What’s got you wound up? What’s got you worried? What’s got you angry? What’s got you frustrated? What’s got you stressed?

What’s making you rigid? What’s making you dread? What’s making you grouchy? What’s making you anxious? What’s making you nervous?

Your Mind!!!

Sure there are many reasons, situations, and people who cause the above emotions and reactions but what is the fuel that keeps all those going? Our mind, our thoughts…our ability to replay, rewind, replay and rewind all day long!

My quest this year has been to retrain my brain. I have reached a place where I realize I can be grouchy, angry, frustrated, discontent, and like a miser who sits and counts all the offenses in my world. (and sometimes I do)

Or…

I can immediately take them to the cross. We have the Holy Spirit, who is always available to help change our thoughts and moods. We just have to ask! It doesn’t always come easy, this rising above the offense, the not biting back when bitten, turning the cheek, and walking away!

Philippians 4:8 NCV “Brothers and sisters, think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected. Do what you learned and received from me, what I told you, and what you saw me do. And the God who gives peace will be with you.”

Again, it isn’t always easy but it’s always worth it. It’s a simple prayer of asking the Holy Spirit to take away the negative and fill with heavens positive. Ask for peace to reign over hurt, anger or frustration. Ask for joy to fill you from head to toe…then go about your business. The great thing is in a little while you will notice…quiet peace slipped inside and there’s a smile on your heart.

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

As I was reading in Isaiah this morning the small little verse jumped out and just screamed to be noticed! So, notice we will! I have given four translations of the same verse.

Isaiah 35:4a NIV “Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with a vengeance.”

Isaiah 35:4a NKJV “Say to those who are fearful hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold you God will come with vengeance.”

Isaiah 35:4a NCV “Say to people who are frightened, ‘Be strong. Do not be afraid. Look, your God will come, and he will punish your enemies.”

Isaiah 35:4a NLT “Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.”

Fearful, Frightened, or Afraid! What are you afraid of today? What monster is hiding under your bed? What fear lurks in your heart, robbing you of peace? Take those fears and worries to the throne room of God and lay them at his feet. Turn them over to him! Let Go and Let God!!!

We are instructed by the Lord to; Be strong and do not fear! Why is that?

Because He is coming to save you!!! It’s scripture, on this you can count on, bank on, sleep on and rely on! The Lord’s word never returns void!!!

He is coming to destroy your enemies! What is your enemy? Are you fighting your health? Are you battling a season of wait? Is a deadline quickly approaching and you’re not ready? Are you facing a financial mountain? Family issues? Relationship woes? Decisions needing to be made? Let Jehovah Nissi (The Lord our Banner) go to battle for you!

Dear Lord, thank you for your words that speak strength, comfort, and protection. I humbly ask Lord for your peace within the storm, for your comfort within the wait, your signs within the decisions and your presence within our hearts. We thank you, Lord, that whatever battle is being faced today that we know we aren’t facing it alone, as your word tells us you are coming and coming with a vengeance, for this and all you are I give humble thanksgiving and praise your Holy name. In that name Lord Jesus I pray. Amen 🙏

I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it…take those cares and worries and frustrations to the cross and leave them there. Gods got this and he’s got you too!

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

Matthew 7:7-11 NIV “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

There is so much going on within these few verses! First off I believe the Lord is addressing our gift of salvation.

Jesus Christ gave his life for ours, it is there for our taking and all we have to do is ask! The Lord is proclaiming loudly that this gift is for everyone! Ask! Seek! Knock!

Dear Lord Jesus, I stand at the door and knock. I stand with my head bowed, seeking your love and forgiveness. I ask you to come into my heart and spirit and make your home within me. I believe you died on the cross for my sins and I am thankful. I may not fully understand it all yet but with your help and guidance I too will walk in your peace, joy and loving light. I thank you that my name is in your book of life and I will spend eternity with you. Thank you for saving my life! In your glorious name I pray. Amen 🙏

The second section is a bit broader! We are instructed to turn to the Lord for our needs! However, I believe the key is not in the asking but how we ask! Don’t misunderstand, I take specifics to God all the time but I also know that might not be the answer I receive.

Example: God I need a car to get back and forth to work. I saw this cute little red one on the lot, you know the one, can I have that one? Thank you, Amen Or… God, you know my needs. You know I sincerely need transportation to work and I thank you for your provision…PS, did you see that cute little red car on the corner! I thank you Lord for providing me the ability to get back and forth to work, whatever those means may be. Amen

Example: Lord, you know I am waiting for my Christian partner. Can they look like this, enjoy this, want to do that, make this much money, have no children or baggage. I think maybe that person at work, how about that one! Or…Lord, you know that I am lonely and would love to have a special someone in my life. I pray for your choice and blessing Lord in my spiritual partner because you know my needs better then I do. Thank you Lord for being my partner until the day my Mr or Mrs Right shows up!

Are you in need? Ask! Are you a bit lost, dazed or confused? Seek! Are you afraid, alone or lonely? Knock!

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Dear Lord Our Father In Heaven, Hallowed be thy name…in other words may your name be honored!

Thank you Lord for this morning and another day to be.

Lord, help us to learn from yesterday’s mistakes, and to recognize the right paths we did chose. It’s so easy to dwell on our mistakes, a wrong word, or action but why is it so hard to pat ourselves on the back when we’ve lent a helping hand or decided to remain quiet when verbalizing our thoughts would have felt better.

It’s a new day, yesterday is over and we have the mercies of your word and love that tell us we are new today as well.

Lord, you know how much I love new months and I am rejoicing today. There’s something so refreshing about that clean calendar page and the unmarred planner. Its cognizance of new beginnings, and fresh starts. I am reminded of Lamentations 3:22-23…your forgiveness and mercies are like a new calendar month every morning…clean and unmarred.

I thank you Lord for your patience, kindness, love and joy! I love you and honor you every day if only by simply trying to become who you’d love for me to be.

In your beautiful name Lord Jesus I pray. Thank you for the new month, thank you for the new day, thank you for the new me! Amen 🙏

I pray with hope and walk with anticipation!

Hope: A feeling of expectation and desires for a certain thing to happen.

Anticipating: Regard as probable; expect or predict.

Anticipation: The action of anticipating something; expectation or prediction.

When we read in the Lord’s word, the promises of life, the promise of direction, the promise of a prayer prayed within his will to be fulfilled should have every believer walking on the sheer anticipation of:

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

Matthew 6:33 ESV “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Psalm 130:5 ESV “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope,”

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.”

Here are seven of the over 8,000 promises God has given us within the Bible…

I am your Strength.

I will never leave you.

I have plans for you to prosper.

I hear your prayers.

I will fight for you.

I will give you peace.

I will always love you.

That’s a pretty good start, ask the Lord for strength in his promises, to show you how to trust more, worry less, and how to let go and let God so that you can live a stressful free peaceful life.

I am not saying that we won’t have trials and stress, life is full of them but when we truly learn to let go and trust in our Lord and Savior, we don’t have to pack them around, we let go and give them to God!

He’s got this, after all his word says so! On this I believe, hope, and anticipate!

Be blessed today and as always thank you for joining me. 🥰

Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT “But forget about that-it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed.”

I find it quite funny when we as humans cry out to the Lord in our distress, despair, and frustrations. We ask, beg and often plead for a change in our circumstances. A change.

Then one day we wake up and our position at work has been eliminated. A new position has just opened up in the department of our expertise. The home we are renting and have outgrown has suddenly been put on the market. Your roommate has been transferred. You have been transferred.

The possibilities and scenarios are as vast as the stars in the night sky but the results are the same…Change!!!

Oh No!!! Fear!!! Panic!!! What is going on, why is this happening? God, where are you?

Where? Right in the middle of your answered prayers, that’s where!

We can’t expect changes in our lives and world if there aren’t some changes. I have been around long enough to know often the changes we are praying for need to come from within but just as often the Lord will pick us up and move us. There Done! A new beginning, a new chapter!

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV “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.”

So, if you truly are praying for changes, waiting for the Lord earnestly for your changes and one day a strange wind blows in and moves things…pay attention! It’s probably God, do you not see it?

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

Father God in Heaven,

I am so humble this morning.

I am so thankful this morning.

I am so blessed.

The weather is so autumn today, the trees are covered in their golden sweaters. The leaves are playing keep away on my grass and much-needed drops of rain, fall from the sky, to quickly be absorbed by the very thirsty ground.

I feel a coziness Lord and I am so thankful for the peace that glows within as my flickering candles do against the panes of their glass. Soft glows emit from my windows and the smells coming from the kitchen are divine.

Fall has arrived.

I ask Lord that you be with us, your children as we head into the season of cold. Be our beacon of light on the dreary winter days. Holy Spirit our comforter on the chilly nights.

Help us Lord your children to be beacons of light and warmth on the days ahead. Give us the strength to face our fears, our unknowns and tomorrow. Give us the peace to wait on you.

Your strength is perfect, your timing is perfect, You are perfect.

Thank you for rest Lord as we head into the months made for hibernation: rest in our spirits, our minds, and our bodies. Wrap us safely in your mighty arms, and when the frigid winds blow be our fortress.

In your glorious name Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen 🙏

I love the rainy days I can be home and stay, home and play! I hope wherever you are today, you can make yourself cozy…even if it’s from within. ❤️ Thank you for joining me and be blessed. 🥰

My grandparents on my maternal side were beautiful, and they produced heirs who were also. My father was and is still a very handsome man and the genetics from his bloodline produced some stunners on our family tree.

Physical beauty is a big market and most of us are attracted to the promises of and the appeals. I possess an ocean of lotions and potions, colors, and sprays. I can go from looking like a dish mop to a polished piece of silver in minutes.

I have reached the beginning of my elder years, my vanity wants you to notice I said the beginning of! I am wearing a crown of mostly white, I have areas of skin that resemble parchment paper. I am in a constant battle of little travel bags trying to settle under my eyes and the ever-present frown lines hanging around even when I’m not frowning!

1 Peter 3:3-4 ESV “Do not let your adorning be external-the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in Gods sight is very precious.”

1 Samuel 16:7 ESV “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

This is how I wish to grow, in the days I have left, which I hope are still many but when my frame has become tiny and fragile and my hair has thinned and is completely white. The wrinkles on my face reflect the wear, and tear of this life. The many miles traveled leaving their unmistakable mark.

I want my beauty to reflect the love and strength of Jesus Christ in my life, and his love that shines out of my eyes. I long to grow into God’s version of beauty~possessing a gentle and quiet spirit of peacefulness, kindness and joy!

Will I continue to slather and spray, of course! The best is yet to come!

Be blessed today and thank you for joining me. 🥰

For the ability to pray!

Dear Lord, thank you for knowing all we are feeling. I thank you, Lord, for knowing my heart and spirit better than I do.

I am so thankful for the times of understanding when I don’t understand, let alone know what to say, and it’s such a comfort to know I can sit with you and say nothing at all, and you hear my heart.

The prayers when all we can do is look up and shake our heads, no words can form, no real thought can settle, even that lends to the frustration because there’s so much that needs to be expressed, released but often we can’t. Thank you for being there; thank you for knowing.

Thank you that the silent tear makes so much noise in heaven. Thank you when we feel the most alone; we aren’t. Thank you for loving us when we feel the most unlovable, and thank you for seeing the beautiful rose instead of the thorn.

Thank you, Lord, for taking sadness to peacefulness, turning anger down to a simmer, filling the lonely spaces with your graces, and for loving us as we are this very moment.

We fail, and we fall, but then you know that and love us anyway. We resist and refuse, yet you remain right at our sides. You never let us remain but always are moving us closer to you. Thank you for always being there!

I love you, Lord Jesus with all my heart and that doesn’t even come close to the love you feel for us. Thank you for You! In your name I pray! Amen

May your day be blessed with peacefulness. Thank you for sharing some of your Sunday with me. 🥰