To Bring Him Joy

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5 ESV I love beginning a new journal – all those crisp white or cream lined pages to fill up with new thoughts and prayers and scripture!! I call it a twiG journal because that is my shortened version of “time with God” which also reminds me that He is the vine and I am a branch or twig and I must remain in Him to bear much fruit. To remain in Him I must spend time with Him in His word and in prayer. A couple of weeks ago, while it was yet November, I wrote the last word in the last page of my twiG journal. On Friday November 25, 2016 I began my new journal with this prayer: “ Abba, thank You for this new day – for this new journal. O may the words I put down on these pages be honoring unto You. Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit please open Your word to me – show me Yourself – Your glory. Help m

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His names sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23  esv This may be the most well known Psalm of all time. I would think that most people have heard it at a funeral or in relation to someone facing the threat of death. It is understandable that Psalm 23 would be used in this way given the line mentioning “the shadow of death” but it is not what this song is all about. This is a bragging psalm! David is in essence saying, Hey everybody,

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53:7 ESV Isaiah 53 is a chapter of the Bible that the Lord takes me to again and again and again and again. Do you get the idea that I've read this chapter a lot. I should have it memorized by now.  I have written about this passage before but with a different focal verse. So here I am again, back in this chapter of prophecy and love.  As I said in the previous post, my reaction to the Lord directing me to this chapter isn't always one of excitement which was the case again, though I am not proud of that fact.. Too often I want the Lord to give me something new from a new passage. But His Spirit reminded me that it is not all about me, this life is about knowing Him and making Him known. If that is your goal, which it is mine, then this passage is a great place to s

“ O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as You are, O Lord, with Your faithfulness all around You?” Psalm 89:8 ESV This is a rhetorical question, there is no one so mighty or faithful as Jehovah. He is not this omnipotent( all powerful) God who sits enthroned above the heavens not caring about the people and world He created. His steadfast love and faithfulness are a part of everything that He does or does not do. He always acts in love towards those whose hearts are toward Him. He never acts in an unrighteous manner. He is the most powerful of all beings and yet He acts in mercy towards us. He could so easily snuff us out and yet He is long suffering, forgiving sin and waiting for people to come to Him. I am not nearly so patient. I have often said that if I were God the world would have been gone a long time ago. I don't know how He stands to watch us every moment of every day, seeing us turn away from His offering of grace and fellowship day after day af

I really felt that the Lord would have me get another blog post out and wasn't sure what to write, so I looked in my journal for inspiration and felt as though I should just share a journal entry. It is my "twiG" journal, twiG standing for "time with God". In the past, I have called it a quiet time, but I have since landed on this acronym because it is fitting to what I want to accomplish and reminds me that Jesus said: I Am the vine, you are the branches . I feel that I am but a twig and there is no way that I can live this life without life from The Vine.  So here is my twiG journal entry: [I usually write the date, centered in the page with the year written in the top corner of the page.  Sometimes I fill up just part of a page sometimes several pages. It depends on the time I spend. I sometimes start out writing an opening prayer to the Lord, sometimes I start out writing the reference to the passage I'm reading and then the verses that stand out to me.

“ And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.” Nehemiah 8:9-12 ESV The women's ministry in our church, like many other churches, has women's Bible studies throughout the year. Recently, I had the honor of leading a small group discussion on our study through Nehemiah. Nehemia