Do we listen to our dreams?

Do we listen? Do we hear the messages intended for us?
In today’s reading, the three wise men were told to not return to Herod, Joseph was told to get up and flee to Egypt, and he was told when he could return home. What if we are missing our messages from God???
I don’t want to miss any of my messages and I am pretty sure I do.
It also hit me, when I receive them I don’t always immediately do what I think I’m being told. Joseph did that very night!
Joseph’s whole world was turned upside down by an angel of God and he listened. Our worlds are turned upside down and we sometimes turn away from God, don’t you think? Joseph was such a man of God, he listened. He must have been a very special man. His heart was open to God’s desires and he was willing to believe and trust in God. We must be willing. I love Joseph and his heart…his willing heart to listen and obey. He placed Jesus in the home of a very special man that He could learn about being special. He watched Joseph take care of his mom, he watched Joseph be obedient to the Father, He watched Joseph take care of his family, He watched Joseph be a servant to God’s desires and not his own. Sometimes, I think we don’t look at Joseph enough to realize all that we might learn from this man. This simple man that was a carpenter by trade, but a true Man of God with every step he took. A man that listened and obeyed Our Father, let’s follow Joseph’s example and receive our messages with obedience!
Sweet blessings,
Debbie

Obedience

Luke 1:39
You are blessed because you believed that the LORD would do what he said.

What a powerful statement! Do you?
Are you blessed is it because you believe?
I know it is true of me, but this young lady was between 13-16 years old without any teachings about the Word. Whatever she knew she knew from over hearing the men talk of the teachings of God as she stood and cleaned, or cooked, or cleaned for them and yet she believed the angel! She was obedient without much knowledge. We have God’s word and at times we question, which I believe to ask Him questions is a good thing. After all, He said we must be like children to enter heaven and children ask questions…so personally I think we should ask Him questions and He teaches us.
Original words You are happy because you are fulfilling what God the Supreme said He would do! This young girl believed and she was fulfilling God’s promise to all people to make it possible for Our Messiah to enter this world.
It is my prayer that we will all answer from words from yesterday’s reading….
May everything you have said about me come true.
May be only answer the same way with obedience just like Mary!
Sweet Blessings,
Debbie

In the Beginning...

Such, wonder and awe with this verse…
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
Jesus was and is always here with God. Jesus is the Word and it definitely is the Good News!
Wow, how I needed to turn the page this morning and read about Jesus. We are on day 24 of September, 2010 and I was ready for Jesus to appear and then I was reminded that He was already in the Word and that He is the Word! What a treasure!
Jesus came into the world to bring light, because He is light.
I was so very touched by verse 10 today and reminded that if Jesus is treated this way and then how could any of us be any different…He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
Praise the LORD!
Remember; when you are hurt by those that you think know you, remember this verse and it will get you through! People mistreated Jesus, so why should we expect otherwise we are mere humans with many flaws…
Look to the Light today and remember He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.
Praising God,
Debbie

Jesus! Sweet Jesus!

Malachi 4:2
But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.
Jesus!
Sweet Jesus!
Jesus with His grace will quicken, enlighten, invigorate, warm, heal, purify, refine, and did you hear it heal our souls? Don’t you love this verse? Our souls will be filled with the spirit and we will be full of Him! Praise the LORD!
We will be full of life and happy!
To have both of these we have to be filled with JESUS! He must be residing in our hearts.
Have you ever watched a new baby cow play in the pasture? It is amazing to watch the playful banter of the new little being discovering for himself the first time.
Have you watched a new Christian with the sparkle in their eye share for the first time about Christ? Isn’t it beautiful? Do you remember? Do you still sparkle? Do others see the sparkle?
Twinkle today and remember the playful banter of your special moments with Jesus and share these with others along the way!

Sweet blessings,
Debbie

Celebrate!

Nehemiah 12:43
For God had given the people cause for great joy.
Indeed! Indeed!
Pause for a moment and think about the causes for joy in your journey…
Oh, I know we all have stuff in our life. Bad stuff, but we also have hope! Hope given to us by God by sending His Son to die for me and for you; we are able to have eternal life because of God! Nothing we have done to earn it, simply because of God’s Mighty Love for each of us we have everlasting life; so isn’t this a cause for great joy?
Shouldn’t we have a choir going from one side of town to the other? Shouldn’t we be celebrating and giving thanks always? In the verses today the people are back in Jerusalem and dedicating the wall. Celebrations are abounding the city! Don’t you feel them? They have returned to their homeland and they are happy.
We have Jesus; shouldn’t this be a joyful celebration?
Sweet Blessings,
Debbie

Determined to work

Nehemiah 6 Hard at work, but forces around me want the work to stop! So, they continue to send messages to try to change my mind. Imagine, that the devil is so tricky using others that way!

So, finally a open letter arrived for Nehemiah. A sign of disrespect and he knew it. After all in that day a letter was flattened then rolled and tied with ribbon, but no this on arrived open and in the hand. Still, he was not going to be frightened or stopped from his work on the wall. So he worked hard with greater determination. I found it interesting when I looked at other translations part of the verse was left out and a very important part of the verse - But now O God strengthen my hands...How we finish our work we are called to do is only through the strength of God! I think it is interesting that in our version is says So I continued to work with greater determination...he did, but only with God's strength was he able to do so!

So don't stop continue to call on God for strength in your hands to get the work done!

Calling on Him,
Debbie

The Hand of God

Ezra 8:18, 22, 31

Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they went us a man named Sherebiah, …

"Our God's hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.

And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way. So we arrived safely…

Wow, God's hand gracious hand protected the people, so they arrived safely. Picture it in your head the people were returning with 24 tons of silver…not a couple of bracelets, necklaces, nope 24 tons. Add to that 7500 pounds of silver articles, 7500 pounds of gold, gold bowls, bronze with people that had no soldiers or horsemen to accompany them. No protection just people returning home with their belongings surrounded by people that didn't like them much. But they arrived home safely!

God punished them and now He was protecting them.

Ponder on this image and be filled to the brim with God's love for us. He disciplines us, but He loves us. I picture these people wandering home with all of these treasures and they are safe…God is indeed good! I also found it interesting that not one volunteer Levite showed up. Ezra had to send for one. What is that all about? Well, according to a commentary, none were simply Levites. He found priests and sons of Levites that were not priests. So this is what he faced.

Here are 1000's of men, women, and children that were not use to traveling, had no discipline, no army strength across a desert for months and the original words meaning God snatched them away, delivered, and they had marvelous health and security on the journey. This safe trip is one of the most astonishing facts ever accomplished!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

 

Prayer for the weekend: We will begin to pray for other countries and their concerns. The days of September 18-19 we are to pray for Poland. Pray for the young people that thought instant wealth was coming from capitalism. The violence, crime, and immorality are on the rise.

Pray for training among the leaders of church. Pray for Christianity to grow throughout the country.

We will begin to pray for another country and its needs according to Operation World starting this weekend!

 

 

Sleepless, but listening…

Esther 6:1- 2

That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot …the plot against him.

Tossing and turning, no sleep an accident? I think perhaps God wanted Xerxes to have a long sleepless night! A night to remember!

A night that God reminded Xerxes of before evil was done to Mordecai the next day by Haman. God's timing is amazing. Oh, we might write it off as a bad night with no sleep, but I think it was a Divine Appointment from God. A reminder of what Mordecai had done for Xerxes, so that he would listen the next day to the evil plans that Haman had in mind. Timing of an important reminder of good things that Mordecai had done for him; timing that was reminded by reading the book of history because he could not sleep. Don't you think every king wants to wake up in the middle of the night and read about his book of history? I think perhaps God wanted him to read that book at that moment, before the next morning began!

God's timing.

Think over your journey. Any bad nights of sleep? Any thoughts that you thought came from nowhere and yet you needed them the next day?

I love God's Hand at work using sleepless nights, missed appointments, unanswered prayers (we think) unexpected letters, sermons, etc…to remind us of what truly matters! Perhaps on your next sleepless night listen for God's directions…

Listening,

Debbie

Quiet?

Esther 4: 14

If you keep quiet at a time like this,

Have you ever thought about the people that God placed in your life that you are the one to share Him with them? What if you are their one person that will or is suppose to share the Word? Only you keep quiet!

Imagine, it's your time to let your light shine and silence is what you offer. What happens to the person and to you? Well, it might be like Mordecai told Esther…Don't think for a moment that because you're in the palace you will escape.

No escape and we can't be quiet. The time is now to share the LORD! Just share what a difference He makes in your life. It's a lot easier than it seems at first. He gives you the words to share and this might be your time to shine!

So, don't be quiet ~ Shine and share about the LORD!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Better from the fires!

Zechariah 13:9

I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "These are my people," and they will say, "The LORD is our God."

Who among us hasn't been through a fire in your lifetime?

Well, nobody right?

We all face terrible situations that you always thought somebody else would face not you. Oh, some are worse than others, but to each person their situation is the fire. It is bad, it burns, it hurts, it begins to heal over, and then we knock off the scab again and it is all fresh again. The pain the wrong is right back in our face, but once you get through it or you not tested and better? If you aren't able to say yes, then you are probably in the middle of the refinement stage. The stage that you are being tested to be improved where He wants you to shout at the top of your lungs about HIS MIGHTY GLORY! The word for they will call on my name is glory…so call on HIS Glory! The best part to me was that once you shout out in his Glory that the LORD answers, which in original translation meant HE SHOUTED HIS RESPONSE! So, cry out to the Almighty.

It is terrible when we are in this process of going through the fires and we may has well make it plural, because we face many fires in our lifetime, but we are so much better on the other side of the fire. After going through an actual home fire this scripture truly means a lot. God gave me a visual to understand this scripture. The fire left everything dirty, nasty, ugly just like we are when our refinement starts and on the other side beauty evolves. Beauty from the ashes definitely, so when you are in the midst of the fire, just know that soon beauty will arise again and you will be more beautiful than ever because you have been proven, tested and purified by God!

Thank you LORD for the fires that you use to make us better!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Sparked!

Haggai 1:14, 2:4 & 5

So the LORD sparked the enthusiasm…(yesterday)

But now the LORD says: Be strong, Zerubbabel, Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. My Spirit remains with you…

The Lord sparks our enthusiasm. I was studying yesterday getting ready for a retreat and was reminded that we are to have a childlike attitude to get into heaven. Do you remember the zest for life, the sparkle when you discovered something new? I do. Well, God wants us to have a spark, a twinkle, a awe moment about our walk with Him. He wants us filled with wonder and awe about HIM.

At times, we(Christians) forget we are what others look to about Christ. Do we sparkle or are we dull? When they look at us to we shine and they wonder what it is about us or do we appear down and dark and they don't want any part of that? Shine today…

And now go out and accomplish, make, fashion something to happen for the LORD. After all the LORD is with us, in fact the original meaning was the LORD abides, remains, and endures with us! It sounds better to say the LORD abides with us, doesn't it? I don't want it to sound like we are so dull that the LORD endures being with us. The LORD is in the midst of us and He helps us to shine! He nudges us and we remember…

Today, ask questions. Remember when you were little and all you could do was ask questions to learn. Ask and learn. Just because we are big, little girls doesn't mean we aren't allowed to be curious, to learn, and play with childlike qualities after all, don't we want to go to heaven?

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

 

Precious

Daniel 10: 19

"Don't be afraid," he said, "for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged ! Be strong!

Today, I want you to play fill in the blanks.

__________for you are very precious to God. Place your name and say it over and over again. Remember it! It is true!

The picture today fit so beautifully I think this scripture. God formed us and made us and gave us to our families. We are a gift for a period of time to the people in our journey, but we are His. We are precious to Him.

The next word that was so very special from this scripture today was Peace! The original word meant be complete, sound, and safe. In God we are complete, sound and safe He gives us all of this because we are precious to Him!

So, today and everyday fill in the blank!

__________________for you are very precious to GOD! To whom? GOD

Sweet blessings from one that is precious to God to another,

Debbie

 

 

Who do we Serve?

Daniel 6

I love this story! Not the usual reason of the lions and Daniel thrown in with the lions, but because of Daniel's knowingly going home kneeling down and praying towards Jerusalem to give thanks just like always. Three times a day just like always, he was true to God and gave thanks knowing it could cost him his life. Daniel knew who he served!

I love this! Knowing that death could be in his near future, he stayed true to God. Another thing I like about this story is the king. King Darius knew Daniel well enough that he knew about Daniel's God and he handled things a little differently. He knew he ordered the decree, so he followed through, but yet he told Daniel that may your God that you serve faithfully save you. He knew Daniel served him, but he knew who Daniel really served ~ God! He saw and he knew. He ordered the stone across the den; so that if Daniel was rescued there would be no doubt that it was Thy God that delivered him. It would have to be the Supreme God! Don't you know that God loved this? Why don't you put two? Is that all you got? I know that God was ready to show all exactly who HE was and is…The Supreme God that heard Daniel's prayers and knew Daniel's heart indeed rescued Daniel for all to see!

The king was different that night. He did not go to the banquet hall or partake with his concubines; he fasted and could not sleep. He was anguished, he was afraid, because he cared about Daniel, but wasn't sure about His God. Daniel knew and shouted that An angel shut the lions' mouth. He was loyal to God and the king.

The king then pointed out in a decree to all (after the ordering of the others death in the den) that God was living, He would live forever, His kingdom would never be destroyed, that He rescues, He performs miracles and that HE delivers and shows His power. The king pointed out the perfections of the True God. A king that did not believe pointed this out imagine. Indeed, all should tremble with fear of Our Mighty God!

Who do we serve?

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

River Adventure

Ezekiel 47

The River of Healing

I love the imagery of the reading today and especially after looking at the different commentaries. The river starting out at ankles deep going to where we have to swim in the river…possible thoughts on this vision are first, Plan of salvation for each of us. Where the leaders are given, then the law, John the Baptist and then Christ and the Holy Spirit was one possible meaning of this vision. Another was the growth starting as a seed, then blade of seed, then blade on stalk, then ear of corn. Another was the growth of a child with just a taste of the bread of life until you are a mature adult immersed in the life.

All beautiful meanings for the vision that Ezekiel had, what did it mean to you?

To me it's all about our salvation. We get some things a little easier than others, so we are ankle deep. Some things in life we don't really understand, so we search a little bit deeper and then finally we are in way over our head and we are totally dependent on Our Savior. We adore Him and know that we believe in Him and that we don't have to understand everything we just believe!

What about you? Are you ankle deep? Waist deep where it's a little bit harder? Swirling out in the middle of the river trusting in the LORD?

I suggest get on out in the river with The LORD and trust Him for the adventure of a lifetime! We don't have to understand everything, just believe and go for it!

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

Settle in middle forever!!!

Ezekiel 43:

Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east.

I was looking at the Adam Clarke commentary and it brought up an interesting thought. Is it not a mystery that All Knowledge, all science, all arts & science, all religion came from the east; all according to the course of the sun?? From east to west…

The light from the Divine filled from the east and still does! Isn't this fabulous?

Every morning the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Adam Clarke's commentary went up to explain that is how the Word spread too. East to west and then in verse five with the Spirit took me up and brought me…How many men were taken and filled with the Holy Spirit and their light begins to burn brightly for the LORD. They build temples and they share the Light with others. The Lord, said this is the place of my throne where I will rest my feet. He dwells among us…He resides with us. He never leaves us. When I looked up the original words it meant that God will settle down in the middle of us forever! Is that not the coolest???

 

God thank you for your amazing power, glory and love! Thank you for letting your glory rise from the east every morning to remind us that indeed you are in the middle of us forever. We love you. Amen

 

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

 

 

Experience His Touch

Meetings with Jesus

Today, the reading was about genealogy and I felt lead to think and write about Jesus. I want you to imagine the feelings of people that experienced the touch of Jesus. The blind man that healed Jesus eyes, when he was able to see the first time looking between Jesus fingers he would have seen love and compassion flowing from Jesus face into him. Imagine, the woman with the issue of suffering when He probably helped to her feet and the totally loved feeling of this wonderful Jesus! Think about these people Jesus healed and the first night they went to sleep thinking about the amazing touch of Jesus.

What about the times that Jesus gazed into people's eyes? Don't you know He caught the eye of Mary when she anointed Him with love, thanks and quiet understanding? Or at the cross gazing down to His mother's eyes and the love that flowed without a word?

The laughter of Jesus. You know He laughed with the children and He always wanted the children to come to Him. He laughed, He played, and He spent time showing love and acceptance to a group that were not acknowledged much during this time.

Today, it is my prayer that you will ask Jesus for more. More of Him in your everyday, ordinary life! Experience His loving touch, Experience his gaze of understanding, the laughter at a shared funny moment, but share the time to experience. We are given this gift right now; we don't have to wait till we are in heaven. Jesus wants it now and so do you! Reach for Him and share the touch flowing with amazing love!

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

Turn

Ezekiel 33: 11

…I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

Simply turn! Change! Submit!

Doesn't sound so hard, does it?

Is it about having our own way, even if that means death?

I read this and wonder how could they not listen…then I think about us.

Stubbornness is one reason, disobedience is another, and pride along with a little selfishness tossed in just a few of the reasons they might not have listened. When we look at the big picture eternal life or sin, doesn't look like much of a choice! Yet, sin was chosen here in the Word and again today we make the choice of sin at times. How? Human beings that fail…daily…hourly…moment to moment.

Ezekiel warns them over and over. He is the watchman the man in charge of warning and if he doesn't then it is on him. It is his fault for their deaths. Do they have hearing problems? Do we?

Are we sharing the word about eternal life to others? Evangelism isn't easy, especially in today's world with we have to be politically correct and all. Well, I'm done with the worry of being political correct. I have to know that I've shared Jesus with those around me and how He died for my sins, for my wrong choices, for my choosing to sin and I will not make the mistake of not sharing the only HOPE in the world with others. If they don't want to listen, it's okay, but at least I know that I tried. How can we not share the LIGHT with this dark world?

All we are asking is to take a look at taking a different turn. A turn towards the LIGHT and eternal life and absolutely nothing is better than this!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie