Peace Within

In everything he (David) did he had great success,because the LORD was with him. 1 Samuel 18:14

The Lord was with David in everything that he did. What a difference it was between two men, Saul and David. The Lord had found favor in both of them but then something changed. It began to change when one emotion came up and it was “jealousy”. Go back a few verses and it explains that as David came back from battle and he and Saul were coming into the city, the people were shouting and singing about the victory from the battle. The people sang that Saul killed thousands but David killed tens of thousands. At that point, Saul became “jealous” and the favor of the Lord left him. He entertained the thoughts and the Spirit of Jealousy entered him. After the Spirit of Jealousy entered Saul, then the Spirit of Fear entered him also. But what did David do? He kept doing what God told him to do, he kept serving the King and being obedient to him and did not react to these unfair and unjust reactions to him. Look at the picture of the kitten above and see the calm and peace in the face. I believe that David had the Lord in his heart and that in the midst of Saul throwing at spear at him in a jealous rage, that David was steadfast and felt peace and calmness in the midst of the storm. We too can be like David, and to not react to circumstances and just have the peace within, knowing that God is with us and He is the one that sustains us.The sunshine that is on the kitten is like the favor, love and grace that God shines on us daily! I want to be like the kitten in the picture, that I can do what God wants me to do in this life and have the "kitten-like peace" come upon me that sustains me in all situations.

Question: Do you need peace in your life today? Are you willing to be more like David and allow the peace of God to invade your life?

Preserved by God's Care

"You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love.My life was preserved by your care." Job 10:12

You are probably wondering about this picture that I had decided to post. I thought about the phrase, “preserved by your care” and the vision of us taking care of our cars came to my mind. I think about what we do to clean, wax and polish our cars to make sure that it lasts longer and is in good care. Not only do we take care of the outside of our cars but we make sure the inside is vacuumed and well maintained. It does not stop there, we also make sure that we care for our engine by having the oil changed and take the car in for regular maintenance. But don’t stop there, for we also have to take care of the tires and rotate them but also replace them when they are worn. There is so much care that has to be done on cars – and I didn’t even get into the financial care of the monthly payments and the insurance. Wow! There is lots of time, effort and care that is put into our vehicles and wait....isn’t that what God’s unfailing love is like? He makes sure that we are cared for in ALL the area of our lives whether it be emotional, physical or spiritual. He works on us from the inside out and gives us the best care possible!
I am grateful that God keeps me well maintained through His unfailing love and his daily care for me. He watches out for me and provides for my every need. I am so blessed!

Question: Name one thing that God had done to care for you recently? How has God maintained you daily?

My Portion

You are my portion, O LORD;
I have promised to obey your words. I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise." Psalm 119:57-58

This scripture was a perfect illustration that God knows everything about us and that HE is our portion. Think of the word “portion”. Think of when you go out to eat at a restaurant and sometimes the portions on your plate are very small and other times they are so big that you have to take the left-overs home with you. God is perfect and He fills us up perfectly – not too little nor too much – but He fills us to fullness, right up to the edges of plates and to just the capacity of what we can hold. He fills us, He completes us, He is our everything! Today my focus is on how complete God makes me and how perfect is His portion! He is my everything and without Him, my plate is empty!

Question: Is your life filled with God? What can you do to have God fill you completely?

Impossible to Possible

“Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

”That is impossible!” is a phrase that needs to be removed from my vocabulary. It is a perception from my human eyes and from my own thinking. I may see a situation and process it as not being able to be resolved and it is only from my own experiences that I see no options. I may go through my experiences and see that Plan A, Plan B and Plan C have worked for me in the past but none of these human solutions would work for this problem. When I get to this point of trying to figure it out on my own, I need to STOP and realize that the solutions are endless for God. God not only has a Plan D but His solutions are endless! I am trying to come up with the answers with my limited human capabilities. I need to realize that NOTHING is impossible with God. I have a greater awareness of this verse also. Notice that it does not say, “nothing is impossible FOR God” but it says, “nothing is impossible WITH God”. You see, it is a partnership and that partnership has to do with God and me. Our part is to go to God in prayer to seek His wisdom, His answers and to give the impossible situation to Him, to deal with. When we do that in partnership with Him, He will transform the impossible to possible! All things are possible WITH God! I am humbled this morning at the realization that what I thought as impossible, is possible WITH God but, I also have to be part of this equation.... ME + GOD = Possibilities. Any other equation is not effective nor will it provide results.
Question: Are you facing some impossible circumstances in your life? Are you willing to partner with God through prayer and see God make the impossible to be possible in your life?

War on the Floor

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

As I get up this morning, I look outside at a cloudy day and I feel the chill that is still in the air. There is a cold wind blowing outside and I am bundled up in a warm jacket and a cozy blanket around my legs. I am doing what I need to do to stay warm and to shield myself from the cold from outside. I don’t think that it is any different in our spiritual journeys, that we are always preparing for the battles that come into our lives. We can stay protected and shielded through God’s Word and Prayer. I believe that every Christian needs to be prepared with those spiritual weapons that can fight against the war of living in this world. We live in a world that is full of daily challenges. How can we be prepared to go into battle and be well equipped to have a victory through Christ? Take this picture as an example, that we battle the war on the floor, through praying in earnest. We are not to fight our battles with weapons of the world such as arguing, justifying, condemning, judging, fighting, controlling and other demonic elements that the enemy uses to have us hold onto us as strongholds in our lives. When we use these weapons against those who we may perceive as “our enemies”, the fruit that come out of those battles are only bitterness, resentment and anger. If we look at verse 5 in this passage, it says to take your thoughts captive. There it is, the battlefield of your mind!! Joyce Meyer has written a book about this subject but the best way to reinforce this concept is to know that the enemy is prowling like a lion, and wants to get to us to entertain those thoughts that are not fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control) If things that we are thinking do not line up with the Fruits of the Spirit, then we know exactly where they are coming from. This is when we get on our knees to fight this battle in our mind and take those thoughts captive and begin to speak God’s Words (God's Word is our sword of truth). Taking those negative thoughts captive is to have control over your mind, to not play those old tapes of bitterness, resentment nor of offense. We need to let it go and put our thoughts on those things of God! It is a war – a real battle to fight in our minds, but through prayer and knowing God’s Word, we have victory in our lives!!

Question: What do you need to "war on the floor" about? Are there any thoughts you need to take captive today?

The Battle of Life

"So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)

When we get up in the morning, begin our day in prayer , asking for protection with the full armor of God against things of this world and then get into His Word (the sword)... we are still NOT prepared to go into our daily battle of life. There is just one more element that we need to do after being equipped with our armor and God’s Word. It is to kneel before God, to humble ourselves and ask to be emptied of all sin and everything that is considered “self”. We ask the Holy Spirit to fill our empty vessels and to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We are not to ask the Holy Spirit just to fill to the brim, but we need to ask the Spirit to fill us to “overflowing” so that the Spirit can spill out of us and begin to touch others. Once we are filled to overflowing, we are now ready for the daily battles that come our way – and we fight it not with our power or might but with the Spirit. It is only through us dying to ourselves and asking the Holy Spirit to fill us, that we will we be ready to face the day and whatever battles may come our way.
Question: Have you armored yourself today with God armor, God's Word and the filling to overflow of the Spirit? Do you need to release anything that you have been trying to do in your own power or might?

Pass It On

" We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done." Psalm 78:4

As I wake up this morning and look outside, I see clouds and rain, but I know that there is joy and sunshine that is in my heart today. It is brought about by digging deeper in God’s Word in my morning devotions. Deep within me, there is a sound like a resounding bell that is going off, for I know the truth that I hear in today’s scripture. It is all about not keeping what I have learned in this lifetime, but it is to pass it on to the next generation. There is a new generation of leaders being raised up today, that are being mentored so that they will be ready for the passing on of the baton of leadership. This new generation is full of passionate, spirit-filled men and women, to lead the nations – to lead a nation to be God Centered. It is my responsibility, as in Titus, to teach those in the next generation, so it may be passed on. This scripture this morning is confirmation that I do need to tell the next generation and share of all the wonderful things He has done! The words keep coming to me, “pass it on” and pour as much as I can to those that come after me. May God bless this next generation, for they have a big job ahead of them! I am thinking that the teaching opportunities that are coming up this month and next, that this is my opportunity to do what scriptures days, to pour out into the next generation, all the marvels and wonders of our God – and to pass it on!

Question: What are you doing to pour into the next generation? What do you have to pass on?