Just Keep Walking

Philippias 3:12-16

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

 

I am now in my fourth week of running or walking over 3 miles a day to attain the goal of at least 20 miles a week. However, I have been doing some form of running or walking for a year and a half now three times a week. I decided to start pushing myself more when my mother told me she had high cholesterol and I found out my grandmother does as well.

There have been several things I have noticed through this.

#1. You have to set your mind on the goal.  In my past I could run for 25-30 minutes without tiring. However, I was in a car accident in July ‘07 that hindered my ability to continue that for a while and I have had to work at building my endurance. If I look back at what I used to be able to do, I get very discouraged with where I am now. So, No dwelling on the past, Deanna.

#2. Building Endurance is HARD. This is something we as Americans do not like at all. We are used to everything being the easy way, and if difficulty happens than we pitch a fit and lay down and quit.

#3. Incline helps build my endurance. In a literal sense, If I walk on the treadmill, I have learned if I put the incline up as far as it will reach and walk for 5-10min than when I lower it to a level that still is a challenge but yet higher than normal, boy, I can run like nobodies business!

#4. It takes a commitment. People will tell you that diets don’t work, a life change does. If I go into my decision to change my habits just temporarily than I will get discouraged very quickly with lack of results, or have results fairly quick, to just go back to the old way of doing things. Either way, I lose.

 

So what am I trying to say? Spiritually speaking, Deanna must first quit dwelling on past victories AND failures. This doesn’t mean that I will forget or that I should not share what God has brought me out of, what it does mean is that I don’t live there. I press on towards Christ. Secondly, this is hard. This endurance thing. But, I want to do it! I don’t want to be a statistic in the body of Christ that lays down and quits running the race. Thirdly, I have to realize that when the way is all uphill, it is for my benefit. God is working  even more endurance in me so that I can go farther with Him! And fourthly, it takes pereverance. I have to daily commit to walking it out with Him, regardless of how I see myself, my focus has to be on the goal which is His heart, His face.

Today, may I, Deanna Gott walk worthy of the calling. Colossians 1:10 “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

The Blood Is Still Warm And Still Speaks

Hebrews 12:24

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

 

My heart is still so moved by the salvation of several people in our services yesterday. In the morning service I had the privilege to speak to a young 13-year-old girl named Angel who had accepted Christ. Her sweet face was so sincere as she told me that she felt forgiven by God. There was at least one man probably in his late sixties and then I believe two or three other women that came forward for salvation as well! Then last night, during the invitation Tony and I were elated to see the long legs of a man named Kirby, walk forward and kneel to the name of Jesus Christ! Oh how my soul rejoices for the wife of Kirby who stood sobbing in her row as her husband surrendered his life! Another young man also received Christ!

As I woke up this morning I was reminded of the people that Tony, our children, and I have been praying for. Knowing that Jesus is still in the business of saving souls brings such encouragement to keep praying for them!

When I got into the Word this morning, I was blessed to see that I was reading about the blood covenant! In the above passage, ” speaks” is a present active participle. What does that mean? It means EVERYTHING to me! It means that blood that cried out to God the Father from the Cross over 2000 years ago, is still crying out to God this very moment! It means that the same blood that covered Angel, Kirby, John and others yesterday, is ready and willing to cover more today! It means that the blood is speaking out “Forgiven”, ” Atoned”,” Mine”, over my life right now!  This is the power in the blood! It has spoken, and is speaking! The next verse in this chapter says, “See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. …” Please do not refuse this power. There is no other way to have peace in life, there is no other way to heaven, there is no other option. The blood of Jesus is the only atonement needed or accepted by God, and it is a costly gift given to each and every soul. What will you do with the blood that speaks up on your behalf? Will you embrace it?

Thank you Father that You are still in the saving business!

Before All Things

Colossians 1:17 And He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.

 

Ever feel like your life was out of balance? I have. I actually get there pretty easy. I am a routine, routine, routine person! ( I just heard my husband shout “amen”) I would probably lack the discipline to be routine, except it makes me absolutely lose my mind when one thing gets out-of-order…. can anyone say “I have a problem?”

Early today I have read the most amazing verse! And it has set fireworks off in my spirit, ever feel that way, with scripture? Read The first verse above.

OK, I felt immediately like God was telling me, “Deanna, I am before all things already, but if you put me there in your life, and heart, I will hold ALL the rest together!” At once, I remember the commandment, “You shall have no, (NO), other gods before me”. This is balance for me. He comes first. Before Tony, before my children, before church, before my household activities, before facebook, (yep, I went there), before friends, before anger, before bitterness, before feelings period.

When I do this, my life gains balance! Ever seen the Staple commercials where there is nothing but chaos in the office, they push a big red button, and all is organized and in its place, AKA… peace? Well, here we go, this is our Red button. Christ comes first today. Yeah, It’s Saturday, but it’s still His day, not mine. May I let Him hold ALL things together by putting Him first.

Excuse Me, What Did You Say “Really Satisifies Me”?

Psalms 103: Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 

At this point if you know me at all or at least read the things I write about, than you know I tend to get excited about spiritual and physical health. I love the way God has made our bodies work, and that if we take care of them in a manner in which He has laid out, than these bodies will indeed “work” for us instead of against us.

As I read this passage I thought of the ‘Snickers’ commercials that I used to see when I watched TV. Their slogan “Snickers really satisfies me!”, makes me laugh. You see these active people, mountain biking, hiking, swimming, various kinds of physical activity that would cause them to be hungry. Now, being a pretty active person myself, who loves to run, work out, garden, and all of the activities pictured in the advertisement, I find it ridiculous that they say it “satisfies”, the only thing that may give a feeling of satisfaction would be the peanuts. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a snickers, but I usually stay away from them . If I start going for these kinds of things than I start craving them instead of the food that will truly satisfy my body hunger. What is my point?

Over and over again, we see in Psalms that God “satisfies”. And yet, over and over again, we go to the things of this world, that true, may, like the candy bar, have some tiny bit of good in them that may satisfy  us for a period, but if we keep on going to them, they will ultimately destroy. I think most of us get this idea. But lets look at all the benefits we are to tell our soul to not forget. This true SOUL SATISFACTION my friends!

 

#1 “Forgives all my iniquity”.  My sin has caused me more grief than I could ever imagine. I worry and fret over things I do or have done more than I could ever worry or fret over the things that have been done by others. I need to know that by and through the blood of Christ I stand forgiven! And I can. A simple verse. A hard concept. My pastor says, “All means ’all’ and that’s all, ‘all’ means.” I love it! God forgives ALL my sin!

#2 “Heals all my diseases”.  This word “heal” is the Hebrew word “raphah”. Here are some of the word’s original meanings. ” to heal, make healthful, healer of hurts, of nations involving restored favor, of individual distresses.” But one thing I learned this morning is that it also means “to mend by stitching.” I am a seamstress, used to sew a lot more than I do now, but I still love it. How awesome that my God and I can relate this way. I love that this meaning gives a “process picture” as Beth Moore states it. I have never been able to sew something unless it is in my hands. WOW! That spoke to me. I don’t want to be asking the Mender of my heart to stitch me up, and I haven’t even relinquished my hold on the very fabric of my hurts!

#3. “He redeems my life from the pit.” O!!! Let me tell you! This is so true of me. I have been in pits that I was pushed into, and yet I chose to stay in! I have been in pits that I fell into. I have been in pits that I jumped into with both feet!” But they were all “the pits”! It didn’t matter which one I was in, they all had one thing in common, I had to be redeemed from them!

#4. “He crowns me with steadfast love and mercy”. OK! I am truly worked up right now, my “hand-me-down” laptop may not be able to handle the stomping my fingers are giving these keys! Once Christ redeems my life from the pit, He then CROWNS me with His steadfast love and mercy! Isn’t it nice to know that no matter what kind of day you are having, His love is steadfast? Isn’t it great to know that we come to Him and He has mercy that is just as steady as that love? OH MY!

and my favorite…..(at least for today)

#5. “He satisfies me with good, (WHY?) so that my youth is renewed like the eagles!” Charles Spurgeon said in 1870 “Beloved, there is need of this. Every Christian man has need that his soul should be restored, should be refreshed, re-invigorated, newly quickened. As to those who are saved, there is a constant need restoring them to their first love. This is promised in the words before us. I say there is need of it. There is need of it, first, because of the ordinary wear and tear, which operate upon spiritual life, as well as upon every other form of life. You cannot serve God, you cannot praise, you cannot pray, you cannot do anything without some expenditure of strength; and, therefore, you need to have that strength renewed. Moreover, in such a world as this, combatting with temptations, bearing up against the current of society, and I know not what besides of difficulty, takes away our strength. We need, therefore, to go and drink again of the brook by the way, that we may lift up our head once again. The ordinary wear and tear of spiritual life requires this.

Besides that, we are often the subjects of sinful decline. Backsliding is too common a complaint among Christians. We can ascend to the top of the mountain and dwell with God, but our foot soon begins to descend. There is a gravitation towards sinfulness in the best of men. Oh! that it were not so, but we are very conscious that it is so, and, therefore, we need to have the renewal.”

I believe that sums up what I have to say on this matter. However, I think you should go read Psalms 103 this afternoon or whenever you spend the time to read this devotional. Your spiritual strength will be renewed, and your soul will be satisfied!

Spiritual Vitamins

1 Thess 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,  encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

25 Brothers, pray for us.

26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

 

Yesterday was the finish of a busy, busy, busy work/school week for many, some like my sweet man still have today to finish out the week. I spent most of the day in the kitchen baking… just seemed like one project after another had to be done. As I took my vitamins last night before bed, I thought how nice it would be if we could tell a difference as soon as we take them (or at least 20-30 minutes after). But, if you know anything about health, you know that it just doesn’t work that way.

This morning I was prompted to read the book of 1 Thessalonians. If you haven’t read it, it will take you about 20 minutes.

After just a little while, I arrived at the end of the book, and it tickled me to see how Paul was jamming so much into the end. It reminded me of myself when I give my children instructions before I leave for a lengthy period of time.

I read over these instructions a few times, feeling like they are so packed with goodness that I need to memorize them. It hit me. THIS is like my multi- vitamin! As much as I want to get this and move on spiritually, I will need to be constantly “getting this” until the return of my LORD Jesus Christ, and my “sanctification is complete”.

I believe that many Christians including myself want the “tylenol effect” when it comes to the WORD. We are told that “He sent forth His Word and healed them.” in Psalms 107:20 So we claim that to be true and when we do not see immediate results we go back to the “tool” we used before. But, as much as God can and sometimes does heal instantly, I truly think He is more concerned about us gaining spiritual endurance, which does NOT come from a one shot dose of the Word of God.

In Chapter 3 Of 1 Thessalonians, Paul shares his concern that perhaps this group of believers quit running the race because of the suffering they were facing.

3:1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker  in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

 

Boy, do I know this concern! I feel it most about people in which I like Paul  have in the past or in the present invested part of me in. In the next few verses I feel his relief from Timothy’s report.

6But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Isn’t that beautiful? I desire to live a healthy spiritual life. I don’t want to tucker out and run back to the “Tylenol” of this world, but rather, daily, and sometimes twice a day or even more, take my spiritual vitamins, watching with hope for the completion of my health when my Christ comes back with a shout!

Happy Birthday To My Son Jeremiah

Psalms 139:13-18

 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

 

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

 

Today I am officially a mother of two teenagers. I do not know what I am supposed to feel at this point. I know the worlds belief and some believers believe the same thing; I should be under an immense amount of stress right now, and be questioning the reason I ever became a mother. This is unfortunate to me. I have had one teenage son for three years, and he is as much or more of a joy to me than he was when he was born. I truly do not know why we swallow the worlds belief system on this, it’s not like they have ever been right before.

Jeremiah is 13 today. In so many ways it seems like yesterday that I labored for 11 hours for this young man. When he was born the cord was wrapped tightly around his neck cutting off his air supply. The doctor and nurse were taken by surprise when they cut the cord and he immediately began crying. He never had any after effects of this happening which is a miracle!

There is nothing like having a child that you have fallen in love with over and over again for 9 months, finally being handed to you and you seeing the tiny features that before you had only dreamed about.

As I read this passage early today, I thought how fitting it was that Jeremiah was going to read the same passages today. It is a blessing to know that your child is walking with the Lord and that He has walked, breathed, and held His hand upon your son since he was in the depth of your belly.

My Lord is such a sweet Father. He watches every movement before a mother can even feel them. He watches the eyelashes form and the fist open and close. He watches the legs begin to stretch and each little toenail begin to form. This is our Creator. This is my Father.

May His name be praised!

Jeremiah, My prayer is that you always know you are loved beyond measure and that the days of this life are already planned out for you by your Heavenly Father. May you know on the days that you feel as if the pressures of this world are cutting off your air supply, that just as He breathed for you at birth, and caused your lungs to work, He will be your very Breath for the rest of your days.

I love you my son. May you honor God for all your days!

God’s Whispering Presence

Psalms 34:5 Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

I love that way that my Lord works. I have been very weary spiritually lately. I don’t know if you have ever been there, but I get there most when I am exerting more focus on prayer. Sound crazy? Well, I am being honest. God commands His people to seek His face to have the fruit of seeing Him work. My husband, children, and I are doing a study that reminds me to pray daily for some specific loved ones, that the five of us have had on our hearts. Daily, I lift these up and  try to trust that even though some may seem to be even farther from the point of repentance, that God is still working. This is hard. Maybe one of the hardest things in my walk with Him.

Yesterday was truly a day that I needed God to let me know, He was walking this out with me.  All day long, I was on the verge of tears, and the overall weariness of life’s burden was pressing in.

As I drove to church last night, something amazing happened! I was driving along some back roads where the ditches seldom get mowed. I had to take my sunglasses off to see if I was seeing correctly the weeds that were standing up so proudly on top of these ditches. You see, the tops of these weeds were a glorious shade of pink and orange all blended together! I thought to myself, “how pretty”, as I turned a sharp curve. Looking back at the ditch, I noticed something immediately; These weeds were just a nasty brown on top! “WHAT?” And then it hit me. The weeds I saw with the radiant tops, yes they were the same kind as the brown, but they were the ones that had the sun reflecting IT’s setting colors on them.

Tears started puddling in my eyes when the preacher turned to Psalms 34 last night. It was as if the Son was warming my spirit with His rays. Verse 5  gently came up off the page and caressed my face. “Deanna, you are radiant when you reflect My glory. You, Deanna, will NEVER be ashamed as long as you keep looking to Me!” The Lord whispered so sweetly in my heart.

Throughout this whole chapter being taught last night, I sat and felt the sweet Presence of my Jesus. I so needed it. I so need it. Verse 17 says “When the righteous cry for help the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles”, Verse 18 “The LORD is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

If I need to be in a broken state to feel Him near to me, than keep me broken LORD. May I press on looking towards Your rays and the warmth of Your glory!

 

 Psalms 34

34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!

 

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.

 

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

 

11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

 

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.

 

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

 

My Fragile Faith Meets His Unwavering Grace

I feel on the verge of tears this morning as I start to type. I have just finished an intense time in the Word, studying the principle of actively believing God. OH! How small and fragile my faith is! After reading the first 15 verses of Romans 4 and just being in awe that according to verse 12, I, Deanna Gott can “walk in the footsteps of faith”, but feeling as if on so many occasions I lose sight of these footsteps and wander off the well beaten path. Makes me think of the song, “Come Thou Fount”, one of my all time favorites, the words are found, “prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Heres my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above!”

In my daily life is where this gets the best of me. My time with my children, My words with my husband, my heart towards others, so very prone to wander from the Father’s will.

But this beautiful picture brought tears to my eyes this morning, and now as I type they are swimming and overflowing. Verse 16. ” That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise MAY REST ON GRACE and be guaranteed to all his ( Abraham) offspring- not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one ( me) who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”

My fragile faith that at times is really no faith at all and maybe not even an attempt, does not rest in the righteousness of Deanna, as if there was any ;Isaiah 64:6, but comes to rest on the unwavering, unfailing, unending, grace of God! Does this make anyone else want to shout “hallelujah”? You see, I have enough of what Beth Moore would call “marks against me” to know that I have no righteousness apart from the blood of Christ, and this comes only from the grace of Him who gives it so freely! In fact it is only by His grace that I desire to know Him and believe Him more! My faith is found in His grace. Lord, give me more faith, that I may have more of Your grace and that it may be called, “grace upon grace”!

 

Romans 4

 

4:1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

 

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Our Compassionate Mountain Mover

Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

 

I grew up in Southeast Colorado. We lived on the plains and most of the time just looked at the mountains. I became accustomed from a young age to having the mountains especially Pikes Peak always in the west. Wherever I was, I knew which direction I was headed because of this huge marker called a mountain. When I was 17 I moved to South West Louisiana. No more mountains, no more plains, just trees, trees, and more trees! My direction became fuzzy at best and being one who likes to have order, this was quite the challenge. I had to learn to discern direction all over again.

This morning as I read this familiar verse, it became fresh to me. I love it when God does that! I could identify with the mountains and hills departing and removing!

Let me share with you what I believe God was showing me; We all have mountains of security in lives, even some hills. We use these things to determine our outlook on life. It can be our mood, our spouse, our desires, our addictions, our families, and the list could go on and on like, our jobs, our homes,…. You get the point. Well, what happens when these things are removed from us? We have to learn direction all over again! This can be a scary thing! We can become so frightful that we run to the next mountain, or we just want to bury our head in the sand and forget direction all together, the only problem is this too is a direction. It’s called south.

God wants us to know that when things we put our hope in are taken away, He is still faithful, He is still our Peace, why? Because He is a God who is compassionate! We must only look to the One who made the mountains, and can also remove them!

Happiness IS the LORD!

Psalms 144:15 “… Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD!”

Happiness is to know the Savior, Living a life within His favor, Having a change in my behavior, Happiness is the Lord. Happiness is a new creation, Jesus and me in close relation, Having a part in His salvation, Happiness is the Lord. Real joy is mine, no matter if teardrops start; I’ve found the secret, it’s Jesus in my heart! Happiness is to be forgiven, Living a life that’s worth the living, Taking a trip that leads to Heaven, Happiness is the Lord, Happiness is the Lord, Happiness is the Lord!

 

 

I woke up this morning with a heavy burden on my heart for several people in my life. When I was sitting down, I started humming this song. If you have never heard it before, I encourage you to go to the following link and listen : http://www.my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/happiness.html.

 

 

 True happiness only comes from Him! Run to Him! “Pour out your hearts before Him!” Real Joy can be yours, “No matter if the tear drops fall!” Have a blessed day in Christ!