Just one week before Christmas
Once prayers had been heard,
The people were scurrying
To get out God’s Word.

The hymns were being sung
To Holy God above,
In thanks for Him sending,
Jesus Christ and His love.

Christmas brings remembrance
Of family and friends,
And the importance of our sharing
A love without end.

Our blessings are too numerous,
Our hearts filled with joy,
Yet our eyes have often drifted
Away from our Lord!

The Christmas season brings forth
The best in most souls,
To help those less fortunate
And lighten their load.

Salvation was offered
For all to receive,
If only each person
Would listen, heed and believe.

So if you don’t know Him
Down deep in your heart,
Ask Him to save you now
You’ll be changed on the spot.

By Cheryl White

I hope you have a blessed day as the countdown begins. I have a home full of grand babies helping their aunt bake Christmas treats. As always thank you for sharing some of your time in Sunshine ☀️❤️🥰

Dear Lord Jesus, I bow before you with humble thanksgiving.

I thank you for knowing.

I am thankful for your understanding of how it feels when my flesh is stronger than my spirit and I act or speak like a heathen rather than one of your examples.

I thank you for understanding when my feelings get hurt, ignored, or stepped on and I create and harbor ill feelings, resentment, and often a grouchy attitude.

I am thankful that you understand tiredness, hunger, faint of heart, discouragement, frustration, weariness, and fear.

I am thankful for your strength when I am weak.

Your light when my world looks dark.

I am most thankful for the Holy Spirit who gently whispers love, peace, solace, grace, and forgiveness.

I am thankful that you are ever-changing me, so the moods dissipate quicker, the anger has no place to reside, my flesh is overcome by the spirit of you Lord!

A spirit of contrite, hope, renewal, and peace.

I am thankful that when I turn to you all grimy and dirty, you look beyond my filth and see the heart asking for forgiveness, as you are gently cleaning.

I am thankful that your word tells me I will be a work in progress until the day of your return, meaning I am not going to always get it right, act accordingly, or never fall.

But what it does mean is that every time I turn to you, You will be there and for that, I am so thankful!

I am thankful for your birth I celebrate this month in December, your ministry of love and teachings that I follow, your Holy sacrifice upon the cross for me, your life-changing resurrection, and your glorious return that I am patiently waiting for! In your precious name Lord Jesus, I pray, Amen 🙏

Thank you for joining me and may your day be blessed. 🥰

Isaiah 9:6 NLT “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

In today’s day and time,
It’s easy to lose sight,
Of the true meaning of Christmas
And one special night.

When we go shopping,
We say, “How much will it cost?”
Then the true meaning ofChristmas,
Somehow becomes lost.

Amidst the tinsel, glitter
And ribbons of gold,
We forget about the child
Born on a night so cold.

The children look for Santa
In his big, red sleigh
Never thinking of the child
Whose bed was made of hay.

In reality,
When we look into the night sky,
We don’t see a sleigh
But a star, burning bright and high.

A faithful reminder,
Of that night so long ago,
And of the child we call Jesus,
Whose love the world would know.

–By Brian K. Walters

I was enjoying some Christmas poems last night and wanted to share some with you…I do not know Brian Walters but I certainly appreciate his poem and the fact he has shared it on the internet for all to enjoy!

Be blessed today and try and be a blessing! Thank you for joining me!

Proverbs 16:3 NLT “Commit your plans to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”

I was reading in one of my devotionals this morning and the writer used a different verse but brought up a point sadly I haven’t thought of!

Commit our plans to the Lord! Easy enough! We may lay out our new business thoughts, plans, or dealings to the Lord!

We may be contemplating a life-changing move and commit these thoughts and plans to the Lord!

Possibly a mountain of debt that we spend many hours sweating and praying over, committing our needs to the Lord!

The child in your family causing havoc and pain, a disobedient teenage, a wild young adult? Prayers to the Lord, for the lessons that need to be learned, understanding to seep in, awakening to happen, and protection from their errant ways.

The list of guidance, protection, provision, clarity, direction, grace, favor, and mercy prayers seem to always be for the big picture or a specific.

But what if…

We started our day by asking the Lord what his plans are for our day?

So simple yet so profound!

Sure, we have jobs, school, responsibilities but what if we asked the Lord to guide us and our day! What blessings we may be missing out on because we see through our tunnel vision, not his worldly eyes.

Not blessings that he will take us to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, even tho it’s possible but the blessings of walking in his shadow! His protection within his guidance,

The new person or group of people he may introduce you too. The ability to face a challenge you’ve been putting off! The door you never even noticed that just opened to a new world of excitement and possibility. The peace and strength we didn’t know existed until deciding to partner with the Prince of Peace every day and throughout the day!

With the Lord as our partner we won’t fail! We may take different paths than we originally intended but when we learn to trust the path, everything else falls into place.

Be blessed today and ask the Lord to join you within your plans, to lead, and then settle back, glad to be the assistant!

Thank you for joining me today…🥰

James 5:16 ESV “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV “Pray without ceasing.”

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

1 Peter 3:12 ESV “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Colossians 4:2 ESV “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

Jeremiah 29:12 ESV “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”

Prayers don’t have to be fancy, they don’t have to be long and drawn out, they don’t require words from the dictionary that you have to look up! Prayer is simply communicating with God.

The Lord will lay people on our hearts and minds. Out of the blue, we think of someone, wouldn’t it be nice if whenever someone crosses our thoughts that we offer a quick prayer, ‘Lord, I don’t know their needs but you do and I thank you for taking care of…’

Possibly you do know their issues or needs and can offer a quick prayer asking for specifics. It may be a prayer you need and repeat twenty times a day, ‘Lord, give me strength, peace, hope, health, finances, rest.’

When we communicate with our Lord, our spirit connects with his, and along with any prayers said, I find a sense of peace within, just being in his presence during short chats throughout the day.

So, possibly today if or when someone crosses your mind; offer a quick prayer lifting them to the Lord for whatever they may be needing!

I am praying daily for a young lady who is battling a cancerous brain tumor. She has quite a battle in front of her but with the Lord’s loving hand, she will make it! I would ask for any of you to please stand beside me in prayer for this young gal who should be baking Christmas cookies not receiving a blood transfusion due to chemo! This young warriors name is Bella and her moms name is Nikki…I need my prayer warriors out there to add Nikki and Bella to their prayers…Prayers for strength, peace and most of all a total mind blowing magnificent out of this world God healing!!! Thank you.

Thank you for joining me. 🥰

Nope, not the one hit wonder by The Whisper’s from 1987

Nor the villain from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…

But…Our Lord in Heaven!

Psalm 18:1-3 ESV “I love you, Lord. You are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my protection, my Savior. My God is my rock. I can run to him for safety. He is my shield and my saving strength, my defender. I will call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I will be saved from my enemies.”

Rock Steady ~ Something that is very firm and does not shake or move about.

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

He truly is a rock! I have been in many situations throughout my life and the lives of my children where our foundations felt like sand on the edge of the ocean as the waves crashed in and out. The sand shifts, slides, and feels as though its dissolving right under your feet, leaving the landscape you were once standing on changed and uncertain.

Then take yourself down the beach a bit and climb upon that giant rock formation buried deep within the sand, right at the waters edge where the waves crash upon it and foamy salt water swirl around its base.

What do you feel now? Acceleration as all you stand steady amongst the crashing waves feeling only some of its refreshing spray! You can see the water, hear the pounding, feel the power but your feet are standing solid upon that rock. Safety, because you know its not going anywhere and neither are you.

If we keep our feet firmly planted on Jesus Christ our rock, the storms can hit, the winds can howl, sheets of rain can try and wash us away but if we remain in him, He will remain in us…Rock Steady!

He isn’t going anywhere, strong, safe and firm!

Be blessed today and stay safe, Mother Nature is throwing a fit today! Thank you for joining me. 🥰

The storms of life we all have them, out of the blue a black cloud hits and torrents of rain fall.

Some of us tend to hibernate when the winds are howling and debris is flying! Self preservation and healing I surmise but I can’t help but think the most important thing is what we are doing while in our hibernation mode.

Do we get on the phone and call everyone we know and hash and rehash? Do you get on social media and wave your privacy like a flag no one really wants to see? Do we have that one trusted friend we can spill our hearts too who listens and offers advice from the heart and probably their own past experiences. Or, do you find a quiet spot to pray?

Psalm 62:8 NIV “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

I can personally testify to the peace that comes from talking to God first! We can scream, cry, wail, gripe, feel picked on, become a martyr within indignant righteousness as we look upward in our pain, fear or frustration…and then something magical happens!

Random thoughts come to mind and soon the compartmentalization starts to happen. Often the Lord will reveal the true root of the storm or possibly our hand in the creation of. He will reveal the truth if he is allowed to speak. He will calm and restore if we let him.

There is nothing wrong with turning to another human for contact and comfort, that is why God gave us the natural ability to love and share relationships, so we do have others to talk with, pray with and receive spiritual counsel from but don’t ever forget to go to the real source of us all!

Our Father God in Heaven who Loves his children and just wants the best for them!

Give prayer a chance to heal the wounds, take away the anger, restore the lost and broken, seek the place of refuge within his loving grace.

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

Dear Lord,

I bow before you this morning and I ask for peace.

I ask for a moment of peace for Nikki and Bella…the mommas heart that is scared and broken as she watches her child fight a battle no child should have to fight. Strength for the beautiful young lady with the heart of a warrior and the war fit a soldier.

The special young man who has to watch his mentor and a second father figure pass from this earth into God’s glorious arms. The pain and heaviness at the goodbye he doesn’t want to face or say!

The beautiful pastor’s wife who is having to watch not one but both her parents fight the fight for life. Her fear, her spiritual battle of why and trust all blended into a swirl of emotions yet still trying to wear the right face for all those who look upon and to her.

My dear much loved friends, who daily fight physical attacks on their bodies. The tired within of hurting, the frustration of a body that doesn’t work as well as it used to, the constant physical battles that often lead to sadness and depression.

The young adults in my life. The child that is working around the clock to make a world for himself, family and children. The child who daily decides to not succumb to the weakness of addiction and to live and walk free from the chains thereof. The child whose brain works faster than the norm and has to daily rearrange his thought patterns to slow down to the level of the world and the frustration that often brings.

These are but a few drops of rain within the barrel of people Lord who need a bit of your peace within their hearts and spirits. I can’t name them all or detail their battle but I can offer a blanket prayer for your scared children the lost, and the addicted ones, the homeless, the confused, the tired, the broke, and the broken.

It’s winter and it’s cold. In my section of the map, it’s raining and grey! Lord, please send us your warmth and peace within to renew our spirits with the security of your love, provision, protection, and guidance.

In your name Lord Jesus, I commit this prayer. Amen!

I hope for you a day of peace and warmth. Thank you for sharing some if your time with me, in Sunshine! 🥰

Mark 6:31-32 NLT “Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’ He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.”

Jesus being fully God was also fully man. He got tired and hungry just the same as you and I. The verse above speaks of many people coming and going, wherever Jesus walked throngs of people gathered.

Fast forward two thousand years and here we are within throngs of people. We get tired, hungry, wore down and wrung out. We meet ourselves coming and going! Often we can get cranky, take a word or two spoken the wrong way, speak a word or two the wrong way.

This is when we need to not only heed the advice in the scriptures but to follow Jesus’ lead. Find a quiet spot and moment to be alone, rest, and receive nourishment.

When Jesus would seek the quiet spots he sometimes went off alone but just as often he took the apostles with him, this was a relaxed time where they could ask Jesus the questions in their hearts or he might offer an answer to a parable recently taught or another lesson for the future walk of a Christian.

Jesus offers us the same trip with him in a boat, sailing across a lake to a quiet spot where we too may sit and ask the questions of our heart, enjoy the salve of his soothing words within the Bible, or just simply invite him to quietly sit with us as we do nothing but let our body and minds unwind and relax as our eyes gaze out the window at the skies above.

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

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

Matthew 11:28 ESV “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

In this season of too much to do, too many people in the mall, and too much traffic on the roads, I invite you for a boat ride to a quiet spot with our Lord to recoup, restore and refresh!

Be blessed today, try and be a blessing and thank you as always for joining me. 🥰

Good Morning Lord,

I thank you for safe and peaceful sleep last night. I thank you for a full night of sleep!

I went to bed tired and woke up yet tired!

This time of year brings so much beauty but also with it comes…so much!!!

Lord, you know me and when I get stretched thin I get cranky, and short and I’m not talking about my five foot stature.

Lord, I need your assistance please! Help me to recognize my shortcomings and to work on them. Help me to be grateful that I have people, places and things in my life that surround me with love and require my presence.

I may be tired but I’m thankful my body works well enough to evoke tiredness. Help me to keep the servants heart that you desire us to have, the same servants heart our Lord Jesus showed the world.

I ask Lord for your presence today and everyday to carry the light, glow and love of this month into the next twelve months of the new year that’s quickly approaching

Holy Spirit, I need your gifts that I in turn may share them with others. Your gifts of kindness, goodness, love, self control, grace, patience, joy, gentleness and peace.

Your example starts with me, help me Lord Jesus to be a good one. In your name I pray. Amen 🙏

I pray for you all strength, joy and many blessings this season. Thank you for joining me. 🥰