Seeking His Way "When the Son of Man comes in his
glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him,
and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on
his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by
my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave
me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give
you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see
you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will
say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you
did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They
also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison,
and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least
of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal
life."
(Matthew 25:31-46 NIV)
As I was
driving to an appointment yesterday I suddenly had to come to a complete stop. Moving through the morning traffic and
getting frustrated, I began to pray asking the Lord to get me to my appointment on time. As the traffic thinned
to one lane I came upon an accident scene. A man who had been riding a motorcycle, was now in the middle of the highway.
I passed the accident and drove on to my appointment. As I was driving, I just kept thinking about what I had just passed,
someone's son, maybe he was someone's brother or husband, someone's employee, someone's friend etc ... I turned
my radio off and prayed for that man. Just in an instant his life was changed. In one finger snap - one minute
on his way to work, then next minute laying on a highway with cars driving 65-70 mph around his body!
In an instant our lives can be changed. I wonder, why do so many Americans take that
for granted? I myself sometimes take it for granted. We have so much to be thankful for. We are like spoiled
children who can never be given enough. I was watching the news last night and they were showing these militaries in
a foreign country. These men train during the day and at night they walk around invading people's homes, raping
woman and children. How can we not be so thankful to live in America? How can we not praise God for His hand of
protection?
We don't know the day or hour that the Lord will
come back for us. Some of us may pass on before that happens - or it can happen today. We don't know.
But we always need to be ready. On that day, will the Lord say depart from me or will the Lord say welcome home!
We need to seek the Lord each morning, noon and night. Love one another, pray to the Lord for guidance and desire to
walk the way Jesus would walk. Talk the way Jesus would talk. Be an example for your children. Pray for
those around you and ask Jesus to direct your path. He loves you and if your heart is open - He will lead you.
I hope you all have a great weekend. It is hard to believe that my children's
school year will be over next Wednesday. Time is flying by - what are we doing with it? Invite someone to church
with you this Sunday. If you are not going to Church I hope that you are praying that the Lord will lead your family
to a church that stands for His Word. Count your blessings ... for we are SO SO blessed!!! Love, Tracy
King Jesus
"He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. God
shall send forth his mercy and his truth." (Psalm 57:3 KJV) I like how the Message writes it ... "Be
good to me, God—and now! I've run to you for dear life.
I'm hiding out under your wings until
the hurricane blows over. I call out to High God, the God who holds me together. He sends orders from heaven
and saves me, he humiliates those who kick me around.
God delivers generous love, he makes
good on his word. "
That last line ... God delivers
generous love ... it is so hard to imagine that God could love so much. But He does, His Word tells us throughout how
much He loves and cares for us. Seek His truth, trust in His Word and He will guide you through the journey of your
life. All we need to do it seek ... and we will find it, written out for us. I know that when you are in a valley
and things seem senseless, it is hard to find sense. But if we come broken and humble before the Lord He will comfort
us and He will guide us to where we need to be and what we need to do. Seek Him. Jesus loves you.
We had a special singing at our church on Sunday and when they were done Jenna (my 9 yr old), begged to buy a CD. SO
with her own money she bought her first CD. The Specks. Her favorite song on it, #10 ... on repeat every night
since Sunday when she goes to bed. As Long As I've Got King Jesus! I love it. She likes it
for the beat, I like it because each nice as she is going to sleep and sleeping the words to this song are being impressed
in her mind ... as long as she has Jesus ... there is nothing else she needs!
I hope
you all have a good day today, I am having a slow computer morning on both computers. I hope you know that as long
as you have King Jesus ... you don't need anything else! Count your blessings! We are surely blessed.
Love, Tracy
Verse 1
I've been lied on, cheated, talked about, mistreated, i've
been used, scorned, talked about sore as bone,
I've been up, down, almost to the ground
Chorus:
But
long as i got king Jesus, long as got king Jesus, long long long as i got
i don't need nobody else
Repeat
Verse 1
Chorus
Bridge:
I don't need nobody else x4
Verse 2
Mother, father sister,
brother, no doctor nor lawyer, nor preacher, nor teacher,
Chorus
Bridge
No father, mother, sister,
brother, no doctor nor lawyer, nor preacher, nor teacher,
Chorus
I've been lied on,lied on, lied
on, lied on
Have you ever been lied on x 2
Do you know what I mean
Verse 1
But Long long long
long long oh oh oh oh
Long as i got king Jesus x2
I know he's a burden bearer,
I know he's a heavy
load sharer,
I know, a bridge over water,
Oh lord, a doctor and a lawyer
Good God, a friend when you're
friendless,
Oh lord a mother when you're motherless,
he'll be, bread when your hungry
He'll be,
a comfort when you're lonley,
Long as i got, long as i got king Jesus
I know he's a burden bearer,
I
know he's a heavy load sharer,
Good God, a bridge over water,
Oh lord, a doctor and a lawyer
Long as i
got King Jesus x2
Wait a minute, wait a minute hey,
I got him jesus, I got him Jesus
He's a lily of the
valley,
he's a praying morning star
He's a rose , i said,
He's a grave, i am
He walks with
me, and talks with me
He's Jehovah,jara, jehovah, raffa,
Jehovah, jhama
he's the alpha and the omega,
He's the beginning and the end
He's my first, last,
he'
Faith In The Lord IS My Strength! Now the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:13
KJV)
I woke up with this song in my mind ... the
Joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength ... the j-o-y of the Lord is my strength ...
I must need that today. I must
have needed a reminder for something that was or is to come. Last night I was watching the news, mostly clips about
the passing of Jerry Falwell, I guess I live under a rock - I could not believe how many people had hatred for that man.
The man just died and they are talking about how much they were glad. So sad. A man was interviewed and he
said, homosexuality is a gift from God and needs to be celebrated. Oh my ... this world is so sad to me. If it
is sad to me, can you imagine how God feels? He had a world like this - he saw the sin and how it destroyed people because
of their selfish nature. Sodom and Gomorrah! Our world is back to that. We don't take a stand, the popular
vote goes with people should just live the way they want to. It is their life. What do we care. We should
care. What we were given over 2000 years ago was a gift from God. His name was Jesus Christ who died for
ALL sins. We need to repent from them and change our ways. Many people love me, but I am still
a sinner saved by grace! If I we continue to walk in the world and not walking by faith in Jesus and trusting Him, we
will be alone in our death with no advocate to God the Father in Heaven. I pray that you have made a decision for Him
today.
I am really
praying for the hatred we are seeing in America today. Their is only 1 God. We must serve Him faithfully.
Trust in Him fully. Take a stand for Him today. He will give you the words. Do not be ashamed. Have
a blessed day today. Pray for our country!!! Love, Tracy
Is The Joy Deep Down In Your Heart? "My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (James
1:2-3 KJV)
As
I started this devotion in the quietness of the morning I was reading over some notes I took during a Beth Moore Conference
I went to recently. I love her Bible studies. This woman is just real (www.lproof.org) and down to earth. In this recent study in the book of James, she was talking about trials. I was thinking about
a point she made ... life would be boring without trials. I know a lot of people that would disagree with that
point. But as I read further in my notes I thought to a certain point that comment is so true. Every true trial
evokes a test of faith. Testing faith develops perseverance and patience and with each trial we will gain new wisdom
about our lives. IF we want victory over anything in our life we need to learn something new that we did not know
before we experienced that trial or valley!
It takes courage to face any valley. To have victory, we must have Christ.
In everything you face today, big or small turn to Jesus and try to imagine the finish line. Ask God to direct your
day and give you the strength to face the trial with courage and perseverance! One day you will be able to
count it all JOY - Victory in Jesus!!! Have a great day. Count your blessings because you are BLESSED.
Love, Tracy
Raised to Walk In Newness
"We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled
for
us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: " 'You
are my Son; today I have become your Father. The fact that God raised him from the dead, never
to decay, is stated in these words: I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.
So it is stated elsewhere: 'You will not let your Holy One see decay. For when David had
served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers
and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins
is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could
not be justified from by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:32-39 NIV)
Yesterday at church an 86 year old man got baptized. During the early
service yesterday
morning he came forward. Usually we attend this service, but yesterday we went to the 11 service
so I do not have the details of his testimony (I would love to hear them if anyone reading this
was at that service). As he was standing with one of our pastors in the baptismal, I was wondering
what his life was like. I thought to myself, I wonder if he was a sweet old man who just thought he was going to heaven because he knew there was A God and knew there was
A place called Heaven. Or was he a man that lived a wicked life? Maybe he lived one way on Sunday's
and another way Monday through Saturday. One way in front of Church people and one way in front
of strangers. How long has the Lord been tugging at his heart? What was the comment that made
his heart skip a beat and his mind say "I get it now!" He was smiling as he was listening to the pastor, "because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord
and Savior ... I baptize you (and do it with great JOY), in the name of the Father, The Son and
Holy Spirit ..." He went into the water his old self and came out of the water a new Christian
... a new "body" raised up to walk in the way of the Lord. It touched my heart.
I don't know how many more days the Lord will
give this man on this earth,
but I pray that whether it is 2 more or 20 more that he lives these
days sharing his testimony and glorifying Jesus. When you see a man his age give his heart to Christ, it makes you think. I know a lot of people let pride stand in the way
of having that joy. Jesus says make it public. Don't be ashamed of Him - because He will
be ashamed of us before God the Father. What a shame it is going through your whole life and
never knowing the joy of what your Salvation can bring. Yes, we go through hard times still ...
but Jesus is beside us each step of the way and we are not alone. Jesus loves you and His desire
is that we change how we are living for the world, in the world and start living for Him and that our desire would be a closer walk with Him.
I hope you have a great Monday. Lift up a friend in prayer today. Pray for
this
man from my church. I think his name is Floyd - but just pray for the man from Calvary ... the
Lord knows who he is. Pray that his days on earth are faithful and that his testimony reaches
others that need to walk with Jesus. Love, Tracy
Remembering Mom "The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father,
and forsake not the law of thy mother..." (Proverbs 1:8 KJV)
As I am sitting reflecting on this coming Sunday, Mother's Day, I can't help but feel for my friends who
will celebrate their first Mother's
Day without a child this year or my friends who are celebrating their first Mother's Day without their Mother
this Sunday. I remember my first Mother's
Day without my Mom. It was 3 days after she had passed away. I remember how empty I felt and I can remember
not even wanting to celebrate at all. But as time has passed, I realized that even though our Mom's have passed
they will always be our Mom!And even though a child has passed, they will always be our child and we always will
celebrate the life they had. I am praying for all of you that have experienced these losses whether this be you first
year or your 30th.
I also know a number of people who are awaiting
the birth of their first baby. How exciting to experience their first Mother's Day. What an honor.
What a huge blessing God has given to us! The little lives we hold and what a responsibility we have to lead and guide
them. When we just trust and put our faith in Jesus He will see us through. He will guide and direct our ways
so that we may guide and direct our children. All we can do is pray that they go in the right direction. Always
trusting that the Lord will impress on their hearts and that they will look to Him for guidance.
I hope you all have a blessed weekend. Please pray for Mom's around you today and especially for
those who will have a difficult day Sunday. Happy Mother's Day to all of you and count all your blessings ... no
matter what we face today, our Lord Jesus always provides a blessing! We are blessed because Jesus loves us. Have
a great weekend. Invite someone to church with you this Sunday. I hope you are able to visit with your Mom this
Sunday. Love, Tracy
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