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Judges 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!

The below devotion was written by George Whitten for Worthy Devotionals. Worthy Devotionals are wonderful and have taught me so much! You can sign up for them here :).

“Judges 6 begins with an angel talking to Gideon saying, “thou mighty man of valor!” However, in this passage Gideon isn’t feeling very valiant — he’s consumed with his circumstances — how poor his family is and how he’s the least of his fathers’ house. He doesn’t feel he’s done anything worthy of being called valiant, yet the angel still addresses him “mighty man of valor!”

Gideon is not the only one who struggles with feeling unvaliant, though, is he? Even the best of us struggle with feelings of failure and defeat. But we must remember that we are part of the Lord’s army — and in the Lord’s army, we do not depend upon our own strength. We depend upon the power of the Lord! We depend upon the victory that He has already won!

Imagine the countless thousands of saints like Gideon who have passed away before us and now sit in heaven’s glory where every tear is dried, and every wound is healed — who have already fought the battle of life and are calling down to us from heaven saying “Fellow Saint, you can get through this thing! Fight this battle — for we have fought these same battles in our lives and been rewarded with heaven’s glory! So fight through and we’ll see you soon beside us! March forward you mighty man and woman of valor!”

The Lord stands eagerly anxiouly awaiting our call. He wants us to walk in His power, not our own! Let’s give him our circumstances today and strive to rely on His strength to conquer them!”

“When the walls are closing in, You will make a way” -Makers, Woodlands Worship

America was THE City on the Hill.  God’s Gift to the world, it once was all that was good in this world.  Millions came here, not just to make money, but to BE American.  They wanted to learn English, because they wanted to BE American.

God didn’t just Bless our nation, He Blessed it Greatly.  He poured His Holy Spirit into it and we were so very grateful.  God wasn’t just welcome in the public square; God was the public square.  We passed our laws  with God in mind and applied them equally to each person.

Although we were founded as a Christian nation, we had a deep respect for those of all faiths and honored everyone’s right to worship as they chose.  We have and will always share a special bond for those of Jewish faith for they share so much with us ? And such was born the Jewish-Christian Heritage upon which many of our laws are based on.

We believed in freedom, faith and family.  And especially freedom of speech.  For the minute we try to take someone else’s freedom, we loose our own!

And that Freedom, that Freedom was given to us by God Himself!

We are not that nation anymore, nor are we a world leader!  To be that kind of nation takes faith and courage, and our nation does not have that anymore.  It takes caring about someone else more than ourselves.  It takes a willingness to do the Will of God, instead of our own.  Many Americans may still have that kind of faith, but our nation does not, but it could again!

The choice is ours, given to us by God Himself!

“² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” – Romans 12:2

When one looks around our earthly world, it is hard not to be discouraged. Wars and rumours of wars, poverty, disease and just pure evil seem to fill the headlines these days. And even worse, much of it seems to be brought about by human hands. But although we may be “in this world”, we are “not of it”!

We, each one of us, need to focus our eyes and hearts on God. And keep them there :). The coming days may be ugly, but we can see the beauty of the world that is awaiting us -if we focus on it.

God wants to help us do that! And we can :). So choose your TV and music carefully. Take your children out of public school. There are plenty of educational options now! Pray -with others and alone with God, stayed focused on God :). And immerse yourselves in God’s world. It’s waiting for you and your family. And the Joy & Peace that “surpasses all understanding” will fill your hearts – despite all that is happening in our world!

God’s True Safe Space is waiting for you and yours. And it is the only “safe space” that truly works! 🙂

” We are children of God”-Romans:8:16

What a glorious privilege! Through Jesus, we are the children of God.

“Abba” is the term Jesus used when praying in the Garden:

“And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt”- Mark 14:36

Some translations translate the word “Abba” as Daddy. Clearly Our Father is not a distant one, but an emotionally close one. A Daddy we love and a Daddy who loves us 🙂

A “Daddy” we can go to when we are in trouble or afraid. And a “Daddy” we can go share our news of the days with. A Daddy we can share anything with, because He loves us so 🙂

Choose Jesus and go home to “Daddy” 🙂

The below devotion was written by George Whitten for Worthy Devotionals. Worthy Devotionals are wonderful and have taught me so much! You can sign up for them here :). A word about God-Incidence. God is with us ALWAYS. We just need to look for Him 🙂

“My Friends, there’s are always a way to return!”

“Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

“It was a bright Sunday morning in 18th century London, but Robert Robinson’s mood was anything but sunny. All along the street, there were people hurrying to church, but in the midst of the crowd, Robinson was a lonely man. The sound of church bells reminded him of years past when his faith in God was strong and the church was an integral part of his life. It had been years since he set foot in a church — years of wandering, disillusionment, and gradual defection from the God he once loved. That love for God — once fiery and passionate — had slowly burned out within him, leaving him dark and cold inside. Robinson heard the clip-clop, clip-clop of a horse-drawn cab approaching behind him. Turning, he lifted his hand to hail the driver. But then he saw that the cab was occupied by a young woman dressed in finery for the Lord’s Day. He waved the driver on, but the woman in the carriage ordered the carriage to be stopped.

“Sir, I’d be happy to share this carriage with you,” she said to Robinson. “Are you going to church?” Robinson was about to decline, then he paused. “Yes,” he said at last. “I am going to church.” He stepped into the carriage and sat down beside the young woman. As the carriage rolled forward Robert Robinson and the woman exchanged introductions. There was a flash of recognition in her eyes when he stated his name. “That’s an interesting coincidence,” she said, reaching into her purse. She withdrew a small book of inspirational verse, opened it to a ribbon bookmark, and handed the book to him. “I was just reading a verse by a poet named Robert Robinson. Could it be…?”

He took the book, nodding. “Yes, I wrote these words years ago.” “Oh, how wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Imagine! I’m sharing a carriage with the author of these very lines!”

But Robinson barely heard her. He was absorbed in the words he was reading. They were words that would one day be set to music and become a great hymn of the faith, familiar to generations of Christians:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace’
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

His eyes slipped to the bottom of the page where he read:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it—
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

He could barely read the last few lines through the tears that brimmed in his eyes. “I wrote these words—and I’ve lived these words. ’Prone to wander…prone to leave the God I love.’”

The woman suddenly understood. “You also wrote, ’Here’s my heart, O take and seal it.’ You can offer your heart again to God, Mr. Robinson. It’s not too late.”

And it wasn’t too late for Robert Robinson. At that moment he turned his heart back to God and walked with him for the rest of his days. [Ron Lee Davis, Courage to Begin Again, (Harvest House, Eugene, OR; 1978), pp. 145-147]

My Friends, does this remind you of someone? Share this word … perhaps our loving Father will use this message to bring a wayward soul back to Himself!”

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Phillipians 4:6

“It IS the peace that only the Holy Spirit, sent by God, can give ?.  It is a Peace filled with Joy.  The kind of Joy that fills our entire being!  Quiet and sure, it can not be touched or lessened by anything in this world!

It’s our Father’s way of lifting us up and out of our troubles.  It’s our Savior’s way of walking with us-every step of the way until we come Home.  And it’s the Holy Spirit’s way of sharing God’s Great Love for us ?

And it is there, waiting for each of us, whenever we are in need.  Whenever our heart hurts or we are afraid.  And to reach it, to have it fill our hearts with Peace & Joy, all we need to do is ask our Father to send His Holy Spirit in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.

And our Father will do so, because He Loves us ?

Have you ever driven to work or school on one of those really dark days, when the sky is just filled with storm clouds?

And then, all of a sudden see the sun come out and light up those very same clouds with a light that transforms them into something so beautiful that is literally lifts you up and out of all that burdens you?

It almost feels as if God just gave you a Hug. God just did 🙂

One of the things I have learned over the years is the value of penance. It’s not a word often used these days. Even the use of the word “sin” seems to be a rare event. But we all sin, whether we acknowledge it or not.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us…. If we say that we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and His word is not in us” – John 1:8-10

The best description of sin that I ever heard was from our Pastor at our home church in Ohio. He said that we “sinned” anytime we failed to love God as we should or love others the way Jesus loves us. Well, we all fall short on that definition :).

Another reminder he made about “sin” is that it is not just the “sin” we commit. It’s the things we failed to do (omit)-that we should have done. Such as helping another human being. We’ve all, I am sure, helped many people along the way, but I think if we are honest, we know that there are at least a few times that we walked by people we could have encouraged or helped!

Christ calls upon us all to “repent”. To love God with our whole heart and soul and to love others!

And that brings me to Penance. An old fashioned word to be sure. What is penance. It is anything we do to make amends for the times we have “fallen short” of Christ’s Great Commands. Sometimes it’s prayers such as an Our Father or Hail Mary or a prayer that we speak from our heart and in private. Sometimes it’s a sincere apology to God. For some it’s going to confession. Sometimes we take extra actions to help others, to make up for the times we failed to do so. Sometimes it is all of those and more! But it is a prayer for forgiveness and we always make it in Jesus’ Name 🙂

Personally, I have found Penance to be a great help to me :). For while I am sure that Jesus forgives me for the times I fall short, I sometime find it harder to forgive myself. We can be our own worst critics, lol. Perhaps that is why our Lord created penance, because He knew it would help us. God is good like that 🙂

For me, prayer and penance are a way to begin again with a clean slate. To be free! An opportunity to have my heart renewed and at peace. For it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we can receive the Peace & Joy that transcends all 🙂

A friend of mine sent this, it was so comforting I just had to share 🙂

“Abba: The God Who IS Our Daddy”

“God is referred to by a number of names in the Bible – not just a single name. Each of these names has a great significance. Each one tells us something important about God, His character and how He relates to us. Abba is the name Jesus Himself used for His Father when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, captured in Mark 14:36. In Aramaic, it is the familiar name small children use for their father–Daddy.”

“Jesus prayed, “Daddy, all things are possible for You.” Abba expresses all the love and affection of a small child for their father. It’s not only Jesus who can call God the Father, “Daddy.” The Bible shares in Romans 8:15, that God has adopted you as His Child and that now you may call Him, “Abba, Father”. The Great God of the universe invites you and me to call Him, Daddy! You can come to Him as a little child comes to his dad. In His Arms you are able to be secure.”

“When this life on earth just seems to throw at you, or ones you love, more than are able to cope with, there IS the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constantly leaning your way. This is due to the anticipation of your request of His Healing Power and Touch, Mercy and Grace, Strength and Courage, Compassion and Caring for His children, His Love, Joy, and Peace. What an Awesome God we have, Who cares SO much for you and Who wants and needs you to be with Him now, forever and ever. What a Blessing, that no matter what hardships, trials, temptations we go through, for these moments granted on earth, there IS Love like no other available, just for the asking, 24/7!! “

“My thoughts and prayers are that you take Daddy up on His Offer to you! That you release ALL of your burdens to Him, Who has had VERY much practice in doing this and helping His Children. That His angels are sent to help and protect you from harm and evil. In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.”