Plans May Change but God's Plans Remain

On Sunday as the sun came up the day was absolutely beautiful. Blue skies dotted with fluffy white clouds hung in the sky and streaks of gold shined on the dewy grass. The flowers popped in the light and everything looked clean and beautiful. The plan was to be outside all day to enjoy God’s world. 

The only problem with that plan was that within the hour blue black clouds stepped forward out of the west and covered all the crispness. Gloom took over. Rain drops fell. It stayed cold and drippy all day. I never got to spend time outdoors. My plans changed.

We decided that it was a great day to go to church anyway. Then come home and eat a bite of lunch, watch an old movie on tv and have a nap. We had some little visitors and two of them took naps as well. It was that kind of day. I guess I could have griped and moaned and cursed the weather. I could have lamented that I wasn’t getting to do what I wanted to do. I could have ceased to enjoy the day entirely, but I chose to enjoy what there was, along with the change of plans.

The next day came a bigger challenge. A huge change in some plans we had been making for months. I didn’t handle it so well. I was fretting and fussing most of the day. I felt so unsettled. I knew we had a choice – we could either keep with our original plan or we could change our plans. My day didn’t go so well because I had forgotten to make friends with change. I had also forgotten that God’s plans remain no matter what my plans are. 

When I got home and talked with Danny we both agreed that God was up to something, even though it was very different from what we had planned. Then I remembered the Bible study we’re in and how we had studied just last week about discernment. So together we asked God for discernment about the decisions we had to make. Within 30 minutes complete peace came and the decision was made. I had fretted the entire day trying to make heads or tails of what was going on. I had been in a battle and didn’t even realize it. The battle was between my plans and God’s plans. Ultimately that’s where the battle lies. Sure God blesses us with friendships, fellowship, trips and plans. He doesn’t keep us from enjoying life. We just need, for our own sakes and for the sake of the Kingdom, to let God in on our plans so we can enjoy His best.

Oh beloved, God wants you to know that He has wonderful plans for your life! First and foremost His plan is for you to find restoration to the Kingdom of God through Christ. Then He wants you to include Him in every single day – in every single plan – ask Him about His desires and tell Him about yours. No greater fulfillment than to be right in the center of God’s will. Your plans may have gone awry but God loves you. Because He loves you, you can trust that His plans will not be thwarted by any man’s decisions. You are not the victim of circumstances and you don’t have to fret or worry or get frustrated about life’s changes. Today is your day to step up to the Light and feel the Son’s blessings as you walk in the light of God’s Word and His will. No mere vacation will suffice; no personal plans will be good enough. It’s ultimately God’s plans that will stand the test of time. Pray for discernment and He will give it to you. Apologize if you’ve fretted and caused someone else trouble. Rejoice that when it’s all said and done, doing things according to God’s plan is the best plan you’ll ever make.

God loves you and He’s for you. Now go out and have a wonderful day as you make plans and let Him plan your day for His kingdom and His glory as well as your good!

Proverbs 3:5-6 Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. (Amplified)

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.

Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Psalm 37:23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives

You Can Believe God!

“Do you swear to tell the truth so help you God?” That used to be the oath that was sworn in courtrooms across our country as men and women would place their right hands on a Bible. The truth is something we treasured. Swearing on a Bible meant we put our words in God’s hands and basically were asking Him to help us tell the truth no matter what. I’ve heard that now you can choose whether to reference God into it. As kids we would pinky swear or say the proverbial “stick a needle in my eye…” quote. The truth is so important that even kids wanted to be sure of their friends telling the truth.

My husband is a man of his word. The more I got to know him the more I realized that he tells the truth. I’ve never caught him in a lie ever. I’ve never heard him tell an untruth or try to shuffle things around to make himself look better. He just tells the truth. If you ask him he’ll tell you. Because he’s always told the truth I am in a position to readily believe what he says about any subject. So I’m privileged to rest in his words. They comfort me and help me have knowledge about things I don’t know. I refer to him often when I am asked a question about deep things of the Scripture or other important things like how to loosen a bolt. I am also confident that when I’m with him anywhere he can be trusted. It’s good to know that he won’t lie for me and he won’t lie to me either. Often he has laughed as I asked him something he might not know. He laughs because I assume he knows everything because he tells the truth about everything. Knowledge is a real high quality to have if you’re going to tell the truth.

You and I are privileged to put our faith in God through Christ. As a believer we can know that God is a God of His Word. God doesn’t lie. So we have a sure foundation for our faith. We can readily believe what God’s Word says because it’s truth. We can rest in His promises because He’s a God of His Word. What He says about you is the truth. What He declares for you is the Gospel. What He asks you to do is possible because it’s His truth and He’s trustworthy.

Oh beloved, you can believe God! You can trust God! You can rest in His promises. Are you struggling with an issue this morning? Run to His Word and get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. God will not laugh at you because He knows everything – everything about you, everything about your situation and everything you need to know to live a life of godliness and contentment. Others may not tell the truth about you or to you, but God has your back. He will turn the things that aren’t right into His glory and your good. Because He can be trusted you can rest in every single promise. You can walk in all the privileges. You can honor every declaration. You can live in His truth and take it as your own.

Precious one, no matter what situation you find yourself in God’s promises are for you. They will carry you through hardships, rejections, disappointments, physical ailments and pains of the heart. He loves you and He’s for you and those promises will let you walk valiantly all the days of your life.

Psalm 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

John 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

2 Corinthians 1:20 For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God. AMP

Romans 4:20-21 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Psalm 119:140 Your word is very pure, Therefore Your servant loves it.

Psalm 62:8 Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.

You're Adoption is a Miracle!

Going to yard sales is something I don’t often get to do anymore. There just isn’t enough time to spend going from sale to sale. However, the other morning I had a few minutes to myself and went by one such sale on my way back from the grocery store.

I pulled into the parking lot of the law office and saw to my delight it was being given by one of my dear friend’s daughters! We laughed and visited for a moment and I asked about a couple of prices and left. It was a miracle I was empty handed, but really I have enough stuff for a couple of my own yard sales!

As I pulled away from the parking lot I thought to myself how much that young woman looked like her mother.  That’s pretty amazing since this oldest daughter is adopted! No one would ever know she was not their natural born child. In looks and personality she’s as pretty and as sweet as her mother.  She also looks incredibly like her little sister, who was not adopted but born by surprise! J

I’m sure if truth be told, everyone wants a child who has similar features as themselves – blonde hair, blue eyes or brown hair and brown eyes. Maybe adoption agencies still try to make matches like they did in the 50’s and earlier. At any rate, the marvelous thing about adoption is family.  Everyone wants to be in a family – somewhere they can call home and be welcome no matter what.

When it comes to adoption into the Family of God, the Lord does a miraculous thing! He chooses people who are absolutely nothing like Him! They’re complete strangers holding none of God’s features before they are adopted. But once the adoption is final God changes everything.  Children of the Lord begin acting, walking and talking like their Heavenly Father. Eventually, one day, according to Scripture, they will even look like Him!

Maybe you’ve not had the best of family issues. Not everyone grows up being loved and cared for.  You might have been told that someone wished you were never born, were an accident or a mistake. Sometimes, for one reason or another people can even begin to feel like an orphan.  You may even have lived alone and taken care of yourself for many years. Someone may have told you that you weren’t good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, etc.  You may have looked for love and acceptance in other places but ended up still feeling such incredible lack in your life. Loneliness can make us reach for things we don’t even want, but when God speaks to our hearts and calls us to His Family, we are given everything we need to feel welcome and accepted into our new life.

Everything changes when God adopts us! Suddenly we are no longer strangers, but members. He begins to teach us about His ways and His ideals and we begin to walk in His precepts. What we couldn’t hope to find on our own is found in Christ! Perfect acceptance and total love! What we can’t hope to achieve on our own merit, God has made a way for us! A heavenly home forever! God will not kick us out, retract the adoption or wish we were never born.

Oh beloved, rest in your Heavenly Father’s Arms this morning! Before the day gives way to other things. Listen just a moment and let God read your adoption papers to you again! Every Word is for you, every promise is about you and every plan includes you! You are not a mistake, but a miracle! You are not an accident but formed for a purpose! You were wanted before the foundation of the world, regardless of your natural birth or life circumstances.  Reject that which you hear that doesn’t match up with your Abba Father’s words –for His Words to you are truth and life and peace!

God loves you enough to make a way for you to be adopted into His family and He’s for you so much that the papers have been sealed with the Blood of the Lamb forever! What a family! What a Lord!

John 1:12 But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.

Romans 8:15-16 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.”  For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

Psalm 68:5-6  Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy.  God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy...

I John 3:2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is.

Ephesians 1:5 God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.

Celebrate True Freedom, God's Way!

For most of us, the main thing about this week-end is three days off. That’s pretty wonderful. The rarity of three days off in a row and especially slowly getting up and moving around at our leisure on Monday mornings makes three days off a real treat.  Often we forget about the real reason for the holiday; we take them for granted really.

There are other things we take for granted. Freedom to enjoy life. Freedom to meet together in groups. Freedom to protect our country. Freedom to own homes, buy groceries and make friends. Freedom to marry whom we choose. Freedom to have children. Freedom to change jobs. Freedom to drive a car, a motorcycle or a truck.  Freedom to protest. Freedom to worship. Freedom to own a Bible. Freedom to share the Gospel.

Every freedom you and I enjoy as American citizens is given to us without reservation and is confirmed in our bill of rights. But the protection of those rights has been kept because our military have fought to keep us free. My own father served in World War I and World War II. Uncles fought in Korea and Viet Nam. While you and I have enjoyed this wonderful freedom, many have died for that freedom.

There is One Who gave His life to set every human being on the face of the earth free. His name is Jesus. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and His destiny was to live, to promote and to die for freedom. If it was simply to die, though, we’d be memorializing Him right along with every other conqueror, leader, hero and demigod across the span of time. We’d be decorating His grave with the myriad of soldiers who have flags and patriotic flowers dotting the cemeteries.

But this One rose again! And because He came out of the grave, fully alive, He dismembered death and made a public show of it! Because He lives we can, as the song says, face tomorrow, all fear is gone, and we know Who holds the future. He is more than a hero, He’s our Savior. He’s more than a Soldier, He’s our King! He’s more than a conqueror, He’s our redeemer! He’s our everything, for His Name is the great I AM!

Oh beloved, before you go out for the day’s festivities, won’t you take a moment to honor the One True God, who lives making intercession for you? He celebrates you every day as He rejoices over you as His beloved, He protects you as His child and He prays for you always. He has granted you True Freedom – to live for Him, to worship Him, to honor Him and to look to Him for everything for life and godliness. His resurrection is your reassurance that – no matter what you are going through, no matter what you have been through and no matter what life brings you – He will be with you! Even in facing hardships, annoyances, sorrows, fears and death itself – you are watched over by the Eternal Light of the World!

Rejoice this memorial day in all it means, but most especially that you are a child of The Most High God! That you are loved beyond measure by the Lord of Heaven and Earth! That you are a soldier of the cross and protected by His watchful care all the way to your reward!

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

Hebrews 7:24-25 but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

2 Corinthians 5:21 He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Romans 8:37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

I Corinthians 2:12 And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

Check the Mailbox of God's Love

Where I work I deal with loads of mail generated from our office. From soil samples to manure samples to water samples. There are fact sheets and information brochures along with flyers and newsletters and reports. Lots of mail. We even have our own postage meter to deal with the large volume of mail.

The fact that we generate lots of mail means that eventually and occasionally something we send out gets lost in the mail. It happened recently. A water sample mailed at the end of last month never showed up at the appropriate lab.  Thankfully the check that was mailed with it wasn’t cashed, but still no sample and therefore no results available.

Work gets stressful when people don't understand that these things happen.  I checked and double checked the address (it was new) and the information I had made copies of and called the lab.  After reassuring myself that I had done everything right, I went on to reassure others that it was simply lost in the system.  You want to blame someone, to get to the root of it – so it doesn’t happen again, but it’s impossible to ensure this because the system itself is fragile and while no one at my end, at the postal service end or the laboratory end wants something lost, it’s going to happen sometimes.

Life gets stressful and we don’t always understand why things happen. Things get lost. People get lost. Lives are lost. Hopes are lost.  It’s bound to happen – the loss of friends, spouses, children, jobs, money, treasures, and more. Admittedly, some things are more treasured than others, but a loss is a loss. Try as we might to get something we considered quite valuable back, it’s out of our hands.  We often wring our hands and cry out that we just want it back. If we’re not careful we’ll spend the rest of our days in mourning for the loss of something we can do nothing about.

People can get stressed, angry, unforgiving and suspicious when they don’t get their wants- but life in Christ never causes stress for His promises are never lost!  

Are you mourning the loss of someone or something you know you’ll never get back in this lifetime?  Are you wringing your hands and worrying about what you’re going to do without that treasured object or a treasured loved one? It’s hard to go it alone, it’s hard to move on, it’s difficult to smile and not let stress overtake you. But life in Christ will never leave you stressing for His promises are never lost! Even when things look bleak, when you’re awake in the wee hours of the morning or you’re in the middle of the day and you remember, God’s promises are right on time. They are ready for you every time you need them! Unlike the mail system, that might lose something in the mail, you never lose God’s promises for they are right with you always!

Oh beloved, run to the mailbox of God’s love - the Word-this morning and let Him show you the treasures of your life from His Word. Everything you need to live is written by the hand of the Lord just for you! Before the foundation of the world God Himself set up His richest storehouse of treasures to give liberally to His beloved ones! You don’t have to travel, you don’t need postage and you don’t have to wait until you are good enough to enjoy it all. Lean on the Lord! He knows your heart is broken, He knows you may be angry or agitated that things got lost, but your relationship with Him is solid. He is for you and His Word is hope for your heart in a day when all may look lost – look into the treasures God gave to you and rejoice. His love and care are yours no matter what.

2 Samuel 22:31 God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?

Psalm 12:6 The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.

Psalm 119:140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much.

Psalm 138:2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise Your name for Your unfailing love and faithfulness; for Your promises are backed by all the honor of Your name.

Psalm 119:89 Your eternal word, O LORD, stands firm in heaven.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.

Have You Got Good Reception This Morning?

Remember how we used to get different channels on our TV?  We laugh and point to our kids! Danny would say, “Melody put it on Channel 4”. She’d jump up and turn the knob to 4.  When I was a kid I would go out on the porch to turn the antenna for my dad, so his ballgames would come in clearer.  Occasionally the wires would come loose from the antennae and someone would have to release the pole and lower it in order to get those wires reattached. Sometimes a wind would come through and knock that antenna winding, so that someone would have to go outside and untangle things to get reception back.

Nowadays, the satellite installer has to make sure the satellite receiver is pointed in the right direction for you to receive the channels you purchase.  Without the satellite pointed to the source, you get nothing on the screen.

The same principle applies to the believer. As a spiritual receiver we must operate in line with the Word of God to receive.  Without our lining up with the Word of God, we receive nothing. My dad’s sports events wouldn’t come in if the antenna was on the ground. You wouldn’t see my kids hold the knob in their hands and expect the channels to change. Even with the remote controls we all now use, they too must be pointed in the right direction to receive.

You may have been trying to receive from the Lord, but find yourself getting nothing. Without turning to God you won’t get much reception, if anything. Eventually the signal will grow weaker and weaker. Hearing from God is your source of all you need, so turning your life towards His ways and His Word is what you need. You cannot turn His Words around to fit your needs, you have to turn your whole heart to Him to hear clearly and see His will.

Oh beloved, run to the One Who has all you need to receive! Seek His Face for only His Face will do! All other channels will give a distorted view of life and God.  But God’s Word will set you free, give you new life, make you what you can’t be on your own and set you securely on high! You will hear Him speaking love words clearly and you will hear Him saying, This is the way – walk in it! What wondrous love is this that the King of the Universe loves you and has made a way for you hear from Him!  He knows your troubles and trials, He knows your hurts and anxieties, He knows your dreams and hopes – He knows everything about you and His Word is a direct line to Him. Let Him speak Truth and Mercy into your heart today, for His ways are magnificent and His love is eternal.  Always and forever, no matter what, God loves you and He’s for you and that’s worth looking to Him for everything!

Psalm 119:89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

Zechariah 1:3 Therefore, say to the people, 'This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.'

Proverbs 2:1-5 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure My commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.  Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.

Psalm 27:8 When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek."

Mondays Not Mundane When God is With Us

It’s Monday.  For some it feels like back to the salt mine. Put your nose to the grindstone.  It’s just something you’ve gotta do. Often the American worker wakes up in their mid years and wonder how they got where they are.  There must be more than this may be muttered under the breath as each one after another goes to their vehicle and climbs in for the drive to the office or the plant.  Everyone starts out feeling so good about work and getting ahead. Yet after so many years, the clock punching can get old and the back goes out more than they do.

Life can be really monotonous.  It’s so repetitive in day to day life. No matter how many dishes you do, there’s always dishes to do. No matter how many clothes you wash or meals you prepare there’s always more.  Work, housework, repairs, bills, etc. Is this really it you may be asking yourself this morning.

It is what it is.  Unless…what if our destiny is not in our own hands? What if we don’t go to work alone? What if our paycheck is a gift? What if the money we have and the life we live belongs to someone else rather than just to us?

Your Mondays may have been mundane, but when you apply God’s Word to every day of the week, it’s bound to be Sunday in your heart! Every good gift you have is given to you by Him! Every opportunity to see another Monday is a gift as well. Every paycheck handed to you each payday is a present straight from the Throne Room, giving you opportunities to make it in this world.

Oh beloved, run to the Master Employer and read what He has to say about you! He loves you so much that He has given you something to live for beyond the everyday! Everything you have has been given you by the Lord!  Let Him love you and show you that your destiny is in His hands, not your own! Even if you’ve gotten to a bad spot where there’s more money than paycheck, run to Him! He not only gives you grace to make it, He is able to make a way where there is no way. Love the Lord and let Him show you how to be more than a worker, to be a light in the darkness wherever He has allowed you to be.

Oh how He loves you! Oh how He has plans for you! Oh how He will take your Monday and make it more than glorious because you are walking with the King! You don’t have to be anxious or downtrodden, for you are a servant of the Most High God! Seek His face, work as though He were your boss and thank Him for everything He gives you to do! Seek Him if you need help with your bills, your troubles, your fears. He is always with you! You are blessed, you are walking through the hard places into His loving care and your destiny is secure in Christ!

Colossians 3:23-24 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

Proverbs 3:26 for the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

Isaiah 29:19 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord. The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Deuteronomy 24:14 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands. NAS

Psalm 121:2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

Ready to Plug into Your Real Source of Power?

Next week we’ll be attending The Changing of the Colors Rally near Mena. I can remember back not many years ago, before this family had cell phones.  There was really only one good place for friends to use them. Up near one of the signposts.  Everyone would go to that spot to get their message out.  I can even remember borrowing a friend’s phone to call our family at home.

Now my “smart” phone goes with me everywhere. One day last week the battery died while I was at work and I felt so disconnected. I couldn’t even call my daughter when I needed to because her number is on speed dial – I don’t even know it!  Most folks text, take photos, play games, talk, use their calendar, consult the weather and look at late breaking news via their phones.  You could say we’re “plugged in”.  What would it be like to go a few days without it?  

Are you plugged in this morning? Are you in right connection with your Power Source? Are you seeking God daily for your necessary nourishment? Are you spending time with the One Who set the stars in orbit and gave you life? Unlike the cell phone’s apps, this life is no game.  Without the Lord’s Words, spoken sweetly to us during quiet times, we are totally disconnected from our spiritual source. We cannot hope to know what’s going on in the spirit realm without taking time to connect. 

While there are sun spots and dead zones and tower failures which may render our phones useless for a time, there’s never a time you cannot connect with the Lord. He’s always  there, always full of power, always available and always able to give you enough time to make the call to Him.

Oh beloved, run to the Lord this morning and read from His Wonderful Blessings for you! Put down the phones, turn off the tv and sit quietly in His presence. You will never be disappointed and you’ll never have to worry that the message won’t come through clearly.  He’s speaking to you already this morning as He says, Come to me, I know you labor and are heavy laden. I’ll give you the rest and renewal you so desire. I AM your true source of power! I will bless you as I pour My heart into your heart. I will renew your strength and give you all that you need for this life, for this day – and more…Blessings and honor come from Me alone.

You are loved, you are important and God’s line is never busy – you won’t ever have to leave a message. What a Savior. What a Father. What a Redeemer He is!

Psalm 119:114  You are my refuge and my shield; Your word is my source of hope.

2 Corinthians 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.

Deuteronomy 8:18  Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 4:3 You can be sure of this: The Lord set apart the godly for Himself. The Lord will answer when I call to Him.

Need Insight for Living? You Can Have It!

You know they make some great commercials. I especially love the insurance commercial where the girl is talking to a guy about what she read about his insurance company on the internet. She tells him “they can’t put anything on the internet that isn’t true”.   At the end of the commercial she walks off with a guy she had “met” on the internet who was a French model, only he definitely was anything but that.  Still she believed it and walked away arm in arm with him.

There are so many things taken as true today.  There are multitudes of infomercials extoling the virtues of one thing or another, all the time promising that their truth is the best.  If you buy it, you’ll be perfect, your life will be perfect, your future will be perfect. Just buy their product, the book, the dvd…whatever they’re selling.   There is much on Christianity as well. I find that I get lost in the information about all of it, unless I spend time in the Word. The more I fill my heart and mind with God’s Word the more easily I discern the false from the true.

Oh beloved, are you drowning in a sea of information? Have you searched everywhere for something to hang onto, something to make sense out of your situation? Maybe you want to do your own thing so you’ve sought out writers who believe you can do just that. Are you tired of running here and there and everywhere to find something that really touches your heart and changes your life? Run to God’s Word this morning and read! All the promises mentioned within the pages of the Holy Word are true. They will feed you, they will increase your beauty, they will add wisdom to your life and they’ll stay with you when everything else, everyone else, is gone.   

What wondrous love is this that the King of the Universe, the Self Existent One would write a Book just for you to live by? No ordinary book; written by no ordinary author; published by no ordinary producer.  Thank the One Whose name is Faithful and True! He loves you and He’s for you and that’s all that really matters!

Psalm 19:8-10 The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair.  They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.

Hosea 14:9 Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them...

2 Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

Psalm 86:11  Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to Your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor You.

Say Yes to God and Watch a Blessed Life Unfold!

The two year old grandson looked his mother right in the eye and said, “I said NO!” That little two letter word has become his favorite these days. And he’s using it on his mother regularly.  Of course he gets in trouble. It’s amazing to me how kids just have a keen sense of what “no” means. You have to teach waving and bye bye and we all repeat our names often for the little ones to learn, but the word “no” just seems to come naturally.  Such a little word that carries such huge meaning.  We think it’s so cute when a tiny tot says no, but then as they get older we find that it’s not so cute. Saying no to their parents becomes a sign of being spoiled or unwilling to yield their will.

Oh beloved, have you been hearing God’s instructions? Are you wondering if you can truly obey? At times it may feel as though the Lord is asking for something that’s just too hard to do.  Yet it is only in the yielding that true discipleship develops. Run to Him this morning and yield that decision to Him. Ask Him to come into your life fresh and new and give your day and your decisions to Him! His Word is your safety and His requests are your blessings! It’s never too late to say yes to Him for He is always waiting to guide and direct your path. Not only that, His guidance is the path of pure joy and the place you will find your real meaning in life. There is no love like that of our Father God, Who forgives our unwilling hearts and makes all things new!

Job 22:21-22 Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to His instructions, and store them in your heart.

Colossians 2:6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him.

John 2:5 His (Jesus’s) mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

1 Samuel 15:22  Samuel said, “ Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

Psalm 91:11 Amplified For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].