Praises Lifted to God who Provides all our Needs

Verses: Psalms 147: 1 - 20

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

We need only to realize how important to God to see the depth of God’s love for us.  God provides for all of our needs.  God doesn’t hide in the shadows expecting us to find what we need.  Instead God provides the water we need through the rain sent to earth.  The food we need by providing for the plants and animals.  Everything that we need is given unto us.

Think on this a moment God knows that the raven is in need and responds.  God answers the sound of the animals by giving them sustenance.  Our God then is faithful to us.  Our God loves us and we need to offer praise up to God.

We need to understand that God doesn’t care about what we have done.  Instead, God cares about what we have trusted in.  God wants us to trust in the strength and power of the one that created us.  There is nothing here on earth as powerful as the one who created the earth. 

We try so hard in our lives to prove that we are better and deserve the rewards that God has for us.  Yet, do us truly understanding what we are saying to God.  We are saying that the death on the cross was not good enough to save us.  We are attempting to say that we must give something, do something, and be something to inherit the Kingdom of God.  Yet in all reality all God wants is our faith.

God deserves to be praised because there is nothing here on this earth that can give us what God has freely given to each and every one of us.  Jesus died on that cross.  Not expecting us to do anything but to accept the gift of life.  We need to accept the gift and offer praises for that is the one thing that we can give to our savior.

Prayer:

We thank you God.  We praise the one that has given us all we need.  We praise the one that cares for us.  We thank you for giving us the perfect gift.  Help us to accept that it is not through our might that we are saved.  Instead we are saved through the healing and saving grace of Jesus.  In your Holy Name we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you trying to do things to earn your way to Heaven?  Have you accepted that you cannot do anything big enough or good enough to deserve the gift of everlasting life?  Are you willing to trust that God loves you and wants to freely give you the precious gift of life?  Are you willing to accept that gift and then look unto the hills and praise God?  Are you willing to just let go and let God do the work?  Are you willing to praise God for just being the creator and savior we need in our life?

God brings Peace to the Oppressed

Verses: Psalms 146: 1 - 10

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

We walk in a world of people that are struggling.  People who are lost and cannot find their way.   We live in a world where people go without food, water or shelter.  We watch people every day who have no one to love. 

We are so worried about our own lives that we miss the ministry opportunities that are all around us.  We missed the person that needed a simple meal to make through the day.  We missed the person that needed a smile from one friendly face.   We overlook the people that are lost and searching for an answer.

It isn't because we mean to.  It happens because we forget that other people’s needs are as important as our own.  We look in the mirror and we see our face staring back and we feel our pain and our suffering.  We are consumed with getting ourselves out of the situations that we are in.

The author of the Psalm was making this point.  We cannot depend on people for our needs to be met.  Only God can know all we need and be there all the time.  God does utilize his own children (Christians) to serve the needy.  Yet, the overall gift and blessing that they need of eternal life comes only from the one that created the world.

We need to be thankful for everything we have in our life.  The next time we go about in our busy day we need to look around and see the people that are hurting.  It doesn’t take but a second to give someone a smile.  It only takes a minute to listen to someone who is sad.  It only takes a few dollars to feed someone who is hungry.  It only takes a little time to share the love of God.

We need to thank God for the opportunity that we have through the love of God to love others.  We need to praise God for helping those that are hurt.  We need to offer up thanksgiving for the little miracles we see each day.  We need to remember that God is there shining a beacon of light to the world.  We need to help direct people to that beacon so that they can find the same love that we as children of God have found.

Prayer:

Merciful God we praise you for your love of the world.  Savior we praise you for your sacrifice.  We praise the One that has given all so that we can be whole.  Help open our eyes so that we can see those that are hurting around us.  Help us be the children that you have called us to be.  Help us offer a helping hand to hurt world so that we all may find the peace you give.  In the name of the Merciful and Mighty Creator and Savior we pray.  Amen       

Questions:

Are you hurting today?  Have you been there for others today?  Are you helping others as often as you can?  Are you allowing your problems to so overwhelm you that you miss the hurt the world is going through?  Is it time to thank God for what you do have?  Is today the day that you become Jesus for someone?

FINDING A CURE FOR CANCER

I'm shaving my head to raise money for childhood cancer research! Did you know that kids' cancers are different from adult cancers? It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. So I decided to do something about it by raising money for cures. Now I need your help! Will you make a donation? Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.

7 years of shaving and hopefully my last. Yet, until there is an end to childhood cancer I will keep on shaving. 

In honor:

my grandfather Henry who passed 15 years ago from brain cancer.

My dear friend Judy who passed away in 2014 from lung cancer.

My friend Dee who is in remission.

To make a donation you can sign into my webpage address below.  Thanks



https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/deaconmichelle

The Greatness of God is Unmeasurable

Verses: Psalms 145: 1 - 21

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

We try so hard to measure how much someone loves us.  We guess what they will do for us in the future.  We wonder what they would give up for us.  We try to decide if they would be there for us in the end.

I watched a show yesterday that really made this point drive home for me.  Emergency responders suggest that you place and I.C.E. phone number on you cell phone.  This is the person that you want them to contact in case of an emergency in which they have to make the call for you. 

Think for a minute who would that person be?  Many might say that’s easy my parent, a friend, my lover or a Preacher.  Yet, what if you are in a situation where your parents are dead.  You can think of a best friend that would be there for you.  You do not have a partner.  You are not close to your Pastor or do not even go to Church.  Who do you choose in this case? 

Yet, I want us to look at an ever more important issue.  What happens when we pass away?  Have you found the I.C.E. for that moment?  Many of us know exactly who that will be.  We do not have to put the person in our phone.  We do not have to worry if anyone calls them because we already know they would be there.  Those that accept Jesus in their life have the best I.C.E. in the world.  Jesus will take us to the everlasting promise land. 

With that in mind, we have to offer praise Jesus for the ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus loves us more than anyone else.  God loves us more than any person.  The Holy Spirit loves us more than any person will ever love us.  God sent the beloved son so that we may have the gift of everlasting life.  Jesus went to the cross willingly so that his blood would cover our sins.  The Holy Spirit lives within us so that we may feel the peace and comfort that comes from loving God.

Think about this a second.  Who do you know who would truly die for you?  Many people say it yet, who really would give up their life?  As we think on this we need to remember that we do not need anyone else to die for us.  Jesus has already died to cover all our needs.

We need to offer praises up to God.  We need to thank God for all the love and grace that is given to us.  We need to know that God loves each and every one of us more than anyone will ever love us.  God’s love is unmeasurable.

Prayer:

We praise you God for you are holy.  We praise you for your love.  We praise you for your sacrifice.  Help us to accept your gift of love.  Help us to always remember that you are always with us.  Help us to remember to lift our voices up in praise to thank you for everything that you do.  We offer our prayers up to you the Greatest Love of all.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted the gift of everlasting life?  Have you asked God to be your I.C.E.?

Prepare for the Spiritual War

Verses: Psalms 144: 1 - 15

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

The hardest thing for us to understand is the struggle we have inside our very soul.  We are tempted by the ways of the world.  There are so many things that seem better than what we have.  We desire more of what the world can give us.  We often feel that the more that we get the better our life is.

There is also the other part of my soul that struggles with these desires.  We want to praise God.  We want God to take away our temptations.  We desire the peace and comfort of God.  We want nothing more than our life to be filled with the presence of God.

The crazy thing about this situation is that these struggles have nothing to do with enemies or troubles we have in our life.  The struggle is deep within our very soul.  No one is pressuring us one way or the other except ourselves.  We desire both of these things at the same time. 

The question that you might be asking is how to handle this situation?  We have to prepare our souls for this spiritual war.  We have to pray more.  We have to read the scriptures.  We have to offer praises up to our God.  We must focus on God and not the world.

We can become conquerors of this war if we enter it prepared.  When you are prepared you take God into the battle with you.  You are not alone.  God is standing there with you fighting the battle with you.  The struggle can be conquered if we give it over to God.

It sounds simple to turn our life over to God.  Yet, isn’t that the hardest thing that we can decide.  We have to give up what we think are the good things of life.  We have to come to the conclusion that the gift of eternal life is the greatest gift.  We struggle because it is very hard to see that God loves us just as we are. 

We are our own worst enemy because we attempt to build up walls to keep God out.  Yet, what we need to do is break down the walls between ourselves and God.  We need to join forces with God and begin building up walls against the part of our soul that is tempted by the outside world.  We will always struggle yet when you come to the point that you are not struggling inside you have a peace during the hard times.  You have a comfort because God is our saving power.

Prayer:

We love you Dear God.  We praise you for you are holy.  We thank you for your gift of everlasting life.  Help us today fight the battle that is raging in our soul.  Help us accept your saving grace.  Help us Dear Savior prepare our souls for the spiritual battle that we face.  In the name of the Redeemer we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you given your life over to Jesus?  Are you preparing yourself for the spiritual battle?  Are you going to god in prayer and praise?  Are you building a wall between you and God?  Is it time that you break down that wall?

God will Lead our Spirits

Verses: Psalms 143: 1 - 12

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

Think about driving a car.  We are directed by so many different signals and signs.  We are told how fast we can drive.  We are told when to stop and when to go.  We are told that a road will have curves.  We are told when a road ahead is closed.  Many of us have a GPS system that tells us how to get from point A to point B.

Imagine if we could have all this in our life.  Signs to tell us how fast to jump to a decision.  Signals to tell us when to go and continue going down the path we are going.  Signals to tell us when to stop and let God be in charge.  Signs to tell us that the road ahead wasn’t going to be easy and that actually the road would have bumps and curves.  Signs to tell us that our path ahead is blocked and that we need to go a different way.  A GPS system embedded into our life directing us from where we are to where we want to be.

We need to realize that we have all these things in our life.   God is there helping us get through life.  God is our GPS leading us to where we need to be.  God is directing us down the roads we need to be on.  Yet, do we accept that God is there for us.  Is our faith faltering in the fact that the only one we need is there helping us survive in this crazy world.

We all know that when we are driving that we are so tempted not to do what the signs say.  We go faster than we are supposed to.  We run through that yellow light just as it turns red.  We listen to our GPS but we often do not follow it because we think we know a better to get there.

We soon will find out that risk taking only gets us so far.  The tickets that start piling up for the small and big risk we take.  We eventually get lost because we didn’t follow the directions and we miss things that we needed to be at.  We find that it is better to follow the directions and signs because they are in place to keep us safe.

It is time to be honest.  How many times in our lives do we do things our way without listening to God?  We all do it so don’t feel alone.  We forget that our guide is within our life.  Instead of stopping and giving time to God we run through life doing our own thing.  We try to get where we think we are supposed to be without asking God f that is right.  We make our own decisions without listening to the one that lives within us.

We need to come to the point in our life that we realize that what God does is for our own good.  God isn’t trying to hurt us when we are directed some place that we didn’t want to go.  We find that we can become closer to God when we stop and listen.  We can have our needs met when we ask God to guide us.  We soon find that our path is less bumpy because God is there.  We just need to allow God to guide our Spirit.

Prayer:

We honor your holy name.  We praise you Dear God.  We thank you God.  We ask right now that you help us to stop and listen to you.  Help us accept that we need to allow you to guide us.  Help us accept that you want our journey to be an easy trek.  In the name of the Holy One we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you been listening to God?  Are your running to where you want to be without asking God if that is where you need to be?  Have you accepted that God is there in our life ready to be our guide?  What do you need to give over to God today?

God Hears Our Pleas

Verses: Psalms 142: 1 - 7

Songs inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

Imagine Jesus on the cross.  Look into the eyes of Jesus as he looks around and see that his friends have deserted him.  Listen to the voice of Jesus as he turns his spirit over to God.  Watch his head as it falls gently down.  Observe that moment when Jesus dies and returns to the right hand of God.

Did you realize the most important part of the above as you were imagining those last moments of the savior.  Jesus gave his spirit to God.  He asked God to relieve him of his pain and agony.  In that very moment Jesus plea was heard and he was given the gift of peace.

Now look at your own life.  Have you ever had a moment that you cried out to God from deep within your soul?  We have all had that moment that we can only survive if God takes over.  We have to only ask the precious savior to come and our pleas are heard.

We have to come to understand that God wants to come and take away our pain and agony.  God does not want us to suffer.  Yet, there are times that we must come to the point that we truly turn it over to God for our pain to end.  See we say that we have given our problems over to God.  Yet, deep down inside we are still trying to fix it ourselves.  We are looking for an answer and are disappointed because God did not take away our pain.  Yet, God would have done it immediately if we had left it to God. 

I live in pain all the time because of illness I have.  I suffer will illnesses that I would never give to my enemies.  Years went by that I “turned” the problem over to God.  Yet, nothing was getting better.  I even got to the point that I wondered if this was a punishment for something that had done.  My faith was faltering because I couldn’t understand why God was helping. 

Then I came to realize that my pleas were only superficial.  I really wasn’t turning the problem over to God.  I was trying to do it all myself.  I was trying to find the answer myself.  When I finally turned it over to God my life changed.  The pain didn’t leave but my spirit no longer felt hopeless.  I knew that my God was there for me listening to my pleas.

I came to understand the true power of God when you allow God to take over. You may not get the exact thing that you wanted.  Yet, God who is all knowing will give you what you need.  I learned what I needed was to let go completely and let God take charge.  In that moment the pain of hurt deep within my soul disappeared.  It was then that I realized it wasn’t my physical pain that needed to be healed.  It was the hurt that I had carried from rejection. 

God will do the same thing for you.  If you truly turn your needs over to God you will get exactly what you need.  You may find strength that you never thought you had.  You might find the peace that you needed.  God will give you what you most need if you plea to God and accept what God is giving to you.

Prayer:

We thank you for answering our prayers.  We praise you for the gifts that you bestow to us.  Help us Dear God to turn our problems over to you.  Help us to accept your answer.  We thank you precious Savior for the gift of everlasting life.  Help us accept that this is the greatest gift that we can ever receive.  In the name of our Almighty God we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted the gift that God is given to you?  Are you willing to turn your problems over to God?  Are you willing to ask God to save you from your despair?  Have you come to the conclusion that God wants what is best for you?  What is God trying to teach you today?

God will Not leave us Defenseless

Verses: Psalms 141: 1 - 10

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

We should spend our days and nights praising our God.  Our life should be an example to others of the wondrous deeds of God.  We gain our strength from the one that gives us power.  We are anointed by the wisdom of God.  We are blessed with peace and comfort.

We as humans go through many times in our life when we are in great need.  We look around and see the things in our life that are making us fall down.  We attempt to overcome the challenges of life many times by ourselves.  Yet, God wants us to embrace the fact that we need God in our life.

God is merciful.  We forget this often.  We walk around in our pain.  We allow the world to bring us down.  We hear people speaking against us and we hurt deep down inside.  God comes in our life and lifts that pain and hurt.

I remember when I first came out as being a Lesbian.  I was shunned from the very thing that needed most.  The church blocked the door from me because they felt that I was living in sin and would not repent of my sin.  I felt like that had lost the love of God.

It took me a long time to realize that I was created in the image of God.  God is love.  I had to learn that God would never persecute me for sharing love with someone.  Fourteen years ago I met the person that was my soulmate.  I found someone that believes just like me.  She loved God and knew that God loved her just the way she was.

Isn’t that what we are taught to find.  We are taught to find someone that believes and loves God.  That person will fulfill our life and God will be the center of the relationship.  How many heterosexual relationships falter because God isn’t the center?  Yet, we have no trouble marrying people that are opposite sex.  We don’t question why they are marrying.  We figure that they are matched in their soul.  Yet, when two people of the same sex meet the soulmate that God created from them we deny them the right to be legally married by the state.

Our God is merciful.  God looked at my relationship and anointed it with mercy and grace.  God recognizes that our love is exactly what it should be.  God has blessed our relationship and we are seen as one united in faith.  Our love is what God desires for all people. 

We need to realize that as people comes up against us that we have to go to God in prayer.  We need to realize that God will be there for to defend us.  We do not have to fight.  God has the authority to overcome all that comes against us in our life.  Imagine how wonderful your life would be if you came to understand that God never leaves your side.

Prayer:

We praise you God.  We lift our voices up to you in praise.  We thank you for your love and mercy.  We praise you for standing beside us.  We thank you for saving us not only from our sins but from the strife of the world.  Help us dear God to give our life over to you.  Help us to remember that you do not let us face our battles alone.  Help us remember that we are your beloved children.  In the name of the Merciful God we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you worried what people think about you?  Are you afraid that you are fighting the battles of life alone?  Have you asked God to be merciful to you?  Do you understand that you are never left defenseless?  Are yon willing to turn your problems over to God so that you are made whole?