I CAN'T HANDLE IT! ... Sunday

Devotional for 10/20/13

Sometimes life becomes overwhelming.  Stressors build up, support disappears or was never there, a way out seems dim or nonexistent.  It is in times like these when we cry out, "I can't handle it anymore!"

Sometimes someone then says, "God never gives you more than you can handle."  That can feel as though the person has no idea how overwhelmed and hopeless you feel.  You feel as though your grief or struggles are negated.  It ranks right up there with "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" or "It could be worse," when all you can see is darkness.  What you want is understanding and empathy for where you are, confirmation that you are in a dire position. Perhaps you think maybe God shouldn't trust you so much to think you can handle it.

The truth is, that phrase, "God never gives us more than we can handle" isn't even in the Bible.  It has just been repeated so many times that many believe it is written there.  The closest phrase in the Bible to that is:

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

Even that can seem untrue, especially to those who deal with addictions. How can that be when we give in to temptations all the time?  After all, we are all sinful human beings.  However, addicts who go through the 12 steps start by admitting they really CAN'T handle it - on their own, that only GOD can help them and that they must turn their whole life over to Him.  But that also applies to everyone, to all of our darkest moments - that if we turn it all over to God, HE can handle it.  So I often tell those who repeat that phrase that they forgot the rest - that God never gives us more than we can handle WITH HIS HELP.  Or I like to totally rephrase it as "God never gives us more than HE can handle!"  When we do experience extreme difficulties in life, they can help us turn back to God, to trust him fully to handle it.

"... We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us..."  2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (NIV)

written by Jan Andersen

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Here is a song for today filled with hope for times of challenge,

"Overcomer" sung by Mandisa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z29olPjFbqg

Love Is Blind...Saturday

10/18/13

There are songs that say that love is blind. Some want to believe that while others say that this is pure nonsense. Why do people think that they have to prove themselves to others…to behave in such a way that others will think that they are good or even wonderful? So they work and work to prove themselves. It is an impossible thing to achieve. If they work at it they will never have success. Because they do not understand this impossibility, they are doomed to failure. They life in a frustrating world of breakdown and disappointment.

We who know and love God…who are his children by our invitation to Him to be our Father…are blessed. We work to be our best because we love Him. It is not because we feel we need to win Him or earn His love. How wonderful to know that God loves us with an Agape love. That kind of love is pure and without requirements of behavior. It is defined as a love that is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible. This Greek word and variations of it are found throughout the New Testament. Agape perfectly describes the kind of love Jesus Christ has for his Father and for his followers:

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.

The one who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I too will love them and show myself to them.

John 14:21

Now I am not saying it is a free ride no matter how badly we behave. What it is, however, is equivalent to the phrase. “Love is blind.” God loves us without requirements or expectation. I am not saying that there are not consequences to unacceptable choices and actions. What I am saying is that God will work with any choice and turn it for good. His patience is beyond our understanding. His love is beyond our understanding. Everything about Him is beyond our understanding. That is why we need faith. We need to believe that God loves us, that this is agape love that He constantly has our best in His intentions.

WHY IS IT THAT WE CANNOT BELIEVE IT AND UNDERSTAND IT?

Heavenly Father, I ask you to help people to believe that you love them unconditionally. Help them to know that they do not have to earn your love. When they became one of your children with the prayer of salvation they fell under your perfect umbrella of Agape love. Thank you Lord…..Amen.

Written by Corinne Mustafa



LIVE BY FAITH...Friday

10/18/13

"But my righteous one will live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38a

     Many people will try anything in life to help them with problems, health issues, financial setbacks, or any other challenges they face.  There is a plethora of self-help books out there on any topic.  They all sell well -- don't know if they are helpful or not.

The Christian, however, lives a life of faith.  Faith is the reality by which we know God.  The world must see first before it will believe anything.  The person who has faith, sees an "unseen" reality and knows that they can trust God without actually seeing first.

     
    Answered prayer comes when believing what is not seen already exists and is on its way.  Since God is not confined to present time, He already is in the future working out His plans.  We must wait until we get to that moment in time when faith becomes sight.

     The person who doesn't believe in God thinks this is foolishness.  The person who has a trusting relationship with God knows it is the only way to live.  This takes the burden of worry and uncertainty off of the believer's shoulders and puts it into the hands of God.  He is our Father.  He gives good gifts to His children, bears our burdens for us, forgives our sins, and loves us with an everlasting love.

     Living by faith allows the believer to live in joy and confidence that no matter what, God is there for them.  That sure beats facing the uncertainties of life alone.

Written by

Carol Steficek

Lyrical Devotional...Thursday

Good Morning Sweet Women of God,

So I have been praying about this devotional and the only thing that keeps coming to me is the lyrics to a song.  Can not get past it so this devotional is lyrics from the song

"Always Forever"
by Phil Wickham

You are the hand that catches my fall
You are the Friend that answers my call

You are my day
You are my night
You are my love and all of my life

You are the love I need
You are the air I breath
You are my love my life

Always forever
Always forever




You are the Grace that covers my sin
You're everything the beginning and end
You have my love and all of my life

You are the love I need
You are the air I breath
You are my love my life

Always forever

Blessings,
Kathryn Hanson

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Here is the link to listen to this song on You Tube....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_C5_crIwps&feature=player_embedded

“Nothing Shall Hurt You"...Wednesday

10 16 13 

Sometimes I think of the Lord as my "strong security blanket." He is always there to protect us and watch over us. Unfortunately we do have an enemy, and that is satan. His job is to bring us down and harm us in any way he can. But the good news is that God has made a way to counteract the attacks of the enemy on us.

He tells us in His word in Luke 10:19 

"Behold, "I give you the authority to trample 

on serpents and scorpions,

 and over all the power of the enemy, 

and nothing by any means shall hurt you."

Now we know that our God is a God that does not lie. If He says it, He most definitely will follow through on it. We can totally take God at His word.

Jesus has given us authority over satan and all his cohorts, as we pray in the name of Jesus. We have Jesus living in us and so we walk in His power and authority every day. We just have to operate in it. We have to live it and believe it and speak it!

When the enemy is harrassing us in any way, we can rise up and trample upon those serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and remind them they have no hold on us. The Lord Jesus will see to it that nothing by any means shall hurt us!

The ultimate is that we give our God Almighty all the glory and honor He so richly deserves. He reigns over all!! 

In His All Consuming Love, 

Sandy Billingham

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Here us the song for Wednesday.

The Name of the Lord is A Strong Tower

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9J6tyug0X8#t=24

A Love Story...Tuesday

10/15/13

Beth answered the phone even though she didn't recognize the number on her caller id. A serious voiced man asked her if she was the "Beth" he was looking for? Surprised, she asked him who he was and what did he want? He then introduced himself as a private investigator. He was calling Beth because her son had hired him to find her. 

She was stunned. Joy flooded through her. She had nurtured her son for nine months in the womb then lovingly released him into the hands of a family who would love and nurture him for the rest of his life. Now he wanted to meet her.

When they spoke on the phone Beth felt an immediate connection.  When it was time to meet face to face, her son graciously provided an all expenses paid trip for her to visit him.  His family was very happy to spend time with her. Before Beth left, her son's mom reached out to touch Beth's arm and thank her for giving her son to them. 

Friends and family rejoiced with Beth. Her son had been 'lost' to her, but now she was 'found."  

As I wipe tears of joy off my face, my heart is full as I recognize that my friend's real-life story is also our real-life story!

We are lost. 

For everyone has sinned, 

we all fall short of God's glorious standard. 

Romans 3:23 TLB

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth 

to seek and save the lost. 

For the Son of Man has come to seek 

and to save that which was lost.  

Luke 19:10 NASB

The Son of God paid the price for our sinfulness by His death on the cross, and His sacrifice built a bridge to God, the only way we can cross it is to accept what Christ has done, believe He is The way, the Truth, and the Life, and confess our sins, which is to ask for forgiveness of our sins. 

For God loved the world so much that he 

gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him 

shall not perish but have eternal life. 

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, 

but to save it. 

John 3:16-17 TLB

The Son searches and finds a lost soul, and asks her to leave her old life, and He will give her a new life. Then He brings the good news to the Father, “I found her!” 

There is joy in the
 presence of the angels of God 

over one sinner who repents. 

Luke 15:10 NASB 

We were lost, and now we are found. The Son is preparing a place for his beloved ones
and when it is ready, he’ll come for us, never to be separated again!  

“In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; 

if it were not so, I would have told you; 

for I go to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, 

I will come again, and receive you to Myself; t

hat where I am, there you may be also.” 

John 14:2-3 NASB

God loves us! Alleluia! Amen!

Written by Sandy Schott
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Click here to hear Twila Paris sing about how
when we choose to accept God's love for us,
we are "Placed in a Family of Love":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zthLktcgiys

Fishing in Frustration....Monday

I think earthworms are fascinating to watch in the garden; or in a student's "worm farm" assembled for a science project. But don't pass me a coffee can of worms and suggest I bait a hook. Not happening! Even if a loyal fisherman baits my hook for me, I keep that end of the fishing pole far away from me; and not just for safety reasons.

That's probably enough information for you to figure out that for the most part "I don't fish." But I heard a message this weekend that made me realize that we are all fishermen. Stay with me for a minute, and see if you agree.

When Christ was crucified on the cross the disciples were an emotional and spiritual mess. Everything they had come to believe as true, and right, and part of God's plan, now appeared to have ended in the worst way possible. I can imagine how crushed in spirit, and downhearted they were feeling. Peter, the impulsive and passionate disciple, was facing his own failure as a follower of Christ. He had, as Jesus said he would, denied Christ 3 times in one night after emphatically protesting that he would never do such a thing.

So, when everything Peter has believed in has come crashing down around him, and there is no light visible at the end of his tunnel of failure, he decides to go back to the only thing he knows how to do. Fish. Jesus had called Peter to "Come, Follow Me" at the edge of the Sea of Galilee (see Matthew 4:18-20). Now that Peter had failed at following Jesus, he decided to go back to his old life. He announced his intention of going fishing and some of the other disciples chose to join him. They fished all night. They caught nothing. They were fishing in frustration.

When I have faced set backs, betrayal, rejection, and more often, my own failure, I have wondered if I had really heard from God. Was I even doing the thing I was supposed to be doing? Because, surely, if I had followed God's plan, I wouldn't be facing these circumstances or a dark tunnel of failure. So, to boost up my own self-esteem, and to pull myself up by my bootstraps; I have gone back to doing something, anything, that I know I can do. That activity, project, or relationship, where I am reasonably assured of having success. That's when I realized that I was just like Peter.


Now, back to Peter's experience. In the early hours, Jesus appears on the shore line and calls out to them asking if they have caught any fish. They answer "no"; not knowing who is on the shore. The Man on the shore suggests they throw their net on the other side of their boat. I suspect these "fishermen" didn't appreciate his advice, they had been professional fishermen, after all. But they do, and the net is so full they can barely hold onto it and haul it to the shore. It is John who recognizes that it is Jesus who is waiting for them.

Impulsively, Peter jumps out of the boat and into the water and heads to Jesus, he is so impatient. I imagine a mixture of relief at seeing Jesus, joy that He is somehow alive, and shame of his own actions are flooding through Peter as he rushes to Him. Then, instead of rejection or judgment, Jesus has a fire, fish, and forgiveness waiting for Peter (see John 21:15-19).

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”

He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep."

John 21:17 NIV

The next time I realize I have fallen back into old habits and ways I will stop and carefully review what I might be reacting to in my circumstances. I will ask God to show me my true intentions and the attitudes in my heart. Because until I let God do things His way in my life, my heart, and my mind, everything I do, every effort I make, will just be me fishing in frustration.

Dear Lord, thank You Lord for knowing me better than I know myself. Thank You for assuring me that You know that I love You but that the lessons (circumstances) in my life are to help me to see and recognize when I am sitting in the boat of my old life. Please give me the faith and courage to follow Peter's example, to jump out of the boat of familiarity, and use all of my strength to follow You. In Jesus name, amen.

Click here to hear Tenth Avenue North perform the encouraging song "You are More":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwtcwQwgdsA

Written by Mary M. Wilkins