Daily Inspirations

Feeling sad . . .

A recent chain of events has led me to deal with some things that many people including Christians participate in but do not think are wrong.  One scripture that I found that addresses this very thing is “A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends." (Proverbs 16:28)  I have dealt with this topic so much in public education with kids and for girls it may be worse and the same with adult women (some).  I love to inspire young girls so I try to encourage them not to do this “he said she said thing” but the other thing that I found is disappointing is when people talk about someone in a negative way either because they don’t like the way it is done or “it felt like they didn’t like me” or “I know they were talking about me.”  Several years ago someone in the church thought I was unfriendly.  I was so focused on getting some things done prior to the service I guess I didn’t talk to someone.  Not sure what that was about.  When I get focused I tend to do just that.  Anyway it was all good and I didn’t get bent out of shape.  How is gossip explained?  First I decided to look up a description of gossip/slander that is negative talk about someone with the intent of damaging someone’s reputation or character.  It is something I do not tolerate and with teenagers I explain and usually have to go over multiple times.  After all, they are still young and that’s what many teenagers do so it is a learning curve.   However, an adult who does this is even worse.  I have been involved in church my whole life from the time I could go.  Of course, there have been many who have participated in this type of slander or gossip.  In a church it’s about the pews or the color of paint or the music or the table cloths or the locks or the finances among so many things and sometimes someone they don't like.  That being said, why?  If anything we do causes another to stumble then one day we will answer.  Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”  This subject I’m sure has divided more churches than can be counted and it is sad that anyone who is a Christian can do this.  Bring it to God in prayer, He is not going to tell you to divide a church!  Pray about it and He will take care of it.  I Timothy 5:13 “And besides they learn idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.”  This post was not intended to be negative but to encourage people to turn against gossip and slander but be in prayer and meditation.  If you take it into your own hands in these situations, you don't believe God can take care of it.  It always works out if we let go and let God.  

Judge  Not . . .

This week many different scriptures and thoughts have been a part of my study.  Everything from Nehemiah who was a man with a humble heart and one who prayed, led and served to when we are hurt or offended that we should not make accusations to saying yes to God’s calling.  I am in awe of God’s amazing grace and we should be willing to serve how he wants us to, not how we want to.  I was listening to an old Billy Graham sermon on being called by God he said, “delayed obedience is disobedience.”  One thing I never wanted to say was that I was called and not because I didn’t want to be called but I didn’t feel worthy I guess.  In more recent years I have said “God, what is your calling on my life?  I want to do your will.”  Something else I think we need to think about is as a Christian we are not to judge others' hearts.  God is the only one who knows a man's heart.  I have made it a practice in my own life to pray and leave it to God because it is my heart that I should be concerned with.  We are all human. There are times when we get in a hurry and we may not be all sweet and lovely for one reason or another but to judge the heart of that man is something I would not want to answer on judgement day.  I have two books “The Power of a Praying Wife” and “The Power of a Praying Parent” by Stormie Ortman that I have used through the years.  If you were to see my copies they are a bit used and written in, however, in the “Power of the Praying Wife", the first chapter is “His Wife.”  As a wife I needed to search for myself, pray for reflection in my life and have a clean heart before I can pray for my husband.  I think as Christians it is important to do that as well, to ask God to clear our own hearts and ask for forgiveness and then pray for others whether it is a child, a spouse, a pastor or even a friend.  We want God to hear our prayers and we must first remove the plank out of our own eye.  I was listening to Cissie Graham Lynch's podcast and she was talking about a conversation she had with, I believe, her grandfather Billy Graham.  He told her we should not judge or make negative comments or accusations of the ministry of another person and that had always stuck with her.  It’s easy to do but if that person was to lead someone to Christ that will impact many others for Christ and we stunt (or try to because God has the last say) we will be the one answering to God.  Focus on outreach and the lost, being prayer warriors and helping those in need without judging other's hearts.  This was a bit of a mesh of thoughts and I will dive deeper in the scripture in future posts.

It’s not really about me!

Over the past few days, several things have stood out to me in scripture and in experiences.  There has probably been a previous post at some point but I decided to focus once again on this.  Why do we do what we do?  It is important that what we do is not selfish or focused on self but on others.  As a Christian our motives are to reach others or to do things in ministry for self.  I also adapted this in my professional life as a teacher.  When asked what advice in all those years, my response was “it’s not about me, that’s how 40 years happened.”  This is something I’m kind of passionate about which is why I share it.  If we did things solely for ourselves, I’m pretty sure most of us would have a different life.  As a Christian, it is important to focus on others in life and conversation.  Talking to someone one day, they used the word "I" 30 times in a short conversation and not to judge them but it was I, I, I and it didn’t feel sincere but almost like it was about them and not the person they were helping.  Being humble in our conversation and our mission as Christians attracts others and our ministry can blossom.  There are many scriptures in the Bible that talk about the importance of focusing on others.  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 (CSB)  Overuse of the word “I” can make one appear selfish, boastful and egocentric.  Nothing is more difficult than listening to someone talk that continuously uses “I.”  During a recent meeting, the person talking continuously used the word “I.”  What she wanted and not for the better good for the group.  Lifting someone up in prayer and asking God to intercede is the best way to handle it unless there is an opportunity that you can interject that is not demeaning or degrading to the person.  Another matter that tends to occur with the use of “I” over and over again, others do not have a chance to give their input.  Listening is a skill that few have or have mastered where monopolizing a conversation and even turning it into a one-sided conversation about self overpowers the entire situation.  Step back and think about a couple of things.  Are you a good listener which allows you to respond appropriately or are you a monopolizer and others cannot talk.  There is a time to speak and a time to listen.  Peter in the Bible was always eager to speak and was boastful and arrogant.  He boasted that he would not leave Jesus yet denied him three times.  Do we want to be more like Peter or Jesus who listened to others?  

What can we learn?

For a while I have been reading through the Book of Nehemiah.  I decided that I needed to dive deeper so I added a few resources to my study and have gained so much insight into his life.  He was a humble man, gave God credit for everything and did not seek glory for himself, focused on God.  I began to think about Nehemiah and his life and what we can gain through his experiences.  First of all, what an amazing man of God that both men and women can learn from.  The Book of Nehemiah starts out with a sincere prayer to God which was triggered by learning from his brother Hannani who travelled from Judah that Jerusalems’ walls had been broken down and the gates burned.  This brought great sadness to Nehemiah and after fasting and crying with sadness this prayer he prayed:  “5 I pray Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the pray of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You.  Both my father’s house and I have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for my name.’ 10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.  11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sign of this man.”  We can take a lot from this prayer he prayed.   Nehemiah had a passion for God and His work from his role as a cup-bearer to the king to the builder of the wall and then the governor of the people.  His leadership and faith is a true testimony and as we learn a little more about Nehemiah we learn he had to learn the waiting game, which as we all know, is difficult.  We want answers now and not next week or next month or next year.  God hears our earnest prayers when we have a personal relationship with him and sometimes he makes us wait.

Forever and ever . . .

The Bible is full of guidance and wisdom for live our lives.  If we think about it, most things fade with time but the Word of God lives on.  In Isaiah 40:8 we read that "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."(NIV) According to AI, which I am not actually a fan of, “In 2024, an estimated 80 million copies of the Bible were printed annually, and sales are surging. The Bible remains the most sold and distributed book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion copies sold worldwide. Bible sales in the US alone saw a 22% increase in 2024.”  This has held true through the ages.  The Bible has stood the test of time.  People today experience similar situations in the Bible that were experienced hundreds of years ago.  James 1:22-25 “But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in the mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (NKJV). We need to read the scriptures and apply it in all areas of our lives, not just the parts that fit what we want.  The Word of God is the truth and we can see down through the ages when people and even ourselves have only applied the parts they like, life gets messy.  

Search My Heart O God . . .

As I was listening to a David Jeremiah sermon the other day I was motivated and inspired to look into the topic a little deeper and it should give anyone pause for understanding.  Our Heavenly Father gives us opportunities to accept Him and to serve Him and it is up to us to accept or deny Him.  But if we deny him enough our hearts will become hardened.  Some are given a second chance to accept Him when they go through a life-threatening illness and others don’t get a second or third or fourth chance and are taken too soon and none of us know if they had a last minute thought to accept Jesus.  When we were driving home from an appointment after two years of chemo and the doctor said, it was in God’s hands now - unless we wanted to stretch it just a tiny bit longer but at the time he was so weak and of course we talked.  He said, I am glad I had this time and it wasn’t quick.  Although he was a Christian his faith became stronger and he was closer to Jesus.  Just a blessing to me, but as I said earlier we don’t always have that.  As David Jeremiah was preaching, the second coming of Jesus (the rapture) will take up all those we have accepted Him and are living their lives for Jesus.  As it says in scripture, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Revelations 16:15)  We need to always be watching and waiting Him for if we are not taken up in the second coming we will experience a true tribulation and the Holy Spirit will not be with us, he will return to Heaven with Jesus and all those who have accepted Him.  And many who have gone to church for many years or those who are just good people may be left behind.  God knows our hearts and we are not fooling Him.  “Would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.” (Psalms 44:21)  We need to search our hearts and ask ourselves what are my motives. If they are to be showy and to know it all then our hearts are not actually with good intentions, they are for selfish intentions.  So “Search me, O God, and know my heart today, Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray; See if there be some wicked way in me; Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.” (J. Edwin Orr, 1936)

Sometimes it takes a lot . . .

Of patience as a teacher and parent.  As I was reading the Proverbs today, it rings so true for me as a teacher.  After 40 years I have built up a lot of patience but on occasion that anger comes through and I try to use it in an encouraging way if that makes sense.  When I was reading Proverbs 15 today, verse 1 starts out “A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath”, I have had situations I have encountered with students and one in particular who enjoys testing my patience, it flashed through my mind.  It has actually happened a few times in the last few months with the same student.  And although I could feel the anger brewing due to disrespect that I have not normally encountered, I explained to him why his behavior was wrong.  Trying to incorporate this scripture into our lives takes a conscientious effort until it becomes natural. Reading and listening to scripture gives such wisdom.  Take time to incorporate those into your daily devotions.  I have chosen to read through the books of Psalms and Proverbs in a podcast so others who have busy lives can listen in the car, while cooking dinner, or when they just need to hear God’s word.  Do not it replace it with reading God’s word, we need to do that, but when I’m driving or when I am working on something in my house it certainly is a blessing.

Reading is Inspirational

The Bible is our guide to the best life we can have and the best hope of eternal future in Heaven instead of eternal damnation in hell.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and ask for forgiveness for our sins and strive to live a Christ-like life with His guidance we can have that assurance.  Reading other real life stories and faith-based, Bible based books can give us additional support in our walk.  Today I finished a book I found after watching a Christian leader who referenced this book “Adventures in Prayer” by Catherine Marshall.  A very inspiring and uplifting book that reaches into the depths of our soul and guides us in our prayer journey.  What a beautiful way to begin our prayer journey and make it an intricate, necessary part of our Christian walk.  Another book I have read and just finished recently, actually for the second time and I could read it again is, “Tomorrow is a Matter of CHOICE” by William L. Thrasher, Jr.  In this book we learn an 8-step action plan for today as we all strive to hear the words from our Heavenly Father, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  As we explore these books over the next few posts, consider finding these books in the library or you can see book recommendations on the last slide with ordering links.  I look forward to sharing inspiration and scripture with you including some I have found in both of these books.

If my people . . .

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)  As we begin this scripture it reads “If my people . . .”  My understanding of this:  if Christians who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray he will forgive our sins.  As we study this verse and look at other translations, they have the same meaning.  We are not here to judge the words or actions of others, that is only something that God can do.  We can judge but as we know the Bible addresses this in several scriptures; here is a scripture that hits home.  “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV)  This is very blunt.  This is not talking to the carnal man, it is talking to those who have given their lives to Jesus.  We do not know the hearts of man and cannot be a judge of others to say whether they are or are not a Christian, to judge why they do or do not do something we think they should or should do or say.  We as Christians need to confess when we judge in our hearts, in conversation, or in public or we will be judged and harshly.   Daily I ask God for forgiveness because I often judge things in my heart.  Starting our prayers with a clean heart gives us a clear access to our Heavenly Father.

God’s Plan

In the beginning our Heavenly Father had a plan.  The plan was that we work for six days and rest on the seventh indicating that the Sabbath is the day of rest.  In Jewish tradition the sabbath is actually a Saturday.  There was no specific time in which Christianity began identifying Sunday as the Sabbath, however a Roman Emperor sent out a decree in around 321 A.D.  According to history Christianity was said to begin celebrating the Sabbath on Sunday the first day of the week which is when Jesus arose from the grave.  As we keep in mind that in the beginning God worked for six days and rested on the seventh, we should keep in mind the importance of work and rest even if that is Monday-Saturday and worship and rest on Sunday.  In Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”  This was not just initiated in Genesis it was part of the ten commandments.  What is your day of rest?  God did not intend for us to work ourselves to exhaustion but to look at what we have done and see that it is good.

Memories inspire our future

Many are aware of Corrie Ten Boom who was an author and speaker who survived the holocaust.  What an extraordinary life she lived.  She can inspire many with her stories and encouraging quotes.  One such quote she had was “memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.”  Often I have questioned whether I spend too much time on memories and I think there is a fine line between memories, today and the future.  Our memories can give such joy and sadness, yet inspire us for the future.  I often think of others who have had a difficult past but it sets in motion the future.  Joyce Meyer was one of those individuals who had a difficult upbringing and challenges in her early life, but the lives she has inspired and shared the story of salvation and living a life for Jesus makes us realize, sometimes God uses the bad for good.  Although we still do not understand, we know that God has our best interest in mind.  My husband passed without enjoying our empty nest years, yet I am grateful for our years and his life.  Be blessed and use your memories to share your story.  Psalms 105:5 “Remember the wonderful works He has done, His wonders, and the judgments He has pronounced.” (CSB)  We are encouraged to remember God’s wonders and then also his judgments.  Move forward by remembering without dwelling on the past.

How can we renew our mind?

The Bible tells us in Romans 2:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” This scripture tells us that Christians need to be continually renewing our minds.  We need to stay focused on Him, on His Word and always doing what is right.  In the book of Romans we learn that we can only hope for what we don’t see.  In Romans 8:24-25, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”  The Book of Romans, written by Paul to the Roman Christians was to encourage them and lift them up in their faith.  We all have complete access to God if we so choose.  Remember God allows us to choose, he is not a dictator but there are consequences if we choose not to accept Him into our lives and fulfill “The Great Commission.”  We can choose eternal damnation when we leave this world or we can choose to live with Him eternally.   Many times we say, “I’ll do that later, right now I want to do my thing.”  This may not come out of our mouths but it is definitely the minds of many.  So don’t wait, choose Jesus!

This I wrote sometime ago . . .

I read a quote yesterday and it is something that I have always believed but it just resonated with me and caused me to reflect on the importance of living our lives in this manner.  “Time is like a river.  You cannot touch the same water twice because the flower that has passed will never pass again.  Enjoy every moment of life.”  - Unknown.  

As I look back on my life I realize that so many times I should have savored and enjoyed every moment good and bad and use the experience as a point of growth and learning.  I tell mothers of young children who are struggling because of the chaos, please enjoy every moment of messy spills and busy schedules and all that goes along with a young family because all too soon it will be gone.  Life is not perfect, people are not perfect and when we are consumed with unnecessary things that mean nothing we make ourselves miserable.  Take for example a young mother or father who might feel they have no time for themselves.  You cannot get back time.  And the time spent with that little one is gone forever.  I remember  a song I came across when our youngest was a baby and I sang it to him every night, in the middle of the night when we were alone and I was tired.  “Rockabye, rockabye, Oh baby oh . . . Out from the covers what do I see, two little eyes looking at  me . . .”  This song brought tears to my eyes many nights but it brought such joy and I knew from having two older children the time goes by so fast. 

So today and everyday make each minute count and whether you are spending time with your parents or your children or your husband or a friend or just doing something for yourself, enjoy!  Reading a scripture passage today in Ecclesiastes 11:8 it brought to my attention that God wants us to enjoy each day realizing there will be days of darkness.  So as You are going through daily experiences, rejoice in them, enjoy them, and make the most of your days.