Category: Scripture

From the Holy Bible

Watching and Waiting

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I remember as a child watching out the window for my daddy to get home. He may have a surprise for me, but he always had a big hug and a smile. As I grew older, I watched out the window for a date to arrive, anticipating but also a little fearful. Once I got married, I watched for my husband to come home from deployment. I knew the general time of his arrival, but I never knew how long it would take him to finish the process so he could actually come home. So, I watched and waited. Once we had children, we watched and waited together for daddy’s arrival, making signs to welcome him home and some baked goods that he enjoyed. Now that I am older and the children have moved away, I watch and wait for phone calls, FaceTime and letters or cards. The watching and waiting never stops.

In the last six months, as I have faced numerous medical tests, I have been in a season of watching and waiting. But it is the Lord that I am watching and waiting for. I know that He is always there for me, so I am watching to see what He will do in my life and I wait for His answer. All of the doctors have their own opinions, but it is only God who has the real answer. So, I watch and wait and know that God is hearing me. He hasn’t failed me yet…years of watching and waiting have taught me that He is faithful and the last six months are building my trust. One more test on Monday, an MRA that the neurologist ordered to see if there is something going on with the blood vessels in my brain. Maybe. Maybe not. God knows. So, for Him, I watch and wait. He made me, He has healed me too many times for me to count, and He will also take care of this problem in His own way and in His time. His way and His timing is always perfect. Thus, watching and waiting while I hope in the Lord is a good, encouraging thing for me to do. It’s a blessing to know that God is right there, ready to send the answer to my prayers.

Building Your Faith

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture3 Comments

If you have been walking with the Lord for any length of time, you have read the Scripture that says:

Thus if you want to please God, then you know that you need to have faith. But what is faith and how do you strengthen and build your faith?

Faith is putting your trust in God, regardless of circumstances and outward appearances. David had faith when he faced Goliath. Gideon had faith when he took a small band of men with him to defeat a large army. Stephen had faith when he faced those who ultimately stoned him.

How do you build your trust and your faith? The answer has always been there for you. You read the Word. You listen to the Word. You follow His Word. In doing so, you build your faith, that is, your trust in God. It’s hard to stand on God’s promises if you don’t know what they are, so it is imperative to memorize His Word so that you have it handy when you need it. God makes our faith strong by giving His unerring, infallible and eternal message to us. It is up to us to read it, hear it and heed it.

I want to see the invisible God, believe for unbelievable miracles and receive what others say is impossible. I’m spending time in God’s Word so that my faith is stronger. I pray that you are doing likewise.

Exaltation

On By vickleaIn praise, Scripture, Song, Video1 Comment

What does it mean to exalt the Lord? According to the online dictionary, it means to “elevate with praise, to glorify.” So, why do we exalt the Lord when He is already in the Heavens, the real Master of the Universe? I think we exalt Him because we need to hear ourselves acknowledge His power, His sovereignty and His worthiness to be praised. So much of the time, all day long, we spend giving ourselves and those around us little pep talks, telling them and ourselves what a good job we are doing or how much we appreciate the effort that they are making. Yet, when it comes to God, I think sometimes we take Him for granted, choosing to esteem ourselves rather than our Creator. So, today, I am taking time to exalt the Name of the Lord for WHO HE IS, not for all that He has done for me, although that list is innumerable. I just want to focus on His Lordship, His Kingship, on His character that is unchanging.

We cannot tell of the Lord’s greatness without acknowledging Him as the One who is the Ruler of our hearts. God is God…let’s praise Him and let Him know that although the world may turn against Him, we know that He is and always will be Lord of all.

1000 Names-Phil Wickham

A Thousand Hallelujas-Brooke Ligertwood

Great Is the Lord-Michael W. Smith

Blowing Wind

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

One of the arguments that I have heard for years about the existence of God and the Holy Spirit is that although you cannot see the wind, you see what its effects. Likewise, we don’t see God, but we see His actions on the earth. I am eternally grateful that God sent Jesus to save me, filled me with His Spirit and continues to guard my heart and mind through Him. It is up to me to continue to walk with God. The wind continues to blow, drawing my attention hither and yon. But the blowing wind is not what I should be focused on. I need to focus on the power that created that wind and how much love is behind all of creation.

I cannot explain my salvation or the change in my heart and my life, but I know that it is a fact. Just as the wind blowing through the trees causes the leaves to move, God’s Spirit moving in my heart causes me to draw closer to Him and away from the world.

Giving God Glory

On By vickleaIn praise, Scripture1 Comment

Sometimes, in the midst of trials or challenges, we just have to take time to remember all that God has already done for us and give Him the glory. It is in the remembering that our faith is built up again and we are then able to press onward with Him through the valley and back again to the mountaintop.

A Prayer with Confident Hope

On By vickleaIn prayer, Scripture1 Comment

I pray daily, throughout the day. Some days my prayer is a whisper, a hopeful murmuring to the Lord. Other days, my prayer is intense. Yesterday was a day of intense prayer as our grandson was traveling alone to D.C. to start his new internship there. But his trip was delayed due to car troubles, so he ended up having to travel at night. So, my husband and I prayed that God would work out things with the car and get him there safely. God came through for Isaac as he left about 6 p.m., arrived at 9 and missed a lot of the awful traffic on the beltway. Sigh of relief and praise of thanksgiving that he arrived safely in spite of all of the obstacles. Of course, prayers will continue for him and our other loved one in the days ahead. I must admit that sometimes I am ashamed of how little confidence I have that God will answer my prayers. I pray, wait for an answer and hope that it will come but I am not surprised when the answer is delayed or doesn’t take the form that I thought it would. There is a prayer in scripture that addressed that for me this morning.

Knowing that God is the source of hope helps me to trust in His sovereignty. My confidence is in His answering in His timing and in a way that is best for all concerned. Look at the powerful words in this verse: joy, peace, trust, overflow and confident hope. This is a verse that I need to personalize daily and pray over myself as I come before the Lord and present my thanksgiving and petitions. Today, I pray this prayer for each of my readers, with the confident hope that God will completely fill you with His joy and peace as you trust in Him.

The Prayer-Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli

With Us

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song2 Comments

When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He reminded the disciples that He would always be with them. He continues to remind us of that today, but we have to take the time to be with Him.

Jesus only spoke of two commandments and both were about love. Love God and love your neighbor. He is with us as we fulfill those commandments and as we spend time with Him seeking the ways we should be showing love to God and to others.

I think that my alone time with God, reading His Word, praying and singing, is the most important part of my day. It sets the tone for the day and allows me to speak freely to God as I go through whatever challenges the day may present. Jesus, God’s own Son, spent time praying to His Father. Following His example, we should feel compelled to spend time with the Lord, not just telling Him our problems, but listening for His solutions and encouragement. Ok;.;.;.;

In the Garden-Alan Jackson

Look Around You

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

If you look up, you can see the sky and the clouds, the sun, moon and stars. God made all of them. If you look down, you can see the grass, flowers, trees all of the living creatures. God made all of them. How can anyone deny the existence of God when everything around us shows us His loving care? Even the rain that can be a nuisance when you have planned a beach trip is from God’s loving providence. The rain that annoys you makes the food in the fields grow. I am ever grateful for God’s creation and the way He has set an order to everything. I have only to look around me to see the proof of God’s loving kindness and tender care.

Some Thoughts about Light

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture1 Comment

“Be the light!” the preacher proclaims from the pulpit. “Shine in the darkness,” says the Sunday school teacher. All good advice, but the practicality sometimes escapes us as we hurry away from the darkness and try to stay near the light ourselves. We are missing the point that we are the light and in our haste to move away from darkness, we are missing opportunities to shine His light on a dark world.

We try to stay insulated in our protected group of Christians who all believe as we do when what we are supposed to do is go into the world and shine the light that we have on the people who don’t yet know that they need Jesus. When we are doing what we should be doing, we are going to naturally attract others and need to have an answer for the hope that is in us. Be ready at all times to tell others how Jesus has made a difference in your life! Like a moth is attracted to a flame or any kind of light, so people in darkness need to know that there is a light that they can turn to. At the most unexpected times and from some of the most unexpected sources, you may have people seeking answers from you because they have seen your light and want to know more about what makes you different. Be ready to be that light!


Many times we fear approaching darkness because we are intimidated by just how dark it is and the fact that we cannot see “two inches in front of our face.” That’s okay, Step into the darkness and it won’t be dark anymore because your presence brings the light with you.

The light that is in us comes from the Lord Jesus. When darkness is all around, we can continue to shine and attract others to the beauty of salvation and the peace and hope that it offers.

Covered

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture4 Comments

Are you a fan of lots of blankets? Snuggling down into the warm comfort and resting securely? One of my children used to have a “security blanket” that he carried everywhere. Ragged and threadbare from so much laundering, it was barely a blanket, yet still he carried it, holding it up to his nose and wrapping it around his little neck. I don’t recall when he finally gave up “Blankie” but I do remember being sad at the passing of an innocent age when he thought that the blanket he carried and wore would surround him with security.

We can all have that security today if we just accept that God promises it. It’s not a totem we carry around or wear. It’s not a Bible verse that we memorize and cite each time we need God’s presence (although that is certainly helpful). It is just an awareness of how much God loves you and the feeling that He has His arms wrapped around you.

I had a scary incident happen last week. I was sitting in my recliner getting ready to read when the vision in my right eye went all wonky. It was blurry and wavy, and at the same time I got a tremendous sense of vertigo. I called for my husband, but he couldn’t hear me, so I carefully made my way to the bedroom, told him what was happening, and we prayed. I then proceeded to go to bed. I lay there in the dark for quite a while, with the room spinning around me and my vision in that one eye blurry. I fell asleep for a few hours and when I awakened and got up to go to the bathroom, I was still dizzy and my vision was still weirdly unfocused. So, back to bed I went and prayed and praised God as I drifted back to sleep. The next morning, I seemed fine. On Monday, I called my retina eye specialist, whom I had just seen the day before the incident. The triage team called me back, asked me a lot of questions and told me that if it happens again, I should call the on-call doctor and go to the ER. I also let my cardiologist know, in case there was some kind of reaction to my medication. And, finally, I alerted my neurologist in case the whole thing was a brain glitch. The neurologist called me a few days later and said he is concerned about my blood vessels in my brain so he wants me to have an MRA. I had already had an MRI, CT Scan, EEG and EMG, but apparently an MRA looks at only the blood vessels to see if there is something going on that shouldn’t be. The test is all scheduled now and I think the doctor must have put in an urgent request because it’s on June 12th, only a few weeks away. (I waited months for some of the other tests to be done.) Anyway, I wrote all of that so that you know that I know that I am covered. Is it scary each morning when I awaken and I don’t know whether my eyes will be focused and my head will be spinning? I would be lying if I said it isn’t a little tense for me. But I awaken each day as always, praising God that I slept and woke up again and I go through my day with the praise on my lips that God is taking care of me, regardless of what happens. Am I thrilled to undergo another test and have an unknown possibly happening in my brain? No, of course not! But I know that I cannot learn trust by having everything be nice and smooth in my life, so a few bumps are to be expected as I press in closer to God.

God is sheltering me and He has already provided my protection in His Word. I have to stand on it and believe that He is working it all out for His glory. So, I am covered, not with a security blanket that I can hold in my hands but with one that I hold close to my heart.