Tag: love

Thankful to Be Disciplined

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

If anyone had asked me when I was a child if I was thankful for being disciplined, my immediate response would have been, “Of course not! It hurts!” But nowadays, I am thankful for God’s discipline because it shows me how much He loves me and wants me to be more like Him.

When God stops me in my tracks and gently chides me and disciplines me, I am not always happy at the time. But when I reflect back on the chastisement of the Lord, I always realize that it was for my good and because He sincerely loves me.

My parents, especially my mom, hardly ever convinced me that her discipline was from a heart of love. However, God has me completely captivated by His love, which includes His discipline. He loves me enough to discipline me, to make me more and more His disciple, so that I can share in His holiness. I am not perfect and have not arrived yet. I would not be walking on the earth still if that were true. Thus, God disciplines me and gets me back on the narrow path towards holiness so that I am pleasing to Him and being the witness He desires me to be for Him.

I cannot say whether I have always experienced a harvest of righteousness following God’s disciplinary action, but I can say that in my heart and soul, I feel closer to God and more ready to take on the next challenge in my life. I don’t cower away from God’s discipline but rather I welcome it as a part of my necessary growth and maturity as a Christian.

May you be blessed with the understanding that God’s discipline is always for your good and will always result in your becoming more like He wants you to be.

Thankful to Be Surrounded

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

As a child and young teen, I used to watch old westerns with my grandparents. Frequently, if not every show, the good guys (wearing the white hats, of course), called out to the villains who were hiding in a dilapidated building, “Come out with your hands up! There is no escape. We have you surrounded.” That led to the inevitable conclusion of the show with the good guys always winning. That being said, I am thankful to be surrounded, without the pressure that comes from wanting to escape.

You see, I am surrounded by God’s love, mercy and grace. I am surrounded by His total peace and the security that comes from being encircled by His loving care. I have already surrendered to Him and know that He is there to protect me from harm and sometimes from my own foolishness.

May you know the peace and security that comes from being surrounded by God’s presence in your life.

Thankful for My Intercessor

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

Many years ago, my husband and I attended a Bible training school called Youth with a Mission. I don’t recall a lot that we studied there, but at least one truth we learned and book that we studied stuck with me through the years. The title was THE INTERCESSOR by Norman Grubb and it relates how to be an Intercessor like Rees Howells, a man of God who made a difference by praying for others. If you want to perhaps purchase the updated version, here is a link to do so:

Christian Book

The reason this book made such an impact and stayed with me is that this true story of a man who believed in prayer and made a difference with his petitions to God was amazing to me. Since then, I have strived to be an Intercessor for others, but I have never reached the heights of Rees Howells, not even close.

Today in my devotional, the verse that jumped out at me was about Jesus’s being my intercessor.

I cannot imagine Jesus sitting at God’s right hand and speaking up on my behalf, but that is what the Holy Bible says that he does. The tense used is one of the present ongoing tense, not past, not done, but rather still happening. I remember when I was a child that my father was my mediator with my mom. She had a heavy hand of punishment and I seemed to be always in trouble for one infraction or another. It was my father’s soothing voice that calmed her down and prompted her to think before she dealt out severe blows to my legs. I still got punished, but the punishment was not half as severe as when daddy wasn’t there to intervene. Now, I can put that into the context of Jesus speaking to God on my behalf and letting the Father know that I am His and the price has already been paid for my salvation. Yes, I still mess up, and there are consequences to actions, but Jesus’s intercession is there and the Father has shown me mercy and grace over and over again.

If you get a chance to read THE INTERCESSOR, remember to put it into the context of Jesus interceding for you, on a daily basis and every time you need it. He is right there, always ready to go to bat for each of us because He loves us so much. Yes, He is the King of Glory, He is the Lion of Judah, and He is also the Great Intercessor who speaks to the Father for us, always operating with unfailing love and forgiveness. I want to be like Jesus, in Intercessor for others, and I am thankful for His example and His sacrifice that makes Him the Intercessor for me and for each of His children who know Him as Savior.

May you be blessed today with the knowledge of how dependable an Intercessor Jesus is for you and be confident in His love, grace and mercy.

Thankful for My Intercessor

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

Many years ago, my husband and I attended a Bible training school called Youth with a Mission. I don’t recall a lot that we studied there, but at least one truth we learned and book that we studied stuck with me through the years. The title was THE INTERCESSOR by Norman Grubb and it relates how to be an Intercessor like Rees Howells, a man of God who made a difference by praying for others. If you want to perhaps purchase the updated version, here is a link to do so:

Christian Book

The reason this book made such an impact and stayed with me is that this true story of a man who believed in prayer and made a difference with his petitions to God was amazing to me. Since then, I have strived to be an Intercessor for others, but I have never reached the heights of Rees Howells, not even close.

Today in my devotional, the verse that jumped out at me was about Jesus’s being my intercessor.

I cannot imagine Jesus sitting at God’s right hand and speaking up on my behalf, but that is what the Holy Bible says that he does. The tense used is one of the present ongoing tense, not past, not done, but rather still happening. I remember when I was a child that my father was my mediator with my mom. She had a heavy hand of punishment and I seemed to be always in trouble for one infraction or another. It was my father’s soothing voice that calmed her down and prompted her to think before she dealt out severe blows to my legs. I still got punished, but the punishment was not half as severe as when daddy wasn’t there to intervene. Now, I can put that into the context of Jesus speaking to God on my behalf and letting the Father know that I am His and the price has already been paid for my salvation. Yes, I still mess up, and there are consequences to actions, but Jesus’s intercession is there and the Father has shown me mercy and grace over and over again.

If you get a chance to read THE INTERCESSOR, remember to put it into the context of Jesus interceding for you, on a daily basis and every time you need it. He is right there, always ready to go to bat for each of us because He loves us so much. Yes, He is the King of Glory, He is the Lion of Judah, and He is also the Great Intercessor who speaks to the Father for us, always operating with unfailing love and forgiveness. I want to be like Jesus, in Intercessor for others, and I am thankful for His example and His sacrifice that makes Him the Intercessor for me and for each of His children who know Him as Savior.

May you be blessed today with the knowledge of how dependable an Intercessor Jesus is for you and be confident in His love, grace and mercy.

Thanksgiving Month

On By vickleaIn Scripture9 Comments

Hurray! My favorite month of the year has arrived! It’s the month with beautiful colors outside, a little nip in the air but not too cold and the month when we are reminded to be thankful. My personal opinion is that thankfulness should be an every month, every day thing, but I am grateful that here in the United States, we at least still have a holiday to be thankful. I just wish more people were mindful of the fact that the One we should always be thankful to is God, not our bosses or our own selves. Anyway, my plan is to post things daily to make us think of thankfulness to God. Today, I am focusing on attributes of God from my devotional this morning.

God’s love is absolutely unfathomable to our finite minds. Just when I think that I have a small grasp on what it’s like, I find out that there is so much still there for me to discover.

Since all of creation was made by God, He has compassion on each of us and on each of the creatures and other living things He has made. Some in my family have the belief that God is just up in Heaven somewhere waiting to crush us. Not so! He is there but He is waiting to pour out compassion and love on us, since He knows our weaknesses and how hard we have to work to stay on the right path. He understands because Jesus lived the earthly life and went through trials and temptations just like we do. God didn’t say life wouldn’t present challenges, but He did say He would be with us through it all.

Nothing, not one thing on earth or anywhere else can separate us from God’s love. His love surrounds us daily if we just recognize it. Sometimes I have to pray especially to see the evidence of God’s love for me. It’s not a selfish prayer, just a realistic one for me that I need to pray sometimes. And the answer is practical and immediate. I see His love all around me in His creation: in the smile of the baby in the stroller, in the report from a friend that she is out of the hospital and doing well, in the sun shining through the branches of the colorful trees outside and in the blue sky laced with clouds. God loves me and you so much that He gave us the world to enjoy while we occupy the earth. Look around you and see God’s love, for yourself and for all of His creation.

May you enjoy this thankfulness journey with me and may each day bring new insight into all that each of us has to be thankful for. God bless you!

Blessed

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

One of the habits that I have tried to cultivate is to count my blessings before I get up in the morning. Of course, I have to be alert enough to do this, but I have found that it starts my day off on a positive note. It only takes a few minutes to tell God how grateful I am for His blessings and for being able to be alive for a new day.

One of my greatest blessings is being able to read and memorize God’s word, hiding it in my heart so that the verses and sometimes scripture songs go through my mind as I fall asleep. This morning was one with this verse front and center. God gives me counsel daily and that is a blessing. He orders my steps, helps me organize my busy days and to take time for Him first every morning. The best news is that after all of my life is done, He has a big plan for me. He will take me to be with Him in glory! I didn’t and couldn’t do anything to earn his mercy and grace, but I am so grateful for it and for His unconditional love for me. Before you head out today, I hope that you will take a few minutes just to reflect on God and His goodness and blessings in your life.

May your day be blessed with the knowledge that you are blessed to be a blessing!

Overflowing Love

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

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.

My blessing for you today comes from God’s Word…Paul always has a word of encouragement that reverberates in the deepest part of me. May you take these words to heart because they were meant for each of you. God bless you!

Salt

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

It has been seven plus years since I grabbed a salt shaker and liberally sprinkled it on my food. Any food I ate was doused with a few shakes of that magic shaker that made things taste better, even brussel sprouts. But, alas! After my stroke, my sodium intake is restricted, so I don’t add salt to anything these days. In fact, I read labels to make sure that there is little sodium in anything that I eat or drink. It makes for a bland palate sometimes but it is also keeping my blood pressure down and hopefully saving me the grief of another stroke.

On the other hand, I am called to BE salt, and so are you. I never realized how much flavor salt added until I wasn’t allowed to use it. So in being salt, you don’t know what you are adding to the world because you are just there, doing what you are supposed to do, sprinkling the presence of Jesus into the lives of those who need to see Him.

We are called to show others Jesus’s love, mercy, grace and encouragement. In so doing, we are liberally sprinkling Jesus from our hearts to the hearts of others, hoping that change will happen in their lives. Just as you sprinkle salt on your food and it “magically” tastes better, so your salt in the lives of others should be making their lives better in some way. A smile of encouragement, a thank you that is heartfelt, a blessing in the lives of people who go unnoticed from day to day and have lost their sense of purpose in life. We are the ones Jesus told to “go and be”. He did not say to stay at home and hope that everything turns out okay for the rest of the world. Each time we go out into the world, we are supposed to sprinkle it with truth, love, hope and His greatest attribute of forgiveness. Think about it. What can you do to be more like salt to a dying world? They are dying from spoilage, the spoilage that comes from having sin take over their lives. Whether you call it being “woke” or whatever, the same fate awaits them. They will die in their sins without the hope of salvation unless the salt that we are meant to be sprinkles the truth and stands firmly knowing that we are changing the world, one dash of salt at a time.

My blessing for you today:

As a former pastor used to tell us at the end of each message, “May the Lord bless you real good.”

Kindness

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

How much does an act of kindness cost you? I would concur with all who say that it costs nothing. I would also remind you that some of the kindest people in the word seem to be those who are remembered well. Do you know the name of Fred Rogers? His gentle, quiet spirit on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” attracted viewers from around the nation and perhaps the world. He encouraged the children who watched him regularly to “look for the helpers” during troubled times because they will always be there. How could he be so confident that the world is full of helpers? Because God put us here and that is one of our purposes. We need to look for ways to show kindness because the cost of it to us is nothing, but to the recipient, it may be everything.

One of the fruits of the spirit is kindness. Just be kind. Help the one struggling to carry a lot of packages, give your place in line to the mom with screaming toddlers, pick up that dropped piece of paper for the elderly man. It’s hard to imagine a world without kindness, a world in which there are no helpers stepping out. Be the one who helps, the one who shows kindness.

Wow! This Scripture is an eye-opener, isn’t it? God shows us daily the riches of His grace through the KINDNESS of Christ Jesus. If we are to follow Christ’s example, then we need to show kindness to others. After all, don’t we want them to see Jesus in us and wonder what makes us different from others?

Have a blessed day and may God’s grace fill you with kindness so that you may unselfishly reach out to do for others what you would like someone to do for you.

Unity

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

What does “unity” mean and how do we get there in this world that seems more divided each day? Many years ago, I studied in a history class the root causes of division between people, with my teacher instructing us that the basic problem was that some people have and others don’t. The ones who don’t want what the “haves” possess, so thus begins bitterness, envy and division. I believed what the teacher said then and I believe that this division has spread to families and even churches. Sadly.

I have been staying in NC in a home filled with the opposite of unity. There is bitterness, anger and unhappiness abounding. So, instead of good and pleasant, it is awful and very unpleasant. I am not happy here because I don’t feel that I can change anything, caught as I am between the factions that are determined to attack each other. Without the Lord, this situation is unredeemable, and I am doing all I can to stand in the gap and present God to them, the God of love, forgiveness and acceptance.

I have to pray a lot here, with a constant attitude of prayer, lest I lash out and tell my sibling how I see her actions and how she is hurting others. I can say a few things to encourage but nothing much that seems to be making a difference and that is discouraging. Still I persist and pray with my husband daily for strength, physical, mental and spiritual. The whole armor of God is a necessity here!

Speaking quietly and with soothing words seems to help some but it isn’t bringing the unity that I crave to see. Years of bitterness and resentment are seething under the surface, waiting to bubble out. Do I understand what is actually happening? Yes, of course. This is spiritual warfare!

The greatest example of love that Jesus gave us was His sacrifice on the cross. Thus, I am attempting daily to show love in practical ways so that some peace is found in the environment. It’s hard to be with someone who hates people just because of what they believe, but that’s where I am now. I’m at the point where I am praying and then trying to muddle through and make it to the end of my visit without damaging my own health too much. I am sure this is not what God envisioned when he made us a family, and I feel guilty about disappointing Him, but I don’t know what else to do but pray and stand.

This week has been beyond difficult for me, and I sincerely appreciate all of the prayers for me and this situation. I have five more days here and then I can go home and recover.

Have a blessed Saturday, my friends! Remember to hold your loved ones close and to show love to all whom you meet. You never know what a difference you might make!