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Devotions
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Call Upon the Name of the Lord
"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is
any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name
of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins,
they shall be forgiven him." James 5:13-15 KJV
Whenever you are discouraged and you don't know where to turn ... call upon Jesus. He is your strength!
When you don't know what to do ... call upon the name of Jesus. When you don't know where to turn ... call upon the
name of Jesus. When life's troubles have you struggling ... call upon the name of Jesus. When you are at the top
of the mountain ... Thank the Lord Jesus! When a prayer has been answered ... give Jesus all the glory, honor and praise.
I read this book once by Erma Bombeck called If Life Is A Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing In The Pits? So many of us may wonder that. Why am I always in the pits. The pits, the valley's - are where
we learn and where we grow in Jesus. The pits are where we feel the grace and mercy of Christ. It is where we
learn from past mistakes and grow and move on past them. How can we get out of the pit if we are trying to carry that
heavy load out that keeps weighing us down? Think about your troubles like a big hefty bag you are carrying over your
shoulder. It is time to take out the trash and leave it in the garbage can! When we come out of the pit we help
others by testifying to the journey we were on. But not only testifying to the journey of the valley, but the journey
of the mountain as well. 
I hope you all have a great weekend! Invite someone to church with you this Sunday. Encourage
someone in Jesus name today!
Love, Tracy
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up
about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."
Matthew 6:34 The Message
"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble
is enough for today." New Living Translation
When I read this verse, I think of faith. We are so like Thomas, we have little faith when situations
get weary. Yet, time and time again we have seen what the Lord has done in our lives during these trials. It is
like the father of the little girl (I think this verse is in Matthew as well), He says, I believe Lord, but help my unbelief!
That is my prayer daily. I believe Lord, but please help my unbelief - the human side of me that wants to be in control.
He does. Is that your prayer today? When you go to Jesus in prayer, do you leave all your troubles there or do
you pick them back up again and carry them with you wherever you go? Life's worries can wear you out! Our Father
in Heaven says, Let not your heart be troubled! Trust in God to see you through. He loves you and His plans for
life are huge. Be an open willing vessel and when the road gets rough, turn to Jesus and leave your troubles
at the foot of the cross. Don't pick them up again. At that moment, you will a peace like no other! Have FAITH!
That is the Christian walk.
Have a great Thursday. Love, Tracy
"Moving On"
"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold,
I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers
in the desert. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew
forth my praise." Isaiah 43:18-21
In recent days I have spoken to so many of my Christian friends that have trouble of letting go of the past.
They rehash of over past mistakes and cannot get past some of the decisions they have made in their lives. Once
we come to the foot of the cross and ask the Lord to forgive what we have done - it is forgiven. It is a new day and
we need to make a new commitment to Him. Some decisions we may make can change our lives drastically, but that is how
we learn, that is how we become a better witness for Jesus, by what we experience in our lives. What we need to do is
learn and grow.
The Bible tells us that once we repent of our sins, they are forgiven and wiped clean. Trust in the
Lord with all your heart and know that you are forgiven. He loves you. Have a blessed Wednesday - pass along God's
encouraging Word.
Love, Tracy
"His Wonderful Grace"
"O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" Psalm 8:9 KJV
In the NIV version it says - "O Lord, our Lord, how Majestic is Your name in all the earth!"
All the earth. It makes one wonder why some people have to create their own god (small
g) to worship when they have been given the gift the assures them peace and happiness forever and ever!
There is an old flip saying ... turn or burn. Simply put, turn from your sins, repent of your sins. We all sin.
Why or how people can say they don't sin is beyond me. It is like a movie I saw once, every time they said the word
cancer, it was in a whisper, "did you hear about Carol, can-cer." I think that is how we handle sin today.
In a whisper. Yes, we should be ashamed, that is humbling yourself before God. If we are not ashamed, or maybe
we justify our actions - that is pride before God.
Our Choir sings a song at church, I probably have mentioned it before because everytime they sing it the
lyrics break me. One part of the chorus is, He knew me, yet He loved me. He knows everything
about us - yet He loves us! Amazing love. Like no other! Encourage one another today ... no matter what
we are going through, there is someone who is struggling more. Your glass may be half full, but Jesus wants to
fill the rest of your cup! He loves you. Draw near to Him today.
Have a great Tuesday.
Love, Tracy
link
"Knowing What It Takes"
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10 (King James version)
At Church yesterday we were studying the book of Ephesians. When I glanced down at this verse I was
thinking I wonder why other denominations think that the way to heaven is by the good things you do here on earth? It
is so clear to me in this verse why we were created and how we are saved. The Message puts it in these words ...
"Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world
and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is
trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably
go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.
He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work
we had better be doing. "
So it is not what we do on this earth, it is what  Jesus did at Calvary. I was listening to a message by Charles Stanley yesterday and he was saying how people just
think if their good that is how they get to heaven. Then he said ... just how good is good enough? That is good!
No, it is nothing we do, except to repent and place faith in Jesus that all he does in our lives will be for His
Glory. The book of Ephesians gives you a lot of "food for thought." An encouraging bible study full of answers.
I hope that you have a great Monday and that you have placed all your trust and faith in Jesus and Him alone.
Love, Tracy
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| Devotions |
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| by Tracy Beckham |
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