in Your hand
My times are in Your hand, O Lord!
That is such an encouraging truth! God is in control. God knows! God is holding our hand. (Psalm 73:23)
Psalm 31: 14-15
“But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.”
Deliver me — as I sit here thinking about this, I am reminded that sometimes we are our worst enemy. When we allow our thoughts to take us down the road of negativity, when all we see is problems, problems problems, or give in to lies about who we are or who God is — well, we need to be delivered from that way of thinking.
How do you see God? Our God is greater. (1 Jn 4:4) Our God is able. (Psalm 138:8) God is with us (Matt 28:20) for us (Psalm 118:6) sustaining us (Psalm 55:22) and He is enough! (2 Cor 12:9)
May today find you believing what the Word says about who you are and who God is!!
But as for me — I trust You God!
Selah,
til next time
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but as for me…
“But as for me”
I love that phrase. It reminds that no matter what is going on, no matter what others are doing, no matter how I feel — I get to choose what I do next. But as for me, I will trust God. But as for me, I will obey God. But as for me, I will nail my feelings to the cross and believe what Jesus says.
Psalm 59:16-17
But as for me, I will sing about your power.
Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.
For you have been my refuge,
a place of safety when I am in distress.
17 O my Strength, to you I sing praises,
for you, O God, are my refuge,
the God who shows me unfailing love.
Where are your thoughts this morning? If we focus on problems – problems will be all we see. If we see problems as opportunities to see the hand of God helping us – we will start seeing His hand more and more. When we put God first, He really does give us wisdom to know what to do and the strength to do it. But as for me, I refuse to get jazzed up about ___________. But as for me, I depend on God.
Today is a new day. This morning I choose to sing with joy, to lift my voice in praise to the One who loves me most. God’s love never fails.
What are you choosing?
Selah,
til next time
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but as for me…
Where are your thoughts this morning? If we focus on problems – problems will be all we see. If we see problems as opportunities to see the hand of God helping us – we will start seeing His hand more and more.
“But as for me” I love that phrase. It reminds that no matter what is going on, no matter what others are doing, no matter how I feel — I get to choose what I do next. But as for me, I will trust God. But as for me, I will obey God. But as for me, I will nail my feelings to the cross and believe what Jesus says.
Psalm 59:16-17But as for me, I will sing about your power.
Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.
For you have been my refuge,
a place of safety when I am in distress.
17 O my Strength, to you I sing praises,
for you, O God, are my refuge,
the God who shows me unfailing love.
When we put God first, He really does give us wisdom to know what to do and the strength to do it. But as for me, I refuse to get jazzed up about ___________.
But as for me, I depend on God.
Today is a new day. This morning I choose to sing with joy, to lift my voice in praise to the One who loves me most. God’s love never fails.
What are you choosing?
til next time
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dread
Is there a task that you dread doing? Maybe something that just gets under your skin and yet it needs to be done?
When the boys were young, I hated washing dishes.
When we moved from the apartment to the house, it only got worse. I found myself also hating my house – especially my kitchen. Yet, God had given us this house. I knew that I knew that this house was a big blessing from God.
I needed to take control of my words and speak life not death. (Proverbs 18:21 – I stopped saying I hate this house and instead I began to thank God for our home. Wow! What a transformation took place in me.)
I still needed to find a solution to my dishes problem. So I prayed.
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:17
Whatsoever! How is this possible?
verse 16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (here is a plug for church also — we need each other)
Later that week I had received in the mail my teaching from Joyce Meyer. WaLa! I popped it in and that began a beautiful journey of doing dishes with Joyce. To this day, I still do dishes with Joyce and I love it.
Whatever it might be that tempts you to complain or dread, ask God to show you how to get victory over it. Dig in His Word for insight. Pray, praise, read the Word and apply it to your situation. Use your words to speak life not death.
til next time
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^thoughts ^
what are you thinking?
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8
Some people seem to be gifted with the ability to criticize. They see what is wrong everywhere they look. That is not the way to be at peace. True, it is necessary to see what is wrong if we are to fix it, but to just focus on the ugly or the broken is no way to live. We should look for the good around us. This good is present in many, many things. There is some good in all people. Instead of focusing on what is wrong, focus on the good. (Curtis Girod)
What are you meditating on? Dwelling on? Fixated on?
Are you quick to criticize or do you look for the good?
Do your thoughts lead to good actions?
What does God require of us?
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (NIV)
One more scripture to think on:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Selah,
til next time
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what do you think?
power of thoughts
Have you given any thought to your thoughts lately?
I realize that my first thoughts of the day can set in motion the start of a good day or a not so good day. I joke about waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but what I am really saying is I woke up with crabby thought and hung onto them. The only one that can change that is me.
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5 NASB
When I remind myself that Today is the day God has made (Psalm 118:24) – He is for me (Psalm 118:6) – He will turn ashes into beauty and work things out for my good (Isaiah 61:3, Romans 8:28) – He is able and is an ever-present help in whatever I will face (Psalm 138:8, Psalm 46:1 – I am His (Solomon 2:16) – I can face today with courage and have nothing to fear because God is with me (Joshua 1:9, Psalm 56:4) – then my thoughts line up with God’s Word and I am ready to unwrap the gift that God has given me which is called Today!
Look how The Message Bible words 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3-6 The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
Enjoy today – it is a gift!
til next time
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when thoughts are not fit to be spoken
Sometimes, many times, our thoughts are not fit to be spoken. The problem comes in when we end up and speak them anyway. I am discovering a whole new level of the scripture – “Be still and know that I am God”
Psalm118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Making that choice can be a challenge some days. Although a challenge that is by far worth the effort.
A picture paints a thousand words right? See this picture?? Now think menopausal!! It pretty much looks like how I feel much of the time these days.
Or how about this picture? It could depict much of my battle with this ‘new adventure’.
I do try to stay focused on whatsoever things are good, lovely, pure….. I know that God will not allow more than I can handle with Him by my side. I know that He is able to do more than I can dream. I know that He is very much aware of all that is going on. I know these things and still sometimes it gets the better of me for awhile.
The thing I have noticed is that if I can remain silent and not give words to my thoughts, it passes much quicker. Believe me I am all about it passing quickly. This has reminded me that thoughts are just that – thoughts. The Bible tells us to take our thoughts captive. By speaking out my thoughts I open a door for more of the same thoughts.
Instead if I be still and rest in the knowledge that God is indeed God. If I focus on scripture like this one- “May the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace as I trust in Him so that I may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (personalizing Rom 15:13) Oh, those thoughts are so much better. Those thoughts speak life into my situation and those thoughts are fit to be spoken.
One day this too shall pass and I will be soaring as the eagles.
til next time (thanks Tonya for the use of the pics — I love em)
life can get complicated
Life right now is a bit complicated. I much prefer when things are running smoothly. Who doesn’t?? I am not one that needs drama in her life to know that she is alive. I have met people like that. No thank you. Ah but at times life does get complicated.
Parenting can be overwhelming. So my twins are 20 now and whoever said that it gets easier as they get older was wrong. Wait a minute. I am one of those who said that. I stand corrected.
Now in the beginning having twins was work. I don’t remember much of that first year. There wasn’t much that was what I expected. Oh, but it was an adventure that I embraced. I have tons of pictures and information galore. Yes, they each have a baby book and it is filled. I wanted to capture each development.
As they got older, it did get easier. They had a ready made playmate. Their growing up years were for the most part wonderful. There are of course things that I wish I could do over. Things that if I had another child I would do differently. However, kids grow up in spite of our mistakes.
They have always been pk’s. (pastor’s kids) They have had to live with that pressure. From the beginning Curt and I did what we could to stop others from placing expectations on them. More importantly, we did our best to let them know that they were/are more important to us.
As they entered the teen years (that would be 16 and a license to drive) the rules changed. Freedom came with responsibilities and they rose to the occasion. I remember over hearing Chris tell Andrew that they were going to get home earlier than curfew because then Mom and Dad would see how responsible they were. It worked. Curfew was extended. It soon became apparent to me that indeed they were growing into great young men.
Cell phones truly helped me to adapt to these new found freedoms. Just knowing that I could call if I felt the need was nice. (note to other parents – don’t abuse that) Prayer also played a huge role. Leaving them in God’s hands helped me relax.
We’ve turned a corner now that has me scratching my head. They are 20. Can I really be that old to have 20 year olds? Denial has at times been my friend. LOL Yet living in the truth really is one of my goals that I strive for.
So life has gotten complictated. Parenting doesn’t end when they turn 18 or 19 or 20. It just changes. More and more decisions have to be made that just maybe I don’t like. Learning when to open my mouth and when to just pray — oh life gets complicated.
In my heart I know that they are smart, responsible, dependable, great young men. Yet also in my heart they are my baby boys. I want to shelter them from pain. I still want to be the one to say “Watch out, don’t touch that. It’s hot!!” Now that worked for a little boy and a hot pain on the stove. Most parents know though that as children get older, it isn’t the stove that is going to burn them.
Sigh, life gets complicated. Yet God is still God. He loves them more than I do. Yes, it comes back to leaving them in His care and praying for wisdom to know when to speak. I may still scratch my head – in fact I am sure I will. I may even have to bite my tongue. Oh I am sure there will be times that I will not be able to silence my opinions/advice. I just pray that I can hold out until it is asked for.
til next time
About
Welcome to my fish bowl!
Things that matter to me are: God, family, friends, helping people, taking time to really live in the moment, and trying to slow down in a fast paced world.
To find out more click here.
