Proverbs 3:3-12

April 10th, 2016 dsisler

 

 

This morning, I wrote Proverbs 3:3-12 in my journal. I follow a Scripture writing plan and each day I write a portion of Scripture that I am able to meditate on and remember throughout my day.

 

Daytona Beach 021mThese words are powerful reminders of the benefits found through wisdom. Things like keeping love and faithfulness in our hearts…and ways to help us keep them in mind. We are to remember that trusting in the Lord is smarter than trusting in our understanding. We are to remember to give God our best and our first. And we should remember that God disciplines those He loves.

 

Wonderful words of wisdom for the day ahead!

 

Today’s repeat blog is about my favorite place to be…the seashore! I pray that your time with the Lord today is precious, wherever you meet Him.

 

By the Seashore

 

I love my Colorado Rocky Mountains, but if I could be anywhere or vacation in a place of my choosing, it would be on a beach. I love the breeze. I love the smell. I love the saltiness of the air. I love, love, love the ocean.

 

I am excited to say that my office move has been a good one for me. While it’s not quite ready to reveal, there are plenty of little shoreline touches that warms my heart each time I walk into my office. The palm trees. The seashells and sand. The colors. The décor. And yes, even a little devotion book that I found brings me to the seashore.

 

I picked up Devotions for the Beach…and Days You Wish You Were There by Miriam Drennan last week. I believe I’m going to read this devotion book over and over because I wish I were at the beach every day of my life!

 

What wasn’t surprising in this book was that the first devotion centered around Jesus’ encounter with His disciples on the beach. You know the morning Jesus called them to have breakfast on the seashore in John 21?

 

The disciples had been out fishing all night long and had caught nothing. As they were heading into shore someone on the beach suggested they throw their nets on the other side. Thinking they had nothing to lose, they did so and caught an abundance of fish.

 

As soon as the disciples felt a difference in the weight of their net, they knew who had made the suggestion. John exclaimed, “It is the Lord!”

 

Imagine the scene as the disciples pulled their boat ashore. Jesus, sitting next to a fire, preparing fish for breakfast. Oh what a thrill it must have been to be with Jesus in that setting. Jesus asked them to bring some of the fish they had caught and come have breakfast with Him.

 

I love Miriam’s take on this setting. She suggests that while this group of men had seen pretty remarkable things from Jesus (miracles, teachings, death, resurrection, post resurrection visits), in this moment, Jesus wanted them to sit, relax and enjoy being in His company and eat the food He had prepared for them.

 

Jesus invites us to do the same. In the midst of all that we are doing, perhaps the most important thing we can do is to sit and have breakfast with Jesus. Oh, I realize that we can’t physically have breakfast with Jesus, but we certainly can partake of His spiritual breakfast.

 

Quiet time, with Jesus on the beach. That’s what Jesus wants for each of us. He desires to spend those precious moments with us to bask in His presence. He wants to open our spiritual minds to new and amazing things found in Scripture. He wants to listen to our requests and praises. He wants to calm our spirits and refresh our minds. All of that can be done in those moments alone with Him.

 

I’m not going to the beach today. At least not a real beach. But I am going to be with Jesus. And in His presence, I’m at the beach every day.

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

 

Do you have a favorite place to be with Jesus? Where? Tell me about it!

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“H” – A to Z Challenge

April 9th, 2016 dsisler

 

I’m in a music kind of mood this morning. It’s not March. It’s not Monday. But I want talk about music today.

 

hYears ago I heard this song and fell in love with the lyrics. How remarkable that God loved you and I enough to do the things mentioned in this song. Knowing what the future held for Jesus, He still created all the elements of the crucifixion.

 

I pray that as you read through these lyrics today that you will know how loved you are by God. If you believe this message, you have the opportunity to live an abundant life and share this message with others. I pray that you are doing both.

 

“He Grew the Tree”[i]

 

He molded and built a small lonely hill

That He knew would be called Calvary

Then he made the seed that would grow to be

Thorns that would make His Son bleed

 

Then He made a green stem, gave it leaves and then

Gave it sunshine, and rain, and sheltered it with moss

And He grew the tree, that He knew would be

Used to make the old rugged cross

 

Chorus:

Nothing took His life

With great love He gave it

And He was crucified on a tree that He created

With great love for man

God stayed with His plan

And He grew the tree so that we might go free

 

With tears in His eyes, God looked down through time

Saw Him spat upon, rejected, and mocked

Still He grew the tree that He knew would be

Used to make the Old Rugged Cross
(Chorus)

 

Click here to have a listen.

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

[i] “He Grew the Tree,” words and music by Chuck Lawrence, Song Channel Music Company, Meadow Green Music Company, 1982.

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“G” – A to Z Challenge

April 8th, 2016 dsisler

 

Are you as impressed and amazed as I am when you use Google as your search engine? The design and graphics are different from your usual logo on many days. Some are use animation and some are stationary, but regardless, some are pretty amazing.

 

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Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you read God’s Word that you are amazed or impressed as well? What I love about God’s Word is that I can find great words of wisdom or guidelines or promises each day that I may not have noticed in the past.

 

Here are a few things that we know about God’s Word.

 

First, it is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). God was active in the writing of His Word. Because of His work in this book we call the Bible, we can without a doubt say that it is inerrant (without error or infallible) and it is the final authority on all issues. 2 Peter 1:20-21 reminds us of this truth as well.

 

We also know that God’s Word is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16b-17 – NIV) Everything we need each day is in God’s Word. There are plenty of commentaries and books written about the Bible, but if you really want to know what God’s Word says about a specific topic, just go to the original source.

 

And then we know that God’s Word is “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to diving soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 – NIV) This is the amazing part for me. I read Scripture with fresh eyes and a fresh heart each day because of my deepening relationship with Jesus. It’s through these eyes and heart that I find this verse to be true.

 

While Google is pretty amazing, God’s Word is more than amazing. In Scripture we find God’s words, breath and life given to mankind. What a precious gift!

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

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“F” – A to Z Challenge

April 7th, 2016 dsisler

 

I watched a news program several weeks back of a group of people who cannot recognize people by looking at their faces. It’s called face blindness (or the medical term is Prosopagnosia) and this condition affects about 2.5% of the population.

 

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Can you imagine? They don’t recognize famous people. They don’t recognize friends. They don’t recognize family. The folks who were on this news program had come up with skills to help them determine who people were, but it wasn’t by the face that was before them. They used voice recognition or hair styles to help them know who they were talking to. And just about all of them said they just smile a lot. To everyone they see.

 

An even bigger question for me would be “Can you imagine not recognizing God’s face?”

 

You and I know people who fall into this category. They don’t see God’s face in creation or in the beauty of this world or in a human body or in a believer’s life. Spiritual face blindness is much more prevalent than physical face blindness.

 

Take a look at these reminders from Scripture about the face of God. I pray that you will find encouragement in them. Know that His face is recognizable and that He knows who you are.

 

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Number 6:24-26 – NIV)

 

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” (1 Chronicles 16:11 – NIV)

 

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 – NIV)

 

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6 – NIV)

 

In what ways do you recognize God’s face? Where will you look for His face today? Let’s not allow our spiritual face blindness to keep us from seeing God’s face. Seek His face. What blessings and riches are in store for those who will.

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

 

Donna

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“E” – A to Z Challenge

April 6th, 2016 dsisler

 

I have couple of gauges in my life that remind me that I’m about to run out of something.

 

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In my car, the little screen in front of my eyes tell me when I am nearing empty in my gas tank. A lit gas pump comes on first. Then my approximated miles to empty goes to dashes. Then my fuel level light flashes. It would really be hard to run out of gas in my current car. So, I can thankfully say, that I have never allowed my gas tank to reach “empty.”

 

The other gauge that lets me know if I’m nearing empty is on my coffee maker. It has “fuel gauge” look to it and if the needle is pointing toward “F,” I know I have more coffee to drink. But as the coffee is poured (actually you push a little lever and the coffee dispenses below the lever), that needle moves to the left. Eventually, the needle lands on an “E” and then it’s time to make another pot!

 

There are times when I feel empty in my life as well. Separation from loved ones, loneliness, sadness, illness, loss or busyness are all times when I might feel empty. There are plenty more, but you understand the word empty in relation to my life.

 

While God is God and He can feel any way He wants and in ways we cannot comprehend, perhaps He may have felt emptiness in the very beginning. Genesis 1:2 (NIV) says, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” What a description! It’s no wonder God wanted to create something of beauty.

 

Look at some of the terms. Formless. Empty. Darkness. Deep. For us, these terms might be related to how we are feeling emotionally. If we aren’t careful, we begin to feel this way when we encounter times of loneliness, depression, or change.

 

And here’s something to keep in mind, God didn’t want things to stay this way. He chose to create something better. Something more splendid. Something more uplifting. He created the earth in all its glory.

 

God doesn’t want us to stay in a state of emptiness either. He would love to take your life and create something beautiful out of ruins. Beauty from ashes.

 

God wants to take away all of your hurt, your anguish, your pain. He wants to replace these feelings with joy, love, and grace.

 

I do love Isaiah 61. There is such hope in this chapter. If you are in this empty place today, pull your Bible out and read through it. Take it to heart. Learn how God wants to heal your broken-heartedness. How God wants to release the prisoner. How God wants to comfort the mourning. How God wants to replace the spirit of despair with a garment of praise.

 

Isaiah 61 is the perfect passage for anyone who is hurting. God provides hope and promises that can take us from the depths of despair to the heights of favor. Don’t let another day go by without calling out to Him. There is no need to run on empty.

 

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 Jacksonville, Florida.

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