought or have a complete conversation. The ringing telephone is constantly an interruption and between that and walk in customers, I stay pretty busy in my day. My memory skills are lacking. I know that memory verses from the bible will help when you need them. Take time each week to memorize a verse it will strengthen you in your walk.
God can come into a life and change it. Really change it in a way that people do not even recognize the changed person.
A verse that relates to this is:
2 Corinthians 5:17
“therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
May you know the mercy of God and allow him to change the things that need to be changed in your own life. Be that new creation in Christ.
Grace and Peace to you from God our father.
Amen.
God can come into a life and change it. Really change it in a way that people do not even recognize the changed person.
A verse that relates to this is:
2 Corinthians 5:17
“therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
May you know the mercy of God and allow him to change the things that need to be changed in your own life. Be that new creation in Christ.
Grace and Peace to you from God our father.
Amen.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Nineteen
1 Samuel 25: 14-44
The story of Abigail, one of David’s wives is a testimony of strength in a marriage. The example of Abigail was that she was wise and counseled both her husbands. Her first husband Nabal was wealthy and wicked. He was not a man that deserved his wife. Nabal took his wife for granted. Her disposition towards their servants encouraged their loyalty despite the man that her husband was.
Nabal insulted David when David sent his servants to tell Nabal he was coming. David was going to have him killed and take his land and his servants. Abigail went to David and spoke to him directly asking forgiveness for her husband’s foolishness. She knew how to see the whole picture instead of just looking at her current crisis. David granted mercy to Nabal. It was God that struck Nabal dead. David became Abigail's second husband.
Sometimes it is hard to see the big picture of what God has planned for our lives. We do the best we can and ask God to help us were we are weak.
Abigail promoted peace. In our own lives it is easy to get involved in gossip and the passions of other people, but it is best to consider your own position and stand up for what is right and will promote peace.
Our loyalties can sometimes make us blind. It would be best to see the big picture and be sensible without heated emotions. Are you someone that is slow to anger? Are you someone that will not listen to other’s views? Are you someone that will express your own views?
The question I have on my heart today my marriage. I hope it is in God’s control. I feel very vulnerable and I feel really cautious in my relationships. I used to say exactly what I was feeling, but lately, I am reserved. I want to say a lot more than I do, but I think it is best for me to just step back and pray for the persons that I am hurt by, to allow God to guide their actions and I will have to be accepting of whatever happens. It is my hope that my peace with the situation is a peace from the Lord that things will turn out like they should. It is a surrender. A surrender of the situation to God.
People ask me all the time about the status of my situation. All I can say is that it is in God’s hands. That doesn’t mean that I quit, it means I release my will about the situation, and allow God to be here, right now, and tomorrow and the day after until it is what God wants for us.
Living alone is something I haven’t done in a long, long time, Life is different when you have no one else to consider. This daily bible study allows me to focus my thoughts on something else than my own situation. Life is very different for me than it was six months ago.
There are many of us going through life changes, I hope that if you are in a situation that puts you out of your comfort zone, I pray that you will also allow room for God to get involved. God knows our hearts and knows what is in our best interest even though we do not understand the actions of other people, or even our own actions at times.
Psalm 40: 1-3
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
What do you need to hand over to God that is not in your control?
May patience and peace be with you from God our Father as you wait on Him to give you an answer to your own unique situation.
Pray, pray, pray, and on the days you don't feel you need to be praying, those are the days you will need to pray the most. You need to be present if you want God to be present too.
Amen.
The story of Abigail, one of David’s wives is a testimony of strength in a marriage. The example of Abigail was that she was wise and counseled both her husbands. Her first husband Nabal was wealthy and wicked. He was not a man that deserved his wife. Nabal took his wife for granted. Her disposition towards their servants encouraged their loyalty despite the man that her husband was.
Nabal insulted David when David sent his servants to tell Nabal he was coming. David was going to have him killed and take his land and his servants. Abigail went to David and spoke to him directly asking forgiveness for her husband’s foolishness. She knew how to see the whole picture instead of just looking at her current crisis. David granted mercy to Nabal. It was God that struck Nabal dead. David became Abigail's second husband.
Sometimes it is hard to see the big picture of what God has planned for our lives. We do the best we can and ask God to help us were we are weak.
Abigail promoted peace. In our own lives it is easy to get involved in gossip and the passions of other people, but it is best to consider your own position and stand up for what is right and will promote peace.
Our loyalties can sometimes make us blind. It would be best to see the big picture and be sensible without heated emotions. Are you someone that is slow to anger? Are you someone that will not listen to other’s views? Are you someone that will express your own views?
The question I have on my heart today my marriage. I hope it is in God’s control. I feel very vulnerable and I feel really cautious in my relationships. I used to say exactly what I was feeling, but lately, I am reserved. I want to say a lot more than I do, but I think it is best for me to just step back and pray for the persons that I am hurt by, to allow God to guide their actions and I will have to be accepting of whatever happens. It is my hope that my peace with the situation is a peace from the Lord that things will turn out like they should. It is a surrender. A surrender of the situation to God.
People ask me all the time about the status of my situation. All I can say is that it is in God’s hands. That doesn’t mean that I quit, it means I release my will about the situation, and allow God to be here, right now, and tomorrow and the day after until it is what God wants for us.
Living alone is something I haven’t done in a long, long time, Life is different when you have no one else to consider. This daily bible study allows me to focus my thoughts on something else than my own situation. Life is very different for me than it was six months ago.
There are many of us going through life changes, I hope that if you are in a situation that puts you out of your comfort zone, I pray that you will also allow room for God to get involved. God knows our hearts and knows what is in our best interest even though we do not understand the actions of other people, or even our own actions at times.
Psalm 40: 1-3
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
What do you need to hand over to God that is not in your control?
May patience and peace be with you from God our Father as you wait on Him to give you an answer to your own unique situation.
Pray, pray, pray, and on the days you don't feel you need to be praying, those are the days you will need to pray the most. You need to be present if you want God to be present too.
Amen.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Eighteen
The people in Ezekiel's time were horrible: prostitutes, child sacrificers, lawbreakers, extortionist, robbers and all around bad. God found no one who was faithful to resist the evil all around them. God was very angry. Ezekiel spoke to the people in God's behalf. Jerusalem was to be destroyed. God gave the people every chance to hear his words and repent. Time and Time again God spoke of repentance. He said time and time again that his actions would prove to the people that He is God. He would cleanse the people and display his glory.
Reading Ezekiel I felt like a child being chastized for things I had done. I felt the judgement of God in his description of his wrath to the people. I was reminded that God sees everything, every action and knows every thought.
I thank God for the day he has given me and that through His son, Jesus Christ, he is the forgiver of sins and I can choose to repent of the things that cause God's wrath and live the way he would have his believers to live.
It is not a hard task once you proclaim you are a sinner and ask God to be with you in forgiveness as you repent and get another chance to do things different. None of us are free from sin. We can choose to sin or not to sin.
Being aware of God in your life that makes the decisions you make easier, but not all situations or actions will be understandable. Be at peace about the things going on in your own life that you do not understand. God is Sovereign and in charge of everything. Thank God for the things he is in control of.
May grace and peace be with you from God our Father.
Amen.
Reading Ezekiel I felt like a child being chastized for things I had done. I felt the judgement of God in his description of his wrath to the people. I was reminded that God sees everything, every action and knows every thought.
I thank God for the day he has given me and that through His son, Jesus Christ, he is the forgiver of sins and I can choose to repent of the things that cause God's wrath and live the way he would have his believers to live.
It is not a hard task once you proclaim you are a sinner and ask God to be with you in forgiveness as you repent and get another chance to do things different. None of us are free from sin. We can choose to sin or not to sin.
Being aware of God in your life that makes the decisions you make easier, but not all situations or actions will be understandable. Be at peace about the things going on in your own life that you do not understand. God is Sovereign and in charge of everything. Thank God for the things he is in control of.
May grace and peace be with you from God our Father.
Amen.
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