Rejoice in the Lord Always

" Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."  Philippians 4: 4-9

The journey to become the person God wants us to be- begins with learning to disciple our minds- to focus on what is right rather than what is wrong.
Use God's word to reprogram your mind by turning the attention to the positive rather than the negative.
Romans 12:1  "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The mind is a primary battlefield and will either help or hinder your goal of becoming the person God wants you to become.
As you think new and positive thoughts, your attitude will change.

Change your mind- then behavior- attitude- your actions- You will then begin to notice that you can change your circumstances. Happiness comes from within- it is a choice!

Rejoicing in the Lord is one of the hardest things that I have to do. But I do need to remember daily that God has a plan for me- not to harm me- but to bring me closer to him.

I have so much to be thankful for! I pray for a humble heart- To allow myself to always be thankful- to see the good in situations and in people. What I want more than anything on this earth- is for others to see Jesus in me! I pray for strength- not to let my guard down- to be weakened by the flesh. I want to walk daily with Jesus- in full armor- ready for anything.
In His Service
Amy

Rainbow Express

Snap shots of His grace.............

     So thankful for these girls of mine who gave a  week of their lives for these precious children of God.............

The Best Camp in the World.................."RAINBOW EXPRESS."

 Sean my 16 year old and her new friend "Tori."

 The daughter of one of my close friends.............."Mandy," who also gave of her-self to serve this week and what an little angel God had in store for her............all of my girls were fighting to hold her!

 Gracie my middle daughter who came home from her first day at camp as a counselor and said:
"Mommy, God gave me my twin!!!!! She and I are so much alike!!!!" "We even have the same personality etc."  "Then I noticed looking around that God gave all of us our twins".....Isn't God amazing......This precious child is named "Julia."

In this program the teens are learning what it means to bend the lower.

Every year for one week Matthews United Methodist Church host "Rainbow Express."

 High-School and College kids train for months on Sunday nights to meet the requirements to be a counselor.

Only certain ones are chosen for this.......my girls and I held our breath praying and hoping that they would be able to participate. It was the highlight of our summer!

These teens bend......... to wipe faces that drool.......they bend to change diapers of children who are older than them....they hold ones having spasms....they speak for the ones who can't speak........they don't eat their lunch until their new friends eat first..... they hold each others hands to pray before meals and their hearts split wide open with love.

These teens radiated His nature.........dying to their-selves.....coming to Him only to serve.

This is the first principle in the Kingdom of God, that most of us "adults," will never get.

The doorway to the Kingdom was opened this week......"blessed are the pure in heart," for they shall see God.

At the end of everyday we sing praises to the King. We tell them stories of a heavenly king that was born a pauper and how He did the unthinkable to die for you and me..

I stare out into the crowd as I have seen God everywhere to watch these teens give so self-lessly.

The tears that sting my eyes as I stand in awe of His Glory.......knowing that I came to be the nurse but got so much more in return.....I whisper thanks again and again for the way this experience has blessed me...... for I learned from them......the tears start to fall and joy overflows..."I saw God today," in each and everyone of their precious faces.

I sit here today me in my me-ism little world amazed that I was given an opportunity to share a story such as this. Knowing that the lower we bend the more we will see.

Witnessing the here and the now..........the sight of His glory.
An awakening to my very soul...........as my heart cries out over and over again; "thank you Lord."
No-where does He leave himself without witness.............even the rocks will cry out "Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty."

::
 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  (Romans 1:20)

all of grace,

Robbie

Give me your eyes...................

We want to see with your eyes.............

If we see will we believe.................................

 Are we open to see? Is our hearts open? To see with gratitude......

Trusting.............trusting in the goodness of God...........
working in Neuro Surgical Critical Care today............let me see with your eyes Lord..............
all of grace,
Robbie


thankful today for;

the piles of stuff everywhere
family dinners
the rain
the laundry that is never done
a best friend
the crumbs on the counter
the sunlight
glass doors
children that have started their own gratitude journal
teenagers

                                                                                                                        

Strength comes from working the muscles....

I was stopped today in my prayer time by one thing in particular that I felt my heart cry out for...something that is dear to me and I felt as if God was bringing it to surface today for individual "special" prayer time and as a teaching moment for myself.  As I prayed, I began to ask God to help to lift some of the heaviness, some of the weight off of this individual.  But, then my prayer turned...my eyes were opened to something else...

      See, I started to think about how we use our muscles and if we do not use a muscle for a long period of time, that muscle will start to waste away.  In order to keep that muscle strong, you must use it and exercise it.  The more that muscle group is used, the stronger it becomes.  The more you deny that muscle group any type of "heaviness", the more it waste away and becomes "UN-use-able".  So, my prayer changed and I began to ask God not to remove all of the weight from the individual, and not to take away all of the "worries" in their lives, because I believe that we need to carry some weight sometimes in order to keep our muscles strong. 

     This doesn't mean that God will not help you carry some of the weight of this world and help you to move about in life, but if we ask Him to totally take away the heaviness and worries, then are we depriving ourselves of being strengthened? 
Some things come into our lives to train us and mold us....yes, to be more like Him.  Sometimes the heaviness of this world (with our family, our work, our children, and spouses, our loved ones, health issues, financial burdens, etc) may be allowed into our lives to teach us new ways to handle them and to strengthen us in the process of dealing with them.  God is there to help hold them when they become too heavy. 
Just like at the gym...some weights are too heavy for us to lift and we need a "spotter" to watch over us as we lift them to make sure they don't come crashing down onto our chest.  God is that "spotter"...ready to lift the weight off or to relieve a bit of its pressure by placing His finger under the weight to help you to bring it all the way up and place it back onto the holder.  But, what if God constantly lifted the weight, brought it down to our chest, and then lifted it back up onto the holder while we just laid there on the bench?  Would we grow in strength?  Would our muscles become stronger?  No, we wouldn't benefit at all from it.  Our muscles, if not used, will waste away and become limp and brittle and eventually break apart.

      God is the all consuming, all knowing, all present God.  He is there when we need Him, the very minute that we need Him.  He will not allow us to be crushed.  His word says to "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken" (Psalm 55:22).
He will sustain us...sometimes we need to carry some of the burdens, and ask God to show us how to carry them, how to move in them, and how to react to them appropriately.  We can learn so much if we are open to being taught. 
So my prayer began to change.  I began to cry out for God to not lift the weight completely off, but to allow the weight to be used for Him to teach this individual how to act in it with all of its heaviness and for this individual to be strengthened, and to grow stronger in the Lord and to draw closer to Him in the process.  And when the weight is too much for them to carry, then God is there to sustain them.  The definition of sustain is  "to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure"(dictionary.com).  The Hebrew word for sustain is "saad" which is also translated as "to support, sustain, stay".  God can support the weight without totally taking it completely away.Whatever it is that you are carrying today, whatever you feel is weighing you down...ask God to show you why you are feeling this way and how you can be strengthened through it. 

    

     God is right here waiting to sustain you and ready to teach you how to be strengthened...just ask.

Jennifer

God is Love

Come on over and join me at Faithful Devotions if you are looking for some God is love...moments.....little raindrops of grace falling down allowing us to feel
 His tenderness which indeed is inexpressibly sweet!
all of grace my dear friends,

http://faithfuldevotions.com/encouragement/god-is-love.



thankful for;

lemonade stands in the heat
husband who plants the more flowers
the blood of Jesus
for the pastor who cries the hard
for girlfriends that feel your pain
God's grace
 my old church pew
prayer books from the saints before us
finding forks in the teen's bed
glitter all over the floor
sea-shell necklaces
rocking chairs and sweet tea
rain
birds that chirp early in the morning during my prayer time
the work that is never done
craziness that life brings
for a Saviour who loves
Repentance
My Redeemer Lives


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thoughts to ponder

Be still, and know that I am God;
Psalm 46:10

Move in the truth...
Grab it...
Don't live like everybody else lives...
We need a fresh accurate view of Jesus
Turn your eyes upon Jesus...
Be delivered...
Walk in the Spirit...
Acquire Proper Vision...
See with the eyes of the Spirit...
Some of us need to see in the Spirit a place of continual eternal burning...
This world does not own you...
Fight the good fight...Take hold and live in that place...
Experience God...
Do not get distracted...
Don't wait for the rain...be a rainmaker
Sometimes we have to die another level of death to experience another level of eternity!!!!!!!

all is grace,
the Yahweh Sisters

"Peace...Be Still"

"Sometimes he calms the Storm"

Sometimes he calms the storm with a whispered, "Peace...Be Still".

He can settle any Sea- doesn't mean he will.

Sometimes he holds us close and lets the wind and waves go wild.

Sometimes he calms the storm, other times he calms his child.

The New Testament has three different interpretations of Jesus calming the storm.

Matthew 8 23-27

Mark 4 37-41

Luke 8 23-25

In Matthew-  the disciples cried, " Lord, Save Us"

Mark says- " Don't you Care?"

and Luke said, " We are going to drown!"

Jesus calmed the storm- after rebuking them for having such little faith. But this - increased their faith.

" Why are you so afraid"?, he asked the disciples. " There is nothing to fear!"

The disciples were amazed- Nothing is impossible when... You put your Trust in God!

Jesus first calmed their fears.. Then increased their faith, by calming the storm- thus protecting them.

The Sea of Galilee- really a lake- is north of the land of Israel. The only fresh water lake in the land. Great for fishing. Capernaum and Bethsaida- fishing towns. The Sea of Galilee is seven miles across and approximately 160 feet deep.

The surface of the lake is about 600 feet below sea level.

The lake- Sea of Galilee is in the famous " Rift Valley" a natural fault line that runs down the Jordan River Valley to the Dead Sea. In Fact all the way to Africa.

Mount Hermon is 9000 feet high, and the Dead Sea is 1250 feet below sea level. The valley drops sharply- hot air can come up suddenly and collide with the cool air from Mt. Hermon- causing sudden storms.

I have the same responses as the disciples when I experience storms in my life. " Jesus, Don't you care?"

I'm drowning here, Lord

Lord, Save Me!

A storm grew strong around me this past weekend. I couldn't explain why, just did- a sudden storm. I was caught off guard. At the time looked like a large one, but looking back now- it was really just a few rain drops. I felt- MEAN inside. I didn't like that feeling. Why am I acting this way. It was in the mist of the storm- Jesus tapped me on my " Hard Head" and said- Keep your eyes on me, not yourself OR your situation. And suddenly- the storm was gone.

Jesus can calm the storm- that quick

He will calm your fear

He will calm the storm

Have Faith

Keep your eyes on him!

Amy