Time For God

O God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You.

Psalm 63:1

Today is February 29. An extra day added on the month of February. It's Leap Year!What is a leap year? A leap year is a year in which one extra day has been inserted at the end of February. A leap year consists of 366 days, whereas other years, called common years, have 365 days. Leap years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth's revolutions around the sun.

go here to read more...http://www.timeanddate.com/date/leapyear.html

Ok, so with this extra twenty-fours hours added to my year, I know I should spend more time praying, but I am already pressed for time. God understands. He knows how I struggle just to be a wife, mom of three, part-time teacher, cook for and feed the hungry (my family), and to get the never-ending laundry of five people done. Yes, God does know. He understands each and every struggle of my day. And He wishes I would tell Him about my day. When I take the time to tell Him about my struggles, they always seem to lessen. When I take the time to spend the first moments of the day with Him, I receive such a blessing...strength and inner peace. Thank you, God for reminding me that no matter what I do today, the most important thing is making time for you!

Here's some wisdom from a devotion I read recently.... (author unknown)

The best way to get the day started is with the Lord. There is no better way to start your day! David acknowledges God as his God. This is a very significant statement. For you see, so many people have God in their lives but He is not their God. There is a big difference. Jesus the Bible tells us is both, Savior and Lord! The truth is, He is both whether we acknowledge it or not in our lives. However, when He becomes both Savior and Lord in our lives, God is glorified and we are blessed beyond measure!

When God is able to be God in a person’s life, his life is rearranged! Early David said he would seek the Lord. It is virtually impossible to find God in the middle of the day when you have not started your day off with Him! It is not that it is difficult for God to find us, it is difficult for us to find God! When we begin our day with the Word of God on our mind and the Spirit of God in our hearts, He is able to guide us in the direction that He wants us to go and give us all that He wants us to have for that hour in our lives. As we continue to walk in the path that God has laid out for us, He continues to bless us and make us a blessing to those around us.

As we seek Him early in the morning, He is able to have a hand in the direction that we head off in that morning. As we begin our day, He is able to make a difference in the attitudes that we have which has a lot to do with how our day gets started which has something to do with how it ends up! If your day gets off to a great start, there is a greater chance that it will end up on a good note. If God is given the opportunity to make a difference in your life, there will be a visible difference in your life that others will see and respond to.

Start your day off with the King of King and Lord of Lords. Allow Him to be Lord and Master of your life. Allow him to be God in your life. Seek Him early in the morning. You might just be surprised at how smooth your day goes!

He Is All I Need

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,

and live righteously,

and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33 NLT

Are you trapped by daily worries? Instead of worrying, remember God's promise to always provide for your needs. Then refocus your worry into acting for the good of God's kingdom.

Here I Am

But how can people call for help

if

they don't know whom to trust?

And how can they know who to trust

if

they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted?

And how can they hear

if

nobody tells them?
Romans 10:14

Father, Here I am... use me today to tell someone about your trustworthiness.

Eclipse

And we all, with unveiled faces

reflecting the glory of the Lord,

are being transformed into the same image

from one degree of glory to another,

which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18

Last week we watched a lunar eclipse in our beautiful southern sky. I recall that my niece, Kameryn called to remind us to watch. Not being scientifically inclined, and frankly, too embarassed to quiz my 3rd grade niece about what exactly causes a lunar eclipse, I decided to look up some info on the web.

I discovered that an eclipse occurs at those times when the Moon moves into a position of direct alignment with the Sun and the Earth. There are two basic types of eclipses – lunar and solar. Most people have seen at least one total lunar eclipse, when the full Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth. In this case, the Sun and the Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth. If you observe a lunar eclipse (visible only at night at the time of certain full Moons), you’ll see the bright lunar disk turn dark -- sometimes a coppery red color -- for as long as an hour or more.

Now, it has been a little while since I had science class, but Mr. Eidson (my 8th grade General Science teacher) would be proud that I do recall that the moon has no light source of its own. It can only reflect the light from the sun. The reflection is so great that the moon can light up a dark sky – just by having its face turned toward the sun – the source of light! It is a reflection of what it is gazing upon! That's what our Heavenly Father desires from us…. to be a reflection of who He is. If we gaze upon Him, He is reflected from our lives.

His Love Never Fails

But I trust in your

unfailing love.
I will rejoice

because you have

rescued me.
Psalm 13:5

Many times I am disappointed in the way I fail to live out the hope I have in Jesus. I get discouraged at how others treat me and have a lack of understanding. I know that in this life we will have our share of disappointment and discouragement. I will fail others. Others will fail me. I praise God that when I put my trust in the Lord, He never lets me down.

Mother Teresa said, "People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway."

Compassion vs Condemnation

Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive.
Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own?
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:2-5

It's easy to stand in judgment of others. We criticize the way they dress, the way they speak, their social status, their religion, the color of their skin, their workplace, their education, their weight, their appearance, etc. It somehow makes us feel more holy when we compare ourselves to others. When another believer falls into sin, we even tend to have a condescending attitude that further damages them. We justify this although it does irreversible damage to so many. Even more tragic, imagine the lost person searching for acceptance and forgiveness only to be judged and condemned by a so-called Christian. Where is compassion in the church?



Some quotes to think about...


I'm slipping when I begin taking another person's inventory, not mine.
-Anonymous

Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.
-Henry Ward Beecher

Another great verse....

So whenever you speak, or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law of love, the law that set your free. For there will be no mercy for you if you have not been merciful to others. But if you have been merciful, then God's mercy toward you will win out over his judgment against you. James 2:12

Roots

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,

continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him,

strengthened in the faith as you were taught,

and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Jesus is our nourishment! We get everything we need from Him. If we are truly rooted in Him our lives will bear fruit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should continually draw from our source ----Jesus Christ. If we do we will be strengthened in our walk and overflowing with gratitude.