Verse for the Day:
Psalm 31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord.
If you haven't read Psalm 31 or haven't read it lately I would encourage you to do so. But if not at least take this passage into your heart. Sometimes in life we have things happen that just seem to be one thing after another. You know, stuff like a car for instance... first you get a flat and there isn't any spare and then in a short time it's something else, like the radiator leaking, then something else happens. At some point you either start saying "Hey, enough is enough!" or "Why Me?" It's in those times that we are best to remember this particular verse. To me, it is a wonderful reminder of where we place our hope.
We so easily start to believe that maybe God isn't happy with us and He is going to make our lives miserable until we realize we were wrong and come crawling back to Him. You might say,"that's an awful thing to say. Our Lord isn't like that!" But be honest.... Have you ever said these words before, "WHY ME?" If you're honest I bet you'll say yes. No, you may not have come right out and said "God is out to get me." But, you've thought it. You've sat and thought "What does He want from me, I'm doing everything that I possibly can and still I have more struggles to go through. When is it going to be time for me to have a little bit of peace and joy in my life." Ok, if you have never ever thought anything even remotely like this then you have my most humble apology.
I will admit that I myself have felt that way on several occassions. For me, even when I am having my daily quiet times and studying as I should, thoughts can easily creep in when something unexpected happens like my husband losing his job or quitting his job. The first thing that comes to mind is "Oh No, now what are we going to do." The second thing is "It's going to be alright. If we let God take control, He will show us what we need to do and everything will work out for good in Christ." That last part, that's the hardest part. Let me explain. It's very easy to say Lord I'm giving you control. (then you need to follow through with it, don't try and take it back from Him) The last part, For good in Christ, is not always easy to accept. You see He will take care of things, they will work out. But not necessarily like we would like them too. He may have an entirely different plan for you than what you would like. Sometimes He needs to show us something about ourselves that we haven't wanted to see before. It may be an overgrown ego, or poor stewardship or an addiction that we can't see staring us in the face. God will use this time to bring you into a better place. A place where you can become the person
your heavenly Father wants you to be. Let's face it. As children we probably all had a time when Dad (or Mom) said, "It's for your own good!" How many of us believed it at the time?! But as we get older and learn more and even have children of our own, we see that they were right all along. For me this verse helps me remember that In Christ we can "Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord." I know of no better place for my hope to be then in my awesome heavenly Father.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Fruit of the Spirit
Thought for the Day:
Galations 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
I would like to speak about something that we have probably all done at one time or another... That's to ask for more. It's so easy to ask for more of something and not even feel guilty about it because it isn't anything bad. If your like me, you ask for more patience. Or maybe for you it's more love or more faithfulness, or more self-control. There is nothing wrong with any of these things in and of themselves. However, in my devotions today something was brought to my attention. It's not that it was anything that I hadn't heard before. But the Spirit knew that I needed to see this with different eyes then I had seen it before. That something was part of the Thought for the Day above...."the fruit of the Spirit is". Now, I don't know how many times that I have read that particular verse before but, today it opened my eyes. I pray that it also has opened my heart as well. I pray the words will be engraved there never to be forgotten.
I'm not sure if you have grasped what was so exciting and eye opening to me, so I will try to explain.
It is so easy to look at each of these things, love, faithfulness, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control and patience individually. But the truth is that they are not just individual traits that we are to acquire and use to become better people. Not that these are traits that we shouldn't long for, I don't think that anyone can have too much patience or too much faithfulness. But we need to remember what comes before that little list of traits.... the fruits of the Spirit. Notice that the Spirit is capitalized. You know I've never paid much attention to it before. It just seemed to be something that was assumed. Yeah these are the fruits! But, what really, honestly, Finally sunk in was the Spirit (fruits of). So, if I am lacking in any of these fruits, guess what I'm lacking in the Spirit! Wow!!! Man did I feel convicted. All of this time I have been praying that God would give me more patience. I should have been praying that God would give me more of the Spirit. I know that tomorrow morning when I have my devotions I am going to be praying just a bit differently. I'll be praying more for more of the Spirit to live in me. It makes so much sense now that I see things a bit more clearly. I mean if more of the Spirit is living in me then won't I be more patient, won't I be more faithful, won't I have more self-control? If this has never been a problem for you that's awesome! For the rest of us who are just receiving a wake up call, Hallelujia !!!
Oh, before I forget Happy Father's Day to any fathers out there. And I hope that you will join me in sending a Happy Father's Day to the Father of us all, God thank you for all you do for us each day that we never even take time to see!!!
Galations 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
I would like to speak about something that we have probably all done at one time or another... That's to ask for more. It's so easy to ask for more of something and not even feel guilty about it because it isn't anything bad. If your like me, you ask for more patience. Or maybe for you it's more love or more faithfulness, or more self-control. There is nothing wrong with any of these things in and of themselves. However, in my devotions today something was brought to my attention. It's not that it was anything that I hadn't heard before. But the Spirit knew that I needed to see this with different eyes then I had seen it before. That something was part of the Thought for the Day above...."the fruit of the Spirit is". Now, I don't know how many times that I have read that particular verse before but, today it opened my eyes. I pray that it also has opened my heart as well. I pray the words will be engraved there never to be forgotten.
I'm not sure if you have grasped what was so exciting and eye opening to me, so I will try to explain.
It is so easy to look at each of these things, love, faithfulness, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control and patience individually. But the truth is that they are not just individual traits that we are to acquire and use to become better people. Not that these are traits that we shouldn't long for, I don't think that anyone can have too much patience or too much faithfulness. But we need to remember what comes before that little list of traits.... the fruits of the Spirit. Notice that the Spirit is capitalized. You know I've never paid much attention to it before. It just seemed to be something that was assumed. Yeah these are the fruits! But, what really, honestly, Finally sunk in was the Spirit (fruits of). So, if I am lacking in any of these fruits, guess what I'm lacking in the Spirit! Wow!!! Man did I feel convicted. All of this time I have been praying that God would give me more patience. I should have been praying that God would give me more of the Spirit. I know that tomorrow morning when I have my devotions I am going to be praying just a bit differently. I'll be praying more for more of the Spirit to live in me. It makes so much sense now that I see things a bit more clearly. I mean if more of the Spirit is living in me then won't I be more patient, won't I be more faithful, won't I have more self-control? If this has never been a problem for you that's awesome! For the rest of us who are just receiving a wake up call, Hallelujia !!!
Oh, before I forget Happy Father's Day to any fathers out there. And I hope that you will join me in sending a Happy Father's Day to the Father of us all, God thank you for all you do for us each day that we never even take time to see!!!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Sticks and Stones can break my bones but.......
Verse of the Day:
Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
I wanted to share something with you from my devotions this morning.
Remember that old saying about sticks and stones? Well, we used to think that if we just pretended that we didn't hear the words that they couldn't hurt us. It would be nice if that were true but, it's not. Just because you say it doesn't matter, Mr. subconscious says it does. I think that unfortunately too many people try to do just that...pretend. We pretend it didn't matter that Suzy Q was whispering behind our back about the dress that we wore to church....so, we go eat a gallon of Rocky Road. We pretend that we didn't notice the snicker & chuckle the clerk gave us at the department store as we looked at the Cool Clothes....so, we go drink a bottle of Jack Daniels behind the tool shed on the way home. We pretend that we didn't see that cute guy laughing with his buddies in the hallway as we passed by...so, we sneak off to the bathroom to leave another inch long gash on an already scared arm.
If you've ever felt that way, I want you to know that I know how much those words can hurt. I've heard them before myself. I want you to know that in some way all of us have felt it before. For each person it is different. And while you may think that the cool kids never feel that way, it might interest you to know that even cool kids have things they are self-conscious about. Usually they are afraid of other people finding out that they aren't perfect.
Everyone deals with these things differently too. Unfortunately, some people turn it upon themselves. For those people, there is help. Just ask. Help is out there. Jesus will help you through, He will give you someone to talk too. Someone to help you through the dark times. Just don't try to go through things alone. God never meant for any of us to be alone. The Bible is full of fellowship and healing. Don't give up! Whatever you do, don't give up!! Reach out for help. Please feel free to leave me a comment if you would like to chat about this. We can talk or I can refer you to someone else.
I would like to leave everyone with a thought today....We all need to remember to be slow to speak. We all need to think before we speak. Think about what affect that our words may have on those around us. Sometimes we say things that seem perfectly innocent, but heard by someone who is already hurting they can be incredibly damaging. So, remember a time when you may have been hurt by something that was said even innocently, remember how it made you feel and then speak. You 'll be glad you did.
I believe that "He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it" ! Remember, God doesn't make junk. You are loved and wonderfully made by Him! He is sufficient. We only have to seek & praise Him. How awesome is that!! All we have to do is seek & praise Him, and He already loves us just the way we were made!!
P.S. If you are in need of prayer, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at ejicod2000@gmail.com
Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
I wanted to share something with you from my devotions this morning.
Remember that old saying about sticks and stones? Well, we used to think that if we just pretended that we didn't hear the words that they couldn't hurt us. It would be nice if that were true but, it's not. Just because you say it doesn't matter, Mr. subconscious says it does. I think that unfortunately too many people try to do just that...pretend. We pretend it didn't matter that Suzy Q was whispering behind our back about the dress that we wore to church....so, we go eat a gallon of Rocky Road. We pretend that we didn't notice the snicker & chuckle the clerk gave us at the department store as we looked at the Cool Clothes....so, we go drink a bottle of Jack Daniels behind the tool shed on the way home. We pretend that we didn't see that cute guy laughing with his buddies in the hallway as we passed by...so, we sneak off to the bathroom to leave another inch long gash on an already scared arm.
If you've ever felt that way, I want you to know that I know how much those words can hurt. I've heard them before myself. I want you to know that in some way all of us have felt it before. For each person it is different. And while you may think that the cool kids never feel that way, it might interest you to know that even cool kids have things they are self-conscious about. Usually they are afraid of other people finding out that they aren't perfect.
Everyone deals with these things differently too. Unfortunately, some people turn it upon themselves. For those people, there is help. Just ask. Help is out there. Jesus will help you through, He will give you someone to talk too. Someone to help you through the dark times. Just don't try to go through things alone. God never meant for any of us to be alone. The Bible is full of fellowship and healing. Don't give up! Whatever you do, don't give up!! Reach out for help. Please feel free to leave me a comment if you would like to chat about this. We can talk or I can refer you to someone else.
I would like to leave everyone with a thought today....We all need to remember to be slow to speak. We all need to think before we speak. Think about what affect that our words may have on those around us. Sometimes we say things that seem perfectly innocent, but heard by someone who is already hurting they can be incredibly damaging. So, remember a time when you may have been hurt by something that was said even innocently, remember how it made you feel and then speak. You 'll be glad you did.
I believe that "He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it" ! Remember, God doesn't make junk. You are loved and wonderfully made by Him! He is sufficient. We only have to seek & praise Him. How awesome is that!! All we have to do is seek & praise Him, and He already loves us just the way we were made!!
P.S. If you are in need of prayer, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at ejicod2000@gmail.com
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