Jessica
January 1, 2014
Resolve- the
trait of being resolute; firmness of purpose (N), make clearly
visible (V)
A new year is another chapter that
is 365 days long of a new chapter you get to write in your book of
life. You can resolve to change things or continue to do what you
have done; this much is up to you. However I believe whole
heartededly that it is essential to start this chapter with a
resolution to recommit yourself to God your Father and Creator.
While this is your life, it is Him in you that will see you through
this year. To often we want to change our appearance, finances,
relationships, jobs, and so on. I am a firm believer though that
what we need to be doing is resolving to trust Him more, cry to Him,
go to Him. God calls us His children and He wants to supply for our
needs and collect our tears. He wants to get us through the tough
stuff that may sneak upon us through this new chapter we call 2014.
So instead of worrying about changing and resolving to make changes
by yourself I encourage you to resolve to find Him. If you have
already found Him then recommit yourself to Him and allow Him in you
to make changes. This is my resolution for the year and I will sign
this as a promise to myself and to my Father that I resolve to be
better because of Him and what He has done for me and what He has
given me; and that my friends, is the eternal hope of life
everlasting!!!
I _____________________________________
Resolve these things on January ____, 2014
I resolve to put God first in my home,
work, and everyday life and relationships. (Joshua 24:15)
I resolve to seek Him in ALL the things
I do and say. (Matthew 6:33-34)
I resolve to be the type of woman that
God calls me to be. ( Romans
12:9-21)
I resolve to find my worth & beauty
the way He sees my worth & beauty. (1Peter 3:3)
I resolve to allow His control in my
life to lead my way. (Psalm 119:105)
I resolve to pray for my children,
family, and friends. (Romans 12:12)
I resolve to be more humble to think of
myself less. (Philippians 2:3-5)
I resolve to grow more in His grace
through reading, praying, meditating, studying, and attending church.
(2 Peter 3:18)
I resolve to teach my kids more and
more about God. (Luke 18:16)
I resolve to be more careful with the
words that are coming out of my mouth. (Ecclesiastes 10:12 &
Matthew 15:11)
I resolve to proclaim my Creator God
the Father as the Lord of my life and His son Jesus Christ as my
personal Savior! (Romans 10:9)
________________________________________
Now that we have resolved our lives to
God look back at the definitions I gave you for the word....Gives me
chills friends what an awesome thing to be firmness in purpose for my
Father and to make it clearly visible to others! Oh Yes friends we
got this, yes we do!
January 8, 2014
Tomorrow is a hard day for me.
Tomorrow it will be five years ago that I gave birth to an amazing
little boy his name is Ethin and he came into this world with half a
heart. He would also go home to Jesus far before I thought it was
time. I am not telling you this to hear you say I am sorry as I
promise none are more sorry than I am. I am sharing this to write
this weeks devotion as well as for you to have a better understanding
of how I learned in 6 months and the years that would follow my son's
whole life that God's grace is sufficient and His plans are worth
following!
In the months that my son was alive he
endured a plethra of surgeries and other medical procedures. There
was a point in that time when I ran crying to the top of the parking
garage and fell to my knees crying and begging God to save my son.
Even more so I uttered the words, “God why have you forsaken me
what did I do to deserve this!” In those moments I remember
physically being cold, wet, and exhausted as well as emotionally and
mentally beaten down, confused, and inconsolable. However there was
a sudden warmth and I walked off the roof with a whole new attitude
and dry knees......Just sayin the dry knees should have been
impossible it was April in Ann Arbor, MI. Ahh that is right nothing
is impossible with God!
As it would go I knew at that moment a
number of things:
- My life would forever be different
- Ethin was on very borrowed time
- I would never regret taking to many pictures
- God was my strength
- And most importantly that God did not forsake me nor did He ever leave me!
God's plans are always far different
than ours. I had a son that was conceived out of pure sin to come
here and teach me to FULLY RELY ON GOD! Now understand that I know
God did not make my son sick and God did not kill my son. However
God did use something that satan tried to use to ploy me from my
Father for His good. Look at what I am writing today! God used
Ethin continually to show me in those months to trust Him and His
plans. In the years that have followed I honestly know if God could
carry me through what I honestly can tell you is Hell on Earth than
there is nothing I can not trust Him with.
I have learned to trust God with all of
my heart, my children, my finances, literally everything even where I
attend church. I learned to pray more meaningfully and to listen for
God's reply; which my friends is not always audible!
If you have a chance in the next week
please sit and think about the last five years of your life and make
a list of the areas or things in your life where you know God's Grace
was sufficient and His plan hard/easy as it was, how it changed your
life for better! I promise you that I have bad days, but I know my
life is so much better off trusting him to guide my life!
Jeremiah 29:11, Joshua 1:9, Acts 20:24,
Joshua 1:5
January 15, 2014 God First
January 15, 2014 God First
The next few weeks I want to break down
what we resolved to do in week one of this 52 week long devotion. So
bare with me for a few weeks as we dive further into God's word and
we dive further into being firm in purpose for Him and make our faith
in Him visible to others!
The first thing we resolved to do was
to put God first in EVERYTHING! God wants to be first in our life
all the time with nothing before Him. Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “For
the Lord your God is a consuming
fire,
a jealous God.” He wants you to put Him first. He wants you to
Love Him with all your heart, all your mind, and with all your
Strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5 & many others!) Besides what a great
promise we find in Matthew 6:33; “Seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
When
I really think about the verse in Matthew, and I put that into
thought of my life, and what I have had or have, it is very clear to
me that by putting God first the rest of my life seems to just fall
perfectly into place according to His will and plan for my life.
When I put God first I am being obedient and God rewards the
obedient. Isaiah 1:19 says, “If you are willing and obedient you
will eat the good things of the land.” You have to be willing to
be obedient. It is a choice that we have to make to be obedient and
put God first in all things!
I
would like to challenge you this week to start your day with God
first. I know life gets busy with work, family, and the everyday
tasks of life, but I seriously think that if you can take 3 minutes
every morning to just pray and ask God for His light, guidance, and
strength that the day may seem to go a little easier. It is OK if
you forget as God knows your heart, but just slip Him a few words and
let Him know every day that He is your first thought. If you want
the extra challenge go ahead and make Him the last thought before bed
too and tell Him thanks for your day.
January 22, 2014
January 22, 2014
Being the Woman God Calls Me to Be
Romans 12:9-21
God has made it clear how we are to
act/be and you can find verses throughout the Bible that state these
points. I am referring to the verses in Romans today as that is what
we used in our reolution at the beginning of the year. If you read
through the verses in Romans it seems simple enough, but really let's
admit that walking in His light and in His commands is not always
easy. So please understand and know now that God knows we will
stumble that is why He sent us Jesus. He sent us a Savior knowing we
needed one!
The verses in Roman are spelled out
pretty clearly when broken down. I would encourage you to break them
down into pieces and study them this week. I am going to focus on
just a few things about being the woman and person God calls us to
be!
Our Father is all knowing! Which in my
very personal opinion makes Him much smarter than I could ever be.
He has plans for us and all we have to do is be willing to be open to
His plans rather than our own ideas. Part of His plans is for us to
be Christ-like. Practice certain things daily; love, hospitality,
prayer, joy, peace, long-suffering, and so on. Ultimately if it is
good than it is the way God commands us to be!
I am not saying it is easy to follow
God's way of how we are to act, but we can certainly put our best
foot forward! In the next week pick out one and really focus at
doing that one thing. After you have mastered that one thing then
try another. Before you know it you will be practicing all of them!
With Much Joy,
Jessica
January 29 Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
February 5, 2014
January 29 Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
January 29, 2014
1 Peter 3:3-4
Your
beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate
hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather,
it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle
and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
Beauty
is a funny thing. Most people view beauty as the way you look on the
outside. We need to get past that way of thinking. Understand that
our Father does not create ugly. We are all beautiful, but God views
our beauty from the inside. So on the outside you have a few
wrinkles, pimples, or maybe a few stray hairs. On the inside that is
where your true beauty lies. That is also where God sees you best
and sees Himself in you.
The
devil is constantly calling us. He uses whatever he can to draw us
away from God. It is the world that allows such a way of thinking
that we can physically look at someone and decide if they are
beautiful or not. satan fills us with doubt when he makes us believe
that we are ugly and unlovable. Friends, our Father created us in
His sight. Like any parent He sees the good in us all the time and
loves us unconditionally. He sees us as beautiful from the inside
out. God does not care what we look like on the outside, rather who
we are on the inside!
My
challenge for you this week is to let go of something that you use to
physically enhance yourself. If it is makeup, a hair straightener,
heels, certain cothes, ect. For one week withhold from making
yourself appear prettier on the outside and work at something that
changes your heart on the inside! Let your true beauty shine
through!
With
No Makeup,
Jessica
February 5, 2014
Dear God, It's Me Again
February 5, 2014
Did you pray today? I ask my kids this
question daily. Seems simple enough and seems none would forget. My
children like myself and many others forget to pray. However there
comes a point for me that it is beyond prayer and became me talking
to my Father. My oldest daughter has hit this point. She also has
hit the point where her life becomes busy and she forgets to pray to
Him.
Prayer is our way to communicate with
God. It is right to give Him thanks and praise; when we pray are we
praying this way? Are we thanking Him for the blessings we have or
are we to busy asking Him for what we do not? When we pray are we
asking His will or simply telling Him our will? Praying is far more
than just asking for the things and outcomes we want.
Keeping a prayer list is always handy.
This helps you to take the focus of yourself and onto others when
praying. Start your list with the simple stuff. I always try to
remember when I am praying to ask for God's will not my own. That
whatever the answer I will glorify Him. Always thank Him for the day
you had.
My challenge to you this week is to
start a paryer list. As you add to your prayer list as prayers are
answered put a date by them so you can also see God's mercy and grace
through your prayers! God is good all the time and all the time God
is good!
With a Praying Heart,
Jessica
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