Scripture

Mark 6:51- 52 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Observation

Even after watching Jesus miraculously feed 5,000 people, the disciples still could not believe that He was God’s son. If they had, they would not have been amazed that Jesus could walk on water. The disciples did not transfer the truth they already knew to their own lives. I read that Jesus walked on water and yet I often marvel that he is able to work in my life.

Application

I must not only believe that these miracles really occurred; I must also transfer the truth to my own life situations. How many times have I doubted that God could truly change things in my life? How many times have I lost faith just like the disciples? I am not questioning my belief in God, just my ability to lay all of my problems at God’s feet and truly believe that he can handle all things. While I know that he can, how easy is it, to wait to pray or call on God in a situation, because I think I can handle it. How does one go about having the faith of a mustard seed? The only way I know to do this, is to stay in His word and to give each day to Him and to ask Him for the wisdom and faith that I so desire. Solomon asked God for wisdom and God obliged… A little girl (in a third world country) prayed to God for 7 years for a large following of Jesus Christ to come to her community, God answered. (7 years y’all, keep praying I say, he answers them all)

Prayer

Lord, I put my trust in you. For I know that when I falter, you will always be there to pick me up and carry me. Lord, help me to remember and be content in your answers to my prayers. For I know that as you do answer all prayers you answer them the way that is best for our lives. I love you Lord and I seek to understand your word and your will for my life. I seek to have the faith of a mustard seed. Please help me not to harden my heart to your ways. I love you Lord and I thank you.

Amen.

Scripture

Mark 5:32-34 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Observation

Jesus was not angry with this woman for touching him. He knew she had touched him, but he stopped and asked who did it in order to teach her something about faith. Although the woman was healed when she touched him, Jesus said her faith caused the cure. Genuine faith involves action. Faith that isn’t put into action is not faith as all.

Application

Its hard to step out on faith sometimes. At least for me it has been. When I do though the rewards are many. I think sometimes people try and rely on faith alone to fix things. It reminds me of the story/joke about the man standing on the top of his house while flood waters surround him and he prays to God about sending help and God sends several options for him to be rescued, yet he denies each one, because he is expecting a miracle or perhaps God himself, who knows. We can pray and pray for help and God opens many doors, but we have to do our part and walk through, work through, and/or change things in our lives with our faith. God can do all (I mean ALL things), but just like the woman above, sometimes we need the lesson. Take action in your faith.

Pray

Lord I come to you rejoicing today, because of the times I have put my faith into action as you needed me to. It was a hard lesson that brought such rewards. At the time of the reward, I rejoiced for the ending, yet now I am able to look back at that time and see better the lesson not just the reward. Thank you Lord for your mercy and patience with me as I learn. Please help me to remember that I cannot live by faith alone, that I must take actions.

Amen~

Good Morning folks, I hope you are blessed this day and given the opportunity to bless someone else.

Scripture

Mark 4:24-25 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it we be measured to you – and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Observation

As you read God’s word carefully read it and think and pray about it for understanding and that your heart and mind be opened to it. The more you read His word and apply it to your life the more you will understand. His truth’s are clear, but our ability to understand is imperfect. Yet, as we obey the more it will sharpen our understanding of His word. However, if you do not stay in God’s word daily the harder it is to understand and recall His word, which in turn makes it harder to live this life.

Application

I feel my life is a perfect observation of those verses. I can see the days that I don’t spend time in His word. They seem more chaotic when I play them back in my mind. I forget the many verses that I have read and instead try my own remedies for that days problem. Do you know the more I spend in His word, not only do I understand more but I relinquish my pride easier and pray first instead of after all things have fallen apart. From my human mind I tell myself some days that I do not have time today to spend in His word, but if I only had that day, then that day would have gone smoother. I need (NEED) to take time each day in God’s word and in prayer to not only understand God’s plan for my life more completely, but also to live life more abundantly. So, I guess the application is no matter what, take time each day to study God’s word and spend time with Him in prayer.

Prayer

Lord, I want to live each day for you. To do this I know that I need your hand in my life. I need you each and every day. Please give me that strength or give me what I need to do this with you Lord. To build our relationship as father and child. Thank you so much Lord for your word and for knowing what is best for me. If left up to me Lord, I would most likely destroy it. I love you Lord, thank you for sending your Son, I cannot imagine that sacrifice. The love for one’s own child leaves me without words and you gave yours to cleanse us and save us. Thank you for your sacrifice. All I can say is thank you thank you thank you, for all you have done for me.

Amen.

Proverbs 16:3 – Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

I stink at time. Spending time, wasting time, finding the time. I am really bad at managing my time wisely. And, once again I have tried to do this all by myself. Then I realized, time management from a biblical perspective is not about the challenge to manage time. The Bible teaches that we need to surrender everything to God including our time. As I stated, I want to “make time”, in my life for community. This is a big priority in my life. A priority that I feel God has laid on my heart. So, for the next thirty days I am going on a journey on how to do just that. When God laid this on my heart, I said God, “I don’t have time”. From the very beginning I said I can’t, I am pretty sure can’t doesn’t exist in God’s vocabulary. Therefore, it shouldn’t exist in mine. So, today I am starting with a list of priorities and making time for them. As the 30 days pass, I will re-evaluate the list and add to it or change it. As He molds me, things change, right?

Time Priorities

God Time
Husband Time
Family Time
Caring for House Time (cleaning, caretaking, cutting wood, etc.)
Caring for Family Time (cooking, bathing, teaching, etc.)
Community Time (outside of the home, with family & friends & strangers)

I am a procrastinator! I admit it. Being a procrastinator wreaks havoc on so many things. Mostly it destroys my sanity. The world does not need an insane mom on the loose. You know that saying, “when mom’s unhappy, everyone’s unhappy”. I do this to myself, no one but me makes me unhappy. So, God said, lets fix this. I said, rather reluctantly, “okay”.

Handing my time over to God – Step One

His answer today for me, was this –

Proverbs Chapter 31:15 – She gets up while it is still dark…

I get it, no really I do. Get up before the kids, check! I love sleep, I mean I LOVE sleep. Talking about time, well for as long as I can remember I have been a sleep in kind of gal. No easy step 1′s, God? We can’t ease into this journey can we? PLEASE! Can’t you just hear God saying or thinking, “For once can you just listen and obey, instead of talking back to me?” That is how I feel with my kids. So, hear goes…

Prayer

Lord, please give me the strength I need to get up every morning and spend time with you before each day begins. I hand my time over to you Lord that you may help me succeed.

Amen.

Good Day Mates!

Scripture

Mark Chapter 3:11-12 – Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

Observation

Okay don’t laugh, but this is totally what I saw this morning. So, Satan is God’s eternal Nemesis right? And, Satan’s henchman are evil spirits, demons, and the like, right? And, we are God’s children, which means Satan hates and despises us because of this and wants to hurt us, turn us, rip the hairs from our chinny chin chin. And, Satan would most likely use his henchman to do these nasty dirty things to us, right? Those nasty dirty henchman can do nothing to us. Look at Mark Ch.2, verse 11 & 12. They saw Jesus and fell down and cried out, and then He gave them orders and they obeyed those orders. Do you think they wanted to? No, but God is all powerful ya’ll!

Application

So, I am not saying that Satan cannot make things very difficult during this life we have on earth. But, never fear, your Lord God is always near. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He can control the henchman of Satan. He can stop Satan. Put your fears at God’s feet and let His peace wash over you. Pray to him before you roll out of bed. Do not wait until things go wrong and you have tried everything that our human minds can think up. Go to Him first and often. He loves you, He loves me and he wants what is absolutely best for our lives.

Prayer

Lord, I am the worlds worst of not lying my fears at your feet. I worry about things each and every day and try to fix them on my own. Lord, I need your peace, contentment and wisdom. Wisdom to come to you and seek out your will. Your contentment that I may rely on that will and not continue to think I am the all powerful one, when many times I have proven myself wrong again and again. Your peace, that I can boldly go without fear and do your work. Help me to remember that there is nothing in this world or beyond this world that I need fear other than you. I love you Lord and I thank you for your patience with me.

Amen.

Are you part of a homeschool co-op? Way off subject (kind of) with this post, but if you aren’t then I encourage you to find one or start one. I love the interaction and support with other homeschool families. Anyways, so I was coming up with ideas last week for the pre-K class in co-op that I help teach and I thought hmm, pumpkins could be fun. And, oh boy was it. So, I wanted to share with you guys, the different sites and ideas.

Sites

Coloring pages, games, etc. – Apples 4 Teachers

Printables for teaching – ABC Teach

Halloween Alternative Crafts & Activities – Danielle’s Place

Preschool Games & Activities – Preschool by Stormie

Bible Study – Creative Bible Study

Stories & Rhymes – Preschool Express

What we actually did in one hour at Pre-K co-op

*Ate a snack – yummy goldfish crackers
*Listened to a story – The Pumpkin Patch Parable
*Craft time –

(a little glue and glitter on a small white pumpkin)
*Colored – colored a pumpkin from one of those sites from up above.

~we also used orange glitter – not shown.

Good Morning!

Scripture

Mark Chapter 2:27 – “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Observation

God created the Sabbath for our benefit, not his own. God derives no benefit from having us rest on the Sabbath, but we are restored both physically and spiritually when we take time to rest and to focus on God.

Application

I think I have personally struggled in the past with what is the law of the Sabbath. Only because many teachings in a church have altered my perception of what it should be. This verse really set it right for me. It is a day set aside for us to really focus on God and be renewed spiritually. Many of us have such challenging weeks with work that we do not get physical or spiritual rest. We may have a small time each day to spend in His word, but never so much time allotted as a full day. Take time each Sabbath to really rest and relax in Him and His word. Become refreshed and renewed both spiritually and physically. We live once and many times my philosophy is too make the most of the time we have here, so even on the Sabbath I have tried to “get things done”, but God tapped me on the shoulder this morning and said, take this day (the Sabbath) and make it a day of rest, a day with Me.

Prayer

Lord, I come to you this morning in awe once again. I ask in prayer so many things and you show me with your word the answers. I smile as a pray, because that sounds so simple right? And it is, yet I make it so hard. Lord, please help me to remember that you have everything figured out, that I only need come to you. So, many times I try day after day without you and finally come to you in quite a perplexed state. If I would just start with you things would be so much simpler. Thank you for your word , Lord that I may renew myself spiritually. Lord, help me to always remember that you set the Sabbath aside for us and that I use that day to the fullest for rest as I use the other days of the week fully as well. Help me to give all of my days to you. I love you Lord and in your name I pray.

Amen.

Good Morning all! Hope you have a blessed day.

Scripture

Mark Chapter 1:24 – What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!

Observation

Even the evil spirits know who Jesus is. Knowing Him is not enough. Many people think if they just know who God is then they are taken care of and that they will be saved from sin, this world, and hell. Knowing Him is not enough.

Application

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For whoever BELIEVES in Him – Believe in Him, he loves you and died for you. He can and will be your Savior.

Mark 12:30 – Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

LOVE Him with your all – The Lord Loves you – His love is infinite!

Romans 8:38 – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You will never be abandoned by Christ – His death for us is proof of his unconquerable love. Nothing can stop Christ’s constant presence with us.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for your love. Thank you again and again for dying on the cross for my sins. Your love is infinite Lord, the many times that you have forgiven me and given me mercy is beyond my thought processes. Lord, help me to always remember that nothing can separate me from your love. Give me the passion to help others come to see your infinite love. Give me the strength and the humility to follow you through all hardships and times of wealth. As you humble me Lord, help to remember to always look up to you. I love you Lord.

Amen.

He has Risen, He has Risen indeed!

Scripture

Matthew Chapter 28:6 – He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

Observation

He died for our sins on the cross and on the third day he rose again. Just as Jesus promised, he rose from the dead, we can be confident; therefore, that he will accomplish all he has promised.

Application

When someone is dying or leaving us, his or her last words are very important. He rose from the dead and promised us that he would be with us always. He gave us a promise, as his children we need to do as his last words asked. Tell others that He is risen – Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt ch:28 – 18 thru 20)

Prayer

Lord, whether it be my children or neighbors or a random stranger Lord. Help me to reach out and speak to others about your love. Thank you again Lord for saving me and dying on the cross for me and promising me that you can do all things. Lord just please forgive me for my doubts and give me the faith of a mustard seed, to know that I can do all things through you. Give me the strength and confidence and humility to reach others through you. I love you Lord.

Amen.

I could not pick one single verse in this chapter. This chapter is about Christ’s crucifixion. This chapter is always heart wrenching and so crazy amazing. I mean I am fumbling for the correct words as I write this post. He died on the cross for us. US! He was tortured, abused, sold out by his own people, and completely innocent. Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to him and he did it with dignity, honor, and humility; he did it so that we did not have to. Our sins are washed clean by his blood. Our love for each other as human’s will never come close to comparing to the love that God has for us. That is what this chapter is about for me. Agape – love as revealed in Jesus, seen as spiritual and selfless and a model for humanity. God’s all redeeming, merciful, gracious love. He sent his ONLY son to die on the cross for us.

Prayer

Lord, I am at a loss for words. You are amazing and I am not worthy. Just reading this Chapter in Matthew leaves me stumbling in awe. Thank you Lord for dying on the cross for my sins. Lord I do not know what to say. Please give me the words and the wisdom to make a difference no matter how small or large. Give me the strength to make sacrifices for you and others. Fill me with your all powerful love.

Amen.