Sunday, January 23, 2011

Slick…Oil That Is

Psalm 62:8

Hi Girls ~

When a submarine is hit, it begins sinking to the bottom of the ocean…duh, uh really? Even though the sub is not visible, the oil slick on top of the water is a pretty good indication that everything underneath is not doing so well. Once again… duh, uh really? It would be pretty ridiculous for us to think we had fixed the submarine’s problem if we just worked on cleaning up the oil spill…duh, uh you think? But if it’s so obvious in other things, why don’t we see it in ourselves?

The same is often true of us. We have oil slicks in our lives. They are not the real problem, but often just a symptom of the underlying issue. We spend so much energy treating the symptom, we often ignore the root problem. I don’t know about you, but I get sick of addressing the symptoms. I want to tackle the root, but that takes time… time with God. Get alone with God. Be quiet before Him. Turn off the TV or the phone. Ask Him the tough questions. Tell Him your concerns. Listen to His Spirit speak to you. Don’t be afraid of Him. He wants the very best for you. He encourages you to lay it all out there before. “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah” Psalm 62:8

Go ahead. Take the plunge down to recover that submarine. There may be life down there!

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Think. Think. Think.

Think. Think. Think.

Psalm 103:5

Hi Everybody ~

What are some of your simple pleasures? Go ahead take a minute to think of them before you read on. I’ll wait…

Some of you may know a few of my favorite simple pleasures – pink, Tab, chocolate and I love “words”.

The other day I was enjoying all 4 of those things at the same time! I had a nice cold Tab (which is in a pink can); I found a caramel chocolate Dove candy that I keep forgetting that I have; and, you know what’s on the inside of a Dove chocolate, don’t you? WORDS! When I unwrapped the candy this is what it said, “Don’t think about it so much”. Don’t think about what so much? That was my initial question. But somehow I knew exactly what it was. You probably do too.

What is the “it” you ask? It will be different for all of us. But if we’re not careful we’ll focus so much about “it” that we miss the simple pleasure of the moment and the season. I love that verse in Psalm 103:5 “Who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.”

Let yourself be satisfied with the good things God gives and maybe just for today….”Don’t think about it so much”!

I enjoy being with you on this quest to truly know God!

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

Ephesians 1:17-23 ~ My prayer for us.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Tattling On Myself

Tattling On Myself

I John 1:9

Good Morning...or Afternoon...or Middle of the Night ~

I had planned on sharing this great inspirational thought with you, but on my walk today God impressed me to tattle on myself. Great. Oh well, here it goes… Last night I was observing a situation that appeared a bit puzzling. After watching it for a few minutes my genius and womanly intuition began putting the pieces together. In no time I felt sure I understood what was happening. After all, I have been around for a while and I’ve seen this type of thing before. (It’s embarrassing admitting this) Anyway I proceeded to tell my husband what I had deducted from my observation. Not 15 minutes later the real issue came to light. I was terribly off base and nowhere near the truth.

I honestly didn’t think much of it at the time. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal. It wasn’t until my walk this morning that God brought the incident back to my mind. He gently reminded me of the scene ~ which reminded me – news flash - I don’t know it all! ~ I have no business making assumptions about things when I don’t have the facts. I have plenty to do to take care of myself. And in case I didn’t realize it, God doesn’t need my advice! I’m acting like the smarty-pants little kid who tries to tell a grown up how to drive or cook…only worse. What a joke, huh! Yet I still do it. The only thing left for me to do is to repent of my pride and arrogance.

I bend my knee and say, “Thank you God for the cross and for Your grace that forgives and accepts me!” He knows me the best and yet loves me the most. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9 Amen!

I’ll share my discovery and confession with Ronnie tonight when he comes home and then because of God’s mercy, I’ll be done with it. Hopefully in the future, I won’t be riding that high horse again!

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Just a flittering and a fluttering...

Rewind

Psalm 91:1

Hi Everyone ~

We all have days when we “feel” God’s presence. Sometimes it’s because we have seen Him do amazing things or maybe it’s just because we had a really good night’s sleep! But then there are some days…well…some days we don’t.

Today was one of those days for me. As I was praying about some specific things this morning I felt panicky and burdened - out of control and sort of orphaned from God. Then my mind did a rewind to one of the illustrations I read when studying God’s name; El Shaddai – God Almighty.

It was a story about a little fly thousands of feet above the earth inside a huge jetliner. There is no way that fly should even be able to exist that far away from earth. But because he is “in the jet” he was perfectly fine. In fact, he can fly across the ocean in record time and land on a totally different continent.

How silly would it be if that fly thought that he had to flap his wings the whole trip! First of all, everyone knows it wouldn’t make one ounce of difference. The fly would still get there whether he flaps or relaxes on the garbage lid; he’d just be worn out and exhausted. The only thing that fly has to do is get “in the jet”. The rest is taken care of. Often we act like that silly fly trying to flap our little wings to make it. When all we really need to do is rest in the Almighty…El Shaddai. He is quite capable of making the trip without our help!

I needed to remember that this morning. I was just a flapping my little wings trying to stay airborne. I caught myself (that’s an interesting form of words- caught myself?) fluttering. I acknowledged that regardless of how I feel, El Shaddai still exists with just as much power and goodness as He has on days I feel it! I can stop flitting around and rest in the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 Whew…what a load off!

I have an Enemy who desires to steal, rob and destroy. At this point, he can’t stop me from making the trip, but he can trick me into wearing myself out. Unless of course, I recognize his game plan! He has no permission over me. “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” I John 4:4 What would we do without God?! Go crazy I guess

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love Ya Bunches

Rebecca