Give HIM Thanks

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

 ¹ Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
    ² Worship the Lord with gladness.
      Come before him, singing with joy.
 ³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
      He made us, and we are his.
      We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
 ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
      go into his courts with praise.
      Give thanks to him and praise his name.
 ⁵ For the Lord is good.
      His unfailing love continues forever,
      and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

My first thought when I sat down to write this morning was...
What should I say about Thanksgiving? Immediately Psalm 100 came to mind.

There are so many things in my life I have to be thankful for. The best and most awesome is having Jesus as my Savior!

Today, and everyday, we need to do what verse 4 says. Enter into HIS gates...go into HIS courts...and above all...Give HIM thanks! Without the LORD I am nothing...we are nothing! HE loves us unconditionally. Forever and ever. HIS love never changes and HE never fails us. HE is faithful to us through everything. We need to give HIM thanks everyday for without HIM...we wouldn't have any days.

Let us acknoweldge HIM today in everything we do and above all...Give HIM thanks!

Thankful For His Love

Romans 5:8

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Why would God do that for us? Give His only Son to die an excruciating death for us...you and me!

Most of the time, in our own eyes, we are nothing. But to God...we are everything! Before we ever thought about Him...He loved us! We could never be good enough to deserve His love. We could never earn His love or win it in a contest. The only thing that we can do is accept His love. That can be hard at times because we feel so unworthy. But God doesn't look at us that way. He sees us as His beautiful children. All He wants from us is that we love Him back and live for Him. He won't ever turn His back on us. He loves us.

As you go through your day today be thankful for His love!

Linking up with Tracy @ Winsome Wednesday

Flatlining

Today I am so thankful for Gods grace, His understanding, and His love! I am truly blessed.

Last Sunday I stepped back from blogging for a while. I really didn't have any idea when I would start again. In fact, I wasn't even sure if I would. It was so hard for me to do that but at the same time I knew it was the right thing. The last few posts I had written were flat. To me they didn't have any inspiration behind them because I had lost mine. The words just weren't coming anymore and the feeling was gone. For me, the feeling being gone is a scary thing. Emotion and feelings have never come easy and once I started having them, just to think I might be without them in my life again, was hard! After I had posted that I needed to regroup I was so sad. When I went to bed I heard God talk to me for the first time in a while. What He said made me think about a lot of things. His words to me were...You are flatlining! The picture that was immediately before me was...a hospital room and a bed. I couldn't see who was in it but they were hooked up to the machine that shows your heartbeat. I could see the line going up and down. It became less and less until...it flatlined! I was thinking it was me lying there. I wasn't physically dying but spiritually...I was there. I know that sounds dramatic but that's what happened. I believe God let me hear from Him and see that in my minds eye to wake me up! You would have thought that I would have hit the floor on my knees...but I didn't. Literally, I just felt dead inside. I had no idea what I was going to do or how it would turn out. I just knew that something had to change in me. I picked up my bible and opened it and thought...what will I read. I said...God help me to read what ever it is I need to hear right now. Well, I don't read in the Old Testament a lot but my fingers just went to Joshua. This is what I read...

JOSHUA 1:8-9 (NLT)

⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

At that point my thoughts were how amazing God is. I knew that He knew I was struggling but...my old mind set had come back. I didn't think He really cared.

He does. I know that now more than I did before. Throughout this week many things have happened. Good things. God has been working in my heart and doing more healing in me. In the coming days I will share some of the events of this week as the Lord leads me to. I know that many of you in my blog world have prayed for me and I appreciate it. You are all blessings in my life and I am thankful for each of you!

Regrouping

Do you ever find yourself unsure about things? Maybe your job...where you live...things you do...just stuff in general??? Well that's kind of where I'm at right now. So today I've decided that after this post I'm going to take a few days away from blogging. That is writing mine...I will still be keeping up with all of yours. I'm not sure how long but I'm thinking a week or two. It's time to regroup my thinking so when I write it's coming from Him! Time to get back to the basics.

Find It In His Word

Sometimes life just seems to get to be too much. When that happens I always tend to go back to the same verses.

Psalm 46:10a

Be still, and know that I am God;

John 3:30

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
      and a light for my path.

Psalm 23

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
      I have all that I need.
 ² He lets me rest in green meadows;
      he leads me beside peaceful streams.
    ³ He renews my strength.
   He guides me along right paths,
      bringing honor to his name.
 ⁴ Even when I walk
      through the darkest valley
   I will not be afraid,
      for you are close beside me.
   Your rod and your staff
      protect and comfort me.
 ⁵ You prepare a feast for me
      in the presence of my enemies.
   You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
      My cup overflows with blessings.
 ⁶ Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
      all the days of my life,
   and I will live in the house of the Lord
      forever.

I just always tell myself to just be still and remember that God is in control of every situation in my life. He is God and I am not. God needs to be at the fore front of my thoughts. His ways are better than mine. I need to rely on Him and not on my own self. He will guide me and I just need to follow the path He has for me. Don't get distracted by what's going on. Regardless of the situation He will give me rest and peace if I will let Him. Even when I think the situation can't get any worse He's there before me taking care of it. I just need to talk to Him about it and let it go. Rest in His arms and let His love flow over me.

These are some of the verses that get me where I need to be when things go crazy in my life. The first two remind me of what I need to do. The third one reminds me that He is there lighting my way. The 23rd Psalm reminds me that He is all I need and that He is always right beside me, taking care of me and loving me.

I don't know what kind of encouragement you need today but whatever it is you can find all you need in His Word.

Linking up today with Tracy for...Winsome Wednesday.

Above All Else Seek Him

In every circumstance we find ourselves in there is one thing we should do first. Talk to our Father God and ask Him what He would have us do. We should always ask guidance from the one who loves us more than anyone else.

2 Chronicles 18:1-4
 Jehoshaphat enjoyed great riches and high esteem, and he made an alliance with Ahab of Israel by having his son marry Ahab’s daughter. ² A few years later he went to Samaria to visit Ahab, who prepared a great banquet for him and his officials. They butchered great numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle for the feast. Then Ahab enticed Jehoshaphat to join forces with him to recover Ramoth-gilead.

 ³ “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

   Jehoshaphat replied, “Why, of course! You and I are as one, and my troops are your troops. We will certainly join you in battle.” ⁴ Then Jehoshaphat added, “But first let’s find out what the Lord says.”

Think about it. If even the Kings asked the Lord for guidance shouldn't we?

Matthew 6:33
³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33 is a wonderful promise from God. If we seek Him first we are set. Everything we will ever "need" will be supplied!

Today is Sunday...the Lords day. Worship Him...Talk to Him...Seek His will for your life.
Live close to Him and He will be all you ever need or want!

God Is Bigger

Earlier today I talked to a friend on the phone. There was something that I thought was important that I was going to say to her but I couldn't remember what it was. Well, not long after hanging up I remembered so I decided to send an e-mail because I really wanted to just tell her and praise God for just how Awesome He is! As I was writing to her a post just started forming in my thoughts. The last thing I said was this...

God is bigger than anything that comes against us. You know that is so true. I know that all of us have things come up in our lives that sometimes seem insurmountable. Sometimes it's sickness...divorce...abuse...addictions...

or maybe problems at your job. For each of us it's different. But there is one thing that as Christians we all know...faith can move mountains and nothing is impossible when we have God on our side. He will take care of us.

What came to mind for me was the story of the children of Israel when Pharaoh was chasing them. (Exodus 14) God had Moses lift his rod, raise his hand over the sea, and the waters parted. They actually walked between two huge walls of water! Can you imagine? They all crossed to the other side on dry land and were all safe. Not as good for Pharaoh and his army. Once they got in the middle God messed with their chariot wheels so they had trouble driving them. Then God told Moses to stretch his hand back over the sea again. When he did the water all came back together and drowned all the men and horses that belonged to Pharaoh and his army. Not one escaped!! 

That was a miracle. God still does miracles for us today. Maybe He's never done one quite that dramatic in your life but a miracle is a miracle! He heals sicknesses...puts marriages back together...heals our minds and bodies from past abuse...delivers us from addictions...just solves everyday problems in our lives!! HE is so good!!! We just have to ask Him for His help in our lives. He wants us to do that. It's true that He doesn't heal everyone but He will give us the strength and the courage we need to walk through the sickness...yours or someone elses...no matter what the outcome. 

I kind of look at Pharaoh in the lives of the children of Israel the same way I look at satan in the life of Christians. Pharaoh was relentless in his attacks on the children of Israel. Satan is relentless in his attacks against Christians. The Lord God took care of the Israelites and He will take care of us. What we need to do is also be relentless. Relentless in talking to God and relentless in reading His Word. Then God will put a wall up around us. It might not be a wall of water but it will be a wall of protection.

There are so many other stories in the Bible that keep coming to mind of how God protected His own when people came against them. I think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace and how God protected them...Noah and his family...the stories are many. How about in your life? Do you recall when God protected you or healed or delivered you from something? I think we all have those times in our lives. I do and I am so thankful!!

Maybe this weekend you could tell someone that might not know Jesus as their Savior about one of those times in your life. If you share, it just might be the story they need to hear that will turn their life around.

Matthew 21:21 (NLT)

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.

Luke 1:37 (NLT)

For nothing is impossible with God.

Exodus 14:29-31 (NLT)

²⁹ But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. ³⁰ That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. ³¹ When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

What's The Catch

Ever wonder why you're here

when all of life seems quite unclear

Everyday is all about

ups and downs and crying out

People running here and there

never really do get anywhere

What's the catch of it all

life has never been a ball

All we see is pain and strife

loss and death upon a life

Souls in turmoil hearts in fear

what on earth are we doing here

Reality is quite unlike

what you thought was ever right

People come people go

never care if they hurt you so

What do we do to right it all

can we do it before we take the fall

The answer lies to all of this

somewhere above in heavens bliss

Can you find it do you care

what's the catch is He there