I know full well that the hwy between home and church is bumpy; yet, Sunday after Sunday I choose to bring an open-lid coffee mug in the car with me. Inevitably, the trip ends with spilled coffee on my Sunday best.
I know the end result.
Yet.
Yet I choose to do the same thing over and over and over and over. Week after week. Sunday after Sunday.
Why?
Because I’m a hardheaded human.
Because I am human.
And well, oftentimes humans just do dumb things.
We know the consequences. We know that the end result could be detrimental to our shirt or far worse; yet, we carry the coffee [and our sin] all lackadaisical like we don’t have a care [or a prayer] in the world.
We’ve got to do better.
On purpose.
With intentionality.
We’ve got to decide wholeheartedly that we – for lack of a better word – are not gonna act like a dummy.
Knowing the right choice to make is easy; making the right choice is so much harder. The truth of the matter is that the only foreseeable way to be successful on this road called life is with God being at the center of all we do.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Though we may feel incomplete we are complete in Him, and He loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without a compass, God’s love encompasses us completely…..He loves everyone of us, even when we feel flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful or broken. His love is never ending…❤️
He doesn’t leave us as orphans…
He cries with us in our pain and grief…
We can’t earn His love…
We love because God first loved us. 1 John 4:19
Reading The Holy Bible everyday and applying it to your life on a daily basis will bring breakthrough…
let those who love your salvation continually say,
“The Lord is great!”—Psalm 40:16
Those who look to him are radiant with joy;
their faces will never be ashamed.—Psalm 34:5
Young lions lack food and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord
will not lack any good thing.—Psalm 34:10
It’s Black Friday! I don’t know what you usually do on Black Friday, but I spend the day out and about. For a few years, it was all about finding the best bargains. As time progressed, it became a day shared in laughter with friends and family and not so much about what I could get at a bargain price. I’ve discovered that Black Friday is one of the best people watching days of the year. It’s also a day to find the oddest clothing or trinkets that you never knew you or your friends needed. You don’t have to look hard to find things that cause one to smile or laugh on Black Friday, but you do have to look.
That’s the way it is with God. We want to see His goodness, but we don’t look. We spend so much time looking at ourselves that we don’t see the blessings and joy God gives us. Seeing God’s goodness requires that we get out of ourselves. We must seek Him. When we open our eyes to God, we see the greatest gift ever offered, salvation. When we open our hearts and receive that gift, joy will be abundant. That joy is a result of God’s grace, love, mercy, and abundant blessings found in seeking Him.
Unlike the smiles and laughter of my Black Friday experiences, we don’t have to wait for a special day to enjoy the blessings of God. Abundant joy is always available when we look to the Father and have an intimate relationship with Him. Seeking Him will bring the greatest joy we can experience in this life!
Listen, you’ve got to stop worrying if people are going to think you are posting too much about Jesus.
If they feel that way then they are the one with the issue – not you.
If you feel that little nudge to post something then you better post it. That one post may be an instrumental piece of the change that someone is longing for in their life.
Just one person.
And guess what? They may not even click that little like button. They may never message you and say because of that post …
It’s not about the likes, and it’s not about the thank you.
It’s about spreading the gospel.
It’s about obedience.
Post about Jesus, y’all.
Testify.
Share His story.
It’s what He told us to do.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16
The past few weeks of my life have been filled with joy, exhaustion and peace. Sounds pretty nice, but none of these feelings came from myself or what took place. They came as the consequence of the growth in my faith.
At the start of the school year, I made a promise to God that I would become a mentor to some of the new kids coming to our youth group. This was a promise to try to be a mentor as Paul was to Timothy. I targeted a friend group of 7th and 8th grade girls to start a small group. We talk about our week, the lesson, share prayer requests and pray for each other. As you can imagine, a room full of junior high girls can get crazy sometimes, but they honestly have been a great representation of what growing faith should look like. We are a group of ten to fifteen girls, sitting in a room, talking to and about Jesus.
One random Wednesday night, one of the girls spoke up and said she was struggling with reading her bible and praying. Without hesitation, they started coming up with bible study topics, books of the bible that were good places to start reading and even tips on how to stay focused while praying. I was taken aback a little because I did not expect for this group of young teens to be so ready and excited to help a sister grow her faith in Christ. The only thought that ran through my mind was, “These seventh grade girls are so hungry and fired up for the Lord…I want to be like them.” These girls encouraged me to improve my faith simply by growing their own and God used them to inspire today’s devotional. It’s funny how the mentor to mentee relationship works!:)
So my question today is what are you doing, not only as part of a group, but as an individual to grow your faith and get closer to Christ?
God grabbed my attention this week with Proverbs 13:20 – “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” We as teachers, leaders, mothers and friends should always pursue growing our faith. We should look for the opportunity to walk with the wise and to become the people who are walked with. Seek out those who will encourage and support you, nurturing your growth.
As leaders, we are heard, watched and observed at all times. Our lives and actions provide examples and outlines that impact the growth in our sister’s faith. So what do your actions and words say about your faith? Are you a sister that is wise or a fool?
Growing faith requires investment, commitment and determination. My encouragement to you is to not let the fear of, as my coaches say, “putting in the work” diminish your desire to grow your faith. A phrase my parents and I always use is, “when you pray for a hole and God gives you a shovel, don’t be afraid to get some calluses.” In other words, if you want to grow your faith and God gives you a time to pray or a time to read His word, use it to the fullest!
No matter what your age, no matter where you are in your faith walk, we are called to continue to grow in our faith. Even more we should strive to help our sisters in Christ to grow their faith as we all walk this road together.
Are happiness and joy the same? The answer is a big “NO”!! We often get the two confused, but they come from completely different places.
Happiness depends on what happens, in other words our circumstances at the moment. It is an external feeling that can leave just as quickly as it is felt. Joy is internal, it comes from deep within our spirit, from the Lord, and is ours forever.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” John 15:11
One of the most important ways to have this complete joy is to have an attitude of full surrender to God. The closer our relationship with Christ the more our joy increases. He gives us the power to rejoice even when our circumstances aren’t what we would want.
If we are seeking God and praising Him during our trials, burdens, sorrows, losses, sicknesses etc., He provides us with the strength to endure. We may not always carry the smile that comes with happiness, but our spirit can be content and at peace in knowing that He watches over us and helps us during these moments in life.
“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
As christians we have a forever joy in our spirit, so the devil wants nothing more than to steal our joy in every circumstance. We have to stay alert and remember our attitude of praise and thankfulness will help us fight the urge to give up and give in. That is why we must make sure we are in close fellowship with the Lord at all times.
Our sin can also steal our joy. When we fall into a sin it causes a division between us and God. That is where our obedience to the Lord comes in. Be aware if you start to feel your joy slipping.
Have you neglected time with the Lord? Is your focus on things of this world? Is there a sin you don’t want to let go of? Ask the Lord to show you what is causing you to lose your joy, then ask Him to help you overcome the obstacle and to restore your joy.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12
We can have joy everyday in every circumstance just by remembering our joy is in our salvation. What is more wonderful, as christians, than rejoicing in the hope that our names are written in Heaven? We can have full confidence in God’s word and pass that on to others. The joy of our salvation gives us the opportunity to win people to Jesus. It is proof that what we have is real and that it satisfies, praise God!!!!! The Lord rejoices in every sinner saved, Hallelujah!!!!!
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10
Here ya go. If I need to fix anything let me know. Also, here’s a bio update to look more like everyone else’s.
Hi, I’m Tracy Baker. I was born and raised in Kountze, Texas and I’m still here living the dream. I love Jesus, I’m a wife, mom, GIgi, retired teacher/coach and have been a business owner alongside my husband for 23 years. All Glory to God.
For Rays of Sunshine 11/8
Years ago In a women’s Sunday School class we were discussing women in the Bible and how Jael killed Sisera with a tent peg (Judges 4:19). We made jokes that we should keep a tent peg in our purse for emergencies. Recently the Lord showed me that a tent peg is so much more.
(Zechariah 10:4) From them will come the cornerstone, From them the tent peg, From them the bow of battle, From them every ruler, all of them together. ( NASB )
After I read that verse that I know I’ve read before, the Lord stopped me in my tracks. Tent peg. I’ve always heard Jesus referred to as a cornerstone and I get it, vaguely. I don’t use cornerstones, my house doesn’t have one, so to me it’s just a general reference.
A tent peg is a different story. I’ve dealt with those firsthand. If you have every fought with a tent and lost then you get it. Or, if you ever left the bag with the stakes or pegs at home you get it. Without the pegs you just have a hot mess, but when you put those pegs in the corners and at the end of the guidelines you have a stable and secure shelter.
That’s a great analogy for a life with Christ. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior He brings stability and peace. We can rest in the fact that we have a security we can count on. Storms can blow and our little tent of life may sway a bit, but Jesus our tent peg always holds firm.
If you are on the outside looking in and wondering how this can be true, I pray you seek Jesus out today. He is right there waiting for you to come to Him.
Jesus didn’t give up on you, so you can’t give up on Him or anyone else.
I mean can you even imagine if Jesus were to stop? What if He didn’t die for you? What would you be doing now?
Think of every time you get mad at someone or something. You get really mad, maybe even say a few mean words. Maybe you even give up on them because of what they did. That person kept on doing the same thing that hurt you over and over again. But instead of forgiving and loving them, you just give up.
Guess who doesn’t do that? Jesus.
He didn’t give up on you. You keep on disobeying, you keep on not listening. But Jesus never gave up on you. Even when it hurt Him so badly He kept loving you.
So think of that everyday. Don’t give up on someone when they keep on hurting you.
Because where you be if Jesus gave up on you?
Romans 3:23, “ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Hebrews 13:1, “keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.”
◦ Let me share the message that has been on my heart for a few weeks now:
If you’re here to be popular then you are missing the mark. And the truth of the matter is the more you fall in love with Jesus the less you care about that mess anyways.
▪️If you’re serving God you don’t have time to count the [likes].
▪️If you’re in the word you don’t have time to listen to [words].
▪️If you are kingdom-minded there isn’t space between those two ears for [negativity].
Sisters, we don’t have time to worry about what others are doing or saying – the time is near. Jesus is coming. Let’s win souls for God.
Let’s be so focused on God that He is the only thing on our mind – and when that happens everything else will fall into place.
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1-2
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8
I was encouraging a friend of mine a few week’s ago to trust in the Lord’s plan. As my friend was facing life altering decisions where fear can quickly creep in, us as humans can have doubts and second guesses. Encouraging the reminder of trusting the Lord’s plan brought to my mind – why do we struggle so much to trust His plan? Is it because we think our plans are better? Less scarier? More comfortable?
His will be done. We cannot compete with it even if we try. So why do we?
Us Christians who have surrendered our ways to follow the Lord’s ways – why do we still try to figure it all out on our own? We gave our life to Him. It is not our life to figure out. It’s a life that belonged to Him in the beginning, and it belongs to Him now. We should not want it our way, but His way. I love the verse in Psalms and the key word it begins with. I will “instruct” you.
Merriam Webster defines “instruct” as: To give knowledge to. To teach, to train. To
provide information and advice.
How neat and comforting to serve a God that truly wanted to teach us His ways. While learning His ways, He will show us the way to go. You won’t be alone, and you will be counseled.
Limit the doubts, the second guesses, and lean into the one who wants to instruct you in the way you should go. He wants to be the light to your path and life.
I encourage you today to give your life to the Lord. When you do – give up your ways. Trust His ways. Trust His instruction and love to guide you – every step of the way.
Rays of Sunshine inc 