Make a Eternal Difference

A brand new week, a brand new day is upon us.  What will we do or say this week, this day that will make a eternal difference in our little part of this world?

Yesterday, Pastor Kemp spoke of each of us being a shepherd.  He challenged us, as Christians, to dust off our pulpits for those who matter more in our life. Asking us to go the extra mile, he challenged us to broadening the circle of our influence. His message (based on John chapter 10) was to convince us to become a shepherd like Jesus.

This morning reading one of my daily devotions I noted that David declared to do just that.  He declared to daily tell (write) of God's righteous and salvation.  I doubt if David knew his circle of influence would be used on this old country girl from Texas thousands of years later.  Perhaps today you can not even envision your influence being of importance.

Still I would remind each of us you never know what a seed planted will produce until you plant it. Praise Him aloud today!  Tell others what He has done for you! Sing of His goodness!

Even if you do not see or believe others are listening and watching - they are......


Abba Father,  please allow us to make an impact in the lives of others, bringing glory to Your name.  Help us to tell of Your goodness all of our days, even today as we reach out to both those we love and those You place in our path.  Help us to truly believe as David wrote "for I do not know their limits."  For Abba I believe Your love is immeasurable.

Psalm 71:14-15
New King James Version (NKJV)
14 But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.

Psalm 71:14-15
New Living Translation (NLT)
14 But I will keep on hoping for your help;
    I will praise you more and more.
15 I will tell everyone about your righteousness.
    All day long I will proclaim your saving power,
    though I am not skilled with words.

She Danced

How she danced! For quite some time now I have been seeing glimpses of things in my mind's eye.  Not just shadows of things but the actual object has been so clear.  Probably about five weeks ago I saw an opened music box with a dancer.  Not the every little girl's normal ballerina music box, this one had a live woman with a flowing skirt.  She held one side of the skirt in her hand while the other hand was extended upward as in praise.  She appeared so full of joy, reminding me that as His daughters this type of joy can and should be ours. 

For many days after, upon waking, I would catch this vision in my mind.  The vision is no longer active but as I was looking through family pictures today I came across this one of my granddaughter dancing.  Maybe, this picture can give us a visual image of the joy to simply let go and praise The Lord!  

                                     

Often the psalmist spoke of singing and dancing being his way of praise. Yet while reading the Psalms there is no doubt that time of trouble, despair, depression and loneliness had been a part of his life since the beginning.  While David often faced the woes of life, he always seemed to come back to the One that gave him courage and hope to go on! 

 

Just as David danced before The Lord in unlikely time of happiness so we can also.   David penned these words and other like them time and again.

 "You did it: you changed wild lament into whirling dance;

You ripped off my black mourning band and decked me with wildflowers.
I’m about to burst with song; I can’t keep quiet about you.
God, my God, I can’t thank you enough."
             Psalm 30:11-12. The Message (MSG)

 

Like David I choose to remember the times God has changed my troubles, my sorrows and my life challenges into joy.   So I will dance and burst with song as I lift up my Lord!  In the good times and in the bad (hard) times I will DANCE. . .

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!  Psalm 149:3 ESV

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.  Jeremiah 31:13 ESV

 

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 Spiritual Sundays, a geat place to read other encouraging, uplifting devotions

Iron Sharpens Iron As God Listens

Why and How Iron Sharpens Iron....

This weekend God once again reminded me of the depth of His word. You will find the words in Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

But let me begin at the beginning. This weekend would turn out to be one of those life changing events. God had it all set up. All I had to do was walk in obedience.

It started by keeping a lunch date with a sister in Christ. God had already given us a friendship but this day He would allow the iron to sharpen iron. We spoke of our love for Christ as we shared the goings on of our life. Then she shared a verse (Malachi 3:16) with me. Oh my goodness, how many years as a counselor and teacher have I told this story to His daughters? How many times have I envisioned these very words within my spirit and by the Holy Spirit? Picture with me if you will, a group of His daughters sitting around sharing story after story about the faithfulness of our Lord. In the spirit, I can see Him turn to His Son and say "look there are my girls again. How they love us.... I am so proud of them." Then He leans in closer and whispers, "I will hear them and give them the desires of their hearts."

With everything in me, I believed I was speaking truth to His daughters when I said He listens in on our conversations. However, the words were to become gospel as Sue shared God's word with me. Oh and by the way, I doubt Sue had ever heard me share that story.... She was simply sharing the Scripture from her morning devotion with The Lord.

The next day we were attending "Joy Conference". The conference speaker, Rhonda Holland spoke the same words, using the same Bible passage, of how He looks down, listening and calling us His. God says "Mine".

My point here is simple!  Sue gave me God's written word (one that was already deep in my spirit) and Rhoda came to sharpen the verse even more so...

We must not isolate ourselves! We must seek both Godly friendships, mentors and places to grow in God. When conferences are offered we must find the time to go drink and feed at the table God has prepared for us. God does use others to not only sharpen us but to confirm things deep in our spirit. I ,for one, am glad God sent His daughters my way this weekend. This story is only one of many I could share from this weekend! Perhaps, I will share more later.

By the Way, the truth is God does listen to our conversations and He does call us "MINE"... I won't put the scripture here for you because I want to challenge you to go pick up your bible and read it for yourself.

Malachi 3:16-17 Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament


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Photo from: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images

In Awe

"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.” Deuteronomy 13:4 NAS

When we think of fear often we picture a state of panic and uncertainty but this is not the fear Moses speaks of here in Deuteronomy. He speaks of standing in awe of the Almighty God. He speaks of being revere before the Almighty God knowing that God alone is to be worshipped. He speaks of being revere knowing that Almighty God is the one and only true God. In knowing these truths of God, how could one NOT desire to keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him and cling (hold fast) to Him?

Jesus tells us that we are to abide in Him (cling to Him) so that we might bear much fruit. (John 15)

Almighty God today we choose to fear you, follow your commandants, listen to your voice and obey. We thank You that You have provided the True Vine for us. As He clings to You so we cling to Jesus. We pray that we may bear much fruit bringing glory to our Almighty God.
Fear=revere, stand in awe of
Cling=hold fast to

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This Little Light of Mine

Maybe it’s because my birthday is right around the corner that all these old songs and childhood memories are surfacing. Last night this post just popped into my mind and remained clear as a bell this morning. So here goes….


Days in children’s church singing “This Little Light of Mine”, were those not the days? Days full of hope, dreams of popsicles, puppy dogs and the new boy down the street. Later the dreams became hopes of what we become, where we go in life and who we would marry. For some of us our dreams were of doing great things to make the world a better place for our kids. For many the dreams have come true. For others, not so much!

Do you remember singing this song as a child?



What if for those who think their dreams are dead, for those who think all hope is gone – what if they caught a glimpse of your light? What if we as Christians truly let our light shine? Imagine what one candle light in a dark room can do. Now imagine three. Think larger what could a group of candles do? Do we truly realize the tremendous privilege God has given us? He has given us the ability, the tools and the light we need to shine in the places where it seems dark will never end.

This little light of mine – I’m gonna let it shine; let it shine, let it shine! This little of ours, we’ve gonna let it shine; let it shine, let it shine!

Join the other gals over at Tuesdays Unwrapped know you will enjoy reading the great stories told by them.