In His Presence

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.~Psalm 16:11


In His presence is where I want to be.  I want to be wrapped up tight protected from the dangers of the world.  In His presence is assurance.  In His presence is hope.  There is no fear, only the comfort of His love.  In His presence is wisdom to guide my day.  In His presence is where I want to be.

To stay in His presence I have to make a conscious choice to meditate on His word so that I won’t get distracted by the zigs and zags of life.  I have to choose to believe Him when everything is telling me not to.  I have to praise Him for being God and being good and not just after a desired outcome, but in advance.

In His presence is the fullness, the completeness of joy.  Joy not based on circumstances but based on who God is and who He is in my life.  In His presence is where I want to be.

Lord,  thank You for even allowing me to be in Your presence.  Thank You for the peace and security that it brings.  Thank You for joy and love.  Thank You for being God and being so good to me.  In Jesus name. Amen

Seeking perfect peace

You will keep him in perfect peace,Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.~Isaiah 26:3

Peace, the security of well being.  A blessed assurance that everything is going to be okay.  It’s one thing the enemy is constantly seeking to rob us of.  But God has promised us perfect peace if we keep our mind stayed on Him.

This means we avoid the trap of distractions that the devil sets up.  Rather we set our thoughts and attitudes on the goodness of God.  We cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ( 2 Corinthians 10:5).

We dispel the lies of of the enemy and look at things with a spiritual eye.  And we trust God.  We trust that even though our eyes may see trouble that God is already turning it for our good.  We trust that God is with us.  We trust in His unfailing love for us.  We breathe in and out His goodness and cast every care upon Him ( 1 Peter5:7).  This is how we receive peace.  This is how we face the day.

Lord, I need your peace.  Not what the works gives, but what only You can provide.  So help me to rest and trust in You.  Help me to remember that You are Sovereign and everything is in your control. You are God and You are mighty to save.  There is nothing impossible for You.  You hold me in the palm of your hand and I have no reason to fret.  Thank You Jesus for your blessed assurance.  In Jesus name.  Amen

God is my help

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.~Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield.  He is my defender and I trust Him.  I trust Him to lead me through my day.  Knowing that God is with me strengthening me causes me great joy and peace because I know I am not alone.  I know that that nothing can defeat God and so if He is on my side I am going to be okay, better than okay.

I have no fancy words to offer or string together.  I only have the truth.  The truth that we should praise God for His goodness and mercy.  That our hearts should be happy because our strength comes from the Lord.  I have joy knowing that my weakness are overcome by God’s supernatural power.  I don’t have to fight battles in my strength alone for God is with me. God helps me.

He helps me to live life and to live it abundantly.  Hallelujah!  He is my help.  The enemy doesn’t want us to know that.  He wants us to think that we have to go it alone.  But that’s not true for God is on our side.  He is shielding us from the fiery attacks of the enemy and because of Christ we have the victory.  So let us be glad.  Let us have a song in our heart and a word of praise for our God.

Lord thank You for being my strength and my shield.  Thank You for helping me overcome the obstacles that try to get in my way.  Thank You for loving me and blessing me.  You are a good Father.  You are Lord and worthy of all the glory, honor and praise.  In Jesus name.  Amen

Count it all joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything~James 1:2-4

I’ll admit I don’t face trials with joy.  I consider them a pain in the neck.  However, trials are necessary and every time I go through them I come out better and stronger.  My spiritual stamina increases.  I begin to see the gifts that God is giving me in the midst of the storm and yes my sorrows turn to joy.  

What I once viewed as only burdens become my blessings as I draw nearer to God.  Trials have a way of humbling you and letting you know where you stand in your faith.   They also show you just how faithful God is.  Your relationship strengthens as you tether yourself to Him because you realize He is the only way you will overcome the trial.  He is the One who makes the Goliaths fall.

I still wrestle with trials, but I thank God that I am finding my joy.  That I realize that His purpose is not to harm me, but to make me complete in Him.  He doesn’t want me to lack for He is my Shepherd. My God and my King,

Lord, help us to see the blessings in the trials.  Help us to remember that You are sovereign and in  control.  Whatever you do is for  our good and You work all things out for our good.  So help us to count them as joy knowing that victory is assured to those who trust in You.  In Jesus name. Amen

Waiting on the Lord

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31


I don’t know where to start or how to begin.  I got away from journaling and writing in my blog.  I got away from doing the thing that God has called me to do.  Yet, here I am.  The last year or so has been challenging.  Lot’s of changes.  A new way of life for me and my family on top of living through a pandemic.  But this I know is true.  God is good.  He is faithful and true.  He doesn’t let go.  He holds me tight when I try to get squirmy.  He loves me where and I am get’s me to where I need to be.  He shows me that I am stronger than I think because I can lean on and depend on His strength.  He is awesome!  He brings joy where there is sorrow.  He is my Rock and my salvation.  I don’t know who else might be going through a hard time, but I encourage you to not give up, but rather wait on the Lord.  Let Him renew your strength.  Watch Him breathe life into You.  A better day, a better moment is coming, if you just wait.

Father,  I thank You for your love and your beautiful mercy and grace that covers us all.  Help us to keep looking to You.  Help me to obedient to Your word and calling on my life.  In Jesus name. Amen

His mercies

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.~Lamentations 3:22-23

It’s been a while, more than a while.  I don’t know for how long I will be back, but just being here today feels so good.  To experience His mercy and faithfulness anew this day is pure joy and all praise and glory goes to Him alone.

As I sit in the waiting room of my doctor’s office playing Wordscapes it dawns on me that I can see words today that I couldn’t see yesterday.  Maybe because my mind was tired or mind was shut to the possibilities.  What a difference a day makes.  Less than 12 hours ago I struggled to get out of bed, but as I trusted God to empower me to do the work that laid ahead of me today my perspective changed.

As the day went along I was able to see things differently.  I was able to feel His power and move in ways that I wasn’t able to do before.  The journey of crawling has brought me to a place of standing where I am basking in His mercies.  I am not as tired as He has become my breath.

I am writing this to encourage someone else who might be going through a long night or winter season.  Be encouraged, His mercies are new everyday and your new day is coming. In Jesus name. Amen

Singing in the rain: How Beautiful is His Word

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.~Isaiah 55:10-11

How beautiful is this word.  Rain and snow coming down from heaven.  Being a southern girl, snow is a rarity for my region.  Snow shut down schools and is often welcomed by both student and teacher alike.  Rain on the other hand is not always as welcomed because it creates bad hair days and limited choices in clothing.  Rain often beckons me to stay in bed, but necessity makes me have to crawl out and go to work.  I know this might all seem a little off topic and strange, but just thinking about this verse makes me think of perspective.  For example, someone experience a drought might welcome the rain and if you live in mountainous regions snow might be seen as a nuisance.  Yet, regardless of where we are God is still in a positive above.  A position to see the beauty of what He is providing.  The position to see above, below, past, present and future.  His position is God, Creator.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“ As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.~Isaiah 55:8-9

So reading this word today, “ as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).  Reminds me just how good God is.  What He sends forth fulfills it’s purpose.  He nourishes the earth.   He causes the bud to flourish.  So what might be a small beginning flourishes and grows.  He provides seed for the sower so that there can be something to reap and harvest (bread) later.  Every need is met.  

The same way the natural needs are met in this “water cycle” our spiritual needs are met because the word He sends forth will e accomplished.   So whatever He has spoken over is sure.  Everything promise will be fulfilled because His purpose will be fulfilled.  His purpose for our lives.  That’s cause for joy and peace.  It causes me to look beyond what might be perceived by the naked eye to see what He wants with a spiritual eye.  And yes, even the drought serves a purpose because it causes us to pant for the living water that we need to thrive. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” ( John 7:38) 



Father, I thank You for your Word and for its intentionality.  Thank for the rains and the snow that nourish my soul.  Thank you for the rain and the snow that allow the buds of faith to flourish and bloom.  I thank You that your Word  has purpose and provides  me with seed to sow blessings for my family and others.   I thank you for the bread that it yields so that I may eat of You and taste of your goodness.  Lord, I thank You for you. In Jesus name I pray.  Amen