God Has Not Abandoned You

 

But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.Psalm 10:14(NIV)

Every day is a day with things different happening. Bad news or good news may be just around the corner. It is how we react to this news that matters. Some of the news can be worse than others and harder to cope with. For instance the news you may have a terminal illness. Maybe a family member passes away unexpectedly. Life does have both ups and downs.

No matter what happens you can run to God. Do not be mad at Him shouting "If you really loved me you would have let my mother live" or "if you really loved me Lord my dog would not have been hit by a car". God is not the one that made them die. Things in life happen. We all will die someday and the thing is to be ready as we do not know when Just know God is there to comfort you.

PRAYER: I thank you for the blessing of another day. When I feel sad Lord help me to learn to reach out to others in my pain. In Jesus' name. Amen.

YOU WILL NEVER EVER WALK ALONE!!

               

It was a very early morning recently when I was at Starbucks and the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" was playing over the sound system in the store. Between this wonderful praise song,jazz music, and broadway tunes they played, it was an awesome morning for writing and praising Jesus. It is hard to sit still and not praise God when you hear this tune being played. I wanted to lift my hands in the air right there in the coffee shop.

I love to worship Jesus with awesome praise songs and often include them for my readers to enjoy. These melodies can help lift your spirit and give you hope when you are feeling lonely and rejected or lost in a sea of worry and confusion. Half the experience of going to church on Sunday for me is being able to really truly worship God with awesome praise music. The kind that makes you want to shout.

You know the Lord is always with you similar to the "Footprints" poem most are familiar with. Wherever you are God is there. "You can not flee from His presence" it says in Psalm 139:7. Take time to read the entire chapter. It is short and will bless you I guarantee it.

Hebrews 13:5-6(NIV) says 'Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,“Never will I leave you never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”'

There you have it. Now go about your day with full confidence you Lord and savior is walking with you.

PRAYER: Thank you for another day of life. I know you are with me and walk beside me. Help me to never doubt your awesome power and majesty. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Click link and worship the Lord in song.

http://youtu.be/6_KXsMCJgBQ

PEACE WHEN YOU DO NOT FEEL LIKE IT

 

Today is God's day. This is HIS world. We have free will. We can choose to love God and follow Him or treat him like a business associate we visit for one hour one day a week. We can saturate our mind with negativity and spend 3 hours in front of the morning shows and news reports which totally do not bring peace. We can focus on good news or bad news. We can say "Oh whoa is me. We are doomed. This is it. Did not God hear my prayers" or we can choose to love God and serve Him with ALL of our hearts. Know brother and sister that Jesus is on the throne and He rules from on high. He is more powerful than presidents, kings and dictators. His will will be done in the earth.

2 Chronicles 16:9 says "The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war." He is looking and He is always there. But sometimes perhaps he allows some things to happen so we can learn to love him, trust him, obey him, and serve him. Hold on, keep praying, keep believing. Turn off the bad and tune in to God. Don't stop praying and don't lose heart. Philippians 4:19 says "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."

One of the things we who name the name of Christ need to do is to not rejoice over an evil person when he falls.("Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice." Proverbs 24:17) We are to pray and love EVEN when it is hard. We are in a battle for good and evil. Men's hearts are hardened towards things of the Lord. People live for today. But in this world there are many who love the Lord with all their heart. It is so very easy when the world around us is going 'down the toilet' ,so to speak, to join in and feel gloom, doom, and despair. Choose to get up daily regardless of what is happening around you and say "THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE AND I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT"! (See Psalm 124:18).

When I work up this morning I just started singing one of the songs from the hit musical 'Annie'. The words "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll love you tomorrow , it's only a day, away". True, not a Christian song, but it gave me peace and hope in a strange way. I just kept singing it over and over. My husband had the news on and I went over and I turned off the NBC news and turned on a Christian network to start getting my mind focused on good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord and never forget that. Perhaps it is time for His people who are social Sunday Christians to get more serious about Him than they are about their hobbies, their sports, their jobs. Something to think about? What does Jesus need to do to get us to totally be sold out to Him? Is He truly first place in your life? Or is he first place only on Sunday for one hour?

Jesus is coming again. Are you ready to meet him? Are you able to believe and trust Him? He is mighty to save. Perhaps now is the day to decide you will put his word ahead of the TV or the newspaper and get your mind renewed so you can get up and face each day with peace.

PRAYER: Father I am so very thankful for your word which gives me hope and peace. I have been guilty of thinking wrong thoughts and being upset with what is going on around me instead of trusting, even in the seemingly bad, you are behind the scenes with a plan. Help me to learn to pray for my enemies or the enemies of Christians. I know I need a peaceful heart Lord. Show me each day how to love others by loving you first. Help me bring hope to someone who is hurting. Help me never be guilty of uttering ugly words but only words that build up your kingdom. This is your day and I need not fret. In Jesus name. Amen.

Click on link and know that God is still king of the whole earth and behind the scenes working.

http://youtu.be/dmXD52oogRI

As a departure from my normal Christian songs I have also added a one minute clip of the song I spoke of from Annie.

http://youtu.be/Yop62wQH498

Be blessed to be a blessing!

 

GOD IS ALWAYS THERE AND HE LOVES YOU!!

If you go up to heaven He is there but he is here too in our midst and he will never leave you nor forsake you. You can not hide from God. He will find you. You can not run from sin. It will find you. God is not some mean person out to get you in trouble but is a loving merciful father who we call Abba Father or daddy. He loves you, if you ask forgiveness he forgives you. He knows your hurt, your confusion, your anxiety and your pain and he is ready to heal you and set you free.

Psalm 139 is a wonderful Psalm often used for pro life to let women considering ending their babies life that each child is special and it can apply to adults as well. YOU ARE SPECIAL TO GOD! Verses 7-12 of this chapter say "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me  and the light become night around me,”  even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you."

Isaiah 43:2 says "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." So when those trials of life are pressing down on you God is there to see you through. Through, my friend, You WILL NOT be there forever. God is there in the good times and bad times and will work things out.

A favorite verse for many Christians is Romans 8:28 which says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Deuteronomy 31:8 says "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Hang on because God is there and he will see you through your storm!

God has a plan. Try to be patient. Try not to go by how you feel. Try not to jump to conclusions. Try not to second guess. Try not to listen to the lies of the enemy Satan, who is NOT on your side. I am so glad God's plans and purposes are better than mine, aren't you? I am glad he restores me when I mess up. Remember, NOTHING can separate you from the love of God!(See Romans 8:38-39).

PRAYER: Lord Jesus thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for the wonderful plan you have for me. Thank you that you can restore and redeem. Thank you for forgiveness. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Click on link for a wonderful praise song to get your day started off right!
http://youtu.be/X_2qG22SPwU



Note to Devotion subscribers: I was in AZ for about 5 days so some of you did not receive this devotion then, for that I apologize. I did not have access on my IPAD to my address book. If you want to see the Devotions you missed Log onto www.godslemonadestand.blogspot.com
Once again I thank you for being a blessing in my life and for taking the time to let what God inspires me to write to bless you.

CHARGE ON DESPITE SETBACKS

Everyone has gone through something one time or another in their life. No one is perfect. The enemy likes to get us to dwell on our problems and makes us feel at times there is no way God could love us or even people for that matter. If we let our mind fester with these poisonous thoughts then we will be defeated and lose our peace. Keep pursuing Christ.

We are into the 2nd month of a brand new year so make this the time to get serious about letting go of sins that drag you down or wrong thinking that hinders you. When the world runs out God is there. When friends misunderstand you God is there. When you feel like no one cares, God is there. When you feel self pity creeping up, God is there.

Run to Him. He is the God of second chances, third chances and on it goes. Nothing you can do shocks him. He has not said,"This person is a real scum bag and beyond hope. Get them out of my sight!" No He wants sinners to come and sit at His feet. "We all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory." (Romans 3:23) We all have occasionally said the wrong thing and hurt someone or were misunderstood. The people we hurt may not want to forgive but God will always forgive. Let it go and let God heal you from the inside out.

So when life throws you a curve ball, so to speak, you do not quit, you do not run and hide but you pick yourself up and keep going. God can use everything in your life to get you closer to Him. Charge on and keep going. Ask God for help. He will never fail or forsake you. Hebrews 13:5-6 says "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things that you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you,' so that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me."

PRAYER: Lord I thank you that when I fall you are there to pick me up. When the world runs out on me you do not. Thank you for being my forever friend. In Jesus name. Amen.

Click on link below to worship the Lord in song.

http://youtu.be/rg89UOAftXM