Person surrounded by thought bubbles reading CAN'T FINISH DEGREE, ANXIETY IS SUFFOCATING ME, DEBT, I'M A FAILURE, I'M LONELY, THE SUN WILL RISE AGAIN, MY MUSIC BRINGS ME JOY, MY FAMILY LOVES ME, THERE IS HOPE, I AM KIND, and TICK WY MEDEMING.

What Are You Thinking?

What you SAY and what you THINK matters to God. (Psalm 19:14). Above all else, guard your heart, because it controls your ACTIONS. (Proverbs 4:23). Whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. (Matthew 15:18)

The Takeaway: Stinking thinking can take your life in a negative direction. It will be seen in your actions and heard in your words.

The Prevention: Guard your heart by renewing your mind. In other words, change HOW you think (Romans 12:2)

The How: EXPOSURE!!!! Guard the Who, Where, and What you expose yourself to.

God Sees Me

It was love at first sight for Jacob. He was willing to do whatever it took to marry Rachel. He thought she was so beautiful, so right away he made marriage arrangements with Rachel’s father. But what Jacob didn’t know. . .he was about to scammed.

I’m sure you’ve heard this story: In just seven years’ time, he and Rachel were supposed to be married and live happily ever after; but he was tricked by her father and ended up marrying her older sister Leah instead.

What a shock! He didn’t want Leah! Jacob wanted Rachel so much he ended up marrying her the very next week.  

Poor Leah, she felt humiliated and used. Jacob made no secret that he had chosen Rachel, not her. I’m sure she felt like an obligation, someone that had to be tolerated; rejected. . . unwanted and unloved. What a lonely time for Leah.

Have you ever felt like somebody’s unwanted leftovers? Like you’re 3rd string on the basketball team? Not good enough to be chosen? Overlooked or ignored? Think nobody sees your value?

God sees you! And He saw Leah too. Genesis 29:31 tells us that, “. . .when the Lord saw that Leah was despised, He made her able to bear children. . .” (ampc).  In other words, HE is the one that loved her and validated her worth, providing her with high status. In Bible days, a woman who was able to have children did just that. God knew how to bless her, and He knows how to bless you.

So many times, we look to others for validation and affirmation, but it is El Roi (The God who sees me) that loves me and blesses me like nobody else can.  

God sees you!  And He loves you!

Ephesians 1:4 “Even as in His love He chose us actually picked us out for Himself as His own. . .”

Manna- More Than Enough!

Manna- More than Enough!

Today’s Bible verse from the app was Mathew 6:34 niv “So don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

After reading that daily scripture, the Lord put one word in my spirit: “Manna.”  After the Lord delivered His people from Egypt and brought them to the wilderness, He told them in Exodus 16, “Behold, I will rain bread from the Heavens for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day.”

 A day’s portion: if they gathered more than a day’s portion, the manna became foul and full of worms, and was utterly useless.

Likewise, it is useless for us to take on more trouble than our day can hold. Borrowing troubles and worries for the days ahead, will become foul in our spirit. Our worry will turn to worms that will eat away at your very soul.

Just like the Lord met every need of His people in the wilderness, He will meet our needs today. And we do not have to worry about what tomorrow holds, there will be enough Manna to combat the troubles of our day.

Just like he taught the Children of Israel, He is teaching us to trust Him daily because He is in control, and He is more than enough!

Philippians 4:19  ampc “And my God will liberally supply- fill to the full your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Proverbs 12:25 ampc “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”

While Giving Thanks

“NEVER worry about anything. But in EVERY situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests WHILE GIVING THANKS. Then God’s PEACE, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will GUARD your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus. .”

Philippians 4:6 GW

I don’t know about you, but sometimes what I need may seem imminent and BIG. Therefore my prayers are dominated with my needs, my worries, my concerns, my fears…..my, my, my. Nothing wrong with this, providing we don’t neglect the latter part of the scripture: while giving thanks.

Don’t let your petition outshine your praise!!

Praise is an important part to our prayer life and actually benefits us (yes us) in so many ways. Praising God while we cry out our deepest needs keeps us focused on the larger more important target: Our Heavenly Father.

Magnifying HIS Name helps to minimize our problems. Our mind will feast on what it focuses on, so fix your mind on Him and not your problem.

There’s something that happens when we make our petition with praise. “God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe. . .” Philippians 4:7

Petition
Praise
Peace

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” Isaiah 26:3 nlt

What a wonderful gift God has given to us. When we praise Him, focus on Him, keep our thoughts and mind on Him, He gives us peace that will guard our minds.

Let’s face it, when we are in desperate need of a move of God, we are often filled with worry and fear or even grief. Each one of those emotions can destroy us from the inside out if left unchecked. But praise God He gives us peace to protect our minds.

Don’t let your petition outshine your praise. Yes ask! Yes petition! Yes, tell Him your worries! But Praising Him will begin to minimize our petition and magnify The One Who is “able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of.” Ephesians 3:20 gnb

God is greater than our problems. And just as important, HE LOVES YOU and can’t wait to show you.

Going Through The Motions

My phone connected to my car like usual, and the podcast I had listened to last begin playing through the speakers. I saw my charging cord and thought, why not get a little more charge to my phone on the way to work. So, I connected my phone to the cord. When I arrived at work and disconnected my phone from the charging cord, I noticed it had not charged at all. Weird!

Not weird, once I realized that my charging cord had not been connected to the charging port. I had simply gone through the motions; expected powerful results without being connected to the power source.

This is how we live life sometimes. We go through the motions, but until we are truly plugged into The Source of Life, we will never have powerful living! God wants us to recharge our batteries, and remain connected with Him.

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Have you ever felt disconnected from God? It isn’t because He has changed addresses or moved away from us. It is because we are not connecting with Him. It is never too late to pick up where you left off. Take a moment to charge your spiritual battery. God is waiting.

Photo by Andreas Haslinger on Unsplash

Start the New Year Out Right

” It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.”
Psalms 118:8

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

Trust is defined as: to have confidence, faith or hope in someone or something.

So what does all this mean? Simply put, all trust belongs to The Lord: not others and not self. They…..and We will fail. But He will never fail us! Let’s start the new year out on solid footing, but placing our trust on The Solid Rock-Jesus Christ!

My Biggest Cheerleader

“And whatever you do, no matter what it is, in word or deed, do EVERYTHING in the name of the Lord Jesus. . .” Colossians 3:17
“Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as something done for the Lord and not for men.” Colossians 3:23

WHO motivates us? God or man?

If we live for people’s approval, we will not only become disappointed, but we will become bitter towards them when they fail to stroke our ego. People will fail us, disappoint and discourage us; disapprove and even reject us.

People don’t mean to let us down, but a person just doesn’t have the capacity to supply us with the emotional, spiritual and physical fuel we need. Depending on another for these needs, will quickly burn them out. But I know The One who has an unlimited capacity! The One who can supply EVERY one of our many needs.

God not only encourages us, but He equips us for a job well done. HE is our biggest cheer leader. He knows what we need before we even ask. He promises to never fail us and never leave us!

Let’s be sure we are following the plan that GOD has for us, not man. God’s way is always right; not only right, but fruitful with the rewards He has in store for us.

Click the links below for more supporting scriptures.
Mathew 6:8
Hebrews 13:5
Hebrews 13:20-21
Zephaniah 3:17

Live Faithfully, Not Fearfully

“No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. . .” Isaiah 54:17a
“. . .in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome ALL the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Luke 10:19
“The Lord is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid?

The Lord is on OUR side!!!! Whom shall we fear? He has promised that weapons made against will fail. He has given us authority and power over ALL the enemy’s powers. Furthermore, God said, “I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you. (John 16:33 ampc).

All of this, because He loves us so much. He has equipped us for everything! The enemy wants us to live in fear and doubt. Be encouraged today by these scriptures that the Lord is on your side! He has equipped us to live faithfully, not fearfully. What a mighty God we serve!!

Break Over!

“I think it’s important to try to be present with whatever it is you’re doing. And if you can’t be present, take a break”.
Emily Giffin

You may be wondering where I’ve been, so I wanted to give you an update. I’ve had some very eventful months full of changes. Among the fun and memorable moments: my last two children left the nest, marrying the loves of their lives a short five months apart. During this time, I was finishing my Associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Needless to say, that semester required a substantial amount of work to be completed. So when I graduated with my degree, I also graduated into the world of being an “Empty Nester!”

Also, during this time I endured some major changes on the job. Sadly, our boss of 15 years quit; we are now on replacement boss #2. Nuff said. Now, that things seem to be settling a bit, I feel I can actually be present with whatever I’m doing.

Thank you all for sticking with me! You can start looking for new material.

Quick Nugget: Whatever You Do

“And whatever you do -No matter what it is- in word or deed, do everything in the name of the  Lord Jesus.” Colossians 3:17

“Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily-from the soul-as something done for the Lord and not for men” Colossians 3:23

What a great motivation to do a good job every time, in everything I put my hands to do. God is my boss-not man. If we live for people’s approval-we will not only become disappointed, but we will soon become bitter towards them when they fail to stroke our ego.