nothing to see here

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is one who keeps the Law.

- Proverbs 29:18 (NASB)

 

“Back in my day…”

“When I was your age…”
“A long time ago…” 

When we hear these words, we know that we are going to be whisked back in time by the speaker to a place where life was different than what we see today.

It will be a story about harder times, or better times or even carefree times but one thing remains the same with all stories, things will never be the way they were.

Today we face difficulties that previous generations would have never dreamed of, we have to walk on eggshells everywhere – in public, on social media, at work and even in our homes so as not to offend some genre of people. 

Yet there are those that still loudly voice their opinions without a thought of the people they are harming with their venomous words.

Thing that were normal even twenty years ago are now considered hateful and can get folks in a lot of trouble.

People have lost their vision of God, they have been unrestrained in their actions to the point of the Law of God being broken in everyway imaginable.

We cannot be a nation of God if we are going to throw away everything that He has taught us.

We have to listen to what He is saying and we have to obey His word, no matter where we are and who we happen to be around.

I don’t want to tell my grandchildren or great grandchildren how much better things were in my youth, I want them to have a life and a world that is better than what I had.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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down days

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

- Micah 7:7

 

I have had my share of down days, as I am sure we all have had, especially since 2020.

There are days that we feel we can’t go on, we don’t even have the energy to pray, life has us that down.

Some days it is just so hard to get out of bed and pretend like everything is fine.

I’m not fine. 
Matthew West says it very well in his song “Truth Be Told”

Lie number one you're supposed to have it all together

And when they ask how you're doing

Just smile and tell them, "Never better"

Lie number 2 everybody's life is perfect except yours

So keep your messes and your wounds

And your secrets safe with you behind closed doors

Truth be told

The truth is rarely told, now

I say I'm fine, yeah I'm fine oh I'm fine, hey I'm fine but I'm not

I'm broken

And when it's out of control I say it's under control but it's not

And you know it

I don't know why it's so hard to admit it

When being honest is the only way to fix it

There's no failure, no fall

There's no sin you don't already know

So let the truth be told

There's a sign on the door, says, "Come as you are" but I doubt it

'Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded

But didn't you say the church should look more like a hospital

A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigals

Like me

Well truth be told

The truth is rarely told

Oh am I the only one who says

I'm fine, yeah I'm fine oh I'm fine, hey I'm fine but I'm not

I'm broken

And when it's out of control I say it's under control but it's not

And you know it

I don't know why it's so hard to admit it

When being honest is the only way to fix it

There's no failure, no fall

There's no sin you don't already know

So let the truth be told

Can I really stand here unashamed

Knowin' that you love for me won't change?

Oh God if that's really true

Then let the truth be told

I say I'm fine, yeah I'm fine oh I'm fine, hey I'm fine but I'm not

I'm broken

And when it's out of control I say it's under control but it's not

And you know it

I don't know why it's so hard to admit it

When being honest is the only way to fix it

There's no failure, no fall

There's no sin you don't already know

Yeah I know

There's no failure, no fall

There's no sin you don't already know

So let the truth be told

God knows, God hears even when we think He is not.

He hears our cries, He sees our pain.

Sometimes, we just need to pray that He fills us with peace.

We all have down days. 

Hope in the Lord your Savior, He will hear.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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I know you

I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

- Revelations 2:19

 

Some people grow up in religious homes and continue to practice that religion well into their adult life.

Some leave the church as soon as they leave their parents’ homes.

Still others never had religion growing up.

A lot of people come to God later in life.

Somewhere in our journey we realize that things we are doing are not right and we strive to make changes for the better.

God sees this effort, in fact, in this chapter of the book of Revelation, instructions are being given to the different churches that had fallen out of favor with God.

We can go back and fix the deeds that we have done that were wrong, but is it enough?

When we consider our lives are we just doing enough to gloss over our sin, or are we really repenting of that sin and not making the same mistakes over and over? 
We might be doing more than we did before, maybe we go to church regularly now, maybe we tithe, but are we really doing all we can for God and His kingdom?

He knows us. 
He knows our hearts. 

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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grass, flowers and forever

All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

- 1 Peter 1:24-25

 

Forever.

That is a pretty big word, forever.

It’s used in love songs and in poetry, in promises and in prayer.

Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s (yes, I am that old) we all believed that be the year 2000 we would have flying cars, space travel, warp speed, and yet we don’t in the year 2022.

It doesn’t take a lot to see that this world is deteriorating.

One thing is certain though, and that is God.

We can lose everything we have, the world could stop turning tomorrow, God will still be there.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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love deeply

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.

- 1 Peter 1:22

 

We are called to love each other so many times in the Bible.

Twelve times the exact words “love one another” appears.

Nine times it says “love your neighbor”.

There are thirty verses about loving your enemy – thirty!!!

I saw a picture the other day that I really like: 
I LOVE YOU!

You’re probably thinking “You don’t even know me!” 
That’s true… but if people can hate for no reason

I CAN LOVE!

A thousand times yes!!!   

We find it so easy to hate based on rumor, or actions and lack of knowledge.

I wish it were just as easy to love.

We are called to love deeply. 

Let’s try that for a while.

#dailybreadbykitty

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silence is not always golden

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

- Esther 4:14 (NKJV)

 

Esther, the girl who became queen.

She was an orphan, being raised by her cousin, a Jewish girl exiled from Jerusalem, due to a crazy turn of events ended up being a queen and saving the lives of the Jewish people living in Xerxes’ kingdom. 

She was afraid, because in not keeping her silence, she was breaking several laws and risking her own death, being well aware that Queen Vashti, the very queen Esther replaced was exiled for not following the king’s commandments. 

Her cousin Mordecai convinced her to speak on behalf of the Jewish people, stating that she was placed there “for such a time as this”.

What if Esther had been silent?

What if she decided to not speak to the king?

How about today, what happens when we remain silent on issues that are impacting the world around us? 
song reference! 

For such a time as this

I was placed upon the earth

To hear the voice of God

And do His will

Whatever it is

For such a time as this

For now and all the days He gives

I am here, I am here

And I am His

For such a time as this

Let’s not stay silent, if there is something that is terribly wrong, stand up for what you believe in, stand up for what is right, stand up for God.

We are here, now – for such a time as this.

   

#dailybreadbykitty

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it’s going to happen

“The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been. But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance. Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The Lord has spoken.

- Obadiah 1:15-18

 

Are we living in the end times?

There are hundreds of thousands of scholars and people in general that are reading the Bible and seeing “signs” everywhere.

In 1995 Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins stared collaborating on a series of books called the Left Behind series.

People were snagging these books up and devouring them the minute they were released and in some cases there was a waiting list because the publisher could not keep up.

And suddenly, every one every where was watching for the false prophet and the mark of the beast because these books were so well written and biblically based that readers felt the story could actually happen at any moment. 

Obadiah was given a vision, and it must be pretty important because it is in the Bible, it is one chapter set between Amos and Jonah, so it’s often missed.

This vision was of Edom, a city that was full of evil as many cities in that day were.

God was harsh in His judgement of the city and laid out exactly how their punishment would go. 
If the time really I near, if we are about to live the “Left Behind” series, I want to be with Jacob and Joseph, not Esau.

It is far past time to set our lives straight and live according to God’s will.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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follow the leader

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

- Ephesians 5:1-2

 

In grade school we got to play “follow the leader” and I’m not sure about ya’all, but I really enjoyed being the “leader”! 

I could crawl under a desk, walk around a chair, weave around the room patting my head and the whole class had to do what I was doing!!

If we think about this concept, we still do it today, as adults. 

We see traffic ahead of us slowing down and switching lanes and we follow that action assuming that the person ahead of us knows why they are slowing down and switching lanes to get miles down the road and see absolutely nothing that caused the slow down in the first place. 
We see a line at the local Seven Brew, no matter what time of day or night there is a line at every Seven Brew in the area (it’s a drive through coffee chain for the readers that think I have lost my mind) so we assume that the coffee at Seven Brew is top notch only to find out it’s the same coffee at every chain (I still have not had their coffee!).

What if we stopped assuming and followed God’s example?

What if we walked in the way of love?

I am going to start making it a point to follow Him and not be a lemming following the masses.

I want to be like Him.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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cry out

When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; He brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

- Psalm 118:5-6

 

Life in general is a challenge to pretty much everyone. 

I can not think of one person that I know that has not been though some horrible experience, one that has nearly broken them.

A relationship that has been destroyed, the death of a loved one, a scary medical diagnosis.

I have been fortunate in my life, I have so many people that care about me, that help me pick up the pieces when I fall broken to the ground.

I don’t think I would be here today with out those people, and I truly believe that those people were sent to me by God.

God cares so much about us, that He is with us, in the form of a friend to let us cry, in the form of a furry angel that loves us unconditionally.
There are a lot of things that we will face before we die, and when we are scared all we have to do is cry out to the Lord.

Don’t be afraid, give your heart and soul to Him.

Mortals cannot destroy the love God has for you.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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act naturally

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

- Micah 6:8

 

There are a lot of fake people out there, it is sad but true.

We see this in the people with whom we work, go to church, even the wait staff at our favorite restaurant and the cashiers at the store.

I guess I will never understand why people feel like they need to put up a façade of who they are.

If you can be nice to a person that you are serving, why aren’t you nice to your co-worker?

If you smile and chatter with people at church, why do you turn and walk away from the same people when you see them outside the church?

That behavior is not acting justly, and certainly not showing love and mercy, as our Father requires of us.

From the time that we are born, things are repeated for us, it is how we learn to feed ourselves, to walk, to talk, all repetition.

God does the same for His children, He shows us, He teaches us, He gave us the Bible to show us how to live.

He has shown us, over and over, how much He loves us.

He has told us over and over, how we should live.

Act justly, love above all, be merciful and walk with God.

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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my mind is made up

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming.

- 1 Peter 1:13

 

How many times in life do we mull over a decision and then when we reach a verdict we tell someone that our mind is made up (and they try to talk us out of it!). 
When we are facing big things, we need to set our mind and our hope on the one thing that is always constant, Jesus. 
Sometimes this is difficult, so often we are told that we have to choose something else over our Savior be it money, pleasure or even sometimes our jobs. 

We have to control where our minds and our thoughts are focused, if we are not intentional on focusing on Jesus then we are easily distracted by the “ooo shiny” things that come along and that quickly pulls us off the path with Him. 
Today is the celebration of the life of one of the great leaders of the 20^th century, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am honored to quote him today: 
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. 

Let’s all stand with Jesus.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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you can help

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

- Isaiah 1:16-17

 

Oh, let’s just have one more song reference to end the week.

Father to the fatherless Defender of the weak

Freedom for the prisoner we sing

This is God in His holy place

This is God clothed in love and strength

Sing out lift your voice and cry out

Awesome is our strong God mighty is our God

You're with us in the wilderness faithful to provide

Ev'ry breath and ev'ry step we see

Sing out lift your voice and cry out

Awesome is our strong God mighty is our God

Sing out raise your hands and shout out

Awesome is our strong God mighty is our God

There is no higher no

There is no greater no

There is none stronger than our God

God wants us to listen to Him, to care for others like He cares for us, we can do so much good in this world, we just have to want to do good.

And once we have determined that we want to do good, we just have to ask God to help us.

He will, you know, He will help us.

There is none stronger, and with Him working through us, we can do anything.

What changes can you make in the world today?

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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please rescue me

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

- Isaiah 46:4

 

It’s been a bit, maybe it is time fore a song reference.  I’ve used this one before, so it is obviously a favorite: 
You are not hidden

There's never been a moment

You were forgotten

You are not hopeless

Though you have been broken

Your innocence stolen

I hear you whisper underneath your breath

I hear your SOS, your SOS

I will send out an army to find you

In the middle of the darkest night

It's true, I will rescue you

There is no distance

That cannot be covered

Over and over

You're not defenseless

I'll be your shelter

I'll be your armor

I hear you whisper underneath your breath

I hear your SOS, your SOS

I will send out an army to find you

In the middle of the darkest night

It's true, I will rescue you

I will never stop marching to reach you

In the middle of the hardest fight

It's true, I will rescue you

Lauren Daigle is an amazing artist in my opinion, with a vocal range that is simply astounding – if you have never heard her work I encourage you to listen on YouTube.
When asked about this song Lauren said this: 
“I wrote 'Rescue' with a loved one in mind so this makes that one of the most personal songs I’ve ever been a part of. I remember getting this vision about a girl who was caught in a really desperate situation. She was running to all of these vices in order to find just an element of hope or just something to keep her in the process of this desperation. And in came walking down the hall Jesus. And instead of judging her for maybe some of the actions she had chosen that were really painful and difficult, He sat with her in the midst of it all. He didn’t try to fix her, He just was with her.

For everyone who feels hopeless, for everyone who feels desperate, for everyone who feels like they’re at the end of their rope in life - how could I sing, how could I articulate, how could I emote something that would feel like a warm blanket? Like a comfort and an embrace to them?" 

Whoa.

The last year has made me a wreck and I know that others have been virtually drug through the streets and trampled by elephants too, we are all in pain.

God is there.

God will love us, hold us, sustain us. 
He will rescue us. 

What an amazing God we serve.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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well, there is that

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

- Colossians 3:9-10

 

You know how I always say that when something is repeated, it is because God wants us to really hear it and pay attention?

I have heard “do not lie” in several areas of my life recently, so I think it might be a point that God may want me to bring to our attention.

When Jesus died for us on the cross, He died to absolve us of our sins.

Lying, even a lie by omission is still a sin.

When we lie, we have to make sure that we tell the same lie to people, and not say one thing to person A and another to person B and another to person C, because person D might not know you, but hears your story from person A and C and now you have to explain the differences in your store to person B who talked to A and C after D talked to them!  
Confused? Good!  Don’t lie! 

The previously unsaved people that we were (because we were not born saved, we have to accept Jesus as our Savior) may have lied, but we gave up our old selves and practices, just like this verse says. 

Being truthful is easier.

Think about the old catch phrase “what would Jesus do” before we let lies escape our lips.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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resolutions

See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

- Isaiah 65:17

 

Here we are, eleven days into the new year.

Did you make any resolutions?

I saw a lot of Facebook posts about people not making resolutions this year, and I saw a few people that are striving to change.

Last year my resolution was to begin using other platforms to spread God’s word, specifically to start using Instagram and Twitter, I am happy to report that this is likely the only resolution that I have ever kept and have continued into the following year!

Perhaps you sang “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight on December 31^st – January 1^st (look up the history, it is an old Scottish song that when translated is about old friends who haven't seen each other in a while are meeting up again, having a drink, and reminiscing.)

I feel like that may be not exactly what this verse is about.

God is not telling us that we won’t remember our family, friends and lives on earth when we get to Heaven, what He is saying is that our past sins will be forgotten. (Jeremiah 31:34)

Go ahead and make your resolutions, and maybe add a few like reading the Bible and paying more attention to His word.

It seems that when we focus on Him good things happen.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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it’s still hurting, but

I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. 

- Lamentations 3:20-23

 

It is still hurting, but it is getting a little better.

I realize that I am not the only one that has experienced great loss, and I realize that I have been wallowing in my sadness maybe a little more than I should be.

Recovering from any tragic event is a challenge, regardless if it is the death of a loved one, personal injury or illness, but we have to remember to turn our face to God in the aftermath of tragedy. 

To turn to Him and place our hope in the one Person who can bring good out of even the most horrifying disaster is to defy the power of evil.

When things are looking down, we just have to remember that each and every day, we are refreshed with His compassion, His love, His mercy – all we have to do is ask!!

He will guide us through what ever obstacle is in our way.

His love is everlasting.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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let it go

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

- 1 Peter 5:7

 

How are you?

Sometimes someone asks you how you're doing and at first, they seem interested in your answer, but as you begin to share you realize that they aren't really listening and aren't really interested; they're just being polite.

In reality, most people have so many burdens they simply don't know what to do with more and telling them your own troubles just overwhelms them.

God tells us "Cast all your anxieties on me. You can share all of them with me, because I genuinely care for you"

Whoa.

God wants us to be content with right where we are. 

No matter where we are or what we are facing, we should understand that God is with us right now. 

He wants to take all those worries away from us and give us peace to live a carefree life. 

He wants us to live in contentment, knowing that He is in total control. 

Let it go, give your cares, worries, troubles, anxieties all on Him.

So, how are you?

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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