Category: Christian families

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

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

Proverbs 31: 23, 28-31

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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

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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

Proverbs 31: 20, 25-26

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Extending Kindness

Continuing our study in Proverbs, we see that the Proverbs 31 woman EXTENDS KINDNESS to her family through her words, to the needy with her outstretched hands, and to herself through knowing her strength and worth. Do you realize that what we SAY is very important and has an impact on our husbands, our children, our friends, and our community. Let’s look at Proverbs 31:20, 25-26 New American Standard:

20 She extends her hand to the poor: and she stretches out her hands to the needy. 25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. 26 She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

It’s interesting that this verse does not say, she “speaks wisdom”; instead it says that she “OPENS HER MOUTH in wisdom.” So maybe sometimes wisdom is found in not opening our mouths? Oh my! I can relate to that. I talk a lot, so I often pray that God will help me know when to open my mouth and when to keep it closed. One of my daughters, at around 8 years old, would often say the first thought that came to her mind. I had to teach her that some thoughts need to stay in your head and some thoughts come out. One time, I was getting ice cream with my family and was about 6 months pregnant. A woman came up to me and said, “You are huge! When are you due?”. I actually couldn’t believe that she said that to me. That was a thought that should have stayed in her head and not come out of her mouth.

Kindness is on her tongue. KINDNESS is defined as “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.” Why is it that we often are more considerate to strangers than to those closest to us-our husbands, children, family? Is it because it is harder to be kind and to love the people we know best? But it’s not that way with God. The ones He knows the best, He loves the most. God is our example in that we also can LOVE and BE KIND to those we know the best-OUR FAMILY.

She is also KIND to the poor and needy. So when I had a baby, a toddler, a preschooler, an elementary schooler and a middle schooler at the same time (yup! it was crazy!), I was thinking about this passage. Lord, how can I reach out to the needy, when I am so busy with my family? That’s when He gave me the idea for what I called my “Chicken Pot Pie ministry.” This is something that I could easily do. My family loved chicken pot pies, so I would make three at a time (it really was not that much more work), keep two for my family and give the other one away to someone in my church or community that had a need. There always seemed to be someone who was struggling with sickness, or a trial, or I would just give it to someone that God put on my heart and usually it turned out that that person really needed it. God is not going to ask you to do something you can’t do, so why not ask Him what you CAN do to reach out to others with KINDNESS? It might even be something you do together with your family.

And I love that STRENGTH and DIGNITY are her clothing. STRENGTH H5797 here means not only strength but also “force, security, majesty, praise.” The same word is used in Exodus 15:2 King James Version:

The Lord is my strength and song and He is become my salvation…

So we can see the source of her strength is the Lord. And MAJESTY is part of her strength because remember that she is a DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF KINGS. Further, DIGNITY H1926 here means “magnificence, splendor, beauty, glory, honor, majesty.” So did you know that as HIS DAUGHTER, you also are MAGNIFICENT, because you reflect HIM! Just as a child can look like a parent and reflect their image, so you reflect His image, His MAGNIFICENCE!

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and clothing is something that you PUT ON. So how do you PUT ON strength and dignity? Just as you put on your regular clothes, putting these attributes on takes ACTION. First, we need to realized that these attributes BELONG TO US as His children. We have a right to them. Second, we need to realize that no-one is going to put them on for us-WE HAVE TO PUT THEM ON OURSELVES. How do we put these attributes on? By studying His truth about us in His Word.

And once we clothe ourselves with STRENGTH and DIGNITY, we can SMILE AT THE FUTURE, because our hearts are full of His Word, so our hearts are full of faith. Often we can look at the future and feel anxious because we think we are alone there. But we are not. Jesus goes with us into our future, so anything that we have to deal with there, whether bad or good, He helps us with. So let’s remember that

WE CAN SMILE AT THE FUTURE, BECAUSE JESUS IS THERE WITH US. HE IS NEAR.

In His love,

Suzanne

Philippians 4: 6-7 Part VII Conclusion

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..in Christ

So we are at the end of our study of Philippians 4:6-7. But let’s not forget the most important point of this verse. Here it is again in the New American Standard Bible (italics mine):

Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Yes, the whole point here is that we cannot have true peace if we are not IN CHRIST JESUS. After all, He is the PRINCE OF PEACE (Isaiah 9:6). He is the source of our peace. HIS PEACE is secure.

Isaiah 26:3 King James Version (italics mine):

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.

I grew up in the Lutheran Church and learned the FEAR OF THE LORD there. Our family went to church every Sunday, but Jesus was not really a part of our every day lives. We didn’t really KNOW HIM. When I was a pre-teen, I was hurt deeply at school due to peer pressure and I reacted by making up my mind to be popular at any cost-not a great resolve! So I started swearing, smoking, stealing, lying to my parents. I changed myself to be popular. I then got caught doing every one of those things but I lied my way out of it. The thing is-because of that fear of God, I knew what I was doing was wrong. I actually tried to change myself and did change my outward actions, changed my friends, but realized my inside was the same-same sinful thoughts, same sinful intentions. I couldn’t change my inside. I tried to read the book of Matthew and every time, I fell asleep reading it. I confessed my sins every night but I fell asleep and never made it through my list!

Around this time, I changed schools and went to a Bible study where I learned that Jesus could actually change me inside. My brother shared the gospel with me around Thanksgiving 1975 and in response, I said a prayer confessing my sin, telling God that I believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that He died on the cross to forgive me of my sins and rose again to conquer sin, that He cleansed me from my sin, and that I wanted Jesus to be my Savior and Lord (King, Ruler) of my life. That is what I had been looking for! Right away, I felt clean inside! He changed me inside, where I couldn’t change myself! I tried reading Matthew again and I noticed the Bible came alive! Every day, God spoke to me from His Word!

I share my story, to encourage you, that you can KNOW HIM too. Jesus is PEACE. In order to have HIS PEACE, we have to start by KNOWING HIM. If you don’t know Him, here is a simple prayer you can pray: https://wildatheart.org/prayer/prayer-receive-jesus-christ-savior

It’s all about HIM. Ephesians 2:14 NASB:

For He Himself is our peace

It really is that simple. HE TRULY IS OUR PEACE! As we conclude our study, let’s learn from Philippians 4:6-7 that to not be anxious we need to:

TAKE OUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE,

KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS,

TURN OUR WORRIES INTO PRAYERS,

MAKE OUR REQUESTS KNOWN TO HIM,

STAY THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL, and realize

HE HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE AND

HIS PEACE WILL GUARD OUR HEARTS AND MINDS

IN CHRIST JESUS.

In His Love,

Suzanne

He is Our Portion

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If only I could get my house organized, my life would be better. If only my kids would listen to me and behave more perfectly, then my life would be better. If only my husband or I could get that promotion and we had more money, then my life would be better. If only we could get in the right house or neighborhood, then my life would be better. If only I could get along with my mother-in-law, then my life would be better. Have you ever gotten yourself caught up in “if-only”ing? I know I have! It seems there is always something that we think we need or that we are asking God for or that is just beyond our reach and if we could get that thing, life would be so much better!

But the problem is that when you get that thing-the new house, the better job, the raise, the perfectly behaved children (let me know when you get that one!)-it doesn’t satisfy you like you thought it would. That is because there is only one thing that will COMPLETELY SATISFY you. That ONE THING is found in Lamentations 3:24 New American Standard Bible (italics mine):

‘The Lord is my portion‘, says my soul, ‘Therefore, I have hope in Him.’

And, also in Psalm 73:26 NASB (italics mine):

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

It is only GOD HIMSELF who will satisfy us. No perfect house, no perfectly behaved children, no perfect family, no perfect career, no perfect anything will satisfy us-only PEFECT GOD will satisfy the deepest yearning of our souls. GOD HIMSELF is our portion, the ONLY portion we need to satisfy our every longing.

Recently, I was reading in Exodus 16:16 where God told the Israelites to take “an Omer apiece” of Manna for each person, not enough for someone else, not enough for tomorrow, only for one person and only for today. Then in Exodus 16:32-33 God told Moses to put ONE OMER of MANNA in the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was kept in the temple and in between the two cherubim on top, the presence of God dwelt. There were only three items in the Ark of the Covenant: the second copy of the 10 Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded, and ONE OMER of Manna. These three items must have each been very important to be the only three items placed in the Ark.

So why was only ONE OMER or ONE PORTION of Manna put in the Ark? Wouldn’t you think it would have been better to save a bigger portion, just in case some got lost? The Israelites were traveling A LOT. I know we have lost some things while traveling. But we see the reason why and exactly what the Manna represents in John 6:31-35 NASB (italics mine):

Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.

The Manna represents Jesus who is God’s BREAD OF LIFE for us. And we only need ONE PORTION and that is God Himself to satiate us. Note that the Israelites were to gather the Omer of Manna only enough for themselves and not for anyone else. Since they could only gather enough EACH FOR HIMSELF, so it is with knowing Jesus, the Bread of Life; each of us must have OUR OWN PORTION of the Bread of Life, of Jesus, and we cannot live off another person’s portion. We cannot live off another person’s faith-not off our parent’s faith, not off our spouse’s faith, not off our pastor’s faith, not off our church’s faith-only OUR OWN PORTION, only OUR OWN FAITH.

Let’s go back again to that ‘if-only’ing. What fruit does ‘if-only’ing bring you? Does that practice bear good fruit for you? I know that it definitely does not bear good fruit for me. So let’s stop ‘if-only’ing and instead

LET’S BE SATISFIED WITH GOD HIMSELF-OUR PORTION.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Philippians 4: 6-7 Part VI

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Guarded with Peace

As we have studied Philippians 4:6-7 we have learned so much about conquering anxiety. To not be anxious, so far we have learned to: take our thoughts captive, keep our eyes on Jesus, turn our worries into prayers, connect to God by making our requests known to Him, and stay thankful and grateful as we trust Him. And what can we expect when we do this? Let’s look again at the last part of our study verse, Philippians 4:7 New American Standard:

…and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

PEACE G1515 means “a state of tranquility, harmony, security.” Mom’s doesn’t that sound luxurious-A STATE OF TRANQUILITY? I want that! Don’t you? And the PEACE of God “passes all comprehension”; in other words, it goes beyond understanding. HIS PEACE can’t be understood in light of our circumstances. Have you ever experienced this kind of peace? I have been going through a difficult trial but I have HIS PEACE through it all. If you look at my circumstances, you wouldn’t think that I could be at peace, but I am-because of Him. The PEACE OF CHRIST keeps us at peace even when our world is falling apart or our circumstances are not looking good. That’s why His peace is beyond comprehension, beyond understanding-it does not make sense.

And in this verse, GUARD means “to mount guard as a sentinel (post spies at the gates).” And what does a guard do? A guard stands watch and warns the people of danger approaching. So this peace is like a guard on the wall of our hearts and minds, ready and alert against the enemy, against anxious thoughts, like a spy, spying out anything that might make our hearts wander or that might take our thoughts away from where they should be.

For a little more insight into this peace, let’s look at John 14:27 New International Version:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jesus gives us HIS PEACE. And HIS PEACE is not as the world gives. The world only gives you peace when all your circumstances are in order, but Jesus gives you peace even when your circumstances are NOT in order. HIS PEACE is an abiding peace, a peace that you can rely on to sustain you through difficult times. HIS PEACE is always available, not just when things are going well. Because of His peace, your heart doesn’t have to be troubled and you do not have to be afraid.

So let’s LET HIS PEACE GUARD OUR HEARTS AND MINDS IN CHRIST.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Proverbs 31: 19, 27

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Valuing What We Do

Most of what we do as mom’s takes so much skill. Yet many times we underestimate what we do. We read in Proverbs 31: 19 and 27 New American Standard Version:

19 She stretches out her hand to the distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. 27 She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

I watched a video of someone spinning wool with a distaff and spindle-it takes a lot of talent to spin wool this way! One hand holds the distaff with the unspun wool, while the other hand holds and twirls the spindle turning the wool into yarn-this takes a lot of coordination. It’s kind of like balancing several spinning plates at the same time-doesn’t that sound a lot like what we do as mom’s? It’s called JUGGLING. “Grasp” H8551 in this verse means to KEEP FAST, HOLD, RETAIN, STAY. This is a picture of a woman FIRMLY grasping the distaff, PURPOSEFULLY using her skill. Whether we work outside the home or inside the home, we need to VALUE the skill it takes to juggle all we do as moms.

Looking well to the ways of our household, means being prepared. But in the Hebrew LOOKING WELL means to PEER INTO THE DISTANCE OR AWAIT, KEEP THE WATCH OR WATCHMAN. Moms are often the first to sense when their child is in danger-can anyone say Momma Bear? But as moms who are believers, we peer into the distance or future, not with fear, but with HOPE, knowing that nothing can touch our children apart from His will for them, knowing that God loves our children, even more than we do! In prayer, we can also be watchmen on the wall for our children, praying and interceding for them and their future.

So what does it mean to eat the bread of idleness. I find the phrasing here interesting-this does not say, “don’t be idle”, instead it says, “don’t eat the bread of idleness”. EAT H398 means to EAT, CONSUME, DEVOUR. Therefore, EATING idleness, means CONSUMING it. There is a choice here to consume or not consume. And Idleness means LAZINESS, SLUGGISHNESS. If someone is lazy or sluggish, they are usually either moving very slowly or sitting still. They are not moving forward. When we are EATING or CONSUMING idleness, we are doing things that are not helping us or our families make any progress. We are doing things that DO NOT add anything to our lives or our families lives. Reality check! I know I can think of a few things that I spend my time on that really don’t add anything to my life or our family’s life. Time to assess how I spend my time!

So as we are juggling all we do as moms, let’s be purposeful in how we spend our time and

LET’S REALIZE OUR WORTH and VALUE OUR OWN SKILLS and ALL THAT WE BRING TO OUR FAMILIES.

Tell yourself YOU GO GIRL! (It’s ok to talk to yourself-David did it all over the Psalms!).

In His Love,

Suzanne

Proverbs 31: 17

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Girded with Strength

Remember we talked at the beginning of our Above Rubies series about how strong our Proverbs 31 woman is? She is worth more than rubies which are VERY STRONG and she is a WOMAN OF VALOR or STRENGTH. We see more about her strength in Proverbs 31:17 and we’ll look at the King James Version to get a little more insight into this verse:

She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms.

Well, no wonder she needs to make her arms strong; have you seen all she does with her hands? Sit down some time and make a list of all the things you do for your family with your hands and you will be amazed! “Strengtheneth” H553 here means TO BE ALERT PHYSICALLY, FORTIFY, MAKE STRONG. So physically we can make our arms strong through exercise-I definitely could improve on that one! How could we make our arms ALERT? Possibly by ALWAYS BEING READY to use our arms to serve. Have you noticed that being a mom means we often have to do things at inconvenient times-waking up in the middle of the night to feed the baby, stopping everything when we hear our child cry for help, answering question after question (if you have a 3 year old you know exactly what I mean!) in the middle of making dinner or working on a project? We can have physically alert arms, by always being ready to use them and not being upset or irritated when our work is interrupted to serve our family’s or children’s needs.

And what exactly does GIRD UP YOUR LOINS mean? In old times, men and women were not dressed like us. No tank tops or shorts; these men and women wore long flowing robes. So girding up the loins means pulling up all the flowing robes and tucking them into the girdle, so they are out of the way and we are ready to get to work.

Another place we see “Gird up your loins” is in Job. Job had a rough time and he took most of Job to complain about how God had treated him. After 37 chapters of complaining with his friends, God answered Job in Job 38:1-3 New American Standard Version (italics mine):

Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind and said, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!’

After meditating on the verses from Proverbs 31 and Job, I realized that we have a phrase just like this-it is “Pull up your big girl panties!” It’s the same idea here, that the Proverbs 31 woman is a woman who pulls herself back up when she is down, who stands back up when knocked down and even lets God make her stronger through difficulties. And sometimes you might also need help pulling yourself back up by leaning on a friend or by seeing a counselor to help. Even Moses’ arms grew tired in battle and he needed Aaron and Hur to hold his hands up for him; check out Exodus 17:12-14 for that story. So how does the Proverbs 31 woman gird her loins with strength? Let’s look at Psalm 28:7 NASB:

The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in Him and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.

So God is ultimately her strength. She girds her loins with the strength that she gets from Him. “Gird” means “to put on”. So how do you PUT ON the Lord’s strength? Prayer, reading the Word (Bible), meditating on the Word, singing spiritual songs, seeing a counselor, encouragement from a friend and I also ask God to remind me of His presence throughout my day (because I tend to run ahead of Him and forget that He is there! Am I the only one that does that?). I ask God to interrupt my day to remind me He is NEAR.

SO LET’S CHOOSE TO GIRD OURSELVES WITH HIS STRENGTH.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Proverbs 31: 16, 24

~ Mom Morsels
Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva on Pexels.com

Considering our Work

Each of us has different seasons we find ourselves in in our families. Perhaps you are in a season of being a stay at home mom, or maybe you work part-time and are a mom, or maybe you work full-time and are a mom. Whatever season you find yourself in, I think we can see that the Proverbs 31 woman works to use her skills to benefit her family. Proverbs 31:16 and 24 New American Standard says:

16 She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies belts to the tradesmen.

For myself, I worked part-time and my husband and I raised five children. It was a LOT OF WORK! Looking back, we are not exactly sure how we did it! It was DEFINITELY by the GRACE OF GOD. I hadn’t intended on working outside the home, but my husband lost his job, his pay went down and I needed to work. At first, I really struggled with working, but then I was very successful in my job as a pediatric nurse and felt great fulfillment in it. God knows me best and I think He knew that I needed to work for my mental health, and that’s OK, if you need to do that. But my prayer often had been, “Can you give me a little smaller field, please, Lord?” Has anyone else ever felt that way? But I trusted that He knew what I could handle with His help, and He increased my FAITH through my working.

Whether you work outside the home or are a stay at home mom, you can see that this virtuous woman uses her skills to either bring money into the home, bless her family or bless others. “Supplies” here means give, so she may have given the belts away just to help the tradesmen. What skills do you have that you could use to bless your family? What skills do you have that you could use to bless others? One of my friends loved ironing-Oh, how I hate ironing! But she used this skill to wash and iron clothes for people and paid both her daughter’s private Christian school tuitions by doing so.

In verse 16, we see that, “She CONSIDERS a field.” “Consider” in the Hebrew means to PLAN, CONSIDER, PURPOSE, THINK. In the past, I know that at times I have rushed into a commitment before I really thought through how it would affect me or my family. This woman PLANS, CONSIDERS, PURPOSES, and THINKS before she makes a commitment of her time. How will it affect her? How will it affect her family?

This woman’s work, whether inside or outside the home, enhances her family’s wellbeing. It enables her to plant a vineyard, which implies that her work brings FRUITFULNESS. If you do need to work outside the home, I believe God can give you a job that helps bring MORE FRUIT to your family. I can see the FRUITFULNESS in my adult children now from my years of working. If you are able to work exclusively inside the home, I also believe, He can use your work and your skills to bring FRUITFULNESS to your family and to bless others.

So before we make a commitment to use our skills or time for work either inside or outside the home, lets’s CONSIDER how it will affect our family and let’s ask God to

HELP OUR WORK AND SKILLS BRING FRUITFULNESS INTO OUR FAMILIES.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Philippians 4:6-7 Part V

~ Mom Morsels
Photo by Oleksandr P on Pexels.com

Thankful and Grateful

Thanksgiving G2169 in our study verse Philippians 4:6 means GRATITUDE or GRATEFUL LANGUAGE. Isn’t it so true that “our language” or what we talk about shows us what is in our heart? Eek! Heart check for me. For more insight into our hearts, let’s look at Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible:

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good: and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

A question for us… what treasure is filling our heart? Hopefully, our heart is full of the TREASURE OF HIS WORD. And we need to be wise in how we talk. We need to change how we talk about our situation, change our language, keeping our hearts thankful to Him, because we know He has our best interests and we know we can trust Him.

Do we complain so much about our situation that if a non-believer listened to us, they would think we have no HOPE? When we start to thank God, despite our circumstances, it can change our whole attitude. When one of our children was younger, she tended to complain a lot. I made her keep a THANKFUL JOURNAL. Whenever she would complain, I had her write down: what she complained about, a Bible verse about thankfulness, and how she could apply that verse to her situation in order to be more thankful. I think, we as adults, need THANKFUL JOURNALS! It is a good way to keep ourselves thankful.

The root of the word thanksgiving G2170 means grateful, thankful, WELL-FAVORED. This reminds me of Psalms 5:12 New American Standard Bible (Italics mine) which says:

For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O Lord, Thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield.

We are righteous when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). And we will study the favor of God more at a later date, but for now just know that according to this verse His FAVOR surrounds us, protects us, and nothing can touch us unless it is part of His plan for us. Yes, we go through suffering and trials, but He also uses those to mold and shape us to be more like Jesus. So the conclusion is that if nothing can touch us unless it is part of His plan, then we can TRUST HIM that He is in control of our circumstances, and

WE CAN BE THANKFUL AS WE TRUST HIM WITH OUR REQUESTS.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Mom Morsels

~ Mom Morsels

What are Mom Morsels?

In Matthew 15: 22-28 New American Standard Bible a Canaanite (Gentile) woman came to Jesus seeking healing for her “grievously vexed” daughter. 

Jesus’ FIRST response was to ignore her. 

Jesus’ SECOND response was to give her another reason that he would not help her. He told her that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, but the woman came and worshipped Him anyway and pleaded “Lord, help me”. 

Jesus’ THIRD response was to push her away again, answering that “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But the woman replied, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs (morsels) that fall from their master’s table.”

In response to her PERSISTENCE despite his three refusals to help her, Jesus healed her daughter and said the woman had great faith. 

So all she really needed was a MORSEL from HIS TABLE. 

So many times as a mom, I thought, if only I can get away with God for an hour or two, then I will have what I need from Him; then I will be satisfied. But raising five children and working part-time, I did not always have that amount of time. 

What I didn’t know is that …

SOMETIMES ALL WE REALLY NEED IS JUST A MORSEL FROM HIS TABLE 

and we can be healed, comforted, put at peace, needs met.  

In this blog, I hope to give you SMALL MORSELS and some BIGGER BITES from the Master’s Table, to help you run after Jesus harder and fall in love with Him more. 

In His love,

Suzanne