Tag Archives: Joy

Jul21

He Is The God Who Makes You Strong

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He is the God who makes you strong.

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!

Jan31

Those Who Know Your Name Will Trust In You

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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.

Simple Life Heartenings
Jan28

God Keeps His Covenant And Loving-Kindness To The Generations

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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.

Simple Life Heartenings
Jan27

The Son Of Man Did Not Come To Serve But To Be Served

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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.

Simple Life Heartenings
Jan26

I Will Learn To Fear God All Of My Days

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O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, You know it completely. Psalm 139:1-4

Take a moment to lift up the needs of your family and friends, and to offer up any other burdens for others that the Lord brings to mind.

Lord, You have said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

You have asked the Father, and He has given me another Comforter to be with me forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But I know Him, for He lives in me. John 14:16-17

I will learn to fear You all the days I live on the earth and teach Your words to my children and their children. Deuteronomy 4:10

Lord, I thank You for searching and knowing me and for giving me rest in Christ. I thank You for the never giving up on us, for our Comforter, the Holy Spirit and for the freedoms to choose Your way as I observe Your word. May my heart beat to encourage others in their faith journey.

Simple Life Heartenings

Jan25

The Lord Is My Strength And My Song

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As I approach Your throne of grace today, I am grateful that You care about the things that concern me and that You want me to offer them up to You.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have multiplied; Free me from my distresses. Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. Psalm 25:16-18

Take a moment to share your personal needs with God, including your physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual concerns.

I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Exodus 15:1-2

When You promised to make a new covenant with the house of Israel, You said, “I will put My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each one teach his neighbor, or each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34

If I lack wisdom, I should ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to me. James 1:5

Lord, I thank You that You are my strength and my song and that in Christ Jesus, You have given me a new heart. I thank You for filling me with Your Holy Spirit, and I ask that You guide my steps according to Your wisdom.

Simple Life Heartenings
Jan24

Seek First The Kingdom of God

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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
Jan21

You Have Loved Me With An Everlasting Love

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O Lord, I am deeply grateful for Your wonderful acts, for Your abundant promises, and for the gift of my relationship with You through Christ.

You have loved me with an everlasting love; You have drawn me with lovingkindness. Jeremiah 31:3

I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Exodus 15:1-2

Take a moment to express your gratitude for the many blessings that you have received from the Lord.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

“To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes to the heavens and see who has created them, He who brings out the starry host by number and calls them each by name. Because of His great might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired or weary. No one can fathom His understanding. Isaiah 40:25-26, 28

I do not want to be conformed to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind, that I may prove that the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Lord, I thank You for the glory Your Word and for Your incomparable nature. I thank You for the transforming power of Your truth, and I ask that I will order my steps in humility and in gentleness. I bring to you my sinfulness and pray that You would grow in me a heart that longs even more to be more like You.

Jan6

God Keep Me Strong To The End

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God will keep me strong to the end, so that I will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom I was called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9

I should let my gentleness be evident to all men; the Lord is near. Philippians 4:5

Let my love be sincere. May I hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Romans 12:9

Take a moment to share your personal needs with God, including your physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual concerns.

Prayer:

Lord, I thank You for the certainty of Your promises and for the wisdom of Your ways. I thank You for keeping me strong to the end, and I ask that I would be a gentle and loving soul.

Nov26

Giving Thanks In ALL Things

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I pray that you will be encouraged and as a way of reminder, find a place for thanksgiving today as we enter into a time of remembering. Affirmed and grateful for how timely God always is when we need a “word in due season”. God continues to stretch & shape my heart as I bend and surrender my will, to each committed new mercy-filled day to give thanks in ALL things. The last few years have been filled with some challenging, fear-full, one step at a time, God-Sized and yet “hard” eucharisteos–the giving of thanks for my family and I. This joy journey, the purposeful pursuit of grateful living, where “thanks-giving” rewrites the habits of ingratitude into “thanks-living” has caught me off-guard, captured my thoughts, and is continuing to transform my heart. As a way of transparent confession, this truth-teaching that transforms hearts at the same time has opened the door for warfare unlike anything that I have ever experienced. Yet. Will. I. Praise. Him.

It is easy to say, I give thanks in ALL things. It is another to give thanks as you walk THROUGH the “hard eucharisteo’s” and come out of life’s most difficult “opportunities” to learn that giving thanks is the only way to fullness of joy. Sigh. You see for me it has settled deep, opened, exposed and removed dark places closed off to the Lord and recreated a beautiful place for God to fully live. Emptied. To. Fill.

The Lord dwells there. His presence makes known to us the path that leads to life according to Psalms 16:11 Apart from HIM there is no joy-filled life, rest for my soul, nor surrender to His sovereignty. He is working ALL things together for good, from His view of ALL that is going on. And on the days when thanksgiving has truly transformed my life, we meet there. Without the giving of thanks, I am left empty with nothing of the Who He is in His fullness to spill out one drop of thanksgiving. Lord. Help. Us.

Today, I stopped and with a burdened heart, gave thanks. He IS the mighty warrior, supreme and powerful ruler…the God of the universe; yet in His mercy, His presence sees. Knows. Leads. Comforts. Provides. His presence fills every emptied out place with peace in this life when ALL things seem to be shaking in  this world and the spiritual realm. We will never understand the ways of God, nor comprehend how His unfailing love is working in ALL the days of our lives for our good and His glory. Lord, Your ways are higher, stronger, greater and every moment of thanksgiving back to You is a small gift from this veiled view. The mystery. We. See. Dimly.

Such love…..so pure, rich and deep. Oh, the JOY that floods my soul.

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

Tonight we give thanks. WE. GIVE. THANKS. Tomorrow’s mercies will be there for every bent and spilled-out surrendered heart to what seems so very simple. It will likely challenge every programmed response we have ever learned to date. Yet, His promises are trustworthy, sure and steadfast. He is God and HIS character, nature and attributes remain the same ALL-ways! Sure as the sun will rise to greet each new day, if the Lord wills.  New. Every. Morning.

“Eucharisteo…always, always precedes the miracle.”Ann Voskamp

To give thanks

“Eucharisteo, always, always precedes the miracle.” Ann Voskamp

Thanks Ann Voskamp for validating my heart’s journey towards fullness of joy! God has taught me so much in 2013. I am grateful that He does not give up or abandon His creation but continues to long for a relationship with His beloved! The privilege that I have had of leading women, children and families along the same path that this simple life traveled has been beautiful to watch from my view. My heart leans in to their stories of their journey fills my emptied heart with such deepened love and joy around the living Word received and applied so powerfully in their lives. God’s message and directed course for this season has led surrendered hearts through the “hard eucharisteos” into the places where THEIR messy story began. Their pathway still meandering, as does mine, around the field of mines that vie for the lies and affections of our life. Hearts rewritten with gratitude and Thanks-Living are among the best in this season of remembering.

Thanks-Giving. Miracles. Thanks-Living. Fullness of joy.

Excerpt from Ann Voskamp’s Journal Entry Today…..

http://www.aholyexperience.com/

“They were simple people, but they knew it because they had lived it:

No matter what the headlines shout, the world only has two stories: bless God or curse God.
No matter what the world tries to sell, we all only get to choose from two shelves: Give God thanks or Give God the door.
No matter what we’re facing, there are always only two roads: thanksgiving to God or dismissing of God.

“They were simple people but they had decided that they….

…..would not let hard times steal their thanksgiving.
…..if you let something steal your thanksgiving, you let something steal your joy, and if you let something steal your joy, you let something steal your strength.
…..would let nothing steal their thanksgiving to God – so that in everything they could stand strong in God.

Simple people – keeping it simple……. we will give thanks to God not because of how we feel, but because of who He is.

No disaster, no storm, no cancellation, no termination, no catastrophe would stop them from giving thanks. Because…….they knew it:

No matter where they were, every thanksgiving always brought them home —- giving thanks always brings you home to the heart of God.” ~Ann Voskamp

My children, grandson and family will be together around the inherited family table, the gathering place of so many great memories. It represents a lifetime filled with so many blessings. Countable gifts. The measure of a gracious God. We. Give. Thanks.

Home. “Thanksgiving” is bringing them home. Around the table, our collective hearts will pause and find peace above ALL circumstances through Thanks-Living EVERY DAY IN ALL THINGS.”
Yes, and this I know……Thanks-Living will lead us directly to the heart of God. “In His presence IS fullness  of  joy….” Psalm 16:11

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