Beyond Ourselves
When You’re Teetering
Have you ever been weak and felt like you were teetering when it came to temptation? I have. What’s especially troubling is sometimes I haven’t even recognized I was in the midst of a temptation. It could be more than disheartening if we didn’t have the full assurance that God won’t turn loose of us and not only that, He defends us. In Isaiah 37:35, God says,
I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.
The word “defend” means “cover and surround.”* In Psalm 27:1, David said,
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?
The word “defense” means a fortified place, rock, strength, a place of safety. These verses assure us that nothing can defeat us when we look to God as our defense and defender. Rather than fear that we’ll fall when tempted, we can fall to our knees and praise our defender.
Heavenly Father, thank You that we can look to You and be fully assured that You are our defense and strength. We love You.
*http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1598&t=NASB
If You’re Wondering What to Do About Something
Are you at your wit’s end? Do you need someone to talk to who can help you sort out your concerns, problems, and worries? God understands. Our Heavenly Father is the original COUNSELOR. Isaiah 9:6 says that not only is He our Counselor, He is a “Wonderful Counselor.” Our Heavenly Father and Jesus are wonderful counselors because they are excellent listeners and know us inside and out. We can talk to them and know that they hear us. When we are quiet in their presence, we position ourselves to receive what they place on our heart. Talk to your Wonderful Counselor, then follow His counsel. I record what God prompts me to do in my journal, Prayers of My Heart. It helps me follow through because I can reread what I’ve recorded that He put on my heart. What do God’s prompts sound like? His prompt might be, “Open your Bible and read a Psalm.” It might be, “Stop procrastinating and tackle the task I’ve placed before you.” His prompt might be, “Instead of wondering how someone is doing, call them.” Or, “Do _____ today.” A wise Christian will talk to their Wonderful Counsel then follow up on how He prompted them. Are we wise?
LORD, You are the WONDERFUL COUNSELOR. Increase our sensitivity to Your Voice. Help us take seriously Your counsel and follow through on what You lead us to do.
If You’re Disappointed
Are you disappointed? If so, in what or whom? A person? Yourself? A job? God understands disappointment. Many things can cause us to feel let down. Sometimes our disappointment is because we have unrealistic expectations of others which I address in The Plan A Woman in a Plan B World. Other times our disappointments are valid. No one is perfect, including us. First Peter 2:6 is encouraging because God wants us to know that there’s something He has provided that will never disappoint us: our faith in Jesus.
Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.
Not be disappointed. Read those words again. There is a person – Jesus Christ – who does not disappoint. He has a place He is preparing for us that will not disappoint us. He has a day He is preparing that will not disappoint us. He has eternity with Him that will not disappoint us. If you are disappointed, do a quick check up. On what are you setting expectations that have never promised to not disappoint you? If your expectations are set on a certain amount of money you make, a house, a spouse, children, friendships, a job, or you being perfect, then get ready for disappointment. If, on the other hand, your expectations are set on Jesus and His Word, you will not be disappointed. It’s our choice. How will we choose?
Lord Jesus, You are the PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE upon whom we can build our lives and not be disappointed. Thank YOU!
What to Do when Life doesn’t go according to plan: GET It HERE.
One More Reason to Praise God If You’re a Believer
Thank you for your prayers for God’s anointing on “The Plan A Woman in A Plan B World” conference today. God answered your prayers and blessed our time!
Would you rather God contend – plead a cause – for you or against you? If the answer is you’d rather God contend “for you,” then you have reason to jump up and down for joy! Isaiah 51:22 states,
Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God who contends for His people, ‘Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling, the chalice of My anger; You will never drink it again.’
Yes. A hallelujah with hands raised in praise is more than appropriate for as God has dealt with Israel, He deals with us.
Lord, You CONTEND for us, not against us. We praise You with hands raised high!
Heaven to Mankind, Here’s Comfort
When Simeon, anointed by the Holy Spirit, saw the infant Jesus at Christ's presentation in the temple, he knew He was seeing the long awaited Messiah. Jesus is the Consolation of Israel, but He is also the Consolation for any person who turns to Him for salvation.
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Could You Use Some Compassion?
Could you use some compassion? Has life been brutal? Does it seem like everything is going wrong? Are you trying your best but it never seems to be enough? Are you on a treadmill of bad habits that you’re trying to break and can’t? Do you feel like a failure? If you’ve ever felt one of those ways then you know how our soul longs for compassion in the midst of those times. Exodus 34:6 is an incredible word from God if you could use some compassion today. It says,
Then the Lord passed by in front of him (Moses) and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, COMPASSIONATE and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”
Those are refreshing words to hear at any time, but do you know when God expressed His compassion? It was on Moses’s second trek up Mount Sinai for a “redo” of the Ten Commandments. Why a redo? Because when Moses saw the Israelites worshipping the golden calf he angrily shattered them. Yes, God called Moses back up the mountain and showed him compassion. Our Heavenly Father is compassionate. Go to Him. Call on Him.
Heavenly Father, thank You for deeply loving us, forgiving us, and being COMPASSIONATE toward us. Help us gratefully receive Your compassion and walk in it rather than cling to desperation and loneliness.
Thank you for Your COMMANDments
You’ll not find a verse in the Bible that says, “God is commanding.” Yet, most people are familiar with the “Ten Commandments.” Yes, God has our best interests in mind and therefore He tells us how we can live life to the fullest and avoid the pain of wrong choices. When we live by His Words, we experience life’s richest joys. How many of the 10 Commandments do you know by heart? Rather than peep at the following list, jot down from memory as many of the 10 as you can.
YOUR TURN – NO PEEPING
Did you recall them all? Are there any for which you need to repent? Which do you need to pray and ask God to empower you to better keep?
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,”
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Lord, You have given us Your COMMANDS because You love us and have our best interest at heart. May we not live contrary to Your ways, but rather live under Your divine rule.
Watch and Share the “End Times” Promo 
Ready or Not, He’s Coming
Did you play Hide and Seek when you were a child? The familiar, “Ready or not, here I come” warns the person who is hiding to be ready. Revelation 1:5-7 is not child’s play. It is a serious warning that Jesus is coming and we need to be ready.
Behold, HE IS COMING with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
“Amen” means there’s no discussing it. It’s happening. We will either be ready for Christ’s appearing because we’ve repented of our sins and been forgiven or Jesus will come and find us in our sin and shame. If you’re not ready for Christ, respond to His gift of salvation today. Read John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:8-11. Confess Jesus as Lord. Repent of your sins. Receive His gift of cleansing you of sin and His gift of the Holy Spirit. Today is your opportunity. Prepare to meet Jesus. He’s coming.
LORD JESUS, COMING KING, we believe that as You came once to earth you are coming again. Thank You for Your gift of salvation. Stir the hearts of the unsaved to realize that ready or not, You are coming. Stir our hearts to tell others about Your gift of salvation.
Register for END TIMES: What You Should Know, What You Can Do. 5 week, FREE study by email. Begins March 1.
The Gift of A Comforter
One blanket. Two blankets. Three blankets. Four. Keith and I sat in front of the fire trying to get warm. The winter storm had brought a temperature of 3 degrees that the weatherman said, “feels like minus 11.” If only we had power and water. We had neither. The winter storm continued and we couldn’t get down our icy driveway to get to our adult children’s homes. If you’ve lived in an area affected by a winter storm you know how devastating the cold can be. Especially if you run out of wood, which happened to us. We couldn’t complain, though. We had a comforter. A comforter that we may have taken for granted becomes deeply appreciated in a winter storm. So, too, is a spiritual Comforter when we’re experiencing life’s storms. Second Corinthians 1:3 describes the as Lord as the God of All Comfort. Yes, when a person’s crisp tongue chills us to the core or the howling wind of despair blows through our heart, or we are experiencing a literal storm, the God of all Comfort comforts us like none other. Why? The Greek word for comfort means “to call to one’s side, speak to, in the way of exhortation, console, teach.” How incredible that God gives every believer the gift of His presence through the Holy Spirit. Our Comforter is an abiding presence who will never wear out, never become threadbare, and never leave us. The more we blanket our lives with His teachings, the more we’ll know the warmth of His abiding presence.
Adapted from Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, page 67.
Sweet friends, you are in my prayers as you suffer through life’s storms.
Heavenly Father, You are the God of all COMFORT! Please comfort all who are suffering. Give them Your wisdom. Bring resources to help them. Strengthen them as only You can. In Jesus’s name, amen.
Register for END TIMES: What You Should Know, What You Can Do. 5 week, FREE study by email. Begins March 1.
Thank you, Lord, for being CLOSE TO Us when we’re BROKENHEARTED
Today is Valentine’s Day, a day marked by exchanges of tokens of love. But what if you wake up alone? What if your loved one is deceased? What if your loved one cheated on you? What if you’ve never had someone love you? What if you’re not only alone but you’re crushed in spirit? I find it amazing that the Bible is the most honest book we”ll ever read. Our Heavenly Father knows there will be times in our life like that, which is precisely why He wants us to know that even if we’re alone, He’s close. Even if there is no one to save or lift our crushed spirit, HE CAN. Our Heavenly Father is sending a loud and clear Valentine message to you that He loves you. There is nothing we have done or will do and there is no place we can go that He isn’t present. “I LOVE YOU. I’M HERE,” our Heavenly Father calls to us, with Jesus echoing His love by laying down His life for us so we can live eternally with them.
Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for loving us and being close to us.
“The Lord is CLOSE to the BROKENHEARTED and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
More than ever before, I am convinced of God’s eternal love and plan as I delve into our study, End Times: What You Should Know, What You Can Do. Join me! You’ll be so glad you did. Even if you’re in another study and don’t have time right now to do the study, go ahead and register so I’ll know to email it to you. Then you’ll have it for when you’re ready. It’s FREE! Sign up HERE.