All work and no play!

Sometimes, I can get so wrapped up in what is going on around me in life that I forget that "playing" (or relaxing) should be part of my routine. Especially during the holiday season. Thinking ahead of all that needs to done already has my heart racing and wondering how in the world am I going to get it all accomplished!

All work and no play is not what God had in mind when He spoke about having joy in our life. Sometimes we just need to put other things and other people aside and just focus on His goodness and His beauty. He has made a world so beautiful for us to enjoy, but when we get so wrapped up in "life" ... we sometimes miss out on the pleasures that He has given us.

Once a year, we go on vacation. It is sometimes the highlight of the year. We work hard all year in anticipation of our summer vacation. But just this past week, I was reminded that my time of "relaxing" doesn't have to be just one week out of the year. I don't have to burn myself out with "all work and no play", every now and then I could turn the vacuum off and sit down and read a book, or close my blog page and click on a favorite computer game. Going on a short bike ride or a quick walk can also bring some relaxation into my life.

ECCLESIASTES 3:11 "God made everything beautiful in itself and it its time." (MSG)

Are we too busy to even recognize the beauty of Gods hand around us? Are we so consumed with the holiday Christmas list that we miss out on the stars in the sky or the fresh snow just fallen on the trees? God's beauty is all around us to soak in and bring rest to our spirit and body ... take time today to enjoy it!

Liquid Love

When you fill up a glass full of milk or any other beverage ... what is inside the glass is what will come out. This thought reminds me of when God filled me with His Spirit ... it felt like He had filled me with liquid love.

God did something inside of me, and what I was feeling inside is what showed up on the outside of me. I felt happier. I loved more. I had the ability to forgive. I became more patient. Grace was not so hard for me to extend to others.

Having this kind of change inside of us is much like going to the beverage stand at the restuarant where you can just keep refilling and refilling your drink. God's liquid love is never ending as He continues to fill us as we seek Him.

Is your glass of "liquid love" full or empty? Ask God today to renew, restore and re-fill you! And He will.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new."

Thanksgiving table

Today I have shared the following devotion over at

Laced With Grace. For daily devotions, you can visit http://lacedwithgrace.com/ .

If we could look in the window of our neighbor, I wonder what kind of table we would see this Thanksgiving Day?

•  The widow who just recently lost her soul mate of 49 years, sitting at her table alone, staring at the empty seat across from her.
•  The young mother and her two children, join hands and not only pray for their meal but for the safe return of their husband and father from war over at Iraq.
•  The elderly man, bows and prays and thanks God for the last piece of bread that he is about to eat.

 So many of us will gather around our table this day, joined with our family and friends and enjoy in a feast that seems never ending. While at the same time, people all over will have nothing to eat or have no-one to share their dinner with, much like the examples I gave above. No matter what your table may look like this Thanksgiving day, gratitude is indeed in our attitude.

  Paul is a man in the Bible that truly had an attitude of gratitude! While in prison, Paul and Silas were praying and singing and it is during this time that Paul expressed is gratitude in a language. A language of worship that is. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he encouraged them to share all of their worries and concerns to God. Not only did Paul instruct them to give it all to God but he also implored them to do it with thankfulness.

 Paul knew, all too well, that this often-missing ingredient (thankfulness) would change the perspective of so many. Consider how thankfulness lightens your perspective. For Paul, being thankful kept his focus on what was good, true, just, pure and lovely, instead of on the chains of his circumstances. As a result, Paul felt the peace of God.

Maybe you are experiencing some anxiety this Thanksgiving day, Paul is not suggesting that we love the cause of our anxiety, but what he is saying is that we can find God’s peace when we take time to stop and worship Him! Some of the awfulness of this world will not entirely go away, but suddenly it will seem smaller or even more manageable if we seek His peace.

  PSALM 95:2 “Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!”

 Gratitude is a beautiful way to bring your worries down to size…no matter what your table looks like this day, speak in “gratitude language” to God and give Him Praise!

  Have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Find more grateful hearts over at THANKFUL THURSDAY...Iris is our host this month.

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD ... thru thick and thin

Hollywood likes to depict love stories in such a way that shows that young adults, well mostly young male adults, have a great fear of committment. Lack of committment is not something that we only see in relationships, but often times we see a lack of committment at the workplaces. Sticking with a job for a "lifetime" is a rarity today. As soon as one finds a better and more rewarding job, we tend to move on. Isn't that sometimes the same attitude people have when it comes to relationships.

People yearn for relationships that will take them thru thick and thin. You know the kind that shows that someone will stick by you no matter what!

LOYALTY ... the ingredient needed for surviving thru thick and thin.

The story of Ruth and her relationship with her mother-in-law, Naomi, is a beautiful story depicting what loyalty is.

RUTH 1:16 "But Ruth replied, Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will by my people and your God my God. (17) Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried."

So many times, we look at our relationships as "what's in it for me?" Marriages fail because they no longer seem "fullfilling" and at the same time we leave jobs because "our needs are not met". The lesson about loyalty that Ruth teaches us is that the value of relationships will take us far beyond "self-interest".

The saying "We will stick together thru thick and thin" needs to be revamped and preserved. Jesus tells us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. What an awesome example of loyalty shown to us thru His committment and love towards mankind.

Thru thick and thin ... stay committed and be a loyal friend, relative and servant.

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD is a weekly post where I share my heart about a recent personal study. This week I was studying Ruth and doing a word study on Loyalty. It is my prayer that I will show myself loyal and be all I can be for Christ thru "thick and thin." -God Bless

A PIECE OF MY HEART ... potatoes can be heavy!

Have you ever noticed how heavy a big bag of potatoes can be? This week as I picked up a bag, I was reminded of a experiment that I read about that a jr high teacher attempted...

The teacher asked her students to bring a clear plastic bag along with a sack of potatoes with them to class. Then, for every person that each student refused to forgive in life, they were to choose a potato and write their name and the date on the potato and place it in the clear plastic bag.

As you can imagine, some of the students bags became quite heavy. The teacher asked the students to carry their bag around with them everywhere they went for a week. They took it with them on the school bus, they placed the bags on their nightstands at night, the bags even went with them when they went to the mall.

It didn't take long before these bags of "potatoes" became a hassle to carry around. And it didn't take too much longer for some of the potatoes to begin to rot and become a nasty, smelly slime.

This teacher taught an awesome lesson here on what unforgiveness can do to someone. Not only does unforgiveness weigh us down (like the sack of potatoes), but before long, having unforgiveness in our heart towards others can begin to give out a bad odor, and become soft and funky looking much like a fungus.

MATTHEW 6:14 "If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."

Sometimes, we are like this story .... needlessly lugging around a sack of potatoes! This Thanksgiving week, I wonder if there is someone that you need to forgive? Why not extend the gift of forgiveness to someone and remember that carrying around potatoes can begin to get really heavy!

and that's a piece of my heart today;

How much do I trust Him?

TRUSTING GOD? The answer to that question is something that I have been searching for. Like many of you, I WANT to trust Him, but the question is HOW MUCH do I trust Him?

Did I trust Him recently when I had to rush my child to the hospital?
Did I trust Him when I had to take a cut in pay?

Will I trust Him when it looks like I won't have healthcare anymore?

Sometimes things around us just look bad. We wonder how in the world are we going to make it this year? this month? How are we going to make it thru this day! But I assure you ... God has a plan for our world and He has a plan for our lives!

He does not do things by accident, He is willful and intentional. Sometimes we cannot understand His purposes but that is because we are human and have limited understanding. But God ... He has unlimited power and in Him is where I place my trust!

"When we get to a place where it can't be done unless God does it, God WILL do it!" - Vance Havner

Are you worrying about something today?

Are you fearful of what is to come?

Trust God ... He is in control!

JOB 11:7-9 "Can you understand the secrets of God? His limits are higher than the heavens; you cannot reach them! They are deeper than the grave; you cannot understand them! His limits are longer than the earth and wider than the sea."

Part-time labor?

I am so fortunate to be self employed. One of the greatest perks of being my own boss is setting my own hours and working part-time while pulling a full-time paycheck. As much as I enjoy working part-time, following God is NOT a part-time lifestyle!

The Bible clearly teaches that we are to be cautious AT ALL TIMES because the devil looks for opportunities to devour us. (1 Peter 5:8) God gives us grace though to withstand the devil. He empowers us to be rooted, stay strong, be immovable and remain determined to face whatever may come our way. It is in His strength that we can become strong.

Part-time labor can be desirable but not in building the kingdom of God! May we not become weary of laboring for Him!