Author Archives: Denise Boggs

The Fullness of Time

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“To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

 
As I awoke this morning, the Lord gave me a word: “In the fullness of time.”  As I stumbled to the coffee pot, I asked the Lord to bring me revelation of that Word.  When I opened my devotional, Streams in the Desert, one of the Scripture verses for the day was in Galatians 4:4, “when the time had fully come.”  So, I knew the Lord was bringing this to my attention for a reason, for my life as well as someone who is reading this.
 
When gardening, we can watch the fullness of time come.  I know from experience that we reap a harvest of what we have sown in our garden.  In the fullness of time, or in an appointed amount of time, the seeds that have been sown will spring forth.  The fullness of time is the time of harvest.  There is an appointed amount of time according to the seed that has been sown. Ecclesiastes 3:2 says there is a time to plant and a time to harvest what was planted.
 
Think for a minute of the spiritual seeds you have planted.  I like to think of my children as my flower garden.  I love to watch them grow and bloom.  The harvest in a flower garden is the flowers.  You too may have a garden either natural or spiritual, and the only thing that is between you and your harvest, is time.  A certain amount of time has been appointed for the seeds you have planted to produce a harvest.  Harvest time is “the fullness of time.”
 
Just recently I experienced how you can know it is the fullness of time.  My husband and I have a vegetable garden.  We have enjoyed watching every stage of its growth and we are patiently waiting for the time of harvest.  The squash has produced more than enough for our family; it has been an abundant harvest.  However, the harvest of corn has been different even though they are planted side by side.  My husband saw the brown silks on the corn and knew that the fullness of time had come.  I was so excited when I saw him walking across the yard with an ear of corn in his hand. But, it was not full enough to eat.  “Can we just leave the corn on the stalk and let it grow longer until it fills out?”  I asked.  No, he explained to me that once the silk turns brown, you know it has stopped growing and it is time for harvest.
 
When we planted the seeds, it was very dry.  Someone told us if we soaked the ground every other day that it would be sufficient water.   But we have found it wasn’t enough for the corn.  If we had watered the seeds every day after they were first planted, the harvest would have been better.
 
Wow, we learned a valuable lesson about gardening and our spiritual life as well.  Freshly planted seeds require daily water; some more than others. Think about the seeds you have recently planted.  I’m not talking about corn; I am talking about spiritual seeds.  Parents, if you have recently planted seeds in your children (no matter how old they are), you may want to heed a gardener’s advice and water those seeds every day.  Pour out your love every day to water the seeds. Watch and water daily, and in the fullness of time, you will reap an abundant harvest!  If you have just harvested a blessing, send us a note; we would love to hear about your harvest.

Finding Your Purpose in Life

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 “I will cry to God Most High …who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them.” Psalm 57:2 Amp
 

If you are like many people, you may be seeking and desiring to know what your purpose is.  You may be wondering, “Why am I here?” and “What am I supposed to do with my life?”  So many times we run here and there pursuing this idea or that idea trying to discover God’s purpose for our life.
 
The verse above makes it real clear that God has established His purpose for each of us and He will bring it to pass.  All we do is continue pursuing Him.  We must stop imagining castles in the sky and pursuing our own foolish, lofty ideas so our soul can find rest and peace in the Lord.  Our purpose is to pursue God, to love Him, to worship Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.  Then our purpose will be an overflow of our relationship with Him..

How to Deal With Offenses

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“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.” Genesis 37:3-4

dealing with offensesJust like Joseph, we have all experienced relationship problems.  It is in how we process these problems that determines our peace with God. Joseph released his brothers and found forgiveness. (Gen.50:15-20)

Learning how to deal with problems and conflict in a relationship is learned in your family when you’re growing up.  A healthy family deals with problems as they arrive instead of sweeping them under the rug. When there is a problem in a healthy family, the hurtful things that are said are addressed quickly.  These hurtful things are not just overlooked, but addressed so forgiveness can occur.

When hurtful words or actions are not dealt with, the pain gets buried. Usually buried pain does not surface for many years.  A person who can face a situation and deal with it quickly will be much healthier than a person who does not know how to deal with problems properly.  Life is full of relationship problems, and relationship problems are full of pain; it’s all in how you deal with it that determines your quality of life.  It is possible for a person who has had a life of hardship and suffering to still enjoy a life of peace and joy if they deal with the pain as they go.

If you had a hurtful situation that was never dealt with, the pain may still be affecting your life today. You may be in much need of healing and not even realize it.  The sad thing is everyone around you knows it when they see you in an emotional roller-coaster with sudden outbursts of anger.  Anger is an outward indicator of a serious lingering heart pain.  Anger will usually surround a hidden pocket of pain that needs to be healed.

The Psalmist David knew that when he sinned, it was his heart that needed healing. He said,

Lord be merciful to me, heal my inner self (heart), for I have sinned against you.” Psalm 41:4 Amp

We don’t hesitate to see a doctor when we have chest pain, but never give it a thought when we explode at the least little thing, like when a Dad yells at the kids when they leave their skateboard in the driveway, or when Mom screams when someone leaves clothes on the floor.

“God knows the secrets of the heart” (Psalms 44:21)

He knows what we have released and forgiven, and what we are still holding on to.  It is those things we are still holding on to that causes the anger.

Time Alone With God

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The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor;  he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,  to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3

Time with GodTime alone with God has a divine purpose.

We set time aside for hair appointments, doctor and dentist appointments and they seem so important that we schedule them even months in advance.  However, time alone with God is where the real change takes place.

During our time alone with God, we are forgiven, released, refreshed, and renewed.  In the presence of God, we are healed, encouraged, restored and transformed.  A divine exchange takes place: beauty is given for ashes, strength for weakness and joy for mourning.  This divine exchange can only happen as you commit to spend time alone with God.

Hold-on To Your Gifts

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GiftsCelebrate God’s gifts everyday and you will always have them.

God’s gift, Jesus Christ was the greatest gift that was ever given.  If you were living during the special time in history and observed the humble birth of our Lord, would you have overlooked this wonderful gift?

Think about it – the only ones recorded who recognized, and cherished the gift were Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and the shepherds.  But, there were many people living in that day who passed right by and never recognized Jesus as a gift.

Look all around you.  Are you overlooking some of God’s precious gifts?  Are you celebrating and thanking Him for your children, your husband, or your wife and others in your family?  Let us not get so busy that we pass right by a gift and fail to thank God.

Those we fail to celebrate we begin to just tolerate and those we just tolerate soon fade away.  You must hold on to the gifts God has given you by being thankful for them.  Those we are thankful for – we will cherish and hold them carefully in our heart.

Pray this prayer: “Lord, open my eyes so I can see Your gifts all around me.”

Expect to See The Impossible

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 “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

We read of the children of Israel in Psalm 106:12, “Then they believed His promises and sang his praise.”  Unfortunately, they did not believe until after they saw Him work in their situation.  They were in doubt when they came to the Red Sea, but when He opened the way and led them across safely and Pharaoh and his army drowned–“then they believed.”  They continued to live this kind of seeing-is-believing, up-and-down existence, because their faith was dependent on their circumstances.

This is certainly not the kind of faith God wants us to have today.  Faith is believing what you do not yet see.  God wants us to believe first, so that then we can see.  The psalmist said, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
 
Do you believe God only when your circumstances are favorable?   Faith is believing God will intervene in your situation, even when things look impossible.  The reward for this kind of faith is: what was impossible will be possible. When we come to the point that we believe in God’s goodness, we will no longer be pulled into despair.  We will live above our circumstances in every aspect of life: finances, relationships, or sickness.

Your Burdens Roll Away

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“Commit your ways to the Lord (roll and repose each care of your load on Him); trust (lean on, rely on and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.”  Psalm 37:5 Amp

You have probably found, as I have, that every problem has a weight to it, and some are heavier than others.  If you have committed your ways unto the Lord and are trusting in Him to work things out, then you must release the heavy weight and not take it back again.
 
Do not worry about it; trust Him.  This does not mean you are not involved or concerned about the situation.  It simply means you are not anxious or worried about it anymore.  And most of all, it is not up to you to fix it.
 
You are now trusting in the Lord and waiting on Him to work everything out for good.  Waiting is hard, but you can trust God to be faithful to His Word.  Grab hold of His promise and then wait.  It is hard to wait at first, but the more you resist taking things back into your own hands and working them out yourself, the easier waiting becomes.  So today, if your problem feels heavy, just pray and release it to the Lord.  Roll it over and reposition the weight on Him, and He will carry it for you.  All you need to do now is stand back and watch as He works everything out according to His plan and purpose.
 
Be aware that if you have never lived life without a weight on your back, it may feel funny at first.   If so, resist taking the weight back again. Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in (lean on, rely on and be confident) in the Lord and do good, so shall you dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness, and surely be fed.”   This tells me we are not to worry, because He will provide for all our needs.  We are to feed on His faithfulness, and He has a banquet table prepared for us.

What is Perfect Love?

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“Perfect love casts out all fear, for fear hath torment. And he that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:18

Perfect LoveWe are born with a need for love and fear is waiting at the door when we don’t receive it.  The first time we are touched and held as an infant, the need for love is met, but only for a moment.  As an infant, the ability to hold on to love has not been established.  The ability to hold on when someone says they are holding you is what we call “trust”.

Just as a baby will continue to cry until he/she learns how to trust, we as adults will continue to cry and complain until we mature and learn to trust God completely.

We first learn to trust through loving, nurturing parents.  We learn that we can trust them to return, even when they are away for a day.  Once trust has been established, they can be away for longer periods of time and we still feel secure and loved.  Their continual flow of love keeps our hearts soft.  A lack of love due to neglect, rejection or abuse is painful and causes emotions to shut down, so the heart begins to harden.

Each time pain is felt, a stone is formed in the heart.  After a period of time, the stones form a wall around the heart for protection against further pain.  A person with a stony heart has a difficult time receiving love from God or others.  The very thing that is needed is blocked out.

We all have areas of our heart that are stony due to the fact that we all have been hurt when love did not flow properly from our parents.  They could only give what they received from their parents.  You cannot drink water from an empty cup.

Women, did you have long periods of time when your father wasn’t in your life?  You may have built a wall around your heart making it difficult to trust and receive love from your husband.  Men, did you have a long period of time when you were not receiving nurturing from your mother?  You may experience difficulty trusting and receiving love from your wife.

Ask God for His perfect love to fill you; for God is the only one who has perfect love, (I John 4:18).

Imperfect love hurts; perfect love heals.

Written by Denise Boggs.

Our Greatest Need

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“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believed in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Our greatest need is love, and the greatest gift is love.   Everyone in the entire world needs the gift of love, but it is not the world’s kind of love- it is God’s kind of love!

God’s love is unconditional, which means we do not have to do anything to earn it or deserve it.  We just receive it.  Love that must be earned is conditional love.  When certain conditions or requirements must be met for love to be expressed, it is harmful and the relationship will not grow.

People who have never received the gift of unconditional love have come to believe they must work hard to earn it.  Their life is full of striving, trying to be good enough or do enough just to be loved and accepted.  They become people-pleasers, and everything they do is out of a need to feel loved, even if it is only a drop.

This is not God’s plan for your life.

Spend time with Him daily, waiting before Him until you feel saturated with His presence and filled with His love.  As you begin to sense His Love, you will feel compelled to share it with others.

Our greatest need is love, and God has provided for our need.

Written by Denise Boggs.

The Lord is My Refuge

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But let all those who who take refuge and put their trust in you rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy…   Psalm 5:11

Lord is my refuge

God designed us with feelings to be able to monitor our environment.  He also gives us the wisdom to learn from our mistakes and failures.  This wisdom can be used alongside our feelings so that we will not get trapped in unhealthy relationships or stay in dangerous or unsafe places.

When we take refuge in the Lord and trust in Him, He will direct us to a safe place, and we will know it is the right place by a sense of His love and peace.

We can live a life of trusting in the Lord and living in purpose instead of need.  When we turn our lives over to Him, He knows our needs;  He is the Good Shepherd who will guide us to green pastures or a place of safety where all our needs are met.

God wants you to dwell in His love in a safe environment where love is flowing.  God is love, and if He is present in a person’s life, love will flow from them.  Out of an unmet need for acceptance, many times we will choose to remain in unsafe places just to get one trickle of acceptance, while all the other more-important needs are overlooked.

Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord, is your provider.  He will provide everything you have need of if you will trust Him.  If you are in harms way, don’t remain in unsafe places but rather take refuge in the Lord, under the shelter of His protection.

In Psalm 5:11, David asks God for joyful and high spirits to be given to all those who love the name of the Lord and put their trust in His Name.  We must not give up or give in and fall into the trap of self-pity.  If you find that you have fallen into this trap, you can get out quickly by repenting for not trusting in the Lord.   Then begin praising the Name of the Lord. The songs of praise will precede your victory.

Written by Denise Boggs.