Tag Archives: Alone

In His Presence

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

One of the most beautiful pictures in my mind is imaging my Savior before me.  When I am in those quiet focused moments, it is a glimpse into heaven as I am sometimes imaging my King on His throne in all of His majesty and I am kneeling before Him in worship.  At other times, I imagine that He is holding me close to Him as a loving Father loving His child.  Nothing makes me feel more loved and secure.  It will be a blessed day to truly be in heaven someday and be able to see Him Face to face.  But even until then, it is a gift to be able to know that I can truly be in His presence continually each and every day that I am in this world.  The Lord told Joshua that as He was with Moses, He promised Joshua that He would also be with him.  He told him “never will I leave you nor forsake you.”  Jesus told the disciples the same in that “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  The author of the book of Hebrews reminds us all of the same promise of God:  ”never will I leave you nor forsake you.”  Sometimes because of what we are feeling, most people have days when they feel closer to our Father than other days.  Sometimes life can be yikes!!!!  But, when we seek to be close to our Father, He is always there for us.  Paul reassures us that nothing can separate us from the love of our Father that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  No trouble, no hardship, no danger, neither death and not even life!  Neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God. His loving and caring presence is just always with us no matter where we go.  He is stuck like glue!  Now how cool is that to have the King of the Universe so interested and in love with you that He wants to be with you every moment of your every day life.  Wow!  That makes this cowgirl feel pretty secure and downright special.  How about you?

Jos 1:5; He 10:19-23,13:5; Mt 28:20; Ro 8:35-39; Dt 4:29-31

 

 

A Longing to Bless

Posted on by

Moments with My Father

 

Did you know that our Father’s heart is to bless us as His kids?  As I read in Genesis this morning, I see that first of all, He desired to give us life.  That’s a huge gift in itself!  Then He put us in His created surroundings that He designed to be pleasing and good to us and He didn’t stop there!  Out of His compassion for us, He desired that we not go through life alone, so He made others.  His plan for us is to be in relationship with Him and with others.  What a great thing that the God of the Universe desires to be a part of our lives and bless us. I don’t know about you, but that sure makes me feel pretty special as I begin this day!  It also moves me to look for His good in my life, in my relationship with Him and in my relationships with others. His good for me is all around me.  My Father longs to bless me and I long to be just like Him.  Therefore, as I go through this day, I long to bless Him by looking to bless those He has put around me and being thankful for His blessings in my life.  With these thoughts in mind, I’m thinking it is going to be an all around blessed day!  How about you?

 

Genesis 2; Php 4:6-8; Mt 23:37-40

A Waldo World

Posted on by

Moments with My Father

 

Good morning ya’ll!  We’re talking Tuesday here and with it, my Father shares with me that He is with me no matter where I go!  How exciting is that!  Did you ever see the cartoon drawings called “Where’s Waldo?”  In these drawings of many people doing many things, the goal is to try and find a cartoon character called Waldo.  He is always the same character just in many different settings.  Wow!  I’m thinking that we can have the same adventure as we go about living real everyday life, only instead of Waldo, we can always be looking for our Father.  He is always there and He is always the same character.  He tells us if we seek Him, we will find Him.  He will never leave us or forsake us no matter where we are at.  We don’t have to wonder if He will show up, He is always there.  Doesn’t it make you feel good to know you are never alone no matter where you may roam?  I’m on the move today and looking forward to all the surprises of seeing Him in the midst of life.  This idea just makes me giggle!  It’s going to be so fun!  Our Father is a wise one though, He takes up space inside of people, even those named Waldo.  How cool is that?  I so wanna be filled up with the Father today.  Hmmmm.  Does that make me a “Waldo wanna be?”  It could be, but I think I wanna just be me. Yippee!

 

Jos 1:5,9; Heb 13:8; Dt  4:29; 1 Co 3:16; Ps 139:14

Linked Hearts

Posted on by

Moments with My Father

 

Good morning, family! I am so thankful for you, my brothers and sisters in Christ and for the gift that we have to be able to share or link our hearts together with each other, to be real with each other – not pretending to have it all together and not being all clammed up to ourselves in fear of being discovered for being what we are not compared to what we think we should be or being afraid to open up and let God use us to help others. Our Father sets the example for us, in that He didn’t keep Himself to Himself, but chose to share His heart with us and He desires to have a relationship with us.  He knows our hearts and He desires that we know His heart and that is why we have His written Word – it is His love letter to us written from His heart! It is said that David had a heart after God’s own heart.   He wouldn’t have know what God’s heart was if God hadn’t revealed it to him through His Word.   Speaking of His Word, in it,  He tells us He desires that we care not only about His heart, but also that we have hearts that care for one another.  Here are some reasons why having linked hearts with one another is a wonderful thing: 1)When we have a close relationship in our lives with someone who shares with us their struggles and also what God is doing in their life, their stories of faith, how He is working in them to will and act according to His good purpose and how they are loving people for our Father, it encourages us in our own walk to step out or keep going for Him. Paul understood this. He was very appreciative that the Philippians understood his situation and because they did, they gave support to him.  He told the Philippians “It was good for you to share in my troubles” and he told the Colossians that he and Timothy thanked God when they prayed for them.  The reason they thanked God for them is because they had heard of the faith of the Colossians and of the love they had for all the saints – this faith and love that came from their hope stored up in Heaven for them that they had heard about in the Word of Truth.  The fact that they had faith and had love for the saints greatly encouraged Paul and Timothy to the point they gave thanks to the Father.  2)When others share with us that they have struggles as we do as well, it is an encouragement to know we are not alone in having struggles and challenges in life. While we don’t desire for other people to struggle, to hear we are not alone in this fight squelches the devil, the father of lies, who likes to tell us that we are abnormal, while others seem to be all with it. He also likes to tell us God is forsaking us and that is why we have troubles.  We need to not listen to him because he’s a liar, liar –  his pants are on fire – if not yet, someday soon!  3)Sometimes in sharing our struggles in life with each other, we can obtain new insight in how to deal with the issues we are facing.  I always love it when I am struggling along in life and some one loves me enough to share the honest truth with me.  Not to do that is for them to withhold love from me.  Ouch!  That so hurts me to think that they don’t care enough or they worry about themselves too much to tell me what I need to grow and be helped to have victory in life.  4)It is also wonderful to be able to share our excitement about the victories in life with others! To hear about the victories of others gives us hope in seeing that God is working and is faithful in caring for us.  5)When we share our hearts with each other, it helps us identify with each other more and better understand how to love and encourage one another.  We learn what discourages others and what blesses others when they tell us about themselves and as they share their hearts, we can then know “I think this would bless my friend!”         6)When we share with each other how God is working in us to strengthen us, grow us and work through us to help others know Him, it encourages us to keep going as vessels through whom our Father can and does work for His Kingdom.  It is encouraging to know He works through normal, ordinary, human just like me types.  We have read that our Father’s Word tells us to encourage one another as long as it is day (this present age before His return to earth).  To encourage someone can sometimes be listening to someone share their heart, sharing God’s Word (His heart) with them, praying our heart to our Father’s heart for them or sharing our heart with them.  If we as two people seek our Father’s heart in our midst and share our hearts with each other and then we share our hearts and a listening heart to others next to us, pretty soon we have a big long link of hearts all united together in Him.  Now how cool is that!  As a kid, did you ever fold up paper and cut out a heart shape in such a way that when you were done, you could open it up and have a whole long string of hearts linked together.  Spiritually, this is what I visualize with all of us as brothers and sisters united in Him and being connected with each other in heart.  Our Father is telling me that in doing so, it is important to be led by His Holy Spirit.  His discretion in it all is a good thing. Having each other linked together in heart is a gift.  It is a very special closeness between us as His kids.  Our Father’s heart added to the center of us makes it priceless.  I so cherish that in life.  Whoohoo – this excites me enough to skip to Kalamazoo!  Where’s is that?  Forget that and just know I’m so glad we are connected!  Love to ya’s ~

Php 1:3-7, 2:13, 4:14; Col 1:1-5; Heb 3:13, 13:5; Pr 2:11, Ro 8:28-29, 15:5-6; 1 Pe 1:22, 4:12-13; 1 Co 10:13; Jn 8:44-45;   1 Sa 13:14; 1 Ki 8:39; Jer 15:16; Rev 20:10

Risen and Goin’ by Sheila and Dad

Posted on by

Good Tuesday morning by dear brothers and sisters! I’m excited to share with you these thoughts that our Dad has laid on my heart regarding a passage of Scripture that I have read many times before. I’m pretty gabby today. Dad’s Words spoken to me can move me to action like nothing else. He definitely knows how to motivate me and get me all excited. He rocks! Today, we find that Jesus and His disciples have arrived at Gethsemane – one of His favorite places that He frequently visited which was an olive orchard on the lower slope of Mount Olives. I can so relate to His desire to be in God’s creation as I love being in the midst of it as well. In this setting, Jesus told His disciples “Sit here while I pray.” He was deeply distressed and troubled. He took with Him three of His closest disciples, Peter, James and John. Like Jesus, we all have lots of brothers and sisters in the family of God, but each of us usually have a small close circle of relationships of support that we tend to relate well to, feel confident in sharing with and tend to include in our troubled times. But given that, Jesus sets a good example, in that He broke away from His loved ones in His life for times of solitude with His Dad. Jesus confided in those close to Him by sharing His troubled heart when He said “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He then told them “Stay here and keep watch.” In spiritual application of this, I see Him saying to those close to Him at this time when He needed solitude to please stay here (a place of physical distance, but with Him in thought or heart) and watch for the Lord’s guidance and also the enemies’ actions. It is always nice to know we are not alone in our battles in life even if those close to us are physically apart from us, but keeping us close in their thoughts. As the story continues, Jesus then fell to the ground, placing Himself in a lowly (humble) position before His Dad and He prayed, sharing His heart’s desire and asking His Dad to carry out His will for His life. When He returned to His disciples, He found them asleep and He ask them “Could you not even keep watch for one hour?” Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray so that they would not fall into temptation. Jesus went away a second time to pray and when He returned, He found His disciples sleeping again which left them not knowing what to say to Him. It is always hard when we realize that in going through life, we have overlooked someone’s needs. It is encouraging to know that we are not alone in this. This story points out there were three of them that did the same thing in overlooking Jesus’ request due to their tiredness. They had had a full day already. Again Jesus prayed and the third time He returned to His disciples, He said to them “Are you still sleeping and resting. Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. “Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” This plants upon my heart the seeds that we as Christians have close ones in our life that are often going through troubling times and they need us to not be asleep (unalert) in life, but to be alert for how the enemy is at work in their life. It is easy for us to get so absorbed in our own lives that we don’t take the time to pray for them and we can miss the opportunity to fight the battle with them. Dad’s Words spoken here are a good reminder that we also need to not be sleeping as to what the enemy is doing in our own lives as well. We need to pray for ourselves that we do not fall into temptations in life. In Spirit, we may think that we are strong, but our flesh is weak; we are vulnerable to attack and we can easily fall. I think that one of the ways that the enemy works on us is to distract us from the real issues of importance in our lives – our relationships. It is in this way that he gains victory. So I ask you and I ask myself, what is happening in the lives of those closest to me that I need to be praying for them about so that the enemy doesn’t weaken them to the point of giving up on our Father’s will for them? For example: I have seen many times when the Devil works to betray people by crucifying them mentally for sins that they have fallen into for which Jesus bore the cup for and He has forgiven them for. This begs the question and challenge that if the God of the Universe forgives us and is for us, who can really stand against us or how can we rightly give someone else, the Devil or our self a stand against our Dad to say we are not worth forgiving? To do so is to say “Oh, huh” to the wisest of all!” It is to place our self above our Father in a position that we are not worthy to be in and when I do this to myself, I as a cowgirl see this as a high horse I need to say “whoa” to and get off of or it will take me on a ride that is a living H E double LL! YIKES!!! Just as Jesus needed, our loved ones need us to pray for them and encourage them to carry out our Father’s will. Are ya with me in these thoughts? I’m thinking it is important to rise and go for the sake of others by carving aside a specific time for prayer when I am not tired and falling asleep to pray for myself and others. Dad tells us that the prayers of a righteous man or woman are powerful and effective! When I look at the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, I see that Jesus was unique and the call on His life was different from ours. It was our Father’s will that the enemy’s plot to crucify Jesus be carried out. This meant that Jesus would take the cup of wrath, pay the wages of sin that gave Him the taste of death for all of mankind’s past, present and future sin once and for all. But then, the Father gave Jesus victory over the cup that brought death! This was an answer to what Jesus had prayed to have removed. Death could not hold Him! The Father honored His prayer and gave Him a risen life again. Whoohoo! Our Dad is so good! I just love Him for His kindness and sweetness to us in rescuing us from our sins! It is sweet victory in sweet Jesus – ya gotta love it! There is one poor sport, however, the Devil, the enemy (betrayer) who wants people today to be asleep in remembering that their sins are forgiven. When I don’t remember Jesus’ victory over my sin and His acceptance of me, the enemy can make me feel defeated, alone and wanting to give up. This cowgirl is fighting to the end and I am not going to let the enemy win in my life or the lives of my loved ones. So I’ve decided I am going to implement the following: 1) If I’m deeply distressed and troubled in life, I need to find someone close to talk with about it and ask them to pray for me. 2) I need to be alert to the needs of my loved ones and what it is that I need to be praying for them. 3) I need to pray often as Jesus did with His Dad, about what it is troubling me for others and myself and ask Him for strength and help to carry out His will, knowing He loves us and His will is the very best in the end. A part of that will is that I need to listen to what my Dad is telling me and not say “Oh, huh, I’ll believe my own way of thinking.” As I realize in my life, so I encourage you – we are not alone in life. There is one named Jesus who is stayed here with us in Spirit, yet seated at the right hand of God and is watching and praying for us; He never sleeps. He lives His life to make intercession for me and for you to help us choose the right and defeat the enemy, the Devil so that we can have victory in life. Why the thought of Him doing that for me and you makes me just want to do a little victory dance to kick off this day! Are ya with me? Yeehaw!
Mk 14:32-42; 1 Pe 5:6-11; Ja 4:7, 5:13-16; 1 Jn 1:9; Pr 3:5; Ro 6:23, 8:26-29; Jn 3:16, 5:24;
Ps 121:4; He 7:23-25;

All Things Possible by Sheila

Posted on by

Idaho Greetings to where you are this Tuesday morning. No matter where you are today, Jesus is with you! There is no where that we can go that He is not there for His kids (that’s us)! We are never alone and without His help. Often times, as Dad’s kids, we attempt to do things in our own strength, only to find that our efforts are not fruitful. This is what has happened in today’s story in Mark 9:14-32. Jesus is absent and a man has sought the disciples to heal his boy from an evil spirit that has possessed him from childhood and is seeking to destroy him. The disciples efforts to drive the demon out of the boy have failed causing disbelief and arguing amongst the people. When Jesus arrives, the people ran to Jesus seeking His help. The father of the boy says to Jesus “If you can do anything, please take pity on us and help us.” At this Jesus says “If you can?” “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Jesus then commands the evil spirit out of the boy and lifted him to his feet. When indoors, the disciples ask Jesus why they couldn’t drive the demon from the boy and Jesus told them that this kind could only come out by their prayer. After they left that place, Jesus sought time alone with the disciples to teach them. He told them again that “the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him and after three days He will rise.” The disciples still did not understand what this meant, but they were afraid to ask Him about it. Wow! Where do I begin as this passage has so much meat (spiritual food)! Okay, I’m rolling up my sleeves and digging in. Dad’s food is so yummy to me! The first bite I’m taking is focusing on the point that Jesus was absent at the beginning of this story and His disciples were attempting to do a work on their own. As Dad’s kids wanting to make a difference in this world in the lives of people, it is important that we not try to do it in our own strength as we are weak without our Father. Yet we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Sometimes, efforts without our Father can end up doing more harm than good as seen in this situation where the people ended up in disbelief and arguing about the situation. I so admire the fact that the desperate father in this story upon seeing Jesus as a possible rescuer RAN to Jesus. This speaks to me that he put forth great effort and eagerly sought out Jesus. Dad’s Word says that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you and bring you back from captivity.” How bad do you want it is the question I’m asking myself. Am I willing to put forth the effort to seek Him? When the father reached Jesus, he said “If you can, help me.” This man had a question about Jesus’ ability to solve his problem. Talk about a faith destroyer! This is a lie straight from the mouth of Satan! This is what caused the fall of mankind to sin is when Satan created doubt in Eve’s mind about God and if he was really trustworthy. The world is full of people who say God will not deliver. Yikes!!! If we don’t believe without a doubt Jesus is capable, there is no hope and no faith to be found. This statement was very upsetting to Jesus who responded immediately “If you can?” He promptly spoke truth at the lie when He said “Everything is possible for him who believes!” Dad’s Word tells us we must believe and not doubt and if we doubt, we should not think we will receive anything from the Lord. I guess Dad takes doubt as a real slap to His Face. He says “without faith, it is impossible to please Him and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” I admire the honesty of the father of the boy when he said “I do believe, please help my unbelief.” It is good to be honest with our Dad and ask Him to help us where we are weak. Hebrews 11 is full of examples of the difference that faith can make in a person’s life. Jesus honored the man’s faith and healed the boy and it speaks strongly to me that the boy was practically lifeless from the evil that had plagued him for so long. Jesus was able to change that. He lifted the boy to his feet and helped him to stand. It is good to remember that as Dad’s kids, in troubled times, Jesus is the lifter of our heads and He brings restoration and makes us strong to stand for Him. What a blessing! Well, amazed at the power of Jesus, the disciples privately ask Jesus something like “so like, Jesus, why couldn’t we help this boy?” and Jesus told them it is because they needed prayer. In other words, Jesus was saying “boys, you need your Dad to help.” Ok, I have to ask myself here, how are my ministry efforts missing out because I do not pray about it? Ouch! Jesus then taught his disciples more, again focusing on what was to come. They did not understand, but they were afraid to ask about it. Dad says we should ask Him when we lack wisdom and He will give it to us generously without finding fault. I so want the people in my life to be comfortable enough with me that they can ask me anything that is on their heart. I would feel loved and honored if they feel they can trust me enough to ask me and I would admire them and not fault them for it. This makes for healthy relationships and effective Kingdom work. It is something I need to practice doing as well. Oh Dad, there’s lots to digest here and my belly is stuffed full and I know it is possible and I ask for you to help us all get the nourishment out of this we each need to learn and be freed! Bless ya’s.
Mk 9:14-32; Ps 3:1-3, 23:3, 139:7-10; Jn 15:1-8; 1 Pe 5:10; Jer 29:13; Mt 7:7-11; He 11:6; Ja 1:5-7; Php 4:13; 2 Ch 16:9

Say What?

Posted on by

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Traveling through Tuesday with ya! Neither of us are alone this day, so I guess we could then say it’s “two’sday”, huh? The disciples are traveling today in a boat with Jesus and I have to chuckle as they remind me so much of me! It is just like me to leave my country home and get almost to town about ten miles away and remember, “oh, great. I forgot my lunch or I forgot this or that.” The disciples realized after they were out in the boat with Jesus that they only had one loaf of bread. I am assuming the one loaf they had was pretty small based on the context of the story and it was not enough to feed them. This really wasn’t a problem with Jesus on board as He could’ve easily provided for them from their small supply as He did the 5,000 and the 4,000 people, but this hadn’t clicked with the disciples yet. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” This left the disciples scratchin’ their heads and I imagine a “deer in the headlights” look, asking “Why did Jesus say that?” They concluded to each other like “Dudes, it is because we have no bread.” Aware of their discussion as Jesus always is in our lives, He responded “Why are you talking no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? Don’t you remember when I broke the five loaves, feeding the 5,000 and also feeding the 4,000? How many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? When they answered twelve and seven, he said “Do you still not understand?” Ouch!!! The poor disciples again. They were always struggling to get it and I can so understand that ‘cuz they remind me of me again! Can you imagine being Jesus and having so much knowledge and trying to communicate it to these new believers? The God of the Universe who truly is a “know it all” is trying to explain what He knows to His kids who struggled to get it. People can be in different places spiritually and sometimes it can be difficult for them to relate to others. It’s sometimes made more difficult when we use jargon and parables that are not understood. Dad says we all need to be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Jesus desired to teach the disciples, but they struggled to figure out what Jesus was trying to tell them. In this story, He was trying to warn them that there were people who could lead them astray. The disciples thought Jesus’ comment was a different issue. It was one of those difficult situations where Dad worked good through it for the growth of His kids, using it as a teachable moment in their lives just like He does in ours. Ok, in light of this, here’s my new motto if I lack wisdom: “Just ask.” Dad says He gives generously to all who ask without finding fault. He’s so loving and so smart. I wanna be just like Him when I grow up! Well, I better start oaring through this day. Sisterly love to ya’ll! Mk 8:14-21; Eph 4:2-6; Ro 8:28-29; 1 Co 2:1-3:2; Ja 1:2-8

High Expectations

Posted on by

Monday, May 14, 2012
Well, I’ve made it through the weekend to Monday and so thankful to be in Daddy’s company. I know I’m not the only one who loves His presence. As Jesus performed many miracles, a crowd was always following after Him. Because of His great compassion for the people and concern for their need to eat, He miraculously fed them with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish the disciples provided. He gave thanks, broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute, hence feeding 4,000 with food to spare. Then sending them away, He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test Him, they asked Him for a sign from Heaven. He sighed deeply and said “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.” Then He left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. It strikes me that Jesus sighed deeply when asked by the Pharisees for a sign from Heaven. This story speaks to me that Jesus understands high expectations and disbelief. He wanted the Pharisees to believe in Him for who He was – the great “I Am.” He desired them to love Him just as He was without having to gain their approval or acceptance based on more performance or meeting their expectations. To be accepted just as I am is what we all desire, too. It is to have unfailing, unconditional love – the kind of love that Jesus gives to us. He demonstrated this kind of love for us in that while we were still sinners, He died for us. He tells us that He does not find His pleasure in the strength of the horse, nor does He find His delight in the legs of a man (man’s own ways) but He delights in those who fear Him (respect, trust, believe and reverence Him) and put their hope in His unfailing love for them. He desires we believe in Him and the message He brings, to love Him for who He is and as He is. He desires we find comfort knowing we have His love, too! I know He loves me as I am because His Word tells me these things: God so loved me, He sent His only Son to die on a cross to save me from sin and death just through my faith in Him and not of myself. I am saved as a gift from God, not by works so nobody can boast. My efforts are as filthy rags, yet I can approach His throne with confidence because He is my high priest who sympathizes with my weakness. When I confess my sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive my sins. Oh, I’m so happy God’s love for us is not based on us pulling off the impossible of living perfect! Just as we are – that’s how Jesus loves us! Whoohoo! It just makes me want to love Him right back and love others this way as well. I’m sending much love to ya’s. Have a great day just as you are! Mk 8:1-13; Eph 2:8-9; Gal 3; Pr 19:22; Ps 147:10-11; Heb 4:15-16; 1 Jn 1:9; 4:7-21; Is 64:6; Jn 8:58-59; Mt 22:34-40