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!
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 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.
O, Lord, I am deeply grateful for Your wonderful acts, for Your abundant promises, and for the gift of my relationship with You through the merits of Christ.
The Lord my God is the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands. Deuteronomy 7:9
I will tell of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, The praises of the Lord, According to all the Lord has done for us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, And according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. Isaiah 63:7
Take a moment to express your gratitude for the many blessings that you have received from the Lord.
How great are God’s signs, and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation. Daniel 4:3
The Lord said, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not stay in darkness. And if anyone hears My words but does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:46-47
Lord, I thank You for Your great signs and wonders and for the light of Christ. I thank You that I am in Christ Jesus. Lord give me many days to shine Your light in the daily.
You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against the enemy encamped around me; With my God I can leap over a wall. 2 Samuel 22:29-30
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Nehemiah 8:10
No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made Him known. John 1:18
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28
If I died with Christ, I believe that I will also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, I must consider myself to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:8-11
I will lay up Your words in my heart and in my soul and teach them to my children, talking about them when I sit in my house and when I walk along the way and when I lie down and when I rise up. Deuteronomy 11:18- 19
Lord, I thank You for Jesus Christ who made You known and gave His life for me. I thank You for my new identity in Christ. I pray for opportunities for the gospel and for my life’s small role in making YOU known in every place that I plant my feet 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.
May I not worry about my life, what I will eat or what I will drink; or about my body, what I will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. The birds of the air do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet my heavenly Father feeds them. Am I not much more valuable than they? Who by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do I worry about clothes? I will consider how the lilies of the field grow; they neither labor nor spin, yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe me? So may I not worry, saying, “What shall I eat?” or “What shall I drink?” or “What shall I wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and my heavenly Father knows that I need them. But may I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and all these things will be added to me. Matthew 6:25-33; Luke 12:22-31
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.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. I will ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. I will ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 96:4-9
I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave. Psalm 86:12-13
Lord, I thank You that we can live by every word that proceeds from Your mouth. Your truth is trustworthy and meant to build Your kingdom. I thank You for delivering my soul from the depths of the grave. I ask that I would obey Your commandments as I seek to serve my family.
Simple Life Heartenings 
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