Daily Devotional

Narrow your focus, beloved.

Refuse to allow your attention to be scattered in all directions.

And, do not allow your focus to be on your trouble or current dilemma.

This is a time to look squarely into My face, deliver your prayer with earnest faith, and trust Me to answer, says the Lord.

Release yourself from all anxiety and worry.

But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." (John 6:20)

Daily Devotional

Trust Me to lift you up when you're down.

Believe that I am vitally interested in your life, and I see those things which concern you.

I am with you to help you get up and proceed on the path of life--eternal life and eternal joy.

It is My will to establish you in peace and strength.

Receive My help and rise up to a new level of confidence and faith that I will not leave you or forsake you.

You are precious to Me, says the Lord. Be established in that truth.

Deuteronomy 31:8 "And the LORD, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."



This devotional gave me peace and made me "feel". I felt myself open up just enough to receive His love and the truthfulness of His words.

He Answered

I posed the question earlier this week "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" and today my devotional answered that question explicitly. Directly to me for my purpose. I found myself re-reading it and shaking my head thinking "Wow, He really does know us and our needs." Today was just another confirmation that no matter what I think, feel or imagine in my small mind about myself and all the things I have done, thought or felt in my life there is one who looks beyond my faults, straight to my heart and knows the desires therein to be pleasing to Him, to serve Him and to be all that He desires me to be although I fall short time and time again. What a blessing these words were to me today and will be for many more to come.

I couldn't do justice in trying to tell you what the devotional said so I'm posting it here. No credit comes to me if it touches you as profoundly as it has touched me but to Sarah Young for her obedience in writing this wonderful book of devotionals (Jesus Calling) that continues to inspire and affirm God's love and desire for a deeper, more personal relationship with every single one of us.

Be blessed.

August 20

I Am A God Who Heals. I heal broken bodies, broken minds, broken hearts, broken lives, and broken relationships. My very Presence has immense healing powers. You cannot live close to Me without experiencing some degree of healing. However, it is also true that you have not because you ask not. You receive the healing that flows naturally from My Presence, whether you seek it or not. But there is more-much more-available to those who ask.

The first step in receiving healing is to live ever so close to Me. The benefits of this practice are too numerous to list. As you grow more and more intimate with Me, I reveal My will to you more directly. When the time is right, I prompt you to ask for healing of some brokenness in you or in another person. The healing may be instantaneous, or it may be a process. That is up to Me. Your part is to trust Me fully and to thank Me for the restoration that has begun.

I rarely heal all the brokenness in a person's life. Even My servant Paul was told, "My grace is sufficient for you," when he sought healing for the thorn in his flesh. Nonetheless, much healing is available to those whose lives are intimately interwoven with Mine. Ask, and you will receive.

Psalm 103:3; James 4:2 (KJV); 2 Corinthians 12:7-9; Matthew 7:7

MIA no more

I have been so busy with life (school, the flu has been through the house 2 times, viruses, sinus infections, back issues, birthdays, visitation, weddings, work, church, class, etc.) but at the same time struggling with what to put out here.

In the past my blogs have been about me, my journey with my kids through domestic violence and pretty much everything in between. Now I'm in a new place and things are different. What used to be important to me then isn't now.

God is doing a marvelous work in me and it is causing me to see things clearer than ever before. He has become the focal point of my life. My days start with Him and I try throughout the day to carry Him with me in everything that I do, say or think. Granted I don't always win that battle but to me the important part is that I try. Nothing beats a failure but a try. So if I fail today I start again tomorrow that same way - praise & worship, scripture reading and prayers.

I get great joy out of reading His Word. The verses leap off the page at me and I have a deeper understanding of scriptures I have read over and over during my life. I thirst for His presence and feel lost and out of sorts if I miss my quiet time, church on Wednesday or Sunday. I don't read the same books, watch the same TV shows or even think the same thoughts. My life isn't all about me anymore, it's more about what I can do with it so that He can get the glory.

This isn't some big "transition" in my life. My entire life has been based on a foundation of God, faith in Him, his Word and Jesus Christ. The difference is in me and how I am now using what has been established/inbred in me. I've clung to Him in my darkest moments and can honestly say that I am alive today because of my faith and obedience to Him and his Word. But my day to day living has been about me, my kids, surviving the chaos of my life and enduring to the end. Somewhere in this journey I forgot about joy, hope, dreams and desires that make life worth living. I forgot about the promises for abundance, prosperity and cups overflowing - not with monetary things but with the fruits of the spirit, with peace that surpasses all understanding, with love unconditional. Things that can only come from a deep and intimate relationship with Him.

I spent a lot of time in my early years "looking for love in all the wrong places" and never finding it. I substituted stuff for love - a trip to the mall filled the void left from never feeling "loved", "good enough" or "pretty enough" but once I got back home and put it all away, the void was still there. When I did get into a relationship I thought the person in the relationship was supposed to fill those gaps but it never happened. Time and time again I got hurt, used, abused and left with voids wider and deeper than before. What I wasn't understanding was that no one could fill those voids - no earthly person that is. But God can and has.

I don't long for my husband to make everything better now, my kids won't always be there to keep the loneliness at bay, and friends, family and jobs come and go. There is only one true constant in our lives and that is the love of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. No matter where I am, what is going on, what I need, want and desire, how bad I act or how down in the pits of hell I have allowed myself to descend I am NOT alone! He is with me never leaving nor forsaking me and if I but just reach out, call out or whisper His name He is there.

Earlier this year when I began posting again I was sharing some devotionals and the feelings they stirred in me but then I shied away from that. I started thinking that no one would read it if it was too religious. I didn't want to be preachy or perceived as being greater or having more knowledge than anyone else so I stopped. But the desire to still comment and reflect on what I feel when I read His Words posted by others, read in my daily emails from great resources out in the world or that rise up in my spirit is still there struggling to break free.

It might not do anything for you the readers but it does great things for me. It frees my mind, my thoughts and emotions and opens them up to all sorts of possibilities. The words are freeing to me like wings of an eagle. They allow me to soar where I once just glided. It helps me to reason things out in my life and put things into greater perspective. So I pick up my keyboard and I move forward yet again but in a different direction. One that I feel destined to be on. I hope you'll join me on the flight and may something that is written speak to you, your spirit and your life. May His light and love be reflected in these thoughts and prose is my greatest desire.

Warmest blessings,

Be Glad Always

Oh how I used to despise the happy people of the world. You know the ones I'm talking about. They'd have a smile plastered on their face in a hurricane. There's one in every church, school, grocery store, and mall in America; and you can spot them a mile away. Don't let them open their mouths - OMG, I would just cringe to hear them say "what a great day" it was or "how lovely" everything in their life was going. In my mind I would be doing the finger gagging thing while trying to maintain my composure.



Depending on the day and my mood I'd fluctuate between wanting to smack the smile right off their face or vomiting at the unfairness of their apparent joy. I mean really, how can you be happy/glad all the time? Who is glad all the time? What planet are they from? We all have trials and tribulations. We all have life changing events that rock our world, so what makes them any different from us? Why are they always smiling when I want to crawl into a hole and let the world swallow me up? Why do they have joy when all I have is a bowl of lemons staring at me? Why are they laughing their way through life and not crying out at all the injustices around them in the world?



It's only taken me about 25 years to figure out that it had nothing to do with what was actually going on in their lives, but how they chose to let it affect them or not. That it's not the circumstances that affect the mood but the mindset that allows you to react negatively or positively to what is taking place in your life.



I have complete control (woo hoo!) over everything in my life if I learn how to work it. I am in control and for a Type A control freak like me that sounds pretty darn good - or does it?!? Actually, it scares me to death to think that I am in control. That God has allowed me to ponder out in my pea brain how I'm going to handle whatever comes my way. Even if it is as simple as saying - "God, I give it all to you" and to keep on moving forward without looking back, I have that right. I can laugh when I'm hurt, instead of crying; I can have peace in the midst of a storm if I look at it "in the now" and not get caught up in the "what if" game. I can be glad always in my circumstances if I but just believe, have a little faith and trust in His Word.



Again, a simple precept in this life journey that changes something very difficult into something so very simple. But we are a complex people and we thrive on chaos and complexity and snub our noses at simplicity; therefore, too many of us go through life miserable, down trodden and broken at our own choosing. Sigh. And I was one of them.



Now, it is a matter of choice - sometimes easy and sometimes not; but still my choice. Sometimes it happens out of habit or I find myself lamenting about a situation then I stop and say - nope, not going there. It's not worth it (getting in the pit, wallowing around for a few minutes, hours or days and then trying to climb back out filthier than a hog in a mud bath on a hot and humid summer day).



I'm choosing to be glad always, even if it means pasting on the smile in a hurricane and being hated by the masses for finding joy in spite of...





SCRIPTURE

"Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always)." I Thessalonians 5:16, AMP


TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria



How determined are you to enjoy each and every day? In today´s verse, notice how long we are supposed to be glad hearted. As long as people treat us right? As long as we feel okay? As long as the economy is up? No, it says, "Be glad hearted continually and always." That means we´re to be glad in the good times and in the tough times, when it´s sunny and when it´s raining. When those dark clouds are over your head and you feel like life is kind of depressing, kind of gloomy, always remember right above those dark clouds the sun is shining. You may not be able to see the sun in your life right now, but that doesn´t mean it’s not up there.

The good news is that those clouds are just temporary. The sun is going to shine in your life once again. In the meantime, keep your joy. Be glad hearted continually! Don´t let a few clouds sour your life. On the other side of every difficulty, the sun is shining! Make the decision to be glad always, and you´ll move forward in the victory He has in store for you!



A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father, today I choose joy. I choose to make the most of every day. No matter what is happening around me, I choose to focus on your goodness so that I can move forward in the
blessing you have for me. In Jesus´ Name. Amen.

Today's Devotional - Set Your Mind

I read a lot of different devotionals every day trying to feast upon the Word as much as I possibly can. It's during this time I get to reflect on my life, my problems and the blessings He's bestowed upon my life.

I learn different ways to handle the trials that come my way and quite often get answers to questions that I've only pondered in my mind.

Occasionally I get gentle nudgings from God to reinforce something that has fallen into my spirit or been shouted to me from the mountain top but I've failed to "hear and obey".

Nevertheless, I count them as blessings as they feed my malnourished soul and when I come across ones that I think will speak to others as strongly as they have spoken to me I share them... be blessed.


TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
“Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth” (Colossians 3:2, AMP)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria
Have you ever been laying in bed in the morning and out of nowhere you're reminded of all the mistakes you made yesterday and all the problems you have in your future? That's the enemy trying to set your mind for a negative, defeated, lousy day, but you don't have to fall into that trap.

The Scripture says, “Set your mind and keep it set on the higher things.” This tells us that we have to be proactive. We have to stay on the offensive. When you get up in the morning, have the attitude that David did in the Psalms and say, "This is another day the Lord has made! No matter how I feel, no matter what the economy looks like, no matter what the medical report says, I am choosing to rejoice. I am choosing to be happy this day." You know what you’re really saying? You’re saying, “I’m not going to let other people steal my joy today. I’m not going to let disappointments and setbacks discourage me. I’m not going to focus on my problems and my mistakes. I’m making up my mind to embrace everything the Lord has in store for me.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father in heaven, I choose to set my day by setting my mind on things above. I choose to shake off the cares of yesterday and focus on everything You have in store for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.