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.
Part of my blog today is from my devotional, “The Bible in One Year, 2025 by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel” from the You Version:
All this is by grace (vv.15,17,20–21). Allow these truths to sink deep into your heart. See yourself as God sees you – as righteous in his sight – and believe that, because of what Jesus has done for you, when God looks at you he is pleased with you.
Lord, thank you so much for the death of Jesus on my behalf. Thank you that although I deserve judgment and condemnation, you have made it possible for me to be justified and to receive the righteousness from God by grace as a gift.
God sees us as righteous, forgiven, loved by Him beyond anything we can comprehend.
Hagar was ready to just admit defeat for herself and her small son Ishmael. But God was right there and saw her and had a different plan.
How often are we ready to just give up, to admit that we cannot face the challenges of life any longer? I had a week like that. I don’t talk about it, but my husband is a hoarder which almost drives me crazy since I am an organizer bunny. I was getting ready this week for family to visit, and I do try very hard not to go into the back bedroom, the site of my husband’s “treasures” but I had to dust. I was so dismayed to find that he had decided to “clean out the closet” and other spaces by stacking things under the mattress of the bed. The bed now sits about three feet higher than the frame and I think it looks ridiculous, not to mention, slightly unsafe since it’s uneven. We had an argument about it and neither of us is happy with each other. I want the family members coming to be safe but also to not be overwhelmed by the sheer outrageousness of my husband’s collections. Newspapers, boxes, video tapes, plastic containers, etc. There is no reason for all of it…it just is. The whole hoarding thing has gotten worse since retirement and I have no solution. I cannot face it, but God can. He sees my frustration and discouragement. And he also sees my husband’s mental problems that cause the problem to begin with. So, what to do? I choose to submit to God, knowing that He sees me just the way I am and will help me once again get through this situation that seems to have no answer. I generally end up backing off and my husband has his way about everything, but I am so tired of that posture. I really want God to intervene, but His intervention may be that I change and not my husband. In the meantime, I feel somewhat like Hagar, in the wrong place at the wrong time and with no one to help me. But then, there is Jehovah Roi, the God who sees. I am blessed beyond measure by God who sees all and continues to love me.
If we started sharing all of the wonderful attributes of our God, we would be here a long time because just when we think we know God, He shows us another facet of His character. Today, I am focusing on the faithfulness of God. We know God is faithful to His Word. He is also faithful to His promises. And best of all, He is faithful to each of us, even when we forget to acknowledge all that He has done for us.
I can, and I hope that you can, too, easily come up with all of the things I have seen God do in my life. I have kept journals in which I wrote my thanksgiving down and praised God for all that He has done and is still doing for me and for my loved ones. Why, this week alone, I have testimonies! Our son-in-law Aaron had been sick for well over a month. When he finally saw a doctor and they did blood tests, his liver function was low. This week, the doctor repeated the test, and it is normal! Hallelujah! Our granddaughter Teagan fell in the yard and broke her wrist. This week, she went to Shriner’s Hospital in Erie where they told her she only has to wear the cast for two weeks and perhaps a brace after that. So, praise God! My husband had an appointment this week with his regular dentist to start the process for a dental implant. This whole thing has taken about a year, so we are both ready for it to be done, but we didn’t really know what to expect at this week’s appointment. Pain? Dietary restrictions? None of the above. The dentist took virtual photos in order to order his permanent implant and put in a temporary crown while he waits for it to arrive. Once again, a praise report!
Of course, there are the prayers that I am still praying and waiting for an answer, but I can count on God to be faithful. He was faithful before and He doesn’t change, so He will continue to be faithful. Instead of wallowing in the pain of unanswered prayers (or sometimes those not answered the way I hoped or expected), I am praising God for His faithfulness, knowing that the answer is on the way and His answer is always what is best for me.
Instead of just reading this first verse, I recommend that you read the entire Psalm 105. Read it aloud. Say it to your mind and your heart and let it sink in what God is capable of doing and what He has already done. I think the last part of the verse is very important and often overlooked. We praise God and proclaim His glorious name during our devotional time, but do we make known what He has done? Do we testify to others about this faithfulness to us, His goodness, His grace, His mercy? Others cannot know if we do not tell. To many, if they even think about God’s existence at all, He is that scary guy who could zap them at any time or He is that smiling guy who keeps blessing them in ways they don’t really appreciate. What about if we gave personal testimonies about what God has done in our lives every day? Every week? Instead of calling friends to tell them how bad the week has been, how about calling and telling them all of the good things God has done for you because He is faithful? It’s all about perspective. You can keep what God has done for you and “ponder it in your heart.” But you can also reach out to others and give them a reason to think about God and His love and faithfulness. I think the latter is a better plan, don’t you?
Please keep praying for those in Texas who have lost loved ones. God is sending His comfort and peace because He is faithful. Let us be faithful to pray for them in their time of grieving unbearable loss.
After a hard week of tragedy in Texas, family health issues and life’s circumstances in general, I didn’t feel a lot like praising this morning. I just wanted to curl into a ball and withdraw from the chaos all around me. But, God called me to praise and that has been the best thing for me, today and every day. We were created to have a relationship with our Creator and one of the ways we have that closeness is to recognize who He is and to praise Him. The things around us fade in the presence of the Almighty God. Thus, I encourage you to join me today in praising our Father who knows all things and is always with us. Let’s check our attitude of dissatisfaction and praise God because He is good…all the time!
Do you see what I see in this verse? Everything that has breath is praising God, and I am just joining in, raising my voice with creation to the Creator of all.
Take a moment and inhale deeply. As you exhale, give God praise for the fact that you were able to take that breath. Then, spend some time just thinking of all He has done for you from the inside out.
It feels good to praise the Lord! It is like being a bottle of seltzer water, shaken up and ready to explode. Let it go…God knows that we need to praise Him.
Every day is a good day to praise the Lord, and since praise is in my heart and on my lips today, I wanted to share with you.
Just take a minute or tow and give God thanks. I am focusing on who He is today, not what He has done for me. Sometimes I just need to focus on His character instead of His gifts.
Please feel free to comment with your praise song for today. Let’s share our love of the Lord with each other and then go out and share it with others who need to know the power of an Almighty God in their lives.
As my southern pastor from many years ago said, “May God bless you real good!”
We could all sit around some days and have a little pity party about all of the bad things that are happening in our lives and in the world around us. We could lament the fact that we prayed, but we haven’t gotten an answer yet. (At least, not the one we expected or wanted).
How about instead of a pity party, we have a praise celebration? Instead of thinking about all the negatives, start thinking about what God has already done for you (and for this sinful world). Satan certainly doesn’t want us to remember so I think he tries to block our memory of the good things and puts the bad things at the forefront of our minds. We need to purposely choose to think of the good things, as Philippians says:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV https://bible.com/bible/111/php.4.8.NIV
It is when we start remembering what God has already done that we have a testimony to share and a faith that cannot be quenched! So, let’s get out of the pits of despair and stand on that mountain of faith that God created for us to stand on.
This is my prayer for you and for myself and it is a memory verse that I have been working on this week.
Do you enjoy Crowder songs? This is one of my favorites because it reminds me not to “get amnesia” but to focus on what God has already done!
It has been a tough week for me, but through it all, God has shown Himself faithful. Being faithful means He keeps His promises, and it is part of who he is, not just something He does. Since it is one of the fruits of the Spirit, God wants us to develop that quality in our character, too.
As I spoke quietly with the family last evening at the funeral home, I felt the Lord’s presence surround me with His comfort and love. I saw the teen granddaughters, trying to maintain their composure and smile, but I saw the hurt in their eyes, too. So, when I got up to them, I told them how much their grandmother loved them and talked about them all the time and that she would always be with them in their hearts. That’s when they shed a few tears and I gave them a hug. God is faithful to show us what people need and how we can help them.
God is faithful all the time, in all the ways we need Him. Sometimes, I think faithfulness means that God marches to the beat of my drum, but that isn’t true. God fulfills His promises in His Word, but it is His plan that is unfolding, not mine. He is faithful to His plan for all of our lives, oftentimes in spite of my getting in His way and trying to demand changes in His plan. God remains faithful.
God is faithful when I am irritated with Him. Be honest. You get irritated at God, too. His timing isn’t working out for you. His plan is taking too long. The prayers you consistently prayed weren’t answered the way you thought they would be. But God is still faithful. He is doing what is best for us, even when we are too short-sighted to see it.
God’s faithfulness to us is part of His great love for us. He faithfully works with us, to make us more like He created us to be.
God’s faithfulness surrounds Him and when we are in His presence, it surrounds us, too. There is no one like our God!
When God is shows us His faithfulness, He wants us to share it with others so that they, too, can have hope and believe. In a world where lying, deceit and chicanery are part of the everyday habits of most people, tell others about our faithful God, the God who does not change and who is always faithful in all ways. We may disappoint Him, but He remains steadfastly faithful.
This was my devotional this morning, after a heart-wrenching day yesterday. The devotional is from the YouVersion Bible App and is entitled “Knowing God Has a Plan: 5-Day Devotional by Anne Wilson.”
When Grief Comes, Is God Still Good?
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5
Some say grief is horror at loss…at not being able to touch them, laugh with them, or make new memories with them. Others may say it is soul-crushing…excruciating…and it makes eternity feel instantaneously close… yet so far away. For me, it is all of this on top of the what-ifs and what-could-have-beens rolled into one.
In the “Seventh of June” song, I wanted to be transparent about the process of grief…how it comes in waves and on anniversaries…how it spills out in tears. We are all in the trenches at times – “praying and trying to make sense of what don’t make sense in this life.” We are all put on notice, waiting for the impossible moment that we never want to face. But we all face loss. We are not getting off of this earth without it.
Grieving people ask themselves: Did they know how much I loved them? What should I have done differently? It can be heavy and full of despair, yet empty of adding up to make sense. How could this have happened? Why did this happen? And the ones no one likes to talk about: Is God still good? And where is God in the midst of our grief?
Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the broken-hearted for they shall be comforted…but ask a new mother holding her stillborn baby if she feels blessed. Ask anyone at the edge of a hospice bed if they feel blessed.
I have learned that the blessing is having Jesus to weep with you. To hold you. To give you supernatural peace that only He can give. At my lowest times and my darkest days, the Prince of Peace is there to encourage me and to catch my tears. I want to remind you that He is good and promises us that weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Here are some questions to ponder as you process your grief with the Lord:
Is God responsible for our loss?
There must be a reason we have a period on earth to experience truth, beauty, and goodness but also deception, ugliness, and evil. What could God’s purposes be?
Now, back to me and my losses. Two good friends and former colleagues passed away this week, but I just heard of their deaths yesterday on my way home from my urologist. I was rejoicing that my bladder scan was good and the solution proposed was an easy one of long-term, low dose antibiotics. Then, I got the text that shattered my world and sent my heart into a tailspin. Ann Garner, the attendance secretary at the high school where I worked for so many years here in Virginia, passed away on Sunday morning. Ann was a dear friend as well as a co-worker. She and I used to go out to lunch together several times a month. After my stroke, she was gracious to include my husband Harry in our outings, since I couldn’t drive myself. We shared laughter, tears and a lot of happy times together. I spoke to her just before I went on the grad tour. She called me to tell me that a former student wanted my phone number and she wouldn’t give it to her without my permission. When I called her back, she sounded really weak, not like herself at all. So I asked her what was going on in her life these days. We hadn’t seen each other for over a year since I had health issues, she had health issues and we just couldn’t make our schedules work. But we stayed in contact, so I was devastated to hear her news that her cancer was not only back but she was on home hospice care. I asked if there was anything I could do and she just asked me to pray. So, my husband and I did. I knew then that the end was close, but I refused to accept that truth and kept praying for healing. After all, she had survived for twelve years with cancer. But the end came in spite of my prayers because God called Ann home to be with him. A widow since 2006, she is reunited with her beloved Clarence now, so I know that her cup is filled with joy. I, on the other hand, feel distraught and a deep grief, a sense of longing for our times together that won’t happen again.
The second blow came as I was online trying to find the information about Ann’s services. I finally found it on Facebook, of all places, and in scrolling, I discovered that a second colleague, Coach Joe Harper had passed away yesterday. Joe was a wonderful man and a good friend who encouraged everyone to enjoy life while we had it. After my stroke, he used to come by my room almost daily just to check in with me and ask how I was doing. I should note here that he taught all the way on the other end of a very large building, but he made the trek to the language hallway because he cared about others, including me. He used to greet us in the office at the mailboxes each morning with the same big smile and the words, “Another day in Paradise!” I truly believe that this kind and loving man who was unselfish to his core is also in the presence of the Father.
After these two deaths had time to settle in my conscious, I cried quietly, then I sobbed. Then, I went to bed early, long before my regular time. In fact, I was asleep before 6:30 last night, praying for peace and comfort for all of the friends and family and that God would give me peace and allow me to rest. He did, and I did. I awakened a couple of times as usual, made my bathroom stop and fell back to sleep. Today, I am feeling a little numb and like I have entered a world that is not well known to me. The death of two friends within days of each other invokes grief but also a wake-up call to my own mortality. None of is promised tomorrow, but if we know the Lord, we are promised eternity.
So, to answer the questions in the devotional: God is not responsible for the loss. Sin came into the world and death follows sin. God’s purpose is not always known, but He is always working out His plan, in others and in me. May the deaths of these loved ones point others to Christ. I know this must be part of His plan.
I am not really feeling joy this morning, but I am feeling a peace and a comfort that can only come from God. Whoever you are missing today, I hope that as you read these words, you will know that God is close beside you and longs to comfort you with His loving presence.
May this old hymn speak to your heart today and give you peace as you reflect on all that God has done and is still doing for you. I am thankful for all of the safe trips we made and the blessings of seeing grandchildren graduate, my brother and his family from Colorado and our daughter and granddaughters from Pennsylvania. Here are photos to show you the graduates, my family members and happy, blessed me!
Isaac Steven Watts on graduation day with his Grampa and NannaTyler James Bailey on his graduation day with Nanna and GrampaTeryn Joy Bailey on her prom day (also Tyler’s grad date). She is a homeschooled young lady who plans to go to Liberty University to study elementary education, with an emphasis on serving on the mission field. Teya Elizabeth Bailey on her graduation day. Me, my brother Steve, his wife Lee and my great-niece Juni in Myrtle Beach, SC (Steve and family flew in from Colorado.)Amen!
It is very easy to get busy with our own lives and forget that there are people who need help. We say we will pray for them, but do we? When is prayer not enough? We have quickly discovered that we can send money to a good cause and our conscience about helping others is assuaged. Jesus did not say to send money. He said to “go.” I am guilty of being one of those who tends to be insular, staying at home and sending money. I want to be more active, to look around and see the needs of others and to meet them if I can. And if I cannot, I want to find someone who can. There is so much evil and greed in the world. I want to reflect Jesus with my love, a heart of compassion and real caring. How do I do that? I don’t know, but I am willing to find out. So, my heart’s cry is “Send me.”
Please take the time to listen to the words of this song. Our answer to God should always be “yes” before He even asks. After all, He sought us out before we even knew Him.
I am creating this post early since tomorrow my husband and I are traveling to a nearby town to celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary. But I couldn’t let the day go by without wishing everyone in my little blogosphere a Happy Easter!
Easter is my favorite holiday. Most people say that Christmas is their favorite, and I think that used to be my answer when I was younger. But now that I am counted with the elderly, I look forward to Easter and the joy and hope it brings.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee and his wife are in Israel now, serving our nation as he has done for most of his life. As you read this scripture, say a prayer for him and Janet to be safe and well there.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 