I know every bird the the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.
Psalm 50: 11 (NIV)
Living in the mountain is a delicious blessing. As I watch the colorful birds outside, I’m reminded that God knows every bird in the mountains. What an awesome thought! Knowing my Heavenly Father is aware of every tiny mountain bird makes me feel his divine presence even more.
As you worship today, may the one who knows every bird in the mountains fill you with his divine presence as you lavish him with praise, and honor, and glory. Have a blessed Sunday!
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Mark 1: 35
I often find myself longing for more solitude and time to focus on spiritual things. That may sound crazy since I live alone, but even when you live alone the distractions of the present culture are many. Before the advancement of technology, it was much easier to find solitude in my day. In fact, before I ever owned a computer, I managed to have a consistent prayer and devotional time with four kids and a husband underfoot.
Computers, tablets, and smart phones are a vital part of life for most of us, but at times I feel they are as much of a curse as a blessing. I often wonder if the rise in mental illness and suicide rates are the result of the immense stress placed on us by our modern way of life. It seems as if nobody takes a break any more. We have forgotten the importance of solitude. We have forgotten how to rest and recharge our bodies and minds.
Cell phones make it possible for people to reach us no matter where we go. With each ringing notification, we reach for our phones without even thinking that we don’t have be available to everyone 24 hours a day. It’s okay to turn off the phone and take some time to rest and experience the blessing of quietness.
Even Jesus withdrew to quiet places to pray. We need to follow his example and withdrawal to a quiet place regularly to pray and seek God. How can we ever hear the voice of God speaking to us if we don’t learn how to be still before him?
The enemy of our souls does not want us to be quiet. I believe Satan uses the distraction of modern technology to keep people from praying, reading scripture, or spending time with their families. Living in a state of constant distraction is like a weapon of mass destruction against Christians today. We need to start controlling technology instead of allowing it to control us.
It’s in the quiet moments when we sit still before God that we find our greatest strength. It won’t be found in the constant distractions from text messages, emails, and phone notifications.
Quietness is a blessing and is necessary for spiritual, emotional, and physical renewal. What do you need to do today to set aside some time to withdrawal to quiet place?
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
Proverbs 16: 24
I rarely do crafty stuff on my blog, but I thought I should share an idea I came up with the other day. If you use a desk calendar, you already know they’re practical but not very pretty. Since I love inspirational writing quotes, I decided to decorate the top sheet of my desk calendar with quotes and pictures to make it less boring and to inspire me throughout my work day.
The great thing is you can change the top sheet monthly or not at all. It’s entirely up to you. Just decorate the previous months calendar instead of tearing it off and you have a new month of inspiring quotes and pictures.
When you need to access the calendar, simply lift or roll back the cover page. The cover keeps all the messy stuff hidden from sight and leaves you with lots of inspiration to guide you through your work day. Whether you need inspiration to lose weight, reach a goal, or to encourage you as a writer, inspiring words and photos can motivate you to reach your goals.
In a world filled with negativity and depressing news, we can all use a little daily inspiration. I hope you enjoy creating your own motivational desk calendar. Blessings!
Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.
Psalm 119: 24
Life has been hard lately, and I often find myself feeling exhausted and discouraged. I used to be able to take a lot, and I handled emotional stress fairly well. However, recently I often find myself getting cranky and wishing things could be different. I’m not normally a grouchy person, and anger isn’t something I struggle with too often. I hate feeling this way.
My aunt got sick a few months ago. She has no children and I’m her medical contact person. I’ve been trying to manage her doctor’s appointments, keep track of her medications, and help her as much as I can. I want to be there for her as much as possible, but at the same time it’s draining every ounce of my energy due to my ongoing health issues. The stress has thrown me into a major flare up of my autoimmune disease, and the resulting joint pain and fatigue makes it difficult to keep up with my work and help my aunt. I’m thankful I work from home and can set my own schedule, which makes it possible for me to take my aunt to her appointments, etc., but it’s still a lot to juggle.
I’ve been pondering a lot of things today. I’ve been asking myself why I’m struggling and why my emotions are frayed and out of control. I was thinking back to the other life events that were stressful and hard and how I was able to stay strong in my faith and get through them while managing my emotions. And then I had a light-bulb moment.
I was thinking about a time many years ago when my pastor came to visit and pray with me after my husband abandoned me and our family and moved to Ohio with his girlfriend. To say his leaving rocked my world is a massive understatement. It was hard and the bad days were many, but my faith remained strong, and I didn’t feel as emotionally beaten as I do now.
Then I remembered my pastor asking how I was doing. I shared with him my thoughts and how my family doctor had strongly encouraged me to start an antidepressant medication to help me get through the rough times. I refused. I have a long list of drug allergies and prefer to avoid new medicines if possible. I remember picking up my Bible and saying to my pastor, “This is my antidepressant! It’s my Prozac!” I shared with him how I had been reading the Psalms and how I always found something to comfort me in the midst of my suffering. I certainly wasn’t saying that just to be funny or to act like I was above needing medication, but at the time I truly meant every word of what I said.
The power of God’s living word in times of suffering is real. My morning quiet time was set in stone. I rarely missed a day in God’s word, and at times I lingered in the word for hours. Times were still difficult but God’s word was stronger than my doubts, fears, and insecurities. It brought me peace and comfort. It guided my thoughts and my actions. It kept me grounded in my faith and God’s promises gave me hope for the future.
I’ve become less diligent about protecting my morning time alone with God in the past few years. At times I’ve missed an entire week. I often allow distractions to rob me of my precious morning devotional time, and then I wonder why I feel so out of control. Some days I open the word but rush through. Nearly all of my daily distractions are my own fault. Some days I may have a true emergency, but most of the time I choose to rush into the day or get caught up checking email or social media instead of pausing to meet with God. It’s no wonder I feel so lousy.
When typing medical reports, I often hear of patients who are on anti-depressants and not feeling better. The doctor either adds another medication or increases the patient’s dose. Another light-bulb moment. What I need is to increase my dosage of God’s word. When my current dose of God’s word isn’t enough, I need to increase my dose. When I’m in high stress situations, I need more of God, not less. I need to guard my daily quiet time with God more than ever. Without my daily meeting with God, I become a grump, everything looks hopeless, and I feel overwhelmed.
Starting tomorrow, I’m going to up my dose of anti-depressant. I’m going to make meeting with God in the morning a priority again. I know from past experience it’s the perfect prescription for a life that’s swirling out of control.
And to all my readers who are taking anti-depressants, please don’t think I’m judging you. I have family members and friends who take these medications with good results. Sometimes they are necessary for a variety of health issues. Whether we take prescribed medications or not is a personal decision, but adding more of God’s word to our day will never hurt us. In fact, it may be the most important part of the pathway to restoring our emotional and mental health.
Are you getting enough of God’s word? What changes will you make in your schedule today to make more time to meet with God on a daily basis?
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
A new year has arrived and with it the endless chatter on social media of resolutions. I gave up making resolutions several years ago and like to focus on a verse of scripture instead. This year I’ve decided to narrow things down even more by selecting one word to focus on. My pastor talked about this on Sunday and it makes sense.
Resolutions can become burdensome and often add additional stress to our lives. We strive to follow through with what we feel are good intentions that often become unrealistic expectations. By the time February rolls around, we are back to our old habits and feeling lousy because once again we failed. Choosing one word to focus is an easier way to work on moving forward with our goals for our spiritual, emotional, and physical health.
This year I am going to focus on the word confidence. I chose confidence because I need a constant reminder that I can be confident God’s promises are true. I need to be confident that God will not leave me or forsake me. I need to be confident that I can trust him for my health, my finances, my future, and my writing.
I’ve been a Christian for more than three decades, and I’ve seen God answer many prayers and work in wonderful and mysterious ways in my life. However, I struggled with a lot of doubt last year. Health issues are my greatest struggle, and when I don’t feel good I grow weary and discouraged. I start to doubt I can trust God regarding my increasing health issues and my future.
I also struggle a lot with confidence in my ability to follow through with things, like getting the rest of my weight off or finishing my book. Yet I know God’s word says I can do all things through him.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13 NIV)
I know God has called me to write, but I allow my own lack of confidence to get in the way of what he has called me to do. I have done well with weight loss this past year, but I still keep waiting to fail. I’ve always struggled with confidence in my ability to do things. It increased when my husband left me for another woman. I felt like he replaced me because I wasn’t good enough, and the downward spiral of my lack of confidence increasingly grew worse.
I saw a quote this morning that is really eye opening.
Satan knows what consumes us controls us ~ Lysa TerKeurst
For me, lack of confidence is one of the things that consumes me. As soon as another health flare up hits, I am instantly brought down. I start to fear and worry about the future. Satan knows my lack of confidence in God’s provision for my health issues and in my ability to perform the tasks God has given me can literally cripple me, and he uses it to keep me bound in a prison of defeat and fear.
Every day, I am writing the word confidence at the top of my planner to remind myself of where my focus needs to be in 2019. With God’s help, I will grow in confidence and rise above the doubts, fears, and insecurities that are preventing me from being the woman he has called me to be. One of my favorite verses sums up everything I need to face the new year with renewed confidence.
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30: 15 NIV)
I did a biblical word study on this verse several years ago and made the following notes in my Bible.
Repentance = Returning to God. Rest= lighting down. Salvation= to be open or free – a wide spacious place. Quietness= to lie quietly, to be undisturbed, calm. Trust means, “there is nothing more we can do.” Strength=victory.
What a powerful message packed into such a small passage of scripture! It’s always been one of my favorites. In 2019, I need to return to God. While I never left God and my faith remains strong, I grew careless with my Bible reading and prayer time. I need to be in the word and prayer every day. I love the meaning of rest – lighting down. Doesn’t that sound peaceful? Salvation means freedom. Think about being in a wide open space and being free, unencumbered by the cares of this world. Quietness. Who can’t use a little quiet time? How good does it feel to be calm and undisturbed? I love the meaning of trust – “there is nothing more we can do.” Stop worrying. Leave it all in God’s hands – the fear, doubt, and the things that make no sense. In the King James Version of the Bible, confidence is used in place of the word trust. Strength means victory. We can have victory over the things that consume us if we trust God.
The ending to the verse is sobering. “But you would have none of it.” The people God was addressing in this passage could have had all of these wonderful things but traded them all for their own sinful desires. They were rebellious and unwilling to listen to God’s instruction.
Let’s be honest. We all fall into the temptation to do things our way instead of God’s way at times. We trade in God’s blessings for the things of this world that leave us empty, worried, and stressed out. As we open the book to a new year, lets press on to know God more intimately. Let’s strive to obey all of his word, not just the parts we like. Lets’ trust him completely and rest in his promises. Let’s be confident that we can become the women he has called us to be.
What is one word you need to focus on this year to become the woman God created you to be?