"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep" ~Ps 127:2~

Ever had a night that you absolutely got the best night's sleep that you can ever remember? Waking up, feeling refreshed, hopeful, and at peace....wow! Such a simple thing, sleep, but much needed for our body, and definitely for our mind and spirit. "So, HE gives His beloved sleep"....
I've seen the times that I worked myself silly, refusing to rest, feeling like I have too much to take care of, and I've watched Him put me to bed with a cold or something similar to make me rest. And I've known the times that I feel so completely satisfied in my spirit that I've done all He asked me to do for that day, and watched Him lay me down in perfect peaceful sleep.
I know there are so many around us, with sick painful bodies that would give anything for just one night's rest. Many around us are lost, worried and weary from rising early, sitting up late, searching for answers, eating the bread of sorrows, mourning the broken things in their life...and would give anything for one night's peaceful slumber. Friend, there is rest. There is rest in His arms. Carry everything to Him...your weary hurting body, your overwhelmed burdened mind, your tired needy spirit, your broken heart....ask Him to hold you while you lay on His chest, let Him give you His beloved sleep. Share the rest you've found with another weary soul.

"Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding" ~Matt 22:9~

GO....a commandment, not a suggestion...you and me....into the highways, inviting all to come to Christ. There is a wedding scheduled, the bridegroom coming to receive us as His bride....yes, I'm busy in my daily life, but nothing is more important than this....how can I be too busy to go and share the gift of eternal life

"Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me" ~Ps 40:11-12~

How often I must disappoint You, Father...I fail You so often, in so many ways. Yet You love me, I have to wonder why?....I know it is because of who You are, and not because of who I am. You are Abba Father. Your mercies continue long beyond what is even reasonable, that's just who You are...You never stop loving us, never more clearly seen than in Your abounding forgiveness
"Love never fails..." ~I Corinth 13:8~

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" ~Phil 4:19~

Oh, how I've watched this come true countless times in the last 2 years of my life! I've watched Him supply things me and children needed, even just speaking the word out loud that there is something we stand in need of, and it appears, by gift, or yard sale, or many times sitting on the curb side. Everything I have belongs to Him. Everything I am is up to Him. He has only loaned me these things...my life and all it contains....for a little time until it will be returned to Him again. Lord, help me to place You FIRST, bring You my first fruits, that my sacrifice will be pleasing unto You. Thank You, God, for all the countless ways Your hand has provided for me.

"Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord" ~Prov 8:32-35~

Lord, help me to listen to You! Help me discern Your voice above all others. Keep me in Your blessed way. Give me instruction, that I may make wise choices in life. I know my greatest blessing are in obedience that keeps me close to Your gates, Your door....You are the key to life and favor.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye" ~Ps 32:8~

Lord, give me Your eyes! Let me see life through Your vision...show me the way I should go. Teach me the important things in life to focus on. Guide me in every decision I make.

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" ~Col 1:9~

Ever feel stuck in a rut? Ever feel like you're on a merry go round that won't stop to let you off? Ever gotten lost while driving, only to pass the same landmarks several times over? Ever gotten up outta bed, thinking 'same song today, just another verse'? This journey you thought you could endure has turned into a black tunnel with no end in sight?....you may be here to learn something you haven't realized yet. God may have you isolated to get your attention. He may be bringing you past the same landmarks over and over until you stop to ask for directions from Him how to get outta there. There is a point. There is a path off this ride and to something better....while He has your attention, isolated from familiar things of home, be still, tell Him you are listening, ask Him to speak.
"In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction" ~Job 33:15-16~

"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" ~Ps 27:14~

Often, I am like a spoiled child...pouting with my lip poked out, asking God: But why? I'm ready for something now?...The instruction to wait must be one of the hardest to obey in history. But when your heart can't get peace about moving in ANY direction, you better just wait....listen to what that still small voice is saying.....Wait! Don't mess up what God has ahead...Wait! Don't interfere with His perfect work...Wait! Don't give up just yet...Wait! Your blessing is just around the next bend in the road...
"He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength" ~Is 40:29~

And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?"
~Luke 24:38~

The only reason doubts arise within me, has to be because my faith is weak...when doubt and worry surface, it's because they have taken the place of my faith. Help me remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for, even when absolutely no evidence of that hope is seen....(Heb 11:1)
"....Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" ~mark 9:24~

"In a moment they die, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and pass away; the mighty are taken away without a hand" ~Job 34:20~

Today is just a deep thinking day. I sat and watched as one of my favorite characters died in a movie last night....ok, I know it's fiction, but the circumstances were ordinary, easy to relate to....just simply life. It made me ponder about how short life here is, in this moment, in this circumstance, before it all changes.....how short this journey is with the people and things we love most. Makes me want to take a day off work more often, plan a picnic, relax in the swing, dance with the music way too loud, attend every ballgame, snuggle up under the covers, make a call to friends I've been putting off, risk everything to be in love. "In a moment, they die"....."people are shaken and pass away"

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him"
~Ps 34:8~

This verse was in one of my devotions yesterday....and the Lord showed me how my deliverance, my healing has been one little step at a time, one small area rebuilt at a time. If He had done all things, all at once, I would have missed the blessed splendor of each miracle. He has progressed at a steady pace, yet at a pace that He could prepare me for each new step and that I could stop and soak up all the wonder at each stage. Slow down, stop and taste, stop and look...see all that He is doing, be reminded of His goodness. Be blessed as you take refuge in His companionship along this journey....at His pace.

"The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the Lord of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the Lord of hosts" ~Hag 2:9~

Lord, though the devil works to tear us down, to humiliate us...YOU rebuild us. You promise to not only heal us, rebuild us, but that You will receive more glory for Your latter work in us than the former....hallelujah! Oh, Father, rebuild me now! You are already filling me with peace in this place. Thank You Lord...I am confident that You will complete this good work that You have already begun (Phil 1:6), that all men may see Your good work in my life and glorify the Father in heaven! (Matt 5:16)
"Look among the nations and watch-be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you" ~Hab 1:5~

"And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the scriptures"
~Luke 24:45~

Lord, if there is anything I've learned in this life, it's how satan can cloud our mind. He sends confusion, frustration, fatigue, exhaustion, a sense of hopelessness, conquers us with a feeling of defeat....but oh, child of God, we are NOT defeated! We may be down, but we are never without hope. Open up the Bible, seek out the scriptures. Let God open your understanding to where you really are in life and how to get outta there! HE will show you...
"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" ~John 3:10~

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends"
~John 15:13~

Lord, I know You have shown me the greatest love I will ever know...You gave Your life for me. Lord Jesus, place in me Your servant's heart & willing spirit. Let me lay down my life daily in service to You, in service to others for You. Let me serve as mother, nurse, daughter, friend, witness....striving to bring honor & glory to Your name. I will always be amazed that You call me friend.

"Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
~Eph 1:21-23~

Abba Father, You have all authority, might & dominion over all principality & power, Your name is above every name....then, now and forevermore. All things are under Your feet, Jesus. You are head of my life...in You is fullness of life, You fill all in all

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places"
~Eph 1:18-20~

Open our eyes, enlighten our understanding. Let our hearts know the hope of Your calling.....thank You for our inheritance with You. You pour exceedingly great power on the lives of those who believe. We do not live an ordinary life, but an anointed life....because of our resurrected Savior seated at the right hand of God the Father~! Hallelujah~!

"Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard"
~Is 58:8~

Thank You for sweet healing! Thank You for breaking through the darkness of my life with Your sweet light like the morning sunshine. Thank You for going before me preparing my way, for guarding by back, and especially for walking beside me, being my friend...sweet companion Lord Jesus

"The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: the Lord gives light to the eyes of both"
~Prov 29: 13~

Lord, no matter where I find myself in life, You are there. If I am suffering, poor in spirit...You open my eyes with the light of comfort & understanding. If I am outside Your will, in sin, You open my eyes with the light of wisdom & love. Whatever I stand in need of, whatever stage of life I encounter, You give light for that moment. Open my eyes, to things in the spiritual realm ....things I never dreamed possible.

"O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord"
~Is 2:5~

Remind me, Lord, that walking in Your light is always my choice. I can dwell here, basking in the warmth of Your presence, if I get up every day and choose to stay close to You. I love how You direct my path. I love how You fill my heart with contentment. I love how You make joy constant in my life, even when my moment's circumstance isn't happy. I love the companionship of Your presence. I love the comfort of Your Holy Spirit holding me. I love Your rest for my soul at night. I love how You love me.

"And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
~Matt 14:31~

O, God, when You opened my eyes to see all that Your hand has been sustaining me through, I'm overwhelmed! I've always known You are here, but to see the things You were taking care of behind the scenes that I was unaware of....How could I ever doubt that You are fully in control? I cry, knowing that You love me deeper than my mind can understand

"Truly the light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun"
~Ecc 11:7~

As the sun peaked through my window this morning, Lord, I'm reminded You are good. To wake with the birds chirping in the trees, and baby girls snuggled close to me in bed...I'm overwhelmed that You are so good. Many days during dark moments of life, sad & heavy days, I let these simple wonders escape my notice. A good job to provide for us, a home with a safe sturdy roof to protect us, a pantry & freezer full of groceries to feed us, 5 children as life long companions to enjoy it all with....You bless me more than I deserve...You open my eyes to life, and truly Your light is sweet...it's been pleasant for my eyes to behold Your sun this morning. Thank You, Aba Father.