Glory in the Morning

Happy Blessed New Year to you all! I am excited about a fresh start, a blank slate of a new year! How about you? Thanks for being here! I appreciate you.

Let’s talk about forgiveness, one of the most vital actions, or gifts, to show love to others.

Forgiveness is a gift? It really is! Over the last month, the Lord has been showing me that when we forgive someone for the hurt or treatment they gave us, we have the option to hand them a gift.

Yes, a gift! Actually we can give them FOUR gifts, so allow me to be cheesy, but seriously intent, with the title of this week’s focus…

Four Gift-Ness

When we forgive someone, it starts with an attitude adjustment on our part. Though it’s natural to feel offended by a wrong done to us, sin also feels natural, so the first gift we give someone who, we think, wronged us, is…

CONSIDERATION. Naturally, we may be tempted to dwell on our “right-ness” and the other person’s “wrong-ness.” If we do that, what good can come from it? What if we take a pause and give the situation consideration instead? What does consideration look like?…

We can ask ourselves questions like…Did they really mean to hurt me? Are they hurting in their own life? How can I act differently than I usually do? Just thinking about these considerations is a gift to the other person, similar to opening a door and deciding to consider walking an alternate path, a better path. Here’s what David, in God’s Word, says about right paths.

I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:104-105 NIV

Hate, in the verse above, is a strong word, but what a great idea! Instead of hating the person that offended, we can just hate wrong paths for ourselves. Our better option, is to consider taking the path that is lit by God’s Word and His light. Let’s pray:)

Dear Father, Forgiveness is hard for us sometimes, so would You please help us to act right when wronged? Teach us to consider Your way, plan and will above anything else. Help us to give others the loving gift of consideration. We love You, Lord. Amen

Main Idea…Forgiveness starts with the intent to consider the righteous path. It’s like giving the other person a gift they did not earn. (Like Jesus did for us!)

Four Gift-Ness, Part Two is on Tuesday. See you then! With love from the Father to you, have a great Tuesday!

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26

Truth be told, it has been tough for me to learn how to pray, mostly because I am so easily distracted. But good things require good effort, right?

For awhile, it seemed I would never get the “hang” of it. Not until God showed me, in His Word, something special. It is that the Holy Spirit helps us pray. He knows what is in our hearts, even if we have trouble finding the words.

He also showed me that it’s okay that it takes me more than a few minutes of praying to get really focused on Him, listening and worshipping Him. I used to think there was something wrong with me because it took me so long to really feel His presence.

Now, I know that was His way of teaching me to slow down, so that I could get the most out of my time with Him. He knew I needed that:) Why do we, as Christians, sometimes rush our prayers?

THREE THOUGHTS…

ONE… We pray when we need something, so, after we ask, we may feel our prayer is done. That would be true if the purpose of prayer is only to ask Jesus for things. But it’s not.

Prayer is also for inviting Him in our hearts and forgiving our sins It’s about togetherness with Him and communication. It’s about needing Him and honoring Him by prioritizing Him and His will.

TWO… We have much planned for the day, so we may rush our prayers. I know I have done that. But Jesus deserves more than a cursory nod or few words thrown in His direction. We are HIS servants. He is not ours.

What if we reverse our thoughts and HIS plans become more important to us than OUR plans? What if He has an opportunity for us to tell someone about Him today? Isn’t that way more important than my to-do list? Yep!

THREE…It is okay if we need tools to help us pray. Here’s a few ideas:

1. God’s Word is always the best first place to look for help. We can look up verses that can help guide us. God will bless our efforts!

2.An acronym such as this may help… P.R.A.Y.E.R. Pause in His presence. Raise your praise to Him.. Ask for His will. Yield your heart. Earnestly listen. Request help for others. Try making your own acronym based on purposes for prayer.

3. Make a list of what makes a good relationship, and apply those to prayer. Examples…communication, time together, advice and guidance shared, sincere desire to grow the relationship, ability to admit we were wrong, desire to please the other person, etc…

4. Focusing on others, make a list of who to pray for and who to help and who to reach out to. Write down when God answers prayer. Ask God for His guidance in all areas of your life.

These are just my thoughts as I, a still-learning pray-er, try to please God in coming to Him more intentionally. Hope it can be of some help to us both!

With love from the Father to you, have a great day!

Christina

 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

Here’s a poem I jotted down about prayer. I am overwhelmed with wonder that we can pray to our Creator and Savior and friend!

I Pray To The One

Totally there because He cares,

Jesus is my best friend.

Thankful I come, to pray to the One

who truly loves without end.

Sometimes I’m late for our prayer date

as I’ve errands to do and such.

Then I realize, its not very wise

to cheat One whom I love so much.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for being ever present, ever loving. You are the best friend ever. Teach us to be better servants for you. Guide us to know Your will and equip us to do it. We love You. Amen

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a Terrific Wednesdayy! Merry Christmas:) With love from the Father to you…

Christina

I tried so hard to get my flashlight to work. Frustrated at my lack of success, I spouted to my husband, ” I need this to work!” His response? “Did you check the batteries?” (Duh, I thought to myself!) With forced calm I said, “Yes, about ten times.” I gave him the flashlight; he rearranged the batteries and the flashlight worked! The problem was that the batteries weren’t making good contact, but he fixed that problem.

I wish I had not waited so long to ask for help, but I like to do things on my own. When it comes to our relationship with God, we often try to handle things on our own too, don’t we? And when we fail to make things work, we finally come to Him, frustrated. Just like my flashlight, we can not produce light or anything meaningful without God.

We may TRY to work as we were meant to, but without being filled with the right things in the right way, from the right source, we will not work as God meant us to do. We will not produce light. And… what good is a Christian who has no light? Can we shine out Jesus’ love if we are not filled with Him? No.

THREE THOUGHTS:

ONE…We have to receive God’s light (love) to be able to shine it out to others. We do not have the ability to make our own power. We need God’s!

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

TWO…Light does it’s best work in darkness. We have so many opportunities to shine love and light into our dark world! If that is what we want to produce, He will provide all we need to do that.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

THREE…We cannot manufacture the pure, true light of the Lord, but we can receive it. And we can shine it! Doesn’t that make your head spin a bit? It does mine! We are lit by the Lord, once we repent of our sins and ask for Him to live in us. We are children of His light!

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5:8

Dear Father, Thank You for Your light in our hearts that You so freely gave us. Please remind us to show it to others by giving us opportunities to do so. You are so good and holy. Help us to be more like You, so others will see, not us, but Your light in a dark world. We love You! Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a great week celebrating our Savior!

Christina

Good Morning! This will be short and sweet…I hopped out of bed last night to write this poem down. It’s fun when that happens! God’s so good! Have a great Friday and weekend!

Crazy for Jesus

I’m crazy for Jesus and I don’t care who knows

The Savior of the world was dead but now arose

The joy that’s in my heart, I just cannot explain

So always and forever, I’ll praise His Holy name

He made His home in me, forgiving all my sins

Grace I don’t deserve is gushing deep within

I’m crazy for Jesus and I don’t care who knows

Forever and forever, that’s how my song will go…

With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful day singing His praises:)

Tina

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:23-24

Did you ever think of Jesus as a tool? I didn’t until the other day. I was reading in Acts that Jesus was a living plan of God’s. God made a very deliberate plan to use Jesus to get the job done that needed doing. And what did Jesus do? Jesus let himself be used, to be a good tool for the master.

Do we do that? See ourselves as a tool for the master? I mean, really, do we get jobs done for God? Are some of us lax about it because we have been a Christian for so long? Are we a tool of God’s brand? Are we known for doing tough jobs and being reliable? Do we do whatever job God has for us?

These are all the questions that poured out of my brain when I read Acts 2. Why so many questions? Because doing a job for God is worth doing right. What good is a tool if it misses it’s intended use? What good am I, if I do not accomplish what God would have me do?

In Isaiah, it was prophesied that God would send Jesus to be a tool for Him. His task?… to take up our pain and endure our suffering! He had a purpose and plan from God. What a seemingly impossible task. But you know what? Love can accomplish amazing things! His grace covered all of our imperfections and sin.

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5

It would seem like God was punishing Him, Isaiah prophesied. Do you ever feel like you are being punished, when things go badly? I admit to wondering that myself, when going through trials. But… God is a God of love. Anything we go through is to help or teach us or help and teach someone else. We have a loving purpose in us, given by God. What else could be the reason from a loving God?

He wants us all to love fully. If our neighbor is tight on money, it is our job to make them some food, pay a bill or give a gift card. That is called being a good tool. If our other neighbor is not able to mow their yard, it is OUR job to do it or find someone else to do it, if we are not able. My back won’t allow me but I can find a friend to do it! Could you? Would you? Why did I not fully realize this until now?

Maybe it’s because I feel for those that are limited physically, because I am. That’s how God works. He teaches you and me through suffering. What a joy that we can all do a job for God though! I so want to be a helpful tool in “God’s toolbox.” Pretty much, when we stand before God someday, He will separate the tools that did a good job from those of us that did not.

His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21

Friends, I am just keeping it real. And, as always, I preach to myself! It is my great hope and desire that we all learn to love better, be one of those “brand name” tools that always get the job done. That’s what we are here for. What a privilege!

DOING things for others is like putting up the BIGGEST BILLBOARD in the world for our Father!

It’s bigger than the biggest billboard! People, so badly,need love, to be seen, to be thought of and considered a friend, to matter. In this dark world, our love shines even brighter than ever. Let’s advertise how loving He is by lighting up the world! Lord, please help us.

Dear Father, You are so good. Thank You for laying all this on my heart today and giving me words. Loving with practical action is something I can do better at. Thank You for being willing to use imperfect me. Please forgive me of my lack of action at times and revive in me a fervor to do ALL I can so others see your love and will want to know more about you. I love You! Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful day!

Tina

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. … No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4

Good morning! I just came downstairs to do my devotions this morning. I am excited to talk to Jesus and as I sit here, my first thoughts are…I am just going to write what’s on my heart, because, well, Jesus showed me something last night!

John and I went to a concert last night. Mercy Me. In the middle of one song, Bart, the lead singer, stopped singing while the band kept playing. I focused hard on the words we had just sung with them. I honestly do not remember what song it was, because I was just looking up and imagining Jesus looking at all of us there. He was looking at us with so much love, it overwhelmed me! He had, in His eyes, a longing for connection with me, with us. It melted my heart.

Connection. Jesus and I were connected! He, God’s son, the Prince of peace, my friend, my mentor, my SAVIOR…we were connected. I imagined a cord running from me to Him, like an old- fashioned telephone cord. That cord is the direct line from Him to me. He has something to tell me. He wants a constant connection so I can do the job He has for me. My mind was blown. I still cannot get that image of the connection cord out of my mind.

I realized that Jesus wants that connection for EVERY SINGLE SOUL IN THE WORLD! I sensed a sadness that HE does not have that. What could I do to help? AM I helping Him get the connections He gave His life for? Or am I just connected to Him for just me? Why have I never seen this literal connection to Him before?

With the old-style phone cords. you were literally connected to someone by a cord and receiver to your ear. Do we have that direct connection all the time? Are we always waiting for Jesus’ call? Now, more than ever, we need…..

In my earphones, RIGHT NOW, is playing….”Jesus is Calling.” Wow, thank you, Lord. You are way too good to me, to us! What a perfect song for me to hear right now. “Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling.” He is pleading for that connection. Let’s not let the enemy kink the cord or pull the plug out of the wall. The enemy is listening to your conversation and watching your relationship with the Savior.

We have a direct line available to Heaven! That really blows my mind! He has made a way that we can have that direct connection. It is up to us to use whatever gifts God gave us, to help OTHERS get that connection or get a clearer connection. It’s not just about us, though that’s a wonderful gift from God, that relationship.

I do not usually spill the contents of my head directly onto the keyboard, but I felt led to, this morning. There’s no editing or outlining this time. I hope there aren’t too many mistakes and hope I made sense!

Here are some things we can ask ourselves, so that we maintain a good connection to Jesus.

How clearly do we hear Him?

How often do we call Him?

Do we run to Him first with good news?

Do we run to Him first with bad news?

Are we available to His call 24-7?

Who do we know that needs a connection to Jesus?

How can we be a loving friend to them and tell them how sweet phone calls with Jesus are?

Dear Lord,

Thank You for the direct line to the Throne. You overwhelm me with Your desire to have that relationship with me. Please give me words and love and health so I may share what You offer to us all. I will call again soon. I love You.Amen.

Just my thoughts today. With love from the Father to you, have a wonderful weekend!

Christina

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. 1 Chronicles 16:10-11

Hi friends! I took a break from writing because life got so full and busy. I am back! While I was away, I considered changing the blog, to make it more current and engaging, but I came up with zero good ideas. I am so human sometimes… New ideas are not always better.

The Lord showed me, after much prayer and presence, that it’s not my job to make God’s Word as engaging as possible. He effectively told me that God’s Word is enough and it will do what it has always done. It will permeate the hardest of hearts, reclaim lost souls, provide pure wisdom and peace. God’s Word will provide hope, light and strength for each day. It will fill us with beautiful visions of His love and our future with Him.

The verses above are David’s words, in God’s word. David was telling some Levites how to give the Lord praise with instruments. WE are to do the same, be instrumental in praising God. We can all do it in different ways and it is just as pleasing to Him.

Think about it…As far as the Lord is considered, what is YOUR instrument of choice? Do you have a way to put God’s Word out into the world? Are you an instrument of peace and hope to others? Perhaps you are a great encourager or errand -runner for needy neighbors. Can you sing well to elderly shut-ins?

Dear precious Father,

Thank You for bringing to mind, through Your Word, that I am made to be Your instrument and I am enough to do what You have planned for me. Thank You for showing me that it is not me, but YOUR WORD that I share that is more than enough to engage others. Please guide me to be a better example of a servant to You and Your Word. It sustains me. Thank You for making me with a passion to write and to help. Help me to do that, to love others deeply, the way You think is best. You are amazing and I love You! Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a great Monday!

Tina

Show me your ways, lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in Your Truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25 4-5

We are on vacation but I couldn’t resist the urge to share some morning thoughts with you. I love being overwhelmed first thing in the morning, with God’s goodness. What I mean is that it’s hard to describe your time with God. HE is so precious, that you can’t even describe the overwhelming goodness of Him, but this is my attempt!

A Good Morning Is…

When the only sound in the house is the refrigerator motor and a the ticking of a small clock. (Occasionally the ice machine clunks.)

When the only light on in the house is over the dining room table, shining on your Bible. (All of that light, just for “me and God” time.)

When the sound of vellum pages of the Bible make a light and lovely crinkly sound as you turn them. ( It’s like precious, holy music to my ears.)

When God shows you his generous promises as you commune together, alone, in silence. (The whole of it is almost too full and wonderful to grasp.)

When you feed him hungrily on God’s word, and there are no human words to express His total goodness. (There is, however, all the loveliest feelings and thoughts and splendor in the world, about Him.)

He is fully and perfectly, lovingly present, generous, faithful, holy and precious to me.

To know the Father is to be at a loss for words. that LOSS makes for a good, VICTORIOUS morning!♥️

Have a wonderful day. I pray you feel the Lord’s presence and goodness with you.

Christina