Category: Scripture

From the Holy Bible

Spiritual Maturity

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture1 Comment

When someone says this phrase, “spiritual maturity” it generally makes me cringe because I know I am not there yet. And I am also aware that according to the standards of others, I may never be “there.” But where I am is seated in my recliner, reading my Bible and devotionals and praying for God to speak to me. One of the things He used this morning was a devotional from Faith Gateway by Dana K. White. Here’s a line from it:

“My level of spiritual maturity is the level of control I’ve given over to the Holy Spirit. It’s the opposite of an achievement. It’s knowing and accepting the truth that anything I understand, I understand only because God’s Holy Spirit gave me that understanding.”

So, maybe it’s my definition of spiritual maturity that needs to be honed. I have kept trying to achieve something, much like passing a test in school, but that is not it at all. Did you hear my sigh of relief? I can quit striving and just give over the wheel to the Holy Spirit. Here’s the link to the devotional if you would like to read it in its entirety. It is well worth the few minutes that you will spend doing so and I hope that it frees and enlightens you just as it did me.

Faith Gateway Blog

Let’s just close with scriptures to ponder so that we can grow together today in the Lord.

All things…everything. Sounds like getting mature in the Lord to me. And we just have to relinquish control to the gift of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised us.

When we confess that we cannot do this Christian walk alone, maturing ourselves all by ourselves, then we are on the road to admitting that the One who is strong can use our weaknesses to teach us how to be more like Him. And isn’t that part of being spiritually mature?

I hope that your day is blessed so that you can be a blessing to others. 🙏🏻

The Burdens We Carry

On By vickleaIn Admonition, Quotation and Citations, Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

We all carry life’s burdens every day. My big burden lately has been family health issues and car problems. Daily, I take those burdens to God and receive the reassurance that He is handling things. But there are some things, I confess, that are difficult to hand over to God, even though I know that is exactly what I need to do. The big one that comes to mind is my own mortality and the fact that my aging is not something I can deny. I face it in the mirror daily, every morning as I get up and struggle to get to the bathroom because of mobility issues. God has given me a verse that I recite frequently to remind myself of His care for me.

I love this promise and the fact that He is carrying me, all the way until I get into His arms. I have to admit that some days, I feel that need more than others, but I can rest in His love and His promise.

We often get so wrapped up in our own world and our own problems that we don’t look around us at what others may be facing.

We are a very self-centered people and God knew that about us. It’s part of our sin nature and we have to work at focusing outward towards others instead of only inward towards ourselves.

We are told to carry each other’s burdens. Rather, we are instructed repeatedly to give our burdens to the Lord. I think that one way of doing that is to focus on others, so that we are not so aware of our own burdens. Oftentimes, in fact, our burdens dim when we get a glimpse of the burdens others are lifting. The recent example that immediately comes to my mind is the flooding in Texas that resulted in numerous deaths, including children from a Christian camp. My first instinct was to ask “Why, God?” But I quickly shut that down and instead started praying for the missing children, the parents of those whose bodies were already discovered, the camp counselors and the rescuers. My mind was so occupied praying for strangers that I was not totally absorbed in my own world and its problems. I think that is the way we should be daily, not just during a crisis. Look out…not in because in so doing, that is how we can do the most good for the Kingdom of God.

The real secret to our being free of our burdens in that we help others and God helps us. The promise is that He daily bears our burdens. So, if we know, really know, that Jesus is bearing our burdens, that gives us the freedom and opportunity to look for others that need our help. The neighbor who needs a ride to the doctor. The friend who needs groceries but who won’t ask for help. The young mom who needs a break just to refresh her soul. You get the idea. Helping others isn’t so much time consuming as it is forcing us to look at others instead of ourselves and our own needs so much.

I got this prayer from the YouVersion Daily Refresh today. I prayed it several times before the words became truly meaningful to me. My prayer is that this post today will inspire you to help someone today, in a small way or big way. Just be a helper. Mr. Rogers (TV show from my children’s youth) would like that, and more importantly, I think that so would God!

Assemble Together

On By vickleaIn Admonition, Scripture2 Comments

I must confess that assembling together in a large church body is difficult for me because I am introverted and prefer no groups or small groups. But our church is big, we have been content there with pastors who preach from the word and a caring group in Sunday school. But why not stay at home? After all, the service is streamed. The Sunday school class is on YouTube the following week. So, why bother to go?

I think we honor God when we come together as His body and share with each other about Him. God is always listening, to our whining and complaining, to our gossip (that we aren’t supposed to do) and to our praise. I would much rather have an attitude of healthy respect for God when I go to church and remember the real reason I am there, to worship Him. To be honest, I have gotten irate in the past when the sermon doesn’t seem to apply to me or when the music is too loud (which is every week nowadays). But I am not there for entertainment; I am there for relationship, with God first and with other like-minded individuals. I think we need church to refocus and center our thoughts on what is really important in our lives.

This week was hard, with so many innocent children and adults dying in the Texas flood. I followed the news carefully, praying all the while that more survivors would be found and saved. I know and knew then that God is in control and this flash flood did not catch Him by surprise. I was, however, upended by all of the sweet little faces of those who will never go home again. Then, the Lord spoke to my heart that they are in their “forever home” with Him and He has them in His comforting, warm embrace.

So, going to church yesterday was like the culmination of my thoughts over the weekend. I wanted to do and be there and help, but I was here, across the nation, and all I could do was pray. How was I able to pray for complete strangers whom I will never meet in this life? Because I have a relationship with God and He is their Father, too.

That’s why we go to church, assembling ourselves together and talking to each other about the hard things, the toll that the deaths have taken on us emotionally. And the family of God encourages us to keep going, keep praying, keep obeying. God puts us where He needs us when He needs us to be there, and yesterday, I needed to be with my church family to be reassured of God’s constant presence and love even during a disaster and great tragedy.

How Do You Perceive Yourself

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App3 Comments

Think About What You Think About (You Version, 7-06-25)

What you tell yourself every day matters. If you believe something about your identity that isn’t true, then you will struggle to believe what God says about you. 

But, when you root your identity in God and allow His Spirit to shape your life, you will begin to see yourself the way He sees you—and this will influence the way you treat people, situations, opportunities, and events around you.

So here are three ways you can guard your thoughts and declare God’s truth over your life:

1. Identify the lies you tell yourself.

Your words and actions reveal the narratives you tell yourself. To figure out if a narrative is false, ask yourself: Is this thought marked by fear, insecurity, pride, bitterness, or a lack of confidence? Is this thought leading me to cynical or self-serving behavior? If you can answer “yes” to either of those questions, then the narrative you’re telling yourself probably needs to be addressed and adjusted. 

When you can identify where and when you began believing a lie, it’ll be easier to change the way you think.

2. Shift your perspective.

For every lie, there is a truth that can replace it—and those truths can be found in the Bible. Look over your list of lies, and ask God to show you in His Word what His truth is. Create mental space for the Holy Spirit to clearly show you how He sees you.

3. Declare what’s true.

Turn the truths from Scripture into specific, intentional statements you can declare over your life each day. 

Here are some declarations to get you started:

– I am enough because I am a child of God.
– I rejoice in suffering because Christ suffered for me.
– I am not ashamed of Jesus because His sacrifice changes lives.
– I am greatly loved, and so I love others like I have been loved.
– Nothing can separate me from God’s love.

As you practice these steps, keep in mind that if God—whose Word is truth—says something about you, then it must be true. So allow His Holy Spirit to transform the way you think. Let His thoughts about you become your thoughts about you.

My Thoughts

For most of my life, I believed the lies that I am not enough. God, however, has spoken the words to me again and again that not only am I enough, He loves me just the way I am. My lack of self-confidence and my reluctance to believe that I am loved stems from a difficult childhood, but my belief in a good and merciful God who loves me more than I ever thought possible has helped me to overcome my doubts. How I perceive myself is changing still. I continually have to remind myself that God loves me and made me the way I am. No fear, no shame, no ridicule…just love.

Transparency Before God

On By vickleaIn Admonition, Scripture3 Comments

One of the things that we as Christians need to realize is that confession and cleansing is not a “once and done” action. It is ongoing, a process that gives us transparency before God. That transparency isn’t for God’s benefit. He already sees all and knows all about us. It is for our benefit, so that we can have a clear conscience and stand before the Father pure and holy as He desires for us. I am not getting into the doctrine of “once saved, always saved.” I am talking about confessing our sins and being forgiven on a daily basis, sometimes more than once a day even.

I use the acronym ACTS for my prayers. If you are not familiar with it, here is what it stands for:

A=Adoration

C=Confession

T=Thanksgiving

S=Supplication

I used to get adoration and thanksgiving all mixed up together. But I have personally discovered that adoration is being aware of and loving God for His character traits, like His mercy, grace, holiness, etc. Thanksgiving is thanking Him for what He has done for us. So similar, but really not the same, right? Sometimes, it is hard for me not to jump right in and start telling God my prayer requests. But by using this acronym, I slow down and spend the time I need to acknowledge God’s power and love, tell Him how I have failed Him and ask for forgiveness, thank Him for what He has already done, and then I can tell Him my current needs or desires.

Anytime we sin, we let a little darkness into our lives. If we want to live completely in the light and be the light, we have to stay prayed up and transparent before God and others. There is a lot of talk about politicians being “transparent.” Since I don’t think that will ever truly happen this side of heaven, I don’t have a firm grasp on what transparency looks like, but my own thoughts are that I am totally and completely honest with God. It is humbling thing to do, but it is also necessary for my relationship with God to be closer and fulfilling. The door to my heart that God holds in His hand is closed until I open it with the key of confession and humble submission to ask for His forgiveness. It’s hard to hear from the Holy Spirit when I am holding on to unconfessed sin. Here are some reminders from the Scriptures of why the C in the acronym is vital to our walk with God.

Do you recall who in the Bible claimed to be holy and without sin? That would be the scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, whom Jesus called out and called “vipers.” Why would He do that to the leadership? They had not repented of their sins and they were using their positions of power to oppress the people under a multitude of requirements in order to gain power and wealth. I don’t claim to be holy except with the righteousness of Jesus. He cleanses me each time I go before Him and confess and then I move on and try to do better in the future. My right-standing before God is because of Jesus. My clear conscience before God is because I confess and ask for forgiveness.

Why not take a few minutes now to do the ACTS prayer? It can be as short or as long as you need. Just take time to refresh yourself before the Lord. I can assure you that you will have burdens lifted and be really ready to face a new day with the Lord. God bless you!

Letting Your Light Shine

On By vickleaIn Admonition, Scripture, YouVersion App3 Comments

I am participating in a group Bible study online with some ladies from my church. It’s called “Loving God Greatly-Abiding in Jesus: Bearing Fruit that Lasts.” We are only on Day 4 of fourteen days, but this devotional is really speaking to me and in some ways calling me out. Today was one that did the latter. Here is the text from the YouVersion Bible App:

The Light that we are called to shine through our lives is not for others to better see us, but to better see Christ. When we abide in Jesus, our lives begin to reflect His Light, shining in a world that desperately needs to see Him. This Light is the evidence of God’s Love within us, transforming our lives and radiating out to bless those around us. 

As we learn to abide in Jesus, something beautiful happens: gratitude begins to overflow in our hearts. We start to see God’s Goodness in every moment. Praise becomes part of our daily rhythm. It’s not just a quick “thank you” here and there but a deep and constant awareness of and gratitude for His Presence. 

Our lives become a testimony of God’s Faithfulness, a Light that points others to His Love. It’s shown in acts of kindness, forgiving those who’ve wronged us, speaking comfort into someone’s pain, and choosing humility over pride. When we abide in Christ, we find that our good deeds are simply the natural overflow of His Love in us. 

Sweet friend, your Light may seem small at times, but Jesus assures us that God uses every act of faithfulness and obedience to bring Him Glory. The impact of your abiding life goes far beyond what you can see or even imagine. When we choose to live as a Light for Him, we’re part of something Eternal, pointing others to the source of all Light—Jesus Himself, the Light of the World.

This devotional made me see how far I have come, but more importantly how much further I need to go. I have a little, tiny light that I hope is bringing hope to a lost world, but I don’t always see the effects of anything that I do, so I am not sure that I am having any kind of effect at all. I just want people to see Jesus in me and to show gratitude to God for who He is and what He is doing in their lives. Some days I feel pretty good about how I have represented Christ that day and other days I just feel beaten down, like a dry corn stalk in the summer heat. I don’t feel successful but I keep trying. After all, I am representing the King, and anything I do on His behalf is a way that I hope is bringing glory to Him. How about you? Is your light shining?

God’s Provision

On By vickleaIn promises, Quotation and Citations, Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

We can trust God to always provide even when we don’t know how it can possibly happen. God is always there, always desiring the best for His children.

Times can get hard because life is hard. But no matter what, before the hard times come, we need to purpose in our hearts that we will trust God’s provision and continue to rejoice. He has given us a Savior, the gift of eternal life and a relationship with our Creator. Everything else is just extra, as they say, the cherry on top.

Do we look at all we have and have confidence that we will continue to have it tomorrow and all of the tomorrows to come? Do we recognize that all we have comes from the God who is blessing us. Thus we learn to depend on God and not on things. The things we have may vanish, but God remains steadfastly beside us.

Gardening

On By vickleaIn Admonition, promises, Scripture1 Comment

Isn’t this lovely? Well, that is no thanks to me because I kill all the plants. In fact, I joke that they just go ahead and wither when they see me coming around. My husband Harry is the gardener and this is the rose bush he planted for me after my stroke. He put it just outside the window next to the chair where I sit daily. Since then, he has added all kinds of other flowering plants as well as bird feeders. He is truly a gifted gardener. We also have a bounty of fresh veggies that he plants for us each year. As my dietary requirements have changed, he has changed what he has planted. That means fewer tomatoes and more things like squash and cucumbers and even some melons. He takes what we can’t use to share with the people in our Monday Bible study group, so it all gets used. Anyway, he is the gardener and I benefit from his talent.

Let’s break this verse down in relationship to what I just said about my husband being the gardener around our house. In this verse, Jesus clearly states that He is the true vine. God is the gardener and we are the branches. What does God do as the gardener in our lives? The same thing my husband does to keep things growing properly in our yard. God weeds out the bad things, prunes back the unproductive growth and fertilizes and waters. We cannot produce fruit unless we allow God to be the gardener. We can keep weeds, those pesky little sinful habits that we know we should not have around, but they will keep the plant that God is working on inside our hearts from flourishing. We can say that pruning hurts and we don’t want to cut things out, even if they are killing the plant inside us. But, again, the plant won’t grow properly unless it is pruned, and it may even die without this process, no matter how painful it may be. We can say that today is not a good day for fertilizer and water. Since our plant food (fertilizer) and water is the Word of God, every day is a good day to feed the plant. God is a good Creator who knows just what He is doing in the garden of our hearts. He sowed seed, our mentors watered it until it began to grow and now God is the gardener who continues to take care of it. His desire is for us to produce good fruit for His kingdom, but for that to happen, we actually have to remain still and let Him work on us from the inside out. Our root system has to be healthy for the rest of the plant to grow as it should. We need to keep in mind that we will wither and die without our Father as our gardener. God’s desire is to help us flourish here on earth with Him in charge of weeding, pruning, feeding and watering. Let’s let go and allow God to be the Great and Loving Gardener!

A close up of my a beautiful rose from my rose bush in the front of the house. Harry worked hard on this bush to make it continue to grow and look the way it does. That is what God wants for us, beauty from ashes and a new life in Him.