The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psalms 103:8-10

David writes this psalm because he's thankful and desires to give the Lord praise as he speaks with a confident voice of thanksgiving for his mercy toward him because he knew a little something about God's mercy. David had done some things that he knew he should not have during his life and it was only through the Lord’s mercies that he was not consumed. Throughout the Psalms, David is constantly pouring out his heart to God and letting us know about the Lord’s grace, His goodness and mercy. This should be our song of praise and thanksgiving; giving God continual thanks for His mercy and grace towards us. I can utter my thanksgiving, like David, with confidence because I know first hand that God has been merciful to me especially during and in spite of the times when I haven't gotten it right.

I love how David communicates these verses. I want to express it in these words: The Lord is kindhearted and understanding, He is unhurried, calm and conscious of His anger; His mercy is continuous and overflowing; His compassion is unfailing, it's lasting and certain; it's trustworthy and true; it's considerate and gentle. Because of His love and compassion, He won't always scold or reprimand us, even though He doesn't approve sometimes of our actions. He will and does rebuke and chastise us but He said it won't last forever; neither will He stay angry with us forever. All of us have experienced at least once where someone is angry with us (or vice versa); they eventually come around or not; or perhaps will hold on to it for far too long or are still holding on (help us Lord!). I praise God that His mercy is not contingent upon our actions and you can believe that He is not going to hold on to His anger. When we ask the Lord to forgive us, He forgives and remembers no more. Now, this is a characteristic that we should all strive to obtain, among others as well, most importantly, be like Him in every way.

For me, this is a crucial part of the scripture and the reason why David was giving God praise; it is the very basis of his thanksgiving. He said "You have not dealt with us after our sins. You have not dealt with us according to what we deserved.” After, in this context, means He has not bared in mind or taken into consideration our sin, but because of His unfailing compassion, He spared us the suffering that we could have had. David had done some horrific things and if God had dealt with him or us justly for some of the things we've done, we would probably faint at the very thought of the type of chastisement that was equal to the sin or sins we've committed or the harsh judgment that He could have brought upon us. Oh but His mercy! His grace and His compassion! Thank you Lord for not dealing with us according to our iniquities; thank you Lord for not giving out what would be considered a just reward for the sins we've committed; thank you Lord for being merciful and because of your mercies we are not consumed; thank you for being gracious towards us and thank you for the opportunity to ask for forgiveness and the chance to start anew. Thank you Lord for being a God of second chances.

Today and everyday, I admit that I'm not perfect and yes, I make mistakes, yet I strive for perfection each day. I don't know about you but I'm glad that we serve a God whose tender mercies are new every morning, and that He gives us another day to try and get it right (Lam 3:21-23). Aren't you glad that He is a God of unfailing, certain, reliable, constant, unshakable and lasting compassion?

Bless Him today with thanksgiving!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: Psalm 18:1-3

Lots of mornings, I wake up singing; there is a phrase or just one word that is in my heart. This morning, it was simply, “deliverer.” The Lord was confirming and reassuring me that He is the Deliverer; He is our Deliverer. Let that resonate and echo throughout your spirit because God intended for us to hear that Word today. Perhaps you are saying “Yes! I needed to hear that particular word this day.” We all at times need to be reminded because the cares of this world will wear us down and we can forget momentarily in Whom we put our trust. However, the Word of God helps to keep us grounded and remember that God cares for us and we see us through every circumstance we face.

There are many definitions that I could use to describe the word deliver, but I like these: to set free, as from misery, despair, grief, depression, sorrow, suffering, or distress; or peril which translates into hurt, risk, harm or danger, or evil. We are all dealing with something, and there are no two of us alike. We all deal with life with different levels of faith. God knows where we are and responds accordingly ... because it’s one on one with Him, it’s personal. There is also another definition that I like: to produce or achieve what is desired or expected; to make good: that’s definitely the outcome we are all looking for from the Deliverer ... for the Lord to make good, for Him to make it all alright. Immediately, Jeremiah 29:11 came to mind ... “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil,” and then He closes the verse with “to give you an expected end.” That’s His promise to us and a great place to give God praise!

It is comforting to know that we can always take all of our burdens to the Lord. He loves us; He is faithful and just to come and see about us, especially in our time of need. It is better to put our trust in God than to have confidence in man. He will fail us every time. The Word says, “The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous (Psalm 118:14-15). He is our strength, our foundation, our place of safety, our source, our strong tower, our defender, our deliverer.

Verse 6 of this psalm says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Trust that the He has heard your cry and today it has come before Him. Again, He is faithful to us and even more so to His Word. Praise Him today for His Word, for what He is doing in your life, what you see and what has not yet manifested. Most importantly, just praise Him today for being your Deliverer!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. I Samuel 3:11

Sometimes the Lord will have you read a passage that you know you’ve read before but then you see a verse almost as if it’s the first time and it was not until that moment that it literally jumped off the page at you. I experienced one of those moments today and it was one of those mornings where I just was in awe.

In order to get you up to speed, let me say first that I woke up singing repeatedly “Hallelujah” and I wish it was possible for me to give you the melody. It came with much fervency and passion. I know now that it was in preparation for what was about to occur this morning and this was a praise Me in advance before my feet hit the floor. I had a conference call this morning which presented news of the not so good persuasion, let's also say that the enemy threw a monkey wrench and I was shocked and definitely taken aback. If I had been in any other place besides the presence of the Lord, my reaction could have been different, my attitude might have been different and because of the delivery, I could have “received” it differently. Oh but God! Being in a place of praise, before the enemy even had the opportunity to bring any negative thoughts to mind, scriptures begin to flow from my heart; no weapon formed against you shall prosper; …sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool, stand and see the salvation of the Lord; I am the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me; all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose and ending with Exodus 14:14! God has a way of comforting and giving peace which passes all understanding! At the end of the call, I went into an uncontrollable praise of thanksgiving.

God said, "Listen carefully. I'm getting ready to do something that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention”; based on the fellowship and praise I had with the Lord after the phone call. Psalm 34 says, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. Praise is the key!

I had no idea how the Lord would lead me today, but I did not expect it like this and it just blew me away! Tingle means to “feel a sensation”, like the hair standing up on your arms, butterflies in your stomach, or Goosebumps… you know about Goosebumps right? His Word this morning confirmed for me that He is in control of all that I’ve brought before Him until now and that this is His decree. He will do a thing, and this thing will be so done that those who see it and hear about it will be amazed; it shall astound them all; and, after having heard it, it will still continue to echo in their ears what the Lord has done. There will be no doubt about WHO has done this thing (‘cause you know I’ll tell it). I am in anticipation and there is a bubbling going on the inside.

Whatever is going on in your life, whatever the situation, you know it can only be handled by God; whatever circumstance, you know if God doesn’t fix it, it won’t get fixed; know that God is getting ready to shake up some things on your behalf and it will get some attention. People will see God all over your life. Everyone that would have supposedly be or been in your corner in whatever capacity or give the allusion of being “the right person for the job” are not always working for your good. God has a way of turning around what the enemy is trying to do and send him running. The scripture says, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good”, (Gen 50:20). I am the Lord thy God is there anything too hard for me. I think not! We have to believe that by faith. Get that down in your spirit and begin to praise God for Who He is and what He has already done and what He is about to do!

Get ready, the Lord is about to do a thing!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Titus 3:5

I love the warm, fuzzy feeling that I get from watching Extreme Home Makeover, I love seeing how lives are changed for the better. I literally cry from beginning to end. There is a renewing that takes place during the show; not only a new home, but lives are changed; a total regeneration, which means a return from a state of decline to a revitalized state… literally transformed from the inside, out. On the show, the home and the people who live in them need repair and mending, more often than not, they both are in need of a total renovation. Usually, it is a tearing down to the foundation or the foundation is in need of a complete re-lay. The foundation is the vital part of the initial process for building or rebuilding both naturally and spiritually. Last night’s episode was no different, young girls, which were torn and broken and in need of renovation; for them it was new start on a new foundation.

The Greek verb, “ananeoo”, means to renovate or to make new again; or bringing back to a better state. If we think about our lives, we can see where we were in a horrid state (read Chapter 3 for clarity), before God did a work in us. We were so many things and had the need to be brought to a better state. God knew that we needed regeneration, a renewing of our mind, our body, and of our soul. He did this, not because of anything that we’ve done so right and certainly our works of righteousness could help us with this. He did it strictly by His mercy and it was simply by His grace that we were able to be saved, washed, refreshed, mended, repaired; in a word, restored. When the renewing occurs and the divine renovation has takes place, the new creature is transformed (2 Cor 5:17).

Let’s look at how the natural analogy also parallels the spiritual in the process of metamorphosis, where a physical and an emotional change take place. After the process is complete, there emerges a change in appearance, character, and condition; new life, a new birth, a renewal. Spiritually, this can only happen through the power of the spirit of God and this is the only way the renewing process can be performed; the only way to the renewing of our hearts and the renewing of our minds. Naturally, when man is responsible for the rebuilding of a new structure, a new transformation and renovation; a new life is also given, a new birth and a renewal because it uplifts the spirit of the lives that are touched. The Lord is so awesome in this way and He shows Himself faithful in the care and the needs of His people.

When this transformation and renovation has taken place, we must remember that upkeep is involved, just like those who receive the new houses, all newly rebuilt and restored, and refurnished; there is going to be a need for some house cleaning and maintenance to keep things in order. The same goes for us today as well. We have to renew our mind daily (Rom 12:1-2), when we make this a habit, we become more like Jesus and less like the world.

Divine renovation … let God do a work on and in you today!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord will keep you from all harm; He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:7-8

Many of the psalms are close to my heart and this one is definitely on the list. We’ve heard and know this one well, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” I’m grateful, as well as thankful today because these words of encouragement come at the right time. It amazes me and truly keeps me in awe at how the Lord is keeping watch over us and is always there on our behalf. Through our own experiences or through the testimonies of others, we’ve had the opportunity to know that the Lord’s hands of protection are not just words from David, because we can also proclaim the Lord is our help and has made Himself known in our situations and circumstances.

This is a promise from the Lord that we can stand firmly on and without doubt, knowing that He watches over our coming and our going both now and forever. I'm sure at this moment, David was reflecting on so many of the situations that God had delivered him from. Where would David be if God had not been on his side and intervened? That's something to ponder over in regards to our own lives. I can say when I look back over my life, my soul does wonder how I got over. He has kept watch over me on many occasions, some of which I know that I should have been dead.

It's good to know the Lord is watching and keeps us from every danger, seen and unseen, He guards and protects our very life; He is our helper and He keeps us covered; preserves (keeps, protects, maintains) us from all evil. Honestly, we can do just as David and look towards heaven for help, for our help does come from the Lord. The Word also tells us today, "He that keepeth us will not sleep." That's 24 hour surveillance! What a privilege and an honor to be watched and kept by the King of Kings! Not only is He always watching over us, but He is ready, He is willing and certainly He is able to be a very present help in our times of need. He comes with POWER and He come in His strength, and He comes quickly!

Bless God that the Bible is filled with promises that we can stand firmly upon. It is wonderful to know that we have an assurance today that He is keeping watch over us!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Heb 12:1

We live in a day and time where we rush everything we do. Everything is urgent, "it can’t wait and I need it right now”; the microwave society. We are moving too fast, proceeding quickly and acting hastily. There is seemingly never enough time to get to every item on our to do lists, provided that we’ve even remembered to take the list with us when we leave the house. Maybe this is just the story of my life. There is always so much on our plates and we normally take on more than we can handle. We then stress because we can’t get to everything within the time frame we’ve allotted to complete the tasks… again maybe this is just a glimpse of my life.

I remember telling God once, “Why have you not answered me regarding the things that I’ve spoken to you about?” I know, I felt you cringe right there! But I went boldly to the throne that day. However, the Lord graciously and quietly said, “I’ve answered you, but you can’t hear me.” Needless to say, I was stunned and had to take a moment to seriously evaluate my life and understand why I could not hear His reply in answer to my petitions before Him. Not only did I need lay aside some things in my life, but my mind needed some clearing out as well. I needed to assess, examine, and evaluate what the hindrances were in my life; what and who needed elimination (this one is most important, the shaking loose of some folks) that had caused me to be hearing impaired. It’s such an easy place to get to without ever realizing how you actually got there.

Sometimes we allow our lives to become a barrage of "busywork", disorganized, overcrowded, chaotic, jumbled, hindered, and in a word, messy. Seriously, did any bells go off for you? Because without a doubt, mine were ringing very loud and clear! This is not in order with God’s will for our lives. There comes a time in our walk with the Lord that we will need to let some things go for the greater good of the ministry. I realize today that I am not Superwoman and that if I don’t free myself and lay aside some of the weights of this life, how will I be able to hear God speak and move when He tells me to move; or when He gives direction on where He would have for me to go or stop and speak a word of encouragement into a life; help someone in need or just simply be a blessing in whatever capacity I'm needed. We have to get rid of those things that hinder us from progressing to where God wants us to be; that next level of faith, so that He can use us mightily for the work of the Kingdom. Just as the scripture states, “let us lay aside every weight that so easily and continually ensnares, entangles and traps us.

We simply need stop all the "unnecessary" busyness that keeps us from hearing God; remove all excess baggage, as we all have some, because it hinders our growth. Keeps us from getting to where God is trying to take us effectively and it wastes precious time. Let’s take inventory today and do some housecleaning, let’s begin to start laying aside some things that so easily beset (overwhelmed, inundated, burdens) us so that we can run not only with endurance but with clarity of mind ... this race that is set before us. Amen?

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. Jonah 2:7-9

I don't know if you are familiar with the entire story of Jonah, or the reason as to why he landed himself in the belly of a great fish, but it makes for very good reading. The Assyrians were a cruel people and their reputation definitely preceded them. God wanted to give them the opportunity to repent and spare their lives. He instructed Jonah to go and preach repentance to them. Jonah however, felt as it they should not be given this opportunity to repent, so he took matters into his own hands and thus making a decision to go in the opposite direction. “Preach to them, I don’t think so!” Jonah had no intention of obeying what God had instructed him to do, or so he though.

I know this story is also familiar for some of us, not having gone forth and given the Word as instructed by God because we didn’t think a person or a group of persons deserved an opportunity to know Jesus based on what we know about them. However, what a loving and merciful God we serve, unlike man, a God who is full of compassion and grace; concerned about those who are lost. He has longsuffering towards us and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

The point of this passage is that Jonah had not been totally willing to obey God's command. Well, I’ll say he was willing to a certain extent and then Jonah’s own way of thinking took over. God decided to give him a little time (three days and three nights) inside this fish to think about it (that is amazing within itself). I'm sure Jonah probably assumed it was his time to die, who wouldn’t, being swallowed by a fish; but God had everything under control. It also shows the protection of God for His people, for His purpose and for His glory. How He preserves us for His will to be done. He didn't allow Jonah to drown, but gave him a place and time to think about what he had been told to do initially. God has a way of getting our attention when He has called us to a specific work and we make a decision not to go forward.

I love what the scripture states, "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee." Fainted, in this instance means quieted or soften; or to paraphrase, "when I finally came to myself, I remembered the Lord is in control of all things, so I started to pray and He heard me!" Sometimes God will douse our spirits by tossing us out of our comfort zone and right into a belly of a fish experience. Although, He should not have to go to that extreme in order to get us to a place of obedience.

We have to trust that God knows what's best for His people regardless of what we think or feel. His ways are not are ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It's going to take the Spirit of God over our flesh, over our own intellect and over our own judgment for us to work in our purpose because it is not about us. Salvation is of the Lord. We don't get to pick and choose who should or should not be given the gift of eternal life or the chance to know Jesus in the forgiveness of their sins. Everyone needs to have the opportunity to know that Jesus came to save a dying world that they might have life and life more abundantly. The choice is not ours to make, but ours to give.

What has God told you to do that has you are running in the opposite direction? Let's avoid the belly experience and not only hear what the Lord is saying to us but be willing to obey!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. Job 10:12

There was a time when I would pray this simple prayer when I needed the Lord to go before me and touch a heart, “Lord, I need your favor in this situation, please grant me your favor today.” It wasn’t long before I begin to take notice of how His favor was working in ways that would astound me. I was taken aback by the results from just asking for favor; so the habit of asking became a common practice for me. God’s favor was needed and necessary for my life and then you realize that it has become apart of who you are; it becomes real. It’s a “don’t leave home without it” item, like putting on clothing to go out, a covering if you will. When you affirm or pronounce a particular practice it becomes embedded in your spirit and thus a way of life. I’ve maintained over the years that God’s favor is imperative in this Christian walk and I wouldn't want to live without it.

If we were to look up the word favor, we would find several good explanations, but let me tell you the definition that I know it to be according to how God entreats me; a gift bestowed as a token of goodwill, kind regard, love and acts of kindness, preferential treatment... basically, His good pleasure making sure provisions, ways are made for His children. I know you'll want to take this definition and make it personal as of today.

Job realizes here in this passage, even in his state during this time, that in all of his wisdom, God’s provision had been made for him even before he was born. He tells God, it is You that has made and fashioned me; You know my fabric, you know my very being. He knows that God had granted him not only a good and blessed life but with unlimited favor and because of this, it has been his keeping power, it has maintained and kept his spirit. God has cared for him, guided him and Job knows that He has been ever present throughout his life.

The same can be said of us, God knows us and no matter what He has allowed to come upon us, we must remember His unfailing love and unlimited favor even during times of uncertainty. Knowing that He is always present and that He surrounds us with His love is comforting. To know that He is constantly protecting, defending, and sustaining our lives, even when we don’t see it or understand it; it's God’s favor working on our behalf. Favor that’s unlimited, which means it’s limitless, unconstrained, boundless or better yet, bottomless and I love the way that sounds.

I thank Him for the daily blessings of life and His favor that is constant in every instance of our life. I thank Him for His attention, concern and eye for detail, from the smallest to the greatest. I thank him for His continual watching of us and His keeping power in this blessed life that we've been granted.

Not only do I know that it is in Him we live, move, and have our being, but today please know that you walk in God’s unlimited favor!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. Psalms 37:34 (Ref: Psalms 37)

I'm so in love with the Lord this morning. I love how He gives us songs and psalms to remind us of how much He cares for us, especially in the midst of our going through our trials. He gently says, "I am here and I make all things new." He takes us directly to words of comfort and David so wonderfully soothes us with this Psalm. This chapter has so many golden nuggets nestled within his words, that you can’t help but allow them to resonate in your spirit, such as, trust in the Lord and do good; delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart; commit your way to Him and also trust Him, and He shall bring it to pass; rest in the Lord and wait patiently; and then today’s verse, wait on the Lord and keep His way and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. How wonderful is that?

Honestly, we must admit that yes, it sometimes gets hard to wait; sometimes we get weary; and sometimes we get worn from life and all that it can bring. We have the pressures of this world, the economy, cost of living, our jobs or the lack thereof, and the concerns of our homes and in our homes ... and that just names a few. Certainly, we cannot forget the many tactics of the enemy and how he throws a monkey wrench to purposely knock us off our feet every chance he gets. We even see those in the world prospering and we wonder why we serve God and we struggle. But we have to remind ourselves of the Word that tells us "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul." When we think about it, our light afflictions are only for a moment and we know that it is for our good and for God's glory (2 Cor 4:15-17). For the past couple of days, Romans 8:28 has been in my spirit and showing up in different places as also a reminder that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose"; yet another wonderful scripture to meditate upon while we wait for the Lord to workout our situations, and make ways for us.

The reality of the matter is that it is in the wait. We can expect the blessings of the Lord because He promised, but we must continue to do the work while we wait. Let’s not allow stress or anxiety to overtake us or hinder us from our work, let’s not get discouraged while we wait. We need to have confidence, trust and patience while we are waiting. God promises peace in the midst if our mind is stayed on Him, joy in the midst of our work, and comfort in the midst of our wait. The Word said to rest and wait patiently, for our work is not in vain. God is faithful and just to bring everything He said to pass. If we keep His way and be faithful to Him in our wait, He will exalt us and literally lift us up from our circumstance or situation and you'll know that it could not have been anyone but the Lord.

There will be days when it just seems as if everything is going wrong, but the work however, is still ours to do and we must attend to it; remembering that God has already made provisions for your life... so just continue to work the wait!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is a good place to end this week. How I love this simple, yet powerful psalm of praise and thanksgiving from David. He had such a way with words, words by which we can identify; words that comfort and bring peace. Clearly, David wants us to know he takes ownership for the God of his salvation. He shows us here what I call his “bragging rights.” With words such as these you can tell that David was a man after God's own heart. It is always my endeavor to strive to be the woman after God's own heart.

David had the right to brag, because God had done so many wondrous things in his life. He makes us aware in this very personal psalm that as we walk through this journey, the words will become real as our relationship with the Lord grows through our experiences, our trials, our circumstances... in a word, life. We are thankful that the Lord, as a good shepherd, cares for us and is concerned about our well-being. We can be assured that He protects and keeps us in the midst of chaos and turmoil; gives us rest, restores and gives us comfort, as well as protection and safety. He lets us know that He will always be there regardless of what we face or come up against. We have this psalm as a reminder; a source of knowledge that strengthens and encourages us in our faith. Therefore, it makes it easy for us to brag (make it personal, because only you know what the Lord has done for you) that He is Jehovah Roi, my Shepherd; Jehovah Jireh, my provider and Jehovah Shalom, my peace, just to name a few. Simply for me, He is just my all in all.

When I read the last verse of the psalm, I am remembering a message I heard that spoke to “goodness and mercy” always having your back. With those two following and keeping watch over us all the days of our life, how could we not brag? We have the right to tell others of His goodness and proclaim it wherever we go. They should be able to see it in us whether or not we speak a word or to phrase it properly, our life should reflect what we talk about… it should not be just lip service! The scripture says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

David knew first hand, he lived it and he experienced it, he would have had to in order to write it truthfully, as well as so vividly and heartfelt. We have so much to be thankful for in our lives, so much that we should give God praise at every opportunity, testify of His goodness, His mercy, His grace, and His favor.

Go ahead and brag, you have the right!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
II Chronicles 20:17

I woke up this morning literally singing "be encouraged, be of good cheer, don't you worry, don't you fret... wait on the Lord and be of good cheer...they that wait, shall renew their strength... run and not be weary, walk and not faint! The scripture that came to mind with song was Joshua 1:9: "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Which was so timely and absolutely on one accord with the scripture for today.

What encouraging words this morning. It definitely speaks to the heart on so many levels. It exudes confidence, it persuades us to continue and advance for the Kingdom. Be strong, don't fear for the Lord is with us. We are all going through our individual trials; they consist of various degrees, whether tepid or lukewarm, some are not too hot but some are of fiery hot proportions; however, they are still trials nonetheless and your faith is being tested. We have to learn at some point that we just need to step aside and let God be God. Let Him fight the battle for us, so that we can see, trust and believe that He is going to do exactly what He said He would. His Word is a constant reminder of this.

A preacher once put a different, but thought provoking spin on the fiery furnace; it was in reference to the Son of Man being in the midst of the fire with the Hebrew boys. He talked about Him being a “present” help in the time of trouble. That was it! Just as simple as that, He was present and in the furnace to fight that battle for them and to deliver them. He did not tell them that He was just able to deliver, but was physically there to show them that I AM able. Clearly, if He can be in the midst of the fiery furnace with them, we can certainly be assured that He is in the midst of ours and fully capable of delivering us. We have not been literally or physically thrown into a natural furnace but these boys had and yet, they made this declaration, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king"; so they set themselves, took their position, stood still, and saw the salvation of the Lord. What faith! The Lord tells us the same in this passage to just to take our position, stand still, have no fear for I am with you.

Let's have Hebrew boys faith, to declare, to believe and to wait and see how our God will keep us from being overtaken by hurt, harm, danger, destruction, or even failure. Don’t doubt, don’t waiver, don’t be fearful, just go in the assurance of the Almighty. Most times our biggest fears don’t ever come to fruition, we simply need to trust Him. Truly, if we would just believe that the God of our salvation is with us always, we would be confident of that very thing, that He is able; no matter what it looks like, no matter how big the situation may be, no matter how hot it gets, remember, just as He was with them, so will He be with us.

So, just stand still and see how God works it out!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

And the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us. Deut 2:2-3, 24-29

This is an awesome word and it could not be more on time for me personally today. The Word always comes to me first and today it is a reminder of the God we serve. That is what I so love about Him... His Word is gentle, yet firm, comforting and reliable.

Morning Lovers, I apologize and ask that you would forgive me. I have been dealing with a lot and not that my faith level has been compromised but that it just seemed to be a heavier load than I thought I could bear. But God allowed me to come to myself after some nudging and whole lot of prayer. To make a long story short, in my attempt to do some other "entrepreneurial" things since being laid off in February, I allowed myself to get sidetracked; both in thinking and believing that perhaps I should do a weekly Morning Love in order to free up some time to prepare and also for additional Kingdom work. Well, with all of those particular efforts, including the natural humanly concerns of life, I fell into a slump of sorts. So, I wasn't even writing even on a weekly basis (but of course you know that, right?). I guess you could say that I fell off the writing wagon! Although, my salvation was still intact, I was convicted nonetheless that I was doing everything to ensure the future of the Morning Love ministries, etc. Still doing what I love to do by serving God with my gifts but also not doing it according to the way the Lord had given it to me and His agenda. I will admit that we have to be careful who we take counsel with and who we give ear to and also who we allow to get in our ear. All advice is not good advice and the enemy is always present, ready, willing and for sure able to hinder the work of the Lord.

The scripture mentions that when we begin to possess what God has purposed for us, we are going to have to contend (fight or battle) with the enemy. He is not going to just move aside and let you get to it without a fight. So we have to remember that along this journey, whatever the Lord has given to us, it might require some struggles along the way but if He gave it to us then we must make an effort to go and get it! Yes, what God has for me is for me but it still requires effort on our part.

This portion of the scripture jumped out and was blinking like a neon sign: This day will I begin to put the dread (to be afraid, worried, or frightened of), of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish (emotionally in pain) because of thee. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. So in my words to make it more personal; this is my servant, let me tell you about her. This day, today I will begin to put the word out to the people that you should be worried and should be in fear of her. When you hear the report of her, you will tremble because of the power that she comes with and you will be in emotional pain and anguish because you have heard of her coming. So I am sending out messengers to speak peace on her behalf and I say - let her pass straight through your land, give her food and drink that she'll pay for as she journeys because she will not be turning to the right or the left to get to her destination because she is coming to possess that which I have given her.

Seriously, are you shouting right now? All I could do is cry. How can I not bear the burdens or the trials that the Lord has put before me if this is His word to me? How could I not rise up and be about what He has given me to do? I don't know what you are faced with today, I don't know what your situation has been or is currently; I don't know what has caused you to slow down or stop along the way but the time is now to rise up, get up and make it up in your mind to move ahead, move forward to do what God has purposed for you to do.

In all sincerity, we can be doing a lot of what we call Kingdom work and it can just be busy work... not really amounting to much except that. Especially, if you are not doing exactly what God has purposed for you to do and if we are going about doing what "we" think we should be doing. Trust me, if it is not in line with God's will or His timing, we are just marching time. If God has given us His plan for our life, why do we feel obligated to help Him out or veer from what He has given us? Definitely food for thought. I had to repent for me trying to step in and "help God out." There is no doubt a lesson learned in all of this and when I tell you that I will not be skipping off the beaten path again, you can believe that. Sure there will be situations and life that will knock us off our feet, but we dust off and not let that deter us from journey. I have His assurance through His Word and according to Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Does He have mine? Today, I can say, "Yes! most definitely and most assuredly"

During my prayer and fellowship with the Lord this week, I heard this words, "it's a new season, it's a NEW me!" Rise up and purpose to move ahead... time to get on with the journey!

Asking that you would remember me in prayer times.

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde