THANK YOU JESUS FOR TIMES OF REST

I found this daily prayer and thought it was awesome and had to share! What a difference it could make in our prayer life to pray this little prayer on a daily basis. Teaching us to acknowledge the good times and many blessings that the Lord has given each of us. We seem to get desperate and prayerful when things are going wrong in life. How close our relationship with Jesus would be if we gave Him that same attention, dedication and prayerful attitude of thankfulness during our days of rest. Rest from trials or troubles of this life that affect us all from time to time. Our loving father gives us this rest to not be forgotten but in remembrance of all His goodness and mercy. To show each of us how much He loves us and wants to bless us!

LORD, IN YOUR STRENGTH, I find rest for my soul, a retreat where I'm safe and secure. Please help me to appreciate the times of rest in my life and to learn of Your strengths of character, purpose, and truth. Then after my rest, I will know more about WHO YOU ARE as I claim the strength of Your faithfulness to remain. Amen
Author-Karon Phillips Goodman

THE DESIRES OF MY HEART!

We all have dreams and plans. Once the dreams or desires are given to God we become excited with anticipation of what the future will soon hold. The God we serve is a prayer answering God and the Bible does tell us He finds delight in answering our prayers.
"Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4
Every desire we have may not be Christlike or uplifting to the Lord. Obviously the Lord will not find delight in answering prayers that are not for good. We need to be mindful that any desire that we may intend for our self that is not God's desire for us is a desire not worth fulfilling! David desired to build a royal house in the capitol city of his kingdom. God did not give him his desire and we know God loved David very much. God's desire for David was for him to fight the Lord's battle until the Israelites were safe and secure in the promise land. Following the Lord through His Divine direction will help us distinguish the difference between a God given desire or a desire we have chosen right for ourselves. What are God's desires for you? What is he tugging at your heart with? Maybe a ministry that God has pricked your heart over, or someone in need of a special friend. Our greatest ministry is how we affect the heart of someone that we are near. There are desires that God is anxious to give! I am thankful for those. Just because a desire we pray for isn't given to us overnight doesn't necessarily mean that it will never come to pass either. The cross became a symbol of torture and death but Jesus wanted it to symbolize much more for us. Jesus told the disciples to deny themselves and take up his cross daily, and follow Him. Meaning to continually or daily serve the Lord with self-denial, obedience and complete dedication. Trusting in God through all circumstances, believing that He knows all and only desires what is best for us will only add many blessings to our lives. How many times do we pray God will answer something in our life and He answers it in a way that we completely did not expect Him to. Yet the answer was far greater than anything you or I could have possibly imagined. What do we gain if all our prayers are answered in an instant? Through patience and small progressive steps we gain character and spiritual skills. God proved to Lazarus's sisters when their brother had died that He was not finished. Even though after Lazarus's death they stopped praying for him led alone expected him to be healed. Remember he WAS dead! Never would they have imagined that once their beloved brother had died God would raise him from his grave! Just a reminder that nothing is impossible for God. God was not finished with Lazarus and God is not finished with us! Even after God gives us our desires we must remember they are not given to us for ultimate fulfillment, but as a added bonus from the Lord. Our heavenly father who loves us more than we can comprehend. Even while being blessed we must keep our eyes and hearts upon Him. For He is the reason for all things and only through Him can we find everlasting joy, peace and contentment!

THE ROSE WITHIN!

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully. Before it blossomed, he examined it.
He saw a bud that would soon blossom. He also saw the thorns, and he thought,
"How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?"
Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.
So it is with many people.
Within every soul, there is a rose.
The "God-like" qualities planted in us at birth, growing amidst the thorns of our faults.
Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects.
We despair, thinking nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.
Some don't see the rose within themselves. It takes someone else to show it to them.
One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others.
~~ Author Unknown ~~

WALK IN THE LIGHT!

"God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by truth...Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble."
1 John 1:5-6;2:10
There is nothing to fear with the Lord. Once you give your past and future to the Lord, there is nothing to fear! He has uncompromising loyalty and love for us. The types of changes that God chooses to take place in our lives is nothing to fear, but a lesson to learn. We know all lessons learned from the Lord bring us closer to Him. We spiritual grow stronger through His loving discipline and guidance. The trials that we go through are not placed before us to tear us down but to teach us to put our total trust in Him. We are to walk with victory, knowing that God is leading us with every step we take. He is all powerful and His protection covers us and keeps us from stumbling. All while proving that we are a victorious people, we are children of the King! The ruler of everything, His power is limitless. There is nothing He desires more than to walk along side of His children! By taking His hand through life's journeys, we are allowing God to move us closer to the light of His path. His path that He alone has chosen for each of us! The path He has chosen for the righteous that will lead us into eternity forever with our loving father!

EVERLASTING LOVE!

"Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of Salvation." Isaiah 33:6
God's love is never changing, there is stability in His love! His love for us is deep and consistent. We should not wait for a moment of opportunity to pray to the Lord. We should stop what ever we are doing and thank Him for all He has done. God's word tells us to pray without ceasing! Being prayerful throughout our day, and including God in all we do even throughout our daily tasks will only bring incomprehensible joy to our lives. We know according to scripture that nothing will suffer due to momentarily taking time away from our duties in order to spend more time in prayer with God. We will have a rejoicing spirit and a heart full of gladness if we spend more time praising Him. His love dispels all fear and cures all sickness. Prayer will give strength that will sustain us and give us a spiritual insight that will direct us throughout our lives! He paid the ultimate price for our sins and he longs to carry our burdens. The Bible tells us we will experience resurrection life and peace; the joy of the Lord will become your strength; and wells of salvation will be opened within you. Song of Solomon 2:9-13.

HIS PEOPLE WILL STAND!

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you." Isaiah 43:2
God's people will know the protection of their almighty God, because they kept their heart stayed upon Him! He will keep them in a pavilion of shelter until troubles pass. If he removes us from the scene of our trials then we would have no testimony of His great and mighty power of deliverence! If we stay beneath His wing He will make us a strong tower! He will make His people unmovable, unshakable, and give them a firm foundation. He will protect them and strengthen them and like a strong tower what ever srorms weather against them "His People Will Still Stand"! Praise the Lord!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

WE NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN CHRIST FOR AN EXAMPLE OF THE JOY OF SACRIFICE.

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

ANYONE IN NEED OF A FRIEND?

"FRIENDSHIP IS WHEN PEOPLE KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU, BUT LIKE YOU ANYWAY."

The most important aspect of a friendship is the ability to speak the truth along with love and wisdom. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 28:25 that a proud heart stirreth up strife. God is not pleased with a haughty or arrogant spirit but a spirit that shows love and kindness at all times. This is the attitude that is pleasing and exceptable to the Lord. We should all have a desire to get along with others, we should humble ourselves and not think of ourselves as a little better or smarter than another. God loves us and never belittles us. He is our uplifter and constant encouragment. He gives us hope and confidence to do great and mighty things and allows us to accomplish what ever we set out to do! If we are to follow after His ways than we should be potraying these same acts to everyone around us. Without Him we are worthless but with Him we are worth more than if we were to gain the whole world! As children of God we should always strive to act in a way that is good and suitable to Him. This is not to say that we always do, just that we always should. Going to a person in love and in truth is better than trying to avoid a confrontation. If we approach situations in this manner nothing but good can come from it. Praying for our enemies or people who have wronged us is not always easy to do. We may find ourselves thinking why should they be blessed? They have done so much wrong to me! With out compassion and sensitivity towards others we enable ourselves to truly be set free from the pain or hurt that they may have caused us. It is about overcoming evil with good. Proverbs 13:26 tells us to lean not on our own understanding or ability but to lean on God. After all, He has all the answers! Part of growing in Christ is realizing that we don't have all the answers and may never while here on earth. Trusting in the Lord is what will sustain us and nothing else. His word will give us continual upliftment and strength. There are no limits with Christ, the possibilities are endless! We just have to TRUST and OBEY! Even if we don't fully understand. I was thinking earlier before writing this and thinking about how hard it is to give certain situations in life to God and to not pick them up again. I feel God gave me a thought, if we were to tell our child to do something, what would our expectation for that child be? We would expect the child to do as he or she was told. We are the authority over them as parents and we know what is best for our children. We would not compromise with them about why they should or should not do as they were told. Would you except them rebuteling you with questions of why and oppinions to a way they may feel is better. No, we expect them to obey and trust us. We continually confirm to them that we love them and are doing what is best for them. Knowing that one day they will fully understand the reasons behind our descisions. God is our father and loves us more than we can comprehend. He wants us to trust and obey Him. He has no desire for us to sift through his word looking for loop holes that will give us the answers that we feel are right or ease our own consciences. We trust that there are reasons for His word and He will reveal to us all the answers and give us complete understanding of all things when we fully depend on Him!
REMEMBER: PRIDE+DOUBT=FALL
LOVE+TRUST=VICTORY
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13

THE BEAUTY OF A GODLY WOMAN!

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman
that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Have you ever noticed how much time and money we spend on things that should improve our outward appearances? Whether it be new clothing, various wrinkle creams or anti-aging moisturizers! I mean seriously, these products are suppose to transform our appearance into younger, more vibrant and remotely flawless women, right!!! Far too often though we tend to put SO much attention on the outside that I have wondered what spiritual break through's we could have had if we had put that same attention on perfecting the inside. Is our spirit filled with wrinkles and in need of a serious lift? Our walk with God is a daily devotion of our love for Him. We are flawed, and God knows that and loves us despite our imperfections. He also knows that if not maintained and consistently groomed our spiritual walk will wilt away and surly die. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with trying to look our best and as children of God we should try to look our best. After all we represent "the king of the most high, Jesus Christ! The Bible tells us that "a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised" Proverbs 31:30. There is nothing more beautiful in the site of God and to others around than a spirit filled holy woman who is giving God awesome praise! The beauty of the spirit transcends outwardly making that woman evermore appealing and beautiful! It is important that we keep ourselves up spiritually, you know the saying "use it or lose it"! Putting diligent work and attention on our spiritual needs will only strengthen and add beauty to our walk with the Lord. I read an article by Julia Bettencourt that described several things we should do daily to improve our beauty in Christ! It was so inspiring I had to share a few of them!

1. Cleanser.
In order to make ourselves beautiful, we have to first cleanse ourselves of all unwanted impurities. Our cleansing agent works through our confession and God's forgiveness.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

2. Moisturizer.
Having compassion can be a good moisturizer. When we start seeing others and their needs instead of our own it can really soften us up!

"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference." (Jude 21,22)

3. Wrinkle Cream.
If we want to smooth out those wrinkles how about applying a meek and quiet spirit?

"But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." (1 Pet 3:4)

4. Hand Lotion.
We don't want our hands to become dry and brittle so we need to apply some generosity and good deeds.

"Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." (Prov 31:31)

5. Foot Therapy.
Sometimes when we overlook our feet they can get callused and rough so we need to get them going in the right direction. Take your feet only to the places that Christ would approve.

"Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Th 5:22)