Joy in the Lord

Nehemiah 8:13 ... The JOY of the LORD is my strength.

I read this quote the other day by Dr. Adrian Rogers -

"Every child of God ought to have a conscious, conspicuous, continuous, contagious joy. 

If you are not living a life of joy you are living below your privilege as a Christian."

Whoa!

This keeps going round and round in my head! 

Conscious -

Conspicuous -

Continuous -

Contagious -

JOY!

Is your joy - Jesus' joy in you - all of these things? If the answer is no, then the question needs to be why?

Take it to Him! John 10:10 tells us that Christ came to give us life and to have it in abundance. That abundant life is evidenced in exuberant joy! Regardless of our circumstances! Yes! Regardless of our circumstances!

My prayer for you today is that you are NOT living below your privilege. I pray you have put Jesus at the center of it all, and surrendered everything to Him!

Blessings on you, dear friends!

Ruthie

"for I know whom I have believed ...."

HIS Creation

Psalm 104 is called a WISDOM Psalm as well as a CREATION Psalm ... the author expresses joy in the world as a creation of God.

Here are just a few of my photos expressing the beauty I see in His creation. And I sing praise with the Psalmist - "Bless the LORD, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty."

"O LORD, how manifold are Your works!

"May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works..."

"I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the LORD."

Dear Friends,

I pray you will meditate on Psalm 104 in the coming days; 

give Him Praise;

Live with  a heart filled with gratitude and thanksgiving.

May He fill you with wonder at His marvelous works....

May He fill you with His Spirit as

 you love and serve Him.

Blessings, sweet ones!

"Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Praise the LORD!

In HIS Mighty and Marvelous name,

Ruthie 

BELIEVE

It seems that everywhere I look today I see the word "BELIEVE" -

I have a wooden cut out of the word sitting on my kitchen windowsill - and I see it every time I look out the window to watch the hummingbirds at their feeder- or stand there doing my dishes ... which I just did! I have a little tiny cutout of this word with snowmen on it that stands next to my digital frame in the living room .... all year long (see above picture). And I have a few little hanging plaques with single words on each one - LOVE, PRAY, BELIEVE.

Here is one of the definitions of believe -  to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.
Now, this reminds me of Hebrews 11:1 ... Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. When I looked up the word faith in Merriam-Webster dictionary I found that it took belief to a higher level by saying that faith is ... a strong belief or trust in something or someone; belief in the existence of God.

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell and on the 3rd day He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty... from here He will come to judge both those alive and dead.
I BELIEVE in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting!

HALLELUJAH!

Maybe you have seen these words before, maybe even memorized them as a child - they come from the APOSTLES CREED -
I know this is what I believe! Praise God!

2 Timothy 1:12 - For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  

Do you know what you believe or who you believe in? Is it your heavenly Father? He loves you and desires to be in relationship with you? Or is your belief in yourself - that you are in control and are the dictator of your destiny? Or maybe in your career? Or your family? Your career, your family, even yourself will not give you eternal life... only Jesus can do that!

Dear friends -
I pray that Jesus, the Living God, makes Himself known to you. I pray that you will open your eyes and ears to see and hear of His miraculous works.
Bless you today!

Hugs,
Ruthie

IF My people .....

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

IF ....... THEN

Did you see this? IF ... THEN ...
God is speaking to Solomon and I truly believe that these words are just as relevant for us today as they were then!

Did you notice that IF we

• Humble ourselves
• Pray
• Seek His face
• Turn from our sin

THEN He will

• Hear from heaven
• Forgive our sin
• Heal our land

Praise You, Lord! 

HIS WORD - Just as applicable today as it was then.

I have been pondering this verse; crying in my heart for the state of our land; for the state of loved ones - 

I so want to be the person He calls me to be - don't you? It begins with humility - surrendering all of me to Him and seeking Him in every aspect of my life; getting out of His way so He can work; trusting Him in all!

Praying His Word will speak to your hearts today - 

Blessings and Hugs!

Ruthie

The Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, 

Creator of heaven and earth; 

and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary; 

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into hell; 

the third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints;

the forgiveness of sins; 

the resurrection of the body; 

and the life everlasting.

AMEN

Don't Bother Your Head ...

Hello this morning! Phew, it is a humid one isn't it?

I have been pondering Psalm 37 since yesterday - and all of its "fret nots".
Fret not - meaning to wait on God letting Him have whatever is "worrying" you - He is in control - He will look after it all!
Do you believe that today? I truly hope so!

The Message says in Psalm 37 verse 1 - "Don't bother your head with..."! I love this! Isn't that what worry does? Gets your head - your mind - going in all directions and focusing on the "what ifs" instead of  "what is"! "BUT" - you say - "I am a worrier. My mom worried all the time and I can't help it". NOT TRUE! You CAN change it.

Romans 12:2 (EST) - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, ...
Do you see that? ... "by the renewal of your mind". The Holy Spirit living in and working in you can transform your mind! Praise the Lord! Every time you find yourself beginning to fret give it to God... Trust Him, Rely on Him, Commit your way yo Him.

Father God,
Thank You for the peace that comes from You; that peace that is beyond our understanding.
We Praise You today for Your Grace and Forgiveness.
Father, may each Reader today take Your Word to heart and rest in You!
In Jesus Precious name, Amen.


Blessings and Peace,
Ruthie

Cool Your Pipes!

Psalm 37: 8 
Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper - it only leads to harm. (NLT)

Psalm 37:8 
Bridle your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes - it only makes things worse. (The Message)

I find this verse in Psalm 37 to be an interesting one! As a Counselor I can't tell you how often I have heard people say, "He/she made me so angry that I threw ...... ; or I hit the wall; or I squealed my tires; or; or ; ". and if the truth be known I have blamed my anger on others over the years. However, I have learned in recent years that I am responsible for my own emotions, feelings, and attitudes. I CANNOT blame them on anyone else.

The first blame game of all time started way back in The Garden  when when Adam blamed Eve for his disobedience and then Eve blamed the serpent. always pointing the finger at someone else! WHOA! Has anything changed over the years? No it hasn't, and it won't until we take responsibility for all of it!

It is very interesting to me that the action words used in this verse are:
STOP
TURN
DO NOT LOSE
BRIDLE (YOUR)
TRASH (YOUR)
COOL (YOUR)
all of which are related to the individual doing something regarding their anger.
ANGER can be a very destructive emotion - if we allow it to be.

I am throwing this out there today to encourage you if this is a problem for you. God can help you to change your mind, your behavior, your attitude. You must surrender to Him!

James 1:19 says to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to get angry; or as The Message says, "Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear."

Picture one of your children or maybe your spouse, or a friend straggling along as you take a walk. They are usually quite a few steps behind you.

So, Dear Friends, my suggestion for you today is to "cool your pipes and let your anger straddle along behind you". Have a grace-filled day!

Hugs...

Ruthie 

Stand Firm!

Are you in a battle today?
Do you FEEL like you cannot win?

No matter what battle you are facing today you can KNOW that your Loving Father will fight it for you!

Exodus 14:13-14 (ESV)
And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

2 Chronicles 20:17 (ESV)
Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed.Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.

Stand firm, Dear One! Do not be afraid! Do not be dismayed! He is with you and the battle is His.
What we need to do in the midst of these times is to bless Him!
Praise Him!
Give Him thanks!
His love endures forever!
Hallelujah!

Stand firm and don't let the enemy have any victory in your life!

Hugs and blessings on you today!
Ruthie

GRACE

            Grace -

• Divine Favor
• Generous
• Free
• Unexpected
• Undeserved

The YEAR 2014 is my GRACE Year!

What do I mean by that? Well, every year for the past few, I have chosen a WORD to "live out" in my life. Here are a couple of other "words" I have taken on: JOY, INTENTIONALITY, THANKFULNESS, PEACE. The only way I am successful at this is to allow God to have His way in me and to be obedient to Him. 

I am sooooo thankful for HIS GRACE to me! His Saving Grace! His Forgiving Grace! His Undeserved Grace! 

There are many reasons why I have not posted on this site for the past year - but I am back and I hope to post a weekly devotional. As a way of introduction I am hoping that you - the reader - will consider the GRACE that has been given to you; that this GRACE will fill you with Thanksgiving and Praise for our wonderful God; and that this in turn will create JOY and PEACE within your lives! Who doesn't want to have joy and peace in their lives? I know I do!

Blessings on you through this coming week! May you see HIM everywhere - no matter your circumstances!

HUGS!

Ruthie