renew

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

- Psalm 51:10 (NIV)

If you know me or have been reading my daily bread for a while, you know that I love music. 

So many things can be said in a song.

All genres have some good lyrics, but I mostly listen to contemporary Christian. 

Still every now and then, I run across an oldie but goodie – like today’s song reference: 

Purify my heart,
Let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart,
Let me be as gold, pure gold.

Refiner's fire,
My heart's one desire
Is to be... holy;
Set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be... holy;
Set apart for You, my Master,
Ready to do Your will.

Purify my heart,
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy.
Purify my heart,
Cleanse me from my sin, deep within.

Refiner's fire,
My heart's one desire
Is to be... holy;
Set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be... holy;
Set apart for You, my Master,
Ready to do Your will.

No matter what things have happened in your life, bad decisions you have made, mistakes that you thought would follow you for life, God’s love can redeem you. 

You are worth it to Him, He will forgive you and let you start over. 

All you have to do, is ask. 

hope

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

- Lamentations 3:25-26 (NIV)

I find myself saying “I hope” a lot.

I might hope for a good parking spot or a warm day. 

Friends might hope for a new job or a good report from a doctor visit. 

Our hope should lie in the Lord, He is the one that gives us salvation. 

Sometimes we have to wait for Him, sometimes it feels like He isn’t listening to us at all. 

I can remember several times when I hoped for something, only to be disappointed when it fell through, but looking back I see that it is way better that my “hope” did not come true. 

Wait for the Lord, He knows what He is doing. 

fully known

You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book and You know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.

- Psalm 139:3-4 The Passion Translation (TPT)

I’ve started a new daily devotional for 2020, this one is “A Little God Time For Women”. 

This is a compilation of the work of several authors by BroadstreetPublishing. 

What drew me to this particular devotional was the introduction: 

When everything else in life demands your attention, rest in the Lord to find hope, joy, and peace you need each day.  The Father is captivated by you!  He delights in every moment you choose to spend with Him.  Let your heart be filled with His presence and find the peace that is abundant there.

God know us so well, He loves us, He has plans for us, He wants us to succeed, we are fully known and loved by Him - - - song reference!! 

It's so unusual it's frightening
You see right through the mess inside me
And you call me out to pull me in
You tell me I can start again
And I don't need to keep on hiding

I'm fully known and loved by You
You won't let go no matter what I do
And it's not one or the other
It's hard truth and ridiculous grace
To be known fully known and loved by You
I'm fully known and loved by You

It's so like You to keep pursuing
It's so like me to go astray, ooh
But You guard my heart with Your truth
The kind of love that's bullet proof
And I surrender to Your kindness, oh

I'm fully known and loved by You
You won't let go no matter what I do
And it's not one or the other
It's hard truth and ridiculous grace
To be known fully known and loved by You
I'm fully known and loved by You

How real, how wide
How rich, how high is Your heart
I cannot find the reasons why
You give me so much
How real, how wide
How rich, how high is Your heart
Now, I cannot find the reasons why
You give me so much

I'm fully known (fully known) and loved by You
You won't let go (no you won't let go) no matter what I do
And it's not one or the other
It's hard truth and ridiculous grace
To be known fully known and loved by You
I'm fully known and loved by You

It’s so unusual it’s frightening

I'm fully known and loved by You

He knows every step we take before we begin. 

Will you walk with Him?

Monday again?

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

- Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

Happy first Monday of 2020.

As a child, I was a huge fan of the comic strip Garfield, really I still am.  

I felt a kinship with Garfield because we both hate spiders, tolerate dogs, love lasagna and despise Mondays. 

Sunday are either the first day of a new week, or the last day of the previous week, depending on your personal calendar. 

For most people, Monday is the first day of their work week, therefore, quite often viewed with contempt. 

What if we viewed Monday simply as a new day? 

What if we woke up every Monday (every day, really) with this verse in our heart?

C.S. Lewis said “You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.”

With these things in mind, we can look forward to new things on Mondays and in 2020. 

Let’s make 2020 a year of good beginnings! 

follow me

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

- 1 Corinthians 11:1

Adults often tell children “do as I say, not as I do”.

What are we teaching our kids, if we live by this phrase?

What we really need to do is live by example, there is a poem by Dorothy Law Nolte published in 1972, and even though it was first published nearly 50 years ago, it still holds true:

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

We can add to this today:

If children live with hatred, they learn intolerance.

I don’t think that Jesus taught hatred, criticism, hostility, fear, pity, ridicule, jealousy or shame.                     

Live in a way that looks like Jesus!

it’s all about the money

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 

- Hebrews 13:5

This is a repeat, my friends, but it is that time of year and this is one of the (touchy) subjects that needs repeating.

The holidays are over and now, the credit card bills are rolling in.

Many people will spend the next 11 months trying to pay off the debt they added trying to buy the perfect Christmas for everyone and themselves, only to turn around and rack up the debt again in December 2020.

Tell me, is it worth it?

Does that big screen TV or the latest game console really improve your life?

I bet it doesn’t.

In 2020, I encourage you to work on getting debt free (this still applies to me too, I have a few things that need to be paid off).

Dave Ramsey has a great program in Financial Peace University and even if you don’t follow to the letter (I don’t) his process can make a world of difference (it does) and you can learn to have the best things without going over your eyeballs in debt.

God says very clearly that we should not love money (it’s one of those things that is repeated several times in the Bible, maybe we should listen!).

Let’s start there.  

resolutions

If you scrub your hands of sin and refuse to entertain evil in your home, you’ll be able to face the world unashamed and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless. You’ll forget your troubles; they’ll be like old, faded photographs. Your world will be washed in sunshine, every shadow dispersed by dayspring. Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again; you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.

- Job 11:14-20 (MSG)

Happy New Year!

So tell, me, how many “resolutions have you made for 2020?

The definition of “resolution” is “a firm decision to do or not to do something”.

I googled the most common new year’s resolutions and as one usually does, I found a lot of information (love the googles!) 

One website said this:

Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions, hoping to spark positive change. The recurring themes each year include a more active approach to health and fitness, improved finances, and learning new things for personal and professional development. Chances are, more than a couple of the top 10 most common resolutions will look familiar to you:

1. Exercise more
2. Lose weight
3. Get organized
4. Learn a new skill or hobby 
5. Live life to the fullest
6. Save more money / spend less money
7. Quit smoking
8. Spend more time with family and friends
9. Travel more
10. Read more

The website went on to note that only 46% of people who make New Year’s resolutions are successful, and only 4% of those that don’t make resolutions are successful at achieving their goals.

I am not sure that I have ever managed to keep a New Year’s resolution, I am sure that at some point in time each of the ten above were on my list in some form.

The same site gives 10 steps to “realize your New Year’s resolution”:

1. Mentally prepare for change
2. Set a goal that motivates you
3. Limit resolutions to a manageable amount
4. Be specific
5. Break up big goals into smaller goals
6. Write down your goals
7. Share your resolutions with others
8. Automate where possible
9. Review your resolution regularly
10. If you fall off track, get back on quick

I think that some of the ten steps can be applied to our walk with God, especially numbers one, seven and ten.

When you begin your walk, you have to prepare for change because He will change you!!

When you share your story with others, you encourage them to share with you, we learn from one another and we grow in our relationships, both with God and with others when we share where we are and how we got there.

Just like a bicycle or a horse, if you fall off, get back on.

Starting a journey isn’t easy, and there will be set backs.

You don’t just wake up, decide to follow God and suddenly your whole world is rainbows and roses, it takes time.

I challenge you to make two resolutions this year –to know God better, and to share your relationship with Him.