Faithful Love, Unending Mercies

Because of the Lord's faithful love,

we do not perish,

for His mercies never end.

They are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness!

I say:  The Lord is my portion,

therefore I will put my hope in Him.

Lamentations 3:22

Did you know that the whole purpose of salvation isn't just about us?  Let me rephrase that.  Salvation is a GIFT from God that was made possible THROUGH Jesus Christ, His Only begotten Son.  We are so undeserving and unworthy of such a gift - due to our own sins.  Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice of our sins because of HIS faithful love toward us and not the other way around.  When Jesus was crucified, He wasn't crucified by those who loved Him.  However, He gave His life so freely and made salvation available to all mankind - to anyone who called on His Name.  Jesus chose to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we would not perish.  His motivation was God's faithful love toward us.  We love Him because He first loved us.  Get it?

But Jesus didn't just die to save us.  He rose again and sits at the right hand of God, in glory and in power!  He is our mediator, giving opportunity for salvation, forgiveness, and mercy.  His mercies never end, and that's a good thing for us.  Even though we are saved, we can still go astray and fall back into the trappings of sin.  Therefore, His mercies have to be unending.  And what's more is that we can start each day on a clean slate - every morning His mercies can begin anew!  All we need to do is turn whole heartedly to Him, confessing our sins and surrendering our hearts.  After all, He is not just a God of second chances...He's the God of infinitely many chances!   

Because of His great faithfulness, we can chose to make Him our portion - to take ourselves off the throne of our hearts, vacating so that He can take His rightful place - bringing us inner peace and righteous hope.  Therefore, when temptations or the storms of life come against us, we can say with confidence:  "The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him."  (Lamentations 3:24)

 Today's Challenge:  When faced with temptation and troubles, do you, like me, try to 'handle it' on your own?  Instead, let go and let God.  Pray.  Meditate on Lamentations 3:22-24.  Allow it's truth to penetrate deep into your heart.  Determine today that the Lord is your portion and that you will put your hope in Him - in ALL THINGS no matter what!  Claim this promise by repeating it throughout your day.   Then live it!

Grace and peace, friends!

In His Love, Cathy

Happy Thanksgiving!

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the LORD. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,' says the LORD. 'I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.'"

 

Jeremiah 29:11-14

"God's plans are always for good, though sometimes we need to go through difficulties before his good plan is fully realized. A big part of his plan is for his people to know him. That is at the heart of all God's purposes. Do you believe God has a good plan for your future? Are you earnestly seeking him? If you are still "in captivity" somehow, seek God and believe he has a good plan. Seek him at every step, and wait patiently for his deliverance. Your fortunes will be restored!"
—Diane Eble, author of Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-Filled Devotions


What am I thankful for, today? 

I am thankful for family.  I am thankful for the love and the special bond we share.  I am thankful for the family traditions we have passed down from generation to generation - and new traditions that we have incorporated - both woven in love, connecting us across the miles and through the years - reminding us of loved ones who have gone on before us yet directing us toward the future and those who will come after us.  

I am thankful for my husband.  He is my steady rock.  I am thankful for our children - Mathew, Brittany, and Michael.  I can not be any more thankful to have children who does my heart good.  I am thankful for friends who stick 'closer than a brother.'  Friends who love us just the way we are - flaws and all.  I pray that I am this kind of friend to them.

I am thankful that God's plan for us is for good, to give us a hope and a future!  We have that very hope in Jesus Christ!  This is something we can truly be thankful about!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!  Grace and peace!

In His Love, Cathy

What's the Point?

Another great devotion this morning that I just had to share...

"Don't let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don't help people live a life of faith in God. The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. We know that the law is good when used correctly. For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders."

1 Timothy 1:4-5, 8-9

The point of God's Word is not for Christians to dissect and bicker over.  His Word isn't for such pettiness.  Yet that is what we do sometimes - minimizing the import, awesomeness, and power of God's Word replacing it with our own smallness!  We sometimes puff up our own Biblical Scholarly pride while degrading God's purpose behind His Word.

We need not search for what is not there, leading us into myths, speculation, and some downright crazy false teachings.  Instead, we need to read God's Word Daily, committing it to our hearts, so that we may KNOW without a doubt His Truth.  We need to measure any arguments or teachings against Scripture - determining if what we are hearing is substantiated against the context of the entirety of God's Word.  We need to trust the Holy Spirit, not just our own abilities, to help us discern His Word and live it.  For when we trust in ourselves alone, in our own academic abilities, we will totally miss the point! 

We also need to be wary of false teachings, yet not cast our pearls to the swine...speak the truth of the Gospel without dragging it through the mud.  For it does nothing to further God's Kingdom when we engage in useless arguments over the ridiculous. 

No, His Word is for a far greater purpose than we sometimes recognize...to grow within each of us a pure heart, clear conscience, sincere faith, and love. THAT is the point of God's Word! 

Grace and Peace, friends!

In His Love, Cathy

Peace

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all."

2 Thessalonians 3:16

"We can experience peace no matter what happens because God himself gives us his own peace. God never worries, never has any problems, because he is good and in control of everything. As you trust in his control and character, you can share in the peace of God himself. If there is some area of your life where you don't experience peace, can you entrust that to God right now? Picture yourself giving it to him to handle, right now. Envision him taking it from you, and handing something back instead: peace. His own peace, as a gift."

—Diane Eble, author of Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-Filled Devotions

Wow, I really needed this today!  Isn't it glorious how God knows exactly what we need and then provides it? 

But isn't it even more amazing that God provides us with His own peace?  It's there, a free gift, we simply must be able to entrust Him with all things and in all things.  HE is the God of PEACE!  And HIS PEACE overcomes our circumstances, problems, worries, anxieties, and fears.  The key is wholly submitting yourself to Him and surrendering ALL to Him.  The key is letting go and letting God! 

Dare I say that when we are not experiencing His peace in an area of our lives, perhaps it's an area where we are still holding out on God - where we have squeezed God out and demanding to have our own way.  Perhaps we are control freaks, and the very idea of allowing someone else to have control upsets our little universe.  We need to realize that we CAN and MUST TRUST The One who created the universe in the first place! 
So if we are not experiencing God's peace in an area of our life... 

Let it go.

Give it to God.

And don't take it back.

Accept His peace in return.

...His peace, a peace that surpasses all understanding...a peace that will provide strength, calm, and comfort in the midst of any storm.  It's simply a matter of surrendering our hearts to Christ and trusting Him with EVERYTHING! 

Jesus has got this - we just need to let go! 

Grace and peace, friends!
In His Love, Cathy

Insomnia

It's just after 2 a.m.  and I'm wide awake again.  Could have something to do with the fact that my body literally crashed around 7 p.m. last night.  Could have something to do with the migraine that onset yesterday.  Could have something to do with the fact that my body is just plain out weird.  Regardless of the reason, here I am wide awake again.

After tossing and turning relentlessly, I stumble out of bed.  Pour myself a glass of milk hoping that I will find sweet slumber tonight once again.  I stub my toes in the dark as I make my way across the minefield of our house from the kitchen, through the livingroom, back to bed.  I lay back down, trying to convince my body that it is tired and wants to sleep.  But my mind won't rest.  I replay my day over and over again as I  lay there.  I can't seem to shut off the brain.  I remind myself that I only have a few more hours of sleep before I must get up and start getting ready for work.  "Not helping!" I remind myself. This kind of pressure only causes more frustration over the fact I can't sleep, which in turn causes me not to sleep!

I turn the alarm clock away from me.  The red glow of its numbers seems to sear through my eyelids, convincing my body that it is time to get up.  It's such a tease.  Once awake, its red numbers ticking away the remainder of the night, a cruel reminder of the sleep that I've now lost! 

Then I recalled a verse that Michael and I would say together at bedtime when he was little:

I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, O LORD,

make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

I lay back down, reciting this verse.  A peace begins to come over me.  The soft patter of the rain begins to lull me back into the sweetness of my dreams.  My eyelids have become heavier.  And my thoughts are starting to trail off.  Yes, my body is taking its cue.  It is time for bed, again.  So I think I'll give this sleep thing another try.  I will lie down and sleep in peace!  Thank you, God, for the rain and another chance at sleep.  Good night, all!

Grace and peace, friends!
In His Love, Cathy

USAF MOM!!!

So our son Matt left this past Monday for USAF Basic Military Training (BMT).  Scott and I took Monday off to spend with Matt in his last few hours as a civilian.  Dropping our baby boy off at that recruiter station was the hardest thing I've ever done as a parent.  And I thought leaving him at college was hard!  With college I at least got to see his dorm, meet his roomate, and approve of his surroundings.  At least he was able to come home on the weekends whenever he liked.  And the good thing was, while in college, he was only an hour's drive away if an emergency ever arose, a comforting thought for any Mother's heart!

But now, just like that, he's gone.  College was different.  He was on his own but yet he wasn't.  He still relied on us for a lot of things - money being first and foremost!  Yes, the nest seemed empty when he went off to college, but now, he's gone.  This time his leaving has much more permanence and seemed to happen so abruptly.  I knew my son would leave the nest, but I thought it would be a more gradual process than this.  I imagined him finishing college, moving back home and starting a career, saving up money to finally move out on his own.  I thought I had MORE TIME with him!  But I was wrong.  Our son did grow up in an instant and now he is doing what we hoped to raise him to do - to find himself, be a productive member of society, and do what he loves doing in life!

Things will never return to the way they were.  Our family will never be exactly the same again.  His returns home will take on new meaning...no longer where he lives but where he lived...not where he stays but where he visits.  This has such weird connotation to me!  We've always been such a close knit family so to have one of my babies moving out and completely on their own is a struggle for my heart!

This week I've struggled with so many emotions.  I'm really missing my right hand man!  He's been such a great son and big brother.  He has always been there to help around the house, with the yardwork, and with his siblings - expecially the 6 months out of the year where I'm a cross country coach's widow!

We are so proud of Mathew's choice to serve our country.  We are so proud that he was one of the FEW who made it through the stringent criteria to be accepted as a recruit...and believe me,  quite a few who went with him to MEPS this past summer were rejected.  We are so very happy for him because he is happy and has found his calling in life.  We know that BMT will be the biggest challenge of his life and we are praying for God to supply him with strength, courage, and wisdom in facing this challenge.  Yet, I still wonder what happened to the little cottonheaded boy who stole my heart.  What happened to that sweet baby boy whose big blue eyes stared so intently into mine the night he was born, as though to say, "Are you my Mommy?"  Yes, it was love at first sight when our eyes locked onto one another!  Now our little 'Strong Man' has truly become a strong man!  And that does a mother's heart good!

I'm a PROUD, yes, PROUD to be a USAF MOM!!! 

BTW... 

Matt called for the first time this morning from BMT. He sounded so officially military like when he recited the script they gave him to read providing his mailing address out there...but before he had to hang up, he quietly said with the most tender voice, "I love you, Mom!" He then quickly snapped back into his matter of fact tone and in a deep manly voice barked out, "Bye!" He sounded happy. He is doing okay. He is doing what he chose to do and I know will love.  That's all I need to know...my heart is relieved - for now!!!!

In His Love, Cathy

Confusion

"For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgement." 2 Tim 1:7


My father-in-law suffers from Alzheimer's.  I know I've mentioned this before in previous blogs.  Lately his condition had deteriotated drastically.  Yesterday was especially critical.  Out of respect and love for him, let's just say that it was not a good day at all.  He had been on new medication and we thought it was helping him to remain calm.  It was completely ineffective yesterday. 

The problem is, he becomes easily confused.  Confusion can set in from his daily routine being disrupted, or be caused by giving him instructions that he can not follow, or even simply saying the wrong thing.  When he gets confused, he can become upset and extremely agitated - sometimes to the point of being uncontrollable.  Usually, he can be redirected and his agitation subsides.  But not yesterday.  He was highly agitated all day.  Nothing helped.  His confusion lead to his agitation.  His agitation further fueled his confusion.  He was caught in a vicious cycle that Alzheimer's plays on its victims...and their caregivers.  There are seven stages of Alzheimer's...based on what we've learned about this terrible disease, Dad is about midway through the 6th stage.  It's heartwrenching to watch what this disease is doing to Scott's Dad...and Mom.

Confusion is an enemy of the mind.  Confusion erodes our sense of confidence.  Within each of us is a compulsive demand to be in control.  We have to live in a predictable world, one structured by daily routines and laced with the familiar.   Our enemy knows this.  Therefore he delights in sending us into panic mode, upsetting the finely defined confines of our little world.

We can, however, be on guard against such attacks by putting on the breastplate of righteousness.  God has clothed us with His righteousness.  He has saved us from sin and death!  And when we wear the breastplate of righteousness, our heart is protected even if our minds are struggling to figure out what in the world is going on.  We have assuredness and confidence that God is in charge and in control.  Even if we do not completely understand why, we can have peace in knowing this truth.   

I am thankful today because I am hidden in Christ and His righteousness...I can experience security in my heart even when my mind cannot understand what is happening or why it is happening.  I'm wearing the breastplate of righteousness today...my heart is secured in Christ even when my mind can not comprehend!

Grace and peace, friends!


In His Love, Cathy

Discipline is Hard

" You disciplined me,

and I have been disciplined

like an untrained calf.

Restore me, and I will return,

for you, LORD, are my God."

Jeremiah 31:18

Discipline is hard - not only on the receiving end but also the giving end.  Those of us who are parents know this too well.  Just before my Dad would discipline me he would always say, "This is harder on me than it is you."  I didn't believe him until I became a parent and had to discipline my own children. 

Discipline is hard.

As parents, we must discipline our children so that they learn right from wrong.  We discipline our children so they learn that there are consequences to wrong choices.  We discipline our children because a child without discipline will grow into a person of lawlessness, who is spoiled, and self-centered.  We discipline so that our children have right relationships with those in their lives.  We don't like to discipline our children, but we do so because we love them and desire what is best for them.

Like us, our Heavenly Father disciplines His wayward children.  Sometimes His discipline may be directly from His hand, such as when he stirred up foreign nations to attack and capture Israel and Judah because God's people had abandoned Him.  But at other times, He may simply allow us to suffer the consequences of our actions.  He may simply turn away from us and allow us to experience the pain of following our own rebellious will. 

But at the end of the day, the goal of His Righteous Discipline is restoration.  He knows what is best for us more than we do.  And what should our response to His discipline be?  We find the answer in Jeremiah 31:19-20.

"After I returned, I repented;

After I was instructed, I struck

my thigh in grief.

I was ashamed and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace

of my youth.

Isn't Ephraim a precious son to Me,

a delightful child?

I certainly still think about him.

Therefore, My inner being yearns for him;

I will truly have compassion on him.

This is the Lord's declaration"

Jeremiah 31:19-20

No matter our sin, the truth is God still loves us so very much.  His very own INNER BEING YEARNS for YOU!  He thinks about YOU constantly!  Think about it!

What's more, He will have compassion on you no matter how far away you are from him or what you have done!  Like the Father of the prodigal son, God is waiting for our return!  There is no greater love than this!

Return to Christ today!  Experience a love that surpasses all and forgiveness like no other!  Discipline is hard, but we can reboot our lives, starting today anew in Christ!

Grace and peace, friends!

In His Love, Cathy

Delivered for Good

"'As for me, I am in your hands—do with me as you think best. But if you kill me, rest assured that you will be killing an innocent man! The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this city, and on every person living in it. For it is absolutely true that the LORD sent me to speak every word you have heard.' "Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets, 'This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.' … Ahikam son of Shaphan stood up for Jeremiah and persuaded the court not to turn him over to the mob to be killed."     Jeremiah 26:14-16, 24

"Jeremiah was in a perilous situation. No doubt he was very afraid, as we saw in earlier passages. God did protect him, as promised. This passage bears remarkable similarities to what Jesus would experience centuries later. Jeremiah's suffering foreshadowed the far greater suffering that God allowed Jesus to endure. Jesus was turned over to the mob to be killed, because Jesus was sent to suffer and die so we could be delivered for good."
—Diane Eble, author of Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-Filled Devotions

My devotion today reminded me of this truth...that I have been delivered for good!  I am no longer enslaved to sin or self, but have been raised with Christ into a new life!  But the problem is, I've been living a defeated life - as though I'm still gagged and bounded by sin! 

In Romans 6:5-7, Paul writes, "Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin."


Even though we are saved, we are still human and thus prone to slipping back into living a life of sin - a life of defeat - a life out of control. 

But we don't have to.  Carefully read Romans 6:15-25,

"Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.


19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

We, who are in Christ, are not free from falling into sin.  Quite the contrary.  However, now that we are in Christ, we have His power and resources to live free from the control of sin in our lives!  How? 

• By CHOOSING to become a SLAVE of God!  (Romans 6:16)
• By WHOLEHEARTEDLY CHOOSING to OBEY GOD! (Romans 6:16-17)
• By CHOOSING to GIVE ourselves to righteous living! (Romans 6:19)
• By CHOOSING  to do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life!  (Romans 6:22)

Our salvation is a free gift from God through the Blood of Jesus Christ!  We can not do a single thing to earn that salvation!  But once we have accepted Christ, we must CHOOSE to LIVE for HIM daily!  It will be hard at times to keep from slipping back into old habits and sins that feel so familiar, so comfortable to us.  It's so easy to let our 'self' take over, demanding our way or the highway!  But we MUST allow our new nature - HIS NATURE to permeate to the core of our being.  That can only happen by crucifying ourselves and CHOOSING to become a slave of God!  Only then will we overcome sinful habits that threaten to derail our spiritual freedom!

The good news is that we serve a God of infinite chances.  So when we do mess up, we can repent and seek forgiveness.  That is the point I'm at in my spiritual journey - removing my sinful, weak self once again from the spotlight and enslaving myself wholeheartedlly to Christ.  Lord help me to obey!

So long self - I've been delivered for good!
 Grace and peace, friends!
In His Love, Cathy

Being of One Heart and Mind

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13



My devotional today reminded me of the importance of being of one heart and one mind.  What does it mean to be of one heart and mind?  It means that our hearts and minds must be fully integrated - our words and actions matching the attitude of a heart fully surrendered to God.

When we pray, God isn't just hearing our words, He's also looking at our hearts.  My devotional pointed out that "God does not just answer prayer - He answers you."  Our prayers may be filled with lofty and righteous words, but our hearts could be a world away from God!  We can miss out on God's blessings simply because our hearts are not in sync with His.  And our missing out on God's blessings is NOT because God is stingy - it is because of our own heart condition!  The fault does not lie with God, it lies with us!  Our attitude of heart can short circuit our ability to recieve His wonderful blessings!

So, when we present our requests to God, we must be of one mind and heart - a heart in tune with His.  The words that flow from our mouths in prayer must be fully supported by what our heart is saying.  Only when our hearts and mind are of one accord and in sync with His can we climb the steep mountains of life with sure footed faith.  It only takes a misstep of inches to tumble down life's mountain.

Ask God to help you seek Him with all that you are - that your words and actions are a reflection of a heart wholly surrendered to Christ.  

Grace and Peace, Friends! 

In His Love, Cathy

Without Hesitation

The Lord is my portion;

I have promised to keep Your words.

I have sought Your favor with all my heart;

be gracious to me according to Your promise.

I thought about my ways

and turned my steps back to Your decrees.

I hurried, no hesitating to keep Your commands.

Psalm 119:57-60

Our lives have been so busy and crazy lately - jobs, homecoming, exams, kids' sports schedules, Scott's coaching - and the list goes on.  These past several weeks have simply been over the top busy - so much so that I've allowed the pressure cooker of life to dictate my time and resources.  I've allowed outside things to supercede the true priorities in my life.  It's easy to get caught up in the waves of life and get swept away by them. 

Thankfully, God intervened, as He always does when I get carried away.  My devotional passage this morning once again shifted my gaze from the immediate back to the eternal.  God reminded me of my promise to seek Him first and wholeheartedly.  And though I pretty much stunk at my end of the bargain, He was faithful to come through on His end.  When this truth was revealed to my heart this morning, I  ran as hard as I could back to Him - without hesitation, my arms lifted high reaching up towards my heavenly Father! 

And you know what?  He reached down, picked me up into His loving arms, and swung me around - my heart was overflowing with such great joy and love!  As laughter and praise filled the air, my heart was once again made right! 

Run as hard as you can, back to the Lord today, without hesitation.  Make Him your everlasting portion!  Live for Christ today!  He is simply waiting to lift you into His loving arms!

In His Love, Cathy