I get so frustrated, aggravated, irritated, explosive!

Ever feel like freaking out!
Too much stress?
Can't even seem to get your prayer time?

"The eternal God is My refuge.   Deuteronomy 33:27

A place to flee.
A sanctuary,
and an escape from misunderstanding,
from even yourself!
God is your refuge.
In His greatness,
you forget your smallness, meanness and limitations.
Until the relief of safety merges into the joy of appreciation of your refuge.
and you absorb Him,
and absorbing Him you gain strength to conquer.

On my own I get so frustrated, aggravated, irritated, explosive.
Help us to walk with You.
Without you Lord, we are only concerned with self preservation
and control of our surroundings.
With You we can think about others,
care for them
Because of You, we feel whole.
We don't have to hoard our splintered pieces together to stay whole,
because You are our wholeness.
You glue all our pieces where they need to be,
You are the boundary around us to keep us whole.
Without you we are splintered and torn by our thoughts, desires and actions.
With You everything gets its meaning and purpose.

The prayer "thy will be done".....
I can only pray that wholeheartedly as I grow to know You more.
I give You my fear and mistrust of You.
You hold us close, and we know You are remaking us, healing us.
Help us not to have fear.

"There is a spot on earth, a sphere of influence that belongs only to you.
It has been given to you by God.
It is possible for you to bring about God's complete will in your sphere of influence here on earth.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What if everyone really brought God's will to the little sphere that is his."

You know our obsessions.

"Take my burden upon you 
and learn of Me,
For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest for your soul."   Matt. 11:29

Lord, You know our obsessions, our weaknesses.
We give them to You (again).
We thank You that You give us confidence and hope.
We thank You that You give us peace.
Thank You that our hope lies in You.
You can take all the things of our hearts and minds
and heal them,
You can transform our hearts and minds with Your love.
Let us be obsessed with You.

I am a generous giver.
Our lives are one.
All that is in My nature must pass to yours,
where the contact is so close.
Have courage.
I am Love, joy, peace, strength, power, healing, humility, patience.
You will have tese too,
as My life flows through yours.

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

What encouraging words these are!
Especially when we can so clearly see our failings and weaknesses!

God promises to shape our desires.
There is a connection between our delighting in God and
discovering our hearts desires.

"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

Take time for prayer.
Take more time to be alone with Me.
So only will you prosper.
Be not afraid.
All is well.
Just feel My touch,
sense My presence and the fever of work,
care, and fear just melts into nothingness and 
health, joy, peace takes its place.

Pray for the seeing eye,
to see the beauty of My character,
of My Spirit.
Pray to have faith to see the beauty of My love in My dealings with You,
in My actions.
Until, what the world will distort into cruelty and harshness,
you, with the eyes of faith will see all that you could desire.
Know Me.
Talk to Me.
Let Me talk to you so that I may make clear to your loving hearts what seems mysterious now and purposeless. -God Calling

I thank You Lord for the ways You have answered prayer.
You are teaching us how to see others,
not as higher or lower then us,
but as fellow sojourners in our love walk to You.

I am learning that what matters is our love walk with You.
Other's opinions fluctuate like the wind.

It was exactly when my fear and disappointment was greatest 
that God came close to me in comfort and truth.
List of praise and thanksgiving is not a matter of how we feel emotionally,
it is a matter of will.

Do you feel in control?

A relative of mine asked me if I felt in control.
The question made me laugh.
We have control of so little!

If you yearn for happiness, rest, satisfaction
that you have never felt in the world and it's pursuits,
Come to Me and I will give you rest.
If someone has shut you out or forgotten you, 
you think now they must wait!
No.
Remember the Heavenly beggar,
and learn of Me,
humility.
Even if a person shuts Me out 

I stand at the door and knock .-God calling

Lord, sometimes we shut You out.
Thank You so much for caring,
thank You for letting us now Your presence again.

Learn that each man's happiness, peace and rest are valuable to Me,
and learn, praying, to copy the Divine Unrest until a soul finds rest and peace in Me.

Behold I stand at the door and knock.  Rev. 3:20

Nothing I have is my own.

Depend on Me.
Divine supply is a difficult lesson for My children to learn.
So dependent have you become on material supply that you fail to understand.
You must live as I tell you.
Depend on Me.
Come to Me.
Talk to Me.
Dwell with Me.
Come very near to Me.
Come sit with Me.
Take each days happenings as work you can do for Me.
In that spirit a blessing will attend all you do. -God Calling

It isn't a question of giving only if I am so rich that it won't hurt,
It is a question of realizing nothing I have is my own.

You don't want us to be afraid of anything.
You want us to tackle our fear head on with You clearing the path!

MARRIAGE

When you feel your worst,
your spouse pulls alongside you and offers help.

God help us walk inside our spouse's shoes and sympathize with his/her pain.
Let it be said by our spouse that we pull alongside them and offer them help!

Dear Lord please expand my vision for my role and calling in my family.
Train me to love my spouse the way You call me to and help me to be a blessing to everyone in my home.
Turn my heart toward the ministry of my home.
I want to excel and succeed as the keeper of my home.
Guard my heart from other loves and impurity.
Give me the self control that I don't have on my own.
Give me the grace to live at home in such a way that Your Word would be honored. -Visionary Marriage

We don't have to be dead shaking frail leaves in the wind.

In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

I am afraid of these tribulations that are talked about in the Bible.
Of the tribulations I hear people talk about,
but You tell us not to fear.
You are making us stronger.
You are making it so that we are not a shaking frail dead leaf in the wind.
Staying connected to You brings us life!
Thank you that You are our confidence.

"Fear restrains most of us.
We are afraid that we will never get what we want in life if we don't make it happen ourselves.
We should never derive our identity from another person,
nor should we impose ours upon anyone else.
Know who you are,
be free to reach your full potential,
but learn to operate in trust with God and with others,
not in fear.
Don't be afraid that if you don't make your dreams come true,
you will lose out in life. -Joyce Meyers

The world, even My own followers would see a lost cause.   
Outcast, spit on, scourged, they would see Me as conquered.   
How could they know that My spirit was free, unbroken, unharmed.
In My conquering power you walk unharmed today.   -God Calling

Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard,
what God has planned for those who love Him.  -1 Corinthians 2:9

I am very excited God!
Excited because I see You bringing me past fear as I walk with my hand in Yours.
I see hope.
All things that I saw as dead to me,
You are bringing to life in ways I could never imagine.
You have so much more for us, to satisfy us!
You give us joy, hope, peace.

Whatever God gives us , we must learn to hold loosely in our hands.
If we don't own anything, we cannot lose anything.   -Joyce Meyers

The way You speak to me makes me smile.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
and have not love,
I am like sounding brass or tinkling cymbal.   1 cor 13:1

If man only saw how vain is so much of his activity!  
So much work done in My Name is not acknowledged by Me.
As for Love:
Turn out from your hearts and lives all that is not loving,
so you will bear fruit,
and this shall all men know you are my disciples,
because you have love for one another. -God Calling

Thank You for Your stamp on our lives.
The imprint in each day when we see You at work in our lives.
Thank You that it is so tender,
How you speak to us.
In ways that no one else will ever know.
You make us smile in the intimate detail and answers You give us.

A time to keep silent and a time to speak.

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.   eccl. 3:7

Thank You for this day and time.
Help us, guide us, guide our steps.

A candle must not be set under a bushel,
but be put on a candlestick,
that it may give light to all who are in the house.
They must see and know your joy,
and seeing it,
know without any doubt that it springs from trust in Me.
From living with Me.
The hard dull way of resignation is NOT my way.
So trust, so conquer, so joy.
Love, love, love of Me.
The consciousness of My presence. -God Calling

We find ourselves torn sometimes, Lord,
it is hard to know on any day which decisions are to be made.
Guide our paths, light our way.
Tell us when to speak and when to be silent.
Let us not be the the hider who is afraid to speak.
Give us courage and inspiration when we are to speak.
Let us not be the person who tramples on others with their speaking.
Don't let us decide that our 'rights' give us the right to scream and yell at others.
Help us to treat others with dignity even when we have been wronged.
Guide us as how to be a witness for Your love.

MARRIAGE
A spouse's verbalized appreciation will mean more to the partner than a counselor's will.
Empathy from a spouse will touch deeper then a mere counselor's.
Help us Father with the mystery of the two becoming one.

JEALOUSY
Ever find yourself jealous of someone because they have something that you think you want?
It is an ugly feeling!
God has a unique plan for each of our lives and the gifts He gives us are part of that plan.
We can trust Him.
He knows His business.
Our business is to walk in love.
Love is not envious.
It does not boil over with jealousy.
Anyone who intends to have a strong love walk will have to grow beyond being envious and jealous of other people.  -Joyce Meyer

Only in You can this happen!

Tough day?
Hard day to be kind?
Hard day to be civil, polite, caring?

Do not try to find the mysteries of the world.
Learn to know Me more and more.
And in the knowledge you will have all the answers you need here.
All your answers will be in Me.
Know no theology, know Me     -God Calling.

Are you or your spouse on overload???

Your hand shall lead me,
and Your right hand shall hold me.   Psalm 139:10

The life radiant is that transfiguration of the ordinary daily events and circumstances which lifts them to the spiritual plane and sees them as the signs and the indications of the divine leading.

Some days are just frustrating, Lord!
Please help us to support each other, not add to each other's overload.
Stress is inevitable, help us to become sensitive to overloads in ourselves and our partners,
for  things that cause overload, too little money, kids, privacy....
Help us to address this overload in our self and our spouse.
Give us understanding, empathy, confession and forgiveness.
Help us to protect ourselves and our spouses from highly stressful feelings and times.
Help us to insist and support our partners need for healthy escapes once in a while.
Help us to have prayer time.
Sensitize us to our partners and our warning signs of overload.
Bring us lovingly alongside each other to help.

Lord, I know we are all self centered.
Please help us to become more God centred.

Easy, Fast Frozen Cake, Olaf, and the Ice Palace for a Frozen Party

So,
You need a quick, easy Frozen Party Cake and Display!

Super easy:

So here is the secret!!
No secret at all!!

If you are on a time crunch and a budget:

You can decorate, but you don't have time or money to get the ingredients and make the cake!?

Buy a $24.95 plain sheet cake from Walmart.

Buy an $11.95 cake topper from Ebay.

Simple,

now add your own decorations and touches:

Sugar Ice which takes 6 minutes to make!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gHdJR6DuXY

Make the ICE more than one color blue for better visual effect!

Next make a double batch of Rice Krispies treats.

Easy to find this recipe.

Shape it into Olaf.

Cover him with white chocolate bark,

and use some black colored fondant for his buttons.

Next make his head using a picture to guide you!

Shape his nose from orange colored chocolate bark.(make extras in case it breaks).

His tooth is made of chocolate bark as well.

His black mouth is made from fondant which you can easily apply over the modeling chocolate.

Use a potato and skewers as your modeling station.

I made his hair and arms out of modeling chocolate, 

twizzlers and pretzels.

Secured them with skewers or toothpicks.

Again, make extras in case one breaks!

I made extra rice kripies balls, dipped them in the chocolate and surrounded Olaf with 'snowballs'.

Add the blue ice candy as decorations!

 I put an Elsa ornament under a cake dome with blue ice candy and edible chocolate balls.

So tired tonight, Lord.

Thank You for Your many blessings.

Keep us close to You.

The Glory of the Lord is upon you when you reflect that glory in your lives,
when in love, patience, service, purity, 
whatever it may be, 
you reveal to the world a something of the father,
an assurance that you have been with Me.  God Calling.

How can you fear the future when it holds so much for you?
Set your sights, your affections on things above, and
not earthly things,
you will see how rich you are.

Thank you Lord that you take our weaknesses and make us stronger.

Everyone has their own opinions and for their own reasons.
Give thanks when you notice some one has done something good
without regard to whether you think they should have done it anyway!

Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.   Matthew 25:21

Duty faithfully done for Me,
does mean entrance into a life of joy.
The world may never see it,
the humble, patienct, and quiet service,
but I see it and My reward is not earth's fame, wealth or earth's pleasures,
but the JOY DIVINE.
All real contact with Me brings Joy. -God Calling

Lord help us to support our spouses in learning how to be intimate friends.
Help us to remember that the more someone puts us down,
the less we try to be close.
Help us to love our spouse deeply,
proclaiming that love through our actions each day.
Help us to support each other on the journey of intimacy!

Feelings are not a measurement of your love.

Fear not and do not let your hearts be troubled.  John 14:1
Union is power.
Share and bear each others burdens.

He who leads us, follows us.
Alpha and omega.
He who begins, finishes.
He who leads us, follows us to deal in love with our poor attempts.
He gathers up the things we have dropped - our fallen resolutions, our mistakes.
He makes His blessed pardon to flow over our sins until they are utterly washed away.
And He turns to fight the enemy who would pursue after us, to destroy from behind. 
He is first, 
and He is last.
And we are gathered up in between,
as in great arms of eternal loving kindness.  - Amy Carmichael.

Feelings are not a measurement of your love.
Your daily actions and attitudes are.

Are you still hiding your talents in fear and anxiety?

Ever feel like that 'third' servant in the story of the servants entrusted by the Lord with talents?
You know the story in Matthew 25:21.
The story is about a master that goes on a journey and leaves varying amounts of talents with his servants.
The first two servants double the talents.
The third one hides them so they will remain safe.
The master was not happy with the third servant!

Sometimes I have felt like that....
The self protective, stagnant, fearful servant.
I am grateful that God can change my fears, anxieties and worries
and give me the grace to trust Him and His provision.

Lord, we lift up this busy day to You,
All the things we would like to get done even though we are exhausted.

Whenever man trusts wholly in Me,
and leaves to Me the choosing of the very day and hour,
then there is My miracle working power.
Trust in Me.
Have an endless faith in Me, and you will see and seeing you will have great joy and give Me the glory.  God Calling

"Not by power or might, but by My Spirit, says the Lord."

There is nothing that makes you feel quite so loved, warm and complete
as when God says, "thank you!"
Even if the world rejects you,
His word of affirmation is enough.
The Lord said to him,
"Well done good and faithful servant."  Matt. 25:21.

It is easy to point out others mistakes and faults.

I am your Lord.
Wonders beyond your dreams are unfolding.
You need only obey,
be thankful,
love others,
be at peace,
pray,
guard your thoughts,
don't point out others faults.

MARRIAGE
Love is forever.
Love is a commitment to care for others regardless of the response.
Help us as spouses to love our partners.
I do not need to prove I am right.
I can rest in peace.
It doesn't matter.
The need to be right is linked to proving our self worth.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
When you are in the middle of circumstances that seem like they will last forever,
remember nothing stays the same.
This is our knowledge of things,
our comfort in hard times,
and our appreciation for the times we are blessed in.
Don't take them for granted.

Lord, give us the grace to be loving and hospitable.

"All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.  Proverbs 16:2

Lord, it is a amazing  to see how much room we have for growth.
It is easy to point out others mistakes and faults.
We think and point fingers and say
It is their fault.

Yet so often as we get closer to You,
You show us where we need to change.

Thank You for the hope that we won't stay stagnant,
Thank You for the peace to not have to 'demand our rights'.
Thank You for the hope that we can change and You can use our circumstances for good.
Thank You for the freedom to be able to give when you say give because we know You take care of us.
Thank You for this time to be with You,
Thank You that You are freeing us from resent and bitterness and the need to protect our egos.
Thank You for hope in relationships.
Thank You for the gift of being able to 'Let It Go' when we feel offended.
Thank You that You are making it so we are not so sensitive and easily offended..

"Prayer that prays ourselves out of faith frequently arises from centering our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God's promise.

God gives us the promises in a quiet hour.
In the storm, turn to Him and say,
"I believe God that it shall be even as it was told to me." -Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

Make Me the one abiding Presence of your day.

Come to Me.
Every problem solved.
Make Me the one abiding Presence of your day of which you are conscious all the time.
Seek to do less and to achieve more.
Doing is action.
Achieving is successful action.
Remember that eternal life is the only lasting life,
so that all that is done without being done in the power of My spirit,
My Life is passing.
All done in the Spirit Life does not die. -God Calling

Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.   James 1:19

Grant us Lord a supernatural confidence that we are safe with You and loved by You.

Many of us become disillusioned when we encounter the difficulties and problems inherent in our marriage.
When we hurt in marriages,
we may believe that something is horribly wrong.
However,
Marriage is inherently difficult and facing those difficulties is painful
Yet the pain is trying to teach us something about ourselves,
specifically to give up our selfish demands and expectations,
to recognize our blind spots and weaknesses.
Marital pain is a signal to work harder.

The next time you feel unhappy in your marriage and start to think about quitting, don't.
You are going through some necessary growing pains that signify the birth of a new, more mature you. Intimate Moments

Let your family members make mistakes!

Don't sweat the small stuff.
Let your spouse make decisions and even mistakes.
Let them miss an exit off the expressway or pick a restaurant with a long waiting line,
let them verbalize 'wild' ideas without shooting them down!
Sometimes we can serve another by our silence.
Lord free us to serve each other.
As each partner finds freedom and motivation to serve each other, intimacy follows.
Caring for another during life's endless demands is what a servants heart is all about.
Serving another person is most often on the daily considerations and not necessarily the big things. -Intimate moments.

We are all too busy trying to prove our worth,
Prove that we don;t have to serve others.
Whereas God frees us to be able to give freely and not feel as though we are 'less than' because we did the 'least thing' for our brother.
"I lay my life down willingly."

We need to learn to deal with our loved ones failures the same way God treats us when we mess up.
The reality is we often learn by failure.
Alot of parents set themselves up as 'the last word'.
There are alot  of times you may think about a situation.
When you go pray about it , often times your mind may have changed!
your children can see us relying on God's wisdom rather than our own.
We paint the best picture of adulthood:  independence of parents and dependence on God. - A Gentle Spirit.

Lord forgive me for my constant bent towards selfishness.
I don't want to miss a thing You have for me.
I am here to serve You and its always an honor to do so.
A central part of our purpose is the 'daily call' of surrender and obedience.
Courageous and called men and women invite God to divinely interrupt our day so that we can participate in His everyday miracles. -Your beautiful Purpose

Feel like you got nothing done today?

You may feel like your steps were out of order today.
Like you got nothing done.
You may feel as though you failed today.
Sometimes we feel like a failure because we didn't follow the rules,
or our own rules.
Yet just by stopping and inviting God into the moment,
the moment can be redeemed.

"Looking back you will see that every step was planned.
Leave all to Me.
Trust Me." -God Calling

Surrender your mistakes and blunders to God.
He can use them to make the pattern of your life more beautiful. -Corrie ten Boom

Hold on tight, go forward, and don't be afraid.

Our Lord asks when the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith on earth?
He will find plenty of work, a great deal of earnestness, and many consecrated hearts,
but will He find faith?

Faith lifts and expands the heart above and beyond all that senses fear.
It is delight in the friendship of God and confidence in His protection which makes everything acceptable
and to be received with good grace.
Faith also produces a kind of detachment which enables us to handle any situation and every kind of person.
The soul with its living faith in God,
always sees Him acting behind happenings which bewilder our senses.
Our senses cry, stricken with terror,
now you are lost and there is no hope of rescue.
Faith instantly replies 
"Hold fast, go forward, fear nothing."  -Abandonment to Divine Providence

Lord help us to willingly receive instruction.
Learn what we can handle and what we can't handle.
Let us know what You want us to handle today.

Remember life's difficulties and troubles are not meant to stop your progress, 

but to increase your speed.

You must call new forces, new powers into action.

Whatever it is must be surmounted, overcome.

Remember this.

Do not let a difficulty conquer you.

You must conquer it.

My strength will be there awaiting you.

Bring all your thought, all your power, into action.

Nothing is too small to be faced and overcome.

To push small difficulties aside is to be preparing big troubles.

Rise to conquer.

There can be no failure with Me.

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, 

and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with His exceeding joy."  -God Calling

MARRIAGE

Being a good servant is listening to the needs of your spouse.

Lord help us to ask how we can best serve our spouse's needs,

give us patience and discernment.

"They look well to the ways of their household and don't eat of the bread of idleness.  Prov. 31:27

The wife and mother often sets the tone in the home.

But both spouses are responsible for this!

The 'tone' God wants us to set is one of joy, optimism, and a delight in the Lord and our family.

Most assuredly we can smile at the future.   Prov. 31:25  

If your family was called to describe you,

what would they say?

Would they report that you are a godly person who loves life and the Lord?   

Or would they report that you are an unhappy, complaining, bitter person?

Thank You, Lord that You are our hope for joy!

When you say"I do" you are making a lifetime commitment to a changing target

God transforms life in a way that enables us to take the risks necessary to follow Him.
Gods ways and thoughts are not our own.
Often the direction of His will seems unnatural and uncomfortable.
That's because they are supernatural.
The more we rely on God alone in every aspect of life,
the more we experience His power.

"I am He that comforts you,
who are you that you are afraid of a man that will die."  Isaiah 51:12

Marriage intensifies everything.
The good in the relationship gets better.
The bad gets worse.
The virtue of and value of living together before marriage is a lie from the world designed to destroy relationships.
A companion lie is that a couple needs to find out if they are sexually compatible with one another.

We are not snap shots in time,
but always changing and growing.
When you say"I do" you are making a lifetime commitment to a changing target.
In the past 5 years you have changed dramatically.
Physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
You are going to change dramatically in the next five years.
The same is true for your spouse.
The spirit behind Christian wedding vows is 
"I am with you no matter what."
No matter how you change and grow.
No matter how I change and grow.
I choose to be with you.

Knowing the purpose for something is vital.
Having a clear sense of purpose enables us to deal with hard times, annoyances, and problems.
In the same way, when we understand and embrace a clear purpose for our marriage and family,
we have the strength to face hard times.
But having a clear purpose is not enough.
We need to have the right purpose.
If we think marriage is all about our personal happiness, we will fail to experience God's true purpose for us.
If we think marriage is about companionship, our deepest desires for friendship will not be satisfied,
and at the same time we will miss the compelling mission God has for us.


God created marriage for two overarching purposes.
1.  The spiritual transformation of one another
2.  Raising godly children.  -Visionary Marriage

Disillusioned, dissatisfied with your marriage and your spouse?

Wipe the Slate.
You must forget your failures, your failures and the failures of others.

Does your marriage have a purpose?
Because marriage was created by God, He alone defines its purpose.
Pray for God to do something special in your marriage and in your family.
Ask Him to prepare your heart to grow,
and to give you and your spouse the grace to be the woman or man He created you to be.

We have often bought into the word's short sighted, half hearted, self centered vision of what marriage is all about.
The end result has been an increased focus on our own personal happiness,
while missing God's grand purpose for our marriage.
Why did you get married?
Why are you still married?
We had little to no theological understanding of God's purposes for the family.
Amazing! 
God created the family as the fundamental institution upon which all human life and civilization rest,
and yet we never gave it serious theological thought.
May God give you (us) a passionate, compelling, unifying mission and purpose for our family.
Far too many of us settle for a good marriage,
God has an extraordinary purpose and plan for your marriage.
God can replace our everyday marriage with a visionary marriage. 

Thank You for my marriage.
With all of our joys,
and with all of our problems,
thank You.
I don't want to build our marriage without a foundation.
I realize there may be major areas of my mind,heart, and life 
You need to change before I can be the spouse You created me to be
I realize that examining the foundation of our marriage may be messy.
Free us from fear.
Open our hearts, to Your purpose for our family. Amen.      -Visionary Marriage

Feeling insignificant? You don't know who you are impacting for the better.

Our only satisfaction must be to live in the present moment as if there were nothing to expect beyond it.

There is no bond of union on earth to compare with the union between a soul that loves Me and Me.

You have to do nothing but stay in His hands and be used as He wishes.

Often the people He works through have no idea how they will be used,
but He knows.
The world thinks them useless, and it seems as if they are.

Yet this soul is quite certain that by various means and through hidden channels they pour out spiritual help on people who are often unaware of it and whom they themselves never think.   God gives a special force to all they say and do,
even their silence,
their tranquility and their detachment which quite unknown to them
profoundly influences other people. -Abandonment to Divine Providence

Feeling unappreciated by those closest to you?

Do not be discouraged, whatever your situation my be. 
God's grace is abundant for us all.
He meets us all right where we are.. -Visionary marriage

Power is God in action.
Remember no day is lost on which some spiritual truth becomes clearer.
No day is lost which you have given to Me to use.
My use of it might not have been apparent to you.
Leave that to Me.
Dwell in Me. -God Calling

Think about it -
What will you do with the rest of your life?
Seek to know Him and love Him,
to have joy in Him and bring glory to Him by this joy.

Find out what work is the priority of your heart.
There is nothing wrong with working outside of the home,
 as long as we are able to be good keepers of our home.
God's priorities for our marriages need to be our first priorities.

"Show hospitality to your saint.   Be hospitable to one another.   1 Peter 4:9

If we cannot learn to serve each other at home,
then any service we are doing outside of the home will not be authentic.
Sometimes the weight of what we are trying to accomplish in our family seems far too great.
Yet it is a vision that God can give you for your work at home.
Let your home be a space of spiritual refreshment, of peace.
a place where we learn to deal with conflict biblically and forgiveness flows easily.
We are the light of the world.
We need our homes to reflect that light through hospitality,
and that spirit of hospitality begins with the way we serve our spouse and children.
   

Sometimes I get tired of waiting for the answers.

I sometimes think I can function on my own remote control for a while.
I know that without You I miss Your perspective for what is truly important.

Guide me into truth and knowledge, help me to make right decisions.
Looking at the mountains in front of me, I become overwhelmed.

Look not at what is seen, but at the real, the eternal life.
Learn to know Me and draw My eternal kingdom very near.

Solve each problem as it come along and pray about everything, large and small.
Here are my anxieties and my problems.
I thank you for Your answers, given according to Your will.
You know my needs before I ask.

Seek to live knowing no other desire but to express Me and to show My love to the world.

A little boy said to his mother in the doctor's waiting room.
I am tired of this place now, let's go mommy.
We have to wait, she said.
But I am ready to go, Let's get out of here!
He didn't understand that he was waiting there for a purpose, his good health.

Sometimes, I get tired of waiting, too.   
Help me to trust in You.

Bad news and perverted news is easy to start reading on the internet.

Be careful what you see little eyes.
Be careful what you read on the internet.  
Bad news, and perverted news is easy to set before your mind and heart.
Don't fall into that trap!

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

Very few people realize the effect of thought upon the condition of the soul, that it is in fact it's food the substance from which it evolves its strength and health and beauty or upon which it may become weak and unhealthy and deformed.   If we think love and corrupt thoughts, we bring diseases upon our soul, just as really as we bring disease upon our body by eating corrupt and improper food.    The man who thinks about self, feeds on self, just in proportion to the amount of thought he gives to self, and may at last become puffed up with self, and suffer from the dreadful disease of self conceit and self importance.    Fill your soul with believing thoughts of God.    "the flesh profits nothing, the words I speak to you, they are spirit and are life." Dwell on His words.   Let your soul feed and be nourished by them.   Your soul will be made strong and vigorous.   - a gentle spirit.

Be careful how you think, for your life is shaped by your thoughts.  -prov. 4:23

The calling Me does not really summon Me, I am beside you already.   
But it removes as it were the scales from your eyes, and you see Me. -God calling

FAMILY
Those who don't care for their own relatives especially those living in the same household have denied what we believe.   Such people are worse than unbelievers.   1 Tim. 5:8

Speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.   Proverbs 31:9

You know that gift you thought was special? It's not good enough.

Ever give someone a gift, and the gift is treated like it is 'not good enough'?
And they share their thoughts of your defective giving with loved ones around you?
You know the hurt you feel because you went out of your way to give it.
They turn their nose up at 'what you thought was a sweet gift' and it hurts!
Lord that can make us feel so hurt and angry.
Especially when we have precious little resources to work with.
We lift that up to You.

Please help us to be gracious in our gift giving and receiving.
Not resentful, no strings attached.

Please help us to see gifts others give us, You give us,
with thanksgiving and appreciation.

Forgive us for our lack of appreciation for the loving care that may have gone into that gift that was 'not good enough.'


MARRIAGE

God is the ultimate pilot of our lives and our only true source of security is in Him.
Yet in a committed relationship,
He gives us an earthly taste of our security in Him.
Lord, please help us with our spouses to be able to trust each other.

"Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.  
How I can fulfill the promises is My work, not yours to consider.   
Have a big faith, and expect big things, and you will get big things."  -God Calling

Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.   
Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, 
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.   Psalm 90:12

Lord let us see today and each duty in this day as you see it.

A troublemaker plants seeds of strife, gossip separates the best of friends.  - Proverbs 16:28
Disregarding another's offense preserves love, telling about them separates close friends. -Prov. 17:9

Today- don't say something you are just dying to share!

Help vs. Control -are you trying to help? or control?

Do things as to God, not as to men.
It is from the Lord not from men that you will receive the inheritance that is your real reward.Col 3:23-24

Serving God is serving the other person, not doing it for what you can get back.

I am determined to swim upstream against the pull of my selfishness and to be a servant and a blessing everywhere I go.   -Joyce Meyer

So far as you failed to do it for the least of these, you failed to do it for Me.

If we have done nothing kind for others, then we have done nothing for Him.

MARRIAGE
Serve your marriage partner and see it as serving God.

Are you a worrier, full of anxiety?

Are you a worrier, full of anxiety?

No matter how entrenched a pattern is in our lives, we are not doomed to be stuck in it forever.
Our God is a God of transformation.    He is in the business of changing lives.   But He can not do it without our consent.   We have to be willing to enter into the process.   Once we begin, we can use one of the potent tools God has given us:   the power to choose!  -Beth Moore

When we worry all we see is the circumstances and all others see in us is stress.
But when we believe in God despite the circumstances,
we see the glory of God.

As we seek what God has for us to do, stay focused on His wisdom and encouragement.