I adore, and am amazed by, the perfect way my Savior loves me. There is never one thing in my life that He cannot take and make better, if only I would trust Him in the process. A wonderful friend of mine once told me, " Dont try and out-think God!" This was very wise advice.  Romans 8:28 should always give a child of God peace...He has a plan -and it's a good one!!

At All Times

I love how the Lord speaks to our hearts in the sweetness of so many different ways. Today as I was reading Jesus Calling by Sara Young, I was reminded that when my eyes are fixed on Christ, then He will certainly keep me in His perfect peace. My Father went on to bless me even more when He reinforced this truth as I picked up my second reading for the day and  read, "the pathway to peace is marked with faith and trust in Jesus Christ (Words of Jesus for Women.) In a time in my life when I am uncertain of where He is taking me, it is a good thing to know that I can "trust Him in ALL times." (Ps. 62:8a)

Willow, Faithful Friend

 Ever since my childhood days, willow trees have been my favorite of the deciduous tools that hold the power to transport you to another world; and as a child, that was the only thing I had wanted to do – escape. So, years later, when I found myself living on property that housed one of these precious creations of God, I was ecstatic. Many times I have spread a blanket out under her long and flowing limbs as they cradled my spirit within their warm embrace. My willow tree’s tears would softly fall around me, bathing me in her peaceful protection. As I would settle onto her strong lap and lean against her sturdy trunk, it felt as if the arms of God held me tight – encouraging me to dream. 

Willow’s long and weepy branches held wealth enough to buy me a first-class passage back to my childhood days, where adventures and dreams were as free as the air we breathe and imaginations were Mary-Poppins-worthy.   The 180-degree circle of her graceful limbs sprouted green and yellow buds that were reminiscent of the bright beads on a necklace, perhaps like those from the transcendental era of hippies and free-love.  Their magical potential to invoke dreams of other worlds and distant lands appealed to my inner lass, who had long been forgotten and lost among grown-up responsibilities and daily to-do lists.
 
When life barrels by us like a freight train carrying important cargo, I find myself wanting to escape, as I did when I was a naive little girl so full of hope. Willow never disappoints that little girl tucked away inside this adult woman of God.  She has always allowed me freedom of expression – to cry, to laugh, to be angry, to be loud, and, to even be quiet.  She is a faithful friend and sweet generator of dreams.  When the wind is blowing a breeze through her wafting branches, I feel safe and full of hope again, and isn't that what being a good friend is really all about anyway?! 

"The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about...and ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees...and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God..." (Job 40:22, Lev. 23:40a,b )

Enlarge Thy Tent!

For years now I have dreamed of having a home where the kids could play and make lots of great memories, but this verse spoke to me tonite as I was driving from my new home back to my apartment.

"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes..."

God has provided me the opportunity to enlarge, stretch, lengthen and strengthen, not only my physical address, but my spiritual self as well. He desires for us to be willing to face challenges in our walk with Him, go outside of our comfort zones to share all that love He has so freely given.

So, when I read, "fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more," I began to realize this new home wasn't just about needing more room, or having a closer residence to college, it was a new beginning for me. Once more I found myself crying with such thankfulness that He loves me so!

Once upon a time I was lost and undone, but "with great mercies" He has gathered me and, in His righteousness He has established me so that oppression and fear have no dominion over me. To know that He has promised me that no weapon that is formed against me shall prosper, and that this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, encourages me with such hope!!

The call He has placed on my life is to serve Him by loving others. So, as I begin the process of moving into my home this weekend, it is my earnest prayer that His welcoming presence and love always be felt by those who come to visit me. I have truly been blessed !!

(Scriptures taken from Isaiah 54:2,4,6-7,14,17)

Warranties and the Word

Today I called upon my friends, once more, to pray over a vehicle situation - mine is broke. However, what's amazing is that God already had a plan. A plan to put things in perspective for me, using a lost warranty paper. You see, in order for me to be able to afford get my transmission fixed, I had to show my paperwork for the warranty I have on my used car (which was my second blessing 5 months ago when my first blessing bought me the car -yes, you read that right, someone bought me a car, said God laid me on his heart.)

Ok, so, yes, I have much to be thankful for, yet when I couldn't find my warranty last night,  what did I do? Fill up with calmness and serenity, oh you jest! No, it took me a few minutes, well, hours, to find peace. I started praying as I looked through folders, Bibles, purses, drawers, glove boxes and trash, finally I literally had this conversation with my Father, "Lord, I'm sorry I'm scatterbrained, but, you know all about that don't you,  cause you made my brain." Then, I chuckled and went on to bed.

 When I started thinking about taking my car to the mechanic this morning, all I could do was call upon my blessed prayer warrior friends to pray for me and my predicament, and bless their little loving hearts, that's what they did. One friend said, "Keep looking for that warranty, I'm praying," another replied, "Praying, right now, love you," and another, "oh no, I'm praying right now," and "I'm praying specifically for you to find that warranty, keep looking," and yet even more texts came in affirming that they were praying and that they loved me.

 Well, now, let me tell you what God did for His scatterbrained daughter. He cleared the clutter from my mind as soon as I refocused on Him. All those loving and faith-filled prayers began cleansing my heart and mind of the fear that had began to creep in. When I began thanking Him for all He had done for me, where He had brought me from and for providing for me all these years, a moment of clarity came - look behind the contract you signed when you bought your car, it might be that that's the warranty and not just the contract. And folks,  guess what - voila, there it was, the warranty paper!! I had pulled those two papers from my Dad's Bible the first thing. I was in awe of God, and laughing at myself. He used that to teach me a very fundamental truth, you can search and search in all the places you think will get you what you need, but the only place you will find peace is in Him, so look there first, and always trust that His word is where it's at!!

"As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him." 2nd Samuel 22:31 

Joy Does Come...

When Habakkuk spoke of discouragement, he said,

" Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls... (these were bleak times, people)

He went on to say this...

YET I WILL rejoice in the Lord , I WILL joy in the God of my salvation.  The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."

He trusted in God to bring a sure victory, in spite of what his circumstances were.

 Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, knew the agony of dark times. When He prayed until his sweat was great drops of blood, he begged for the cup of Calvary to pass him by, yet, He knew His desire was to do the Father's will, so He said, "thy will be done."

When we are being covered in what seems to be mountains of discouragement, it isn't the easiest thing to just stop and affirm our trust in Him, it should be, but it's not. For me, I'm beginning to learn that the reason this sad weakness of mine is so true is because it's not Him I don't trust, it's my own faith and courage that I doubt. You see, I take my focus off of His power and place it on everything and everyone around me - that is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.
When we face insurmountable odds, we only need take a look back at Calvary and remember joy does come in the morning!!!

Nevertheless, I will!

Luke.5.4-11
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.  And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I WILL let down the net.  And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 

 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.  For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:  And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

 Just like with the disciples, there are times in life when things don't make sense, and circumstances are incredibly  disheartening, so when God comes along and asks us to have faith and simply keep going, we too say, "we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing..." But, ohhh if we would only finish that  conversation with faith and say, "nevertheless at thy word, I WILL," we too can experience those moments when He steps in and performs miracles of grace that only He can. I am just like Peter when He saw the goodness of the Lord, I too feel unworthy, and He astonishes me by filling my heart with such overflowing baskets of peace and awe. Even on our darkest day, the choice to follow His will is the best decision we could ever make -so keep casting your net where He tells you too, and get ready to stand in awe!

Take courage...

Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.  

Now, for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 

Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
(2 Chronicles 13:18, 15:3-4,7)

Asa, the king, took courage upon hearing those last words in verse 7. He put away those things which were taking away from God, he renewed the altar of the Lord, and readied it for the service to God. His re-dedication to God was a covenant to seek Him with all his heart and soul.

The enemy attacks, but, as God's children, we need to "take courage," and ready the altar of our hearts for humble service to our Lord. By getting rid of the things in our lives that distract us from Him and take away from His glory, we can truly begin to seek him with all our heart and soul; we will find peace through the battle, and victorious we shall be! 

seeking through remembering

Seek the Lord , and his strength: seek his face evermore.  Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;  And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:  That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord .  

Psalms 105:4-5, 43, 45

I know we all can get caught up in the daily struggles - our hurts and disappointments seem inconsolable. We cry out to God and He seems not to come as quickly to the rescue as we'd like Him too. However, if we would take just a moment to remember all the times he's delivered or blessed us, our souls would find strength to continue on. There's peace and hope in knowing we serve a God who does rescue, who does redeem, who does perform miracles, and who gives us sweet memories to call upon, if only we would.

again, and again

When the pslamist wrote,
"For thou hast delivered my soul from death..." I have to believe he knew a little something about defeat, and what it was like to see redemption bring him victory. I would say that is why he finished the verse by saying, "wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?" He knew where his strength and help was, and he claimed it, almost as if he were saying, "haven't I already seen you take care of greater battles than this little fight? Sure I have, so you got this one too.  (Psalms 56:13)
I have really been struggling lately, feeling defeated and burdened with my disobedient nature, however, I must keep looking unto Jesus, the author and FINISHER of my faith...even when I don't feel worthy to call out his name, I must. Will he not deliver me again and again? Of course he will, because He's just that merciful, and He's just that good!

What's your 'ONE' thing?

I believe what moved me the most, when I read this passage, was when the psalmist said, "One thing I desired of the Lord, that I will dwell in the house if the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty  the Lord..." - so often my 'one' thing is not what it should be. I wept this morning at that sad truth. I prayed for this to be my desire too, to serve Him daily, for Him to teach me and keep me focused on Him, "For in the midst of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion..." waiting on Him, "he shall strengthen my heart." (v. 5a, 14)

Blessins in the Lessons

I loved this devotion from Sarah Young's Jesus Calling in which I saw this,

"I shower blessings on you daily,  but sometimes you don't perceive them.  When your mind is stuck on negative focus,  you neither see me or my gifts. "

Oh how like Eve I can be sometimes (and satan knows it too.)  I end up not focusing on all the trees I can eat from, instead I find myself longing for the fruit off the one tree I can't have. Goodness how guilty I am of often being so overwhelmed with what's NOT going right,  that I miss the blessing of being joyful over all that IS going well! He showers me with lessons (I actually typed 'blessings' and my phone changed it) upon me everyday. Even in the negative there are lessons to be found therefore making them blessings. Help me keep my eyes on you Lord, always!


I will praise thee, O Lord , with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.   
                  -Psalms 9:1-2

He has a plan, hold on...

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am NOT a loner, I am blessed to give my heart to those I love, so, being single at 43 is not where I had planned on being; however, God had a different thought process. And, His ways are much higher and better than mine. Today's devotional words, and scriptures, reminded me that trying to find peace and contentment in anything or anyone other than Him is not where a joyful life is found. Everyday I pray for strength and wisdom as I walk this journey with Him, and when it gets so lonesome I am tempted to make unwise choices, I will squeeze His hand a little tighter and trust He has a plan.

Jeremiah 29

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

King James Version (KJV

Bowing Out Gracefully

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? 
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you.
 (Is. 43:19a; 2 Chronicles 20:17a)

Sometimes, no matter how hard it is, a girl just has to bow out gracefully, cut her losses, let the Lord heal her wounds and bring her peace.  Her passion and determination are admirable qualities when wisely spent, but weaknesses when foolishly spent on a battle God never intended her to fight.