Who Is Your God?

"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 NIV Bible

Who is your God? This is a question that God asked me to face this morning. He showed me a picture of God forgiving a person, but they refused to remove a burden from their back. This burden was rejection. We have reasons why we go out of God's way to avoid rejection. He is asking us to choose serving God rather than pleasing man. We will be rejected. We are not to stop and gain man's approval. We are to put our eyes on God and keep walking. He showed me that if we can let go of this burden of rejection, we will be free. We will feel lighter. We will have more energy and joy. We will be able to follow Jesus through some pretty narrow spots to some new and wonderful places that we weren't able to get to with a huge pack on our backs.

You are chosen by God. This is your identity. Be free! Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. He approves of you, Beloved.

You are God's Favorite

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4 NIV Bible

Yesterday, I had to drive about an hour to get to work. I was having a rough morning, so as I tearfully listened to a Cristian radio station, it really ministered to me. Then out of the blue, they played a song and I switched to laughter. Then when I stopped at McDonald's for tea, I told some teenagers about it and they even told me to have a nice day. Next the guy at the counter gave me a large tea for the price of a small.

Today, God's favor continued. I went to Great Harvest to buy Irish soda bread and decided to buy myself a scone. Then I entered a drawing, danced a jig for a free cookie, listened to Irish music, and enjoyed the young people that work there.

As I recognized God's favor, I started to understand how crucial it is to thank him. As we thank him for his favor, we become more and more aware of how favored we really are. Also, this thankful heart makes way for God to bestow even more favor on us. We are God's FAVORITES. He will bestow favor on us. This is a fact. So, Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Enjoy God's favor.

Here is the song that made me laugh.

Be Encouraged

"Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends." Philippians 4:1

I know, we have never met the apostle Paul, but as my husband read this verse this morning, I felt like God was saying to us that we are his joy and crown. I felt like he was saying this is how we should stand. The enemy will lie to us and say all kinds of negative things. This is not what God has to say. You are his joy and crown. Walk this day in dignity, Beloved of God.

Jesus Welcomes You

"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Luke 15:2b NIV Bible

I love this scripture. I am welcomed. I am not just tolerated. I am wanted. He wants to hang out with me.

I think that one of man's greatest temptations is to forget that God wants a relationship with us. We keep thinking that he just wants us to be "good." Then, when we start down this path of deception, we come up with all kinds of ways to sin without even realizing we have taken this slippery road.

Today, I had an agenda for myself that I thought must be God's plan. The problem was, that every time I considered it, I felt depressed. As I prayed, I realized that God was actually giving me a desire to do his will, and that his will had nothing to do with my agenda. First, he wanted me to draw near and know him. He reminded me of his character and how much he loves me. Then, he could show me what his real plan for my day was. Now, as I move forward in God's love, I am excited about this day.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36 NIV Bible

You Are Never Too Big To Sit On God's Lap

"My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forever more." Psalm 131 NIV Bible

There are times when we are like the child that is full of energy and very busy with the things of life. Other times we need to climb up on God's lap, lean our heads against him, and be held. Today, I am so thankful for God and his big lap. I am glad that we can come to him as a little child. Our hope is in our Father. We don't have to concern ourselves with matters that are too big for us. We can rest and let our souls be quiet, knowing that we are being cared for.

"Thank you God for your peace. Thank you for hope. Thank you for your loving kindness that is better than life. Thank you that you are our Father and we can depend on you to take care of us. Thank you that even when we are adults, we can come to you as a child and be cared for and loved."

I Am Free

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1 NIV Bible

Today, I am basking in the glorious freedom in God. He teaches about this freedom from all different angles. Today, I am very aware of being free from a prison that I have dwelt in for as long as I can remember. I believed that I was a failure and that no matter how hard I tried, I was never going to be good enough. I spent my life scurrying around, trying to learn how others do things so I could at least attempt to copy them.

The problem is that I am actually a pioneer, so this just didn't work. God, himself, was sabotaging my efforts. He wanted me to be free. He wanted me to know my worth. He wanted me to let him be my boss. For the past several days, I have been living in the freedom of God's approval. It is glorious! I can feel myself opening, like a flower in spring. The warmth of God's love is so sweet. Praise God!

I heard this song by the Newsboys while I was driving today. It expresses how I am feeling today.

God is Our Boss

"come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Mathew 11:28-30 NIV Bible

God is our boss. I am so thankful for this. He is the perfect boss. He is not demanding. He wants us to lay down our agenda for ourselves and be led by his Spirit.We are to lay down both ours and the world's standards for us. God is filled with dignity and is doing an awesome job running this world. He is perfect. He is respectable. He is kind. We can depend on him to always be right. He is fair. He is honest. He has our best interest at heart. He encourages us and praises us when we do well. He knows just what is required of us. He doesn't ask us to do more than we can handle and yet he challenges us to do what he knows we are capable of.

Other things and people rise up and try to lord it over us. They can come wearing a disguise so that we don't even realize they are trying to control. some of these are; other people, our expectations, fear, shame, anger, pride,other people's ideas. They usually discourage us or lead us down a dead end path.

I know that there are earthly bosses out there, but God is boss over all of them too, even if they don't know it. Today, God is encouraging you to surrender leadership in your life to him. It will be such a relief. You will truly find rest for your soul. You will also find joy, hope and a sense of anticipation of a great future in store for you.