Tag: faithfulness

Holding on Tight

On By vickleaIn ScriptureLeave a comment

Whenever I am walking on uneven ground, I instinctively reach out for the arm of my husband. I know that he will help me not to fall and to reach the place where the ground is even again so he can let me go. I have been on uneven ground a lot lately, with all kinds of medical tests going on and with them the unknown answer to the question of what is going on with my body. But I am holding on tightly to God, knowing that He is faithful to take me back to a place where I can be more sure-footed. I did not arrive at this assurance of His faithfulness overnight; rather, this assurance has come through many trials and much dependence on Him.

God promises that He will take care of me, so I believe it. That is a promise that is settled in my heart. Thus, I can hold tightly and not waver, not allowing the seeds of doubt to be sown in the soil of my mind and heart.

God is always the same, never changing and not breaking His word. He said it. I believe it. That settles it. Yes, the doctors are assailing me with one test after another and offering little in the way of answers to my queries. But God is there with me, faithfully calming me and comforting me and speaking to me words of wisdom from His Holy Word.

God continues to accomplish wonderful things in my life and He is not finished with me yet. How do I know? Well, I’m still here, so that tells me that God still has things for me to get done. I’m excited to see the outcome of all of these tests, knowing that no matter what, God will get the glory!

May you be blessed as you hold tightly to the One who created you for a purpose and will fulfill that purpose in you.

Faithfully Serve

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

Friday is a good day to remind myself that I am called to faithfully serve. No matter what else is going on in my life, my primary function is to faithfully serve God in whatever way He chooses for me to do so. Life is tough, but it is in the serving that one forgets one’s own problems and challenges and is able to focus on others.

During our faithful service, we should be thanking God for all He has done for us. It is hard not to be thankful for God’s provision when we are helping others who have very little and yet are still thankful. So, serving and being thankful go hand in hand.

May your day be blessed with faithful service and thankfulness as you serve!

Bless the Lord

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

In general, I have found that people are discontent with what they have, where they are living and how much they have accomplished. God has been speaking to me lately about being content and not always striving for more. After all, as He has told me repeatedly, “The only things that matter are the legacies of faith that you leave behind you.” I used to really want a nice home where I could make memories with our children. After twenty plus military moves, I felt that I somehow deserved a place to settle that was ours. When we bought our house in Pennsylvania, I was absolutely thrilled to have a home to call our own, one in which I could hang pictures, set the heat to the temperature I chose and even plant flowers if I wanted. Alas! We were only there for four years while I fruitlessly searched for a teaching job in the state that refused to hire me because I was too expensive for them. (I had experience and a master’s degree.) So, we moved to Maryland, spent a year in a rented apartment and then bought a modular home which is all that we could afford in the expensive economy there. In fact, when we chose to move to Virginia, we took that home with us, bought four acres of land and have settled into that as our new dwelling. No memories of children growing up there because they were mostly all grown when we moved there. But God is not calling me to reminisce bitterly about the past and dreams that didn’t unfold the way that I expected. He wants me to be content with what He has provided.

I have always had enough, maybe not all I wanted, but enough and I am delighted to say that I can truly bless the Lord for His provision. Moving to Virginia has been good for us in many ways. Our home isn’t all we want but it is all we need and that’s enough.

It is always a good time to praise the Lord and to let others know about how faithful He is on a daily basis. He has walked with me for over five decades, talked with me, cajoled me into taking steps into the unknown with a little faith and been with me through it all. He is a good God and He has been devoted to me even when I was whining about my circumstances.

May your day be blessed with reminders of His constant love and faithfulness to you.

Never Forget

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

It is quite easy to be caught up in the busyness that is part of this season. There is cooking, planning, shopping, wrapping and then the get-togethers. It boggles my mind how every year it all seems to get done and then there is the end of the Christmas season and all goes back to “normal.” What if the normal thing was to dedicate the season to the Lord, just remembering all that He has done for each of us? What if the gifts, big meals and all of the other trappings of the holiday took second place to the King of Kings, the real reason that we celebrate?

Every day should begin with a praise to the Lord and a reason why you are thankful that day. I have to be purposeful in my thanks because I have a tendency to jump right into what I need instead of praising Him for what He has already done and is still doing. That is particularly true during this busy season. I have to slow down and take time to just be grateful for all He is doing in my life.

This has been a hard season for me, with only a short time at home, enjoying the quiet and the solitude that I crave before I jump back in my duties in another state. But, in this, too, I am thankful that I have my health and strength and can provide help when it is needed. The circumstances may not be my first choice, but I believe that they are God’s first choice for me, to show me how I can be useful even at my advanced years.

The second part of this verse truly speaks to my heart. God is absolutely trustworthy and has always been faithful and kept His promises. I am so thankful that I know Him as He is, the God who came down to mankind and reached out. And He is still reaching out to me and to you and to all who recognize His sacrificial love.

Have the best blessed day ever, remembering all of God’s promises and faithfulness to you. He is worthy to never forget!

Our Clothing

On By vickleaIn Scripture8 Comments

I have read a lot of commentaries and different Biblical versions about putting on the whole armor of God. But what goes under that armor is also important. Did you know that the Bible tells us how we are to clothe ourselves?

I have read the book of Colossians numerous times, meditating on its verses. But this verse somehow escaped my attention until our Bible study group met on Monday night. I pondered it then and today this same verse was in my daily devotional. God does want us to put on the whole armor of God, but underneath that armor, He wants us clothed with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. If we are clothed in something, that is what people see when they see us, those qualities that make Jesus’s presence evident to others.

The chapter continues with this verse about forgiveness. How can we be clothed with Godly characteristics if we don’t forgive? The answer is that we can’t. It’s like going out in public with a shirt that is ripped down the middle and expecting no one to notice. Lack of forgiveness causes a root of bitterness inside the person who chooses to hold on to it. The person you are not forgiving is either not aware of it or chooses to ignore it. Either way, it doesn’t hurt them as much as the lack of forgiveness hurts you. The very important word in the verse is “as”. A tiny little word that means so much…the same way the Lord forgave you is how you should forgive others. He forgave each of us of everything, so we should do likewise to others. Grudges are not an item of clothing that we should be wearing around our shoulders.

Finally, there is love, the binding agent. I vaguely remember my chemistry class in which we were making a glue-type substance and we were told that one of the elements we were using was the binding agent, so we had to be careful to add it at the proper time. Love has to always be added to all of the other clothing that we are wearing because it is the seam that holds the clothing together on our bodies. Without love, we can’t exhibit the other qualities in any way that creates unity. In this divided world, love is an absolutely necessary quality for Christians to put on daily. You don’t like someone’s politics? Love them anyway. You don’t like someone’s selfish actions? Love them anyway. Someone is rude to you, in traffic or in a store or at work? Love them anyway. Love is the one thing that will draw people to you and to your witness about Christ. Once they see love, they can look at the other “clothing” that you are wearing and examine the gifts of His character that God has put on you. But first they must see love.

Have a beautiful and blessed day in the Lord, making every effort to put on the right clothes before you venture out into His creation.

Procrasti-cleaning

On By vickleaIn Scripture7 Comments

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.