The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
I couldn’t sleep, so I grabbed my Bible, notebook and pen. I get quiet time with God!❤️
How blessed are we to have a copy of God’s Word AND have His Word that He has our backs. Thinking on this, I jotted down thoughts God gifted me.
All God Allows
God allows as He allows, allots as He alots.
All He allots is all I’ve got. As He allows, I tremble not.
For He alone, my heart adores, no matter what He has in store.
What He allows, my soul shall raise, allot to Him the highest praise.
Micah 7:18 says, Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
God’s mercy is given with delight! Don’t you love the picture this verse paints? He is happy to be merciful.
For several weeks, the Lord has allowed a three-word-command to linger in my mind. At various times of day and night, a phrase has come to the forefront of my thought. Over and over and over, I hear Jesus speaking this into my heart. It is a personal command, but I am confused…
I keep hearing, “GIVE THEM MERCY.”
“What am I to do with this, Lord? I asked. “What does it mean?” Then I keep hearing, ” GIVE THEM MERCY.”
My thoughts…”GIVE them mercy.” Am I not giving enough? To whom do I GIVE, Lord?
Give THEM mercy. THEM, who? Everyone? I do try to do that, Lord. Have I not given THEM something I should’ve?
Give them MERCY. I do, Lord. I donate. I try to give my time. I listen to others, though I can do better. Am I not MERCIFUL enough?
The Lord’s reply was to keep that phrase on my heart and in my head all day every day.
Keeping His words in our hearts so they guide our actions…THAT IS the answer, to have mercy ready to be applied to anyone, any time of day, for any opportunity that the Lord sends our way.
We only have a God-appointed number of days to give mercy, mercy like Jesus gave us. I needed his guidance to understand the importance of mercy.
You never know when someone may need your compassion, your friendliness, your financial help, your forgiveness, your listening ear, your guidance, etc.
Mercy comes in many forms, but to me, Mercy says… You matter to me and I am here to love you, no matter what.
Dear Father, Thank you for putting that phrase in my head. You have given me mercy many times over, for my sins. Thank you for loving me despite my human flaws and showing me that I need to do the same for others. We are all flawed but we have a perfect Savior. That doesn’t compute to me but it is a blessed thing! Please help me to be more loving, attentive and supportive of others who need it. I ask this in your beautiful name that I love. Amen
With love from the Father to you, have a beautiful day!
People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:13-15
Today is a poetry day! One of the most precious topics to “poet” on is children. A little one’s faith in Jesus is so beautiful to see, isn’t it? I love to hear the sweet, innocent voices of children when they sing Jesus songs. It touches me, reminds me of how we all should be, as children, fully trusting and obeying our Father and willing to sing about Him at any moment!
His Small Servants
Don’t discount our small amount. We’re fully filled with Jesus.
Though we’re small, we’re standing tall and know that God still sees us.
He has plans, we understand, and to be used will please us.
Though small we be, His servants be, we know that God can use us.
Dear Father, thank you for another day to praise you! Sometimes I feel inadequate to do so because I am so imperfect, but thank you for loving me and hearing my praise. Please help me to keep my words, actions, motives, thoughts and desires centered on you. I ask this in your beautiful name. Amen.
With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful day! Feel free to belt out a song of praise at any moment. As His children, let’s sing about Him! Jesus loves to hear our hearts coming out in a song:)
The Lord is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? Psalm 113: 4-6 NIV
The verses above are some of my favorites because they describe God’s high and holy throned position. He is a holy God, yet, He stoops down to US? Yes, our throned God, who is above all, has to bend down, even to look on heaven and earth. In my mind, I see a loving God who wants a close look, so He bends down and gets involved. That is who He is! God is a hands-on God. His hands are not just holy, but they are actively helpful.
In Psalms 113:7-8, we read, “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needs from the ash heap.” He even gets His hands dirty! He loves the poor and needy and goes to great lengths to help them. We are all poor and needy in ways, but we have a loving God who is willing to come to us, meeting us in our pain, trials and messy circumstances even though we are SO beneath Him. And He does this why?
For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13 NIV
Our holy God loves us. His Holy hands take ours. What a great God we serve! The whole 41st chapter of Isaiah is about God’s care of Israel, a picture of what He promises to all of us, His loving protection. Isn’t He awesome?!
Spiritual food for thought this week… Do we (Do I) get my hands dirty? Am I willing to do that? Do I “stoop down” or look intently around, to see who needs help? Are my hands only serving me and not others?
Dear Lord,
Your holiness on high is a wonderful thing for us to think on, especially when we think of how far You are willing to go to help us, even holding our hand with your holy one. Please help us to use our hands for reaching however far we need to, to help others, even if our hands get messy. Thank you for sending Your Son, whose hands and body took our punishment. We ask these things in your name, to honor you. Amen
With love from our Father to you, have a great week!
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:9
Nicknames can be endearing, especially if given to you by someone special. I love when someone “nicknames” me or shares their nickname with me. It makes me feel closer to them. When I share my nickname with someone. it’s usually because they are close family or I consider them a real friend.
The best friend that anyone can have or know is Jesus and He also has more than one name. And…He shares His ‘nicknames’ with us! Those of us who call him a true friend often use one of His other names from time to time. We call Him the Way, the Truth and the Life. We call Him our Rock, Savior and Lord, among other names. All of His names have to do with His love for us, so they are very special.
If you think about it, someone who doesn’t know Jesus would never call him “the Light ” because they don’t use His light. Someone who doesn’t think they need saving, will not call Jesus “Savior. ” He is not called “Lord” by those who do not consider themselves His servants. His names describe His loving actions that we depend on, to navigate our way and God’s will. What a privilege to call God’s Son by so many names, especially our friend!
Here are some questions for our journals or self-reflection:
1. Do we call Jesus by all of His names? Why or why not?
2. Do we accept, appreciate and use all that He offers to us?
3. What names does Jesus call us? (“child” for example”)
4. What actions do we take towards Jesus that He could use as another name for us? Does He call us “Faithful?”
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
The best name that we can be called by our Savior is “Faithful.” It’s not about doing a bunch of things for Jesus, necessarily. It’s about doing whatever small or big things Jesus asks us to do, consistently, willingly, as a lifetime commitment. No matter what we have going on in life, faithful servants continue to do what the Lord desires. What a high bar to shoot for but what a privilege to do so:)
My pastor said it well…
“Jesus measures our success in faithfulness, not productivity.” (Pastor Daniel Palmer)
May the good Lord bless your day and His way with light and peace and love! With the love from the Father to you, have a great Friday!
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. Psalm 69:13
Here’s a little poem I jotted down this morning as I was saying “Good Morning” to Jesus:)
Good Morning, Jesus! How are You today?
Are You hearing lots of prayers being sent Your way?
Are You sad for all the loss some people have to bear?
Are You hugging them with peace and covering them with care?
Are You oh so happy to hear all the voices raised?
Will You hear this voice of mine and listen to my praise?
YES to all these questions, already do I know.
You are our faithful Savior to whom our prayers go.
You never cease to answer, every single plea.
But yet I’m still amazed You even answer me.
Jesus, Thank You for being my best friend and constant guide. Thank You for the way that You encourage and shower me with peace, when You have so many hurting people to listen to. Thank You for all the answers to prayer. Make me a better pray-er and better help to those who need it. Help me to listen more to them and talk less. You know how I can be:) Amen:)
With love from our Father to you, have a great Friday and weekend. Do not lose hope, as God is in control:)
Have you ever known someone to restore an old car? Isn’t it amazing how somebody with the desire and the ability to fix something old or broken, can restore it to its former condition or an even better condition?
It can take years to get that car to look just right and be all that it can possibly be, but the owner of that car doesn’t care how long it takes. They love that car and they don’t mind spending whatever time it takes, because they see its potential.
We are like cars. Seriously. Some of us are old and may be battered or maybe took some wrong turns in life. Maybe we do not look so great or feel great, but you know what? We are all valuable to God.
He knows what potential we have, even if we don’t see it. He planned our potential!
And…He is in the business of restoring souls. Just as it can take years to get a car to reach its maximum potential, it can take a very long time for us to reach the potential that God wants to see in us. It depends on…
…whether we want to be restored. Hmmm…Do we sit still long enough so He can work on us? Or are we going every which way, running on empty?
…whether we want to go, after He has restored our hearts to be brand new. Do we just want to “sit in the garage” thinking we are in pretty good shape? What good are we if God has fixed us so, to speak, and we never want to go further than the garage?
Just as a car needs to be driven to stay healthy, so do we. we need to be driven by the desire to please our restorer. He, God, has a purpose for us! He has restored us so He can take us somewhere.
Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
As usual, I choose simple analogies because sometimes they can be powerful. I mean, the gospel really is not that complicated. We have a God that loves us and will do whatever it takes to help us on our journey to him so that we can be with him forever. And that means restoring our souls, so they can accomplish what He purposed for us to do .
So the question for all of is…Are we a willing and working vehicle or just a pretty parked car? The good news is that we get to choose which we want to be.
Let’s choose to be a working vehicle. Then God, in His infinite wisdom will equip us to work for Him. Oh, to be used by God! What a privilege!
We are all “makes and models” and every one of us is equally loved and useful to God. We may have different personalities and gifts, but that’s because He made us that way for His own reasons. We should let Him lead us wherever He wants us to go! (and not be led by the world into thinking looks are all that matter!)
With love from the Father to you, have a great day!
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Psalm 118:8-9
If Jesus were running for office, what would His platform be? Though this may sound silly, it is worth considering this hypothetical because of platforms upon which our elected officials stand. What are they offering?
We vote for those who believe what we believe and offer things that make life better for us, generally speaking. We vote for who we think will do the best job of meeting our and our country’s needs.
Jesus wants to meet our needs! Ok, so Jesus would never run for office, but we can choose Him to be president of our hearts because:
He never exalts Himself; He exalts God.
He does not care to be politically correct, but true.
He does not cause division, but loves everyone.
He does not need a platform, because God is His Father.
He does not need campaign funds, because He trusts us to campaign for Him.
He has no term limits!
He can be trusted always and forever!
HE LOVES US!
He takes His orders from God.
To consider Jesus and what He offers is to consider who we want to be our heart’s best friend as well as ruler. That is a huge decision but also a simple one! He has our best interests at heart.
We either vote for the world and allow its constantly changing values to penetrate our hearts or…we vote for Jesus and His truth to reside in our hearts and be president and resident, forever.
I realize this is a simple presentation and analogy, and one that a biblical scholar could do a much better job with, but I hope you see that our heart’s vote will determine our eternal destiny.
Each day, we have the opportunity to vote for Jesus to lead us into more truth and closer to heaven and further from the world’s shifting opinions.
One more verse to remind us who wants to be our “heart president”…
“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
Hope this makes sense and hope you voted for the Lord and do so daily!
Dear Father, Thank You for giving us the opportunity to vote for You. Thank You for being there for us, encouraging us in Your plan for our lives. You know what’s best for us, because You made us. We will try to listen better to what You think is best, especially when the world is trying to tempt and confuse us. You are the president above all other presidents. We love You! Amen
With love from the Father to you, have a great Friday!
“…because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on highto give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. ”Luke 1:78-79 ESV
Happy Wednesday. It is a poetry day! I hope you enjoy, and more so, find comfort in these words about our paths and Jesus’ peace. My brothers and sisters in Christ, this is for you:)
Peace for the Path
Though our lives take different paths
I think we all can agree…
One thing we have in common
Trials find both you and me.
Though unexpected problems
Along the road will greet us,
Each step can bring the good news.
We aren’t alone. There’s Jesus!
No matter how many the miles,
His peace will greatly exceed
The measure of our fear
And the measure of our need.
With love from the Father to you, have a great day!
I was reading my Bible recently when the idea of Jesus’ peace took hold of my mind. It is so wonderfully incomprehensible how invisible peace, from an invisible God and Savior can visibly meet our needs for peace during trials!
Have you known someone, who, even while in a terrible trial, praised the Lord? I have! Their faith amazes me! That’s visible peace!
What a witness to me that peace CAN be found in Jesus, no matter what. We may not face the same trials as each other, but we can turn our faces to the same Lord and Savior and He will meet whatever needs we have, for peace.
Jesus’ peace is a “One size fits all” peace! I say that because He is morethan enough for anything any of us face. God’s Word says so…so it’s true! Period. End stop.
Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV
Because He has over come the world, overcome death, we know that He really CAN do anything. Right now, the world is in quite a state…pun not intended… but we do not have to be in a fearful state, personally.
God’s got this. Things may not be as we want and we may not feel our world is headed in a good direction, but…Jesus has left us His peace.
Though He has left us on earth , He has not LEFT us. The Holy Spirit is with us. Isn’t it so precious that the Holy Spirit lives in us to provide any and all guidance that we need?
Jesus cares that much. God cares that much. The Holy Spirit cares that much for us. (If I knew how to make a heart imoge here, I would do it!)
I can almost hear Jesus’ love in this next verse. Can you?
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 NIV
That sounds like a great plan! Friends, I hope you have a great Monday, NOT being afraid, but peaceful. I will pray for that for you and myself, too. Remember…
God’s got us, all of our moments, our minutes. He also has our days, weeks, months and years in His hand. All we have to do is hold His.
Lord, Thank You so much for all the ways you encourage us to lean on You and not be afraid. Your peace is such a precious gift to us! We do not deserve and could never afford something so priceless. Though we may not understand how You can attend to all of us and our different issues or fears, we know You can. We love You and we will be witnesses of Your peace. Amen.
With love from the Father to you, have a great day,
gloryinthemorning.com 