As we get closer to the holiday season, busyness seems to encompass our days. Let’s not forget to pray for one another and to ask for God’s blessing on our family, friends and other dear ones.
Tag: blessing
Thankful that I Am Accepted
Many years ago, I sent out various applications to colleges that I desired to attend and then waited anxiously to hear about whether I was accepted or not. I did not get into my first choice, a college that was way beyond my financial capabilities anyway, but I was accepted into Mary Washington, graduated from there and went on to teach. It was during the weeks of waiting for the acceptance letters when I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of what would happen if no one accepted me.
Less than a year after my graduation, I was invited and accepted into the family of God. No anxious waiting, no thoughts about a plan B or even any idea that I would not be accepted. Why not? Because acceptance is a gift from God and He does it well.
There is no favoritism with God, no “show me the money and I will accept you” kind of pseudo-acceptance. God truly accepted me because He shows absolutely no favoritism. I had to confess my sins and repent, true, but that is what everyone who calls on the name of Jesus as Savior has to do. There is no magical formula for acceptance with God, no letters of application to complete and no anxious waiting to see if God will allow you into His family or not. He already has…you have to accept the invitation He sent out long ago when He sent His Son to die for you, and then His acceptance of you is automatic. As someone who struggled most of my young life with being accepted, this is the most amazing gift and one I hope that I never take for granted. And I pray that you know the same acceptance and loving grace that He has shown me. It’s free to you although it cost Jesus dearly.
My prayer of blessing for you today comes from the Holy Bible. Accept His blessing on your life as you read and meditate on the Scripture below.
Thankful to Be Blessed
We have a part to play in receiving blessings from God. We have to choose to walk in the counsel of the godly, not the ungodly. We have to choose to walk away from sin and sinners instead of standing there with them. Even standing silently is seen as agreement by some. Our total joy should come from reading and meditating on God’s Word. It is this Word and the attitude of delighting in the Lord that helps us to grow strong in Him, just as a tree planted by the water doesn’t have to do a lot to grow…it just has to stay planted. Don’t you just love the part that says “whatever he doeth shall prosper.” I would add a caution to that. This is not a claim it and it’s yours promise. It’s a “get to doing what God says to do” and His blessings will follow statement. God loves us enough to continually bless us, but He also expects obedience. I am thankful for all of God’s promises, especially one that encourages me to be an active participant in receiving His blessings.
Have a blessed day filled with delighting in the Lord and in His Word.
What Is God Saying/Doing in Your Life Now?
I am a firm believer that God speaks to me daily and I need to be listening attentively. I also believe that He is always doing something in my life although I may not be aware of it at the time. So, my question for you is “What is God saying or doing in your life now?”
I had a pastor many years ago who wisely told me that if I could not hear God’s voice, go back to the last place I was when I was hearing Him, find out where I had gone wrong, repent and then listen for His voice again. Many years have passed and I am still following that advice. God is not silent; He is just waiting for me to turn around and get back on the right path.
So, what God is saying is for me to continue on the path that I am on as long as I am clearly still in tune with Him and His quiet voice. What He is doing in my life is teaching me to trust Him in the small things that sometimes I don’t even want to bother Him with. A lost clip? Ask God to help me remember the last time I had it. If I can trust God for the small things, then my faith is being built up for the big things that may be down the road for me.
Is God speaking to you? Is He doing something in your life? The answer should always be “yes” because God is One who wants to have fellowship with us and to help us become more like His Son. Sometimes I feel stuck in a desert place, wandering, and God speaks to my heart and tells me to turn around because He is behind me, right where I left Him in my quest for my own way or independence. I was not created to be independent. I was created rather to be totally dependent on Him, and He is teaching me that lesson one day at a time.
Overflowing Love
When I embarked on this unknown journey into blogging, I had no idea what to expect. Now, over four years in, I am comfortable in this place and appreciate all of the love and encouragement that you have shown me. As I was reading my Bible this morning, I was thinking about friendships and the ones that I have made here at WordPress. No, I have not met you personally, but I count you as friends and some as sisters and brothers in the Lord. My heart bubbled with joy at the hope that one day I will get to meet you all in Heaven and truly get to know you! And for that reason, I felt a love that is unexplainable for each of you, even though I can’t talk to you or see you right now.
I think it is the Lord who causes our love for strangers to overflow, because we are all part of the body of Christ and feel a deep connection there. For the ones who share beautiful photography, those who write poems that touch my heart, the songwriters and the ones who share truth from God’s Word that puts things into a different perspective for me. For each of you, I am thankful and for so many more. We may never see each other on this side of Heaven, but God is faithful and will one day welcome us all together and the rejoicing will resound around the universe.
A Prayer for You
I am not the author of this prayer, but Paul is and he expresses how I feel about all of you.
As a pastor in South Carolina said at the end of his sermon each Sunday, “May God Bless Ya’ll Real Good!”
All That I Need
Often in today’s world of plenty, we think that we need more than we really do. This is especially true for me when I am packing for a trip. I pack a lot of things that are “just in case” items. I was packing yesterday to go visit my sister again and counting up how many tops, pj’s, and other things I would need for almost a two week stay. Then I started counting my pills, making sure that I had enough to last me while I am there. I spent hours making sure that I have packed all that I will need. Then, a light went off in my head. What if I forget something? Will the world as we know it come to a screeching halt? No, of course not. I would just have to figure out a way to obtain the missing item from one of the hundreds of stores around there. So, problem solved and stress abated.
This morning I read my devotional and a verse just jumped off the page at me and made me chuckle at my mad hat attempt to pack yesterday and to think of everything that I might possibly ever use in the next two weeks.
Sometimes I find myself rushing around trying to solve my own problems and setting up what if scenarios to plan in advance. Meanwhile, God is in Heaven, probably amused by my frantic attempts and waiting for me to realize that He is the good shepherd and He will make sure that I have all that I need. That reassurance is calming to my spirit and like an ointment on my frantically beating heart that wants to plan everything in advance, including planning for all contingencies. God spoke to my heart this morning and told me clearly to just calm down; He will make sure that I have all that I need. As I go into spiritual battle in a household without God, I am taking Him with me, and He will make certain that I don’t lack anything, not the words I need to speak or the attitude that I need to show. He has prepared me for this trip, just as He has gotten me ready for everything else I face in life, and He wants me to know that He loves me so much that I can just let go and let Him take over. Mostly, what I need to pack is a heart full of grace and love, mercy, peace and acceptance. Now, I’m ready to go…I’m taking God’s suitcase of promises with me and I’m ready!
No matter what today brings, remember that in Christ, you lack nothing. Have a blessed day filled with the Lord and the knowledge of His great love for you.
The Voice Behind Us
If you have ever gone into a crowded place with children, you know that sometimes you cannot walk side by side. Instead of walking ahead of my children, I used to walk behind them, guiding them with my hand on a shoulder or telling them which way to turn to get where we needed to be. It never dawned on me that I was guiding them in the same way that God sometimes guides me until I read this Scripture today in my devotional.
Notice the word “behind” in this verse. God is not always ahead of us although sometimes He is. Other times He is behind us and we have to listen carefully to hear His voice of instruction. If we turn the wrong way, He will tell us if we are listening. And if we turn the right way, He will also let us know. He doesn’t leave us to flounder alone on an unknown path. He is behind us, until He needs to step in front of us. I find comfort in the fact that God is all around me, if I just get quiet and listen. I can depend on Him to be just where He needs to be in my life, always. God is never too late or too early or in the wrong place at the wrong time. If He needs to be behind us in order to make sure that we are paying attention, then that’s what He will do.
This is a prophecy from Isaiah, but I believe with all of my heart that we can claim this promise today. We who are Christians are not blinded to the truth of the Gospel. We have chosen to hear that truth and now we can use our ears and the gift of the Holy Spirit to truly listen to what God is saying to us about our the choices we are making. He will let us know if they are good ones, if we just listen.
Hannah’s Sacrifice
The story of Hannah in I Samuel is one that has many lessons to teach, about perseverance, faith and keeping your word. Today, I want to focus on what happened to Hannah, the vow she made and the sacrifice she made to keep that vow to God.
Hannah was one of Elkanah’s wives but she was distraught because she was barren. On an annual trip to the temple, Hannah cried before the Lord, silently begging Him to open her womb. Eli, the priest there, thought she was drunk but she told him that she was not drunk but in despair. He blessed her with a prayer that God would answer her prayer.
This is the vow that Hannah made. If God would only give her a son, she would give him back to the Lord for his entire life. Sounds like a hard bargain to me, but she made it and kept it.
Hannah did indeed have a son, named him Samuel and did not go with Elkanah to the temple the next year because she told her husband that she was waiting until he was weaned so that she could give him to the Lord, just as she had promised. Now, think about it. She had no children, gives birth to her only son and promises to give him back to the Lord. That is dedication! That is keeping a promise!
Follow through is always important and Hannah is a model of following through. Once Samuel was weaned, she took him to the temple and gave him to Eli the priest to train him. Samuel worships the Lord at the temple after his mother leaves him there. I don’t know about you, but when one of my children was in a different aisle in the grocery store, I used to panic, looking everywhere him/her until they were safely next to me again. I cannot imagine leaving my child with another man, one who is a priest, but nevertheless not a relative or someone you know well and then walking away, knowing that the child will grow up there, not with me. Keep in mind that Hannah had been barren and Samuel was her only child. Yet she keeps her vow and walks away.
As a well-known commentator named Paul Harvey used to say, this is the “rest of the story.” God blessed Hannah with more children: three sons and two daughters. He saw her willing sacrifice and that she fulfilled it and blessed her above and beyond what she had given.
Hannah’s vow to God was a sacrifice that I am sure that I could not make, but she did and the nation of Israel was blessed because of her great dedication to the Lord. I am not saying that God will always do for each of us what He did for Hannah, but I am saying that when you pray to God, pray with purpose, with wholehearted determination to be heard and to hear from Him. He does always hear and always answers, just not always in the way we expect. Hannah had her prayers answered and her dreams fulfilled because she was a dedicated servant of the Lord, one who prayed instead of becoming bitter and blaming Him for her troubles. I want to be like Hannah, willing to listen to God and His answers and to receive the answer that He gives, in His time.
May you each have a blessed day and may you be fully aware of the sacrifice that God made of His Only Son so that we could become His children.
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.
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