A Psalm of Praise

Psa 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psa 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psa 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Do I know ~acknowledge, am aware, comprehend, declare, discern, have I discovered and do I recognize God as I would a kinsman or a familiar friend~that the Lord he is God?!?!?!?

He is the exceeding! He is the great! He is the judge! He is the mighty!

It is this very God that made us. He bore us. He brings us forth. We didn’t do this ourselves. We are His people! We belong to His tribe. We are one of His flock. We are the residents of the great and mighty God’s pasture. Bless His holy name!

We have no reason to worry or fret. We are in good, no great hands!

Come on into His gates with thanksgiving–adoration and praise–and into His courts with laudations! Be thankful–reverently worshipful–unto HIM and bless–salute, celebrate and praise–His name.

Because no matter what THE.LORD.IS.GOOD. And His mercy and kindness and favor are everlasting. It continues perpetually. His truth and faithfulness lasts forever more.

Don’t tell me you don’t have a reason to praise Him!

False Appearances

Fig Tree

Healthy families + Healthy relationships is key to a healthy Christian life! Anything that is healthy produces fruit. Remember the parable of the fig tree: nothing is worse than a false appearance. It can kill you.

When the truth shows up and you’ve been faking it, you automatically become over shadowed by the truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6 KJV).

Here it is, when you bear the name of Jesus, you have the most powerful, resourceful name on earth at your leisure…for good use.

The fig tree appeared to be the way = A means.

The fig tree appeared to be the truth = Resourceful.

The fig tree appeared to be the Life = Productive.

But it wasn’t producing healthy fruit; it only appeared that way. Because it wasn’t healthy Jesus had to cast it aside and separate it from the “wheat”.

Even if you are in the same field as the wheat, if you aren’t spiritually healthy enough you may have to be tossed aside to burn with the “tare.”

S. H.

Be Ready

If you have raced with runners
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in a peaceful land,
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? Jeremiah 12:5 (HCSB)

Whoa…!

Let’s look at this closely. How can we apply what Jeremiah is saying in this passage?

When I read this I thought of times when we are tempted to move too quickly and make business decisions, life decisions, etc.  It appears that if we choose to step out and do something before the appropriate time Jeremiah is offering some caution. Jeremiah asks, “If you raced with runners and you couldn’t handle it, what in the world are you going to do if you are running with horses?” (author’s paraphrase).

Ouch! He goes on to say, “If you stumble in a peaceful land, what are you going to do in the thickets of the Jordan?”

All I know is where there are thickets there are thorns. Sounds like Jeremiah is warning us here to count the cost and embrace preparation. Stewardship and preparation not only will get you in the race, but will keep you in the race. Evaluate where you are personally. Are you in a position to handle more responsibility? Can you handle more pressure? Have you developed the discipline and endurance for longer and harder tasks?

Only you can answer these questions. God promotes and when He’s ready to do so nothing and no one can stop that from taking place. Selah.

Maintain the Blaze

⁶ Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.2 Timothy 1:6 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

In this verse, we find a much needed friendly reminder for most of us. “…I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

To keep means:

• to fulfill
• to stay in accord with
• to preserve
• to maintain

Fulfill what God ordained in you by keeping your gift ablaze. Being ablaze indicates being on fire. Are you still on fire or has the fire burned out due to the cares of life? Mark 4:19 says “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful”.

The gift of God in you can be forgotten if we allow the cares and pressures of life to choke the word that’s been sown.

Keep your fire ablaze. The same way wood is added to a fire to keep it going, ”lay” the Word in your life. Keep adding one log at a time through prayer and application of scripture.

New Blog: ChicWifeMom!!!

Please take a look my new blog ChicWifeMom. I know you will love it!

This week’s blog features an article named “Balance” written by Liz Sarno who has to be one of the busiest ChicWifeMom’s I know.

http://chicwifemom.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/balance/

Please share & pass along.

Toodles!

Kisha

Invisible Mother

A friend forwarded this to me today via email and I wanted to share it with all of the amazing mothers out there.

I hope you enjoy!

The Invisible Mother … It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! ‘Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?? Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’ Some days I’m a crystal ball; ‘Where’s my other sock? Where’s my phone?, What’s for dinner?’ I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature –but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!? One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’ In the days ahead I would read — no, devour the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it ‘ And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’ I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does’. ‘No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last- minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.’ I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand- bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he’d say, ‘You’re gonna love it there …’ As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers. Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know … I just did. The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. To all the wonderful mothers out there!! May God give you: For every storm, a rainbow, For every tear, a smile, For every care, a promise, And a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, A faithful friend to share, For every sigh, a sweet song, And an answer for each prayer.

 

“Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.”

~ Aldous Huxley

He Does What He Says

THE LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for her as He had promised. Genesis 21:1 (Amplified)

 Selah for just a moment here. Selah means to pause and think.

 First, THE LORD visited Sarah as He had said. Sarah received a direct promise that she would bear a son (Genesis 17:15-21). While this was very difficult to process and believe naturally, God delivered on the “visitation”, “…as He had said.”

 Secondly, the LORD did for her as He had promised. Sarah bore Isaac, the promised son and heir.

 As I read this scripture from my devotional today I was quickened to read it over and over again. What struck me so profoundly was the use of the phrases “…as He had said” and “…as He had promised.” I recalled how often  I had believed God for something and thought it was of God and never saw it come to pass.  I’m sure I’ve done this hundreds of times if not thousands.

 Each time this happened I tried to determine what went wrong. Maybe there was a gap in my faith walk. Was I walking in love during those times? The guessing game was in full mode to figure out where the problem lay.

I now see that in the occasions when the “promise” didn’t come, it was because the promise wasn’t from God. It was my promise or desire that was not laid on the altar for God to guide me on. Even things that were godly in action and deed didn’t produce fruit since they were my ideas and not His.

My prayer is for my Father to help me remember that if I seek the will of God and know that what I am waiting for to manifest is God’s perfect will for my life, then it WILL be done for me AS HE HAS SAID & PROMISED. I will never struggle with doubting God again. I will do my part to develop my “hearing” abilities and will consult Him in “all my ways” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Nothing is too small or too large to consult God’s wisdom and direction. Don’t hesitate and don’t delay!

He DOES what He SAYS!!

New Year

I love the beginning of a new year. It is a time to refocus and realign ourselves with the important things of life. Things such as spending more quality time with our spouses and children, making better choices concerning our health and breaking bad habits.

Even more important than these is seeking the will of God for our lives and knowing what He, our Master, desires of us. The foundation for knowing how and what God wants from you is a healthy prayer life. While one definition of prayer is supplication, it is also synonymous with the word worship.

Develop communication with God and instead of the entire interaction being your requests, be sure to also make time for worship. You won’t regret the sweet fellowship you will begin to experience.

I love this verse:

Romans 12:11-13 (Message)

 ^11-13Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder…”

I don’t want to burn out. I want to be fueled and aflame; I want to cheerfully expect the blessings and promises of God in my life. And I know you do, too.

Let 2011 be the year your prayer life goes to a new level!

Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1 (King James Version)

1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

2To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

3To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

4To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

6To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

10My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

11If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

12Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

13We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

14Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

15My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

16For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

17Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

18And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

20Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

21She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

23Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

I AM

I never cease to be amazed by God’s faithfulness to me and others. No matter what is going on in my life, I know that God is faithful and willing to perform His Word. The more I discover about Him, the more I understand that he loves it when we take His Word, meditate on it, believe it and confess it over our lives. 

Recently, during prayer I knew more than ever how much he loves me. I was reminded of Exodus when Moses questioned who he should tell the children of Israel had sent him and God said, “I am who I am.”

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¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, ‘I-AM sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14 (MSG)

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It is the I AM who loves me. I AM comforts me. I AM is my defender. I AM is my safety. I AM is my healer. I AM is whatever I need Him to be. I AM is EVERYTHING I NEED!!!