You Are The Salt
“but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?" ~ Matthew 5:13
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Monday, June 24, 2024
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Take It Easy. It's A Team Lift.
ππΉπ Good morning.
I don't know what you are going through or experiencing. I know that life has a LOT of things to get caught up in. Some are necessary. Some are not. It takes a delicate balance of both to make it all not weigh or wear you down. Sometimes we just need to sit at the feet of Jesus.
That was me this morning. I was overloaded with good intention but trying to focus on too much at once and in too many directions. I began to just sit at my desk and pray out loud to God. That turned into quiet singing of a few songs and ending with Just As I Am (linked below).
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Why Are We Chasing Peace?
So often we find ourselves in disappointment, disarray, dysfuntion, or some other "dis."
We look for peace to replace the chaos, noise, and mess that we are feeling in our souls at the time. Or maybe it is none of those things but we just find ourselves disconnected from a feeling of wholeness, feeling incomplete or lacking. It feels like something is missing, so we keep searching for "it." We look for "it" in people around us, in being popular, in hobbies, in buying "stuff" in stores, in so many directions and we can really only find peace in one place.
Peace is not a "thing" to strive for, toward, or to buy. The reason we struggle to find peace sometimes is because it is a person- the person of Jesus Christ.
The book of John gives us great insight into this. In John 14:27, it is written in the words of Jesus,
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
He has already given us what we need- a gift of Himself. He said He would never leave us nor forsake us. That means that is is eternally with us, offering us His peace.
Why don't we have it then? Why don't we feel it? If Jesus is continually with us, we should feel it all of the time.
Yes, we should. Then why don't we? He said HE would never leave US. That doesn't mean that WE will never leave HIM. Just like the ancient Israelites, we ebb and flow in our affection and obedience to Him. And Just like He was ever-present with the ancient Israelites, even through a cloud and a pillar, He is with us. Of course, it looks a little different today because the ancient Israelites didn't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as we have the ability to accept now.
Yet, as a people, we are still fickle and led astray by whims and emotions and tickling of the ears. We have the same God but also the same devil. The devil is using the same old tricks and schemes and we get snared. The reason we get snared is because WE have strayed. We have not held close enough to the presence of Christ. So, like a lost child in a department store, we need to find our way back where we belong. That is in His presence.
"In Your presence, there is fullness of joy." ~ Psalm 16:11
"4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be[a] My disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. 10 If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love. 11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete." ~ John 15:4-11
For more on Jesus as the person of peace:
https://www.gotquestions.org/He-Himself-is-our-peace.html
I hope you were blessed with this reminder. I know that it was the epiphany that I needed the other day while I was listening to DeMarcus. I heard "Peace is a person" and my brain just stopped listening for a moment because my spirit was testifying to the statement's truth. Below is the whole devotional so you might be blessed. You might hear something else that touches your spirit at the right time. Thank You, Jesus, for everything. πΉππ
Devotions with DeMarcus-
Sunday, September 17, 2023
First Things First
There's so much that has been on my heart and mind recently. It is late and the morning comes early. I will leave these songs for now. Rest in Him. <3
Breathe/ We Fall Down - Brooke Ligertwood
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Obedience
"5Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
6in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
7Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8This will bring healing to your bodyb
and refreshmentc to your bones." ~Proverbs 3:5-6
"3Commit your works to the LORD
and your plans will be achieved." ~ Proverbs 16:3
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh I will sing of the goodness of God"
"Great is Your faithfulness to me
From the rising sun to the setting same
I will praise Your name
Great is Your faithfulness to me, oh"
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Holy Spirit Lead Me...
It is so easy sometimes to get caught up in the flood of things that seem important. Maybe they are important for our overall well-being. Maybe they are important for a project or deadline. Maybe they are important to us, personally, for our goals or even just for our quiet time. Yet, nothing is more important that our time with God.
God is the source and center of life itself. If it were not for God, we would not exist. Period. There is no other possibility that we, as we are in this physical state and form of living and breathing could have happened any other way. He is also the author and perfector of our faith. Everything that we have and do stems from Him. He is gracious and He is kind.
He is the King of Kings and He knows us by name. It's not a formal sort of knowing but the most personal there can be. He knows us intimately because He is the one who formed us in our mother's womb. He knew exactly the type of person that He needed to be in this world. He knew exactly what He wanted them to look like- stature, eye and hair color, and how their voice would sound. He designed them perfectly for His purpose. He knew exactly where He would place each one in time and location. He knew who they could impact and be impacted by for His good. Some would be seeming to the world to be missing vital parts of their bodies...feet, legs, sight. Yet, those differences would serve to build a strength of character in those people to not only live their own lives but to encourage and touch so many others by learning to maneuver around their weaknesses, and finding their strength in Him.
God knows our every need and desire. He knows our thoughts before we think them. He watches us while we sleep and waits for us to rise so He can walk with us through our day. Yet, do we think of Him when our eyes open? I think there are quite a lot of us who do, if even just to say thank You for another opportunity to get it right and to continue working to fulfill His purpose for our lives. Then what? Do we continue the conversation and ask what He wants us to do today? Do we spend time in prayer and worship? Or do we determine our own steps for ourselves and for the Kingdom and trudge ahead, trying to make our own path?
When we wake up in the morning, it seems as though we are but one person. Depending on if we have a spouse or others that we live with, there may be no other tangible person in the room as we go about our routines and activities. But God. He is eternally omnipresent. He is right there with us, 24/7. We don't physically see Him but we can feel Him in our spirit and see Him there sometimes, too. He waits for us and longs for us to look for Him, talk to Him, and to lean into Him. He is our heavenly Father. He loves us with an unfailing and everlasting love.
Today, I was doing what seemed plausible to do on my day off. There is a buffet of things that "need" done. I put my hand to the plow first on spiritual things- Bible studies that I am starting to fall behind in. I am also needing to study for one that I will be leading. I zoned in on which focus needed to be a priority. That is fantastic. Except one thing- it wasn't.
While I was pursuing that path, it's almost as if the Holy Spirit Himself tapped me on the shoulder and I was in sudden awareness. I had gotten so busy trying to do things FOR God and not drop the ball of accountability, that I had not included Him in it personally. I had not had my quiet time with Him. You can liken it to having breakfast or coffee with a friend. You sit, you discuss, and you set out plans. Then you put it into motion. Where had I stopped to sit with Him this morning? I had instead, essentially, spoken to Him in passing as I waved and set about my day. Wow. π¦π
I was immediately humbled. I apologized to Him and went to YouTube to listen to worship music. There was already song up where I left it for "later" (I am the queen of tabs) but "later" had not yet come. I hit play and began to listen. I was spiritually on my face as the words washed over me. They were so true. I apologized to God for not seeking Him in all these things. God created us for communion with Himself. I acknowledged that I need His help every moment of every day. (I am hearing Danny Gokey in this moment singing the chorus of We All Need Jesus. "24/365."
I have had to leave this post and come back and still, the lyrics and message of this song just hit me in my spirit every time I replay it. I will leave it here for you to listen to as well. I pray that it hits your spirit in the same, sweet way- with the realization that He is always infinitely bigger and wiser than we can ever hope to be. His arms are always ready to embrace us to encourage, comfort or to just simply love us. He is always willing, ready, and trying to lead us. We just have to get out of the way first. π
πΉBe blessed and spend time with your heavenly Father.
I will also link the Danny Gokey song. It is so important that we try to see others through God's eyes.
Friday, November 11, 2022
Oh, LORD, You're Beautiful!!
"Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (CSB)
Friday, October 21, 2022
What's On My Heart π
Good evening, all.
There is so much going on right now in life. It's hard to keep up and keep track of all the thoughts and things that need done. However, with God's grace and tender loving mercy, it will get done. God is so faithful. I aspire to that. I know I can never be as faithful in this fleshly nature on this earth as He was but I can do better than I have. I am sure that we all can. I just want to leave this song with your for now.
A friend recently quoted her pastor in her podcast, Heels On Water, as having said,
"If you know who you are, then you know what to do."
I agree with that. This song has been on my heart for two days now and it is stirring up action and recognition that was there but fell out of sight and mind, getting buried in the back of my mind somewhere. In the process of finding it again, direction and clarity started to return.
"I'm a child of the Most High God and the Most High God's for me." - Ben Fuller ("Who I Am")
Upon listening to the words of this song fully and reflecting on God's nature, it is clear what I must do to the best of my ability...reflect His excellent image.
No, I am not able to reach perfection. The only one who can truly do that is Jesus and He died a miserable death on the cross to set us free. Perfection ascended back up to Heaven with Him. Yet, we have His Spirit living inside of us. The Holy Spirit will guide us in the ways that we should go and how to conduct ourselves in the paths of righteousness. I hope to expound more tomorrow. For now, I need to get some sleep. I hope that you all rest well when you go to sleep next also.
❤ Many blessings in God.
Monday, August 1, 2022
Praise Him In The Hallway
Hello again.
There is a lot, lot, lot going on here this past few weeks. It is getting late tonight and I have an early morning ahead of me. I have been meaning to come in and leave some posts. It clearly hasn't happened. I told myself it had to happen before I went to sleep tonight. So, I will leave you with some simple thoughts that have been circling around in my brain that have been helping me to handle it all. I will also leave some music to meditate on that will hopefully stir your faith and cause it to rise a little higher within you. ππ
"God is good all the time and all the time God is good."
He didn't bring you this far to drop you.
If He can fling the stars into the sky and keep the universe in perfect distance, rotation, etc and not implode, I am sure that He can handle any of our tiny lives. They are not tiny because thy have no value but tiny in comparison to a galaxy. In terms of a galaxy, we might be the pinpoint of a needle.π
"He works all things together for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
"4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." (Phil. 4:4-9)
Have a blessed evening and sweet sleep. If you are reading this in broad daylight, I hope you have a blessed day and week. ❤
Build A Boat by Colton Dixon
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Quiet π€«
Hey everyone!
I hope that you are having a beautiful weekend!
Life always seems to run at a crazy pace. Sometimes we need to just slow it down a little.
Sometimes it really isn't everything else in our life that is running rapidly out of control but just our own minds. Our thought patterns can feel like a circus monkey or like they are running NASCAR laps. We shouldn't need to constantly fight to hear ourselves think. Clearly, we are at odds a good bit of the time with WHAT to think or how to process everything in the first place.
There are so many voices that are rising up in our minds to be heard- friends, family, coworkers, politicians, social media, etc. I even heard on a YouTube video awhile ago (The Silent To-Do List) how even everyday things talk to us. Dawn, from The Minimal Mom, was talking about the dishes that say "wash me, dry me, put me away" and the clothes that say, "Why haven't you been able to fit in me?", "Why do you make impulse purchases?", etc. I'm not trying to push minimalism (though I can see a few convincing benefits) but she is onto something with how noisy our lives are and again in the other video, discussing the Four Burner Theory, how easy it is to feel tossed around in our thoughts and actions. (I just heard You'll Never Walk Alone in my head because I almost said "tossed and blown." lol "Walk on through the wind. Walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown.")
Seriously, though, we are trying to plan ahead but thinking about the past. We are trying to decide what to believe and what we should give priority to. We also spend entirely way too much time worrying about and avoiding things or people. Often we either don't know which end is up or trying to fix what is upside down. We are overwrought by decisions and sometimes that may mean we make none- which only snowballs it all even more.
The devil is also always quick to jump in and have a say, even though he tries to make us believe it is our own thought. "You'll never be able to accomplish that." or "Who is going to listen to YOU??"
Sometimes it is miscommunication or presumption based on circumstance, maybe even through a non-descript text message. We hear, "WHAT did she just say?! Did she called me a LIAR!!" But, in reality, that wasn't what she meant at all and there is a good explanation for whatever it was.
Maybe when we decide to step out in faith toward a positive change or a dream -"You can't make that change, you'll never live up to the hype. You'll only fail."
We need to remember that not every thought that pops into our heads is ours. Be careful who you rent mental space out to. We need to fight these negative and destructive thoughts at every turn. Not every thought is a happy thought, perhaps. Some will inevitably be negative but if it is opposed to the Word of God, it doesn't hold water and should be banished from our minds. Our thoughts become words. Words, especially our own, hold a LOT of weight in our minds. We are with ourselves 24/7. We cannot escape our own thoughts. Yet, the words that should hold the most weight are those of Our Creator and King of Kings. He knows better than anyone what is meant to be and should be accepted. He is not only with us 24/7 but knew us before He knitted us in our mother's womb. (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13-18)
2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ." (Good News Translation)
We need to slow down and hear what God has to say. He was the only one who was there when we were being created. Not only has He designed us but He has thoughts and plans for our lives as well. I am attaching the links for the videos that I referenced above. They are well worth the watch.
I hope you have a beautiful weekend and remember that we were blessed to be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2)
The Silent To-Do List (this is LIFE CHANGING!) - The Minimal Mom
How to finally find balance (& stop feeling behind!) - The Minimal Mom
QUIET (STRIPPED) - LIVE FROM BALLANTYNE - ELEVATION RHYTHM
you'll never walk alone - Susan Boyle - Lyrics
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
❤Don't let it get you down.
8 Finally[c] brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things."
~ Philippians 4:4-8
Also this one:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding;6 in all your ways know him,
and he will make your paths straight."
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Hosea and Hosanna In The Highest
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
It's A Snow Day! π
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