Everyone needs a little...

Hope you're having a blessed week!  I'm thinking of you all and just wanted you to know that I'm sending you hope and prayers that you know and feel God's love for you today...and always! Happy Valentine's Day, friends!  xoxo 

Everyone needs a little...

I Long To Be Undignified!

As adults, many of us try to live our lives prim and proper trying to look dignified in everything we do...including how we worship. We long to fit in with others (even our brothers and sisters in Christ) so that we don't get scoff at or humiliated.  So what do we do?  We hold back how we really feel at times! Occasionally we need to forget about everything around us and become undignified. Worshiping with all your soul may look odd to others, but don’t let that stop you from giving God all of you. Remember, ALL of life is a form of worship...not just Sunday mornings. A great example of this was when King David and his men were marching with the ark.  King David began to dance in the street as a form of worship to the Lord. Now if anybody was to look dignified it was the King of Israel.  However, he didn’t hold back...he gave God all he had and worshiped Him openly and unrestricted.  To love, to worship, to praise God freely, fully and lavishly....that should be our goal. 

2 Samuel 6:14-15
Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

2 Samuel 6:21-22
David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel--I will celebrate before the Lord.  I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.

Free to Love

"Loved people love people.  Hurt people hurt people.  Loved people must love hurt people.  People were created to be loved.  Things were created to be used.  The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used."
 

God is love and when we show love to others we are not just sharing of ourselves but also the very essence of God to them. The Bible is very clear that God is love (1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.) God and love are one in the same. You can replace the word ‘love’ with the name God in the following verses to demonstrate how the two are interchangeable. Don’t forget, there is always room for more love, more happiness and more joy in everyone‘s life. Of course there will be times of sadness and heartbreak, the key is not to make ‘room’ for it - when you do you give it the okay to stay. This week, become more unselfish with whom you share your love with, because for many the only way they will know God is through you actions. It is ‘freeing’ to be loved!

God! I love you, you just take my breath away-in a good way! :-)  I'm not sure why you do what you do, I just know you are so good to me & I don't deserve it! But I thank you for filling that empty little spot in me so many years ago-that God shaped hole that nothing would fill, even though I tried everything. You've showered me with blessings beyond imagination, thank you for believing in me before I believed in you! Thank you for being patient with me! <3

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.  Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty". ---Mother Teresa

God's Purpose - No Limits!

If you think you're not worthy, you're right...none of us are.  That's totally the point of why God sent Jesus Christ to us...to bridge that gap between us and God that WE have created.  God uses the meek, the flawed and the broken to do all sorts of beautiful things.  Things that those people never thought they could possibly accomplish.  In fact, without God they wouldn't have accomplished them at all. 

You know, it doesn't matter where you've been, the thing that truly matters is where you're going.  What is your direction today?  If you need to make a change - then make it!  Don't think that in order for you to make a change you must first wait for the perfect time.  God's timing is the ONLY timing that's perfect...and if the change you need to make is a positive, God driven change then wait no longer.  If you feel He's speaking to your heart right now, then don't delay and have no fears, because when the change is from Him, you know it's going to be AWESOME!!!! Hugs & Love friends. 

The Artist

The artist approaches his blank canvas with complete freedom.  He has full control and creative liberties to make something precisely the way he envisions it.  He has no guidelines or rules to follow and from nothing he begins to create.  Onlookers would be hard pressed to draw conclusions as to the direction he plans to take.  But the artist is God and he knows.  You...you are his creation.  Isn't it wonderful to know that the perfect artist made you exactly how he planned you to be.  You are God’s masterpiece, crafted by his hands with love and perfection.  Where the world sees flaws, God sees beauty and draws us closer to embrace what his love has created.  Where the world sees chance, God sees purpose and has put us here at this very moment for a purpose.  You see, the world sees people with short-term vision, but God sees us with eternity in mind.  You are an intricate work of art made for greatness…let no one tell you other wise.  Hugs and love friends.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Romans 8:28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Ephesians 1:11  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

The Fence

Just wanted to stop in and say HI and share with you Jim's past devotional.  I thought it was a cool new way to talk to you about perspective...I hope you like it:

While I was on my break the other day, I was walking outside along a fence.  I noticed quickly all of the debris and trash on the ground.  I kept walking and all I could see was broken, rusting metal and scattered trash.  It was dusk, and the sun was just about down.  In that moment when everything around me looked so bad, I happened to look up to see the sun and its rays cutting down through the clouds appearing as pillars of hope.  The sky was full of color and pureness…it was picturesque.  In that instant I had to choose what I was going to focus on, the garbage or the light.  In life you will have many fences and will need to choose.  You can focus your mind on the bad stuff or you can focus yourself on hope and keep your sights set on the beauty and goodness in your life.  I chose to look up and to look to the Son.     

John 16:33
“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.”

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Nahum 1:7
The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.

You're amazing!

You are an amazing person with amazing abilities! “Wow”, you may be thinking, “I am not amazing in the least. What kind of abilities do I have that  makes me so great?” God’s view of you is the only one that matters, and from where he’s sitting, you are a masterpiece. He knows, much better than you do,  just what you are capable of. You’re amazing because you were made by an amazing God. He blessed you with abilities that are specifically designed for you and you alone! God never messes up when it comes to the things that he creates. Friends, he definitely made you with a purpose in mind; a purpose that is something that only you can do with your God given abilities. You may feel like you don’t matter, but to God you’re the most important person in the world. Ask God to show you what you are capable of, and how you can make a difference in this world for his kingdom.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Sons of Thunder!

“Sons of Thunder” was the name given to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, by Jesus. He gave them this name because of their boldness and borderline rash nature. Their zeal was sometimes misplaced, but their commitment to Christ was obvious. I don’t know about you, but I would love to hear Christ say that about me. To be someone that is bold, quick to share, and have a zeal that is undeniably for Christ, is something that we all should strive to become. To be a believer that doesn’t settle for a lukewarm life is something that would make God proud. Sometimes we may mess up while living a life that is on fire for Christ. Perhaps we will be so proactive that we will forget to seek Gods will and direction. However, I believe that God would be pleased with us despite those mistakes, knowing we learn from our errors and knowing that our desires are to live out loud for and through him. I know he seeks for us boldness, not a life of blandness.

Mark 3:17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”).

Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Acts 28:31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

Romans 12:11  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.