small things

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly affection; and to brotherly affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8

I would like to share with you a short devotional written by Oswald Chambers from his book, My Utmost for His Highest.

“In the Matter of Drudgery. You have inherited the Divine nature, says 2 Peter 1:4, now screw your attention down and form habits, give diligence, concentrate. “Add” means all that character means. No man is born either naturally or supernaturally with character, he has to make character. Nor are we born with habits; we have to form habits on the basis of the new life God has put into us. We are not meant to be illuminated versions, but the common stuff of ordinary life exhibiting the marvel of the grace of God. Drudgery is the touchstone of character. The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do. “Jesus took a towel...and began to wash the disciples’ feet.”

There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God’s way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God.”

I love this! Sometimes we can lose our focus in life - we can grow weary and no longer see the horizon and that is when we sink. It is okay to sink for a minute or two, but then we need to come up for air and continue to faithfully do the common tasks of everyday life. For example: Going to work each morning, or going to school and doing homework faithfully, or folding laundry and making a meal for your family... Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Are you weary of doing? Don’t give up! For in due time one of the blessing you will reap is character. Remember, character is not something you are born with, character is made and it is made in those times when you feel like giving up but instead you keep moving forward. Many of the people that God has used in a powerful way have been men and women of high character. Men and women who have been faithful with the common tasks of life, the “little” things that have developed their patience, their perseverance, their understanding, their obedience and has prepared them for the “big” things that God had in store for them! 

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much..” Luke 16:10

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Mother Teresa

At The Proper Time

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills."Habakkuk 3:17-19

There are times in life where we have more questions than answers. Habakkuk was a unique prophet in that he asked questions of God. Most prophets were filled with messages, but Habakkuk was different.

"Habakkuk asked God why evil people prosper while the righteous suffer. He boldly and confidently took his complaints directly to God. God's answer: they don't, not in the long run. We cannot see all that God is doing, and we cannot see all that God will do. But we can be assured that He is God and will do what is right. Knowing this can give us confidence and hope in a confusing world." (Commentary)

What I love the most about this book in the Bible named Habakkuk, is that it begins with the prophet Habakkuk’s complaints, but Habakkuk concludes this book with a prayer of triumph! With God’s reassurance to him that one day the wrong will be judged and the righteous will prevail, he rejoiced with great confidence in His God! Habakkuk trusted in God to give him strength during his waiting period! In spite of all the troubles he saw, and there were many, he concluded by saying, "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on the high hills."

“God will strengthen those who trust in Him. He will give those who live by faith the same confidence that a surefooted deer has in climbing mountains. God will give His followers surefooted confidence through difficult times. They will run like deer across rough and dangerous terrain. At the proper time, God will bring about his justice and completely rid the world of evil. In the meantime, God’s people need to live in the strength of His Spirit.  Like a victorious army, the righteous with God's strength will be able to tread on the heights." (Commentary)

Do you have questions that only God can answer? Be reassured that God cares, He hears and He is aware of what is going on in your life. Take your cares to God and let Him reassure you that at the proper time, God will settle the scores and He will make the wrongs - right.

 

Remember....just because the fig tree and the grapevine are not producing fruit right now, as long as they still have their roots to the "Source" of life, REJOICE that one day, at the proper time, the fig tree and the grapevine will bear abundant and delicious fruit!

 

 

 

Tick Tock! Tick Tock!

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
 
I recently celebrated another birthday. On the morning of my birthday, I arose early to meet with God. I wanted to thank my heavenly Father for allowing me to see 49. My father died at the young age of 48 and I realized that although my father never saw 49, God was allowing me to see it and it was a gift that I am extremely grateful for! God allowed me to not only reach 49, but to do so with enough good health to be able to enjoy my family and have the vitality to love and care for them!
 
This week I was reading in the book of Daniel and I was reminded of who holds my life in His hands. In the book of Daniel 5:23b, Daniel, a great man of God, was reminding King Belshazzar, who was the King of Babylonia, that although he was not acknowledging or glorying God in his life, it was God who was the One who holds his breath in His hands and owns all of his ways.
 
In Psalm 90:12, when Moses asked God, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom", it means more than just having a sense of our mortality; it means valuing the time we do have by using it for eternal purposes!
 
When we rise up in the morning, let us not see it as "just another day" or "another day at the grind", let us see it as a gift and as an opportunity to glorify God. Start your day with a thankful heart knowing that if He has given you life, it means that He has a purpose for you today! Time is valuable and our life is valuable to God!

How will we use our time today?

Will we hoard it?

Will we waste it?

OR

Will we share it?

Let us use our time to bring glory to the only One who holds our breath in His hands!

FATHER, thank you for Your gift of time that You give us on this earth! May our attitude today be one of gratefulness and may we realize that this is not just another day, but a day that You have made for each and everyone of us to enjoy and to share! In Jesus Name, Amen.

Watch Her

"For where two or three gather in My Name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20

I have a dear friend who is an inspiration to me. We have been praying together for our families for over fifteen years and God willing we plan on praying together for another fifty years. We have seen God work miraculously in providing and protecting each one of our family members in ways that have made our hearts burst with humble gratitude. In addition to this great blessing and our close friendship, I have had the privilege to be able to see how my dear friend handles the physical challenges that have come her way. It is almost as if God placed her in my life and said, "Watch her."

Watch her how she handles the affairs of her life with so much grace, love and gratefulness to Me in spite of her hardships.
Watch her as she loves and supports her children sacrificially.
Watch her honor her husband in a way that honors Me.
Watch her as she carefully manages her home.
Watch her in how she handles with grace the continued physical challenges of living day to day with a physical ailment.

For over thirty years my dear friend has been enduring a physical debilitating condition - but you would never know it. To this day, she is not known for her disability. This dear friend is known for her love for God and her love for others. By watching her life, I have seen that she has put God first and lived in a state of gratefulness regardless of what trials or hardships she has endured. I have seen a real life example of what it means to pick up your cross and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).

One of the ways that God has shown me His love, is by allowing me to journey through life with this dear friend who loves her Savior and LORD more than all others.

Do you have someone you can watch? May I encourage you to ask God to place a special friend/mentor in your life? Not a friend that will tell you what you want to hear, but a friend that will tell you what Christ wants you to hear.

The apostle Paul said this to the Corinthian believers, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1

I hope you enjoy the song that I have attached below :)

Downside Up!

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed. Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him." Lamentations 3:21-24

Are you living above or under your circumstances?

When we are living under our circumstances, it means that our worries, our concerns and our troubles are weighing heavily upon us and they have control over our behavior, our emotions, our relationships and our countenance. When we are living above our circumstances, the circumstances do not control our emotions, our relationships or our behavior because our focus is on the LORD and that enables us to rise above our circumstances rather than suffer under our troubles.

"Everyday presents us a new opportunity to discover and experience more of God's love." Commentary

Even in the midst of the worst circumstances, look for signs of God's mercy and refocus your eyes and your heart upon the great faithfulness of God who is full of compassion, mercy, love and hope.

The writer of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah, remembered God's faithfulness when he was full of anguish and that brought a change to his emotions - so much so - that he was inspired by God to write the above encouraging and hopeful scriptures.

When you feel down, look up - downside up!

I hope you enjoy this song that I have linked below :)

http://youtu.be/60o3UP4Kjwg

Help Me!

"My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Exodus 33:14

There are times when we are in situations that require God's help-so we pray and call upon Him. However, when God provides the answer, sometimes we don't see it. Many times we expect God's help to come to us in big packages, big promotions, and for God to send us big ships in order to help and rescue us from our "BIG" problems. But God sometimes doesn't send help in the form of BIG packages, but in small packages.

Have you taken the time to see the many ways that God has sent help to you? Did you see that smile that God sent your way? Did you see your dog wag its tail because it is happy to see you? Did you see that you have food on your table? Did you see the beautiful sunset? Did you feel the warm breeze? Did you smell the aroma of the beautiful rose in your garden? Did you taste the nutritious food that God provided for you to survive another day? Did you hear the beautiful birds singing outside your window? These are only but a few of the ways in which God tries to refocus us to what is important and what will bring us peace.

Many times our problems are not as "BIG" as we make them out to be. Many times the solutions to our problems do not require a "BIG" action but only a realization that God is there, will always be there, and has always been there for us all along!

FATHER, when we are in situations that we feel overwhelmed in and when we feel the solution is beyond us, allow us to see the various methods and forms in which You send Your help our way every single day. LORD, allow us to have a grateful heart because when we have a grateful heart, our perspective in life changes. Thank you for your patience and for the tender love that you always send our way. We love You and we thank You. In Jesus' Name - Amen.

Immeasurable And Inexhaustible!

"I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

"God's love is....

Wide - it covers the breadth of our own experience, and it reaches out to the whole world.

Long - it continues the length of our lives.

High - it rises to the heights of our celebration and elation.

Deep - it reaches to the depths of discouragement, despair, and even death."
Bible Commentary

God wants us to understand His great love for us so that we will be totally secure in Him!

May we be reminded today that God's love for us is immeasurable and inexhaustible!

"For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are - high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean - nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when He died for us." Romans 8:38-39

I hope the words of the song, attached below, ring in your ears all day :)

 

http://youtu.be/o_o6s5X5LSw