MY NEW YEAR’S DAY PRAYER

Dear Lord, I thank You that You are infinite God and Creator.  I thank You that You are The Word.  Bless my daily reading of Your Word this year and open my spiritual eyes to understand it.  Open my heart and mind to accept and apply it to my life.

Work in and through me for Your glory.  May others see Jesus in me.  When I fall short, Lord, and I will fall short, help me to remember to come to You quickly confessing known sin and remember to thank You for Your forgiveness.

Thank You that You are the God of new beginnings, do overs, try agains and second opportunities.  Your mercies are new every morning and never cease.

Lamentations 3:22New Living Translation (NLT)

²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!^[a]
23 They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.  His mercies never cease.

Thank You, for You are full of grace for my every weakness.  Thank You that You know, understand and care.  Thank You that You will never leave me and are always there with me and for me.

Thank You that I can trust You with the coming year.  Keep my focus on You and not the circumstances of my life or the world. Give me Your perspective that I will have endless hope.

Thank You for Your unending unconditional love.  Thank You for Your constant Presence with me. May I practice the Presence of God daily and become the person that You want me to be.

Impossible Situations

I was thinking today about seemingly impossible situations in my life.  As I had my quiet time with God, I was reading a devotional written by Charles Stanley in an In Touch Magazine.  It was the December 2013 issue, page 47.  Reference: John 6:5-14.   Here is a bit of what it said to me.

Nothing is impossible for the Father.  The wrong question is: “What am I going to do?” The right question is: “Lord, what are You going to do?”

God has a plan to guide me safely through every seemingly impossible situation if I will simply trust Him.

His way and His time are always best!

Luke 1:37  King James Version (KJV)

³⁷ For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Needs and Wants and Desires and God

NEEDS – what I have to have and God supplies them all – every one of them just in time and on time, I don’t need to give these things a second thought except to praise God for them.

Philippians 4:19 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁹ And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6: 31-33 New King James Version (NKJV)

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

WANTS – what I would like to have but I don’t really need and could live without – these God gives to me in His time if it is within His will for me.

DESIRES – what I really want and think I just have to have – I search for it and dream about it and almost crave whatever it is I desire then finally I just let it go and go on with life.  That’s when IF God wants me to have it He shows up at the most unexpected time in a very big way giving me more than what I desired or ever dreamed to ask for!

Psalm 37:4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 145:19 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁹ He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.

God knows what I need and when I need it.  He also hears my every sigh and knows what it best for me.  No matter what His answer (yes, wait or no), God’s goodness, faithfulness and love for me never ends.

Psalm 118:1 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

Christmas is such a busy time with shopping, baking, parties, decorating, special events at church and work and the list just goes on and on.  Yet in all the busyness I find myself alone at times thinking of those I miss that are far away and those that have gone on to be with Jesus.

I miss Mom and Dad who are no longer with us and Andy’s mom who was such a joy at Christmas time.  She loved to give and give to everyone.  Aunts, uncles, and cousins that have gone before us are among those who I miss too.  It is good to remember and to cherish the memories.  It’s even more wonderful to know that I will be with them again one day in heaven.

But for today I miss others in my family so far away in others states that I won’t be able to be with them this Christmas. We are  spread out all over the country.  Some are north, some far north, some way up the coast and some south!  Yes, it is really hard emotionally for us to all be so far apart this Christmas.

I have talked to them and I know this part of the Christmas season is hard for them too.  We are so used to everyone being together at Thanksgiving and Christmas that it is difficult to face the fact that we will be apart this year.  Marriages and careers have a way of branching out families.

But think about this, when we go outside at night and look up no matter what state we are in we all see the same beautiful nighttime sky with the moon and the stars that God made so long ago.  It is comforting to know that God’s Presence is with all of us at the same time too.  His ear hears all of us when we pray.  His heart knows our struggles with being separated this year.  He knows, He cares and He hears our every prayer and our every sigh.

Psalm 38:9 New Living Translation (NLT)

⁹ You know what I long for, Lord;
you hear my every sigh.

We can talk to God and let Him know how thankful we are for the families He has given us.  We must tell Him all that is in our hearts and ask Him to show us the best way to handle our hurts and the disappointment of not being together this year.

Just this evening we enjoyed a beautiful cantata at our church! It reminds me that Jesus is the heart of the Christmas season.  Our thoughts must be centered on Jesus and remember that we are all one in Him even though far apart.  When we look to Jesus we realize that the He is our hope, our joy and our peace.

Let’s focus on how to share the joy and hope of Christmas with those around us wherever we are and soon we will all have blessings to share with one another for you know it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Acts 20:35 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

³⁵ In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said,‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Merry Christmas to all!

One of those days!

I had one of those days yesterday.  Everything went wrong from the time I got up late and didn’t take time for my quiet time or as my granddaughter says, my talk to God time.

I woke up late then my hair wouldn’t do right and my eye makeup was a mess.  I didn’t have time to eat.  My husband had fallen off a ladder at work the day before and was too sore to move so he wasn’t going to church. Well don’t you know, when I got to the car my windows were frosted; that made me even later.

Church was a blessing but when I got home I was hungry, tired and felt grouchy so no matter what was said to me it didn’t set well.

I remembered something I had read in a Charles Stanley magazine and heard him say in a sermon too:

HALT to avoid temptation or to keep from making bad decisions or using unkind words that you can’t take back.

Hungry

Angry

Lonely

Tired

I was definitely hungry, tired and not exactly angry but certainly grouchy!   I had my thoughts all on the circumstances and not The LORD.

So I needed to HALT…. stop and take time to talk to God and get back to a frame of mind and heart that is fitting for a child of God.

Psalm 51:11 Create in me a clean heart O God, renew a right spirit within me!

Today I am thanking God for many things and among them is hair even if it is messy and eye sight to see the clumpy eye makeup.  Also so thankful that Andy’s fall from the ladder was only sore muscles and not broken bones or worse. Thankful for my car to get to church even if it did have frost on it and also thankful for the freedom to go to church!

Most of all thankful that I have a God who draws me back by bringing things to mind that will lead me in the right way.  I am thankful to have a patient God who never gives up on me. Thankful He is the God who lets me try again and have new beginnings when I keep my heart and mind set on Him!

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!  NLT

Some things to consider

Frequently I receive emails, Facebook posts, and text messages that read something like this:

If you love Jesus repost this or if you are not ashamed of Jesus forward this or are you one of 7% that really love Jesus…..

Also I see beautiful verses and sayings and comments posted concerning God or Jesus or faith.

And are there certain people that when you are around them you are more careful about your speech or your actions

All of these are a good witness if you really mean them in your heart BUT what if your next email your send out or next Facebook post or next text has one or more of the following in it:

Boasting about drinking alcohol – even pictures to show it

Talking about needing alcohol or pills to get through the day

A bleep here or there or proudly calling yourself or others bleeps

Cussing up a storm or just  a word or two now and then

Pictures you really wouldn’t want God to see if He were beside you…..

Some things to consider:

What if that next email, post or comment was read by someone at your church or a younger person you were working with at church

What if Jesus were reading your email or posts or texts

What if God were right beside you

REMEMBER:

God IS right beside you!

God IS with you always!

Your conversation, character and conduct should not depend on who you are around or your circumstances but on who God is and who you are in Him.

Practice the Presence of God ALWAYS! The Presence of God is ALWAYS with you!

Psalm 16:8  I know the Lord is always with me.  I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.

Matthew 28:20b  “And be sure of this:  I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

What kind of day did you have?  Were you shopping, or going to the doctor, or maybe working int the cold?

My day was a usual day with my 4 year old granddaughter who keeps me very busy right here at home. Today we snuggled in bed before breakfast.  We spilled a big glass of lemonade at lunch. Later,  I broke a precious Christmas ornament trying to do too many things at once. We managed to get the laundry done together; she is a great help to me. We played store which is always interesting! We  talked about God and Jesus and worked on our memory verses before goodnight prayers. Yes it was a long tiring day but a great day!

Now what did you say happened in your day?  During this busy time of year one of my goals is to take time to remember that JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON and to thank Him for whatever is happening in my day.

Love Him in the morning when you see the sun a-rising
Love Him in the evening ’cause He took you through the day
And in the in-between-time when you feel the pressure coming
Remember that He loves you and He promises to stay

All Day Song (Love Him in the Morning​)​

from Still Life by John Fischer

Psalm 107:1  Give thanks to the LORD for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Ten Things God Wants You to Remember

He loves you.                                                              John 3:16        1 John 4:19

He will go before you.                                                 Deuteronomy 31:8

He will strengthen you.                                                Psalm 46:1      Philippians 4:19

He will guide you.                                                        Psalm 23:3      Psalm 48:14

He will provide for you.                                               Acts 14:17

He will delight in you.                                                  Psalm 37:23    Zephaniah 3:17

He will be with you.                                                     Genesis 28:15       Joshua 1:8-9

He will answer you.                                                     Psalm 34:4     Psalm 91:15    Psalm 6:9

He will bless you.                                                        2 Corinthians 9:8

He will give you rest.                                                   Matthew 11:28

Words taken from a Fair Hope Notes Greeting Card.  Verses Added.

Right now I am praising God and thanking Him for my restored sight.

I was recently having trouble seeing with my left eye.  Last week the specialist said that there was a film on the back of the replacement lens that had been put in when I had cataract surgery.  This is common and laser surgery usually helps it.  BUT, he couldn’t guarantee that because he also saw that I have permanent damage in the back of my eye from my blood pressure being too high for too long.

Yesterday I had the laser surgery and I am seeing better now in the left eye than in the right and I thank God for this tremendous blessing and answer to prayer!

You know sometimes that how it goes with spiritual eye sight.  When we first become a newborn Christian our love for God is so strong and we are so excited that we are eager to read the Bible and tell others about the peace and love of God we have found.   We can see God clearly.

But for some Christians as time goes on the excitement fades. The joy is gone.  Some even lose their desire to go to church or read their Bibles. They struggle more than they pray.

Where did God go? What happened?

God is right where they left Him before they began to focus on the desire of the moment or the circumstance of the day or the problems of life.  The lack of Bible study, prayer and Christian fellowship  clouded their vision of God and His power as worldly things once again became their primary focus.

If you find your spiritual vision is clouded, go to God in prayer now, confess whatever has come between you and Him and submit to His will and plan for your life.  God will remove the cloud and you will see Him clearly again!