#231 - In Need of Some Confidence Today?

Proverbs 14:26 - In the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children shall always have a place of refuge.

Proverbs 31:30 - Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!

Today, are you in need of strength? Are you in need of strong confidence? Are you in need of just a knowing in your heart that everything is going to be OK? Maybe it's financial struggles, health challenges, relationship issues, marital struggles, tiredness, weariness, job challenges, lack of fulfillment, a family health challenge, a child who has gone astray from the Lord. Have you been doing things right and feel like it hasn't paid off? Have you been following the Lord, being faithful, and feel like it hasn't gotten you anywhere. You look at people who have done it "their own way" and feel like they have just catapulted in success and happiness. Do you need a strong confidence? Do you need that knowing that GOD is still GOD? That God is still on the throne and blesses HIS children for their faithfulness and obedience?  


Friend, God still is on the throne. And, God has a strength waiting for you that you've been desiring. He has that strong confidence available for you that you have been longing for. In 1 Chronicles 16, the chapter is filled with David directing the people to give praise to God... and HOW to give praise to God.  

1 Chronicles 16:7:12 - That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the LORD in this manner: ⁸ Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. ⁹ Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. ¹⁰ Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. ¹¹ Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. ¹² Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.....

As I write this, the song playing has these words ringing. "Shout out to God with a Voice of Triumph, Shout out to God with a Voice of Praise!" Are you waiting for that strong confidence? Choose today to receive it through reverent worship! Like in 1 Chronicles 16, Give praise to the Lord! Sing to him! Tell of His wonderful acts! Remind Him of what He has done for you! Give Him glory. Look to the Lord and HIS strength. 


Get alone. Allow yourself to have a time in reckless abandon to praising Him! Allow yourself to be taken away in worship. Allow yourself to get on your knees, to worship, to adore, to honor your Heavenly Father for all He has done and all He is doing. Maybe with your eyes, you do not see it. Maybe like Thomas, you want to put your fingers in the very holes of Jesus to know what He did was real. Maybe you want to SEE that God really is working.... but friend, allow your time in worship to SHOW God, to prove to Him that you CHOOSE to trust, even when you don't see. That you CHOOSE to trust, even when you can't touch the hole in his side, the holes in his feet & hands. Allow your worship to be a sacrifice of praise that says, "GOD, I trust you and what you are doing! I trust YOU and where you are taking me, even when I don't SEE the outcome yet. I surrender all to you."


As you praise Him, receive the peace and strong confidence that He has waiting there for you at the alter of praise. Everything IS going to be OK. Cast all of your cares upon Him, for He DOES care for you! Receive your confidence from His throne today!

#180 - Reverent Fear of the Lord

Good morning! Happy belated Mother's Day to all you moms out there! :) I pray you had a great day. I had a great day getting to spend time with my two favorite boys! :) Tyler Sr & Tyler Jr!

OK... let's get going today... more of a look into the life of who this Proverbs 31 woman is...

Proverbs 9:10a-11 - The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom... ¹¹For by me [Wisdom from God] your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.

Proverbs 31:30 - Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised! 

In Proverbs 9:10, the Hebrew further describes "fear" as: awesome thing, respect, reverence, piety. We're talking about having the utmost respect for the God Most High! The King of Kings. Though we can cry "Abba Father" and cry out to him as a Father figure, we also have a healthy respect for Him, there is a humility that would cause us to bow at His feet because He is so great. A worshipful respect, a worshipful honor, to hold Him up, highly exalted. This is honoring to our Father. I'm just briefly reminded of how Sarah called Abraham "lord" with a lower case "l". Now, don't get me wrong... I'm not going around calling Tyler, "lord", but the same feeling behind it is one of respect. A respect and honor. I know I have times with Tyler, where he is more of the person where I sit on his lap and get a hug, but equally so, I know he values and appreciates it when I show him respect as head of the home. When I value his opinion and recommendations instead of always "questioning" or "second guessing."

Bottom line, what is a great benefit to having a reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord? Proverbs 9:11 lets us know the great news! Those who fear the Lord, honor Him, respect Him, THEIR days shall be multiplied, the years of their life will be increased! Imagine this... living a good life, living a long life because you are a "good person", but then you add honor, respect, fear of the Lord to the equation and the already decently "long life" that you have is extended! Your years are increased! Time with loved ones is extended! Time to accomplish great things for the Kingdom, time to pour into your grandchildren or great grandchildren is increased. TIME. Fearing & honoring the Lord gives you a precious commodity that so many people long for more of, TIME!

Our Proverbs 31 friend has figured out a way to accomplish this. Proverbs 31:29 tells us that SHE excels them all! She excels ALL women! Verse 30 explains WHO will be praised. It's not the woman with a 6-pack set of abs, though our Proverbs 31 friend is in good health and physically fit. But it is the person who above all else, honors, respects & fears the Lord.

I took time this morning to just think about what that really means. What does it mean to "fear" the Lord, or show Him "reverence." I came up with a list that I think is a good start. Let me know what you would add.... what do you think?

• Obedience - One who is obedient to His Word shows him honor and respect. One who follows His commandments for our life. 
• Study - One who honors Him by KNOWING and STUDYING His Word. His direction for our life. 
• Love - I'm reminded of Jesus talking in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. In Matthew 5, Jesus talks about loving those who love you, don't even SINNERS do that? Jesus says, "But I tell you, Love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you." Later it talks about whatever you do for someone else, it is as if you are doing it TO Jesus himself. How are you treating even your enemies? Those people who get under your skin? The potential "thorn" in your side... how are you praying for them? Are you wishing evil upon them? Are you even praying for them? What does your heart look like when you pray for them? Ask God to give you compassion for them, to show you more into why they are acting as they are. 
• Praise - Honor & fearing the Lord through praising Him! Thanking Him. Through song, through your words, through offering thanks. 

Honor, respect, fear, obedience... I desire to let my Father know that I honor Him above all else. That I don't put anything in front of Him. That I fear Him out of respect. I humble myself out of respect for ALL He has done for me. For sending His ONLY Son just for me! In return, He blesses me & you even further by increasing the years of our life. What a blessing. 

So... today... can you attempt to honor, respect or fear the Lord in at least ONE way? Show Him today that above all else, like the Proverbs 31 woman, that you too have a reverent & worshipful fear of the Lord. 

#113 - Don't STAY Down!

Good morning! We have a full morning and a full day! The boy gets to go play today with his friend Harper! Hip Hip Horray! :) This will be a first for the boy and for mama! I will be going to have lunch with a friend & mentor which I'm excited about! Praise the Lord! Today's Word was much needed and refreshing, I think it will speak to a lot of you as well, so let's get started. 

Psalm 37:3-7a - Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.

    ⁴Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

    ⁵Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

    ⁶And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

    ⁷Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him...

Well, let me set the stage of this mornings devotion. Yesterday, things were going well... all until the evening. Daddy was with the boy, and I teach/coach/lead a class on Monday nights on Health & Fitness. Well... one thing led to another with my evening, what should be a great night because Mama is kind of "off duty" and free to do things by myself after my class, turned into a not so great evening. It all started with thoughts that led to some frustrations. It began something like this..... the need to make decisions of Christmas traditions started coming, thoughts about what we want with our "family" Christmas, how to make Jesus the most important and most evident reason why we celebrate Christmas, gifts, shopping, money, people that I would like to buy presents for, etc, etc, etc. During this spiral of thoughts it was like the devil was just reeling me in, tightening and tightening, causing me to dwell on things that made me not happy. I found myself in Dicks Sporting Goods looking at my favorite brand, Nike, and I was literally almost crying. Just from a series of thoughts. Which, since I was just dwelling on "myself" and "my thoughts" made me completely ineffective in the marketplace. "Ineffective?" You ask. How did that make me ineffective? Well, I know that I am called to be a light in a dark place. I am called to draw people to the light. Draw people to the solution. And I believe I have the solution. I have what people are looking for! Not only from a business perspective for those people who are needing and praying for a way to bring in an additional income stream, but most importantly I have to offer the KING OF KINGS to those who may not know Him. 


So, here I am driving home. You tell me if you have done this before... I'm driving home, feeling bad. Dwelling on things that made me feel even more depressed, and recognized what was going on. I very seldomly allow negative thoughts to penetrate my mind for long, and I realized these thoughts had been continuing. I then began to confess outloud my goals. I have "confessions" that I speak several times a day, and I know that you can not defeat thoughts with thoughts, you can only defeat thoughts with WORDS. (that's worth writing down!) You can not defeat thoughts with thoughts, you can ONLY defeat thoughts with WORDS! So I began confessing my goals. Confessing my affirmations. Confessing the WORD over my life. And after I finished doing it once, I did it again with more enthusiasm. I would like to say that I kept doing that... but I did it maybe several times, then I went back to driving with my thoughts. Negative started weighing me down again. My first thought was, "Who can I call that would be able to encourage me?" Then, from within my spirit, I heard, "Encourage yourself in the Lord." I know that as a believer we can not always count on someone else to "lift us up," sometimes we need to know how to encourage ourself in the Lord. (Don't get me wrong, I'm all about friends and positive people to speak into our lives, and I have them.) This time, I knew it was not a job for someone else. I knew that I needed to encourage myself in the Lord. I had remembered reading a few places in the Bible how to do that, praying in the Spirit, verbally thanking God for all He has done, spending time in Praise & Worship.... all of these things wage WAR against the enemy. 


When I got home, I honestly just wanted the day to be over. I wanted a new day. I didn't go to bed "happy." I was ready for the day to end. Then, this morning when I woke up the first thing that I wrote in my journal that I felt was directed by the Holy Spirit was, "Start over today." Last night, while I was out and even when I got home, I had felt like discouragement had made me loose my "Umph" about life. It got my eyes off of what was important. The Word today is such a perfect reminder! Let's look at it again! "Roll each care on Him" - "Delight yourself in the Lord and HE will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart!" PRAISE THE LORD! 


So, what did I do? I began to do just that. I began to list out each care I was rolling over to the Lord. "Lord, I roll this care on you........ I roll this care on you....... I roll this care on you.......... " And the list went on and on. I wrote it and I did it out loud! I rolled my dreams, my future, my desires, my cares, even my secret desires, I ROLLED them onto the Lord. Then I took a few minutes to listen.... One thing that the Holy Spirit told me that was pretty interesting was this, "Satan will try to use any tactic to get you down. He plays dirty & doesn't play fair. He will attack you at your weakness, not at your strength. He wants to keep you down long enough that you will stay down. To paralyze you, like a lame animal not able to move. You did right by encouraging yourself in Me. I will breathe life into you. I will remind you of what is true." 


Today, I encourage you.... don't let the Christmas obligations get the best of you. Don't let those things discourage or get you down. Whether it be shopping, presents, parties, family, friends.... Encourage yourself in the Lord. Remember that the true focus is Jesus. But also, keep this promise in front of you. Delight yourself in the Lord and HE will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart! HE WILL DO IT! The best is still coming! God has GREAT things in store for you! He has GREAT Blessings in store for you! ROLL EACH CARE onto Him and live in joy. Live a life blessing others and being a light. God has VERY VERY Great things in store for you! Defeat Satan! Don't let him get you or keep you down. Encourage yourself in the Lord! SING SING SING! PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE! THANK THANK THANK! 


I am STARTING OVER TODAY and you can too! 

XOXO,

        Amy J 

#76 - We Serve an "I DO" God

Blessings to you this morning. It is raining here in Columbia, SC. But, something about the rain just makes you feel at peace. Something about the rain is relaxing. Whether it be a "nap" day or "project" day... it makes you just want to do things out of the norm. Do you feel like that sometimes? As for me.... I started a FUN new project Saturday night. Daddy was out of town "helping the people" in Orlando, I put the boy to bed and I began. Began painting the room that is OFFICIALLY now Tyler Jr's play room. So much for a sitting room. It is now official. It is HIS ROOM! I painted yellow. 2 walls are yellow, then one wall is going to be red, one wall blue.... on the solid yellow wall I'm going to tape off and paint squares all over. Red, green & blue squares... in different sizes, different places.... no real order or symmetry... just something that looks neat! I have a friend, Amy.... she and her husband Curt are MASTERS at painting rooms to make them look EXTREMELY COOL! So... there it is... the inspiration! :) 


Well, let's start today... remember, if you want to follow along each day during your time in the Word, there is a "Bible Reading Schedule" tab that you can track with me! :)

Proverbs 27:23 - Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and look well to your herds.

Psalm 27:14 - Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord. 

Psalm 57:2 - I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me [Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!  

Psalm 147:10-11 - He delights not in the strength of the horse, nor does He take pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy and loving-kindness.

Proverbs 31:13 - She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands [to develop it]. 

In a nutshell.... know where your finances are, be diligent. Have faith in a God who will bring to pass His PURPOSE for you, He will COMPLETE it... HE will DO IT. Worship Him. Have faith in HIM over your mere 'works'. And be willing to DO. Be willing to WORK, develop whatever He has called you to do. 

Do you ever have things that come up... you knew in the back of your mind that they were coming... but it came and now took you a little by surprise. You now think... "OK... it's game time." You think, "It's time to put the pedal to the metal. It's time to get busy. It's time to do. It's time to really apply my faith." 

Well, I was reminded of that this morning. Praise the Lord that the WORD has it's way of helping us stay grounded. That the WORD reminds us what the Lord delights in, what HE takes pleasure in and it's not strength in our own abilities. It's not strength in what WE can do on our own, but it's the continual reverent worship & respect for the Lord. A respect. A humility. Humbling ourselves and reminding the God Almighty that we serve, "Yes God, YOU are MY ALL and ALL! YOU are THE ONLY One that I trust, serve and worship. My reliance is fully on You and You alone. Not my own strength, not my own ability, but Lord it is YOU!" That we get in a position, prostrate before the Lord. That we get in a position that says, "You are number one. I worship You. I honor You. I bow before You. I put my trust in You." Honestly, it has been a long time since I have done that. Just gotten on my knees, bowed my face to the ground and reminded God that it is HIM that I worship, it is HIM that I adore. 

Expect the Lord. Have a heart that is STOUT and ENDURING. "Lord, today may my heart be STOUT and ENDURING. Lord, TODAY, I am expecting you to __________________________. I thank You that YOU perform on my behalf! That YOU bring to pass YOUR PURPOSE for ME! That YOU help me live out my calling and that YOU COMPLETE IT! I rely NOT upon myself, but I rely FULLY on YOU! I cast my CALLING on YOU! I cast my talents on you. I cast my gifts on you, I cast ALL my cares upon you. I cast my future on you. I cast my desire to help people on you! And I THANK YOU that in YOUR WORD it says that YOU will complete it! That YOU will complete MY purpose for you. YOU WILL BRING IT TO COMPLETION and I do not have to try to figure it out! Thank You Father!"

This is what HE had to say....

"My desire is to be above everything else. To my children, my desire is to be their #1. When they thank and love me, when they bless me and respect me, it honors me. My desire is to want to do more when they have a thankful heart. When they express their love and gratitude. Bless me with your praise. But praise me not out of your need. Praise me out of your heart, out of your love. All is well. I am not a silent God to those who seek Me, to those I have a relationship with. I am the God that answers. That carries on a conversation. Sure, sometimes you don't need to know the 'how', just have faith that it is done. Have faith in Me, in MY ability to DO. Expect. Have faith. Do not waver, that is wasting your time and energy when your time and energy could be spent on completing your purpose for today. Do not worry. Do not fear. KNOW that I am an "I DO" God. I DO what needs to be done in YOUR life when you faithfully expect it. I DO IT. Have comfort. Take peace. Rest in the fact that it is DONE." 

Take this as YOUR WORD. Praise the LORD that we serve an I DO God! Now... I am going to spend some time and get before MY GOD and love Him! Serve Him and Worship Him. I'm going to get on my face and remind Him that HE is my first love.