"The Battle Is The Lords"...Wednesday

11/20/13

I have always been encouraged by the passage of 2 Chronicles 20:15...

"And he said, 

"Listen, all you of Judah and 

you inhabitants of Jerusalem, 

and you, King Jehoshaphat! 

Thus says the Lord to you: 

"Do not be afraid nor dismayed 

because of this great multitude, 

for the battle is not yours, 

but God's."

The people of Judah faced a huge battle before them and they knew there was no possible way they could win this battle on their own. They were instructed that they will not need to fight in this battle but to position themselves, to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who was with them.

Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord and worshiped Him with all their hearts. As they worshiped the Lord, He saw to it that their enemies were wiped out.

Whatever battle you may be facing today, be assured the Lord is with you! Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord and know the Lord will bring you sweet victory as He fights that battle for you!

In His Sweet Victory, 

Sandy Billingham

Here is a song about how the battle belongs to God.

A Difficult Place....Tuesday

"Please tell me he still loves me." The text on her phone spoke volumes. JoAnn wished it didn't mean anything, but her son had surprised them with an early morning visit to announce his plan to divorce.

Hanging his head as he poured out his heart, he pulled back the curtain on his private life. JoAnn's heart broke as she asked a few questions, trying not to pry while seeking to understand.

Looking at the bright blue sky on her way to church, JoAnn smiled a little to herself. She considered the irony that bad things often happen on beautiful days. Her son and daughter-in-law looked fine on the outside-but behind the scenes their marriage was full of pain and struggle.

JoAnn would not allow herself to be drawn into their struggle. It was tempting to try to help them understand each other. But she knew they needed to be honest with each other, instead of being honest with her, and hoping she would explain their perspective to the other one.

What she would do is be there with love and compassion for each of them. Sitting in her car in the church parking lot, JoAnn grabbed her phone, scrolled to her daughter in law's name, typed "I love you" and hit send.

Don’t fret or worry.

Instead of worrying, pray.

Let petitions and praises

shape your worries into prayers,

letting God know your concerns.

Before you know it,

a sense of God’s wholeness,

everything coming together for good,

will come and settle you down.

 It’s wonderful what happens

 when Christ displaces worry

 at the center of your life.

 Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

Dear Lord, thank You for showing us how to love others with grace and understanding. Please fill us with so much of Your love, that it flows out of our eyes and mouths. Please Lord, cleanse our hearts of self-righteousness, pride, and every wrong thing. So then we may succeed at expressing Your compassion to every hurting soul with wisdom and grace. Please Lord, we cannot do this work in ourselves, we need You. In Jesus name, amen.

Tenth Avenue North's song "Worn": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5AR5b8E0xU

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

Wedding Daybreak...

 

The sun stretches her shiny arm-like rays

As she rises from her nocturnal divan
behind the eastern hills

Not intense yet as clouds of sleep
Still shroud the luster of her arrival 

To launch another nuptial day.

Like a bride she peeks out
from behind a wedding veil of foggy lace 

Still dimming the blaze to come

As she slowly opens her amber cyclopean eye.

It is a day for glory this

And nothing will be able to hold her back

As she blesses the waiting world below

Bringing her Master’s warmth and life

Carrying His devotion and protection

To all who wake to greet 

Her golden, glowing arrival.

They bask in the radiance of her wakeup call

But only few can see or even understand

The intensity of protection and provision

The delivery of His gift of affection brings.

Few ponder a sunrise and comprehend

Even fewer still appreciate or recognize

That the incredible splendor of this gift

She delivers for Him each day

Is the radiance of the our Groom’s good morning kiss.

(C)Corinne Mustafa

Because God has created in such a way that the sun rises and sets each day, we can see a reflection of the life cycle of a person in it. A person is born in the morning, and enjoys her first sight of the things of earth. Her mother's face...her father's loving touch...the feelings of safety that are found from the rituals of time as it spreads out.

Every morning the day dawns. Whether sunny, cloudy. or rainy, whether the sun can actually be seen in a blue sky or hidden behind clouds, the sun is there giving life and warmth from her heated furnace. I had the vision of the sun as a messenger from God who greets us daily like a groom and brings the warmth of His love to His bride. It is likened to a wedding day when the groom sends love and messages to his beloved to rise and shine just as the sun has already done. He sends a kiss of love and warmth to welcome us to our day which blesses us throughout the day.

We should try to hang on to our groom's gift all day and let it direct our passage through that time which is filled with His warmth. Thank you, God.

Written by 

Corinne Mustafa 

Here is a morning song for you to enjoy...

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES... Sunday

devotional for 11/17/13

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  
                         Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)

Really God?  I know that you can do that, because you are perfect - you are able to love the unlovable.   But me?  How can I possibly love my enemies?  I am far from perfect.  It is hard enough sometimes to love those close to me, especially when they say or do things that hurt me.  Sometimes it is easier to love those I don't even know!  I see a picture of a hurting child and my eyes well up with tears.  I hear about an animal that has been beaten and abandoned and my heart aches.  I read about someone who has been abused and my soul cries out.  And I don't even know them!

But my enemies and persecutors? How could you ask me to do that?  How can I possibly LOVE them?  How could I ever love THEM, of all people?  

Once again, God, you give me the answer in your Word, right in the same sentence, "pray for those..."  And I know that prayer should be more than, "God help them - they sure need it!"  You give me the perfect example in your Son who prayed, even as he hung on the cross, that you forgive those who put him there, for they did not know what they were doing.  That shows perfect understanding and concern for those who persecuted him to the ultimate degree - death.  As soon as I start to truly pray for my enemies, my restless mind quiets and takes notice.  If I not only pray that YOU forgive them, but that you help ME to forgive them, my heart softens.  If that prayer is honest and not just cursory, I can pray that you also bless them.  If I can pray that you shower them with every blessing with which I would want to be blessed and more, I find my attitude changing. A whole new perspective can take over.  Love for the person can actually take hold, even if I never love or accept what they have done as being OK.  I can see that is what you have done for me - loved me in spite of the errors of my ways!  Thank you for loving me and helping me to love others.

written by Jan Andersen

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Here is a song to sing about a heart that forgives....

YOUR NAME...Saturday

11/16/13

"I will not forget you! 

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." 

Isaiah 49:15b, 16a

     Think about your name for a minute.  It really is the essence of who you are.  Your parents thought about it for a while before you were born and named you what they did for a reason -- a family name, or they just liked it, something more unusual, whatever.  When people say your name they know something about who you are and what you stand for, maybe your likes and dislikes, what motivates you, and other attributes.

     Think about the above Bible passage.  It reveals an amazing truth.  Not only does God know each of us by name, but He thinks you are so important to not forget that He has engraved you on the palms of His almighty hands.  Wow!

     Think about how important your name is and how you should live to honor it.  Once you do something on earth to sully your reputation, you can never get your good name back.

     Think about the fact that you and I are sinners, alienated from God, and yet He knows our names and will not forget us.  Jesus Christ is the proof positive of this.  He died for our sins and rose from the dead to ascend to heaven to prepare a place for us.  If we believe in Him we are clothed in His righteousness.  Now God the Father has us forever in His hands.  God knows your name.

Written by 

Carol Steficek

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Here is a song for today about the greatest name there is, "Your Name"

My Bible...Friday

11/15/13

I am so blessed to have made such a wonderful investment in the purchase of my Bible.  I go to it in times of sorrow, joy, fear, frustration, love, gratitude, discouragement, etc.  Between the covers of this most amazing book I find answers to all the struggles that present themselves in my life.  I also have a traveling Bible that I keep at work, as suggested by a sister in Christ, after having a meltdown at Bible Study when I shared about my work situation.

I am currently in a position that challenges me every single day.  Part of it is me just feeling stuck, the other part of the battle is the office dynamics and personalities.   It is a small office and it is nearly impossible to have privacy during these eight hour days.  So, with that I carry around a miserable existence at work.

Being the stubborn Irish girl that I can be at times, I forget that I don't have the solution to my problem.  So basically, I have not been living my life, I have been going through the motions of living, feeling sorry for myself, thinking that I will just be unhappy for the rest of my working years. I have pretty much given up on myself.  I can only see myself working in a position of passionless blah forever!  Suddenly, one day I pull myself out of the pity party long enough to realized that I need to listen to God, to turn my life over to God, to read His word.  In doing so, the Lord put my hands on these scriptures:

8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.  

Galatians 6:8-10

New International Version (NIV)

Isn't it glorious that God never gives up on me, even when I forget to turn to Him and His word?  At the same time, I can't give up on myself.  I need to follow His guidance, listen, read, pray, work on myself to reach the place that the Lord wants me to be.  He wants me to be happy, to live a life filled with passion in all that I do, during work and play!  These scriptures in Galatians also remind me that I must be a witness to these unbelievers.  I must continue to pray for them, as one of my biggest issues is seeing the fakeness, gossip and behind the back talking amongst some people.

I love how my days are so much better now that I am walking as I should be.  My work days are positive and productive.  Oh yes, still a challenge at times, but I have the power, now that I remember AND know that the Lord's got my back, to move onward and upward to find my endless supply of opportunities and allow myself to live a life passionately fulfilling for the Lord and myself.  In doing so there is a daily smile on my face and a sparkle in my eye.

My life can be so much more peaceful when I open my eyes and heart to the word of the Lord.  I am so very grateful AND so very blessed!

"And my God will meet all your needs 

according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 4:19

New International Version (NIV)

Amen.

Written by 

Kelly Dobyns

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Here is a song for today...it is "Don't Give Up" by Shawn McDonald

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJijJPy3rlE&feature=em-share_video_user

Water Baptism...Thursday

11/14/13

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, 

that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4

Water baptism is one of the most beautiful outward appearances of our saying yes to our precious Jesus.  Just recently I had the honor of being part of such a time of celebration.  A celebration of leaving the old behind and stepping into the new.  I saw the power of our living God come alive in the house of the Lord as each person was brought up out of the water.  Brothers and sisters in Christ erupted into joyous shouts of victory.  

It was like Springtime as the earth comes alive after lying dormant.  I saw heaven come to earth.  It reminded me of when Jesus was coming up out of the water, heaven was opened, and the Spirit was descending like a dove. The voice of God said, "This is my beloved Son whom I love."  

We are his beloved sons and daughters whom he loves.  The awesome significance is that it symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ in our identification with him.

Written by 
Kathryn Hanson

Here is a song that is very sweet and tells of the actual event of the Baptism of Jesus.

It also includes a song about the time when Jesus walked on water

Here is a song for today telling about Baptism in our lives...