Reading List

What are you reading? Here is a list of my current book list. Comment if you've read any and your thoughts, or if you have any you think I should read! :)

1. Keep Your Love On

2. Growing Up Social

3. The Best Yes 

4. Hands Free Mama

5. Boundaries in Marriage

Jocelyn does my makeup :)

Jocelyn always wants to play makeup, so while miss Stella is napping we decided to have some fun :)

Hope it cracks you up as much as it did me!

Ask, Seek, Knock Knock

Many of us are struggling.

 1 in 10 Americans struggle with depression.

1 in 13 suffer from anxiety, globally.

and these are just the top 2.

God wants to heal us, but he also wants us to ask for healing and restoration. He does not want us to live with depression, anxiety, or any other thing that isn't from him. If your a parent, think about your children for a minute. How much you love them, would do anything for them, and want them to succeed. You cannot imagine loving them more. Well God loves you more than that! We are all his children.

Matthew 7:7-11

Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who ask receives; he who seeks finds; and he who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for break, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

(Before you start turning your wheels after reading this verse it is not talking about things we lust. James 4:3 says When you ask, you do not revive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Also if you don't know how to go about asking James 1:5-7 clarifies, If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord..)

We ask for what we wish, look for what we miss, and go knocking on areas we feel locked out of.

What do you wish, miss, and feel locked out of?

With the statistics as high as they are some may wish they didn't have an anxiety attack, or suffer with depression. We may be seeking an answer, we just may not know what it is and feel locked out of ourselves.  Jesus broke that barrier, to be what we were looking for and opened the locked door in our lives to reveal him! We are his sons and daughters, he loves you more than you can imagine, but he wants you to ask for him to help, to heal and restore you.

I have seen quite a few miracles. All of which I spent time in prayer for. Someone with extreme anger, completely delivered. Someone with issues because one leg was shorter than the other, grow! More big and small! Jesus wants to make you whole!! If it helps you have others pray with you. (Matthew 18:19-20)

When we look back at Exodus when Moses is leading the Israelites out of Egypt, the Israelites saw them coming and were terrified. Moses answered...

Exodus 14:13-14

Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.

Then Moses parted the sea...member that story.

Look at that verse again, the Egyptians were a symbol of evil coming to hurt them. What's the evil in your life thats hurting you.

Ask him, Seek him, and Knock Knock on his door.

He will fight for you, you just need to be still. Still not meaning doing nothing, but praying, seeking, and knocking on his heart.

prayer:

Today for the prayer were gonna read Exodus 14:13-14 but instead of saying Egyptians were gonna insert what our evil is. (depression, rage, anxiety, bitterness, etc.)

Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverence the Lord will bring you today. The               

you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.

Say this over and over, everyday till you believe it!

Copy Cats of Christ

It can be hard when your surrounded by other people who are gossiping not to throw your two cents in. We have all gossiped, and it is a constant temptation. It is also hard to treat the people your not fond of with the love of God. The bible says be imitators of God, or I say copy cats of Christ :) When you build people up with your words it shines the light of Jesus. When you spit out negative things it's hurtful and sinful.

Ephesians 4:29-31/ 5:1
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others us according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kinda and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. BE IMITATORS OF GOD!

1 Thessalonians 5:15
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and everyone else.

Matthew 5:44-48
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more that others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Thats crazy, pray for your enemies, so that you will be sons of the Father....meaning brothers or sisters in Christ. Sounds hard to do, but think about it, if your praying for your enemy to be a brother or sister of Christ maybe they wouldn't be your enemy anymore. Their are some evil people in this world, judgement isn't our job, but prayer is. In Proverbs 25:22 In being kind to your enemy you actually heap burning coals on their head. It frustrates them that your nice. But not only that, God will reward you for doing the right thing. Work on keeping your tongue uplifting!

prayer:
Father, forgive us for all the trash that comes out of our mouth and when our actions reflect trash. Clean me up so I can be a reflection of you to others.
Amen!

Testing of our Faith vs Tempting of Satan

Sometimes we wonder why certain situations arise. Life has certain consequences that we don't understand. First God test, and Satan temps. God is a good God.

Luke 18:19 
No one is good except God alone.

James 1:13 
When temped no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil,  nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin' and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Psalm 66:10
For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

Think about it this way. A test is something given by God, and leads back to him. It is directly influenced to your spiritual walk. Feeling lead to minister to someone--->test. How you react to a disrespectful person--->test. Testing your patience, faith, or love from someone when hurt you, ect all tests. Temptations are things from Satan, leading back to him. Lust, adultery, addiction, rage, treating someone wrongfully are all forms of temptation.

One way I am seeing temptation with myself and the world is with the addiction of electronics. I want to have a relationship with my children and husband, not know whats up in iPhone world. I want to make memories with them, not be constantly checking Instagram, Facebook, emails. We all have areas where were being tempted.

Now when God is testing us, it can be very hard, but very rewarding. Writing these devotions I am putting myself out there to be made fun of, talked about, anything else you can think of, but if I am doing the work of the Lord and thats what he is leading me to do, I don't want to fail Him.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who preserves under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of Christ that God has promised to those who love him. ( Revelations 2:10 he also promises the crown of life and says don't be afraid to suffer) (suffer meaning getting made fun of talked about etc for doing the Lords work)

Read Deuteronomy chapters 7,8,9
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 The Lord led you(Israel) into the desert for 40 years to humble and test them. In this verse he says to teach them that man does not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. They were hungry and ate mana.

Deuteronomy8:17 Israel was rebellious against the Lord, they failed. The Lord was trying to drive them out of Egypt but they did no see the big picture. Just like in our lives we do not see the big picture, we see the temporary situation, but God is humbling us for HIS BIG PLAN. We fail but the good news is Jesus never fails us. He fulfills this promise in Matthew.

In Matthew 4 Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert (just like the Israelites) to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. (just like the Israelites) The tempter came to him and said, "If you are Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

This shows that Jesus took Israel's place and succeeded. Just like Jesus takes our place, living in us and intercedes when we ask him too.

When Israel failed, Jesus succeeded.
When we fail, Jesus succeeds.

Temptation is everywhere, especially online or television with just like click of a finger. Jesus can intercede through you when there is temptation in your life. Praying is the answer.

I think we should end with the Lord's Prayer Matthew 6:9
Our Father in heaven
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
you will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us of our debts
as we forgive our debtors.
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
amen.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for taking our place and succeeding when we fail. Help us to come close to you and pray for guidance when we are tempted. This world can be a dark place, but you bring light. When you test us, let us always remember the work we are doing, and the promises you have for us.
Amen

What's Your Perfume?

I remember when I was on vacation one time we got trapped in an elevator with these girls who had so much perfume on. It was hard not to cough or laugh, because we all thought it and were looking at each other. When we finally got out of the elevator it was like whew I can breath!!! Or on the complete other hand your husband is wearing your favorite cologne and he comes up and give you a big hug. You take a deep breath because you love that smell. In a sense we carry a fragrance with us everywhere we go. I'm not talking about Daisy from Marc Jacobs or Aqua Di Gio by Armani. I'm talking about a presence, an attitude. And people can sense it when your around you. Do you bring a good fragrance when you walk into a room, or do others instantly know when your in a bad mood and flee from you like over sprayed perfume! We all have bad days and i'm not saying always fake being happy, but in the bible people could tell when others were around Jesus. They carried his presence wherever they went.

In Acts 3 there is a cool story about Peter using his faith to heal a beggar. We've all seen that homeless person on the side of the road holding a sign it usually causes us to think a lot. What would be the first thing you'd give them? Money? Thats what this beggar in the bible was asking for. Well Peter and John chose a really cool route for this beggar who was always outside the temple. This man had been cripple from birth. As they were walking into the temple Peter said to the beggar, "Look at us." So the cripple instantly looked up expecting to get money, but Peter said, "silver or gold I don't have, but what i have (faith, Jesus power inside me) I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. People around were filled with wonder and amazement. That wonder and amazement wasn't from Peter or John but the presence they were carrying with them, and that was Jesus'. Others could see that and wanted that.

We all have the opportunity to carry that "fragrance" wherever we go. Somedays when I don't feel like i'm bringing the best fragrance around I spend time reading the bible and praying, that helps. One way I can think of for everyone to try to do is the next time your in a restaurant and have a bad experience don't leave a bad fragrance. Instead try to change the waiters. They may be having a bad day or other bad customers, but you can rub off the presence you carry on them. There are many ways we can do this everyday. I challenge you to try to bring Jesus' prensence with you everywhere and as you do you will watch it rub off on the others around you. And when you change someones mood like that, the rooms gonna smell a heck of a lot better! :) haha

Peace :)

comment on some ways to spread Jesus' presence around you

Revealing God's Glory

God's glory can be revealed in the most amazing times in our lives. On the other hand God's glory can truly be revealed in the hardest of situations. Jesus dying on the cross was a grusome time. If it wasn't for that his glory wouldn't have been revealed when he rose from the grave. When I was in Jr. High I suffered from an eating disorder. Satan had a hold on me and I was deceived of many things. I didn't understand why it was happening. My image was just a symbol of me being mislead from how Jesus sees me. I was sent an angel who saved me. She helped me get to the right place spiritually. I am completely healed! It is only by Jesus, and it is nothing short of a miracle.

John 9:1-7
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him,"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam." So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 

This man being healed by Jesus showed many people God's Glory.

John 12:7-10
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times i pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when i am weak, then I am strong.

This is Paul talking here. He is saying how Satan tormented him. But since in all the weakness Christ's power is made evident Paul will be delightful. What strength! Paul is saying I will be glad in weakness, insults, difficulties. For when I am week, He makes me strong. In all our hardships in life a lot of us see nothing to be grateful for. It is very hard and far from the worlds thoughts, but you can take those hardships and asks God's glory to be revealed through you to the world.

Deuteronomy 31:8
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

The Lord is with you through everything, continually rely on him. Just like Jesus' strength was revealed through the man that couldn't see, Jesus showed how he renews and heals by working through me. What will your story of God's glory in your life be?
Comment below

prayer:
Lord, it isn't easy going through trials, and we don't always understand why or why us. Help us to know your with us ALWAYS, and that your glory is revealed in good times and in hard times. Use us to show others your power and strength.
Amen.