Press On

Another great devotion...What a devotion!!!!
PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Believers face many difficulties. Trials. Adversaries. Doubts. At times we're all tempted to quit. The struggle seems too much, and we wonder if it's worth it to continue, to hold on to our faith when there seems to be no hope left. But there is a goal -- supremely worthwhile: life with our wonderful Lord. Not just existence, but intimate fellowship.
Fix your eyes on the goal -- God Himself -- and press on!
1 CORINTHIANS 1: 9 God [is] faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Please read the following verses slowly and thoughtfully.
1 PETER 5:7-107 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle [you].

Space does not permit much comment on these verses, but notice that suffering is caused by your enemy, the devil, and its purpose is to attack your faith. Also notice that God only allows you to suffer a short time.
"But," you say, "it's already been a long time." Not really. It seems like a long time when you are going through trials, but afterward seems like a short time. Even a few years is nothing when you look back on it. Ask God to help you see things from Heaven's perspective. "But why does God allow me to suffer at all?"
Because people make wrong choices. Conflict causes suffering. But God believes in you! Why should He yank you out of the arena? God believes that with His grace and help, you will overcome and experience victory. The end result is what really counts. God will make everything turn out alright. (Read verse 10 again.)
Maybe you feel like your faith is barely hanging by a thread. Just hang on. With God holding the thread -- and He is -- your faith will survive. You will make it! God will help you.
SAY THIS: I will press on with God. I will not quit or give up on my faith.

Countdowns and rainbows...

It's here again! The countdown is over! Spring Break has arrived and is much needed! My girls and I are wore out mentally and physically and we need a break from the norm. We have planned another Girls trip this year during our break. My Mom, Aunt, Sister and nieces and my girls and I are ready to take the road by storm! What can we get into this year? Hmm... It's not going to be a long road trip like last year but better yet more relaxation! We are staying in a cabin in Gatlinburg for a few nights and catching some dinner shows, comedy shows and doing lots of shopping, sight seeing and just being together! I am so glad that my Aunt is getting to go with us this year. Her husband passed away this past year and I think this will be so good for her to get a way and cut loose with some girls. I am sure Jason is looking forward to having the house to himself for a few days too. Peace and quiet comes lightly in our house hold with us all there. Seems like when we are home that we are in a whirlwind getting to and from, trying to get things done. I know it will be nice on him to just come home to a peaceful house, and rest! I know he will miss us too though-bc HE LOVES US!!!!!!!!!  lol. Speaking of countdowns-Jason and I have our 12 year Anniversary coming up. Last year we wanted to go away for a few days and it never happened. This year, IT'S HAPPENING! I can't wait! We are going to Georgia for a little "Elan Escape" and we are beside our self. Long overdue and much needed! Did I tell you that the food is going to be UNBELIEVABLE?!

Keep praying for my Evie-she is still struggling mentally and needs your prayers. I can see her coming around daily, and God is working-Oh how God is working, but help us to stay focused on Him and stay on track with His plan. I am starting to see the end of the rainbow and it's getting close! Speaking of rainbows...lately I have been able to witness several beautiful rainbows. They are so rare but the last few weeks they seem to be everywhere! Truly remarkable!

If God sends us on stony paths, He provides strong shoes...

I know I have been sharing a lot of my daily devotions with you lately but I just can't help myself. I have been getting such a blessing out of what I read that I don't want someone else to miss out on such words of inspiration! God is working in my family life right now in a big way. I can see his footsteps all around, I can hear His sweet voice guiding me every day, I can feel His Heavenly Spirit lifting us up and preparing us daily for what He is about to do. I am happier right now in my life than I have ever been. I am closer to God today than I have ever felt. If people that know me looked at the earthly things that were going on in my life today they would think I had done fell off my rocker or taken too many happy pills, lol. See...I am seeing things through God's eyes right now, my vision is not cloudy anymore with pleasures here on earth. I am rejoicing because He is allowing us to see and feel Him daily and showing us that it's okay to rest in Him for a spell because He is guiding us to greener pastures and is lessening our wants every day, yet fulfilling our needs. I could shout to the Heavens and back today! PRAISE GOD, THE WONDERFUL, MIGHTY, MERCIFUL ONE!

Today’s Text of Encouragement:


“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot…I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel…I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Psalm 16: 5, 7-9
Today’s Study Text:

“God spoke to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to turn around and make camp at Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Camp on the shore of the sea opposite Baalzephon. Pharaoh will think, the Israelites are lost; they’re confused. The wilderness has closed in on them. Then I’ll make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn again and he’ll chase after them. And I’ll use Pharaoh and his army to put my Glory on display. Then the Egyptians will realize that I am God. And that’s what happened…Moses answered the people…you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.’” “You’ll See Your Deliverance”
“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. All praise to Him, praise forever! Oh, yes!”

II Timothy 4: 18
 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve [me] unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.


INSPIRATION:
“The first step on the way to victory is to recognize the enemy.”

I’ve told you this before, but I just have to say it again, I love the Bible. I’m so thankful our Father’s Word carries in it messages that apply to you and me today. Messages which give us the hope we need to carry on when times are tough and dark and frightening!
This is exactly the situation we find God’s children in, when after leaving Egypt at God’s direction, they headed across the wilderness toward Canaan and found themselves in such a dreadful plight, there seemed, from a human perspective, to be no way out.
In order to capture a complete picture of the calamity that was about to crash in around the Israelites, I decided to go back to Exodus 13 and read about God’s detailed instructions to Moses on the Israelite’s exit from the land of bondage – Egypt. When I got to Exodus 13: 19, where the Bible tells us the detailed account of how Joseph’s bones were taken with God’s children to the land of promise, I found myself transfixed by the way God’s plan for the departure of His children appeared to be going off without a hitch. Exodus 13: 20 says that the journey took the people, a huge multitude I might add, from Succoth, where they “encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.” This is where I said to myself, “So far…so good!” If you had been one of the thousands of people in this throng, I am certain you’d be happy to be out from under the taskmasters’ daily whip and on your way to a land flowing with “milk and honey.” Especially when we read in Exodus 13: 20-21, 20 And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Now I ask you, “Knowing that God was with you at all times, and having the visual witness of His presence with the pillar of cloud and fire, wouldn’t that have been enough to sustain your confidence in the truth that your God knew exactly what He was doing?”
However, somewhere in my hurry to get to the portion of Scripture which leaves a record of the Israelites miraculously walking through the riverbed of the Red Sea on dry land with walls of water piled up on either side of them, I found out that I didn’t gain the full impact of the verses contained in our study text for today, Exodus 14: 3.
Here we find that God came to Moses and told him to go to the children of Israel and tell them to get ready to move for He had a plan for them and for the Egyptians. God’s children were instructed by God to put themselves in a very vulnerable position. In fact, God warned Israel that Pharaoh, when he heard about their baffling move, would come to the conclusion that,  “The Israelites are entangles in the land. The wilderness has shut them in."
Forgetting completely that it was the God of heaven and earth who was leading His chosen children out of Egypt and to the Promised Land, Pharaoh – God’s enemy and God’s children’s enemy – ignored the fact that God was in charge. This is what happens quite frequently in the world of “Pharaoh.” The world in which you and I attempt to survive in on a daily basis. Whoever and wherever Pharaoh resides, we find that “he” or “she” overestimates their power. Not only against God, but God’s children, too! Thinking that the weak are their prey, when one of God’s children is struggling along the way, the “Pharaoh’s” of this old world put their ropes around the necks of God’s children, thinking that the tighter they yank, the more power they have over us.
But praise God, what “Pharaoh” forgets – in the end -- becomes lethal for “Pharaoh.” As Jesus told His’ disciples in John 15: 5, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” And later, the Apostle Paul, when writing to his friends in the church in Corinth reminded them that, “We can do nothing against the truth” (II Corinthians 13: 8).
You see, it’s not a good idea for “Pharaoh” to get a false sense of “his” or “her” own importance. And this is exactly what happened, when pride-filled Pharaoh, came galloping, with his 600 finest chariots and army across the barren desert, believing he had the Israelites blocked in by his power and the sea.
However, there’s one other element to this story that really hit me in the face. And it is this! Moses told all the Israelites, before Pharaoh’s army arrived, that trouble was coming. He also told them that God had been the “One” who had led them to the Red Sea. This perplexing event didn’t happen by accident. God’s hand was leading all the way – make no mistake about it. This was not some unplanned event. In fact, God even told everyone the reason this situation unfolded as it had – and here is the reason God gave Moses: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I [am] the LORD. And they did so. (Exodus 14: 4,)
Knowing that this entire crisis was designed by and led by God, should have given the Israelites all the confidence they needed when they saw the army of Egypt approaching.
Sadly, their response to this emergency was the same response I’ve had myself, way too many times when a crisis hits my own life. I witness trouble on the horizon, and in complete despair, I holler out to God, “How did You let me get into this mess? Where are You when I need You most? What are You doing for me? I thought You really loved me? I believed I was doing Your will? I pray! I give my money and time to You! Why aren’t You helping me when I need You the most?”
Now, quite possibly, your faith, when stretched to the limit, is a lot greater than mine is. But when we are over-tired and over-burdened, like the children of Israel, it’s easy to come up with some real “doozies” when we talk to God about the “Pharaoh” and the Red Sea we are facing! If you need an example, here is what the children of Israel hit God and Moses with as they realized the problem they faced. “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, “Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14: 10-12).
This is quite a nasty tirade, not only against Moses, but against God who had told His children, very plainly, that He was guiding them every step of the way. And to give them even more assurance, God had a pillar of cloud and fire daily following His children as a signal of His actual presence in their midst.
At this point in time, if I had been God, I might have concluded I had chosen the wrong people to be My “special” children. And as for Moses, in my book he had every right to lose his cool but instead, his message to the people was, as we have studied during the past two days: “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. (Exodus 14: 13).
God didn’t demean the Israelites for their lack of faith. He didn’t criticize them for not trusting Him more. He, instead, worked to build their faith by pointing to the “One” on whom the results of the battle depended – and it wasn’t this band of frightened Israelites. It was our great God – the God of heaven and earth. The God I love to look up to in the dark night sky and call “My Father.” It’s the God that Job reminds us keeps the heavens in order. It’s the God that the prophet Isaiah tells us renews our strength when we are weak. It is the God that Jeremiah says is so faithful that His gifts to us are new every morning. And it is the God whom the prophet Habakkuk tells us makes our feet like hinds (deer’s) feet, so we can walk on the high places God has prepared for us. This is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and it is the all-powerful God of Mary, Janet, Esther, Veronica, and yes, of Dorothy, too!

“Remember that your Father is just ahead of you in the shadow.” Author Unknown

Keep Up The Song of Faith

“Keep up the song of faith,


However dark the night;


And as you praise, the Lord will work


To change your faith to sight.




Keep up the song of faith,


And let your heart be strong,


For God delights when faith can praise


Though dark the night and long.




Keep up the song of faith,


The foe will hear and flee;


Oh, let not Satan hush your song


For praise is victory.”

Battling the Three Headed Monster of Inferiority, Insecurity, and Inadequacy...

Today’s Truth devotional I read: WOW!!!

“And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:,” (2 Corinthians 3:4).

Friend to Friend

The three-headed monster of inferiority, insecurity and inadequacy can paralyze a Christian into inactivity and leave her sitting on the bench during the game of life…afraid to get into the game. God’s desire is to destroy the monster with the truth and render him impotent in our lives. Satan’s desire is to feed him with lies and train him to control our lives. Whom are we going to believe?

Believing the truth about who you are in Christ destroys feelings of inferiority. Believing the truth about where you are in Christ destroys feelings of insecurity. Believing the truth about what you have in Christ destroys feelings of inadequacy.

I do not want you to think I am always victorious and never struggle with the three-headed monster. He still rears his ugly head every now and then. Let me give you one example of how he does it.

Many years ago, I had my first large speaking engagement to about 450 women. My topic was Unshakable Confidence in Christ. Two weeks before I was to speak to the group, I attended a luncheon. Two ladies, whom I did not know, were sitting at my table. They were talking about a speaker they had recently heard at the church where I would be speaking in a few weeks.

“He was the most powerful speaker I have ever heard,” one said.

“I cried all the way through his testimony. Just to think, he had to live with the fact that his son was an arsonist. Oh how God has worked mightily in the family. The pastor was so moved, he asked him to speak at the Sunday night service. That is highly unusual. I don’t think we will ever have a speaker that good again.”

On and on they sang the praises of this mighty man of God. They used words like dynamic, powerful, electric, and eloquent. I never mentioned that I would be the speaker for their next meeting. At that point, I wasn’t so sure I would be.

As I listened to the ladies, my throat constricted, the tea sandwiches clung to the roof of my mouth, and my heart pounded wildly. Then Satan, the gatekeeper for the three-headed monster, let him out.

“Who do you think you are, going to speak at this event?” he seemed to say. “Listen to the caliber of people they bring in. This man came from all the way across the country. You are coming from across town. What could you possibly have to say to help these women? If I were you, I’d bow out now before you embarrass yourself.”

You know what? Even though I knew it was the enemy whispering in my ear, I started to believe him. After all, what he was saying made a lot more sense than the “My new Identity in Christ” Bible verses I had taped on my refrigerator door.

After the luncheon, I decided to go by the church and purchase a tape of the previous speaker, just to see what I was going to be compared to. I walked into the church, paid my $5.00, popped the tape in the console, and braced myself for the hour of power.

Nothing happened.

I fast-forwarded the tape.

Nothing happened.

I flipped the tape over.

Nothing happened.

The tape was blank.

At that moment, I did not hear the dynamic speaker on the tape, I heard God.

Sharon, you do not need to hear what my servant said to those people two weeks ago. The tape is blank because I do not want you to compare yourself to anyone else. It doesn’t matter what he said. I will give you a message for these ladies. I can speak through a prophet, I can speak through a fisherman, and I can speak through a donkey.

I gave him a message and I have given you one as well. Who are you “performing” for, my child, them or Me? Do not compare yourself to anyone. You are my child and I am asking you to speak to an audience of One.

It was indeed an hour of power. I didn’t bother getting my money back for the defective tape. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

So the next time Satan said to me, “Who do you think you are?” let me tell you what I said. “I am the light of the world. I am the salt of the earth. I am a child of God. I am the bride of Christ. I am a joint-heir with Christ. I have the power of the Holy Spirit. I have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of Christ. I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved.”

Two weeks later I spoke with confidence, and God blessed us all.

Let’s Pray

Dear God, I know that without You I am nothing but an empty vessel. However, because of You, I am filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and have been blessed with every spiritual blessing! I can be confident because of who I am as a child of the King. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me!

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

When is the last time the three-headed monster attacked you?

Where do you think those feelings of insecurity came from?

Do you believe that the power of God lives in You?

Do you think there is any incident in which God would say “I can’t?”

I hope you answered no! Look up these two verses and write them down. Post them in a visible place and look at them every time your confidence begins to wane this week.

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Next time Satan lets the Three-headed monster out of his cage to attack you, what are you going to tell him?.

More from the Girlfriends

This story was taken from my book Becoming Spiritually Beautiful. If you struggle with confidence, then this book, as well as I’m Not Good Enough…and Other Lies Women Tell Themselves, God will give you the confidence you need to do all that God has planned for you to do! Hang on to your hat! God’s about to do something amazing in your life!

God cares...

If God can remember the names of all the billions of stars, He can remember my name and address, and take care of me.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I would like to think that we are like the stars. It's when the sky is so dark that we really start to shine.

Stretching For the Truth

 Today's Devotional Reading

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John.8:32)

I remember as a boy how I use to love to climb trees. The bigger the tree, the greater the challenge and the more thrilling it was to climb. I remember how I would climb as high as I possibly could, often getting up to what would seem to be very flimsy branches. I can remember how the limbs would sway and the breeze would blow through my hair. I felt like I was in my own little world--it was a feeling of freedom, a feeling of becoming part of the tree as it moved with the gentle brush of the wind.

I now have a son who likes to do the very same thing. Though when he does, I stand below him on solid ground looking up and thinking that he needs to come down a little bit. I look at him high up in the tree and fear for his safety and get nervous for him--while he remains completely unafraid. It seems I quickly forget how much I enjoyed the same thing as a child.

I see God's Truth like a Great Tree to be climbed. It is a massive and challenging tree that stretches into the sky. Each and every branch represents another part of God's person, and the higher I climb and the more I stretch, the more I become one with Him--holding tightly to Him--moving with Him as He moves.

As a child in Christ, as a new Christian, we may find that we like heights. We cannot wait to get back up the tree of God's truth each and every day. We climb and climb, hoping to discover something new about His person. With each stretch toward another branch we cling more fervently to Him. The higher up we move, the more dependent we become upon Him to support us. It is a feeling of freedom.

But as we get bigger the heights appear too high, and the risk appears too dangerous. Fear begins to replace freedom and we find ourselves standing on the ground, looking up and perhaps wondering what has made us afraid to climb the tree the way we did once upon a time. And when we do get up the courage to climb, we cannot seem to bring ourselves to go as high as we once did. We stop short of limbs we had once traversed, and we see no hope of ever stretching beyond the place we have already been.

We, therefore, settle for the familiar. We climb to a point that feels comfortable, a point that we can settle with because it fits our logic, our preconceived ideas or our religious doctrines. We then live our lives never searching out the depths of who God is, but settle for the pleasant familiar and miss out on so much that He has to offer.

To speak plainly; there are many things that God has yet to show us. There are many ways to love Him, many ways to minister to others and many ways to live out our Christian life that we have yet to begin to discover. We rob ourselves of true freedom by learning one way to love, minister and live--then settling within the comfortable familiar, reluctant to stretch any further.

We do not learn to walk with a walker in our infancy and then use one the rest of our lives. In the same way, God does not teach us ways to walk in our Christian infancy that we are to cling to throughout our Christian lives (see Heb.6:1-3). He wants us to move beyond what is familiar and trust Him that he won't let us fall out of the tree.

God's truth is limitless. When we stop stretching beyond some part of the comfortable truth, we begin to put our trust in that truth, understanding or doctrine (these are the branches we rest on), and we begin to withdraw our trust from Him. God did not give us doctrine so that we could walk in it, but doctrine is a spiritual walker to help us to learn to walk in Him. It is not something to settle with, but something to help us move beyond ourselves as we learn to abandon everything we have ever known--and trust completely in our Lord.

Where do you want to be? Do you want to be the one who enjoys the freedom that comes from being stretched by God's truth? Or do you want to be the one standing on the ground looking up--wishing that those who are in the heights would come down a little bit so that you feel more comfortable?


"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit."
Heb.6:1-3

We receive from God from faith...

I would lie to you if I told you that I do not worry or fear and that I always have 100% faith all the time. That I don't get discouraged or want to throw in the towel and quit. Things get hard and I get impatient and I want it fixed RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT! I have always been this way. Honestly I think we all are born this way. It is our flesh and it is born corrupt. BUT I do have to say that it seems like when I call out to God to help me, to show me that I am on the right path He always does. Yesterday was one of those days for me. As soon as I called out to Him, all got quiet, peace surrounded me and He showed me in His word that He is still working out all the details and that everything will be okay. If you have never experienced the feeling of God's arms around you, talking one on one with you, then I beg you to do so. So many people are troubled in this world right now, facing hardships, depression, turmoil. If we all would just stop doing what we are doing and turn to Him for guidance and self help what a better world this would be. I don't know where I would be today without Him. He leads me across each obstacle that comes before me. When I feel like theirs no hope and no reason to keep on, He always pushes me more because He has a plan for my life. The hairs upon my head He knows them all, He formed me in my mothers womb and knew then what He had planned for me to do. Fears and trouble might come my way but My Lord knows what's best for me. As I look back to yester years and see all the roads that He brought me through just to get me where I am today, I am thankful. We are who we need to be right now, no matter how we feel, because He loved us and He never forsakes us. We will always rest in His blessed assurance that He has it all under control! Isaiah 25

1-O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.




(The following is from my devotion today and I thought I would share)
ROMANS 5:1-2
All we receive from God is by His grace. We do not deserve it, and we are not able to earn it. It is a gift offered by grace.
But we must access it by faith.
GALATIANS 3:14 We receive through faith. Whether we are receiving the Holy Spirit or receiving healing. Whatever we receive from God must be received by faith.
HEBREWS 6:12 There are many promises in the Bible. If you want them to be manifest in your life, you must possess them through faith and patience.
MATTHEW 9:29
Do not let this discourage you. Rather it should encourage you. Although your faith may not be strong now, you can strengthen it by feeding on the Word of God. It is under your control.
God's Word is faith food. The more you read it, speak it, and hear it, the stronger your faith will grow.
SAY THIS: I will feed on God's Word and build my faith so I can receive all the blessings God has for me.

Answered prayers...

“I asked for strength that I might achieve.


He made me weak that I might obey.

I asked for health that I might do greater things.

I was given grace that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy.

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I received nothing that I asked for.

All that I hoped for.

My prayer was answered.”