Archive for the ‘Spiritual thoughts’ Category

3 Simple Ways We Can Offer Praises to God

Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. ~ Psalms 147:1

The memory verse for my K-5 class at school last week and the theme verses for my Sunday School class this morning were all based on praising God.  And so, continuing this theme I chose this topic for our devotional today.

First of all, consider this simple question, “Who doesn’t like being given a word of praise after accomplishing something, whether it be great or small?”  It seems that it is in our nature to like being praised.  As God made us in His image (Gen. 1:27), I can imagine how pleasing it is for God to hear our praises given to Him.

Here’s 3 simple ways we can offer praises to God:

1.  Sharing our own testimony of what God has done for us.

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. (Ps. 18:49)

Who can argue with one’s own personal testimony?  Share what God has done for you. He’s so good to us that I know we could never run out of praises to give to Him.  We honor Him by giving Him the glory for the small and big things that He’s graciously done for us!

2.  Create a praise journal.

Don’t you just love reading and hearing the praises of David in the book of Psalms?  I know David encouraged himself in the Lord.  This is a habit that we can continue ourselves.  It’s extremely hard to grumble when we’re giving praises to God.

Writing down our praises to God and our answered prayers can be encouraging to us in times of trials and distress.  It serves as a recorded reminder of what God has done for us.  Your praise journal would also make a good item to pass down to your son or daughter as a part of their inheritance.

3.  Sing praises to God.

As we sing hymns at church, we may not really focus on the words we’re singing.   We don’t sing in church to simply hear our lovely voices.  Our hymns focus on praising God.  What a wonderful opportunity to focus on singing praises directly to HIM!

Singing praises is pleasant and comely.  I believe it effects our attitude and yields a grateful spirit.  We can sing praises to God while driving our kids to school in the mornings.  We can bellow out songs of praises in the shower.   We can wake up in the morning with songs of praise.  (It’s better than your morning coffee, I guarantee!)

This week, let’s focus on giving Praises to our God above.  He’s worthy of our Praise!

*As always, feel free to share your comments below.

Don’t Miss Out on God’s Blessings!

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. ~ Psalms 37:4

I was thrilled this week with a big blessing from the Lord.  On Monday I was cleaning my living room and thought to myself, “You know, it’s high time I did something with these lamps!  They just don’t match the new living room furniture that I got when I moved here (almost 3 years ago).  I’m going to try to paint them this summer!”

I didn’t say a word about this to my husband or anybody.  On Thursday afternoon, my husband mentioned that he had seen some lamps down at the thrift store that I might like.  I really didn’t think they would match (or be in any desirable condition) as my husband really isn’t much into decorating.  But when I saw them, I couldn’t believe how perfect they were for my living room!  I only needed to buy some new shades for them and I would have some real winners for my living room.

Isn’t God so good! I thought it was so very sweet of my husband to think of me…and I felt even more grateful to the Lord who already knew the desires of my heart.

Don’t you just have a fantastic time giving things to your children and seeing their excitement and enthusiasm?  Of course, if one of my sons were very disobedient one day, how silly it would be to say, “Son, you’ve just been so bad today…let me take you out to get some ice cream!”  As ridiculous as that sounds, many expect God to continue blessing them even when they haven’t been obeying His Word.

Delighting ourselves in the Lord would be the state of devoting ourselves entirely to pleasing Him. The will and state of our heart would be totally fixed on obeying, honoring and pleasing the Lord Jesus.  What parent would not want to shower their own goodness on a child who would be so devoted to pleasing and obeying them?

I’m not trying to imply that we focus our hope on being blessed with earthly things.  Dresses, jewelry, furniture and such are lovely things, but we can’t take them with us to Heaven.  The Bible says in Matthew 6:20, ” But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”  Let’s win a crown that we can offer at Jesus’ feet!

I believe when we truly want to please the Lord, our desires will be consistent with the Lord’s desires.  We’ll desire His will for us.  Let’s remember, sin can keep us from getting our prayers answered.  The Bible says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: ” Ps 66:18.   What a blessing we miss when our heart is not delighting in the Lord!  Let’s focus this week on truly delighting ourselves in the Lord.

Dig Your Heels in the Dirt

Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. ~ Proverbs 14:1

I read the above verse to my Sunday school girls this morning. They’re not too young to learn what an awesome opportunity we have as Christian ladies to build our house with our words and our actions.  Sadly, too many married women may make the choice to throw in the towel and wave her hands wearily exclaiming that she’s given up. 

America wails about the trees and the whales…but where are the determined campaigns to save the homes and the broken hearts of the children?

Homes are being torn apart every single day.  According to statistics for America, the divorce rate is constantly climbing.  Statistics show that first time marriages fail at the rate of 41%, second time marriages fail at 60%, and third time marriages fail at 73%.

The price…the broken pieces of these statistics are the children. The article, “18 Shocking Statistics about Children and Divorce” should cause one to realize the worth of the previous statement.

As married women and mothers, we need to dig our heels in the dirt!  We need to determine that Satan will not have our marriage, our children, our home!!!

“A wise woman buildeth her house.“  “Buildeth” is the present simple form of “build”.  It takes constant work.  We need to determine to keep building…plugging away….working at it.  That, of course, means we will have to keep working on our marriage and with determination keep learning what we can do to be a better wife and mother.

Putting God first to become the best Christians that we possibly can be will help us become the best wives and mothers that we can be as well.   Ladies, there’s power in prayer…so keep praying.  Dig in the Word of God…and then dig your heels in the dirt and stay there!

Stop being so serious.  Seriously!

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. – Proverbs 17:22

A friend says something funny, and you laugh so hard you begin to cry. Perhaps this uncontrollable laughter goes on for several minutes. Did you feel the tension dissipate? What you are experiencing is a release of the stress you’ve been carrying for days. The old adage, “Laughter is the best medicine” is true.

Why is laughter your secret weapon to beating stress?

You may be surprised to know that laughter is equivalent to fifteen minutes on an exercise bike.  It not only lowers the blood pressure, but increases the endorphins in your body which contributes to a healthier immune system.

Life is too short to spend it moping around.  As Christians, we have no excuse to stay down and depressed.  Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,”

Take a break from your household chores and just laugh….by simply reading a book of jokes or laughing with a friend or being silly with your kids, you will be amazed how laughter can improve your physical and emotional well-being. Laughter actually distracts you from the underlying stress, and brings you to a balanced and calm state. It is, as they say, infectious.

Laugh daily. Yes, schedule it!  Note to self: Have I laughed today?

It is the cure-all for stress, frustration and, in some cases, depression. Perhaps you’ve used the expression, “One day we will remember this and laugh our heads off.“  By having a positive attitude, and using laughter as a mechanism to celebrate life instead of stressing over it, you’ll become healthier and less stressed when confronting negative events.

With so much going on in our lives, laughter is a precious commodity that can make anyone’s day brighter. As you go through your daily routine, find something to laugh about. Look at the bright side; tell yourself the cup is half full; laugh until it hurts. You may not have control over certain aspects of life, but you can control the stress. Laughter is your secret weapon to beating stress.

Now….go laugh a little!

For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. -Ps. 91: 11, 12

When my husband was in Bible college, I had two little boys.  One was a wobbly little toddler who was just learning to walk and the other was a baby not yet walking, who totally relied on mommy to tote him around.

My husband went to college during the day and worked from mid-afternoon until 2 a.m. each night.  Rarely did we see “daddy” that much, and during this time I walked to church services (not far across the street) since my husband had to use our car for transportation to and from work.

One Thursday night, the snow began to fall heavily and I remember it being quite icy as well.  I began to fret somewhat as I realized I was scheduled to work the nursery for soul-winning that night at our church.   Our church kept its doors open faithfully, and rarely did we have any weather severe enough that would alter such an occasion.  So without much further thought, I prepared to venture out to fulfill my duty in the nursery.

When I stepped outside of our apartment and realized how terrible the weather had become and how slippery the main street was, I began to be quite afraid.  I certainly did not want to fall while walking my babies across the busy street.  I headed toward the curb to wait, when suddenly an elderly gentlemen appeared.  He seemed quite stable for his age and had such kind eyes.  He offered to help me across the street by carrying my toddler.  I  hesitated a little, never having seen this man around our apartments before, but at that moment I turned, looking back a short distance away I saw an elderly woman who gave me a kind smile with approving eyes as if assuring me that is was okay.  Assuming this to be his wife, I felt peace to venture across.

My heart had so quickly turned from fearfulness to a moment of peace and calmness. God had sent someone to assist me across the street.  We were safe and sound.  Once I arrived at my destination, it was clear that the weather had become so bad that they were going to have cancel our soul-winning night.   A couple from the church drove us home and so once again we escaped the fearsome street.

I know we all face times that we’re afraid.  When we feel afraid, we need to pray and ask God to help us.  Let’s remember the verse, Psalm 56:3, that encourages us, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” There is no difficulty or obstacle too huge that God cannot overcome.  Let’s venture forward this week and years to come trusting faithfully in the Lord!

Hello ladies,

I hope you’ve had a marvelous day.  I apologize for being late today on writing.  My boys all have tests on Monday and we’ve had to do some extra studying this weekend in order to prepare.   I only have time to share a quick thought because I have to get ready to serve up some sandwiches before we leave for church.

While studying science with my 12-year-old son,  I couldn’t help but think how complex the universe really seems to be.  What a wonderful job of complete perfection God has created!   Everything seems to be made for a specific purpose.   What’s even more astonishing, God has numbered and named each star.

Psalms 147:4   He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.

If God cares so much about every small detail (even naming the stars), we know that He must love us immensely.  He’s also created us with a purpose.  He know how many hairs you have on your head…He loves you that much!

Luke 12:7     But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

As we face the week ahead, let’s walk with thankfulness in our hearts, praising God for all that He’s done for us.  He constantly thinks about us…but can we say that we constantly think about Him?