My Child

My friend Debbie shared this with me and I just had to share it with you. The Bible is truly God's love letter to us. Read this and you will get a true picture of God's love for you, His child.

• You may not know Me, but I know everything about you... Psalm 139:1
• I know when you sit down and when you rise up... Psalm 139:2
• I am familiar with all your ways... Psalm 139:3
• Even the very hairs on your head are numbered... Matthew 10:29-31
• For you were made in My image... Genesis 1:27
• For in Me you live and move and have your being... Acts 17:28
• For you are My offspring... Acts 17:28
• I knew you even before you were conceived... Jeremiah 1:4-5
• I chose you when I planned creation... Ephesians 1:11-12
• You were not a mistake... all your days are written in My book... Psalm 130:15-16
• I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live... Acts 17:26
• You were fearfully and wonderfully made... Psalm 139:14
• I knit you together in your mother's womb... Psalm 139:13
• And brought you forth on the day you were born... Psalm 71:6
• I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me... John 8:41-44
• I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love... 1 John 4:16
• And it is my desire to lavish My love on you... 1 John 3:1
• Simply because you are My child and I am your Father... 1 John 3:1
• I offer you more than your earthly father ever could... Matthew 7:11
• For I am the perfect Father... Matthew 5:48
• Every good gift that you receive comes from My hand... James 1:17
• For I am your provider and I meet all of your needs... Matthew 6:31-33
• My plan for the future has always been filled with hope... Jeremiah 29:11
• Because I love you with an everlasting love... Jeremiah 31:3
• My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore... Psalm 139:17-18
• And I rejoice over you with singing... Zephaniah 3:17
• I will never stop doing good to you... Jeremiah 32:40
• For you are My treasured possession... Exodus 19:5
• I desire to establish you with all My heart and all My soul... Jeremiah 32:41
• And I want to show you great and marvelous things... Jeremiah 33:3
• If you will seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me... Deuteronomy 4:29
• Delight in Me and I will give you the desires of your heart... Psalm 37:4
• For it is I who gave you those desires... Philippians 2:13
• I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine... Ephesians 3:20
• For I am your greatest encourager... 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
• I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles... 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
• When you are broken hearted, I am close to you... Psalm 34:18
• As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to My heart... Isaiah 40:11
• One day I will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth... Revelation 21:3-4
• I am your Father, and I love you even as I love My son, Jesus... John 17:23
• For in Jesus, My love for you is revealed... John 17:26
• He is the exact representation of My being... Hebrews 1:3
• He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you... Romans 8:31
• And I tell you that I am not counting your sins..., 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
• Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled... 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
• His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you... 1 John 4:10
• I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love... Romans 8:38-39
• If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive Me... 1 John 2:23
• And nothing will ever separate you from My love again... Romans 8:38-39
• Come home and I will throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen... Luke 15:7
• I have always been your Father, and will always be Father... Ephesians 3:14-15
• My question is..., Will you be My child?... John 1:12-13
• I am waiting for you... Luke 15:11-32

Love,

Your Dad, Almighty God

If you do not know Him like I know Him. I would love to share with you how you can. Like the letter says, He's waiting.

A Roaring Lion

Image via Wikipedia

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8


Are you on your guard?

Are you prepared for battle?

If the enemy attacks you today (maybe when is a better way to say it) are you ready to defeat him?

What is your weapon of choice? When God equipped you for battle he gave you the sword of the Spirit - The Word of God. Are you ready to wield your sword?

What verses do you have in your arsenal?

Raising Grazing Sheep

Did you know there are 208 references in the Bible to the word “sheep” and 182 references to the word “lamb”. It got me thinking about what it would take to raise sheep. I'm a city girl so I have no clue. What do sheep even eat?

The general consensus on all of the websites I viewed is that, “Nutrition plays a major role in the overall productivity, health and well-being of the sheep flock.” So if you want to raise healthy, productive sheep, you need to make sure that they eat well. So will it be free grazing in green pastures, chowing down on harvested feed (hay, grain, proteins, minerals), or maybe a balanced combination?

The Bible tells us that when we trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, He becomes our Shepherd and we become His sheep. As any good shepherd would do, He provides for our every need. One way is He has given use the Bible. Matthew 4:4 says,

“But He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

The Bible (Gods’ Holy Word) has been given to us in written form for us to “freely graze”. We can open it up each and every day and feast on the instructions, correction, encouragement, praise, and love of our Shepherd. If you need a word of encouragement, open it up and graze freely. Need direction in a difficult situation, open it up and graze freely. Feeling a little beat up, open it up and experience the perfect love of God. The Shepherd has provided for your every need.

He also gives us the opportunity to be part of a flock, a group of fellow believers. Together we can eat the “harvested feed” of Preaching, Bible Study, Worship, and Teaching. The supplemental nutrients provided by this harvested feed help the sheep to grow healthy and become productive.

So my question is, where are you grazing today? Are you free grazing on His Word? Are you feeding with the flock? Eat up; the Shepherd is waiting to meet you right where you are! You can't be a healthy sheep if you don't eat. Aren't you we never have to go on a spiritual diet?

Good Shepherd, Thank you for providing me with Your Word. May I never forget to follow you into green pasture and eat until I am empty of me and filled by you.

Show Me Your Ways

Don't you just wish some days that God would come down from Heaven, sit next to you on the couch and tell you face to face exactly what He wants you to do? That's where I am today. It seems that in my life right now there are more questions than answers.

Will Randy get better? Will he be able to Pastor again? Should we sell the house? Will the house even sell in today's market? Will we get out of it what we need? Should we move closer to my job? Where will we go to church? What's best for Jonathan right now? You get the picture. Lots of questions with no clear cut answers at this point.

So what do you do when you find yourself overwhelmed by questions? How do you know the will of God? Wouldn't you know that in my daily study of "A Heart Like His", today's lesson by Beth Moore was exactly that (Don't you love that I had questions, and God started answering through His Word right away). Here is the method that she uses:

1. I acknowledge my specific need for direction. Lay it out for Him in prayer. God, what do you want me to do?
2. I continue to pray daily and study His Word.
3. I ask Him to help me recognize His answer. God answers his children through His Word and confirms His will by His Holy Spirit. As I'm reading His Word, I specifically ask God to confirm with by His Spirit what He desires me to apply to my life.
4. If I have any doubt, I ask for confirmation.

After completing my study I opened up my Praying God's Word Day By Day and found these words,

Our part is to believe God. His part is to Be God and do what is Ultimately and Eternally best.

Here is an excerpt from the prayer, "From one man You made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth. And You determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. You did this so that men would seek You and perhaps reach out for You and find You, though You are not far from each of us."

I can honestly say that I am seeking Him. I am reaching out to Him. And wouldn't you know that I am finding Him. His is not far away, He is so very near.

The 4th verse I've chosen for the LPM memorization challenge gives a clear picture of where my heart is at this time. Psalm 25:4-5.

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Though God did not physically come down and sit with me on the couch today, He has shared with me just the same. Through His Word, by His Spirit, He's confirming in my heart that He will show me what is Eternally and Ultimately best .

How can I keep from singing His praises when I feel so loved? I certainly cannot! God I love you and thank You for your extravagant love! Your faithfulness to me just blows me away!

Opinions..., Everybody has One

Opinions - everybody has one. Some when shared add value and insight to a given situation. Others can just add to the drama of an already discouraging moment. What is it that makes the difference?

David was a young shepherd boy out tending his fathers sheep in the hills surrounding Bethlehem. His father called for him to take some food to his three older brothers who were off to war with the Philistines. David left his flock with another shepherd and off he went with the grain, bread and cheese.

As he arrives at the battlefield, David hears the battle cry as the army is taking up its position for war. Goliath the Philistine champion is taunting the Israelites, defying them to take him on in a fight to the death. Winner takes all. David begins to ask around among Israels fighting warriors, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" David's older brother Eliab over hears his conversation and it is now "game on"!

28 "When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." (1 Samuel 17)

I don't know if any of you are the older sibling in your family..., but being the baby I certainly have been on the receiving end of a beat down just like this a time or two. Eliab wasted no time in sharing his opinion of his brother with the other soldiers. To him, David was shirking his responsibilities at home, meddling in his brothers business, conceited, wicked and only there to be nosey and see what was going on. Eliab's opinion of his little brother David had been made perfectly clear.

Are you listening to an Eliab today? Are you allowing someone to make you feel like you are, stupid, ugly, unworthy, not loved or _________ (you fill in the blank). Let me encourage you today to take God's Word over the opinions of others. What does the Bible say?

• "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14
• "...Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
• "But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children" Psalm 103:17
• But the woman who loves God is known by God. 1 Corinthians 8:3

God knows us! He loves us! He created us just like we are and He calls us wonderful!

Like David, we must take God's Word over the opinions of others. David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." He went out and killed that giant with one smooth stone and a sling.

Do not lose heart! Remember who you are and whose you are! You are a daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!