"FULLNESS OF LIFE"

In case you are wondering about this picture, it reminded me of me after I have made some "doozies of bad decisions without consulting God first. It has been pretty rough going at times. LOL!

Good Evening to All!

My son, forget not my law or teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; (2) For length of days and years of a life [worth living] and tranquility [inward and outward and continuing through old age till death], these shall they add to you. (3) Let not mercy and kindness 'shutting out all hatred and selfishness' and truth [shutting out all deliberate hypocrisy or falsehood] forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them upon the tablet of your heart. [Col. 3:9-12.]

(4) So shall you find favor, good understanding, and high esteem in the sight [or judgment] of God and man. [Luke 2:52.] (5) Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. (6) In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. (7) Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil. [Proverbs 8:13.] (8) It shall be health to your nerves and sinews, and marrow and moistening to your bones.

I think this has got to be one of my favorite passages in the Bible. To me of course this is only my opinion, but it sums up quite a bit. To love God, His Word says that we will keep His commandments. As I have said many times before there are more commandments than just the "Big Ten". Let me say, I'm not using that expression of the Ten Commandments to be disrespectful. It's just that when the word "commandment" is used, people automatically think of the Ten Commandments. He also says he wants to have a "relationship" with us. He wants us to come to Him for advice. If we try and make our own decisions without consulting Him, more likely than not we will make a mess of things. If we will ask Him what He thinks and abide by what He tells our spirits, things will always turn out for the better. We may not think so at the time but by and by we will see that He knows what He is doing better than we do.

We all want a happy and successful life. We also want to make all of the right decisions and to see our children thrive and succeed in life. This passage tells us that this will happen if we follow God's lead. If we will listen to Him and abide by His Word. If we will surrender our will to Him and give Him control of our lives and decisions we will succeed in our goals.

Now let me clarify, because I have known some people to think that this meant asking God for help, and then just sitting back and watching to see what happened. That is not what I mean. God will help us by providing the means for something to happen. For example if someone is needing money, it isn't going to fall from the air. Someone may call with a job offer, or you might receive a refund or rebate in the mail. Someone who owed you money a long time ago may pay you back.

Another example was healing. Although God can and often does heal miraculously, he also uses doctors and surgeons to heal. I "laid hand on" a friend's husband and prayed for him. He had been diagnosed with cancer. A couple of months before that. He had gone to several doctors and they had him keep coming back and checking him. After I prayed, he went back to the doctor and they couldn't find the cancer anywhere. They looked and looked. Finally, they did find it, but instead of being spread as originally thought it was in a shell of sorts which made it a lot easier for the surgeon to go in and get it all out without worrying that there was any left. My friend's husband is still doing quite well today. This happened about 7 years ago.

The [point I am trying to make is that if we will rely on God's thinking and not our own, we will be much better off and a lot happier.

Qualities that are more radiant than gems are love and loyalty. The definition of "loyalty" is continually supporting someone of some cause. Being loyal to God is studying His Word regularly (as in every day) and trusting Him even if we don't see a solution to our problems. If we cast our cares upon Him like He tells us, things will work out for the best.

I know if you are not use to do this it is hard at first, but the more control you allow Him, the more you will be able to see His wonderful results and the easier it becomes to relinquish more control. This is what is known and increasing in faith.

Lots of bad things happen in life, but if we will allow God, He will help us through them. If we will lean on His understanding and knowledge rather than our own, several things will happen. First things will turn out better for us. Also, we will learn to depend more on Him like He wants us to. Our faith will increase because we will start noticing how much better things turn out and BEST of ALL, we will get closer to Him and develop an intimate relationship with Him.

There are two things that should be checked to measure the fullness or fulfillment of life. Those are our RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, and FAMILY. (in that order). If we have a fulfilling relationship with God, then everything else will follow.

Good Night To All and May God Bless!

"LETTING GO OF FEAR"

Good Evening to All!

And another of his disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
(22) But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead.
(23) And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed him.
(24) And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep.
(25) And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
(26) And He said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
(27) But the men marvelled, saying, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds
and the sea obey Him?" Matthew 8:21-27

Before I get into the "commentary" of this passage, I have a question or two. Have you ever noticed that it is possible to "think things into being"? I have literally worried about something so much that it happened. I have also worried myself into being sick. The Bible tells us to have a positive attitude and think on positive things. God must have had a reason for telling us to do that.

Have you ever known people who worried and worried about something, and then when it happened they blamed God? It seems to me if we would pray about our situation, and abide by what God tells us and let Him handle it, There would be nothing to "blame Him for". Not that it would be His fault anyway, as God does not cause bad things to happen. We need to reach up to God and let Him take us by the hand and help us through our problems and circumstances, just as parent would help their child.

Now, with that said, on with my passage commentary.

Many of us "have good intentions." We want to do right. We want to have a serious relationship with God, but that would require actually doing something. That would actually require us to be committed to something, so we shy away from it.

I used to be that same way. I walked around and when asked, I would "say" I am a Christian. I didn't read my Bible, I didn't go to church, I knew about God from when I was a little girl in Sunday school, but I never "had a relationship with Him". When I got older, I quit going to church because I always had "something more important to do". In other words, I talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk. I knew what I needed to do, but I kept making excuses, because I worked 2-10 shift and I didn't want to get up early to go to church. Yes, that was my "reason". I worked on Sundays even if I could have gotten out of church at noon and still had time to go home change clothes, eat lunch and still had time to spare before time for work, I used work as an excuse. Bible reading-- I used to say I didn't like to read the Bible because I didn't understand it. Come on now, I know I'm not the only one who has used that excuse. Even when I was a little girl they gave us the "Revised Standard Version" as a promotion gift in Sunday School, and I could understand that when I was 8 years old, and that was 51 years ago, so that excuse shouldn't fly either. Back in 2000, I quit making excuses, (pretty much). I still catch myself every now and then but try to correct it.

We are in the latter days. Christ's return is drawing closer and closer. Now is not the time to be making excuses. We need to be more serious than ever about our relationship with God. I definitely don't want to be one of the ones who says "Lord! Lord! and to whom Christ says, "depart from me for I never knew you".
We can make excuses, or we can be faithful. Just because we go to church, or even get "saved", does not mean that we will never react with either fear or worry. We are human and will continue to have human responses to whatever our circumstances are. We will get scared or nervous when things happen beyond our control. There are just times when we respond out of reflex. Whenever I hear strange noises at night and my hubby isn't home, I pull the covers up over my head. Now what good that will do, I have no idea, but it makes me feel better.

Now according to the book I'm reading, the Sea of Galilee is thirteen miles long, seven miles wide, and 150 feet deep. Storms can come up very quickly. Twenty-foot waves crashing against a boat can cause even experienced sailors to panic.

Jesus used this specific storm referred to in this passage to show his disciples his miraculous power.

This passage got to me. I got to thinking. The disciples had been with Jesus a while. They had followed Him, watched Him heal the sick, make the blind see, and make the lame to walk. All of this, yet they marvelled when Jesus calmed the winds and the sea.

Our fears are opportunities to trust God and see his power at work, just as the trials and tribulations that we go through are opportunities to build our faith in God. To show Him that we Know He is capable of helping us. These are opportunities to let God take control of our situations and guide our lives for the better. When we depend on Him for all things our lives are so much richer and more fulfilled.

I don't think there is a worse feeling than being afraid, and feeling alone at the same time. If we will remember first, that we are NEVER ALONE, and that God can help us through anything and everything, we will lead much more confident and happy lives.

Instead of being fearful of what can go wrong, we must be positive and trust in God to keep things right.

Good night to All and May God bless!

"BE STILL"

Good Evening to All!

BE STILL. How many of us heard that statement constantly being said to us when we were children? When our elders to us to do this, did they mean be still, but talk all you want to? Be still, but ignore what I have to say? Be still, but do what you want to do? I don't think so. When my mom told me to be still, it was usually for one or two reasons. Either it was for my own safety, or because she wanted me to understand what she wanted to tell me and knew if I was talking, causing a ruckus, or ignoring her, I would miss what she had to say, and it was important. The thing is that shows trust and trust is key in our relationship with God.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen , I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)

According to my Nelson's Biblical Cyclopedic Index, Heathen was used synonymously with Gentile or Non-Hebrew. This verse also tells me that God had decided even before the new testament, and Paul came into the picture that God's plan was to be worshiped by Jews and Non-Jews alike. In other words even though the Jews are His "chosen people that the Gentiles (all who are not Jewish) have ALWAYS been in the plan. God knew what was going to happen from the beginning.
This verse speaks VOLUMES to me. It tells me that I need to zip my mouth, turn my focus on HIM and Listen with my heart, and I will hear what God has to tell me. It is important. I need to hear this. He knows my beginning ( for he knew me from my mother's womb) to my end (when I leave this world and end up in front of Him for judgment), plus everything in between. He knows what will happen if I make certain decisions, no matter what they are He knows the outcome good or bad.

Therefore, why not ask Him what He thinks is the best decision and abide by it. He wants what's best for His children, so He will not steer us wrong. What makes us so "all knowing" that we know more than He does even about our lives? If we will "be still" and listen to our Savior, He will guide us in the right direction always through all things.

I don't know about y'all, but I know that too many times, I catch myself in prayer going on and on, like I'm afraid He won't get my point. (Unfortunately, I do that with my husband too, and he doesn't like it either.) LOL! I've got a picture of God in my mind saying all right, already! Enough! I get the point!

I think I sometimes do that to my hubby because I may not like what he's going to say if I hush. Could it be the same with God? This way, I have the excuse, "I didn't hear you". Well, DUH!

This verse is SO DEEP! Jesus even made it clear in another message that if the Pharisees did not allow the people praise and worship Him that the stones would immediately cry out. This came from Luke 19:40 (in reference to the last part of the verse).

We are to realize Who God is, How Important He is, and how we need to pay attention to what he has to tell us.

So, next time you start talking to God, pay attention to who controls the conversation. We pray to get answers to our questions and for help. If we don't focus on Him and let Him speak, He might as well be talking to a wall, and we are just "spinning our wheels.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

Roll Them Over

Good Afternoon to All!

Sorry for not showing a post last night. I did post, but I guess I had been on the Internet too long and it started acting up. It wouldn't let me save my post. I typed it the first time, and ended up losing it because my computer froze up, and even though it said it was "saving", when I closed it and re-loaded it, I had lost it. I retyped it and it did the same thing, so I gave up. That is why I am starting early today. Maybe, just maybe I will get to post.

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Roll your works upon the Lord (commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. (Proverbs 16:3 AMP.) I had never heard it put this way, or remember reading it in this manner, so I looked it up in my KJV, and it is stated this way: Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established. (Proverbs 16:3 KJV) Now that one I remembered. It is so strange that the same verse can sound so different in different versions.

If I had read my New King James Version (my reference) first, I would have understood better. It says that : The verb commit ...to is from a word meaning "to roll" . The idea is to "roll your cares onto the Lord." Trusting the Lord with our decisions frees us from preoccupation with our problems. Proverbs 3:5-6 lets us know to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. The words "trust in the Lord echo the command of Deut. 6:5 to love God with all our being. The verb trust is complemented by the word "lean". Trusting in God is a conscious dependence on God, much like leaning on a tree for support. The idea is reinforced here by the command to acknowledge Him, which means to observe Him and get to know Him in the process of living in doing so , a person finds time and time again that God smoothes out paths.

God wants us to be in an intimate relationship with Him. He wants us to love and trust in Him like no other.

Just think about it. You cannot have a loving relationship without trust. God wants us to "cast all our cares upon Him so that we will be free from worry to seek Him, worship Him and love Him without "things" or problems getting in our way, which would cause us to lose our focus on God. My life is so much better since I "let go and let God"! Now when I have a problem, I go to God and just talk to Him like I would a friend or confidant and say ok God, you say to cast our cares upon you, so here you go! It's all yours! You can handle it better than I can anyway.

If we want to be in an intimate relationship with God and live lives that are truly committed to Him, we have to take everything about ourselves and give it to Him. Not just parts of us but ALL of us! We have to give him our problems, our situations, even our relationships with others. I have found the more "I" try to fix things the worse they become. If I give it to God, then everything works out because God knows me better than I know myself. He knows my strengths and weaknesses. He knows how badly I want to change certain things about myself or my life, but I can't change myself. He has to do it. He has to change me. It takes a while, but when the "light comes on and we realize that it's God's job to change us, and our job just to believe He can and will do it, everything looks so much brighter and better.

Psalm 37:5 says, "Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass" (NKJV). what does it mean to commit our ways to God? It means to "roll" them off of ourselves onto Him. When we roll our problems and human reasoning onto God, which means to trust them completely to Him, then He He changes our thoughts and makes them agree with His will. In other words, His thoughts become our thoughts so that we want what He wants. When that happens, our plans will succeed because they are in complete agreement with God's plans. Release yourself and all your cares today and relax so you can hear God speak to you.

It seems as though the more we call on God for help and depend on Him the better He likes it. Just like our earthly fathers (excluding exceptions) are there for us and like being called on for help, to feel needed, so does God. He is all powerful, all knowing and all seeing, so He knows what is ahead of us when we ask for certain things therefore He is able to give us what is best for us.

As for developing an intimate relationship with Him, casting our cares upon Him, calling upon Him for help and trusting Him are biggies, although they are NOT all that an intimate relationship requires.

More requirements for developing this relationship is reading His Word so that we will know what He expects from us, and how to go about it. Praying and talking to Him are some other ways. Prayers work wonders. Yet I have heard so many people say "I don't know how to pray." There is no set pattern for prayer. Now Jesus did quote the Lord's Prayer as a "template" if you will for praying. This is not to say to pray the Lord's Prayer in place of your own. It is a guide. If you aren't sure how to pray, just talk to Him. A lot of times, I will just start talking to Him like I would a friend. After all, as I said in a previous post, Jesus said He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. With this in mind, just start up a conversation with Him telling Him what you think of Him, and what you need. Always remember to thank Him though because according to His word, anything you ask in His Name (end your prayer with "in Jesus' Name") He will do it. God does not lie, so it will be done.

The more you pray and talk to Him, the more you Read His Word, the closer you will become to Him.

For more insight on an intimate relationship with God, check out my post titled "An Intimate Relationship with God". If you want some insight about Salvation, check out "Salvation or Misconceptions" . You can get to them either by these links or by clicking on the Inspirational Tab on top of my blog. Let me know what you think.

Good night to all and May God Bless!




Title and Amplified Verses were taken from Joyce Meyer's "Hearing GOD Each Morning"
New King James Version Holy Bible
KJV Holy Bible

Like A Child

Good Evening to All!

Before I start this devotional, I must tell you that two f my favorite sentences in the Bible are "and a little child shall lead them", and "suffer the little children to come unto me". This is what I hope I will always remember. To have a "child-like hunger for my God.

Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all]. (Matthew 18:3)

Today's verse describes children as trusting, lowly, loving, and forgiving. Just think about how much more we would enjoy our lives and our relationships with God and other people if we would simply operate in these four virtues. Obviously, Jesus thinks these qualities are extrememly important because He says we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without them. We cannot enjoy the benefits of God's Kingdom and maintain bad attitudes at the same time.

When I think about hearing God's voice, I see that being like a child is so important because children believe what they are told. Some people say children are gullible, meaning they believe anything, not matter how ridiculous it sounds. But I don't think children are gullible, I think they are trusting. God certainly doesn't want us to be gullible or naive; He wants us to be trusting. Sometimes we are betrayed by people we love and trust and are tempted to then distrust everyone, but we cannot make everyone pay for what one person did to us.

There are people in the world who cannot be trusted, but there are also a lot of good people and we must refuse to live with a spirit of suspicion.

God is completely trustworthy. All human beings, regrettably, cannot be trusted unconditionally, but God can.

God want you to come to Him like a child, trusting Him completely and believing everything He says to you--because He is totally trustworthy.

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God's Word for you Today: Don't let one or two bad experiences rule your entire life.
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We need to trust God with our complete being. EVERY aspect of our lives. He is omniscient (all seeing) Omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent ( everywhere). There is no such thing as a time-line in heaven. God can see our past, present and future, therefore, He can see what will happen to us given our circumstances. This is why He tells us no sometimes when we ask for things. They are not in our best interest. We need to look at if from the point of view that He is our Creator, therefore He knows what is best for us better than we do. We are not equipped with the vast knowledge that He is. So we need to have ABSOLUTE faith and trust in His judgment. Just as a little child would have faith in their parents.


Good Night and May God Bless!



This devotional was taken from Joyce Meyer's "hearing from GOD each morning"

Bible Challenge - Faith & Trust

Hi Everyone!

We have finally returned home from our Louisiana trip. I say "finally", we were only gone 5 days. Anyway, I will be posting about it tomorrow along with some pictures. As for tonight, here goes the Bible challenge, which is titled Faith and Trust.

1. When this king beseeched the Lord's help in faith, God delivered Judah from "a thousand thousand" Ethiopian invaders. (2 Chron. 14:9-15)
a) Asa
b) Abijah
c) Jeroboam
d) Ahiziah

2. Psalm 118:8-which some sources calculate to be the numerically central verse of the Bible-has what to say about trust? (no hint )

3. Through Isaiah, God promised that "he that putteth his trust in me shall ______________." (Isaiah 57:13)
a) conquer Satan
b) possess the land
c) enjoy long life
d) overcome the fire

4. Jesus told his disciples if they had faith just the size of a __________, they could move a mountain. (Matthew 17:20)
a) grain of sand
b) grain of salt
c) mustard seed
d) corn kernel

5. When Thomas finally believed Jesus had risen from the dead, what did he say to affirm it?
a) "Thou surely art He, the Messiah." ( John 20:28)
b) "Why did I doubt?"
c) "I have sinned."
d) "My Lord and my God."

6. At the end of Mark's gospel account, Jesus states: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: be he that believeth not shall be ____________. (Mark 16:16)

7. Paul told the Romans it was faith that had made this patriarch right with God.
(Romans 4:9)
a) Adam
b) Noah
c) Abraham
d) David

8. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul liken faith to a __________. (Ephesians 6:16)
a) shield
b) sword
c) grain of sand
d) mighty mountain

9. In the closing of his first letter to Timothy, Paul likens faith to a _________.
(1 Timothy 6:12)
a) saving grace
b) ship's anchor
c) good fight
d) mountain

10. True or False: The rich cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:24)

Happy Hunting, Good Night to All and May God Bless!

Leaning Hard

Trust in the Lord and the Holy Spirit will guide you into ALL truth.

Good Evening to All!

Today's Seed: "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture." Psalm 37:3 I have to say again I definitely prefer the KJV. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

This tells me to trust in God, stand fast, watch and wait, and He will take care of me. Don't lose faith. An excellent example is when Peter started to walk toward Jesus on the water, and then started to doubt. Then and only then he started to sink. As long as we keep our eyes upon God, we will not sink.
Throughout the Bible we are told to trust in the Lord. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, "How do I trust in the Lord?" Interestingly enough, we find it easy to trust many things everyday. We trust that the chair in which we sit is going to hold us. We trust that the food we eat will nourish us. But we find it difficult to trust in the Lord.

That may be because we have found, the hard way, that it is easier to trust things than it is to trust people. We get our disappointments with other people mixed up with our relationship with the Lord. Time and again we have been disappointed. Our expectations have not been realized. Sometimes even our expectations of what God would do have not come to pass. Our trust has been undermined--perhaps because we we have misunderstood what God means when he asks us to trust him.


Dig Deeper: Trust means to turn from independence to total dependence. It is taking God at His word. It is leaning hard on Him and depending on Him to be able to hold our weight.

Whenever we start trusting in ourselves, our own abilities, more than God, that is when we get into trouble. Next time things don't go as you had planned, stop and think back. Did I pray about this? Did I include God in my decision-making? If not, that is where the problem lies. God is interested in everything we do. Not just the big things. I have actually heard people say "it wasn't important enough to pray about." They couldn't be more wrong. Even something as insignificant as losing your car keys. I can't count the times I have laid my keys down and forgot where. Unfortunately, sometimes I don't practice what I preach and I look and look for them, and am usually late for where I'm suppose to be. Other times I lose them, and right off the bat I say ok God, I know you are looking at my keys right now, you saw where I put them lead me to them so I won't be late. He puts it in my heart where they are and I go right to them. We have a mighty God that cares about the number of hairs on our head, so we should trust Him with everything about our lives as well.

Background Bulb: In mark 9:21-24, we read about the man who came to Jesus. His son was possessed by an evil spirit since childhood. The father pleaded with Jesus to help them if he could. Jesus responded, "Everything is possible for him who believes."

The boy's father cried out, "I do believe: help me overcome my unbelief!"

Doubts and unbelief aren't new. The disciples had tried to heal the boy but failed. So the man's faith had been tested. No doubt he had already done everything humanly possible to help his son. Jesus was his last resort. His faith was frail, but he did not give up.

Weed & Water: It is easy to tell others to trust God. Why is it so hard for us? Fear often intervenes in our ability to trust--fear that God may not see things as we do or want what we want. We want to believe God's plans are best, but the enemy assaults us with doubts and fears.

First John 4:28, Living Bible reminds us : "We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us." In the midst of doubts and fears, remember this man's actions and prayer: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

Typing this blog has helped me so much. As I said earlier, I sometimes do not practice what I preach, and I am one of those who are always saying to trust God, God is in Control, He knows us better than we know ourselves and on and on. Then when it comes to me having to put my trust in Him I catch myself saying "I trust God, but I better do this just in case!" Right there, I showed God that I didn't have trust in Him. I'm getting a lot better since I started this blog 6 months ago. I am trusting Him more, and I pray and ask for help from HIM a lot more.

Don't get me wrong. I have been a devout, Holy Ghost-filled Christian for 10 years, but since I started my blog, it has strengthened me on so many levels, and I hope it has done the same for you.


Think about it:
What has happened in your past that keeps you from trusting God?

What do you fear about turning from independence to total dependence on God?

what can you do to lean hard, putting your total trust in God



Prayer Pot: Dear God, help me to understand your wonderful love for me and to trust you for....

Take -Away Idea: Fear not! God can be trusted!


Good Night to All and May God Bless!