#109 - Victory is Yours if you will TRUST

Good afternoon! :) It feels like morning since I'm still in my "morning routine"... but running a bit late this morning. Had to give "the boy" a bath. :) Let's just say when he woke up he was SOAKED! So.... what is he doing now? He is also having his Quiet Time like mom. He has some toys, his books and HIS Bible in his bed with him. We got him his first Bible for his birthday and are beginning the process to talk to him about reading his Bible each morning during our "Quiet Time." I have been setting up the routine that the morning time is Quiet Time, reading time, and playing in "his" room. It's working. It will be fun to watch Tyler Junior as he grows and truly does establish and learn the importance of spending time in the Bible each morning. It is pretty amazing that kids really do want to mimic whatever their parents do, so since we read a lot, I anticipate he will do the same. 


Well, let's get rolling this morning. 

Proverbs 30:5 (NKJV) - Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. 

Psalms 30:3-6 (NKJV) - O LORD ...You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.... His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” 

As I briefly spent time meditating on the word shield, and the idea of a shield, I envisioned some pretty interesting things. Picture this, it says that HE, GOD is YOUR shield if you put trust in Him. Picture going into battle or attacking whatever problem it is that you might be going through right now. Maybe it's some differences or issues with your boss, maybe it's with your finances, maybe it's your in-laws (who you are trying by faith not to treat like out-laws!).... whatever the situation. Imagine, since your trust is in God that as you walk into this problem or what seems like a battle GOD walks in front of you AS YOUR SHIELD. He IS your shield. As you are holding up your arm, like you would a shield, it is God who is going before you. It is God who is setting up your Victory! It is God who is doing the prep-work and the "warring" on your behalf. HE is fighting your battles. You are just walking them out. You are just treading your feet on the land, He is fighting for you, and YOU are receiving the Land. You are receiving what is rightfully yours.

Weeping may have been last night. But this morning came joy! Now you are walking out the Victory! You are walking out in prosperity... be it soul prosperity, relationship prosperity, marital prosperity, business prosperity, financial prosperity, health prosperity. GOD is walking before you AS your SHIELD AS you TRUST Him. Trust is the key ingredient here. Your situation may look impossible. Trust. Your marriage may look hopeless. Trust. You look at your 'online banking' and your finances seem hopeless. Trust. You feel like you are at the end of your rope. You want to have hope. You want to believe things will get better. You are looking up from what feels like the pit you are in just wanting to believe, wanting to hope. TRUST. God has kept you alive. God has kept you here for such a time as this. And PRAISE GOD, he did not bring you to this point to leave you in defeat. You may know that it was not God that brought you to this point to begin with, it was you. Maybe your mistakes or selfishness. May unkind words that you let slip out. Maybe mishandling of finances. Maybe you brought yourself to the place you are at and you pride is keeping you there. Lay down that pride and TRUST. Let God know once and for all that you can not do it on your own. Let Him help!
"Victory is yours," saith the Lord. Victory is yours. "Put down your pride, put down your ego. Let ME be your Shield. I know how and WILL win this battle if you will only TRUST. Your way has not worked. When will you turn to Me and let me work on your behalf? My ways may seem strange, my plans may not be how you would have done them, but my way ultimately WILL work if you will just TRUST. Will you trust Me today?"

Let the end of your story be Psalm 30:6, Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” Prosperity. Prosperity in your marriage. Prosperity in your business. Prosperity in your health. Prosperity on your job. Prosperity in your relationships. Prosperity in your finances. That you would be left standing, the ground would shake, the strength of your voice would be heard for ALL to hear, "I SHALL NEVER BE MOVED!" The roar of your voice echos in the land, "I SHALL NEVER BE MOVED! I SHALL NEVER BE MOVED! I SHALL NEVER BE MOVED!" 

Let your testimony right now be that you STOOD and that you TRUSTED. That you laid down your pride and ego once and for all and that the end of your story be told that YOU WILL NEVER BE MOVED. That you chose to TRUST. 

#108 - Be Like the Jewelry Experts

Good morning! So... this morning I'm using one of my old Bible's. I left my Bible, journal & planner in Georgia. Whaaaaaa! :-('''' But, thank God for the WORD, and how blessed I am as an American, I have more than one Bible! What a blessing! I will be excited to get those things back though. It's amazing how much a journal & Bible can become a part of you! 

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) - Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV) - Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

Proverbs 31:25 (NKJV) - Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.  

I looked up the word "vision" and it defined it as: the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur. 

Vision or revelation is needed for anything great! An inventor, they have to have the vision to see a need, and envision what product or service could solve the problem. Rejoicing in the future, like the Proverbs 31 woman did, would require some sort of vision, some sort of ability to see what the future holds. What exactly one has to look forward to. The power of anticipating that will will come to be, vision. To have the vision to SEE what your future is going to be like. To have the revelation, to see & know how you are one day going to live. How your family is going to be, your home, the environment of your home...is it one of peace, joy & love, or one of turmoil? Vision. Revelation. To see and create in your mind what the outcome of the future will be.

Walking out what it talks about in the Word, being blessed and highly favored, being the head & not the tail, above and not beneath. To have godly vision & revelation requires spending time with God. Getting to know Him & His plan for your life. The more time you spend with God, the more you know Him & His character. The more you are able to distinguish the plan He has for your life. The direction. And you are able to lay out a plan, run it by your Captain, and He is able to tweek, change or direct you from that point.

Yesterday as I was reading, I read something that was very applicable to us as believers. It said, "You have often heard that jewelry experts recognize the fake stones not by studying the fakes but by studying the real ones." It is the same with us as believers. We don't have to study Satan & his plan, but we can get to know the REAL GOD so much that we automatically can differentiate between His direction for our lives, and what is NOT from Him. Vision & revelation from God, they require time spent meditating on His Word. Time with Him. Revelation & vision comes from meditation. That when you talk it truly is the common phrase, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." That what you have spent time putting into your heart, that out of that abundance will flow the Word. Your mouth will overflow, will outpour with love, with grace, with Wisdom because you have spent time FILLING UP with the good stuff. You have spent time studying the REAL THING. That your abundance overflows, and out of your mouth pours gold. Precious words flow that bring and are life. Words that heal. Words that encourage. Words that reveal the greatness of the God we serve. Grace. Love. Mercy. Forgiveness. Compassion. Through meditation, we not only receive VISION & REVELATION from the Lord, but we receive so much more. We begin to receive the ingredients to walk and live in the blessing every day of our life. As we meditate on the Word, it's like God is placing each ingredient into our heart. The perfect amount. The perfect quality. Like making award winning chocolate chip cookies. When we meditate on the Word, the Lord is able to place in our hearts VISION for our future. Vision that keeps us pursuing and pressing on. That VISION, that revelation.... that ONE vision from the Lord keeps us from quitting. Keeps us going when the going gets tough. That is what VISION does. Vision gives us hope in our future. Revelation, Vision comes from meditation on the Word.

Let's study the real, true God. Like the jewelry expert, let's study the Real Thing! 

#107 - Build Your Business

Good morning! It seems like there has been a theme going on here with the Lord.... at least with the devotions the past few days. Plans & doing GREAT things, becoming who you ought to be, and today... putting your hand to work, putting your hand to the plow. 


What a theme. I know God is really speaking to me, a world of revelations and convictions, whether it is speaking to you.... I'm not sure. But I praise God for HIS Word, how it can change, perfect & help to progress one forward. It can move us from strength to strength increasing in victorious power, like it talked about in Psalm 84:7.

Proverbs 24:27 - [Put first things first.] Prepare your work outside and get it ready for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house and establish a home.

Proverbs 31:19a - She lays her hands to the spindle...

Growing up in the Amish country-side of my small town in Indiana, I saw a great deal of interesting perspectives and lifestyle. From your every day, average middle class American families, to the lamp-lit and out-houses of friends who were Amish.  Home-cooked food, wonderful bread, bonnets, dresses, horse & buggy's and the Dutch language. My middle school Amish friends completed through the 8th grade & then they were done. They were off to work at home, work on the farm, work with their parents. I missed their funny humor. I remember my small town being broadcasted on Nationwide television for having the FIRST horse & buggy stalls/barns built in our local Wal-Mart parking lots.  


Why do I say all this? Well, Proverbs 24 has always been an interesting verse to me, well.... I say "always"... it really became a revelation to Tyler and I about 5-6 years ago. Put first things first. Prepare your work outside and get it ready for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house and establish a home. 


Some other versions of the Bible say to, "Build your BUSINESS first, THEN build your house." What is the "Barn" to the Amish? It is their business, their livelihood. The community comes together for the "raising of the barn" when a couple gets married, and the barn usually goes up very quickly with the help of SO many people! Build your Business first before your home. Honestly, I wasn't to excited about the realization of this scripture. I thought, Lord, can we just take that verse out of the Bible? Arghhhh! 


So.... let it be said, we roll a good bit different than a lot of people. A lot of people may think we're a bit strange, may think we are "throwing our money away" since we are not building equity. BUT, my belief is that GOD will HONOR our willingness to stay out of debt. GOD will honor our desire to want to pay cash for a home and not have a mortgage. GOD will honor it. Sure, will it maybe take a little bit for that cushion of money to be there, maybe. But, I also believe God could just do it tomorrow. Then.... would we have been stupid for spending 4-5 year renting if we then pay cash for a home? To spend however many years it takes, and take off 30 years of house payments. 


I'm excited to see how God does it. I'm not saying for YOU to sell your house and go rent. YOU have to have your own Word from the Lord. But... like the Proverbs 31 woman, she put her hand to work. She began the process of WORKING, of allowing her actions to manifest and create for her. For Tyler & I, we own a business that we know with work, can manifest a great amount of income. (Some of our business associates/friends had a $110,000 month THIS month! That would be a good chuck of a house! YEAH?!) We know we have a VEHICLE to accomplish what we want. The bottom line, is starting with a PLAN. Having a PLAN and then allowing the LORD to direct your steps. Whether it has to do with buying a house, getting out of debt, living your dream, pursuing your calling, whatever!


Some recent and really good quotes:

• So many people are walking around like Clark Kent because they do not know they were destined to be Superman. - Deep down, do you KNOW you have GREATNESS? Do you know you are not just average? 
• Don't ask God to guide your footsteps if you aren't willing to move your feet.
• If you stutter when asked, "What's your goal?", you don't know your goal! 

So many things to think about. 

Today... lots of things to chew on. Lots of food for thought. 

#106 - God Will Make You Who You OUGHT to BE!

Good morning! I pray you are doing well and having a GREAT day thus far! :) I am! I got to see my cute boy this morning when he got his bottle, and he is just so FUN to see when he wakes up! He just smiles and makes his fun "talking" noises. He is just so funny. A typical morning (if Tyler Sr is in his office) consists of me asking Tyler, "OK, I'm going up to give the boy his bottle. Do you want to come with me?" Most of the time he says yes. At that point, I'm usually refilling my coffee and from the stairs I hear, "I'm going in to see the boy!" Tyler does that just to egg me on! I hollar back, "You better not go in there without me!" We both love to see the boy's first expression when we walk in there. He's usually playing in his bed with his puppy, or sitting up talking to himself. He is so funny! Anyways.... so that was our morning. Then, the boy, just makes us laugh. He's so fun! 


Well, let's get started! The boy has his ONE YEAR Dr appt this morning, so we've gotta get moving!

Proverbs 23:19 - Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way [of the Lord].

1 Peter 5:7-10 - Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you.... for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith... the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.

OK! Now that is GOOD STUFF!!! Check this out! SOOOOO, 1st of all, you need to DIRECT your mind in the WAY of the Lord. 2nd, you need to CAST ALL of your cares onto the Lord! All your anxieties, worries, concerns, ONCE & for all, for the LAST time put those worries, concerns and cares on the LORD for HIM to handle! 


I heard before that carrying your care is sense of PRIDE. When you carry your own care, or worries, or concerns and DO NOT cast them on the Lord, you are in essence saying that YOU are better than God. That YOU can handle them. That is NOT how God designed us to live. He did not design us to live in fear, worry, doubt. When you CARRY YOUR OWN CARE, you are saying you do not need GOD's help. That you are good enough to do it on your own. 


But check this out!!! So... when we CAST all our our care onto the Lord... that is a prerequisite, look what HE does! Wow! This is GOOD! HE, GOD Himself will make YOU complete and make you into what you OUGHT to be! HE will ground you securely, strength & settle you! Wow! Now that is good stuff! It is GOD, GOD who will make you into who you OUGHT to be!!!! So, the devotion from yesterday, "YOU ARE MEANT TO DO GREAT THINGS", - this is a great "piggy-back" for that devotion. Why? Because when you (1) Direct your Mind to the Lord, (2) Cast all your cares on Him, he will (3) Make you into who you OUGHT to be! Who you are DESIGNED to be! He will make you into the PERSON who is MEANT TO DO GREAT THINGS! 


That is all the time I have for today! WOW! That was worth coming for! 


SO... recap.... today, as you leave, as you wrap up your time in prayer take a few moments to:

1. Direct your MIND on the LORD
2. LIST out ALL your cares to the Lord. Do you have a LOT of cares and anxieties you are "carrying?" Well, get out a piece of paper and LIST all the WORRIES that you are carrying, list them out! ALL OF THEM!
3. Once you have your LIST, CAST them on the Lord. Tell the Lord that you are giving EACH one of them over to Him! That you are NO LONGER going to carry them, but you are giving them to HIM! Verbally, list them out to God, You AND Satan can hear that you have turned these cares over to God. 
4. NOW.... later today... when these worries or cares try to creep back up. When you are TEMPTED to worry about them again, take a moment and say, "GOD, SATAN - I am just going to put you both in remembrance of what I have ALREADY done! I have CAST that care onto the Lord. And GOD is in control of it now. Satan, you have NO authority over me and I choose to walk in faith! God, I thank you that you are bringing this situation to pass in MY FAVOR! Thank you Lord!" 

Have a blessed day! :) 

XOXO, 

Amy J!

   _____________________________

PS- Welcome to our South Korea visitor! So glad to see you frequent this devotion so often! What's happening in your world?

#105 - YOU ARE MEANT TO DO GREAT THINGS!

Hello! I'm BACK! :) It's so great to be home!! You know when it is exciting to leave, but it is also exciting to get back to "life". Get back to the routines & normalcy. My parents came into town last Saturday for the boy's birthday party. Then on Sunday we left to go to Orlando (except Tyler Sr staying home. :-(''' ) I drove back home on Thursday night, and Tyler and I left for a conference in North Carolina, Friday-Sunday.  SO... I'm HOME now. It's nice. What an amazing last week though! SOOOO many amazing things happened.... I wish I could share them all, but it would take WAY to much time. 


Well... let's go ahead and get started...

Psalm 82 - ¹GOD STANDS in the assembly [of the representatives] of God; in the midst of the magistrates or judges He gives judgment [as] among the gods. ²How long will you [magistrates or judges] judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! ³Do justice to the weak (poor) and fatherless; maintain the rights of the afflicted and needy. ⁴Deliver the poor and needy; rescue them out of the hand of the wicked. ⁵[The magistrates and judges] know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in the darkness [of complacent satisfaction]; all the foundations of the earth [the fundamental principles upon which rests the administration of justice] are shaking. ⁶I said, You are gods [since you judge on My behalf, as My representatives]; indeed, all of you are children of the Most High. ⁷But you shall die as men and fall as one of the princes. ⁸Arise, O God, judge the earth! For to You belong all the nations.

Proverbs 31:24 - She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them 

As I was reading Psalm 82, I was interested when I got to the phrase "complacent satisfaction." As I read and re-read the chapter, that was what the chapter encompassed... complacency. God being frustrated with magistrates and judges for showing complacency, for allowing unjust things to continually take place. Complacency had set in. What is complacency equal to? Darkness! When you walk around AVOIDING doing what you KNOW you are suppose to do, you begin to grow not only complacent, but your world begins to become a world of darkness. Complacency begins to not only affect your joy, but the longer complacency sets in, it allows your self-image to take a hit as well. When you know the calling God has on your life, if you have been complacent about it and not PURSUING it your self-image gradually gets worse and worse until hiding and being at home is the easiest thing to do. The passion and fervor for living life has dissipated and a midweek movie, or TV program becomes a normal thing to take part in. Pursuing your "Calling" would require effort and un-comfort in your life, so it is easier just to try to avoid it, all the while, it almost feels like a gnawing in the deep parts of your brain and heart is taking place. You KNOW you are CAPABLE to do great things! YOU KNOW if you just CHOSE to pull out that GREATNESS that you KNOW is in you, you would most definitely be a WORLD CHANGER and make HUGE difference to countless numbers of people. Deep down you KNOW how great you really are. You know that you were not created just to be living the average life you have been living. This is just NOT how it was suppose to turn out. That is what Psalm 82 is talking about. Complacency. 


The scary thing. Allowing complacency get to a point of "complacent satisfaction." At this point, even though deep down you KNOW you were MEANT, really MEANT, CALLED BY GOD to do really GREAT things. The complacency, the gnawing sensation in your heart over time stops "gnawing" as much. Over time of "doing nothing", not progressing towards your goal, or calling, your complacency turns into a complacent satisfaction. You begin to be OK with just being AVERAGE. You begin to be OK with the life that you are living. You begin to be OK about NOT pursuing your calling, the calling GOD has set for your life. You begin to be OK about just being AVERAGE.


Do you really want to just stay average? Do you really want to remain in a life knowing you COULD HAVE done so much. Knowing every day you are living UN-TAPPED. Do you really want to live and ultimately finish life like that? I heard someone say this weekend, what would the day be like in 20-30 years from now when you meet up with the person you COULD HAVE been? How would you feel?  When you meet up and you SEE the person that you SHOULD HAVE been? You see all the great and amazing things you were SUPPOSE to accomplish, how you were SUPPOSE to live, if you just would've gotten out of the place of "complacent satisfaction." 


WHAT IF? What if you chose to pull that person out now. What if you chose to live the life pursuing your ultimate destiny, living out the calling God has on your life. And then, when you get to the end, you look back and see all that you did, how fully you lived, all the you accomplished for the Kingdom of God, all that your children accomplished because they watched an awesome example in you. How different would things be if you just BECAME the person you are SUPPOSE to be. That you chose not to have fear, but to just pursue God's calling. If you just chose to NOT be average. If you chose to be GREAT. If you chose to pull out that AMAZING YOU that you know is deep down inside you. 


The Holy Spirit told me something interesting this weekend. As I was sitting in a leadership conference with so many winners and world changers, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Proverbs 16:9, A man's mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. I had been waiting for the LORD to just tell me what to do, for the LORD to make a "plan" for me. But that's not what the Word says. The Holy Spirit proceeded to tell me that if I, AMY, made a plan, HE would direct it and make it sure, make it successful. It was up to me, I needed to make a plan. Those things that I have been uncomfortable about doing, but deep down have KNOWN that if I just started, I would be really GREAT at... those things, HE would make them succeed. And ANYTIME you begin to do something over and over, it gets easier. 


I know God has made me great. I know deep down I have really GREAT things to do and share. Great things to BE. I know that I was not meant to be average. And you know what, neither were you. 


What have you been afraid of? What has been holding you back? Choose today to leave complacency behind. Be the GREAT YOU! Live out your potential. And when it is all over, have the satisfaction of knowing that you will look back over your life with NO REGRETS. 

#104 - Seed of Strife

Good morning! We have been having a fun time here in Orlando! We went to Disney yesterday, Magic Kingdom. It was fun. Quite exhausting, but fun! The boy had a good time and made a LOT of friends! Everywhere he goes he makes friends! Literally at the pool on Monday, their were some older people that came and chose chairs by where he was playing just so they could watch him! They'd wave and laugh, he'd laugh and crawl around in the pool splashing. Then he'd crab walk to them. So funny! Kids are definitely a joy! It will be fun when Trinity comes.... and Timothy & Taylor. :-) Our future kids!

OK.... let's get going.

Proverbs 17:14 - The beginning of strife is as when water first trickles [from a crack in a dam]; therefore stop contention before it becomes worse and quarreling breaks out.

Proverbs 31:27 - She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.

Well....let's just say that this was not the topic "I" wanted to talk about today....but, it was directly told to me by the Holy Spirit that THIS was the topic. Strife. As I was talking to the Holy Spirit about strife, I let him know that I didn't really know of any strife in my life right now, He was quick to let me know that a LOT of people are living in strife with others.

Strife. It is a choice. We can choose not to participate in gossip or quarreling. Strife comes before quarreling. We can stop it before it even breaks out. Like the Proverbs 31 woman, she will not even eat of gossip. She does not even take part in it. One thing the Holy Spirit said to me about it was: Choose to speak and say the best about people. It's about being gracious. Gracious. People can be firm without being in strife. Mom's can be firm without being in strife.

He went on to say to choose decisions and then stick with them..... and the kicker that I thought was really good was this: Choose decisions, stick with them, then don't dwell on people's disapproval. Dwelling on disapproval allows the seed of strife to grow in your heart. I thought that was GOOD stuff!! I think specifically about several friends of mine who may not have the best relationships with their mother-in-law. Hearing about the "battles" and "controversy" can be quite interesting at times, but the bottom line is this: MOM IS MOM! DAD IS DAD! Being parents WE get to make the ultimate decision for our children or ourselves. When we are out of our parents house, they may most definitely have an opinion about things we do or do not do with our children, and we can respect it, but decisions we make for our children come down to what WE decide. Choose not to allow conversations to lead to strife. It may even be a fun game to play next time a "heated discussion" is tempted to arise. Choose to be GRACIOUS... even thank them for their opinion or advise, thank them for sharing their thoughts, and then in a GRACIOUS but matter-a-fact way, feel free to let them know what you, as the parent, have decided. "I really appreciate your concern in this area. You have such great knowledge in raising children, but I have decided to do ______________. But again, thank you for your thoughts and advise." And then LEAVE IT AT THAT. Dwelling on disapproval allows the seed of strife to grow in your heart. Sure, they may continue to talk about it and dwell on YOU not following their opinion, or they may continue to disapprove.... BUT that doesn't mean YOU need to allow the sin of strife and quarreling to BLOCK blessings in your life! Let it be over and move on.

As the verse talked about strife begins when the first water begins to trickle. I was reminded of a recent leak we had under our kitchen sink. When we turned on the faucet, it would leak out the sides. Eventually, we noticed that under our sink in the cabinet, it was filling up with water. If we would have let it continue it would have ruined a lot of things and cost a lot of money to have fixed. Strife is the same way. When we let strife continue it can eventually ruin relationships and cost a lot in time, forgiveness, repentance & maybe even money to fix. With strife when it relates to words said, sometimes it can not be fixed. Sure maybe forgiven, but most times, hard to be forgotten.

Choose to fix the leaks IMMEDIATELY. Choose to not let strife linger. As I heard growing up, "Nip it in the butt!" Put an end to it immediately and don't allow it to affect your family and relationships. Choose to be gracious even when it may be hard, even with that person in your life that "in the past" could just make the hair raise on your arms. Choose to be gracious towards them. Package your comments in a compliment. Surely you could find things about them to compliment. And like the Holy Spirit said, even MOM's can STAND FIRM without being in strife. So be a FIRM MOM... or FIRM PERSON without being in strife.

Well... be blessed today. Tomorrow I will be taking my Day of Rest and then heading back to Columbia. The boy gets to spend the rest of the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa. How fun!

XOXO,

      Amy J

#103 - Follow Peace & Listen

Good morning! Still here in Orlando, enjoying my time with my parents! What a blessing to be able to spend time with them! Praise the Lord. I'm so blessed that Tyler allowed me to come home and be a stay at home Mom, Wife & Business Partner.....and thank that Lord that we started a business several years ago that would help replace my income. Thank you Tyler for leading our family!

Well, let's go! We're off to Disney in a bit, so I want to give you what the Lord gave to me this morning. He actually gave me things for YOU! :) He's good like that!

Proverbs 16:9,33 - A man's mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly of the Lord [even the events that seem accidental are really ordered by Him].

Psalm 16:7 - I will bless the Lord, Who has given me counsel; yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.

Psalm 46:1 - GOD IS our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

Psalm 76:1 - IN JUDAH God is known and renowned; His name is highly praised and is great in Israel.

Proverbs 16 is so full of good insight on making plans & decisions, allowing God to direct your steps, following the right path. What kept ringing in my ears was the word PEACE. Peace. I'll share some insight about peace shortly. First let's look at how it begins in Proverbs 16:9. It talks about how YOU & I make our plans.... we MAKE PLANS. We start out with a PLAN. If we aren't doing that, if we have NO PLAN, then that is the first mistake. We start out with some raw material for the Lord to work with. As we establish that plan, He is then able to step in and direct & tweek our plan. Tell us what in our plan needs to be changed. We see in Psalm 16 that HE gives us counsel and our heart will instruct us.

As we make our plans with the Lord to "edit" them... "tweek" them.... "fine-tune" them, we can do so in CONFIDENCE that He is also our REFUGE & STRENGTH! He is MIGHTY! Like the sound of a LION roaring and the echo of Him sounding in the valleys and rocks of the mountains. A LOUD ROAR. Our GOD carries with Him STRENGTH! Picture that. Picture a HUGE LION standing up tall, stretching out his head and letting out a ROAR that almost shakes the trees standing near by. With the Lion as our friend, you & I, tuck ourselves right behind His 900 pound frame and take refuge. We know that nothing is going to get by this ferocious beast. That is the Lord. He is there in a time of trouble, need, help. He is KNOWN. He is FAMOUS. He is MIGHTY.

Where does this peace come in? Well, for the new Christian and the veteran's.... peace is one of the first steps in walking in obedience. Maybe you have been in the Word for years and years, but never fine-tuned your ability to LISTEN to the voice of the Holy Spirit. You study, you know the stories, you know scripture, but you haven't ever really established the habit of listening. Or, for you who may be a fairly new Christian. This whole "Bible" thing is new to you. In the past you maybe read it and thought, "I just feel like this is all going over my head. I totally don't understand this." Or, maybe you practice on a consistent basis to LISTEN & be LED by the Voice of the Holy Spirit. Whoever you are, this is for you. Follow Peace. Continue in the Word, being in the Word will allow you to KNOW God, and will lead to KNOWING His Voice. Without spending TIME with someone, it is hard to discern & know their voice. The KEY is FIRST, spend time in the Word getting to know YOUR Shephard. If you haven't ever really "known how" to "listen". A great Umpire would be PEACE. If you are new at listening, FOLLOW PEACE.

Start small. Ask for help picking our your clothes. Ask what you should wear. Or perfume. Cologne. It was interesting, the other day the Holy Spirit even told me NOT to wear any perfume. I always wear perfume. But the person that I was going to be with, was allergic to fragrances. How could I have known that? I did not. But the Holy Spirit knows even the finest details!

Start small, just start. Listen. Be in the Word, and Follow Peace. Peace can and will be your umpire. That uneasy feeling inside you is most often the Holy Spirit prompting you NOT to do or go to that place. But when you just feel that PEACE, the overwhelming PEACE, you know you are heading in the right direction.

Be blessed today! Follow Peace & Listen.

#102 - A Heart that Overflows in Love

Good morning! :) I am sitting here in Orlando right now. Me, the boy & my mom. My dad is working a boat show, so the boy and I will get some quality time with grandma during the day! :) So fun! :) We are excited. Right now he is playing in his bed, just talking. His little words are so funny. They make me laugh! "GUSH!" He says that one a lot. It made me laugh while I was reading the Bible this morning because I found that word in our reading for today! :) Psalm 105:41 ....the water GUSHed out. So, there ya have it! My son is already talking about living in ABUNDANCE & OVERFLOW! :) That's what I'm talkin about!! hehe!

OK. I do have a quick funny story to tell you about. Tyler & I laughed so hard! We were on a date the other night without the boy and we went to the movies. You know when you are a mom when you start saying things you hear on kids DVD's or CD's. We have some "Miss Pattycake" DVD's that Tyler Jr watches sometimes... she's a great and tells lots of Bible stories, and sings Bible songs, and just teaches really good principles like "helping out", etc. Well... so we got our movie tickets and the lady gave me a FREE movie ticket for the next movie I go see (because I have a RegalCrown Card.) Without even thinking about it, I said, "GREAT! HIP HIP HORRAY!" Turned and walked away. For real! I mean, who says that sort of thing OUT LOUD!!! I looked at Tyler and he was just laughing and laughing. When I realized what I had said, we both were just laughing. It was pretty funny. Anyways! HIP HIP HORRAY! Let's get started on our DEVOTION TODAY! :) HA!

Psalm 45:1 - MY HEART overflows with a goodly theme; I address my psalm to a King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.

Psalm 105:2 - Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His marvelous deeds and devoutly praise them.

Psalm 15:2 - He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who works rightness and justice and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart...

Proverbs 15:17 - Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it.

My heart overflows. Psalm 45:1 is really the pivotal verse I'd like us to work around. It's so full of good things! It's so perfect, the words are put together like art. Beautiful & carefully chosen. So good!

Each of these verses are intertwined. My heart overflows. Have you seen or heard people's heart overflow before? You immediately know what they are or are not putting in their heart! I remember when I was teaching Spanish in a Public school. I had a girl in my class that I gave a detention for cussing. I wasn't going to allow it in my classroom. Well, the next day I got a phone call from her mother. Guess what her mother did on the phone? She cussed me out. A prime example of what was put in her heart. What is put in comes out. If you put good in, good will come out. If you put bad in, bad comes out. I quickly knew that the student was merely a product of her environment. She cussed because that was the language of her home. 

What comes out of your heart? What you meditate on will in turn lead to what you speak & think. Hopefully what you meditate on, speak, think will equal love. One way or another, your heart is going to overflow, but it is YOU who chooses HOW it is going to overflow. Will it overflow with good? Or will it overflow with bad? Our coffee pot wasn't working this morning, so how do we respond? Does our heart overflow with frustration and a spirit of annoyance? Does it affect our attitude negatively because of the 'inconvenience?' Or does our heart overflow with the ability to just figure it out?

My mom was telling me about a story about my dad. How they were out of town once and he had the opportunity to just be really annoyed and frustrated with her. He COULD have talked badly to her about the situation, but instead he operated in complete love. Love. Lack of judgement. No condemnation. Though he rightfully COULD have said things that would have been true but hurtful, he chose instead to operate in love. To serve in love. To walk in love. Love that is unselfish. Love that is unconditional. Love that is forgiving. Where judgement could have been, there was love. It reminds me of the story of Jesus. When the people of the city were going to stone the adulterous woman to death, Jesus said, "If you are without guilt, then YOU cast the first stone." One by one, the people left, knowing they had guilt in their own lives, knowing they were not perfect. There stood Jesus & the woman... they were the last left. Jesus was perfect. Jesus was the only one who could have stoned her, but instead he showed love, grace, compassion & forgiveness. Jesus chose love.

Out of your heart, what is overflowing? Is it love? Are you putting good stuff in? Or like my student, is the world around you just inputting negative so you are living there, in the negative?

A great question to ask: If the words coming out of your mouth are not words that have the seed of love, maybe you & I need to check what we are putting in so that we can have a heart that overflows in love.

DOR & BIRTHDAY PICTURE!!

I guess it's GOOD AFTERNOON! 

Just wanted to pop on here and let ya'll know it was my DOR! YIPPEE! :) 

AND... guess what?!? THE BOY has a BIRTHDAY PARTY tomorrow! He turns ONE on Sunday (Nov 14)! WOW! What a blessed year it has been! I'm so thankful for every day. He has brought so much joy into our lives! SO.... think about Tyler Jr tomorrow. His party starts at 3:00. Yippee! So excited. It's amazing that he is ONE on Sunday! I have a ONE YEAR OLD! :) I love it!! :) AND, I get to see my mom & dad tomorrow! YIPPEE! They are coming in from Indiana! So excited! 

Here's a picture from his recent ONE YEAR OLD pictures last week! :) 

Have a blessed weekend! 

#101 - Accompanied by Angels!

Good morning! It has been a blessed morning so far. I feel like I have done a lot and it's still early. It is great to feel productive! Did anyone notice what was in today's reading? Did you see? We talked about it yesterday! :) Abiding under the "SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY!" And there it was, in our reading for today, Psalm 91:1. Isn't it good that I don't make this stuff up?!


Well, let's get started: 

Proverbs 11:31a - Behold, the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be recompensed on earth... 

Psalm 11:7 - For the Lord is [rigidly] righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face, or He beholds the upright. 

Psalm 91:11-12 - For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Proverbs: 31:29 - Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all. 

Today, this may be a bank-shot for you. It may just be review or a good reminder and something you practice and confess daily already. Nonetheless, I'm going to share about it anyways. 


Psalm 91. The Protection chapter in the Bible. What a neat chapter! This chapter is talking about the Lord (seems pretty obvious) and it begins in verse 1 talking about dwelling in the secret place of the most High. It says to remain stable & fixed under the shadow of the Almighty - WHOSE POWER NO ONE CAN WITHSTAND. So we are talking about the Invincible! The Indestructible! Victorious before the battle even starts, the LORD will ALWAYS win. No question. No doubt. Well, as you get down further to verses 11-12, check out what the LORD does for US, His children! He is giving HIS angels SPECIAL charge over us. He is having HIS angels ACCOMPANY us- so go everywhere that we go, he's having them DEFEND us and even PRESERVE us. In the Hebrew it breaks it down into even more responsibilities of the angels as this: to guard, to watch for, to protect, to save life, to be one's guard, to keep. Now, you tell me, how exciting is that? To grasp the revelation that you have BIG 9, 10, 15 foot ANGELS keeping watch over you. Standing as your BODY GUARD! Like I could imagine maybe Julia Roberts having, or the President. YOU have BIG INVINCIBLE Body Guards too! Isn't that cool??!? 


Now... here's the kicker... check out what it says next...these angels are going to protect, guard, perserve you in ALL your ways of .....drum roll.... of what? Of OBEDIENCE & SERVICE! So... you tell me... how important is it that you are OBEDIENT & SERVING the LORD? Pretty important. Our angels are standing guard to protect us, but we need to be walking in obedience to the Lord! It takes it even further.... it says that they will even bear us up in their hands. Or the Hebrew describes it as being in the PALM of their hands. So, you KNOW if they are holding us in the PALM of their hands to protect us from even hitting our foot against a stone, they must be pretty big! 


Tyler & I put God and our angels in REMEMBRANCE of this scripture OFTEN, if not daily. It is now so 2nd hand nature. When Tyler leaves the house, or when I leave, it's almost as natural as saying "Good-bye" or kissing good-bye. We accompany our "Good-bye" with "Angels all around you! You're blessed and highly favored!" We remind the angels of their positions AROUND US! When we are driving, especially on long road trips, we verbally position them at ever corner of our vehicle, including the top, bottom & sides. When Tyler Jr. is going to bed at night, I take comfort in the angels I have positioned around his bed. At the door to his balcony, at the windows, and standing guard outside his room. The boy is like royalty! Mama has put angels ALL around him as his body guards! I'm not doing it in fear, but I'm doing it as HIS guardian. I'm doing it as HIS earthly parent and protector. As Tyler Sr says, "I'm the BOSS of the boy!" He's my responsibility, and by golly, those angels are going to be ON THE CLOCK at ALL TIMES! 


The Lord is RIGIDLY righteous and He loves righteous deeds. The Lord loves us, his Children to walk in obedience. He loves us to not be whiners to him. He loves us to follow His commands and instructions. He loves us to listen to that still small Voice and be obedient to it. The Lord loves when we are walking out our life in pure, constant obedience. 


A friend the other day was telling me about an experience she had recently. She recently potty trained her little girl. Well... typically once they are potty trained, as a mama, you don't normally bring extra clothes along. Well, this day she thought she heard, "Grab some extra clothes for her." Unusual for her to do this, but she grabbed a change of clothes for her little girl. Then she heard, "Grab the socks too." Well, she brushed it off and said, "I don't need the socks." Later that day, she was in a shoe store trying on shoes. Her little girl was trying on adult shoes and having fun. All the sudden, for the first time in about 3 weeks, she looked over at her little girl and saw she was standing in a puddle of pee. Her clothes & socks soaked. Thankfully, she was happy she had listened and grabbed an extra set of clothes, but she was just shy of some socks. Man! So, her little girl went sock-less with her dry shoes. 


It's awesome to begin that process of listening. Learning to hear and then seeing later WHY you heard what you did. That really the Holy Spirit is letting guiding us, wanting to make life easier for us. Wanting us to live more in the complete blessing. 


But again... it all boils down to obedience. Obedience & Service. Obeying the Voice of the Holy Spirit, and the DIRECTION & CALLING God has laid out on your life, and ultimately SERVING HIM with your life and daily actions. 


The benefit of OBEDIENCE & SERVICE? We can be confident that we are accompanied by angels! We walk around with big body guards all about us. We are under-cover famous! :) hehe! 

~ be blessed today my under-cover famous friend! 

                                            Amy J.          

#100 - Relax WITHOUT Toil!

Good morning & hello HEAT! Hip Hip Horray! We have heat! That's a good thing! I'm thankful for several reasons....but, it brings me back to a time when the heat may have stopped working because we weren't able to pay a bill, or did not have the money to fix it. Praise God, I'm thankful to say that God has brought us out of a time of lack. I'm thankful that God has MORE THAN ENOUGH to supply us with our needs and wants out of HIS ABUNDANCE. AND, with God's hand there is no shortage. He doesn't run out. There is pure abundance and overflow with Him. Praise the Lord. So... it makes me thankful that the heat did not go out because our lack of ability to pay for or fix something. Praise the Lord for growth & progress. From moving to revelation to manifestation. Walking in the blessing, that we can abide there. Praise God! What does it say, "abide in the shadow of the Almighty." With the Almighty is abundance of blessing, abiding IN there is accompanied with fullness and everything we need. I can't imagine "abiding in the shadow of the Almighty" and being hungry? Can you imagine that? Or not being able to afford clothes that fit. Abiding, living with God, and there being LACK in HIS house!??!?! That just doesn't line up. So I commit to STAYING in the shadow of the Almighty and abiding there forever! So long LACK! I've tried lack and I didn't like it, it only brought sorrow, frustration & tears. I choose ABUNDANCE! I choose prosperity! I choose to LIVE in the BLESSING!


OK... that was worth coming for, but let's jump into some MORE Word! :) 

Proverbs 10:22-23 - The blessing of the Lord--it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it]. It is as sport to a [self-confident] fool to do wickedness, but to have skillful and godly Wisdom is pleasure and relaxation to a man of understanding.

Wow. That is good stuff. As I was sitting down to read, I just thought, "Wow God! There is so much good stuff here! Where do you even start? The WHOLE chapter 10 is loaded! I didn't even get to read anything else. I was swimming in amazing verses that were jumping off the page, all of which I won't discuss in this devotion. 


As I was reading, my mind began to race at my schedule for today. To be honest, I was basically just toiling in my mind. Not completely "stressing", but my mind was definitely racing! And then the Holy Spirit said to me, "Amy, don't be so busy in your mind. Pleasure and relaxation. You can accomplish a lot & still be relaxed! Don't toil in your mind & thoughts. The blessing of ME makes rich. I add no sorrow. No need to toil, even in your mind!"  


Then... He told Tyler a pretty amazing thing too... as Tyler read it to me, I honestly thought he was reading a quote out of a book. It was good. This one is noteworthy enough to write down and keep somewhere as a reminder! He said, "When you plant & water, you put a lot of things into motion & sometimes you just need to relax & let the seed do it's own work." 


WOW! Relax. Don't toil. Trust in what you have sown that the law of sowing and reaping won't stop working with you. It's a law. Trust that once the work is done, the seed will grow and then RELAX! 


What a blessing that the Lord adds no sorrow with his blessings. And by us TOILING, living in frustration, or rush rush rush, go go go, constant toiling in our mind... that is NOT FROM GOD. Like He told me, we can STILL accomplish a lot without having to toil, but to be at peace moving from accomplishment to accomplishment. HE will direct our steps if we listen! HE will make the way plain. HE will make our plans succeed! How do I know that? It says it in his word! (Go study Proverbs 16 also!)


Bless you today! I've already wrote in my book, made meatloaf, made 48 ounces of baby food, been in the Word, wrote this blog, and now getting ready to go to MyGym with the boy. Blessed to listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit! Praise GOD that HE speaks to us today!


XOXO, 
Be Blessed!
Amy J