Tag Archives: Strength

The Faithful Friend

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Have you ever had a friend stand by your side when nobody else does?  If so, you can appreciate or relate to what Paul is saying when he tells of the story about being on defense and being deserted by everyone.  Yikes!  What a lonely feeling that can be and how wonderful it is to have a friend stand with you.  That is a true gift in life!  I am so thankful for my friends in life!  Sometimes, though, we are in places in life like Paul when we must face life alone or in a place of needing to be the one who carries out an individual specific call on our life.  In those times, it is such an encouragement to know and experience what Paul understood and saw and that is the reality that Jesus stood beside him and gave him strength to carry out what God was calling him to do.  For Paul, it was to be on trial for the defense of the Gospel and to fully proclaim the message to the Gentiles.  Paul was in a position of needing to speak out for the Lord in dire circumstances and I so admire him for doing the difficult.  Praise be to our Father who gives us strength!  Oh, I’m all inspired this morning.  Our Father stands with me today and gives me strength through His Word and this song that plays through my mind:

Wherever we are and whatever our Father is calling us to do as an individual, we have our Father with us.  We are never all alone.  I’m standing with you in heart as together we rest and trust in His strength and in His guidance to have victory individually!

 

2 Ti 4:16-18

Faith Like Spinach

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Oh, my Father takes me back in time today as He recalls to my mind a cartoon that I used to watch as a child.  Perhaps you are familiar with the character “Popeye”?  Popeye was a sailor man who often found himself in what seemed insurmountable circumstances and in those times, he gained “superhuman” strength after eating a can of spinach.  On his own, he felt weak or inadequate to carry out what was before him, but put confidence in spinach to give him what he lacked.   The Apostle Paul shared a similar struggle to Popeye in that Paul’s heart was burdened to bring blessing to people but on his own, he felt he lacked.  Like Popeye, Paul, too, found a source of superhuman power that he came to rely on.  He tells the story of how when he stepped out into life, he did so with weakness, fear and much trembling.  He did so, not claiming to have wise and persuasive words.  He said he resolved to know nothing except knowing Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Paul had a clear identity as to who he was and what he was capable of.  Popeye was also someone who had self reflection and is known for this quote: “I yam what I yam and that’s all what I yam.”  I greatly admire Paul in that despite his feelings of lack in his own ability, he stepped out to do what he knew he was called to do.  Why?  Because he knew a secret to being able to do the “superhuman” just like Popeye, only his spinach or strength was the power of God’s Spirit in him.  Paul’s example encourages me this morning that in our faithfulness to step out just as we “yam” to serve our Father, that we can trust our Father to provide what is needed to bring Him glory. That thought makes me feel even stronger than Popeye!  Therefore, I’m sailing into this day, trusting our Father to accomplish all He desires to carry out through me today.  Toot, toot!

1 Co 2:1-5; Ac 4:23-31

Power Drinks

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Moments with My Father ~

 

One of the things that I greatly enjoy each morning is a hot cup of coffee.  I love drinking in something warm, something that I enjoy the taste of and it gives me a little help to get going each day to produce or have productivity.  It is described as a power drink or a drink that boosts energy.   There are many different types on the market today and they have became very popular in our fast-paced society that is busy in the pursuit of accomplishment.   My Father has laid it upon my heart this morning though, that while I do enjoy my cup of coffee and the boost it gives me to help me produce in life, the most important thing for me to drink in each morning is the spiritual drinking in of Him, His Spirit, His living water that empowers us or gives us strength to produce what is of Him – the most divine of accomplishments!  He produces in us the delightful fruit of His Spirit which is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Wow! - such great accomplishments!  I definitely want to have that success today!  Hence, I’m drinking in of Him this morning and relying on His enabling power in me as I set out to join Him to accomplish divinely.  I hope you have a divine day, too!  His power to ya ~

Gal 5:22-26; Jn 15:4-5

True Strength

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Moments with My Father ~

 

It is still dark as I write this message this morning, but it sounds like a delightful day as I can hear the sounds of my Father’s creation – chirping birds, the cooing of a dove and the bark of someone’s family dog.  I don’t know how He does it!  Creation is so amazing!  As I think about the day before me and the many great opportunities there are presented to make a difference in the lives of many, my Father reminds me of my true source of strength and victory in this day.  Sometimes as humans, our minds can slip into false mindsets that our success in life lies in our own strength and abilities or in the resources around us and it can create anxiety or fear of failure and unrest within us.  Even in the days of Samuel, people looked to the outward showings for signs of strength and value, but our Father said the true strength or value lies in one’s heart.  Our Father understands how easy it is for us to go there, to the unhealthy mindset and that is why He always brings us back to putting our focus on our true source of strength and success.  Here is what He says:  “No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his own strength; a horse is a vain hope in deliverance – despite all its strength, it cannot save.”  He questioned Job about relying on the strength of a wild ox to leave his heavy work to and trusting that ox to bring in his grain and gather it on the threshing floor.  Our Father points out to us this morning that His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor is His delight in the legs of man, but His delight is in our hearts that fear or reverence Him and put our hope in His unfailing love.  The term unfailing love in Hebrew means “befriending.”  Our Father’s befriending, open arms of unfailing love stretch as high as the heavens are above the earth to those who fear or value Him as their source of strength. Wow!  My arms cannot even begin to stretch that far to love those in my life!  I’m a wanna be, though!  I rest in knowing that our Father’s eyes are on us who look to Him to deliver us, keep us, help us and shield us. I’m so glad He sees us!  When Job was done pondering the question of where true strength and success was found, he concluded of our Father “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted.”  Ok, this gal is convinced this morning that there is no competition in terms of where my heart and eyes will focus for my success and strength in life today.  I’m going with hoping in my Father who loves me unfailingly.  Oh, His strength has just lifted a tremendous weight off of me.  Bless Him!  He rocks like nothing or none other.  It beats me how He does it!  He makes me smile!  I’m trusting in Him with ya all today!  His love, strength and success to you!

Ps 6:4, 33:16-17, 35:27, 61:2, 103:11, 148:10-11; Job 39:9-12, 42:1-2; 1 Sa 16:7

The Great Sustainer

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Spending time with my Father this morning just has my heart filled with such peace, rest and joy!  He is the most precious part of my life!  He is my rock, the One who enables each of us as His kids.  He keeps our lamp of light burning, He turns our darkness to light.  If needed, with His help, we can advance against any troop or trial, with Him we can scale any wall.  He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.  He arms us with strength and makes our way perfect.  He can make our feet like the feet of a deer, He can enable us to stand on the heights, He trains our hands for battle and if needed to be able to bend a bow of bronze.  He shields us with victory and with His right hand He sustains us.  He stoops down to make us great! He broadens the path beneath us so that our ankles do not turn.  He arms us with strength for battle and He delivers us.  The Lord lives! Praise be to our Rock!  Let us sing praises to His name.  He shows unfailing kindness to His kids, His anointed forever. There is none like Him! Blessed be my Rock!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwftAsj94IA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Ps 18:28-50

Got Connection?

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Oh, as this gal steps out into life this day and thinks of the various things I have opportunity to do and all the people I will be able to interact with, my mind can take off in all kinds of thoughts.  As I am sure it is true for all of us, there are parts of our lives that we can be very excited about and want to take off running faster towards than we can go and perhaps in directions not the best or not yet, there are probably areas where we are frustrated about – things that we want to see fixed in our own ways and in our own timing and perhaps there are things we want that we do not have but want to have.  The message our Father reminds me of as my mind wildly races over all these thoughts is that success in stepping out into life is all about having the right connection.  It isn’t who I know or even what I am capable of doing in life that will bring me success in living this day to my Father’s glory and in bearing fruit for Him in this world.   My Father reminds me the connection I need, the secret to success is to be fully connected to Him!  He is the vine and we are the branches and apart from Him, we can do nothing.  Paul understood this and he also understood how to go through life with peace and contentment with all the many things before him and around him and in all that his mind could take it and think about.  Paul understood that the secret he needed in life was the strength or connection that Jesus offered to him.  So as I step out into this day and think about all that is before me and what I have to offer the world and I think about what connection I have for success in life, I am resting and trusting and seeking to stay as close to my Father as I can.   In so doing, I know it’s going to be a great successful day!  I hope you have a great day, too. Whatcha got to give to the world?  Got connection?  Got Jesus?

Jn 15:5; Php 4:12-13; Eph 3:16-21; Col 1:9-12

Pray, Pray Pray

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Good day family.  I hope you all have a blessed day as you walk through this day with our Father.  This morning, our Father has laid it upon my heart the importance of praying for each other.  He says to pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests.   With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  Jesus knew the importance of this also.  At one point during Jesus’ time on earth, Peter, who was considered “the rock” upon which Christ would build His church was the focus of Satan’s attack.  Jesus said of Satan that he wanted to sift Peter as wheat, but Jesus said that He prayed for Peter that his faith would be turned back and that Peter would strengthen his brothers.  Well, this story just has your sister all fired up against the tactics of the enemy and I ask you to please join with me in praying for others.  Let’s pray for our families, our friends and our church and ministry leaders this week that they will be strengthen in the Lord and able to stand to persevere in His will.  United with you in Him!  God bless you all!

Eph 6:18; Lk 22:31; Ja 5:13-20; Mt 16:13-19; 1 Pe 5:8

Powered On

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Oh what a delightful morning it has been with my Father this morning as I sat in the glow of the soft lights of the Christmas tree and felt His presence of love upon me!  I have enjoyed reflecting upon the Christmas stories of the birth of Jesus over the past few weeks and this morning I read about Mary who was called to bear the Son of God and how she felt unqualified to carry out the task the Lord had given to her. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” were her words to the angel who spoke to her.  Reading this, I want to ask you if you as a Christian feel like Mary – unqualified to carry out a task the Lord has set before you?  If so, I want to encourage you by the message that was given to her, in that the Holy Spirit would be upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her.  “Nothing is impossible with God,” the angel told her.  This same message is true for each of us as Christians.  When we become believers in Jesus, we are filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High that dwells within us is capable of enabling us or “overpowering” us to carry out His will when we might deem it impossible based on our state of circumstances.  Woohoo!  I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel like “Supercowgirl” and I’m all “spurred” up to leap out in faith in Him to enable me to carry out His will for me this day.  If you happen to be feeling inadequate, my prayer for you is “more power to you” – rest in His power to you and have a ”mighty” day in what you have to do!  His blessings to ya ~

Luke 1:26-28; Ac 1:1-11, 2; Eph 2:22; 1 Co 1:25; Col 1:9-14; Php 4:13

Tug of War

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Moments with My Father ~

 

My Father reminds me this morning of an activity that I used to participate in when I was a young girl in school.  All of the kids in my class were divided into two teams and each team took hold of opposite ends of a long rope.  There was a mark on the ground between us and the goal was to pull the opposing team so one of their team members crossed over the mark which brought their loss in the competition.  This activity was call “Tug of War.”  This is a sport that is actually played all over the world that puts two teams against each other in a test of strength.  My Father has laid it upon my heart this morning that as Christians, we are constantly involved in “Tug of War” activity with the enemy, the Devil.  His Word spoken to me this morning says that in the last days, there will be scoffers of the Lord Jesus who will follow their own ungodly desires.  They are those who will divide us, who follow their natural instincts and do not have the Spirit of the Lord.  In an effort to win this war, Our Father tells us the importance of building ourselves up in our most holy faith and praying in the Spirit, keeping ourselves in God’s love as we wait for His mercy to rescue us from this life into eternity.  Being on our Father’s winning team, this means being a part of His team – being in relationship with our Father and other Christians, reading His Word (the Bible) and praying for strength to win the battles that we face that tug on us to cross over the line to the enemy’s side called sin.  As we do, did you know our Father is helping us win and cheering us on?  Yes, it is true!   His Word tells us that His Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We may not even know what to pray for, but the Lord’s Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  Our Father understands our struggles as He searches our hearts and He knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will which is that we win over the enemy!   Oh, I can hear that in my mind as I visualize our team tugging and tugging to win the battle between the flesh and the Spirit’s desires and our Father’s Spirit groaning as He helps us fight the fight to win over the enemy.  As our Father’s cheerleader, I say to you this morning “Come on team, let’s win!  Let’s tug, tug, tug and don’t give an inch to the enemy.  We can do this.  It will be a blessed time when at the end of the war, we can do the victory dance and reap the rewards of our efforts to apply strength for our Father’s winning team!  Woohoo!  It’s gonna be fun and victory will feel so sweet.  Be strong.  Keep going! So many need us!”

Jude 1:17-21; MT 5:25-46; Ro 8:1-17, 26-27; Eph 6:10-18; Ps 149:1-3; Rev 21:1-8

I See You

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Woohoo!  This cowgirl is hollering out “Yippee,” a new day has dawned and it is jam-packed with opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.  Hmmm.  As I make that statement, the thought has been presented that I can make a difference in my own life just by having a Godly attitude – choosing to think like my Father instead of giving in to enemy thoughts. I happen to love my work, but my Father is moving me to share the point that when someone has work to do, first things need to be first – get your mind right and in line with “the Boss” (the Lord), so partnering together to carry out His work goes well.  I do this by starting my day by listening to Him as He speaks.  His Word this morning tells me that in our earthly jobs to seek to do what is right at all times and not just when the eyes of our master are upon us.  Have you ever had a boss watching you as you work?  Some people get all nervous and twitchy when their boss is watching them.  But, our great “Boss” (the Lord) always has His eyes upon us as we join Him in His work.  There is no place where we can go to escape His eyes upon us and I am so thankful for that.  Even when it appears all dark around me, He sees me with His full light. It reminds me of playing hide ‘n seek with a little kid when they think they are hidden, but they are in view.  In my life, I’m the kid and no matter where I might try to hide from my Father, I am in His view.  He can see me!  To think I could hide from Him just makes me giggle.  There is no place that I’d rather be than right in the clear vision of my Father who is always watching out for me, partnering with me, leading, guiding and helping me to be able to do His will and keeping me safe in it all.  Even through the difficulties of life, He strengthens me to persevere through them and works good through it all.  He has my best interest at heart and I definitely want Him to keep watching over me.  “Well Boss (Lord),  I guess it is time to move along to what we need to do next.  I’m so thankful to be partnering with you – what a blessing it is and I just have to say it again “Yippee,” it’s a new day with you!”

 

Ps 33:20, 46:1-2,139:7-18; 2 Ch 16:9; Pr 15:3; Col 3:22-24; Ro 8:28-29; Php 4:8-9

The Great

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Moments with My Father ~

 

I am awed by my Father this morning when I think back on His mighty acts of kindness to me.  I am amazed at how He works and often I am totally surprised by how He intervenes in life situations to provide just what I need at just the right time.  For example, putting key people I needed this past weekend to help carry out His plan right before me at just the right time as I was going along my path of stepping out for Him. His work is beyond compare!  As we step out to join Him in His work, His concern for us is not in any of our abilities, as He says in Psalms - His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of man, but the Lord delights in those who fear Him and put their hope in His unfailing love.  David set a good example of this as he recognized the greatness of his God and placed his hope in Him, trusting that it was the Lord that prepared his hands for war and his fingers for battle.  He saw the Lord as his loving God, his fortress, his stronghold and deliverer. He knew that it was the Lord that gave him victory as a king and the One who delivered him from the deadly sword.  David understood that blessed (happy) are those whose God is the Lord and he told others of God’s mighty acts and awesome deeds so that they could know the same delight that he knew in his life.  I so desire that others know what I know of Him as well and therefore, I continue to step out to join Him in the work that He has planned for me this day.  Oh, my Father -  He just gets me so excited when I think about Him!  It just makes me want to sing out a song to Him.  Would you like to join with me in singing Him a song of praise?  If so, click on this link below:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEVWiTo79R0&feature=related

 

May your path in life be blessed by the presence of our great God!  His love to you wherever you roam~

 

Ps 144:1-2,7,10,15; 145:4-6; 147:10-11,

 

 

 

 

 

Cornucopia Lives

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Moments with My Father

 

I’m thankful to walk through this day with you today.  Life is a gift!  As our Father’s kids, we have so much to be thankful for because we are in the hands of a Father that greatly loves us and has our very best interest at heart.  He is always working towards the good of His kids who love Him and are called to His purpose and He has great  plans for each of us!  This is the time of year when you begin to see cornucopias that are symbolic of abundance and nourishment.  As a child of the King, each one of our lives is like a cornucopia - overflowing in blessings in many ways, however, sometimes we can view our basket of life as empty and lacking.   It seems one life can have either set of circumstances, in that our minds can be a friend or an enemy to us depending on what we allow to fill it.  When we are well nourished by being filled up with Him, putting into practice Paul’s advice to live in Jesus, being rooted and built up in Him and strengthened in our faith, then we will overflow with thanksgiving.  One good exercise is to remember your blessings in life – count them no matter how small they may seem. To remember and reflect upon all the good things the Lord has done for me and to put my hope in Him for the future can quickly give me a change of heart towards life and make the difference between having an abundant fruitful life or just being an empty basket case that is focused on all the things that are wrong in life.  I find the abundant fruitful life so much more appealing and exciting!  We must beware though, when we are filled up with Him, we will probably overflow with joy and thanksgiving. It will just pour out!  Life is good and I’m so thankful for you all in my life.  You are among my Father’s great gifts to me!  May we all be filled to overflowing this day with all of His blessings to us, bearing much fruit!  Ya know - we might just end up with bananas out our ears.   Whoohoo and Yippee!

Col 2:6-7; Ro 8:28-29; 1 Th 5:18; Ps 1:1-3, 95:2; 2 Pe 1:2; Php 4:4-9; Ro 12:2

People Who Rock

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Moments with My Father

 

Good mornin’ family!  As I am still before my Father this morning, I read about Paul and I admire his heart attitude of sticking to what he knew was right and not being swayed by the thinking of others.  He talks about going to Jerusalem after having found freedom in Christ and feeling the pressure from others to become slaves again to the Law that said they must adhere to doing many things to earn a right standing with his Father.  Paul knew differently because he had seen Jesus personally and knew that He was the way, the Truth and the life.  Paul wrote of himself, Barnabus and Titus and how they did not give in to the pressures from others for one moment, so that the Truth of the Gospel might remain in them.  Another Bible story comes to mind about a house built on the rock of Christ and when the storms of life come along, the house does not fall like it would if it was built on sand.  Jesus was saying if people will put their trust in Him and His Words, they are like a house built on a rock.  He is the rock or the foundation that will keep them strong enough to stand against the storms raging around them.  Otherwise, they will be beat by the storms in life and fall with a great crash.  Jesus’ Words are different from the Law that says you must do this or that to be righteous.  He is our righteousness and He shares His Word with us as it is the best for our lives and it is out of love and respect for Him that we can choose to stand still in faith and obedience to Him.  Choosing to do so keeps us standing still in His peace like people of rock - not falling with a great crash when difficulties arise.  As I read this story, I think back to my childhood and I remember playing a game of being like a rock. The idea was that you were supposed to be perfectly still no matter what was happening around you. Other kids would run up to you as you were trying to remain still and make funny faces or say silly things in an effort to make you break from your stillness into laughter or even just crack a smile. Other tactics were that kids would try to scare you to make you flinch or trick you to distract you. If you could remain still as a rock, you were the winner!  When someone lost interest was usually the end.  As I reflect on all of this, I so want to have rock-like faith with Jesus as my strength as I go through life - unmoved in my faith by what is going on around me.  In other words, I want to stand firm or “rock” with Jesus and as I begin this day, I’m “rockin’” on!  May His peace and strength be with you all today!  Much love to you ~

 

Gal 2:1-5; Mt 7:24-29; Jn 14:6, 27; 1 Pe 2:4-12; Gal 5:1; Eph 6:10-18; 2 Th 2:13-17; Col 1:21-23

 

 

Staring at Jesus

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Moments with My Father ~

 

As I gaze into my Father’s Word this morning, my heart echoes the heart of the one whom it is said had a heart after God’s own heart – David.  What I mean is that my heart agrees with David when he said that the Lord was his strength and his shield.  He said that when his heart was trusting in Him, he was helped.  It made his heart leap for joy and led him to give thanks to the Lord in song.  This is so true in my life, that when I have my eyes fixed or staring at Jesus, I am helped in life, I have great joy and He gives me a thankful heart.  Have you ever saw someone staring off at something and you wonder what they are thinking about?  It must be something that is heavy on their heart to divert their total attention away from what is going on around them.  They are not focused on what is around them because they are so focused on something else in their mind.  This is how it is when I am staring at or focused on my Father.  I am lost in His love, hearing His voice and thus, I am shielded from the ways the world competes for my attention, I am strengthened to do my Father’s will.   I trust Him to help me as I have need.  He fills me with joy and thanksgiving.  In fact, you might even hear me belt out a little tune!   I’m chuckling as my singing may not be that pleasant for those around me to hear, so I’ll share this link with you to hear what is on my heart today:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqkW19B0d3g

 

I’m carrying this tune in my heart today and I know it will be a sweet sound in my Father’s ears because He loves it when His kids sing.  I’m glad we are in this day together!

 

Ps 28:7; Ps 118:24; Heb 12:2

Picked to Be a Gift

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Moments with My Father

 

It is the gift of a new day and I am so thankful to be able to walk through this day of life with you all!  This morning, my heart relates to Paul’s words spoken to Timothy when he acknowledges that even though he has had his struggles with sin in his life, he was thanking his Lord who had given him strength.  He was thankful that Jesus considered him faithful and appointed Paul to His service.  Just as He did with Paul, Jesus also pours out His grace upon us abundantly, along with His love and faith.  It is the kind of grace that not only covers our sin, but gives us abundant grace to enable us to change the world with Him in us.  Paul said he was shown mercy so that in Paul, Christ’s unlimited patience  might be displayed as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.  I guess you could say that  Paul was picked to be a gift to many who would receive the message he carried for the Lord.  Jesus calls us to be lights to the world around us as well – a gift to those who might believe the message of Him that we carry to them.   Do you think of yourself as a gift to the world?  You are!  Envision yourself all packaged up with a bow upon your head. With Jesus in you, you have just what it takes to bring delight to many!   I celebrate with Paul, the gift of Jesus in us today as I step out into this day.  To our King, be all glory and honor forever and ever!  Much love to you all!

 

1 Ti 1:12-17; Mt 5:14-16; 1 Jn 1:8-9; Ro 12:5-8; Php 2:13

To Believe or Not to Believe

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Moments with My Father

 

To believe or not to believe – may this Friday be triumphant for us all as we step out believing our Father has victory in store for us!  Believing in our Father is very important because as we see in the lives of the Israelites, some were never able to enter into rest because of their unbelief.  They were not putting their faith in the Lord.  As we see with them, unbelief definitely affects our actions and our blessings in life.  Abraham was a model of faith.  Against all hope, in hope, he believed and became the father of many nations.   Without weakening in his faith, he faced the facts of his life – his body was good as dead and Sarah’s womb was also dead.  Yet he didn’t waiver through unbelief regarding the promise of God to deliver that first and ongoing babies!  He was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being persuaded God had power to do what He had promised.  When faced with the sin of unbelief, it is good to turn to the Lord and pray “Lord, help my unbelief.”  It is also important to seek out that which strengthens our faith – the promises of His Word.  Abraham had his Father’s promise that he held on to.  As I move out into this day, I do not want to go through life as an unbeliever.  There is victory in my Father and I am trusting Him with my life.  There are no other words to describe belief than “Whoohoo! It is and it’s gonna be a great life!”

 

Mark 9:17-29; Heb 3:12-19; 1 Ti 1:13; Ro 4:18-21; Ro 11; Php 4:13; Is 41:10

 

 

Super People

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Moments with My Father by Sheila

 

It’s a powerful Monday! Mentally this morning, I’m facing this week with my tights on, a cape tied around my neck and I have a giant “S” upon my chest that stands for the strength of my Father’s Spirit in me that makes me “super.” I don’t say this out of arrogance or based upon my own efforts and I have to say that I see you clothed the same way. Have you ever wondered how you might look clothed in tights and such? Perhaps this will help you visualize what I mean.  For us who believe in Him, we are tapped into or clothed in His incomparable great power. This power is like the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the Heavenly realms. It is the same power that created all we see when we look to the Heavens. It is the power of He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength not one of them is missing! He does not grow tired or weary and increases the power of the weaklings. Whoohoo! Even youth grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar like eagles or I say like “Superman” or “Superwoman!” We will run and not grow weary. We will walk through this week and not be faint. Why it just makes me think that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength! In light of this, I’m jumping out into the air of this day in His strength. Hmmmm. The fleeting thought of a giant chicken dressed in tights passes through my mind. Yikes!!! I don’t want to rest there so I’m remembering that His safety net is below me and keeping me safe. See yaaaaaaa………!

Eph 1:19-20; Pr 29:25; Is 40:25-31; Php 4:13

A Bushel and a Peck by Sheila and Dad

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I’m doing Friday with y’all! What a gift it is to do so! I’m anxious to jump into Dad’s Word again today and expand a little bit more on where we left off yesterday with Peter and his heart that loved Jesus and greatly wanted to be loyal to him and yet in his humanness, he ended up denying Jesus when the pressures of fear were upon him as he was standing in the courtyard of the place Jesus had been taken to be tried by religious leaders. Just as Jesus said would happen when the rooster crowed twice, Peter denied Jesus a third time. At that moment, the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Ouch! Knowing Jesus though, it was not a condemning look, but rather a look that identified with Peter – a unity that said I understand where you are at and I am with you in this experience. None the less, it broke Peter’s heart to think he had failed his beloved Jesus. Dad’s Word says that he broke down and wept. Poor Peter, I can relate to Peter’s heart and if you can, too, I would like to encourage you as Dad has encouraged my heart, in that Dad works good through our mistakes. Hindsight is 20/20 in that we learn from our mistakes and thus we grow and are conformed more and more to the image of Christ as we gain experience. It is appropriate that if we have hurt our Father or someone else, to acknowledge that sorrow over sin to them and then begin afresh to do different moving ahead. Dad says if we confess our sins before Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Bless Him! Grace is a good thing! We are all human and for the mistakes of all mankind, Christ sacrificed Himself to taste death in our place that the wages of our sin would be paid by Him. As a Savoir, He models what grace is to look like and as He forgives us, He says we are to forgive others. I don’t know about you, but when I am hurting because of my sin, it is a blessing to hear grace is extended to me. After Jesus’ resurrection, He sought to encourage Peter that He was still accepted. How wonderful this must have been to Peter’s heart that loved Jesus so much! That Jesus – He sure was sweet! After this scene in the courtyard, Jesus’ was turned over by the religious leaders to the Roman ruler Pilate for a civil trial. Pilate had been warned by his wife that he should have nothing to do with the innocent man Jesus as she had suffered much in a dream that day about Him. Hence Pilate was leary as a result and found no crime committed by Jesus. Pilate surmised that the religious leaders were just envious of Him. Therefore, he sought to see if the public would accept the release of Jesus over Barabbas as it was customary for a prisoner to be released at the time of the Passover Feast. The religious leaders were not about to let this happen and so they persuaded the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas instead and to request crucifixion for Jesus. The crowd was easily led as they didn’t have a formed opinion about who Jesus was. This is of key importance in making good verses poor choices in life! Pilate was easily led in this choice as he feared public opinion that could affect him politically. If he truly knew who Jesus was, He would have feared Him even more! What the crowd said went with Pilate. Hence Jesus was handed over to be flogged and crucified as was prophesized. Rejection upon rejection – it must have been hard, but Jesus endured because Dad’s Word tells us He had His eyes fixed on the joy set before Him which was eternity and His Father’s great love and purpose for Him. With this in mind, He persevered and even amazed Pilate at His composure as cruel accusations were hurled at Him with an attitude of wanting to destroy Him. Jesus was a real trooper! Perhaps in His mind He could hear His Daddy’s Words that were spoken over Him as He was baptized by John “You are my Son whom I love and with you I am well pleased.” Maybe He heard His Dad reminding Him that He was fearfully and wonderfully made and that He knew the plans that His Dad had for Him – plans to prosper Him and not harm Him. He may have been focused on His great eternal reward upon completion of the hard work ahead and the blessing His work would bring to many. He may have been singing songs of worship in His heart to His Dad, giving thanks for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of His enemies by loving them or saying prayers for strength to keep on. Perhaps He was reminded of His Daddy singing a little song to Him like this one that I sometimes imagine my Daddy singing to me when I’m sitting on His lap in my mind “I love you, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!” Why when my Daddy sings that song to me, it flat keeps me going – look out as all hands are on deck! Oh, with these thoughts in mind, it’s gonna be a great day I do suspect.
Mk 14:66-15:15, 16:7; Mt 27:19; Ro 6:23, 8:1, 28-29; Heb 4:15-16, 12:2; Col 3:13; Lk 3:21-22; Jer 29:11; Ps 139:14; 1 Co 3:10-15; Php 4:6; 1 Jn 1:9, Jn 3:16, 21:1-25;

The True Friend by Sheila and Dad

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This week is trudging right along and here we are at Thursday. I hope your day is going better than Jesus’ as told by Mark’s story. Jesus is found smack dab in the middle of His Father’s will, but it is not a walk in the orchard of Mount Olives like He so enjoyed. He is now being tried before the high priest, the elders and teachers of the law as they all came together to dig up dirt on Jesus. You would think they would’ve had this figured out before they arrested Jesus. Wow! Talk about pressure in life! Can you imagine? It would be kind of like all the heads of major ministries and churches putting you before them for scrutiny. They have their fine-toothed combs and high-powered microscopes out and they are looking closely for evidence to put you to death. In Jesus’ case, they couldn’t find any – probably because the man was a saint and actually Divine! Some of them resorted to lies and false accusations about Him, but they couldn’t agree on these. Truth in minds tends to put people on the same page. The Truth indicators seemed to point that Jesus was the Christ and so they decided to ask Him if He was. He answered truthfully back that He was. At hearing the Truth they didn’t believe Him, but none the less, the Truth moved them to decide to unify and condemn Him worthy of death. Hence, they spit on Him, blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists and asked Him to prophesy. Then the guards took Him and beat Him. Have you ever observed that there is power in numbers? One on one, people are not always a threat, but get them together with a crowd and watch out! Crowds have influence! Sometimes a crowd brings strength in good ways and some in not very good ways. I think it is important to recognize the influence of the crowds we choose to partner with in life. Dad’s Word says “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong!” Yikes!!! While Jesus had His crowd of enemies who really wanted to see Him out of the picture, there were those who followed with Him. One of them was Peter – our “superman.” Even though he wasn’t perfect, his heart for Jesus is seen in his telling Jesus he’d never deny Him, he was the one who put forth effort to defend him in the orchard of Mount Olives and now rather than abandoning Jesus, he stuck with Him and followed as close to Him as he could be. His heart was with Jesus. As seen in this story, it is in the tough times in life when you discover who your true friends really are. They are quite often more loyal than one’s own biological family. They are the ones who go the distance for you. They love you when others scatter away. In my heart, I so want to be that kind of a friend, yet like Peter I feel I often flounder in my humanity. I hate my flounders. ‘Tis so sweet we all have the perfect kind of a friend in Jesus! Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends. He sets the perfect example of a good friend in His forgiveness extended to His friends when they are scattered and fall away short of being perfect. Bless Him!
Mk 14:53-65; Jn 15:13; Pr 27:10; Ex 23:2

Risen and Goin’ by Sheila and Dad

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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;