THEN SINGS MY SOUL SATURDAY...I will praise you in this storm

PSALM 71:8

" Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day."

WHEN DO YOU GIVE PRAISE TO GOD?

When everything is going good? When the doctor gives you a good report? When all of your bills are paid?

HOW ABOUT WHEN THINGS AREN'T SO GOOD.

Do you give God praise in your sickness? How about when life is crashing in on you?

Today it is my prayer that even in the midst of a storm that my lips will praise Him and that He will be glorified! Instead of looking at my difficulty, may I see His glory in the middle of my situation.

Going thru a difficult time right now?

Having a hard time finding praise and glory in your situation?

WATCH THIS VIDEO AND SEEK GOD IN YOUR STORM...

(make sure you mute my blog music on the side bar before listening to this video!)

Please visit SIGNS, MIRACLES and WONDERS for other worshipful hearts!

THANKFUL THURSDAY...thirst quencher

ARE YOU THIRSTY?

We are in the heat of the summer, which means one thing - THIRST! It doesn't take too long here in the south, to be outdoors and get parched.

Have you ever been so parched that your lips, mouth and tongue were dry? It is an awful feeling! To be so thirsty and have nothing cold to drink. (Just the thought of it makes me thirsty!)

When I am really, really thirsty, there are only

3 things that will quench me:

1. a tall glass of ice cold lemonade

2. a chilled glass of sierra mist

3. a bottom-less glass of ice cold water

ahhhhhhhhhh....

how

refreshing

it is!

Today on THANKFUL THURSDAY, I would like to share my grateful heart for the things that quench my thirst, not just physically but spiritually!

Just as my physical is refreshed with the fountain, so is my spirit:

ISAIAH 12:2-3
" I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and song; He is my salvation. Oh, the joy of drinking deeply from the Fountain of Salvation."

Where do you go when your spirit is dry and parched?

I GO TO THE FOUNTAIN,

WHERE THE

RIVER NEVER RUNS DRY!

Today I am giving thanks for the refreshment that sweeps over my spirit when I basque in His presence. His love and peace sweeps over me and I am satisified.

"Dear Lord; THANK YOU for providing me with Your Word and Your promises! I ask that you give me such a longing, such a thirst to have more of you! May I feel refreshed by
spending time with You."

Please join me over at STING MY HEART as we all share our grateful hearts!

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN...a piece of my heart

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CONFUSED

BY SOMETHING

SOMEONE HAS SAID TO YOU?

I find myself confused EVERY DAY, mostly when I talk to my teen daughter. Teens today have their own language that they speak.

Recently, my family was sitting around the table discussing our day events. After hearing a story retold from our son, Anna questioned him by saying "WHAT?" So my son repeated what he had said, only to hear "WHAT" again. Frustrated with his sister, Jordan said, "Anna I am NOT going to repeat it - you heard what I said!" Anna responded, "I didn't mean what WHAT, I mean what WHO"

Why didn't she just SAY who?

Teens definitely have their own language that they speak. Why don't they just say what they mean? Have you ever received a text message from your teen and replied back to them with ?HUH? Because you were not understanding what they had just said to you in their text message.

WHAT DO THEY MEAN WHEN THEY SAY THIS...

2g2bt....too good to be true

BFF....best friends forever

IDK...i don't know

P911....parent alert

ttyl...talk to you later

l8er...later

Teens are not the only ones who need to say what they mean. How many times as Christians do we say things that are confusing or contradicting to what we mean...

"I'll call you later" ....but never intend to

"How are you?" ....but don't want to hear about the ailments, a simple "fine" will suffice

"I'll pray for you"....but we don't because of lack of memory or lack of commitment

1 CORINTHIANS 14:9
"unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken?"

Why don't we just SAY what we mean?

James tells us the answer to this question. He says we are double-minded and unstable in all our ways. (James 1:8)

When we speak - what are others hearing?

Do we lack wisdom in our speech?

James 1:5

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Jesus warns us to not be double-tongued, so today I am reminded to be aware of what I am saying and to speak with understanding for those who hear.

"Dear Lord -Thank you for the wisdom that you give. Today I ask that you give me wisdom and clear understanding when I speak. Allow those who listen to me, to have understanding of what I am saying. Help me Lord, to not say one thing and do another. Help me to be a woman of my word." AMEN

and that's a piece of my heart today!

"DON'T BE CAUGHT" ...July 6th devotion

Thank you for joining me for this week's devotion. It is my prayer that your heart will be challenged and changed from Gods Word!

Jesus said, "Therefore be alert, since you don't know what day your Lord is coming." But what are we to look for? and what are we supposed to do until we see what we are looking for? Should we be looking for parting clouds?Or the arrival of someone in biblical dress?

Scripture tells us to look to the second coming of Christ. We should be alert to that because only then will God be able to finish His plan for creation and fully establish His kingdom of love and righteousness.

MATTHEW 24:42-51
"Therefore be alert, since you don't know what day your Lord is coming. (43) But know this: if the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. (44) This is why you also should get ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (45) Who then is a faithful and sensible slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? (46)Blessed is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find working. (47)I assure you: He will put him in charge of all his possessions. (48)But if that wicked slave says in his heart, 'My master is delayed' (49) and starts to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, (50)that slave's master will come on a day he does not expect and at a time he does not know. (51)He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hyprocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT WATCHING AND WAITING?

In last week's YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question, "What are you most likely to do when something takes you by surprise?" The poll results showed the top 3 as being...

71% of those polled said they would make adjustments.
14% voted and said they would panic!
14% also voted and said the surprise would cause them to remain calm.

No doubt, in our day to day routine, we come up on surprises in our lives. How we react is more important than the actual surprise. In some cases, we can prepare ourselves ahead of time before the surprise happens. Have you ever been the recipient of a "surprise" birthday party but you caught wind of it before hand? What did you do? Did you act surprised anyway?

KEEPING OUR EYES OPEN TO CHRIST

Christians should not be SURPRISED at the physical return of Christ, for His Word tells us in the book of Revelation that this is going to happen. Being alert to Christ, however, is more than looking for the second coming. It must include being able to see Christ in the suffering of those around us.

In Matthew 25:31-46, Christ warns us that when we neglect to do something for a person in need, it is the same as neglecting to do it for Him. In fact, He said that those who neglect seeing Him in the needy around them are liable to eternal punishment. Now that calls for ALERTNESS!
A significant part of the parable I quoted above is where Jesus tells us in the book of Matthew that the slave who is put in charge, is put in charge to care for the other slaves. Instead he abused them. Once he determined that the master was not coming back for awhile, he started to beat his fellow slaves (vs. 49) His concern towards his fellow slaves seemed to only be intact when the master was present and when he was under the masters watchful eye.

If we are to be servant leaders, we need to be the one who cares for those around us, regardless of whether or not someone else is watching. Our ultimate goal in caring for others cannot be "Christ might return" but rather "Christ calls us to love others as if we are caring for Him."

DO YOU SNEAK THINGS WHEN NOBODY IS LOOKING?

* would you sneak some extra dessert?

* would you drink milk straight out of the jug?

* would you speed past the limit on the highway?

* have you taken office supplies for personal use?

* when nobody is looking, do you pick your nose?

* behind someones back, do you make fun of them?

If you have blurry vision or a difficulty seeing with your physical eye - most likely you will go to the doctor for an eye check up.

WHAT ABOUT WHEN WE DON'T SEE WELL FROM A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE?

Is there an "eye test" for it? There really isn't a standardized test for that, but, we do need to monitor how watchful we are being.

Would you pass the vision test when it comes to caring for others like you would care for Christ?

Does your behaviour reflect your belief that God is always watching and supervising?

DON'T BE CAUGHT SURPRISED BY CHRIST'S RETURN!

PLEASE VOTE IN THIS WEEKS POLL AND CHECK OUT THE NEW BIBLE QUIZ ON THE SIDE BAR.

THEN SINGS MY SOUL SATURDAY...Above all (crucified)

JOHN 8:36

"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed".

On this Independence Day, I am grateful not only for the sacrifices of our American soldiers and our forefathers, but, I am thankful for the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for you and for me at Calvary!

Watch this beautiful song and video "ABOVE ALL - CRUCIFIED"

(make sure you scroll down to my music on the side
and mute the blog music before playing this TSMSS video)

Please visit AMY at http://signsmiraclesandwonders.blogspot.com/ to view other THEN SINGS MY SOUL SATURDAY videos.

Blessings, Laurie

THANKFUL THURSDAY...freedom

I had this thankful Thursday post written ahead of time and when I went over to Iris blog and found that she wrote about the same thing ... FREEDOM, no doubt God is reminding us that we have so much to be thankful for!

Once a week, I join IRIS and all of the THANKFUL THURSDAY participants in giving thanks. So far, I have not even gotten close to running out of things to be thankful for. Isn't God good to us?

On this THANKFUL THURSDAY, I would be totally amiss if I did not give thanks to God for the freedoms that as Americans we are so fortunate to have. Independence Day is the American national holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Popular activities on this day include barbecuing and fireworks.

I wonder how often we take the time to stop eating our corn on the cob or lighting our firecrackers to reflect on what this day, July 4th, stands for. Our freedom!

I AM THANKFUL FOR

OUR FREEDOM...

FREEDOM to have my voice heard thru voting in elections!

FREEDOM to come and go without having police barricades stopping me!

FREEDOM to lay my head on my pillow at night without hearing bombing and shelling!

FREEDOM to have a Bible in my home (out in the open) and be able to read it!

FREEDOM to worship my Lord without being persecuted, stoned or killed for doing so!

FREEDOM that our soldiers are fighting for each and every day!

FREEDOM...I do not take IT for granted!

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR

THIS INDEPENDENCE DAY?

Join IRIS and other THANKFUL HEARTS over at http://www.eph2810.com/

With a GRATEFUL heart;

Laurie

REACH FOR IT...a piece of my heart

A PIECE OF MY HEART

PEACE is something that originates from God and is available to us under any condition, including our present circumstances!

Today my heart is burdened as I spend time in prayer over so many dear friends that are facing difficult circumstances. cancer, loss of a loved one, unsaved children, marriage problems, surgery, drug addiction, loneliness, depression, loss of a job. These are all things that some of my friends are facing right now.

Earlier I was on the phone with one of my dear friends who is heartbroken over choices that one of her children is making. Choices of drug use, and erratic behaviour. Bad choices many times affect more than just the one making the choices. Listening to my friend on the phone, I realized one thing, We are just one step away from this place her son is in. We are just one choice away. The enemy is such a liar! The enemy is such a thief! Satan has a hold on our loved ones...and I don't know about you, but I am tired of it! We have a choice today to make...are we going to take a stand for our families and fight back or are we going to relinquish our power to the enemy?

What choice will you make today?

JOHN 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

2 THESSALONIANS 3:16 "Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all."

If you are facing a difficult situation today, I want to encourage you to stand strong in your faith. There is nothing impossible for God. Nothing is too big or too much for His strong, loving arms. Look around you, isn't Gods creation incredible? and to think He created everything on earth in just 7 days! If He could do ALL of that in just a week, what could your situation in Gods hands become?

PEACE IS WITHIN REACH,

ARE YOU REACHING FOR IT?

and that's a piece of my heart today;

Blessings, Laurie