Yesterday was a very busy day because I had errands to run before my swim aerobics class. So I did my usual devotional, listening to my praise songs as I read, prayed and worshipped. One of the songs suddenly caught my attention, so I wrote it down to come back to it later. It is speaking to me again, today, and I hope that it will speak to you. Each of us has a story to tell, a life that we are living to the best of our ability. But the real story is what Jesus has done in and through us. Glory to God!

“My Story” by Big Daddy Weave

Image from me.me

How can I be braver, stronger and smarter? Because I know the Lord as my Savior. He is the only reason that today is better than yesterday and tomorrow holds the promise of being even better.

Image from quotefancy.com

I do thank God daily that He is changing me to be more like Him, to make choices that line up more with His Word. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, today is the day that you can start a new life with Him and start to write a better story. You can’t save yourself, but He already did. I ask you to think about one question today. Since Jesus died for you, what have you done for Him? He only asks one thing of you.

Following Jesus is a lifestyle choice. It means asking daily how you can serve Him that day and then doing it. It means stepping out of your comfort zone and speaking to strangers about your story. It means eternal life with Him in Heaven. I hope to see you there some day. Why don’t you start to write a new story with Jesus as the central character in your life? Blessings and prayers for a Jesus-filled day!

Please click on the link above to hear the song that touched my heart, “My Story.”

All of my life

I confess that I have struggled with feeling valuable. As a child growing up, my mom told me more than once that she had never wanted me and that I was ugly. So, I grew up with a real lack of self-esteem. I was shy beyond belief, talking only to my close friends and struggling to participate in my classes, although I was a very good student. When I went to college, I continued to struggle with my self-worth, trying to find where I fit in. I moved into the Spanish House my sophomore year so that I could be with other like-minded people, those who were learning to perfect conversation in Spanish. The smallness of the house helped me to make friends and to feel more accepted there. My junior year, I was encouraged to apply to be a junior counselor in a freshman dorm, so I did and amazingly I was accepted. That was a strange year for me, the first year I really dated anyone in my whole life (yes, I was 20 at the time), and I actually enjoyed my time with the freshmen on my hall, helping them to overcome homesickness and problems with classes. Then my senior year, which was really only one semester because I had attended summer school in order to graduate early, I returned to the Spanish house and was elected president of the house. What a surprise for me! But I still didn’t feel very valuable; I was convinced that I wasn’t much in this world. I had met my future husband and we were dating, and even though he told me he loved me, I didn’t trust his love. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the relationship to end. I finished my studies and returned home to apply for jobs teaching Spanish, something which was hard to find in the middle of a school year. Nevertheless, I was determined to find a job and escape the taunts of my mother who was once again telling me that I was not going to be able to succeed. I did find a job in a small county in Virginia at which the teacher had gone on maternity leave, so I took her place. As it so happens, that location was close to my fiancé and it was where I met the neighbor who first introduced me to the Lord Jesus. Following my acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I began to feel valuable, not because of anything that I had done but because of His great love for me. I began to see the world differently; I accepted the love of my fiancé and the friendship of people at church, virtual strangers who shared a love for God just as I did.

I thanked the Lord then for His righteousness which He had imparted to me through the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t understand how my salvation came to me, but I was thankful for it and for the fact that I was not living under a cloud of unworthiness any longer. I knew in my heart that the Lord had made me righteous, that He had made me worthy.

An added benefit was the love that He poured out on me. Yes, I had been loved by my earthly father. He frequently told me and showed his love for me, but He wasn’t home much since he worked about seventy to eighty hours a week, so I didn’t see him much to get the affirmation I needed. However, once I became a Christian, I walked in the knowledge that my Heavenly Father really loved me and that there was nothing I could do to lose that love. He opened up the pipeline from Heaven and poured His love into my heart. For the first time in my life, I felt valuable. I was overwhelmed with this great love. So, what do you do once this love is poured out in you? For a long time, I just quietly cherished it, holding it close to me, hardly able to believe that the God of the Universe loved me…me, the ugly duckling who was never really accepted at home by my mother, thus setting the course for my life of self-loathing. But I turned away from that when the Lord gave me His love. And, more importantly, He taught me, and is still teaching me, that He didn’t love me so that I could hide that love away. He loves me so that I can use that love to reach out to others. No, it is not part of my natural makeup to reach out to anyone. But God can, through me. I have found myself speaking to total strangers, ministering in any way I can to show them that they, too, are valued and loved by God. I haven’t done a lot in my life that I can be proud of, but I am very happy with the fact that I am able to show others that they are worthy. Have you felt God’s unconditional love in your life? No matter how you have failed or how weak you are feeling, God’s love can be poured out into your soul, into all of the dark places that you have kept hidden because there was so much hurt and injury there. His love has been enough to get me through many hard circumstances, and since God treats all people the same, He is reaching out to you today, too. Do you feel valuable? You are a treasure to God, one worth sending His Son to die for. Let Him into your heart today and let Him begin the work of pouring His perfect love into your life. This is my prayer for you today, that you would truly know how much God loves you and that you would use that love to reach out to others.

Do you have a house of a friend or family member that you can go into at any time, without knocking, just knowing that you will be welcome? That used to be my grandparent’s house. I grew up in the same town where Nanny and Pa lived and my siblings and I went there frequently. After all, they were less than a fifteen minute drive away. We just had to open the door and say, “We’re here!” Then we would be welcomed with, “Come on in. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?” Of course, we had snacks there, and that was nice, but what I really remember is that I could talk to them and Nanny and Pa would listen. They were never too busy just to listen, no matter what was going on in their own lives. That is how our Heavenly Father is.

Because of Jesus’s blood and sacrifice, I can go into God’s house at any time. I am in awe of His love and care for me. I just read a devotional by Joyce Meyer about how sometimes we forget to be thankful because we start to take God’s amazing love for granted. He is still working in our lives daily; salvation was just the beginning, and I never want to take Him for granted. Today, I was thinking about each of my grandchildren and their special qualities. They are all different, with their own talents and abilities. And I realized that is how God sees me. I am not just part of a crowd of people who accepted Him as my Savior on February 28, 1973. He sees me as an individual with my own talents and abilities. He also sees my weaknesses and accepts me just as I am. I bow down before Him not because of what He has done for me (and He has done a lot in the last four and a half decades), but I revere Him because of Who He is. He is Jehovah, the God of the entire Universe and yet He takes time to speak to my heart, to calm my fears and to lead me daily to the springs of living water that will refresh me. I hope you know this God that is my Father. I hope that you can enter into His house. It won’t be locked, and He will always say, “Come on in. Are you hungry?” And then He will just listen to me as I tell Him my frustrations and fears and just about my day. If I’m quiet, He will talk to me, too. If you need a friend, He is the best that there could ever be! He’s just pure love and acceptance; yes, He corrects me when I need it, but He does it so very gently. Then, he continues to feed me from His Word so that I am ready to go out and tackle the rest of my day, knowing that He has my back. The God of all the world has my back! Knock and go on in. He’s waiting for you.

Once again, I was frustrated yesterday because the surgeon is insisting that I have yet another test and the hospital can’t fit me into the schedule until January 15th. So, now I have a pre-op appointment on January 21st and surgery scheduled (finally!) on February 6th. It all seems to be moving so slowly for me, particularly since my diet is very restricted now. However, God still speaks words of encouragement to me. Yesterday morning when I awakened, my first thoughts were about how broken my body is: so many parts falling apart one part at a time. God’s answer to me was from His Word.

It is my Spirit that is important, that matters to God, and my Spirit is being renewed daily. How does that happen? Through His Word, through listening to Him speak to my heart and through the worship time that I spend daily listening to worship songs and sitting quietly before Him.

I am thirsty. Are you? I want more of God, more of His love and knowledge and wisdom. The water of life is free to anyone who wants to accept the salvation that the Lord freely offers. You only have to ask Him to live in your heart; then the waters of life start flowing within you and out to others. That is our purpose for living, to be a spring of life that flows to others. I confess that lately I have been so self-centered, thinking about all of my health problems and the medical tests that are less than comfortable. But I am re-focusing, centering myself back on my Savior and Lord who gives me life and renews my Spirit daily. He is worth it! My prayer is that as I go through my days and meet and talk to more medical personnel that I will be a good representative of Christ to them. Reaching out and touching the lost is my goal. I hope that it’s yours, too. Blessings for a good and renewed day for you!

Hearing The Holy Spirit- This is How To Get The Holy Spirit to Talk To You

https://myinspirationhub.com/hearing-the-holy-spirit-this-is-how-to-get-the-holy-spirit-to-talk-to-you/
— Read on myinspirationhub.com/hearing-the-holy-spirit-this-is-how-to-get-the-holy-spirit-to-talk-to-you/

As I talked to receptionists and nurses repeatedly yesterday, trying to straighten out this one last test that is required and to make it happen sooner rather than later, I got really discouraged. I thought it was done…I was ready to face surgery. But, alas! One more test! So this morning in my devotions, the song that keeps repeating in my head is to “Keep Fighting the Good Fight.” God has promised to see me through to the other side of all of this and I’m holding on to His promises.

Keep Fighting the Good Fight

God knows that I am feeling weak these days. It’s not just all the fish that I’m being forced to eat, either. It’s just the fact that once again I am feeling like my body is broken, defective. But God reminded me of several things this morning that are in His Word, and His Word is true.

I am made exactly the way God wanted me, with one kidney, extra ribs, a damaged brain from a stroke and now an extra large hernia. Nothing that is happening in my body is a surprise to God. I’m claiming that this surgery will be used for His glory and that I will be able to witness to the nurses and doctors with whom I come in contact. I know that God can use my weaknesses for His glory, and that’s the road that I am striving to walk on right now.

I am not at the point where I am taking pleasure in what is happening to me. In fact, it is hard on a daily basis for me to accept all of it. But, God has been gracious and merciful to me, so I am strong in Him,not in myself and all of my infirmities.

My Lighthouse

God is leading me safely to shore. Right now, my boat is rocking around in the waves, but I am determined to keep my eyes on Jesus and to ride this boat to the safe shore, wherever that may be. I hope that all of my readers know the peace that comes from knowing that God will lead you safely home, to the shore where your family is or to Heaven where your loved ones wait. There is no fear with God, only the peace of knowing Him. Reach out to Him and pray for that relationship and that peace that comes with it. Prayers for God to bless you and your day!

I have to confess that today was a really rough one for me. I called my surgeon’s office first thing this morning, confident that I had finished all of the prescribed tests and that now I can go in for my pre-op consultation and get this dreaded surgery over and done. Not to be, unfortunately. It seems that the gastroenterologist overlooked the order from the surgeon to do a manometry test, one the surgeon insists on if he is to repair my hernia that is a whopping six cm in length. (I’m told this is very large, but I will have to take the expert’s word for it.). Anyway, I spent a great deal of the morning crying and ranting at the Lord over what I have already gone through and now I have to go though a tube down my nose and throat. Yuck! Add that to the fact that it postpones the surgery until they can schedule this test in the hospital, and you will understand, I hope, that I was beside myself with despair today. I am less than happy with my diet. I cannot have any meat except fish and I have always hated fish…always! So, my husband went out and brought back protein powder for my dinner tonight since I refused to eat fish yet again. I know…I’m having difficulty with a bad attitude. Then, I opened up my devotional for tonight and lo, what was my scripture verse?

And people think that God does not have a sense of humor? Ha! Not only does He have a sense of humor, but He also knows more about me than I could ever hope to understand or know, including why I gag at the very thought of putting one more bite of fish into my mouth. He knows what I am going through and He has promised me peace. So, that is what I am resting on, tonight and tomorrow when the hospital is supposed to call to schedule the new procedure and tomorrow night when once again I pick up a fork to eat fish. I have decided to have a new theme verse.

I want to stand every morning to praise and give thanks to God and end every evening in like manner. I was very disappointed in myself and my reaction today, but I confess that I had finally reached a breaking point of stress (and fish) and the fact that the GI messed up was just too much for me to fathom. I forgive him, though, and choose to move on…one step, one day and one prayer at a time. Thank you for your prayers and well-wishes. I don’t mean to make you all feel bad with my lack of faith today, but I had to be honest. After all, that is why I started the blog. Blessings.