need to know

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

- John 13:34 (NLT)

 

Over and over we see hate spewed on social media and everywhere we look around us.
We need to stop teaching hate. 
Jesus taught us love, this is what we need to spread. 
I read a story about a teacher that had each student make a list of every one in the class and next each name they had to write the nicest thing they could think of about that person. 
The teacher gathered the papers, compiled them for each individual and gave each student a copy of what everyone in class said about them.

I’ve heard several variations of this story.

The point is, sometimes we are so hard on ourselves that we forget the reasons we are loved.

And sometimes we get so wrapped up in what the world is saying that we forget to love.

Listen, if you need a virtual hug, either comment on this post, send me a text or a private message and I will tell you why you are wonderful.

You are loved.
If you are reading this in an email, a text, a facebook message or group, Instagram, MeWe or Twitter, know that I write these because I love the people that read them, even people I don’t know.

Let’s show the world what love really is.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

for example

I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.

- John 13:15 (NLT)

 

I really enjoy crafting.
Often when I see something I like, I will take a picture of it to save on my phone with the plan to try and make it.
I have a Pinterest board named “Crafts I want to try”. 
Sometimes I buy something and use it as a pattern or an example to make similar items.
We have been given a perfect example of how to be good humans. 
Much like crafting, we humans tend to put our own spin on things, and it does not always turn out as nice as the original – do a Google search on “Pinterest Fails” if you want a few laughs.
We have an example. 
Why try to modify it? 
Let’s be like Jesus, and not some watered down, painted, and crafted version of who we think we should be.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

built for you

For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.

- Hebrews 3:4 (NKJV)

 

Homemade or handcrafted gifts are special.
It’s neat to get something and see a tag that reads “made especially for you”. 
It is even cooler when you know that the something was made by someone who loved you enough to buy the materials and take the time to build something specifically for you.
Now think big.  

Your spouse, your kids, your pets, your vehicles, your house.
They were ALL built for you. 
How? 
Because God is the builder of everything.

He built the relationships that give us our friends.

He built our families knowing exactly who we needed to love.

We are all made by God.
I don’t think we could be anymore special.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

trouble

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

- John 14:1 (NKJV)

 

I used this verse a few years ago, and what I wrote then, still applies today.
We are almost at the end of 2024, have things changed from last year, the year before or four years ago?
Not really, if anything, things have gotten a little worse here on Earth.

This whole century has been full of absolute craziness.

We have watched helplessly as attacks on America took place, the U.S. sent hundreds of thousands of men and women into battle.

We watched in horror as disasters unfolded such as fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes.

We were isolated as a virus literally took over the world.

We are still seeing hardships like nothing we have experienced before with skyrocketing prices, shortages of critical products, unemployment, violence and so much more.

It’s hard to watch the news or read the papers because there seems to be nothing good left in the world.

Look up.

Yes, that is indeed a song reference, Lauren Daigle in 2018 released Look Up Child:
Where are You now

When darkness seems to win?

Where are You now

When the world is crumbling?

Oh I, I-I-I, I hear You say

I hear You say

Look up child, ayy

Look up child, ayy

Where are You now (where are You?)

When all I feel is doubt?

Oh, where are You now

When I can't figure it out?

Oh I, I-I-I, I hear You say

I hear You say

Look up child, ayy

Look up child, ayy

Look up child, ayy

Look up child, ayy

Look up

You're not threatened by the war

You're not shaken by the storm

I know You're in control

Even in our suffering

Even when it can't be seen

I know You're in control

Oh I, I-I-I, I hear You say

I hear You say

Look up child, ayy

Look up child, ayy

. . .

Look up

Don’t stop believing (yeah, I’m not going to do that song reference).

We must continue to pray, to praise and to follow the word of God.

We trust Him to do what is right, we believe that things will get better, we have faith in our Father.

It’s hard to see the sunshine through all the rain (that’s a song reference too) but it is there.

And so is God.

Believe.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

the house

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

- John 14:2 (NLT)

 I have this crazy dream of being able to have a house so big that each of my children can move in with their families but still have their own space.

My husband and I would have our own space too, but there would be one central gathering place in the center for family fun and events.
Obviously, we would also have a lot of land for the dirt bikes and four wheelers and just so much fun.

While this is my dream, it is something very real for those who follow Christ.
Of course, you know I have a song about this, it’s from 1993 called Big House, by Audio Adrenaline:
I don't know where you lay your head

Or where you call your home

I don't know where you eat your meals

Or where you talk on the phone

I don't know if you got a cook

A butler or a maid

I don't know if you got a yard

With a hammock in the shade

I don't know if you got some shelter

Say a place to hide

I don't know if you live with friends

In whom you can confide

I don't know if you got a family

Say a mom or dad

I don't know if you feel love at all

But I bet you wish you had

Come and go with me

To my Father's house

Come and go with me

To my Father's house

It's a big big house

With lots and lots a room

A big big table

With lots and lots of food

A big big yard

Where we can play football

A big big house

Its my Father's house

Ibidibidee bop bop bow whew! yeah!

All I know is a big ole house

With rooms for everyone

All I know is lots a land

Where we can play and run

All I know is you need love

And I've got a family

All I know is your all alone

So why not come with me?

Come and go with me

To my Father's house

Come and go with me

To my Father's house

It's a big big house

With lots and lots a room

A big big table

With lots and lots of food

A big big yard

Where we can play football

A big big house

Its my Father's house

I may not be able to build a mansion to hold my whole family here on earth, but there is a mansion waiting for all God’s children when we go home.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

hear this

Who heard God’s voice and turned against Him? Did not all those who were led out of the country of Egypt by Moses?

- Hebrews 3:16 (NLV)

 

I am one of those people who have hearing loss, I have zero hearing in my left ear.
I’ve gone my whole life not being able to hear on one side, learning to read lips and a little sign language to get by.
This hearing loss prevented me from being able to live out my dream of serving in the United States Army.
For a seventeen-year-old who has just had all her dreams shattered, there isn’t a lot that can take her out of the bad place she was in.
I wasn’t in a relationship with God at the time, so I was sure that He turned His back on me.
Even now, there are times when I feel that God has turned His back on me as I struggle to understand the challenges before me, the loss of family and friends, contention in the workplace, the battle to prove my worth to those who would destroy me, it's a difficult battle I am facing every day it seems. 
In the Old Testament, God’s children would often find themselves in a bad place and they would cry out for Him to act.

We see God take action, but His people don’t hear Him.

God led His people out of Egypt where they were slaves into freedom.

But they didn’t go directly to the promised land, they wandered for forty years.

Why did God lead them through a desert where they could see no food, water, or an end in sight instead of just delivering them to the land that was promised to them?

Because His people would not listen.

He brought them out of Egypt, He protected them from the Pharaoh’s men by splitting the waters so they could walk through and put distance between the people and Egypt.

Then they complained about not having food and water.

God gave them food every day and fresh water out of dry rock, yet they built idols and worshipped them.

I do wonder, if the people would have listened to God in the first place, would that forty years have been significantly shorter?
Hearing God’s voice isn’t the important thing, following God’s voice is.

We all hear Him.

We need to follow Him too.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

a little encouragement

Speak to each other about these things every day while there is still time so that none of you will become hardened against God, being blinded by the glamor of sin.

- Hebrews 3:13 (TLB)

 

A little encouragement can go a very long way. 
Take for example, a child just learning to walk, do we sit behind him where he can’t see us, or do we stand in front of him with our arms outstretched helping him move forward a step at a time?
Sin can sometimes look like encouragement; it can give us false expectations and empty promises.
Do you want to freak out the devil? 
Pick up your Bible every day! 

Reading the Word of God every day not only brings us closer to Him, but it helps us overcome the craziness of daily life.

Quite often I use Google to find what the Bible says about certain topics - from anger to zealousness (yes, from a to z) there is something in the Bible about it.

For the longest time, I only turned to the Bible when I was in need, when I was sad or angry, lost or confused.

There is more to the Bible than how to deal with my emotions though, the Bible tells us to encourage each other daily – it’s not just about me!

Encouraging each other is important, having someone to share the stuff that happens in life, that is important too.

I hope that if you are reading this, you find encouragement.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

lost

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness

- Deuteronomy 8:2a (NIV)

 

I’m going to get lost for a few days.
Don’t worry, I won’t be really lost, but I am going to be away. 

I’ll be back, hopefully refreshed.
God’s people wandered the wilderness for forty years, the rest of the verse says to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.

There comes a time in our lives when we need to spend time with God, to renew our hearts, to find peace with ourselves.
To reestablish our faith in Him. 
Hopefully, you each find a way to do that regularly. 
For me right now, it is completely disconnecting and spending a lot of time in prayer.
Walking with and being led by people who have also walked with God.
My wilderness may not be as drastic as the one that Israel wandered, but I do hope to be in the presence of the Lord.
See you Monday.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

the cross

Everything in heaven and on earth can come to God because of Christ’s death on the cross. Christ’s blood has made peace.

- Colossians 1:20 (NLV)

 

I don’t know about y’all, but my last several weeks have been some of the hardest I have had to deal with.
Last Monday we very suddenly lost a beautiful friend, way too early and no one was prepared.
Her absence is felt deeply in my little circle of friends. 
Other things have been moving at a very fast pace bringing changes, and sometimes it feels like we can’t even stop to take a breath.
I know I am not the only one that feels this, many have opened their hearts to me, telling me of their hurt, their anger, their fear, and their depression.
All I can say is you are not alone, my friends. 
Music is a solace for me, and I always seem to hear the right song at the right time, like this one called The Cross by Anne Wilson and Chris Tomlin released just this year.
You've been tryin' hard to bear the weight of all your shame

And if there's a God up there, you're sure He forgot your name

When your steps are getting heavy, and hope looks all but lost

Just bring it all to the cross

Who told you grace can't reach the messed up ones like you?

Has the devil made you believe the lies he tells are true?

When you're sure that you're the one who's wandered too far off

It's not too late

Just come home to the cross

Come and see a Savior's love that would die to make you new

Nothing you have ever done, can change what mercy's done for you

And if you ever wonder if you're worth so great a cost

Look up and see the cross

Everybody's got a list at least a mile long

Of every scar and every sin from everywhere that we've gone wrong

But there's reason for rejoicin', and the reason is because

That list was nailed to the cross

Come and see a Savior's love that would die to make you new

Nothing you have ever done, can change what mercy's done for you (what mercy's done)

And if you ever wonder if you're worth so great a cost

Look up and see the cross

Oh, the cross

He was wounded for your wounds, pierced for all your sin

By His stripes you are healed, died so you could rise again

He let the blood and water flow, and did it all to let you know

You're the reason that He went to the cross

Oh, He's callin' you to run home to the cross

To the cross

Come and see a Savior's love that would die to make you new (oh, He's made us new)

Nothing you have ever done, can change what mercy's done for you (what mercy's done)

And if you ever wonder if you're worth so great a cost

Look up and see the cross (oh, look up and see)

Look up and see the cross (he died for you and me)

Look up and see the cross
Whoa. 
When interviewed by a radio station about this song, Anne Wilson said “The cross feels like it’s more than just a song to me. It’s an invitation. Anyone who’s ever felt way down or weary from trying to make their way through life, or for anybody who’s ever felt like they’ve made a bunch of mistakes in their life, and they mess up too many times, we can bring all of that to the cross. The cross means forgiveness. It means rest. It means a second chance. My favorite line in the song says, “everyone’s got a list at least a mile long of every scar and every sin from everywhere that we’ve gone wrong.” But there’s reason for rejoicing. And that reason is because that list was nailed to the cross.”
Y’all. 
We all have a list. 
We all have sin. 
But the cross means forgiveness. 

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

phone call

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

- Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)

 

There are several times in the Bible where we read “call on Me” or “come to Me”.

God wants us to call to him.

God often waits for us to ask before He blesses us what He longs to give us.

Yet we lack the ability to comprehend and receive all the great truth about God – that He is GOOD!
God tells us that we can ask Him anything!

Jeremiah was in prison when he heard this word from God.

I would think that when one is at the lowest point of their life they would indeed call out to God. 

Jeremiah received a word of hope and promise when he heard the Lord speak. 

Can you hear God when you call?
Let’s go back to 2001, Nicole C. Mullen released a powerful song Call On Jesus: 
I'm so very ordinary, nothing special on my own.

Oh, I have never walked on water,

And I have never calmed a storm.

Sometimes I'm hiding away from the madness around me

Like a child who's afraid of the dark

But when I call on Jesus,

All things are possible

I can mount on wings like eagles' and soar

When I call on Jesus,

Mountains are gonna fall

'Cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call

Weary brother, broken daughter,

Widowed, widowed lover, you're not alone

If you're tired and scared of the madness around you

If you can't find the strength to carry on

Call Him in the morning, in the afternoon time

Late in the evening He'll be there

When your heart is broken,

And you feel discouraged,

You can just remember that He said

He'll be there

But when I call on Jesus,

All things are possible

I can mount on wings like eagles' and soar

When I call on Jesus,

Mountains are gonna fall

'Cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call

Can you hear God when you call?

Set your mind on Him and focus, He will answer, but you may not like what you hear.

God promised to care for you and love you and show you the way to Him.

Seek the truth and He will answer.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

clean clothes

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day.

- Exodus 19:10-11 (NKJV)

 

Growing up my mother had a wringer washing machine.
I remember spending hours in the basement with her, watching her push clothes from the wash basin through the wringer, into the rinse water tub, then through the wringer again, the into the final rinse (usually with fabric softener), through the wringer once more then out on the clothesline to dry. 
I was probably about 10 years old when she got her first automatic washer, and I remember that she hated it.
She said it never got the clothes as clean as her trusty wringer washer. 
Some people will buy new clothes for a special occasion, planning well in advance what they are going to wear to that wedding, graduation, Easter Sunday, Christmas, or other formal event.
Some people have a favorite suit or dress dry cleaned and pressed so it is in perfect condition.
Today’s verse signifies a couple of things, wearing garments of grace and the third day.
Clean clothes are garments of grace - faith in Christ brings the forgiveness of sins, the washing of our robes in the blood of the Lamb.
In the Book of Revelation, (Revelation 22:14) people with clean clothes may enter the gates of the golden city, and they will be permitted to eat the fruit of the tree of everlasting life.
When we put on our very best attire, we are making an effort to look good for what ever event is on our calendar.
Shouldn’t we make the same effort to be clean for Christ? 
The third day is significant because it is repeated several times in the Bible. 
God appeared on Mount Sinai on the third day, King David recovered all on the third day, Jesus turned water into wine on the third day and above all, Jesus was resurrected on the third day.   
Three days seems pretty important just from my understanding of the Bible. 
If God tells us to be ready for the third day, let’s make sure we put on our cleanest and best clothing to meet with Him.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

we all cry sometimes

Jesus wept.

- John 11:35 (NKJV)

 

We all cry sometimes, even Jesus.
The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35 – Jesus wept. 
In October 2020 I used this verse, and I wrote “Jesus was moved to tears by the sorrow of Mary and Martha over the death of their brother Lazarus.

All their friends were crying, mourning the death of their friend.

Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were friends of Jesus too, and He shared in their sorrow.

I’d like to think that Mary and Martha found comfort in His tears.

I’d like to believe that when I am sad, Jesus cries with me too.”

Apparently, I am not the only one who believes that because in 2023 Riley Clemmons released Jesus Cries:
It's no secret that life

Gets a little heavy sometimes

Like it's too much for one heart to take

Your smile's wearing thin

Just tryin' to hold it all in

But it feels like the dam's gonna break

You are not alone facing that flood behind your eyes

Heaven already knows every tear that you cry

So let 'em fall like the rain

Let 'em roll down your face

Let 'em run like a river

That carries your pain

To the Savior with scars

Right there holding your heart

When you weep, He's there weeping with you

Jesus cries too

Mm-mm-mm

There's no answer sometimes

For the hurt that's inside

When the healing feels so far away

But in the ache of your soul

There's a love that comes close

And catches your tears when they're all you can pray

Let 'em fall like the rain

Let 'em roll down your face

Let 'em run like a river

That carries your pain

To the Savior with scars

Right there holding your heart

When you weep, He's there weeping with you

Jesus cries too, Jesus cries too

At the edge of the grave

In the valley of pain

When the sadness won't shake

It's true (Jesus cries too)

When the suffering is long

When you can't see the dawn

He feels all the sorrow with you

Jesus cries too

Jesus cries too, yeah, yeah

Let 'em fall like the rain

Let 'em roll down your face

Let 'em run like a river

That carries your pain

To the Savior with scars

Right there holding your heart

When you weep, He's there weeping with you

He's never been closer

It's true

Jesus cries too
It is such a comfort to know that I will never cry alone. 
A comfort in knowing that someone cares enough about me that He is right there, holding my heart.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

step by step

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

- Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

 

Some of us remember The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show from the 1960’s – “Now here’s something we hope you’ll really like”!
Most of us just saw re-runs, but this show was fun, had multiple characters with their own plotlines and there was even history to learn!
The “Peabody’s Improbable History” segment had a fictional time machine invented by Mr. Peabody called the “Wayback machine” that would transport Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman to a time and place of historical importance so Sherman could learn the history of the world. 
So, let’s hop into the Wayback machine today and return to 2002 when Michael W. Smith released the song Step By Step.
Oh God, You are my God

Oh God, You are my God

And I will ever praise You

I will seek You in the morning

And I will learn to walk in Your ways

And Step by step You'll lead me

And I will follow You all of my days
King David, while in the wilderness of Judah, knew that the only one he could rely on was God.
He knew that his spiritual survival would not last long with out the help of God.
The intense longing that he felt for God mimics that of extreme hunger or thirst.

We cannot live without food or water, and we should not try to live without God.
We should find out way to him, step by step. 
 

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible