Today...

Today is an off day for me. I am not feeling 100% and there are things weighing heavy on my heart. All I have in me today is to give scripture that I am claiming today just to make it through. I hope it encourages you as much as it is me!


I am the temple of the Holy Spirit - 1 Cor.6:19
I am strong in the Lord - Eph.6:10
I am holy and without blame before Him. - Eph.1:4
I am accepted in Christ - Eph. 1:6
I am blessed - Deut.28:1-14
I am victorious - Rev.21:7
I am set free - Jn 8:31-33
I am crucified with Christ - Gal.2:20
I am His faithful follower - Eph.5:1
I am more than a conqueror - Rom.8:37
I am an ambassador for Christ - 2 Cor.5:20
I am a king and a priest unto God - Rev.1:6
I am overtaken with blessings - Deut.28:2
I am healed by the wounds of Jesus - 1 Pet.2:24
I am complete in Christ - Col.2:10
I am the apple of my Father's eye - Ps.17:8
I am free from condemnation - Rom.8:1
I am chosen - 1 Thess.1:4
I am being changed into His image - Phil.1:6
I am one in Christ! Halleluajah! - Jn.17:21-23
I have all my needs met by God according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus - Phil.4:19
I have the peace of God which passes understanding. - Phil.4:7

"When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ, that's being Crucified with Christ."

"When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any unpunctuality, or any annoyance; when you stand face-to-face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility - and endure it as Jesus endured, that's being crucified with Christ."

Those were taken from a paper that was handed out to me in a class I am taking. I want to be crucified in Christ so I can live my life that way too. Have a blessed day in the Lord!

Word of God

Well, I have been taking some time this past week to really seek the face of the Lord, and in doing this I have been trying to put different scripture through out my house. My best friend pointed out to me yesterday afternoon when I was struggling that I needed to ask Him for His energy not just strength. Made sense, so I did and my afternoon went much better. I tried to look up scripture on energy and I found Colossians 1:26-29 "This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me." This passage is from the Message bible and it really encouraged me. It is what I want in my life, to keep the message of Christ simple, to not add any of me in it, to share God's glory, and "to do my best with the energy God so generously gives me". Then last night before bed I came across Psalm 119:50 in the New King James which says "This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your Word has given me life". This passage confirmed the earlier verse for me and reminded me that His Word gives me everything I need to make it through my days, minute by minute sometimes. So, as I start this new year, I am putting scripture up through out my house to encourage me, to remind me of His infinite power, that He is my Shepherd and that He wants to work in me and through me.

2 Thessalonians 2:15-17

"So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech." This is from the message and it was my prayer this morning. I pray it encourages and comforts you today.

Prejudice or Stereotype?

My devotional this morning really got me questioning what is the difference between prejudice and stereotype. What do they really mean and are they the same? Merriam-Webster defines prejudice as injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights; a preconceived judgment or opinion; an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge; an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics. So, the American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy says stereotype is a generalization, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group. So really, they mean the same thing. So, every time we stereotype a person or group of people we are in a way prejudice. This really bothers me because I thought the Lord had taken my prejudices away. So my prayer today is that He take away my stereotypes also because I don't want to be separated from Christ. If He can lay down His prejudices and stereotypes to minister and dine with the Pharisees who condemned Him, than I can too. After all the word says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength", so Father, help me in this area and thank you for revealing it to me.

Staying in Your hand!

Corrie Ten Boom prayed this everyday for the last 5 years of her life. I want to make it my prayer today too. "Lord, keep me close to Your heart so that I see things as it were more and more from Your point of view." I want this more than anything. I want to place myself in the palm of His hand and just stay there, where I am the safest.

Psalm 32: 23-24 says: "Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord."

I love the Lord, I want to be preserved by the Lord and my heart strengthen by Him!