Living for Him

When we trust Him & let go there is FREEDOM!!!!

peace

This is such a sweet worship song. No matter what kind of day we have had. When the kids are in bed, the house is quiet we are quiet He is here. We belong to Him. I am amazed at the peace & comfort I feel just thinking about Him. When I call His name He is here. He has been all day.

My tongue

God has really been speaking to me this week about my tongue. It amazes me how it can be used for good or bad. I can choose to praise with it or I can choose to use it to curse. I can choose to build someone up or choose to tear someone down. I can choose to use it to speak life or I can choose to use it to speak death. This is something I struggle with. When I am speaking to my kids. When I've had enough & trying to handle them. I'm reminded this week that how & what I speak to them is how they will handle others as well as their children in the future. God has shown me this week that it goes beyond my tongue on why I may say or react the way I do. So my prayer is that God will continue to show me the things that I need to change & submit so that He can continue to change me. There is life & death in the power of our tongue.

Proverbs 12:18 (New International Version)
18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 15:4 (New International Version)
4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.


Proverbs 18:21 (The Message)
21 Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified Bible)
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].(A)

The BIG stink

Well the weather here has been so nice this week. The there has not been a lot of humidity & there has been a nice breeze. It has been hot but nice for it to be July. Anyway, I decided to start my morning off with my coffee, bible & journal on the back porch this morning. I started reading my devotional book then here comes Kaleb with the phone for me. So I talked for a few & then got off to get back to my coffee & bible. Well then the kids start yelling at each other so I stopped again to go handle that. Well I'm walking through the sun room back to the porch where my stuff is. I am stopped by a smell a VERY bad smell. I did smell it when I walk through earlier but thought our dog maybe just passed gas. Well this time it was worse & smelled like something was dead. So I start searching for that something. I could not find anything. So I went over to our deep freezer & thought is it this..... oh how I hope not. I opened the lid boy was I wrong, I have NEVER smelled something that horrible in my life. Some how it had been turned off. Now I have a VERY weak stomach. So off to the back porch I go gagging & thinking I was about to loose the little bit of coffee I have had. So I then run in the house so my neighbors don't think I'm crazy. Well when I opened the door to the living room the smell came with me & flooded the house. I only had the door open just to walk through. You would have thought I had left it opened. The kids were of course screaming & holding there nose. So my oldest gets his spray deodorant & sprays it like it's a can of air freshener. So I light candles spray real air freshener & it won't go away. It was so bad I could taste it yuk! I know the only way to get the smell out is to get the freezer out of the sun room & on to the back porch. So I take a deep breath & go back out there & Cory & I manage to get it out on the porch. Now I know this is going to make the smell worse when my husband (God bless him) has to clean it but the smell would not go away other wise. It has been 4 hours & I am happy to say with 2 candles, 4 plug-ins, & lots of spray the smell is gone. As I was eating my lunch I was thinking how that smell is like satan. When we allow things in our lives that shouldn't be whether it's anger, jealousy, addiction, ect..... it will stink up our lives. It can take a lot longer than 4 hours to get the stink out. It can flood our whole house & not just affect us but our family to. I am thankful that we serve a GOD that is greater than anything & He will help us get the stink out of our lives if we allow Him to. But we can't just get part of it. We have to get rid of all of it or it will continue to stink up our lives.

How Awesome

Psalm 107 (The Message)

Psalm 107

^1-3 Oh, thank God—he's so good! His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
from the four winds, from the seven seas.

^4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

^10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
cruelly confined behind bars,
Punished for defying God's Word,
for turning your back on the High God's counsel—
A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
and not a soul in sight to help.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

^17-22 Some of you were sick because you'd lived a bad life,
your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn't stand the sight of food,
so miserable you thought you'd be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He spoke the word that healed you,
that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
tell the world what he's done—sing it out!

^23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
you didn't know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

^33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

^42-43 Good people see this and are glad;
bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
If you are really wise, you'll think this over—
it's time you appreciated God's deep love.

Psalms 91

God brought this verse to me last night. As I continue to hear about the swine flu & the crazy weather we are having. The enemy wants us to have fear that's how he works & tries to consume our mind with fear. But Gods word is truth & will not return void! I claim this over my husband, myself, my children & our house.

Psalm 91 (New Living Translation)

Psalm 91

¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
³ For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
⁸ Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
¹¹ For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
¹³ You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

1 John 4:4 Greater is he that lives in me than he who lives in the world

Gods word is Truth & does not return void!

Amazing Love

April 9, 2009
Easter Shows Us God's Amazing Love
by Rick Warren
In our Devotionals series, Pastor Rick Warren discusses the Bible passages that inspire him the most. Today's Devotional is based on this passage:
"God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NLT).
Everything that Jesus did for you He did out of love. The Bible says that God made you to love you. The only reason you're alive is because you were made to be loved by God.If God didn't want you alive, your heart would stop instantly; you wouldn't even be breathing right now. God made you and wants you alive so He can love you and so you can love Him back.God didn't just say He loved you, He showed it. The Bible says, "God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NLT). It says while we were still sinners. Before I even knew God, before I even knew I needed God in my life, Jesus died for me.There's a myth that says I've got to clean up my act before I can come to God. "I've got to get it all together. There are a few things I've got to get right in my life first, and then I'll come to God." No! You come to God with your problems—the good, the bad, and the ugly.Why do we do this? It's like when we brush our teeth before we go to the dentist to have a teeth cleaning; or when we wash the dishes before we put them in the dishwasher; or when we pick up the house before the maid gets there! Why do we do this?God says, "No, no! You don't have to clean up your act. Just bring it all to Me. Bring Me all your problems. I have the answer. I have all the answers." You don't wait. Jesus says, "Come as you are."The Bible says, "He will send down help from heaven to save me because of His love" (Psalm 57:3 LB). That's what Jesus did on Easter. He sent down Himself from heaven to save us because of His love. So you bring your problems to God because He has the answer.If you don't act on this news then the death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection is wasted for you personally. It makes no difference in your life. You may recognize the gift, but you still have to receive it.The Bible says, "You will be saved, if you honestly say, 'Jesus is Lord,' and if you believe with all your heart that God raised Him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others" (Romans 10:9-10 CEV).God is not asking you to make a promise you cannot keep. God is asking you to believe a promise that only He can keep.
Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America’s largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven line archives.Did someone forward this Daily Devotional to you? Get your own free subscription to The Purpose Driven Connection Daily Devotional, your daily inspiration via email.