Monthly Archives: April 2024

The Loving Kindness of our God

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“The Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me …” Psalm 42:8

At night you can sleep in peace because you know God is already working things out for tomorrow. The Lord actually commands His loving kindness to be accomplished, so you will receive all His blessings. He commands it. He is ext ending His loving kindness towards you. This is His promise and you can rest in His promises. Look for it, His loving kindness will show up visibly. Deut.28:8 says, “the Lord shall command the blessings upon thee in thy storehouses and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee.”

“It has been said, “Blessed is the night, for it reveals the stars to us,” we can also say, “Blessed is sorrow, for it reveals God’s comfort.” A flood once washed away a man’s home and mill, taking with it everything he owned in the world. He stood at the scene of his great loss, brokenhearted and discouraged. Yet after the waters had subsided, he saw something shining in the riverbanks that the flood had washed bare. “It looks like gold,” he said. And it was gold. The storm that had impoverished him made him rich. So often it is like that at times in our life.” (taken from Streams in the Desert)

“I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou Lord, only maketh me dwell in safety.” Psalms 4:8

The Path: Look with great expectation for God’s loving kindness; He has already extended it towards you.

Your Life is Shielded by the Hand of God

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You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand has held me up; Your gentleness and condescension have made me great. Psalms 18:35 (Amplified)

Have you ever felt alone and nervous as you were about to confront a high-stress situation?  Did you overwhelmed and wonder how you could possibly get through it without anyone else helping?  The good news is, God is always with us regardless of the situation.

How comforting it is to know that our life is shielded by the hand of God. He literally holds us in his hand and nothing can touch us that He does not allow. It is in those times when there is a great trial in your life that you really understand His full protection. It is in the trials that you are aware of His strong presence as a shield. He is also working things out for your own good. George Mueller once wrote, “In a thousand trials, it is not just five hundred of them that work ‘for the good’ of the believer, but nine hundred and ninety-nine plus one.”

When I was in the middle of the greatest trial of my life, the Lord spoke to me to read Rev. 21:5. I turned quickly to the verse that assured me of his intentions in that situation. “Behold, I make all things new . . .” Notice that it doesn’t say “some” things. The verse says “all things.”

At the time, I was looking at my son laying in the hospital in a coma. His life was totally in the hands of God. The doctors did not give us very much hope of him even making it through the night, but God said that not only would he make it through the night, but that He was making all things new. What a contrast and a faith builder!

Today, I am watching my son run three miles down the beach as God is still working in his life, and making “all things new.” So in your present situation, you can trust that He will shield you from evil and work all things together for your good.

Are Your Feelings Affecting your Focus?

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13.  I remain confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  14.  Wait for the Lord;  be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27: 13-14

Do you believe that scripture? If not, what is it you are focusing on?

When we set our hearts on the goodness of the Lord we carry His presence into every situation. No matter what the circumstances are we must focus on the goodness of the Lord. If we look at our circumstances and ‘give in to our feelings’ we will sink into the circumstance.

David knew he could not let his circumstances dictate his feelings ; he had to keep his eyes on the Lord.  He said, “I would have fainted if I had not expected to see the goodness of the Lord.”  He did not always have a perfect day; his days were actually very hard, so hard that he said he would have fainted if he had pondered on how bad things were.  David discovered how to overcome the bad days; he set his heart and his expectations on seeing the salvation of the Lord. He set his sights high; he set his sights and expectations on the salvation of the Lord. He expected to see God’s deliverance and salvation in each situation he faced.

For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:5).

What are you giving into today that is pulling you away from expecting to see the Goodness of the Lord?

What is Grieving You?

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 “For they speak against Thee wickedly, and Thine enemies take Thy name in vain. I am grieved with those that rise up against thee”                                                         Psalm 139: 20-21

Does it grieve your spirit when someone speaks against the Lord, when they take His Name in vain? We use the Name of the Lord in vain when we use His Name to justify our bad behavior. When we say the “Lord told us” to do something, when really it is our own desire, we use His Name in vain.

If we honor the Name of the Lord, we will never use it in vain. We will call upon the Name of the Lord for our salvation, but not for our justification when in rebellion. We use His Name in vain when we say He said something that is totally against His character.

God never contradicts His Word. He will not condone our sin nor will He make us uncomfortable in it. When we call upon His Name, He will set us free; He will untangle us from the lies we have believed, and He will set our feet on a solid rock and establish our goings. If Jesus has set you free, praise His Holy Name right now and lift His Name up high.

Heavenly Father,
I realize that there are many ways in which I have used Your Name to justify my own bad behavior, and have used Your Name in vain. I confess this as sin and ask for Your forgiveness. Show me any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

Take the Path of Life

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“Show me the path of life…” Psalm 16:11

God knows exactly what is going on in your world.  He has provided everything you need to live during these times; and actually He has provided a way for you to live in peace even during times of trouble.

Find the path of life, the peace of God.  Once you find the path of life, stay there, don’t let your heart be troubled.  Stop allowing yourself stray off the path, lost and fearful.

You have a choice; you simple stay on the path. You have a choice daily; so don’t allow your circumstances to be in charge. You have been given the choice and you can choose peace over fear, anxiety, and stress. You can choose faith over fear; it is that simple. When you choose faith over fear you just choose life instead of death. When you choose peace over anxiety and stress you have again chosen life. The enemy wants to convince you that everything is hopeless, but the God of all peace wants you to know that you have a choice, He says in Deut. 30:15-16, (paraphrased) “Choose life and you shall live.”

It is a choice of life over death, it is that important of a choice. Think about your last doctor’s visit. If you have a heart condition he made it very clear how harmful certain things like too much sugar and salt are to your health. It is hard to keep yourself from eating these things, but, for your health’s sake you can do it. Everyday that you overcome the temptation not to eat those things that are harming your body you feel a difference. You feel stronger and have more energy.

Did you know that worry and fear are more harmful to our body than too much sugar and salt? That is why Jesus said, “Stop allowing yourself to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated, cowardly and unsettled.” I repeat, just stop allowing it; you do have a choice, choose the path of life and walk on it. Choose the peace of Jesus daily and you shall live.

I Have a Choice

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“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Psalm 1:1

Every day of our life we make hundreds of choices and each of those choices will produce an outcome. For instance: we make a choice what foods we eat in the morning for breakfast; nutritious or unhealthy, we choose whether we will go to work or stay home and watch TV all day, and we choose whether we will ride a bike or a car on the highway to the mall.  In each of these situations we have a choice. If we make the wrong choice; the outcome will be obvious in a short amount of time that we made the wrong choice.

The outcome can look like this: You will run out of energy if you eat an unhealthy breakfast, you will soon loose your job if you don’t go to work, and you may find yourself in the hospital if you choose to ride your bike on the highway.  The outcome tells you quickly if you made the wrong choice.

The same is true in our spiritual life.  David says in the Psalm, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly”. When you take counsel from an ungodly person, you will soon see by the outcome that something is wrong with their counsel. It will be just as obvious as when you keep riding down the highway on a bike. You are in danger when you take counsel from an ungodly person because if they do not know God they do not know His ways.  David said, don’t walk in ungodly counsel. From the moment you hear ungodly counsel you have a choice; will you act upon it and walk down the wrong path, or choose the right path. It boils down to a simple choice, and the choice is yours. Wrong counsel can feel good at the moment, but if the counsel does not line up with the ways of God, the outcome will not be a blessing in the end.

Ask the Lord to show you where you are making wrong choices and listening to the wrong counsel; then pray this simple prayer: Teach me thy way O Lord; I will walk in thy truth… Psalm 86:1. Then you will soon see the blessings of the Lord.

How Can I find my Spiritual Identity?

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“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”  Galatians 4: 6-7

 

Who am I?  What is my purpose in this life?  How can I find meaning and value?

People all over the world struggle with their identity, and what they mean to God.  God created each of us for a purpose and as we yield to Him, He will bring us to the reality of that identity.

God has a place and a purpose for each of us in His kingdom. In order for you to know where your place is, you must discover your identity.

Your spiritual identity is not based on worldly criteria, social status, or education.  You may be very successful in a profession, but still feel something is missing if you have not discovered your spiritual identity.

Healing is essential in discovering our identity. Pain and scars from the past keep us connected to the past and distort the way we perceive ourselves and who we are to God. God speaks to our hearts, telling us who we are, but we can’t clearly hear Him until we are healed.  Pain blocks and distorts our spiritual hearing. Through the healing process we experience restoration, being restored into favor and fellowship with God.

Sin separates us; healing restores us!

In the past several years, I noticed a block in hearing the Lord, especially through dreams. At the time, I could not understand why I wasn’t hearing Him or why I felt somewhat separated from Him. But as I continue down the path of my healing, I am able to hear God speaking to my heart, speaking to me through dreams, and I feel a stronger connection to Him now than I ever have before. It was because of my sin and pain that I was disconnected from God.  Communing with the Father is opening my eyes to how He sees me and showing me who I really am.

In Jeremiah 1:5, we read that God knew Jeremiah before he was in his mother’s womb. God knows you and He is waiting on you to know yourself. He wants you to know yourself as He knows you. The prodigal son is an example of a spiritual son who finally discovered who he was. He didn’t fully embrace his position and inheritance until he went astray and was restored to his family. He had to go through the death of who he thought he was so he could experience life; and the same is true for us today. The prodigal had a ring on his finger and a robe on his back as he sat at the banquet table that was prepared for him. He heard his father say, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” Luke 15:24

How to Dwell in the Peace of God

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“I will lie down, both in peace and in sleep for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety”
-Psalm 4:8

As God’s children, we possess a powerful gift that the rest of this world is trying to obtain.  We possess peace.

We can lie down at night after a long, hard day with peace in our hearts knowing that the Lord is going to take care of everything that is troubling us. That is a wonderful gift. Most of this world longs to be rescued from the troubles of life.

Although we can’t escape every problem, as Christians, we can be assured that we serve a God who is big enough to take care of us in every way!

If you know of someone who is constantly allowing the troubles of life to burden them, pray for them. Ask them if you can help carry some of that load for them. We should all desire for others to dwell in the peace and safety that God offers. Without His peace, we are sure to give up. We need the peace of God to be able to conquer life’s difficulties.

Help for BurnOut

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Help for Burnout 

Do you feel depleted, tired and burned-out?   There are some simple strategies that can provide help for burnout.

You will benefit greatly from finding a safe place; a hidden place where you are protected from giving away your very last drop of energy. There are times when God takes us and hides us until we are restored. Really, we are only to give to others from our “over-flow”.  It is when we have not been refilled and we give to someone our very last drop that we become depleted and burnout. God did not create us to live without water. We can’t sustain more than three days without water before our body begins to shut down. Why do we think we can go for a week without spending time with God? If you are tired and depleted cry out this Psalm to God:

“Keep me as the apple of thy eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings”(Psalm 17:8).

Help for Burnout

God will hear your cry and take you up at a time when He knows you are tired and weary. If you are a person who is committed to serving others, either your family or others in ministry you will get tired from the constant demands. You need a place and time to rest, you can’t wait till everything is done. There will always be more laundry to fold and more hurting people to help.

You need a hidden place, where no one can pull you away to serve. Listen to what God spoke to Elijah, “Get the hence, and turn eastward, hide thyself by the brook Cherith…”(1Kings 17:3).

By the brook all Elijah needs were provided for. He had bread and flesh to eat in the morning and evening and water to drink out of the brook. You may need a place like Elijah had. Elijah hid in the Ravine, a place of total peace and solitude, from which the crowds are turned away. A Ravine is a place where God will feed and refresh you.  Elijah stayed in this safe place until the brook dried up. My safe place was a back yard flower garden with a swing. I would sit for hours being refreshed by the Lord. My family respected my time in the garden, they knew I was with God and so they didn’t pull on me while I was there. Find your own safe place and be refreshed.

We are like the children of Israel; we wait until everything is so bad and THEN we call out to the Lord for help. Don’t wait…call on Him today.  God always step forward to save us when we least expect it, fulfilling His most glorious promise in a supernatural way.

Feeling the exhaustion and helpless of burnout is not a pleasant thing, but… God knows our needs and will be faithful to help restore us to good health.  God will be there to offer us help for burnout!

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Come and Drink!

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“For He satisfies the longing (thirsty) soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” Psalm 107:9

Come and Drink  

One of my favorite things about where I live is that I can see the deer out in the morning and evening as they are looking for fresh water.   They remind me of that Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who are thirsty and I will give you a drink.”  Jesus is inviting us to come and drink and be restored.  He has living water that will satisfy the longing of your heart and soul.

When you spend time with Jesus and receive a drink of this living water first thing in the morning you will be full of life all day. Then when you get to the end of your day, you simply return to the fountain that never runs dry.

“As a deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul longs for you, O God” Psalm 42:1-2.

Come and DrinkNo matter where you are on the planet, this living water is available to you. Jesus says “come and drink.” The Word of God is the Living Water and as you drink, it will begin to flow into every area of your soul. Even into those dry desert areas where there has not been life in a long time. You will know when the water has reached the desert areas because all of a sudden, life will begin to appear; a new thing will begin to happen, and you will see it spring forth. Living Water produces new life!

 

God says, “Behold, (watch) I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth….I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Is 43:19

 

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