Are My Words Acceptable
Psalm 19:14 (KJV)
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Colossians 4:6 (NIV)
6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Matthew 15:11  (NIV)
11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
Colossians 3:8-10 (NIV)
8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Last week during my quiet time I came across: Psalm 19:14 (KJV)
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
I have read this scripture many times before, but for some reason the Holy Spirit really helped me to tune in and pay attention to what I was reading on that day.
I was definitely convicted when I read this passage of scripture.

Maybe I felt this way because I know that my words are not always acceptable to God. I realize that I should think before I speak, but I must ashamedly confess that I fall short of this goal at times.

I have noticed that when fatigue sets in due to a long day, or when there have been some unforeseen stresses that have creeped into my day, my attitude and my words can become very short at times, and unintentionally harsh.
I don’t know your struggle. It may be that you are guilty of gossiping, or every now and then you slip a swear or curse word into your conversation. Some of you may struggle with telling the truth, and lying has become a convenient habit for you. It may be that you can’t resist saying negative things or that you are great at making promises but never keep them. Whatever sinful thing you are guilty of committing with your tongue, just know that it does not in any way bring God honor, nor is it acceptable to Him.

Whatever your struggle, I encourage you to take a personal and honest assessment of yourself. From this day forward before you speak, why not ask yourself: will what I am about to say be pleasing and acceptable to God? The Litmus Test is; if you could not say it with God standing beside you, then maybe you should not say it at all. Believe it or not, He is standing right beside you and He does hear every word you say.

Remember God is holy and because we are His children and we carry His name, we must do our best to choose our words wisely, and we must live in a way that will represent Him well before others.

We are His ambassadors and because we are, our character must reflect that of His. We are human and we will not always get it right. We will fall short from time to time, but through prayer and studying God’s word, we will grow closer and closer to Him. The reward of being in His presence is that we start to reflect His character. Through this process, a divine transformation starts to take place. Our desires start to change, and our choice of words will also began to change, and all of this is God at work in our lives.

Praise God for His amazing power to change us from head to toe. With His help we really can change our words, so that they are more pleasing and acceptable to Him. Will you choose to honor Him with your words today? I hope so! It is certainly my goal!

Below I have listed a few scriptures and from these we can see what God’s word has to say about our words.

James 3:9-10 (NIV)
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Psalm 141:3 (NIV)
3 Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips

Strengthen Your Spiritual Muscles

1 Corinthians 9:27  (NLT)
²⁷ I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
Hebrews 6:1  (NLT)
6 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.
Ephesians 6:10-18  (NLT)
¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we^[a] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.^[b] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.^[c] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.^[d]
 2 Peter 1:5-8  (NLT)
⁵ In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
⁸ The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:8-11  (NLT)
⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.^[a]For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, ¹¹ so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

As most of you know, a little over a year and a half ago I suffered injuries from a really bad fall. I am still in physical therapy but praise God I can walk now without the aid of a cane. Now that my legs are much stronger and the nerves in my back seem to be a bit quieter, things are looking better.

I now realize, how being immobile for so long has weakened the rest of my body. The muscles in my upper back and arms are much weaker than they should be. Therefore my doctor is putting me back into physical therapy to strengthen my upper body as well. Nothing like a great fall to tear your body apart.

I was not excited about more physical therapy but thrilled that God has blessed me to be able to receive the treatments that I need.

Yesterday as I was leaving the doctor’s office, thoughts started to pop into my head regarding our spiritual muscles. Just as our physical muscles can become weak due to the lack of conditioning them, the same thing can happen to our spiritual muscles.

All muscles whether physical or spiritual, become weak if they are not consistently being used. All we have to do is go for a few days without reading our bibles or forget to pray for a day or so, and our muscles start to weaken. We can miss one Sunday at church, and before we know it, a month has gone by, since we stepped inside a worship service. This is the same thing that happens when we miss a day or two at the gym. I think we all can relate to that.

All of a sudden we start to miss our weekly Bible Study, and shortly after, we are alienating ourselves from other Christian sisters and brothers. The very ones who are there to give us emotional and spiritual encouragement, and to support us through difficult times.

I want to encourage you to take a moment, to really evaluate the strength of your spiritual muscles. When is the last time that you spent a good hour alone with God, or when is the last time that you memorized scriptures or meditated on a passage of scripture to give yourself strength for your journey? All of these things build spiritual muscles. Are you spiritually weak?

When we are strong spiritually, (which is only by God’s power working through us) we are not so easily thrown off balance when the enemy throws a blow. Notice I didn’t say if he throws a blow, but when, because it is inevitable. You see when we are spiritually fit, we may rock from the blow, but we won’t fall over in despair.

When God is our focus, we draw strength from being in His presence. He equips us spiritually and emotionally for the journey that he has purposed for us.

Don’t allow your spiritual muscles to become flabby. When we don’t exercise our physical bodies we become flabby and the same thing happens spiritually. So let’s take a look at what it means to be spiritually flabby. To be spiritually flabby is to be:

 Joshua 24:15  (NLT)
¹⁵ But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

A Surprise In The Sky

Genesis 9:8-17 (NLT)
8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, 10 and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. 11 Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
12 Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

This past weekend my husband and I went on a road trip, to visit his two sisters. It takes approximately eight hours by car from our door to theirs.

As my husband was mapping out our route, he realized that a new highway that had been under construction for quite some time had opened up for traffic. He thought that taking this highway would save us quite a bit of travel time.  So we decided to try it out.

The morning that we left it started to rain.  It rained and rained, and after driving for about 7 hours in the rain, we finally saw a bit of sunshine for a brief moment.  We were not that excited about driving for so long in the nonstop rain, but we were very excited about the new highway. It was all interstate, and it was a straight shot to our destination.

When we got to my husband’s hometown, as always we had a great time. After a couple of days of visiting, it was time to head back home.  We got our phone out and got the GPS going again.

Things did not work out so well on our return trip home. Our GPS led us quite a distance from a town that we had planned to drive back through to stop for lunch.  We never found the interstate that we came in on. Our GPS was doing some crazy things. It was leading us everywhere except where we wanted to go.  As you can imagine, it was frustrating!

After going in a complete circle several times as a result of following our not so trusty GPS, my husband just decided to keep driving. He thought that we would eventually pick up the highway that we came in on, at some point further down the road, but it never happened. We ended up on a very curvy country road that was a scenic route.  We drove for over a hundred miles before we could get back to the interstate that would finally lead us home. 

Our daughter had heard that there were tornado warnings out for the area that we would be driving through.  She called concerned as to our location and wondered when we would be arriving home. Shortly after our daughter’s call,  my mother called with the same info. It seemed that everyone was concerned about our safety.  As we got closer to home the clouds started to really darken and we could see a storm up ahead.  As we drove closer it was clear that this was not just a shower but a storm.

We drove in the storm for quite a few minutes, and then all of a sudden we drove completely out of it.  As I looked out of the car window there was an absolutely awesome surprise in the sky. It was by far the most beautiful rainbow that I had ever seen.  The colors were captivating and they were so much more vivid than I had ever seen before. These color were not your regular rainbow pastels. The hues were very intense. It was absolutely beautiful and if that wasn’t enough it was a double rainbow.  It was so perfectly arched across the sky that it was amazing.

I know that some of you that are reading this are thinking that I had never seen a rainbow before.  Trust me, I have seen my fair share of rainbows, but nothing on this side of heaven could ever compare to the beauty that God displayed in the sky that day.  This was no ordinary rainbow. It was as though God took a paintbrush and painted the sky.  As I brought the rainbow to my husband’s attention, tears started to well up in my eyes just at the thought of how awesome our God is and how when we least expect it, He reveals yet once again how powerful He is, and that we can always trust that he keeps His promises.  I was literally crying tears of joy.

I looked at my husband and asked him how could anyone possibly look at the sky that day and believe that there is no God. He is a master artist and His creation confirms how powerful and awesome He is.  It also confirms, without a doubt that God does exist.

My mind went to Noah and the covenant that God made with him,  that He would never destroy the earth with a flood again. My heart could only be grateful as I thought of how faithful our God is to His promises and how the rainbow also speaks to how merciful He is.

I had complained several times to my husband, about how I hoped that we would never make the mistake of coming back home on that little curvy road again.  I was just not enjoying the 35 to 45 mile per hour speed limit at all. When he saw the rainbow he said “see if we hadn’t come this way you would have never seen this rainbow. At that moment I was reminded that God works all things out for good and that there are no coincidences.
During this past weekend, we drove over a thousand miles and 90% of the time we were driving in rain.  I must say that seeing the rainbow at the end of our trip made it all worthwhile.

I was reminded that God is still in control and that when He changes our planned course, He also may be changing the very trajectory of our lives. Maybe we should just trust that there are times when things happen for reasons that we may not understand until later down the road.  There may very well be a blessing in the change.

The next time that you are privileged to witness a rainbow, please don’t take it for granted. It is another one of God’s miracles. As you gaze at its beauty, remember that God is a promise keeper and for this reason along with thousands of others He is so worthy to be praised!  I challenge you today and always to remain in awe of the beautiful things that God does all around us daily. Don’t get so caught up on the next thing to do on your list, that you miss your “Surprise In The Sky”.

Deuteronomy 7:9 (NLT)
9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his
covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends![a]His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Let’s Pray For Our Children

Psalm 127:3 (NLT)
³ Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
Isaiah 54:13 (NLT)
¹³ I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NLT)
³ But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.^[a]
1 John 5:14  (NLT)
¹⁴ And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.
Psalm 46:1 (NLT)
¹ God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

From the time our daughter started kindergarten until the end of her senior year in high school, we prayed for her each morning before school. 

Our routine went like this; while I was driving I would ask her to start our prayer. She would pray over her day and for our family, and then I would pray for her safety, for her teachers and all of the school administrators.  I also prayed for her friends, and I asked God to bless her with friends that had a desire to honor Him by being obedient to those in authority at her school. By the time we were finished praying, it was time for her to get out of the car.  This happened every morning without fail, and on the mornings that her dad took her, they did the same thing.

God Has The Final Say

Proverbs 19:21 (NLT)
21 You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
Proverbs 21:1 (NLT)
21 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
  he guides it wherever he pleases.
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)
9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

Once again God has reminded me that I am not running anything.  This summer has been so full of twist and turns and ups and downs, that it has been absolutely unbelievable.

Many of the things that my husband and that I had planned, fell apart or had to be canceled for one reason or the other.

I had purchased a ticket to attend a convention that I have attended for the past 24 years, and I had to cancel at the last minute due to some health issues that I have been dealing with. I had looked so forward to this event all year because it was the 55th Anniversary Celebration of the company that I work for.   Another reason I wanted to attend, was that I was supposed to receive several awards this year, that I had worked really hard for. Because this 55th Anniversary Celebration would be one to remember for a lifetime, I had planned to be there with bells on for sure, but that was just not going to happen.

Praising God Through Your Trials

Acts 16:19-30  (NLT)
¹⁹ Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. ²⁰ “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. ²¹ “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”
²² A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. ²³ They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. ²⁴ So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
²⁵ Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. ²⁶ Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! ²⁷ The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
²⁹ The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Have you learned to praise God even during your trials?  In the passage of scripture above, verse 25 says that around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening. 

Wow! What a powerful testament of their love for God and their faith in Him.  Paul and Silas had been stripped and severely beaten with wooden rods and thrown into prison, yet they found it in their hearts to sing and praise God.  I am sure that this was comforting and encouraging to Paul and Silas as well as the other prisoners that were within the sound of their voices. Can you imagine how astonished their fellow prisoners probably were at the inner joy that they possessed?  

Praise God Daily       

Psalm 18:3 (NLT)
³ I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.
Psalm 50:23 (NLT)
²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”
Revelation 4:11 (NLT)
¹¹ “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things,  and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
Isaiah 43:7 (NLT)
⁷ Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory.  It was I who created them.’”
Psalm 148:5 (NLT)
⁵ Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being.
Psalm 86:12 (NLT)
¹² With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever,
Our Praise reveals that we trust God
Psalm 56:4  (NLT)
4 I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?  What can mere mortals do to me?
Praise is a sacrifice that pleases God and it should be continual.
Hebrews 13:15  (NLT)
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
Psalm 34:1-3 (NLT)
1 I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.
2 I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart.
3 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.

How often during your day or even your week, do you take a few minutes to acknowledge how great our God is?  Even better yet, how often do you go to Him, just to praise Him, not seeking or asking for anything of Him in return.

Psalm 91 (NLT) 
¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High  will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;  he is my God, and I trust him.
³ For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.   He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,  nor the arrow that flies in the day.
⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,   nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you,  these evils will not touch you.
⁸ Just open your eyes,   and see how the wicked are punished.
⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;  no plague will come near your home.
¹¹ For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
¹³ You will trample upon lions and cobras;  you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;  I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life  and give them my salvation.”

Psalm 121 (NIV)
¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,  the Maker of heaven and earth.
³ He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵ The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,   nor the moon by night.
⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—  he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 34:19-20 (NLT)
¹⁹ The righteous person faces many troubles,  but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
²⁰ For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous;   not one of them is broken!

The words Jehovah El Elohim mean the Lord God is my Strong Protection. It also means Our Strong Creator. The words Jehovah-Roi mean My Protector. 

A TRIBUTE TO DAD’S

Genesis 18:19  (NIV)
19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
Romans 12:10  (ESV)
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Exodus 20:12  (NIV)
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9  (NIV)
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Proverbs 20:7
The lovers of God will walk in integrity, and their children are fortunate to have godly parents as their examples.
Psalm 103:13
The same way a loving father feels toward his children—  that’s but a sample of your tender feelings toward us,[h]  your beloved children, who live in awe of you.
Psalm 127:3(NKJV)
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Proverbs 17:6 (NKJV)
6 Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.

Just as God loved us so much that He sacrificed His Son, and His Son willingly sacrificed His life for us, so our dads express their love for us through sacrifice each and every day.
Just as God protects us and provides for us, dads are to do the same for their children.  Our dads should be to us the earthly example of our heavenly Father.  When our earthly fathers are the fathers that God desires for them to be, their examples of fatherhood makes it easier for their children to understand God’s role as their heavenly Father and what their relationship to Him should be like.

Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
And so, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.^{[b] 2} Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ.^[a] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2 Timothy 2:3-4 (NLT)
³ Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.
2 Timothy 1:8-9 (NLT)
^{8. …..}With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. ⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life…..
Romans 6:12 (NLT)
¹² Do not let sin control the way you live;^[a] do not give in to sinful desires.

Be A Living Sacrifice

Dying to self-seems to be man’s greatest challenge.  Not many of us start our day saying, “Lord I am your living sacrifice today.  My flesh completely dies to all that I desire, in exchange for what you desire of me”.

I know personally that dying to self-has always been a struggle for me. Like Paul, my flesh is constantly at war with my spirit.  In Romans 7:19 Paul says that: “I want to do good but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong but I do it anyway.   I feel sure that if we are being completely honest, we can all agree that like Paul, we have been there many times as well.