God So Loved by We The Kingdom
Answered Prayer
And another verse from a devotional that I completed last year:
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
By Thomas Ken
Praise God the Father who’s the source;
Praise God the Son who is the course;
Praise God the Spirit who’s the flow;
Praise God, our portion here below!
I’m very blessed to report today that our daughter’s pathology report came back with clean margins. That means the surgeon got all of the carcinoma (yes, it was cancer) and that there is no reason to do more surgery or even more treatment. The news was better than I expected and I am so thankful for the prayers of friends, family and my online followers.
I must admit that I was praying all week (actually for the last month since we heard about the upcoming surgery) for our daughter and her family. And I managed to hold on to my faith, secure in the knowledge that whatever happened, God is in control. That is still true. In the big things, the small things, the things that we think won’t matter to God at all, He is concerned and makes Himself known in so many ways.
One last thing before I go. My husband and I have not been able to have a date in months because we have been taking our grandson out weekly and that is where any extra funds we have had is going. He is going into the USN on April 26th and we wanted to bless him before he deployed, to pour love and caring into his life. Anyway, Harry and I went out to lunch yesterday to celebrate the good news we heard from Hope. We went to a favorite restaurant that has the kind of food that I’m allowed to have and will cook it to order without salt or other seasonings for me. Well, the food was great but the service was awful! The waitress asked for our drink order but didn’t bring anything for twenty minutes. Then, when she finally returned with them, she brought me water instead of the tea that I had requested. Another ten or fifteen minutes passed and I got my tea. Another waitress then came out of the kitchen and approached our table with two hamburgers. Well, that was not what we had ordered, so she returned to the kitchen and after another twenty minutes or so, we got our food. Talk about not knowing what to expect next! Finally, after a long wait, we got our check and I told my husband (I was paying this time) that I was going to bless our waitress in spite of her shortcomings, so I gave her a large tip. My husband said that I was extending mercy and grace to her. Of course! Just as God does for me daily!
If you get the chance today, extend mercy and grace to someone who is irritating you. You will be blessed in your heart and soul because of your kindness to a stranger. Who knows? Maybe they’re having a bad day, just got bad news, or are struggling in ways that we cannot see. Everyone needs a blessing. God blesses each of us so that we can in turn reach out and be a blessing to others.
Have a blessed day, my friends and remember to go to church tomorrow.
What Do You Really Need?
Sometimes, rather often actually, I get my needs mixed up with my wants. When I do that, I find myself unsatisfied with myself and pouting at God for not supplying all of my wants. Then, He gently chides me and reminds me that needs and wants are completely different. For example, I would really like to have a home in a suburb, closer to hospitals and as I call it, civilization. But do I need that? No. We live in a rural area and we are fine here, at a distance that is inconvenient but not impossible.
Too often, more frequently than I like to admit, my mind spirals off into the world of “what ifs” and I begin to fret. For a person who claims to have unshakeable faith in God, I get really upset with myself when that happens. I have to hold on to the Scripture above and remind myself that God gives me a train ticket for each hour of each day, not one for the next day. He provides what I need when I need it, and worrying about things will not change the course of events. But prayer does!
Have a wonderful and blessed day, watching for how God fulfills your needs and thankful that He provides for each of us.
Like a Tree
In my devotional this morning, I was directed to this Scripture verse.
When trees are cut down, if the root is still in the ground, there will eventually appear new shoots and as times goes on, a new tree will begin growing. Since we live in the middle of a lot of trees, I can bear testimony to this truth. How many times we have seen trees fall after a big storm and then we see the shoots of new growth begin to appear! In fact, to totally destroy a tree requires a tractor and a stump remover because you have to take it out by its roots. That being said, think about our roots.
We are told to be like trees, and we are to be rooted and grounded in God’s Word. What can move us if that is true?
We have to do our part and remain in His Word, not listening to the ones who speak foolishness out of their ignorance about God and His promises. I want to be like a tree, standing tall and strong for the Lord, dependent on Him for the water of His Word that nourishes me and for the gentle movement of the Holy Spirit that lifts me up closer to Him. We are so blessed to have God’s Word to read every day so that we can be strengthened in our walk with Him!
May each of you be like a tree, blessed beyond measure by our Creator and standing tall against all of the storms of life. May you be blessed to be a blessing to others!
Procrasti-cleaning
The title of this blog is not my creation, but I saw it online and thought it applied to me and my thoughts today. Of course, you know that every day is a new day with God, a chance to start over with a clean slate, forgiven and experiencing His compassion and love. There are even Scripture verses about this very thing, which naturally were in my devotional this morning.
Note that it is all on God that we are not totally destroyed by our own sinfulness. His compassion is new every single day, and I don’t know about you, but I need it daily!
Now about that title word. It could certainly apply to my house. I am the world’s worst housekeeper, especially since the children moved away and no one really comes to visit us out here in the boondocks. My husband is a hoarder, making the task more challenging, so mostly, I just look at the dust and clutter and think that I will get to it tomorrow. That’s procrasti-cleaning of my house.
More importantly, it also applies to the spiritual home of the Holy Spirit, the part deep inside me that I have to keep clean so that He feels welcome and respected. I cannot procrasti-clean my heart because the scum and filth build up and make it almost impossible to get the stains out. I have to clean daily, daily going before the throne of God and asking Him for His grace, mercy and forgiveness. More than daily actually. I find myself speaking to God constantly each time I fail Him, in the little things and in big ways, too. Once, as a new Christian, I thought it was a case of not being struck by lightning or keeling over dead instantly due to my overwhelming sins. Then, I realized that God is patient with me and will lovingly wait until I am truly repentant and will come to Him with a deep longing to restore the break in our relationship. I may still be struck with lightning or suddenly die, but my aim is to always be in a right relationship with my Heavenly Father so that whatever happens, I’m ready for Him and He’s ready and eager to welcome me home. Thus, no procrasti-cleaning of this temple that belongs to the Lord. My earthly home may be a wreck, but my temple that the Lord is building within me is as clean as a prayer and the sacrifice of Jesus can make it. White as snow and washed in His blood! I’m so grateful for God’s attitude towards me of pure love, compassion and faithfulness. Aren’t you?
May you go forth today with a clean temple and a right relationship with God and man. God bless you today and every day with new fervor for Him and His mission that He left us to do.
Review of THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW by Jessica Strawser
This is such a gut-wrenching, emotional book that I could read for a while and then had to sit and relive what I had read, pondering the truth within its pages.
This is a thought-provoking look at two characters whose lives intersect and change forever because of their interaction. Nova Huston is an end-of-life doula, using her empathy and heart to help her to guide others when they are facing their own deaths. When Mason Shaylor, a former rock star whom Nova doesn’t recognize at all, becomes her newest client, Nova is drawn to his kindness and humility and sincerely wants to help him face his death with courage and all loose ends tied up. What she didn’t count on is that her feelings would surpass anything she has ever felt for a client before. The conflict was a surprise, so I won’t go into that part, but suffice it to say that this book was a multi-layered character study with a lot to say about accepting death and forgiving others. Nova and Mason were both complex and fully fleshed out with lots of secrets that were slowly revealed. I loved this book and hated for it end. But the entire book was so good, including the ending and especially the reveal about the reason for the title. A dramatic and suspenseful book with complicated relationships and heartwarming themes.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
This heart-touching novel is available now as it just released yesterday! Purchase Links:
Many, many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC to read and review. This novel is amazing and can be life-changing if you will allow the message it holds to speak to you.
Identity Crisis
Have you ever wondered who you really are, beneath the makeup, clothes and all the external trappings? There was a time in my life, two actually, that stand out in my memory as periods of time when I wondered who I really was. One was when all of my children had left the nest and I wondered if I was still a mother, just without children to care for, guide and admonish. Of course, I was and I am still a mom but my loneliness without my children there was tangible. I had to convince myself that I would always be a mom, just from a distance. The second time was when I retired from teaching. My identity was wrapped around my ability to teach, a career that I pursued for almost four decades before retiring. Then, it was time to retire and I questioned myself about what I am without teaching. This question, God has answered lovingly over the last six years since retirement. I am His child and I still have the gift of teaching, but I use it in different ways now.
This morning in my devotional, I read this Scripture about Jesus.
Jesus was in the temple and reading from the book of Isaiah. It boggles my mind that Jesus was born knowing exactly who He was and the destiny that He would fulfill. He accepted Himself just as He was and went about doing what He was called to do. Wouldn’t our lives be simpler if we did likewise? Just ask God what He wants us to do with our lives that He has gifted us and then fulfill His will for us here on earth? Jesus knew His Father intimately and knew exactly what He was going to do to complete His work on earth. He had no identity crisis and no one, not even the scoffers, could move Him from His path or convince Him that He wasn’t exactly who He said He was.
Jesus’s confidence in God inspires me to seek God more and to find out the next step for my life. My identity has not changed but my role that I play in life has, due to circumstances like aging. But that does not limit God from using me, so my new identity may be as a grandmother who lovingly tells her grandchildren about the Lord and all of His marvelous works. It may also be as a Sunday school helper, again working with children. My identity, and yours, is only limited by our own vision of how we see ourselves fulfilling God’s purpose. I’m still the same person I was fifty years ago when I started teaching. I’m also the same person I was forty plus years ago when I gave birth for the first time. There is no book I can pick up and read what the next step in my life is, but all of the wisdom of God is available to me through His word and through my prayer life, talking to God and waiting for Him to tell me the next step.
God wants to take us from where we are to where He wants us to be, no matter what stage of life we are in. There is no such thing as an identity crisis for those who are children of the living God. He has a plan and He will carry it out. We just have to listen instead of being captured by the latest psychobabble of the current generation.
May each of you have a blessed and wonderful day, filled with the knowledge that your identity is in the Father and He loves you with an everlasting love.
The 2 Most Shocking Verses in the Book of Revelation
The 2 Most Shocking Verses in the Book of Revelation
— Read on ettingerwriting.wordpress.com/2022/03/21/the-2-most-shocking-verses-in-the-book-of-revelation/
Please go to the original post and follow David and let me know that you have done so. He has a heart for God and a lot of wisdom!
Let God Be God
I recommend that you read the entire chapter in order to get the background for this verse, but I will briefly summarize it for you. The Israelites were in the wilderness moaning about the fact that all they had to eat was manna and they wanted some meat. So, God told Moses He would provide meat for everyone to have daily. Moses pointed out to God that he had over 600,000 people there in the wilderness for him and even if they killed off all the livestock and caught all the fish available, there would not be enough to satisfy the people. The verse above is God’s reply.
Moses seemed to expect less of God because humanly what God had said would take place is impossible. After all, they were in a wilderness, far from civilization. With this one verse, God shows His power once again. To me, it sounds like he is schooling a child who just refuses to learn. But Moses has walked with God for decades by this time. He met with Him in the burning bush, went before Pharoah on God’s behalf and saw all of the miraculous signs God performed and even saw God roll back the Red Sea so they could cross over safely. So, why would he doubt God’s abilities?
I think it’s a little thing called giving human attributes to God. Many men say many things and they cannot actually fulfill what they are saying. We want to believe them, and we may even do so for a while, but then reality hits us. We hear lies every day from politicians, on both sides of the aisle. They promise to represent the people and then get to D.C. and only have their own interests at heart. Our parents promise us a vacation that never happens because money troubles come along. Our friend promises to call, but forgets once she is home again. You get the idea, right? We have been jaded by the people that we are around not to believe what we are told.
However, when God says He can do it, He really can and He really will. He fulfills all of His promises. I think sometimes we put God in a little box on the shelf, take Him down when we need something, tell Him our expectations and then when they don’t occur just as we hoped, we say to ourselves, “Well, of course, He didn’t answer.” That is what’s wrong with our faith. We aren’t letting God be God because we are busy trying to make Him into a man who will disappoint us. But when I let God be God and the prayer is not answered according to my own expectations, I know that God has a better plan for me and trust Him to roll it out for me in His timing.
My prayer for each of you today is that you will let God be God, not giving the Almighty the characteristics of fallen man but realizing that He is a perfect and loving God who desires to bless and have a relationship with us.
Have a blessed and wonderful day, remembering that each day is a gift from your Father in Heaven who wants what is best for you.
Moving and Complaining
In my devotional this morning, there were two scripture verses that spoke to me clearly.
When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they obviously did not have GPS or even a map. They depended completely on God to lead them to where He wanted them to settle. His presence was in the form of a cloud that settled over the newly constructed tabernacle. When the cloud moved, the people got up and followed. Would that I could be so patient and not try to get ahead of God but wait for Him to tell me it’s time to move. I don’t mean physically moving, although that might be part of His instructions to me, but I mean to be so in tune with God that when He tells me to do something, I sense His presence moving before me to help me accomplish His will. I’m not there yet, but it is a goal that I strive for.
It got very warm outside the last couple of days and our home is not well insulated, so it got rather warm inside, too. Thus I found myself complaining about the condition of our house: cold in the winter and hot when it warms up, blazing hot in the summer months. Oops! Last night as I was preparing for bed, God chastised me for not being grateful for having a shelter, no matter its condition. Then this morning this was a Scripture verse in my devotional. God definitely takes complaining seriously, so I need to be careful about complaining. When I think that I am vocalizing my complaints to my husband about the state of our finances and our living conditions, I am really complaining about God’s provision. I ask for forgiveness from my Heavenly Father who knows what He is doing and has provided for me all of these years. Bless His Name for His provision! I may not have all I want, but I have always had all that I needed.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 