Ever feel like you are going crazy?

Lord, I lift up my emotions and the day to you!

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.  Jer. 17:7

Lord I lift up all our knowledge of others and reality as we see it, as we are always looking for security.

"Man builds walls, armies, bank accounts, seeking security.
God builds a person to relate intimately with Himself,
then with loved ones.
The growing confidence that God can be trusted deepens our security in Him."   Intimate Moments.

When we allow a root of insecurity to live in us and we don't let God deal dramatically,
we will either give way to it continually or try to stifle it.
Are you being torn between all your boundaries, your desires to help, your need for time alone, your distrust of controlling people?

Maybe we reason, maybe we are even crazy!   We need to know that a whole lot of people have felt exactly like we are feeling, some have experienced the joy of overcoming it.   All too often insecurity leaves us feeling overexposed, foolish, and as if somehow we have lost our dignity. -Beth Moore

Turn to Him in prayer.
Thank Him that you can Trust Him with your thought life and emotions.
He can take your chaos and bring you peace in the storm.

Are you tired of performing for other's approval?
Doing things for approval, acceptance, and love of others
reaps an empty victory and robs a home of warmth and openness.

Help us share your acceptance of us with each other and all who enter our home.

Not in your own strength.

Every moment the will of God is stretched out before us
like a vast ocean which the desires of our heart can never empty.
More and more of the will of God becomes ours as our souls grow in faith, trust, and love.
-Abandonment to Divine Providence

"Not on your own strength,
for it is God who is working in you
(energizing you with power and creating in you desire both to want and to do His will
and to want to work knowing it will delight Him and give Him pleasure and satisfaction.  Phil 2:13

Don't expect your spouse to be God!

Exhausted again?  Didn't sleep well?

We know that all is well.
We trust you for all.
We bow to Your will.
Bow to My will as a child bows,
in anticipation of a glad surprise being prepared for it by one who loves it.
Bow in such a way, 
Just waiting to hear the loving word to raise your head
 and see the glory and joy and wonder of your surprise. -God Calling 

Thank you for protecting the ones we love and care for.

MARRIAGE

It is a foolish spouse who expects their partner to be to them only what God can be,
always ready to forgive,
totally understanding
unending patience, invariably tender and loving,
unfailing in every area,
anticipating every need and making more than adequate provision.
Such expectations put a man under an impossible strain!  -A Gentle Spirit

Even when I fail in protecting and loving those I care for,
God wraps His arms around our loved ones.
We are not God.
We will fail,
we will fall,
we will not be all that our loved ones need.
Only God can do this perfectly.
Brush yourself off,
get up, thank Him for His protection and provision.
Acknowledge your lack, and grab onto His hand.

We can't protect our loved ones from the falls of life
and the stings of the world.
God can!

Feeling sick under pressure? It is not a martyr life we live!

Ever find you get sick easily under pressure?
What ever it is in our conscious or unconscious or subconscious ....

The secret of attaining a goal is working alittle bit on it each day.
You can't move a mountain in a day.   Even if you work until you are exhausted.
Pace yourself.
Exhaustion inhibits your work.
Don't stay on the goal until you are bleary.
Break down your big projects into little projects.

Young mom's with babies need to realize that these hectic, demanding days will pass.
As your children get older you can exchange ideas, adult to adult.
One day you will desire their companionship above all others.
Now while they are in your hands you are building the very foundation of their life.
You haven't much time!

When a loving child is by you, 
is the nearness only that you may provide protection and help for that little one?
Rather too, that in that little child you may find joy and cheer and comfort in its simplicity, its love, its trust.   So too is it in your power to comfort and bring joy to My heart.  - God Calling

Relationships require a merciful attitude, with it we become what God intended.
Forgive one another as I continue to forgive you!

Show us how to be loving and kind.
There must be a continual daily identifying of ourselves to put aside our own will and self pleasing,
realizing that His will and pleasure will bring us the most joy, life, and satisfaction.
We deliberately choose to 'die' to self
in order that God's spirit may shine through and actually bring us the most life!
We let His spirit indwell in us and rule our choices!
It is not some martyr life we live!
It is a life of joy, knowing that God has the best in mind for us and our loved ones.
By putting our hand in His hand,
We know He will lead us where there is the most joy, satisfaction and happiness and life.

A consciousness of My presence as love makes all life difference.
The consciousness of Me means the opening of your whole nature to Me, and that brings relief.   The peace that passes all understanding, and the joy no man can take from you. 
Leave all plans to Me.   Act only as I bid you.  Focus your heart. -God Calling

So many times we feel we have to be perfect, the right time, a clean house, the right food.
Offer hospitality to each other without grumbling.   1 Peter 4:11
Stop being afraid!
Obedience to God means taking away the pointing finger.

The overcoming is never the overcoming of the one who troubles you,
but the overcoming of the weaknesses and wrong in your own nature, aroused by such a one.

The world is not the kingdom of God.
In the world you shall have trials,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Help us to share Your acceptance of us with each other and all who enter our home.

RESPECT

"I am convinced that when you put toilet paper in the toilet paper holder that you should do it so that the sheets come over the top rather than from below.   I am convinced that you should run the vacuum back and forth rather than just straight ahead.   I am convinced that the thermostat should be left at 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter.   I am convinced that the dishwashers need to be filled to maximum capacity when you do a load.   I am convinced that it is much better to get somewhere early than on time.   I am convinced you can take a major trip with only one suitcase full of clothes rather than three.  Respect means a lot of different things, but one of the most important is that you regard others needs and desires just as highly as your own." -Intimate Moments

Stunting your growth with Video games, Television, Pornography, Facebook, Drugs - fantasy worlds.

Love and know Me.
Walk all the way with Me.
Do not doubt My power to do all that I have said.
Fear not! -God Calling

"Do not tremble because of the winds of the the future.
Your Lord will be living and loving tomorrow.   
Your Father is stronger than the storm.
Set your thoughts, not on the storm,
but on the love that rules the storm".  -In rainbow weather.

Respect motivates.
Respect is communicated as friend or spouse is supportive of each others decisions.
Lord help us to respect each other's 
perspectives and ideas as something we can count on.

Replace 'You are what you do" with "Do what you are."  -os Guinness
Look at your loves, what makes you feel excited, full of love, and energized.

MARRIAGE

Video games, Television, pornography, facebook, drugs.

Your insecurity and consistently weak will are not doing anybody any favors.
At one time or another, we have all handed over our security to a person who doesn't have enough of his or her own to stand up on two wobbly feet.  
How we think those individuals are going to carry us is a mystery!
With God's help a couple can move through almost anything and flourish once again. 
Anything that keeps our relational lives in a whimsical world and requires absolutely nothing from us but further self absorption is a severe detriment to our security.   The human psyche was designed for real relationships and cannot flourish amid nothing but fantasy.  An addiction severely stunts productivity in every area of life. We were created for affection and that requires another person. -Beth Moore

No idle hours.

There are no idle hours in My Kingdom.
Waiting may seem a time of inactivity,
as far as the outer world is concerned, but it can, and should be,
a time of great activity in the inner life, and the surrounding material plane. -God Calling

There can be no failure with Me

Don't let the attitude of those around you affect your attitude.
God is concerned with our attitudes,
focus less on what you are 'doing' and more on who you are 'being'.
You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its power than it is good for nothing.

Only in very close contact with Me is the keeping power realized.
That keeping power which maintains salt at it's freshest and best,
and also preserves from corruption that portion of the world in which I place it.
What a work!
Not by activity in this case, 
but simply by its existing by its quality.
The secret of success is life with Me.
Your conquering power you gain from Me.
There can be no failure with Me. -God Calling

"You do not know what is good for you,
But God knows.
Let Him be your strong help and rest!"

The beauty of having God in the pictures of our lives is that things are no longer just events of the day.
Happenings all can be turned over to Him for His life bringing Spirit into each moment!
We are not limited to learning a few helpful lessons that might lend occasional insight,
we get to ask for a supernatural act of God Himself in all our moments!

How do you handle power, when no one is watching?

Feeling tired and a bit irritable?

You must rely on Me alone.
Look to no other Help.
Trust in the unseen, not in those you see.
Trust.
Fear Not. -God Calling


All will be well if we abandon ourselves to God.

God truly helps us however much we may feel we have lost His support.
There is a kind of holiness in which all the messages from God are bright and clear,
but there is also that state of utterly quiescent faith in which all that God tells us is wrapped in the impenetrable darkness which veils His throne, and all we feel is confused and shadowy.   In this condition , we are often afraid, like the prophet of running smack into a rock as we advance through this darkness.   We should have no fear.   We are on the right path and led by God.Yet we want to know which way must we go in this darkness?  Where ever we wish.   It does not matter. We cannot get lost when there is no road to be found. Nor can we head for any particular destination, for we can see nothing at all.
-Abandonment to Divine Providence


How do you handle power?
Especially when no one is watching!
All of us have some power and authority over other people.
Authority over children, those who may be weaker than us, vulnerable...
Handle it with strength and dignity.
God understands us for our lack of understanding and compassion for others.
But He can grace us with the ability to be meek and strong for those that we lead.

If any man desires to be first, 
the same shall be last of all and servant of all.  -Matthew 9:35

Choose your attitude! Transformed by the renewing of your mind!

For who in heaven can be compared to the Lord?  Psalm 89:6

Do you want to make the best of Life?   Then live very near to Me! -God Calling

Lord please guide us with energy and strength to get done what we need to get done today!

"Choose your attitude in any given circumstances.   Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, wait, I say, on the Lord.  Psalm 27:14

Whom do you serve? God or money?   Are you trying to get your reward from the world?   From human beings?   All reward necessary I will give you!  Leave all plans to Me, act only as I bid you.  You are building up an unshakeable faith.   Be furnishing the quiet places of your souls now.   Fill them with all that is harmonious and good, beautiful and enduring.  Home build in the Spirit now, and the waiting time will be well spent. -God Calling

Lord, please guide us!
By the renewing of our minds!
Thank you Lord that You are guiding us!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.   Romans 12:12

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind!   Romans 12:2

God is concerned with our attitudes, focus less on what you are "doing" and more on who you are "being."
Take wrong thoughts captive as you share them with God for Him to empower you to "cast them down".   Share them with God to help get them out of your system and give Him time to remind you of the truth.   Then your mind is ready to replace these thoughts with new ones that more adequately represent the truth.   Choose to speak edifying words.

Transform us, Lord!

Do not expect love or gratitude or acknowledgement from any.  
All reward necessary I will give you. -God Calling

In honor giving preference to one another .    Romans 12:10

But what of this persons sinful behavior and unbelieving heart, what of their bad treatment of me?   
Is there not justice, no vengeance?
Does it not matter that I have been mistreated?
Oh yes it matters much to you, Lord.
In fact, we matter so much and our offender matters so much that there was offered for us both the same sacrifice.

WHEN IT IS IN MARRIAGE Keep me mindful of my worth, my spouse's worth, both declared by God.  -Intimate moments. 



You are kept by the power of God.
It is a promise and an assurance that holds peace for the believing soul.
Only in very close contact with Me is the keeping power realized.
That keeping power which maintains salt at it's freshest and best, and also preserves from corruption that portion of the world in which I place it.   
Not by activity, but simply by its existing by its quality.

FOCUS YOUR HEART!   Romans 8:28


Don't be afraid.  Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

What is your purpose?

Try to see each interruption, each task, however small, as the fulfillment of Divine Intent.  
Accept it, say your thanks for it. Do so until this becomes a habit,
and the resulting joy will transfigure and transform your lives. Stop all work, stop all interaction with others until peace is restored.    Do not let those about you spoil your peace of heart and mind.   Do not let anyone or any trouble, irritation, or adversity, disturb your peace.  Look on each difficutly as training to enable you to acquire this peace.   Every work, every interruption, set to see that none of it touches the harmony of the real you.  -God Calling

We have God given emotional needs.   When those needs are left completely unmet, we become depleted and tend to operate primarily out of our weaknesses.  We all have strengths, and when surrendered to God, we become more like Him as we become more like our true selves.   None of us is perfect, but we are wonderully made just as God planned.  -a confident heart.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life!  -Proverbs 4:23

You do not make yourselves loving and strong and patient and humble.
You live with Me.   
Then My life accomplishes the miracle change.   -God Calling

God has put a divine magnet within each of us that is intended to attract us to the people, function or causes where He intends us to minister.   Prayerfully pursue your passions, not in a selfish way, but in a way that honors the person God created you to be.

So how do we discover our hearts desires? 
 Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

As we find our deepest delight in our personal relationship with God and allow His word to shape our thinking and plans, the Lord promises to shape our desires as well.   There is a connection between our delighting in God and discovering our hearts desires.

Stop striving and start seeking instead.  

No matter how big or how small our talents may seem, they are all God given and can be used for His purposes.   It is important to focus on what we have instead of what we don't have.   When we are faithful with the little things, God entrusts us to more and we get to share in the joy of fulfilling His purposes.   We are stewards responsible for all God has entrusted to us, no matter how insignificant our gifts seem. -A confident heart

"If you want to know your purpose, 
pursue the heart of God and you will have a head on collision with your calling."  -Beth Moore

Marriage
Let us build up each other in love, not sharing truth about each other in hate.

Leave a legacy of God's faithfulness to your children!

We will not hide these truths from our children,
but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord.
We will tell of His power and the mighty miracles He did.   Psalm 78:4

She dearly loved her sin.

Top ranking insecurities in women:

Irrational jealousies,
full blown emotional episodes,
obsession with what people think,
an insatiable need for affirmation.
The only definitive and enduring motivation for a true transformation in our security is God Himself.
The Creator of heaven and earth assigned us dignity and immeasurable value and only when we finally accept this truth will we discover our true security. -Beth Moore

Fear no evil.
Be sure of My conquering power.
Know that all is well.
Be sure of it.   -God Calling


MARRIAGE
When either spouse fails, we need to turn to God for help.   Our security is in God, not in our spouse.
Trust God with it all.

Weak people are combative, strong people walk in love.

Jesus did not come to give us a religion, we already had that.
He came to give us a relationship with God.
A religious attitude is full of pride, criticism, and judgement.

You are not incompetent, weak, and inadequate,
Neither are the men in your life.   -Beth Moore

Trust your spouse as much as is humanly possible, appropriately.
Let the people in your sphere of influence see the changes in you.

HEAR MY ANSWER

There was a lady who had a sin which in her emotions she dearly loved, but which in her will she hated.  She fully supposed she was unable to conquer it.  But she learned this secret concerning the will and went to her prayer time.   "Lord, you see that with my emotions I love this sin, but in my real central self I hate it.   Until now my emotions have had the mastery, but now I put my will into Your hands, and give it up to You.   I will never again consent in my will to yield to this sin.   Take possession of my will, and work in me to will and to do Your will."

Immediately she began to find deliverance.   The Lord took possession of the will she surrendered to Himself and began to work in her by His own power, so that His will in the matter gained the mastery over her emotions, and she found herself delivered, not by the power of an outward commandment, but by the inward power of the Spirit of God, working in her that which was pleasing in His sight. -Hannah Whitall Smith

Loneliness

Loneliness.
"And they all forsook Him and fled.   Mark 14:50

It was to those fearful ones, the deserters, I gave My power to heal, 
to raise to life.   Earth's successes are not the ones I use for the great work of My kingdom.
They all forsook Him and fled.
Learn My tender understanding and pardon of human frailty. -God calling

Nothing is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered & laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13

MARRIAGE

The King's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water, 
He turns it wherever He wishes.  Proverbs 21:1

He can change the hearts of Kings and of our spouses.

Look away from all the bad news!

"Turn your eyes to Me.   Look away from sordid surroundings,
from lack of beauty, from the imprfections in yourselves and those around you.
Then you will see all you could and do desire in Me.
In your unrest behold My calm, My rest.
In your impatiences, see My unfailing patience.
In your lack and limitation,
see My perfection.
Looking at Me you will grow like Me,
until men say to you that you have been with God.
As you grow like Me you will be enabled to do the things I do,
from that place of abiding,
I can fill you with the all conquering all miracle working power.   -God Calling

You are uniquely created to fit in the special 'you shaped' space that God formed in His world.

Do not weary of doing good!

MARRIAGE

Reproof is not rebuke.
Reproof is often not spoken but comes through natural consequences.  
ie - stay up too late, you are tired the next day.
or as unmet needs in a family member get met elsewhere, 
a lonely spouse escapes into friendships, 
a lonely child seeks peer acceptance at any price.  -Intimate moments

Someone you love, or you, having an affair?

Whatever we concentrate on in our life is the thing that will seem biggest to us.
No unforgiveness!
I put my hope and refuge in You.   I tell You all my problems and anguish.
Everything else is not firm and not stable apart from You.
A multitude of friends will not be of service to us,
money cannot deliver us,
no secret or pleasant place can make us secure  if You do not help,assist, strengthen, comfort, instruct, and defend us Lord!

Forgive us for our lapses of trust in You.
Give us strength and wisdom to show Your love,
To trust in You is the greatest comfort.
We feel a void when we don't spend enough time in Your presence.

"The beginning of all reform must be in yourselves.
However restricted your circumstances,
however little you may be able to remedy financial affairs,
you can always turn to yourselves and seeing something not in order there, 
seek to right that.  All reform is from within out.
You will always find the outward has improved too!
God's power in you can immediately perform miracles.   
Then indeed your mourning will be turned into Joy"  -Intimate Moments

Happy is the man whom God corrects.   Job 5:17

Marriage

"God's reproof is consistent with His character.   He reproves to keep us on the path of blessings.   He not only promises blessing but lovingly reproves to keep us walking toward Him.   He often 'whispers' warning through His still quiet voice, speaks audibly through His word and almost "shouts" His pleas during many of life's seemingly great disappointments."

Without reproof, marriage is like an accident waiting to happen.   Without the freedom to share truth from a burdened heart, indulgence can go unchecked, selfishness uncorrected, and the entanglements of sin unheeded.   God's plan is for caring reproof from a loving spouse." 

Lord than you for Your 'checks' on my tendency to wander.   I trust my spouse with You as well.   I have seen your 'check' on my life, please 'check' my spouse's life as well.

Refuse guilt that is not yours.   If you are walking with God and tough times come,
don't necessarily look inward for a secret sin, look upward where you will find hope.

Having a total meltdown?

Ever have one of those days...
where you have a melt down?
Tired of your responsibilities, and fed up with pretty much everyone?
Don't understand how evil is so rampant?
Having heart palpitations?
Angry, tired, broke?
Don't even want to be with your loved ones?
Tired of GOD?
Tired of feeling like all He does is give you work and no play?
Exhausted?
Feel like He keeps saying that you have plenty and are plenty and He is your  abundance,
yet feel like you are always coming from a position of being behind and being poor?
Feel like your relationships are lacking?

Is evil going to win?

Feeling stuck?

"My soul is weary with sorrow,
 strengthen me according to Your word."  Psalm 119:28

Feel like a slave?

So, I am not doing too good letting an offense go!

Sometimes it is hard!
A slave is not his own, has no rights whatsoever, is not in charge of what happens to him, makes no choices about what he will do or how he is to serve, is not recognized, appreciated, thanked or even noticed at all.

From Elizabeth Elliot, a missionary:

Lord break the chains that hold me to myself.   Free me to be Your happy slave, that is to be the happy footwasher of anyone today who needs his feet washed, his supper cooked, his faults overlooked, his work commended or his button sewn on.   Let me not imagine that my love for You is very great if I am unwilling to do for a human being something very small."

I have a long way to go! 

Matthew 12:25  
Any nation that is divided against itself is being brought to desolation and laid waste,
no city or house or nation divided against itself will last or continue to stand.We play right into evil's hand through anything that contributes to division.  

LET IT GO!

Do you have a hard time letting things go?
Especially in relationships where you don't understand the other persons actions?
Perhaps their behavior puzzles you, or angers you, or hurts your feelings?
LET IT GO!

Love is something we need to do on purpose.
The same rule apples to thoughts.
We must learn to think good thoughts about people on purpose.

I entrust My spirit to you.   Rescue me , Lord, for You are a faithful God.    Psalm 31:5

Overcoming the dark side of Leadership.
"A paradox of sorts existed in the lives of most of the leaders who had experienced significant failures:
The personal insecurities, feelings of inferiority, and the need for parental approval that compelled these people to become successful leaders were often the same issues that precipitated their failure.
God seems to use all our hurts and dysfunctions to motivate us to be difference makers who continue in the race.  We have to submit these same motivating factors to Him or they will be the source of our downfall."

Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed.

The Dark Side of Christian Leadership.

Love is something I need to do on purpose, not when I just feel loving.
The same rule applies to thoughts.
We must learn to think good thoughts about people on purpose.
We must learn to look for the good in everyone.

You are My joy.   When you are a simple doer of My word, not just a hearer.
In the daily tasks and ways you keep My word.   You bring joy to My heart by faithful service.
Faithful service in the little things.   
Be faithful.
Do your simple tasks for Me. -God Calling

REBUKE DOES NOT ATTACK.

Loving rebuke encourages change and ministers acceptance.

God's love toward me is kind, patient, not provoked.
God's love towards me does not take into account suffered wrongs.
God's love towards me bears all things,
believes all things, endures all things.
His love towards me never fails.

All who listen to Me will live in peace and safety, unafraid of harm.   Proverbs 1:33

From the book 
The Dark Side of Leadership
"regarding sexual affairs, fabricated resumes, stealing money, sexual immorality....
Most often ambition has been a subtle and dangerous combination of a leader's personal needs and a certain measure of their altruistic desire to expand the kingdom of God.   However because ambition is so easily disguised in religious circles and couched in spiritual language, the dysfunctions that drive religious leaders often go undetected and unchallenged until it is too late.
Protect your life and your ministry.   Ask a few people to hold your feet to the fire of accountability.   The key is you have to listen when they speak up.   Then pray God will hound you if you are drifting from Him or His principles."

People talking behind your back?

Let nothing terrify you.

Ever have a horrible reaction to something?
You try to stop yourself but you are looking at a psycho in the mirror!?
Anxiety, hysteria, stress.... flares suddenly up.
And you don't know why!?
Lord protect those around us who may negatively experience our crazy unbridled frenzied selves!
Forgive us and show us how to get grounded to You in these times.   
These times of behaving like a maniac, spewing anxiety, stress, hysteria!
Lord, protect those vulnerable to our times of being frantic...FRANTIC!  

Ever hear someone talking about you behind your back.
Perhaps taking the truth and distorting it?
Perhaps you even thought you were doing a good deed for them!
But they portray you as a fool or weak?
Here's the good news, relax, we all are fools and weak in our own ways.
So we might as well just accept that fact!
However.........

You may want to pull them aside in private and share with them lovingly, but truthfully
how you perceive the situation.

And then let it go.

"A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."

If that is their truth, if that is their perception of what happened,
no matter what you say it won't change them.  Rest in what you know is the truth.
Turn it over to God.

Fear of what others say is want of trust in Me.   See yourself as others around you see you, not  as you wish to be seen.  Walk very humbly with your God.    I will set you on high because you have known My name, but it must be a purified you.  -God Calling

Know that evil takes partial truths and tries to make them full blown truths.
If what you overheard is partially true, learn from it, especially
if it harps on a weakness you are already aware of.
But don't dwell on it and don't let it get a hold of you.
Look at it, take what you can learn from it, move on. Again..Turn it over to God.

MARRIAGE
Honor those around you, particularly your spouse!
Respect them, revere them, honor them, esteem them, appreciate and prize them, admire and praise them, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy them.  1 Peter 3
To demean, neglect, or ridicule our spouse is to trample on God's gift of value and worth.
Lord help our lips only speak to encourage.  Just because we think something, doesn't mean we have to speak it.  Hurtful words can't be taken back once they have wounded their target.   Remember the great value God has placed on your spouse.

Dealing with cranky, needy, rude people!

How do you respond to people when they are rude?
When they are needy?
When they are cranky?
When they are demanding?

He that has My commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me.  John 14:21

Guide us on how to be actively obedient to you.

Honor others - treat them as precious and valuable.
Show us what to do...and how.

If you will revere the Lord, listen to His voice,
it will be good.
So stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes.
Turn not aside after vain and worthless things which cannot profit or deliver you,
because they are empty and futile.

Please guide our feet, our thoughts, our actions, our moments.

Trust and know that I am leading you.
Step with a firm step of confidence in Me into each unknown day.
Take every duty and every interruption as of my appointment.  God Calling

Ever feel aggravated at work because they keep asking you to do more than you think is possible?

You are My servant.  
What do you want us to learn?
Teach us how to deal in love, effectively with imperative, cranky, rude, needy people.

Serve Me as simply, cheerfully, and readily as you expect others to serve you.
Do you blame the servant who avoids extra work,
who complains about being called from one task to do one less liked?
Do you feel you are ill served by such a one?
Than what of Me?
Is not that how you so often serve Me?
Lay it to heart and view your days work in this light. -God Calling

You are in training,
I am not training, discipling them, I am training you!

Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed.   Prov 27:5

Hebrews 5:11 Slow to learn.
Every time we give in to ourselfishness we prove that no one is good, not even one.
God knows we don't have it all together.

Choose my instruction rather than silver and knowledge over pure gold.   Prov. 8:10

Do you lead a weak life?

God is in the process of moving us from the weakness that has charactarized our lives
before we learned to spend time with God,
towards a positive of strength, confidence, and courage.

Choose My instruction rather than silver, and knowledge over pure gold.   Proverbs 8:10

I will draw you closer and closer to Me by bonds of Love.   
So many ties of love there are to bind you to Me.
Each experience in your life of joy, and sorrow, of difficulty or success,
of hardship or ease, 
of change or safety
each makes it's own particular demand upon Me.
Each serves to answer the prayer, 
"Make me love You more and more."  -God Calling

God knows we don't have it all together.
But as we learn and acknowledge our imperfections and acknowledge we are weak,
we gain the ability to become strong.
Paul says, "When I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Cor. 12:10
We have a choice.
Today make the choice - again - to put Him first.

Be ready!  In season and out of season.
Convince, rebuke, exhort with patience and teaching.   2 Tim. 4:2

Concentrate on thanks.  Always and for everything give thanks!
We need to learn to thank God for everything instead of using our own judgement.
Corrie Ten Boom 

Are doubts and fears in your heart?

THE DARK PLACES

Are doubts and fears in your heart?
Then think of Me.
Speak to Me.
Instead of those doubts and fears there will flow into your hearts and beings such sweet Joy
as is beyond any Joy on earth.
This is unfailing.
Never doubt it.
Courage. Courage. Courage.
Fear nothing!
Rejoice even in the darkest places.
Rejoice. -God Calling

Faith disperses the clouds of doubt and fear.
He gives us 'songs in the night'.
We are able to say I know Him in whom I have believed.

MARRIAGE

Guard what is committed to your trust. 1 Tim. 6:20

Lord defend our marriage and help me to be a guardian of the love we share.

"She seduced him with her pretty speech. With her flattery she enticed him.  Proverbs 7:21.
Wounded people can be vulnerable to praise,
they can also be easily manipulated and sell themselves to anyone or anything just to get some praise.
'Like selling their birthright for a pot of stew.'  Genesis 25:31-34
Esau sold his birthright to his brother because he was hungry and too impatient to cook his own dinner.
We need to look at our own needs for praise.
What lengths do we go to for a little bit of praise?

You are not in control, BUT Boundaries are important!

We are not in control!

Rejoice at weakness.
All our weaknesses You know!

My strength is made perfect in weakness.
When you are weak than I am strong.
Strong to help, cure, protect.
Trust Me My children,
I know all,
I am beside you.
Strong, strong, strong to save.
Lean on My love and know that all is well.-God Calling

It is imporatant to protect your family from danger!
Whether it is physical or emotional!

We need to recognize when our family is being harmed in intangible ways as well as physical damage!
Help us to recognize our rights and our boundaries for our family.
Help us Lord to protect our family, our spouses from harm when it is appropriate to do so.

"Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.   1Peter 4:8

Protect the ones in your care!

Do not forsake wisdom and she will preserve you.   Proverbs 4:6

We must protect the little ones in our care from harm.

Just as you protect them, I must protect you.
Know that all is well. Could I fail you?  No!
Do not doubt.  There is no miracle I cannot perform, nothing I cannot do. -God Calling



As a doe longs for running streams, so I long for You, God.
With my whole being I thirst for You.   Psalm 42: 1-2

In everyone you meet today look beyond the exteriors of appearance, status, intellect, age, race, nationality and see a soul longing for God.
Open our hearts to Your Spirit, Lord.
That we may accept all others as people whom You created and redeemed.

FAMILY
The gift of peace to our family is worth spending time with God.
The gift of peace is worth the price of death to ourself.
KEEP YOUR PRAYER TIME!
And forgive seventy times seven!
How trivial our grievances are compared to what we have done!

The only letter of recommendation we need is you, yourselves!    2 Corintians 3:2-3
You are a letter.
You have been chosen to carry the message of hope.
Like Hallmark, God cares to send the very best!
Where is He 'mailing you' today?!

Too much to do? Stressed out?

Ever feel like this?
-too much to do,
too far to go,
and not enough time or strength to do it all,
so that you would like to get out of wherever you are.

Perhaps we are attempting things that God hasn't called us to do.
If we are feeling tension and stress, we need to call for help.
God will show us if our priorities may have gotten distorted.

HE IS TO COME FIRST!

God's grace makes you perfect and settles you, strengthens you, establishes you!

God's hunting dog.
"I have never been to a college or a theological seminary,
I have only been God's hunting dog.
I simply followed at the heels of My Master and brought the quarry He sent me after."Devotions for Women on the Go.

The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forward and even for evermore.  Ps. 121:8

All your movements, your goings, and comings, controlled by Me.
Every visit, 
all blessed by Me.
Every walk arranged by Me.
A blessing on all you do,
on every interview.
Every meeting is not a chance meeting,
but planned by Me.
All blessed.
Not only now, but from this time forth and for evermore.
Expect good things!-God Calling

Marriage

If anyone does not provide for his own, he is worse than an unbeliever.  1Tim. 5:8
Overwelmed by home life pressures?
-bills, bounced checks, demands of children, work, church, ailing parent, spouse?
We need to feel the protecton of our spouses.
Especially in areas of finances and raising children.
Help us to be umbrella's under which our spouses can take refuge and find support.

Have you failed as a steward of your money? -Oct. 4

Please help us to enjoy peace and harmony at home.

Mother Theresa, "Do the small things with great love."
Meek and lowly or gentle.  
In a competitve world, these words hardly express prized qualities.

Ever feel like you have failed as the steward of your money?
Ever feel like the poster child of  'what not to do when it comes to money?'
Debt consolidation program, vehicle that doesn't work, house refinanced, no savings, loans on retirement, no money to fix the vehicle....
Yet God can rescue us out of it all
and turn it around so that our finances glorify Him and give us Joy!
God can redeem it all!

"The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive."   -psalm 41:2

ALL YOU DESIRE.
Draw very near to Me.
You will have the joy of finding in Me all you could desire.

"There is a tremendous relief in knowledge that God's love to me is utterly realistic, 
based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, 
so that no discovery can now disillusion Him about me, 
in a way that I am so often disillusioned about myself."   -JI Packer

Are you exhausted?

EXHAUSTED!

"In harmony with My creator,
I am prompted to share peaceable love with those for whom I care.
Too often inner stress and turmoil spill out onto those around me.
I become withdrawn, impatient, or unavailable. 
At these times I need Divine intervention:
Time alone to cast my cares on Him.
Time for His peace which makes harmony at home possible.
Keep me at harmony and peace and then let me share it."

Thank you for so many of the ways you have provided and guided us.
Thank you that you help us to find Wisdom and courage.

"Under His wings you will find refuge."   - Psalm 91:4

And the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of rigteousness, quietness and assurance forever.  - Is. 32:17

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.
Only when the souls attains this calm can there be true work done,
and body, mind, soul be strong to conquer and to hear.
The peace is the work of righteousness living the right life, living with Me...
Quiteness and assurance follow.
Assurance is the calm born of a deep certainty in Me,
in My promises,
in My power to save and keep.
Gain this calm and at all costs keep this calm.
Rest in Me.
Live in Me.   -God Calling

Calm, quiet, assured- at Peace.


MARRIAGE

Protected by wisdom from above. 
Wisdom strengthens the wise.   Ecc. 7:15   

The psalmist speaks of our tendencies to wander like the sheep, 
but God's wisdom protects us as we choose our steps.
God sees it all,
the big picture.
God will lead us as we are encouraged in our spiritual growth together,
-it is intended to be more than just 'common interest'.
God will lead us to truth. AND embracing the truth,
we will be united, ready to withstand attacks on God's plan for marriage.
United in the wisdom of God's word.   -Intimate moments

Being meek does not mean you are weak. -Oct. 2

"The only true way to live in this world, 
is to make all our employments serve the one great end and aim of existence,
namely, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
But in order to do this we must be wise task masters 
and not require of ourselves what we cannot possibly perform.
Recreation we must have!
Otherwise the strings of our soul, wound up to an unnatural tension, will break.
We can learn His will and not go astray if we only consent to let Him work in us."  -Elizabeth Prentiss

Please guide us with wisdom.
Point to the path we need to walk in.

If you love me, obey My commandments.  -John 14:15

I am learning to never be disappointed but to praise.    -Fred Arnot

God keeps us so near to Himself that there will be little shiney seeds scattered by our lives,
seeds that will bear a harvest of joy somewhere, sometime, and be music to someone in their heaviness.

The meek shall inherit the earth, that is the result of a yielded will,
that is the meaning of the word meek.   So live.   So yield.   So conquer.  
Lord, please help us to be there for each other.    - God Calling

Protect, deliver, rescue..... we need You Lord.

So will the Lord of hosts defend, deliver.... preserve.     -Isaiah 31

Expect miracles!

Lord, please guide our path and our hearts, even when it hurts!

"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."  -Proverbs 3:6

Pray for your enemies, for strength, for healing, -reconnected relationships.   Romans 9:10-11

Expect miracles!

Each days happenings if of My workings and under My control are miracle works. -God Calling

"The only true way to live in this world,
is to make all our employments serve the one great end and aim of existence,
namely, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
But in order to do this we must be wise task masters and not require of ourselves what we cannot possibly perform.   Recreation is necessary.    Otherwise the strings of our soul, wound up to an unnatural tension, will break.  We can learn His will and not go astray if we only consent to let Him work in us."   Elizabeth Prentiss

Wisdom to create a home that is a refuge. -Sept 30

Wisdom
As your days so shall your strength be.

I have promised that for every day you live, the strength shall be given you.
Do not fear, face each difficulty sure that the wisdom and strength will be given you for it.
Claim it.
Rely on Me to keep My promise about this.
Do not fear!
Do not doubt! -God Calling

You are not alone.  Do any among you suffer?   Let him pray!   -James 5:13

Help us to remember to lift up our spouses needs to You in prayer.
Praise you Lord.

"Our homes will never be a perfect place.
Our homes should be a positive happy place,
a place that offers shelter from the world,
a place where we can have our batteries recharged to go out again.
Our homes should encourage humor, appreciation, forgiveness, and a sense of belonging
where we are believed in and accepted.
Creating a home with such an atomosphere of love, forgiveness, and laughter brings healing into a broken world.   We have the major responsibility of creating the atomosphere in the home.   It takes work.
We must have a vision of the atomosphere we desire.   Goals to work toward,
and a plan of action.   -A Gentle Spirit

Thanks be to God who always leads us in a triumphal procession and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance and knowledge of Him.   2 Cor. 2:14

Don't Be Afraid! -Sept. 29

Be anxious for nothing,

but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.   And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in God.   Phil. 4:6-7

God help us to take prayer seriously in our marriages.

Thank You for walking with us.

Please give us wisdom and courage.

Thank God and He will unleash His power and bring His perfect peace, healing, and wholeness into your life and heart!

Are your spouses expectations killing you? -Sept 28

Much that you must accept in life is not to be accepted as being necessary for you personally,
but to set an example to save and to share in the suffereings and difficuties of others.

He saved others, Himself He cannot save.

My path has tender lights and restful shades that no other walk in life can give.
that your joy might be full.
Loving and being loved,
being connected, valued, befriended, cherished by another is a compelling need that permeates the life of every human being on God's earth.   Yet how are such relationship to come about?

Sometimes we get do overs!
Jesus demonstrated friendship by being available, compassionate, self sacrificing and tender.
He called them to accountability.
He rebuked them when they were wrong.
But when He finished they still felt cherished by Him.
We do not need to set out in search of a friend, we just need to model Jesus.
Anticipating the needs of others, wearing ourselves out at giving.

Marriage.
Two people when they get married their expectations of each other can kill them.
Direct your expectations for meeting your needs to God.
He often involves others in ministering to human needs.
Expecting God to meet needs in accordance with His word will prompt a faith that He can work through others.
Begin to "faith" your needs to God and give to each other. -intimate moments

Lord help us to trust You to provide for us in our marriage.

Feel weak, poor, and like a failure? -Sept 27

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power and love and discipline.   2 Tim 1:6-7

Ever feel overwhelmed?   So tired?  Stressed?  Sad?
Feel weak, poor and like a failure?

Divine restraint-
from strength to strength from power to power we go in union.
There is no limit to My power to save.   
There is a longing and a desire to save you.

Turn to Me.

It's the little things that matter -Sept 26

Serve All.
Be ready to serve all.
Prove you are My child by service.
Look on all you meet as guests in your Father's House, to be treated with love, consideration, gentleness.
Think no work is beneath you.
Be ever ready to do all you can for others.
Serve.
There is a joy in doing My Will for others, in being My expression of good for them.
When you serve all, you are acting for your Master and Lord who washed His disciples feet.
So in your service for others, express your love for Me.  -God Calling

There is no more powerful healing tool for relationships then prayer.
Pray for one another that you may be healed!   -James 5:16

It's the little things in marriage that make the difference.

"Take us the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have grapes.   -Song of Solomon 2:15

Little things are very important.   Little deeds of kindness, a passing encouraging word, a cup of cold water in His name.   Little things can destroy, but little things can also build.