Sorry i didnt make it on here yesterday but got called into work ....so just didnt get to it. sorry. ...

Have you ever wanted , prayed and wished for something for years and years....well i have cried and begged and pleaded for God to help Michele, my daughter. I had finally gotten to the point that i said You know i have just given it all up to God cause i sure cant change her mind and make her be what i want her to be. ..as you all know she went back to that jerk....i finally after lots of tears and hugs and begging sent her off with a kiss and telling her i love her and that i will continue to pray for her everyday....I love that girl so much...
God sure does like to surprise us doesnt he? She went back down there and she said they talked and talked and talked some more and guess what???? they both got on their knees and gave their hearts and lives to God. they had a friend of theirs that is a pastor to come to their house and helped them pray and give their lives to God.....they are going to church, to AA, to NA and he has a JOB something he didnt have before ....wouldnt work for someone else. ....Michele is still looking for something but he told her she didnt have to work if she didnt want to. but she said she needed to have something to do. They are making amends to people they have wronged. ...anyway it is like OH WOW !!!! I am having trouble getting a grasp on it. I keep saying God is this for real? I know they always say all in Gods time....but  WOW ... Am i being ungrateful for doubting? I am thanking him but at the same time im saying , wonder how long it will last....of course i know about all the miracles that God can do , and yes i do believe him when he says he will take care of all of our desires of our hearts. ....Im happy but , and im praising God but. ----Thank you all for all the prayers love you for them .

Hope all of you are doing well...good ....Tammy hope all is well with you. Jeanie...glad to know you are doing really well. Yeah a loss of 2 pounds of week is great. ..

Been really busy getting settled but I think I’ve caught up on our readings, here’s the last two days plus today.  Hopefully everyone is blessed and doing well.

Tuesday Aug. 31

Wow, reading Job this morning really spoke to my heart.  Job had complained so much about his problems and now God has gotten tired of it and spoke out in a thunderous voice asking him a ton of questions.  Can you just imagine what Job was thinking when God spoke to him?  And everyone else that heard God’s voice, I can only imagine they were in awe, wow!  You know just thinking about what all God was asking and saying to Job got me to thinking about all the details that is involved in the earth.  There are things that happen that really can’t be explained except to say “that’s the way God made it".  To think about how the rain comes out of the clouds?  How the seasons change from one to another?  Yeah all these have “scientific" explanations I’m sure but the ONLY true explanation is that God made it happen.  When you think about it how the earth was formed, how perfectly the oceans were made and how they stay in their boundaries, how the mountains rise up to the sky, its all just so awesome.

I had to sort of giggle at Proverbs, The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!"  How many times have we made excuses to not do something?  I know I’ve made just about every excuse in the book not to exercise at one time or another, some pretty good ones too, haha.  It’s amazing how laziness can sometimes over take us if we let it.  Thank God He gives us supernatural strength to overcome the laziness spirit if we’ll ask Him.  I know I need it every day.

Today’s Reading

Job 37:1-39:30
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10
Psalm 44:9-26
Proverbs 22:13

Daily Devotional

Romans 12:17-21

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

One time in the Old Testament, King David was walking down the street and a young man started making fun of him, calling him names and even throwing rocks at him. He followed him everywhere that he went, just pestering him, wanting to pick a fight and trying to aggravate him. Finally, a man who was with David basically said, "Do you want us to put a stop to him? Do you want us to shut him up? He is a real pain." I love the way David answered him. He said, "No, let him keep talking. Maybe God will hear him and bless me for it." (See 2 Samuel 16:5-14)

When somebody is talking about us, instead of getting upset and trying to defend ourselves, we need to have the same attitude as David and believe God will hear what they're saying and bless us for it.

Jesus said in Luke 6:35, "Love your enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great."

Every day I say, "God, bless my enemies, those people that criticize, talk about me, and try to make me look bad. God, give them a great day today." When you do that, the more they talk, the higher you're going to go. Sometimes I feel like I even need to thank my enemies! If it had not been for them, I wouldn't be where I am today. They meant their talk and criticism to bring me down, but God used it to push me up higher.

If somebody is trying to make you look bad by spreading rumors and telling lies, really, they have done you a favor. What they mean for your harm, God is going to use to promote you. I know this to be true because we have never tried to answer our critics. The more they talk, the more God promotes us. The more they talk, the higher we go.

Maybe at the office somebody is trying to make you look bad, talking behind your back, taking things out of context. It's very tempting to be critical back and think, "Two can play this game. They said this about me. Well, let me tell you what I know about them." No, don't sink down to their level. Don't let their poison cloud your heart. Learn to bless your enemies.

When we know that God is our vindicator and rewards us when we don't take matters into our own hands, that takes all the pressure off. We don't have to try to pay people back and get involved in battles that don't really matter and set the record straight. Let God fight your battles for you. If you will stay on the high road, God will take what others mean for harm, and He will use it to your advantage.

When we learn to bless our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we keep our heart free from strife and give God more room to bless us, promote us, and speak to us more.

Remember, don't become weary in doing good. At the proper time, you'll reap a harvest if you don't give up. That means, keep doing good to others whenever you're persecuted. Keep doing the right thing, even when the wrong thing is happening. Keep a good attitude. Keep praying for those who keep talking about you. Before long, you'll see God's blessings in greater ways, and what might have seemed like a stumbling block to you, God will use as stepping stone to thrust you higher.

Wed.  Sept. 1

Kind of ironic with the reading in Job today, it’s the beginning of a new month for us, for Job it’s the beginning of his life again.  I thought it interesting when God got onto Eliphaz telling him he was wrong in the way he treated Job and that he spoke wrong about the things of God.  God set it all straight.  Job’s persistence in believing in God and not wavering took Job through all of his situations.  God restored him back to where he was plus gave him more then double of what he lost, he even had more children and ended up living a long life.  You God has the same thing for us.  Some of us has lost things over the years as Job did.  You might not of gone through the things Job went through but whatever it is we’ve been through God wants to restore us and give us back what we’ve lost but not only does He want to give us back what we’ve lost He wants to restore to us more.  God is like that because He absolutely loves us and wants nothing more then the best for us.  I bet when God restored to Job what he had lost and then some he did what the devotional talks about and put on that garment of praise.  Putting on that garment of praise for me lifts that spirit of heaviness that sometimes likes to get me down.  Praising God in the tough times will life you back up and give you strength.  When I praise God in the midst of a storm I always feel like God is empowering me with strength to help me get through, it really does work. 

Today’s Reading

Job 40:1-42:17
2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Psalm 45:1-17
Proverbs 22:14

Daily Devotional

Isaiah 61:3, NIV

"Provide for those who grieve…a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor"

What are you wearing today? Not on your physical body, but what's covering your mind and emotions? Are you clothed with despair and disappointment? Are you wearing "heaviness"?

If you've recently gone through a hurtful or disappointing situation, the Bible says there is a time to grieve. It's important to go through that process and release the hurt to God. But the Bible also says that God wants to give you a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness or despair. He wants to exchange your hurt for His healing. He wants to fill you with His peace and joy.

Are the garments of yesterday holding you back and weighing you down? Maybe it's time to exchange that heaviness for His garment of praise. Maybe it's time to release those heavy burdens. It's time to forgive those who have hurt you and begin to praise your way to victory! Just start right now by thanking Him for the life you have today. Thank Him for the opportunities today has to offer. Thank Him for the beautiful sunrise. When you wear that garment of praise, you'll stand strong and display His splendor all the days of your life!

A Prayer for Today:

"Heavenly Father, I humbly come to You asking that You take my old, heavy garments of despair and heaviness. Make me new today. Give me a garment of praise so that I can be a display of Your glory and splendor. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Thursday September 2

I found an introduction to Ecclesiastes that I thought might be helpful as we start reading the book.  We’re gonna hear a lot about wisdom again in this book.  All this time reading the bible, you think God is trying to tell us something about wisdom? 

We do not know who wrote Ecclesiastes. Its writer was certainly a very wise man. He calls himself ‘the Teacher’. The Teacher said some strange things. This is the reason many people do not know about God. So they try to find reasons for all the things that happen. But they cannot find reasons. The Teacher tells us what these people think. Sometimes people do things that have no purpose. He says that this is like somebody who tries to catch the wind. He means that it is very silly. The Teacher tells us how these people think. He does this when he uses the words ‘on the earth’. These people find that life on the earth has no purpose.

The Teacher uses the words wise and wisdom many times. In the Word List, we can read what these words mean. Often people who do not know God try to be wise. But if you want to be really wise, you need to know God. The Teacher wants us to know God. And he wants us to believe God. Also, he wants us to obey God. He wants us to enjoy the good things that God has given to us. We will still have questions about our life on the earth. Some of them are questions that nobody can answer. But God will be with us during our lives. One day each of us will die. The Teacher is not sure what will happen then. He says, 'Our spirits will return to God' (Ecclesiastes 12:7). In the New Testament, we learn what else will happen.

This morning the devotional really spoke to me again.  Now faith.  Faith isn’t well I’ll wait until tomorrow to have faith, or next week, nope! Faith is for NOW, right now we need to have faith.  Just those two words really hit my heart today for some reason.

Today’s Reading

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Psalm 46:1-11
Proverbs 22:15

Daily Devotional

Hebrews 11:1

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"

What are you hoping for in your life today? The Bible says that faith gives substance to the things you hope for. Notice this verse starts by saying, "Now faith…" It's not "later" faith or "one day" faith. We have to have faith for today, right now.

So, what does it mean to have "now" faith? The Bible tells us that faith is simply believing in God's goodness and knowing that He rewards the people who seek after Him. It's believing that His Word is true–right now. Can you believe that God wants to move in your life, today? Do you believe He can provide for your need, today? Do you believe He can heal your relationship, today? Do you believe He can give you that promotion, today?

Whatever you are hoping for, open your heart and expect that God is working on your behalf, right now. Dare to believe that God will come through for you, today. Stand strong and declare that the victory is yours! As you water your faith with your words, you'll receive His strength and power and see God's hand moving in every area of your life!

A Prayer for Today:

"Father in heaven, today I choose to believe that You are working behind the scenes on my behalf. I trust that You have a good plan for me and that You are leading and guiding my every step. Help me stand strong in You, today. In Jesus' Name. Amen. "