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.
Whether you have a doorbell or people just knock on your door, how many of you rush to the door and fling it open without checking who is there first? I know my grandchildren are guilty, and I am sure that when I was younger and more innocent, I would do the same. But I have learned through watching news stories, hearing what has happened to friends and acquaintances, and just the cautionary voice in my mind, that it is a good idea to see who is there before I open the door to invite them in or to converse with them.
Did you know that you should treat your thoughts the same way, especially the negative ones? I have no idea what research says about the number of thoughts we have per day, but I know that it’s more than I can count. And each one of them comes into our minds first (that’s the knocking) and we can choose to open the door to our hearts or not. That fear or worry or negativity that assaults us constantly can be dealt with like closing a door on an uninvited guest. We have to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. I recommend three positive thoughts, including a refocusing thought, a positive promise from God (which requires hiding His Word in your heart so you are ready to use it when you need it) and a simple prayer for God to keep you focused on the positive.
For example, I have been in a lot of pain lately because of my shoulder. I am not complaining, just stating a fact. For a few weeks there, I was getting so little sleep that the first thought in my mind every morning was how tired I was and I wished I could go back to sleep. I realized that I was starting my day with negativity, so I purposed to start with positive things instead. I would tell myself, “Yes, I hurt. But I am thankful for the rest that I got and the ice that helped the pain.” Then, I would quote a favorite scripture like Psalm 121, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills where my help comes from. My help comes from the Lord, Maker of Heaven and earth.” Next, I would say a simple prayer like, “Lord, I need your strength to get through the day.” It would be nice if I could report that the negative thoughts only occur first thing in the morning, but they keep coming back and I keep having to answer the same way, with positivity. Not because everything is going well but because I am absolutely positive that God is right there with me, even in the storm that is my pain.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It isn’t. Sometimes, I still get caught in the trap of opening the door and entertaining the negative thoughts. Ultimately, I catch myself and turn around, close the door and work on practicing Phil. 4. We have the power over our thoughts, and we can welcome in the good ones while shutting the door on the bad ones. Focusing on positives is a good habit to form. I am not there yet, and I may never be “there”, but I am at least aware and working on it and I close the door more often these days. I hope that your day is filled with beauty, God’s promised fulfilled and positive thoughts about God, yourself and others!
Have you ever felt too young—or too old—to do something important? Too small for a big job? Too inexperienced to contribute something meaningful? Too underqualified to make a real difference?
In the book of 1 Timothy, which is a God-inspired letter from Paul to his “son in the faith,” Timothy, Paul equips and encourages Timothy in things like doctrine, leadership, and living out the ways of God. He writes:
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
1 Timothy 4:12 NIV
If you’ve ever felt too young, remember that God has purposefully put you here, at this specific time in history. He desires to use your passion, drive, vision, energy, and ideas to magnify His glory. You see things from a unique vantage point, and that is a great thing.
If you’ve ever felt too old, remember that God has purposefully put you here, at this specific time in history. You have grit, wisdom, leadership, and the gift of life experience. You see things from a unique vantage point, and that is a great thing.
You are never too young, or too old, to be used by God.
No matter your age, God has empowered you to love Him and to love others, and to live a life that points people to Him. How can you do that? You can set an example—in the way you talk, in the way you act, in the way you love, in the way you live out your faith, and in your purity.
You can be the example.
You can represent Him.
My Thoughts
I am consistently reminded by God’s Spirit that I may be the only “Jesus”that some people will see today, so I need to act accordingly. When I am in pain and trying to hold in the grimace that wants to encompass my whole face, I am reminded that the pain is temporary but where people will spend eternity is forever. When I am having a bad day and things are just not going the way I planned or the way I want them to, I am reminded that the world is fallen and things aren’t going God’s way either. But I can make a difference to others by not showing the a bad attitude. We can make a difference, one person at a time. Jesus took our sins on the cross and suffered a horrible, unimaginable death. We can show up every day with a positive attitude, determined in our hearts to represent our Lord to the best of our ability. Don’t be one who believes in “fake it until you make it.” Be the one who “shows it until they (the others in your life) know it.”
We forget what God has said.
We forget what God has done.
We forget what He’s called us to do.
We forget who He’s called us to be.
The word “forget” can mean two things: to not remember (sometimes by accident) or to ignore (sometimes on purpose). To “forget” is to fail to hold something in our minds.
When faced with hard things, we might beg for miracles or plead for provision, but when we get the thing we asked for, we can still tend to forget what God has already done for us. We’re not alone in this—the Bible is full of stories about people forgetting God … But that doesn’t have to be us. That doesn’t have to be you.
We’ve stepped into an ongoing story that’s been playing out since the beginning of time. With zero help from us, God has hand-crafted this breathtaking world and chosen the unique times and spaces in which we show up. And even though the world seems to get crazier and scarier by the minute, God is always at work in the mess.
We need to remember God’s faithfulness in our collective history. We need to remember God’s goodness in our personal lives.
We can fight against forgetfulness today—right now—by remembering that it was God who created this world and filled it with good things—including us! It was God who offered us mercy when we didn’t deserve it. It was God who gave us real purpose: to love Him and love others; to know Him and make Him known.
And when we pause to remember God’s gifts, God’s provision, and God’s faithfulness, it triggers a powerful response: worship.
“Let all that I am praise the Lord …”
Both God the Father and Jesus explain how to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27). Your thoughts and feelings, your passions and desires, your talents and personality, both the physical and spiritual … if it’s a part of you, it was meant to praise God!
So how have you seen God show up in a way that you never want to forget? Thank Him for what He’s done, and worship Him for who He is.
My Thoughts
I am one who forgets easily, so I write down things that I want to remember. I write what God has done and is doing so that when I feel as though I am walking through a valley, I can be reminded of what God has already done. No matter what is happening right now, God is faithfully working, even when we can’t see Him or the answer. It’s on the way! So, taking time to worship God for who He is reminds us of what He has already done. It’s a circle of faith that gets bigger and stronger with our believing and our worship. What has God done for you? I am blessed beyond measure and waiting expectantly for what God will do next in my life.
About forty or so years ago, when my husband was in the USAF and we had three children ranging in age from thirteen to five, we had plans to move overseas. We were living in Arkansas at the time when the opportunity arose to go to Japan. So, my husband applied and got accepted. All of our household goods were packed up, the car was sold and we thought we were on our way. A real answer to prayer, or so we thought. Then we got a message from command saying that my husband and children could go but I was not allowed to because of my health issues. My husband, being loyal and not really wanting to take care of three small children alone while I lived a single life in the states, turned down the orders and waited for the next opportunity.
That came in the form of a chance to go to Iceland. Iceland? Really? Not exactly the ideal place for this southern, hate ice and snow girl! But, I was willing, if not enthusiastic, so Harry put in the paperwork. The next snafu came in the form of housing problems. Military people live on base there because the housing off the base is exorbitantly expensive. The problem was that there was a two-year wait for base housing. So, we prayed (fumed some about the plans once again being thwarted) and Harry decided to go on a “remote” tour to Iceland for a year. That means he went alone and I had to find a place to live while he was gone.
Back to the prayer closet, this time with an urgent request for God to show me where the children and I should live while Harry was gone for a year. The Spirit spoke to my heart to return to South Carolina. We had lived there for over six years already, just not six years in a row, but several different tours there made me familiar with the area. I knew people there, had a church there and was confident we could find someplace for us to live while Harry was gone.
So, off we went to South Carolina, in our very old Lincoln since our newer car had sold. (Remember the orders to Japan that fell through?) We found an apartment near the church I planned to attend. The apartment was okay, nothing fancy, but furnished and basic. And it fit the bill of being near the church, Northside Assembly.
Thus, I moved in, got the children enrolled in school and settled in as best I could to wait out the year totally alone as a single parent. This was about the middle of September, so I knew I would not be able to find a teaching job, but I figured the kids would need me at home more since we had just moved, had very few of our personal belongings (in storage due to the orders to Japan) and I was going to help them make the best of the situation.
Then the unexpected phone call came. I had taught at Northside Academy, a Christian school based at our church, for a couple of years the last time I had been in the area. When the principal found out that I was living in South Carolina again, she called and told me that she had a dilemma and hoped I could help out. The seventh grade teacher had a health crisis (terminal cancer) and was out of the picture for the foreseeable future. Her students were devastated because of her illness, the poor prognosis and having no one to step in and teach them. So, Loretta, the principal, asked me if I would be willing to teach these students that I had last seen when they were in third grade. I told her I would pray about it and get back to her. I did, God affirmed that it was a good plan, especially since Loretta said that Steven, our youngest and in kindergarten, could attend the school there and I would only teach half a day so that I could go home when his school was dismissed.
Why am I telling you this long-winded story? Is there a point? Of course, there is! God had a plan. Harry and I didn’t know the plan, but we did pray and fell in with God’s plan that He already knew because He could see the big picture. Japan? Nope! Iceland? Nope? South Carolina? Yep! I was needed there for a group of heartbroken kids whose teacher ended up passing away shortly after I took over. I was a familiar face in their sea of uncertainty, and I did my best to assure them that I was there for them and that God loved them enough to make sure that they had a teacher for the year. I also got to tell them all about God’s plans for Harriet. The last time they had seen her, she had been very ill and then she died. We got to talk a lot about Heaven and God’s promises that year.
This whole episode made me think of Joseph. No, I was not sold into slavery by my brothers. But Joseph ended up unexpectedly in Egypt and God used his stay there to bless the Israelites during a time of famine and to make sure that they were cared for. God is a God of details, and He worked things out for Joseph’s betraying brothers and his elderly father to come to Egypt to live where they could thrive until the next plan God had for them came along.
It was not the original plan, but I ended up in South Carolina. I was a space-filler, but I was a needed one at that time. God fills needs and spaces with those willing to listen and change their plans for His. Was the move easy? No, but it was necessary and God used me for His purpose in that little school in South Carolina. We got some of our personal things delivered from storage when I went to the base chaplain and appealed to him for help, since our children had no winter clothes or toys. We prayed about that, too, and God answered. If you know anything about the military, they do not easily change their plans for anyone. Their plan was for our items to remain in storage until Harry finished his remote tour. Instead, through God’s grace and mercy and the intervention of a kind and understanding chaplain, I had about a dozen or so boxes delivered to our temporary home in South Carolina. God is good and works out all the little things to help us make the best of the plan He is working through.
I taught. The children thrived with their SC friends. Harry enjoyed being in Iceland and came home in November for an early Christmas celebration with the kids. Then in July, I went to Iceland for almost a month to be with Harry while our children stayed with my close friend and fellow teacher and her children. We didn’t know it, but like Joseph, we had been blessed to be a blessing.
The military and their rules did not intend to harm me or our family, but God used them and their many regulations to send me where I needed to be, to help children who were grieving the loss of a beloved teacher and who did not understand what would happen for their school year. No, I did not save lives, but I did witness to them, as I am testifying to you, of God’s goodness and His plans. His timing is always perfect, even when it doesn’t make sense to me until afterwards.
Go with God’s flow. His plan is the right one and His timing is always just on time.
My devotional today was partly in the book of Genesis, the story of Abraham being told by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac. I was reading and asking for wisdom, and the Holy Spirit pointed out a few things for me that I must have seen before but never really noted.
The child Isaac was carrying the wood to lay on the altar, that same wood on which he was going to be sacrificed.
Jesus, likewise, carried His own cross, until He stumbled and fell under its weight and a man named Simon from Cyrene bore the burden. Jesus knew He was headed to die on the cross, yet He willingly carried that wooden symbol of our freedom from sin. I have to wonder if Isaac was filled with a little fear, knowing that they were going to make a sacrifice and there was no animal with them. He even asked His Father about it and Abraham answered him that God would provide. (Read Genesis 22)
When Abraham had tied Isaac to the altar, there was no hesitation. He lifted the knife to kill his only son, the child of promise that God had given him and Sarah. The angel of the Lord had to call out to him twice to get his attention and tell him not to kill Isaac. I think Abraham was intently focused on carrying out God’s will and perhaps thinking about how God was going to work all of this out for him. He had told Isaac that God would provide and there, in the wilderness, was a ram for him to offer instead. God provided the substitute sacrifice for his son. Just as God provided our sacrifice, once for all, in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is indeed worthy of all honor, wisdom, glory and blessing. He lay down His life willingly for each of us, the Father’s sacrifice for the people He created and loved. God provided. We must believe and accept. There is no other way to God except through Jesus, the Lamb of God who took away the sins of mankind.
The parallel between Isaac and Jesus is obvious to me, now. But I also see some differences, the main one being that Isaac was saved from being killed on the altar while Jesus had to die on the cross. I cannot imagine the Father’s grief mingled with the joy of a job well done and complete by the Son whom He loved. Nor can I imagine Abraham’s faith to know in his heart that God would provide. Would that each of us could have the faith of Abraham, the willingness of Jesus and the love of the Father.
Jesus is our light and we are a light to the world. It’s hard to be a light when you don’t spend time in God’s presence because we reflect His light, not our own.
Light has always been important to me, as I get especially irritated when the power goes off and we are left in the dark. Nowadays, I am up several times during the night to go into the kitchen and retrieve a new ice pack from the freezer. I always wake up several times each night to go to the bathroom, but now when I wake up, my shoulder lets me know that it’s not happy, so I go get ice to soothe it. I am so thankful for the light that shows me the way to the kitchen and also lets me get the ice pack out without dropping other things from the freezer. That light is important to me because I need it to finish the task I have set for myself.
The light that Jesus gives to us and that we shine for others is important, too. We live in a very dark world, and it seems to be darker every day. Man’s depravity seems to be on the increase and that depravity likes to hide in the shadows, in the darkness. When we shine our lights, others can see it and may be able to recognize the sin and depravity for what it is. When we hide our lights, we are depriving the world of the hope that Jesus offers to a dark and dying world.
Children sing a song about shining their lights, but it isn’t just for children to do. In fact, all who call themselves a Christian should be shining brightly for the Lord and for the world to see, every day, all the time.
I know that we can all agree that when a caterpillar changes to a butterfly, that is a transformation. Do you remember the story of “The Ugly Duckling”? A group of ducklings are swimming around and another creature who thinks he is a duck, albeit an ugly one, joins them. Teased mercilessly, the duck eventually becomes a beautiful swan because that is what he was all along. I think of my transformation more like becoming who I am meant to be, like the swan. I may consider myself unworthy, but God makes me worthy and every day that I spend in His Word, I am becoming more like the person He created me to be. The change is not on the outside, but on the inside and starts with God meeting me right where I am and showing me the hidden truths of His word so that I can apply them to my life.
I am becoming the butterfly/swan I was meant to be by spending time with my Creator so that He can show me clearly His vision of who He created me to be. Sometimes I get confused and don’t see myself clearly, but God is always there to show me again and again, patiently working with me on one attribute that He wants me to acquire before we move to the next one. A caterpillar seems to become a butterfly without much effort, but if you remember from your school days, there is a whole metamorphosis, a cocoon process and finally the beautiful emerging butterfly. God designed that for the caterpillar. I am in my cocooning state, if you will. God is preparing me to be a butterfly and I may not get there before He calls me home, but He is always working on me to make me exactly what He wants me to be in His kingdom. Flawed, imperfect but loved by the Almighty God who sees me. (El Roi and El Shaddai)
Don’t give up on the process of transformation. Submit to God, stay in His word daily, give Him time to speak to your heart and know that the change is taking place. Change takes time, but the wait is worth it!
Maybe it was a quiet cathedral, stained glass filling the room with colors, or a forest alive with bird songs and dancing leaves. Wherever your place is, have you ever wished you could stay there forever—surrounded by so much beauty and safety that your soul can finally breathe?
David prays that way in Psalm 27:4:
“I have asked the Lord for one thing,
this is what I desire:
to live in the Lord’s house all my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,
and to contemplate in his temple.” (NET)
For ancient Israel, Jerusalem’s temple marked the center of their world—the place where Heaven and Earth meet. That idea first appears in Genesis, in the garden of Eden, where God walked with humanity and provided everything necessary—a place with no suffering, no threats, no death.
David’s longing isn’t for a spectacular building but for closeness with God—the kind of nearness that reshapes a person and brings true peace.
When Jesus arrives, he moves that Heaven-and-Earth space from Jerusalem’s temple into human hearts. People become the temple where God dwells. Divine beauty and peace are no longer tied to one city or structure; they’re found wherever God’s will is done “on Earth as in Heaven.”
Today, ask: What do I want most? David’s answer exposes humanity’s deepest desire—to be safe, loved, and at peace with our creator.
My Thoughts
Who doesn’t like to feel safe and at peace? When I became a Christian over five decades ago, for the first time, I felt loved and welcomed, at peace with the person God created me to me. I have had ups and downs in my walk with the Lord, yet I continue to return to that same place of peace. It isn’t a building, a monument or a beautiful part of nature. It’s the quiet place I find within myself when I focus on my relationship with God and how close I know that He is to me. He is right there, in my whispered prayers and in the prayers that I don’t say but that are in my heart. God hears and moves closer to me, just when I need Him. This is my piece of heaven on earth.
God’s Rhythm to Bless Us (YouVersion,Daily Refresh, 1-03)
Humans have a complicated relationship with rules. Even as small children, we struggle to understand the “why” behind them.
Consider how parents teach children to brush their teeth, reminding them morning and night. That child might only appreciate the chore years later, as they grow into adults and experience expensive and uncomfortable dental work. It’s then that a dull tooth-brushing routine feels valuable. What a shift in perspective!
We weren’t made to serve a strict toothbrushing schedule, but toothbrushing was made to serve us to help maintain healthy teeth.
Jesus brings similar wisdom and perspective to the expectation of taking a regular day of rest (Sabbath). The Jews knew that God was insistent on Sabbath observance, but they almost thought of it as if it were a chore. Jesus reminds them that people weren’t made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was created for people by God to provide much-needed rest.
Sabbath rest is God’s rhythm to bless us, not God’s requirement to burden us.
How can we know this is true? Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He’s the maker (and fulfiller) of all God’s good rules, and He knows that regular rest is one of the rhythms that leads to an abundant life.
My Thoughts
God set the standard and example for a Sabbath rest when He rested on the seventh day after creation. Many of us push ourselves to work, work, work, seven days a week. If we are not going to a job, we are still doing things that occupy our time and our minds. For me, after we attend church, I do rest. I sit in my recliner, watch a show that I have been meaning to take time to see, read a book and nap. The regular chores of book reviews and reading a certain number of pages per day is put aside as I rest. My husband, who is in charge of the cooking here at home, always makes enough on Saturday for leftovers on Sunday. Or, if that isn’t possible because of the planned meal, he buys takeout and has it ready for us to eat after church, along with a soup to warm up. Whatever it is, it is simple, easy to get ready, and allows him to spend the afternoon with the TV on football as he naps. We honor God by attending church and then we rest, just as God meant for us to do. The rest we have on Sunday prepares us for the busy week of appointments and meetings. This week, I start physical therapy and our Bible Study group begins again for the New Year. The busyness doesn’t seem so overwhelming if we take time to rest first. I encourage all who read this to take time to rest on the Sabbath. God wants us to establish a time for our bodies to refresh themselves, with Him as the center of our lives and of our resting time.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 