September Picks
Story of the day: Distractions
We had all gone to a store on Saturday. The boys went with Jeff and started looking at games, whereas Christen and I had gone to price some cameras since mine is on the blitz. Out of nowhere, I heard this crying from across the way and come to find out it was our middle son Jeffrey. Jeffrey and Joshua had been walking together holding Jeff’s hand when something in the store caught Jeffrey’s eye. The next thing you know, he let go of his dad’s hand because something in the store caught his eye. While Jeffrey became distracted by this item Jeffrey lost total focus from his dad. The entire time, his dad did know where Jeffrey was, but because Jeffrey didn’t know where his dad was, he began to cry out to him because he couldn’t find him. Big Jeff came to Jeffrey and assured him that everything was okay and we continued on our way.
Jeff later on told me this story and related it like this, “So many times we will be walking hand in hand alongside of our Heavenly Father, and something along the way distracts us. When we become distracted, we turn our eyes away from God and we are no longer walking hand in hand. When this happens, we become scared and frightened because we can’t find our Father, where in actuality, our Father has kept His eye on us the entire time and knows exactly where we are, but is waiting for us to cry out to Him so that He can bring us back to Him and so that we can continue on our walk together hand in hand. So, there will be distractions along our path, but keeping our eyes focused on God will help minimize those distractions that so seem to jump out at us.
Quote of the day: D. L. Moody
“Spread out your petition before God, and then say, “Thy will, not mine be done.” The sweetest lesson I have learned in God’s school is to let the Lord choose for me.”
Bible verse of the day: Psalm 34:15
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.”
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,Thank You for such a blessed day. As I woke up this morning, I was ready to write my Funny Friday Quote, but instead You have shown me this and now I am sharing it with others. So many times in our lives we become distracted and take our eyes off of You. Lord, we get started heading down our own path and doing our own things. When this happens, we cry out to You and all the while You have never left our side. I am so thankful to You for that! I pray that the distractions of this world, stay just that distractions and with Your guidance and with my eyes always fixed upon You, I may overcome them. In Jesus Name I pray,Amen
Story of the day: Out of Gas
When I was a senior in high school, I had a red pickup truck that I would haul all of my friends around in. I thought I knew this truck backwards and forwards. I remember my dad telling me that I needed to put some gas into it because it was running low and it would soon be on empty. As I continued to drive and saying to myself, “I know this truck, it’s got at least 10 more miles of gas left in the tank”, I preceded to not follow the directions of my father and listen to what he had to say about the gas tank. Instead, I continued to drive on what little gas I thought that I had. A few minutes later the truck began to jerk and jerk until finally I rolled out of gas into an abandoned parking lot. I remember thinking to myself, “why didn’t I listen to my dad?” I was a good distance from home and from the Air Force Base that we were stationed at during this time. I began to wonder to myself, “Well little Ms. Know it all, what are you going to do now?” Back then, teenagers didn’t have cell phones, some adults did, but they were as big as my truck and wouldn’t fit inside.
About 15 minutes later, a Texas State Trooper, saw me jumping up and down and trying so desperately to get his attention. I remember seeing this trooper out of uniform so he was probably off duty and not as thrilled to have to stop and help me, but he was trooper and he did give me a ride back to the police station so that I could get a gas container and give my truck something to drink. He gave me just enough gas to ensure that I made it to a gas station so that I could fill up my truck.
So many times in our life we think that we know ourselves so well, that we don’t stop and look at our tank gauge and make sure that we have enough gas to keep us going. We eventually begin to run on fumes only and that is not good for you. Then we start to worry, which could look like this (why didn’t this person call, are these people upset with me, or begin to talk about other people) or maybe being out of gas will look like this, (we are not serving the way we should and we begin doing it because it has become a job, not fun, and we begin to stress, whereas we should be doing things because we love God so much that we are willing to do whatever to serve our Lord out of the goodness of our heart and not just because we have to.) When we are out of gas, then we can’t focus on anything else but needing to be filled.
I encourage you not to be so stubborn but listen to God when He says that you need to fill up on Him because it looks like you are running low. Even if you think you can go a few more miles, don’t wait until you are completely empty to fill up, always keep a full tank and set your cruise control so that God can take you where He needs you to be. I guarantee that when you are full of God the things that you usually worry about go away and the service that you are doing is no longer a chore but it is done from love and that’s what God so desires from us.
Quote of the day: J. Hudson Taylor
“God’s Work done in God’s Way will never lack God’s Supply.”
Bible verse of the day: Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that You fill my tank each day with Your Sweet Spirit. Lord, I know that without You, and with an empty tank that I cannot work to my fullest potential and benefit the Kingdom. I pray not become stubborn and do things out of work, yet do things because I love You so much and desire to do these things. I praise You for this day and I am grateful for all the Love that You have to give. In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen
Story of the day: House shaken by a bear
My mother comes from a family of eight, her mother and father, 3 brothers, two sisters, and herself. When she was younger, they lived in Minnesota in a little wooden house. The house contained bunkbeds for all six of the kids and a smaller bed for the parents, no windows, a two burner stove, no refrigerator, a door that locked by a piece of wood, and no bathroom, so the family had to use an outhouse.
After dinner, the usual routines existed for this family of eight. They would clean up the dinner area try to put away any unused food as far away from the house as possible, because of bears. Well this night must have been different, because as everyone was laying in bed, the house started to shake like it had never shook before. The house found itself being shook by a hungry bear, that or the bear was truly bored. Well, this bear obviously had smelled some of the food off in the distance because he was hungry or could sense the fear that was coming from inside the small shack and decided not to leave. The bear continued to shake the house for what seemed like a good 10 minutes. The kids were terrified, but my grandfather told the kids to just be still and eventually the bear would leave. The children had to resist the fear that they had and not scream so that the bear would leave them alone and get bored with this little house. Finally the bear did get bored and eventually left. Everyone was okay, but they will never forget the night their house was shaken by a bear.
From that moment on, they made sure that all the food was completely out of the house and that there was no sign of food leftover, because they knew the bear could come back. (There went leftovers:)) So many times, Satan will try to shake us and get us uncomfortable with a situation in our life. Just like my grandfather said, be still and eventually the bear will leave. The same is true with the Devil. James 4:7 says to Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Just like the bear, the Devil will leave you, but just be prepared, because he will be back, especially if given the opportunity.
Quote of the day: Pierre Baudelaire
“The devil’s most beautiful ruse is to convince us that he does not exist.”
Bible verse of the day: James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that if the devil is trying to shake me up, and get me all worked up just like the bear and the house, that I come to You and submit myself to You and resist the devil, so that he will flee from me. God, I want to do nothing more than to please You and walk in Your likeness, so I pray that I am continually prepared for anything that is thrown my way.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen
