Hopeful

Hopeful at the bower on Church St.

Trying and scary times. And now we've added a virus.
No reported cases in my county yet. I'm so thankful for that and praying for others.
Those with stock in toilet paper must doing well financially. :)
We'll tell our future generations that 2020 was the year of the toilet paper crisis. I don't mean to make light of the situation, but it seems so silly how people react to any given situation. Terror makes us do funny things.
I'm turning to scripture for strength and hope. One that comes to mind is:

Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, 
But the Lord delivers him out of all of them. 

Here are more Psalms of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving: 30; 32; 34; 40; 65;67;75;92;107;124;92;116;118

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Some situations are hard to be thankful for, but we can always thank God for being there with us. He never leaves us. Nothing, no thing, or person can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:31-39)

I'm continuing my Lenten studies, just not sharing them daily with you. Today's verse in the Lenten cards devo is Matthew 7:7-11. I also was given Matthew 7:7 to read in my "Jesus Calling," devo. Think God is trying to tell something?

Matthew 7:7-11 New International Version (NIV)

Ask, Seek, Knock

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

(copied from biblegateway.com)

The other Lenten study kit I haven't started yet is called "Bless His Name," by Beloved Society through Illustrated Faith. I meant to share this earlier and forgot, but it's not just for Lent. You can study the names of Jesus anytime. I love the tags!! The colors are just what I like. Here's a peek at the kit.

All kinds of great things to create with! My lighting isn't the greatest this morning, but I think you get the idea of what is included. If I have time later, I want to do a Bible journaling page. I haven't done one of those in over a year. Where has the time gone?

Gratitude:
1. A God who sticks to me like glue!
2. Crafts to keep me occupied in trying times and keep me focused on God.
3. Bible verses to comfort me.

I'm praying for you.
Blessings,
Deborah

One Step at a Time

Good morning!

I made it through yesterday and today looks a little brighter.

I began 2020 with some old left-over goals and made some new ones. I like the new idea of making goals for one month at a time instead of for the whole year. Very few of us achieve the goals we make for the whole year and this just seems a better way. I don't like feeling like a failure. None of us need those extra burdens. Life throws enough of them at us; we don't need to pile more on ourselves.

One old goal I carried through to 2020 is to take off the rest of the weight I wanted to lose last year. I managed to take off 25lbs., put 10lbs. back on and now, since the 1st, I've taken 5 of those back off. Yay, me! I want to lose a total of 20lbs. this year. When I reach that goal I will see if I need to lose more. I'm sticking with Weight Watchers, as that diet works for me. I am riding my exercise bicycle 3x a day for 30 minutes each time. I love to read a good novel while I'm pedaling and that seems to make the time fly. I got discouraged yesterday, thinking I was working so hard and the weight wasn't coming off as fast I'd like it to. That was part of the funk yesterday, too. Then this morning as I was reading Psalm 18 and then my devotional, "Jesus Calling," both gave me the same message. It says in

 Psalm 18:33 He makes my feet like hinds' feet, And sets me upon my high places.

Then in "Jesus Calling," today I read in

Habkkuk 3:19 The Lord is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my high places. 

Don't you love those serendipitous moments when you get gobsmacked with an answer?!! In "Jesus Calling," I also read we have to walk the path with Him and not try to run to the high places alone. I'm not going to wake up tomorrow 20lbs lighter. I have to take each step each day to get there. I have to do the work, slog through the deep water, climb step by step up my mountain of weight loss with Him cheering me on! And He is.

I can do this!
I'm also doing a 45 day sugar fast. I'm sailing through this one. I've got this!

Blessing, Deborah

Psalm 18:36
You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.

I Dreamt of Jesus

Challenge - Day 23

Start with God
Stay with God
End with God

I've been battling insomnia. Thursday night I went to bed at 9p.m., woke up at 12:30a.m. then went back to sleep at 5:30a.m. when my husband got up. I fell back asleep and woke at 6:30a.m. when the alarm went off. In that last hour of sleep, I dreamt of Jesus. I've never had a dream about Jesus. In the dream He came up to me and I asked, "Lord, is it really You?" He smiled and answered, "Yes, Deborah, it is Me." Then He stepped closer and gave me hug. I can only say that I never wanted that hug to end. I wanted it to go on forever. We talked a little then the alarm went off. Wow. It was an incredible feeling. One I won't soon forget.

In Sarah Young's book, "Jesus Calling," I read this morning about Him being in us and we being in Him. His love is powerful. It guides us. Just like we have been have talking about through this challenge of following His word and thinking like and about God. Letting Him lead us in any decisions we have to make. I would like to share the readings Sarah suggests for today.

Jesus had been praying for His disciples and then starts to pray for all believers
John 17:20-21
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me."

Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Jesus still prays for us.
Know that and keep it in your heart.

Dana's recap of this weeks principals reminds us that "Christian thinking requires understanding everything about our lives flows from Him. Also, "Christians should not depend on our own understanding, but rely on the certainty of God."

The lessons to "Put it in Your Pocket" are:
1. "As God's child, my life is always better when I reflect on Him."
2. " Reliance on God is a choice I am exercising with my thoughts."

You can read her entire post here:

http://www.danapittman.com/christian-thinking-week-3-review/

Gratitude
1. Dreams of Jesus
2. His being in me
3. My life

Phil 1:4
In all my prayers for all of you,
I always pray with joy.

Blessings,
Deborah