It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” Psalm 18:32
Happy Monday
A brand new start to the week! Ever found yourself burned out after trying to do things all by yourself?
It can be easy to try and accomplish things in our own strength.
Even when we do manage to be successful in getting things done, we rarely are ever able to enjoy the outcome because we are so exhausted.
God designed us to cooperate with Him in all things, not operate a one-man show where we do everything in our own power.
Many times, we may long to accomplish things by ourselves because it’s easier than recognizing our own insufficiency. However, God desires to fill in these insufficiencies with His strength!
Often, it is through our weakness and insufficiency that we draw closer to God. When you go to Him and pour out your heart, it is His good pleasure to instill you with His supernatural strength and grace to accomplish that which He has called you to do!
Because of this, do not despise your weakness. Rather, see them as empty “cups” waiting to be filled by the Lord’s power.
When you’re in a close walk with Him, you can have mighty confidence despite your insufficiency, because you know that God is infinite in His sufficiency!
By meditating on His word daily and seeking Him in prayer, the truth of His word will wash over you, permeating your being and empowering you.
Do you need strength today? The Lord is waiting for you with open arms, ready to empower you and equip you with His unfailing love.
Instead of dreading the day ahead, you can approach it with confidence knowing the Lord is working alongside you and through you. You never have to face anything alone, because His abundance of flowing strength will never run out!
Remembering the life of Kay Arthur today. So sad to hear of her passing!
At this day’s end I reflect on this week of beauty, opportunity and the glory of Jesus…..
Blessed endings prayed over for every heart this night….
Thinking on the moments in my life that have defined my faith…..
More than 20 years ago I joined a group of like-minded women in the Kay Arthur study- Lord, I want to know you~ a devotional study of the names of God.
We would learn the character, nature and attributes of God.
Kay Arthur declared the mission of this book was more than a devotional but instead a Biblical Study from Genesis to Revelation about the names of God.
Kay continues…
“If we are to glorify God, then we need to know His character, attributes and His Names. Kay explains all of this with the Bible as our only guide. You can then use these names, as Jesus taught, when you pray! Very important to those who belong to Him.”
Life-changing.
Transforming.
Empowering.
A deeper view and understanding that would change the way I pray, read my Bible and expected God to move in power!
Kay continues…..
“When you know God more fully by studying His names — Creator, Healer, Protector, Provider, and many others — you’ll gain power to stand strong. You’ll find strength for times of trial, comfort for pain, provision for your soul’s deepest needs. And your walk with God will be transformed.”
Once I began to see God revealed in His Word…. every part of who He is…. My life of faith grew to levels that I had never known. Real worship would carry me through the darkest day and elevate my faith on the mountaintop views!
So I have been sharing with the children of MRO this season…
“I Am: 40 Ways To Trust God”
A study that introduces children to the names of God.
This song has become my life-song this season.
When real life happens. When trouble is real. When pain has become a reality. When the fight for life and living collide with faith. When the promises of God carry us. His song becomes real so very soul deep.
If we have no basis for “belief”. No absolutes. No truth. There is nowhere to run and no safe place to hide.
This I know…..
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10
Not sure where your heart lingers tonight but I DO know the Lord is near. Faithful. You are loved. You are His beloved creation and He longs for good in your life. You can run to, cling and find rest that while the world is unchanging- God is true to who He is ALWAYS!
I pray that your heart is cared for and that you know even more deeply the Love of our gracious God through His son Jesus Christ.
What A Beautiful Name~ Hillsong Worship
“You were the Word (John 1:1) at the beginning….
The Lord most high….
truth #trustworthy #sure #steadfast #immovable
What a beautiful name it is…… the name of Jesus Christ my King.
What a wonderful name it is….. the name of Jesus.
Nothing compares to this…..
What a beautiful name it is…… the name of Jesus Christ my King
What a wonderful name it is…. the name of Jesus.
You didn’t want heaven without us…..
So Jesus YOU brought heaven down…..
My sin was great Your love was greater……
What could separate us now…..
What a wonderful name it is…. the name of Jesus.
How sweet His name….
How good You are…..
Love to sing Your of your name Lord….
Love to sing of who You are….
Silenced the voice of sin and shame….
Your is the kingdom….
Your is the glory….
Yours is the name above all names../
What a powerful name it is….. the name of Jesus Christ my King
May is stroke awareness month. I have not spoken about this much but last January I had two strokes. This song reminded me today of just how grateful I am that God gave me signs to know what to do when the symptoms happened. I have no damage from the first stroke. It happened a week before the second stroke. They say you often get a warning. But clearly it was not loud enough to stop me. And then on a Sunday morning much like today, my right leg collapsed out from under me while I was getting ready for church. I ended up in the floor. Thankfully as soon as I stepped I knew I was going down and was able to brace myself. Thankfully mine were clots and not a bleed.
Quick response is key. I was not eligible for TPA because of my recent eye surgery. But thanks be to God the blood thinners did their job.
After 3 days in ICU, I walked out of the hospital and got into the car. One. More. Day. So thankful. There are small things that changed in my life but the second chance of life has not been wasted.
Today is what we get. My heart is filled with gratitude that my story was not much more life-altering. So this Sunday morning on the porch, I am thankful. I want to encourage you to listen to your body and do not take one day for granted.
One. More. Beautiful. Day.
“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” James 1:17
Father, thank you for the gift of life and for one more beautiful day!!
Note: We learned through the course of my stay that my blood thinners were not working properly. I had a genetic mutation where my liver rapidly metabolizes the Plavix that I had been taking. So essentially the medication was not working as it should because of how my liver was processing it. So thanks be to God, a simple medication change has made a world of difference. And God was with me. So faithful and true!
A beautiful reminder of the small and BIG miracles. So much more to do in this life. So grateful to have you enjoy this journey!!!
I am running a bit backwards since the beginning of the year. I have battled the horrible mid/upper respiratory challenge with aches, fever, sore throat virus or whatever you would like to call it for six full days. Six full days of misery but praise God today I feel so much better after a really rough night with lots of coughing and congestion. Finally got the right meds in me and am happy to say…. I am grateful as my heart believes that the worst is behind me.
My new 2025 planner and prayer journal have sat at the foot of my bed this entire time. Since December actually. Every time I have walked by them I have groaned and whispered sweetly to the Lord that I promise to get to these committed treasures. Why? Because my heart is expectant.
2024 was not as anticipated and truly took on a life of its own with some medical setbacks right at the beginning of last January. We took multiple trips last year that were beyond our wildest dreams. But so many of the in between moments have been filled up with many medical visits and extensive testing. I truly felt like I never really got to process 2023 nor prepare for a “state of the union” for 2024.
So rather than simmer in the unrest and regret, I settled into a rhythm of life on a bit of a conveyer ride that just kept going with little reprieve. So much to process. My mind, spirit and body was quickly overwhelmed by adjusting to new challenges, eye surgery, a flooded basement and new medications.
Truthfully, 2024 is simply for me right now a litany of moments, information and things that needed to be done, remembered and ultimately the grace to embrace all that had changed so quickly in my life and our lives.
When I think back this afternoon, it was all beautiful chaos much different than the last 22 years of my life had known. And while I know and hold close spiritual truths so very dear, we are all aware, that to everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. {Ecclesiastes 3}
-to be born, and a time to die; -a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted
-a time to kill, and a time to heal; -a time to break down, and a time to build up
-a time to weep, and a time to laugh -a time to mourn, and a time to dance
-a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together -a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing
-a time to seek, and a time to lose -a time to keep, and a time to cast away
-a time to tear, and a time to sew -a time to keep silence, and a time to speak
-a time to love, and a time to hate; -a time for war, and a time for peace.
Honestly this last week of not feeling well has been filled with moments of an earnest sweetness lined with such grace, thoughtfulness, stillness and recollections of all that God has done in my life. TIME to consider the beautifully broken places, the beautiful handiwork of God and gather my thoughts in a way that I have been unable to do until now. Like right now.
I have despaired when I have set aside time to clear my mind and write the things so near and dear to my heart. I have been unable to write as my heart has truly desired and this has left a void in me that I cannot truly capture with words.
To everything there is a season….
I have waited {which for this heart that longs to be a “doer of the Word”} has had a hard time with. I have never doubted God in this waiting. But my heart would be remiss for those of you reading may need to hear this in your own waiting place as well. So lean in close as I write it out loud for us all as it be a quite lonely place for you as well.
I have been earnest in my prayers for the Lord to make clear this new beautiful and good road He has placed me on. I have lived full in the quietest place my soul has known in many years. So I have been held and known God so real even in this time of silence. Refuge. Comfort. My sweet and faithful Lord has been the keeper of my heart. The one who has held my tears and embraced me in this season of want and yet wait. My desire to love my God, my family and friends has never waned but I have not truly known this part of me until this season.
His promise- beauty from ashes.
So I share today for those who may be walking alongside of me that my heart has never been more ready to receive all that God has for me in this season. And the truth is, I have NO IDEA what that means but I am here body, mind and spirit for the beautiful next steps on this faith journey that we share.
Everything that I write or share will be here as well! I hope you will join me with an expectant heart as we unwrap all that God will do in our lives.
{Postscript}
I returned from Asheville still struggling with fatigue, sore throat, cough, etc… Finally went to the doc yesterday. Pneumonia, double ear infection, antibiotics and steroids. A little better today. Prayers appreciated. Stand down Satan!! Ready for a God-breathed 2025 for His glory!!
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through ALL generations. The Lord is trustworthy in ALL He promises and faithful in ALL He does. The Lord upholds ALL who fall and lifts up ALL who are bowed down.
The eyes of ALL look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in ALL His ways and faithful in ALL He does.
The Lord is near to ALL who call on Him, to ALL who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” Psalm 145:13-19
I don’t know about you, but some days I need the reminder that, like a parent who clutches a stumbling child by the arm to prevent them from wiping out, God knows how to uphold me in the moments I fall. He’s not far away. He promises to be right there beside me. He is “trustworthy” in His promises and He is “faithful” in whatever He does. He “upholds” those who fall and He “lifts up” those who are doubled over.
What care and love from our Heavenly Father.
And did you see all the “alls” in this passage?
If you missed them, you might even take time to go back and underline each one. This passage has encouraged my heart through some of the most difficult moments of my life. God’s kingdom endures through not just one or two generations, but ALL generations. He’s trustworthy in not just some of what He promises, but in ALL He promises. He is faithful in not only the things we can visibly understand or see, but in ALL He does. He upholds not some of us, but ALL who fall and ALL who are bowed down. He’s near to not a special few, but ALL who call on Him. What a sweet reminder, and what good news this is, for l am certainly one of the “alls” crying out for His steadying hand.
God is with us and we are held in knowing God has got it ALL. Fully and completely and in ALL the ways that we as His beloved need.
Thank You, Lord, for Your trustworthiness today, and help us lean into Your all-encompassing love for your beloved!!
Journal Thoughts For Today: {write it out as your truth today}
Which promise in this passage is ministering most to your heart today? Why?
In what ways do you feel like you’re “bowed down” these days? How do you usually handle this experience? (Do you try to get back up in your own power and striving? Do you stay on the ground, afraid that you don’t deserve the chance to get back up again?)
Reflecting on your life, how have you seen God uphold you in a moment you were stumbling? How does that past grace give you strength for today’s struggle. 🤗
Prayer:
Father, thank You for being so trustworthy and faithful to me. Thank You for lifting me up even when l am bowed down, and for being near me in all the moments I need You. Help me to call out to You when I fall, when I doubt, when I fear and infuse me with trust that You always hear me, You’ve always got me, and You’ll always answer my cries for help. Give me rest body, mind and spirit today!
I love reading the Bible chronologically. Every few years, I like to travel through the desert with the Israelites and watch them make the same mistakes, over and over and over. Almost every adventure through the history of the Israelites, I have often wondered if maybe we’re all programmed to repeat history. We as humankind since the Garden of Eden, maybe there is a reasonable pattern of getting stuck in a cyle that is inevitable, if it’s possible to avoid the experience of looking at a hard situation and realizing that you’ve been there before, that it’s not as new or surprising as you initially thought.
Strangely enough, those Old Testament stories and my wondering makes me think of Winnie the Pooh. While Pooh wasn’t looking for a new home outside the Hundred Acre Wood, that silly bear and his friends got lost in the woods so many times! In book after book, movie after movie, we saw them wandering around in circles, following their own footprints, jumping at every mysterious sound they hear, passing the same landmarks again and again. Winnie the Pooh and his friends were just as lost and confused as the Israelites. And they were just as mixed up and frightened as I am sometimes in the same scenario.
Now, I certainly don’t mean that l’ve spent decades lost in the same forest. Not literally, at least. I’ve never been haunted by howls or Heffalumps; l’ve never been chased by mysterious animals or gotten so hungry for honey that I begin hallucinating. But have I ever crawled to the end of one race only to be tossed into the middle of another one? Have I ever faced trial after trial after trial until it feels like I’m crawling through mud, like I’m dragging myself through the miry clay?
Have I wandered away from the path God made for me, following my own desires and dreams instead of His? Oh yeah.
Sometimes I’m lost because I’m an Israelite at heart, returning to the same fear and pride and anger that got me in trouble in the first place. When that happens l’m almost always slow to recognize the pattern of my own sin, the responsibility I own for my stress. And even once l do, figuring out how to break the cycle can seem just as difficult and exhausting as sitting and suffering in the sin.
Sometimes find myself (metaphorically in the woods because this life is hard, because circumstances are out of my control and, seemingly. out to get me. And sometimes saying, “when it rains, it pours,” doesnt even come close to describing the mind-numbing weariness that comes with one hard situation after another, with a season determined to illustrate Jesus’ claim that we will certainly face tribulation in this life.
And sometimes we face a situation that is unlike our previous experience but shares enough characteristics with something that’s hurt us or something we’ve struggled with in the past that it brings it all up again. And we find ourselves thinking: Aren’t we out of the woods yet?
How can we be lost again? Aren’t we over this thing?
But not only did Jesus predict that we would face trouble in this world, He declared that He has overcome this world. And when He was breathing His last breaths on the cross, He answered our desperate cries once and for all. “It is finished,” He cried.
It is finished. Though we may feel dizzy with the tribulations of this world, Jesus has promised-both in word and in beautiful, blood-spilling deed—that while we may have started the cycle of sin and entered the proverbial woods of this world, He has finished it. He has borne the weight of every one of our sins, every ounce of mud, every dark corner of the woods, every toss of the cruel wind. He took it all, and He rose victorious. He faced our fears and our doubts and our sin, and He won. It might not feel like it yet, but we know the war is over.
It is finished.
Remember, when you face something that feels achingly familiar, it will not torment you forever. We know how our every story ends and who wins the war; God wrote the ending when His Son gave His life for ours. All our reflection and repentance, our sacrifice and serving, our humbling and hoping-it’s all led us here, to the cross. Lent has prepared us to arrive at the very moment where Jesus took our place in the desperate, doomed battle against the woods and won, where He declared, “It is finished.”
It is finished. Our time in the wilderness and the woods is over. Our Lord has died, for us, but He’s risen again. And it is finished.
God is extraordinarily and eternally faithful. When we seek Him, we will find Him. When we confess our sins, He will forgives us. And no matter what we do or where we go, He will love us with an everlasting love.
We enjoyed time with our daughter and family last night and attended the 1st and 2nd grade Spring Easter Program. Our sweet Emma sang beautifully and spoke with authority biblical truths. God is at work.
The scripture that was woven thru the story led to a beautiful invitation to become a follower of Christ.
My heart is so full. It is a joy to watch our children parent. It is an even greater joy to watch our grandchildren each navigate their individual journey of faith. My heart is to see them walk in relationship with their Heavenly Father and know FULL life in a faithful God.
While the world is clamoring and screaming at the tops of its lungs for the minds and hearts of the children to turn FROM God, I am one grateful mama and MeMe to hear children singing truth and praises to God last night.
So this morning, in the quiet before everyone else woke up, a few scriptures came to mind about the faithfulness of God. My friend, He is true to His Word and that is the ONE thing in this world we CAN depend on and put our hope in.
Thought I’d share a few Bible verses in case you would like to stay your mind on our God’s faithfulness too.
God is not a man, that He might lie, or a son of man, that He might change His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? Numbers 33:19
Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands. Deuteronomy 7:9
But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen and guard you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3
For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is trustworthy. Psalm 33:4
Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! Lamentations 3:22-23
Drop hands of praise below if you have known God’s faithfulness! Let that be your testimony today!!🙌
I praise You, Lord, that You are intimately acquainted with my ways and that You always love me and have my best interests at heart.
Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11
The foremost commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these. To love God with all the heart and with the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. Mark 12:29-31, 33
Take a moment to offer this day to the Lord and ask Him for the grace to grow in your knowledge and love for Him.
The Lord reigns forever…. Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You. Psalm 9:7-10
What the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin; He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4
God raised me up with Christ and seated me with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward me in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6-7
Lord, I thank You that You are a refuge for me and that You sent Your Son on my behalf. I thank You for raising me up with Christ. With all my heart I want to honor and serve You for all of my days.
I am grateful to You, O God, for the blessing of Your forgiveness. I thank You that in Christ, You set me free from the law of sin and death and given me hope for today and into the future.
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? 2 Samuel 22:31-32
God set forth Christ to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He passed over the sins committed beforehand; He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Romans 3:25-28
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. Ephesians 1:3
The Lord Jesus prayed these words for the unity of all who would believe in Him: “I ask that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in one, that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them, even as You have loved Me.” John 17:21-23
Lord, I thank You for the perfection of Your way and for the blood of Christ that makes me righteous in Your sight. I thank You that You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing, and I ask that I would live in integrity and seek unity with other believers.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the furthest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me; Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,” Even the night will be light around me. The darkness is not dark to You, And the night shines as the day; Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:7-12
Take a moment to consider God’s awesome majesty and thank Him that He loves you and wants an intimate relationship with you.
Who is like You, O Lord? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? Exodus 15:11
He who enters by the door is the shepherd of his sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he brings out his own, he goes before them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. And they will never follow a stranger but will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers. Jesus used this figure of speech, but His hearers did not understand what He was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth: I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. I am the good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:2-8, 11, 14-15
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, they have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Lord, I thank You for Your holiness and for Jesus, the good Shepherd. I thank You that I am a new creation in Christ. I love You for the work You have done in my heart through love, grace and mercy. Help me to grow more like You in the days to come.
Simple Life Heartenings 
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