My possessions can be stolen, but not my treasures!

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34, Matthew 6:21......


Today my wallet was stolen right under my nose. I saw her face. I saw her put her hand in her purse, certain that the wallet she had just taken out of the shopping cart was now in her purse. When I confronted her and asked if she saw my wallet in the buggy that I had just vacated to get another, she denied seeing it, but promptly ditched the buggy, left the store, went to her car and left the parking lot.
I thank God that all my treasures are in Him.
Last night, Sarah and I left Jackson at the same time. She was headed to Hattiesburg. Rachel, Isabella and I were headed to Meridian. I hated knowing that she would be traveling alone, late at night, on a bad two lane highway. I really wanted to follow her and then come home, but I didn't. I prayed. I prayed that God would surround her with angels, that His hand would protect and guide her safely home if it was His will, certain that nothing could circumvent His will.
I breathed a prayer of thanks when she said she was pullling into her apartment complex, grateful that God protected her and certain that angels surrounded her. I love the story of Eliasha and Gehazi when they are surrounded by the army of the enemy, and God opens Gehazi's eyes to the army of angels that surrounded them protecting them for harm. Nothing can stay His hand when He acts. 2 Kings 6:8-22!
A dear friend lost her newborn baby to Turner's Syndrome about a year ago. When she did, as she grieved, she said that the only person that she could have released her precious daughter to was her Savior that sacrificed for them both and loved them both.
I knew that if anything happened to Sarah, she would be with my Savior. He is the only one that I could release one of my children to and even then, they are not gone. My treasure are stored  in heaven. My heart would be broken, just as my friend's heart was broken. But my treasure would not be gone. He already holds my treasures safely in His hand.
Oh Lord, what would I do if my treasure were not in You?
Thank you for your Son you sent so long ago.
As we welcome this Christmas season, let us remember where our treasures lie.

Living Word

God's word is alive. I know it every time I read it. I feel His presence in His word. I hear His heart in His word. He changes my heart with His Word. For that, I am so very grateful. 

I see the stain of my sin ever before me. My heart is not the heart I want most of the time. I want His heart in me. Mine is tarnished. 

Sanctification is a process. If you are like me, you probably wish it was instantaneous. Oh for that glorious day when the presence of sin will be no more, when I am in glory, and I don't have to struggle with my sin nature that I abhor. But it is a tedious process. I struggle with the same things over and over, trying to root those stubborn sinful attitudes and actions out of my life. 

When I am immersed in His presence, in His Word, I feel the difference between who I am and who I want to be. I see the change He makes in me. I am grateful. I love Who He Is in me. Without Him, I would be hopeless, angry, bitter, hurt... Doomed to be buried and rotting in my sin. Doomed to relive past grievances until my soul rotted in the ugly bitterness of the pain. In Him, because He has forgiven me, I find the strength to forgive, to let go. To want to be like Him.

 Without Him, I would be doomed to be irritated by the annoyances of every day life, doomed to be selfish and self-centered all the time, doomed to squander my time and my days in self indulgence. He is my self control. He is my strength. He is the love in my heart. He is my direction. 

As His living Word fills me, I am changed for as long as I dwell on it and am filled. That's why He says to meditate on it day and night. That's why He tells us to pray without ceasing. That's why He tells us to always be thankful.

It is the constant, day in, day out, all day long practice of praise, prayer, and meditation that allows us to be filled with Him and in His presence. Only then can we be different.

I am working on that. I get so distracted by life. 

Philippians 1:6 says "He that began a good work in  you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

I am so grateful.....

Hebrews 4:12

 (New American Standard Bible)
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Joshua 1

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 1

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.

1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

Be still and know that I am God!

Be still, and know that I am God!
Psalm 46:10
There's nothing like acknowledging His presence in my life. I read this Psalm this morning and the peace that surpasses all understanding washed over my soul. Waves of peace, the peace of His presence.
Here is the entire Psalm for you to ponder! The Word, living and breathing in us!

Psalm 46

King James Version (KJV)

46 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

² Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
³ Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
⁴ There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
⁶ The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
⁹ He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Maybe you needed to hear this today as I did. Maybe you needed to be reminded that HE IS GOD! 
He is our refuge! He is our strength! He is our help!
He is with me today. I am not alone. You are not alone.

He is our Peace

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Peace is something I have been working on. 
I recently read Tracie Miles new book, Stressed Less Living. Tracie offers a fresh perspective and practical tools to help us recognize and deal with every day stress. One thing she points out is that our stress is not really the product of the stressful situations in our lives. 
I am going to borrow Tracie's words from her 10 day stress detox. She does such a great job of helping us see that if the stressors in our lives today were gone, they would be replaced by different ones. I want a peace that is independent of my stressors. Here is Tracie's post. 
Go to 

http://traciemiles.com/ for more of Tracie's inspiring words. You can sign up for her next 10 day Stress Detox.

STRESS DETOX
DAY 2

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Today's Peace-full thought:

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (NASB)

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Today's Prescription for Peace:
REFLECT

Peace. Can you picture it? What do you see?

Does your mental picture include a golden sunset at the edge of a lake, a gentle ocean breeze, or frozen breath on a snow topped mountain?

Does your last picture of peace date back to a time in your life before your problems began; before abuse, divorce, bankruptcy, infertility, unemployment, etc.?

There are different ways to define peace, and each one of us may have a different mental picture, so it’s important to reflect on what is shaping our picture of peace.

For example, peace to a mom of several young toddlers might be a lack of noise. Peace to a mom of teenagers might be a noisy house, knowing that all her kids are safely at home.  Peace to a busy employee might be a day without problems or deadlines. Peace to a high school student might be the absence of a bully who taunts him or her every day. Peace to a person struggling financially might mean knowing that all of the bills are paid.  Peace to a person who is unhappy with their job might be the acquirement of a new position.

Sometimes our mental pictures of peace – those dream scenarios that we think will make us less stressed – can actually distort our view of what real peace really is. Unfortunately, the longer we reflect on the world’s view of peace instead of peace that is found in Jesus, the chances of ever finding real peace is slim to none.

Many people think that the definition of peace is simply the absence of conflict, but the absence of conflict is only a temporary situation that will always eventually come to a close. This is a fragile view of peace, because the sense of peace is based solely on one’s circumstances.

A much better definition of peace is one that rests on the ability to rise above our circumstances, overcome our innate tendency to stress out over problems, and help us learn to remain calm and confident despite what is going on around us.

That is real peace—a peace based on Christ, not on people or circumstances. A peace based on faith, not on personal desires being met. A peace based on a quieted heart, not on a quiet house. A peace based on the love of Jesus, not on an easy day at work. A peace based on trusting God in all things, not just the simple things we think we can handle on our own.

Is it possible that peace has seemed a thing of the past and out of your reach, because you have been searching for peace in all the wrong places? Because you have had allowed the world’s pictures of peace to distort what real peace really is? Because you have succumbed to the lie that your life can never be peaceful again, because of the circumstances in your life right now?

Sometimes we need to reflect on the past and the present, and peek at what our private mental picture of peace really is, in order to discover that we might need to make some mental adjustments. Once we grab onto God's picture of peace and ask Him to intervene in our lives, we can  step into every day with our hearts and minds focused on God.  Doing that does automatically mean that every day will be free of conflict and overflowing with serenity, but we can ask for God to help our hearts not be troubled - or at least, not near as much.

God's truths in today's key verse remind us that real peace can be fully present in our hearts on the inside, even when our entire life is overflowing with chaos on the outside. Real peace does not come when life starts going our way, people start getting what they deserve, and all problems get resolved.

Only Jesus can give real peace. Real peace that is not based on circumstances. Once we get a taste of that kind of peace- we are never the same again.

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Dear Lord, I do want a peace that is a life transforming. Peace that I know can only from You. My life is chaotic, and I have simply not taken time to reflect on when peace became a memory, instead of a reality, in my life. I ask that You infuse Your peace into my heart, and quiet my soul. Help me to see You in the midst of my circumstances, rather than only seeing my circumstances.  Help me to seek You above all else, even when what I really want to seek, is change.  Help me come to know You through the challenges I am facing, so that Your peace can be mine. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

How Do I Fret?

O.K., I have to link you all up with Warrior Wives today, also. This is a timely word for something that we are almost all guilty of...

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

How Do I Fret?

I know a lot of Warrior Wives.  So, I asked one of them - my friend Jen - to share about what has been on her heart for wives. Enjoy!

How do I Fret? Let me count the ways…

It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. 

Proverbs 21:19

This is one of those verses that makes me wince.  God would rather have my husband be incredibly dehydrated and hot than be with an argumentative, fretful woman.  And not just any woman. Me. His woman.

I can picture my husband now, tongue hanging out past his chin as he drags himself over the bones of other dead husbands, muttering joyfully, “Thanks Jesus, thanks for putting me here in this parched and scorching land, far, far away from my fretful wife.”

And Jesus is like, “I’m there for you, bro…”

Okay, that was maybe too silly, but God is saying a desert is preferable to a quarrelsome, fretting wife.

And quarrelsome I understand.  But fretting…what’s the big deal with a fretful wife? What is a fretful wife?

I think a fretful wife is one that is never really trusting in her husband.  She’s always the back-handed complimenting type. Like, “Oh, it’s great you’re spending time with other men talking about the Bible.  I wish you would spend time with the kids like that…”  Or another one would be, “Thanks so much for helping me with the dishes and putting the kids to bed, of course, now I don’t know where anything in the kitchen is and you just let the kids sleep in their day clothes…” Fret, fret, fret. Wives are saying, “That’s not how I would do it.  You are almost helpful to me.”

A fretful wife isn’t showing respect for her husband.  She’s slowly wearing him down.  You don’t respect what you wear down.

When I think about a fretful wife, I feel bad.  I wear that title a lot.  Fretting fits me comfy like that old pair of granny underwear you put on when your husband’s on a business trip and won’t be skyping with you.

I am easily tempted to think of the bad things my husband does.  Sometimes, I want to focus on his down side. If I am always fretting, how will this verse in Proverbs 31 ever happen, “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain?”

How can my husband trust in me, if I am always worrying over his decisions?  The examples I have given are relatively small, but they can be larger.  Maybe you fret over a job choice or a financial decision.  It is easy to always be second guessing him.  Not to imply that you should have no say in the decision making process, but once the decision is made, you support it, and that means no fretting!

Fretting keeps us from being united with our husbands. And at the same time we fret, we also want total openness and intimacy.  Who doesn’t swoon over the words, “The heart of her husband trusts in her…?” It’s like saying, “You complete me…”

How can your husband trust in someone who doesn’t trust in him? If you are always running behind your man, wringing your hands, rolling your eyes and essentially saying, “That’s not how I would do it…that’s not how I would do it…” You are never going to have trust.  You will be left eating stale popcorn on the couch, watching Jerry McGuire and wondering, “Why can’t I have that kind of relationship?”

When we fret, we are ultimately not trusting in the sovereignty of God. We are saying, “Sure this knucklehead husband of mine almost gets it, but if I were in control, I would have handled it so much better.” Of course you would not have. Because the only perfect handler of our short lives is Jesus. And when you are tempted to put on your old granny “Fretful and lovin’ it” drawers, just remember God loves you and is with you. He doesn’t want you to fret. He wants you to encourage. Be thankful. God is in control and he will use the misplaced dishes to help you. God will use the children going to bed in their play clothes to bless you. Jesus loves you and your husband and as long as your eyes are on Him, you will not be fretting.

Just one more thought. What If Jesus treated you like you treat your husband? What if Jesus was a fretter like I am?  What if he said to me, “Hey great job with the kids today.  Way to listen to the radio when the whole family was in the car. It’s too bad you didn’t use that time to talk about me.”  I would feel doomed! If Jesus was a fretter, I would start looking for a desert!  Because who could please God if He really fretted over you the way you fret over your husband?

Jennifer Fitzpatrick is happily married to her husband Kevin. She has three children. The whole family enjoys their lives in the Shenandoah Valley, surrounded by cows, stared at by the neighbors, and loved at their church.

Sharing with: Wifey Wednesday, Deep Roots at Home, We Are THAT Family, NOBH, Women Living Well, Thriving Thursdays, Rediscovering Domesticity, Thought Provoking Thursday, Thoughtful Thursday, Hearts for Home Thursday, Beautiful Thursday,

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Posted by Elizabeth Spence at 12:00 AM 4 Comments

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life!

I am linking you to a blog called Money Saving Mom today. She has a great post about how to develop the habits you want to build in your life.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Implement One Habit at a Time

I have been working on diet and exercise for the past 2 months, and I have those conquered. I have lost 21 pounds and have a habit of regular exercise that I miss when I have to give it up for a day! Yay me! It's way overdue. I was on my way to fitness when I got pregnant with Isabella. I didn't gain with my pregnancy; I gained after it, sitting around nursing and eating to make sure I had a supply. I ate my way to 40 more pounds. I already needed to lose a lot, even though I had lost 20 pounds before I got pregnant. So this was a big priority for me.

It;s only fair to admit that my house is a wreck since I have been exercising daily! But the dirt will still be there for me to clean up when I can add that back to my list of great habits! Maybe when Isabella is older!

I have been doing regular bible study for the past 2 or 3 months, also, but I have yet to conquer a DAILY quiet time. When things are busy, I have catch up days. A DAILY quiet time  and prayer time are next on my list. I may have to do them before I go to bed, but it's going to be daily. My goal will be first thing in the morning.
Join me in developing the habits you want! We CAN have the lives we want to lead!

Here's the link!


http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/11/21-days-to-a-more-disciplined-life-implement-one-habit-at-a-time.html

Sorry I can't get the link to work. Just copy and paste!

The BIggest Rocks First!

The Biggest Rocks
This is a list of the most important tasks I want to accomplish in my life.
1. Have a close, vibrant relationship with God by having a regular quiet time and time in the Word every day.
2. Have a prayer life that is on fire! Keep a prayer journal.
3. Be the witness of all that He has done for me. Blog regularly.
4. Have the marriage God calls me to have.
5. Find and accomplish all the He has for me to do. This includes reaching out to the poor and lost in tangible ways. This includes sharing my story.
6. Have family devotional times at meal time.
7. Memorize scripture at meal times. To do this we need nightly meals around the table.
8. Have monthly parties to bring others into my home. (To do this, we need a regular routine for keeping the house clean and the laundry done.

9. Continue to exercise and diet to regain my fitness.
10. Lead my children to have an impact for the Lord.

The Unveiled Wife made a list of tasks to accomplish in her marriage. I am going to copy her list for you. It's great!

10 Commitments To A Better Marriage – The Marriage To-Do-List

1.   Love Intentionally
2.   Pray For My Spouse
3.   Be Content
4.   Bless My Spouse
5.   Read Scripture Together
6.   Respect My Spouse
7.   Initiate Intimacy
8.   Be Transparent
9.   Give Thanks
10. Affirm My Spouse

Read more - > http://unveiledwife.com/10-commitments-to-a-better-marriage/