Even Me
Roman’s 3:23 tells us that all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. All means myself
and everyone else on this earth. If you are human and breathing then you have sinned. I think
sometimes that forgiving ourselves is harder than forgiving someone else. After all, we know
better, we gave our hearts to the Lord, we know what his commandments say, yet we choose
sin anyway. Sin is a choice. Perhaps we are involved in a sexual sin, we want to blame the
other person, for women we want to say the man pressured us and we just were too weak to
resist and gave in, it was his fault he should have known better. It is always easier to blame
someone else for our behavior, they made us do it, they are to blame.

When we refuse to own our sin, we give the devil power over us. The power to twist it and
convince us that the fault lies elsewhere. He clouds our vision of what took place, and makes us
angry at the other person, but really what he’s doing is making us feel like we are not worthy of
being forgiven. That if we truly are Jesus girls we wouldn’t have sinned, so therefore it is his
fault. We don’t want to own our part, we find it easier to forgive the other person. We tell
ourselves lies until the lies catch up to us. We are left with the pain of bad choices feeling as
though we are undeserving of forgiveness. To admit that we sin with the full knowledge of the
what we were doing keeps condemnation on us; and that is the trap the devil sets.

If he can keep us ashamed and blaming someone else, he will keep us from running to the
cross, owning our sin before The Lord. He already knows our part, he was there when it
happened. Yet he waits with arms outstretched to love us and allow us to fall into his arms
broken and ashamed. Admitting our guilt and receiving his grace, his mercy, and his
forgiveness in its place. Maybe you are thinking; well I have not committed that kind of sin. It
doesn’t matter what the sin is, or how long ago you committed it, or where or with whom you
committed the sin; we still need to forgive ourselves. When we receive God’s forgiveness and
refuse to forgive ourselves then we’re saying that we know better than God, and actually that’s a
sin in itself. The one place we can always go to be gut wrenchingly honest is to our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Who tells us in his word that when we come he is faithful and just to forgive
us of all our sin and purify us from all our unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9

So, in closing, remember no matter the sin receive God’s forgiveness and forgive yourself, he is
waiting!

Where do you find yourself dwelling? Do you dwell in the past, caught up in things that happened a long time ago or even last week. Or do you dwell in the future looking forward to
things that may or may not happen? We cannot change the past no matter how much we may desire to do so, and we have no control over future events all of those are in God’s hands. So
where do you dwell, what steals your joy?

We as Christian’s should be the happiest most joy-filled people around. Non- Christians and Christian’s alike should be able to see a joy that radiates from deep within, no matter our circumstances. I am not talking about happiness, happiness is contingent on our circumstance, joy is a bubbling up from within a root deep in our souls that time or circumstance cannot diminish.

I have had a lot of hard times in life that had I let them would have robbed me of my joy, had it not been for God and all he has done for me. On my saddest day, I can still have joy, how you ask, by remembering what Jesus has done for me, that’s how. I can have joy looking to my eternal home and forever with Jesus. I can have joy knowing my sin will never be held against me, I am forgiven of everything!

Regret and sadness over past mistakes or wrongs done to me are like cancer that eats away at my soul. Looking back is not an option, I am not going that way. I want to keep my eye on the
prize. The finish line of glory should be the only future event we look to, knowing that this life with all its ups and downs has passed, we will forever be with the one who saved us, no
mistakes or regrets will follow us into glory, we will have arrived!

I have a hard time being around people who are always ” Debbie downers”, they seem bent on sucking the joy and fun out of everything, always complaining etc… I wish there was a magic
sugar pill to sweeten them up (laughing here). You have heard it said that people are always watching, (you) may be the only Bible someone reads. If someone is watching/reading you
what would your Bible say? I don’t know about you, but I want my Bible to be filled with joy overflowing and the beauty of Christ!

Scriptures speak of joy.
Psalm 19:8b The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
Psalm 126:2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Psalm 100:1-3 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

I want to be a beautiful songbird of joy on this earth for The Lord. I want to walk in such a way that words are not necessary for people to know whom I serve. When someone looks at me, I want them to see Jesus first before words are ever spoken. Do you want this joy? Seek him, know him and allow him to crowd out the past hurts, anger, sins and whatever else may weigh you down, He can and He will!

Is it just me or does it seem like there is more darkness in the world than there is light, and I am not talking sun and moon, I am speaking about spiritual things? It feels as though Satan is
breathing down our necks, he seems to be winning. All we hear about is how bad humanity is.

News station after news station comes on with breaking news, someone has murdered, someone has stolen, another country is at war and so on. There are scandals, lawsuits in record
amounts, riots, even those sworn to protect us are committing crimes, so what are we to think?
Has God lost control? There are people out there who actually believe he has, but if we go to his word I think we will find that things are going exactly according to his plan.

God is allowing the devil and sin to run rampant for a while. He is fully aware of what is going on, and at the appointed time he will return, and there will be an end to evil and suffering, sin will be
vanquished forever! We are not the first ones to wonder, to fear that God is unaware or unable to stop sin and evil. I choose to go to scripture and see what he has told us about these terrible times and to believe by faith that God knows, allows and will end all the chaos and evil in his time.

Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Matthew 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
1Peter 1:6-7 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to
suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith
—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise,
glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth
death.
Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

There is sin in the world and it started in the garden with Adam; God is allowing it for his purposes to be fulfilled and one day when he returns it will be gone, trust him and look to see
him in all that is going on, controlled chaos, God’s plan!
There will be a time of restitution. Look to him, find your peace.

Just because we do not understand what he is doing, why he is allowing the things he allows and how it could be a good thing, doesn’t make it not so. God works out his plans according to his will and his purpose. Our part is to rest in him, to trust him to see us through and finally to wait for his return. The chaos we see is very much under is control, He’s got this!

My daughter was recently asked to use one word to describe me and ” constant” was her choice, and I smiled. I started thinking of this word. Here is what the dictionary says about it.
Con•stant 
synonyms:
continual, continuous, persistent, sustained, around/round-the-clock; ceaseless, unceasing, perpetual, incessant, never-ending, eternal, endless, unabating, nonstop, unrelieved; interminable, unremitting, relentless
steadfast, steady, resolute, determined, tenacious, dogged, unwavering, unflagging 

There are many words that she could have chosen, but I’m glad she chose this one. If there’s one thing I want to be to my family and friends is this, constant. Someone they can depend on and know will always there for them. I then started thinking about this word in relation to the Lord and his constant pursuit of us. His love is ceaseless, never-ending, eternal. He is always on our side, always doing for our good, always relentless in his pursuit of us. His love is all consuming! I know that I can turn to my savior at any time, I can put my request before him and trust him, knowing he has my best interest at heart. 

He is always full of compassion, grace, and mercy. He is attentive to my every need. No matter where I go, or what I’m doing the Lord is with me, ever-present, he is my strength, my help. Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
When I think of the love I have for my family I can’t imagine being able to love them more, and I always think about this, no matter how much I love them God loves them more. I cannot match his love for them, I cannot match his constant presence in their life. As much as I try to be there for them on a daily basis, or any situation that might arise, there are times when I just can’t; and I find my peace in knowing that the Lord is always, always there. I know that the things that he does are for their good and his glory. Roman’s 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

I try giving good advice when asked, advice that stems from God’s word and my own life experiences. The one thing I know for sure is that for any question asked there’s one place to find answers, in God’s word and through prayer. My desire for my family is that they have a constant prayer life and constant desire for the things of God. I want them to enjoy his word and grow daily in their walk. God’s word is constant and unchanging. More dependable than anything or anyone. Hebrews 13:8 says:  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” 

Yes, This word constant is a good word my heart is still smiling, maybe I am looking more like Jesus. Are you?

Choose wisely your friends. Have you ever heard this phrase, “guilty by association?” In other word’s, if you hang around people of bad behavior and character people will assume that you are the same. It does not matter if you are a good honest person, you will be lumped in with the friends you hang around. If they have a bad reputation, soon you will also.  A lot of times we think,”well I can be a positive role model and help change them”, sometimes that is true, but most of the time it is the opposite and we begin to behave like our friends. The Bible speaks about this very thing. Here are a few examples we find in scripture. 

1 Corinthians 15:33 
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Proverbs 18:24
24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 22:24-25 24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, 25 or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.

Proverbs 13:20 20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

As a mother, I tried to teach my children this truth when they were young and now I see them telling their children these truths. Do you want to be seen as a good, honest, trustworthy person? Part of that is who you hang around. We all want to think that we can be the influencer, but too often we are the influenced. There are times when God will place you in a friendship that stretches you and your beliefs. Just know that if he has done that he will help you and strengthen you. You must pray for protection and wisdom. Go to the Lord daily for strength and guidance. Be aware when the Holy Spirit quickens you that something is amiss inside you or your friend. 

Proverbs 27:17, As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. I have had people in my life that have sharpened me for the good, helped me grow in my faith, but I have also had friends that have sharpened me in not so good ways and I made poor choices. Proverbs 12:26 says: 26 The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

 I want to choose my friends wisely. I want friends that enhance my walk with the Lord, a friend that is there in the hard times as well as the good. I want to be that kind of friend. I want to walk in love as we are commanded to do. John 15:22-13, My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  Choose wisely who you follow! 

Be sure your relationship with the Lord is a strong one. Make sure you bring this friendship before the Lord and ask for wisdom to know if you are to proceed or step away. If the Lord asks you to step away he will also give you the wors and wisdom needed to do just that so that no one is hurt. Also, you can be the friend from a distance by lifting this person to the Lord daily. People can argue with your words and sometimes your actions if they disagree with you, but no one can stop your love and prayers sent to the Father on their behalf! After a while, you may find that you can revisit a physical friendship with them. God’s timing is always best.

What is it that captivates you? What is that one thing that you spend your time focusing on? Do you stand and stare at yourself in the mirror finding fault, always worried that you are not good enough, pretty enough, thin enough! Do you covet others stuff, their house, car or job? We are all guilty of these emotions from time to time. We somehow think that when God was planning lives ours did not seem as important as someone else’s, clearly, he spent more time on them. We find it so hard to believe that we matter to God, that our lives are just as important as the fellow next door or down the street. Well, I am here to tell you that you matter to God very much! He is intimately acquainted with you and wants the very best for you. However, his best will never look like the world’s best. He wants you to stare at “the Son”. Yes, he wants you to cast your gaze on him and allow him to fill every corner of your being. He is the only one who can make you feel like enough in this world. His word is full of scriptures that will help fill you up.

Psalm 36:5-7, “Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like th3e mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Jeremiah 1:4-5, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,”Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”

Isaiah 49:15-16, ”Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hand.”

Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Wow, what powerful words! God loves me, God delights over me with singing, God shelters me in the shadow of his wings! I matter to God! Our wonderful Creator and King is intimately acquainted with me and mindful of my every moment. He longs to have fellowship with me. He wants you to grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit and chat. Yes, He wants to hear your heart and fill it up with more of himself. When we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us those feelings of inadequacy will leave us. If we look long enough at “The Son”, we stop focusing on what the world says to us. Let’s face it, the world has a very skewed view of everything and sadly many of the people that we compare ourselves to, this is it for them. They will never be ushered into heavens gates when they leave this earth, this is their heaven with all its trappings.

I want to be so full of Jesus that this world matters not! I want to be so focused on what he has for me to do that what others think doesn’t matter. I want to be about the Father’s business of loving others. Then, when those feelings start trying to rear their ugly head and I can boldly land confidently look at myself in the mirror and say, “I am the child of “The King”, I am wonderfully made and dearly loved!

Take time today to sit with Jesus, bring all your junk and sit down and unload it, truly He wants to talk with you, He wants to hear your heart and your hurts. When we come He is faithful and He will never turn you away!

Every living thing has to breathe. Without breath, we would all die. It is something that most people take for granted and usually never give their ability to breathe a thought, we just expect breath to be there and go about our daily lives. Today as I was walking and listening to my dog panting as she walked along beside me, and my own faster breathing I began thanking God for breath. This day I awoke with clear lungs and breathing easily. As an asthma sufferer there have been many times that my breath did not come easy, I was struggling and afraid. Although I know not to panic and hyperventilate, still I found myself just that, why, because there is life in our breath. We need it, every living thing needs oxygen, to breathe. So, I decided to look at scripture and see what it had to say about breath. Here are a few things I found. 

When God made man he breathed life into him. Genesis 2:7 says: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Without God’s breath, Adam was just a pile of dirt! 

Job 33:4 says: The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. Job recognized his life and breath were from God alone. 

In Genesis 7 we read of Noah and the ark. Two of every living creature male and female were to enter the Ark along with Noah and his family. In verse 15 we read these words:  15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life; and in verse 22 these words:  22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. Life was in the Ark with God, everything outside of the Ark died, nothing survived the flood, every living thing drowned, the breath of life snuffed out. 

In Job 4:9 we read this: 9 
By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. God can exact his justice through just his breath. He is mighty and holy; he does not need a sword or any other means by which to smite an enemy. 

Job 12:10 says: 10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. And lastly in Psalm 33:6 we read: 6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

We have an awesome God, he breaths and life happens, he takes away and life ends. He breathes and his justice is poured out. If it were not for the gift of breath this very moment I would not be writing this. I am thankful!

Too often we overlook the awesome wonder of the body, the heart, the lungs, every function it has, we just assume everything is working fine and never take time to whisper a thank you to the God who created it and sustains it. Right now is a good time to do just that, say thank you!

Psalm 103:1-5King James Version (KJV)
103 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.

Wow, what s scripture!! As I read this out loud I wonder do I truly bless the Lord with all that is within me? Oh, how I want to, oh how I try. Sometimes life can be distracting, problems come and suddenly we feel overwhelmed, defeated, afraid even. But it’s in those moments where it’s very hard to bless the Lord with all that is within me, but you know what; God knows that! He created us and he understands our hearts better than we do ourselves, and it is in those moments that it is a sacrifice of praise and blessing.

When I can’t think of another reason to bless the Lord I can dwell on the fact that he has forgiven all my iniquities, he heals all my diseases, he redeems my life from destruction, and he crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies every day.The King of Kings and Lord of Lords has forgiven me; Believe me, I need forgiving! When I have nothing else this is where my mind goes, the Creator of the universe, does not hold my sin against me. When I think on this, I can truly say:” Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is
within me, bless his holy name”.

He satisfies my mouth with good things, it is always the Lord’s intention to be good to us. We may not always understand his ways, his ways are higher than ours, his thoughts are greater than ours. There are things this side of earth will never understand, but we can cling to the fact that he loves us with the love that sent him to the cross, he forgives us even on our worst day and for worse deed, he pours loving kindness all over us.

He redeems my life from destruction, I believe that means this side of heaven and also sparing us from hell, which is truly what we deserve. His love and his mercy and the grace that he pours over us literally save our souls, and our physical bodies; if death takes us our bodies will
rest in him until his return and then they will be raised to life again. I cannot truly comprehend it, but I accept it by faith.

Each morning that I awaken is one more day to get it right, One more day with a breath in my lungs that he has given me, I can bless his Holy name. I think I will!

The first question that comes to my mind is why? Why do I need to be still, what is in the stillness that I
need; why am I afraid of stillness?
This is a fast-paced world we live in, we teach our children to hit the floor running. We try to cram as
much in the day as we can. Busyness is the order of the day! But God has called us to times of quietness
and stillness, we need to stop, sit and listen. Too many times we’re afraid of what we will find. We don’t
want that time to look inside our hearts or even to know Jesus better. The world wants just enough Jesus
to go to heaven, but not enough to make them change their plans and certainly not their hearts!
I’ll admit there have been times in my quietness with the Lord that he has revealed things in me that I
don’t like. There have been things that I have felt him impress upon me to do, but I don’t really want to do
them, and there are times when he asks me to change something about myself, and I find the letting go
hard. None of us are immune to it. I think as we grow older and our children are grown it can get easier to
have that time alone with the Lord, but if people could just grasp that it is in the middle of the chaos, and
child raising that you need him so desperately! We can’t do this life without Jesus.

What does scripture say about being alone with God?
Psalm 46:10 says, ” Be still and know that I am God”
Matthew 6:33 says, ” But seek first the kingdom and His righteousness ”
James 4:8 says. ” Come near to God and He will come near to you”
Psalm 1:2 says, ” but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law both day and
night ”
And then we see Jesus example:
Matthew 14:22-23
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the
other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the
evening was come, he was there alone.
Mark 1:35
35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed.

If Jesus, the son of God needed time alone with his father, don’t you think we need to have that
time? It is in that stillness and quietness that we become more like him, and we are
strengthened to face this life. Life is hard, but God is good and he desires to give us that fresh
feeling each day. And we need him every hour of every day!