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.
I am a prolific reader and as such, I have frequently read the phrase, “I serve at the pleasure of the king (or president or governor).” But I have never heard anyone say that they serve at the pleasure of the Lord. Maybe because we don’t often consider the Lord’s feeling because we are so busy pleasing ourselves and others close to us. I am happy to have discovered this verse in my Bible reading this morning because it gives me insight into God’s character. God gets pleasure from those of us who fear Him. We honor and revere Him because He is God. He takes pleasure in those who hope in his love that is always steadily fixed on us. No matter the circumstances, we have hope because we have God. That unwavering belief gives God pleasure. That’s a good thing to know and a good thing to work on in my life!
Have a blessed day and I hope that it is one in which you are aware of giving God pleasure just because you love Him so much!
I really didn’t understand when I first became a Christian that I was making a commitment to honor and revere God forever. I recall excitement about spending eternity with Him and not fearing death, but I do not recall the fact that I had a part in this covenant relationship, too. I am committed to spending the rest of my life serving the One who served me by sacrificing His life for me. The best way for me to serve has been to ask God daily what He wants me to accomplish and then work on achieving it. I honor Him when I do my best at the tasks He has given me to do. I revere and fear Him when I show respect for His Name and His Word. He is the Only One worthy of all of my love, honor and respect. The covenant that we make with God when we are saved from our sins works two ways. We need to acknowledge that God desires a relationship with us and work on establishing daily communication with Him. It never shows respect to turn away from God while we pursue our own pleasures. In acknowledging that God is always with me, I am more likely to be careful what I see, do and say because I want to be pleasing to Him. He wants me to be comfortable in my choices and I can only do that if I am making choices that prioritize His importance in my life. Thus, I may choose not to review a book that is objectionable or watch a show that others are raving about. I don’t do these things to be noticed by people but so that God sees that I am honoring my covenant with Him to put Him first and not do anything that would dishonor Him. Have I fallen and disappointed Him? Yes, more times than I can count. But He is always faithful to pick me up, remind me of His sacrifice being enough to sustain me and encourage me to move on, forgiven by His grace and mercy that never end. I’m in a covenant with God, but it is not an equal one as we think of covenants on earth because not only did God establish this covenant with me, but He is constantly renewing it and showing me how much He still loves me in spite of my failures.
He has never stopped loving me and for that I am thankful.
May your day be blessed with the knowledge of just how much God loves you and sustains you each day.
In my “Mornings with Jesus” devotional this morning, Jeanne Blackmer’s theme was faith or fear. She presented an interesting analogy, saying that uncertainty is the soil that either grows faith or fear. Think about it. We have that choice, to face uncertainty with growing fear or with growing faith.
With our oldest granddaughter just out of ICU, my faith was sorely tested this past weekend. We were visiting our other son in Maryland and I strongly felt that we needed to head to Virginia right away and be with Scott and his family. Praying before we left, I felt a calm peace wash over me. Of course, I cried a lot as we left because it meant I would miss the birthday of little Nathan, our youngest grandson who just turned one. Nevertheless, God’s Spirit was telling me strongly that we needed to go see Iris. We prayed as we traveled, for traveling mercies and for Iris to be okay. When we got to the hospital after almost an eight-hour trip, Harry and I were both running on adrenaline and a lot of faith. Melissa, our daughter-in-law said that Iris was doing well except she wouldn’t eat. Melissa couldn’t leave the hospital to get Iris some of the food she likes because Iris would pull out or bite her IV. So, we took Iris chicken, fries and hot sauce along with her favorite tubes of yogurt. She gobbled up all of the yogurt and ate the chicken and fries eventually. Of course, we also took Melissa some food. This seems small but it was confirmation that we were needed in Virginia to help out, particularly since our son Scott was flying back from Kansas City that day and would not return home until about 8 or so that night. We were filling the gap of his presence and being there for family. The uncertainty of what we might find when we got to the hospital was overwhelming at times, but we chose faith, praying and believing that God was going to touch and heal Iris’s lungs. For those who missed my earlier post, Iris is nonverbal autistic. The activity that she loves the most is going to the gym to swim and on Friday night, she had a seizure while swimming and sank quickly to the bottom of the pool. Her mom always watches her carefully in the water even though Iris swims like a fish. She saw her sink to the bottom, quickly got to her and lifted her out of the water, getting her onto the deck and on her side with the help of another patron who was swimming at the time. The ambulance came and whisked Iris away to the ER where she was evaluated with water in her lungs, sedated and put on oxygen and into the ICU. Now, for the amazing “God is good” part of the story. During her seizure, Iris’s windpipe contracted so she did not inhale as much water as she would have. Instead, the water went down her esophagus and into her stomach, so she had an upset stomach but not lungs filled with water. Yes, she had some water in her lungs, but not enough to cause a great deal of damage. She is home now and is taking a larger dose of seizure meds and an antibiotic for a possible lung infection. We are so blessed that she is okay. The fear that gripped me when I heard the word ICU was replaced with faith as we prayed and traveled. God heard and answered our cries for help for Iris. The nurse at the ICU, when she was discharging Iris, said that she was their youngest patient ever in that ward. Iris is eighteen, but I’m guessing that the ICU is filled with the elderly after strokes or cardiac events. After all, that is where I ended up after my stroke seven years ago. I’m so thankful that Melissa got to Iris quickly, that the man was there to help lift her onto the deck, that the ambulance arrived right away, that the ER doctors treated her quickly and thoroughly and that she now has a new neurologist who will see her more often than once a year. Uncertainty in this case provided the soil for faith, but it could just as easily have been fear. We had a choice and we chose faith and prayer, trusting God to take care of the situation.
Iris and her daddy Scott when he made it to her ICU room later Saturday night. The O2 was gone and she was much more comfortable and thrilled to see her daddy who had been away all week.
I pray for each of you to face the uncertainty of the future with faith. As someone said: “I don’t know what the future may hold, but I know Who holds the future.”
Have a blessed day, my friends. I hope that this testimony encouraged you.
I am working on conquering my fears and feel so much better after constant reassurances from the Lord, like the one above.The latest blessing to our family. Meet Nathan Henry Watts who was born yesterday morning and is a healthy seven pounds eleven ounces. Welcome to the world. Dear Grandson!
My medical saga continued this week as I went for a follow up appointment with the foot and ankle specialist after the MRI last week. The news was not good because my only options seem to be to live with the pain or to have surgery. I fell nine months ago, in September, and after a month of constant pain back in the fall, I finally got in to see a specialist who found a break along the side of my foot. Thus, I ended up in what I called a robo-boot, then a laced-up stability boot and finally physical therapy for nine weeks. The first specialist proclaimed that my bone was healed and I should be able to resume normal activity after PT. Not so fast! My ankle continues to throb and swell and awaken me at night with the pain. So, I went to see the orthopedic specialist at the hospital closest to me. He ordered the MRI and the results are that I have a fractured heel bone and a torn tendon. I can’t take NSAIDS for inflammation because of allergies, I can’t take pain pills because of allergies, and I can’t walk well right now. Thus, I have now been referred to an orthopedic surgeon and have an appointment at the end of the month. My eyes filled with tears as the doctor explained my limited options, but I took the appointment slip and left discouraged. I had done what I was told to do. I have been hobbling around for the better part of a year already. I didn’t rail against God, but it just seemed to me that this little broken bone was hiding all along and I was unaware.
Look at the pain that this tiny fracture has caused me! I don’t know what I will do about the surgery yet, but I was praying and reading my Bible yesterday and God spoke to me about how little sins enter our lives like that little broken bone. The sin causes tremendous damage in the whole body, just as this little bone has. (Little sleep for months has definitely affected my well-being. I have found myself in desperate need of a nap almost daily these days.) But, I was unaware until the specialist did the test and pointed it out to me. Unless we spend time with God, our Great Physician, we are all unaware of the little sins that can overtake us and slowly destroy pieces of us, and perhaps ultimately destroying the relationship we have with God. Meeting with God regularly opens the door for His Spirit to speak to our hearts about where and how we have strayed and need to get back on the narrow path.
Today’s devotional was all about God encouraging me. I really needed today’s time with the Lord, I can tell you! I have had eight surgeries in the last three decades and each time is the same. I get afraid. I don’t think I’m afraid to die, but I honestly fear the pain. I cannot take any kind of pain pill at all, so whatever I have been through has been with the help of prayer and Tylenol. Lots and lots of prayers! So facing another surgery is a huge decision for me. As I was talking it over with my husband, I told him that I have already lived almost seventy years and don’t know how much longer I will live, telling him that I’m prepared to live out my days hobbling around and in pain. But is that God’s best for me? My husband wants me to be able to walk around and enjoy life, spending time having fun with grandchildren and enjoying our remaining years together.
These are the Scriptures that God gave me this morning during my devotional. I may be feeling weak (and my foot definitely is), but God is strong. He knows exactly what is happening and has the solution. Do I believe in His healing power? Absolutely! But I also know that sometimes the Great Physician uses doctors here on earth to accomplish His healing. We will see what the new surgeon says, and I will be listening carefully for that still, small voice that tells me that surgery is the choice that I should make.
As I said, fear of the pain has been taking over my brain lately. Not the fear of the current pain, but the fear of the pain after surgery. The fear of how in the world I will walk on a bandaged foot after surgery. I cannot walk on crutches as I am a klutz on terra firma. I have a walker and a quad cane and yet I still fell in September. You get the idea. So…FEAR. And the gracious Heavenly Father spoke one word to me…FAITH. I know that He stands beside me, no matter what I have to go though and He is protecting me daily. After all, I fell directly on my back with my foot curled under me, so I could have broken my back. But I didn’t. I broke a couple of small bones in my foot and tore a tendon (which according to my husband is probably what is causing most of my pain). Anyway, God is faithful and if I prayerfully decide to have the surgery, He will be with me in the OR and during recovery, too.
Finally, the third Scripture spoke directly to my discouragement. You know the kind. You sit in a little corner and say, “Poor me!” Then you wait for everyone who comes along to agree with you. That image brings to mind Job, a man greatly afflicted by Satan (with God’s permission) but who did not turn away from God. I’m not saying that I’m comparable to Job by any means, but I am saying that my tendency is to withdraw into the pain and just let it overtake me, crying out to God for a reason, a purpose for this new suffering. I know that God is there. I know that He is my strength and that I should not fear or be discouraged. I know that in my mind. Now, I have to meditate on it daily and get those words deep into my heart so that I truly believe them. It’s easy to preach to others about God’s control and His caring for us when all things are going well. It’s when the little bones break, the ones we walk on for months unaware that there is an injury there; it’s then that it’s imperative that we continue to cry out to God. He hasn’t changed. God hears and answers prayers.
I apologize if I have bored you with my current medical saga. I just want to testify right here and now that I am choosing to believe that God will take care of me, regardless of surgery or no surgery. God, who is no respecter of persons and does not think that I am any better or worthy of His love than any of you reading this, wants you to know that He will meet you wherever you are right now. In the middle of discouragement and fear? He is right there! Just be honest with Him and let Him know how you are feeling and how much you need Him. That’s what I’m doing and I feel better already. I’m ready to slay the giants of fear and discouragement and move on with the Lord.
I must confess that I have been more than a little fearful about the incoming President and his group of Cancel Culture flunkies who want to destroy or hide everything conservative. But God spoke to me in a Scripture this morning and reminded me (once again) that He is still in control.
If I know that God loves me (and I do), then there is nothing that He cannot handle, even the Cancel Culture. They can cancel the truth on the news, the conservative movement and even church services, if it comes to that. What they cannot cancel is God’s love for me and my total assurance that I am His and He is mine. He is my Savior and nothing can cancel that! A good word from me to you today!
Be blessed today with the assurance that you are His, which is your insurance for an eternal future with Him!
In my devotional this morning, the speaker, Mark Hall from Casting Crowns, said something so simple and yet so profound. He said, “God doesn’t love me because I’m good. He loves me because He is good.” That was a “wow” moment for me. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t consider myself self-righteous and/or good. In fact, I have always been in the camp that believes that I can never be good enough to earn salvation. After all, it is a free gift from God. We just celebrated Christmas, the time when we rejoice in the free gift that God sent to the earth, His Only Son. Why did God send Jesus? Because of His love for us. Because God is good. Yes, I already knew that, and so did you. However, today, this word got into the deep parts of my soul, creeping into the places where there has been doubt and fear. He loves me. He is good. Nothing will happen today that I can’t handle because God is on my side. Almost fifty years ago, I stopped running from God and accepted His free gift of salvation. The road since then has been rocky and twisted. I’d like to think that I have never doubted God’s love for me, but if I am honest, that is not true. When I was feeling all alone in yet another new place, I can remember having pity parties for myself instead of turning to God and His love. In the middle of those parties, God would reach down, pluck me out and tell me what He wanted me to do so that I would feel better. That was His love, continually reaching out for me. In less than two weeks, many in the U.S. will be celebrating the inauguration of a new President. I am already mourning this new government because it means change. I don’t like change; I have never liked change because it is…well, different, unexpected and frightening. But God keeps telling me that He is in control. I have been “lost” in my fear and God spoke to me clearly this morning that He knows what is going on with me, why I cannot stand to watch a news broadcast or hear the sound of the voice of the incoming President. He knows my heart, the heart that He created. He has spoken to that heart that He loves me and I’m going to be okay. That won’t be because the new administration promises hope and prosperity. It will be because God offers that hope, in His Word as I study it daily. I pray that you realize today just how much God loves you, not because you are good and deserve His love. No, He loves you because He is good and will always want what is best for you. God is good, all the time. Blessings, my friends, for a day filled with love, joy and laughter, knowing that the King of the Universe loves Y-O-U!
www.bible.com/1171/1sa.12.24.mev
www.bible.com/1171/luk.15.32.mev
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 