As Thanksgiving approaches, I want to really focus my heart in the right place.
It’s easy to get caught up in the holiday shuffle. And most times, this flurry of activity doesn’t cultivate in me a thankful heart.
Although we may be busier than ever, the key to slowing life down lies within the simple things.
The things that we sometimes overlook.
Love is the greatest force on earth, and is why we are here.
Love is a verb. Love is not just a feeling; it is an action. It is most evident in what you do, for there will be days when you will be called to love even when you may not have feelings of love.
Love is a choice. Understanding this concept will change your life significantly and may determine your ability to maintain lifelong happiness.
Love never ends.
Bumps in the road are an inevitable part of life that softens us, make us grow, and bestow upon us the virtue of compassion. For everyone we meet is carrying a cross.
How grand God is! He knows how dependent we are on Him for the everyday joy we need to carry on. And every day, He provides us with beauty all around to cheer and help us.
It may be through the smile of a child or a grateful face of the one we care for. Just today, as my youngest son and I were going to pick up my oldest from school, we saw a elderly lady walking with a cane, slowly making her way to her mailbox to get her mail. I stopped the car and told my son to get the sweet lady's mail for her so she wouldn't have to walk the entire way. He jumped out of the car and told the lady that he would get her mail for her. She stopped and gave him a big smile. He walked over to her and handed her the mail. She was so grateful! It's the little things that mean so much.
A smile of encouragement at the right moment may be the turning point for a troubled life. Sometimes we feel that we are all alone, as life brings us challenges to overcome and hardships to bear. But when we least expect it, help can appear. It may be a kind word from a stranger or a phone call at just the right time, and we are suddenly surrounded with the loving grace of God. Miracles happen every day because angels are everywhere.
Remember that what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. Be someone's angel today....and every day.
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Chosen
God chose you!
Chosen: God separated you from everyone else to perform a specific task....And God consecrated You for that purpose. Wow! What an awesome thought!
Nothing about us or our circumstances surprises God. He ordained that we should walk in those ways because we are uniquely qualified by Him to do so. He approved us, because He chose us for our specific situation. And He equipped us for every trial and difficulty we will ever face in life. What an awesome God we serve!
THANKFUL.....THANKFUL.....THANKFUL! Today, I am most thankful for "Answered Knee-Mail!" I got my report from my biopsy....NO Lymphoma!!! Another PRAISE GOD! THANK YOU JESUS! Prayer is not something to be taken lightly or used infrequently. Yet, in the rush of daily life, we often lose sight of God's presence. Instead of turning to Him for guidance and comfort, we depend on our own resources. I am thankful that though I focus too much attention on the "real" aka physical world, He is gracious and loving to prompt me again to pour myself more fully into the real world aka spiritual world. We can access His power anywhere. We don't need a wi-fi hotspot or a high-speed modem. We just need to look up. He's connected and waiting. ♥
God made us to fellowship with Him! If that fellowship demands trials for a season, rejoice that God thinks you worthy to share in the sufferings of Christ-and, eventually, in His glory. Praise His holy name! I am thankful to be a part of something so much grander than myself.
Problems that seem insurmountable to us are simply a breath to Him. God holds each one of us in the palm of His hand.
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Chosen: God separated you from everyone else to perform a specific task....And God consecrated You for that purpose. Wow! What an awesome thought!
Nothing about us or our circumstances surprises God. He ordained that we should walk in those ways because we are uniquely qualified by Him to do so. He approved us, because He chose us for our specific situation. And He equipped us for every trial and difficulty we will ever face in life. What an awesome God we serve!
THANKFUL.....THANKFUL.....THANKFUL! Today, I am most thankful for "Answered Knee-Mail!" I got my report from my biopsy....NO Lymphoma!!! Another PRAISE GOD! THANK YOU JESUS! Prayer is not something to be taken lightly or used infrequently. Yet, in the rush of daily life, we often lose sight of God's presence. Instead of turning to Him for guidance and comfort, we depend on our own resources. I am thankful that though I focus too much attention on the "real" aka physical world, He is gracious and loving to prompt me again to pour myself more fully into the real world aka spiritual world. We can access His power anywhere. We don't need a wi-fi hotspot or a high-speed modem. We just need to look up. He's connected and waiting. ♥
God made us to fellowship with Him! If that fellowship demands trials for a season, rejoice that God thinks you worthy to share in the sufferings of Christ-and, eventually, in His glory. Praise His holy name! I am thankful to be a part of something so much grander than myself.
Problems that seem insurmountable to us are simply a breath to Him. God holds each one of us in the palm of His hand.
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Friday, November 16, 2012
Steps Of Faith...The Jesus Plan
Pride prevents us from acknowledging that God's plans are always better than our own. We should be humbled and grateful for any opportunity He gives us to serve Him. The closer we grow toward Jesus, the less we are concerned with ourselves.
Today, I am thankful that My Father never wastes a crisis. Instead, He uses them to deepen my relationship with Him and strengthen my ability to trust His plan. I'm amazed and humbled that He would choose me. I want to give Him praise and glory for Who He is and for what He has done in my life.
The past three days have been rough for me health wise. But once again God has proven faithful in lifting my spirits. Today, I received an email from the Christian website that I submitted my Christian quotes to. ALL OF THEM WERE PUBLISHED! THEY ALSO PUBLISHED THE LINK TO MY FAITH, FRIENDS, AND FRUIT LOOPS BLOG. God is ALWAYS faithful, ALWAYS good, and ALWAYS by my side! ♥
Read the email below:
Hi Dalinda,
Thank you for your three quotes. They are very good ones. They have now been added to our quotes page at:
www.hopecrc.ca/quotes.htm
I also included the link to your website. Scroll down the page a little until you get to the quotes. All the best.
In Him,
John
Remember that it is a privilege to serve God at all. Be willing to do even the most basic and unappealing job for Him. Be faithful even in the desert season. Because God's glory often appears in desert places. We experience growth spurts of faith not when life is going smoothly, but when it's so out of control that only God can fix it.
The Lord is a strong anchor amidst life's storms. If He allows a crisis, He knows I am strong enough for it. As I've seen firsthand so many times, God won't allow anything that He hasn't prepared to ride out with me, provide for, and keep me strong through.
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Today, I am thankful that My Father never wastes a crisis. Instead, He uses them to deepen my relationship with Him and strengthen my ability to trust His plan. I'm amazed and humbled that He would choose me. I want to give Him praise and glory for Who He is and for what He has done in my life.
The past three days have been rough for me health wise. But once again God has proven faithful in lifting my spirits. Today, I received an email from the Christian website that I submitted my Christian quotes to. ALL OF THEM WERE PUBLISHED! THEY ALSO PUBLISHED THE LINK TO MY FAITH, FRIENDS, AND FRUIT LOOPS BLOG. God is ALWAYS faithful, ALWAYS good, and ALWAYS by my side! ♥
Read the email below:
Hi Dalinda,
Thank you for your three quotes. They are very good ones. They have now been added to our quotes page at:
www.hopecrc.ca/quotes.htm
I also included the link to your website. Scroll down the page a little until you get to the quotes. All the best.
In Him,
John
Remember that it is a privilege to serve God at all. Be willing to do even the most basic and unappealing job for Him. Be faithful even in the desert season. Because God's glory often appears in desert places. We experience growth spurts of faith not when life is going smoothly, but when it's so out of control that only God can fix it.
The Lord is a strong anchor amidst life's storms. If He allows a crisis, He knows I am strong enough for it. As I've seen firsthand so many times, God won't allow anything that He hasn't prepared to ride out with me, provide for, and keep me strong through.
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Thursday, November 15, 2012
With Less Of Myself, I See More Of God
My life....like yours is shaken to the core sometimes. But I know as long as I stay close to Jesus I will be okay. I am thankful for knowing that God is before me, behind me, and beside me and I NEVER have to fear.
God grants us with numerous miracles throughout our days. But all too often we continue to overlook them until something goes wrong with them. For me, things such as two eyes that behold the beauties of the world, and the defenses programmed into this body of mine that are working to ward off any invaders.
I didn't realize that I took these two things for granted until something went wrong with them. I have lost some vision in my right eye and my immune system, which is suppose to protect me from disease and infection, is now attacking healthy cells in my body by mistake. This is due to some kind of autoimmune disease. My rheumatologist is trying to figure out which one because there are over 80 different kinds.
God is teaching me so much in this school of affliction. Number one, don't take His blessings for granted. He is also teaching me that sometimes God builds your faith because what He has for you down the road is even more difficult. Kinda like you can't learn to multiply until you first learn to add.
Sometimes the crashing waves of your trials don't wash you away, but wash you alive. We all have different seasons in life. A full crop is made by ALL the seasons and the only way to have it all is by letting one season bring it's yield into the next. The seasons bring it all as He meant it to be. The only way to have it all....is to have Jesus--and like Him--give it all away.
With less of myself, I see more of God. There are thousands of ways to be stretched thin and it's the stretch marks that I wear that can be my thin places, giving me more of God.
At the bottom of my bad thing is a God who is there. God has given me tools that I need to win the battle. It is in the fight that I gain strength. The struggle makes me stronger. While I am struggling, God is strengthening me. I am becoming stronger for the next battle.
Going forward when the going gets tough is not a test of how tough you are but how strong your faith is. For He is the One who gives you strength to fight the battle. And there is only One power that can make us victors in the battle....JESUS!
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
God grants us with numerous miracles throughout our days. But all too often we continue to overlook them until something goes wrong with them. For me, things such as two eyes that behold the beauties of the world, and the defenses programmed into this body of mine that are working to ward off any invaders.
I didn't realize that I took these two things for granted until something went wrong with them. I have lost some vision in my right eye and my immune system, which is suppose to protect me from disease and infection, is now attacking healthy cells in my body by mistake. This is due to some kind of autoimmune disease. My rheumatologist is trying to figure out which one because there are over 80 different kinds.
God is teaching me so much in this school of affliction. Number one, don't take His blessings for granted. He is also teaching me that sometimes God builds your faith because what He has for you down the road is even more difficult. Kinda like you can't learn to multiply until you first learn to add.
Sometimes the crashing waves of your trials don't wash you away, but wash you alive. We all have different seasons in life. A full crop is made by ALL the seasons and the only way to have it all is by letting one season bring it's yield into the next. The seasons bring it all as He meant it to be. The only way to have it all....is to have Jesus--and like Him--give it all away.
With less of myself, I see more of God. There are thousands of ways to be stretched thin and it's the stretch marks that I wear that can be my thin places, giving me more of God.
At the bottom of my bad thing is a God who is there. God has given me tools that I need to win the battle. It is in the fight that I gain strength. The struggle makes me stronger. While I am struggling, God is strengthening me. I am becoming stronger for the next battle.
Going forward when the going gets tough is not a test of how tough you are but how strong your faith is. For He is the One who gives you strength to fight the battle. And there is only One power that can make us victors in the battle....JESUS!
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Faint Not! Fight On!
It matters not how the battle goes,
The day how long;
Faint not! Fight on!
Tomorrow comes the song.
God knows that you can withstand your trial, or else He would not have given it to you. His trust in you explains the trials of your life, no matter how severe they may be. God knows your strength, and He measures it to the last inch. Remember, no trial has ever been given to anyone that was greater than the person's strength, through God, to endure it.
Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to our faith. The very hardships you are enduring in your life today have been given to you by the Master, for the express purpose of enabling you to win your crown.
With all that being said, today has not been one of my better days. I am hurting more than usual and very itchy. I feel like someone attached me to a helium tank and blew me up....swelling is bad today. It's so hard to hurt like this and not know what is causing it. And on top of all that it is my Dad's birthday today. I miss him so much! But I am thankful that he is pain free and healed. I can see him now, dancing on the Streets of Gold with my Mom and singing praises at the top of his lungs to his precious Savior, Jesus.
The trials of life are sent to make us, not break us. Wherever He places me, he does so to strengthen my faith and power and to draw me into closer communion with Himself. And even if confined to a dungeon, my soul will prosper.
He will only do as much for us as we will allow Him to do in us. The same power that saved us, washed us with His blood, filled us with the power of His Holy Spirit, and protected us through numerous temptations will work for us to meet every emergency, every crisis, every circumstance, and every adversary. - The Alliance
How important it is for us to learn to pray through our circumstances and to fully examine our hearts with God's message to us! Otherwise, we will never claim all the fullness of His promise or all the possibilities that believing prayer offers. - A.B. Simpson
Never despair. Faint not! Fight on! God's time for mercy will come. Ask in faith without wavering, but never cease to petition the King simply because He has delayed His reply.
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
The day how long;
Faint not! Fight on!
Tomorrow comes the song.
God knows that you can withstand your trial, or else He would not have given it to you. His trust in you explains the trials of your life, no matter how severe they may be. God knows your strength, and He measures it to the last inch. Remember, no trial has ever been given to anyone that was greater than the person's strength, through God, to endure it.
Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to our faith. The very hardships you are enduring in your life today have been given to you by the Master, for the express purpose of enabling you to win your crown.
With all that being said, today has not been one of my better days. I am hurting more than usual and very itchy. I feel like someone attached me to a helium tank and blew me up....swelling is bad today. It's so hard to hurt like this and not know what is causing it. And on top of all that it is my Dad's birthday today. I miss him so much! But I am thankful that he is pain free and healed. I can see him now, dancing on the Streets of Gold with my Mom and singing praises at the top of his lungs to his precious Savior, Jesus.
The trials of life are sent to make us, not break us. Wherever He places me, he does so to strengthen my faith and power and to draw me into closer communion with Himself. And even if confined to a dungeon, my soul will prosper.
He will only do as much for us as we will allow Him to do in us. The same power that saved us, washed us with His blood, filled us with the power of His Holy Spirit, and protected us through numerous temptations will work for us to meet every emergency, every crisis, every circumstance, and every adversary. - The Alliance
How important it is for us to learn to pray through our circumstances and to fully examine our hearts with God's message to us! Otherwise, we will never claim all the fullness of His promise or all the possibilities that believing prayer offers. - A.B. Simpson
Never despair. Faint not! Fight on! God's time for mercy will come. Ask in faith without wavering, but never cease to petition the King simply because He has delayed His reply.
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
God Is Teaching Me To Glory In My Cross
The secret of knowing God's complete sufficiency is in coming to the end of everything in ourselves and our circumstances. It is then we will recognize these things as the necessary conditions for blessings. We will then turn from our circumstances to God, realizing they are the evidence of Him working in our lives. - A.B. Simpson
We ALL have crosses to bare. But do we make it a habit of thanking God for our struggles? We should! Yes, we thank God for all of our blessings, however, when carrying our cross we tend to look forward to the place where we will be rewarded for it, instead of thinking about our cross as a present glory itself.
2 Corinthians 12:10 says, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
When God desires to create more power in your life, He creates more friction. He uses this pressure to generate spiritual power. Some people cannot handle it, and run from the pressure instead of receiving the power and using it to rise above the painful experience that produced it.
Opposition is essential to maintaing true balance in our lives. It is not enough to only have a propelling force. We need an equal repelling force. The struggles we endure further our progress and strengthen our foundation.
There is no shortcut to a life of faith, which is an absolute necessity for a holy and victorious life.
Have you ever heard of anyone being used greatly by God who did not experience a special time of waiting, or a complete upset of his plans at first? Have you been looking forward to telling about trusting Jesus, but instead He is asking you to show what trust is, by waiting?
My own experience is far less severe than Paul's but reveals the same principle. I have been on a roller coaster ride of waiting. I have had medical tests after medical tests over the last seven months trying to get a diagnosis of all my health problems.
I believe you can force a rosebud open, but you will spoil the flower. Same principle here: God often withholds our enjoyment and awareness of our progress, because He knows best what will actually ripen and further His work in us.
Life has blinding cycles of its own -- but our God is always blazing glory. When my semblance of power is lacking, His perfect power is excelling. God doesn't need anything from me, He wants something for me.
I am thankful for being a vessel used daily by an almighty God who doesn't have to use me, but wants to use me. I am thankful for both the weights and the wings He produces. For both work together and they work for good. We experience real growth in grace as a result of our struggles being sanctified by Him.
For how can you know if you have faith, until your faith is exercised?
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
We ALL have crosses to bare. But do we make it a habit of thanking God for our struggles? We should! Yes, we thank God for all of our blessings, however, when carrying our cross we tend to look forward to the place where we will be rewarded for it, instead of thinking about our cross as a present glory itself.
2 Corinthians 12:10 says, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
When God desires to create more power in your life, He creates more friction. He uses this pressure to generate spiritual power. Some people cannot handle it, and run from the pressure instead of receiving the power and using it to rise above the painful experience that produced it.
Opposition is essential to maintaing true balance in our lives. It is not enough to only have a propelling force. We need an equal repelling force. The struggles we endure further our progress and strengthen our foundation.
There is no shortcut to a life of faith, which is an absolute necessity for a holy and victorious life.
Have you ever heard of anyone being used greatly by God who did not experience a special time of waiting, or a complete upset of his plans at first? Have you been looking forward to telling about trusting Jesus, but instead He is asking you to show what trust is, by waiting?
My own experience is far less severe than Paul's but reveals the same principle. I have been on a roller coaster ride of waiting. I have had medical tests after medical tests over the last seven months trying to get a diagnosis of all my health problems.
I believe you can force a rosebud open, but you will spoil the flower. Same principle here: God often withholds our enjoyment and awareness of our progress, because He knows best what will actually ripen and further His work in us.
Life has blinding cycles of its own -- but our God is always blazing glory. When my semblance of power is lacking, His perfect power is excelling. God doesn't need anything from me, He wants something for me.
I am thankful for being a vessel used daily by an almighty God who doesn't have to use me, but wants to use me. I am thankful for both the weights and the wings He produces. For both work together and they work for good. We experience real growth in grace as a result of our struggles being sanctified by Him.
For how can you know if you have faith, until your faith is exercised?
Blessings,
Dalinda
If you are on Facebook, please like my page at http://www.facebook.com/faithfriendsandfruitloops
Monday, November 12, 2012
God Sees What People Cannot
God is at work behind the scenes.
God never sends you where He's never been.
Proverbs 16:9 says, "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."
God never wants us to live by our feelings. He wants us to face the facts, not feelings. He wants us to face the facts of Christ and His finished and perfect work for us. And once we face these precious facts, and believe them simply because God says they are facts, He will take care of our feelings.
If you will tend to God's business, He will tend to yours. - Joyce Meyer
For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
God will not accommodate our doubt by bending His promises. Our disbelief doesn't affect Him, it affects us. The promises are already ours, we just have to claim them.
I want all that God has for me, but what if that includes questions, mountains to climb, and uncertainty at times? Do you still sign up? Do you? For me, the answer is yes.
But how often do we charge off in one direction without stopping to see if we are following in His footsteps?
Following Christ is one of the most amazing and rewarding steps of faith we can take, but with the understanding that God leads us out of our comfort zone, and that destiny and purpose rarely waltz with comfort.
Choosing to follow the will of God is the most important choice we will ever make! It's less about what we feel and more about partnering with Him to discover what's out there that we can't see yet....an adventure marked with our name in God's handwriting.
Trusting God is not always easy, but I make the choice to trust Him no matter the outcome in this life. He NEVER stops being faithful no matter how bad it gets. Even when my path leads into the storm, I will follow.
God 's love is greater, bigger, more far-reaching than our trial. So trust Him and never push away the instrument He is using, or you will miss the result of His work in your life.
God's will is the most hopeful, pleasant, and glorious thing in the world because He is always with us.
Blessings,
Dalinda
God never sends you where He's never been.
Proverbs 16:9 says, "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."
God never wants us to live by our feelings. He wants us to face the facts, not feelings. He wants us to face the facts of Christ and His finished and perfect work for us. And once we face these precious facts, and believe them simply because God says they are facts, He will take care of our feelings.
If you will tend to God's business, He will tend to yours. - Joyce Meyer
For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
God will not accommodate our doubt by bending His promises. Our disbelief doesn't affect Him, it affects us. The promises are already ours, we just have to claim them.
I want all that God has for me, but what if that includes questions, mountains to climb, and uncertainty at times? Do you still sign up? Do you? For me, the answer is yes.
But how often do we charge off in one direction without stopping to see if we are following in His footsteps?
Following Christ is one of the most amazing and rewarding steps of faith we can take, but with the understanding that God leads us out of our comfort zone, and that destiny and purpose rarely waltz with comfort.
Choosing to follow the will of God is the most important choice we will ever make! It's less about what we feel and more about partnering with Him to discover what's out there that we can't see yet....an adventure marked with our name in God's handwriting.
Trusting God is not always easy, but I make the choice to trust Him no matter the outcome in this life. He NEVER stops being faithful no matter how bad it gets. Even when my path leads into the storm, I will follow.
God 's love is greater, bigger, more far-reaching than our trial. So trust Him and never push away the instrument He is using, or you will miss the result of His work in your life.
God's will is the most hopeful, pleasant, and glorious thing in the world because He is always with us.
Blessings,
Dalinda
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