Attitudes! We are born with them! They are a definite part of our personalities, but often, if they go unchecked, they can get big, bad, and out of control fast! How do I know this? I was born with one!

I believe we can also pick up mannerisms, thoughts, ideas, and attitudes from the people we are around! If we’re sitting around the break table discussing our spouse’s shortcomings, we might go home with a negative or resentful attitude. Possibly, that attitude takes seed, and other hurts and slides start to surface, and boom, you have a full-blown attitude.

Maybe you are at lunch with some of your friends from work, and the boss becomes the afternoon’s topic! I imagine every shortcoming and unlovable deed gets discussed along with all the negatives of the company you work for! It doesn’t deem well for tomorrow’s work attitude.

Our minds, mouths, and brains resemble muscle; building and using them properly has the same result as going to the gym and toning and building our muscle mass. With the proper workout, diet, and dedication, we can lose weight and tone our bodies. Guess what? We can do the same with our thoughts and attitudes, but it requires the same hard work daily. Trust me on this one!

Once again, we find ourselves at God’s Gym! Jump on the treadmill, here we go.

Philippians 4:8 ESV: “Finally, brothers whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

In other words, stop and take captive the negative, unhealthy thoughts and replace them with positive, good ones! Indeed, if we try, we can always find something good out of a bad! Change your mindset, stop dwelling, get up, and look out your window for something new to look at and think about! Nature always gives us a new perspective.

Romans 12:2 ESV: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Here, we find God telling us not to sit at the table and gossip, not to sit across from our spouse dwelling on a past grievance, not to conform to the errors of the world! But by trusting in the Lord and testing his ways of right living and thinking by following the scriptures, we can discern the right attitudes.

What happens when we let our flesh rule our spirits? We are angry, we are even justified, and mean words spew out of our mouths! In moments of hurt, ugly thoughts swirl like the funnel of a tornado, and that tornado is looking for a place to land! Then it lands!!! Destruction takes place, and the damage is everywhere! Now What!

We look up with a contrite spirit and turn to:

1 John 1:9 ESV: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Thank you, Lord, for understanding that we are but flesh and blood in a tainted world. We try hard but often fall so short of your glory! Thank you for revealing the harm to ourselves and others as we sit in our attitudes. Thank you for pulling us out of the mire, cleaning us up, and sending us on our new path of peace, joy, acceptance, and grace. For your word tells us the grace we extend is because of the grace we receive. In your name, Lord Jesus, I give thanks for your daily doses of Grace. Amen ☺️

Have you put your life in God’s hands and then looked up in dazed wonder and confusion? Thinking this isn’t the cruise I thought I signed up for, wait a minute here, this is all wrong!

Have you read about how Jesus heals, yet your body is still wracked with pain, illness, or disease? Jesus, what about me?

Did you dedicate your children to God and raise them in church, only for them to rebel and run wild? What’s up with that?

Did you… Have you… Now what…

We trust! The Bible tells us that we may not know the reasons or answers until we reach the other side of this life. Again, we trust in Him!

Hebrews 11:16 ESV: “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

James 1:5 ESV: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

1 Thessalonians: 5:18 ESV “Give thanks in All circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Proverbs: 22:6 NLT “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

John 13:7: “Jesus replied, ‘You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

Proverbs 3:5 ESV: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

Jeremiah 29:11: ESV “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

And there you go, those last two verses sum up our end of the deal. I’ve walked many years with God. I learned many lessons, and some still baffle me and probably always will, but the one thing I have learned is the guarantee that if We trust and follow, He leads us to quiet waters. ☺️

Think about it: there is not one living human being who hasn’t fallen. It begins as toddlers when we start to learn how to walk. The extent of the fall gradually steepens as we age; the falls get broader and more complex!

Help! I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!

I’ve fallen flat on my face.

I’ve fallen apart, off, away, behind, and down!

I’ve fallen to pieces, apart, and at the seams.

I’ve fallen, and I have hit rock bottom!!!

Rock Bottom! Do any of these terms sound or feel familiar?

What happens when we hit rock bottom? Well, we hit a rock! It’s pretty simple, but which rock do you fall on? There are two!

The first one is the substance of the earth, the Rock: the solid mineral material forming part of the surface of the earth. A relatively hard, naturally occurring mineral material! Ex: boulder, cobblestone, ore, quarry, or crag. Thesaurus.com

The second one is Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Psalm 18:2 ESV “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

1 Samuel 2:2 ESV “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.”

Isaiah 26:4 ESV “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”

Psalm 118:22 ESV “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” The rejected stone and the cornerstone are both references to Jesus.

Ephesians 2:20 ESV “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”

Matthew 7:24 ESV “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Psalm 62:2 ESV “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

I have a list of nouns within the definitions of “rock”: foundation, cornerstone, support, mainstay, backbone, and tower of strength. I love that the list of words reflects words used in the scriptures throughout the New Testament to reference Jesus.

So, whether you are currently splattered all over a rock! You, seem to be in a state of free falling, knowing the rock landing is getting closer! Or, you find yourself In a precarious time in your life and at a crossroads, fear of choosing the wrong path that might lead to a rock bottom landing!

Whatever the case may be at any given time, pull the parachute cord, look up in your descent, and ask Jesus for HELP!!! He’s right there to put air under your wings, slow your fall, and is waiting to cushion you in his loving arms when you land!

It’s entirely up to you; which rock are you going to fall on! 🙂

Wish and Hope ~

These two characters run hand in hand and are often linked closely! They resemble a set of twins; however, looking closely, differences can be seen.

Wish: Feel or express a strong desire or hope for something not easily attainable. A desire or hope for something; want of something that cannot or probably will not happen. Oxford Languages

I keep hearing Disney’s theme song, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” Right, just throw it out there, into the cosmos, and hope it sticks! No wonder it probably won’t happen! I don’t feel overly optimistic here!

Hope: A feeling or expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. A feeling of trust. A want of something to happen or be the case. Oxford Languages

Ok, we are feeling much better with this word! Please notice a few things here; one, the word hope is in the definition of the word wish, but nowhere in the definition of the word hope do we see the word wish; second, within the word wish, we read probably will not happen, but within hope, we know a feeling of trust!

Why is that? Well, I can only give you my thoughts, and they are that within the word, hope springs the Holy Spirit! The Spirit of God rests within Hope!

The Bible version I often use is the “ESV” (English Standard Version), so I looked up how many times the word hope appears 164 times; in the KJV (King James Version), it appears 130 times.

Romans 15:13 ESV “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Romans 5:5 ESV “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Romans 8:26 ESV “But we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Romans 12:12 ESV “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Constant in Prayer!!!

So, the next time you blow out your birthday candles followed by a wish or make a wish upon a night star, follow it with a prayer of hope! ☺️

Psalm 30:5b NLT “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

I’m so thankful for the preachers, the teachers, the speakers, and the authors who teach God’s Word. I rely heavily on God’s chosen to break down his word and teach in layman terms.

Take today’s scripture for example. I have read this scripture many times and come away with one thought, “weeping over something we are mourning for, for one night is not enough time, and how can I have joy in the morning?”

Well, As Joyce Meyer so eloquently put it; God isn’t expecting us to take a day to mourn and then move on. Still, he is telling us there will be seasons of mourning, but fear not, as there will be a morning when you open your eyes, and the pain doesn’t instantly hit you, the tears don’t begin the minute you open your eyes, the worry doesn’t slam into you before your feet have touched the floor. The lack of dread of another day! Healing has begun.

Death is the first thing we think of regarding the word mourning! It usually is the root cause; death comes in many fashions, colors, and varieties.

Death of a person. Death of a pet. Death of a marriage. Death of a job. Death of a business and or partnership. Death of a friendship. Death of a hope or a dream. Death of! Death causes mourning!

How long we sit within the mourning period is as different as the death itself. We pray, and then we dissect, discern, reason, apply, think, grapple, and grow all within the mourning period, and then what?

God starts his rebuilding process! The sun peeks through the clouds! Your favorite song comes on the radio, and your feet shuffle a bit! You hear yourself laugh at something, and think how odd it feels and sounds. But what starts to happen as you start to heal? You start feeling guilty!

Ha! A new emotion crops up, and that emotion holds tight hands with mourning, and that emotion is guilt! I’ve lost someone or something dear to me; what gives me the right to be happy? My world is crashing at my feet, and I have no right to any peace! I should be a nervous wreck because what is tomorrow going to bring? I’m alone now! What breaks this strong circle of mourning and guilt?

God and his bountiful supply of hope! Hope that we will see our loved ones in heaven one day! Hope that the job lost will be replaced by a better one! Hope that our relationship or marriage will heal, and if it doesn’t, trusting God has new horizons and plans ahead! That blessed eternal hope in our Lord Jesus Christ that we will be just fine! And we will be!

So, when your mourning comes, allow yourself your emotions and time! Then, allow God to come in, heal, and bring with him joy in the morning! ☺️

Dear Lord My Father in Heaven,

I bow before you this dark and cold morning with thanksgiving for all you are in my life.

You encompass me gently in your loving hands. Hands that tell us in your book of Isaiah that are big enough to hold the waters of this world! These are big enough to handle anything we may have to face.

In this past week, Lord, frigid weather has encased our land, and much destruction has left devastation in its wake. I pray for those families who have lost loved ones due to this ice storm. I pray for Your loving grace to surround them with your tender mercy.

I pray for hope for those fighting every day to barely survive and now fight for an ounce of warmth as the cold takes over their belongings and bodies. Send deliverance, Lord, to those caught in the spiral of homelessness.

I pray for the elderly and disabled Lord. Send angels of love their way, and help those who are stranded and alone.

Maybe our struggles this morning have nothing to do with the weather! Some of us may be battling personal battles and don’t know what to do anymore. So, many people, Lord, battle illness and disabilities, causing everyday life to be a battle of its own. I ask for your strength to abound.

I lift those who are hungry! I hold up to you those in financial straits and don’t know where to go! I lift parents whose heavy load and whose emotions are stretched beyond capacity.

I lift to you, our Mighty Shepherd, the lost! Your word tells us, Lord Jesus, that you will leave the 99 sheep to find the lost one; Lord, many lost sheep are roaming about, seeking, searching, but for what?

You, Lord Jesus, they are absently seeking you! Shine brightly, Lord, for all to see and be drawn to your warmth and love. Lord, help us be a shining example and a beacon in these dark days!

In your name, Lord Jesus, I commit this prayer with thanksgiving. Amen 😌

I’m in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and I am at the part where Jacob and his family have left his wive’s father, his uncle (his mother Rebekah’s brother), and are heading back towards Canaan and his brother Esau.

Today’s read was when Jacob spent all night wrestling with God! I have read this passage numerous times, but today, the Bible I’m reading this year included a side devotion regarding Jacobs’s name and its meaning!!!

Genesis 32:22-28 CSV “During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the Ford at Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could it defeat him, he struck Jacobs’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. Then he said to Jacob, ‘Let me go for it is daybreak.’

But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’

‘What is your name?’ the man asked.

‘Jacob,’ he replied.

‘Your name will no longer be Jacob,’ he said.

‘It will be Isreal because you have struggled with God and with man and have prevailed.”

What is the meaning behind the name Jacob? “To Supplant or the Supplanter” I looked up the definition of supplant or supplanter, which means to take over or take the place of someone else, usually on purpose. To supersede or replace.

From the Hebrew Ya’aqov, Jacob can mean “to follow, be behind, but can also mean to supplant, overreach or come from the Hebrew word for ‘heel,’ it can also mean, ‘may God protect.”

If you’ve read much or know much about Jacob, his name fits him to a Tee! Jacob was the second-born to his twin brother Esau, and the Bible states he came out of the womb grasping his brother’s heel. We also know Jacob took advantage of a situation and manipulated his brother out of his due birthright as being born the eldest. We have also read that with the help of his mother, Jacob maneuvered himself falsely before his father Isaac and received Esau’s blessing. Jacob could definitely be a heel!

Because of these actions, Jacob flees to his mother’s homeland, to his uncle Laban. Now, Laban was not without his own bag of tricks of greed and deceit, making he and Jacob equal adversaries, and they began their dance.

Again, tho we read that within the name of Jacob comes, ‘may God protect’ and we see that God’s hand of protection, direction, and mighty provision was upon Jacob.

Interesting.., but God changed Jacobs’s name to Israel! What is the meaning behind his new name?

Israel: “God perseveres, someone who struggles with God, one who prevails with God.”

Jacob had twelve sons. These sons and their families became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. Israel became the nation we know today!

Do our names carry any significance to our spirits or personalities?

My name is Charlene: It’s a girl’s name from Old German origin, meaning ‘free or free thinker, spirit and man.’ ‘Youthful feminine delight.’

How funny, because if you know me, you know I am a free spirit and dislike being hemmed in, shut down, put upon, or bossed around! I’d rather be out in the garden, flitting freely from one flower bed to another, basking in the warmth of the sunlight on a beautiful summer day but I have found, within my freedom of spirit and personality, an imp! I can be self-centered and selfish (something I’m working diligently on). I have been blessed with a very youthful spirit for a woman of 63, and I pray that will always be!

What’s your name? ☺️

How’s your eyesight these days? From what view do you gaze upon the world and those around you? Has the school of hard knocks skewed your vision? Has mankind given you a dismal outlook?

Many, years ago, at a “Women of Faith” conference, one of my favorite speakers and authors, Patsy Clairmont, gave an excellent sermon. I have never forgotten her: “Lord, I need your spiritual Murine to see you clearly!”

Since that day, I couldn’t tell you how many prayers I have started with, “Lord I need your spiritual Visine.” (didn’t want to infringe on Patsy)😉

This is a simple but powerful prayer! Lord, help me to see you clearly! Help me to see your path! Help me to see your ways not the ways of the world! Help me to see people through your eyes and not society’s! Help me to see your written word and absorb it into my being! Help me to put into action the instructions I see in your Bible!

Lord, help me to see what you’ve put in front of me and respond accordingly.

1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

I love this scripture! For now, we look in a mirror, dimly. We can see ourselves, but do we see? Looking in a mirror in lousy lighting doesn’t reveal every line, mar, or wrinkle; our definitions are slightly blurred and vague! But then, face to face! One day, we will stand face to face with our Lord Jesus! Now, I know in part, again, we only see through worldly vision, distorted and again, a bit vague! Then I shall fully understand as I have been fully known! One day, Poof! Heavenly Visine will clear everything, and we will suddenly see and feel the fullness, depth, and endless boundaries of his absolute love and experience the same within ourselves. WOW!

But, before the day of our arrival in heaven, I do believe if we ask for him to reveal himself, his love, guidance, provision, and protection, he is faithful and is always there!

Psalm 119:18 ESV “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”

“Thank you, Lord Jesus, for always seeing me. Thank you for your word that guides and your love that leads. Help me, Lord, each day to use my spiritual Visine, that I may see your face, your path, your design. In your glorious name, I pray. Amen

The word “all” is such a tiny word but carries within it a gigantic impact!

All: Used to refer to the whole quantity. Used to emphasize the greatest possible amount of a quantity! Oxford Languages

The word all is used over 5,000 times within scriptures throughout the Bible. Here are but a smidge!

Matthew 22:27 NIV “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Psalm 145:17 NIV “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and is faithful in all he does.”

Psalm 145:18 NIV “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

Ephesians 6:18 NIV “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all God’s people.”

2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”

2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

1 Peter 5:7 NIV “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Psalm 9:1 NIV “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

Romans 8:32 NIV “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.”

Philippians 4:13 NIV “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Deuteronomy 4:29 NIV “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Psalm 34:4 NIV “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”

Matthew 11:28 NIV “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Psalm 33:4 NIV “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in ALL he does.”

I will stop on this particular scripture because it’s the sum of all!

The Lord is faithful in all he does! The Lord’s words are alive and true! He is with us all~ways!

He gives us promises of his all; might we try and give him back that same all~ness! 😌

All my devotional readings this morning had to do with rest!

Is the Lord trying to tell me something? Is he about to speak to you?

Rest: Cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength. An instant or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity. Oxford Languages

I have a tough time sitting still. If I’m not driving on a car trip, I’m like a squirming toddler. I read, but between segments or chapters, I’m up doing something. My mind wanders, so if I attempt to sit and pray and try and tune in, it’s a battle of the mind and will.

My initial thought was to study scriptures on rest until I came across this gem in Jeremiah! I came across it, she grins, the Lord led me there!

Jeremiah 6:16 ESV “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.”

What stopped me was, ‘Ask for the ancient paths.’

I love this; it stopped me and blew me in another direction! We’ve all heard and have probably used the term, ‘Hindsight is 20/20.’

Here’s another translation of the same verse written in a different voice that I also love.

Jeremiah 6:16 NLT “This is what the Lord says: Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want.”

We encounter crossroads daily, and it’s up to us to choose our path! Do you take a moment to think about the good and bad? Possibly, have I been here before, and how did that turn out? Or, do you dive right in because it looks fun, inviting, beautiful, just what you always wanted, absolutely perfect, neglecting the probable outcome?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results! Does your world feel like a merry-go-round? Might you be on a familiar path and thinking I don’t want to do this again , or worse yet, I don’t want to walk here anymore, but the Ancient of Days says otherwise!

The next section of that Scripture is ‘Where the good way is, walk in it and find rest for your souls.”

The Bible is one of the continual writings of men and women just like you and me; we can read and learn from their lives, mistakes, and victories.

The accounts of those who chose the rest, protection, provision, and direction of God and those who exclaimed, “We will not walk in it.”

Choosing to follow Jesus and his way isn’t always easy as his way goes directly opposite of the world’s, but take it from one who has often not walked in his way to have learned how to stand at a crossroads and ask: “The Ancient of Way to show me his path and his rest!”

Psalm 4:8 ESV: “In peace, I will lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Exodus 33:14 ESV “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Be blessed and May You Find Rest Today! 😌