Which voice?

The voice of TRUTH must make its self known!!! Hop over to the BLOG and check it out!

Striving for Unsatisfaction!!

 Satisfaction is highly over-rated! Check out my blog Walkin' it Out to find out why!!!!

oh, how I love Jesus....

Oh, how I love Jesus!

 

Master.... Savior... LORD

 

He reaches down with His mighty arms and rescues me when I feel hopeless.

 

He reaches out with His loving arms and embraces me when I am weary.

He stretches forth His nail scarred hands and issues healing when I am in need.

 

He is Powerful.

Mighty.

Strong.

 

He sees broken hearts. He is aware of shattered spirits.

He tenderly touches the tears upon my face and wipes away the evidence of grief.

 

My God, the God who can walk on water;

 raise the dead;

 give blinded eyes their sight;

make the lame to walk and the deaf to hear.

 

He takes what is wrong and makes it right.

 

He cares about our hurting souls. He listens to our wounded cries. He hears the despairing utterances of our lips.

 

He knows.....

He knows the problem. He knows the pain and agony. He knows the outcome, because....

 

He is....

He is the first and the last.

He is the Almighty.

He is all Sovereignty and all Authority.

 

Master of the Sea.

Keeper of the Stars.

Creator of all things.

 

He is Maker. Redeemer. Righteousness. Ruler of all.

 

He is seed to the sower. Bread to the eater. God of the whole earth.

 

He knows the way that we take. He is our souls delight!

 

When we cry out in our frailty and deep need,

He extends sweet mercy upon us and responds.

 

Our unknown is known by Him. Our blindness of spirit becomes His surety as we follow Him.

 

He is HOPE.

He is LIGHT.

He is GRACE.

He is TRUTH.

He is FORGIVENESS.

 

The God who formed the earth and all that is in it,

 

loves us,

tends to us,

comforts us,

heals us,

saves us...

 

He is the great I AM. The beginning and the end.

 

He is faithful. He is true. He is peace. He is Holy.

 

The mere knowledge of who He is becomes our refuge.

 

We can trust without fear because He is our strength and our song and our salvation.

 

He leads us and guides us and never forsakes us.

 

He is the WORD. Perfect and Holy and Righteous.

 

Reaching down to lift me up. Reaching down to fill my heart.

 

Loving.

Caring.

 

He is my all.

 

Oh, How I love Jesus.

Master... Savior.... LORD....



don't reduce Jesus to a convenience...

Why do we get so complacent about the Lord? Why do we fail to see who He really is in our lives? Why do we reduce Him to a 'convenience' that we turn to only when we need help?

I have been convicted of this very thing only to go right back to that same mindset time after time. When the truth of it is that our spirits need to be tuned to the workings of God at all times.  We need to be ever mindful of His power and of His presence. 

We go about our daily lives doing what we want to do and we get so busy doing what our flesh desires that we neglect to factor God into our life's equation. Instead of beginning our day with the worship of our Creator, we begin our day worshiping His creation - ourselves. 

Our day needs to start in the presence of God. Before our feet hit the floor in the morning, our first thoughts need to be centered on Him. Our eyes should open in such grateful thanksgiving for another day. Another day to serve our King. Another day to live our lives worthy of our calling. Another day to share the gospel of Christ with those in need. But instead, we rise with the thought, "what do I want to do today?" 

We mistakenly think that our main purpose in life is to please ourselves. But in reality, our purpose in life is to please God. Every thought we have should be based on what He desires out of us. Every thought should be focused on pleasing Him and Him only. Truthfully, when we please our Lord and Savior, we should derive much pleasure out of that! What greater joy is there than to live a life that pleases God? 

God isn't just there for us to call upon when we are in a crisis. Surely, He intends for us to call upon His Name when we are at the end of our ropes. Surely, He intends for us to depend upon Him for strength and guidance in our lives. But He also intends for us to call upon His Name for the sheer delight of who He is!

Jesus Christ is LORD! He is our Savior. Our Redeemer. Our Rock. Our Sure Foundation. He is everything to us! We need to live daily with the Truth of Him being the I AM in our lives. He isn't there just to relieve us of our problems, but to walk with us through them. We take our eyes off of Him too quickly in times of desperation and that's when we falter and fall and then we have to cry out for Him to rescue us. If we kept our eyes on Him through the bad times as well as the good times, we wouldn't fall so quickly but instead we would reach up for Him to take our hands to steady us through those trials.

Let's begin to focus on Him in all situations and all circumstances. Let's begin to wake up in the morning with praises on our lips! Let's begin to praise Him at all times and in all things. Then we will begin to develop a God-awareness in our hearts and lives that will revitalize our spirits and rejuvenate that joy that only comes from Him. We will begin to be desirous of obedience to Him at any cost. We will begin to see His Faithfulness in all things. And that will unleash His power in our lives to make us mighty women and men of God as He can use us for His Kingdom and His glory.

Let's rush into the Presence of God with one thing one our minds. His Almighty Holiness.  What a difference that will make in our lives as we focus on who He is and what we can do for Him instead of the other way around. Let's live lives of denying ourselves and taking up our crosses and following Him, wherever that may be. He is worthy.

all that I am in Him

I am:

seeking more,

hoping and longing for His presence.

Finding Him faithful

and

loving Him deeper.

I remain:

captivated by Him,

intriqued with Him,

amazed by Him

and

totally in awe of Him.

He:

frees me,

completes me,

covers and loves me,

astounds me,

compels me.

 I am:

a child of the King,

forgiven,

redeemed by His blood.

Captured by His grace,

surrendered to His will,

surrounded by His glory.

His mercy:

is generous,

unwarranted,

undeserved,

indescribable.

He is:

my everything,

my all-in-all,

Jesus,

Lord,

Master,

Friend.

I'm amazed at His goodness.

I'm overwhelmed by His love.

I'm astounded by His blessings.

He is all I need.

All I want.

All that satisfies.

Reveal yourself to me, Lord, in a new and powerful way.  Open my eyes fully, that I may see the extent of my sin and realize the depths of my depravity without you. I desire an encounter with you like never before. One that leaves me speechless. One that blows my mind. I surrender my all to you. May my life be pleasing to you and may I glorify you in all that say. All that I do. All that I am.

"Examine me, O LORD, and prove me,

try my reins and my heart"

Psalm 26:2

 

things that bring me joy...

Things that bring me joy:

**These 2 boys bring me much joy! Bryton and Sawyer are my youngest daughter's children and they are so much fun to be around. They are as different as night and day but they are both very loving and sweet.

Bryton crawled up in his mama's lap the other day and said, "Mama, I love my whole life!" Now if that doesn't fill a person with some joy, not much will. I love it when Sawyer says, "Mama be right back", everytime Ashlie leaves the room for even a second. He hates for her to get out of his sight and that is his way of assuring himself that she is coming right back!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**The sound of heaven's rain playing a symphony outside my window in the early hours of the morning, fills me with joy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Watching my youngest grandchild pull himself to a standing position and looking so proud of himself! Silas is 7 months old and is growing up so fast!

~~~~~~~~~~

** Eli hugging me tight and saying, "Nana, I just love you!" That fills my heart with joy overflowing! I am such a blessed Nana and I love this fella so much! He is a sweetheart and never fails to put a smile on my face and in my heart. He also just loves the pajamas I made him for Christmas and that fills me with joy as well!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**My husband coming home after being gone 6 long days with his dad in Houston.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Seeing Mercie so excited about the dress I made her for her birthday party. She will be 3 years old tomorrow. Mercie is a bundle of sweetness and is full of energy! She brings joy everywhere she goes. Happy Birthday my little princess!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

**The spiritual longing I see in Mikaela's precious heart even at the tender age of 8. I can see God working in her little life and it fills me with great joy to imagine what God is going to do through her and in her in the years to come! I know that He has wonderful things in store for her. Mikaela has such a sweet and loving nature. She has filled this Nana with MUCH joy in her 8 years!

~~~~~~~~~

**The look of joy on my mom's face last week when I surprised her on her birthday by showing up at her birthday dinner. She had NO idea I was coming and it was so much fun! It was worth the 350 mile round trip to see my mom on her special day. 

~~~~~~~~~~

**These 3 kiddos fill me with joy when I watch them play together. I'm not really sure what they were dressed up as the other day, but they were sure having a good time doing it! I am so thankful that the cousins get to spend alot of time together.



Mercie R., Bryton H., Eli R.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**God's Word always brings me joy. This scripture is just really speaking to me right now and so it brings me joy each time I read it.

"I love them that love me; and those

that seek me early shall find me"

(Proverbs 8:17)

I love how God's Word shows us time and time again, that if we are looking for Him, we will most assuredly find Him. He wants us to want Him! He longs for us to seek Him. We need to be seeking Him early and then we will find Him!

**My Savior brings me the most joy of all. He has loved me from the very beginning of time and sacrificed all so that I could have forgiveness of my sins and eternal life. Thank you, Lord. I love you.

Basking in joy tonight,

Beth

The Immeasurable Love of Christ.

"...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"

( Ephesians 3:17-19)

The love of Christ is immeasureable.

The breadth of His love extends to all people.

The length of His love extends to the lowest of our human need.

The height of His love extends to the highest heaven.

Christ's love for us covers all dimensions. The love He has for us surpasses all knowledge. His love for us transcends everything we can comprehend or imagine.

He loves us with an everlasting love. An unconditional love. A perfect love.

His love gives us roots to plant deep so we can be firmly grounded in Him.

Firmly grounded in His Word. Firmly grounded in His love. Firmly grounded in our faith.

He loves us with an indwelling love. He abides in us and gives us the ability to love others.

"We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19)

Because of His love -

We keep His commandments.(1 John 5:2)

We love others. (1 John 4:7)

We have no fear. (1 John 4:18)

We are His children. (1 John 3:1)

Because of His love for us -

We can experience victory over sin and death through the shed blood of His precious Son.

I pray that during this time of year, we keep our focus on the baby in the manger. The birth of our Savior. The Christ-child.  I pray that we long to draw nearer to Him and yearn for the deeper things in Christ. May the love that God has for us, cause us to love more. May we keep the season all about the Son of God. Let's celebrate the gift of Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for the unending, eternity reaching, unconditional love that you showed all mankind on the cross. Thank you for loving me when I am unloveable. Help me to love others. Help me to love like you love. Thank you precious Lord for loving me well. You are awesome and mighty and powerful. You are my everything. You are indeed the reason for the season.

CHRISTmas..... it's all about JESUS!

Yes, Jesus loves me

"We love Him because He first loved us"

(1 John 4:19)

Simple truths are sometimes the most powerful messages.

There can be such great impact on our hearts during the most basic and elementary divine moments.  It is sometimes the small things that create great impressions on the inner recesses of our hearts.

A month ago, my precious granddaughter was baptized and before the baptism service began, the church sang a little song that we all know. "Jesus loves me".

As the congregation started singing this simple melody, I was so overcome with emotion. As our unified voices rang out loud and clear, it was if we were singing from the deepest parts of our souls and the sound was angelic. The tears just started rolling down my face and I had the biggest lump in my throat.

The awesome Truth of these precious words just washed all over me like a flood! I was literally so overwhelmed by the words that I could hardly sing.

"Jesus loves me this I know..."

Profound. Simple. Mind-blowing.

"For the bible tells me so..."

The promise of His Word. The Truth.

"Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong."

What wonderful assurance of His presence. What awesome comfort in the pledge of His protection.

"Yes, Jesus loves me...."

When nothing else is going right.

"Yes, Jesus loves me...."

When no one else does.

"Yes, Jesus loves me...."

When all else around you is failing. When the world seems to be crashing down.

"The bible tells me so."

Oh, Abba Father, thank you for the Truth of your mighty and powerful word. Simple words that span an eternity. You love me. You love us. Even in our unworthy, unlovely, undeserving selves, you bestowed sweet mercy and grace upon us. You fill us with your awesome truth, your amazing promises, and your absolute joy. Yes....Jesus loves me.

It All Comes Back to Jesus!!

As I was preparing for VBS this week, I spent a lot of time focusing on our theme which is “Boomerang Express” and the basic message of this whole week will be “IT ALL COMES BACK TO JESUS!”

I absolutely just love the conveyed message in that simple phrase. Indeed, everything we do, everything we say, everything that we are, should be about Jesus. No matter the circumstances. No matter the events that take place. No matter the places we go or the people we deal with. Our lives should always reflect Jesus – our lives should always point people to Him.

The most important thing that we need to remember as Christians is that the choices and decisions we make; the things that we opt to do; the words that we elect to vocalize can have a definite boomerang effect that has the propensity to be a good thing or a bad thing.

If we are not careful to guard our hearts and tame our tongues, that boomerang effect can rend a devastating blow to our Christian witness.

If we don’t choose to live Godly, Christ-like lives, that boomerang effect can deliver a costly blow to our spiritual walk.

If we don’t spend time immersed in the Word of God and strive to keep ourselves fully aligned with Him, the boomerang effect can cause havoc in our lives.

As we live out the Truth of God’s Word and as we plant the seeds of the gospel into other peoples lives, we get to see the good fruits of our labor coming back to us. We need to make sure that we are speaking the truth of His Word.

“So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

When the boomerangs in my life come full circle back to me, I pray that they are producing good things. Holy things. Righteous things. Things that edify. Things that glorify Him. Things that point people to My Savior.

My prayer is that each day I saturate myself in His Word to the point that the overflow is filled with things of Christ. May I be nothing less than an instrument for His Glory in all that I do. In all that I say. In all that I am.

He is worthy. He is God. He is here.

Please go to the prayer link "At His Feet" and lift up those in need. I also want to thank EDIE for making me the fabulous botton for my blog !! You are the absolute best!!

Mikaela is now a Child of the King

Do you see the sweet girl in the top photo? That is Mikaela. She is 6 1/2 years old. Yesterday she made the life changing decision to ask Jesus to come into her heart and be her Savior. She is now a child of the King. Can I get an Amen!

When my daughter called me yesterday and told me about Mikaela coming to her and telling her that she had just prayed and asked Jesus to come into her heart, I could have just sobbed right here at work! Megan told me that she and Rod asked Mikaela some questions and that by her answers, they know that she understands the decision that she made.

I am so proud of Mikaela for making the most important and the best decision that she will ever make in her life. I am so thankful to God that He helped me to raise my girls to love Him and that they not only made the decision to trust Jesus as their Savior, but that they are raising their children to do the same.

When I left work yesterday, I drove straight out to my daughter's house. I just had to love on Mikaela (and Eli and Mercie of course!) and let her know just how proud I was of her and how proud Jesus was of her decision.

God is so good. He has blessed me more than I could ever deserve. In the words of Matt Redman, "My greatest gift to Him would be the least that He is due"

Thank you Father, for your precious Son, Jesus. Thank you Jesus, for shedding your innocent blood at Calvary, so that we could accept your free gift of salvation, have forgiveness of sins, and so that we can live with you in Heaven forever. Thank you for Mikaela and her love for you. You are mighty and powerful. You are full of grace and mercy. You are Truth and You are Life to me.

Just Give me Jesus

I just love Peter. He is one of my favorite New Testament people. He was just so real. So open. So human. So Peter.

In John 21, when Jesus encounters some of the disciples at the Sea of Galilee, I love the way the events transpired. Peter just decides to go fishing and so the other disciples who were there decided to go with him. They got into the boat and the scripture tells us that they caught nothing that night. So, morning comes and Jesus was standing on the shore, but of course the disciples don’t realize that it was Him at this point. Jesus calls out to them “Children, have you any food?” They tell Him they don’t and so Jesus tells them to cast their net on the right side of the boat and when they do, there are multitudes of fish in their net!

All of the sudden it dawns on John who it is on the shore. So, he says to Peter, “It is the Lord!” And what is Peter’s reaction? He just jumps into the water. Plunges right into the sea. He is so excited to see Jesus, that he didn’t even think about what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to get to Jesus. NOW!

Oh, man. We need to have that kind of excitement about Jesus. We need to develop hearts so hungry for the Word and so hungry for a relationship with Christ, that we would just jump right out of that boat into the water in a heartbeat! When the Lord draws near to us we need to be willing to get out of our boat and just jump into wherever Jesus is.

I could just feel Peter’s joy and elation and I want that kind of joy for Jesus! Peter didn’t let anyone or anything stand in his way. He wasn’t trying to impress anybody. He wasn’t trying to fit into a certain crowd. He was just being Peter. He was a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” kind of man.

I am yearning for such an excitement and joy for my Savior. I want to have such a jumping in my spirit that I can’t contain it. I want to feel His Presence in my life so thick, that I can hardly bear it! I want to grow closer to Him each day. I just want Jesus.

Lord, thank you for your Word. Thank you that what was applicable back then, is still applicable now. Your Word is timeless. Your Word is Truth.

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth” John 17:17

A Way in the Manger

For the 1st time in 25 years my tree did NOT get put up and decorated Thanksgiving weekend as tradition dictates. I am not really sure what caused this lapse in my usually structured life, but I do know it has slightly reeked some havoc on the OCD tendencies inside of me. Since I missed that "window of opportunity" I now await the arrival of my middle daughter who is still in the midst of finals in Baton Rouge. I've gotten past the initial feeling of despair that came when I realized the magnitude of my error and now am focusing on the prevention of my hyperventilating as I try not to dwell on the fact that I have to move my love seat to another location to accomodate the tree. But that's another story...

As I think about Christmas and the birth of Jesus, I think about Mary. She was highly favored by God. She alone carried the Christ Child. She gave birth to the Savior of the world. I sometimes overlook the fact that Jesus was Mary's precious little baby! He was her pride and joy. That tiny newborn babe that she delivered brought hope to us all. With HIS birth was the birth of eternal life. He was Heaven's perfect lamb. I think about Mary kissing his glorious little face and that she was kissing the face of God. The Holy presence of God was in that tiny little manger in the form of a baby. Jesus.

Praise you Jesus for making a way in that manger for me. You are my deliverer, my God, my King. May I never put my focus anywhere else but on You.






"And she brought forth her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger" - Luke 2:7

In His Reedeming Love,

Beth