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.
From the Holy Bible
God’s Tender Word to You: ‘Be Still’
— Read on ettingerwriting.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/gods-tender-word-to-you-be-still-2/
Please go to the original post and give David a “like.” He and I will both appreciate it! Have a blessed day filled with trust in God.
www.bible.com/1171/psa.16.11.mev
As we walk the pathway that leads to eternal life, we have the presence of God with us each minute of each day. It is in Him that we find the pleasure that we really seek. It is not the external, like the clouds in the sky or the news reports. Instead, it is God and His Holy presence that nurtures our souls and helps us each day to find the joy that He means for us to have.
May each of you find the joy today that comes from walking on the pathway to life, in the presence of God.
www.bible.com/1171/1jn.4.16.mev
This verse was just what I needed to read this morning. It opened a door for me that I thought that I had closed long ago. You see, I don’t tell this to many people, but I grew up in an upper middle class home where everything physical that I needed and much that I wanted was provided, but I didn’t really feel loved. My mom told me frequently how ugly I was and even told me to plan to go to college and get a good job because no one would want to marry ugly me. I recall going to the bathroom where I could be alone and softly singing to myself the song that I had learned by going to church with my neighbor, “Jesus Loves Me.” I didn’t really know what that meant, but it soothed my aching young heart. Anyway, I studied my constantly. I didn’t date in high school at all because I was focused on studying. I had a high GPA in high school, got a scholarship and went to college where I studied to be a teacher. When I met my future husband the summer before my senior year, he kept telling me how beautiful I was and I knew, from experience with my mom, that he had to be lying. Thus, later, when he said that he loved me, I didn’t believe him. Not really. Then, in February of 1973, a neighbor told me about Jesus and His love for me. I read the book of John and discovered that love for myself. It was the forever kind of love that I had craved my entire life. I eagerly accepted Jesus into my heart and my life. For the first time in my life, I felt love and it was such a different feeling. I tried to explain it to my mom and dad, but they just dismissed my testimony. I explained it to my fiancé and he told me to get rid of this Jesus thing or he was walking away. Well, I told him that Jesus died for me and since he had not ever done anything so bold and loving for me, I chose Jesus. When Harry understood that I meant it, he started going to church with me and he, too, accepted Jesus into his heart. Two months later, we were married. I finally knew what love was because I had met the Man who is love. I knew God’s love for me, the kind that lasts forever. My new pastor soothed my old wounds and told me that God made me just the way He wanted me to be and God doesn’t make “junk.” Thus armed with new confidence, I have gone through over forty years of life and almost forty eight years of marriage, knowing in my heart, in the deepest part of me, that I am loved. When I was alone on base after base with the military, I knew that God loved me. Through all of the trials in my life, I have held on to that truth: Jesus loves me! He always has accepted me just as I am and He loves me, with all of my flaws and failings, He loves me. I am enjoying a life filled with God’s love. Does that mean that everything has been wonderful during my entire life? Of course not! God doesn’t promise that all will work out just as we want or expect. He does promise His forever love, and that is enough for me. I hope that is enough for you, too. If you don’t believe me and my testimony, I pray that you will believe God’s Word. It’s His gift of love to each of us, so that we can learn and hold on to His precious promises. God bless each of you with a special portion of God’s love today. No matter what happens today, you and God are going through it together, and His love will be there for you…always!
www.bible.com/1171/2co.4.17-18.mev
This was one of my Scriptures in my devotional this morning and I chuckled to myself when I read the first part about the “light affliction” because I was thinking of my ankle. I almost fell again in the bathroom this morning when my ankle turned and almost gave out. I was not laughing then because I have been in physical therapy for almost six weeks now, with another three weeks predicted by my therapist. And this all from a broken foot in September! So, light affliction and for a moment. Yes! In light of eternity, these last few months are but a blink of an eye. I’m hoping that the pain that I’m going through will be for some higher benefit, like the people that I get to talk to about God and pray for at PT. The lady who is mourning her ill relative, the one who is all alone and trying to take care of herself after she hurt her foot much more seriously than I did, the many who are practicing to move their knees again after replacement surgery, and the former students who now work there and with whom I can share my faith. So, yes, I have to drive to PT, “suffer” through exercise and manipulation of my injured joint. But I get a blessing each time I go because there is someone new there with whom I can talk and share the Gospel. I pray that each seed that I plant will one day bear fruit and lead the person to a glorious eternity with our Savior. After all, that is why each of us is here…we are seed planters and water bearers and sometimes, we even get to harvest. We keep on pressing forward until Jesus calls us home, even with hurt joints. God didn’t plan my hurt ankle, but He can surely use it! How will He use you today to touch someone for eternity? Bless you as you discover your path today!
www.bible.com/111/mat.5.14.niv
In a world filled with sin and darkness, we are called to be the light. It doesn’t say in this verse that we are to be inactive in this whole light thing. We are actively shining into the darkness, just like the headlights on the car on a dark night. There are all kinds of obstacles that could impede our progress in our journey with the Lord, but with our lights shining, we make progress and we show others the way, too. We can’t hide the light because it is on the highest setting, “full bright” to show others who are lost in the darkness the path that they should be on. Some will heed and follow, but others will choose to stay in darkness. We can’t get discouraged about those who don’t want to be in the light. They prefer that their deeds be done in darkness, some even proclaiming wrongly that they have the light when they don’t. Don’t get discouraged. Just keep shining.
Keep on praying. That is God’s commandment to His people. He doesn’t say that we should only pray when we need something. He says to continually pray…in good times, in bad times, in times of plenty and times of need. So, that is my commitment this year. I do not like the new President for many reasons. But I am committed to pray for him, his safely and for wisdom for him as he leads our great nation. Please join me in this prayer, for our nation needs its Saints to pray.
I must confess that I have been more than a little fearful about the incoming President and his group of Cancel Culture flunkies who want to destroy or hide everything conservative. But God spoke to me in a Scripture this morning and reminded me (once again) that He is still in control.
If I know that God loves me (and I do), then there is nothing that He cannot handle, even the Cancel Culture. They can cancel the truth on the news, the conservative movement and even church services, if it comes to that. What they cannot cancel is God’s love for me and my total assurance that I am His and He is mine. He is my Savior and nothing can cancel that! A good word from me to you today!
This is the first promise in my devotional this morning. I’m sure that I don’t like the suffering part, but Jesus suffered, so why should we think that we will escape all suffering? But look at the next sentence: AFTER you a suffered a LITTLE WHILE, He will RESTORE, SUPPORT and STRENGTHEN you….So, isn’t the suffering here on earth worth what is coming. God Himself will restore us, support us and strengthen us. We don’t have to worry about carrying all of that burden alone. Hallelujah!
In this age of bribery and all kinds of chicanery, God reassured me that He takes no bribe. He is totally unbiased and loves everyone the same. That is an awesome character trait of God, isn’t it? We look at the politicians who can’t seem to function without taking money from some lobbyist somewhere, on top of their exorbitant salaries. We look around us and see some people who are very rich, with big houses and fancy cars. Then, we drive by homeless beggars, some with children with them. God does not care what our possessions are. He it totally unbiased. He doesn’t see our color or our stature or our standing in society. That is something that I strived for when I was teaching. I wanted to make sure that I treated all of the students the same way, regardless of the wealth of their parents (or lack thereof). I know that I fell far short of my own expectations at times, but I would like to think that I showed all children respect because each one is a special creation from God.
This is why, in my opinion, that God is totally unbiased. He looks right through all of our fluff and sees our hearts. There are so many times that I get frustrated with the way things are in the world, and God calms me down and speaks softly to me that He is working things out, that I can trust Him because He sees the hearts of ALL men. Like David in Psalm 51, I desire God to create a clean heart in me. I hope that is your desire, too.
Those are just a few thoughts from my devotionals today. I pray God’s blessing on each of you this Sabbath day. May you rest in the knowledge that God will restore you, that God is unbiased and that He is looking at your heart and can create a new one in you if necessary. All glory to God, our Creator and Redeemer!
www.bible.com/1171/mat.11.28.mev
We were never meant to carry the heavy burdens that life seems to heap on us daily. Jesus wants us to daily give Him our burdens and then to just rest. I confess that in this season of having a democratic socialist elected as President of our nation, the burden has been heavy. I have a whole page of “what ifs,” a list of my low expectations for this new President. Nevertheless, as someone once told me, “Nothing is going to happen today that God and I cannot handle together.” So, each day, I lay my burdens (worries) at the feet of the Lord and then go about my day, secure in the knowledge that He is with me. Thus, I am learning to feel the peace of God all day long. When I go to the physical therapist and he tells me that I will have to wear my stability boot at least a couple of more weeks, I feel peace. When I get home and the gutter is falling off the house, I point it out to my husband who says that he knows but he has to drill new holes, My first thoughts are that, like the new steps that we need, it will just not get done. But when I pause, God’s peace comes to me and I just let the whole thing rest with Him. You see, men break promises all the time. But God doesn’t. And when He promises rest, then we can and will receive it if we truly give Him the burdens. I pray that each of you will feel God’s presence today and know His rest, the rest that comes from trusting Him to take care of the big things and the small things in your life since He cares about all of the little details. Bless you, my friends, with a good day, a good weekend and a close relationship with the One who makes all things possible, even His rest always.
www.bible.com/1171/psa.138.8.mev
I’m still discovering daily God’s purpose for my life. Yes, I am old, but I truly believe that I’m still on earth because God isn’t finished with me yet. That has always meant to me that He is still perfecting me, helping me daily to become more like His Son Jesus. But, with today’s Scripture verse, I also think it means that God is still looking to use me here, to fulfill His purpose for me.
The two greatest days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.-Mark Twain
Think about that quotation, my friends. We each have a purpose in life, and God is merciful to us, giving us the days on earth to discover that purpose and to fulfill it. I pray God’s blessing on each of you as you set out to continually work for Him and to discover His purpose for your life. You were not an accident! You were wonderfully made for a specific purpose in God’s kingdom. Isn’t that praiseworthy news?
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 