The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. 2 Corinthians 13:14 MSG
Happy Monday! I hope your day is going wonderful and you are enjoying life.
When you are studying the Bible, do you ever have an “aha” moment? Have you ever read or heard something time and time again, and then for some reason, you seem to just get it? I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. Then, when I feel confident of my new found knowledge and begin to share it with others, I realize they will never know what I’m talking about because they have to learn it for themselves.
I’m not an expert, but I believe this is the Holy Spirit showing me what I need to know. The more I love God and want to do things for Him, the more the Holy Spirit shows me little bits of helpful life information. As a matter of fact, I was sitting here thinking that everything we really need to know in life, we can learn from studying the Bible, praying and building a better relationship with God. You might be thinking, the Bible doesn’t teach me how to operate my new phone or how to wash the dishes. You’re right, but the Holy Spirit sure does make the little things in life easier when we are focused on our relationship with God. Plus, the Bible has many indirect lessons. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not referring to following the letter of the Old Covenant law. I’m talking about learning and being open to spiritual lessons as they present themselves.
If you are on this track and haven’t heard from the Holy Spirit, remember it takes time. You might not be ready and you might not be listening. Be diligent and don’t give up. I hope you have a wonderful day. God bless you!
Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God–it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].
JAMES 5:16 AMP
Hello from beautiful sunny Florida! It’s good to be back home and return to my routine. Traveling is fun, but I love my life in Florida. Today, remember to forgive others as we have been forgiven.
Do you ever feel like no one understands what you are going through? Do you feel alone and boxed in? Well, I have good news. God is always there. You are never alone. Just as you are going through trials, so are others. The best thing to do is just hang in there and trust God. If you have faith in God, you will see mountains moved and your life transformed. You won’t even know what happened, but your life will be better.
You are probably not like me, but if you are you should know what happens. Sometimes I just can’t seem to learn the lessons and have to keep going through the same struggles repeatedly. I’m not the easiest to teach, but even I see the light eventually, and so will you. Something that helps me is to remember to focus my efforts on helping others and not on myself. It is amazing how well this helps. Try it and while you’re at it, put a song in your heart!
I hope you have a wonderful Thursday. God bless you.
Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
GALATIANS 1:3 AMP
Good morning from the very beautiful New Orleans. The sky is cloudless this morning as I prepare to depart this city rich with culture. The visit has been a wonderful opportunity for me professionally and personally. However, I miss my husband and I’m ready to return home. If you ever visit New Orleans, the food is magnificent.
During my stay I worked on my studies some at night. I’m currently studying the Book of Galatians. The first chapter is packed full of information. I spent three or four hours last night studying Galatians 1 and I’m still working on it. One theme that jumped out at me and I wanted to share is “Grace versus Legalism”. I often hear people say legalism, but I didn’t realize what they meant until now. It’s completely understandable as Christians that we feel obligated to do something, but that is legalism. It could be dressing a certain way, following Old Testament laws, or feeling obligated to go or serve at Church. Legalism puts the focus on us rather than on our sweet Lord. Rather that working to please God, we should focus on working for God because we love Him so much and in thanksgiving for all our blessings. You see, we have salvation by faith and spirituality by grace. There is nothing we can do to be saved, but accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. As our verse today tells us, peace is a part of that grace (Galatians 1:3). Isn’t that great! Then, the “works” we do should be in thanksgiving and a way of honoring our Lord.
So, today try something new by spending your time pleasing God in thanksgiving. Have a super day! God bless you.
Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32
Good morning from beautiful New Orleans! It is amazing how fast a few days go by when I’m on vacation. Maybe it’s because I’m super busy or maybe because I’m having a wonderful time. Last night I took a boat tour on the Natchez. No matter how many times my southern accent tries to enunciate this name correctly, I just can’t seem to get it. Lol. Let’s just say, I don’t blend. When I speak, it sounds like I just came off Scarlet O’Hara’s Plantation, Tara.
The Natchez was wonderful. I might have been the only passenger without a family, so I had the opportunity to listen to the jazz music, study my school work, enjoy the view, and eat some of the most delicious food I’ve ever enjoyed. Now, that is something good. The Natchez came back early for a fire works show. As I was wandering to a spot to call my Lift driver, I saw Cafe Beignet. Now, I have been wanting to try beignets since I arrived. I picked up my warm beignets and headed back to my hotel room. The Lift driver asked me “what smells so delicious?” Well, let me just say, Beignets are a treat from heaven. I’ve never experienced anything like them. They were delicious and worth the wait. I may have to do a little extra walking today and every day for the rest of my life.
At the conference yesterday and again today, I am reviewing resumes. This is my second year serving at a national conference in this capacity. I think I may have learned more than the people visiting my table. Yesterday, I spoke with a man about my age looking to change careers, a young man still going to school and thinking about the future, and a doctor who needed to break free from her university job. Helping others is a great way to learn. Plus, I enjoy hearing their stories. I pray that I was able to provide a little guidance.
After lunch I took a tour of the Biomedical District in New Orleans and sat by another planner from Bermuda. He was very interesting and I was able to share my Christian beliefs in casual conversation. I think God allowed me to come here to hear different life stories. I’ve heard many and I’m a better person from the experience.
I have a packed schedule today, so I will close for now. Have a wonderful day and embrace the opportunity to share something good. God bless you.
We’re not in charge of how you live out the faith, looking over your shoulders, suspiciously critical. We’re partners, working alongside you, joyfully expectant. I know that you stand by your own faith, not by ours.
2 Corinthians 1:24 MSG
Good morning from New Orleans. This is the beginning of my second full day in Nola. My first evening didn’t go as planned, but yesterday was wonderful. I’m here for a business conference, so most of my day I was in meetings. I know it may sound a little weird, but they were great. I learned tons! Then, last night I went on an eating tour. It was great too. It was more of a tour of the history of New Orleans and information about the best restaurants, but we did sample some creole food. By the way, now, I know the difference between Creole and Cajun.
While we were walking, a man dressed like Darth Vader started dancing in the middle of the street for donations to the Death Star. I saw kids tap dancing on the sidewalk, and a parade of pirates marched by very serious about their work. I saw a couple of lost pirates looking for the parade. I said “they went that way,” and pointed. The response I received was “a pirate is never lost, because someone is always telling them where to go!” Hehe Everyone seems to be having fun here, maybe that’s why they call it the Big Easy. Today, it’s raining and from what the tour guide told us last night, when it rains it pours. Every day can’t be sunny. Into every trip a little rain must fall.
The speaker at my conference yesterday was Derreck Kayongo, founder of Global Soap Project. He was very entertaining, but his story was inspiring. As a ten-year old child in Uganda, he watched the police call out four people at a time and shoot them in head until someone confessed to a crime. He later became a refugee and he and his brother were brought into the country. The people who took them in provided the boys with the best education money can buy. Derreck knew the people in Uganda didn’t have soap needed for every day life, let alone medical uses. Many women died from infection after childbirth and the children were ill. The first time he stayed in a hotel he noticed three different types of soap: face soap, hand soap and body soap. Derreck visited different hotel chains and asked for used soap to recycle to send back to Uganda. Then, while watching an infomercial he came up with an idea to seal the soap and draw out all the air, like one would freeze food. Afterwards, he had the soap tested and the bacteria was removed. So, his project continues.
I encourage you to read more about Derreck Kayongo. Often I wonder how much of our donation money goes to keeping people who don’t want to work from trying. This is a clear case of where two young men, one an entrepreneur and the other a Nephrologist, not only tried, but continue to make difference. The clear message God gave me yesterday is that we need to also have faith in others.
Love keeps no records of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:5
Good morning. I pray today finds you well and happy.
Last night I came home to a nice surprise. My husband prepared a delicious ribeye steak dinner, with folded napkins and roses. Isn’t it great to feel loved! I’m so thankful that we have been able to go through life together, and I pray that we have many more happy years. We have grown to a place where we finish each other’s sentences, almost before the words are said. We also sit quietly just enjoying each other’s company. It hasn’t always been that way. I’m probably not the easiest person with which to live. He has been patient and kind with me along and I’m thankful God brought Britt into my life. Today, I ask for forgiveness from Britt and God for all the stupid mistakes I’ve made in our relationship.
If you have mistakes from the past weighing you down, get right with the people in your life and God. You will be so much happier. God bless you.
The man of too many friends [chosen indiscriminately] will be broken in pieces and come to ruin, But there is a [true, loving] friend who [is reliable and] sticks closer than a brother. PROVERBS 18:24 AMP
Happy Tuesday! A couple of months ago a nice lady that I’ve known for many years invited me to join in a Women’s Bible Study. She had asked me a few months before that to participate in another event at her church. She’s very kind but lives about 20 miles away. I know it doesn’t sound like that far away, but after a long day at work it might as well be 100 miles. This time I decided to take her up on the offer. Since that time I’ve grown to love her as a dear friend, and I am crazy about the women in the group.
The group meets every Monday night. Last night I was just exhausted. I had spent the weekend finishing up my BA requirements, and I just needed to rest. Plus, I felt like I had been neglecting my husband. My friend was very understanding, but sent me the cutest photos of the other ladies waving at me. The text said “[w]e are thinking of you, . . . miss you . . . [and] . . . look forward to seeing you.” The message went on to say that the group was praying for my safe travels to New Orleans this weekend. Isn’t that great! It feels so good to have friends, and to sometimes feel missed. Better yet, isn’t it great to be prayed for by friends!
My friends waving at me. Their faces tell me a million stories.My Christian friends. Every one of these ladies is special in their own way.
God knows what we need in our lives. We just need to listen. Is it hard to go to the Bible Study? Not really. I just get tired driving home. Do I learn anything? Absolutely. Do I like the Christian friends I’ve made? You can’t imagine how much!
It’s good to have friends with the same values, who look after you and “prod” you forward in your Christian walk (Hebrews 10:24-25). So, if you are like me and don’t want to add anything else to your schedule and God keeps sending someone around, take a chance and try something new. You will be amazed how much your life will be enhanced. God bless you.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. Philippians 2:5-8 MSG
Happy Monday! Tell me something good! My good news is with God’s help I delivered my first sermon yesterday. It seems like a simple task, but when the time came I wanted to make sure that I was delivering a message from God. Nothing was going right either, but God was with me. My husband had been trying to print tax information, and the printer wouldn’t work. Guess what! It printed my outline twice and left off everything else in the queue.
We woke up yesterday morning and it was storming. In the shower I received a clear message from God of a scripture to include, so I knew I had to deliver the message yesterday. My husband carried Landon under the umbrella and I stayed close. I was only a little damp. The cooking team had a small misunderstanding, and had to run to the grocery store at the last minute for fruit and pastries. This could have caused people to leave early, but it didn’t seem to make a huge difference. Then, before I started eating, I started choking on basically nothing. I couldn’t catch my breath. Well, I’m pretty stubborn and didn’t let that stop me.
My husband recorded the sermon on my phone and he later told me that the sun came out while I was delivering the message, but it started raining again when it was over. During my sermon, my grandson danced all around me. Lol I never even knew it.
So, the good news for me isn’t the fact that I delivered the sermon, so much as I learned during the process that we all have a role to play in life. It may seem like a small role, but it is still very important. I heard Josh Wilson’s song this morning on the way to work, and it all came together for me.
I hope you share something good today! God bless you.
In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ( Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
JOHN 1:1 AMP
Happy Friday! It’s a great day to spread God’s love.
Yesterday I received the following questions and comments from Nationofnope. “You seem to know something on the subject so will you please tell me what a god is? Bare with me here and be descriptive enough that a ten year old would understand. just a direct response to the question. It does seem like a simple question but you’d be surprised at how people tend to jump all around. Thanks.”
Let me start my response by saying that I’m a student of Theology. I stress the word student and pray that some of my followers will assist with this response.
What is a god? Well, I guess “a god” could be most anything, any person, or any being that people look to for answers, fortune or origin. Throughout time people have worshipped and made sacrifices to all kinds of things. Recently, a man was in my office and told me that he believed alcohol or food could be considered a god. That really put my diet into perspective.
A more important question to me is who is “God”. God, or Yahweh, is the most sovereign and supreme of all gods. Yahweh, which means “I Am who I Am” and “He who Exists,” often has other names attached, all of which have different meanings. By reading and studying the Bible, we learn that God is the creator of everything. He is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, which means He is everywhere, all powerful and all knowing. God is not a person. However, the Bible tells us that we were made in His image. God is a righteous judge (Psalm 7:11). God is loving, kind and faithful, but He has rules for living (Deuteronomy 7:9). The American justice system is based on God’s laws. I believe from conducting a thorough study of the Book of Jeremiah that God has feelings. He loves us, but can also feel frustration and anger towards us. He is also very forgiving. His miracles are around us every day. All you have to do is pay attention.
Studying the Bible I have seen that no matter how many times God performed miracles in the Old Testament, the people kept making the same mistakes, worshipping idols, sacrificing babies and conforming to the ways of the world. When I’m reading the Bible, I’m sometimes amazed at how the people slipped backward so many times after huge miracles. So, God sent his son, Jesus, who was born of a virgin and came from the line of David. When you study the Bible you can see references that go back and forth through time. Jesus’s ministry lasted about three years. Jesus was crucified, died, was buried and arose from the grave. The grave was more of a tomb, but that is just a matter of semantics. Through Jesus’s sacrifices we can be forgiven from our own wrongful acts. All we have to do is believe, ask Jesus to be our Savior and repent of our sins. Once we become Christians, we should strive to love God and our neighbors (other people) by helping others, and living a virtuous life. I pray to God in Jesus’s name, because he is an advocate with God on our behalf. While God is Jesus’s father, I refer to him as my Heavenly Father.
We know God by studying our Bibles, praying, having faith, attending Church, going to Bible study classes, and enjoying fellowship with other Christians. I have never seen God like we would see another person, but I see evidence of Him around me every day. A big part of being a Christian is having faith, which is believing with your heart what your eyes can’t see. I like the way TobyMac says it “you can’t see the wind, but it moves the leaves from the bottom to the top of the tallest trees”. Knowing God is about feeling his love.
This is an overly simplified description of God. I hope everyone will jump into the discussion. God bless you.
Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.
Proverbs 18:21 MSG
Happy Thursday! I pray your day is going well. Lately, Humble pie has been the main course for me. Forget the slices, I ate the pies in their entirety.
Today, has been one of those days. Last night I was talking about having some blood work drawn at the clinic. My husband was telling me about his experience, when I boldly informed him that I was a pro at the procedures. In fact, I had an appointment. He reminded me that I needed a confirmation number. I gave a quick “I’ve got this” reply and changed the subject. This morning I began looking for my confirmation number in case I needed it. Well, guess what . . . I didn’t have one. In fact, my appointment didn’t go through for some reason. I did not have a long wait, but it was long enough to think about my actions. Have you ever been there? If you have, ask for forgiveness and try to learn from your mistakes. Some lessons are harder for me to learn than others, and I repeat them over and over. Isn’t it great that God still loves us in spite of our flaws?
Today, forgive yourself and forgive others. God bless you.
