Everything I Need

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear…” Psalms 46:1-2a KJV

Some agendas were laid on my heart for 2012. Willing, I feel enthusiasm. Fear grips me as well. The challenges and limitations of my health issues are major obstacles, roadblocks, and inadequacies. I am reminded of Moses who could not speak, Paul’s unknown “thorn in the flesh,” and a shepherd boy who killed a giant with a stone. Everything they needed, God provided as they yielded to His will.

In looking over my own life, I see God’s strength sustain me through every difficulty; a refuge when I am weak; my help in living with challenge. I only need to be willing to His calling, not qualified. Confirmation came in two unexpected ways. Friday I received a pamphlet in the mail I shouldn’t have received with some helpful resources and possible opportunities for the matters in my heart.

This morning, the first part of my devotions concluded with the following poem while this song played in the background. With God, nothing is coincidental.

“Lord, thank you for your strength and refuge, for your comfort and assurance when I am afraid. Thank you for the Biblical examples of ordinary men acting on faith, affirmation of what You can do when I seek your will with a willing heart. Help me to continually trust you. You are everything I need. Amen.”

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The Will of God

The will of God will never take you,
Where the grace of God cannot keep you,
Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs,
Where the power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the Spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the army of God cannot protect you,
Where the hands of God cannot mold you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you,
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.

Everything happens for a purpose. We may not see the wisdom of it all now, but trust and believe in God that everything is for the best.

~Author unknown

Lisa Copen submitted this poem. She is the founder of Rest Ministries and lives with rheumatoid arthritis. (I love their devotionals.)

New Day’s Resolution

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalms 51:10

At the gym last week, I met a sister in Christ. I began a conversation. “You know next week this place is going to be packed.” Not understanding my comment, she asked me why.

“New year’s resolutions. Everyone wants to get into shape, lose weight.” I informed her from my memory of last January’s well-intentioned. As the year went by, familiar faces gradually disappeared.

Laughing she said, “I make mine simple, things I can keep. I only want to be closer to Him.”

“That is my goal too, to be closer to God. I keep trying.”

At home, I thought more about our conversation, my response, and what I hoped to do to get closer to God this year. Jolted by the realization everyone views a new year as “the” new beginning, I was reminded each day is a new beginning. Often I fall short of the mark, stumble, fall, or fail. It would be so easy to give up, just quit.

I know my God loves me, forgives me, and renews my spirit whenever I ask him. My resolution for a closer relationship should not be just for the new year, but a morning prayer for the fresh beginning of each new day, my new day’s resolution.

“Lord, thank you for forgiving me when I fail and lifting me when I fall. Cleanse my heart and renew my spirit. Help me to stay right with you. Amen.”

Reason For The Season

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Christmas morning I celebrated the birth of Christ in worship. One comment by the pastor became a conscious revelation to me. Christmas is not just about the birth of baby Jesus, but Jesus the Savior. Christmas was always the stable, shepherds and star to me. Thoughts of the cross and resurrection were Easter themes in my mind. Bethlehem led to the cross. The cross led to my redemption, my salvation.

A common mantra at Christmas is “Jesus is the reason for the season.” We celebrate His birth. The first Christmas gift was from God to us, a gift of love, His son Jesus. With the birth of Jesus, God’s gave mankind His promise of hope and salvation, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are His reason.

“Lord, I thank you for your love, for the gift of your Son, for this special time of year to reflect, for saving me. Help me as I make you my reason for living.” Amen.

This song was my favorite this Christmas.

All By Yourself?

“…I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:20

I mentioned to my girlfriend from church some things I was planning, some things that I had done.  Shocked, she responded, “All by yourself?”

During my recent hometown Thanksgiving visit, I ran into my best childhood girlfriend at Kroger.  In catching up, she asked  where my children lived, where I lived.  When I shared our different states of residence she incredulously replied, “You are there all by yourself?

I am compromised and challenged with autoimmune illnesses, brittle diabetes and Stiff Person Syndrome–so the enormity of “by myself.”  I always thought I was trusting God to care for me, but my faith was entrusted more in those around me.  When my faith in people proved to be temporary, undependable, or a desperate security, I had to look deep within myself questioning how sincere was my trust in God.   Did I really trust Him completely?

Trusting in people more than God created problems in my life: isolation, dysfunctional dependency, depression.   I claimed His promise, “I am with you always,” and moved into my first home “all by myself.”  Completely alone, I spent a year of emotional introspection, fear, and experienced a few episodes of full-body spasm on the floor with only one name to call out, “Jesus.”

I was not alone.  In that year I developed a new closeness in my personal relationship with God that continues to grow with daily blessings and lessons.  He is healing my broken life with wisdom, forgiveness, and dreams for my future.  In moments of public symptom struggles, He has always provided an angel to help me in my need.  I am allowing God to put the right people in my life according to His will, not my choices clouded by fear or insecurity.

“All by myself?” I am never alone.  The Lord is with me always…”to the end of the world.”

Lord, I thank you for your love, comfort, and strength; for always being with me.”

Copyright © 2011

God’s Gifts

God’s Gifts

I gave Him my weakness.  He gave me strength.

I gave Him my worry.  He gave me peace.

I gave Him my doubt. He gave me assurance.

I gave Him my pain. He gave me comfort.

I gave Him my tears. He gave me joy.

I gave Him my bitterness. He gave me compassion.

I gave Him my anger. He gave me forgiveness.

I give Him my despair. He gave me hope.

I gave Him my defeat. He gave me triumph.

I gave Him me. He gave me love. He gave me life.

© Debra A. Richardson

Who Am I?

“I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.” ~Psalms 71:7

2010 will be noted in my memory as one of the hardest years of my life…and one of the most revealing. Living with the daily physical struggles and misunderstandings of debilitating illness, my identity and life purpose became muddied with the additional tumult of external issues in my life. Drowning in the sludge, my soul became void and I lost me in blackness.

I was completely alone…without family near or a single friend. Like Elijah, God nurtured my spirit in my solitude of lonely despair, caring for me, healing my spirit, loving me. Leaning only on God, I immersed myself in prayer and scripture. He revealed His presence by being with me during the struggles of living alone with my illnesses, my strength. I felt His warm embrace when I sobbed in prayer, my comfort. Emotionally broken, I felt His love, my healing.

Who am I? I am a child of my Savior. His creation. A wonder. I am Debbie. He is my strong refuge and I am unconditionally loved. I am His.

(Click watch on youtube link to access this song.)

Mary Did You Know?

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

Jesus is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas.

Another Interview With God

Five Finger Prayer

Five Finger Prayer
by Author Unknown

1. Your thumb is nearest to you.
So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a “sweet duty.”

2. The next finger is the pointing finger.
Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger.
It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God’s guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger.
Surprising to many is the fact, that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all.
Which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, “The least shall be the greatest among you. ” Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself..By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Fear Of The Future

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” ~Psalms 27:1~

Diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder and having diabetes, my future is filled with grim reality. I understand diabetic complications and am regularly reminded with erratic sugar highs and lows. As my neurological disorder is rare, prognosis is not clearly understood. Having lived through some very difficult times, it is easy to take stability for granted. Good times can make me spiritually complacent.

My SPS kicked into overdrive for a couple of days, rendering me to the distant familiarity of painful crawling on the floor. Fear took over and worry followed. Consumed with future negative ‘what ifs,’ I lost sight of who holds my future…whatever it may be. Turns out, it was just a couple of bad days, but a necessary reminder.

The Lord is my salvation and strength. Why should I fear?