Boojoyful

Sisters Loved By God July 31 This summer I've been blessed to be part of three Bible Studies with totally different focuses.  The common denominator is the power of the prayer requests.  Today and for the weekend devotional entry I want to pray for two requests which have me on my knees. Lord,   your name is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.  (Proverbs 18:10) We pray for this nation and for a safe place to train up future generations.  We cry out for truth to be extolled.  Raise up leaders in this country who have admiration for the moral values upon which this nation was founded and courage to fight for the return to many of those principles.  Give parents and grandparents a sense of urgency to invest time in the lives of their children/grandchildren and to pray for these children to have a hunger for God's Word and a passion to share their knowledge of the scriptures with others.  Spur us on Father to be involved...

July 30 The day took a turn early this morning and I had choices to make.  One of the ones I made was to forego the devotional writing in order to squeeze in some other things before jumping in the car and heading on an all day journey to bring some grandchildren here.  I still got hours of Jesus time and excellent radio ministry teaching, before we plugged in The Little Mermaid  and Curious George. The thought crossed my mind…"What will people think if I miss a day?"  Then I looked up to the Lord and asked, "Are you ok with this?"  For that is what matters isn't it…what God thinks about our choices, not what people think. The whole day was worth hearing our three year old granddaughter say, "Will you take me outside tonight and read the Bible to me?"  I made another choice…to forego making my dinner and go outside and read the Bible!

"First Flight" This photo was emailed to me and I apologize for not having the information of whom to give credit. Isn't there an old song, maybe Frank Sinatra sang it called…"Come Fly With Me." July 29 Currently there's a song out called "Happy" and that is what this photo makes me!  Is this what a newborn baby feels like when it enters the world? Sunday afternoon an elementary student was leaving our yard after visiting and she looked at me and said, "I hope you have the best week of your whole life".  The gusto and sincerity with which she made this exclamation made me smile and gave me a jump start to that possibility. If God is kicking you out into unknown waters today, I pray you fly with faith and the knowledge you serve a God who loves to hold you up! Fear the Lord your God and serve him.  Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.  He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those ...

July 28   The Phrase Call to prayer  was reverberating in my mind.  It rather confused me, as I thought of that as a Muslim term.  Finally, I gave into curiosity and placed the three words into a Google search.  On Wikipedia    up came: "Call to prayer may refer to:     Adhan, the Muslim call to  prayer     Church bells, the Christian call to prayer     Shofar, the Jewish call to prayer. In Christianity, many Anglican, Catholic and Lutheran churches ring their church bells from  bell towers three times a day at 6:00AM, 12:00PM, 6:00PM, summoning the Christian faithful to recite the Lord's Prayer, or the Angelus, a prayer recited in honor of the Incarnation of God." On this particular day, I was holding up a little four year old boy who was having his right, cancer filled,  kidney removed and three tumors from his left kidney.  The surgery would take 8-10...

July 26-27 I was trimming away on our rose bushes yesterday morning, while listening to a very loud bird sing his song nearby.  It sounded as if the lyrics to his song were a repetitive "You need Me." God always seems to show up when I'm off alone working in the yard. I do need Him! I need Jesus and I need the control of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need God to be my peace. I need God to be my joy. I need God to comfort me. I need God to teach me. I need God to direct my path. I need God to forgive my sins. I need God and his mercy which is new every morning. I need God to control my tongue. I need God to give me wisdom. I need God to give me understanding. I need God to increase my faith. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.   Hebrews 11:1 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.   2 Corinthians 9:8 And m...

 Our two beautiful expectant daughter in laws. July 25 The other night a friend, who had been ministering to a neighbor for some time, asked a group of us "Why don't people pray more?"  She had witnessed dire situations in the family she was helping, but was amazed they didn't turn to prayer. I had a long "to do" list for the day, but didn't dare start without putting in time with the Lord first. Why? Was it because I truly expect to hear from Him or was it out of reverence, fear, habit? The word expect comes from  the Latin word  expectare -look out for.  Today when we go to the Lord in prayer, let's go with hearts of expectancy, which are looking out for God to do great things. In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3 

Our grand dog, Diesel, to the rescue. July 23 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. Psalm 120:1  Our son and daughter-in-law were visiting and we were amazed at how their doberman pincher would take flight from the shore line in response to their cry for help!  God is even more expedient when he hears our cry. Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God.   Give me relief from my distress;  have mercy on me and hear my prayer. Psalm 4:1  

July 23 Flip flops or bare feet are my favorite summer foot attire!  Actually, they are my favorite year round attire. My heels looked awful though.  The soil in our area is a red clay.  Add to that the rock and sand on our beach and I have more than scuffed up my feet.  I recalled that a couple years ago I purchased a $3.99 foot peel product  from TJMaxx, which I had never used.  Grabbing the tube, I began the exfoliating process.  About 20 minutes into it I was wishing I was at a luxurious spa with someone else transforming my feet.  Even after the scrubbing and rinsing, there was still rough skin, so I took a small pair of finger nail scissors to trim away the dead skin.  The process ended with me applying London Butter (a gift from a dear friend) and putting on a pair of socks in hopes of this saturating my feet. They look and fell so much better. Reflecting on the 30 minute process, I decided I needed to spend at least that amount ti...

July 22 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. Matthew 24:12  A group of us where discussing what the Bible says about end times and when we came across the above verse, we agreed that we can make a difference if we team up together and keep the love of Christ burning in our hearts. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and , I am persuaded, now lives in your also.  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in your through the laying on of my hands.  For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:5-7  We all need a Paul in our lives to keep fanning the flames of our faith!

My husband and his name sake. These two balance the wheel of life! July 21 A young pastor sat at our kitchen table one evening and we shared our amazement for how many churches hold sincere grudges against evangelicals.  Aren't we commanded to go and make disciples ? I may have mentioned before a group I participate in called Renovare.   Renovare  is Latin meaning "to renew."  The three purposes of this group are: First to lead a spiritually balanced life.  Second, to be knowledgable as to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.  The third purpose is to be part of a group which mutually encourages one another and hold the other members to an accountability. In order to be spiritually balanced, you practice one of the spiritual disciplines a week.  For example, maybe there is a  church which is strong evangelically, but seldom steps outside its doors and addresses social justice. Here are the six spokes to a spiritually healthy w...

July 19-20 Dreams amaze me.  Usually, I can track them back to something I heard or watched the day/night before the dream.  That is one of the reasons I am careful about what I watch or read.  A couple nights ago I had a dream in which I had been framed for theft.  In the dream I was shopping in a jewelry store for a necklace with the word joy  on it.  Leaving the store, the owner asked me if I would take home a box of diamonds to evaluate.  Strange (as dreams can be), but I agreed. Leaving the store the alarm sounded and I was arrested for stealing diamonds.  In the dream, I came to realized who was behind the staging of the false accusation and I decided instead of fighting, I'd just go to jail. When I awakened I was thankful to still be at Shiloh! The day after the dream, I was talking to a young woman who shared how she had been falsely accused of something on Facebook.  People can be so hurtful and social media adds to the rapidity ...

July 18 Trying to close out a couple windows on my computer, Merriam-Webster's site popped up and there was the "Word for the Day".   Instigate- to cause to happen or begin.   Right in my face, this question hit me…Has my life caused others to begin a faith walk?   Dwelling on the word  begin, Isaiah 43 came to mind (such a powerful chapter), where God tells Israel He is doing a new thing. Forget the former things; do no dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19   This morning I had three areas of prayer concern, which involved instigating conversations with others, who are seeking discernment. There seemed to be a road block as I entered a time of prayer.  I felt God saying, "I need to instigate a few changes in your life, Boo, before we can go onto the needs of others." Clean up on aisle, Boo, once aga...

I love the little rural community in which we live and yesterday after slicing my finger open, I was thankful that we have an urgent care facility right here. After receiving a tetnus shot from the nurse, the doctor came in to discuss possible repair possibilities for my index finger, which was cut in a tough to heal spot. The glue option appealed to me much more than the stitch option.  The physician explained if I went with that option the finger would need to be stabilized and instead of an orthopedic splint he'd had success with a paper clip splint which allowed you to put a plastic glove over it for showering and other activities involving water.  That sounded good to me, but it never crossed my mind it was an actual paper clip.  The friend who had driven me to the doctor laughed and laughed with me that only in Moneta would we get a paper clip splint! At one point he was compressing the finger trying to stop the bleeding and said, "Now we are going to hold ha...

July 16 Love this picture of our daughter and her family off on a kayak adventure.  I think sometimes we forget to look at our lives as the spiritual adventure we were set upon when we were born into this earthily existence. Paul has excellent advice for his fellow believers in Corinth in relationship to adventure. Just think-you don't need a thing, you've got it all!  All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale.  And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus.  He will never give up on you.  Never forget that.    1 Corinthians 1:7-9

July 15 This precious child was visiting the other night and her father, who is a pastor in our area, told us that he took her along on a funeral home visitation.  She was in his arms as he viewed the casket and she looked at the man in the casket and said, "Night, night!"  How precious is that! For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven-God-made, not handmade-and we'll never have to relocate out "tents" again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move-and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what's coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we're tired of it!  We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies!  The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead.  He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never sett...

July 14 After conquering a tough handy man job, I hollered out to my husband, "You are my hero!"  Our grandson was listening and he said, "Is Papa a policeman?"  But it sounded like "Please Man."  I looked at my husband and confirmed he was a "please man."  He truly finds joy in being a servant of the Lord and pleasing others.  I thank God for him! Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Psalm 100:2 

This reminds me of the "invigorate my soul" phrase in the passage below! July 12-13 A follow up to yesterday's "awakening our ears" devotional is taking the time to turn The Message translation of Psalm 119:169-179 into a prayer for our lives. Let my cry come right into your presence, God; provide me with the insight that comes only from your Word. Give my request your personal attention, rescue me on the terms of your promise.  Let praise cascade off my lips; after all, your've taught me the truth about life!  And let your promises ring from my tongue; every order you've given is right.  Put your hand out and steady me since I've chosen to live by your counsel.  I'm homesick, God, for your salvation; I love it when you show yourself! Invigorate my soul so I can praise you well, use your decrees to put iron in my soul. And should I wander off like a lost sheep-seek me!  I'll recognize the sound of your voice.

July 11 Whew, I am in summer slow mode.  Sorry I'm so late posting the devos the past couple days. I'm devouring Beth Moore's study on 1 & 2nd Thessalonians.  Today's verse of study is: To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power.   2 Thessalonians 1:11 Moore is discussing the importance of our equipping for ministry and the intrigue that sometimes "scripture is effectively at work even when a verse does not tie directly to our task."  She mentions that "…the Word possesses inherent strength and shapes character. An open Bible also awakens our ears." He wakes Me up morning by morning. He wakes up My ear to listen as a follower.   Isaiah 50:4 Moore states, "Hacking through the Scriptures with a mental machete is hazardous."  I know I've done that.  Going to a daily scripture reading and thinking…...

July 10 I'm a bit behind today, as I was up with a grandchild who had a fever last night.  Today was his last day of our one on one vacation, so once that fever broke, we were packing in the fun and I never made it to the computer.  He caught his first striper!  It was 14" long!  We kicked back in our kayaks and were mesmerized as God answered our prayer to see a Blue Heron. The largest one I've ever spotted flew back and fourth in the sky across us, as if it was a dinosaur.  We had also prayed that God would show us something we'd never seen before.  Towards the end of the trip he was tired of paddling so we had tied his kayak to the back of mine and I towed him.  As were were nearing home, we looked over on the bank and there was a big fat beaver!  We both thanked God for such a wonderful show! This headline verse on Biblegateway sums up the way I feel about this young man, who loves the Lord and loves his grandparents too. Every time y...

July 9 Hanging out with our grandson this week, one of our goals is to learn at least one new word a day. While savoring every bite of a s'more, in a rocking chair by the fire, my husband looked at this young fellow and said, "That is contentment."  In his sweet five year old voice he inquired, "What is contentment?" What a great questions.  Webster's defines content  as "a state of peaceful happiness." Nancy Leigh DeMoss wrote, "A contented heart is a thankful heart, it's a trusting heart, it's a surrendered and submissive heart, it's a selfless heart and a God-centered heart focused on God's goodness, His faithfulness, and His love." In her book Keep a Quiet Heart, Elisabeth Elliot has this to say about the whole matter of complaining (the opposite of being content). She says: "Everything about which we are tempted to complain may be the very instrument whereby the Potter intends to shape His clay in...

July 8 Summer time is so much fun.  There are so many simple joys to be taken in….swinging, catching fire flies, roasting marshmallows, chilling in a hammock, sitting on a dock with your toes in the water, counting the stars at night, or savoring the taste of watermelon dripping off your tongue. Searching God's Word on this topic, I came across these insightful words of Paul's.  The context of this passage is where Paul is explaining to the Christians in Corinth, the benefits of his singleness.  For him, it provided the opportunity to be totally devoted to serving the Lord during his short time on earth. The lesson can easily pertain to taking time to slow down and invest in one another's lives. I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don't complicate your lives unnecessarily.  Keep it simple-in marriage, grief, joy, whatever Even in ordinary things-your daily routines of shopping, an...

July 7 I"m just flat out excited again!  The Fourth of July we had this fun obstacle course set up for our grandchildren and I wanted to use the photos in a devotional today, so I searched The Message translation to find verses with the word " obstacle".    The one that really spoke to my heart is in 2 Samuel 7: 11-16 is where he is speaking to David about what is ahead for his son, Solomon. What a great passage of encouragement for those of us praying for our children to be trained up in the ways of the Lord and for them to train up our grandchildren to love the Lord's discipline and to trust Him to see us through the obstacles of life! Furthermore, God has this message for you:  God himself will build you a house!  When your life is complete and you're buried with  your ancestors, then I'll raise up your child, your own flesh and blood, to succeed you, ad I'll firmly establish his rule.  He will build a house to honor me, and...

July 5-6 In Beth Moore's latest study, Children of the Day,  she presents a call to prayer that I felt was worth typing up and passing along.  Consider praying this with someone over the weekend.  As we look at fireworks, let's imagine each spark is the result of the excitement in heaven over someone coming to Christ! "Most glorious, all-powerful, merciful God,        Your Son died for more than these.  We thank You for what You've already done, but we beg You to do infinitely more. Look upon this ailing plant, pulsing with the hopeless, the helpless, the hiding, and the dying. You have willed that people would not die in their sins but be saved and redeemed through Your Son, Jesus Christ. You promised that the cross was big enough for us all, with everlasting arms reaching to the ends of the earth.  We know what Your word says You can do, and we confess to You that many of us have not yet seen it with our eyes, but we feel it stirr...

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.  From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind.   Psalm 33:12-13 July 4 With our celebration of freedom approaching, earlier in the week I was led to look up verses related to being free. I compiled them in a couple different translations and printed them up to share with friends who were stopping by.  They are below for you. As you read these, praise God for all the freedoms he has established for us. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a  free  people— free  of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely  free , either. Abundantly  free ! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He  set  it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in ...

July 3 What a blessing to meet our newest grandchild last week. She's a sweetie (as my mama called those she loved).  It was such a privilege to get to love on her and pray for her future. We had a chat about the type of friends she will want to surround herself with and some very specific guidelines concerning a husband. Psalm 128 (MSG) is a psalm written for families. What a precious recommendation at the end!  We are trying to make time to do just this! All you who fear God, how blessed you are! How happily you walk on his smooth straight road! You worked hard and deserve all you've got coming. Enjoy the blessing! Revel in the goodness! Your wife will bear children as a vine bears grapes, your household lush as a vineyard. The chidden around your table as fresh and promising as young olive shoots. Stand in awe of God's Yes. Oh, how he blesses the one who fears God! Enjoy the good life in Jerusalem every day of ...

July 2 http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=0EC9CJNU&utm_source=GodTube%20Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07/01/2014 (If this doesn't open, Google Casting Crowns song...  House of Our Dreams  and listen to this powerful, powerful song.  Try to pick one which shows the lyrics. You can also try Godtube. In Beth Moore's study called  Children of the Day  she ventures into the uncomfortable territory, which surrounds 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;  that each of you should lean to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable. As the facilitator for this study, it was a hard session to lead the follow up. For me a key element was for us to be approachable to those who are struggling with sexual sin.  Most of us would rather turn our heads and ignore it. As Christians we may come across as very judgmental in this area.  Actuall...