Psalm 102:1-105:45

Psalm 103:10-12 says, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

It is “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Life is rough, BUT Romans 8:28 tells us that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” And that, “In all these [rough] things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

You see, God doesn’t see things the way we see them, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:8-9) “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:1-11)

How great is His Steadfast Love toward you? As far as the east is from the west, from one nail-pierced hand to the other. From the point where the base of the cross meets the crown of the ground, to the point where the universe ends; that’s how great His love towards YOU is.

Psalm 93:1-101:8

“When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ Your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:18-19

Is there ever a time in life when there aren’t any cares, no worries that weigh down our hearts?

What weighs down your heart today my friend? What sits like a stone in your soul and keeps it from soaring? What lurks in the corners of your mind and grows in the shadows gaining strength?

Today let’s take the time to give those cares to Him because He cares for us. Let’s write them out, if you can, here in the comments even, if you want to. Then as you place the final period say, “I give this to God. Period.”

The weight of our world on our shoulders (or in our hearts) can cause our feet to slip. But God, with His steadfast love, can and will hold us up. He is more than able and more than willing to carry our burdens for us if only we share them with Him.

Let’s do that today. Shall we?

“Lord, please protect me from these flaming arrows. Be my shield and my fortress my ever present help in times of trouble. Papa I need You to guard me as you would Your eyes. Help me to navigate the minefield of my life to keep from stepping on these bombs. I love you. Please help me to remember the shelter of Your steadfast love and to take refuge there at ALL times. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Psalm 88:1-92:15

“Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry.” Psalm 88:2

Yesterday was the last official day of my phone fast and I had an interesting thing happen. A revelation that I would be amiss not to share it with you.

We’ve been refreshing our living room this month; a fresh coat of paint, and this weekend, a new floor. (A floor I’ve been dreaming of for YEARS.) Well, our house is tiny and we’ve got waaaay more stuff that we should, so with an entire room torn to bits and its contents relocated to wherever we could manage to fit them it hasn’t been a matter of one room being a mess and hard to use, it’s been the entire house.

As many of you other neat-freak moms out there have noticed, if the house is in chaos the family tends to get a little on the chaotic side as well. When there’s no room for people to walk past each other collisions and accidents and messes happen… a lot. And tempers begin to flare. By the end of day 2 of total house upheaval we had all reached a breaking point. We were tired, we were grumpy and we were squished together like sardines in a can, not pretty. Like poison this dreadfully negative attitude had spread through our happy home and Mommy, the peacemaker, had had it. I was so frustrated because I didn’t know what to do to fix it and make them all happy again. I didn’t know how to make this oppressive darkness that was pressing in on my family go away. And in my usual manner I reached for my phone to text my friends and ask for prayer. With thumbs poised and ready to tap out my S.O.S. it hit me, I didn’t need them to pray for me… I needed to pray!

I was the one in need of a moment of solitary stillness. I was the one who needed to be in His presence. I was the one who needed reassurance and a word of encouragement. Why tell my friends to pray for me when I was the one who needed the benefit of prayer the most!?! Me asking them to pray for me is like asking someone to go to the bathroom for you, it just doesn’t work that way! Now, don’t misunderstand me here, there is TREMENDOUS power in reaching out to others and praying together. However, if your plan A is to ask for prayers on your behalf without ever praying yourself, well, that’s just insanity. Prayer in itself is an answer to stressful situations.

When you’re up against a wall and you’re the one in need of prayer then your knees better be the ones on the ground first because sister because that’s where the help comes from; not the hills, not your friends, not even your church. Your help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”

For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place – the Most High, who is my refuge, no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him I will protect him, because he knows My name. When he calls to Me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. (Psalm 91)

Lord, humbly I come to Your throne. Not because someone else needs You, but because I need You. Please help me through this time of Fear and Doubt. Please help me to choose to path of Faith and Belief in Your word. Please hold my hand and help me to make the best choices and to do and say the best things. Lord, please help me to be a vessel of Your peace in this world of chaos and fear. LORD, please fill me up with the peace that comes from being in Your presence and KNOWING that I am dearly loved and divinely treasured by the creator of the universe. You are my King!

“I love YOU!”

Psalm 76:1-79:13

“But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.” Psalm 79:13

So, for the most part the phone fast really hasn’t changed a whole lot around here. I haven’t truly “fasted” from it but rather I’ve made the decision not to cling to it so heartily. I’ve gone from carrying it around the house with me, to leaving it in one room… and keeping it there. I’ve gone from checking for that little blinking message light every five minutes to today.

Today I’m actually writing on my Sabbath. Mostly because I’ve just got to write this down, I don’t want to forget the bliss of this feeling. I’m making a commitment and I want to get it in writing so that I’m more likely to stick to it.

I was just snuggled up with the sweetest little hot dog on the couch and Karen Kingsbury’s, Like Dandelion Dust. I flipped the pages closed on my thumb and had the book on the top of my head (of all places) when I had a moment of realization, “they can’t reach me”. In this moment, no matter what the news, good, bad or indifferent, it can’t reach me. In this moment with me on the couch and my phone on my dresser in the bedroom, untouched since I cleared out the daily morning weather text, I’m in here and whatever the world has to say to me is in there. And its arms can’t reach me. In this moment, in this place, it’s just me, Skippy and God. And I like it.

No one can call and ruin my day, no one can text and give me bad news, no one can email me and tell me that I won a million dollars or that book deal I’ve been dreaming of for the last four years. No body can reach me right now. Only GOD.

Only God can speak to me right now in this worldly silence. Only God is allowed past these walls I’m behind today. Only God is allowed to tell me how my day is going. Only God is allowed to speak into my life right now and He is love. He is the one who calls me by name and tells me He loves me. No matter how poorly or childishly I act towards Him; He never takes that love away from me. No matter how badly I behave He’s still waiting here in this room of silence from the world, arms open and waiting for me to come in and be still in His presence. He calls me here. Only the voice of Love Himself can reach me here.

HIS arms are long enough, they’re not too short to save me wherever I am and through whatever I’m going through. His arms are long enough to catch me from wherever I’m falling. His hands, His voice, His presence can reach me no matter what. In this day of silence after a week that was so filled with painful pruning and HUGE Spring Cleaning changes, it’s His arms that I need. It’s His arms that I need to hold me and tell me that no matter what waits for me inside that phone’s message memory, He’s holding me. And will continue to hold me, good, bad or indifferent. He will be with me, guiding me and helping me deal with each bit of news as it comes through the screen. He is with me, no matter what comes my way.

I didn’t realize how attached I was to that little screen until last night. My husband’s phone beeped and my heart simply raced with adrenaline and anxiety. It wasn’t even my phone but I was having a physical response to its cry for attention. As a mother I know that body response, it’s the same response I would have when my babies would cry and needed my attention. Except that phone is NOT my baby, my children are. And although they no longer cry like that, they DO still need my attention far more than that piece of plastic and the people behind it.

My friend Brenda owns and operates a Christian bookstore, Living Truth in Noblesville Indiana. It often happens that I’ll be on the phone with her and a customer will walk in the door and she will greet them and ask if she can help them. They will often respond, “Oh, I can wait, you’re on the phone.” And she will ALWAYS tell them, “But I’m here for YOU.” And then she will tell me that she will call me later.

Oh, how many of us could learn from that little lesson right there?!? She is standing in that store at this very moment, not because of the person that’s on the phone, but because of the person that’s standing right in front of her! The same is true right here in my house. While I dearly love the majority of the people whose voices call to me through that phone, if they are not the people standing right in front of me, then they do not deserve my undivided attention. Sorry. It doesn’t mean I love you any less, it just means that you’re not WITH me at the moment, and my kids are.

My children have never known a day when I didn’t have a cell phone with me at all times. They don’t know what it’s like not to watch TV without a cell phone in my hands, texting with someone at the same time. They don’t know what it’s like to be doing math homework with them and not have mommy texting someone, until this week. This week we made eye contact. This week I have been fully present with them and I have been fully engaged in what THEY have been doing. THEY are the sweet little people that God planted in this house, right in front of me. And I’m supposed to be here for them, not the people on the phone. And the people on the phone will get their turn with me, but it will be when I choose to turn and take care of their cry, not when the phone rings in desperation. They are adults, not infants; infants don’t know how to make phone calls or to text. Adults have the mental capacity to WAIT.

So, if you’re one of those people I love that is an adult that calls, texts or emails me, I’m sorry. Just as I suspected it would, this “fast” is going to be permanent. My phone will most likely always be on “silent” now. I will answer your messages as they come in, but in MY time. While you are VERY important to me, if you’re not in the same room with me, you don’t get first priority. It doesn’t mean I love you any less, it just means that you’re not WITH me and you’re going to have to wait your turn just like everyone else. 😉 However, it also means that when you ARE with me, you will be getting my undivided attention at all times, and won’t that be better anyway?

So friends, who wants to “do lunch”?

Psalm 70:1-75:10

“My heart and flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

Lord, please be the strength in my heart today. In Jesus name, Amen.

Psalm 66:1-69:36

“Blessed be the LORD who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.” Psalm 68:19

Lord,

I thank You that it is daily that You bear us up. It’s not weekly or monthly or yearly, it’s DAILY.

Like the Manna from heaven, Your mercies are new morning by morning and as long as it is called “today” I shall sing Your praises. Your faithfulness amazes me. There is no wound too deep for You to heal. There is no sin too old for You to forgive. There is no heart too frozen for you to melt like wax.

You are gracious when I am petty.

You are patient when I am grumpy.

You are loving when I am nasty.

You are faithful when I fail.

You are gentle when I am harsh.

You are tender when I am rough.

Your voice is soothing when I am scared.

You calm my greatest Fears with a whisper.

Lord thank You for being who You are and doing what You do. You are such a faithful friend to me, the confidante I need when I am low and the partner I desire when I am high as a kite.

Lord I’m letting go of my inhibitions. I’m letting go of my expectations. I’m going to let go of my fears and my doubts. I want to fling myself into the arms of Your love and I TRUST that You are there to catch me and keep me from being cast headlong into the pavement. Lord, from the very beginning all You’ve ever wanted was for us to trust You, why is that so hard for us? Why is it so hard for us to deny what our eyes can see and accept the things that are REAL? Why is it so hard for us to forgo the lies and cling to the Truth of Your Word? Why does it have to be so hard?

Lord, “You have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried. You have brought us into the net You laid a crushing burden on our backs; You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water;

yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.” (Psalm 66:10-12)

Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego You were with us through the fiery furnace that devoured us not, but consumed the cords that bound us.(Daniel 3) Like the Israelites chased by Pharaoh and his army, you were with us through the tunnel of the Red Sea, drowning us not, but consuming our enemies who were never to be seen again.(Exodus 14) Yet today their coral covered chariots have been found on the bottom of that very Sea; a testimony to this very day of Your amazing Grace and Faithfulness.* Lord, I Praise YOU!

YES LORD, You were with them then and You are with us now. Of that I am certain.

Father open our eyes to see You with us. Open our ears to hear Your voice guiding us in the way that we should go. While Your presence is constant our awareness of it isn’t. Please help us to KNOW that You are not a liar and that You are always with us and will NEVER leave us or forget us.

Lord, I thank You that You have truly listened, that You attend to the voice of our prayers. Blessed be God, because He has not rejected our prayers or removed His steadfast love from us! (Psalm 66:19-20) Though Satan may try, there is NOTHING in ALL of creation that can separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus! (Romans 8:38-39)

Praise be to GOD!

* CHECK OUT THIS STUNNING ARTICLE!!!!!

Psalm 58:1-65:13

“So will I ever sing praises to Your name, as I perform my vows day after day.” Psalm 61:8

Well, I announced on Sunday that I was going on a phone fast and that I would keep you abreast of how it was going. I can honestly say that after one day, it’s not going well. I knew it was bad, but didn’t realize how badly linked I am to my phone and the immediate gratification of thinking about someone/something and grabbing my phone and searching it or texting them. I was supposed to leave my phone untouched until lunch; I took an early “lunch”… but didn’t eat. I hadn’t decided before hand if I was going to allow myself to “call out” or to use any apps on the phone during the time it was supposed to be off limits. It ended up that by the end of the day I had picked up and used my phone multiple times. Not good.

I was having trouble focusing because I kept thinking about what was going on with my phone. Had someone just called, did they need me? There were several times that I allowed myself to pick up the phone in order to do something else, but really I was picking it up to see if there had been any activity, there hadn’t been.

Typing this all out and reading it is making me realize, not just how connected I’ve been to my phone and the people on it, but how much I have allowed my phone to determine my worth and importance. It had never crossed my mind before that my phone might possibly be connected to my identity, but now that I think about it, what’s the first thing we do when we get a new phone? Personalize it!!! We make the outside reflect our personality and we change the ringtones and message alerts to sounds that are pleasing to us. We take that new phone and transform it into our own likeness; we take it from being like every other phone out there on the market, to being unique.

Interesting…

This is going to be a very interesting week indeed.

Obviously I could use your prayers through this I’m addicted to my phone and I need help. Looks like I’m going to be giving my Self-Control muscles a workout this week. 😉

God bless you all, I love you!!!

Psalm 51:1-57:11

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

There is someone out there today that needs to hear this. There is someone whose heart is heavy and overflowing with burdens they can’t bear any longer. There is someone out there who is reading this who is seconds away from giving up and as a last ditch effort, by the Grace of God, is reading this before they do.

It is not by accident that you found this blog. It isn’t by chance that I’m speaking straight to you right now. It’s GOD. He knows the aches of your heart and He desperately desires to lift them from your crushed spirit. He’s reaching out to you a helping hand. The kind of hand that heals the broken hearted and mends wounded souls. His hands touch the afflicted with comfort. His shoulders are wide and strong and made to carry the burdens you currently bear. His arms are flung wide in order to embrace your brokenness and hurt. He doesn’t protect His heart from the slings and arrows of men, He leaves it wide open for you to walk right in and make yourself at home. He asks only for the openness of your own heart to receive the Grace He extends to you.

Jesus is Lord of all, yet He stoops down to hear the prayers of the weak. He is King of all nations yet He came to climb upon a cross on YOUR behalf; in your stead. He could have called thousands upon thousands of angels to come and remove Him from the suffering. He instead calls thousands upon thousands of angels to come and keep watch over YOU, His Beloved, night after night. He calls to you in the stirrings of your heart. He calls to you in the longings of your soul. He calls to you even in the questions of your mind. He calls to you, because He cares for you. He cares for you in ways that you could never imagine. He loves you with an abandon that you’ve never experienced before. He loves you with such adoration that He literally stares at you all day long and all night long while you sleep. He never sleeps but is in constant guard over YOU, His Beloved, because He loves YOU.

Yes, your heart is weighed down with many burdens. But it doesn’t have to stay that way! Human shoulders were never created to carry the burdens we place upon ourselves day after day. They were created to snuggle up under the protective arm of God. The arm of God that is never too short to save, but is always long enough to keep the attackers at bay.

Beloved, lay your burdens down.

Lay them down at His feet and allow Him to carry them for you. He’s big enough and He’s certainly strong enough, but more than that, He’s willing enough. He is willing to take your burdens from you. He is willing to help you with the things that concern you. He is willing to lighten your load. He is willing to heal your hurts and He is willing to ease your pain.

There is a suicidal spirit that is sweeping our dear nation and it is coming from a place of hopelessness. But the Truth that sets us free from hopelessness is that the blood of Jesus shed on the cross was for each and every soul. It wasn’t just for those who were present when it happened, it was for EVERYONE, yes, even YOU. And the greatest part is that when we accept the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we are accepting everything that comes with it.

The blood of Jesus makes us anything but hopeless.

Because of Jesus we can have hope that our life isn’t for nothing. Because of Jesus we have been given the Truth that we were placed, planted, on this planet for a purpose, for a time such as this. If you are breathing at this very moment, it’s because God wants you here, because He has a plan for your life and His word says that it’s a GOOD plan!* His word says that it’s a plan for hope and a future. His word also says that everything that has happened in your life has happened in order to bring you to a place where you will come to realize that you really do need Him in your life. His word says that He loves you and that He wants a relationship with you. He wants for you to know intimate secrets about Him and to share yours with Him. Not that He doesn’t already know them, because trust me, He does. But He wants to sit and just listen to the melody of your voice telling Him about your life. He wants to hear the song your heart sings when it pours itself out all over the floor in a flood of tears and pain. I know it sounds crazy, but all the things that hurt you, He wants them; because He knows they’re hurting you.

He knows.

And He cares.

And He will sustain you.

Jesus is before you, right now, on bended knee extending out to you an engagement ring called “Salvation” and a wedding ring called “Grace”. His proposal is simple, “Will you marry Me and let Me lead you and take care of you all the days of your life? Will you turn away from all those past lovers that have left you and wounded you and will you let Me cling to you and heal you?”

Will you accept Him and all His benefits? Will you allow Him to come and soothe your aches and pains? Will you allow Him to remove your burdens and replace them with blessings? Will you allow Him to come and shepherd you like a sheep, lost and lonely?

Salvation is as simple as saying, “Yes!”

If you said, “Yes!” today, please let us know in the comments below. We would REALLY love to celebrate with you! We’re here for you, not as much as Jesus is, but we’re as here for you as two human beings can be. 😉 Another helpful thing would be to enter your email into the “Stay Updated” box at the top right hand side of the page. By doing this you will receive daily emails with links to daily scripture readings, a daily devotional to encourage you and any time you comment on the blogs we respond as quickly as possible.

*

Psalm 45:1-50:23

“Stand silent! Know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation in the world!” Psalm 46:10 TLB

Yesterday when I wrote the word, “Grounded” the other meaning of that word hit me. Our son has been grounded from his electronic devices and the change in his has been amazing. Instead of having his nose stuck in his Kindle it’s been in his closet pulling out totes of construction materials. He’s been engaging with the family more and participating in conversations. This made me realize, considering my conversations with God as of late, that perhaps my phone is playing a huge roll in stressing me out. So last night, in the hours I lay in bed wide awake the thought occurred to me to do an experiment. I could do a “phone fast” for a week and see if that makes any difference in my stress levels.

So my plan is to keep my phone on silent and turned face down on my desk so that it will still receive messages but I won’t be able to see or hear them. Then, like anyone else who isn’t allowed to have their phones on them at work during the day, when I take a break for lunch I will check those messages and answer any that need my immediate attention. Then the phone will go face down on my desk again until, lunch again the next day.

I realize this sounds extreme, but nothing wagered, nothing gained right? If I’m seeing such great things in my son’s grounding then why wouldn’t I also see great things in my own “grounding”? As usual, I’ll be using the blog as my journal and therefore keeping you up to date with how this experiment is going. Please keep me in your prayers this week as this should be an especially interesting experiment! Who knows, it may just turn into a new normal for me! 😉