Be Prepared

Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumes them.

Proverbs 21:20

Today's devotional tells a story of a woman visiting her friend, and they are taking a hike in the Grand Canyon. She is amazed at the number of signs reminding hikers to take plenty of water and food, even for short hikes. She wondered why there were so many common sense reminders, since she had not encountered anything like those signs on any of her hikes out east. Her friend explained to her that because it is so dry and hot in the canyon, you could lose up to two quarts of fluids without realizing it.

The writer goes on to talk about that though Jesus taught us that we aren't to worry about tomorrow, there are plenty of verses about the importance of planning for the future.

It is wise to be prepared, and I try to be to a certain extent. But as anyone with kids knows that can be tricky. You think you are getting ahead of the game, and then something happens, and your back behind the game again. My husband and I are trying to pay off some debt, as most people are. While my husband makes a good salary, we aren't where we would like to be, because of our debt. We should have been more like the ant, in our early days of marriage. We are working hard on it, and we make strides with it, then we have our setbacks.

However, I do believe in the importance of being prepared. I am very much a planner in most everything I do. I always pack much more than is needed for any trip, always thinking about all the things we might need. Bottom line, we need to trust in God's provision, but God also gave us wisdom to help us be prepared for the unexpected, and that is part of His provision to.

Steps of Faith:
Father, help me avoid foolish choices and irresponsibility. Teach me to do what I can to prepare for the unexpected.

Deeper Walk:
Genesis 41 NAS
Joseph is placed in the charge of Egypt

Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaho had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. And lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass. Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold , seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold it was a dream. Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh. Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I would make mention today of my own offenses. Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. We had a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. Now a Hebrew youth was with us there, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related them to him, and he interepreted our dreams for us. To each one he intrepreted according to his own dream. And just as he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my office, but he hanged him." Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer." So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I was standing on teh bank of the Nile; and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt; and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. Yet when they had devoured them, it could be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke. I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk; and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them; and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it me." Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's dreams are on and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven good years; the dreams are one and the same. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine. It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in teh land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land. So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about. Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh's authority, and let them guard it. Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine." Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. Then Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?" So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, an according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you." Pharaoh siad to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt." Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. He had him ride in his second chariot: and they proclaimed before him, "Bow the knee!" And he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharoah said to Joseph, "Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and have him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt. Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth abundantly. So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the good in teh cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure. Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On bore to him. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." He named the second Ephraim, "For," he said, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." When the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do." When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine wa ssevere in all the earth.

Relationship Strains

Each one of you is to live his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:33

The story today is about a woman who confesses to her mentor of being overly critical of her husband lately. She explains to her mentor that she has apologized to her husband, but he still seems distant, and their relationship seems strained. She says that she felt like the Holy Spirit was telling her that she needs to accept her husband the way he is, but that it's hard to be quiet when he's constantly glued to the tv watching sports. Her mentor asks her if she's ever tried sitting down with her husband and watching a game with him, just spending some time with him, and showing interest in something that he enjoys. She admits that she hasn't, and agrees to give it a try.

The writer of the devotional goes on to say that every relationship has it's rough patches, and that if your at a point where your struggling, to earnestly seek God's guidance about how to reconnect.

This is the fine dance of being in a marriage. There are things that really bother both husband and wife about each other. When you spend that much time with someone, there are going to be things that get on your nerves. Tomorrow will be my 11th wedding anniversary. I remember that day so well. We were so excited to start our new life together. I have been remembering all month long. Espcially because of the similarities of this year, and the year we got married. We were married on a Friday, the Friday before Memorial day. This year our anniversary is the on the Friday before Memorial day. The year we got married, the month of May was so rainy, and there were lots of tornados. We had an outdoor wedding planned, and it looked like it was going to rain. But it cleared up and was a beautiful evening for a wedding. It was beautiful, and we were blessed. We are still very happily married, but I find myself thinking and sometimes saying to him, (in fact I did say it the other night)"after 11 years, you ought to know me better than that". And by all accounts women are more perceptive of the little things then men are, so I shouldn't expect him to be as perceptive as I am, it can be a bit frustrating.

When I find myself upset with my husband, I try to explain to him how that made me feel, so that he understands more why I am upset about what he did or didn't do. Do I fly off the handle, and let psycho wife in sometimes. Yes. I am ashamed to admit it, but she does make an apperance in my home every now and then.

I used to pray that God would make my husband get it. Then I had a change of attitude, and I started praying for God to change me, and to make me the wife He wants me to be, and I found that as I focused on myself, and making myself a Godly wife, my husband responded more to that, and our relationship grew stronger. I started focusing more on my husband's strength's, and my respect for him grew more also.

Steps of Faith:
Holy God, please help me to treat my loved ones with the same love and respect I would like to receive from them. I know it will help to bridge the distance we sometimes feel between us.

Deeper Walk:
1 Peter 3:1-6 NAS
Godly Living

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to you own husbands so that even if any of them are disobeient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external-braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

Thankfulness

The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. Praise the name of the LORD.

Job 1:21

Today's devotional talks about how part of God's will for me, according to 1 Thessalonians 5:18, is giving thanks no matter what happens in my life. The writer goes on to say that doesn't mean you become an insincere person, but it means that you realize that the circumstance is difficult, give it God in prayer, and then accepting it as a chance to grow in my dependence on Him.

I feel like I have been hit, with struggle after struggle, after struggle. And while at the moment I am in the midst of each these struggles, it feels overwhelming, I can be thankful for them. I am learning, slowly, how to be more dependant on God through each struggle. I think I am either way to stubborn, or a slow learner, because these things keep coming my way. =) I know that I get consumed by each problem, and it can become my way of life for a while, then something happens that makes me realize just how small my struggles and problems really are, and how truly blessed I am. I have a friend who died this past Saturday, after about a 3 year battle with cancer. She was only 32 years old, and has a husband and 2 year old daughter. She was so young, and it seems so unfair that she was taken so soon. She should have had more time with her husband and daughter. She won't get to see her daughter grow up, go on her first date, get her driver's license, get her first kiss, go to the prom, graduate from high school, or get married. I don't understand, but I know that God does. My friend has been on my mind and in my heart these last few months. As a mother that is one of my biggest fears, leaving my children much to soon. There are so many things I want to see and be apart of in their lives. And for the moment I get that hope and that chance. My friend doesn't. However, we can still rejoice with her, because she is singing with the angels at this moment, and there is no more pain for her.

Steps of Faith:
Lord, let me be thankful in all situations and help me to see things from Your perspective.

Deeper Walk: Psalm 100 NAS
Theme: An invitation to enter joyfully into God's presence. His faithfulness extends to our generation and beyond.
Author: Anonymous

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; his lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

The Prayer Rebellion

Is anyone amoung you suffering? He should pray.

James 5:13

The devotional today talks about how most of us grew up praying before meals, at church or when we got into trouble. So when we see a verse in the bible that says "pray continually" we can't fathom how that's even possible.

I kind of touched on this last week. How I try to pray without "hanging up the phone". I have little thoughts and converstaions in my head all day with God. I had never been able to fathom the concept of being in constant prayer before a couple of years ago. I get a devotional throught my e-mail daily from a guy in Florida. He tackles the big things, and is trying to go into the secular culture to reach the lost. I really like him, and his devotionals. But one day in one of his devotionals, he talked about praying constantly. And he described it as just never hanging up the phone with God. That clicked for me, and that's when I decided to focus my thoughts into prayers, and have a constant conversation with God. I realized that I had been doing this all along, but just didn't realize it. I have just recently realized that God is answering the prayers of my heart. The desires that I didn't voice in a prayer to Him, but that He knows about anyway.

Steps of Faith:
Father, thank You that You want a relationship with me. Help me to keep in constant prayer with You so that I will be in Your perfect will.

Deeper Walk:
James 5:13-18 NAS

Is anyone amoung you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone amoung you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offereind in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. The he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

The Joy Rebellion

Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God.

Phillipians 2:14-15

Today's devotional talks about being joyful when life is good, and when life is not so good. My devotional says that grumbling, doing what I want to do without seeking God first, losing heart when life gets a little tough, are all things we do when we rebel against God's will. It talks about how joy is much deeper than happiness, because happiness is based on whether life is going good. Happiness and joy come easily during the good times.

My devotional goes further into depth on this, but the bottom line is I have to choose to be joyful. The title of the devotional explains it all. My heart often chooses to rebel against joy, when things aren't going so good in my life. This, for me, goes along with what I talked about yesterday. I have to thwart my heart's rebellion against joy, and choose not to take the jab at someone whom I don't like very much. I am learning to try and see the person. Try to see their situation, and what may be going on in their lives to. God loves them to. Jesus didn't just die for me and the people I like, He didn't just die for the good people. He died for ALL people. Sometimes that's hard to accept, I know I feel like other's don't deserve it, but the truth is, I don't deserve it. God asks so very little from me, and my heart chooses to rebel.

Trusting is sometimes hard, but that's why it's called faith. I know God is in control, but sometimes the control freak in me comes out, and I decide that I know a better way, and I need to take the controls back. Then my life gets way off track, and I sit and wonder why. I finally give the controls back to God, get my life back on the right track, only to repeat the whole process all over again. To coin one my friends phrases, "I am just a stupid Isrealite!" I suppose I deserve the desert that I wander in for 40 years, if I keep trying to tell the God of the universe how to do His job!! But from now on, I am going to choose to be joyful in the wilderness.

Steps of Faith:
Lord, I confess that when life gets hard, sometimes I grumble. Please help me to remember that what I'm going through is temporary and that You are bigger than my problems.

Deeper Walk:
Hebrews 12:1-12 NAS
Jesus, the Example

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble.

Heart of Rebellion

Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

No story in todays devotional. It just talks about rebellion, and how it isn't always lashing out against someone or something. Sometimes it's having a manipulative, bitter heart.

I must confess, a few months ago, I had a manipulative, bitter heart. I had someone hurt me very deeply, I had several someone's hurt me, and my heart was hurt. I let it wander into manipulative territory, which then lead to bitterness in my heart. I found myself angry, and wanting vengence for the person and persons who had hurt me. I was hardly praying, and I was certainly not spending any time at all in the word. I was becoming self-righteous, and even when I was at church, the sermons weren't for me, they were for the other people.

I realized that my heart was causing me to drift away from God, and I was letting Satan steal my peace. I am still not completely where I need to be, and I still feel the pain of the hurt that was caused, but doing these blogs each day, has helped me. I am spending more time with God, and I have focused on changing my heart. I am taking a much different approach with people who hurt me. And that new approach is something that I find is coming naturally to me. I feel more peaceful about my decisions, and I am trying to "pray constantly" as the anchor verse says. I try to just pray without hanging up the phone to God, just have a long on-going conversation with Him all day in my head. Every thought is mostly geared toward God, and so therefore a prayer. I just talk to him, like I would any of my friends.

The devotional talks about taking time to reflect on the decisions I am making in my life. It says my decisions are like little mirrors, they reflect what is in my heart, and it's where my rebellion takes hold. I had never thought about it like that before. I want my heart to reflect God to others, not anger and bitterness.

Steps of Faith:
Father, please forgive me for the times I have rebelled against Your will and followed my own selfish desires. Help me to listen to the prompting of Your Holy Spirit and to obey.

Deeper Walk:
1 Samuel 28 NAS
Saul and the Spirit Medium

Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Isreal. And Achish said to David, "Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men." David said to Achish, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life." Now Samuel was dead and all Isreal had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Isreal together and they camped in Gilboa. When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor." Then Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, "Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall name to you." But the woman said to him, "Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?" Saul vowed to her by the Lord, saying, "As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for me." When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul." The king said to her, "Do not be afraid; but what do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a divine being coming up out of the earth." He said to her, "What is the form?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage. Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul answered, " I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do." Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and has become your adversary? The Lord has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. As you did not obey the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the Lord will also give over Isreal along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the Lord will give over the army of Isreal into the hands of the Philistines!" Then Saul immediately fell full length upon the ground and was very afreaid because of the words of Samuel; also there was not strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night. The woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and said to him, "Behold your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. So now also, please listen to the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strenght when you go on your way." But he refused and said, "I will not eat." However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it; and shw took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread from it. She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.

Plugged In

Now if any of lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generusly and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

Today was about a mother and a teenage son. She could see her son on the computer from the kitchen, but it really didn't do her any good because he was moving from website to website at warp speed. So she decided instead of asking him what he was doing she took another approach, she asked him to teach her how to move between websites as fast as he could. Instead of her son getting defensive and angry, he got the opportunity to teach his mother something new, and she got to monitor what he was doing to make sure it was appropriate. Not to mention getting a little quality time in.

It's important in how we approach and react to our children, when were not sure what they are doing, or what is going on. Especially tween and teenage children. I have to say, I'm not so good at this. I tend to be more of iron fist ruler, when I'm not sure. However, I do try to educate myself on things. I watch questionable shows, before I allow my kids to watch them, and check out books and music. At this point we don't really have much to worry about. My kids are 9 and 4, so they really aren't doing to much that I don't already know about. But my 9 year old is starting to want to get on the internet more, and watch more mature shows. He has even been asking for a cell phone. My husband is the technically savvy one in our household, and I mostly rely on his decisions about websites. But it is important for me to educate myself to. I need to rely more on the wisdom that God gives me, to help me navigate my son and daughter into adulthood. I hope that I will have the wisdom to see opportunities, like the mom in the story, and take the road that leads to a happy peaceful ending, rather than one that ends with screaming and yelling.

Steps of Faith:
Father, give me the energy and insight to be "plugged in" to my children's culture so I can help then stay grounded.

Deeper Walk: Proverbs 4:5-7 NAS

Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding.

Image Investment

For those He Foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Romans 8:29

The story today is of a woman who is looking a piece of furniture that she loves, and she imagines how perfectly it would go with all the other things in her home. She looks at the price tag, it's so expensive. She calculates how much overtime she would have to work to pay for it. About this same time a friend from her church spots her. Her friend comes by to tell her about the new ladies bible study they are planning, and wanted to know if she wanted to participate. The woman had forgotten all about the bible study, and the truth was if was going to be working so many hours, she really wouldn't have time for it. In fact she really was having trouble now fitting her quiet time into her life daily. She felt the Holy Spirt nudge her, and told her friend that she would love to participate in the bible study.

I am so like this woman. I want nice things for my home, for my children, and for myself. I want my home to look like the homes in the magazines. I worry about what I look like, and I worry about what other's think. I get so busy with all the things that I have trouble spending time with God, the lover of my soul. That is the main reason I started this blog, so I would be accountable for my quite time with God, and that I would get into a routine of doing it daily. I am sad to say that if I did a graph of my time, it would fail miserably in the the things that truly matter. I'm sure I would be quite shocked to learn exactly where all my time is going, and probably ashamed. Jesus doesn't care about what my house looks like, if my kids are wearing matching clothes, or if I have that designer purse. He cares about what my inside looks like, and what my relationship with Him looks like. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21.

Steps of Faith:
Lord, I want to look more like Christ. Show me how I can grow more like Him each day.

Deeper walk: Romans 12 NAS
Personal responsibility

Therefore I urge you, breathren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spirtual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone amound you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are on body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accourdingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hyprocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, perservering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGENCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Opportunity?

I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners

Mark 2:17

Today's devotional talks about a mother who's son has moved into his junior high/high school years, and has made some friends who are not Christians. She is concerned about her son hanging out with friends who do not believe the same things she has taught her son to believe in. Will they expose him to things she doesn't want him exposed to, will they cause him to stray from his faith??? After spending some time in prayer, she realizes that there is a possiblity that these boys were sent to her son, so that her son can reach them for Christ.

I completely understand where this mother is coming from. My son is also in a public school. I am constantly reading through the things he brings home, and quizzing him about his friends. However, right now my son is still in elementary school, so my fears are about what my son is being taught. Things in our culture are changing, and I want to have a say in the things my son learns when he is away from me. My fear for my child may be a bit different from this mother's but our solution is the same. Prayer. I pray that God will protect my son, from hearing or seeing things that could influence or sway him. This mother did the same thing with her son. While I do hope that my son befriends and brings non-believers to Christ, it scares me to. However, God has a plan and I must trust that plan. If Jesus were to come to my town today, I can guarantee you His first stop wouldn't be to my church, it would be where the sinners are. He would go to the people who need Him the most. So as much as I want my children to be surrounded by only Christian influences, they need to be exposed to non-believers to. They need to learn by example how to live Christ-like lives in the secular world, and how to bring other's to Christ. Because like my devotional says, "what if He (Jesus) had only associated with those who knew and believed God's Word? History would have turned out much differently."

Steps of Faith:
Heavenly Father, thank You for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank You also for the non-believers who cross my path each day. Help me to reach out in friendship to those who desperately need You.

Deeper Walk: Mark 2:13-17
Jesus Eats with Sinners at Matthew's House

And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He asid to him, "Follow me!" And he got up and followed Him. And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His desciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but thos who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Love Does Not Act Improperly

This weekend's devotional is about love and the love chapter (1 Corinthians 13) where we not only see what love is, but Paul also addresses what love is not, ("love is not rude").

The writer of the devotional urges me to think about this past week. How did I treat my co-workers, my child's teacher, my pharmacist, and then asks me to get to where the rubber meets the road, and how did I treat the people who live in my own home.

I have to say, I am much nicer to total strangers, than I am to the people in my home. I know when things get busy, and I am trying to do a million different things at once, I expect my family to be understanding, but I am not very understanding with them. Needless to say this devotional really hit home for me. The writer says the thing that we all already know, that we tend to treat total stangers better, than the ones we love the most. We all do this. Why do we do this?? Probably because we see our family day in and day out, and they know us better than anyone else, and we know them better than anyone else. We know how much we love them, and we know how much they love us. And.....we feel we can be ourselves around them, where we can't be with strangers. We HAVE to be polite around stangers, but with our loved ones, we can express our stress, and our frustration about the things that are going on in our life. It is not an excuse by any means, maybe more of an explanation.

However, we should strive to treat our loved ones with kindness and consideration. Just because we are stressed out, and busy, it doesn't give us the right to take it out on the one we love. So needless to say, I for one am going to try to treat my family with the same politeness that I would treat stangers.

Deeper walk: Luke 6:37-42 NAS
Jesus Teaches about Criticizing Others

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." And He also spoke a parable to them: "A blind man cannot guid a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brtoher's eye."

Why Can't That Be Me?

Rid yourselves of all widedness, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

1 Peter 2:1

The story today is of 2 sisters Kasey and Valerie, who live far from each other. They are talking on the phone and Valerie is telling Kasey how much she misses her, and wants Kasey to come see her sometime soon. Kasey tells her maybe sometime next year, but knows she probably won't be able to afford it even then. Valerie offers to pay for Kasey's plane ticket. And while Kasey recognizes her sisters giving heart, it still frustrates her that she can't afford the plane ticket herself. Kasey is finding herself jealous of her sister's financial success, and even though she misses her sister, she doesn't want her sister to foot the bill.

I know how hard it is to be envious of someone else's life. Sometimes it's really hard not to look at someone else who seems to doing be doing well, and not be envious, when you know the struggles you are having. But the plain truth is, things are never what they seem. Most of the time if you take a closer look at the person's life, there are problems you are glad you don't have. While they are taking vacations, and buying new things, they may have a mountain of debt. While they may make a very good salary and live in a big house, and drive a nice car, their marriage may be falling apart. You never know, what lies just under the surface. There are times that I have to remind myself of this daily. It is hard not be jealous, but I have to be content with what God has blessed me with.

Steps of Faith:
Loving Father, please help me to overcome my jealousy and instead to focus on all of the things You have given me. Help me to have a grateful heart regardless of my current situation.

Deeper Walk: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NAS

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brand and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seet its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the trutch; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The Fine, Painful Line

When I am filled with cares, Your comfort brings me joy.

Psalm 94:19

Todays devotional is a touchy subject. It was about a single mother her raised her children in a Christian home, and worked hard to send her children to college. Her daughter went off to college, and learned that her roommate was gay. Her daughter became involved in the homosexual lifestyle, and one day announced to her mother that she was gay. Her mother didn't know how to handle this. She still loved her daughter very much, but reminding her daughter of what God's word said would be condemning to her daughter. Her daughter eventually "married" her partner, and the mother is still walking the fine line of loving her daughter, but not agreeing with her lifestyle.

This is another one of those devotionals that doesn't affect me in this moment in time. But as a mother these are things that you think of. I fully believe what the bible says about homosexuality. I believe that it is a sin. But that being said, everyone sins. However, we all don't flaunt our sin for the whole world to see as much as people who have chosen the gay lifestyle do. You don't see parades for people who commit adultry, do you??? No. And while this is a heated battle in our culture, and anyone who disagrees with this lifestyle is labled "intolerant", I do believe, that we should lovingly welcome homosexuals into our churches and into our homes, because they need Jesus just as much as anyone else.

I hope and pray that as a mother I never have to deal with this issue with my either one of my children. I just have to trust God, and teach them the bible and what it says, and trust that. The rest is their choice. My children have to make these decisions on their own, and only they can make them. As much as I would like to, I cannot make the decision for them. I just have to leave it in God's hands.

Deeper Walk: Proverbs 2 NAS
The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security

My son, if you will received my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and he preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things; from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who delight in doing evil and rejoice in the perversity of evil; whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways; to deliver you from the strange woman, from the adulteress who flatters with her words; that leaves the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house sinks down to death and her tracks lead to the dead; none who go to her return again, nor do they reach the paths of life. So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from teh land and the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

Med Alert

"The waywardness of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them." Proverbs 1:32

The topic of today's devotional is teen prescription drug abuse.

The story is of a mom who wonder's why she didn't find a 17-year-old girl's intense desire to babysit her attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder son to be strange. Until the next morning, when she went to give her son his medication and most of the previously full pill bottle was empty. She admits that her first reaction was anger, as mine would have been. But she says after her quite time with God, she realized that she needed to loving confront the girl about her problem. After all, the issue was not that her son was short on his medication, but that this girl had a potentionally life-threatening addiction.

I have to admit I don't have any teenager's in my home at the moment. However, my husband and I do work with the youth in our church. When I was first reading this, I was thinking well this devotional really doesn't pertain to me, but it does. I need to start keeping my eyes open and aware of any potential problems that may be going on in the lives of the youth that we love and serve, and keep my eyes open for anything that might pop up with my son, who is an up and coming teenager, and will be there far sooner than I am ready for him to be.

I understand that prescription drug abuse is on the rise amoung young people. I know they think it's harmless, and it's just one pill, what will it hurt. I remember being a teenager and thinking nothing can touch you, you are invincible, and overall you are just a good person. While I never dabbled with drugs myself as a teenager, I know plenty of people who did, and regret that they had. My prayer is that my husband and I can have a compassionate heart toward those who do have a problem, and that we can help our youth to guard themselves against these things that Satan tries to through at them.

I really don't think any of the youth in our church have this problem. But I also know that this can change in the blink of an eye. And if we live in denial, saying "oh that won't happen to us, or to our youth" then we are complacant fools, as it says in Proverbs 1:32, the anchor verse for this devotional. And if we become complacant fools, then this could ultimately destroy us. Our youth are our future, and the future of our church. And if we stand by and watch them destroy themselves and do nothing about it, then our complancy will destroy us to.

Deeper walk: Proverbs 9: 10-12 NAS
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you alone will bear it."

Thank You

This is the title of today's devotional. Anchor verse, "Were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine?" Luke 17:17

My devotional is a story of two women talking. They are discussing how one of the women and her husband are going through a tough time, due to the husbands job loss. The other woman tells her that she knows they are going through a rough time, and how it can seem that God is far away. She tells her friend how she was going through a dry time and they had a Sunday School lesson on how Jesus had healed 10 lepers and only 1 came back to thank him. She told her friend that she decided to start a gratitude journal. For 30 days she would write down 5 different things each day she was grateful for. She says that towards the end of the 30 days she was getting to the nitty gritty of gratefulness to God for the things she was blessed with, and realized just how blessed she really was.

I am so like the nine in the anchor verse. Oh don't get me wrong, there are things that I am continually grateful to God for. But I find myself being like the spoiled child and expecting to be blessed, and being ungrateful for the blessing. I often wonder why is this happening to me, why do I keep having to go through these things Lord?? When if I would step back and be grateful, and mindful, I might be able to see some purpose, His purpose in the things I endure. I think it's easy for all us to see that the nine were ungrateful towards Jesus, as we read this. Just like it's easy for us to spot how the Isrealites were repeatedly stupid in their disobedience to God when we read of their journey through the dessert. As we read we say to ourselves, why didn't they just do what God told them to, then everything would have been fine. But we can ask ourselves the same question. Why don't we just do what God tells us??? I know I don't, and then I wonder why things are all messed up. I think the next time my children are ungrateful for something special I have just done for them, I will remember this and praise God for the many blessing he has given me.

Deeper walk: Luke 17:11-17 NAS Jesus Heals Ten Men with Leprosy
"While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine-where are they?""

First ever blog....

This is my very first attempt at a blog. My goal is to read my short devotional each day and comment on what I read here. I hope to grow my relationship with God by doing this. I need something and/or someone to hold me accountable for doing my daily reading, and if I write it out in the 30 minutes of free time I have each morning, since I like to surf the net anyway, then maybe this will work for me.

I have a couple of friends who are bloggers, and are much better writers, and more grammatically correct than I am. But I am going to try, it is pretty much just for me, anyway, so who cares.

I got the idea to do this from the movie Julie & Julia. I have watched this movie recently, and I liked the idea that Julie had when she was cooking her way through Julia Child's cookbook and blogging about it. So here I go...

I am reading my devotionals from Journey, which is published by Lifeway. They are very short devotionals, so it really should be pretty easy.

Today the title was New Dreams, and the anchor verse was "The peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."Phil 4:7

My devotioanal tells a story of someone observing another woman in her church and the motherly way she interacted with the young women at their church. She assumed that this woman must be such a wonderful mother, only to learn that the woman wasn't a mother at all.

This topic has been coming up a lot lately, about women who don't necessarily look forward to mother's day. I am a mother of 2 wonderful children, but I understand, somewhat the pain of what some women go through on mother's day. I have suffered the pain of 3 miscarriages, and the pain of those lost pregnancies creeps up on me from time to time. I find myself calculating how old that child would be, or wondering what they would look like. My devotional gets it right though, it goes on to say "While motherhood is certainly a noble calling and blessing from God, it's not the only means through which women can serve Him and find fulfillment. When we elevate motherhood to the level of being our greatest source of joy, we actually erect an idol." That statement really made me stop and think. I know that I have done this. I am grateful my children are happy and healthy, but I fully understand that, that can change at a moments notice. My family is a gift that God has entrusted me with, and I should get joy from them, but my greatest source of joy needs to be in the Father Himself, and my relationship with Him. If he chooses to take one or both of my children it would break my heart into a million pieces, but I hope that I would find my strength from Him, that I would lean into Him and that I would trust Him, that He has a plan that is far bigger than me.