Try not to Manipulate …TRUST

Psalm 37:34 “Wait for the Lord and keep His way.  He will exalt you to inherit the Land; when the wicked are cut off you will see it. “ 

Wait, wait, wait….. patiently wait while trusting God and His way.   This is very hard for me.    I’m a doer.   I see things that I want to have happen and I try to make things happen.  This can work well for me in work, when I work hard things get done many times doors open.  So it’s important  to put in effort.   Yet, effort alone doesn’t open and shut doors.  God is the one to TRUST in it all.  When I try to manipulate people it turns into a big mess.  Patiently wait for people without trying to “ get them “ to do things your way.    I am a Coach, I can only show people what to do and encourage them.   I can’t “make” them do anything.   I need to wait patiently with the Love of God while they are finding their path.     I hope this helps you today too be patient with the ones you’d like to help.

I am who you say I am!!

Today I found myself in this prayer, " Lord I see what I do wrong and my mistakes I can let myself get burdened by it all. Please Lord help me leave my tendency to sin and let me walk in your ways.  I know you see me as the righteousness of Jesus because I trust Him as my savior.   Please Lord help me see me, as His righteousness.   Help  me remember that I am worthy, not by what I do, but because of what He did!!!Because of Who He is!!    James 4:7-8 " Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts, you double minded."  2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come! 18All this is from God , who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. And gave us the minisrty of reconciliation."    I hope this helps you walk in your newness through Jesus right here, right now!!!

The Simple Gospel … just believe!!

2 Peter 2:1 "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you."   This weekend I have had this message present itself loudly to me.   Beware of false teaching!!   The simple Gospel is we are all sinners.   1.  None of us are worthy to be in Gods presence of our own accord.   2. God so loves each of us, that He sent His one and only Son to pay the penalty of of wretchedness once for all   With His sacrifice of dying on the cross, He has forgiven us all our sins, He remembers them No More!! He then gives us His righteousness so we can be in declared worthy.    It's a gift of mercy and grace not by what we've done but what He has done for each of us.    3.  He rose from His earthly grave and promises we will too if we simply believe. The Gospel is the good news!!! All of us sinners can be with our Dear Lord Jesus not by what we do but because of what He did!!! Just believe!!!    We are not condemned we are redeemed!!!!😇🙏🦅❤️💃

Hope in the Lord. You won’t be disappointed

Isaiah 49:23 "......Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed."   Trust in the Lord and lean not unto our own understanding.    

Temporary disappointments are continual in this fallen world.   Roman 8:18 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."   

Hang in there "Son day "is coming!!!😇🙏💃❤️🦅

No matter what is happening in our here and now it's all just temporary compared to eternity.     I like this perspective 😇

Bow down get lifted up!!

Psalm 145:13 “Your Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. 14 The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”   All of Psalm 145 reminds me of Gods intimate, everlasting love and provision.   He lifts us up when we “bow down”!! POWERFUL!!!   My family is here at the lake.  One of my favorite things to do is take them skiing and boating.  My boat is not running at all and likely won’t have a fix anytime soon.  Of course this really bums me out, but when I remember to “bow down” Trust that He will provide and His way will be better then I can imagine. TRUST, He will lift me up with a working boat or not. Living in trust, I can enjoy things available to me not think I’ll be happier if I get what I want.  God takes us in directions we never imagined so we can humbly walk in His way.    So we can go to places far better then we could have picked for ourselves.   Bow down in your trial, look up for His way.   He knows exactly what you need and is meeting you where you are at!!! 

Let it go… pray for them

Matthew 18:35 "This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart. " Forgiveness from the heart without harboring resentment.    I was very angry with someone when I first quit drinking my Theropist told me to ,"pray for him".   I about vomited on my words I had so much venom inside me towards him.   My first prayer for him was simply," Lord bless him".  Eventually I had a heart felt prayer toward him and I truly have no malice in my heart toward him at all now.    I don't want to have a relationship with this person but I truly have love towards him as he is.   

Forgiveness from the heart has Freed me.   Holding onto  bitterness has never worked out well for me.  

Dragging an anchor?

Sometimes I really wish things in life were different.  I want to have this or that happen and I want it to happen on my time.  When I lingered on what I want that I don't have I get frustrated, wondering why?   This continually desiring things that are not hurts my peace.  It interferes with me trusting Gods way is perfect.   Yesterday, I had an accident with my boat.  It was my fault.  I don’t get enough sleep so I get over tired and have poor thinking. ( I know better I’m a health coach). I left the anchor out and took off. Thank God no one was hurt.   My boat however did take a beating.  I thank God it's still running today.  That is what life is like when we keep holding unto thinking we know better then God by Thinking if  He doesn't answer our prayers the way we want Him too that He doesn’t hear or doesn’t care.  God knows our every desire and every need and He is meeting those needs with His big picture in mind.  He knows exactly what He is doing.   Today, I will simply praise Him for what I have and what I don't have so I'm not trying to "Take off" dragging an anchor.   Psalm 148:13 "Praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exhausted; His majesty is above earth and heaven."

Seventy-seven

Matthew 18:21 " Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? 22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."   Continual forgiveness, today this verse really hits my heart. Such a simple reminder to forgive others and forgive myself.  "Own it", and No more!  Some sins are so much harder to " No More"    But we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength!!!(Phil. 4:13)

Prying the closed door

"Adam and Eve had to choose God’s will or theirs. Sadly, they chose their will instead of God’s." ( David Jeremiah ). 

Matthew 6:9 "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." 

Your will be done Lord!!     I'm not sure why after all these years of reading the Bible I still try to manipulate life to get my way.    I do...., I profess that I want God's will.   Yet I still manipulate and try to open doors that are shut and avoid doors that are open.   What is that?   I am confident when I behave in this way I am. Not walking in Gods will.  

Today let's try to walk in His direction with His strength and assurance.   He has us where He wants us for His greater purpose!!😇🙏❤️🦅

Today I’m Free!! After much much waiting

Psalm 37:7 "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."   It took 29 years of praying to quit drinking before I was relieved from being a slave to alcohol." Today I am FREE!!! Not free to go back to drinking Free to not be enslaved by that sin.   Sin does that, it ensnares us.     Today, I'm looking at what I've been praying for and not getting.  This verse reminds me, God is working! He is taking care of the "Big Picture", while I wait.  When I look back on my life, I  wish I would have been delivered from my alcoholism as a teenager.    I wouldn't have had to go to the dark places I did.    Yet, being where I’ve been helps me have true compassion for people and a perspective that is useful to help others.  Often, I am not a fan of " God's timing'.   I do trust it is perfect!    Today I hope this helps you too...."Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him."😇🦅🙏❤️ He knows what and when He is doing!!

Boldly as you are!!

 Proverbs 3:26 "For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared."  Let the Lord be your confidence!!!!   I sometimes struggle with self confidence.  Especially when I care a lot of someone "likes me".  I do this in my own family,  trying so hard to not offend someone that I don't bring the real me to the table.   That is not how God intends me to live, as a shadow of who I am, living in people pleasing.   Today I will try to be a God pleaser not a people pleaser so I can walk boldly in who I am, not who I think would make others happier.     When  I coward, I am not walking in the confidence Jesus died to give me.    Today join me in walking in Christ esteem not self esteem. Philippians 4:13 " I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."

Inside out!!

Matthew 23:25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self indulgence.  26 Blind Pharisees!  First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."      When you squeeze and orange orange juice come out.  What comes out of you when you get squeezed?    A good test of where I'm at in my walk with Jesus is how I react in my heart to various trials.    I truly want to spend time in prayer, worship and reading the Bible so I can be the love of the Lord no matter what is going on around me.   So I can be patient, kind, understanding and self controlled.    I hope this helps you too BE who you want to Be!!

Feet are on the ROCK!!

2Timothy 3:16 " All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”   All Scripture!!   I was asked, “What happened how did you come to faith?”   I was raised in the church, baptized as an infant went to Sunday school and was confirmed. So I had knowledge of that background growing up.   I’m so thankful I was taught as a child.   It’s very hard to reason out God and try to understand His awesomeness; when you first get exposed to it as an adult.   My life changing faith happened after I quit drinking when I realized how wretched I was and sincerely wanted a better way.   I called upon Jesus, I asked Him to make Himself real to me.   And He did.     I received an illumination of my soul.  Which has been life changing.      I truly want to be a new creation in Jesus.   Not to be pleasing to man but to walk with God, to walk in the light.    I fail miserably.  I continually get to keep trying, it’s my new nature.   I know that in order to stay in faith I need to be in God’s word, the Bible.    When I was explaining my faith I had to start with, “ I TRUST the Bible is true, God breathed, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.     Since the Bible has become my “Rock”, I have clearer direction from my inside out.    I/we are saved by simple faith not by works.  I/we are matured in Jesus, by using His Word to guide us .   I don’t question the authenticity of the Bible.  I simply TRUST it is what God says it is. 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training    in righteousness.”   Today.  Let His Word, be your ROCK!!!😇🙏❤️🦅🇺🇸

Be courageous!!

Hebrews 10:39 "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."   Thanks God our founding Fathers did not "Shrink back!!"   I have areas in my life I can" Shrink back in..... today let's be courageous!!! Happy 🇺🇸 4th of July!!!😇🙏🎊❤️🦅🇺🇸

Freedom in Christ

1 Corinthians 2:4 "My message and my preaching were not wise with persuasive words, but with the demonstration of the Spirits power. 5 So that your faith might not rest on  men's wisdom, but on God's power........9 However, as it is written:  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."   Happy 4th of July!!! Can you imagine being the founders of our great nation?   They loved God and He gave us Freedom!!! Freedom in Jesus Christ, Freedom of self government, Freedom from being enslaved to our sin!! We can not imagine what God has prepared for us that love Him.... no one 250 years ago could have imagined how amazing our country could be.  TRUST in God, not in men.  Love Him and He will give us the desires of our  hearts ♥️♥️🦅😇🙏

No fear, No crutch

Psalm 112:7 "He will have no fear of bad news, his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord."  Heart is stead fast trusting in the Lord!!   When I was in treatment for alcoholism the counselor asked our group,"What could happen that would cause to you drink again?"   We all started coming up with our worse case scenario's.   Then he said,"STOP! There is nothing that can happen that will be better if you start drinking again."    He lived this, he was diagnosed with cancer and it took his life.    As a person in early recovery I thought, well he might as well drink now.   I didn’t understand why he’d want to stay clean during his battle. That is not what I think at this point in my journey.  Life if full of things I don't like, lots of trouble comes the only way I handle it all is by keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus.    Trusting Him is my "drug of choice"😇🙏❤️🦅🚴🏾‍♀️