The Work of Your Hands

September 4th, 2012 dsisler

It is now 19 days until our team leaves for SE Asia. There is still so much to do. Gathering of items to take. Details of the trip to finalize. Preparation of our hearts and bodies for the journey.
During our last training session, the prayer partner coordinator for our upcoming service trip to SE Asia presented a verse of Scripture to us for our devotions.
Psalm 90:17 (NIV) says, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.”
As I look at this verse, yes, I believe this is what our trip should be based upon. But I also think we need to build our day-to-day lives on this concept. When I allow God to use my hands for His glory, all that I do with my hands will be blessed by Him.
How do I use my hands to bring glory to God?
For me, writing is one way that I use my hands for God’s purpose and glory. I believe He established this love and gift within me to use for Him. When my heart is focused on Him, words flow through my hands at an easy pace. He establishes the work of my hands.
I can be handy, but I am handiest when I use my skills and talents for God’s glory. I am a good cook, but I am the best when I prepare meals for His purpose. When I use my hands for God, whatever it is I’m doing will be better because He has established that work.
The word favor could also be translated “beauty.” Allowing God’s beauty to rest upon us will allow His beauty to flow through us. This phrase is also seen in Psalm 27:4 (NIV). “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”
When we gaze upon God’s beauty, we will begin to reflect His beauty in our lives. The work of our hands will be established in His beauty and beautiful results will occur.
As we continue to prepare for our service trip, my prayer for our team would be that God’s beauty would be reflected through us. That the people we meet will see how God’s beauty establishes the works of our hands.
So, how is God using your hands for His glory? What are you doing to reflect His beauty into this world? I pray that He is working within you to establish the work of your hands. He certainly is working within me.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Donna
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Pay Attention

September 3rd, 2012 dsisler

There are occasions in our lives where we must pay attention. Backing out of a parking spot calls for complete attention. Baking at high altitude demands full attention in order to get the ingredients and their measurements correct. Babysitting an active two-year old requires uninterrupted attention.
My brother used to walk to work from his home. He crossed a highly congested road where there wasn’t a cross walk. He said that he could day dream or think  of other things all day long, but for those two minutes per day, his full attention needed to be focused on crossing that road. It demanded that he was alert to all the happenings in that moment.
If you look up the words “pay attention” in my concordance, these are the verses you’ll find. Some of the verses tell us to pay attention to the wisdom of our parents. Others tell us to not pay attention to those around us or to myths. The message here must be that we are to pay attention to the things we know are true and disregard those things we know to be untrue.
Let’s see what God wants us to pay attention to
“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.” (Proverbs 4:1 – NIV)
“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.” (Proverbs 4:20 – NIV)
“My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.” (Proverbs 5:1-2 – NIV)
“Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say.” (Proverbs 7:24 – NIV)
“Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.” (Proverbs 22:17-18 – NIV)
“Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant curing you—for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.” (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 – NIV)
“You have heard many things but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.” (Isaiah 42:20 – NIV)
“Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.” (Titus 1:13-14 – NIV)
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1 – NIV)
What is it that you need to pay careful attention to today? Do you need to be alert to the teachings and wisdom of parents or mentors? Do you need to need to ignore what others or myths are saying? Do you need to read God’s Word and gain a better understanding of how you should be living your life?
There is plenty of unimportant stuff in this world. And I can guarantee, with all the media you will hear of it all. But is that really what you want to be paying attention to? Isn’t it time to pay attention to what is important?
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Donna
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The Ten Commandments

September 2nd, 2012 dsisler

I dropped off my Mom at the beauty salon to get her hair fixed on Friday. I ran to do some errands while she was there. I thought I would be back before she was finished, but before too long, Mom called me, but I was unable to reach the phone in time.
So I immediately returned her call. I received a message that said, “The person you are calling is not available.” I hung up and called the number again. This time I heard, “All circuits are busy.” Again I hung up and called a third time. The message I heard on my third attempt was, “The number you are calling is no longer in service.”
At that point, I gave up and went to the beauty salon to pick her up.
I don’t know about you, but I dislike getting the runaround. If you don’t have an answer for me, please do not make one up just to make yourself look good or because you can. Tell me the truth.
I think that is part of the reason I love God’s Word. God is so straight forward with all of it. He doesn’t run around the circle a few times before saying, “and by the way, you need to…”
It doesn’t get any more straightforward than the Ten Commandments. So let’s see what God has to say and how we are to live our lives.
Commandment One
“You shall no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3 – NIV)
Commandment Two
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I am, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6 – NIV)
Commandment Three
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” (Exodus 20: 7 – NIV)
Commandment Four
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neighbor you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11 – NIV)
Commandment Five
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12 – NIV)
Commandment Six
“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13 – NIV)
Commandment Seven
“You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 – NIV)
Commandment Eight
“You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15 – NIV)
Commandment Nine
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16 – NIV)
Commandment Ten
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17 – NIV)
There are plenty of other commands that God has place within the pages of His Book, but these were the first ten. And these are mentioned in the New Testament as well. By looking at these New Testament passages, you’ll find some common language from God’s original, straightforward language.
Command One
Matthew 4:10 and Matthew 22:37-38
Command Two
Acts 17:29, 1 Corinthians 10:7 and 1 John 5:21
Command Three
Mathew 15:17-20 and 1 Timothy 6:1
Command Four
Matthew 24:20; Mark 2:27-28; and Hebrews 4:1-13
Command Five
Matthew 19:19; Matthew 19:18-19; and Ephesians 6:1-3
Command Six
Matthew 15:17-20; Matthew 19:18-19; and Romans 13:9
Command Seven
Matthew 15:17-20; Matthew 19:18-19; and Romans 13:9
Command Eight
Matthew 15:17-20; Matthew 19:18-19; and Romans 13:9
Command Nine
Matthew 15:17-20; Matthew 19:18-19; Romans 13:9 and Ephesians 4:25
Command Ten
Romans 7:7; Romans 13:9 and James 1:14-15
I believe Romans 13:10 (NIV) is a great summary for this blog post. “Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Because of love, we have no desire to mistreat our God or our neighbor.
And we know love because we know God. 1 John 5:2-3 says that when we love God, we love His commands and His people.
God’s straightforward language should be our language. It should be the way we live our lives. I pray on this day that you will allow God’s Words to penetrate your heart. That His love would draw you to Him. You really cannot misunderstand His message.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Donna
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Salesmanship 101

September 1st, 2012 dsisler

I stopped to get gas yesterday at an unfamiliar station. I pulled up to a pump, got out of my car, and proceeded with the usual routine with credit card in hand. A young attendant approached and said, “This is a full service pump. The price is $3.94 with a credit card.” I thought that was okay, so I said, “Okay, that’s fine.”
He looked at me and said, “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said, “it is cheaper than any prices I’ve seen.”
“Well,” the attendant began, “if you purchase with cash the price is $3.88 a gallon. If you get gas from that pump (pointing to the pump at the other island), you’ll pay $3.88. And if you go up to that station (the attendant pointed up the road to a nearby gas station), you’ll pay $3.79 per gallon.”
I don’t believe this young gas station attendant had received the training on salesmanship.
But I wondered how things would be if Satan had missed Salesmanship 101. If so, he might ask if we were sure we wanted to engage in certain activities. He might explain the consequences of some of our actions. He might be a little less encouraging of selfish behavior.
But alas, not only has Satan excelled in Salesmanship 101, but has passed 201, 301, and 401 with flying colors. I would even say, he wrote the syllabus for each of these courses.
Peter tells us about Satan and his tactics. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 – NIV) Satan is slinking around, waiting for his next victim. Waiting for someone to show some form of weakness. Then he will pounce. Peter’s advice is to be self-controlled and alert.
But then Peter goes on to share a couple other ways to put Satan in his place. “Resist him [Satan], standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:9 – NIV) Our faith will give us the strength to resist Satan.
Satan will do his best to lead us to sin. He will tempt us with his best vices. He will lead us astray. He will do all that he can to keep us from following God’s path.
The good news is that God is working just as diligently to keep us from falling. Paul mentions temptation in 1 Corinthians. And this passage shares some great news about temptation.
“If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:12-13 – NIV)
God loves us so much that He will always provide a way out of temptation for us.
Jude 1:24-25 (NIV) confirms this truth. “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more! Amen.”
Satan knows exactly how to tempt us. He knows our weaknesses. God will provide assistance, but it is up to us to keep from falling into temptation. According to Jesus, prayer is a key element to standing firm against temptation. Consider these passages. Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; Luke 22:40; and Luke 22:46.
For more information on how Jesus dealt with temptation, you can read about His journey in the wilderness in Matthew 4 or Mark 1.
And here are a few other passages to consider when thinking of temptation. Matthew 6:13; Galatians 6:1; 1 Timothy 6:9-10; Hebrews 2:18; Hebrews 4:15; James 1:13-14.
I didn’t purchase gas from the first station I pulled into yesterday. I was warned. I heeded the warning. I removed myself from a possibly harmful scenario (harmful to my wallet).
I should remember this occasion the next time I am tempted. Think of the possibilities instead of the obvious. Look for a way out instead of being stuck in the moment.
With God on my side and the tools I need to resist him, I’m positive Satan will not be able to convince me that his conniving schemes are worth the consequences of sin. I pray the same for you.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Donna
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A Wedding Celebration

August 31st, 2012 dsisler

My family is celebrating today. Celebrating the marriage of my oldest nephew Brandon to his lovely Heidi. By the end of today, they will be united. They will be Mr. and Mrs. They will be a wedded couple.
Congratulations Brandon and Heidi! May God bless your marriage abundantly!

I am reminded of several wedding feasts in Scripture. The wedding feast of Cana where Jesus performed His first miracle (John 2:1-11). Jesus taught through a parable about a wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14). Another parable of a wedding situation can be found in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). And don’t forget the first marriage ceremony in Scripture performed by God (Genesis 2:21-25).

But the greatest wedding celebration is between the Bridegroom (Jesus) and His Bride (the Church). We see glimpses of this glorious relationship throughout Scripture and how precious it is in God’s sight.
In a section of Scripture regarding marriage, Paul shares this thought with the Ephesian Church.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”(Ephesians 5:25-27 – NIV)
Jesus mentioned this relationship in Matthew 9:15 (NIV) when He said, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Jesus knew the time would come when He would no longer be among the people. Longing for the bridegroom would occur then.
And once again in Revelation 19:7-9 there is reference to the Bridegroom. I love the words in verse 9 (NIV). “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” We are all invited, but we must accept the invitation to join the wedding celebration at the wedding supper.
Have you accepted your invitation? Your RSVP is eagerly awaited.
In this world of disposable marriages, I am thankful that my Bridegroom is not willing to toss me out because of the sin in my life. That my rebellion is not grounds for “irreconcilable differences.” Jesus loves me and although I miss the mark, He continues to cover me with His grace through it.
Yes, today is a time of celebration. For a new marriage and for a rekindling of an old relationship. A time to remember my precious relationship with Jesus. A time to celebrate the wonder of it all.  How are you celebrating today?
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Donna
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  • About Me

  • "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 Jacksonville, Florida.

  • 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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    In September 2012 I went to SE Asia on a service trip. For more information, check out preachitclearly.blogspot.com.

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