God's Will - week Twenty- seven

Giving Thanks

If you have been following the past few months, I have been in the bible study of Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. Last week the class finished the study. The final chapter put forth examples of how God changed lives. It posed a question- How is your love for God going to be reflected in your own life and actions?

I have a co-worker who is an amazing Christian. She and I have shared how God is at work in her life.
A year ago she was in a very different place, she was without a job and had applied for school. Time passed and she was not accepted into the school, she got a job that only was few hours each week. She still held on to her faith. In the past two months, God put a man of God in her life to love her. She has fallen in love. The man encouraged her to bring her desires to God and to pray without ceasing over what she wanted God to help her with. She desired to go to school. Her boyfriend supported her decision. She had concerns about working and going to school, that would leave little time for their romance. He assured her, that he loved her, wasn’t going anywhere and would be with her to support her any way he could. So they prayed. Within a week, the admissions director found her application and called her, told her she was accepted and eligible for financial aid and would like to meet with her next week to do the paperwork. I love my co-worker and rejoiced with her when she shared with me. I can’t help but get excited about the Lord’s blessing on lives and how He can change everything.


In my own life I do not feel God calling me to do any one thing. I feel like right now we are getting to know each other and strengthening my faith and love in God. There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not thank God for at least one thing in my life. God is faithful. God’s timing is perfect.

Someone asked me the other day about my own romance. Other people feel disheartened when I don’t say, “I can’t live without my boyfriend;” the truth is he lived four hours away and I know I can live without him. I don’t know that I will ever feel that way about another human being.

I do feel that way about God. I feel that God is the one that won’t let me down. God proves his existence in my life daily. I can't live without God.

Even in the little things, I am reminded that God is merciful, loving, and ever present. In all things God deserves my love, my devotion, and my thanksgiving.

This week I give thanks to God, for everything.

Five verses to know God is God.
1. A child of God
Romans  8:16
 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

2. Forgiven
Colossians 1:13-14
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

3. Saved by grace through faith
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

4. Casting all my cares on Jesus
1 Peter 5:7
 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

5. Filled with laughter and rejoicing
Job 8:21
 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.


It is my prayer any of you reading this, that will be traveling, will have safe journeys and blessed precious time with your loved ones. If you are like me and working through the retail holiday, know that God will bless the time and give us all opportunity to be missionaries on that day to those who need to know the King we worship.

Blessings and love to you this Thanksgiving. To God be the glory, honor and praise for what is He is at work doing in our lives.

God's Will Week Twenty Six

Belive it!  I am half- way through this year. 

“‘Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.’ Thomas S. Monson

God's Will week Twenty-Five

The love fern. 

Almost died from the extreme heat in the car, (see the brown?)

from the nursery to home, but with care and attention

It lives!!

Thankfulness.
Through something terrible, great blessings can come. That is what hope is.

I know that I have shared with you that my brother’s death changed me. I appreciate the people in my life and I try not to take anyone for granted. I say, “I love you.” Every chance I get.

“I’m so glad you are reading this right now because it means you are still alive. I’m really glad.”

Someone said this one statement saved their life. Suicide prevention isn’t something I know how to do. I feel like I failed my brother, who died from suicide.  Friday, I had to share that he had passed with one of his friends. Usually I’m strong, but for some reason, it was harder to talk about. I’m still grieving. I’d love to have him here with me. I know he is with God. That one thought comforts me. Knowing he is with God, restores joy in my life.

We can be in the habit of holding on to the sadness and bitterness grief can bring, or we can dispel Satan to be gone, and not steal our joy, by changing our focus to the things of God.

In our “Crazy Love” Wednesday night study, last week we read stories of people who submitted to God. I would like to be submissive to God. It is my hope that I may be someone God can use. I am still in search of God’s will in my life. I am in constant prayer about God revealing a direction to me for my life.
I am humble to admit, that I fully rely on God. I don’t just take God’s hand, I cling to it, knowing he is leading me to where he wants me to be. There will be times we hesitate. There will be times we move fast, and times to move slow. I want to be a life transformed By God.

I hope you will continue on this journey, as I discover what God will do. I also would like to encourage you to seek God and question what he will do in your own life.

I will tell you that deciding to follow God will be the easiest part of the journey. The rest will be full of removing from your life what is not useful to God, and replacing it with everything that is useful.

This week’s verse is from my morning e-mail devotional: ( I'm sharing the whole devotional)

SERVING THE LORD WITH GLADNESS
by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

God desires that we be so convinced of His tender love, so persuaded He is at
work bringing us into His best, that we will have continual joy and gladness in
our walk with Him! Moses warned Israel, “Because you did not serve the Lord
your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things,
therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in
hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of all things” (Deuteronomy
28:47-48).
God is saying to us today, “Be glad and rejoice in what I have already done
for you! If you go around moping, murmuring and complaining, you will forever
be spiritually starved and naked, a prey to your enemies!” God wants us to so
trust in His love for us that we will be testimonies of gladness and good cheer!
He wants preachers who are glad at heart, filled with a gladness that is based
on truth.


His truth produces a wealth of gladness that flows naturally outward from the
heart: “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with
singing” (Psalm 100:2). “He brought out His people with joy, His chosen
ones with gladness” (Psalm 105:43). “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you
righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (Psalm 32:11).
“Let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; yes, let them
rejoice exceedingly” (Psalm 68:3).


You may ask, “How long can I expect to maintain joy in my service to the
Lord?” Many believe that it lasts only as long as seasons of refreshing come
from on high or as long as things go right. No, we are to have joy at all
times! That is exactly what the Bible says: “Oh, satisfy us early with Your
mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days!” (Psalm 90:14). “But
be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as
a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Isaiah 65:18). We are “the Jerusalem
from above”—reborn and living for Him with a spirit of gladness and
rejoicing! Trust the Father, believe His Word about Himself, and see His
gladness pour forth from your life.


I am so glad my faith, hope, and joy is of God. 

God's Will Week twenty-four

Don't we like to change things to suit ourselves?

Ever have one of those weeks where stress is high and for every accomplishment you feel you had, something happened and destroyed it?


For me, it has been one of those weeks. My finances stress me out. My outcome is more than my income, and the unexpected things come up and just when I had a dollar, I couldn’t keep it because I had to spend ten more dollars to cover the unexpected thing.

For instance, sickness. Unavoidable. Doctor visit. Pharmacy. Day of no pay.

I had several other personal things come up, that are not in the budget. I stress.

I forget to thank God for the things I do have. I forget to thank God for meeting my needs. Finances are tight, and getting tighter. I forget to rejoice in these things, because I am learning to manage my money better.

I am well. Thank you, God for my health.

I have a home. Thank you God, for my home.

I struggle with saying thank you in all things, to God.
Everyday challenges are renewing my faith that God is in control of all of this.

Thanks to God, I have a lot of other activities that are in ministry, like mentoring a friend going through divorce, being a friend and listening to problems, and rejoicing with my friends in new relationships, sharing the grief of losing a loved one,  and being able to speak on all of these with the word of God directing my thoughts and my words. I feel like my prayer time is stronger, and my focus is not so much on my life, but how I can be used by God in a day.
More and more I am in prayer.

This month known for the holiday of Thanksgiving.  I would like to encourage you to give thanks to God daily for at least one thing, even if it is breathing and blinking. I know such a simple thing, but sometimes it is the little things we take for granted.

Colossians 2: 6-7
Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

God's Will week Twenty-three

If every day started off this perfect...

life would be boring!

Psalm 131:2-3
I am quiet now before the Lord, just as a child who is weaned from the breast. Yes, my begging has been stilled. O Israel, you too should quietly trust in the Lord- Now and always.

A few weeks ago I presented the question, "What are you trusting God for today?"
As humans we are subject to take things in our own hands and control the results in our favor. I can tell you over and over again how I handled situations and to my own demise, I made things worse as a result of my actions. The hardest thing for us to do sometimes is to do NOTHING.

Part of being submissive to God’s will is to let Him handle things. Impatient beings that we are, we don’t see the results soon enough and the urge to do something is much stronger than the illogic of waiting on the Lord.

I am a stubborn soul. I am still learning to be patient in the Lord. Spontaneous prayer is my only recourse sometimes to distract my thoughts from being actions.

I truly believe that when your heart is with God, you have a true heart for the needs of others.

This week I have had a full prayer list.

I have on my prayer list my friends, their children, my niece expecting a baby boy, and their young family.

I am in prayer for the loss of a local young soldier killed in Afghanistan, and peace to be with the family during this time of grief.

I pray for new relationships between my friends, not only romantic, but also friendships; that they may grow.

I pray about healing for those who are ill, and the people I know that are facing fatal illnesses.

I pray about everyday trials we are all facing and I lift all these up to God. It is all out of my control, but I lay these things at the feet of the Lord and know he will handle these situations.

I would like to encourage you to realize that this life is not a time for us to be selfish, but to love others the
best we can, with that love coming from God, and let our actions be Godly.


Letting God be God. Peace, hope, thanksgiving and joy to you.

God's Will Week Twenty- two

Change can effect everyone. We are not struggling alone.

Face changes with God.

I waited to post this until after my Wednesday night bible study group saw the movie “Courageous”
This movie was about how commitments to God can make changes in lives. Our group was touched in one way or another and of the few group members I was able to talk to about the movie, they shared how they saw their lives reflected in one of the story lines. What was remarkable, was even though the plot centered around five men, it was women who saw remarkable things about themselves.

Before I saw the movie, I knew it had a message, and I wanted to really pay attention to how it would relate to me personally. My girlfriends and I seek to have a Godly man in our lives, and we agreed that we would watch with preconceived notions to see characteristics we should look for in a man.

To be honest, I am a single woman, I have a daughter. There is not a man to be the spiritual leader in our home. I take on that role. I do encourage her father to be her father. My mind is fluttering to try to put my thoughts in order, but the impact the movie made on me was a sense of peace that I am a child of God’s and I have the opportunity to not waste a day or time that he has given me on Earth, to make a difference. If that means being different, or making changes, then that’s what it will take and I will have to surrender to it.

The holidays are nearing, and I have thoughts of the approaching time. It is the holidays that are the hardest when you realize that someone important to you is missing. In our Singles Wednesday night group, it is true for each of us. For some, it is divorce, or distance, for others, it is because of a death.

I will miss not having my brother to share the holidays with me, but I can look back at last year and say, Thank you, God. I was given a day, a week. I had a chance to say, “I love you” and my brother said it to me over, and over again. With that peace from God, I will be sad, but I won’t have regret. I will feel love and carry it with me.

For a long time I held on to those words- “IF ONLY…”
‘If only’ I had picked up the phone and called my brother…

I’ve changed my thinking and the order of those two words to “ONLY IF…” and fill in the rest of the sentence. Only if I call him and he hears my voice, will he know I was thinking about him. I want to be more active than passive. Sometimes actions take courage. I wish I knew who said this quote, but “Don’t question what you believe, question what you doubt.”

In my own life I doubt I will remarry. I am seeking answers within God’s will.

I believe in God and marriage, and until I meet the man who has the same belief, we won’t be evenly yoked.

2 Corinthians 6:14
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

I’m going to keep on track evaluating God’s will vs. my will on my daily journey. I hope I can encourage you to do the same, and each of us finish saying, we were all ‘Courageous,' in God’s will.

God's Will week Twenty-One

Who is in control of turning these dials?

My question for the week was, “What are you trusting God with today?”
A better question is – What do you have faith in God today?
Finances are one area that is evident in everyone’s life. I know we all can relate to financial trust.

The Six Human Needs Link
Tony Robbins has identified six basic human needs and believes everyone is—or can be—motivated by their desire to fulfill these needs.
You may want to consider these needs when thinking about developing and delivering products and services to people. The question to ask is, "What need or needs does my product fulfill for my customer?"

1. Certainty/Comfort. We all want comfort. And much of this comfort comes from certainty. Of course there is no ABSOLUTE certainty, but we want certainty the car will start, the water will flow from the tap when we turn it on and the currency we use will hold its value.

2. Variety. At the same time we want certainty, we also crave variety. Paradoxically, there needs to be enough UNcertainty to provide spice and adventure in our lives.

3. Significance. Deep down, we all want to be important. We want our life to have meaning and significance. I can imagine no worse a death than to think my life didn't matter.

4. Connection/Love. It would be hard to argue against the need for love. We want to feel part of a community. We want to be cared for and cared about.

5. Growth. There could be some people who say they don't want to grow, but I think they're simply fearful of doing so—or perhaps NOT doing so. To become better, to improve our skills, to stretch and excel may be more evident in some than others, but it's there.

6. Contribution. The desire to contribute something of value—to help others, to make the world a better place than we found it is in all of us.

Action Point
Evaluate this list to better understand your personal motivations and examine which ones seem the most significant to you. Then, look at what you do to fulfill the needs of others. It will likely make a difference in what and how you do what you do. It also should make a difference in the way you describe and explain what you and your product can do.

In these six areas where is God in your life?
Hebrews 11:6
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Do we look to God for the six human needs above?
If we are not looking to God, then we are self-seeking and worldly seeking .
1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

I am continually thinking of God's question-  Where is your faith?  Is it with me?