Month: May 2013

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When You Can’t Go On…Go To God

Posted on by Paula Davis

Elijah was a great prophet and had seen great success through the power of God.

  • He declared there would be no rain on the land for several years until he spoke again. (1 Kings 17:1)
  • He saved a widow and her son through a few drops of oil and a handful of flour. (1 Kings 17:12-16)
  • He  had proven that His God was more powerful than Baal when he called down fire on a drenched altar. Then all the prophets of Baal had died at his hands. (1 Kings 18:20-40)

 

But despite all God had done through him Elijah spent. He was exhausted and afraid. He didn’t want to go on.

“I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. (1Kings 19:4b-5)

Have you ever been there? You believe you’ve followed God and seen some wonderful successes. But suddenly you’re so tired. You have had enough and don’t feel like you can make it through one more day.

God met Elijah there in the wilderness where he had run. God allowed Elijah to rest, fed him and gave him water to refresh him.

Then God spoke to Elijah.

He took him up to a mountain and told Elijah the presence of the Lord would pass by. There was a mighty wind. Then there was an earthquake and a fire. But God wasn’t in any of those. Next came a gentle whisper…the voice of God. Tender and loving, meeting Elijah in his distress.

God listened to Elijah, then spoke to him a promise of help…and sent him on his way.

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God listens to you too.

He hears every time you cry to Him. In the times you don’t understand and you don’t think you can go on you can expect to hear from Him. If you listen, God will feed you from His word, refresh you through others, and promise you help.

Then God will send you on your way. When you are refreshed and empowered by His Spirit you will go forward and see wonderful things happen once again.

Things more wonderful than you can imagine.

 

blessings and peace…
Paula

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What SHAPE Are You In?

Posted on by Paula Davis

Keeping our physical bodies in shape is so important. Once they are out of shape it can be a big (and exhausting) challenge to get them back into shape (trust me, I know…). We must work hard and be consistent to maintain a healthy physical body.

I was thinking today about a different kind of shape…

S piritually

H ealthy

A ttitudes and

P ersonal

E xpectations

Oftentimes we have very high expectations of ourselves as Christians. We expect perfection and forget about grace.

We steadfastly remember Matthew 5:48 ~ “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

We know we are to be like Christ and beat ourselves up when we are not. While this attitude may be noble it’s really not healthy.

I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of person. When I am working at getting back in shape and miss a couple of workouts I tend to get down on myself, throw in the towel so to speak and give up. I care less about how healthy I eat and become more sloth-like. Instead of correcting myself and starting fresh I give up.

Do you do this too?

How ’bout in your spiritual life?

If you miss your quiet time a couple of days, or don’t pray as diligently as you think you should do you get frustrated with yourself and let the time grow longer and longer between your time with Him? Do you spend more time beating yourself up than asking for God’s forgiveness and grace?

This has never been God’s intention for those He loves. Instead He asks us to look to Him for grace and forgiveness and start new again.

morning

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:23

So, just as I head out this morning to work on the shape of my physical body I look forward to returning home to work on my spiritual shape as well.

 

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I hope you’ll remember God’s grace and compassion this morning and look to Him to keep your attitudes and expectations healthy today.

blessings and peace to you as you work on your shapes!

Paula

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Delight ~ Words Worth Remembering Week #15

Posted on by Paula Davis

The Lord delights in those who fear Him,
 who put their hope in His unfailing love.
Psalm 147:11

 

DELIGHT

1: a high degree of gratification : joy; also : extreme satisfaction
2: something that gives great pleasure
What do you delight in?
Does it take something grand to bring you great pleasure
. . . or do you find joy in the simple things of life?
I have a little dog who loves to wander around the yard. She will sniff and sniff, then suddenly she stops – and down she goes!
 Photo07221316
She rolls and rolls, doing a dance of sorts and delighting in that sweet spot she has found.
And I delight in watching her.
This week’s verse says that God delights in those who fear Him…
But this fear He speaks of is a sense of awe, not to be afraid of Him.
Do you look at a sunrise or a sunset in awe of its beauty? God did that!
Do you find awe in the creation all around you? God’s responsible for that too!
God desires only good for those who love Him and longs to delight in us.
When we put our hope in Him, trusting in His love for us that will never fail that is just what He will do!
And maybe…just maybe He dances in Heaven with delight over each one of us.
Praying you will find delight in unexpected places today,
and that you bring delight to our Lord in the process!
blessings and peace to you!
Paula
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Prayer Changes Things

Posted on by Paula Davis

Today is the National Day of Prayer. It’s a wonderful reminder for Christians to renew our commitment to pray for each other, our country, and our world.

Lately I have been studying prayer and learning to grow closer to God as I spend more time with Him in prayer. The Lord still has much to teach me but I thought today I would share some of what I’ve learned about how prayer changes things.

prayer2

When I started seeking to deepen my prayer life I hoped to see God change things around me as I learned the ‘right’ way to pray. He has certainly changed things…just not exactly the way I thought!

Here are some changes I’ve seen so far:

A change in PERSPECTIVE
As I draw closer to God in prayer and allow Him to purify my heart and open my eyes I see things differently. Through prayer the Holy Spirit shows me things my human-self can’t see. Hidden hurts that are masked with anger or intimidation, growth in others I don’t allow myself to see without His perspective, and many other things I never expected.  I see God’s grace for me and want to extend that grace to others around me.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  ~ Matthew 5:8

 

A change in POWER
When I devote myself to prayer and seeking God’s will I gain power that is greater than my own. The power of the Holy Spirit flowing through me allows me to love others who aren’t always likable and face fears and failures I am not strong enough to conquer on my own.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  ~ James 5:16b

 

A change in POSTURE
In order to see any changes through prayer I must first change my posture. Bowing down and looking up are vital to seeing changes in any area of my life. Recognizing (sometimes several times a day) that I must become less and God must become more within me if He is going to do anything through me.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  ~ 2 Chronicles 7:14

 

I pray for each of you today, that you will allow God to make changes in you through prayer and drawing closer to Him each and every day.

blessings & peace to you!

Paula