Teach Me & Guide Me....

I read Psalm 25 and parts of Psalm 119 this morning. If you are in need of guidance from the Lord, these are great scriptures to read. I only copied parts of Psalm 25, but the entire passage is great!

Psalm 25 1:1-10

1To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
2 in you I trust, O my God.

Do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one whose hope is in you

will ever be put to shame,

but they will be put to shame

who are treacherous without excuse.
4 Show me your ways, O LORD,

teach me your paths;
5 guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

for you are good, O LORD.
8 Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful

for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Good or Bad?

Choices....
Good Choices or Bad Choices is the question....Everyone makes choices each day.

I look back over this past week and notice that I made some bad choices. I did well with reading my Bible, but I did not pray like I should have been praying. I did not get on my knees and pour my heart out to God. I quickly (maybe I should say "very quickly") prayed and moved on with the daily routine of work & activities. I can not even tell you what I prayed for this week.

My week was not that great. I did accomplish a goal I have been wanting to accomplish. However, as a whole I was not "complete" and things did not go well. I know we all have "off" weeks, but the sad thing is that I knew deep down that I was not doing what I promised to God as well as to myself. I let both of us down this week.

This morning I was reading Deuteronomy 30: 11-20. (I encourage you to read this passage!) I learned that life is a series of choices. From when we wake up until we go to bed, we make tons of decisions. We make decisions about the things we do with our time, what we choose to say or think, as well as handling our actions/reactions.

These decisions we make on a daily basis determine the outcome of our lives....whether good or bad. Each day is a little puzzle piece which we are working to complete the entire puzzle...the life in which we live. Sometimes I need a little scripture passage to make everything come together and open my eyes. It all makes perfect sense and is even common sense....I just need to see it from the word of God to explain things better.

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach....No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it." Deut. 30:11,14

"I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love, the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Deut. 30:19-20

My Best....

Is God getting my best? Lately, I have not been devoting my undivided attention to God. There are many distractions which keep me away from focusing only on God. I feel guilty about the distractions I have. Some mornings I am really into reading God's word and learning more about what the Bible says. Other times, I am thinking about all the things I need to get done before leaving the house.

Sometimes I hope that my scripture readings are short. God can read my mind and my heart, which is embarrassing! Of all the minutes in a day---I sometimes rush the time I have with God.

I need to learn how to put everything to the side and give God my full attention. After all, I know God deserves my best! I know I will pay a price if I do not continue to place my priorities in the right order. I pray today that I will let God's priorities be my priorities!

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you." Matthew 6:33

God's Timing...

It is so easy to go to God when we have problems or need him for a difficult situation. However, God wants us to come to him daily. He does not want us to come to him just when we need something. I have been praying a long time for God's direction and guidance in my life.

I am starting to see why I have not received the answers I want from God. There were many times I would only come to God the week before needing my prayer answered...only to find out weeks later that I did not receive my request. There was one time when I received an answered prayer...so I thought...only to be disappointed because it was not what I expected. However, I am noticing that there are reasons why we do not receive our prayers answered.

First, we must be patient and wait on God's timing. We can not rush God's plan for our lives.

Psalm 27:7 Life Application Study Bible/NIV
We often run to God when we experience difficulties. But David sought God's guiding presence every day. When troubles came his way, he was ALREADY in God's presence and was prepared to handle ANY test! Many of our problems could be avoided or handled far more easily by seeking God's help and direction before the problem.

Second, we must trust God to handle our lives and situation. We can not take on our problems alone.

I hope that I will continue to seek God daily and lift up my thanksgivings as well as requests daily...not just when I need an answered prayer!

Here are some scripture verses I read this morning.........


"Wait for the Lord; be courageous and let your heart be strong. Wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14

"Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, 'Seek his face!' Your face, Lord, I will seek. " Ps 27:7

"Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors." Ps 27:11

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Ps 27:14

Attitudes....

Good Morning! Well, this morning I thought I would talk about yesterday. I did not have a great day. I know it was because I did not sleep well. Nothing seemed to go right all day! I had a bad attitude and did not want to be around many people. WHY? I did not have a reason. No one did anything to me. I just did not want to smile or be my happy self.

I noticed a poster in a classroom yesterday. I pass by this poster everyday I am at work. It wasn't until yesterday that I took the time to read it. The poster was perfect for me.

"Attitudes are contagious. Is your attitude worth catching?"

WOW! My attitude was definitely not worth catching. I did have a short quiet time yesterday, but I do not believe I was ready to receive what God wanted me to see in the passage. I know God knew that I just really did not care yesterday. We all have days like these, but we should be even more willing to ask God for help! I should have asked God to help make myself "right" yesterday.

The words we speak have the power to do a lot of harm as well as encourage. Each day we either make someones day better or miserable. If we speak words of encouragement we will always lift others up. When we are discouraged or exhausted we can hurt others.

I hope today will be a better day! "So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others." 2 Peter 1:5-7

HOPE

Have you ever felt hope for the future slipping away? I have in many circumstances! There are many disappointments and failures I've faced and will continue to face. One failure is maintaining a healthy weight. I am sick and tired of feeling gross about myself. No matter how hard I try to stick to a regular routine or diet, I always FAIL! It is so easy for me to give into temptation when it comes to food. I have said many times I want to change. I keep making excuses (just like when it comes time to spending time with the Lord). Now, I am ready to conquer something I have never been able to do. I am ready to start with learning how to have self control. After all, self control is where it starts!! I am also going to continue learning patience. I know I have to be patient as losing weight will not happen overnight!

I know it sounds silly to ask for prayers to help me stay away from junk food and everything that is bad for me. Yet, God tells us to pray for everything! I know the only way I can overcome my terrible habit is to go to God in prayer. God is the only one to give me the strength I need to practice self-control and watch what I eat.

Some may ask why I want to lose weight?? Well, there are several reasons. My body fat is higher than what it should be for my age as well as being a female. I want to be healthy, so I can live longer and see my son have children one day. I also do not want our son to pick up bad habits from the way I eat. I know that exercising and eating healthy will keep a healthy heart.

Here are a couple of scriptures I read this morning. I will be keeping these scriptures handy as I start the weight loss process!

"I wait for the Lord; I wait, and put my hope in His word." Psalm 130:5

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" Philippians 4:13

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 29-31

Priorities

It has been difficult to get up early enough to type as well as read my bible. I want to pick up the house or piddle through the mail. I am to the point now where I need to take a step back and look at my priorities. It is almost March and most people tend to stop any resolution that they have made around this time. I believe it is because we give up. We do not see immediate results, so we no longer want to work hard at things we so desperately desire.

Hebrews 12:2 came to mind this morning. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

I pray that God will help me prioritize my life. I pray that I will continue to seek His will first every morning (even when I am just not that into it!).

Elisabeth Elliot once said, "The work of God is appointed. There is always enough time to do the will of God."

Are we willing to do the work?

In the Life Application Study Bible (NIV), Hebrews 12:2 says, "That the Christian life requires hard work. It requires us to give up things that endanger our relationship with God. To live effectively, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. We should be running for Christ, not ourselves, and we must always keep him in sight!"