My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you. Psalm 17:5

This verse caused me to think upon a bright sunny day last weekend when I was out early driving to an appointment I had made with friends.   The day was full of the promise of  “springtime”,  and as I drove along I saw many “Garage Sale” signs posted.  “SALE !” one sign said as it hung from a tree branch next to the street,  “G-SALE” said another attached to a post.  As I reluctantly passed these signs by,  I saw another  “Large Rummage Sale Today” with a red arrow pointing which beckoned me to keep driving straight ahead .  Since I am very much a lover of  Garage Sales and Yard Sale bargains, I was very much tempted to go off on some ‘rabbit trails” to check out all these wonderful sounding opportunities to find some neat treasures.  However, I  instead  chose to make the right hand turn I knew I must if I was to keep my appointment.    It was a hard choice though, because my mind and will were silently telling me to “stop–just for a moment”, “turn–you won’t be that late”,  “it’s such a nice day, you should be able to enjoy just one sale before your meeting.”    Those signs and thoughts were distractions that could have kept me from staying on the path I needed to be on that day.  If I had given in to them I would have wavered from following what I knew to be the right decision.

Upon reading this verse later in the day,  I realized that often the same thing  happens in my daily spiritual walk with the Lord.    I am tempted by thoughts that might beckon me to stop following the path the Lord has laid out for me  or things I see daily could cause me to waver and wonder if the path I am on is that important.   This verse and the recent experience I had , give me a new resolve to fulfill the purpose the Lord has for me each day by keeping my feet always upon His path and my eyes focused on Him.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You for Your word which so often reminds me of the importance of following You daily in thought, word and deed.  Please help me to use the wisdom and strength I have been given in Christ  so that I might always stay on Your path and not let worldly distractions cause me to waver in following You.

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2

This verse from Colossians is the memory verse at my church this month.  It is a short verse but it has so much meaning if we will just stop for a moment and think about it.

Do we take time to daily set our minds ?   If we do,  are we setting them on spiritual things or on earthly things?   What is the first thing we think of when we awaken in the morning?  Do we stop to pray before we leave the house?  Do we take a minute to thank God for another day or do we just rush ahead to complete the tasks on our daily planner?   Are our minds set on earthly things all day?    If we do seek to set our minds on spiritual things are we easily distracted?   These are some things to think about….

Perhaps this verse would be a good one for all of us to memorize and put into action, not just this month but for all time.  I think if we post it in places we look at during the day we would be reminded where we should be keeping our focus.  I am going to post it on my bathroom mirror, on the front door,  in my car, and  on my desk at work, so I am constantly reminded of where I should be setting  my mind.    How about you?

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for this verse from Your word which reminds me daily where I should be setting my mind.  Help me to remember it and give me the strength to put it into action each day.

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  2 Corinthians 2:15

I was reminded of this verse this morning when I walked past my Honeysuckle bush that was in bloom.  It’s sweet fragrance filled the air and it smelled so good to me.  That made me stop and wonder how I smelled today.  If I am the fragrance of Christ to God I should be paying attention to the scent I am giving off.

The next verse says : “To the one [we are] the aroma of death [leading] to death, and to the other the aroma of life [leading] to life.”

To me that means we believers smell like the aroma of life to those who are saved and like the aroma of death to those who are lost.  Could that be why unbelievers are often turned off by our presence?  Could that be why we are often drawn to those who are believers?  I think so….

I would hope each day as I walk out into the world that I would be filled with the fragrance of Christ so everywhere I go people would smell His aroma and be reminded to rejoice over  life or be awakened to think about death and the choice they need to make regarding salvation.

Prayer:

Dear God, I am so thankful that I am the fragrance of Christ to You.  I hope that I can keep this in mind each day when I go out into the world so I can always smell my best for You.

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world.  Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

This verse reminds me of the baby elephant I saw at the zoo this weekend.  In the elephant area there was a big pipe that was piping water into a shallow pool for the elephants to do whatever elephants do in the water.  The baby elephant was having a wonderful time running and splashing in the pool but he could not keep himself away from the flow of water coming out of the pipe.  For some reason he wanted to stop the water from flowing.  He kept backing up to the pipe trying to sit on it but all that did was spray the water all over him, then he would turn and charge at it, but no matter how hard he tried he was not able to stop the water.

His antics reminded me of times I had tried so hard to accomplish something and failed.  No matter how much I had wanted to prevent something from happening or make change happen, I was not able to do it and the more I kept trying the more frustrated I became.

There is only one way that little elephant will get the pipe to stop pumping out water.  He will have to depend on the one who is in control of it.  Only the zoo keeper can turn the switch to stop the water from flowing and it will be in the zoo keepers timing.

The same goes for me when I have a problem or situation I can’t seem to handle.  I need to depend on the One who is in control of everything.  I need to trust in Him to work it all out for good, in His timing, rather than trying my way and becoming frustrated in my efforts that don’t seem to work.   I need to call on God for help, for there is nothing too hard for Him.

Prayer:

Dear God, I am so glad that You are in control of all things and that nothing is too hard for You to do.  No matter what my problem or circumstances are You have the answer and all I need to do is ask You to help me and then trust that You heard and are working it out in Your time.

The Sovereign LORD has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones. Isaiah 50:4

Today I was able to witness to a young woman I met at our apartment complex “Valentines Ice Cream Social” which is held every year as a get together for us apartment dwellers to meet and greet one another.

Initially, when I got the notice about the social I was not going to attend as basically I am a shy person and I really have to push myself to get out and meet and greet strangers, however, when the Lord places it on your heart to go, that is another thing–if you want to be obedient you go, because you know that He has a special reason for you to be there.

Well,  it wasn’t long before I realized the reason….

A young lady sat down next to me and initiated a conversation.  She was stressed she said, getting ready to move in 5 days, and just found out she had a worse case of MS than she realized.  I just sat and listened for quite a while.  I sensed she just needed to talk with someone, to share her heart and release all that stress.  Then, when I felt the time was right, I asked her if she knew the Lord because He could be a big help to her during this time of need.  “Yes !” she said.  “I do!” and I just asked the people in the church I am attending to pray for me for strength and His wisdom on what to do.  “Are you reading His word?”  I asked.  “He often speaks through His word to us.”   She said, Yes that she had a Bible and did read it.  As we continued talking about spiritual things  I noticed she seemed more positive and cheerful.  I saw how God had worked through me to help her and I thanked Him for that.  I was glad I had been obedient to His prompting to go to that party today.

When I got home, the verse from Isaiah was in my email reminding me that the Lord gives me His words of wisdom so I can share them to help others in time of need .   I hope I can do that everyday in some way…

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You for choosing to work through me today to help uplift someone.  Thank You for giving me Your words of wisdom so I that I knew what to say.  Help me to always be ready for any opportunity You might have for me to be a vessel You can work through to accomplish Your purposes.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”  Robert Brault

I was reminded of this quote today as I experienced and enjoyed many “little good things” that crossed my path.  The  fragrance of a honeysuckle bush in bloom, the smile of a stranger, finding a dime in my path, the sweet voice of  my grand-daughter, a teen-ager sharing a song he wrote, and the time I had to cook a good supper.  All those things are little things but they made my day richer, brighter, better and who knows some day they may become big things in my memory….

When I first saw this quote by Robert Brault, my grand-children were all small.  There were a patch of them 2 boys, 2 girls, wanting to go here and there and do this and that with grandma.  I lived right next door to them and we would often go on adventures together, inside and out depending on the weather.  Somedays we would  pick dandelions on the farm to sell to the dandelion wine makers in the village or take a walk down to the creek just to see what we could see.  We swung in the ol’ tire swing, played in the sprinklers on hot days and picked flowers in the fields in the spring.  I often took them to the park near the local lake where we would walk on trails, looking for frogs, fish, animal tracks, and to feed the wild geese.  One day when I was particularly “done in”  I had them pause so I could rest and as we did so I captured their picture as all four of them sat or stood around an old tree stump there in the park.

Years later as I looked at that picture I knew Robert Brault’s quote about “the little things” would be the perfect caption to go under all those smiling, tired ,but inquistive little faces from days long ago and now but a memory in grandma’s mind.

So, I advise you to think upon this quote and do take the time to enjoy all those little things that happen in your life, for they they come and go so quickly,  but someday they may be the big things your memories can enjoy forever.

Dear Lord,  thank You for providing me with all those little things that make each day special.  Sometimes those little things are the most precious things of all.  Help me to always notice them and treasure them when they come into my life.

...giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5:20

I was reminded of this verse this afternoon as I came out of a store I had been shopping in and crossed the parking lot to where my car was parked.  A van was parked so closely to my car that it looked like the driver had bearly missed hitting my vehicle as he or she whipped into the parking place next to mine.   In fact, the van was parked  so crooked that I could hardly squeeze myself by it to get into my car.  Needless to say, I became frustrated and abit upset, but that is when the above verse “popped into my head”.    God seemed to be reminding me that I am to give thanks for all things.

“Ok, God, but this is kind of hard, I mean it’s pretty hard to find anything in this to give You thanks for,  but….since You reminded me, I will try.”

As I started the car and began carefully backing out of my space, I gave God thanks that there wasn’t a car parked on the other side of me, thereby giving me more room to manuver successfully and avoid hitting the van which was so close.  This led me to thank Him also, that the van had not hit my car even though it came close , it had not made contact or done any damage other than being too close. Then, I  thanked Him that I was thin enough to be able to squeeze myself through that tight space and get into my car !  Wow!  Pretty amazing !  I had actually found three things to be thankful for in this situation and I wasn’t even out of the parking lot yet!

I am so thankful that God  reminded  me of this verse, because by looking for things to thank Him for,  my annoyance had left me and instead of driving away upset and frustrated I was now thankful and feeling good about the whole thing.

I am going to post this verse on the sun visor of my car just to remind me to always look for things to be thankful for, especially when I am driving.

Prayer:

Dear God, I am so thankful that You so often call Your word to mind just at the right time when it is needed, to help, strengthen, comfort, or teach.   Thank You for always being there for me, even in a parking lot in the middle of the day.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil.4:6

This morning as I was leaving the house for work, I realized that I did not have my set of keys for work.  They were not in the usual place  that  I always kept them.

“What!  Where could they be!”  A bit of panic set in and  imaginations started flowing. ” Did I leave them at work?  Did some one take them?  Did I drop them someplace? “  I calmed down abit when my brain kicked in and I realized that I had just used them to lock up at work the night before, so if they weren’t where I usually put them they had to either be in my purse or in my car.  However, after a  quick search they did  not turn them up in either of those places.

“Well, Lord, now what?  This is awful.   How am I going to get into the building at work without those keys?  I will have to call someone to explain and how embarrasing that will be!   Wonder if I did drop them outside and someone picked them up and entered the building–that could be disastrous. Help!  Lord! ”

Finally, I just stopped, calmed myself down and began to really search slowly and calmly and there they were, in my purse, in a place I would never have thought to put them !  How did they get there–by me, of course–but why did I put them there?  I absent-mindedly mis-placed them I guess.  My focus wasn’t on the thing it should have been on.

Well, problem now solved,  I drove off to work, happy that I had found the keys, but  I begin thinking about this experience I just had and how it could be related to my daily spiritual life.

At times I often  mis-place my faith, or lose my hope. Then I get into a panic and begin worrying.   Sometimes I can’t find anything to believe in and as I search, I come up with nothing because I have searched too quickly.  I often look  for an easy fix when I really need to slow down, seek God in prayer and study  His word.  I need to find Him first and then everything else will fall into place.  When He is my focus nothing can be out of place in my life.

Prayer:

Thank You God, for speaking to me through this everyday experience by teaching me, once again, that in all things, I need to first look to You and Your word, then nothing in my life will be out of place, missing or lost.

Blessed be the Lord,  Who daily loads us with benefits, Psalm 68:19

Each day the Lord abundantly supplies us with things that are  advantageous or good.  Do we take the time to look for them?  At night’s end do we look back over our day and search for those things–little or big–that the Lord loaded upon us?  As we do, do we stop and thank Him for each one?

Some days those benefits are easy to spot, other days we may have to really search for them.  But, I think we should keep this verse in mind, and we should start looking for each day for the good things the Lord brings into our lives.

They may be little things…things that might slip by if we don’t stop and take notice, like answers to those little prayers we shoot up at various times during the day, but each day we should be able to find one or more things that the Lord has blessed us with.

I challenge you to begin doing this each day and I think you will be amazed at how many benefits the Lord supplies  you with daily.

“On the day when I was weakest, they attacked.  But the Lord held me steady.  He led me to a place of safety, for He delights in me.“                              Psalm 18: 18-19

Yesterday was one of those “rough days”  we all occasionally have.  I awoke troubled because of an uncomfortable dream I had in the night,  my hand was aching from the physical therapy I had just started that afternoon  and as I attempted to rest later in the evening my daughter called with some disturbing news.   All those negative circumstances seemed to be weakening me physically, emotionally and spiritually.

So when I read the above verse,  I could relate to how the Psalmist must have felt…for it seemed the same to me, on this day when I was weakened by all these emotional and physical happenings the enemy started attacking my mind with thoughts of discouragement and fear.    However, I wasn’t alone, the Lord did hold me steady.  He did lead me to a place of safety—His word, and as I read His word outloud to Him as a prayer, it gave me strength and chased the enemy away.  On my knees I told the Lord , as King Jehoshaphat did in 2 Chronicles 20:12 –Lord I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You.  That was enough to give me the rest and peace I needed at that time.

Prayer:

Lord, I am so glad that You  delight  in me !  And because of that ,You hold me steady when I am weak and lead me to a place where I am safe from the world, myself or the enemy.  Therefore, I will not be afraid, nor dismayed no matter what the circumstances may be, for I know I can  trust in You  to always be near to guide, protect and provide for me , at all times,  but especially when I am weak.