Category: Scripture

From the Holy Bible

Thankful that I Am Accepted

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

Many years ago, I sent out various applications to colleges that I desired to attend and then waited anxiously to hear about whether I was accepted or not. I did not get into my first choice, a college that was way beyond my financial capabilities anyway, but I was accepted into Mary Washington, graduated from there and went on to teach. It was during the weeks of waiting for the acceptance letters when I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of what would happen if no one accepted me.

Less than a year after my graduation, I was invited and accepted into the family of God. No anxious waiting, no thoughts about a plan B or even any idea that I would not be accepted. Why not? Because acceptance is a gift from God and He does it well.

There is no favoritism with God, no “show me the money and I will accept you” kind of pseudo-acceptance. God truly accepted me because He shows absolutely no favoritism. I had to confess my sins and repent, true, but that is what everyone who calls on the name of Jesus as Savior has to do. There is no magical formula for acceptance with God, no letters of application to complete and no anxious waiting to see if God will allow you into His family or not. He already has…you have to accept the invitation He sent out long ago when He sent His Son to die for you, and then His acceptance of you is automatic. As someone who struggled most of my young life with being accepted, this is the most amazing gift and one I hope that I never take for granted. And I pray that you know the same acceptance and loving grace that He has shown me. It’s free to you although it cost Jesus dearly.

My prayer of blessing for you today comes from the Holy Bible. Accept His blessing on your life as you read and meditate on the Scripture below.

Thankful for God’s Comforting Presence

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

As everyone knows, today is Election Day in the United States and I hope you are all doing your civic duty and voting. My husband is working at the polls as a poll watcher. He enjoys getting out into the public and talking to folks who come to vote. I already voted since I knew that he would be at the polls all day today.

I awakened this morning with a headache and I attribute it to the weather change (the high today is in the 50’s and it has been almost 80 degrees for the last three days) as well as just a little bit of stress. What could cause that stress? Well, other than the election that is so important for our nation, but that isn’t really why. Our grandson has to go see the surgeon again on November 21st about his broken clavicle. It seems to be healing, but it is doing so very slowly. We are going to Maryland for Thanksgiving so I get to see family there. Grandchildren! Our fiftieth anniversary is coming up in April and we have been working on plans for a train trip across the U.S. Christmas is coming and I need to shop. And my youngest sister in Florida has a Cat 1 hurricane headed her way. So, why the stress? All of the above but not all at the same time. Anxious thoughts seem to wait until I am having a quiet moment and then, boom! They start attacking from all sides. Yes, I have my armor on and my helmet of salvation is firmly in place. But I need more and I find it in the comfort of God’s presence. That is what I am thankful for today. When my heart is rocketing around like a space ship out of control and the pain in my head is forcefully letting me know that I need to relax, then God shows Himself strong on my behalf, speaks calming words to me through His Word and the praise music that I listen to and gradually, my focus changes from the problems and task list to the Almighty God who is worthy to be praised.

God knows just the right words to speak to my heart to keep me focused on His goodness and not on the problems. He is so merciful and gracious to me and I sincerely appreciate His always being there, right on time!

No matter what you are facing today, remember that God is in control…of elections, trips, money issues, and even hurricanes. May you have a blessed and peaceful day!

Thankful That I’m Not Lonely

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

When I graduated from college almost five decades ago, I was able to find a teaching job about five hours away from my hometown. For the first time ever, I was going to be living on my own! I was thrilled, filled with adrenaline spikes and scared. That was for about the first week or so. Then, I was lonely. Not at school, of course, because there was plenty of action and lots of other people there. No, I was lonely at night, alone where I was living. At first, I lived with an elderly lady who was very kind but she was also an alcoholic so she spent her evenings imbibing while I spent mine alone. After a few months there, an apartment became available and I moved in, happy to have my own very small space but taking my loneliness with me. My fiancé was stationed a couple of hours away, so we saw each other on weekends when he could get away. But the weeknights were dark and I was totally alone. I was delighted when the neighbor next door introduced herself and started a short conversation daily. She is the one who told me about Jesus, gave me a Bible to read (“THE WAY”) and who once and for all offered a solution to my loneliness. I read the Book of John as she suggested, confessed my sins, repented and started going to church with my new friend. I became part of the family of God, a family more loving and kind than I thought was possible.

Not only did God give me fellow believers as brothers and sisters, he also led me to get married a few months after Harry and I became Christians. Again, more reason not to be lonely. Except my new spouse traveled with the military a lot and I stayed behind. Once more, God showed me the importance of my church family. We moved a lot while Harry was on active duty (25 times in 23 years), so I got accustomed to finding a new church each time we moved and plugging myself into the fellowship and camaraderie there. I’m so thankful that after years of being lonely and feeling like there was no place that I felt accepted and as though I never belonged, I found a family with the people of God and have been with my family ever since. God sent that neighbor to me and He established me in His loving family. He saw my heart and reached out to me before I even knew what I needed.

God is always one step ahead of us if we allow Him to take the lead. I’m thankful that before I knew Him, He knew me and extended His mercy, grace, forgiveness and love to a lonely young woman in a new place. I am so thankful for Verna, the kind neighbor, who was obedient to the Lord and befriended me. I was never truly alone because God was there, but I didn’t know that. Now I do, and because I know that, I have never been really alone since that night in February, 1973 when the Lord became my Savior and my best friend forever.

May the Lord bless you with friendships, love, peace and joy. He is only a prayer away.

Thankful for the Harvest

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

Thanksgiving is part of the harvest season. My understanding is that the pilgrims celebrated the bountiful harvest with the Native Americans who had planted it. Both were thankful for the food that was the result of the hard work that they had put into the soil. But the harvest that I am thankful for is the harvest of all of the souls that God is reaping. We have the benefit and the great pleasure of participating in that harvest by sowing the seeds into the hearts of the unbelievers and then waiting for the seed to ripen and bear fruit.

Sometimes it is hard to wait for the harvest to come. Sitting out in the field watching the corn will not make it grow any faster. But watering it, weeding it and caring for it diligently will assist in the growth that is going to come at the “proper time.”

God knows the time when the harvest is ripe and if you and I are not there with the person whose seed of faith we sowed, it will be okay, because God will provide someone else to reap. We should be thankful to be included in God’s miraculous plan of salvation.

We cannot sit around and moan because others get to do the reaping. Like the pilgrims once did, we just joyously celebrate the bountiful harvest and be glad that many souls are added to God’s kingdom for eternity. We are not in competition with one another to see how many we can bring to Heaven with us. We are all working together for the same goal, the glory of God and the eternal salvation of friends, family and even strangers.

The fall crops are mostly harvested now. The winter crops are in the ground, waiting for their harvest time. And the bumper crop of spring is right around the corner. God knows when the best time for harvesting is for each soul, and I am thankful that I am part of His harvest and even more thankful that I can tell others about Him and the truth of His Word. Yes, I am thankful for the harvest and for each of you who is part of it. What are you thankful for today?

May God bless you today with eyes that see the fields ripe and ready to harvest and the other fields that need seeds to be sown. We are blessed to be a blessing!

Thankful for God Who Hears

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

We are constantly assailed by noise in our modern world of gadgets and technology. If I go into the city, which I try not to do very often, there are horns, sirens and booming bass coming from cars with the volume turned too high. I cannot help but wonder how people carry on conversations in such an atmosphere. Then, I realized that they really don’t. Each person is isolated in his or her own world, many of them with ear pods in their ears and listening to music, a podcast or even a phone conversation. But what they are not listening to is the person walking beside them. It’s amazing to be that one can be right next to another person and totally unaware when they ask a question or make a comment.

I am very thankful today that God hears me when I cry out. He never puts in ear buds and thinks that today will be the day He will cut Himself off from the demanding and stubborn people that He created. Rather, He is always attentively “on call” and ready to hear us when we cry out to Him, ready to answer. I am in awe that with all of the noise going on in the world, at least in my small corner of it that I can perceive, God can still hear my cry to Him. I am one voice and yet my Father in Heaven is tuned in to me and my needs, willing and able to come to my aid. There are no ear pods that God uses to block us out and I am very thankful for the fact that God would never use ear pods because He desires to hear my cries to Him. Whether I am crying out a desperate prayer for help or a song of worship, God hears. He doesn’t block me as some do on social media, nor does He turn His back on me and pretend that I don’t exist. He acknowledges that I am His and listens.

I am filled with wonder that God can hear each of us simultaneously, as if there were only one of us to listen to. I remember when I was at home alone with our three children and inevitably the day would end, all three would come in excited to tell me the day’s events, but they would all speak at once. I had to calm them down and have them take turns, trying to remember who went first the previous day so that I was not playing favorites. Isn’t it awe-inspiring that God can listen to each of us all at the same time and hear everything that we are saying? He cares, He loves and He desires to hear about our days, our troubles and our needs that we lay before Him. He doesn’t have to choose one to go first, but He hears all of us. My mind cannot conceive of such a Creator, but I know that it is true because the Bible says He hears us. And I’m fairly certain that when I pray, I am not the only one praying at that moment in time. I don’t have to wait for my turn to talk to God because it is always my turn…and yours.

God answers my call because He hears me. He is always listening, and for that I am very thankful. Today, I want to tune out the world and plug into listening to God just as He is always attuned to my cry.

May you be blessed today with the absolute assurance that God is listening to you, fully attentive and with a heart filled with love for you.

Thankful for the Hard Times

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song, testimony4 Comments

When things get hard, I get closer to the Lord. I push in and almost try to become a part of Him as I pray, sing, whatever I have to do to get as close as possible to the only one that I know can help me.

This morning, I read the testimony of a young woman who went to be with the Lord in February. Her dream was to sing for a wide audience and sing she did, with all of her heart, on an American show on which she was a favorite. She never got to win the final prize or record in a big studio or become famous because she died. But it is her testimony of how she faced the hard times of cancer, and a husband who left her in the midst of her illness, that has stayed with people and crossed the internet repeatedly. I share that with you today just to ponder if you, too, think that you should be thankful in the hard times.

God Is On the Bathroom Floor

The testimony is not perfectly written, but it is heart-wrenching and a true testament of turning to God when things get hard. I cannot imagine what this lovely soul went through, but I know that she went through it with God.

It has always been easier to be thankful when things are going well, when the sky is blue, the weather is perfect, the kids are all healthy and other relationships are in the right place. But that is when I have found that sometimes I forget to be thankful, just because everything is so good. Then, along comes something difficult: a lost job, a staggering economy with high prices, illness, or any number of other things. At those times, I don’t hesitate to go before the Lord and thank Him for His guidance, provision and love. So, why am I (and probably you) so accustomed to going to God readily in the hard times? Because we know that He is our shelter, the only real refuge we have from the onslaught that is life.

I have never suffered as Nightbirde did, but I have faced hard times. And I know that the only answer is finding and holding on to faith in God, no matter whether you find Him in the bathroom, your bedroom or out walking around in the woods. In a world that is spinning out of control, I am thankful that God is stable and holds out His hand to each of us to keep us stable, too. God holds us up if we just call on Him. Our call starts with thanksgiving for His loving presence, in the good times, in the hard times, at all times.

“Hold On To Me “ by Lauren Daigle

Hope for Now and for Eternity

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I am thankful for the hope that I have living in me that helps me to get through each challenge of each day. This morning when I awakened before six, I thought to myself that I would get up, go to the bathroom, take care of the cat’s needs and go back to bed. After all, I did not fall asleep until after midnight and knew that I needed more rest. All good intentions aside, that is not how things happened for me. I did get up and to all of the aforementioned tasks, but I could not fall back to sleep. My mind, restless thing that it is sometimes, decided to remind me that I had to post my book review that would not load yesterday. And it reminded me that today is my laundry day. And it reminded me that I have a library book out that I have not seen since my husband carried it into the house from the library two weeks ago. And…and…and. The end result was that I got up, put the laundry in the wash, made my morning beverage of flavored water and got my book review posted. The satellite decided to work today, so that was a blessing in itself. Now, I am pondering what I am particularly thankful for today and I am thankful for hope. As long as I have breath, there is always hope. (I may even find that library book once my husband awakens and we think of where he may have put it.)

My mind may be galloping away with me at times, but my soul remains at rest. I know that I can totally count on God because He has never failed me yet. Sometimes my hope is stalwart, standing like a child on Christmas morning, absolutely sure that good things are coming. But most days, my hope is just a calm assurance from deep within me that everything will be okay, that God is working on me to rest in Him and put my hope in Him.

Over five decades ago, I was walking around without the hope that lives in me today. I had no idea that Jesus loves me or that God has a plan for my life. Now, I know for absolute certainty that God’s plan is one that I can count on working out because He is in the center of it and His great love for me means that I can fully trust Him. The hope that I have is not something that I can easily explain. After all, I am older and have a lot of aches and pains (some days, more than others), and I have retired so some friends tell me that I have finished my days of being useful so I should just enjoy the rest of my life quietly waiting to pass on to eternity. Well, that “friendly” advice is not for me! I don’t mind dying when God calls me home, but I am occupying this space and time until He does and all of my hope is in Him, that He will continue to mold me and use me, just as He has been doing for the last fifty years. I will ACTIVELY hope for as long as I am alive and my desire is to spread the reason for my hope to others.

Today, I am thankful for hope. I am grateful for God who is with me today and every day and who gives me hope for today, tomorrow and all of the tomorrows that are to come.

May you have a day blessed with hope that springs from within and that waters your soul with peace and the assurance of God’s great love for you.

Thankful to Be Blessed

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

We have a part to play in receiving blessings from God. We have to choose to walk in the counsel of the godly, not the ungodly. We have to choose to walk away from sin and sinners instead of standing there with them. Even standing silently is seen as agreement by some. Our total joy should come from reading and meditating on God’s Word. It is this Word and the attitude of delighting in the Lord that helps us to grow strong in Him, just as a tree planted by the water doesn’t have to do a lot to grow…it just has to stay planted. Don’t you just love the part that says “whatever he doeth shall prosper.” I would add a caution to that. This is not a claim it and it’s yours promise. It’s a “get to doing what God says to do” and His blessings will follow statement. God loves us enough to continually bless us, but He also expects obedience. I am thankful for all of God’s promises, especially one that encourages me to be an active participant in receiving His blessings.

Have a blessed day filled with delighting in the Lord and in His Word.

Thanksgiving Month

On By vickleaIn Scripture9 Comments

Hurray! My favorite month of the year has arrived! It’s the month with beautiful colors outside, a little nip in the air but not too cold and the month when we are reminded to be thankful. My personal opinion is that thankfulness should be an every month, every day thing, but I am grateful that here in the United States, we at least still have a holiday to be thankful. I just wish more people were mindful of the fact that the One we should always be thankful to is God, not our bosses or our own selves. Anyway, my plan is to post things daily to make us think of thankfulness to God. Today, I am focusing on attributes of God from my devotional this morning.

God’s love is absolutely unfathomable to our finite minds. Just when I think that I have a small grasp on what it’s like, I find out that there is so much still there for me to discover.

Since all of creation was made by God, He has compassion on each of us and on each of the creatures and other living things He has made. Some in my family have the belief that God is just up in Heaven somewhere waiting to crush us. Not so! He is there but He is waiting to pour out compassion and love on us, since He knows our weaknesses and how hard we have to work to stay on the right path. He understands because Jesus lived the earthly life and went through trials and temptations just like we do. God didn’t say life wouldn’t present challenges, but He did say He would be with us through it all.

Nothing, not one thing on earth or anywhere else can separate us from God’s love. His love surrounds us daily if we just recognize it. Sometimes I have to pray especially to see the evidence of God’s love for me. It’s not a selfish prayer, just a realistic one for me that I need to pray sometimes. And the answer is practical and immediate. I see His love all around me in His creation: in the smile of the baby in the stroller, in the report from a friend that she is out of the hospital and doing well, in the sun shining through the branches of the colorful trees outside and in the blue sky laced with clouds. God loves me and you so much that He gave us the world to enjoy while we occupy the earth. Look around you and see God’s love, for yourself and for all of His creation.

May you enjoy this thankfulness journey with me and may each day bring new insight into all that each of us has to be thankful for. God bless you!

Tests

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

How many of you love to take tests? When I was in school, I used to almost have a panic attack each time I had to take a test. It wasn’t because I didn’t study or wasn’t prepared. I just always had test anxiety. That lasted all the way through college. After college, I accepted Jesus as my Savior and continued my studies with a Master’s Degree from Oral Roberts University. When I took those tests, I was calmer and was able to focus more because I always prayed before my tests. I recall our young son in kindergarten and his attitude towards testing. As I drove him to school one day, I asked him if he had studied his spelling words for the test that day since he had not asked me to call them out as usual. He calmly told me that he had not studied, but it would be okay because he planned to pray before the test, and Jesus knows his “abc’s and 1-2-3’s”. That’s a good thing to remember, isn’t it? I chided him, though and told him that God wants us to put effort into the work that he has given us to do and to always do our best. I’m not sure my lesson to him really had any effect on him since he got a perfect grade on the spelling test that he admitted he didn’t study for.

Sometimes as I ride next to my husband down the road, I get frustrated with the other drivers and will say things like, “That foolish person is going to kill someone if he isn’t more careful!” My husband reminds me to pray for his safety. And God reminds me that I need to do a self-test and check out my attitude.

No matter what circumstance I find myself in, I am carrying Jesus around in me and like a battery that needs to be checked occasionally to see if it’s fully charged, I need to check and make sure that I’m “in the faith” and not “of the world.” When I respond the same as others would with churlishness or selfishness, I know exactly where I am and that I am not passing the self-test. Time to reign myself in and get myself under the control of God again!

The good news is that once we have examined ourselves, we have the opportunity to take the test again and pass the second time around. Same test, same questions, same everything. But passing is possible the second time because my heart has changed and I have plugged back into the Lord and His view of the situation instead of my own.

Jesus is not ever going to leave me hanging, without hope and without knowing for sure that He is still working in me. That’s why the Word tells us to examine ourselves, to test ourselves and see whether what we are doing or how we are acting lines up with God’s Word. I don’t get nervous when God reminds me to do a self-check because I know He is reminding me of how much He loves me and how He wants me to become more and more like His Son by making the choices that are best for me and others. When Jesus returns, all of the testing will be over, but in the meantime, I have to examine myself daily, sometimes more than once a day and sometimes over and over again, to make sure that what I am doing and saying passes the test of representing Jesus to a world that needs to see Him and His love, not His judgment.

May all of your tests today be ones that show God’s mercy in your life, extended to others, knowing that as you pass each test, you are getting closer to God.