I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
For many years I felt like an invisible person, without a lot of worth and not much to offer to others. Then, the Lord got hold of my life and showed me that I am worthy because of who He has made me to be. He reassures me daily that He sees me and notices the steps that I am taking, the direction in which I am going and the people that I encounter along the way. God sees everything I do every day! Some may say that sounds like some kind of stalker. Well, maybe, but God is the best kind of “stalker” because He sees me in order to be able to prepare the way for me and to protect me.
May you always be aware of God’s presence in your life and the blessing that it is that He is constantly seeing you.
God is worthy of all praise, so let’s focus today on just being thankful for all that He has already done and all of the plans that He has for us. He is worthy! Let us praise His Holy Name!
For many years, actually about forty, I was a classroom teacher. I taught in eleven different states and over twenty different schools. I taught in public schools, Christian schools and even a private school for the children of diplomats. I wanted to be a teacher since I was a child and I worked hard to make that dream come true. But it not come without sacrifice, just as all things worth having require some kind of sacrifice. I am grateful to my high school Spanish teacher, Señora Mary Smith, who encouraged me in pursuing my gift with language. She became my model and I became her disciple. A disciple is another word for a student. I was her student for all four years of high school and was happy to be able to tell her that I was majoring in Spanish in college in order to become a Spanish teacher. I know for sure that many of the methods that she used so successfully became part of my routine with my own students, but none more so than constant encouragement and pointing out what was right with their work first, then gently leading them to correct errors. I think that is the way that Jesus deals with me, too.
In spite of my age, I do not consider myself fully trained yet. I am not like Jesus, but I am a work in progress, becoming like Jesus. Note that “becoming” is a progressive verb and that’s what I am, a work in progress. In turn, I have tried to be a role model for others to follow so that they, too, can learn to be disciples of the Lord. One of the songs that I sang to encourage myself is “He’s Still Working on Me.” It is as true today as the first time I sang it many decades ago. In my impatience, I thought sometimes that I would arrive at the station, get off the train and continue with the rest of my life. But I’m still on the train of being made into His image, and I don’t want off until He is totally done with me. That day will come when I stand in His presence, but in the meantime, I am still a willing disciple, ready to learn the new lesson that He has for me each day. Just as I did not learn Spanish overnight, I have not learned all that God has to teach me in one or two lessons or devotionals or even years of them. There is always something new that He can teach me, some new way that I need to learn, some new path to take and something about me that needs to change to be better.
Yes, I am a disciple, but I am also a teacher and so is each of you who proclaims to be a Christian. We are not saved to hold the message in our hearts and minds and be quiet about the wonderful gift we have. We are saved to tell others, to teach them the way that they should go so that they can also celebrate a new life in Christ with us. We are each a disciple and each a teacher. Each one teach one, then two, then three until the world knows the Gospel and Jesus returns.
May each of you fulfill your roles as disciple of the Lord and teacher for those who seek Him. Have a blessed and wonderfully fruitful day!
This promise was made to Moses and the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. God doesn’t say “you will rest.” He says firmly, “I will give you rest.” God says the same thing to each of us as we wander through life, sometimes aimlessly and without any notion of where the end will bring us. It is up to each of us to receive the rest that God offers us. His Holy Presence provides the security and comfort and total protection that we need no matter what we are facing, but we have to take time to just rest in Him and accept that He is there with us. This is particularly appropriate for me right now as I just returned from an extended stay in Maryland with my son and his family. I dropped a lot of balls that I have been juggling while I was there because my priority was caring for an active and mischievous toddler. Book reviews were put on hold. In fact, reading novels was mostly put on a back burner as I was usually too tired to read much when I headed to bed at the end of my long days. However, God promised me rest and I got it, in spite of illness, cold days and colder nights and general feelings of being too tired to rest well. God’s presence never left me, and I was ever aware of the strength that He was providing to help me to watch over little Nathan.
Now that I am home again, the pressure of book launches is there but it isn’t as stressful as it could be. Why not? Because God has promised me rest. I read a little when I go to bed but I don’t stay up late to do so. I turn off the light, pray and fall into a deep and restful slumber knowing that God is with me. And if He gives me a new day to serve Him and to do the work that I have committed to do, He will also be with me and help me to fulfill the commitments that I have made. His very presence gives me a calm peace and rest that can only come from Him.
Today, as you go about your busy day, I hope that you take time to acknowledge the presence of God and the peace and rest that will follow. His rest is the kind that will sustain you through all of the day’s challenges.
As Christians, we are supposed to be different from the rest of the world, not conforming to their beliefs or standards. Sometimes it is hard for me to tell who is a Christian because some proclaim to be believers in Christ, yet they live exactly the same way as those who don’t know the Lord as Savior. It can be confusing, but not to God. He knows who is truly is and who is trying not to conform.
The next part of this verse is to be transformed. I can’t help it. Each time I read this verse I think of the toys that my sons had when they were younger. The “Transformers” changed shape from a regular vehicle into a mighty super hero vehicle. I don’t think of myself being transformed into a super hero vehicle, but I would like to stand up for my faith in the face of some really strong adversarial positions these days. In a world where the norm is not God’s norm at all, dare to be different and stand up for what is right, regardless of ridicule. What is acceptable to mankind is not always right before God. A case in point is the homosexuality controversy. Current culture wants us all it accept the perversion as normal but God says it’s sin. I’m going along with God.
I think that the most important part of the verse is overlooked. After the not conforming and being transformed, there is a “then” statement. After you have chosen NOT to conform but to be transformed instead, THEN you will be able to discern the perfect will of God. It’s hard to know God’s will if you are living in the world and accepting its standards instead of God’s. So many people say that they want to know God’s will for their lives. Well, start by NOT being conformed and by being transformed. Then, you can stand before God and ask for Him to show you His perfect will for you. The whole thing is a process, but many of us try to put the cart before the horse. We want to know God’s will but we don’t want to change ourselves as He requires. First things first! God is a God of order, even concerning what He wants us to do before He reveals His will to us.
Have a blessed and glorious day! Be blessed to be a blessing.
You have a signed contract and yet somehow the contractor managed to put something in small print that you missed and the contract isn’t even worth the paper that it was printed on. You kept your end of the bargain but the other person didn’t. You bought a rather expensive new television and paid extra for the warranty. Then when it stops working, you blissfully go to the store to exchange it for the new one that was promised. But the small print says that you have to pay a certain amount of money that you never realized was an additional fee. And perhaps the worst offense: you are married for over two decades when your husband who made a covenant with you to love you forever tells you that he has “fallen out of love with you” and is leaving you for his best friend. Heartbroken and in total despair, you try to take your own life. (This latter event actually occurred to my best friend.) Promises made, promises broken. But there is One whose promises you can always, always count on.
Mankind will generally disappoint you at some time in your life, but don’t let the fallible and sinful world turn you away from the unfathomable love of a perfect God who always keeps His promises. Always!
Have a blessed and wonderful day as you ponder all of God’s promises, especially the fact that He is always there for you.
God’s promises always amaze me, but none more so than those I read in my devotional this morning.
My hope is in God, so I am blessed. He is the Maker of heaven and earth and all that in is them. And, best of all, the promise is that He remains faithful forever. Not just for today when things may be difficult. God is there for the good times, the bad times, all the times.
And in case I am wondering how I will get safely from point A to point B, God graciously reassures me that He takes me by the hand and tells me not to be afraid. Just as I hold the children under my care and cuddle them and tell them that it will be alright. God does the same for me. It’s up to me to listen. God is there and promises His help.
God’s Word is always lighting up my path and He always seems to know when I need a brighter light shone or when I need to see something new that I haven’t noticed before. I pray for each of you to find the help and hope that you need in the Lord God, the Maker of Heaven and earth, and the Creator of YOU!
May God bless you with a new revelation from His Word today!
I have heard this short phrase most of my Christian life (over five decades), but it has only become more real to me recently as I have pondered what it really means to live for Christ. Does it mean that I cease to exist and that all that matters to me is no longer important? God is slowly revealing to me that He wants all of me dedicated to Him but He does not want me to be a Christ-figure. He wants me to be walking around, doing what I do and be Christlike in my attitude, words and choices. Christ died for me, so the least that I can do is live for Him.
In other words, I should not be making choices to gain something for me, but to expand the Kingdom of God. My own happiness matters to God so I need to let go of trying to make myself happy and start trying to do and say what would please the Lord and lead others to Him so that they can find true fulfillment in a relationship with Him. It’s frustrating being around people who don’t serve or worship God. Imagine how difficult it must be for God, our Creator, to constantly deal with people who refuse to acknowledge Him in spite of all of His blessings to them! I don’t lose anything by serving and living for Christ, but I lose everything if I just choose to live for myself.
I don’t know if I want length added to my years or not unless it is for God’s benefit. I just want to do what pleases Him and to stay here on earth for as long as he wants me to. Sometimes, I get weary…bone-weary, spiritually exhausted. Then God tells me to get up and keep going because He isn’t finished with me yet. If I am living for Christ, I need to be willing to keep on keeping on until God tells me that my race is done.
This is a prayer I say often and not just as a thing to say to appease God. I say it because I truly want to please the Lord. He is all to me, my reason for being, so I want my life to reflect His. My prayer for you is that you will grasp hold of the concept of living for Christ and know that it means turning over your words and your heart to Him completely. He is worthy and capable of giving you the words to speak and a changed heart to show others.
May your day be filled with the wisdom that comes only from the Father, the joy and comfort from the Holy Spirit and the compassion and love of the Son.
I have been working on being content in my life, with the things I have, the people who are around me, with life in general. Today’s Scripture in my devotional brought to mind the old fairy tale about “The Three Bears.” I’m sure that you remember it. Goldilocks kept trying out things and finally found what was just right. I think it’s an analogy for my life sometimes. I kept trying one thing after another, seeking happiness in things, and then I found the real secret. What God has already given me is “just right.” I may not have a big home, but it’s big enough. I may not have a fancy car, but it’s good enough. And I certainly don’t have a gorgeous body, but it’s good enough. I want to be pleasing to God, not to man and the constant quest of mankind for more things, more toys, more to show off to the world. I want to be content and know that what I have is enough and it’s just right for me.
May your day be blessed with contentment, knowing that your possessions and everything about you is “just right” because it is your inheritance from the God who loves you!
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 