|
Devotions
|
The Words Are Speaking to You.
Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, "You are my God; apart from you I have
no good thing." As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those will increase to those who run after other gods.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before
me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my
body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life; you fill me with Joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand."
Psalm
16; 1-3; 7-11 NIV
When we try to get through these days on our own is there joy or just contentment?
So many of us
turn to the Lord for direction when we are at the end of our rope instead of praying a prayer of petition each morning.
"Lord, guide and direct my steps today, less of my will and all of Your Will for my life Lord."
We need to start (if we are not doing so already), asking God to place people in our paths that will help
us grow closer to Him instead of us using circumstances or making excuses taking us further from Him.
I like
the last part of the verse above. "You have made known to me the path of life; you fill me with Joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand." God has a perfect plan for each us, He has a life filled with Joy for
us - we must as Him for guidance and pray that He will reveal this plan for us. He wants our lives to be filled with
JOY. The Joy of the Lord is our strength!
I hope you all have a great weekend. Invite someone to church with
you this Sunday. If you are not going to church, ask the Lord to guide you to where you need to be. Please lift
a lady named Kay up in prayer she is having health problems.
GROWTH
This is a devotion I wrote in 2003,
my computer is not cooperating today and my time is away from me ... it actually hit home with me again and bears repeating.
I hope you have a great Thursday.
It
might surprise you to know but most people just hear scripture at Church, if they go to Church! And it may be that they
only get it from reading an e-mail. Or maybe, they only hear about God from talking to you!
Are you
growing in the Word? Do you seek God each morning and ask Him to guide your steps? Asking Him to guard your lips
so that only words that would please your Heavenly Father come out? Do we honestly try to make a difference in someone
else's life so that they can see and feel the Love of Jesus?
I was talking to someone
not too long ago about someone we both know. This person has had so much tragedy in her life. The lady I was speaking
to said this person barely believes in God because of all she has been through.
That has stuck with me.
Shame on us for not showing her the love of God or telling her how much God loves her.
Tragedy happens in
this world. We live in an imperfect world. The is no flawless person and there is no flawless Church. Things
happen to draw us closer to God ~ not further away. We honestly live in a wicked world. People today are living
to do anything they like that will please themselves. We have missed the boat. We were created to walk this earth
to please God. We (and I am so guilty of this) have become such a society that materialism drives us. Most
times unintentionally, but even so we are.
I thought about this today:
I looked at all the DVD's and
video's we have - that is a lot of money sometimes just wasted on something I have not looked at in years.
How many of us are faithful in our giving to the Lord? A tithe or offering at our churches are to help the church
grow, to meet needs within the body of Christ. Yet, most of us give resentfully or we have so many opinions on
how the money should be spent that we just don't give at all!
Why aren't we just obedient to what
God's Word tells us to do?
I remember someone telling me once, she said, I used to give my girls .
50 cents every Sunday to put in the collection plate and then the person in charge embezzled millions from the Church.
They have not gone back since - that was probably 15-20 years ago at least. Who did that hurt? The person who
is living with the fact that they stole? Or the people who stopped going and have been bitter all these years?
Men are human and we will fall. Follow God and His direction for your life. Keep your eyes on Him and
He will help you to grow spiritually and be the example that you were meant to be!
G Go to God in Prayer daily
(John 15:7) "if you remain in me, I will remain in you..."
R Read
God's Word daily
(Acts 17:11) "..they received the message with great eagerness everyday"
O Obey God, moment by moment
(John 14:21)
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me..."
W Witness
for Christ by your life & words
(Matthew 4:19) "Anyone who breaks my commandments and
teaches others to do so will
be the least called into the kingdom..."
T Trust God for every
detail of your life
( 1 Peter 5:7) "Cast all you anxiety on Him because He cares
for you"
H Holy Spirit- Allow God to control & empower your
life
(Galatians 5:16-17) "...May I live in the Spirit and not gratify the desires
of a sinful nature...."
I pray that this got you thinking. I hope we will be more aware of the journey that the Lord has us on and help others
to discover Him! Have a great Thursday.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5 NIV NIV
Last night I
went to Fort Mill Church of God to hear Dr. Tony Evans.
I was blessed twice because his son, Anthony sang for an hour. Dr. Evans spoke on Life's purpose.
I loved one illustration he gave, he said, I bet most people today have a TV in their kitchens. It is not a big screen
TV, it is a small screen, because a TV in a kitchen is not one we sit down to watch, it is one we glance at every once in
a while as we are cooking, cleaning or eating. When we want to watch a show, we watch in the den on a big screen, in
a comfortable chair because we are going to give it our full attention. He said most people have the Lord in the kitchen.
We glance at him every once in a while when we need something. Never giving Him our full attention.
Oh that is so true. We rush, rush, rush. Aren't you glad that when God created the heavens, the earth
... you ~ He was not in a hurry! I often think about my own attitude, what do others see when they talk to me or they
see me? One question we should ask ourselves daily is, when others see us, do they ever see our love for Jesus?
Let the words and the actions that come from our mouths and our bodies be acceptable to Jesus Christ, our Lord, our
Savior! May our desire each day be to be a living testimony that our Lord will be proud of, that not only tells others
that because Jesus lives, we can face tomorrow - it shows them why we can face tomorrow. Let the fruits of your life
be shared with others around you for the glory and the honor of Jesus! I hope you have a great mid-week encourage
a friend today. Remember this ...the valley you face today ~ will be tomorrow's testimony!
God will use whatever storm you face, whatever mountaintop you reach if you are only a willing vessel.
Love,
Tracy
I Choose Now
Anthony Evans
(From the album Letting Go)
I don’t want
tragedy to be the only
Thing that leads me to your throne
With every moment of my life
With pain or joy I
will cry
You are God alone
You’ve given me the choice to kneel or walk away
I’ve struggled
with surrender long enough to say
I choose now
To be humbled in your presence
I choose now
To fall
on my face
Cause one day
Every knee will bow but Jesus
I choose now.
I have the scars I
can’t deny from
Thoughtless words and foolish times
But you still forgave
I wondered down a thousand
roads
Lost my way but you led me home
Where I was safe
I know heaven is a gift of your grace
But
until I see your face
To glorify your name
That’s why I was made
To worship and obey
I won’t
wait.
I don’t want tragedy to be the only
Thing that leads
me to your throne
With every moment of my life
With pain or joy I will cry
You are God alone
You’ve
given me the choice to kneel or walk away
I’ve struggled with surrender long enough to say
I choose
now
To be humbled in your presence
I choose now
To fall on my face
Cause one day
Every knee
will bow but Jesus
I choose now.
I have the scars I can’t deny from
Thoughtless words and foolish
times
But you still forgave
I wondered down a thousand roads
Lost my way but you led me home
Where
I was safe
I know heaven is a gift of your grace
But until I see your face
To glorify your name
That’s why I was made
To worship and obey
I won’t wait.
All Who Believe
“Everything is possible for him
who believes.”
Mark
9:23 NIV paraphrased
If it is the Will of the Lord that is. Hope ~ is a four letter word that is such an amazing Blessing.
Most of us don't realize it until we are at the end of our rope and then it comes along just when we need it the most.
Sometimes we feel so depleted that we think there is nothing left in life worth a smile. Sometimes our circumstances
will just go from bad to worse, and we can't seem to see even a flicker of hope. Then,
when we least expect it, hope appears. It could be a friend lending an ear, a new journey the Lord takes you on or even
better - an answer to prayer. You see, we can't solve our own problems. Jesus sees our hurts, His desire is
for us to come to Him. To be closer to Him and be more like Him. He is our Salvation. When we submit to Jesus
in honest prayer, and turn to Him for guidance, we will see that glimmer of hope and receive that feeling of peace.
He is all we need.
God designed this world. Flowers were made
to bloom to bring us joy. Rainbows appear in the sky to give us reminders of God's unfailing promises. The
sun brings brightness to a new day ~ it is the opportunity for new beginnings ... a new start. There is a
light to see at the end of the tunnel! There is a glimmer of hope and you can feel that peace, a peace that
will surpasses all understanding. Especially when we really don't understand because life can be
the biggest mystery.
It
is so hard to even grasp sometimes that we are loved so much. To believe that God would give us chance after chance
to start over. Can you trust in Him today to help you? Can you give Him all your troubles and just sit and
watch Him bring inner peace in your heart? When we give up and release our all to God, His love becomes clearer. When
we let go of our fears, that's peace. When we trust God with our future, that's hope! God loves us far
too much to make any mistakes. God takes us through valley's to bring us closer to Jesus. Don't turn away,
be faithful - because He is always faithful. Turn from pride and turn to Jesus.
I love you all, I pray that the Lord has touched
your heart today. No matter what you are going through, I pray that you turn to Jesus each morning. It has been a while
since I have written in my journal, but I really recommend that. Journal your hurts and watch a transformation
in your life. Write about your journey. Someone was telling me the other day about their Mother in law that had
passed away. He said one of the greatest gifts his wife received after she died was her journals. Even when we
are hurting, Jesus is still providing! I hope you all have a blessed day. Count your blessings ... because He
is all you need!!
Love,
Tracy
Facing The Storm
I love this song by Mercy Me, "Bring The Rain". Every sermon we heard yesterday, I think it was about
five between church, the radio and TV, pointed to this exact subject. God always has a purpose for our storms.
No matter what, we may not understand, but Jesus will always travel with us through that storm. He never leaves us.
We may give up on Him, but He will not leave us. It never has ceased to amaze me when a see a friend or a family member
who have a strong faith in Jesus face a storm. They carry a heavy load, yet they still praise Him in the rain!
Yet, others who don't know the love of Christ, how do they face that storm? What on this earth could possibly comfort
them the way Jesus does? How do they get through the storm? I guess they never do. I guess it wears them
down until the day they will realize that Jesus is all they need and only He can see them through the storms
of life.
Read the lyrics to the song, Bring The Rain. I watched a movie this weekend called The Ultimate Gift, while it was not blatantly pointing you towards
Jesus - it did have a message - it was about a man who had much wealth when he died - but no one liked him in life because
of who he was and he knew this. In his will he left his family nothing, only the items they had already. Except
one grandson, he too was very spoiled, but he left him 12 gifts and if he could succeed in understanding the 12
gifts, only then would he get the ultimate gift - which in this movie was all the grandfathers wealth. Only the
gifts were not material gifts, they were the gift of love, the gift of true friendship, the gift of family, the gift of labor
... I can't recall the rest, but they were all gifts that would change him as a man. Then in the end when he
was able to achieve the ultimate gift, he was changed as a man and he used the money and power to help the needy instead of
being greedy. ( At the end I saw that it was filmed in Charlotte,
NC.)
As the sermons I heard this weekend
spoke, so did this movie. The man was in a storm, the grandfather took away everything, his money, his power, his home,
his belongings in order to help change him to become a better man. He had to achieve the gifts to earn everything
back. Our lives face a storm to change us. To help us grow as a Christian or maybe even to help us to become
a Christian. There are so many people in this world around us facing the storms alone. We may think they are fine,
but right before us and right next to us we may have a friend or coworker low in the valley. Take a moment to think
of others today and say a prayer for them that they will feel the love of Jesus. That they will realize that they are
not in the storm alone. I hope you have a great Monday today. Count your blessings!
Love,
Tracy
"Bring The Rain"
I can count a million times
People
asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances
possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But
instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance
to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings
me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray
Holy, holy, holy
Is
the Lord God Almighty
FRIDAY, September 14, 2007
Lift Your Eyes
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful
and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of
Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward
outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how to answer to everyone."
Colossians 4:2-6 NIV
I was listening to this song this morning on the
radio called:
I will Lift My Eyes
by Bebo Norman.
God,
my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt
Your
kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of
the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I
will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
God,
my God, let Mercy sing
Her melody over me
God, right here all I bring
Is all of me
‘Cause
You are and You were and You will be forever
The Lover I need to save me
‘Cause You fashioned the
earth and You hold it together, God
So hold me now
I have received so many e-mails in the past
few weeks of prayer requests for sick people. So many people hurting just in my small circle of family and of friends.
This song just ministered to my heart this morning. Sometimes it takes words in a song to remind us to lift our eyes
to Heaven and reach out to the Lord. Keep your eyes upon the Cross.
In Charlotte, they just recently completed
the Billy Graham Library, which is also the final resting
place for Ruth Bell Graham and someday Billy Graham.
The entrance to the library is a huge cross. When asked about it, Franklin Graham said, the entrance was built this
way so everyone always comes to the foot of the cross. So when I went in last month that was the first thought that
entered my mind - I am at the foot of the cross! It is a beautiful museum. If you live in this area you should
go (free admission). It takes about an hour to tour through the life of Billy and his Ministry.
Today
I hope you plan on starting your day at the foot of the cross. Pray for others around you today instead of being
consumed with what is going on in your own life. Let others minister to you. I know a good bit of your personally
and as I send this I am praying for the Lord to touch your lives. I hope He provides all you need today. This life
can be a difficult one, no one ever said it would be easy - remember each and every day is a gift from God. I hope
you all have a Blessed day and weekend. Invite someone to church with you this Sunday. If you don't go to
church, pray that the Lord will lead you to a church that stands on His Word ~ no exceptions. Please pray for Carrie
Eversole today, I am not sure what time her surgery is (brain tumor). She is 28. Pray for her husband Ken and
her toddler Cayden (he is almost 2). Thank you. Count you blessings each and every day!
Tracy
|
|
|
|
| Devotions |
|
| by Tracy Beckham |
|
|
