Colossians 3:1-2

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on earth.

Paul urged the Colossians to turn their eyes off the world and to seek what is above. We would be wise to do the same. Seeking after worldly gain will only leave us empty, and we can’t take it with us, anyway. If we have truly died to our flesh and been raised to new life in Christ, we should seek Him where He is – at the right hand of God, interceding for us. Instead of worrying about things on earth, we should be taking every concern to Christ in prayer and doing what He has called us to do.

Paul knew our minds have a tendency to wander, and mine wanders miles every day. In fact, if I got the physical exercise my mind has endured, I’d be an athletically toned size 4! We must set our minds on what is above and resist the temptation to meditate on the things of the earth, which are quickly passing away.

The Devil wants to get us sidetracked from our purpose on earth, and he knows how to throw a distraction in our way. He knows exactly what will get our attention, and he preys on our weaknesses. The only way to strengthen ourselves against his onslaughts is to seek Christ, who is our strength. When we focus upon Him and what He has called us to do, we will avoid the paths that lead us to nowhere and delay or prevent us from the good things God has planned for us.

Set your minds on what is above today, and seek Christ. If you have a need, He is at the right hand of the Father interceding for you. Take it to Him. If you have a desire that is unfulfilled, take it to Him. If you need doors opened or a new opportunity, seek Him. Live above the circumstances of this world by focusing on the Messiah. Your hope, your calling, your purpose, and your destiny reside in Him. Focus upon what is important, and allow the non-essential things fade from your radar. You will find a life worth living when you do.

Have a blessed day!

Genesis 29:26-30

Laban answered, “It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.” 

And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

If ever there were a recipe for strife, this would have to take the cake! Leah had only one week with her new husband before he married his true love – her younger sister. Jacob finally had the love of his life, along with a wife of obligation. Rachel finally had her man of blessing, but she had to share him with her older sister. Could anyone ever really be truly happy here?  A modern day soap opera could gain much material from this one! 

Yet, this awkward family situation that seemed destined to dysfunction and turmoil is where God chose to build a nation for Himself and eventually bring forth His very Son into the earth. In fact, everything seems to have come together exactly according to His plan. Did God create this recipe for disaster? I will answer that with a resounding, “No!”  God, however, knew the hearts of men, manipulating as they were, and He chose to work within their wicked schemes. He knew Laban would trick Jacob and that Jacob would love Rachel. He knew Leah was not wanted and allowed Laban’s selfish manipulation to succeed. God took the evil their hearts created and used them for His glory and their benefit. They would all still pay the consequences of their own sin, but God set them on a path that would eventually lead to His designed purpose. The Devil could not outsmart the sovereignty of God.

Perhaps, you’ve experienced your own recipe for disaster. Know that God has still placed you on a path that will lead to His glory and your benefit. He still has a plan in place, and you will enter into His rest when you surrender to it. Neither Jacob, Leah, nor Rachel had an ideal situation, but they each had a divine destiny. There comes a time when we have to accept where we are in life, whether it seems fair or not. We must learn to appreciate what we have and trust that God allowed us to be there for a reason. He is still sovereign in the midst of our mess, and He can still bring great good from it all. Don’t wait until your situation is ideal to realize just how blessed you really are. That day may never come, and you will have forfeited happiness while crying about what you don’t have. Rejoice today and appreciate where you are. You just might find that your blessings runneth over!

Have a blessed day!

Acts 2:32-33

God has resurrected this Jesus. We are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you both see and hear.

The disciples had witnessed the resurrection of Jesus and knew He was the Son of God. They could bear credible testimony to the fact. Because they were His witnesses, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit upon them, which gave them the power to preach and spread the gospel. You can’t preach what you don’t have.

If God has done a transforming work in your life, you are a testimony to the resurrection power of Christ, and the Holy Spirit will enable you to preach what you have experienced. If you don’t have victory in an area, however, you have no power from the Holy Spirit to share the truth in that area. If you believe God can help you overcome an addiction but are still holding on to it, you have not yet experienced the resurrection power of Christ in that area, and the Holy Spirit is not on you to share that testimony. Once God has freed you from that bondage completely, however, you are a true witness to the power of the resurrected Christ, and He will pour the Holy Spirit upon you to be a witness for Him. Real power comes from surrendering our weaknesses to Christ.

Are you a true witness of Christ’s resurrection power? Has he transformed your life in any area? Are there still things in your life that need to be transformed? Surrender fully to Him today. Let Him take over that area where you are striving and making no progress. You don’t have to do a work for Him; He wants to do a work in you. When you are a true witness for Him, you will receive the power you need to truly help others. He will pour out the Holy Spirit upon you, and everyone around will be able to understand. We live in a world that desperately needs to experience the power of Pentecost, and it begins with those who have followed Christ.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 29:11

The LORD gives His people strength; the LORD blesses His people with peace.

I think we women have been sold a false bill of goods by fairy tales that promise a Prince Charming to rescue us from every evil situation. Granted, there are times when God rescues us from the clutches of the Devil, but He often gives us strength to fight our adversaries. If we always had someone to rescue us, we would always be weak and a target for predators. Somewhere along the way we must become strong and willing to resist the Devil.

God gives His people strength when we fully trust in Him. We must come to know His word and stand on it as a promise. When we do, we become a true threat to the enemy that lurks to attack us in every vulnerable area. The more of God’s word we have in us and act upon it, the stronger we become. Any time we know the word and fail to act, we’ve left a wide open place for the enemy to pounce.

God blesses His people with peace. Nothing steals our peace like sin. When we know we’ve done wrong, we become anxious, worrying about what punishment we will face. If we have stood firmly on the word of God, the Devil cannot steal our peace. Knowing God’s word, proclaiming it in prayer, and acting on it strengthens us and gives us peace to face whatever threat approaches us.

Prince Charming is not coming to rescue you from all your troubles. You were created to be a warrior princess to slay spiritual giants! Only one man died for us, and that is Christ. He should be the only man in which we seek to hide ourselves. Allow God to strengthen you and bless you with peace. God never intended for us to live in fairy tales. He created us to live a life that expresses His glory in real, lasting relationship with others. Be strong, and be blessed with peace.

Have a blessed day!

Genesis 35:16-20

They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult. During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for this is another son for you.” With her last breath – for she was dying – she named him Ben-oni, but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Jacob set up a marker on her grave; it is the marker at Rachel’s grave to this day.

Rachel asked for another son with the birth of Joseph, and God was faithful to grant her request. Jacob asked God to judge between him and Laban and said that anyone who had stolen Laban’s idols must die. God was faithful to grant his request, as well. Rachel died giving birth to the very thing she wanted most – another son. While Scripture doesn’t specifically connect Rachel’s death with Jacob’s covenant, we find her death just a few chapters later. Jacob finished his years out with Leah as his only wife. Rachel allowed her insecurities and greed to rob her of her future.

Rachel named her second son Ben-oni, which means son of my sorrow. Jacob quickly changed the name to Benjamin, meaning son of my right hand. Jacob apparently did not want this son to go throughout life with a name that displayed his mother’s death. I can only imagine the complex he would have had being called a son of sorrow. Jacob saw him as a son of his right hand, one who would always be with him and involved in everything he did. Benjamin would take the special place in his heart that Rachel had previously held. 

When someone is your right hand person, that person is the one you trust to follow out all major, responsibilities. You can depend upon that person and include him in all decisions. When you use your right hand and take the hand of the person next to you, you, in effect, take his/her left hand. The Benjamites were known to be left-handed, and many scholars believe Benjamin was left handed. This is a sign of his position with Jacob as the son of his right hand. 

Jacob buried Rachel on the way to Ephrath, also known as Bethlehem. She is the only major figure in Abraham’s line of promise that is not buried in the cave at Machpelah, where he buried Sarah. She died on the way to her promise because she chose to hang on to that which was not rightfully hers. She was a woman deeply loved and cherished but never content. How sad it is to miss God’s best because we choose to hang on to lesser things.

If you learn nothing else from Rachel’s life, learn to embrace the grace God has given you. Know that you are deeply loved and highly favored, and never take it for granted. Bask in His goodness toward you, and learn to be content with His blessings. Leah’s life should teach you that you cannot earn true love. Grace is never deserved, and nothing you can do will grant you the love your heart so desperately desires. God sees your pain and injustice, and you must allow Him to vindicate you. Praise Him alone for the blessings He gives you, and accept where God has placed you. Let His love for you fill that void. We will all face situations that are just not fair in this lifetime, but we are not without a God who has destined us for great purpose and will bless us according to that purpose. Don’t take matters into your own hands to secure some kind of future you think you deserve. Trust God to fulfill His great plan, and live to see your promise fulfilled. He really does know what He is doing, and what He has for you is well worth the journey!

Have a blessed day!

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

This verse is becoming a favorite for me. I’m learning that everything we face has an answer in God’s word. As a widow, there is nothing more vital you can do for yourself than to read from it every day – especially first thing in the morning. If all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable, then it helps us to be familiar with all of Scripture.

While I love to teach and believe it is my strongest spiritual gift, I find my need for rebuking and correcting come more frequently to my own thoughts. Negative emotions stem from entertaining negative thoughts, and God’s word in me often rebukes or corrects those negative thought patterns. When a bad thought enters, I often find myself remembering a contradictious word from Scripture, so I argue with the credibility of the negative thought. I can choose to believe the loud thoughts screaming at me or God’s word, which is always true.

So, if you ever see me talking to myself or in deep thought, you’ve probably caught me in a mental battle of rebuking or correcting. I wish I could say Scripture always wins out, but there are times when I believe the lie, and my emotions take a wrong turn outward. I think those times are fewer now than they were in my younger years, but they still surface. Right thinking really does lead to right believing and right living, but it requires heavy doses of God’s word established deep within us to generate right thinking. We can’t always control what thoughts enter our heads, but we can rebuke and correct wrong thoughts, bringing them subject to the knowledge of Christ.

When Scripture is living, breathing, and walking within us, we have trained well for righteousness and find ourselves complete and equipped for every good work which God has called us to do. The Bible really is an instruction manual for living on this earth, and nothing can replace it. Grab a cup of coffee, and begin to read. There is no telling what God may show you or what you will remember later at an opportune time. His word is profitable, and the more you have inside you, the richer you will be.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 85:9

His salvation is very near those who fear Him, so that glory may dwell in our land.

The enemy will certainly attack anyone who fears the Lord. Those who fear the Lord respect Him and obey Him. The Devil will seek to wear down the faith, hope, and joy of those who fear the Lord because they form a barrier of strength against him. God’s salvation, however, is near those who fear Him so they might run to Him and be renewed and revived, and God’s glory may dwell with them.

Where do you feel attacked today? Know that God’s salvation is near, and His glory waits to be revealed in that area. Where is the Devil placing an unreasonable demand upon you? God’s glory will be revealed there. Wherever the enemy has depleted you is an indication of the very place where God intends to bless you. Don’t despair; begin to praise God. When you come to a place where there is absolutely nothing you can do, you are a prime candidate for God’s glory to shine. Trust Him to fight the enemy for you and give you victory.

Have a blessed day!

Genesis 29:21-25

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed. I want to sleep with her.” So Laban invited all the men of the place to feast. That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.

When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?”

Jacob was furious when he realized he had been deceived. Without a doubt, his own scheming and deceptive past was catching up with him. He had deceived his father, Isaac, into giving him Esau’s rightful blessing at the careful instruction of his mother, Rebekah. Now, his uncle had craftily schemed to give him Leah, the older daughter, in marriage, rather than his love, Rachel. After seven years of work, his reward was less than what he had expected.  He felt deceived and betrayed. We begin to see just how much deception was a part of the character traits of this blood line.  

The amazing part of it all is how God chose to use such deceptive people as a part of His divine plan.  Rest assured that God knows every deceptive scheme imaginable, and He can use man’s deceptive, scheming, cheating character traits to carry out His plans. His overall plan for you is already designed with the enemy’s deception in mind, and any scheme the Devil throws at you will ultimately work in your favor. Deception is no match for God’s sovereignty.

My heart aches for Leah in this scene. The older, less attractive, daughter was given in marriage to a man who greatly desired her younger sister. Would she ever win his heart or know the love of a man?  She was a disappointment to her husband, and her life was now tied to him forever. How would she ever make it up to him? Everyone knew he loved Rachel. Could he ever come to love her, too? 

Know today that you are not a disappointment to God. You may not be quite what others expect or desire you to be, but you were made by God’s specific design. You were created to bring Him glory, and you have what it takes to honor Him. You don’t need man’s approval or even his love. You do not have to manipulate, scheme, deceive, or work to get a blessing from God. His favor upon you is what will lead you into your destiny, and you have that through Christ. Stop seeking the favor of those who will never approve you, and delight yourself in the God who sees you as perfect, beautiful, and worthy in every way.  He has a plan that will bring Him glory through your life, and you will be blessed by it. 

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 27:6

Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the LORD.

David wrote this Psalm as a song of praise to God – His stronghold. He had a deep, personal, intimate relationship with God that enabled him to be victorious over many enemies, and he was a man of praise. By resting in God as his strength and his shield, David would praise God in song for the victory he knew was his.

When the enemy surrounds you, your best defense is to seek God and praise Him. The Devil will try to take charge of your thoughts and emotions by getting you to focus on the problem and your inability to meet it on your own. If he can gain control of your emotions, he can defeat you. That is the danger of living out of your emotions – you can’t trust them because the enemy has too much influence over them. You must learn to take your stand in God’s word and rest upon its promise. When you do, you can count on God to be strong for you.

God does not dwell in our emotions; He dwells in our praises. Singing praises has the power to change our emotions because the Devil does not want to linger where God’s name is praised. Praising God is an act of faith, a proclamation of victory, and one of the greatest weapons you have against your enemy.

If you are feeling burdened with a spirit of depression, seek God’s presence and begin to sing praises to Him. If you are feeling threatened in any way, begin to sing praises to God. Turn on your favorite praise music and just sing along, or get in the shower and sing your heart out. God dwells in your praises, and He will give you the strength to overcome.

Have a blessed day!

James 4:6

But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I’m very thankful that God gives greater grace than the sins I commit. His grace has the power to turn us from a destructive path to a righteous path, where we may live free from the bondage of sin. God resists the proud who refuse to acknowledge their sin, but He gives grace to the humble who submit their sin to Him and are willing to let Him change them.

Regardless of what sin you have committed, God gives greater grace to overcome. His desire is for you to live free from the bondage of sin, but you must submit to Him. If you choose to remain friends with your sin and hang on to the very thing that is destroying you, God will resist you. He gives grace to overcome to those who humble themselves before Him.

Don’t let sin claim another day of your life. Time is precious and flees from us too quickly. Make every day count by humbling yourselves before God and allowing Him to change whatever needs to be changed. You cannot transform yourself; you need the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. Grace is ours through faith in the blood of Christ to cover all of our sins. God’s grace is greater than your sin and will enable you to live without it. Choose grace, and live.

Have a blessed day!