September 1

Today, I prayed for you, those who read my blog and my post. You are my family and we will reign together in the coming kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus. I was spurred to pray for you by Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. I prayed that God would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. We can read the scriptures and come to it as a child and understand, but because it is living, I asked for another layer of its depths to be revealed. The meaning won’t change, but be expanded. The more that God reveals Himself, the bigger He becomes. I think our minds are so veiled, we don’t realize His magnitude. He chooses to show us a little of Himself at a time, so we're not overcome by fear. I have a friend who is paralyzed by the fear of God and she weeps all the time. Her family thinks she’s insane, but I think she’s been given a gift. One day they will realize why she’s weeping, because we will all be crying with her when we are compared to the majesty of our Holy Father. Until that day, keep moving towards the glory that awaits us when all of Heaven is made known.

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:15-18

August 31

I love to order things for delivery to my house. Even though I know that these packages are coming, and I know what’s in them, there is something exciting about having it brought to my door. Before it is delivered, I go online, carefully choose the perfect item that suits my need. I consider the cost, the size, then content, and the length of time it will be before it’s sent out. Once I’ve chosen the item, I then pay for it. That item is then set apart, and then goes into the process of being packaged, stamped, sealed, and set out to wait for a carrier to pick it up. Once it is picked up, it takes a little ride on a truck and then, possibly put on an airplane, then on another truck, until it reaches my door. This is the same process it takes for us to be united with the Father! Here is Ephesians 1:10-14 simplified. You can be guaranteed that our Heavenly Father is waiting in excitement for us to be delivered to His door.

Ephesians 1:10 Delivered and opened

Ephesians 1:11 Carefully chosen and order placed

Ephesians 1:12 Waiting on the delivery

Ephesians 1:13 Paid for, set aside, and sealed

Ephesians 1:14 Sent out for delivery

Ephesians 1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Eph 1:11  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Eph 1:12  so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

Eph 1:13  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Eph 1:14  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

August 30

There are many secrets hidden in everyday life. Each morning I give you stories of my life and those around me, things that seemingly have very little significance yet tell of the presence of God in all we do. Years ago, I heard Jesus tell me to follow His footsteps. So I began studying the gospel of John. Jesus always gave lessons using the things around Him, to help train and teach His disciples. It helped them remember the lessons and also showed how He is woven into everything. He began bringing to light the parables in what I was doing. The first one I remember the Holy Spirit pointing out was when I was pulling weeds. Weeds can signify sin, sinful people, or the enemy. Pulling weeds from the garden, makes your garden more beautiful. If you are growing vegetables and weeds come up with the new plants, you leave them in place, because if you pull them you may uproot your vegetables. We will always have to deal with the enemy, and sinful people because God is not ready to uproot us yet. He will separate us later. This is how the Word of God comes to life for me. In Ephesians 1, it talks about how wisdom and insight are made known to us by the mystery of his will. He has revealed the mystery! We know the secret because He has told us! It’s salvation through Jesus. The big secret is out, but pay attention to the valuable lessons that are available in everyday life, and for goodness sake, read your Bible!                               

making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ Ephesians 1:9

August 29

Anytime I can get a day at the beach, I’m in, even if it was to paint the interior of our little place. I had gotten a wild hair a few years ago to paint a couple of walls red, and I have loved it, but it was time to bring back a neutral palette, something more peaceful. I had a lot of color going on everywhere, so I removed all the decor that added to the chaos, and cleared out the clutter. It’s amazing how that can change the entire place. The beach was the same way. We’ve been experiencing westerly winds and it’s been pushing the red tide away from the shore, so the water is clear again, and the dead things are getting carried offshore. These are two examples of what it’s like to have grace poured out and lavished upon us. It feels good to have the clutter of sin purged, and to become your original self, back to the bare bones of who you are supposed to be. Don’t hang on to your past, Jesus has cleansed you of all of it! He wasn’t tortured, beaten, and hung on a cross so you could continue in your misery. He overcame it when He rose from the dead, and so should you.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight Ephesians 1:7-8

August 28

Are we in the last of the last days? Whether we are or not, our own life may be in its last days, hours, minutes, or even seconds. Are you worthy to enter the kingdom of Heaven? I was at dinner with a friend who told a story of a woman whose husband had died. The woman was asked if he was saved, and she couldn’t answer the question, because she didn’t know. Sometime before the funeral she had a dream, she saw him lying on the operating table where the doctors were trying to revive him. Over his body was seething demons who were waiting, and as he took his last breath, they tore his body from limb to limb. She was then able to say that he didn’t make it into heaven. Even though it was a dream, how would you like it if, upon your death, your family saw you dragged away by evil beings? What a horrible image! We have a just God, and if you don’t live your life to perfection, you will end up separated from Him. It is impossible to live a perfect life, but with Jesus, it is possible. He perfects us by cleansing us with His blood, and hides us within Himself, so that only His perfection is seen, and not our sin. Have you accepted His free gift of eternal life? If you're still on the fence, ask Him to show you who He is. He will.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, Ephesians 1:7

August 27

I’ve mentioned many times that I love gardening. Because our yard is tree covered, I have planted many varieties of bromeliads. I choose them by the color of their foliage and shape, being that’s what I see most of the time. I can’t explain the joy I feel when they bloom for the first time, it’s like receiving a gift! I get the same feeling when I’ve been diligent in following the path that the Lord has set before me, and I see Him pour out His love upon me. This is what I mean: I got the impression that the enemy wanted to toy with me, God has given me the ability to know when they are near, they are not as sly as they think they are and are quite noisy. So I began to pray every war prayer that I could think of, I prayed Psalms 91, which is my “go to” in times of battle. I prayed out loud so the enemy could hear me, I wanted them to tremble. I reminded the Lord of the promises He made me in that Psalm. And just like planting those bromeliads, my prayers bloomed, and I was given a beautiful gift of a busy, but peaceful day. I made it a point to thank Him and praise Him for protecting me. Remember that Jesus is the ruling authority over everything, and because of Him the darkness runs and hides!

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:21-22

August 26

A friend posted a video of a young girl who had been in the foster care system for quite some time. Her foster parents love her and her siblings. As her birthday rolled around news came that they had been approved to adopt them, and they presented her a gift with a plaque telling her she was being adopted. She carefully opened the box, and when she read the plaque she burst into tears. Her joy was so overwhelming that she couldn’t control it. Here’s the good news for us today; we have been chosen to be adopted by the Most High God into the Kingdom of Heaven. We no longer have to be shuffled from place to place wondering where we will be sleeping in the evening. Our home and our lives have changed and we are now cared for by our loving Father as princes and princesses of the kingdom. Before the beginning of the world He knew who would love Him, and snatched us from the fire, giving us all the rights and privileges of sons and daughters. Our joy should be as overwhelming as it was for this child. Every now and then we need a reminder of who we are. We are sons and daughters of the King!

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:4-6

August 25

My daughter and I took a trip down to South Florida to the island where I left my phone to pick it up. When we got to our exit, we noticed a sign that said Warm Mineral Springs. I had seen it before and had always been curious about it. We decided that on our way back, we would go by to see what it was all about. When we got there, we didn’t get to touch it because they wanted twenty dollars each to get in! They were nice enough to let us look at it. After we left, we looked it up on the internet. Come to find out, it has four springs that feed into it. Two of the vents have temperatures of 76 degrees and two have temperatures of 97 degrees. The combination gives a temperature of 87 degrees year round. It’s a very large sinkhole that is very deep. The bones of prehistoric animals and humans were found in it. This may have been the Fountain of Youth that Ponce de Leon was looking for. I never knew we had hot vents in Florida!

You never know exactly what’s going on with our great planet because we only get bits and pieces of information from different sources. This is why it’s important that we continue to search the scriptures; it is our source for information from the beginning of time to the end of time. The one thing we can count on is Jesus, our doorway to everlasting life. When you enter through that door, you are then seated in Heavenly places and your eternal destination is no longer a question.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Ephesians 1:3

August 24

Oh, the struggles we face! I left my phone and iPad on the island! I’m just kidding about the struggle, it’s been no struggle at all, inconvenient, but not a struggle. Do you do that? Do you get worked up over things that don’t matter? I’ve moved on from the book of James and have started in Ephesians. The Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians, and right away I noticed a difference in the writing style. You think you have problems, imagine being in prison or confined to your home unable to move about freely. He didn’t have the technology to keep himself busy, just a pen and paper. While confined, he didn’t stop teaching, he wrote letters to the churches, giving them instructions. He wrote every thought down, and you can tell that by the way some of the sentences became paragraphs. The Holy Spirit worked feverishly through him, giving him every detail that God wanted to bring to the gentiles, me and you! Many people face challenges, but make sure your issues are not things you’ve brought upon yourself because of wrong thinking. Paul could have easily laid in his bed and became depressed over his situation, but he didn’t. He may have been a little depressed, nevertheless he did what God called him to do. If you are facing problems, ask God if you are feeling the way you are because of a challenge He has given you, or if it’s of your own doing. Then ask Him how you should remedy it.

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. Ephesians 3:1-3

August 23

One topic we all struggle with is sickness. It may not be our own, but someone we love. Our biggest question is why? Our world was free from sickness before sin. That’s been a long time! It began with Adam and Eve and has run rampant ever since. We have to ask, why did Jesus tell those He healed to go and sin no more? Did their condition have to do with their own sin? It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Especially the story where Jesus had healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. He was laying by the pool waiting for it to be stirred, but couldn’t get in, and had no one to help him. Jesus came and healed him, then later told him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” So you see by this, Jesus’s instruction was to instill fear of the worst, so he wouldn’t go into a lifestyle of sin now that he can move freely. Now I’m not saying that your condition has anything to do with your own sin, because we are living in a world that evil has entered in, but whether it be Adam’s sin or your own sin, prayer is the only option we have when seeking healing. Never think you are healed without God’s permission, it’s guaranteed that if you are better it’s because He allowed it. The instruction for today is to ask forgiveness and pray with faith.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:15-16

August 22

We have many people in our lives that we consider friends. Some are co-workers, some are from school, or church, but then there might be one who grabs a hold of your heart. This one friend might be a match that God pulled the strings in order to bring the two of you together. There is a moment that you know; it’s as if God shines a spotlight on that human and says “this is my gift to you, a true friend.” It’s in that moment that your souls are knit together, and a godly bond is created. I believe that this might be a rarity, so if you find it, don’t let it go. Jesus says “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus laid His life down for us; it doesn’t get any better than that! God gives us an example of what true friendship should look like with David and Jonathan. They were beautifully bound together. Scripture says that Jonathan loved David as his own soul. If you find this kind of friendship, cultivate it, and cherish it.

As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 1 Samuel 18:1

August 21

Our vacation place had been empty for quite a while, so when I walked in, I realized something was wrong. It always has a bit of smell from being closed without air circulation, but this time it was a little musty. We had forgotten to take the trash out! I don’t know what was in it, but we had a gazillion fruit flies, most were dead, thank goodness. We had been away so long, I guess everything had dried up. We were lucky that it didn’t smell like rot. I had to clean before I could relax. I think God sends me through the gauntlet, just so I can give you life examples of spiritual truths. It’s okay, He knows I can handle it. So here is the spiritual truth: There are issues from your past that have long been forgotten, dried up so to speak, but it’s still a disgusting mess that needs to be cleaned up. It may not stink like it did way back then, but that’s just because you’re used to living with it. Today, ask God what you need to confess from your past. It has long been forgiven because of Jesus, but sometimes we need to be freed from our musty past so that it doesn’t come back to haunt us.

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”... Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:32, 34-36

August 20

It’s very easy to love a friend who is always there for you, and stands by you through thick and thin. On the other hand, it’s easy to hate your enemies. As a follower of Christ, we are commanded to love. What does that mean? Are we to love our enemies? “But Lord, look what they’ve done to me! How am I to love them?” Our goal, during this lifetime, is to become as much like Jesus as we can, and He loves everyone, even those who deny Him and follow their own path. I’m just going to show you my sin nature for a moment, please bear with me. When someone intentionally hurts me, belittles, or is downright evil to me, all I want to do is lash out. What does Jesus say about that? Pray for those who persecute you! Yes! I can do that. “I pray that hell and damnation fall upon them and that they experience the full extent of God’s wrath!” No! No! No! That is not how we are to pray! The Matthew Henry Commentary says it like this: 

We must pray that God will forgive them, that they may never fare the worse for anything they have done against us, and that he would make them to be at peace with us; and this is one way of making them so.

It is so hard to pray that way, but so healing. Something changes inside of you when you pray for good towards them. This is just my opinion, but I think the Holy Spirit takes over for you at that point, and comforts your heart with peace. I know this one is hard to put into practice, but try it and see what happens.

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Matthew 5:44-46

August 19

For the past few days, I’ve been reading and editing portions of my devotionals from last year because I’m getting ready to put them together into another book. There is a website that will help you edit, it’s called Grammarly. Now I know a human put this together, however, I’m not sure how it knows whether my sentence is in a passive voice or not, heck I don’t quite understand what that is anyway. I could be writing one right now and wouldn’t know it! It gives me examples of a passive voice, verses an active voice, but it still doesn’t click with me. I guess I need to spend a day with someone who can drill that into my head. When I get it, you will never see another passive voice from me again, but until then, I’m sorry. I must have missed that lesson in English class while day dreaming of frolicking on the beach. Anyway, how does a computer know this? It probably has to do with the structure of the sentence. Here’s my comparison: the Holy Spirit is like Grammarly, except that He edits us as we go. We have to be diligent in listening and making the change before we take action. The Holy Spirit is not a computer and He helps us make decisions in real time based on our situation. He knows what others are thinking and how they will feel if we make a bad decision or say something hurtful. That’s why we get a check in our spirit. Are you convicted? If not, you need to check your salvation! No salvation, no Holy Spirit! If only Grammarly could give me that same check when I write a bad sentence.

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: John 16:8

August 18

We never want to be used by the enemy to attack another Christian, that’s why God gave us guidelines for handling our disputes. At no point does His word say we should publicly expose what we consider sin. Look at the story of the women accused of adultery; the Pharisees brought her to Jesus, trying to find a reason to charge Him. They wanted to catch Him disobeying the Law. He knelt down and began to write in the sand, He stood up and said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” He bent down again and one by one they walked away. 

Too many times we relentlessly tear one another apart and publicly expose them to the scrutiny of bystanders who have nothing to do with the situation. I stood by and watched as this happened to my very dear friend. It was a vicious verbal public beating by people who once called her a friend. She was tried and punished, and not once did she speak out in her defense. My heart was broken. God gave her strength to endure. Good will come from this because He never lets the enemy have the final say. 

Follow the Lord’s guidelines when situations seem wrong. Take your concerns directly to that person and try to resolve the dispute one on one. If that doesn’t work, you take someone with you. If there is still no resolution, you can take it before your church. If these guidelines had been followed in my friend's case, it could have been resolved without ever being exposed. Be careful out there, we have enough trouble with non-believers, we shouldn’t torment our own.

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Matthew 18:15-17

August 17

As I’m traveling along a path through the Bible, the path that God placed me on, I’m finding that it’s playing out in real life! A bit of righteous fear of the Lord comes over me, not because He would harm me, but because of how close He is to me! It’s especially haunting, because I’m systematically reading through the Book of James. The words, the situation, and the outcome are the same. If I were an unbeliever, reading this portion of scripture and compared it to the situation before me, I would cry in repentance and come to Jesus! However, if my heart is hardened, the scripture would be twisted by the enemy, to keep me deceived. If you don’t read God’s word with a repentant heart, and a desire to know its life giving truth, it will mean nothing to you. Today’s message is a warning. Be careful out there, God is closer than you think! He knows your every move, and what’s even scarier is that He knows your heart! Come before Him with clean hands and a pure heart.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Psalms 24:3-5

August 16

Do you ever wake up with something troubling on your mind? This happens to me more often than not. Well, that’s why you’re getting this devotional today. I woke up thinking about home owners association issues! We have stuff going on in our neighborhood and a specific guy who is very needling. I don’t like waking up with a nagging feeling, it’s not refreshing. So before I even looked at the next section of verses in my Bible, I asked God to give me something that would help me as well as others. You're not going to believe what verse came next in my study of James - time is too short for you to be concerned about tomorrow! I am often floored by how close He is and how devoted He is to me and my everyday cares. 

I’m torn about which direction to take this writing. Do I tell you how awestruck I am about God’s love for me and you, or do I encourage you to leave your cares to Him? I just can’t get over this incredible feeling! In a moment's time I went from worry and discouragement to elation, because I know He heard me and because He doesn’t want His daughter to be fretful. This man obviously doesn’t know who I am, or who my Father is! If he did, he might be more concerned with the repercussions of coming against His favorite child than worrying about whether the HOA is going to pay to fill a hole in his yard! Get a shovel mister and fill in your own hole! Okay, so now you see how ridiculous my worry was. What’s on your mind that needs to be thrown in the trash heap? The Father, who loves you because you’re His favorite, doesn’t want you to concern yourself about tomorrow; were not here long enough for all that!

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-15

August 15

We are all guilty of trying to walk the line between God and the world. My picture of this type of double mindedness is someone who is partying like a rock star, drunk in the club, trying to bring someone to Jesus. It could also be a person who had thoughts of disgust and disdain for someone right before going to God in prayer. I’ve used this example before, but it’s fitting to use it again. I love my little dogs! They make me laugh, they are loving and sweet when they curl up in my lap, and they keep me entertained. Sometimes when I turn them loose in the yard, they will make their way to the stinkiest thing they can find, and roll in it. Then they want to love on me! Yuck! Another example might be when your child tries to come into the house after they’ve been playing in the mud. In both of these cases, they need baths! When we want to draw near to the Father, we need to be clean, free from sin. Confess your sin, and clothe yourself in the righteousness of Jesus. When we humble ourselves before the Father who loves us, He will exalt us.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:8-10

August 14

When I’m writing, I sit near a window. Sometimes the early morning sun will shine so bright that I have to shade my eyes. What I noticed was, if I hold my hand or an object in the beam, I can direct the light onto something else. It can shoot clear across the room, and it looks like someone just turned on a flashlight! The light then transforms the object that it’s shining on from darkness to being in the spotlight. When Jesus told us that He is the light of the world, this is exactly what He meant. We are the object that His beam is shining on and we can direct that beam anywhere! Another thing about that bright light, if you look directly at it, you can’t see anything else. If you look directly at Jesus, will you then see everyone through His light in your eyes? Also, if you’re not a reflection of Him, who are you reflecting, darkness? There is no reflection in darkness, you are just consumed by it. If you are a follower of Christ, you cannot be consumed by darkness, and you will not stumble because you have the light of life. There are two lessons here: shine your light on others so they see Jesus through you, and start looking at others through His eyes.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

August 13

I’m one of those who needs my quiet time, so I schedule time alone first thing in the morning before the exuberant, overly excited, extrovert of a man wakes up. Otherwise, no matter where I’m at in the house, I can hear him. Don’t get me wrong, I need him to be the way he is because he helps me reach the potential I could never get to by myself. I’m very independent and can do almost anything a man can do, but do I really want to? I don’t think so. Independence is probably the biggest drawback of being me. It’s just my nature, it’s the way God created me. Opening myself up for scrutiny, or even just letting someone know what I’m incapable of doing, is just unnatural for me. As much as I love my independence, I know that I need others. As an example, my dog Rudy needs me. He has really long hair, and he doesn’t have the ability to trim it out of his eyes, so I have to do it for him. Like Rudy there are just some things we cannot do. No matter how independent we are, we all need other people. Don’t neglect your friends or your spouse, you need them.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

I don’t know who this was for this morning, but I had a really hard time writing it. Please tell me so I can pray for you.