Just Wait ... Turn To Him "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also
out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put
a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is
that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O LORD my
God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order
unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." (Psalm 40:1-5
KJV)
All the Psalms give
us a way to pray and draw nearer to the Lord, this one is one of my favorites. So many times we are so low in the valley
and the Lord just reaches His hand in and pulls us out. Last year was a year of valley's for many ... can you look
back and see where the Lord was there each step of the way sending in the rescue squad? At each turn He provided someone
there physically for us to bring us up, to encourage us and to help us with what ever our need was. We can't
go this life alone. Somehow we made it through ... that somehow is Jesus!
No matter what we face today, and we all face something,
we need to open the Word of God to find the answers. Every valley is to bring us closer and closer to Jesus. He
loves us and we need to rely on His Mercy and His Grace to help us face each day. Share His love with others.
Tell others about what He has done in your life and how He has pulled you from the valley to the mountaintop. Jesus
says in John 16 (verse 33), "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" YES! He confirms it - we will
experience the valley ... no one misses that valley, even a person with everything, they will have a valley - but (Jesus says),
He has overcome the world - He knows that valley's we face and He is there waiting for us to draw unto Him. Jesus
loves you. Find your way back to Him.
Have a great Friday and weekend! Invite someone to church with you this Sunday ~ if you do not go to church,
what are you waiting for? There is no perfect Church, only a perfect Lord. Pray and seek His guidance on where
your family should be. Love, Tracy
Raised Up On Eagles Wings "In thee,
O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape:
incline thine ear unto me, and save me. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given
commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out
of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth. By
thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually
of thee. I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with
thy honour all the day. Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. For mine
enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute
and take him; for there is none to deliver him. O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help. Let
them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek
my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness
and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will
make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I
declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength
unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast
done great things: O God, who is like unto thee! Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me
again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on
every side. I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp,
O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. My
tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that
seek my hurt." (Psalm 71)
For the past week I have been watching the funeral
of former President Gerald Ford. I do remember when he was President even though I don't know anything about his
Presidency. I learned a lot this week. Last night was the final funeral service. As I sat there watching
I was thinking about this man, just the ordinary man - not the former President ... I thought about how he planned his own
funeral, he selected the people that he wanted to speak at each service. Then I thought about
the words of each person, most of them were admiration for this man, so boasted about themselves. As I watched last
night and listened to Jimmy Carter speak, I was somewhat disappointed. He is another man I don't know much about
other than he is a man after peace between nations. But I was disappointed. He first said something wonderful.
He said, "as I was traveling here from Washington one of Jerry's
son's came up to me on the plane and said one of the greatest gifts Dad gave to me was telling me and leading me to a
relationship with Jesus Christ." That is what life is all about - telling others about the love and Salvation we
have through Christ Jesus. Then he said (not word for word - but basically), Jerry wanted all denominations to just
live the Christian life. To not dwell on these other things like homosexuality, the woman's role in church, etc...
he wanted us Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal and other denominations to just live a Christian life ..." Oh,
he lost me at that point. Love the sinner, hate the sin. Call it what it is - homosexuality is sin.
I am sorry if you have a problem with this - but if you are a Christian do you not believe God's Word to be true?
I
am not sure how it has come to be that we have become such a tolerant nation. What we experience now is it's their
life they can live the way they want - No - no - no ... that is not true. We can't live the way we want.
We are not to judge others life styles - yes, that is true. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God -
but we are to pray for one another. Do I feel two woman and two men have the right to be married to one another - no I don't. If you are Christian, you should feel the same
way. Marriage is between one man and one woman - that is in God's Word too. I am not trying to change people's
thoughts on this subject - if you read the Bible, the Holy Word of God, you will change your thoughts because of the Word.
Love the sinner, despise the sin. Pray for others today.
 I am praying for Jimmy Carter. A man, a leader, a person seeking peace.
He says he is a Christian, yet the words he spoke yesterday were that of a man on the fence. Take a stand - stand on
the word of God. Pray for your neighbors and your government. Pray for the leaders in your Church. Have
a great Thursday. Love, Tracy
To Everything There Is A Season & Reason! "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and
a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time
to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A
time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A
time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to
keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath
given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the
world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that
there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and
drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for
ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. That
which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. And moreover I saw
under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. I
said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every
work. I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might
see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth
them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast:
for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit
of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Wherefore I perceive that there
is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see
what shall be after him?
(Ecclesiastes 3 KJV)
I love Ecclesiastes 3 because there is a time for everything. We don't always understand why ~ but those
of us who read God's Word and meditate in God's Words know that this is truth. Nothing is a surprise to the
Lord. Everything that happens is to draw us closer to Him. So now that it is 2007 we have a new start, a new beginning.
So what is your wish and the desire of your heart? For everything has a season! Have you thought about what you
would like to accomplish for this New Year? Some may say, 'may this be the best year financially.' There
is nothing wrong with that. Some may say, 'may I get everything I want this year.' There is nothing wrong
with that either ~ as long as you are serving God. In the past few days I have looked over my life. I can see
how good the Lord has been to me. How blessed I am. I've been looking at the times I followed His path for
me and look at all the times that I have not ~ yet He has been faithful to me. Then I look at this verse ~ for everything
has it's season! No matter where we are in life, maybe we are the wealthiest we have ever been - maybe we've
hit rock bottom or maybe we are just in the middle, life is not bad, but it is not great either - well, it is never too late
to start living the life that God has planned for you. We may try to make our own way ~ but Jesus is the only way.
So what is that "resolution"?
What does God mean to you? Do you realize just how much He loves you? Not one of us know what kind of time we
have here on earth ... why do we waste it? Can Psalm 139 be your prayer today? http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20139;&version=31; Or how about Isaiah 6:8? "... here I am Lord, send me ..." Are you willing to do whatever it
takes to draw nearer to the Lord? No matter what life throws you today, know that the Lord already knows it is going
to happen and He is there waiting for you to draw nearer to Him. Everything - has a season!
Have a great day today. Love, Tracy
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