Author: Mom Morsels

I love to encourage moms to hold on to Jesus tighter !

Psalm 139: 15-16

~ Mom Morsels
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Lovingly Planned Beforehand

You were never hidden from God. Earlier in Psalm 139:7-10 we learned that God is everywhere and even if you tried, there is no place you could go to get away from Him. In verses 11-12 we saw that with God you are not alone in your darkness, because even in the darkness, He is there with you bringing His light into that place. And even in the darkness of the womb, He could SEE you. Let’s look at Psalms 139: 15-16 New International Version:

My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in Your book
    before one of them came to be.

In the secret place of your mother’s womb, only God’s eyes saw your unformed substance, the body and personality He was forming for you, making you “you”. He could “see” H7200 you; the word “see” here means He “beheld, gazed upon, perceived, considered and enjoyed” you. It’s the same exact word used throughout Genesis as God was creating our world and in Genesis 1:31 New American Standard Bible (italics mine) where it says:

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

He saw His beautiful creation, then pronounced it very good. He saw you in your mother’s womb and enjoyed His handiwork, you, as He formed you. And you were “woven together” H7551 which means “curiously wrought, worker in colors, skillfully woven, embroidered, needlework” (this is a different word than is used in verse 13 for weave). Have you ever embroidered anything? I have. Embroidery is delicate and intricate work. Each embroidery piece has a detailed pattern that must be followed exactly. Each stitch forms the design. This same word “woven together” is also used throughout Exodus 26-39 for the intricate fine twined needlework in blue, purple, scarlet that was used in the Tabernacle. Just as God had a detailed plan for the colorful tapestries in the Tabernacle, He had a detailed plan as He wove you in your mother’s womb.

And before you even had one day outside the womb, He planned all your days. The days were in fact “ordained” for you. “Ordained” H3335 means “to mould into a form, especially as a potter, to determine, to fashion, to purpose.” Yes, your days on earth were planned for you with a purpose. In fact, your days on earth are so important to Him, that He wrote them down in His book even before you saw your first day!

There’s more! He even set things up for you, so you could do good works. Ephesians 2:10 NASB says:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

You are His workmanship, His creation, His woven and embroidered multi colored beautiful well planned handiwork. And not only did He ordain your days, He even prepared the good works for you to do ahead of time. All you have to do is walk in them. What a wonderful caring Father! Just like a mom and dad prepare excitiedly for their new baby, so your Father planned ahead for you. Can you see that all this planning-planning your form, planning your days, planning your good works-makes it clear that He was really excited for you to be here!

So mom’s please don’t forget that

HE LOVED YOU SO MUCH THAT HE PLANNED AHEAD FOR YOU!

In His Love,

Suzanne

Psalms 139: 14

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My Soul Knows it Very Well

Have you ever felt like you were just DIFFERENT than everyone else? I find that I often view things differently than others. Even the sign on my rearview mirror that says, “Objects are closer than they appear,” seems backwards to me. I would have written, “Objects appear further away than they really are.” Seems much clearer. But that’s just me. I’m different. And we will find in our next study verse, that God intentionally made us all different, Psalms 139:14 New International Version:

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

In this verse “Wonderfully” H6395 means, “to be distinct, marked out, be separated, put a difference, show marvelous, make wonderfully.” So you can see that part of the WONDERFUL God put in us, is in making us each different, marked out for a distinct purpose, not all the same. And that in itself is MARVELOUS!

And “Marvelous” H6381 means “wonderful, extraordinary, distinguished, great”. Think about that for a moment. Take a little time to let that sink into your soul. God made you marvelous. God made you wonderful. God made you extraordinary. God made you distinguished. God made you great. This is what He says about you. The question is-do you believe Him? Do you believe His Word about you?

The psalmist believes. And he commands his soul to give thanks to God for how he is made, saying, “I WILL give thanks to You.” So many of us struggle with our identity, our “different”-ness, but here we see that, like the psalmist, we can command our soul to praise God for how He made us. When we do this, we are exercising FAITH, TRUSTING that He knows what He is doing, and BELIEVING what He says about us-that we are wonderfully made. We aren’t going by what we feel, we are going by what He says. That is FAITH.

And our psalmist says his soul “knows very well” how wonderfully and marvelously he was made by God. But what if my soul doesn’t know this very well? What if I struggle to know this? I definitely have had times when I was down on myself, and I felt like I did not know this “very well” or even well. Let’s remember back at the beginning of this study when Satan attacked Jesus as He was in the wilderness for 40 days, and we saw that two of the three attacks on Jesus were making Him question His identity. God gave us Jesus’ example, so we have a heads up, and know that, yes, our identity will also be attacked and we need to be ready when these attacks come.

So if our soul does not know this “very well”, what do we do? We work at getting what He says about us in our hearts by studying what He says, by memorizing what He says, by praying what He says, by imbedding His truth about us so deeply in our hearts that we can stand strong against these attacks on our identity. It’s really just a matter of TRUST in His Word, FAITH and BELIEVING. Romans 10:17 NIV says:

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

If your faith in this area is weak (I am still working on this area!), then to increase your faith, you just need to HEAR MORE WORD. So get yourself some more Word! Read it, Listen to it, Sing it, Pray it! Then when attacks about your identity in God come, and they will, you can

STAND STRONG ON HIS TRUTH THAT IS ROOTED DEEP IN YOUR HEART.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Psalms 139: 13

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Intricately Woven

I am a seamstress. When I make a garment, say a dress, there is a lot of planning that goes into it. First, I look at lots of patterns to decide the shape of the dress. I have to make sure I have just the right size. Then I pick out the material, making sure the material I pick will work with the pattern. Each dress I make is a one of a kind creation. And when I am done making it, I feel a sense of accomplishment and joy.

It’s the same with a weaver. The weaver doesn’t just start weaving. The weaver carefully plans what design they want to make, what colors and materials they want to use. The weaver will research the right pattern to weave to make that design. Let’s look at Psalms 139:13 New American Standard Bible:

Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb.

God is a Master weaver! He carefully planned and designed you. He wove you together in your mother’s womb. “Weave” H5526 here means, “to weave together, to cover, lay over, to hedge or shut in, to protect.” Just like when I make a dress, God had a predetermined plan when He wove you into being. You are His one of kind creation.

This word for “weave” also has a sense of covering, of protection. It’s the same word used in Psalms 91:4 NASB (italics mine):

He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

He covered, protected and formed you inside your mother’s womb. The womb provides babies with nutrients, chemicals needed for the lungs, removal of waste products, antibodies to protect from infection, hormones for proper development and amniotic fluid to cushion the baby and protect from injury. Remember in Psalms 139:5 He encloses you behind and before and lays His hand upon you? This includes in the womb where He had you surrounded and protected as He formed, weaved and knit you together according to His plan.

And He formed your “inward or innermost parts,” H3629 which means the “seat of emotion and affection.” He formed your personality, your emotions, your innermost being, who you are. We have five children and each one was born with certain parts of their personalities that were already present from a young age. One of our children has a great sense of humor. When she was 6months old, I picked her up and she stuck her finger in my nose then flung her head back laughing hysterically. It was like a little joke-at 6months old! I did not put that in her personality, but God very clearly did! On the other hand, our son has always been technically minded. At 3 years old, he took a screw driver, took a toy completely apart and brought it to me. In high school, he built a computer out of a box. Now he is a mid level developer.

If God took so much effort to weave and form you in your mother’s womb, can you see how very treasured you are by Him? Your personality is not a mistake. It was carefully formed by Him. So when you are feeling down on yourself, can you please remember that

YOU WERE INTRICATELY WOVEN, PLANNED BY GOD, AND ARE TREASURED BY HIM.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Psalms 139: 11-12

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His Light Penetrates our Darkness

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the darkness around you? Maybe your circumstances were just too much for you to handle and you felt like you were drowning in darkness. Or maybe your flesh was pulling you into sin and you felt like you couldn’t stand against it, like you were being pulled into it’s darkness. In Psalms 139:11-12 New American Standard Bible David says he felt that way and we can learn how God comforted him:

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.

The word “overwhelm” here means “to bruise, crush, gape upon, overwhelm, cover.” Yes, I have definitely felt like that at times in my life, as I’m sure some of you have too, beaten and bruised sometimes by others, crushed by the weight of my circumstances, covered in the darkness that I felt surrounding and suffocating me. But someone else was bruised and crushed for you-Isaiah 53:5, “He was bruised/crushed for our iniquities.” He took your bruising, crushing for you, so that you could reach for Him and He could pull you out of the darkness. He is not overcome by the darkness as we see Jesus described in John 1:4-5 New International Version:

In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

And I have definitely felt the light turning into night around me, but mostly this is when I have chosen to gaze at my circumstances instead of gazing at His face. The truth is that GOD IS LIGHT, and even the darkness is not dark to Him, because HIS PRESENCE brings light to wherever He is. And He is always with us. He does not forsake us. To God the night is not dark, because He is there making the night as bright as the light of the day! Let’s look at John 8:12 NASB:

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

God by His very nature is LIGHT. So if we invite Him into our dark circumstances, our dark feelings, our darkness of any kind, He will bring HIS LIGHT into that place because GOD IS LIGHT. And He will also give us the strength to overcome the darkness and power of sin in our lives (1 Corinthians 10:13). We invite Him in by spending time in His presence, in worship, in prayer, in reading His Word the Bible, in fellowship with other Christians. Psalms 36: 5, 7-9 NASB encourages us:

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies…
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

We have some choices to make here. We have to choose to come into HIS LIGHT. We have to choose to take refuge in the shadow of His wings. We have to choose to drink of the abundance of His house, of the river of His delights. We have to choose to invite Him into our darkness. I realized that some of us are so bruised that we need help to come into this healing He offers. Counselors help us with that! Don’t be afraid to reach out to a counselor or friend if you need help.

So please remember when you feel the darkness overwhelming you, to cry out for His help, and

LET HIM BRING HIS LIGHT INTO YOUR DARKNESS.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Ps. If you need some help with reaching out, please call: 988 suicide and crisis hotline

Psalms 139: 7-10

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His Presence Holds You

Have you ever gone through such a difficult time that you just wanted to get away from it all? Or wished you could escape as far away as possible where no one could find you? You are not the only one who has felt that way as we see in Psalms 139: 7-10 New American Standard Bible:

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

So often when we are going through a trial, we feel like we are alone. But what we don’t realize is that even if we tried to be completely alone, we never could be, because God is always there with us. The psalmist asks two questions-“Where can I go from Your Spirit?” and “Where can I flee from Your presence?”. The answer is “Nowhere.” There is nowhere that God isn’t present. Even when we think He’s not there, even when we feel He’s not there, even when Satan makes us believe He’s not there, HE IS THERE. He is the God who SEES you, your every move, your frame, your ways, your thoughts before you speak them, YES, HE IS ALWAYS THERE.

In Genesis 16:6 Hagar was mistreated by her mistress after she was made to have a child by Abraham. Hagar chose to flee to the wilderness to die, but THE GOD WHO SEES met her there and she lived. In Genesis 21:14 Hagar didn’t choose to go but was cast into the desert and thought she and her son were going to die, but GOD HEARD them both crying and opened their eyes to see that He was WITH THEM and they lived. Whether you yourself flee to the desert or someone drives you to the desert, He will meet you there, He SEES you there and He HEARS you there. And just like He provided the well of water for Hagar and Ishmael, He will provide the WELL of HIS LIVING WATER, HIS PRESENCE for you in those dark and dry places, so you also will live.

From this Psalm, we see that when we feel like we are in heaven, on the top of the world, and everything is going well in our life, He is there. When we feel like things are so bad, like we are going through “Sheol” or Hell, He is there. When we just can’t handle our trials anymore and want to fly away from them as far as the dawn, He’s there too (Luke 1:78). When we feel like life it too hard, like we want to just camp out in the deepest darkest remote place at the bottom of the sea, Yes, He is even there with us. The Spirit of God moves over the deep waters (Genesis 1:1-2) and God Himself is in the deep places too.

Our scripture tells us that in those deepest hardest places, the places where we don’t think He is moving, where we don’t think He is present, even there He is leading us. Even in those places, His right hand “lays hold” of us. Why His right hand and not His left hand? My mother taught me this verse Roman’s 8:34 NASB:

Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

God’s right hand is so special because Jesus sits at God the Father’s right hand interceding for us. Take a moment, close your eyes and picture Jesus sitting next to God the Father and He is praying for you right now. That picture brings such peace!

In those deep and hard places, He is laying hold of us. “Lay hold of” means “to seize, lay hold of, catch, fasten” This isn’t a casual, light hold. This is a purposeful, tight seizing hold. So in those places where you think you have taken flight and flown to a place where He is not, or descended to a depth where you think He can’t reach you, even in those places, He has a tight hold on you. He is not letting go of you; he is seizing you. Here’s a final thought for you from Isaiah 41:10 NASB:

Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

So when you are in those deep hard places, please remember

HE IS HOLDING YOU TIGHTLY AND NOT LETTING GO.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Psalms 139: 5-6

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Lovingly Boxed In

Have you ever felt boxed in by God. Whichever way you turned, He seemed to be trying to keep you still and tell you something and you just weren’t getting it. You know He could just let you do your own thing (well sometimes He does, see Romans 1:24). But the fact that He cares enough to not let you do that- well wow, that means something.

Psalms 139: 5-6 New American Standard Bible says:

You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

When I was in elementary school, we played outside a lot in our neighborhood-kick the can, hide and seek in the hay fields, adventuring at the pond. We took nylon stockings, bent a wire hanger into a circle and caught bull frogs with the net we made. We then took an empty coffee can, a metal round cylinder with a plastic top, and put the bull frog in it to see how long it took it to pop the top off-it didn’t take long! (I feel like I need to put a “please don’t try this at home” warning here, because this was rather cruel, but we were just being kids!). I think sometimes when God allows us to get “boxed in”, like the bullfrog we try to pop that top off. We buck the situation, trying to find a way out, struggling with everything in us to get free. But sometimes, He wants us to just TRUST HIM, to rest, to listen.

I am sure that Job felt a bit boxed in by all the tragedy, loss, destruction, sickness that was all around him. Yet God’s hand was still UPON him. His friend Elihu spoke the truth to him in this situation, saying in Job 36:15 NASB:

He delivers the afflicted in their affliction. And opens their ear in time of oppression. Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress, instead of it, a broad place with no constraint; and that which was set on your table was full of fatness.

“Fatness” H1878 means “fatness, abundance, ashes of sacrifices.” Isn’t it just like God to want to turn our ashes into fatness, abundance? But we must YIELD to Him in our affliction, in our ashes, and then we will find ourselves at HIS TABLE being filled by HIS ABUNDANCE. And this verse says that He uses affliction and oppression to open our ears to Him. If you are going through a difficulty right now, can you take a moment to stop and be quiet before Him, to listen and to yield to Him? What is He trying to say to you? He really is FOR you. He is leading you to HIS TABLE to bring ABUNDANCE to you. Can you trust Him in your suffering?

That God would care to rearrange the circumstances of our lives in order to point us to Him, is just TOO WONDERFUL! That knowledge is TOO HIGH and we cannot even comprehend it! The God of the universe CARES for us! He doesn’t just let us wander around aimlessly. He is leading us. He is the GOOD SHEPHERD. Again, if we persist in refusing to follow Him, He does some times ‘give us over’ to the lusts in our own hearts (Romans 1:18-32), but even in that, His heart is always that none should perish and that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

So when you are feeling ‘boxed in’, please realize that

HIS HAND IS UPON YOU.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Psalms 139: 3-4

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Intimately Acquainted with All My Ways

Isn’t it nice to know someone cares? Like when you’re feeling down and someone close to you notices. God notices you too! Psalms 139 verses 3-4 New American Standard Bible shows us just how closely He notices:

You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

So why would God scrutinize our path and lying down? Maybe, because He cares? My husband and I care about our children and you better believe we scrutinized their paths and lying down. When they were heading out somewhere and were dressed inappropriately, we might ask, “Just where are you going dressed like that? Go change please!” When they were ‘lying down’ too much as teenagers and wouldn’t get up to do chores, yup, we scrutinized their paths and they got to work on the chores! All this because we cared about them and wanted them to grow up to be mature godly adults.

So, yes, God scrutinizes our paths for the same reason, because He cares! Scrutinize H2219 means to winnow. And winnow means “to blow a current of air through (grain) in order to remove the chaff”. In Luke 3:17 NASB we read about how God feels about chaff:

His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

In this verse, the chaff are the wicked which God will thresh out. But from Psalm 139, we can see that God also winnows our paths. When He lets the winds of affliction, trials, difficulties blow through our lives, He is blowing away the chaff that we have allowed to accumulate. He’s getting rid of the waste that clutters our lives and makes us unfruitful. He wants us in His barn, but not our chaff.

And according to our verse, He knows all your ways. The way you twirl your hair. The way you get your sensitive feelings hurt so often (That would be me! Working on it!). The way you hate Brussel sprouts with a passion. He knows. You don’t have to explain yourself or your ways to Him.

That word on your tongue…Ever wonder why when you are about to say something that’s off, you get a little check in your spirit? Maybe I shouldn’t say that. Because He knows what you are about to say! Because He knows your thoughts even before you have formed them into words to speak out with your tongue. Wow, what a gift to save us a lot of trouble and to keep us from speaking hastily. If we would just learn to listen to His Spirit within us when He give us that little check! But praise God we have His forgiveness to cover any words spoken unrightly.

Remember the virtuous women in Proverbs 31: 26? She opens her mouth with wisdom. This means that there are times she will keep her mouth closed and it is wise to do so. Like if she doesn’t have control of her emotions in that moment- she may want to keep her mouth closed. Like if what she is about to say will not build someone up or give grace in the moment, she may want to keep her mouth closed. Like if what she is about to say, she will have to ask forgiveness for later (Yup! Done that many times!), she may want to keep her mouth closed. Still learning this personally!

So in that moment when you are feeling misunderstood, please remember that

YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS IT ALL, HE KNOWS YOU AND YOUR WAYS AND HE CARES.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Psalms 139: 1-2

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He Knows Us Intimately

The ones He knows the best, He loves the most. That’s all of us. Psalms 139:1-2 New American Standard Bible says:

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.

Search H2713 here means to “to penetrate, to examine intimately, search out, investigate”. He penetrates our pretenses, examines us intimately, searches our hearts, and investigates our motives, seeing everything including the “yuck”. Everyone has things about themselves that they would rather other people not know. Your spouse probably knows these things. Your family likely knows these things. God definitely knows these things. He knows ALL the good and ALL the bad, yet He still wants to know us intimately.

Know H3045 is the same word used in Genesis 4:1 “And Adam KNEW Eve his wife.” It’s the deepest kind of knowing. This is truly amazing! Though God searches us, seeing both the good and the bad, He still WANTS TO KNOW US! This thought brings so much joy!

He knows when we sit down and when we rise up. I am a very busy person, so I sit down and rise up A LOT! He knows that I’m busy. My husband knows me well too and would like me to sit down and watch football with him, and I have a hard time sitting through a whole game. But I am working on it! God knows all this about me! I’m not proud of this fact, but sometimes God has to knock me down to get me to stop moving, so I can listen to Him better! Over New Years this year, I had the flu and was in bed for a week. It was actually a great way to start off the New Year, because it put me in a posture of listening to Him!

And as moms you sit down and rise up a lot. Actually, come to think of it, you probably rise up more than you sit down! He knows every time you JUST sat down, your legs barely touched the seat, and you hear, “Mom! Mom!” and have to rise up again. He knows every time you sit down to nurse that newborn baby-now that’s a lot of times! If you have littles, you may barely get to sit down to eat. He knows all your sitting and rising. Isn’t that comforting?

And He understands your thoughts. I don’t always understand my own thoughts, so it is comforting for me to know that HE DOES. Thought H7454 means “purpose, aim, thought’ in Hebrew and comes from a root word H7462 that means “to pasture, tend, graze, feed.” Yes, He knows where my mind and heart naturally wander, where I like to graze. Aren’t you glad that He is the Good Shepherd and He does not leave us grazing where we want to graze? Grazing in the same place all the time. We would eat up the grass in that place and miss out on grazing in the greener pastures that He has for us and the still waters He wants to lead us beside (Psalm 23:2).

And getting lost in our own thoughts is not always a good thing. Looking at Isaiah 65:2 NASB (italics mine) we see:

I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts…

Back in our study verse Psalm 139 verse 2, the word “understand” in Hebrew means “to discern, understand, consider.” Can you even comprehend that the God of the universe takes time to consider your thoughts? He takes time to discern them, to understand them. That’s just how much your Maker cares for you!

So next time you feel that God may have forgotten you, and we all have those moments by the way, please go back to these verses and remind yourself that

GOD KNOWS YOU INTIMATELY AND CARES EVEN ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Digging Deep in the Word

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Using Hebrew and Greek Word Study to Find The Best Treasures in the Word

If you learn nothing else from me, please learn this!

Bible excavating is my favorite! I love studying the Bible this way. As we saw previously, the BEST TREASURES in the Word are hidden and you have to dig for them. When you discover those treasures, it is PURE JOY! So let’s get started with an example.

First, go ahead and download an app or find a website that lets you see the Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) for each Bible passage. I like to use My Sword Bible app (https://www.mysword.info/download-mysword) but there are many others you could use.

We are going to start with Proverbs 18:4 King James Version and this is similar to what it looks like in my app :

” The words H1697 of a man’s H6310 mouth H6310 are as deep H6013 waters H4325, and the wellspring H4726 of wisdom H2451 as a flowing H5042 brook H5158.”

If you click on the letter/number, it will show you the Hebrew or Greek root of that word. This verse is contrasting man’s words/wisdom versus God’s wisdom.

Mans words are compared to “deep waters”. Looking at the root of “waters”, we see it means “water of the feet, urine, wasting”, so in other words, NASTY WATER, think dirty water used to wash feet or that contains waste/urine, sort of like standing water full of germs, decay, death. Yuck!

God’s wisdom is compared to a “flowing brook”. Where “flowing” means to “flow, gush forth, bubble up” and “brook” means “stream, torrent”, together think FLOWING, BABBLING, BROOK. Brooks that are flowing, streaming, bubbling are fresh, full of life, teaming with life. Yes!

Do you see the difference? Man’s wisdom / earthly wisdom brings death, whereas God’s wisdom brings life (James 3:14-18 KJV). Man’s wisdom brings WASTE, whereas God’s wisdom BRINGS REFRESHING. Studying the Hebrew roots makes the meaning of this verse so much more clear! Wasn’t that fun?

So now I have given you a tool for study. Go download that app and have yourself a GREAT time doing some BIBLE EXCAVATING!

In His Love,

Suzanne

A Sure Foundation

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Matthew 7:24-27

Do all Christians have difficulties? Do they have to deal with sicknesses? With job losses? With calamities? With financial losses? Or is it only people with weak faith that have to deal with those things? Let’s see what the Bible says about difficulties or storms. Matthew 7: 24-27 New American Standard Version says (italics mine):

 ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.’

This scripture is contrasting those who stand on God’s Word and those who do not. You will notice something interesting-that the storms are the same. Yes, both houses went through word for word the EXACT SAME STORM, “the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house.” The difference is THE FOUNDATION!

Let’s look a little more closely at what the Bible says about us having difficulties in Psalm 34:19 NASB:

Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Wait, what? Yes, the righteous have MANY afflictions (we are righteous through Christ, see 2 Corinthians 5:21). So what are afflictions? In Hebrew “affliction” H7451 means “bad or evil, adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, grief, harm, misery, wretchedness, wrong.” Has any of that ever happened to you? It has to me and I am righteous in Christ. It has to my family and we are all believers.

Yet, even though the Bible talks about us having afflictions, so many Christians are surprised or discouraged when they encounter them. And so many fall back into thinking, “Why am I going through this? God must have abandoned me. He has forgotten me.” But here the Lord reassures us that He delivers us out of our afflictions. Sometimes, though, the way He delivers us is different than what we anticipated; but one thing we can always count on is His nearness as we go through those difficulties.

I found Barnes’ Notes on the Bible for this verse helpful ( :https://biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/34-19.htm). It explains that He helps us THROUGH our trials:

Religion does not exempt them from suffering, but it sustains them in it; it does not deliver them from all trials in this life, but it supports them in their trials, which it teaches them to consider as a preparation for the life to come.

And notice that we can’t just “hear” His Words, we have to DO them. If I only hear the word and don’t do it, I might as well ignore what I heard. For example, if I ask my son to take out the garbage and he hears me but he does not do it, he just ignored what I said. DOING the Word means putting it into practice. Of course, we do that with His help. And when we are doers of the Word, we can stand on that ROCK which is Christ and know that whatever comes against us, we will not fall. Psalm 46:1-3 says:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Sounds exactly like what happened to both houses in Matthew 7. Yet, though the storms come, and yes, they will, we are promised here that He will be with us in the storm. His presence is our promise when we stand on the ROCK. And oh what a promise that is! So,

LET’S STAND ON THE ROCK AND TRUST HIM TO BE WITH US IN OUR STORMS.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Psalms 139-Introduction

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Know Your Identity

Knowing your identity is so important! If you are not sure of who you are, then you can be swayed to be someone or something you were not intended to be. You can be swayed to do things you were not intended to do. The Bible teaches us just how important KNOWING YOUR IDENTITY is.

When Satan had his one audience alone with the Son of God Himself, he used his best tactics. What did this include? Let’s look at Matthew 4:1-11 new American Standard Bible (italics mine to see what satan’s tactics were)::

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’’ Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, so that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’’Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.

Out of the three chances Satan had to tempt Jesus, he used two of them to try and get Jesus to doubt who He was. Satan attacked His IDENTITY. If that is Satan’s best tactic against Jesus, why would Satan use anything less on us? This is why so may Christians struggle with their identity in Christ. Because Satan is after our identity! Identity is exactly where Satan attacked Jesus and it’s exactly where Satan attacks us.

So I don’t think we can expect that at some point we will ‘arrive’ and no longer have to battle with this. I think we should even expect that these types of attacks on our identity will continue and so this is a heads up for us to be on guard, to be ready! So “…be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” ( 1 Peter 5:8 NASB). DON’T LET IT BE YOU THAT IS DEVOURED! Be ready! Be on the alert! One way to be on the alert is to have His Word in your heart, so that you can be sure of who He made you to be, of your IDENTITY. Studying Psalm 139 will help!

Why is identity so important? Because it is out of knowing who we are, that we can give ourselves humbly to serve others, and this includes serving our family. Let’s look at Jesus example in John 13:3-5 NASB (italics mine):

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

It was out of KNOWING HIS IDENTITY-that He came from God, that He was going back to God, that God had given Him the victory-it was out of this knowing, that Jesus was able to humbly lay it all aside and wash His disciples feet. Ok, sorry, but I am UNDONE by this! The King of Kings humbled Himself and washed the disciples feet. Can you imagine? I would have been like Peter and said, “No, Lord! Don’t wash my feet!” (that comes later in the chapter). And Philippians 2:6 says that Jesus did not have to “grasp” His equality with God or His identity. He already knew His equality with God. He was secure in it. Because He was so secure in His identity, He was able to humble Himself to wash His disciples feet and to humble Himself even to point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

As we follow Jesus example, if we also become secure in our identity, not needing to grasp for it, but firmly holding onto our identity as CHILDREN OF GOD, then we are able to humble ourselves and serve others, and put their needs above our own. That is why KNOWING OUR IDENTITY IS SO IMPORTANT.

So moms, let’s

KNOW WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST, SO THAT WE CAN HUMBLE OURSELVES AND SERVE OTHERS.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Identity Series-A Study of Psalms 139

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The Importance of Knowing Your Identity

Psalm 139 will teach us how intricately God made us and knows us, that He is with us wherever we are, and that He wants to lead us.

Psalms 139-Introduction

Know Your Identity Knowing your identity is so important! If you are not sure of who you are, then you can be swayed to be someone or something you were not intended to be. You can be swayed to do things you were not intended to do. The Bible teaches…

Psalms 139: 1-2

He Knows Us Intimately The ones He knows the best, He loves the most. That’s all of us. Psalms 139:1-2 New American Standard Bible says: O Lord, You have searched me and known me.You know when I sit down and when I rise up;You understand my thought from afar. Search H2713 here means to “to penetrate, to…

Psalms 139: 3-4

Intimately Acquainted with All My Ways Isn’t it nice to know someone cares? Like when you’re feeling down and someone close to you notices. God notices you too! Psalms 139 verses 3-4 New American Standard Bible shows us just how closely He notices: You scrutinize my path and my lying down,And are…

Psalms 139: 5-6

Lovingly Boxed In Have you ever felt boxed in by God. Whichever way you turned, He seemed to be trying to keep you still and tell you something and you just weren’t getting it. You know He could just let you do your own thing (well sometimes He does, see…

Psalms 139: 7-10

His Presence Holds You Have you ever gone through such a difficult time that you just wanted to get away from it all? Or wished you could escape as far away as possible where no one could find you? You are not the only one who has felt that way…

Psalms 139: 11-12

His Light Penetrates our Darkness Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the darkness around you? Maybe your circumstances were just too much for you to handle and you felt like you were drowning in darkness. Or maybe your flesh was pulling you into sin and you felt like you couldn’t…

Psalms 139: 13

Intricately Woven I am a seamstress. When I make a garment, say a dress, there is a lot of planning that goes into it. First, I look at lots of patterns to decide the shape of the dress. I have to make sure I have just the right size. Then…

Psalms 139: 14

My Soul Knows it Very Well Have you ever felt like you were just DIFFERENT than everyone else? I find that I often view things differently than others. Even the sign on my rearview mirror that says, “Objects are closer than they appear,” seems backwards to me. I would have…

Psalm 139: 15-16

Lovingly Planned Beforehand You were never hidden from God. Earlier in Psalm 139:7-10 we learned that God is everywhere and even if you tried, there is no place you could go to get away from Him. In verses 11-12 we saw that with God you are not alone in your…

Psalms 139: 17-18

His Precious Thoughts If something is precious to you, what do you do with it? I have a heart-shaped necklace that my husband gave me on our 20th anniversary that I love (just celebrated 35 years yesterday!). I have several choices here. I could stick it in a lockbox and…

Psalms 139: 19-22

His Enemies, Our Enemies It’s ok if you have enemies. In fact, God does. And He says we will too, if we follow Him. Psalm 139 takes a turn from addressing us and His plan for us, to addressing God and His enemies. Let’s look at Psalm 139:19-22 New American…

Psalms 139: 23-24

Search My Heart How desperate are you to know God? Are you willing to let Him shine His light on your heart to reveal any dark areas keeping you away from Him. Remember that where He is, there is no darkness, because His light illumines any darkness it encounters. In…

He Understands Your Mama Heart

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Your Mothering Heart

My happiest moments are when our entire family is together-children, spouses, grandchildren-everyone! Our immediate family is growing and we are up to 9 people now with kids, their spouses and grands! It’s always crazy when we are altogether, but it’s also wonderful! Most moms are like mother hens and love to gather their chicks around them and keep them close-even when they are grown. Jesus seemed to understand this feeling that us mom’s have as He expressed in Luke 13:34-35 New American Standard Bible (italics mine):

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her young under her wings, and you were unwilling! Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

He specifically said that He wanted to gather His children Israel like a hen gathers its chicks. Mama, I think this shows that He gets your heart for your kids!

And all those long nights you spent up with your babies. Long nights nursing and feeding them. Those tiring long nights. Those multiple feedings through the night when they were newborns. Those nights you spent comforting your babies when they were sick. Those nights you went into their room to reassure them there is no monster in their closet. Those nights you waited up for them to make sure they arrived safely home. He understands those compassionate mama feelings too as He explains in Isaiah 49:14 that His love for us is even stronger than a nursing mom’s love:

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion for the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you

And there’s nothing like a mother’s comfort. Have you ever experienced this, where your child got hurt at school and the school nurse said they seemed fine but then when they got home and saw you, they completely fell apart crying hysterically in your mama lap. That’s what the comfort of a mom does-it makes us lean into it, seek solace in it, it gives comfort. He understands your mama’s heart to comfort. In fact, He compares His own comfort of the Israelites to this mother’s comfort in Isaiah 66:13:

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you: you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

So mom’s, next time you are having all the mom feels and don’t think anyone understands you, please know that God does. He understands those mom feelings that you have, the yearnings you have to be surrounded by all your chicks, the compassion of a nurturing mom that you have for your children, the comfort you long to bring them. And please remember that

HE GETS YOU AND HE GETS YOUR MOM FEELINGS.

In His Love,

Suzanne

God Causes the Growth

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Planting Seeds of Faith in Our Children

Yes, I believe in seed stuffing. If I had anything to do over in raising our children, I would get more of the Word of God in them any way I could. Romans 10:17 New American Standard Bible says:

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

So if we want to build faith into our children’s lives, we need to let them hear the Word of Christ; we need to let them hear the Bible. There are so many ways to teach our children the Word of God-listening to Bible songs, singing Bible songs, studying the Bible with them, helping them memorize the Bible, writing out the Bible. Our young adult children still remember many of the Bible songs we sang when they were young.

And somehow I believed that if I got the Word in them, it would immediately bear fruit in their lives. What I didn’t realize then, is that seeds take time to grow, even seeds of the Word in our children’s hearts take time to grow and bear fruit in their lives. In 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 NASB the apostle Paul puts it this way (italics mine):

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers….

As mom’s we can plant the seeds, like Paul did, and we can water the seeds by teaching like Apollos did, but we have to realize that GOD CAUSES THE GROWTH of the seeds in our children’s hearts. And He does it in His own timing. Just like we wouldn’t expect a tomato plant to bring forth tomatoes the day after we planted the seed, even so we can’t expect mature fruit from our children, when we just planted the seed of the Word in them. Here’s a poem I wrote to make this point:

Be faithful – The seed of the Word to sow

Be patient – Trees take time to bear fruit and grow.

Be hopeful – This we know-His Word accomplishes His purpose and returns not void.

So mom’s, please don’t tire of planting seeds, because you don’t see any fruit. Planting seeds is hard work! But BE FAITHFUL to keep planting! Plant more seeds! I promise that in His time, those seeds will grow into trees and they will bear fruit. In my prayers for our children, I pray to the Lord of the Harvest to bring forth fruit from the seeds of the Word that we planted in them when they were younger. And BE PATIENT! He will do it in His perfect timing. Finally, BE HOPEFUL! We have His promise that His Word won’t return void, and that includes the Word that we have planted in our children’s hearts (Isaiah 55:11).

Moms, here is a reminder for you not to give up-Galations 6:9 King James Version:

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

What does it mean to be “weary”? In the Greek Weary G1573 means “to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted, to fail in heart.” If we are wearied out or our heart is failing from well doing, what might happen? Well, we might give up. We might faint. We might stop sewing seeds in our children, either from the exhaustion or from discouragement. Yet, this verse tells us not to become weary and not to faint. How? By keeping our hope in God. By hoping that in due season, in His timing, we will reap the fruit of what we have sewn in our children’s lives.

Moms, don’t give up! Keep your eyes on Him! Keep sewing those seeds! and

IN HIS TIMING YOU WILL SEE THE FRUIT IN YOUR CHILDREN’S LIVES OF THE SEEDS YOU HAVE SEWN.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Small Beginnings

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Do Not Despise Small Beginnings

As mom’s I think we are in a unique position to encourage our children’s giftings. Often we can see the beginning of what God is doing in our children’s lives before anyone else can. Sometimes the gifting starts small, like a glimmer. Let’s look at Zechariah 4:10 New American Standard Bible:

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.

A little history here…the Israelites had just returned from their captivity in Babylon and were faced with the huge task of rebuilding the temple. This task seemed overwhelming. The temple lay in ruins. But it was in the midst of this, that God chose to speak a word of encouragement to the people. God spoke for the people to rejoice in small beginnings, because it is in small beginnings that there is HOPE for the completed task.

I am not sure about you, but I can certainly relate to this situation the Jewish people were facing. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the task of raising children. The task of raising these little people to love Jesus. The task of raising these little people to stand strong in this society we live in. I also needed a word of encouragement from the Lord for the task of parenting.

So God exhorts us to rejoice when we see small beginnings of His work. Small beginnings are by nature small, but they are BEGINNINGS, and beginnings offer hope toward what God is building in our children’s lives.

One of our daughters has a gift of intercession or prayer. When she was little and I was putting her to bed, I would sing to her and we would pray. Every night, and I mean EVERY night, as we prayed for our family, she would want to pray not only for our immediate family but for our entire extended family. And we have a big family! At the time, this was 36 people! But we did-we prayed for all of them, every night. I’m going to be honest here, that this was a little annoying that she insisted on praying for every single person every single night, but I did pray for them all with her.

Also, I taught our children to pray whenever they heard an ambulance go by. We prayed that God would comfort the person and that the person would cry out to God in their time of need. If I happened to forget, this child ALWAYS reminded me to pray when she heard an ambulance go by. Even as a young adult, she recently told me that she still prays when an ambulance goes by.

This is the same child, who at age 8, I told her about a little boy who was in desperate need of a kidney. Then every night for the next 6 weeks, she reminded me to pray for this little boy when we said prayers together at night. She remembered on her own to pray for him until we found out how he was doing. And the little boy got a new kidney.

These all seemed like small things, but what I didn’t realize at the time is that these were small beginnings in her gifting for prayer. I am so glad that I didn’t rush her through praying for every member of our extended family every night. Or that I did’t say to her, “No, we’re not going to do that. It will take too long.” I am so glad that I prayed with her for every ambulance that went by. And that I prayed with her every night for 6 weeks for the little boy who needed a kidney. Mostly I’m so glad that without realizing it, I was planting seeds in her of the importance of prayer and without knowing it, I was encouraging her gift of intercession.

So, mom’s, this is just an encouragement, to realize that some times our children’s giftings start out as small beginnings, and to

NOT DESPISE SMALL BEGINNINGS, BECAUSE THEY MIGHT JUST BE THE START OF HIS WORK IN OUR CHILDREN.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Christmas Devotion-Part II

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Lessons of Faith

Going back to Luke 1:5-56, we can learn many lessons from Mary on how to respond in FAITH to God’s promises for us.

FIRST, WE CAN PONDER, YET STILL BELIEVE. We can ask “how” but not “whether” He will do what He has promised. There are many times that we do not understand what God is doing in our lives. Mary did not completely understand what would happen to her, but she knew God and so she trusted Him. Have you ever had the experience of going through a difficult time and not understanding why, only to find out after it was finished that God has taught you some deeper spiritual truth that you could not have learned otherwise? This is where trust in God comes in. We trust that He loves us and that He knows what He is doing in our lives. It’s not often that we have an angel talking to us, but we do have the promises in His Word and we can trust that He will fulfill His promises to us. Numbers 23:19 New International Version reminds us that God does fulfill His promises:

God is not human, that he should lie,
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does He speak and then not act?
    Does He promise and not fulfill?

SECOND, WE CAN PLACE THE DETAILS IN HIS HANDS AND STILL BELIEVE. Mary was not actually given many details. To her question of “how”, the angel responded, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” Ok, we like details, and this explanation did not give many! What we do know is that Mary trusted God. In response to the limited details, she offered herself up for His purposes, saying, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord,”; this was despite what these new circumstances could do to ruin her upcoming marriage, ruin her reputation, or perhaps cause her death (the punishment for fornication in that day was stoning to death).

THIRD, WE CAN PURPOSE TO KEEP BELIEVING DESPITE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES. Mary said, “be it done to me according to your word.” I am sure when Mary was traveling the grueling approximately 4 day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem while great with child, she may not have found it easy to trust His promise. Or when her husband was desperately looking for a place for her to labor and all he could find was a stable, she may have been wondering about God’s plan. Yet, what better place for the Lamb of God to be born, than in a stable? What looked like a mistake was actually an important part of God’s plan all along.

When your circumstances are not the greatest, resist the temptation to turn your back on your faith. Instead, keep trusting that though you cannot see or understand or make sense of what is happening, God is in control. Stand on the promises He has given you in His Word, and ground your hopes on those promises.

FOURTH, WE CAN PURSUE FELLOWSHIP AND BELIEVE TOGETHER. After hearing that her cousin Elizabeth was experiencing her own miracle, Mary chose to visit Elizabeth and received encouragement to stand in faith for her own promise from God. Mary could see Elizabeth’s promise coming to pass, as Elizabeth’s belly grew bigger and bigger, and this gave Mary faith to stand firm for her own promise.

Be careful! Like Job, we do not want to be around people who are going to tear our faith down. We want to be around those who are going to build us up, point us back to the Word (Bible), and encourage us to stand strong in our faith. We are encouraged in 1 Peter 5:9 that there are believers who have faced the same trials as we have but have already had the victory in those trials.

FIFTH, WE CAN PRAISE AND MAGNIFY GOD FOR THE PROMISES HE HAS GIVEN. Mary began to praise God at Elizabeth’s house. Even though she had not yet received the promise from God, but it was literally just a seed inside her, Mary began to praise God for the promise she had not yet received from Him (Luke 1:45). That is FAITH!

Praise is not always easy! Sometimes when things are not going well, praise is a sacrifice. In Habakkuk Chapter 3: 17-19 New American Standard Bible things are not going well, yet Habakkuk still chose to praise God despite his circumstances:

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

So let’s be like Mary, and

LET’S CHOOSE TO HAVE FAITH IN HIS PROMISES AND NOT WAIVER,

In His Love,

Suzanne

Christmas Devotion-Part I

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Faith or Doubt

Luke 1:5-56 is the Biblical account of the angel Gabriel appearing to Zacharias and proclaiming to him the promise of a son in his old age, then appearing to Mary and proclaiming to her the promise that she will bear the Christ child, the Son of God. Take a minute and read this passage, so we can look at it more closely together.

There are many similarities between Zacharias and Mary. As we see above, Zacharias and Mary both received a visitation from the angel giving them a word of prophecy. The scripture says they were both “troubled” when the angel spoke to them. Even in those days it was not very often that an angel spoke to a man or a woman. The angel told them both “Do not be afraid.”

It is clear that both Zacharias and Mary were godly people. Luke 1:6 New American Standard version says of Zacharias and Elizabeth “they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.” And in Luke 1:28 NASB, the angel greets Mary saying, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you!” which shows us that Mary knew God, for He was with her.

However, after the angel gave the word of prophecy to each of them, Zacharias and Mary had different responses to what God promised them. As we look at these responses, we can see how God wants us to react in faith to Him when He speaks to us. And although not many of us will have a visitation from an angel in our lifetime, God does speak to us through His promises in the Bible, and through the Holy Spirit.

In Luke 1:18 after the angel is done telling Zacharias the amazing miracle that God will perform for he and his wife Elizabeth of granting them their prayer for a child in their old age, Zacharias responds to the angel in doubt instead of faith. Zacharias says, “HOW shall I KNOW this for certain? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” “How” G2596 at its root “denotes opposition” and “Know” G1097 means to “know absolutely or be sure.” In other words, Zacharias’ question is not a question of the mechanics of how this will happen, instead his is a question of WHETHER this will happen. And in Luke 1:20 the angel says to Zacharias that he will be unable to speak, because he did not believe.

Another man found himself in a similar situation, yet he believed. Abraham was told that he and his wife Sarah, who were VERY old, were going to have a child. Romans 4:19-20 NASB says of Abraham:

And without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb: yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waiver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.

Whereas, Abraham contemplated his own physical limitations and did not waiver in faith, Zacharias contemplated his own physical limitations and doubted.

Where Zacharias doubted, Mary responded in FAITH to her own miracle of God. Don’t you think it would be harder to believe that you would bear a child by the Holy Spirit, than that you would bear a child in old age? Yet, when the angel was done telling Mary about the miracle of Christ’s birth, Mary responded by saying, “HOW can this be, since I am a virgin?” In Mary’s case, “How” G4459 is a different word and means, “how, in what way, after what manner” so it is more about the mechanics of how this will take place and is not asked in doubt but instead in FAITH. Further, in Luke 1:43 NASB (italics mine), Elizabeth says of Mary,

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.

We also can respond by BELIEVING the promises that God has spoken to us in His Word, if we follow Mary’s example of believing. Are there any areas of your life where you can move from DOUBT in His promises to you, to FAITH in His promises to you? Do you trust that He can and will do what He promised? Let’s check our hearts today and see where we can

MOVE FROM DOUBT IN GOD’S PROMISES TO FAITH IN GOD’S PROMISES.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Christmas Devotion Series

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A Study of Luke 1:5-56

What can we learn about faith from Mary’s motherhood journey? Her’s was definitely an adventure that called for her to exercise faith and trust God with not only her own future but that of her child and her family. Learn more in this two part series.

Christmas Devotion-Part I

Faith or Doubt Luke 1:5-56 is the Biblical account of the angel Gabriel appearing to Zacharias and proclaiming to him the promise of a son in his old age, then appearing to Mary and proclaiming to her the promise that she will bear the Christ child, the Son of God.…

Christmas Devotion-Part II

Lessons of Faith Going back to Luke 1:5-56, we can learn many lessons from Mary on how to respond in FAITH to God’s promises for us. FIRST, WE CAN PONDER, YET STILL BELIEVE. We can ask “how” but not “whether” He will do what He has promised. There are many…

Proverbs 31: 23, 28-31

~ Mom Morsels
Photo by Aa Dil on Pexels.com

In the Gates

Remember that one of the first characteristics mentioned about the Proverbs 31 woman is that she has a strong marriage. The marriage relationship is important because it is the foundation of the family. Let’s look at Proverbs 31:23 New American Standard Bible (italics mine):

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

In Biblical times, the city gates were seats of authority where public business was transacted, the courts judged cases, and matters of state were decided. The fact that this statement is included in the description of the Proverbs 31 woman, implies that she has something to do with her husband sitting “in the gates”. So what could we do to enhance our husband’s reputation and help him sit “in the gates”? Yup-that’s right-there it is again-it’s about what we SAY about our husbands. Speak well of him to others. Applaud his good character to others. Show grace in how you speak about him to others. Honor and respect him when you speak about him to your children. But the husband is not the only one IN THE GATES. Let’s look at Proverbs 31:28-31 NASB (italics mine again):

Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying, ‘Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.’ Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

So first of all, moms, don’t get your hopes up too much. It is not likely that your children are going to bless you for doing their laundry or cleaning the house. And they may not think to rise up and bless you when they are young. But when they are older, they will come back to bless you. Our five children, who are young adults now, have all come back to bless us. And husbands bless us each in their own way-so listen to your husband’s love language and what his heart is saying to you. My husband blesses me by making time with me a priority, since quality time is my love language.

While her works do praise her “in the gates”, let’s also note that those who know her best also praise her-those who see her with her hair down, no make-up, just out of the shower, tired, under stress-yes, her family… they praise her. It’s not as important what people who don’t know her think of her; it’s more important what those who know her the best and see her at her worst think of her.

Charm and beauty, well we all know how long those last. Not long. But fearing God-now, that will last you THROUGH ETERNITY. And all that hard work that you’ve done with your hands? The product of your hands will speak for you and bring you praise in the places that matter-IN YOUR FAMILY AND IN THE GATES.

So what does it mean to have the FEAR OF THE LORD? “Fear” H3374 is “Yirah” in Hebrew H3374 and means “fear (of God), respect, reverence, piety.” A quote by Jerry Bridges explains this very well:

The person who fears God seeks to live all of life to the glory of God… All the activities of life should be pursued with the aim of glorifying God.

So as we make it our aim to be like the Proverbs 31 woman, as we work with our hands, as we speak words of kindness, as we love our families by serving them, as we see ourselves rightly as DAUGHTERS OF THE KING OF KINGS, we are doing it all because of our REVERANCE for Him. We are working for HIS PLEASURE and HIS REWARD. We know that He is Jehovah El Roi the GOD WHO SEES (Genesis 16:13) and that GOD HIMSELF SEES ALL OUR WORK FOR HIM-every diaper changed, sleepless night feeding the baby, mess cleaned up, meal prepared, work and life balanced, every moment of OUR OWN LIFE LAID DOWN for our family-and He Himself will bless us.

Now, let’s go back to the beginning of PROVERBS 31. Do you remember that this woman is worth MORE THAN RUBIES? Rubies are RED and the BLOOD OF JESUS is RED; this reminds us that we cannot be godly moms and wives on our own; WE NEED HIS SACRIFICE, HIS REDEMPTION, HIS GRACE, HIS VICTORY!

Ladies, being a wife and mother and virtuous woman is hard! So please let’s never forget when we read Proverbs 31 that

WE CAN ONLY BE A VIRTUOUS WOMAN WITH THE HELP OF JESUS!

In His Love,

Suzanne

Proverbs 31: 21-22

~ Mom Morsels
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Well Covered

Being prepared for difficult circumstances ahead of time can end up being a big blessing for our families. Let’s not be naive; the Bible says we WILL have difficulties and tribulations, but how can we prepare ahead of time for them? Proverbs 31:21-22 New American Standard Bible says:

She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She makes coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

So why is this woman not afraid of the snow for her household? Is it because the minute the weatherman said snow, she dashed over to the grocery store and got her supply of milk and bread, before everyone else got theirs? (I live in the South and this literally happens here even before we see the first snowflake!). When these verses were written, snow would have posed quite a challenge for families with no central heating like we have. But the Proverbs 31 woman is not worried, because her family is “clothed with scarlet”, which commentaries say means “double garments”, in other words, very warm.

But the best way to prepare for difficult challenges that face our families is…. prayer. It’s not just about the snow. It’s about the needs your husband and children have that only He knows. So if we stay in prayer, He will show us how to meet those needs in His time. We have something better than the weatherman!

Take note also that the clothes she prepares for her household are SCARLET. This reminds me of 1 John 1:7 NASB:

…but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

So being clothed in scarlet symbolizes being clothed in the BLOOD OF JESUS. First, the Proverbs 31 woman can pray over her household. Second, she can teach her children that their sins are COVERED by the BLOOD OF JESUS. Third, she can teach her children to FORGIVE others easily.

I don’t know about you, but our family is very human. We need His forgiveness and we draw on it daily. One of our most difficult challenges as families is learning how to live together with all of our flaws and deficiencies. The family is where children learn how to relate to others and they carry those patterns of relating into their adult life. If we can teach our children how to FORGIVE others at a young age, this will help them learn not to carry bitterness in their hearts and this skill alone will greatly bless them as they grow. One of the first phrases we taught our children was “I am sorry, do you forgive me?” and then the other person said, “I forgive you”. If we do this, then our children will be COVERED IN SCARLET as they are COVERED IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

As for this mom’s own covering, she makes LINEN and PURPLE coverings. She takes care in how she dresses. LINEN means “bleached stuff, that is white linen” and symbolizes purification. This woman knows she is washed white and clean by THE BLOOD OF JESUS. And PURPLE was used for royalty. This woman has the inner confidence and knowledge that she is indeed ROYAL; she is the daughter of the King of Kings. No need for guilt, her sins have been washed, and she can walk with her head held high as His daughter.

Oh, how we need HIS COVERING! Let us bring prayer and His covering into our families-I know our family could not have survived without it! Our family definitely has had its share of “imperfectness” but

THANK GOD for HIS BLOOD THAT COVERS ALL OUR MISTAKES, SINS, AND HUMANNESS!

In His Love,

Suzanne