Psalm 23:6 "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord, my whole life long."

I love the message of this verse; I have known it for years and have clung to it during challenges in my life.

When I picture goodness and mercy I see myself walking on a sunny path that is surrounded by beautiful wildflowers and soft puffy white clouds in azure skies.  That is what mercy looks like in my mind.  As I turned this verse over in my meditation this morning a new view came to mind.

God’s goodness and mercy are always with me but if they follow me they are also behind me.  What do I leave in the wake of my journey?  As I move forward, striving to follow as a disciple of God, do I leave goodness and mercy for others or do I leave

brokenness and selfishness in my path?

The more I seek the Lord and his ways, I trust and believe I will dwell with him for eternity, for my whole life.  Now I also am aware that I need to strive to bring goodness and mercy for

others to follow as my legacy to the love I have for my Lord.  Goodness and mercy might follow me because I leave some as a trail for others to follow.

I can only hope for this.

Lord,

As I receive your gifts of goodness and mercy, help me open my heart to give those gifts to others as well.  Protect me from being a person of destruction and damage and guide me to be a vessel of mercy, bringing a piece of your kingdom to others each day.  Amen.

*this was originally posted last May, I needed to read it again for my heart and I trust it will bless you again as well.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.”

In Colorado, it is said, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.  What does weather have to do with this scripture?

Sound doctrine is not fickle.  It does not change and morph into something different.  Sound doctrine is solid and unwavering; unlike the Colorado weather.

I have seen many people with faith like the Colorado weather.  Most start out learning truth and striving to live life in God but, like scripture mentions here, they have itching ears.  The words and truth of Jesus are not always easy to follow.  People like easy; we are fickle, like the weather.

What myths have infiltrated and watered down the truth in your faith?  What myths have affected mine?

If we are unsure our faith is based fully on truth, we can turn to God’s Word to find out.  We can read the Holy Bible, we can pray to the one true God and if we are honest and earnest in our search for truth, he will be faithful and provide it for us.

Listen to the Spirit, seek the truth in his Word, and follow his command of love.  This is how we remain in sound doctrine.

Lord,

The information blitz never ends.  We find more distractions and untruths to make us feel good than ever before.  Help us see lies and discern truth.  Keep our hearts protected from destructive myths and practices; let them remain pure and only in truth.  I pray this through Jesus, our Savior.  Amen.

James 3:7-8 “For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue – a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

I have felt the poison darts from untamed tongues and I am certain my untamed tongue has shot a few poisonous darts as well.

When I read this passage I pictured a lion tamer in the circus.  They are in the ring with a whip and a chair, doing what they can to keep the lion in check.  They show the audience the control they have over the beast and by show time the whip is more like a reminder to the lion that they need to do what they have been trained to do.

If only our tongues could be trained and tamed so easily.  I am sure taming a lion is not easy but I am also sure taming the tongue is harder.  How often do we wish we could take a word or two back?

We cannot tame our own tongues and we are not able to withhold the deadly poison that drips from our tongues with our own strength.  It is only the guidance and taming of the Holy Spirit that can keep our tongues in check.  The Spirit is the lion tamer and as he works with us diligently, over time we learn to do what we have been trained to do.

Listen for the voice of our guide, our trainer, the Holy Spirit.  Allow him to tame your tongue.

Lord,

Heal the wounds caused by the deadly poison from my mouth; my tongue.  Heal any wounds I have from other poisonous tongues.  Let domestic animals remind me that you, through your Spirit, are able to tame my tongue.  Open my ears and my heart to hear and obey the teaching and guidance that you provide.  May the words of my mouth and the mediations of my heart glorify you today.  Amen.

Mark 7:1-2 “Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.”

We heard this message from the time we were small children: wash your hands before eating.

There are so many germs and bacteria around that it is important to our health to wash our hands before we touch our food.  When we sneeze or cough we need to cover our mouths; and not with our hands as I learned but with the inside bend of the arm to keep any germs off of our hands and reduce the spreading of them.

In this passage Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and scribes.  He tells them that they hold to human tradition and abandon the commandment of God.  Is he saying we don’t need to wash our hands?  My kids would love that!

As he does so many times, I believe he is saying we need to keep our priorities straight.  It is good to wash our hands and dishes and food. Just make sure those things to not become more important than following the commands of God: Love God, love your neighbor.  In this practice our hearts become clean because in order to follow this command we must walk with God.

We cannot walk with God without being clean or being cleansed through his love.  As I wash dishes and hands and food today, I want to remember to come to him for a clean heart as well.  In this way, I can walk in Love.

Lord,

Help me keep the business of the day at bay and keep loving you and loving my neighbor in the forefront.  So often our priorities get twisted and you are no longer at the top.  Guide me today in all I do and say to keep you first.  I pray this through Jesus, Lord and Savior.  Amen.

Psalm 139:14 "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well."

There is a song I learned as a child about this verse and as I read this passage the song was running through my mind.  What a great message to begin the day with.

Today is the first day back to school after spring break.  The neighborhood kids head back to public school, my little boy goes to preschool and my daughter and I pull out the home school work.

Yesterday I was already beginning to dread today.  It is hard to come back to school after a break and it seems doubly hard for me since I am Mom and teacher.  I know there will be struggles in focus and desire to work for both teacher and student in this home school today.  I remember how these days have gone in the past.

As I meditated on this verse I realized that the day could go more smoothly if I held this verse in my heart and in my head during school.  I realized I could teach my daughter the song I know today and we could sing it together when we are feeling frustrated or unhappy with ourselves.

I want to see the world with new eyes today.  I wish everyone would see the world with new eyes today.  We are all fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator.  Today let each of us praise his name for wonderful are his works; that we know very well!

Lord,

I praise you and thank you for the blessing of this verse in my heart today.  Lock these words into my mind and soul so that each person I see, I see with new eyes.  Let each moment I experience be with the remembrance that you created it, and it is wonderfully made.  All glory to you.  Amen.

Psalm 33:22 “Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.”

Hope springs eternal...

I was reading some different internet stories yesterday evening before I went to bed.  I can tell you the stories did not fill me with hope as I read them.

I look around me home and the clutter that seems to grow instead of diminishing even though we regularly donate to different charities, this does not fill my heart with hope.

I see discord and disharmony all around me and all through the world and these do not fill my heart with hope.  Where can I find hope in the midst of all these things that attempt to pull me down into the mire of despair?

When I look to the Lord, I will find hope.  When I let go of the gaze on the world and the things in it and focus my gaze on the Holy of holies, I am able to find hope in my heart.  His steadfast love is true and faithful.  He fills us removing the darkness of gloom, replacing it with the light of love.

I cannot ignore the world around me; I am here for a time and for a reason.  I continue to strive to serve and share love in the world of God in this broken world.  I, a broken person, can only do this through the faithful love of God.  He gives me strength and renewed faith to continue on in the battle of souls.  He is my hope.

Lord,

Do we recognize the battle of souls for what it is?  We battle our human weakness, we battle darkness that waits to take over us and we do not even realize it sometimes.  When we see it, we are often filled with dread.  Banish the fear and dread we hold and fill us with your steadfast love instead.  Fix our gaze on you so we hold eternal hope in you, God of gods, and Lord of lords.  Amen.

Matthew 4:3-4 "3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

I cannot count how many times I have heard my children saying that they are starving and they need something to eat right away.  I, myself, have felt that way on occasion but I know the truth.

We eat three good meals a day and usually there are some snacks between meals so there is no fear of hunger or starvation in our house.  My kids think they do not get enough to eat sometimes but there is always plenty.  Once in a while I remind them of the people who have no food and no table for the food they do not have.

We fill our plates and our bellies without much thought.  Most people I know have something to do after the meal so the tendency is to rush through the meal to get to the next thing.  This is how it seems we live.

What if we took time to be more intentional about what we eat and how we eat?  What if we sought true bread more fully and bread for our bellies less often?

I do not condone starvation but I also know we, as a society, have forgotten what true hunger is.  Step back from food for a moment and seek the bread of God, his Word.  From this, we will receive true nourishment and never hunger again.

Lord,

When my belly growls let it be a reminder to me that my soul hungers more.  Help me seek food for my soul more fully and earnestly than I seek food for my belly.  Give us all a taste of your eternal bread, Jesus Christ.  We truly live by every word that comes from your mouth.  Amen.