My God My Everything

I love those moments when I come across a nugget in the bible that catches my attention. Today I found one in John 1:35-38; The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.  When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.  Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” This began as a simple reading of how the first two disciples met Jesus. But as my study continued it became so much more. The first question that Jesus asked them was, “What…

The devotional that I read on New Year’s day provided three bible verses that were incorporated in the message. As I read them I thought about how fitting and refreshing they were to read and believe. The first was Isaiah 43: 18-19 which reads; “Forget the former things;    do not dwell on the past.See, I am doing a new thing!    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?I am making a way in the wilderness    and streams in the wasteland.” This passage was so encouraging to me and an answer to many prayers. To know that God is making a way in a wilderness experience we have been going through and the…

Years ago a friend asked me what my life verse was. As a new believer I hadn’t really thought about it but I could see the value in having a verse that would really speak to you in a personal way. In thinking about the new year I thought it would be nice to have a theme for the year. A theme would summarize my goals and help me stay focused in my daily pursuit of those goals. Building on the 20/20 vision idea I began looking up verses that spoke about Godly vision and found the story of two blind men found in Matthew 20: 30-35: Two blind men…

Today I am reminded of a scene in the movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” The scene takes place when Mary sees her son Jesus fall under the weight of his cross and remembers running to him when he fell as a young boy. Despite the crowd and his captors, she races to Jesus and raises his bloodied face from the ground while she offers the greatest of comfort she can give; her presence and the words, “I am here.” Jesus sees her and responds, “See, Mother, I make all things new.” Our lives were forever changed on that day. We were given the opportunity to become new creations with…

I’ve learned over the years that when you pray and asked for God’s leading it’s important to watch what God does next. Does He give a bible verse that provides direction? Does a door open or close on an opportunity? Does He give you peace of mind and a clear purpose? When I prayed for His leading on goal setting several things began to come together and I knew what I was to do. Now with the goals set the next step is to keep my focus on achieving them. One of the verses that I was given is Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I…

As I continued on with my 2020 goal setting I noticed that 20/20 also means perfect vision. Thoughts of how nice it would be to know what lies ahead crossed my mind and how much easier it would be to set goals with that knowledge. I may not know what lies ahead, but I know the one who does. A very popular bible verse reminds us that God has a purpose for us and His intentions are good. Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God is leading…

On one of my sleepless nights I was lead to begin a bible study series called Running the Race in the Last Days, it also had questions for thought about the goals I would be setting for the new year. “How are you finishing this year?” “How do you want to finish the next?” “How’s your heart towards God?” If I’m going to be setting goals for the new year, it would be wise to consult the One who knows what the new year will bring. The vision board planning kit that I googled, suggested making goals in all areas of your life such as: Spiritual, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical,…

It’s the time of year when we begin to think of New Year’s resolutions and what goals we would like to accomplish by this time next year. Goal setting has been on my mind for the last several weeks and I keep getting the feeling that God wants me to take some time and think through the process and be serious about really making some changes with that will require strong commitments. I purchased a Christian planner because the format of the book was intriguing to me. Each day had detailed goals that would lead to achieving the larger monthly goals and finally to the year end goals. In addition…

I received the book Jesus Always from a friend for Christmas. As I read the introduction I was surprised to read about the health issues that the writer Sarah Young has been dealing with for several years. Yet in her condition she finds her greatest joy to be time with Jesus. Her writing is so heart felt and comes from a place of personal experience and a desire for others to know Jesus personally. She mentioned that she has a “Thanks Book,” which is where she daily takes notes of the blessings she receives. She writes, “looking for good things and thanking God for them cheers me up and changes…