Count the Ways...

Can you believe we are at the conclusion of yet another year? Where does the time go? I can remember December 31, 2004 so vividly, and now another year has come full circle. Tonight I will be celebrating New Year's at my church at our annual watch night service. It is so fun! We spend the time in praise, prayer, fellowship, and thanksgiving. All day I have sensed the Lord wooing me into His presence, and once I stopped what I was doing, I was so blessed by His words to me.

As I was thanking God for a wonderful year, God challenged me to go month by month and thank Him for one thing He did in my life. Immeditaely as I wrote January, February, March, April...God's blessings and provisions came back to mind so vividly, I even remembered things I had forgotten about. It was such a wonderful reminder of God's invisible hand interwoven in my life this year from January through December.

I want to encourage you to spend some time over the next couple of days meditating on the ways God has blessed you in 2005. As you count the ways from January through December, remember to count it all joy!

Happy New Year!!!!

Daily Devotional Ideas

Many of us have the desire to spend quality devotional time with the Lord, but don't know how to do it or where to begin. Don't be discouraged, and whatever you do, don't neglect your personal time spent with the Lord, for it is a litmus test of relationships you have with others.

Here are some suggestions of how to spend your daily devotional time:

1. Keep a prayer journal-This is a good way to log all of your prayer requests and it serves as a way to think about God's goodness. It's also neat to look back over your journal and see how God answered your prayers or met your needs.

2. Study the book of Proverbs in a month- This book has 31 chapters. Read a chapter a day corresponding with the calendar date. For example, read chapter 14 since today is December 14th. Jot down personal notes over each chapter and ask God for His wisdom in your life.

3. Worship- Get out your favorite worship CD and spend your time focused on the goodnes of God. Remember worship of God begins with Him, not us!

4. Select one verse and study it for a week- This is really fun. This week I have been studying Phil. 4:6-8. I began by just observing the passages, then I journaled some thoughts regarding the passage, and I prayed for God to help clarify the meaning of the passage. Be patient with the Word of God. One single passage is full of so many things.

5. Write a note of encouragement for someone else-You may know of someone who is going through a rough time, or maybe you want to thank someone for being a special friend. Hand write them a note and afterwards pray for that individual in every area of their life. It's a great way to take the focus off yourself and to lift up another brother or sister in Christ.


These are just some of my ideas of what I do during my devotional time. What about you? How do you spend your devotional time with the Lord?

Or maybe you don't spend time with the Lord...it's ok, you can start today!

It is finished!

I've been slaving over my term paper in my role of women in ministry class, and I am proud to announce that (drum roll please...)

It is finished!!!

It has taken me days, and hours to flesh through this and I have finally completed it. It was so freeing to write and study about all of the great women throughout the Bible and to read words of affrimation from Jesus in regard to serving Him. I literally wept upon completion. I was so humbled while writing that God would use me, a sinner saved by grace, as a vessel to do His work! I'll be posting my paper after I turn it in next week and if I get a good grade, I'll even share that with you too!

Lord of the Ring

Well, my friends, it has now been over two weeks, and the ringing in my ear unfortunately is still occuring. I'm not sure what the problem is. The medication did not stop the ringing. My ear does not hurt, and I have not lost any hearing in my ear. Through more research I learned that taking ginkgo biloba helps with tinnitus. Maybe that will help, if indeed tinnitus is what I am suffering from. The other night when I was studying in the silence it seemed like it was a freight train running through my head. Out of my frustration I prayed, "Lord, take this away!!!!" As I sat there reading, God whispered to me,

"I am Lord of the ring!"

I couldn't help but to smile and chuckle to myself. Then I thought about how much truth there is in that statement. When God told Moses to go to Pharoah, He told them, "Tell them I am that I am sent you."

God is the Great I AM. He is whatever you need Him to be.

You need healing? He is the Great Physician.

You need a friend? He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

You need financial breakthrough? He is Jehovah Jireh, My Provider.

You need guidance? He is the Good Shephard.

You need salvation? He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light.

You need sustenance? He is the Bread of Life.

You and I are trusting Him for so many things. Aren't you glad that we serve a God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ever imagined?

Trust the Great I Am, my friend.