December Devotionals

I must start off by saying, I have decided that I do not like devotionals that have specific days listed.  We went on a trip for my birthday mid-December and I got behind on my reading, because I can NOT read in the car.  And I didn't feel like I got as much out of these as I should have.  And I finished a day ahead of schedule, because I know that tomorrow is going to be impossible.  

Also, I haven't developed a "morning" routine yet.  As I'm not a morning person, I usually sleep until the last second before I have to rush the kids to get them to school, and then do the gym before coming home.  I know I should spend time with God first, and I do speak to Him first on most mornings, and I read my daily plans on YouVersion before getting out of bed. But going to my study and sitting down with devotionals doesn't happen until I return home from my morning activities.  

That being said, I did enjoy these devotions very much and would like to share some of them with you. 

Christmas Joy ~ A Devotional ~ Mel Lawrenze

This one was recommended to me by one of my "study" emails that I get daily.  I ordered it from Amazon.  (Of course)  There are 25 articles in this devotional.  And though it doesn't specify a specific day, I felt that the 25 were for each of the days Dec 1-25, so it did get frustrating to my OCD when I got behind.  I loved each and every article in this devotional, and plan to read it again next December!

Praying the Armor of God ~ Rick Stedman

Oddly enough I picked this book up at the grocery store.  I had done an extensive study on this one a couple of times by another author and thought I'd check this one out to see how it compared.  This study breaks the Armor down into pieces and focuses on one piece each day.  Then it repeats.  There are 10 weeks of different prayers for each piece.  Room to start over when your done.  I really like this books layout, and though I'm not sure I just want to focus on "ONE" part each day, I do like the repetitiveness of it, so that you get it "IN" your head!  I plan to use this one many times!

A Season of Miracles ~ Janet Denison

This devotional was given to us by our church.  It starts with the 1st Sunday of Advent.  I absolutely loved the content of this daily inspiration!  Some of the stories I laughed, some of them I cried, some of them made me sad, glad and/or mad.  I recommend this one completely, for everyone.  The only negative that I have, for me to read it again, I would have to overlook the days at the top of the page.  And most of you will think that is trivial, and nonsense that it would bother me, but I can't help it.

A Season of Miracles:  worth reading over and over!!!!

Well guys, that's it for me, probably for the year!  Got busy busy stuff tomorrow through next week.  So I'll tell you, Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!!! and I love you, each and every one of you!

Shalom!

God... On Facebook?

Is God in Social Media?

First let me tell you a little about me.  I grew up in a Protestant family, that did not attend church.  I went to VBS once or twice as a kid.  Drug my mother to a Southern Baptist church as a teen couple of times.  Did get baptize. Tried a couple of other churches along the way, really felt that if God existed, that He didn’t exist for me.  I think they call that Agnostic. 

I divorced my 2^nd husband on a Tuesday, and found myself in church the following Sunday.  I went in the morning, and knew that I would keep going, even though I got very little out of it, I had a sense that I needed to be there.  That evening I returned, there was not message, just music, and some quiet time.  During the quiet time, I sat in church in tears, and asked God, “Did I do the right thing for my kids? Did I do the right thing for me? Are you (God) and I ok?”

Yes, I know, I didn’t get an answer.  I didn’t really expect one. 

This church was an old church, made out of a lot of concrete and bricks.  As such, there was no cell signal inside of it.  As I walk out of the building that evening, my phone blinged.  That telltale sound of a Facebook message.  I think to myself “Just what I need”.  Stick my phone back in my pocket, I’ll check it when I get home. 

The message I got: “Hi Janice, I don’t know you but I was just heading for bed when I thought I’d check my Facebook before going to sleep.  I really felt God tell me to look up your name and he pointed you out as soon as all the Janice Rogers came up, he put it on my heart to tell you that he REALLY loves you and is so proud of you and wants you to be happy and joyful.  I hope this isn’t weird to you, I don’t know if you are a follower of Jesus, but I truly believe that he uses us to encourage and reach other people and I really felt like I needed to tell you this.  I don’t normally leave people I don’t know, random messages like this on Facebook.  Again, I don’t know you, but we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  Please let me know if this meant something to you and sorry is this seems totally strange. – Duncan”

Well, I must tell you, THAT changed my life.  At that point in time, I spent a lot of time on Facebook, it was “new” and “shiny” and I was meeting people through games from all over the world.  And God chose to use THAT to reach me.  Not only did He use Facebook, but He used Duncan from Edinburgh, United Kingdom to reach out to me, to answer my questions!  So, absolutely, God uses social media, and anything else that He can to reach you, YOU just have to be open to it. 

Random Little TidBits 12/16/2015

Tidbit #1  

Oh, I do love my random little bits!!!  I am reading so many things right now, I can't seem to complete any of them so that I can update you guys more completely.  I did finish Handbook for Christian Maturity by Bill Bright.  I do think overall it was very much worth going through that study.  I think that it was a bit tedious at times.  I bit "elementary" at times.  But all in all, a GREAT experience going through the study.  Granted the last two steps we went through at an accelerated pace.  I recommend doing this study in "chunks".  Do a couple of steps.  Then do something else.  Do not go in with the idea that you'll do it all, then something else.  It would have been even better had we done this in 10 individual steps, rather than as one.

Tidbit #2

I know that I am a little late, but I do hope that everyone had a great Hanukkah!

Tidbit #3

I shared this with a lady on Facebook yesterday, but think that all of you need to hear it.  When I was 27 I had just divorced my first husband, and I wallowed in depression for a long time.  I had my gall bladder taken out shortly there after, and it took me a bit to recover from that, so the depression worsened.  I was alone in a trailer out in the middle of nowhere.  So far from anyone, that no-one regularly checked on me.  The lack of interaction with "friends" really did a number on me.  

One day, I was looking in the mirror, and I said to myself, "You don't even like yourself how can you expect anyone else to like you"...  

That is when my life changed.  Over the course weeks, months, maybe even years, I worked on being someone that I would like.  It took me a while, and a lot of God's help, but I like me.  And with that process came the realization that I am a wonderful and amazing person.  And those who can't see that, well, it's okay.  They are the ones missing out.  You know, if you like yourself, there are others out there that will like you also.  And there is no reason whatsoever to chase after, beg, plead, or bribe someone to spend time with you.  

Not everyone will love us, but those that do, are the ones that God has put in your life, and they are the true friends that will love us for who we are, not for what they can get from us.  

Be your own best friend first!

Tidbit #4  

      I am getting into ceramics.  My first project is a series of 13 crosses.  This is the first and largest in this series.  After the first of the year I plan to sell them.  They are all handcrafted by myself.  They can be done in any color combination you choose.

Tidbit #5

Four Spiritual Laws

Law One:  God LOVES you and has a wonderful PLAN for your life. 

Law Two:  Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God.  Thus he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. 

Law Three:  Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin.  Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. 

Law Four:  We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. 

IF you do NOT know the love of Jesus, and would like to talk more, contact me at jrpodgurski27@gmail.com

Tidbit #6:  The Meme Corner