Tag: strength

Carried

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture5 Comments

Do you remember carrying your children around when they were young? I vaguely remember doing that, but I actually remember carrying around my grandchildren. The youngest is three now, and when he was four months old, I stayed with him for four months to take care of him while his parents worked. And, of course, I had to carry him because he wasn’t walking yet. In fact, he had just started trying to crawl when I returned home again. Anyway, sometimes I was a little afraid to pick up that little one because I am not always steady on my feet, but I prayed that God would help me carry Nathan safely, and He did.

I cannot imagine anyone carrying me these days. I am “pleasantly plump”, elderly with aching bones and don’t like to be touched much, not to mention carried. But the Bible says:

God is carrying me, in His heart and mind, all the time. He is ready and able to sustain me and rescue me, and He is the One who knows me best, since He created me. So, I am content in my Father’s arms.

Of equal importance is that Jesus is our High Priest and carries our names before the Father, right into His presence. Remember when Aaron, the High Priest and Moses’s brother, wore an ephod with the names of the twelve tribes on it. When he entered the holy place, he was bringing them before the Father. So, not only is God carrying us, but His Son carries our names with Him before the Father, letting God know that we are part of the family, grafted in or adopted as His children. What wonderful word pictures I had this morning in my devotional! I am old and gray…God is carrying me! I am a child of the King, and Jesus bears my name before His Father. How blessed I am to be carried, with no worries about God’s ability or stability. He is able and willing!

Do you at times want to lay down the burdens of life and just be carried away to a place of peace and joy? Then, imagine God doing just that. He wants to, and He will, if you will surrender those burdens to Him and allow Him to pick you up right where you are and carry you to a place where He can minister to you. It is in His arms that I find comfort, solace, rest and strength. I hope you find that, too.

Renewed Strength

On By vickleaIn YouVersion App1 Comment

Our True Hope

Life can be difficult sometimes. All of us go through seasons filled with difficulty, grief, or loss. And even if you haven’t experienced those things yet, you’ve probably had moments where you’ve grown tired of doing good. As much as we want to live well and do good to others, the truth is that we will all grow weary of it at some point.

In Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah says that those who hope in God will find renewed strength. The key to perseverance in difficult seasons is not simply pushing through and trying harder. Strength isn’t found in simply hoping our circumstances will change.

God’s Word says that true strength comes from placing our hope in God. Because God is all-powerful, He alone has the power to change our circumstances. But God also knows that as humans, we grow weary and restless. We often place our hope in temporary solutions when we should be relying on God, who can truly help us.

But when we place our hope in God alone, Scripture tells us we will find renewed strength to endure life’s challenges. Hoping in God means trusting in His promises—even if we don’t see them fulfilled in our lifetime.

During this season of Advent and time of reflection, how can you allow the Lord to renew your hope in God? Allow Him to search your heart. Pray that you will be filled with the strength and hope that only God can provide.

Power

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

I am easily irritated during stormy weather because we live rurally and our electricity goes out pretty regularly. Sometimes, we are in the dark for hours, sometimes for days. Once, during a tropical storm, we were without power for almost two weeks. I don’t like the dark or the inconvenience of having no power for anything.

Worse than losing electricity is to not be plugged into our power source of life itself.

Through being plugged into the source of our life, strength and hope, we get the benefits of endurance, patience and joy. We don’t have to worry about storms knocking us offline because God is only a prayer away.

God is always right there even when we wander off the path and away from the source of our power. He is ready and willing to help us plug back in, get renewed energy from His Holy Spirit flowing in us and then He enables us to reach out to others and share the power He gives us with them. The current of God is flowing in us, through us and out to others. That’s the kind of power that we never have to worry about losing!

Prayer for Israel, part 1

On By vickleaIn prayer, Scripture2 Comments

Part of my devotional each morning is a study of the Old Testament and our online group is currently in the Book of Exodus. Today, I read Exodus 15 and as I read, the Holy Spirit prompted me to turn some of the verses into a prayer for Israel.

Lord God, I pray that you will once again be the strength and song of your people Israel. I pray that you will grant them victory so that they will be reminded of all you have done for them and will be able to exalt and praise you as in the days in the wilderness. The battle is yours, Lord!

It is you, Lord, who crushes the enemy, the evil ones who destroy, pillage and take humans as hostages. Do not let this evil stand, O Lord, I pray. Stretch out your right hand against this powerful foe and smash them completely so that they may never rise against your people again.

For nothing is too difficult for you, Lord, so I call on your to swallow up the enemies. The Israelites have weapons and manpower, but they cannot win this battle without your right hand firmly holding them and on their side.

I pray for the peace of Israel, Lord, but as they are surrounded by such a great enemy, I pray that they will have the spiritual eyes to see your hand at work on their behalf. I pray that their leaders will have the wisdom to listen to your battle plan and that you will grant them victory and peace again in the land that you have given them.

In Jesus’s Name. Amen.

The Lord

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song1 Comment

Who is the Lord of your life? Is it yourself? Something you have accomplished in your life that you are proud of? A material possession that means more to you than anything? Or perhaps your family whom you love dearly. These things may be important to us, but none of them can be the Lord of your life. There is only one Lord, one God, and as a dear pastor used to say, “It ain’t you!”

Only our God can help us when we are fearful. He is our Lord.

God’s Spirit was sent to abide in each of us and gives us the freedom to choose to make Him Lord in all of our daily decisions.

God is our lighthouse, the one who shows us the way and gives us the power and strength to follow the right path towards eternity with Him.

My Lighthouse-Rend Collective

He is Lord-Elevation Worship

The Present Tense

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

As a grammarian and a retired foreign language teacher, I am generally aware of the use of tenses in sentences. I notice present, past and future tenses and sometimes that makes all the difference in my thinking. Today in my devotional, it’s all about the present tense, where I am right now.

The Lord keeps me from all harm…right now. He is currently watching over me and all that I do. I consider that very comforting. God is not confined by the constraints of time as we know it because He is infinite, but He steps into my present and is carefully watching over me. Comforting, isn’t it?

The verb “is” means currently, present tense. God has been my refuge and strength in the past and will continue to be in the future. But for today, I can count on Him to be my refuge, to be my strength right now, right where I am and in the circumstances I am currently facing. Encouraging, isn’t it?

Every day, each of us faces new troubles, whether from our health, our family circumstances, our finances or whatever comes up. God is always present, right there with us, no matter what we face. He saves us, present tense, from whatever enemies may attack us. The promise is that He will protect us and the reality is in the present tense. His hand is already there, ready for us to grasp and be saved by His power and mercy and grace. Humbling, isn’t it?

Although my focus is on the present tense in this little blog today, I want to end with a view of the future. God is always trustworthy. He is a rock on which we can stand and take refuge. We can trust Him forever because He never changes and He never will. Powerful, isn’t it?

As you read your devotional today and spend time with the Lord, may He be ever present in your heart, mind and soul.

Even There…Everywhere

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

When this was the daily verse yesterday, I was a little disconcerted that it seemed to take out part of the verse, so I went back and read the whole chapter. Yes, there were missing parts, but the verse that God had me focus on is this one, especially the words, “even there.” Where is that place that is called “even there”? It differs for different people depending on your current circumstances. It can be the nursing home that your family has place you into, it can be the infusion center where you are receiving treatment for cancer, it can be in the homes of your grandchildren whom you are visiting. When God is a daily part of your life, “even there” is everywhere you are and many times, God shows up to bless you when you least expect it. God is always present but sometimes our faith takes a walk and we need to catch up to it. This past week when I got the news from my cardiologist about all the testing I have to do, I must confess that I was not in a good place. I was feeling stressed and the pressure to “just be okay” in spite of all of the warning signs that perhaps I need some kind of medical intervention. Through this verse, God spoke to my heart clearly and told me that He will be with me through these tests and even when I get the results. I am not a patient person when it comes to health issues, so waiting over a month to get all of the tests completed and the results seems like a long time to me. However, God is there even in the waiting. I am so thankful for this “even there” verse because it reminds me that there is no place I can go and nothing I can go through in which God is not right there beside me, strengthening me and supporting me, giving me the comfort that I need just when I need it.

Wherever your “even there” is, take time today to thank God that He is everywhere present with you and has promised never to leave you. It’s a promise we can count on!

Have a blessed day wherever you are and in whatever circumstance you find yourself, confident that God is there with you!

My Strength

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song1 Comment

I got my flu shot on Monday and it seemed to affect how I feel physically and not in a good way. At first, it was just a mild feeling of dizziness and a headache. As the hours passed, the headache got worse and I was extremely dizzy. I had to depend on God to get into bed safely and prayed that the side effects would wear off quickly. My husband had the same injection and was not feeling bad at all, but we both know that medications tend to affect me differently than most people. Anyway, the dizziness is finally better this morning and the headache has subsided. Praise God that I knew He was with me the entire time because I needed to rest and that required His reassurance that I could trust in Him to take care of me.

Every day there is a new reason to praise the Lord. Sometimes, there are big things happening that I know that He is handling for me. Sometimes, it’s just the battle of living daily in a fallen and broken world. Regardless of what the challenges are, the Lord is always right there with me and for that I rejoice and praise Him.

Rest In His Love by Don Moen

Fully Committed

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

What does it mean to be fully committed to God?

The Scripture today is from 2 Chronicles when King Asa was double-minded about his commitment to God. He asked God for deliverance from his enemies, received that deliverance and then the next thing you know, without consulting God at all, he was making alliances with another enemy. Fully committed to me means not turning back or looking to other things or people, but to God as the Lord of our life and the one who deserves all of our praise and worship. It means when things get tough, we don’t deny God but we run to Him.

I am fully committed to my relationship with God and I don’t want to do anything that would make others think less of Him. Proclaiming to be a Christian means that I carry His name with me wherever I go, in the long line at checkouts as well as in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. People are always looking, just as God is. People seem to be waiting for us to fall, but God is looking to see if we are fully committed. God has high expectations for us, and I, for one, don’t want to disappoint Him. So, sometimes I have to bite my tongue more than once to keep myself from replying in kind to rude comments. Sometimes I have to even get out of line and wander around the store again until I have control of myself and my tongue. Whatever it takes to show others that I am not a Christian who takes my confession of faith lightly. Representing God to an world that is increasingly hostile to Him is not always easy, but it is always the right thing to do. One day, we may all have to stand up for our faith and face real persecution as others in the world have already done. That is full commitment, being ready to face whatever the world throws at us and still standing for the Lord. He stood for each of us on the darkest day of His life, separated by sin from His Heavenly Father and suffering for all of us. Can we do any less than be fully committed to Him?

May your day be blessed with the knowledge of God’s presence in your life and the peace that comes from knowing that He is fully committed to bringing you to Himself safely and helping you finish whatever work He has given you on the earth to complete.