“God Will Take Care of You” – Monday Musical Musings

September 8th, 2014 dsisler

 

I have such difficulty each Monday morning. There are so many songs to choose from and I want to share all of them! Some are more meaningful than others. Some we sang the day before in worship. But all of them are special in their own way.

 

IMAG1492This song came to mind last week as I dealt with the death and disappointment in my life. Regardless of what this old world wants to throw my way, I know that I will be cared for. I know that God will take care of me.

 

And when all else fails, I have God’s Word to remind me of God’s promise. Here are just a few verses to keep in mind.

 

“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” (Nahum 1:7 – NIV)

 

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 – NIV)

 

“Since God cares for you, let Him carry all your burdens and worries.” (1 Peter 5:7 – The Voice)

 

It is really very simple. God cares. There is no reason to carry the burden alone. Today as you venture into your daily life, remember this beautiful promise from the Lord. He cares.

 

Below are the lyrics to “God Will Take Care of You.” Just a reminder.

 

Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.

 

Refrain:
God will take care of you,
Through every day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.

 

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you.

 

All you may need He will provide,
God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied,
God will take care of you.

 

No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast,
God will take care of you.[i]

 

Click here to listen to a beautiful version of this melody by the Heritage Singers. Enjoy!

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

 

[i] “God Will Take Care of You,” Words by Civilla D. Martin, Music by Walter S. Martin, Public Domain.

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Fellowship of Believers

September 7th, 2014 dsisler

 

I thought I would remind you of how the Church in the Book of Acts spent their time. “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42 – NIV)

 

If you have missed one of these elements lately, perhaps today is the perfect day to return to your roots. Just a suggestion.

 

Today’s blog post is again from the April 2013 Blogging from A to Z challenge. We’re up to “g.” It’s time to read about gobbledygook! Have a wonderful day filled with God’s joy!

 

Gobbledygook

 

I received a book from Dad last year. It was a text book on writing. I read it. Maybe not all of it, but I read quite a bit of it. I can honestly say that there is more to this writing skill than I ever dreamed. I have learned so much!

 

I came across the section about gobbledygook. Yes, there is such a word and it pertains to writing!

 

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“Gobbledygook is writing that suffers from an overdose of traits guaranteed to make it stuffy, pretentious, and wordy.”[i] It is an attempt to make writing sound better than it is by adding words to give it a “fuller” feel.

 

If you have ever read a legal document, you’ve read gobbledygook.

 

Jesus had something to say about gobbledygook. In Matthew 6:7, Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not keep babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”

 

This verse is in a section where Jesus teaches His disciples about prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). His model prayer follows.

 

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed by your name,

Your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.”

 

This prayer spoken by Jesus gives us the purest, most concise way to pray to our heavenly Father.

 

When we get rid of all the over used words, traditional phrases, and church jargon, we can get to the heart of prayer—sharing our hearts with our Father.

 

Entering God’s presence with our souls bared is where Jesus wants to meet us. Getting down to the real issues, using real, honest words with our God is where He will reward us.

 

And when we are to the point where we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit steps in for us. Romans 8:26-27 tells us, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

 

Even when words cannot express what’s on our hearts or our emotions, God will hear us.

 

Gobbledygook has no place in our conversation with God. Pure, simple words are all He desires from us. With that, I’m done!

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

 

[i] Alred, Brusaw, Oliu. The Business Writer’s Handbook. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2000. p. 271.

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Think About Such Things

September 6th, 2014 dsisler

 

It’s already started. The commercials or Facebook posts about the upcoming scary movie month of October. I dislike horror movies. I’m not crazy about suspense movies. And evil Halloween movies make me cringe. Well, let’s just say the big screen viewing of “Jaws” and “House of Wax” (in 3-D I might add) as a teenager have caused great distress.

 

sunflower-image-Vintage-GraphicsFairy (2)The problem is that when I see something or hear something that is remotely frightening, I am more apt to have a nightmare about that very thing. I cannot watch horror movies or any television program with even hints of a scary segment. Call me a wimp, but I don’t like it.

 

So when October rolls around (and it does each year), you’ll find me muting the television, changing the channel, closing my eyes or even leaving the room (if necessary) to keep these images and words from my mind and heart.

 

I know there are people who love this kind of thing. I don’t get it, but I know there is a huge market for this genre of “entertainment.” But because I can, I will share my thoughts.

 

My feelings about scary movies are not just what I think. God has something to say about this as well. Take a look at Philippians 4:8 (NIV). “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—think about such things.” I don’t find anything lovely or pure about scary movies.

 

In a section of 2 Corinthians, Paul adds this phrase “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 – NIV) If my thoughts are to be captivated by Jesus, there must be room for Him. When I cannot get past a frightening scene in my head or heart, Jesus is pushed out. I cannot allow that to happen.

 

King Solomon had a few things to say about how foolish we can allow ourselves to get. Here are two verses to consider. “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.” (Proverbs 15:14 – NIV) “A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.” (Proverbs 17:24 – NIV)

 

Now I’m not going to suggest that the only thoughts in my head are spiritual and praise-worthy. What I am saying is that I choose not to add anything else that will distract me even further from God’s truth.

 

For me it’s horror/scary movies. For another it might be pornography. And for another it might be romance novels (or you can add anything that holds your thoughts captive). The evil one has put plenty of entertainment options out there for us and when we are consumed by these movies or books, we don’t allow time to be in God’s presence and to meditate upon His Words.

 

Let’s allow God to show us where our foolish eyes have wandered. Let’s allow God to hold our thoughts captive as we are obedient to Jesus. Let’s dwell on God’s truth and His knowledge. Let’s keep the evil one at bay and be prepared to fight the battle when necessary.

 

I still dread October and probably always will. But there is so much good in this life. So, I choose to dwell on the good.

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

 

P.S. – Peabody the peacock has a friend. I have named him Sherman.

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Today I Will…

September 5th, 2014 dsisler

My heart is heavy. Death, disappointment, disillusionment and discouragement have entered into my world. Over the past week I’ve had the opportunity to think about the lives of those who have lost their battle with this life or their battle within and it simply leaves my heart heavy. What the world calls this heaviness of heart is grief.

 

???????????????????????????????With all of these emotions and thoughts spinning around in my head, I determined yesterday to write a list (yes, another list) of how I want to live. How I will choose to live from this day forward. You see, I don’t want others to feel this heaviness when I’m no longer living. I want them to view my life as having celebrated Jesus each and every day. I can make that choice. And with the help of God’s Spirit, I will.

 

So today, I will share my list with you. Today I will…

 

Choose joy (Proverbs 17:22).

Know God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Live abundantly (John 10:10).

Speak truth (Ephesians 4:15).

Forgive (Colossians 3:13).

Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Serve wholeheartedly (1 Peter 4:10).

Give generously (Luke 6:38).

Be thankful (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Love (1 Corinthians 13).

 

Oh, I won’t pretend that I will live this way every single moment of every single day. There is too much evil in this world. But what I am saying is that if I don’t try, if I don’t make an effort, my sinful nature will take over and I’ll miss the joy of living as a child of the Light. And if I don’t rely on the Holy Spirit for help with this transformation, I will miss the mark.

 

Perhaps your heart is heavy this morning. For reasons beyond what I could comprehend. If so, why not adopt this list for yourself? Why not ask God’s Spirit to do His transforming work with you? It certainly couldn’t hurt.

 

I pray for the families of those who have lost their battle with this life. Their grief is deep this morning. I pray also for the lost of this world. I pray that the Lord will send someone who is able to speak His truth into their lives. I pray that God will abundantly bless those who are called by His Name. And above all, I pray that God’s Spirit will lead me today.

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

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A Long, Long Time Ago

September 4th, 2014 dsisler

 

I was sorting through old blog posts. There are 954 of them! But I wanted to sort by date. I clicked on the tab, “Date Modified,” and these were the options given to sort by.

 

A Long Time Ago

Earlier This Year

Last Week

Earlier This Week

Yesterday

Select a Date or a Date Range

 

A long time ago was the one that surprised me. The documents on my computer aren’t that old! Even if I had kept the very first document I typed and saved on a computer, it would only be 25 years old or so. That doesn’t constitute a long time ago for me.

 

However, I can find examples of “a long time ago” is in God’s Word. 2 Timothy 1:8b-10a (NIV) says, “…join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus…”

 

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Before the beginning of time God had a plan for mankind. He purposed then to show grace to us. He lavished grace upon us long before we were born. That was a long time ago.

 

We see more evidence of God’s plan in Titus. “…a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.” (Titus 1:2-3 – NIV)

 

In this passage we see that God promised our hope before the beginning of time. This verse also shows that at specific times throughout history, God revealed His Word to mankind.

 

At first they were glimpses, prophecies of the coming Messiah. Then at the appointed time, The Word was introduced. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and God’s plan, designed before the beginning of time, was set into motion.

 

There is an interesting verse in Isaiah that shows how God views time. “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10 – NIV)

 

For God, it doesn’t matter what time it is. It doesn’t matter where that event takes place in all of time. God’s purpose stands the test of time. His plan negates time. From the beginning to the end, long before and long after, God is. He said it best. I AM.

 

God had us in mind before time began. It was His desire for us to part of His plan. David knew this to be true and stated, “My times are in your hands…” (Psalm 31:15a – NIV) For the short time we are on this earth, God is holding the events and circumstances of our lives in His hands.

 

God’s hands will protect, cover, and comfort during the darkest times of our lives. They will show love, caress, and acknowledge existence during the loneliest times of our lives. They will invigorate, rejuvenate, and produce fruit during the unproductive times of our lives. God’s hands will invite laughter, bring joy, and perhaps tickle during the happiest times of our lives.

 

And He prepared to do so…a long time ago.

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

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    "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:18-19


    I am a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. I lived in the beautiful state of Colorado for 20 years where I found great inspiration for my novels and devotional writings. Currently living in southwest Ohio.

    I am passionate about helping women find their way to Jesus through Bible study, teaching, speaking, inspirational writing and creative Bible journaling.

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