#160 - I AM VICTORIOUS! I FEAR NOT!

Good morning! Praise God! It is THURSDAY, MARCH 31st!!! The long awaited for day has passed... Tyler & I had our 2nd audit appointment yesterday with the IRS. Praise the LORD, all went well! We were audited for 2 years! We definitely learned a lot and praise the Lord we keep good records. We had TOTAL favor and not only did all of our records substantiate our expenses, BUT THEY owe US more money! Praise the Lord! What the enemy meant to throw us off course and distract us, we passed with flying colors. Let me tell you though, I am thankful to have all of that in the rear-view mirror!! NOTE to Tithers (which should be all Christians): If you are tithing 10% of your income, and maybe even giving an additional offering...YOU are going against what the WORLD says is normal! That's kinda good news! We don't want to be normal to the world! The IRS doesn't think it's normal either, so if that's YOU... just keep good records. WE ARE GIVERS! AMEN!?!? WE GIVE and it is GIVEN UNTO US, PRESSED DOWN, SHAKEN TOGETHER & RUNNING OVER! AMEN? It feels good to be different from the world!

Well... let's get started... today... the 31st.... a great day to fully look at the life of the Proverbs 31 woman! She is so amazing!

Proverbs 31:21 - She fears not....

Need I say more? The verse goes on to say that she fears not the snow for her household because her family is clothed with scarlet. But she FEARS NOT! She fears NOT! If we made a list of things we do not fear.... what would be on the list? What would be on your list? If you made a list, to remind YOURSELF, to remind GOD and to remind your enemy, Satan, what would be on that list? What would you be reminded on that you WILL NOT FEAR? Let's list out some possibilities!

1. I FEAR NOT my future, the goals & dreams I have. For GOD began a good work in me and WILL CARRY it out to COMPLETION! (Phil 1:6)
2. I FEAR NOT time! I fear not timing! For GOD'S timing in my life is perfect. I am in the right place at the right time ALL the time! I am learning what I need to learn now. God is positioning me in the perfect place to accomplish ALL He has called me to do.
3. I FEAR NOT our finances! My GOD LIBERALLY supplies ALL of my needs according to HIS riches in glory! (Phil 4:19)
4. I FEAR NOT stagnation. I know that there is a season for all things (Eccl. 3:1) I will walk out this season of my life with JOY. I will walk out this season of my life with expectation, knowing God has great and mighty things in store for me! I will walk out this season of my life as a LIGHT to the WORLD, like a city on a hill! (Matt. 5:14-16)
5. I FEAR NOT what my kids, my spouse, or I shall eat, drink or wear (Matt 5:25-26) I choose NOT to be anxious! For GOD clothes the birds of the air & as a child, He loves me much more than even those! I will not fear. I will not be anxious. 
6. I FEAR NOT my marriage. I call my marriage blessed, growing & prosperous. I call it a fulfilled relationship where I am married to my best friend!  
7. I FEAR NOT my health, or my families health! I call each of us healthy and whole. I SPEAK to our bodies that we operate in DIVINE health, how GOD created us to function. I speak to my body and any infirmity that may be there, I tell you, "INFIRMITY, SICKNESS, ARTHRITIS, KNEE PAIN, HIP PAIN, HEADACHE, You are NOT welcome! You are trespassing. You must LEAVE my body in Jesus Name! My body is the TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit and sickness, disease and pain, you have to GO in Jesus name!"
8. I FEAR NOT my growth or progress. I thank you God that YOU place those things in my path in which I need to learn. You place the people, books, CD's, studies, programs in my path to help me progress down the path I need to go! 
9. I FEAR NOT debt! I call my bills paid in full. I thank you Father that YOUR WORD says that YOU GIVE me HOUSES filled with GOOD things, that I fillest not (Deut. 6:10-11) Thank you for NO MORTGAGE! Thank you that you set me up to own NO man nothing, but to love him! (Romans 13:8) Thank you Lord for giving me the ability to be FREE from owing any man anything! I call myself DEBT-FREE!
10. I FEAR NOT relationships. I call myself a good friend to others. I am a friend to them, and therefore, they are friends to me. I call myself friendly! I call forth those IRON-SHARPENING relationships into my life (Prov. 27:17)! I call forth the God type of friends that I need in my life! I call my relationships blessed!
11. I FEAR NOT my weight! Like the Proverbs 31 woman, I am going to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT (Prov. 31:17)! I subject my body, I get fit, I get healthy, I make my arms strong, I eat healthy. When I am old in my years, my eyes will not be dim, nor my natural forces abated (natural vigor diminished) (Deut. 34:7)! My body will OPERATE like I am young, I will have strength like I am young! I choose to take care of my body now instead of having doctors to have to take care of me later. 
12. I FEAR NOT the enemy, Satan! Because MY JESUS DEFEATED HIM! I am ALREADY VICTORIOUS NOW! Jesus defeated DEATH, HELL AND THE GRAVE so that I could walk out my life, in EVERY AREA in VICTORY! I AM VICTORIOUS therefore I WILL NOT FEAR!

Well... I think it is a good starting list! What do you think? Did we leave anything out? Is there anything that you are holding onto that causes that seed of fear in the recesses of your mind? Add to it! What else should we NOT FEAR? 

I FEAR NOT what the future holds! I will have joy today! I will have strength & power today! Because of what Jesus did, I am victorious today! THE WORD says it, therefore I BELIEVE IT! 

I AM VICTORIOUS! 

I FEAR NOT!

TO REGULAR READERS: QUICK FAVOR...

HEY ALL!
I wanted to ask a quick question.... I will be going to a writers conference later in the year with lots of publishers and fun stuff like that. Could you do me a favor?? 

Answer me this question:

What are some of your favorite "devotions" that you've read on this blog? Could you give me either your favorite or Top 3-5 favorites? 

It would be SUPER helpful! I have to bring a few to the writers conference so I would love your feedback & help!

THANKS!



Make sure to read today's devotion:

GIVE YOUR BATTLE A VOICE!

#159 - Give Your Battle a VOICE!

GOOD MORNING! It's a bit chilly out there today!! Is it where you live?? Yesterday was rainy and cold, definitely an indoor day. We enjoyed the weekend in Indiana doing business & visiting my family.... got home around 2:00 am yesterday after a 13 hour DRIVE! Yes, DRIVE! Even with a 1 year old! Wow! Quite amazing, I know! Tyler Jr was quite a trooper, such a good little traveler. Nonetheless, after getting home, bringing some stuff in, and finally getting to bed, we were rolling upon 3:00, so TJ & I slept in yesterday! He didn't wake up until 11:30!!

Well, let's get going and see what the Lord has to say today! :)

Psalm 29:2 - Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness or in holy array.

Psalm 29:3a, 4a, 5a, 7a, 8a, 9a - The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord... 

Psalm 29:11 - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace. 

As I began into my Quiet Time this morning, like usual, I first pulled out my journal and began to journal. I couldn't help but look back over the month and be thankful over all the things the Lord has done. The little things and the big things. How HE has completely just provided. I was reminded of how our Father provides by getting a package off the front porch this morning. It was a package for Tyler Junior! A pair of shoes & a summer outfit. He does not even know it, but he is completely provided for! All his needs are met ALL the time! And if he had any needs, he would have grandparents falling in line to meet them, to bless him, dress him, feed him, do whatever to provide for any and every need. As that was my "before" experience before my Quiet Time... I started out with just a grateful heart, thankful how the LORD provides! Through one means or another, He provides, He comes through. His grace, His mercy and when it doesn't make sense on paper, it's by His grand Provision! Like Psalm 29:2 says, Give the glory due HIS NAME! Give Him the glory that HE deserves! We all have things to be thankful for, health, finances, family, relationships, protection, clothes, a warm home, living in an area that HASN'T been hit by a Tsunami or earthquake. We have SO much to be thankful for. Give Him the glory due His Name! Give Him the glory! 

Thank you Father! Thank you Lord! We PRAISE YOU right now! We PRAISE YOU for all you have done! Thank you Father for providing! Thank you for protecting! Thank you for your hedge of protection! Thank you for being great and mighty! Thank you for allowing ME to be your child, for allowing me to be an heir. Thank you Lord for sending Jesus. Thank you that I, with the mistakes and all I have done, thank you the you have given ME a second chance. Thank you for forgiving me, redeeming me! Thank you Father for forgiveness! Father, I PRAISE YOU! You are SO worthy to be praised!! Thank you that you are Jehovah Rapha, God our Healer! Thank you that you are Jehovah Jirah, God our Provider! Thank you that you are Jehovah Nissi, God our Victory, our Banner! You are God our Peace, Jehovah Shalom! Thank you Father! We praise you! You are so worthy to be praised! 

As we read further in Psalm 29, out of the 11 verses, 6 of them begin with "The voice of the Lord." As I read these... they revealed something MIGHTY that the Voice of the Lord brought forth. ie: Makes the wilderness tremble, Splits and flashes forth forked lightning. The verses remind us how POWERFUL the Voice of the Lord is. As I was reading them, the immediate thing that popped up in my spirit was this, WE, YOU & I, are made in the very image of who these verses are talking about! We were made in the image of God. Where it says the VOICE of the LORD is powerful, we could also substitute this: THE VOICE OF AMY is powerful! The VOICE of Deb is powerful! The Voice of David is powerful! The Voice of Stephanie is powerful! Put your name in there! As children of God, WE were made in HIS image! When we committed our lives to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were given a power that can only come from heaven. We were given power and authority to operate in strength on this earth! And, we can read verse after verse in Proverbs and throughout the Bible on how powerful our Words are, the strength that our Words hold. Even God did it to Abram in the old testament. Abram & Sarai, married, no children and past child baring years, what did God do? God SAID, I change your name to ABRAHAM, which means Father of many Nations! I change your name from Sarai (which means quarrelsome) to SARAH, which means Princess. In a time that they did not have ANY children, and were getting old into years.... old? Yes, even as old as 90 years old! Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 before they had their first child, Isaac! But, WORDS! Words are powerful! Putting VOICE to our situation is so powerful!

Still a bit uneasy on accepting it? Fast forward down to Psalm 29:11... what does it say there? The LORD will give unyielding and impenetrable STRENGTH to HIS people! One way He gives us this strength, is through our ability to TALK! To give VOICE to a situation! "My God supplies all MY needs according to HIS riches in glory! I call my bills paid!" - "By Jesus stripes, I AM healed! I call this headache GONE in Jesus Name!" - "I have FAVOR in the sight of God & man, therefore, in this situation, in this meeting, I THANK YOU God for FAVOR! Unmerited Favor!"

The Lord gives STRENGTH to HIS people! Begin today with your Voice! Satan can't hear your thoughts. You can't fight your battles in your mind, with your thoughts, you MUST give WORDS to your battle! You must SPEAK! Give your battle a VOICE! In your voice is STRENGTH!

#158 - A Pursuit of Fervor!

Good morning to you on this wonderful day! It has been a blessing, these rain showers at night... washing away some of the yellow pollen that covers everything. In Jesus Name, no allergies or pollen formed against me shall prosper!!! Nonetheless, the rain has been a welcome blessing at night! I have an extremely full morning... and lots of traveling this afternoon... so we best get into some Word. We are taking a visit back to our regular reading schedule. :)

Proverbs 31:25 - Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!

Psalm 25:3-5 - Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause. ⁴Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. ⁵Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long. 

First of all, I find it interesting that here in Psalm, we have David... King David praying for US, you and me! Those of us who trust in the Lord, David is asking the Lord for us not to be disappointed. I thought that was pretty cool.... David, way back, was praying for ME and YOU!

Waiting. Have you ever just wondered, When will I get there? When will I get to my goal? When will this happen or that happen? When will be my time? When will this dream come to pass? When will the 'waiting' be over? When will I arrive? Well, I know that at times, I have found myself asking those very questions in certain areas of my life. Tyler even reminded me of it this morning. I met Tyler in July of 1998 on a mission trip. On that very trip, God told me I was going to marry him, God told me specifically that he was going to be my husband. After the trip, we both separately went back home and carried on with life. I, in Indiana, Tyler in South Carolina. For the next YEAR AND A HALF, every day I pleaded with the Lord! "Lord! When are you going to let Tyler know that I am supposed to be his wife? When is he going to call? When is he going to write? Email? Anything? LORD!!! WHEN!?!? Please Lord, just let him know that he is supposed to pursue me." What seemed like the longest 18 months of my life, at the time, I was waiting. I was expectant, but nonetheless, I was having to wait. What a time that was. BUT... what is interesting.... now, I have been married to Tyler for over 10 years! Looking back, though I remember the pleading with God, I remember the sleepless nights, looking up at the stars just wondering when the time would come. I remember it all very clearly. But today... I have Tyler EVERY day! Every day of my life, I have him.

Things that could have made the time go faster? I believe it I would have been more focused on the Lord, seeking and pursuing the Lord, seeking and pursuing my calling at that time in my life, I believe time may have seemed like it would've went faster. Instead, every day I was just moping around, pleading and longing to be with Tyler. Every day! My happiness was determined by the rush to the computer lab at college.... would I have an email from him today?!? Logging in to the campus computer, within minutes I would either be on a cloud of bliss, or my head would hang in disappointment.

What's the message? Look at the Proverbs 31 woman! Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure! WHY? She rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]! She already knows the outcome! Our Proverbs 31 friend is not standing as I was, head hanging low, sad, disappointed. She is standing just like I COULD HAVE been standing, in STRENGTH & DIGNITY. Her shoulders pulled back showing her position of STRENGTH & SECURITY! She is SOLID! She is CONFIDENT! She is EXPECTANT! She knows the outcome is good! And do you know what, I spent 18 months of waiting and it was miserable. It was such a hard time. I could have changed perspectives. God already told me Tyler was going to be my husband, I could have just rejoiced over what the future held instead of longing every day in my present. 


God's timing is perfect! We all have dreams & goals. We all have things we desire. Maybe we are looking to find our joy. Maybe we want the dream marriage, happy & fulfilling. Maybe it's a bigger house. To be out of debt. To have a new vehicle. Maybe it's to retire from your job. Whatever it is, your days are numbered and your VICTORY is at hand. But while you wait out those numbered days, STAND like the Proverbs 31 woman in strength. Like our Psalm, KNOW that your outcome will not bring disappointment, but as a CHILD OF GOD, it will bring VICTORY! The Word WILL come to pass in your life! The desire WILL BE fulfilled! And while your waiting, PURSUE your FATHER with FERVOR! Pursue your calling with FERVOR! I know sometimes "moping" is the easiest thing to do, but choose to PRESS IN! PRESS IN to your gifts, talents and abilities! Press in to what GOD has called you to do RIGHT NOW! Maybe you are called to be a blessing to someone else right now. Pull yourself up. Take your eyes off the "consuming desire", and be consumed with the Lord's will for your life today! What are you called to do TODAY? As you complete your calling, you will be shocked when you turn around and your desire has COME! It is here! You are walking it out! You are living in it! What a blessing. But don't miss today while you wait. 


Have a great weekend! :) 

#157 - It's all about Consistency!

Good morning! It's going to be a great day. Praise the Lord for the rain last night to wash away some pollen! We definitely needed it. We have had a yellow layer of dust on everything, cars, streets, porches, etc. So, YEAH for rain!!

Well... let's get started.

Proverbs 24:33-34 - Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep--So shall your poverty come as a robber, and your want as an armed man. 

How is anything accomplished? One action at a time. One positive step at a time. One area that Tyler and I daily confess on our "goal cards" is that we are "Spiritual Giants." Our desire with our spiritual growth is that we would be wise, we would be continually learning the things of God, we would be "Spiritual Giants" of the Word & things of God.

Good or bad, big things in life happen because of a series of events and decisions. In the Proverbs verses for today, poverty came upon this man because of daily decisions that he made. If we could see into his day a bit more, I would anticipate we would see days compounded. Day after day, this man sleeping, doing things that were not progressing towards a positive end, laziness. I would anticipate we would see a man who epitomized the definition of lazy.

As Christians, or really even non-Christians can apply this.... it's the power of consistency. For example, when began my real journey of spiritual growth was back in 1996. I rededicated my life to the Lord, and for the first time in my life, began a journey of growth. I would say at the time, I was very "spiritually illiterate." I didn't really even know a lot of the Bible School stories that most children learn from Sunday School. I felt like I knew nothing, or at least very little. But, do you know what happened? Day after day I began to learn. Little by little, I began to take in the Word. Some days I would only spend 5, 10, 15 minutes in the Word, some days I would spend 2 hours. I was hungry. Over the years I have retired several Bibles. Bibles that would get so high-lighted and written up, that I was ready to start with a fresh new one. Or... early on, I used an NIV version of the Bible. As a new believer, it was just easy to understand. I have since advanced to really enjoying the King James & The Amplified versions. Back in 1996, I was not ready for that yet. I was still like a baby drinking from a bottle, I was on milk. I just needed to understand the basics.

Often what happens in our society today, and I am guilty of this in certain areas of my life... we want to have immediate knowledge or success. Putting in the "daily time" can seem monotonous, or like we aren't getting anywhere. BUT, WE ARE! I look back over the last 15 years of my life, and the daily consistency of being in the Word has REALLY REALLY grown me up. I still would say I aspire to be a Spiritual Giant, but it took DAILY CONSISTENCY to get where I am today. It did not happen over night.

I've heard a few very successful people say phrases like that.... one lady in particular who rose to a great level of financial success would say regularly, "We just did something every day." In reaching her success, she may not have moved a mountain every day, but she was consistent in doing something every day to move forward. Just yesterday I was listening to a CD and the guy said something pretty great... he said this, "I don't know how to be focused for a year, but I can ROCK 7 days!" I bet many of us could relate to that. It may be hard to stay on track for a whole year, but if we just chose to be diligent and consistent with a week, how much easier would that be? Each week you start over. Just a week! Or just a day! Just focusing on the small, and in doing so the time compounds!

I know I won't become a "Spiritual Giant" over night, but consistently spending time in the Word, listening to the Holy Spirit, etc... over time, it will happen. It's all about consistency, in WHATEVER the arena. Fitness? It's all about consistency. Finances? It's all about consistency. Keeping a clean house? It's all about consistency. Progressing in your business or job? It's all about consistency.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, 'How do you eat an elephant?' Answer: 'One bite at a time.' Same with our goals in life, it's not about accomplishing the end result today.... but it's one day at a time, one positive step at a time. Before we know it, we will be there!

It's all about consistency! So today... maybe this weekend... maybe it'd be good to sit down, you, your journal, maybe your Bible.... and plan it out! Set a date with yourself, an appointment. What are the consistent steps that YOU need to take to get to where YOU want to be in life? Make a plan, break it down to the day, and then be focused on the Daily Action Plan! Before you know it, your dreams will be your reality!

DOR & WELCOME!

It's a great & needed Day of Rest! :) Praise the Lord! Tyler is such a good daddy! He even got Junior up, fed him breakfast and got his day started! PTL! What a GREAT husband!

Well... I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do today on my DOR.... but it's nice just to rest and relax. Hope YOU have a great day!

Welcome with me a new follower....

KIMBERLY - Thanks for joining us! Please share your thoughts and comments on our journey in the Word! :)

OK... ya'll have a great day! :) Hasta manana! 

#156 - When It Doesn't Make Sense

Good morning! Well... I must say, it has already been a FULL morning! Tyler was leaving at 6:45 this morning, soooooo.... even though I went to bed after midnight, I woke up at 5:00 A.M and went GROCERY SHOPPING!?!?! Can you believe it!!?!? Whoa!! Was home by 6:20, cut up vegetables and a pot roast, put it in the crock pot, cleaned the kitchen and now having my Quiet Time! Wow! It's not even 9:00 yet. I'm actually counting on being a able to take a quick nap before "the boy" wakes up! We were traveling back from Georgia late last night and Jr didn't get in bed until about 11:30.... I'm banking on him sleeping in a little late this morning. Anyways... wasn't that a productive morning. I know I'm impressed with myself. It's not all the time where you have the "pat yourself on the back" sort of morning, but this would rank up there for me. OH.... AND I even fixed my husband a breakfast sandwich, he was happy. :)

OK... well, let's go ahead and get going....

Proverbs 21:30 - There is no [human] wisdom or understanding or counsel [that can prevail] against the Lord.

Over the years, one thing I have noticed about myself is this.... I tend to want to be a people-pleaser. I don't like to "rock the boat" with people, I don't like confrontation, and though I may disagree with someone I typically may have a hard time voicing my disagreement (which is sometimes good.... "unasked for advice is criticism"). Well... I literally had 3 scriptures this morning that I was going to discuss, wrote the first paragraph above, then double checked with the Holy Spirit about the topic. He said, "No, I don't want you to write about that. I want you to write about this....'When It Doesn't Make Sense'." So... He changed things up on me, but I LOVE IT! It's SO much better!

Let me tell you this.... listening to the Lord and FOLLOWING His direction will not always make sense to other people. You may hear something specific that you are supposed to do, and frankly, in the natural, it DOES NOT make sense. But everything within you KNOWS that it is the Holy Spirit directing you to do this "thing." As you begin the journey of obedience.... you QUICKLY receive feedback of people disapproving. They don't agree with what you are doing. "Why are you doing that?!" they question, and sometimes even argue. They adamantly feel like you are making a BIG mistake! And the tough thing is, sometimes it is the people closest to you that verbally disagree with you. Let me tell you a few examples...

1. Tyler was 17 years old... at the time he had a really amazing girlfriend. A Christian girl, a really good track athlete, and they really liked each other. Their relationship was very God-centered. It really looked perfect, and to both of them, it felt perfect. They were a perfect match. Well... one day, Tyler felt like God told him to break up with his girlfriend. It TOTALLY did not make sense. They weren't in sin, they had a God-centered relationship, they liked each other. In Tyler's flesh, nothing in him really knew or even agreed with why the Lord was telling him to do this... but he chose to be obedient. He broke up with her. After a short time, he got a phone call from this girls dad. Her dad wanted to privately meet with Tyler. The day was pouring down rain. Tyler & the girls father met at a park, pouring rain, Tyler hopped in the back of the car and their it began. This father began to tell Tyler what he did was not right. Tyler & his daughter had a perfect relationship. Why throw it away? Tyler's only response was, "The Lord told me to do it. I can't explain it." Even this Christian father disagreed with Tyler, tried to persuade him otherwise. But Tyler's resolve was SET. Above EVERYTHING else, the Word of the Lord would stand on this situation, and on EVERY situation moving forward! 
2. If you remember the recent devotion about the Indiana Tournament of Champions that I participated in when I was in college. The devotion was entitled, My God Shall Supply. As the returning champion, the Holy Spirit did not have me train for the event. I was competing for scholarship money that was MUCH needed. The month preceding the event, even I did not understand why the Holy Spirit was not allowing me to heavily train. I wanted to win, and I felt like I NEEDED to win to get the scholarship money. In short... I got 4th place, not 1st. I did not get the amount of scholarship money that I needed. Instead of training during that time, I was in the Word for hours each day, and the Lord was setting me up to share the Word with ONE person! ONE PERSON! In it all, I still disappointed my dad, because my lack of training appeared to not make sense and seemed lazy. But GOD still supplied! The amount of money I needed showed up in my mail box the DAY I got home from the event! 
3. Tyler's senior year of High School... he would have been the Captain of his High School football team... his last year to play football. The Lord told him not to play, but to focus on track & field. His decision caused his parents to sit down with him.... frustration and disappointment was heavy in the conversation. "Why would you throw it all away? You're a SENIOR! You've always played football!" Tyler again had to stand on his resolve. "This is what the Lord told me to do." His football coaches.... pulled him into his office trying to sway him to play... ultimately they had to say, "You are going to regret this Tyler. For the rest of your life, you are going to regret this decision." In tears, Tyler had to stand his ground even though it didn't make sense. His football friends, chided him, were angry with him, frustrated with him. But he stood his ground. The result? He received a full ride track & field scholarship to a Division One college in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. What if he would NOT have listened to the Lord? And listened to everyone else's advice? 
4. For about the last 2 - 2 1/2 years the Holy Spirit had Tyler and I take a "mental & physical" step back from building the business we own. We were still involved and attended events we needed too, we still did some basic fundamental things... but the Lord had, especially Tyler step back. He didn't even want too. It didn't make sense. In his flesh, he wanted, desired, craved to be out building our business, growing it, expanding it. But, for over 2 years, the Holy Spirit kept pulling him back in. Why? Because we had to renew our minds. We had to flush out some old thinking that was holding us back. We had to purge some thought process that was not correct. Why did it have to take so long? Great question. But... we have been released now.... we are expanding. Growth is in the air. Excitement. Momentum. But... we had to listen. 

Obedience. At what cost will you listen? At what cost will you go against the crowd? Go against even the opinions of family? Along the way we have learned this valuable principle found in Proverbs 21:30 - There is no [human] wisdom or understanding or counsel [that can prevail] against the Lord. 

There is NO human wisdom that can prevail against the Lord! Our parents, coaches, friends, business partners/mentors..... all of them had well meaning opinions and thoughts of what we should do in these few situations. But even when it doesn't make sense to people, the LORD has a reason for everything! Along the years, no matter what, we have just chose and decided that the LORD's Word would stand above EVERYONE else! Today & everyday! 

What decision will you make when it doesn't make sense? 

#155 - CARE LESS!

Good morning! I have done one great "chore" this morning, GO ME! I took out the recycling. :) Isn't that great! :) We were a little overflowing since last week we forgot. Anyways... I'm sure you are super happy to know about the mundane things that happen here in the McCart house... things that I'm sure happen at your house too! It is a BEAUTIFUL day though, so it was nice to take an early morning visit to the outdoor world. I smiled because I noticed that our first daffodil has bloomed. Not to be confused with dandelion, because I have seen a few of them in bloom too. TJ enjoys picking them... I think he may have even tried to eat a few. Does a mother's duty ever stop? "No, don't eat that! Don't put that in your mouth!" Arghhh. :) I won't wish the time away, I'm sure he'll stop putting everything in his mouth soon enough! Ha!

OK... let's get started! There may have been trickles of this in some other devotions, but this morning I feel led to talk about it front on! So, let's go!

1 Peter 5:7 - 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 affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

What a GREAT verse, and so critical to DAILY Christian living! I explicitly remember when I really caught the meaning of this verse, its fullness. Tyler and I were watching a minister that we really enjoy, streaming on our laptop. He always makes us laugh! Well, in this particular message he was talking about what could be some of the "stresses" of ministry. #1 being, paying the bills. He recalled a story about a bill the ministry had received. This wasn't just a light bill for a few hundred dollars, this was a Television bill in the tune of a few MILLION DOLLAR$! Yes! A few million! The bill was coming due soon, and the money was not there to pay it. The minister said, "I cast this care on you Lord! I could care less about this! I'm not going to care because you tell me to cast that care on YOU! I cast it on you! I could CARE LESS!" To take the situation further, since he was led to have a TV ministry by the Lord, he held up the bill and looked up to heaven and said, "JESUS! YOU'VE GOT MAIL!!!" LOL! Now, if you could just hear this minister, he is a hoot! He took 1 Peter 5:7 literally, and now so do I!

Often, in our home now if we have a situation that could cause stress, we just cast it on the Lord and just to spite the devil, we say, "I COULD CARE LESS!" This minister also said that "carrying a care" or "keeping a care" is a form of pride. Pride. When we hold on to that care... let's say it is a bill, or health, or a relationship.... when we hold onto that situation INSTEAD of casting it on the Lord, it is a form of pride. It is like we are saying, "I can handle this on my own, I DO NOT need the Lord's help."

Tyler and I just decided, we were not going to "CARE" anymore! We were going to CAST ALL of our cares, like what the amplified says, the WHOLE of our care, our concerns, worries, anxieties ONCE AND FOR ALL on the Lord, for He cares for US! He doesn't want us to carry burdens or worries. He doesn't want us to carry anxiety! Imagine the FREEDOM! After being so weighted down with carrying a burden, to FULLY cast it on the Lord and just yell, "I COULD CARE LESS!" It really is freeing! Throw your arms out, and cast that care on the Lord. You do it with your whole heart, and tell me you don't feel better! I would imagine you will feel a weight lifted of your shoulders and feel better than ever.  To finally just tell God, "YOU handle this." "YOU show me how to provide the income for this." "YOU give us a new vehicle." "YOU DO IT!"

What freedom! Now the thing is.... after something has been cast on the Lord, He may very well reveal to you how to solve the problem. Then it does take you, taking HIS plan and acting on it.

What freedom! Just this morning, the Holy Spirit was reminding me to NOT get into bondage feeling like I needed to be "teaching Tyler Jr this" or "teaching him that." Making sure we go to the park, or play outside. Etc, etc.... He reminded me that just Tyler Junior being HOME with his MAMA... being in the environment that I have created for him will be the largest factor in growing him up to be an amazing child and eventually man of God. Not whether he goes to the library at 16 months old, or zoo, or park every day. It is the environment I create at home. The Holy Spirit was reminding me, to cast that onto the Lord. I was starting to pick up that care a little bit.

SO, I COULD CARE LESS! I'm going to have a great day! It's going to be a Spirit led day, and it's going to be GREAT! :)

What about you? Do you need to CARE LESS too? Try it. I think you'll like it!

#154 - Will you Abide?

Good morning! :) It is a BEAUTIFUL day out! Don't you think?! And this is the day that the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!!! AMEN?! :) We all have so much to be thankful for! We woke up breathing, we have food to eat, we have clothes on, we have people who love us, we have a roof over our heads! What an abundance we have to be thankful for! Let's jump into some LIFE-GIVING Word!

John 15:7 (kjv) - If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 

I looked up abide in the Greek.... here were several of the definitions that were listed: to remain, to not depart, to continue to be present, to last, to endure, to wait for. Those are such revealing definitions for the word abide. As we abide, stay in God, stay in Christ Jesus, stay in the Word, stay grounded with Jesus as our Rock.... as we do that.... are we WILLING to WAIT? Are we willing to endure, to last? Here in this verse the "timing" is not promised, but it does say that what you shall ask SHALL be done for you! In the meantime, are YOU & I willing to be patient for it to come to pass?

Tyler was telling me a story this morning at breakfast. It was about 2 different families who had deformed children. One set of parents woke up EVERY MORNING and EVERY NIGHT, they THANKED GOD that their child was normal! Every day, despite what they saw, they thanked God that their child was whole! They "called things that are not as though they were" like it talks about in Romans. They did this every day for FOUR YEARS! You know what happened? Because they abided, because they were patient but persistent, one day during that 4th year the child's deformities just completely lined up. The child was completely normal! The other family? They did the same thing, except they did it for 14 YEARS! 14 YEARS! They thanked God for their child being whole with no deformities. After 14 years, one day, BAM, it just happened! Everything lined up! Everything was whole.

As I still wait for goals to come to pass in MY life, I'm reminded about this questions, "Am I willing to be patient? Am I willing to be persistent & consistent, staying in faith until MY GOALS come to pass?" Because, bottom line, they will come to pass. If I continue to abide in my Father and allow His Word to abide in me, those goals, desires & dreams WILL be done! It says it in HIS WORD! Last I checked, God's Word is authority! God's Word is the bottom line! God's Word has the last say! Therefore if I can just ABIDE -  to remain, to not depart, to continue to be present, to last, to endure, to wait for - MY Goals to come to pass, THEY WILL!

Am I a PATIENT enough person to ABIDE! To continue to be persistent & consistent? To not grow weary, to not loose heart, to not grow faint in the pursuit. IF I will just ABIDE, God's Word promises that whatever I ask SHALL BE DONE! So, as I wait, I need to make sure I continue to abide in God, in the Holy Spirit, and continue to allow HIS WORD to abide inside me. His Word to continue to be the lamp that I walk by, the lamp that guides my every day. And like both families with the child who had a deformity, I MUST be TENACIOUSLY PERSISTENT!

Will you join me?

#153 - FREE from Condemnation!

Good morning! I pray you are well today. I am! It's going to be a great day! God is good. It should be an interesting topic today.

Romans 8:1 - ... there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

Luke 4:18 - The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free...

Condemnation. Have you ever walked in condemnation? Guilt? Worry? Self-doubt? Sin? Un-forgiveness? Disappointment? Looking back on it, I can remember MANY times living in a period of my life in total guilt and condemnation on a daily basis. Living in sorrow..... wallowing in sorrow, depression. I remember some days just being depressed. When the alarm sounded in the morning, I just wanted to pull the covers up over my head. I did not want to face the day. Maybe it's condemnation even about "not being happy." You know you should be happy, but you're not... so each day your living in condemnation and guilt because you're not happy.... AND.... that sure hasn't helped making you feel happy. OR... maybe it's condemnation about not hitting your goals... thinking you should be further in life... you should already be in that house you've been wanting, or driving the car that you should have already been able to get but haven't gotten. Maybe you were passed up for a promotion or raise, and that has caused you to loose that hop in your step. OR... maybe it's sin, a continual sin that has popped up it's head more than once causing you to feel guilt.

Well, praise the Lord, Romans 8:1 tells us there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus! That verse alone allows us to be free from condemnation. I know sometimes it sounds easier than it is.... but, when we are walking in guilt or condemnation, we can choose to recognize it and recognize where it is from! If condemnation is not from Christ Jesus, we can pin the blame on the destroyer... the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy, Satan!

I was reminded of the story in the Bible where the adulterous woman was taken to the edge of town to be stoned. The towns people and Jesus were standing all around her, and the towns people were in a rage at her sin, at her adultery. They were ready to stone her to death.  As they asked Jesus whether they should stone her, He simply said, "Whoever is without sin, may he throw the first stone." Gradually, all the towns people left, as they knew they had sin. Jesus was the only one who could have thrown stones at the woman, He was without sin, but even JESUS did not throw stones. He showed mercy and grace.

As I was listening to the Holy Spirit this morning, He told me this, "So many of my children are living in the place of condemnation and it is paralyzing them from being effective for Me! The bondage's, the chains of 'condemnation' ARE NOT LOCKED! My children can walk away from it ANY time they choose, and the sooner the better!"


The enemy is trying to keep us in chains! But the chains ARE NOT LOCKED! That is good news! Walk FREE today! Free from condemnation! Recognize it and refuse to allow guilt to weigh you down!

#152 - It PAY$ to Listen!

Good morning to you! :) It has been a pretty wild handful of days for the McCart family... but a blessed time! We left for Indiana on Friday, to DRIVE! WHOA! Yah.... drive with a 16 month old. Praise the Lord, Tyler Jr did a FINE job traveling, and surprisingly we really didn't "loose" time traveling with an infant. Such a good boy! I must say, there were definitely not as many "rules" in regards to eating as we traveled. Tyler Jr ate Twizzler's for his first time! Lots of marshmallows, string cheese, and frankly, anything that would keep him happy. :) But he did great on the 12 1/2 hour drive! He enjoyed time with Grandma and his cousin Kassidy all day on Saturday, while Tyler and I helped out some new people in business with us.

OK... let's jump into some Word....

Proverbs 15:22 - Where there is no counsel, purposes are frustrated, but with many counselors they are accomplished.

3 John 2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 

Counsel. If you remember, there was a recent post entitled "Google or God?", then there was even a "Google or God - Part 2". Both discussed the overall idea of.... do I just try for the "easy" answer and "google it"..... OR, do I really take some time to seek out GOD for the answer, since he already has the answer?! Which do you do?

So... just last Thursday, one of the items on my to-do list was to go to BestBuy. In MY mind, I thought it was something that I was just going to HAVE to do. I may have mentioned this before... but IN THE PAST... Tyler Jr would find the charger to our MacBook Pro laptop and the part that plugs into the laptop, we often find him putting that part in his mouth. Yes. I know! Really great, huh?!?! Well.... I guess it happened one time to many and the Tyler Jr saliva eventually did it in for the effectiveness of the charger. So we came to a point last week, the charger did not work at all. The Mac was completely un-charged and would not turn on, and if we wanted to use the Mac, we were going to have to find a way to charge it.

In MY MIND I thought, "Well, I'll have to bring the Mac and charger into the GEEK-SQUAD and have them look at it." While I was on the phone with them, I asked them how much a charger was if we had to buy a new one..... a nice $80.00! That was very un-appealing to me! Well, and imagine this.... I FINALLY decided to COUNSEL with the Holy Spirit on the matter. I FINALLY decided to ask the Holy Spirit what I should do about it. He already knew how to fix it. So.... I asked. This is what the Holy Spirit said, "Go buy rubbing alcohol, rub it on the end and then wait."

OK... so my plans changed. I now was just running down to the grocery store versus across town. What'd I do? Purchased the rubbing alcohol.... it cost maybe $1.50 at Publix, came home, got some Q-tips, and applied the rubbing alcohol. I waited 5 minutes. Still no real progress. I was a bit bummed about that. I thought, "Well, I still have time to go to BestBuy later today." I almost just went right then... but then was directed by the Holy Spirit to work on another project. Praise the LORD for listening! It really does PAY!!! Several hours went by, I finished my other project and it was AWESOME. Then I heard Tyler say, "HEY! Check this out! The computer is charging! The rubbing alcohol worked!"

Praise the Lord! It LITERALLY PAYS $$$$ to listen to the Holy Spirit. Sure.... I believe that Proverbs 15:22 is also talking about other people being "counselors" in your life. 1st the Holy Spirit, 2nd your Christian spouse, but 3rd someone who is in life where you want to be.... and or 4th a Christian leader who you can pull counsel from. Someone who is wise in the area of spiritual matters. As Christians, it is sometimes hard to see the "forest when you are in the trees." Often if you have someone who you can go to for advice or counsel, they have a greater vantage point in which to see your situation.

3 John 2? What does that have to do with anything? Well.... it's a very important verse. Sure financial prosperity is great. Prosperity in your health is great. BUT if your SOUL, if your SPIRIT is not prospering.... if you are not growing in your relationship with the Holy Spirit.... what is it all worth? I've heard other translations, interpretations, breaking down the Greek and Hebrew..... of 3 John 2. One of them that I remember went something like this: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, IN DIRECT PROPORTION as thy soul prospereth. So, what does that mean? That your prospered in your finances and health in direct proportion to 1st prospering in your relationship with God! In the Word! With the Holy Spirit!

While our soul is prospering, it allows us to HEAR from the voice of the Holy Spirit! For me.... just this last week, in doing so it saved me not only gas miles, but it also saved me about $78.50 in not having to buy a new charger for our Mac. I'd say that "less than" 5 minutes it took me to seek the Holy Spirit was worth it! :)

#151 - Plea the Blood!

Good morning! Praise God for Tyler's mini-laptop that he got for Christmas! (thanks mom & dad!) We've caught Tyler Jr countless times by our MAC laptop, and the part of the cord that plugs into the laptop to charge it.... I don't know how many times it has made it to Tyler Jr's mouth before we could catch him! Argh... so... needless to say... I guess that it may have made it to his mouth one time to many. We will be making our way to BestBuy today to see how to remedy our situation! We just speak favor and an easy outcome over the situation!

Well, this morning we are going to go back a little bit and have somewhat of a history lesson. Very good and powerful stuff though that CAN really add power to your life!!! We're going all the way back to Exodus. If you remember, God calls Moses to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.... out of the slavery of the Egyptians. Moses was 80 years old and his "spokesperson" Aaron is 83! (HELLO! Talk about doing great things the 2nd part of your life! Are you older? Take note! Your greatest things you do for God may be yet to come!). You probably learned about the 10 plagues in Sunday school. So, Pharoah would NOT let the people go. Moses warns him, to no avail, so the plagues begin. All the water in the land is turned to blood, an infest of gnats come... also known as "blood-sucking gadflies" (yuck!), plague on the livestock, boils all over man & beast.... and the plagues continue to come. Well... all the while, if you remember, the land of GOSHEN, where God's people are, get NONE of these plagues. They are protected from these plagues while the Egyptians are enduring them all! Let's fast forward to what I really want to get to cover....

Exodus 12:11b-13 - It is the Lord's Passover. ¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment [proving their helplessness]. I am the Lord. ¹³The blood shall be for a token or sign to you upon [the doorposts of] the houses where you are, [that] when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. ²³ For the Lord will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood upon the lintel and the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to slay you.

Fast forward with me to Jesus going to the cross....

John 19:14-15 - ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour (about twelve o'clock noon). He said to the Jews, See, [here is] your King! ¹⁵But they shouted, Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar!

I remember growing up and when us kids were little when my dad would leave for work, we would yell after him, "Bless the works of your hands! ---Blood of Jesus!" It was something we just grew up saying. "Blood of Jesus." I recall my sister getting into a car accident and remember her telling me that as her car was spinning, she just remember shouting, "Blood of Jesus!"

A phrase that in today's society, we don't hear it a lot. But, let's revisit Exodus & John. Do you see the similarities? Are you drawing the same conclusion I have drawn. With more study, I'm sure if we dug into the Greek and Hebrew... we would probably see even more. Often the old testament is a foreshadow of something that takes place in the new testament. And here.... the BLOOD is what SAVES the Children of God! The Blood is what brings life! That 10th plague that ran through the land, ultimately is what caused Pharoah to tell the Israelites to LEAVE! Get out of this land, you may go! You are no longer slaves to us! The blood on the doorposts SAVED the first born Israelites children, where the firstborn of the Egyptians dies on that night of Passover. BUT, because of the BLOOD, GOD's CHILDREN were kept safe! They were "PASSED OVER" by the destroyer!

We look at John 19... or really look at the whole life of Jesus. We look at what salvation really is, accepting Jesus' Blood, his death, believing He is God's Son and came to live and die that WE may be forgiven of our sins.... His death, His blood shed HAD TO HAPPEN for US, you and me, to have the opportunity for the "Destroyer" to PASSOVER US! Through Salvation, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are set free from death, hell & the grave. We know that our eternity, when our earthly bodies pass away, will be spent in Heaven! Dancing, rejoicing, singing!

So... I encourage you today.... as I remember hearing my mom say SOOOOO many times, "I plea the blood of Jesus over you!" Today, plea the blood of Jesus over you and yours! Verbally place of blood line around your home. As the Egyptians did on the doorposts of their home, the enemy could not enter!

Now a quick reminder.... keep sin out. Keep strife, offense, gossip.... keep those things out! We don't want to allow any open doors for the enemy. But, PLEA the BLOOD OF JESUS! There is POWER IN THE BLOOD! Jesus shed is blood for you and me! And when we believe, we can look forward to our time to come in Heaven!  

DOR & WELCOME!

I'm going to be enjoying my Day of Rest! Excited about that! I definitely have some things I need to seek the Lord about.... a DOR is a perfect day to really just spend some extra time seeking the Lord without feeling like I need to get the dishes done! No dishes on my DOR! Yippee! They can wait until tomorrow. :)

I would like to say WELCOME to all the new followers! Thank you for joining and following this blog! I love having you on this journey with me! Please share YOUR comments with me as we go along this journey! I love hearing your thoughts and what YOU have learned! SO.... WELCOME & THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING!

• TARRA HOLIFIELD
• TYLER MCCART ( hehe!) 
• TERRELL
• JOHN WINTER
• CARMAN MOODY
• DANIEL GREYNE
• DANIELY 
• ETHAN & AMY VENO
• TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS
• THE ANGULO'S 

If you are a reader, but haven't become a "follower" yet.... would you consider clicking on to "Follow" this blog? See the bottom left column... you'll see the heading "Follower's" and you can join there! :)

#150 - Call those things SO!

Good morning! All is well here in Columbia, South Carolina! What about where you live? I'm sitting here enjoying the nice singing tunes of Tyler Jr. He just woke up and is laying in his bed just talking and singing. It is quite funny! I think he gets his ability to sleep from his MAMA! :) What can I say?!

OK...well, let's get started today.

Romans 4:17 (amp) - As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.

Romans 4:17 (kjv) - (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 

Over the years, the latter part of Romans 4:17 has really become part of our daily confessions in any and every circumstance. Some may call it being legalistic, we choose to believe that we are just careful with our  words that the words we speak line up with the Word of God. That our words are not contrary to God's Word! Sure, there are times when maybe we have to be cautious not to "call anyone else out".... even though people may speak things they really don't want to receive.... let's just say it's been a learning process over the years.

Let me tell you a story... I used to work at a youth camp in the summer. We did lots of activities each day, soccer, capture the flag, tennis, etc. Well... on this particular day, we were playing capture the flag... and I always played with the kids. As we were playing, I pivoted on my foot and turned my knee. It just happened to be the same knee that I tore my ACL & miniscus when I was in High School. I fell to the ground and all I could do at the time was scream. Some of the staff, and one of the parents carried me and got me into a vehicle to bring me to the Emergency Room. Shortly after arriving at the ER, Tyler showed up. The doctor on call, said things did not look good. In the mean time, some close friends waited in the waiting room... their words were something like, "Oh man, I just know she tore her ACL. That is a real bummer. She'll probably have to get surgery & go through therapy again."

Tyler came back to where the Doctor was... I would have to go see a specialists once the swelling went down, but the Doctor said there was an 80% chance that the ACL did look torn. When Tyler overheard our friends saying they were sure I tore my ACL, he just made a simple comment to the tune of, "Well, she's my wife and I call her knee healed. I call it fine because by Jesus stripes she is healed." Though the circumstances looked pretty dim, and even the words of the Doctor sounded bleak, Tyler chose to believe the WORD of GOD over the word of the Doctor.

During the next week, we spoke and called my knee healed. Though I was on crutches, we called my knee fine. We called it whole in Jesus name. We called it well! Perfect! That everything would be lined up as GOD had created it to be lined up. Fast forward a week. I went to see the specialist, and do you know what the outcome was? All is well. Everything looked good. Everything looked fine. No tear. ACL in tact.

What are some other common things you may hear around our house?

• Instead of, "I have a headache." We say, "By Jesus stripes I am healed of this headache! Since headaches have a name, and EVERY NAME has to bow to the name of Jesus!"
• Instead of, "We don't have any money." We say, "We have more than enough because MY GOD shall supply all of MY needs according to HIS RICHES in glory!" 
• Instead of, "This situation doesn't look good." We say, "I have the favor of God and God even makes my mistakes to prosper."

Over the years, we have just chosen to find our answers in the Word. Has it seemed radical to some, I'm sure it has! But, it has brought VICTORY in our lives and in the situations we have gone through that we have chose to speak the WORD, instead of what looks like the situation really is. We have chose to speak those things that BE NOT as though they were! Like in Romans 4:17. If we feel sick, we speak we are healed and walk in divine health. If we have been broke or without money, we've spoke, we have MORE than enough because OUR GOD owns the cattle on 1,000 hills! We have just taken scripture and spoken it on our behalf and it has brought VICTORY to our lives!

I encourage you.... next time you are tempted to speak the grim circumstances that you may be going through.... choose to speak the WORD! Have GOD'S WORD and POWER work on your behalf! Did you know that the ANGELS are dispatched by the Word of God!??!!!! Angels are empowered to GO FORTH when the Word of God is spoken. I just choose to have them working on MY behalf, so I speak the WORD! :)

Have a blessed day!

#149 - Life is lived better in the NOW!

GUEST POST: Thank you Tyler for the guest post! It is definitely awesome!!! :)

Here are other ways to get great stuff from Tyler.....

Tyler's blog, go to: http://www.themccartteam.blogspot.com/

YouTube Channel for VLOG posts: Tyler H McCart You.Tube Channel

Tyler on Twitter: @TylerMcCart

___________________________

Hello everyone!! Just sitting here at Starbucks after I just finished interviewing someone for my business' expansion.

Amy and I had an interesting conversation over lunch today. It was sparked because I am helping a friend go thru a difficult situation in their life. This friend wants this situation to be over and to have complete victory in it. Well, it just seems that the situation is only getting worse and worse.

As i was sitting there with Amy at lunch, one of here favorite songs came on Pandora. It brought her back to laying on her bed at the age of 21 and wishing that God would open my eyes and see that she was suppose to me my wife. (BTW, Amy just finished her book about how we met and it will rock your world.) Obviously, I was in South Carolina and Amy was the last person on my mind. But I sure was on Amy's mind.

Well, as Amy was sharing this with me, it made me think of how much it related to my friend or really anybody wanting a situation to be resolved or a goal/dream to be met.

Here is the thought: When you want something to be resolved or a dream to come to pass in your life, we have the tendency to live in the future of when it will happen and while you are living in the future, you are miserable in your present, making you ineffective for anything that God needs for you to do. So here is the bottom line:

STOP LIVING IN YOUR FUTURE BECAUSE YOU WILL BE MISERABLE OR PARALYZED IN YOUR PRESENT!!

It is ok to have dreams/goals or desire a situation to be over, but you just can not live there, in that future place. I use to be there, in my future, all the time!! Misery!!!

This is WHY the LORD said:

1 Peter 5:7 (Amplified Bible)

7Casting 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 affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Amy was a classic example during that time she wanted God to wake me up. I gave Amy a scenerio of what would life have been like back then if an angel had came into her room that very moment and said, "Amy, why are you crying? Tyler will wake up on Dec. 23, 1999 and a year later you both will be married." Amy's response, "I would have probly looked forward to that day, but I would have not been so miserable."

Well, Amy had already been told by the Lord that I was the man she would marry, but the manifestation had not come. So, instead of just "Casting this whole care" (aka goal/dream or situation) on the Lord and leaving it alone. She sat on her bed miserable and begging God to change my heart. When God had already told her that it was going to happen and it was already DONE! All she had to do is literally put my on the shelf of her life and leave me there and go about her life and do the things God wanted her to do.

We all do this. We want that goal or situation to manifest in our life, so badly that we actually desire that more than the our relationship with God and doing what we were called to do. Therefore, by living in the future, you short circuit your relationship with God and you no longer are effective for the calling on your life.

Leave it with God and trust that He will bring the desired outcome to pass.

So please stop living in your future and start living in your present. Be fully present in your present. You and your Heavenly Father will have a much better relationship and you will enjoy your life more.

#148 - Thankful

My first words would be, it's late. But... in reality, it's not late. It's only 10:37. But.... here I sit, by myself. Myself, the keyboard and worship music streaming from Pandora. Everything else is quiet. Both my boys are asleep, and I sit here, eyes heavy, but just thankful. We had a long day. A day that was a bit waited for, planned, but dreaded. A day that Satan surely meant to discourage us, take our focus off our Father, but MY GOD REIGNS! We stayed focused. When the enemy wanted us to pull our eyes off the Father, we kept our eyes on Him. When the enemy tried to bring strife over the last 30 days, we chose to be understanding. When the enemy wanted us to point fingers, we said, "WE CAST ALL OUR CARES ON OUR FATHER!"

A full day. And GOD, MY FATHER came out VICTORIOUS!! HE WON! In the silence of my kitchen, I am just listening to the words streaming.... "Beautiful Jesus, Beautiful Saviour.... Perfect in Power... Nothing is greater.... Friend of Mine...." 


I sat tonight, while Tyler Junior patiently waited in his high chair for our gourmet dinner... pizza.... I just sang and danced in my kitchen. Eyes closed, arms out, singing and shouting HALLELUYAH! Tyler Junior just looked at me. He stopped eating his goldfish, and when I opened my eyes, he was smiling at me. Maybe to young to understand what I was doing, I know that since his spirit has been made in the image of the same God mine was, he was drawn to it. He was drawn to worship. He was drawn to praising the Father. My Father. Da-da. And the day will come when Tyler Junior makes the decision for himself to invite the Almighty God to live inside of him.... until then, I plan on drawing him in to desiring this relationship. That he would see the GOD that lives inside his mom & dad.... that he would want that same relationship. To be able to cast all his cares on this God. To be able to trust fully this God who will FULLY take care of him. To experience a love, that he would love more than life.

Tonight... singing with my arms out, for the first time in a month, I feel like my brain was finally released and FREE again. What was bogging down my mind.... the clutter, the pressure.... the enemy wanted so bad to put me in a place of bondage and fear. BUT PRAISE GOD! MY GOD IS VICTORIOUS! MY JESUS REIGNS! MY JESUS HAS DEFEATED DEATH, HELL AND THE VERY GRAVE!  MY JESUS HAS ALREADY WON! Because HE has won, I have won too! I mean, IMAGINE .... Jesus went to the cross. He WILLINGLY CHOSE the cross. He WILLINGLY CHOSE death. When He cried out to the Father, "TAKE THIS CUP FROM ME, NOT MY WILL, BUT YOUR WILL BE DONE!" He cried out! He knew what He was about to suffer! He KNEW and He STILL DID IT!!!! He still went to the cross! He STILL went and suffered for YOU and for ME! For Tyler Junior! For your children! For your grandchildren! For the love of your life- for your soul mate! Jesus CHOSE YOU! Before you even chose him, He chose to suffer and die for you! Isn't that amazing! Isn't it worth trusting Him? Isn't it worth surrendering?!


I'm just thankful. I'm just thankful for today. I'm thankful for now. Even with dishes in my sink and a cluttered kitchen table. I'm so thankful. How easy it can be to forget. How easy it can be to see all the chaos in front of us, the noise of life, that we completely miss the quiet moments like right now. The moments where our spouse goes to bed, not pressuring us to hurry up to bed with them. But a moment where time stands still and it's you, no worries, an uncluttered mind, worship music & the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

#147 - PLANT THAT WORD!!!

Good morning! I must say.... my apologies about some inconsistencies as of lately with posts. I slammed my finger in the garage door and for about a day and a half couldn't even touch anything without being in pain.... so typing was out of the question. Please say a prayer for my finger though! COMPLETE HEALING & NO PAIN! It's still a bit tender, but praise God, BY JESUS STRIPES I AM HEALED!


Alright... go with me to Mark chapter 4. 

 ³ Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
 ⁴ And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
 ⁵ And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
 ⁶ But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
 ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
 ⁸ And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
 ¹⁴ The sower soweth the word.
 ¹⁵ And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

This parable I'm sure many of you are familiar with... it's a very popular one. I wanted to share an experience where this was real in my life.... just one of many stories I could tell. 


Tyler woke up one morning and told me, "Hey, the Holy Spirit told me that this morning we are going to lay hands on *Mark, and he's going to be healed." So... I was excited about that. Mark had been in the hospital and recovering, but was unable to walk. He was using a wheelchair or walker, or any assistance he could use, but could not walk on his own. Well, praise God, today was the day he would walk! 


We arrived at his house, sat down and Tyler asked him if he would like to be healed. Tears welled up in his eyes and he said "Yes." As Tyler went through some scripture, he firmly agreed with the Word. He was excited. He believed that the power of Jesus could still heal today! He stood up with the assistance of a walker and we laid hands on him and began to pray. We prayed. We thanked God. We put God in remembrance of His Word and we rejoiced! Mark received!!!  As we came to a close in the prayer, Mark stepped away from the walker. We made sure he was careful. But he said, I CAN WALK! He took a step forward without help, then took a step backwards without help. He was laughing and crying all at the same time. Then he took several steps forward and even jogged in place! He was so excited! He was jogging in place! He told us he wanted to go up the stairs, he hadn't been able to do that in months. Mark made his way to the stairs, and flawlessly made his way up, and then back down. He was shouting he was so excited! Tears streamed down his face. This was really happening. 


We all went back to the living room for Tyler & I to get ready to leave... I'm sure Tyler gave him some parting instructions, we rejoiced with him and then were on our way. 


Later we found out that Mark did not keep walking.... sure he walks today. It was like he relapsed into the same state he was in when we had first arrived. That brings me to the whole point of today's devotion. When you receive something new or a revelation from the Lord, it is CRUCIAL that you begin to FIRMLY PLANT that Word in your heart! It is crucial that you begin to meditate, ponder, and just pour in, pour in, pour in the Word! That you get that new revelation so PLANTED & GROUNDED that NOTHING or NO ONE can take it away from you. 


What happened with Mark? The WORD, in regards to healing, was not firmly planted in his heart. And we know what happens next when the word is planted... right? The THIEF IMMEDIATELY comes to STEAL the Word. In this case, when the thief came to steal the Word, he walked in and stole the word right from Mark with no fight. That is what Satan does! He comes to STEAL, KILL & DESTROY! 


I have had to really fight this recently. The idea of PLANTING FIRMLY new revelations that I have received from the Lord. I have WATCHED the enemy come and try to STEAL these truths right out from under my feet. BUT, I am FIGHTING! I am fighting to keep these truths and revelations that I received. But it takes a CONSTANT, SOLID, FIRM, CONSISTENT, STUBBORN effort to PLANT the Word. Continue to PLANT! PLANT! PLANT! Plant the Word so deep that the roots can not come up! Plant the Word so thoroughly that the truths are there for good! And NOTHING can shake your tree! Like the palm tree in a hurricane.... it may bend, but it doesn't break! God made it to withstand fierce winds and storms. God made US to withstand the enemy too! We have EVERYTHING we need to WIN! AND.... JESUS HAS ALREADY DEFEATED HIM! JESUS HAS ALREADY WON, so WE have already won! 


But... I encourage you.... get those truths, those revelations firmly planted. Don't let the enemy come and steal them from you, because THAT my friend is what he is going to try to do! Be ready! PLANT THAT WORD!!!

* Name Changed.

#146 - My God SHALL SUPPLY!

Good morning! Man! It feels so good to have gotten a really good night sleep. I just feel great this morning! My husband took me out for my birthday last night, so that was nice. We had a great time and enjoyed a yummy dinner at one of our favorites, Carrabba's. 


Well... we're going to change things up a little bit with these devotions. As the Lord leads, I'm just going to uncover some truths I/we've learned along the way. Some of those truths that really either built our faith or rocked our foundation. SO... I hope you enjoy. Our Proverbs/Psalms journey has temporarily come to an end, but feel free to continue reading them. 

Phil. 4:19 - And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 

I was in college, this was over 10 years ago that the realization of this truth first became alive to me. So will you travel back with me.... it was somewhere around 1999.


Indiana Tournament of Champions. One day. 9 events & scholarship money to the top 4 contenders. This would be the 3rd year that I participated, and I was coming back as the returning Champion. The previous year, I had walked away with the grand prize of $2500 in scholarship money, and boy did that help. My track and cross country scholarships did not pay for everything, so I worked through college, had loans, applied for grants, and looked for any type of scholarships I could acquire. 


This year, this time it was different. For some reason, over the last month I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to just dig into the Word. In my flesh, it seemed natural that I should be training, I should be practicing. Swimming, tennis, running, basketball, golf... I should be working on my skills. I really needed that $2500.  But, this time, this year, I wasn't released to spend all that time practicing. Matthew. The Holy Spirit had me just devouring the book of Matthew. I was reading it. And re-reading it. It was becoming real and alive to me. Mornings at my parents house, out by the pool, sitting in the gazebo just taking notes, journaling, reading. A whole month worth. 


I traveled to Michigan to a friends graduation reception. Her uncle had come in from Las Vegas.... wouldn't you know, that one night we were in the living room and the door opened and he just began asking questions about God, Jesus... about specific things I had been reading and studying for the whole month. Each question went right back to an area in Matthew where I had studied, and I was able to share, chapter & verse, answers to his questions. I believed I was placed there for that time, ready, prepared to share with him. 


Back home... the Saturday had come. The Tournament of Champions was here. I returned, the hope of another victory in my heart. I really needed this money for school. As the day flew by, event after event, it all came to a close. Me, the returning Champion, turned in a 4th place performance. $500. I got in my car and the tears began to come. They were streaming down my face. I remember banging on my steering wheel. "LORD! I needed that money! I need that for school!" 


Tears streaming down my face, I drove home, stopped at the mail box on my way in the drive. An envelope addressed to me caught my attention. I opened it. Inside was a check for $2500. 'Congratulations. You have received this grant for school.' Tears began to stream again. The Lord hadn't forgotten me. It wasn't his plan for me to win the Tournament of Champions this year. He had provided! 


And Phil. 4:19 was real to me, AND MY GOD shall LIBERALLY supply ALL of my needs according to HIS RICHES in glory in Christ Jesus! Praise the Lord! It hadn't happened how I thought it would, but God had supplied and met more than my need. He had LIBERALLY supplied me. I was so thankful. What a wonderful lesson. And I have continued to watch His Word be real and alive to me. His Word come to life. His Word be true! 


So today.... will you trust. Will you trust that God WILL supply your need! He won't let you down.