Ready and Waiting

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”

Isaiah 30:18 “So the LORD must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God.”

Greetings all you precious children of the Most-high God!

Take a look at this picture:

No one wants to see the temperature gauge nearing the "H" when they are driving their car. But that is exactly what Jorge and I saw three weeks ago on the way home from my in-laws’ house.  We were able to pull over safely, and my father-in-law, the beloved Chini, traded cars with us so he could drop off the car at the mechanic in the morning and I could have transportation for work.  Exactly one week later the car over heated again.  Back to the mechanic it went. And then this past Friday, yes, you guessed it, it happened for the third time.  So this time we took the car to another mechanic – one with a greater degree of knowledge for our type of car.

Lots of folks specialize in different areas.  I would never go to a podiatrist for a headache, nor would I have my house painted by the guy who mows the lawn.  I also wouldn’t have my nails done by my math teacher son, nor would I call in my sister to fix my dishwasher, which is currently on the fritz.

In other words, there are certain things that only certain people are qualified to handle.

Our mighty Lord is in a category all His own.

Only He can heal the broken hearted. Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Only He can take our fear and turn it into faith. Psalm 34:4 “I prayed to the LORD, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears.”

Only He can replace our mourning for joy. Psalm 30:11 “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.”

Only He can crush anxiety and drown us in peace. John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid.”

Only He can _________________________...fill in the blank, dear one.  

What is happening right now that you have no control over?  God is waiting for you to turn to Him.

When my car broke down, I had to take action.  I just didn’t leave it there by the side of the road praying it would fix itself.  Likewise, there is no need to just sit by and hope everything works out with the messes of life.  Take action and go the One Who specializes in meeting all your needs; He is ready and waiting for you!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that You are ready to help. Thank You that You are our refuge and strength. Thank You that You are faithful and compassionate. Thank You that You can handle anything and everything we bring Your way. You are always ready and waiting! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!   

Walking Through~

Thursday greetings,

Psalm 23:4 “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me…”

Is it possible to have an encouraging DEVO when the word “darkest” is part of it? Yes, dear brothers and sisters, yes!

Every one who has lived long enough has experienced a low place, a valley - a time when sadness, sorrow, confusion, frustration, hopelessness, and/or fear were the prevalent feelings. 

God acknowledges our feelings; He knows we all face rough moments.  But life-changing truth number one for the day is that God reminds us there is an out and an exit from this valley. We are walking through it; we are not standing still in it.  We are following the Good Shepherd’s lead, and He is leading us straight to peace and joy.  How does He lead? Every single time we pray and read the Bible, every time God puts an angel in our path to say a kind word, every time we allow ourselves to be a blessing in someone else’s life, we continue to make a steady pace out of that valley and into a verdant and abundant meadow.

Life-changing truth number two of the day is that because He is with us, guiding us, loving us, leading us, and protecting us, we don’t have to be afraid of what’s happening in the valley.  If only…right?  One way to get a grip on those times we are overwhelmed with fear is to remind ourselves that because God is with us EVERY SECOND OF EVERY MOMENT OF EVERYDAY, hovering close by, we have nothing to be afraid of.  Is there any one or anything that comes even remotely close to being more powerful than God?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that because You are in our lives, we have the assurance that You will always point us in the right direction.  Thank You that we don’t have to be stuck in the valley; You lead us out.  Help us to pick up our feet and go! And thank You that when You say there’s nothing to fear it’s because You are infinitely more powerful and awesome than anyone or anything.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

BEHOLD!

Luke 2:10-11
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.




Merry Christmas Eve!  I pray for all of you to be richly blessed today and everyday:)
Even though today's verse was yesterday's verse, there is one word I want to focus on: BEHOLD.
Look at all these synonyms from dictionary.com--consider, contemplate,discern, distinguish, earmark, eye, eyeball, feast one's eyes, note, notice, observe, perceive, regard, survey, view, watch, witness...
Fear will come, but the angel who spoke these words really wants us to actively engage--to purposely consider how great and incomparable our Jesus is, to keep our focus on Him, to get Him into the depths of our souls through prayer.  Yes, it takes effort, but it's so much better than being passive and allowing fear to consume us.   
We have a choice to make; let's choose to behold.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for Christmas, for family togetherness, for good food, for presents, and most of all for the good news of great joy, which is Jesus.  Amen~

Our Savior is Born~

Luke 2:10-11"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Good morning, and Merry Christmas Eve Eve:-)

It is no secret that I love this time of year, and it's probably not for the reasons you think.

Yes, I have fun shopping, and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas – especially those who say Seasons Greetings or Happy Holidays. I also have fun spending time with my family, which is growing by leaps and bounds, and I enjoy opening gifts!


This year, my super amazing generous boss gave us the whole week off, and I can't wait for the ugly sweater contest at my mother-in-law's house, which I know I am going to win. (On a side note it's a little unsettling that both my daughter and daughter-in-law have asked me if they could borrow one of my sweaters).

But even though all these things are awesome, they are not why I love Christmas.

I love Christmas because of the verse above. My Savior was born, and it's the best news ever.

I love how the angel who spoke this verse powerfully reminds us that because the One Who saves has arrived, we do not need to fear ANYTHING!

Anything?

That's right--NOT ONE THING!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for sending the baby Jesus. Because He lives in us, there is nothing to fear--ever! He has us covered! In Jesus' name, Amen~

He's Got a Grip on You~

Thursday Salutations:)


..."Let Your hand be with me."


There are over 100 verses in the Bible that deal with the hand of God. There are two in particular that will help us better understand the implications of Jabez's request. Today we will look at one and tomorrow the other.


Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."


There's a contemporary version of the Bible called, The Message, and that version puts this verse in terms I think we can all better relate to: "Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you."


This is one of those Bam! Bam! Bam! verses that clearly states what God wants us to understand and accept and receive like a balm for our weary hearts.


He knows life is hard and that we have a tendency to panic. Hence, the exhortation not to. Why? Because the Almighty God Creator and Host of the Heavenly Armies Himself is with us, and He's ours--ALL OF HIM. He gives us help, He gives us strength, and when we think we are going to crumble under the pressure or stress of life, He keeps us steady in His firm grip!


I needed to hear that. Excuse me for a moment while I pause from writing this DEVO and do a happy dance!!!


I'm back:)


What has you on the verge of panicking today? What fear is threatening to consume you? Where do you feel weak? Do you feel as though you are slipping and that it's all about to come crashing on you?


Hurry! Let's pray!


PRAYER: Dear Lord, Let Your hand be with us. When Your hand is with us we are calm, and strengthened. Thank You that You have a firm grip on us, and thank You that You will never let go. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Self-Control~

Salutations~

 

 

Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message version)

 

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

 

 

Based on the verse above here's a neat and concise list of the gifts God gives when we live His way: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.

 

 

All these are the fruits that will grow and thrive in our orchards.  And all these are necessary for enjoying life.  We should also be asking God regularly to help us and our children produce these fruits.  But today I want to hone in one particular fruit that seems to often elude us and whose lack of in our life produces misery.  I am talking, of course, about self-control.

 

 

What happens when you try to control your spouse? Your kids? The weather? Someone else's reaction? God?

 

 

Simply stated--You can't!

 

 

And when we can not control something we feel helpless and afraid.

 

 

If only we could choose for our spouse when they fall into temptation.  If only we could say "no to drugs" on behalf of little Johnny.  If only we could make sure everyone driving around on the friendly streets of Miami were properly licensed and insured.  If only we could make sure that everyone else around us is always nice, always loving, always kind...In short, always producing fragrant fruit in a fertile orchard.  

 

 

All of us with half a brain know that this is not the way life works.  We really have very little control over anything much less anyone--except ourselves.

 

 

It's called self-control for a reason, and that is because you are really the only one you can control.

 

 

This does not mean we don't try in vain to control situations or other people, but more often than not, when we assume this huge impossibility and fail, we feel like failures and this leads to unhappiness.

 

 

Ask yourself what you have been really down about lately or just in general, and more than likely it will have to do with a situation beyond your control.  

 

 

For example: (all the names of my brave friends have been changed to protect their innocence.)

 

 

Pierre la Franc has been really low lately--precisely since 2007.  This is when the economy started tanking, and he took a huge personal hit.  He blamed everyone and everything and felt his happy light slowly starting to fade.  The power of positive thinking was not powerful enough, and no matter how hard he ordered his personal finances to turn around, they would not budge.  It was out of his control.  

 

 

Sally G. Away invested a lot of time and a lot of effort in raising her two little girls.  One of whom chose the straight and narrow and one of whom did not.  The one who did not went down a path of self-destruction that destroyed Sally as well.  Over and over and over again she blamed herself for her daughter's choices, and in the process fell into a severe depression.

 

 

At the root of the problem was that both these fine folks were trying to control something beyond their ability.  Add to that a heaping helping of self-condemnation and it's easy to see how these life-scenarios led to such unhappiness.        

 

 

And then there's my buddy Lois who was so convinced that her daughter deserved a certain role at school that she expended a lot of time and energy rallying the higher-ups to choose her child and was highly insulted when it did not work out.  She almost withdrew her child's enrollment because of it and would have forfeited many years of fun and friendships.  We laugh about it now, but back then it was a perfect example of "forcing one's way in life," and "not channeling one's energies wisely."

 

 

I think we can all relate.  Let us focus on the one thing we can control and trust God with the rest.

 

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are right.  Self-control is the only control we have.  Thank You that You have the rest under Your watchful eye.  In Jesus' name, AMEN

Choose Faith~

I trust you all had a wonderful weekend:)

 

What kind of people are we? Allow me the pleasure of answering that question:

 

Hebrews 10:39 "But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved."

 

There are those out there who, when trouble comes their way, become fearful or refuse to acknowledge it. They hope that whatever is wrong will go away on its own. What is the result? Destruction.

 

But that's not our case. We have learned that no matter what we will pray. We have faith, and we are saved.

 

There are moments when we will have fear, but we will turn it around and go from being cowardly to courageous.

 

Why? Because destruction for someone we love or even for ourselves is not an option when the Most High God Creator of heaven and earth is on our side.

 

Case in point--my friend whom I'll call A.

 

Yesterday her daughter got married to an amazing young man! The wedding was beautiful and the reception a true celebration of love, family, and friends.

 

But A has had plenty of difficult moments in her life. Not only is she herself currently undergoing chemotherapy, her brother died of cancer six weeks ago. She, however, did not let that stop her. She did not give in or give up. Rather, she exercised her faith--sometimes every moment of every day--and plugged into God for His strength. I watched her glide around the party welcoming guests with such warmth. If I would have had a crown at that moment I would have gladly placed it on her head and declared her the Epitome of Grace.

 

At one point she made a bee line for me and we exchanged hugs. I choked up because I have such profound respect for her. She is one of my faith heroes, and I hope that her story will inspire each of you to engage. Use your faith! Never shrink back! No matter what it is, declare today that there will no destruction in your future--only salvation.

 

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, Every day we have a choice. We can either turn away and become despondent, or we can use our faith and have victory. We choose faith, and we choose You. Help us today. In Jesus' name, AMEN~