Water-Walking Faith

April 27, 2013
Today's Reading: II Samuel 2; I Chronicles 11; Psalm 142; Matthew 14
Scripture: Matt. 14:30 But when he [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, " Lord, save me!"

Observation:
At least Peter did get out of the boat. Peter--prone to speak before thinking and to act impulsively. Never timid. What does he show us here? He alone trusted Jesus enough to step out of the boat into the water.  As long as his eyes were on Jesus, he stayed on top of the water.

Application:
I get excited about God, about my faith, about activity, but do I totally trust Jesus? Do I trust Him enough to not only get out of the boat but to look only to Him for every step on the water? Most of the disciples stayed safely in the boat, but Peter WALKED ON THE WATER!!!

Prayer:
O God, give me water-walking faith--not just intellectual belief, but a moment by moment trust no matter how big ( or small) the storm.

Do I let my emotions control me??? Debbie McGrath

We live in such a busy time and you truly have to make time to sit at the feet of Jesus.

When you do spend time with God, you will not get what you expect - you will get so much more!!

Today's Reading from Divine Mentor:
1 Samuel 30, 31, 1 Chronicles 10, Matthew 12

The verse I loved:
1 Samuel 30:8--David inquired of the Lord.

Observation:  The Amalekites had attacked David's camp in Ziklag.  The Amalekites are cowards - they attacked the camp when David and his men were gone.  They burned Ziklag and took all the wives and children captive.  David's men were so upset they wanted to kill David!

Application:  David did not react toward his men or the Amalekites in anger or bitterness.  The first thing he did was inquire of the Lord. David obviously did not let his emotions control him.  Emotions can be the number one enemy because they can easily prevent us from doing the will of God.  Out of anger, I would have immediately went and killed the Amalekites - especially if they had captured my child.  I love the example of David - David trusted God - he knew god would be able to work good things out of what appeared to be horrible.  In order to trust God we must daily renew out minds and attitudes through studying and mediating on God's Word.  David found his strength in the Lord.

Prayer:  Lord help me to inquire of you before I let my emotions control me!!

All my single ladies...

Good morning, afternoon, or evening:)
I came across this little gem and thought it was worth sharing! Enjoy:) In yet another season of waiting this article written by a friend my age who has been through divorce and remarried to a wonderful man:) Her wisdom is far beyond her years!

http://thechristianpundit.org/2012/08/15/it/

A Day of Praising Him!

April 19, 2013
Today's Reading: I Samuel 22; Psalm 17, 35; Matthew 6
Scripture: Ps. 35:28 "And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long."

Observation:
David lived a life of trust in God that is beyond my understanding. He did not have the facts of Jesus' death and resurrection, nor did he have a church filled with Christian friends. The Holy Spirit had not even come. How did he do this?

Application:
We spend far too much time analyzing, debating, reading (books written by others), and talking about "stuff" and far too little time doing what David did-- praising the Name of God and His righteousness all the day long!

Prayer:
Lord, I praise You today for who You are. I thank You that this world is in Your control, even when it looks like it is out of control. You are all I need, and my one desire is to know You and trust You.

God hears our cries!! Debbie McGrath

God hears our cries!

Scripture: Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them, he delivers them from all their troubles.

Observation:  
David is running and hiding because King Saul is trying to kill him.  Throughout this time, David cries out to God because he knows God hears him. He knows God will provide for his needs. 

Application: When going thru difficult situations it is comforting to know God hears our cries.  Sometimes God brings us to our knees so we will cry out to Him.  Only God can give us what we need when we are in a crisis.  It is so reassuring to know that God never leaves us nor forsakes us - He is always by our side!!

Prayer:  Thank you Lord for always be attentive to my cry. 

For My God Is A Stronghold

Psalm 69: 16-17

"But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindess in the morning, For You have been  my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to You; for God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness."

In this Psalm written by David, we see the anguish that David is experiencing in his life. How he is being plotted against by his enemies, not because of anything he did but because his enemies are evil. He cries out to God and asks Him to save him and to be His stronghold, his refuge, his strength.

Application: My God is a constant refuge in times of trouble and in times of plenty/blessing.  I will work to hid in the shelter of His wings, lean on His strength, remember His faithfulness, and how He cannot change.  He is powerful and strong enough to handle my mess!

Abba, Father, thank you for the suffering of these great mentors so that I can learn your character, and how I can depend on you. Thank you that You did not leave it up to me to discover this stuff on my own but You offer me Your Word.  Help me this week, especially with change coming right around the corner, to remain focused on You and to hid in the suffcient shelter of Your wings instead of getting burned when I stand outside that shelter.

Thank you Jesus! 

Partial Obedience is Disobedience

April 14, 2013
Today's Reading: I Samuel 15-16; I Chronicles 5; Matthew 1
Scripture:
I Sam. 15:15 "...for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed."

Observation:
In verse 3 God, through Samuel, tells Saul that he is to "utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them [the Amalekites]".  Saul disobeyed God, pure and simple. He thought he knew better than God, and he even tried to justify his actions. Later, he makes a feeble attempt to repent, but only after Samuel tells him that God is replacing him as king. Even then, he tries to blame the people for his disobedience. (Note also that Saul speaks not of my God but of the Lord, your God).

Application:
My daughter and son-in-law use the phrase "first time, all the way" when teaching obedience to their young children. Partial obedience is disobedience. How do I know what God wants of me? Continual prayer and daily study of His Word will show me every time.

Prayer: Dear Father, Your Holy Spirit lets me know when I have obeyed You and when I have disobeyed. Help me to trust You and follow Your lead in every area of my life  "first time, all the way."

Busyness is not godliness! Debbie McGrath

Today’s Reading: April 11, 2013

1 Samuel 11-12, 1 Chronicles 1, 2 Corinthians 11

This week has been extremely difficult to sit at the feet of Jesus. 

We moved this week into a new home and the to do list is overwhelming!!!

 I haven’t moved in 20 years and I forgot how stressful moving could be. 

There are boxes everywhere! 

I am constantly walking 4 dogs because they have not put in the fence. 

There are construction workers coming in and out all daylong.  

And on top of that, I have no Internet –

 I have to go somewhere to check my email and do ministry work.

There are so many “things” that need to be done but God reminds me that my top priority is to seek Him first.  Busyness is not godliness.  It may be a necessity, but it is an activity that will control us if we do not learn to control it.  In the midst of this chaos, I am reminded that God calls me to be still and know that I am God. 

God has blessed me with a new home – this is surely not the time to say I am too busy for God.  Because there is so much to do – I must make my time with God a priority in my life. 

I write this to encourage you and myself – today, take the time to be still, to be quiet and meditate upon His Word!!  God will surely refresh your soul!!

Weight Training

Something I'm learning a lot about in this particular season is waiting and what I'm learning is, it's not fun and I"m not patient, and I get frustrated and worried, and sometimes doubt that what I'm waiting for will EVER happen!

So don't think you're the only one going through it.  The enemy likes to convince us that we are the only people dealing with something, or feeling a certain way or hiding a secret sin. Well guess what?! YOU'RE NOT!!!! We're meant to bear these things together.

I have just come out of a 4 year waiting season and I'm sure the next on is right around the corner:) I'm thankful for these periods because I am forced to lean on God and delight myself in Him allowing Him to give me the desired of my heart (Psalm 37:3-7). 

I graduated college in 2009. After college I went through a bible/ministry training program called the kanankuk Institute.  For 9 months, I got to dig into God's word through inductive bible study, sharpening my faith and learn how to defend what I believe as a Christ follower. After my time there I was accepted into Auburn university as a graduate student (War Eagle!!).  My background is in food/nutrition/dietetics and my goal/passion/dream since I declared my major in college has been to become a Registered Dietitian and work with collegiate/professional athletes. If you do the math, I've been in a waiting period since 2009.

In order to become registered as a dietitian and be able to work in a hospital or with the athletes like I want to, all qualified students must go through an accredited dietetic internship, an intense training program that qualifies its participants to sit for a registration exam. Whew!!!

This past Sunday, April 7 2013 I was matched with a program to become a registered dietitian. I will be attending the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston SC! I have gone through 4 application process, spent countless dollars on application fees, shed gallons of tears in the process and spent hours upon hours on my knees asking God "why not now, why not this one, when will it happen, Your will not mine." To each and every one of those prayers, up until this point, for 4 years the answer has always been "Wait." This wait was not and is not a sinister, angry, vengeful, spiteful thing but a kind, protective, loving,  secure, hopeful message. 

Last year I was even planning (had a roomate, place to live, plans to move) to move to Texas to complete an internship that I thought the Lord was calling me to do.  In my mind I was going down to Texas (like Abram going to a place he did not now) as a way to make ends meet to become registered and start my life.  I prayed the boldest prayer I've ever prayed in my life, "Lord, if you don't want me in Texas then don't let me get into the program." Now, I was already in and accepted to the program at this point. Have you ever prayed something so bold that you felt the heavens shake? This was one of those prayers, God was moving in big ways and He wanted to make sure I was involved in it:) He wants YOU to be involved in His big, heaven shaking plans too. Be bold enough to pray and ask.

Well, two weeks later I get my answer. The director of the program called and told me that he could not accept me into his program because my test scores were 20 points too low!!! If that's not an answer to prayer! Heart-broken and disapointed I returned to Auburn to finish out my program, moved back home...yes with my parents:), and got a job working in a field I have no interest in (but I love my job, people and responsibilities I have now and am so thankful for the opportunity).

All this to say, DON'T GIVE UP IN TIMES OF WAITING. Whether you're waiting on a husband (I'm single living in a married girls world waiting for my husband as I'm sure someone else out there is too:). From what I've been told it's worth the wait;), a broken marriage to be healed/salvaged, prodigal children to return, lost family members. Whatever the reason our Loving Father has brought you/me/us to this waiting place is for a good purpose.  Trust me! My heart has never been more full, I have never been more thankful and in awe of who God is and how He is able to provide OVER AND OVER again! It seems like each time He outdoes Himself.

 Take heart sweet sister, keep you eyes focused on the prize and remember the duty we have to take up our crosses (Luke 9:23) and count the cost of what it takes to be sold out for Jesus, to get in the trenches with prayer/supplication/thanksgiving.  Remembering too that the prayers of a righteous woman are STRONG and POWERFUL (James 5:15-16).

P.S. please post any prayer request you may have, if you feel comfortable. I would love to go before our Father on your behalf:)

Prodigal Son

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am a grateful believer in Jesus that has victory over drugs and alcohol and currently working with God on my food addiction and being the mother of an adult addict. So maybe I might be introducing myself in a way you would never dream of, but I have so much in common with women that are mothers of children/adult children who use drugs.  This is an epidemic in our world today.

There is no greater pain than watching your child continue to use drugs and are literally killing themselves in a slow and painful way.  Sure it may have been fun at first, recreational some might say. There are so many things reasons for medicating.  It makes me more social, I always have more fun, It helps me to relax or it is prescribed.  Listen I have heard them all because they have all come out of my mouth.

I too was once an addict, a functional addict I would say because I managed to still work, take care of my kids and have a social life.  Thankfully I was able to get clean and sober and eventually would discover Celebrate Recovery.  While this program was beneficial in helping me to heal my hurts, habits and hang-ups I still question my guilt of not being the mother I should have been for my children.  We lived in a nice house, we always had things to do, both my boys had whatever they wanted, but maybe they didn't get what they needed the most...me.

My boys were in their early teens when they too started to act out.  This only intensified when their father would die in their mid teens. My oldest son was always a challenge even from his early years, I use to justified his behavior by saying he just miss his dad.  Drugs were a problem.  My son would be in and out of detention centers and always with the same line, "Mom this is it for me, I am going to do better I promise".  Oh how we want to hear and believe these words, but soon another arrest would come and off to jail he would go.  The last time I was so afraid that he would die, that I prayed to God that he would intervene and have my son arrested.  He would answer that prayer.  This time my son would go to jail and rehab for almost 2 years.  Again I would hear, " Mom this is it, I am not going back".  He would arrive home and within 2 months I could see the signs reappearing. 

I couldn't understand why? He had a job, was in college, had a vehicle and was still under the supervision of the courts, but it didn't defer the behaviors. They were back and in full force!  I had enough and knew that I needed to stop being an enabler of my son.  I would petition the courts for a restraining order and change the locks on my home.  He would break in and I followed up with filing charges against him.  My thought process being get him back into legal custody before he hurts himself, someone else or even me.  Eventually he would be picked up and more charges added to his resume.  He would always blame me for all of his problems and I guess I accepted it.  I should have stayed married or I should have been a better mother.  So much guilt.

However with much prayer, I knew that I was one who needed to change in this scenario, so I moved forward with the restraining order against my own son.  My son was shocked to learn that the law would prevent him from talking to me, but he wasn't talking to me, he was telling me what I needed to do to help him with money and legal issues.  I never thought we would get to this place but here we are.

My son is now sitting in Gwinnett Detention center and has no contact with any of his immediate family.  I am sure that he feels abandoned and betrayed by the people he had thought would never turn their backs on him. It is painful to think of him there and as a mother it hurts DEEPLY.  I can only pray that God will continue to work on his heart.  This is the bottom,  at least we hope.  

This story is one I have gained hope from:

Lessons in Love from the Prodigal Son

The parable of the prodigal son, as recorded in Luke 15, illustrates God's unconditional love for His children. A man's younger son asked his father for his share of the estate, packed his belongings, and took a trip to a distant land where he wasted all of his money on parties and prostitutes. About the time that his money was gone, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He finally came to his senses and realized that his father's hired men at least had food to eat. He decided, "I will go to my father and say, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man."

While he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming and was filled with loving pity. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. I think that the reason he saw his son coming while he was still a long distance away was that he was praying for his son's return and spent much time each day watching that lonely road on which his son would return.

Even as the son was making his confession, the father interrupted to instruct the servants to kill the fatted calf and prepare for a celebration -- his lost son had repented; he had changed his mind and had returned to become part of the family again.

God demonstrated His love for us before we were Christians, but this story makes it obvious that God continues to love his child who has strayed far from Him. He eagerly awaits his return to the Christian family and fellowship.

So as the mother of the prodigal son, I will wait. However in the mean time I will praise the Lord and continue to pray for my son, dreaming of the day my son will return.

Digging In

In my preparing for kamp this summer (and yes, where I come from camp is spelled with a "k") I am studying the book of 2 Timothy as that will be the book that we study at kamp.  I love getting the opportunity to inductively study God's word. There is so much richness in getting into God's word for yourself as opposed to gleaning from someones  teaching.

Looking at chapter 1: I see four main themes that pop out at me.  the Spirit, Suffering, Entrusted, and not being Ashamed of the Gospel.

1. Spirit --> The Spirit of God grands gifts and this included gifts of the spirit, the Spirit how power, is love, He is sound, He is also able to judge. The coolest thing I think I learned about the Spirit from this chapter is that He is able to guard what is entrusted to us by God.  In 1:14 we are told to "guard through the Holy Spirit the things entrusted to us."  These things may be children, a specific season you may be in, a task specifically given to you, or anything the Lord has entrusted to you.

2. Suffering --> We as Christian as supposed to share in our suffering with other believers. I don't know if any of you reading were at the Bible Babes class when we had a guest speaker (shout out!!!:) lol) but let's talk about sharing in suffering with Muslim women! I don't believe I will ever take for granted again my status as a woman or pray the same after hearing how those women are treated!  Paul, when he was writing this to Timothy, was in prison because of the Gospel of Truth. He was writing to encourage Timothy to remain strong in his faith and not to be ashamed of him because he had been put in chains. Anyone who was to associate with what Paul was preaching was in danger but what Paul was teaching and encouraging us to do is to share in suffering.  Was Paul telling Timothy to come join him in prison? I do not believe so but Timothy was going to encounter the same treatment for his belief if Jesus Christ as Lord, and Paul was writing to encourage him.

3. Entrusted --> As believers we are given the privilege to be entrusted with tasks from God.  Being a born again Christian, God trusts us to do His will. He trust us with out families, spouses, children, co-workers, and every task that His will commands be done.

4. Not to be Ashamed --> "Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" in verse 8, "Because I know the One I believe in" verse 12, and "Don't be ashamed of others who are suffering for the Gospel" in verse 16.  It all echos what Romans 1:16 says "for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, first for the Jew then the Gentile

I hope that this encourages you this week as you continue to get into God's word. Don't be afraid to ask questions of the scripture and wait expectantly for the Lord to answer!

Hebrews 11:6 "For without faith it is impossible to please God. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exist and rewards those who seek Him."

How would you describe God? Debbie McGrath

Today's Reading:
Judges 13-16, 2 Corinthians 2

Judges 13-16 talk about Samson - After watching the Bible Series, I realized Samson was totally chosen by God.  Samson had incredible strength - even though he strayed from God at the end of his life - He came back to God.

When I was reading Judges - this  verse really struck me -
Judges 13:18 - He replied "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.

Monah - Samson's father, was visited by God himself.  Monah did not realize it was God and asked him - what is your name.  Monah wanted to know his name so he could find him later - if he had questions about raising Samson.  When Monah asked the Angel of the Lord his name - God responded - It is beyond understanding.

This is a perfect name for God - BEYOND UNDERSTANDING!!
 I love it.  If I was to describe God, I would use words like:
Holy
Savior
King of Kings
Faithful
I AM
Never Changes
Living God
Counselor
Mighty.

But If I really had to describe God - I would say beyond my understanding.
When I lay eyes on my Savior for the first time, I know, I will fall on my knees and there will be no words to describe Him.  The reason I can't describe my Lord -He is too wonderful and He is beyond my understanding!