Category: Tunes on Tuesday

God Given Dreams

God given dreams are not ours to fulfill they are God’s. We are called to surrender and trust his timing. Look at Joseph or David it took decades for the dreams God gave them to be fulfilled. But they we fulfilled by God. Not by them. David had multiple opportunities to take the thrown from Saul but he knew he had to honor the authority God had given Saul. David choose to honor God instead of himself.

This world is full of people trying to achieve their dreams and goals. Striving and sacrificing morals, ethics and anything that stands in their way. But we as God’s children are called to a different sacrifice. We are to lay down our lives for God as he did for us. To let him live through us and let him fulfills the dreams he has placed on our hearts. The only thing we need to do is stay focused on Jesus. Seek his face and follow his direction. Trust him to provide and make the way for what he’s called us to.

What are your dreams? Have you given them to God to fulfill or are you still trying to achieve them on your own.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  – 1 John 3:16

To brighten your day!!!

Some days we get news that saddens us. We don’t always get the answer we are looking for in the time we expect. But that does not mean that God is not good. He is and he knows the best timing for his blessings.

Hannah prayed fervently for a child and God blessed her with one. But it was his timing that mattered. Hannah had Samuel. Samuel was a great prophet but his birth needed to coincide with Saul and David. So he could anoint them both king and be the voice of God to them both. Delayed answers can make us sad. But if we keep looking to King Jesus he will bring us joy in the morning. So no matter what your facing. Know that if you put your trust in God he will provide the desires he has placed in your heart, but in his timing.

The song in the video will bring some sunshine to your day. God loves to bring joy and laughter into our lives. Especially when we don’t feel it. This song always brings a smile to my heart. Enjoy and laugh with Jesus!

Jesus name changes the atmosphere

Just mentioning the name of Jesus can change everything. It can change our attitude, our view towards someone or something. Jesus can change our whole perspective, if we let him.

It’s more than just mentioning his name. It’s the knowledge of who he is and what he brings to the situation or conversation. He provides peace in the storm. Healing where there is pain. Love where it feels lost. But it needs to be more than knowledge of him. When we speak his name we need to seek what he is doing in the moment and share it with the faith that he will do what he tells us.

Years ago I was standing in line and heard a woman say she could only wear certain shoes because her feet hurt. Knowing that God could heal her I asked to pray for her. I prayed and she was not healed and she grew angry with me.

I can’t control how she choose to react. But I should have asked God how he wanted to reach her and what to say. I relied on what I knew of what God could do. Instead of seeking him first before speaking or acting. I expected God to act out of what I had learned he could do. Instead of seeking what he wanted to do in that moment for that person.

There is power in the name of Jesus. But speaking his name without seeking him is fruitless. Its his power, his will, and his children he wants to reach. When we share Jesus with others we need to seek him and ask him. What he wants to do and say. And how he wants to reach them.

Jesus knew how to reach us. We need to seek him to reach others.

What’s your foundation in the storm?

It’s in the hardest moments when our faith is tested. When we are in turmoil. What we stand on, is what keeps us afloat.

God is our rock. Our firm foundation. If we trust Him in our hardest moments. Even when we feel like we’re in the drowning. We can stand against all odds.

Because God is what supports us. If we turn our focus back to Him. He will raise us up out of the water. And we will walk upon the water with Him. Even in the midst a storm.

Jesus Walks on the Water -Matthew 14:22-33

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Do you know God or just about him?

How do you know God? Who is he to you? What comes to you when he’s mentioned? Is it joy? Is it peace? Is it love?

Do you know him or do you know what others have said about him? What has shaped your image of him?

Knowing about others perception of God and actually knowing him are two very different things. Think of it this way. If someone asked you to describe someone famous that you admire but have never met in person how would you describe them? It would be from what you’ve read or watched or learned about them from various sources of those that have met them in person. But then if I asked you to describe the person you are closest to (your spouse or best friend) you would describe them differently because you have physically been around them, you’ve spent time in their presence. You’ve been with them for your best and worst moments in life and you could probably finish each others sentences. The later is the type of relationship God desires with us. He wants us to know him, so intimately that we know how he would react.

So what if you don’t have that type of relationship with God. Well you can. Start by spending time with him not to study or learn but just to be with him. To learn his character, his speech, his mannerisms, his presence. So that we know him instantly.

Struggling to hear his voice. I highly recommend you check out Voice Of God

Jeremiah 29:13- And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

What fuels your flame?

The tiniest spark can start a whole blaze.

The Holy Spirit works the same way. He sparks a fire and a passion in us to share God’s love with people. But we have to fan the flame. Nurture it and help it grow. If we snuff it out. Then we have to keep restarting that spark.

God gave me the verse Jeremiah 20:9 a long time ago to remind me that even though I turned my back on him once. That I won’t do it again. But I need to fan the flame each day, I need to fuel the fire he put in me.

But if I say, “I will not mention his word
    or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
    a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
    indeed, I cannot.

I fuel it by spending time with Father God, by fixing my eyes on Jesus and asking Holy Spirit to teach me something new each day.

What fire has God started in you? Are you snuffing it out? Or are you feeding the fire he put in you?


Don’t fear God

All any of us ever want is to be loved. To have a safe place where we know we can be open and vulnerable about our troubles, hurts and wounds.

Jesus is that safe place.

We can always go to Him about anything, anytime. He is always there for us. He always wants to talk to us, to love us and to heal us.

People often fear going to God in the hard times because they think they have to clean themselves up first.

But that’s not true. If it were Jesus sacrificed himself for nothing. He paid the price for us to have relationship with Him, Father God and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus wants us just a we are. So He can make us new. What would be the point of going to Him for help if we thought we had to fix everything first. Go to Him with your mess. Surrender it to Him and let Him fix it.

He already knows everything, you won’t catch Him off guard.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;  and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.

 Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,  namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. –2 Corinthians 5:14-20

Finding Joy in the Storm

I gave my life to Jesus because I tried doing life without him. I tried being happy without Him and it didn’t work. There was always something missing something I was striving for that I couldn’t grasp.

But life with Jesus is simpler, peaceful, and filled with joy.

Don’t think I don’t have bad moments. I do, but those moments are the ones where I don’t have Him in mind.

But it never fails that when I turn to Jesus. He shows me the sunshine through the rain. He shines bright and shows me where He is in that moment and He changes my perspective to find the joy in whatever I’m facing.

No matter what your going through God will make it better. He will comfort you, care for you, cry with you and show you the light through the storm.

You are worthy

None of us are beyond saving. We all have the opportunity to feel free and find new life in Jesus. The beauty of His sacrifice is that when He died, we died.

“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”–Matthew 10:39

When we try to live without Jesus. We are always striving to feel worthy, valued, loved and wanted.

But Jesus sacrifice already paid our debts and He gives us our worth and our value. Because He sees us as priceless. That’s why He gave His life for us. So that we could stop striving and start living through Him.

No matter what you’ve done or how unworthy you feel. God will always see you as priceless and worthy because of His sacrifice. If we accept it.

What if I’m wrong?

What if you’re wrong? What if I’m wrong? The question that plagues most of us when it comes to eternity.

If I’m wrong. Then I will have lived a life that is amazing, that has caught me by surprise, a life that I would not trade for anything.

Because life with Jesus has been a grand adventure more then I ever could of dreamed or imaged for myself. Even during the toughest times in my life I find joy and peace in Him; and my happiest moments are beyond my wildest dreams, because of Jesus.

Are you so afraid of Jesus that you aren’t willing to give Him a chance? What do you have to lose?

He is the most loving, kind, beautiful and gentle being I have ever know. Why not give him a chance, right now.

Take a moment and talk to Him, about anything you want, scream, yell, whisper or just talk to Him in your head.

He’s listening. He wants to talk to you, but you have to listen too.

He speaks in so many different ways, though our thoughts, through others, through dreams and through images.

Be open and willing to let Him in. I bet he’ll surprise you.

Count Blessing instead of Woes

It’s easy this year to get caught up in what we can’t do or can’t give during this Christmas. But are our family traditions or gift giving really the purpose of Christmas? As wonderful as they are.

No. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus birth and it’s his life that we should celebrate. A man who was poor and even had times with no where to sleep, but was forever kind and generous. It’s him that we celebrate. One that loved all humanity so much that he came to serve us, not allowing selfish moments but letting his love for us guide him.

Even if we were have nothing this Christmas season we can always be grateful for our friends and family and for Jesus birth. 

So this Christmas no matter how different your celebration may be you can always count your blessings.

People are fallible

Listening to the song Last Christmas by Wham reminds me that we as humans are fallible, we all make mistakes and disappointment each other.

But the one that we can always count on is God. He is love, joy, peace, patience, kind, good, faithful and gentle. He knows what we need and when; and he’s always ready to love us when we let him in.

We as humans have misrepresented him because we are not perfect and we make mistakes. So please don’t let people keep you from knowing him. Let him prove who he is to you himself.

Give him your big questions, he can handle it, but make sure you listen for the answers.

This Christmas give him a chance to share his love for you with you.

Watch this movie to help you learn how to hear God’s voice.

Gift for Jesus

With all the gift giving this season. Don’t forget the reason for the season, Jesus.

What gift could you give him?

You may think you have nothing to give. But like the little drummer boy you give what you can, you give your gifts, your talents, your time, your life. Everyone has a life to give. And he deserves it because he gave his.

Even if you think you have nothing to give, Jesus says otherwise. He created you, he gave you gifts and talents you may not even know exist.

When you follow God’s plan for your life he uses those gifts and talents for his glory.

God called me to ministry in 2008. And I didn’t start this devotional until 2018. He took me on a journey to teach me and grow and develop me into the woman that I am today. I am a very different person then I was when he first called me to ministry. Because he had to mold me into who he made me to be. And he’s still molding me.

That’s why I started this devotional blog to use the gifts he’s given me to help others see God in their everyday lives.

The gift you can give him this Christmas is YOU!

O Holy Night

Listening to O Holy Night, always helps me stop and focus on Jesus to feel the peace and calm that he brings to the atmosphere. To remember that Christmas is about him and bringing glory to our savior.

He changed everything that night when he choose to come down to earth not as a king, but as a baby, to humble himself and live a life of service to his people.

Jesus didn’t come down to be served but to serve. He came to restore relationship between us and Father God. 

To show us love.

Bring Heaven now

As believers in Jesus its easy to look to heaven as the solution; to think that we just have to suffer till we get to heaven. But Jesus never intended for us to live this life alone.

Heaven can be here on earth now if we look for it. If we focus on Jesus. One of my favorite questions to ask God, that I first heard from Graham Cooke is “What do you want to be for me now?”

Heaven is free of pain and hurt yes, but its also full of worship. So we worship while we wait, we worship while we wait for the healing, we worship while we wait for the provision or the answer. Worship brings heaven to us and worship opens us up to letting God lead. Its in worship that we surrender all our worries and concerns.

So no matter what we are going through, worship through it. Give God the glory and ask him ‘what he wants to be for you now?’

God’s not Dead, Part 2

Read Part 1

When we walk around with unforgiveness that anger and bitterness spills onto everyone else in our lives. Because we haven’t dealt with it, it just builds and builds until, it explodes on some unsuspecting person that may have done the tiniest thing.

Acknowledging God’s existence is the first step toward forgiveness. Acknowledging that he does love us and it’s because he loves us that he gave us the free will to choose him or not. And it’s that free will that causes us to hurt each other.

Even those that choose him are not faultless. We all still make mistakes and no one is perfect except God.

Many people’s distrust of God is because others have misrepresented him. None of us are faultless. Only through knowing God ourselves can we really know who he his.

Don’t let others misrepresentation of him keep you from knowing a loving and trustworthy God that sacrificed his very life for you.

Seek to know God for yourself and let him show you who is he and the freedom that comes from his forgiveness.

God Keeps His Promises

Way maker, miracle worker
Promise keeper, light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are -Way Maker by Leeland

God keeps his promises and takes care of his people. His promises may not be fulfilled when and how we think they should. But he keeps his promises. He cares for our needs and the desires he has put in us. But in his timing and his way.

We are not meant to take care of and provide for ourselves. We are meant to trust God and follow his leading. So he can provide for us.

God shows us this is how Jesus lived his life and sacrificed it for us. Jesus put others before himself. And trusted his heavenly father to provide all he needed.

If even Jesus did not plan and provide for himself. Than why do we? We need to seek God in all things and everything and follow his plan. He will lead us to reach people we would have missed otherwise. He will daily show us how much he loves us by providing for our needs. And he will bless us with the things that bring joy to our life, if we just look for his blessings.

God has brought me through so many trails that I have lost count. The only times I have truly struggled was when I was trying to do it on my own. But when I stopped trying and started trusting, his provision came. God doesn’t want our hard work. He wants our hearts.

The reason behind

When we face times of stress or trials in life it’s easy to give up and give in to temptation for quick fixes that scratch an itch or satisfy for a moment but leave us feeling guilty and full of regret in the long term. 

But because we know God loves us and he has a plan for us and that plan is way  better then what might be right in front of us. We don’t take those quick fixes.

We trust that his plan is better. Because God is good and he provides. It seems counter cultural, but it’s the way he designed us. He has given each of us passions and skills. But they are meant to be used to share his love with others not for selfish gain or ambition. What has God blessed you with? Are you using it for his kingdom?

The name of JESUS

Speaking the name of Jesus out loud is powerful. It brings an emotional response from us. Some fear, some worry, some peace, some joy, his name invokes something inside us.

We each have a different response when we hear his name.

But we can only truly know him. And learn to love him and be loved by him. If we develop a relationship with him.

I can tell you all day about how amazing he is, that he’s completely changed my life. I can tell you how hearing his name brings so much peace and joy to my heart that it can be overwhelming at times.

But you can never truly know him, until you know him yourself.

What others say

It’s so easy to get caught up in our thoughts. To become overwhelmed and insecure when we turn to our own opinion of ourselves or others opinions of us.

But the only opinion that should matter is Jesus. What he says is what matters.

He says we are loved, we matter, we belong.

If we depend on getting our value from others we will always feel like we are not enough. But Jesus says we’re priceless.

He paid everything for us, because he loves us.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else says about us. What matters is what Jesus says and he says we are loved.

Take a moment and refocus your thoughts as you listen to this song. Let the words speak to you and let Jesus remind you of who he made you to be.

Find Freedom

Rehearsing our mistakes over and over again in our head allows guilt and shame to have control over us. Even rehearsing the wrong doings of others against us gives them power over us. When we allow these things to dictate our decisions we give them control over us.

But when we surrender them over to Jesus and accept His forgiveness for us and for them, we find freedom.

When we die to ourselves and allow God to live through us. His love and his grave cover our mistakes so that we can be free of guilt and shame, because we are dead and the dead can’t be offended, guilty or ashamed.

Instead we can rejoice in the freedom, joy and peace of God’s grace.

Surrender over to God whatever is holding you back, whatever stops you from being who God made you to be.

Free and forgiven.

He holds it all together

God knows what were going through, he knows ever ache and pain, every anguish and he’s in it with us holding our hand, leading us, guiding us, holding us, because he always knows what we need, when we need it.

He’s with us when were having our worst day and our best day. He will comfort us when we need it and rejoice with us in our triumph’s. God does life with us. Because he is our life.

We pour out to others all day, at work, at home or when we’re out. But what are we poring out? We are meant to pour out Jesus. So when someone tests our patience, it’s his patience that shines though. His love, his mercy. But to pour him out we need to be full of him. And when we pour out. We need to refill. Even Jesus sought time to pray and seek the Father so he was ready to pour out to others. And when he had ministered to people he would go back to his Father for more.

Holy Spirit is our constant companion, our best friend and the one who loves us. We need only to focus our attention on him and let him flow through us.

God’s love concurs fear

The love of God transform us. It gives us boldness, strength and confidence in the toughest moments. God’s love not only cancels fear, it removes it. God’s love is all encompassing.

It gave David the strength to face Goliath. Daniel the stamina to face the lion den. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the confidence to face the fire.

God’s love gives us all we need to face or overcome the trials we face in life. He gives us peace in the storm. If we fix our eyes on Him. Like Peter walking on the water. When his gaze was fixed on Jesus he was able to do what defied logic and understanding. But when Peter took his gaze off of Jesus and focused on the storm around him (his circumstances) he began to sink.

So no matter what your surrounded by, fix your gaze on Jesus and He’ll teach you to walk on the water and find peace that surpasses understanding.

Why do we doubt

Why do we doubt God’s forgiveness? We say oh, he can’t forgive me, he can’t, you don’t know what I’ve done, I don’t belong.”

I used to think the same thing.

In my late teens till my early twenties I choose to walk away from God and pretty much did whatever I wanted. But when I finally decided to give my life back to God, I was terrified.

The first Sunday I was so scared that I clung to my best friends arm digging my fingernails into her arm as I walked back into the sanctuary of the church I had grown up in.

I truly believed everyone knew exactly what I had been doing during those years and I was convinced that everyone was going to turn, look at me and shoot fiery red darts out of their eyes.

But I was wrong. Everyone greeted me with smiles, hugs and open arms. No judgement, no questions, just people happy to see me.

That is how God sees us. When we choose to invite him into our lives, he greets us with open arms and a huge smile. 

God loves us.

He is always ready and waiting to welcome us into his family.

So what is holding you back? Fear? Worry? Anxiety?

Well good new those thing are not of God so won’t find them in him.

God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful and he has self control.

So what about that scares you?

The song Clean by Natalie Grant reminds me of how God sees us.

God sees us restored and new in him.

He wants to bless us and bless others through us.

He’s not up there waiting to strike us down. He’s right next to us waiting patiently for us to allow him into our lives. He’s constantly there wanting to spend time with us, talk to us and show us who he made us to be.

Trust me, who he made you to be is beyond anything you could ever imagine. When I began writing I knew that it was what I was meant to be doing. God had been telling me for years but it wasn’t until I took the leap of faith to really pursue it that I felt like this is it. This is what I was meant to do.

Ask God who he’s made you to be and trust that he knows what suits you best, he made you.

Lead By Jesus

Surrendering all to Jesus is about laying down our plans and following his. God created everything. He perfectly placed earth in our solar system so that we would not be too hot or too cold. He designed the seasons to show us what death and resurrection look like. He shows us how seeds can be planted, grow and spread through creation. He provides for us in ways we take for granted every day. So why wouldn’t we trust him to plan our life. When he planned the universe.

It’s about God and his kingdom, not ours. That’s why we die to self. So that he can live through us.

The Holy Spirit is a Game Changer

The Holy Spirit is an atmosphere changer.

When we yield ourselves to his leading things change. Our perspective, our attitude, our mood, all change to that of God.

Yielding to the Holy Spirit is a game changer!

That simple decision in each moment of each day. Can change our whole day if we stop for a second and listen. If we take that moment to make the Holy Spirit the most important thing in our lives. We can change how we speak and how we act towards our friends, our family, our co-workers and the world around us. Let the Holy Spirit be your game changer and see what he can do in and through you!

No Magic Formula for Prayer

There’s no magic formula to prayer. Its just a conversation between you and God. Meaning you talk and he talks back. When we talk to God we should expect an answer. We are not just throwing our prayers into the air and saying well if he wants to he’ll do something. He wants to be with us, share with us and show us who he is and what he has planned for us. He wants our openness, our vulnerability, our mess, our fears and our worries. He wants to talk to us and let us know that he is all we need.

Why do we feel we have to fix ourselves or have just the right words to talk to him? He loves us and he wants to talk to us.

If we have to be all cleaned up just to talk to him. Then why did Jesus sacrifice himself? If we could achieve perfection, then Jesus sacrifice was in vain. So why do we keep thinking we have to achieve it before we can talk to him.

God is our Heavenly Father and like any good father, he wants to be there for us even when we are at our worst, in fact especially then. That’s when we should depend on him the most, when we are at our worst. Because he is the one that can make it better, he can heal the hurts and the pain, and he has already forgiven us.

We need to stop trying to be perfect first and let him perfect us instead. Next time your at your worst or you don’t know what to do. Talk to God about it and listen for the answer.

Sweet life-changing forgiveness

God’s forgiveness makes us feel fresh and new and clean. It’s a new start, a new beginning, no need to dwell on the past, we just focus on who God made us to be.

When God paid for our mistakes he gave us the chance to be born again spiritual, to be made new and clean, to start fresh.

So why do we dell on our past mistakes? All it does is brings us down. Trust me I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life. But dwelling on them does nothing except distract me from what God is doing in me now.

His forgiveness lifts our burdens, guilt and shame. He never meant for us to walk around like that, but to walk free in his presence.

Don’t dwell on who you were even a moment ago. Instead focus on who God made you to be and walk in his freeing forgiveness.

I’m proud to be a “Jesus Freak”

Jesus Freak by DC Talk was one of my favorite songs when I was in junior high, when I started to make my faith my own.

I was proud then and I’m proud now to be a “Jesus Freak.” Because that means that others see him in me and through me.

We are supposed to be different, we are supposed to stand out for Jesus. People are supposed to see us differently and it’s supposed to be desirable.

That doesn’t mean that we wash down the gospel so that it’s palatable to people in there current point of view, it means that we show them that they can have peace and joy and hope and love through having their own relationship with Jesus.

Being a Jesus Freak should be something we are proud of, not something we are ashamed of.

The Big Picture

Its easy to get wrapped up in ourselves, in our own world and to neglect or take for granted our relationship with God. We know He will always be there for us but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss us. With all the responsibilities of life its easy to push Him off till later to say, let me just take care of this first or do that and then I’ll spend time with God.

But its when we put God first that He helps us to accomplish all we have to do and somehow when we follow His plan there is always extra time left. When we follow His lead and His way He does things faster and better then we ever could have and shows us little surprises along the way.

God sees the big picture. He sees how everything works together and when we trust His leadership He guides us to bigger and grander things then we could of done if we’d done it on our own. When we are wrapped up in what is right in front of us, we miss what’s a few steps ahead.

My husband and I have moved a lot and in one of our searches for a rental home. All I could see was the things that I was looking for instead of what I was looking at. After viewing a few homes I picked one and my husband picked the other. When we returned to view his choice he showed me what I had missed. The beautiful woods that the house backed up to. He saw the big picture while I just focused on what I wasn’t seeing he saw what really mattered.

Trust Jesus leadership. He sees the big picture.

God Given Dreams

The song I can only imagine by Mercy Me speaks to me every time I hear it.

One of the most pivotal times was when my husband and I went to a Astros game in Houston. We were living in Louisiana at the time and decided to go to Houston for our anniversary. We found tickets the morning of the game and had no idea that it was the Faith and Family day for the Astros. (If you’ve never been to one you should go most MLB teams have one)

After the game one of the players and his wife shared there testimonies. Following that was a Mercy Me concert. I have always loved them but had never heard them in concert. It was amazing, I think I cried through the whole time just praying and worshiping God as He broke my heart, reminding me that He had a calling on my life to be a writer and that I had been ignoring it at that time.

At the end of the concert the lead singer Bart Millard shared how Mercy Me was his dream and how God had pushed him to it and used the song I Can Only Imagine to do it. A song that had been strung throughout my life and has always driven me to the feet of Jesus.

This experience with God was the catalyst that pushed me to write to start this devotional blog in 2018. It was the push that I needed to follow the dream that God had placed in my heart.

What dream has God placed in your heart? Seek God, ask him what he’s called you to and his plan to accomplish it.

When you’re tired

The days when you’re weak and tired are the days we need Jesus more then ever.

When we are at our weakest. He is our strength, our energy, our wisdom, our everything. He provides all we need because He is all we need.

So no matter how tired or exhausted you are, know that He is all you need.

Seek Him and let Him be your everything.

Fear

Fear you’re not welcome here.

The breakup song by Francesca Battistelli is a great anthem for those moments of fear that sneak up on us.

The reminder that we have the power to tell fear to leave.

We don’t have to let it over take us every moment of every day. We have the choice to let ourselves be ruled by fear or to choose our feeling and refuse to let fear control  us.

Listen to the song. Sing along a tell fear to leave.

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. -2 Timothy 1:7

At our weakest

Even when we feel at our weakest and most vulnerable we can look to God. Because he is our strength. Whether we are having the best day of our lives or the worst day ever. He is the same.

His grace for us never changes. We could be at our worst and he will still extend his hand to us and say “Come here child.” Because we can’t earn his grace, because he gives it freely.

It’s easy to get caught up in our troubles, self-pity, anxiety and worry. But only one thing can bring us the peace that surpasses understanding. Jesus!

It’s his sacrifice that brings us into a deep, intimate relationship with him, Father God and the Holy Spirit. And its only that relationship that will sustain us and uplifts us when we need it most.

When I have those moments of feeling like “I’m in the depths of despair” to quote Anne of Green Gables. Instead of indulging those feelings and letting them lead me. I turn to God and simple say “help.” He always does.

When we turn our attention back to Jesus he changes our perspective. Comforting us with his plan and showing us how he see things.

Words Matter

What we say about ourselves matters. Be it out loud or in our head. What we let others tell us about ourselves matters. Be it good or bad. Words influence us. But what matters most is what God says about us. And what he says is we are loved, forgiven and made into a new creation 

He sees us as who he made us to be. Not our past or what others tell us about ourselves but who we really are. When we give our lives to Jesus our old self dies and he lives through us. We are not the person we used to be. God doesn’t see us and all our mistakes he sees Jesus and his sacrifice for us. When he makes us a new creation we are forgiven and made new.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! -2 Corinthians 5:17

My will or HIS

Everything in life can fail and falter, but the one thing we can always count on and depend on is God, because he doesn’t change. He’s the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is always loving, always there and always dependable.

He’s always on time and always work things out for good.

He is the one thing in life that we can count on 100%.

It’s us that falter or wavier, that grow impatient or try to do things in our own time or our own way. But when we depend on God and follow his lead we will have no regret.

Our stories

Every year I post my story (my testimony) of how God changed my life because I know it reaches people, it shows them they are not alone and that God can change their story too. I want to hear your stories too of how God changed your life.

Because we each have a story and everyone’s is important and can make a difference in the the life of others. Please share your story in the comments or post it on social media and share what God has done in your life.

Jesus Friend of Sinners

Jesus friend of sinner by Casting Crowns perfectly describes how we sometimes act towards non-believers and contrasts how we should actually act.

Jesus befriended sinners.

Think about it this way. Has someone pointing fingers at you, teasing you, being told you are wrong, or protesting ever convinced you that you are loved by God. Then why would we think that it would convey that to anyone else.

Did Jesus do any of those things? No.

When people met Jesus, they changed their ways by their own decision. The tax collector gave back the money he stole with interest and Jesus never asked him to. Jesus didn’t throw rocks at the woman who was going to be stoned for adultery, he defended her. He didn’t call them out on what they were doing. They knew what the were doing. He called up to who he made them to be.

Jesus causes people to change their ways just by being love. It’s the love of God that causes people to choose to change, not condemnation. Isn’t that what brought you to God? His love and forgiveness.

We are not meant to be judge and jury. We are meant to show God’s love.

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Never Alone in the Valley

It’s easy to feel alone in our struggles, but we never are when we have Jesus. He’s always there with us being all that we need even in our lowest lows God is with us. All we need is to turn to him.

He teaches us so much in our struggles. He shows us what is really important and the value or lack of value in the things of this world.

Jesus said we will have struggles but he has overcome them. Since he is always with us, we can always overcome them, because he has overcome them.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Jesus is all you need

The best part about Jesus is that he is what we are not. So when we say we don’t feel like it, that’s ok, we don’t have to, because he is what we are not. He is our strength, our peace and our joy. We have to stop trying to be what we think God wants us to be and let him be in us what he is.

When we surrender our lives over to him we need to fill that up with something but we often make the mistake of filling up on the things that got us to where we were in the first place before Jesus.

We need to fill up on him, to fix our eyes on what draws us closer to him not further from him. We have this problem of trying to imitate God instead of letting him be God in us. We need to get out of the way.

If his intentions was to have us fix ourselves, then why did he sacrifice his life for us. Don’t say we’ll that just the way I am. Because when you gave your life over to God you gave up that person, you died to self. So God can live through you so that you can be the person he created you to be. That person is loving, peaceful, fearless and joyful.

So stop saying less of me and more of him and say none of me and all of him.

We are never beyond God’s love

God’s love can change our worst moment, a bad mood or the direst of circumstances. Just by allowing him to shift our perspective. If the apostle Paul can worship in prison and Steven can forgive those that are stoning him. Shifting our focus to God can change the atmosphere, our perspective and our attitude. Fixing our eyes on Jesus isn’t always about changing where we are at rather its changing our focus onto him.

So when we feel lost or stuck, unwanted or unworthy we can always turn to Jesus. No matter how long its been, how bad we feel, regardless of what is around us, his perspective can change it all.

So ask Jesus: What do you want to be for me now? How do you see this?

These are some of my favorite questions to ask God. Because I know I can always turn to him; trust him.

It’s easy for us to get into moments where we think we aren’t worthy to talk to him or to go to him. But he always wants to talk to us. Always wants be there for us and love us. He sees us at our worst moments and stills says:

I love you, come to me.

We can’t earn his love, favor or grace, but he gives it to us freely. We just have to allow him in, allow his love to wash over us, to change our view, our attitude and our perspective.

with everything

Sometimes we can be worried about what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. So here’s my question. Whatever your doing or saying, can you do it with Jesus? Can you say it to Jesus?

I am not perfect and I can honestly say there are moments when I couldn’t say I would be proud to have Jesus with me when I’ve said somethings, or put my self first before others.

But the reality is that if we believe, then he is with us every moment. He’s with us when we brush our teeth, when we yell at the driver in front of us, and when we hold the door open for the next person.

He is always with us so why don’t we act like it.

Honestly I think we forget sometimes, but what if we lived are lives like we were never alone, like he was always with us, not as this overwhelming presence, but as our constant companion, someone who is always here to help us, to uplift and encourage us, so that we are never alone. To protect when we’re scared or intimidated, to love us at our worst and celebrate with us at our best.

See your life different, as never before, as never alone. But with Jesus always.

God first

Putting God first can seem overwhelming, but if we put him first we will find that he’s essential to our lives, like that first cup of coffee. Putting God first sets our day off right. Just shifting our focus to him can change our whole, mood, demeanor and mindset about the day. Even if it’s just a moment, that shift can change our whole day if we let it.

He provides-

peace that surpasses understanding

love that trumps all love

joy that overflows our hopes

Who doesn’t need more love, joy and peace in their day.

So put Gd first and see how your day exceeds your expectations.

God Loves YOU

Yesterday I talked about having the faith in God to make the big sacrifices and that, that starts with conversation, with talking to God.

But there is so much more, it’s more then talking to him its about knowing him. I have trusted God when he has asked me to take big leaps of faith because I know him.

I know that he loves me and that he will not let harm come to me. I know that he has brought me through some crazy impossible situations and that he will continue to do so. Because I know him

I know that he is loving, kind and gentle, that he provides all my needs when I trust him and that he never leaves me.

Jesus made his sacrifice because he loves us and wants us to know him.

Take a chance and give him a chance to show you just how much he loves you.

Choose JOY

It’s easy to get bogged down by the responsibilities of life and to feel sad, anxious, worried overwhelmed by the pressures of life or just by the state of the world.

You can look at the media and think what is there to be thankful for or to rejoice over.

But our joy doesn’t come from the world it comes from Jesus.

Joy by For King and Country reminds us that we can CHOOSE JOY!

Joy because Jesus came to give us a better life that doesn’t always mean our circumstances change, sometime it just means he can be or joy in the storm.

So CHOOSE JOY!

God’s not done with you

It breaks my heart when I hear people say that God can’t use them, because they are too old, too young, too poor, too shy, too broken, too busy.

As long as there are people who don’t know Jesus, God can use you.

We all have something to share, God changed our lives some way some how and we can share that.

The old have years of experience to share, decades of how Jesus has impacted their lives, the young have faith that can move mountains, the broken can share how God healed them, the busy can invest in those that keep them busy and anyone can give.

We can all be used by God.

On your worst day he is there

Even on my worst days I know one thing is true.

Jesus is everything I need.

I can go to him and ball my eyes out in frustration, scream, yell and be completely open, honest and transparent with him because he already knows everything I’m going through.

There’s comfort in being able to talk to him about anything and everything whether good or bad, whether I’m encouraged or discouraged when I come to him.

I know that after I have spent time with him that I will come out loved and comforted. Because he is always there for me know matter what. Anytime anywhere he is there for me.

So give God your stuff, all your junk, your frustrations and let him give you the peace that surpasses understanding.

need you now

Everyone has a story to tell, everyone has a moment when they hit their rock bottom and cried out to God “I need you now.” 

My moment was in 2008. I was in a six year relationship that was going nowhere, when I had a pregnancy scare. This woke me up almost out of a slumber. I realized I didn’t want this man to be the father of my kids, but I knew I wanted to raise my kids in church.

So I decided to go back to church.

I was terrified and convinced that I would be met with glaring stares and rejection but I wasn’t. Instead I was welcomed with open arms. My friends from the church I grew up in, never gave up on me, they were always there for me during the years I intentionally choose to ignore God. But when I choose to come back to church they welcomed me back with open arms and no judgement.

That is how God is, when we choose to say “I need you now.” He leaps for joy and runs to embrace us. He throws a party in heaven rejoicing over His child returning home.

Who or what do you turn to when you hit your rock bottom?

Why not, give God a chance to show you how much He loves you.

God’s not done

It’s easy to give up, to think we can’t go on or that God can’t use us, doesn’t want or doesn’t need us. But nothing could be further from the truth.

God’s never done with us.

No matter where we are, what we are doing or how far we think we’ve fallen. God’s never done with us.

He is always there for us, he always wants us and he always has more for us.

We can’t exhaust God, his love doesn’t run out and his grace covers all.

So no matter what, no matter how we feel, we can always turn to him and he will lift us up.

Love without condition

We all want to be loved without conditions or expectations. So why would we assume God would want anything else?

Yes, we love God because of what he’s done for us, but we should love him for who he is.

When you are with the one you love you don’t need anything else, but just to be with them. Our love for God should be the same, because his love is the same for us.

He wants nothing more than to spend all eternity with us or he wouldn’t have given everything to make it possible.

Seek him for him and appreciate the joy of just his presence.