God Is....

God is...

 

God is...the One, TRUE God

 

God is...Savior of all the world

 

God is....my Protection

 

God is...my All in all

 

God is...my Healer

 

God is...my Light in darkness

 

God is...my JOY in the time of sorrow

 

God is...my Today and Tomorrow

 

God is...He is my All and all.

 

God is...my Keeper

 

God is...Truth

 

God is...Worthy

 

God is...the Lamb that was slain

 

God is...Love

 

God is...the Strength of my life

 

God is...Faithful

 

God is...the Rose of Sharon

 

God is...the Lily in my valley

 

God is...the Peace-Speaker to my troubled mind

 

God is...that ETERNAL Spirit

 

God is...my Refuge in time of trouble

 

God is...my Shield

 

God is...my Shepherd

 

God is...the Cornerstone

 

God is...All-Powerful

 

God is...my Guide, directing my steps each day

 

God is...the Ruler

 

and...

 

God is...Infinite (so much more than these)

Exodus 15:2

The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Choosing

Romans 12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; at all times in prayer.
Romans 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Jesus is my source of hope, filling me with joy, peace, and belief!

You see, I have to have joy, peace, and belief in order to overflow in hope.  I can only abound in these [joy, peace, belief] through the power of the Holy Ghost.

The holy Spirit of God propels me forward when it seems all I have is fear.  Fear wants to take over, trying to steal my next victorious step. Fear is a thief.  The Spirit of God is a giver, never taking.  Instead it just adds and adds again until I am filled to overflowing---abounding.  I love it when I can feel it like this!

His Spirit is my true source of strength.  A fresh flow of His Spirit is the reason--the only reason--I can keep moving my feet, walking in/through all trial.

Persevering only through Him, that's me.  Most days I feel I'm not "getting it quite right", but I press on.  The heritage I've been given is a great motivator.    

I must joy in God and take joy again and again.  Of late, or so it seems, I must do so every second upon every second.  To choose joy.  To choose endurance.  To choose prayer.  It is the only way to be filled with power to walk the path I have been given.

God is a refuge for us!  

Seek God

Philippians 4:5b-6

The Lord is near. 

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in every situation,

by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

 

Don't be anxious about anything, but be prayerful about everything! 

 

We must keep focus.

Always to come before our Lord with a grateful heart,

not grudges,

or ever feeling that He is against us and will not answer.

He sees it all.  He is as close as the mention of His name.
He is near...always near.

And He knows the way you take
And He knows what's best for you.

 

He is our judge, but He is also our advocate.

He is full of compassion

And His compassions....they fail not!
He gives a new dose every morning!!!

 

Psalm 20:5

We will rejoice in thy salvation,

and in the name of our God we will set up our banners:

the Lord fulfill all thy petitions.
*****
Asking that God will fulfill--for you--all prayers that are according to His will.
He knows just the right time to start His work...and to complete it.
Much love!
~md  

 

 

 

 



Meden Agan

Philippians 4:5a  Let your moderation be known unto all men.

In ancient Greece, the temple of Apollo at Delphi bore the inscription Meden Agan - 'Nothing in excess'.

Moderation is self-control.

Moderation is a lifelong process, and is considered to be a key part of one's personal development. There is nothing that cannot be moderated including one's actions, ones desires and even thoughts. It is believed that by doing so one achieves a more natural state, faces less resistance in life, and recognizes one's limits. 

For a year and a half I have been trying to intake food very moderately.  Dieting certainly puts the food pyramid (or pie, or whatever it's called now) on front and center stage.  Dieting never allows for excess.  I have not conquered this "battle of the bulge", but I certainly am learning more self-control than ever before AND the health benefits of eating the right things!  Self-control in this area has also reaped rewards. Which is what self-control has the ability of obtaining in all areas of life.    

Moderation:  The process of eliminating or lessening extremes. 

Moderation is a key principle of life.  It is used to ensure normality.  And, if practiced, it certainly ensures consistency.

Thinking on these lines, I can not help but ask a few questions.

Am I self-controlled in my thinking?  Do I consistently reign in & throw out those bad thoughts that try to land and take root in my spirit?  concerning of myself? or of others?

Am I self-controlled in my relationships? Is my parenting in moderation?  Am I allowing God to work where my child is concerned, or am I too much of a "helicopter-mom" that even He can't do the work that's intended? 

Do I show to all others that I am lessening/eliminating extreme behaviors?  such as what I say?  to whom I say?  how I act? 

Oh it is quite possible to abort another's faith/future/present/dreams/ambitions just by the excessive bickerings/worries/interrogations of what comes from our own mouth and actions.  Yes, quite possible indeed.  This, too, is a very sad state of affairs. for everyone concerned. 
****
Lord, help me to reign in myself.  Help me to keep myself on a "short rope", anchored to You, never roaming so far out that I can not feel the tug of Your Spirit instructing me.   
****
Self-Control is a 'key for success' in regard to all areas of our living.  Paul thought it important.  I certainly believe God thinks it's important. 

So should we.     

Psalm 96:13...for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. 

Open Hands Of Thanks

There are four things we must do in this life...

Seek God
Praise God
Trust God
Thank God

And through everything....THANK God. 

I don't know about you...but for me...in some circumstances I've faced, I found myself a bit confused concerning the matter of "Thanking Him for ALL things".  This was especially in my earlier years.  And in my 20's.  I'm not saying "I've arrived" in this matter.  However, I can say that "I see/understand it more clearer now".  For I'm learning the benefit of....Thanksgiving.

Bringing our thanksgiving to God always precedes a miracle from God. 

Victory comes to us through open hands of thanks!  We can not truly Seek Him, Praise Him, or Trust Him when we have clinched fists.  Or are angry, bordering on bitterness.  Sometimes our victory isn't the outcome we expected from the onset, but in retrospect we can see that in whatever the outcome....it's a victory....because God uses all things for good.  And if we are made better, which is His intention, we are victors.   

For the last several days my mind has been on this chapter:  Philippians 4

Today it is on Philippians 4:4, Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. 

TODAY I am rejoicing that though I face besetting times here, my name is written down in Heaven.
 
Earth is so temporary.  Heaven is eternal.  It ain't always gonna be like this.  Jesus not only knows my name, but He KNOWS ME!!!!  That, among so many other things, is reason enough to be THANKFUL.  That the great eternal God of the universe truly KNOWS, this is reason enough to lift my hands openly so that I may receive ALL that He wants to give.

Won't you join me? 

The Thing That Should Never Change

Proverbs 31:30 

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

 

I've been reading (and re-reading) Proverbs for the last couple months.  I'm lovin' it!

Each night before bed I like to read a proverb.  I've been synchronizing my reading according to what day it is.  Ex: Day28/Chapter28

So far it's working out pretty well. 

 

Proverbs 31 has always been intriguing to me.  How on earth does this woman do it all?!  Then it was brought to my attention that most likely this woman was not doing all this every...single...day.  Most likely it was throughout her lifetime that she accomplished all that this wonderful chapter writes of.

I surely hope so!  Thinking "seasons" rather than "daily" terms gives me a breather. 

 

As for this scripture....Ms. Charm (thankfully) left a LOOOONG time ago.  It's funny now as I look back....when I was a teenager...well, I thought I had the "cat by the tail". HA!--the cat finally found the tail and the war is over, folks.  I learned (painfully) that charm is deceptive. 

 

And as for Ms. Beauty...well, she's on her way out too.  (seriously, girls, I'm thinking of getting me some heavy-duty wrinkle cream!-LOL).  There are bags where there should NOT be bags.  I'm looking older (and feeling older) by the day! 

 

Yes, looking over my life, I see the changes.  I feel the changes. 

 

Childhood Season...it is gone now.

Adolescence...gone now.

Young Adulthood...it passed like lightening flashes in the sky, so much was happening then.

The New Motherhood Season....swiftly passed....

Now I'm entering "Middle Age" and I'm deep in the trenches of Motherhood.

And I do mean trenches.

This far into parenthood....Wow!  how did I get here?!

And why does saying "middle age" make me feel like I'm saying "dark ages"??!!

 

Yes, sometimes I still walk in a daze like I did when I was a new mother,

but, not from sleepless nights of bottle-feedings and diaper-changes.

It's far more than that, my friend.

That season was like cinnamon on warm, buttered toast...and I didn't even stop to appreciate it!

 

 

However, through whatever other changes/seasons of life I've got coming to me, what I never want to leave me is the respect and admiration that I have for my Lord. I never want that to change.  He's been too good, way to good, for me to allow that to walk out of my life.  I LOVE HIM more in this season of my life than I believe I ever have any other season.  Why?!  He's proven. 

 

He's the mind-regulator

He's a friend to the lonely

He's the lover of the soul

He is faithful

He's the BEST provider

He gives

and gives again

He gives beauty for ashes

strength for fear,

gladness for mourning.

Daily He shows His power

He is my Redeemer

And He ever liveth!!

 

I never want to forget that! 

(and I don't deserve praise either.  He does!)