Author: daisyrayofsunshine

Not always

Do you know the Lord has a perfect plan for your life? He wants to use you, but it’s not always going to look the way you expect it to look. I am completely humbled by the opportunity to write today. And I mean COMPLETELY humbled by the Lord! Two months ago, Mrs. Daisy so graciously asked me if I would be willing to write a devotion for this page. As I had a baby due in one month, I didn’t want to commit to a date sooner than that and then the baby decide to make an early arrival, so I asked to push it back to now. For some reason, I thought I would remember without putting a reminder on my phone, but I have terrible mom brain, and didn’t remember that I made this commitment until Mrs. Daisy texted me, “I need your picture, bio, and devotion by tomorrow, thanks!”

I immediately felt sick to my stomach that I had completely forgotten. Then I heard the Lord speak to me. “You have been asking me to use you as a vessel; here’s your opportunity. You don’t have time to make up eloquent words on your own, so lean completely on me.” Wow! YES, LORD. So here goes…

Many of you know the story of Joseph found in Genesis 37-50. For the sake of time, I am going to borrow part of Stephen’s sermon found in Acts 7. Stephen summarized the text for us.

“Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.”

“Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.” Acts 7:9-15 (If you don’t know the details of this story, I would encourage you to go read in Genesis.)

What can we learn about forgiveness, God’s providence, and why He would want to use little ol’ me (us) for furthering His Kingdom? What we can learn is that when we step back and view our lives through a biblical or Godly lens, we can give forgiveness and have peace knowing that God has a perfect plan for us. We can forgive our wrong-doers knowing that God didn’t use them for evil, but that He used evil to bring about goodness and provision in our lives. We forgive because He first forgave us. He is THE God of possible. He is not a God who only lives in the moment, but He lives in the past, He’s with us in the present, and He is planning our future. When you commit your life to Christ, it doesn’t stop there! He wants to take you further than you’ve ever been in His presence. He is calling you for more! Don’t let un-forgiveness and bitterness hold you back from stepping into the calling that God has on your life.

When God says to Move

Like many educators, I find myself burnt out. I’m tired of carrying the burdens of the world, the pressure of my job, and the stress of raising a family in a broken world. I’m also a little fed up with the normalization of sin. What is wrong with the world? How can I pull myself out of the darkness and feel hopeful again?

Like me, hundreds of thousands of teachers are running on empty or left the profession altogether. We are losing good, God-fearing teachers every day.

Being a classroom teacher has never been more challenging. Teaching in the information age means we are up to our eyeballs in data, differentiation, IEPs, accommodations, unprecedented behavior problems, and a global pandemic.

Teachers have been through the wringer. And what solutions have been offered? Not much besides the age-old jeans pass, and the ludicrous panacea called “self-care.” Even a pay raise isn’t enough to keep teachers from burning out.

How do we keep good teachers from giving up and throwing in the towel? Well, teachers are asked to be superheroes every day. What we need is supernatural healing, restoration, and inspiration.

We must remember this is not about what we can do but what HE can do.

There is only one solution for dry, thirsty, burned-out teachers—the living, restorative water of Jesus. Of course, this thirst-quenching love isn’t just for teachers but anyone seeking Him.

When I began to seek the presence of God in a more purposeful way, He gave me a renewed hunger for the Word and a thirst for the Holy Spirit. The deeper I went, the more I heard that still, small voice telling me to share this with teachers–telling me to move!

What happens when God says, “MOVE?” You pray! And hopefully, you are swiftly obedient. I am moving into a new calling. Part of that call is starting a new Instagram account to support teachers with the love of Jesus (@JesusLovesTeachers).

I want to encourage educators who have lost hope in their calling. And if you hear that still, small voice pushing you to do something, I pray you are obedient. What God has in store for us is so much better than anything we could imagine. I can’t wait to see where He is leading us!

the good soil

We’ve all seen the famous picture, “The Last Supper.”

The tables hold plates of food,, the wine glasses are full, and the Passover feast is being served. The seats are only on one side of the table (as we know of course) and there sit the twelve disciples and Jesus.

Out of nowhere, Jesus gets up from the table, grabs a basin of water, a towel, and kneels down at the feet of the disciples. One by one, Jesus washes their feet…including Judas Iscariot, the one who would betray Him.

In that moment, the symbol of Christ changed from a manger to a water basin and dirty piece of cloth. In that moment, Jesus gave us the ultimate example of how we are to love our enemies.

Here at Grace College, I go to class to study and learn about the Bible. From stories of heroes like Elijah to doing word studies, I have definitely been taught new details, meanings, and lessons to be learned about the Bible and about Jesus.

As we were going through the New Testament, we looked at the leadership style of Jesus. He was gentle yet had a point to make. He was humble, yet confident in who He was. He was kind but didn’t stand for sin, and He had a goal to lead others towards. He was and is the very definition of good, gentle, humble, and caring.

Knowing this, it’s not surprising that He knelt down to wash Judas’s feet.

This part of the passage really stood out to me. Of course I don’t have anyone trying to sell me to the Romans for a few pieces of silver, but there are definitely those who make life just a little harder sometimes. We all have these people in our lives, especially when our main goal in life is to further the kingdom of God. These “difficult” people could be coworkers, peers, classmates, past friends, or the ones sitting in front of you at church (yes lol, I went there:)). Regardless of who they are, we are still called to love and serve them.

In John 13:2, it states that Jesus knew that the devil had already put it into Judas’s heart to betray him and yet He did not separate him from the rest of the disciples while washing feet. He could have easily lectured Judas or stun him with a snarky comment but He simply knelt

So, why does this matter to us? How is this relevant to my “difficult” person, the one I find it challenging to be around?

Well, the answer lies within the Parable of the Sower and in Luke 6.

In the Parable of the Sower, there are different soils in which a seed falls into. The rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the good soil. As the parable says, the seed that fell into the thorny soil did not grow because it got choked out by the weeds and thorns surrounding it. The seed that fell into the rocky soil sprouted only to be uprooted because its roots were too shallow and weak. Lastly, the seed in the good soil bloomed and thrived.

Trying to love others like Christ loves them without being planted in good soil is like trying to breathe in outer space. It simply is impossible – without the right equipment. Therefore, dealing with our “difficult” person is going to be impossible if we don’t have our proper equipment – a strong foundation built upon Christ. In Luke 6:27, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.

If Jesus can wash Judas’s feet, the least we can do is pray for our “difficult” people. We don’t know what all they are going through and we don’t know their home life. But we do know someone who could bring them joy and peace and purpose and that is Jesus.

If you have a difficult person in your life, pray for them and ask for God to give you peace, patience, and guidance on how to love them. For some, it might look like a water basin and towel. For others, it might look like self-control or even filtering what we say to them. All in all, just pray for them and for God to use you as a seed planter.

We all can be difficult sometimes, so think about those who might be praying for you and then add on to the trend:)

John 13:1-15

Luke:27

Matthew 13

Treat your self

Things stay busy for me. To be sure, I’m not a victim of my busyness. I choose it. I have an extroverted, highly productive personality, and I like to keep my days full. On top of that, I am raising two small kids and working full time (and then some) to coordinate a large nursing program. I joke with people saying that I’m a firefighter. Part of my role as a parent and a program coordinator is putting out fires I didn’t start, solving everyone else’s problems. When the day finally calms, I don’t want to do anything that makes me think so I usually fill my mind with a random book or TV show. Maybe I binge some snacks. Over time, I have bought into this idea that rest will be found in this place that lacks structure and discipline. After all, I deserve this, right? In Psalm 23:3, King David says, “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The reality is that God is inviting me to a place of restoration that only comes from Him. There is a temptation to buy in to the world’s version of rest, which is sometimes just a fancy word for sin. God knows that only He can provide what we need, and it will not be found in a self-serving heart. No amount of “treating yourself” will restore our souls. Restoration will be found as we humbly let the Father lead us on paths of righteousness. May we not take the bait to check out after a long day or believe that we deserve to sin. We tend to reserve that word for the “big” things, but that’s how the enemy gets us. Binge eating at the drive through and reading a trashy romance novel can be just as deadly as cocaine. Don’t flirt with destruction. The only way we can provide Living Water to fight the daily fires is to allow the Father to fill the well from which we draw. Beloved, the world needs the Living Water that God wants to pour out of you.

Above all

An excerpt from an advice book given to my 12 year old daughter:

“Above all… love yourself! Loving yourself and learning to accept all your quirks is…. truly the most important thing you can do to boost your self-esteem. Whether you start by recognizing the little things or completely fall head over heels for your fabulous self, you can start your journey to promote self-love.”

I threw it away. 

I thought about just ending this whole piece with the aforementioned statement. But somewhere between “mic drop” and “well, that was arrogant,” it may be helpful to see why I responded that way. 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” 

“…For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

“‘You shall shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”

“‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

I cannot reconcile the two messages. Can you see the dilemma? I cannot possibly love myself above all AND love God above all (“with all my heart/strength/mind/might/soul”). So, this means I have to choose. I’m tempted to say this issue is layered and complicated, but really, it isn’t. This isn’t about human dignity or value. The heart of the problem here is a problem with the heart. If I love myself above all else, then nothing else matters. If I love myself above all else, then nothing else matters, because loving myself is the only thing that matters. 

How can we commit to Love Ourselves Above All Else and Love the Lord our God With ALL of Our Everything? We can’t. It seems that loving all involved with a whole-hearted “die for the whole world” kind of love belongs to God alone. So, human love doesn’t have the capacity to engulf ourselves in a whole-hearted love that also gives the same attention and affection to something bigger and more superior to us simultaneously. To love something above all means I’m going to go head first and forsake other things because what I’m pursuing out of love is most important. If I teach my daughter that she is number one and to “love herself above all,” then that also means that the lesser thing is forsaken. If she’s first, then God cannot be. If I’m first, then God cannot be. 

Know what the ironic thing is here? When God is first, all these other things are added to us.** The other ironic thing? In order for us to love ourselves above all else, unable to commit to loving God above all, then we do the one thing that God promises to never do, which for Him, is to never leave nor forsake us  (Hebrews 13:5). If I want my daughter to be kind, compassionate, considerate, and a host of other desirable characteristics including loving, then how could I possibly expect that her pursuing “self-love” above all is going to produce an outward focused human? 

Throwing away books might not be your thing. But… what message is taking up space on your shelves? That poor book. I did toss it and not only that, but I took liberty to re-write the author’s paragraph using a different Book I own. Now, you try. 

“Above all.. love the Lord your God! Loving yourself and learning your quirks is… truly the most important thing you need to surrender. Whether you start by expressing gratitude or completely fall head over heels for the God who created you, you can start your journey to living a life built on a strong foundation.” 

*Deuteronomy 6:5, Deuteronomy 13:3, Deuteronomy 30:6, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27

**Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Ashley Behn

business:: https://www.facebook.com/ashleybehnembroidery/

blog:: https://mommentarybyashleybehn.wordpress.com

Sing

In every season I have a reason to sing.

Let me start by saying that I am NOT a singer.

I have zero musical bones in my body.

Regardless, I have learned to sing to my King.

I have always loved singing along with worship music.

I let it play in the background of my quiet times.

I keep K-LOVE on in my car.

I have some go-to favorites:

“Worthy of it All” by David Brymer

“Standing in Miracles” by Emmy Rose

“I Can’t Get Away” by Melissa Helser Naomi Raine

Worshipping along to pre-recorded songs and written words gives Him glory and honor, but there have been times when no predetermined lyric could quite reach the depths of my spirit.

When my four-day-old son was rushed to Texas Children’s in an ambulance.

When I walked through the deepest, darkest season of depression.

When I finally broke free from anxiety-induced drinking.

No words previously written could have captured my own spirit and soul.

No worship song already released properly relayed my message to God.

We were made that way.

We were created to sing our own songs.

We were made to worship from within our own spirit.

So, I just started singing.

It started out very simply.

I repeated words that resonated with me from other songs. While the worship team continued to the chorus, I sometimes stayed on the bridge, repeating the words that sparked my spirit.

Then, I began worshiping with instrumental music. I let the sounds wash over me as I waited for a song to spring up from within. Little by little, I sang words of worship strung together. Songs that were specific to my season, straight from my Savior, to be sung to my Savior.

In a time of waiting and longing, I sang this:

“I believe You will do it.

I will trust You through it.

I will praise You to it.

God, I know you are moving.

You are my victory, you defeat the enemy.

You have overcome, you said it was done.

So, I will believe. I will praise.

I will honor you all of my days.”

Over and over, I could come back to these words.

While I did the dishes. On my way to work.

“I believe You will do it.”

In a season of loneliness, isolation, and uncertainty, I sang:

“I’ve been wandering, wondering

where you went, where you have been.

I don’t feel the same. I’ve lost my flame.”

Something supernatural happens when we

open our mouths and let our message out.

We connect with God in a deep, intimate way.

We build our faith and strengthen our spirit.

We worship Him in spirit and truth.

Colossians 3:16 says, Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

There is a song inside of you.

There is a song inside of me.

And He wants us to sing.

You have words of worship in this season.

You have a voice that He wants to hear.

Your praise is a testimony of His presence.

You may simply sing, “You are here. You are near.”

Your worship is a way to wait.

You may sing, “I will wait for You. I will wait for a breakthrough.:

Your song is a plea for peace.

You may sing, “Still the water. Calm the sea. Won’t You draw near to me?”

You may just sing, “Jesus.”

No matter your season, sing.

Sing in your waiting, healing, grieving, wondering, resting, weariness.

Sing your song of deliverance, hope, waiting, believing, thanksgiving.

Psalm 96:1

Sing a new song to the Lord;

Let the whole earth sing to the Lord.

Psalm 40:3

He put a new song in my mouth,

A hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

And they will trust in the Lord.

Be there

I

Be where your feet are.

The other day I was scrolling through social media and saw this quote. I thought it was simple yet profound. I have always been a “planner.” I like to-do lists, structure, calendars – basically anything that makes it seem as though I know what I am doing and have it together. I often like to focus on the future instead of the here and now so it goes without saying that when I read this quote it made me stop and think.

So often we get caught up in our future, goals, and plans – which is a good thing in most instances – until we allow it to consume us. We think to ourselves “in *fill in the blank amount of time* I will achieve *fill in the blank* and THEN I will be happy – THEN is when I will feel as though I am making a difference, THEN I will happier, THEN everything will just be BETTER. When I check off everything on my to-do list, when the house is clean, when I get my dream car – whatever it is that I am wanting in this moment – when I finally get that thing I will be happy.

For as long as I can remember, I have also always been a person that wanted to matter – truly matter. I’ve always been in constant pursuit of doing whatever it would look like to matter – to someone, to the world, to God. I believed that I had to be hustling toward the next best thing to prove my value.

“Be where your feet are” is a constant reminder, a way to remind myself to look around and acknowledge where I am, the people I am around, and the community that I have been blessed to be a part of. It is something that is simple enough that I can whisper this under my breath and remind me to live in this moment. To remind me that God put me here for a reason. He put you here, wherever “here” is for you for a REASON.

Without fail, when I turn from distractions, God always shows me moments that He handcrafted for me. They’re there waiting for me. I just need to step into them. We are living in a time great mental, emotional and even physical stress. We have survived so much as a people that it is often hard to simply just ✨be✨. With social media constantly in our faces, we feel as thought we have to prove something to others constantly. It is easy to get distracted from hearing that still, small voice that is telling us to live in this moment and be who God has called us to be. God did not call you to be your neighbor – He called you to LOVE your neighbor. Wherever you are, whatever you do – you have the God-given power to change the lives around you in either a positive or negative way. So choose to speak life into your neighbor – choose to live in this moment – choose to bloom where God has planted you and above all – choose to be where your feet are.

I am here to say that God wants to work in you TODAY. TODAY is the day that the Lord has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Below is a quote that I wanted to share from a book that I have been reading that I feel really shows the power in “being where your feet are.”

“When we hang out on the internet instead of our neighborhoods, when we look through magazines instead of into people’s eyes, when we dwell on our own problems instead of the problems in our communities – we will always feel inadequate and shut down. We begin to feel like there are so many people doing cool things that we are not needed. But in the real world none of those cool people live on your street, none of them are loving your neighbors. God wants to do that through you TODAY…”

He that has began a good work in us WILL bring it to completion! (Philippians 1:6)

“Now to him and who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” -Ephesians 3:20-21

Psalm 25:4-5, “Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” 👣🌻🪴

My blog: themadisonjade.blogspot.com

You can

I felt deep within my soul last night that somebody needed a pep talk.

Here it goes. Pretend we are face to face.

Now, don’t you dare say you can’t do hard things. You can.

You can because He did. And He is living within you.

Life is hard. Being a Christian is hard.

But hard is rewarding.

Whatever you’re going through today – whatever mountain your are trudging up – He is with you. Walking beside you. Guiding you. Rooting for you.

You can do this, sister. You can do hard things.

“Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up.”

Galatians 6:9

He’s there

We once were all lost, but now we are found.

Sometimes we just need to ask ourselves what has Jesus saved us from today? He’s everywhere. Rooting for you. Protecting you. Fulfilling promises. Do you trust in him? At times I believe we need to remember just how mighty he is. Dig into scripture to find out. Look around to see him working. He’s there.

“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.” Romans 4:20-21 NLT

God is a God of life.
God is a God forgiveness.
God is a God of rescue.

We serve a God that keeps on saving. I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful God didn’t just save me once and move along. He keeps pursing us. He keeps saving us. Do you trust in him?

In this world full of tribulations, You have to know who you are. You have to know what God’s word says about you. You have to be so rooted in scripture you know regardless of how your world is around you, your faith will not waver.

“I praise you being I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14

If you don’t know this today, know that you are redeemed. You are made new by Christ. Believe this today. You are walking in love because you are loved. Commit your life to Jesus. Who you used to be is not who you are.

God is a God of faithfulness.
I hope you trust in him today.

Don’t

This last week a friend and I went and saw Jesus Revolution. It’s such a great movie! I recommend watching if you haven’t already.

A quote from the movie really hit me.

“how can they believe in the one whom they’ve not heard?”

It really got me because I feel like we take for granted the opportunities we have to share the Gospel.

Everyday we go out. We go to the grocery store, the gas station, to work, school, to church. And if you don’t go out then you’re probably on social media at some point.

All of those things are chances to share God’s love.

Don’t miss this.

We are called to share the Gospel. To share what Jesus did for all of us.

And if you are living out the Word of God then you will want others to be able to experience God’s love too!

It should be a desire to share Jesus.

Go grow the Kingdom and share the love of Jesus.

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV