Wake up my Heart!

Scripture of the Day: Galatians 5:22-23 22  But  the fruit of the Spirit is  love, joy, peace, patience,  kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23  gentleness,  self-control;  against such things there is no law. Well my friends, it has been a failure kind of day! Not only did I not have a new post this morning, it has been a day where children didn't nap and I've had about five minutes to myself. No time to write, and also no time to read to hear what God had to say! It's a day where I haven't had time to fill my cup and man, can I feel it! I'm going to do a little exercise and to fill my cup a different way, I'm going to focus on each gift and see where it found itself in my life today. Let's see how this goes! When did I feel love? This morning when my awesome hubby was helpful with some monthly billings. My love language is acts of service :). When did I have a moment of joy? The first thing that comes to mind is when my son came into the kitchen...

Good morning! Due to a weekend away and a crazy day yesterday, I do not have a new post for this morning. I do apologize! I will write as I can today and the post will be up no later than tomorrow morning at 7. Thank you for your understanding, ~Betsy

Taking a slight diversion from my usual tactics today :) I have been reading some Lenten devotionals (if you have not checked out biblegateway.com, I would encourage you to - they have all kinds of things!). The one I read last night had to do with forgiveness and it kind of hit me hard. Forgiveness is a tricky topic for lots of people (myself included). Easy to say, hard to do. I cannot remember the source, but remember hearing recently that forgiveness is a command. It is not a choice. It is possible to say the words and PRAY the words that you forgive someone long before your heart catches up to the program. Just because you don't feel it, doesn't mean a change isn't happening in your life for the person who you need to forgive. So today , say those words. I forgive ________. I have a hard time with that, do you? And then feel guilty for having a hard time with that because through Jesus, God forgave us EVERYTHING. Knowing that I feel I should just think "forgiv...

Scripture of the Day: Genesis 2:5-7 5  When no  bush of the field   was yet in the land   and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the  Lord  God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man  to work the ground,   6  and a mist   was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—   7  then the  Lord  God formed the man of  dust from the ground and  breathed into his  nostrils the breath of life, and  the man became a living creature.   How man came to be is something that I don't often think of. We exist. God knew about every hair on our heads and every thought in them as well, long before we were here, so I seldom take time to think about how humans came to be on this earth. We are not here by happenstance. We were fearfully and wonderfully made out of the dust from the ground, into human form. Without God breathing the breath of life i...

Scripture of the Day: Exodus 31:15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. After reading that, I thought to myself that it is a good thing I don't live in Old Testament times. I probably would have been put to death long ago! My trusty life application bible states in reference to that verse, "The Sabbath had two purposes: It was a time to rest and a time to remember what God had done. We need rest. Without time out from the bustle, life loses its meaning...God reminds us that without Sabbaths we will forget the purpose for all of our activity and lose the balance crucial for a faithful life. Make sure your Sabbath provides a time of both refreshment and remembrance of God." In reading Exodus, I am amazed at how many times God refers to the Sabbath. I figure it must be important (it is one of the Ten Commandments after all!) and have been very convict...

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 23: 1-6 The  Lord  is my shepherd,  I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me  in paths of righteousness      for his name’s sake. Even though I walk      through the valley of the shadow of death, [ a ] I will fear no evil,      for you are with me; your rod and your staff,      they comfort me. You prepare a table  before me      in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil;      my cup  overflows. Surely goodness and love  will follow me      all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the  Lord      forever. Since I started reading the Bible, Psalm 23 has brought me more comfort than any other words I have read. The only Psalm I have ...

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. In today's day and age especially, I love those words! We live in a fallen world and thus there are a lot of bad things in it. But, just as in the time of David who wrote those words above, we can be confident that we will see the goodness of the Lord here, on earth, in the land of the living. The goodness of God can be spotted in several ways. Look at your life and count your blessings. Every one you can think of is a glimpse of that goodness. Also look at the actions of your life; both what you have done and what has been done to you. Each kind act is a demonstration of that same goodness. When we do nice things for others it is an outpouring of God's love. That is part of the reason that random acts of kindness are so important! No matter how big or how small, they bring some light and goodness to a world that is all to often a place of darkn...

Scripture of the Day: Exodus 13:21-22 and Exodus 14:13-14 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today...The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." This was one of those moments in reading the bible when I wished (only slightly) that I lived when the Israelites left Egypt. For some background, the verses above are from when the Israelites had just left Egypt, but before they got to the Red Sea. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to have God literally guiding your every move...visually!? That is what he did here. By day he led the people by a cloud and at night in a fire. They didn't have to q...

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 25:6-7 Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O lord. When I think of negative stereotypes of women, words like "petty," and "holding a grudge," come to mind. When we are wronged, it is easy to hold on to that memory and bring it up to that person again and again. We don't often like to let go of things. Hearts tend to keep track of wrongs and new hurts today bring back the old hurts from yesterday. Instead of remembering things in love, I think we do the opposite and hold on to remembering all the bad. God doesn't want that to be how we live. Instead of holding on to wrongs, hold on to rights. When people do things that hurt you (and they will), according to your love - remember them. Just as we appreciate God's great mercy, love and goodness, we must demonstrate those character...