Category: Lamentations

Posted on

Rich in Mercy

I am grateful for God’s mercy. The Bible tells us that we are given new mercy every morning.

“The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. 23 The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. 24 Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!'” Lamentations 3:22-24 CEV

Have you ever felt like people judged you wrongly? They misunderstood or misconstrued a situtation or an action and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. You were branded, judged and even convicted.

Have you ever done that to someone? That’s the harder question to answer honestly. I have and it’s something I am ashamed to admit. When we judge and assess a situation our reasons are so self-righteous. We have so many excuses for our actions and why others are wrong.

” But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.)” Ephesians 2:4-5 ERV

If anyone has a right to judge it’s God. He is perfect in everyway and so His judgements are pure but He chooses to show mercy. Another term for mercy is “loving-kindness”. The Bible tells us that His loving-kindness, His mercy, goes on forever.

“Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.” Psalm 106:1 NLV

Thank you Lord for always showing mercy. Since God is both just and merciful it’s necessary to see how both work in harmony. God cannot let His mercy override His justice. We have all sinned and sin needs to be judged. That’s where Jesus steps in.

“God has shown His love to us by sending His only Son into the world. God did this so we might have life through Christ. 10 This is love! It is not that we loved God but that He loved us. For God sent His Son to pay for our sins with His own blood. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us that much, then we should love each other. ” I John 4:9-11 NLV

Since God lavished His love on us we are expected to act accordingly and show love to others. There should be no place in our lives for condemning attitudes.

“Treat others just as you want to be treated. 32 If you love only someone who loves you, will God praise you for that? Even sinners love people who love them. 33 If you are kind only to someone who is kind to you, will God be pleased with you for that? Even sinners are kind to people who are kind to them. 34 If you lend money only to someone you think will pay you back, will God be pleased with you for that? Even sinners lend to sinners because they think they will get it all back.

35 But love your enemies and be good to them. Lend without expecting to be paid back. Then you will get a great reward, and you will be the true children of God in heaven. He is good even to people who are unthankful and cruel. 36 Have pity on others, just as your Father has pity on you.” Luke 6:31-36 CEV

These are the words of Jesus. There are no exceptions like it’s ok to judge people who cut you off in traffic, are rude to you in the grocery store, don’t share your same political view, or who are antagonistic. NO EXCEPTIONS!

I’m working on making this my daily goal in the upcoming year. If I say I want to be more like the Father then I need to be less judgmental. There’s no room in His life for it and so there should be none in mine!

Here’s to a Happy & Mercy-Rich 2019!

Posted on

Wonderful Works of God

Yesterday after telling you about our travels and the roads we take I began to reflect on the beautiful scenery we have seen over the years.

There is a single verse in the Psalm 40 that I want us to look at this morning.

“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; no one can compare with You! If I should declare and speak of them, they are too many to be numbered.” Psalm 40:5 NKJV

Look at this phrase “many are the wonderful works which You have done”. Think about that for a moment – what WONDERFUL works do you see that He has done? Was it last night’s sunset or this morning’s sunrise? Was it the love and compassion you felt for a stranger who was in need? Or was it the unpretentious love and acceptance of a child? What did you experience just yesterday that you could see was a wonderful work of God in your life?

As I said, I spent time reflecting on the beauty we see on each of our travels, some of the sun rises and mountain ranges are breath taking. To me, they are an example of God’s greatness.

“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” Psalm 107:8 NJKV

“He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” Psalm 111:4 NJKV

“O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” Isaiah 25:1 NKJV

God is always reaching out to show off for us. He has given us the beauty of creation to display His power and also given us the miracles of life to reveal His character.

I like the verses above because they move our focus from God’s creation to His character. God says His counsellors are faithfulness and truth. The things that are “wonder-full” are the things that have the character of God woven through them; faithfulness, truth, love, forgiveness, peace, gentleness, patience, joy.

As surely as the sun shines each day and the tides roll in at their appointed times God’s love reaches out to us. Each day the faithfulness of God can be seen in the way a hawk soars above and the fish thrive in the waters beneath. The course of nature allows them to break the hold of gravity and the fish to extract oxygen from the water in ways we can’t. It’s been happening that way since the beginning of creation. That’s faithfulness!

“We are still alive because the Lord’s faithful love never ends. 23 Every morning he shows it in new ways! You are so very true and loyal!” Lamentations 3:22-23 ERV

The daily miracles we experience are constant reminders that He is there and He loves us.  As we grow confident in the love that God has for us we begin to reflect His character in the same way that the moon reflects the light of the sun. The moon has no light of its own but it does shine brightly in the night.

As we reflect the Father’s love and His wonderful works, we will begin to shine brightly and bring the joy to others.

Posted on

A Blank Page

Each morning is a blank page and our words and actions are the ink.

How will we fill it?

We have become so accustomed to the advancements of the computer than some have forgotten what it was like before we had a delete button. If we made a mistake with our writing our only choices were to cross out the mistake or get a clean sheet and start over.

I remember how long it took me to write my term paper when I was a Senior in High School. Painstakingly working on the final paper, making sure every word was spelled correctly and the punctuation was right. It had to be perfect…

I am so thankful that the Lord makes allowances for our mistakes. In fact, with each sunrise He gives us new mercy for the day.

“The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. 23 The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. 24 Deep in my heart I say, “The Lord is all I need;  I can depend on him!” Lamentations 3:22-24 CEV

Since the Lord is faithful to us, we should extend the same mercy to those around us. We are not only filling our own page but we will be writing on the page of others.

” Intelligent people choose their words carefully. Those who know what they are doing remain calm. 28 Silent fools seem wise. They say nothing and appear to be smart.” Proverbs 17:27-28 ERV

Today we have the opportunity to add value to our life and those around us.

“Saying the right thing at the right time is like a golden apple in a silver setting. 12 Wise advice to a listening ear is like gold earrings or fine jewelry.” Proverbs 25:11-12

We have probably all seen images of redacted government reports,  the ones where the pages are filled with blacked out information and comments. We don’t want our life’s pages looking like that. Instead we fill our pages with kindness.

“Share with God’s people who need help. Look for people who need help and welcome them into your homes.

14 Wish only good for those who treat you badly. Ask God to bless them, not curse them. 15 When others are happy, you should be happy with them. And when others are sad, you should be sad too. 16 Live together in peace with each other. Don’t be proud, but be willing to be friends with people who are not important to others. Don’t think of yourself as smarter than everyone else.

17 If someone does you wrong, don’t try to pay them back by hurting them. Try to do what everyone thinks is right. 18 Do the best you can to live in peace with everyone.” Romans 12:13-118 CEV

Let’s choose our words wisely today and if we aren’t sure what to say, say nothing at all.

Posted on

Every Day Is Valentine’s Day

Do you remember when we were kids and we took a shoe box, covered it with construction paper and then cut out hearts and glued them to the box? I know it was a long time ago. I’m not even sure the kids today still do this but it was exciting. Getting ready for the Valentine exchange at school almost left you breathless.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had that childlike expectation each day now that we are adults? Looking forward to each day, waiting to see who is going to give us a Valentine, a special expression of love.

Perhaps you remember getting that box of 36 Valentines, searching through to find the one that you wanted to give to that special someone in your class. Now don’t be coy – you know there was always one special person and one special Valentine that you were anxious to give. There was also that hope of receiving a special card in your box.

Each morning I take time to tell the Lord how much I love Him! I start the day by saying, “I love you Father, I love you Jesus, I love you Holy Spirit.” I want those to be the first words out of my mouth. It sets my day! And then as I sit quietly I can hear “I love you too.” Sometimes I read it on the pages of my Bible and sometimes it’s that still small voice that I hear but all the same it’s God saying he loves me.

“I remember well all my troubles, and I am very sad. 21 But then I think about this, and I have hope: 22 We are still alive because the Lord’s faithful love never ends. 23 Every morning he shows it in new ways! You are so very true and loyal! 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my God, and I trust him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him. He is good to those who look for him.” Lamentations 3:20-25 ERV

Getting up each day expecting to experience God’s love gives life purpose and hope. We are to look for the ways that He shows His love. It can be a call from a friend; perhaps it’s a child giving us a hug or a kind word from a stranger. It could be an unexpected gift arrives in the mail or maybe it’s a beautiful sunrise or less traffic on the roads for the morning commute. All of these are little ways that God shows His love for us.

“Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.” James 1:17 ERV

The Lord loves to give gifts to His kids. He is the ultimate giver!

“Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Look around you – what good do you see? There’s food in the refrigerator, a roof over your head, electricity in your home, clothes in your closet, there are people who love you, a computer or smart phone on your lap or in your hand. So many things, good things, that God has blessed you with and best gift of all, Jesus!

Before I close this morning I want to give you a Valentine from the Father, this whole devotional thought is a Valentine from Him, but this one in particular.

“Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. 5 Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. 6 Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. 7 Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things. 8 Love never comes to an end.” I Corinthians 13:4-8 NLV

So there you have it – your Valentine card. You can substitute the name God/Jesus for the word love and it will be just as true. God is love and this is how He loves us.

His love never comes to an end, it’s new every morning!

Posted on

Start Fresh Each Morning

As promised we are going to continue to talk about God’s love for us!

Some people have an idea that God is a lot like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz, hidden away behind a curtain, pulling strings, blowing smoke and in general, making everyone’s life miserable.

Nothing could be farther from the truth! But until we see God as our loving heavenly Father who is encouraging us to come to him in every situation we will run from Him in an effort to hide our weakness and failures.

God knows we are going to fail and that why He encourages us to come to him and find help.

“The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful,  we would have been destroyed. 23 The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. 24 Deep in my heart I say, “The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!” 25 The Lord is kind to everyone who trusts and obeys him. 26 It is good to wait patiently for the Lord to save us.” Lamentations 3:22-26 CEV

Each morning the Lord is here to show us mercy. Let me explain mercy again. Do you remember the phrase from the old television shows that said “I throw myself on the mercy of the court”?

The person standing before the judge was guilty. They had committed a crime and were about to be sentenced. In asking the judge for mercy they were hoping that they would be acquitted at best or that punishment would be lessen.

Here we find that God’s mercy is new every morning. We don’t exhaust it, it’s new. God is the judge and he sees us through the filter of mercy. He sees us through the eyes of love and forgiveness. He is just so the penalty for sin had to be paid; it couldn’t go unpunished or He would be a corrupt judge. That is why Jesus came to die, he came to pay our penalty for sin.

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, there is One Who will go between him and the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One Who is right with God. 2 He paid for our sins with His own blood. He did not pay for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” I John 2:1-2 NLV

If we are standing in the court room and God is the judge, we are the accused and Jesus is our defense attorney. When we throw ourselves on the mercy of the court Jesus steps up to the judge’s bench and says “Sir, my client is guilty and they deserve punishment but I have paid the price for their crime. Give them mercy and let them go. It is finished, I paid it all. Father, forgive them!”

Powerful! This love that God has for us is beyond comprehension; it’s a  love so deep that  the Son would willingly die to pay the price for our sins. And yes, this applies to you because as the verse states, He died for the sins of the world, the whole world, and so that includes each of us.

Since God’s mercy is new every day look at what He tells us to do when we feel weak.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 ERV

Do you feel weak or in need of help this morning? Run to the throne of God, you will find it there!

I know recently these morning devotionals have been shorter than normal but I want you to take the time to let them really sink in. Embrace them, meditate on God’s goodness. It’s life changing!

Posted on

The Gift of Waiting

This morning when I got up I wasn’t sure what I would be sharing with you. What gift would I give you today? And then I opened my laptop…

Yesterday I had been prompted to do an update so I scheduled it for the middle if the night. I didn’t want to have to wait for all the loading and restarts that I knew would be required. So the best plan was for it to occur while I was sleeping.

That’s not what happened. When I checked my laptop this morning there was a message that it failed to restart. That was an hour ago and it’s still working on updates. “This may take a while” is what the screens says. Waiting…

Not to worry I thought when I first saw the message on the screen, I just have more time to pray. I did that, still unsure of what to share with you and then just jumped out at me.

Waiting is a gift!

I’m waiting for the updates because it will make my computer run better. I wait when I’m baking my banana bread and cinnamon rolls because the taste better fully cooked.

I waited for the closing date when we purchased our house because we wanted all the paperwork to be done right. I wait for an event and the excitement builds as the date gets closer.

I waited to deliver my babies because full term is better than premature.

I wait for a visit with friends. We actually count how many more sleeps till we’re together.

Waiting is a gift! Waiting on the Lord strengthens us.

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

Waiting gives us time to prepare. Waiting lets us grow. Waiting allows what we’re waiting on to fully develop.

I’m not sure what you’re waiting on today. Maybe it’s your family to arrive or the opening of gifts. You could be waiting on a medical report or a new job. Possibly you’re waiting for renewed relationships.

Wait and don’t get weary!

“So don’t lose the courage that you had in the past. Your courage will be rewarded richly.36 You must be patient. After you have done what God wants, you will get what he promised you.” Hebrews 10:35-36 ERV

Wait with anticipation like a child waiting for Christmas morning.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him.
He is good to those who look for him.” Lamentations 3:25 ERV

Waiting is a good gift!

(By the way, I’m still waiting on the computer to update over an hour now. Yes, waiting is good.)

 

Posted on

The Gift of a Quiet Night

Oh, I love the desert sky after a rain! We had rain last night from about 1 am to 2:30 am. Sometimes it was hard and wind driven and at others it was gently falling. When I got up and took Glory out in the backyard, the sky was clear, the air was brisk & fresh and the stars were are bright as diamonds.

Kind of made me wonder what it was like for the shepherds so long ago. It was just a regular night. I’m sure some shepherds were standing watch while the others were sleeping. The sheep were bedded down and all was quiet. I love the quiet – And then bam, heaven’s messenger showed up and the whole course of history was changed.

“That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. 9 All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord’s glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. 10 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy.” Luke 2:8-10 CEV

That night the Lord’s message was bold and demonstrative but it was delivered out in the fields, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and it impacted the lives of those who heard it. These men had been given a responsibility, a duty. They cared for sheep and if anything happened to the sheep they lost their livelihood. They were so compelled by the Lord’s message that they left all to find this child. They were more concerned about the message than they were about the sheep.

“The angels left the shepherds and went back to heaven. The shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this great event the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they went running and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the feeding box. 17 When they saw the baby, they told what the angels said about this child. 18 Everyone was surprised when they heard what the shepherds told them. 19 Mary continued to think about these things, trying to understand them.” Luke 2:15-19 ERV

You know God is still speaking today but sometimes there is just too much noise to hear Him. Too much activity, too many projects, our “to-do” list is too long and we are distracted from hearing His voice. Reminds me of Elijah, the prophet, who was running from King Ahab. He feared for his life and he cried out to God for answers.

“11 Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go, stand in front of me on the mountain. I, the Lord, will pass by you.”[a] Then a very strong wind blew. The wind caused the mountains to break apart. It broke large rocks in front of the Lord. But that wind was not the Lord. After that wind, there was an earthquake. But that earthquake was not the Lord. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire. But that fire was not the Lord. After the fire, there was a quiet, gentle voice.[b]

13 When Elijah heard the voice, he used his coat to cover his face and went to the entrance to the cave and stood there.” I Kings 19:11-13 ERV

It’s important that we slow down and unplug from the noise of our worlds. Each of us have different distractions and responsibilities. You don’t have to blocked out a huge amount of time, start with 15 minutes. Take time to pray “Lord, speak to my heart. I want to hear your voice.” And then read a few verses of Scripture and see what He has to say to you personally.

I appreciate that you take the time to read my devotional each day but I would much rather that you spend one on one time with the Lord. It’s one thing for someone to tell you how good a piece of pie is but it’s better to experience it personally. If you know what I mean.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him. He is good to those who look for him. 26 It is good to wait quietly for the Lord to save them.” Lamentations 3:25-26 ERV

Enjoy the gift of quiet that you have been given and listen for the still small voice.

Posted on

Faithfulness

I’m sharing a devotional that I posted about 3 years ago. It’s what was on my heart this morning.

When I woke up I was thinking about faithfulness; my faithfulness to my family and friends, my faithfulness to myself and to the Lord. I realize that many times I fall short to all of them. My intentions are good, my desire is there but through my own lack and circumstances I fail.

However, God NEVER fails to be faithful! Amen!

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 89:1 KJV

God is always there and He always will be. We fail in not recognizing His faithfulness but He never fails in being faithful. You know as well as I do that the sun will come up this morning, the tides will ebb and flow, the birds will sing, flowers will bloom and the sun will set this evening. He is faithful.

“Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.” Psalm 119:90 KJV

God’s faithfulness wasn’t just for one segment of time but it is for all generations! If it were, then God wouldn’t be faith-full. Full of faith – filled with faith – God can NEVER not be faithful! He was, He is and He will be and we can trust Him in that.

So I will say with King Solomon this morning
“We are still alive because the Lord’s faithful love never ends.
23 Every morning he shows it in new ways! You are so very true and loyal!
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my God, and I trust him.” Lamentations 3:22-24 ERV

Look for the Father’s faithfulness today!

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress