Together
1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:1-4
Did you spend time this week alone? Or did you spend this week together with someone else? My guess is that you thought when you were spending time alone, you were actually together with Him. Now whether you acknowledged Him or not might be a different story. I spent a lot of time together with my family this week, with what time I had available, and it was really some good quality time. The time I did have alone I have to admit I rarely was able to focus on the One thing I needed to. I was easily distracted by the radio and sports which made me think about other things in the future yet to come. I also had a few dates at work weighing heavily on my mind, and since I didn't spend much time together with Him, I didn't rely on Him to lift me with His strength. I learned a good lesson this week, with over 6 months of planning for this event I had, I still didn't allow Him to deliver me from my fears until it was here. Maybe if I would spend more time together with Him, my faith would be stronger and those six months of planning would have been easier on my mind.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Fantastic Friday #228- Escape
Escape
12 The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,
but the root of the righteous flourishes.
12 The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,
but the root of the righteous flourishes.
13 An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk,
but a righteous man escapes trouble.
14 From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things
as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. Proverbs 12:12-14
What do you think of when you see the word Escape? I find it interesting when the Israelites escaped from Egypt, interesting when many of God's people escaped the hands of the enemy over and over again, and interesting how Job escaped his suffering. What do you do to escape? Typically people dive into a book, watch a TV show or movie, listen to a concert or music, enjoy a sporting event, or just sit in silence away from the world. Why do we escape from this world? Does this world not offer us everything we need? Some of it is good and some of it can be bad, but if we are careful to live in our reality with God and escape the trouble, our life might be more fulfilling. Those things I first mentioned had God's people escaping from difficult situations, only with God's help and reliance on Him. How about looking to God and escaping the bad things of this world and escape into the reality of living life with our family. Enjoy and love those around you and remember to love God, it could be a better place to escape.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Fantastic Friday #227-Complain
Complain
1 I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
1 I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.
3 When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.
In the path where I walk
men have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.
5 I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living." Psalm 142:1-5
Wow did I hear some people complain this week. I heard it all and if you are like me, you just wanted to run and hide. One thing that happens when people complain is that it can kind of rub off on you, and sometimes you can slip into the complaining attitude that some people have. Yes, I know you are probably thinking the first scripture to come to mind is Phillipians 2:14 and why didn't I choose that simple scripture for this week, something easy to remember and take with us. Well, that is because the above Psalm has something in it that the other doesn't, it has a true picture of what we experience daily. Where do you take your complaint, to someone you know, or Someone you know. Do you let yourself slip into the snare, or do you take refuge in the Lord. Do you turn to someone for a portion, or do you turn to Him for your fill. Just remember, when you have someone who complains to you, don't slip into the snare but give the Lord a chance to provide you that refuge.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Fantastic Friday #226- Concern
Concern
4 Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life. Psalm 142:4
23 But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. 2 Kings 13:23
25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.1 Corinthians 12:25
A friend told me this week that they were concerned about me, so it kind of got me thinking. What were they concerned about? My welfare, my sanity, my health, or were they just being a tad sarcastic with me on one of my opinions. Well then it got me thinking about how concerned I was about other people, and am I as concerned with other people as God is about me? If you look at the above scriptures, they kind of paint a picture that we all go through in life. All of us at one time or another have asked God if He is concerned about us, and I think we can all say that the Lord has been gracious to us on more than one occasion in our life. What about your concern for others who are believers, and better yet, those who are not believers. If you show the same concern for those people who are a part of our lives that God shows to us regularly, think what kind of difference you can make. Show concern this week to someone and see what happens.
Have a great weekend.
4 Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life. Psalm 142:4
23 But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. 2 Kings 13:23
25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.1 Corinthians 12:25
A friend told me this week that they were concerned about me, so it kind of got me thinking. What were they concerned about? My welfare, my sanity, my health, or were they just being a tad sarcastic with me on one of my opinions. Well then it got me thinking about how concerned I was about other people, and am I as concerned with other people as God is about me? If you look at the above scriptures, they kind of paint a picture that we all go through in life. All of us at one time or another have asked God if He is concerned about us, and I think we can all say that the Lord has been gracious to us on more than one occasion in our life. What about your concern for others who are believers, and better yet, those who are not believers. If you show the same concern for those people who are a part of our lives that God shows to us regularly, think what kind of difference you can make. Show concern this week to someone and see what happens.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Fantastic Friday #225- Separate
Separate
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
There is a rule that is commonly known in the world of laundry that you don't combine dark colors and light colors when washing your clothes. You definitely don't wash a red shirt with a white dress shirt or you will turn that white shirt into a lovely shade of pink. To prevent this from happening, you separate your clothes and keep them in the Right pile when washing. When you are done washing those clothes, then you have your lights and darks that are put in their appropriate place. You are probably wondering to yourself, where are you headed with this analogy. Well, if you take a moment, death is dark, life is light. Angels can also be seen as light, and demons are dark. If you are living in Christ, you are living in the light. Christ is the light of the world and we live in Him. This doesn't mean that as Christians living in the light, that we separate ourselves from that light and live in the dark. However as Christians, we can sometimes be stained with sin, but with Christ we know we are forgiven. Although I might be wearing a pink shirt because I have slipped and sinned, I know that there is absolutely nothing that can separate me from the love of our God which to me is a good feeling. Focus on living in the light, and not treading close to the dark colors.
Have a great weekend.
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
There is a rule that is commonly known in the world of laundry that you don't combine dark colors and light colors when washing your clothes. You definitely don't wash a red shirt with a white dress shirt or you will turn that white shirt into a lovely shade of pink. To prevent this from happening, you separate your clothes and keep them in the Right pile when washing. When you are done washing those clothes, then you have your lights and darks that are put in their appropriate place. You are probably wondering to yourself, where are you headed with this analogy. Well, if you take a moment, death is dark, life is light. Angels can also be seen as light, and demons are dark. If you are living in Christ, you are living in the light. Christ is the light of the world and we live in Him. This doesn't mean that as Christians living in the light, that we separate ourselves from that light and live in the dark. However as Christians, we can sometimes be stained with sin, but with Christ we know we are forgiven. Although I might be wearing a pink shirt because I have slipped and sinned, I know that there is absolutely nothing that can separate me from the love of our God which to me is a good feeling. Focus on living in the light, and not treading close to the dark colors.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, August 20, 2010
#224-Target
Target
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
and therefore I have hope:
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.Lamentations 3:12-13
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:21-26
What kind of target have you been this week? Has it been a target of negativity, evil, and anger? Or were you a target of love, kindness or compassion? Sometimes being a target of the negative is easier for us to see, when being a target of the positive is sometimes overlooked. Why is it that we focus so much on being a negative target? I believe it is because oftentimes our hope can slip away from the Lord and we can forget what He does for us each and every moment. If we look at the Faithful Father, when we are that negative target, we can very easily turn that negative into a positive target of Hope and have an impact on those around us. Love each other and target the positive.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Fantastic Friday #223- Visible
Visible
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:8-14
When you take a look around you what do you see? A world that has good and a world that has bad. A world that has light and a world that has dark. A world that has sinful people. Where is it that you live in this world, in the visible or hidden in the invisible? Do you live sometimes in the good and sometimes in the dark thinking that no one can see in the dark? Each one of us struggles with living a righteous life because the world tells us it is exciting to be a little bad or live in the dark, because the sun always comes up in the morning. But, how many of us are guaranteed to see the sun come up in the morning. Let us live as individuals who live for the light and want people to see how Christ resides in us. Shake a little salt in your life and give it a flavor that all will enjoy.
Have a great weekend.
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:8-14
When you take a look around you what do you see? A world that has good and a world that has bad. A world that has light and a world that has dark. A world that has sinful people. Where is it that you live in this world, in the visible or hidden in the invisible? Do you live sometimes in the good and sometimes in the dark thinking that no one can see in the dark? Each one of us struggles with living a righteous life because the world tells us it is exciting to be a little bad or live in the dark, because the sun always comes up in the morning. But, how many of us are guaranteed to see the sun come up in the morning. Let us live as individuals who live for the light and want people to see how Christ resides in us. Shake a little salt in your life and give it a flavor that all will enjoy.
Have a great weekend.
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