Psalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.

Consider that, in the North East, we can see about 1000 stars on a clear night. In other parts of the world perhaps 3000 or more can be seen with the naked eye. Yet – there are billions upon billions of stars and massive numbers of galaxies – far beyond our finite brain’s ability to contemplate or comprehend – and our God counts the numbers of the stars and calls them each by name. He doesn’t confuse their placement or their names – ever. God has NEVER nor will He EVER have a lapse of memory.

He is near and He is far. His presence is equally at the farthest star in the farthest galaxy that we have not even yet discovered (can’t grasp that) and His presence is equally right here with us in our homes and in our automobiles and in our hearts (can’t quite grasp that either).

That thought today raises my heart to praise our amazing God. I hope it does yours too.

Blessings, Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the Development and Addiction Recovery teams at America’s Keswick. In addition to being a Biblical Counselor, she is a Women’s speaker for retreats, conferences and events. She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. She has been married to her husband John over 28 years. She has 2 adult children, 4 grandchildren, 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all. She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.

Prov. 15:3 “the eyes of The Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

At any given moment, God, You see everything in totality, instantaneously. You see all the good in that moment, and simultaneously You see all the evil actions and all the evil intentions all at the same time but it does not consume You. You remain the same yesterday, today and forever.

Food for thought today.

Blessings, Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the Development and Addiction Recovery teams at America’s Keswick. In addition to being a Biblical Counselor, she is a Women’s speaker for retreats, conferences and events. She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. She has been married to her husband John over 28 years. She has 2 adult children, 4 grandchildren, 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all. She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.

“These things I have spoken to you that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  (John 15:11-12)

If we were asked to identify the things that have slowly robbed us of our joy, what would they be?  Would it be a single moment of crisis, or a steady accumulation of life’s daily mishaps?  You know — the in-law who never has a kind word.  Or the child spoiled by indulgence, who is rarely satisfied?  Perhaps, it’s a chronically sick parent for whom you are the primary care-giver?  Maybe it’s the weight of legalism that so dictates your every step that your joy is stifled?  You’ve held back for so long, there’s no memory of what joy looks, feels, smells or tastes like.  Have you ever bitten into a perfect apple?  As soon as you bit it you knew “this is good”! Remember how it felt to enjoy that apple?!  Yummy! At the mere memory I can taste and feel the joy.

Bottom line, our lack of joy could simply be that we have forgotten the most important commandments –“to love God with all your passion prayer, muscle and intelligence and to love your neighbor as well as you do yourself” (Luke 10:27 The Message).

Think back to the day of your salvation.  Remember when you first realized that the Creator of everything that is saw you from eternity past, sent Himself in the form of His Son and died a violent death to secure your very soul for His good pleasure?  Do you recall the tangible awareness of unspeakable love?

Oh that we would pause and ponder that Love.  We are so loved by God! His love is so deep, wide and broad it flows out of us, into the lives of others.  When is the last time you looked in the mirror and knew the person looking back had more right to joy than a body can stand?

Lord, You called, equipped and entrusted us with so marvelous a gift.  May we, on purpose, choose to unwrap it and allow it to express itself as a light in our eyes, pep to our step, and warmth in our embraces, so that Jesus, the Light of the world, may be seen in us.

 

Stephanie Paul

Stephanie serves as part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Director of Women’s Addiction Ministry. She has been married for almost 30 years to Sesky Paul who is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. Stephanie serves alongside him as Care Group leaders in their church. Her single focus in ministry at Keswick is to image Christ in grace and truth to wounded and hurting women, encouraging them to make Jesus the truest Lover of their soul and the One in whom all hope lies.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me,” (Acts 20:24)

How is that for a depressing statement? Hold on, because it is really the most glorious statement for a Christian. Prior to this statement Paul said… “I served the Lord with great humility…” (Acts 20:19) Humility is marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.

As Christians we often talk about being humble, we describe others as humble and we are satisfied with humble actions to certify us as humble. Humility lies deeper within than what we do on the surface or in action. Are you humble of heart; is your attitude within humble? In Matthew 11:29 Jesus tells us that He is “humble of heart.” The writer of Proverbs describes this attitude versus action when he writes “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart” (Proverbs 21:2). God points out throughout scripture that those who exalt themselves He will humble (Isaiah 26:5, Proverbs 18:12).

Paul’s statement then should be the focus of our daily walk: more of Him and less of me. When we begin to live the heart of humility above the show of humility God brings abundant blessings into our life. If we exalt self, externally or internally, He will humble. If we humble ourselves like Christ humbled Himself, He will exalt (Matthew 23:12).

The next time you contemplate doing something that others would view as a humble act, question yourself: is it about you or Christ? God will not tolerate self-proclaimed humility – but He will lift up those who are humble of heart like Christ (1 Peter 5:5-6). As Christians, if we want growth and maturity, we need to develop His heart attitude. By doing so God will guide (Psalm 25:9), honor (Proverbs. 15:33), bestow wisdom and understanding (James 3:13), and give unending grace (James 4:5-7).

Can you say with Paul “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me ~ the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

Dr. Lynne Jahns
Christian Counselor/Director of Barbara’s Place

“When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to you, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” (Psalm 27:8)

God creates relational needs in our life custom-designed for Him to fill. Unfortunately, we tend to look in all the wrong places to have that emptiness filled. Perhaps we look to a friend, our children, or our spouse. We long for intimacy. We desire to be loved, understood, appreciated, and to connect perfectly with another. We want a soul-mate. When we believe an individual “should” meet our desire for intimacy and they do not, we may respond with disappointment, anger, discontentment, withdrawal or perhaps we press harder to get our desires met through them. God does not allow others to meet all of our needs. Yes, they may fulfill some, but if they are able to meet all of our needs, we would stop searching for that Soul-mate. In reality, Jesus alone is our Soul-mate. If we listen closely, we can almost hear Him say, “That intimacy that you crave with another, is what I want with you.” Jesus desires intimate fellowship with us. Our relationship with Jesus is two-way. Jesus knows that as we seek His face, we will long to be with Him. Intimacy grows out of time spent together.

It may seem a bit foreign to consider what intimacy with Jesus looks like in a practical sense. Often we do not experience Him in the practical things of life simply because we do not expect Him to do such things. “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5). He will be as real and intimate to us as we allow Him to be. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).

We look to Jesus for a personal, intimate relationship. He is our only Soul-mate. He loves, understands, and appreciates each of us. When we hear Him say, “Seek My face,” we shall seek His face with all our heart.

Diane Hunt

Diane Hunt is part of the Development and Addiction Recovery teams at America’s Keswick. In addition to being a Biblical Counselor, she is a Women’s speaker for retreats, conferences and events. She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. She has been married to her husband John over 28 years. She has 2 adult children, 3 grandchildren, 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all. She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.

 

 

 

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Ephesians 5:22a/b
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church… so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Hum….Serve where you are …..what does this mean to all of us? The last devotional, in Part I, we talked about serving others but today we need to think about serving our family.

Ok….I work in full-time Christian work, and I serve at church, I serve in my community, I serve others all the time….but….wait…..oh dear, who did I forget to serve today? Yes, my family…I have 3 children and a husband, not to say parents, sisters etc….that could use my help from time to time.

How many of us have witnessed a “PK” (preacher’s kid) or a family whose parents serve so faithfully at church and their kids are going in the wrong direction. Why is this? We forget that, after making sure that we ourselves are right with the Lord, the next person to serve is our family!

We need to establish our hearts as found in James, to make sure that we have sent guidelines for ourselves to serve our family. It is hard for me to remember that my children are my brothers and sisters in the Lord, too. So is my husband… my brother in the Lord. The Lord clearly talks about how we are to train up our children, and to love and meet the needs of our husbands.

We all have a plate full in different ways. If we sat today together and discussed…”but you don’t know where I am coming from”, or “you don’t understand my situation”….we could be here all day. No, I don’t walk in your shoes and you don’t walk in mine. The Bible is very clear though on what our responsibilities are and what we need to be doing.

Train up a child in the way he should go, is very clear. This means on the good days and bad….an average child or special needs. We are to love our husbands and submit to them on the good days and bad, when we feel like it and, yes, when we don’t.

All of our service should be done going boldly to the throne first and asking for HIS guidance and leading on how to serve. No matter whom the Lord puts in our path to serve….in serving them….we ultimately are serving the KING of KINGS!!

Lynn Wilson

Lynn Wilson a wife and a mother of two. Currently on Staff at America’s Keswick for the past 20 years. She has been involved in her local church in women’s ministries as well as speaking for other churches and retreats. Her mission statement would be to…touch one life so in turn they can touch a life for eternity. Her greatest joy is to go home at the end of her work day and spend time with her family and enjoy her first ministry which is being a wife and mother.

1 Samuel 12:24
Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

I am a people watcher….I love to watch them and how they react, or how they respond, or just watch their body language. Normally I can quickly come to a keen observation about what is happening without words ever being spoken. This is a gift and I can use this for the good of His work. Let me explain…

I work in full-time Christian work, I am actively involved at church in ministry, and I serve my family at home and also try to be involved in local community events. By doing all of this I watch people, I watch for what they need, I watch and listen (sometimes in quiet) to what they are asking for or telling me what they need.

Have you ever sat in a crowded church service and felt alone? Do you ever sit by the phone and wait for a call? Do you ever wish that you would be the one they asked to come along?

Well, I am going to turn this around today……stop sitting, stop waiting, stop wondering and get up and start doing and moving!!!

We are women of the year 2014 and have so many advantages before us with the use of technology, resources, transportation, cell phones and much more. Why are you sitting there waiting for something to happen?

The Lord clearly gives us the gift of Salvation for free and, not that we have to pay him back, yet when our heart is filled with the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a transformation and we should want to serve Him!!! How can you not want to give something back to Him?? How can you just sit there and be complacent and/or complain that no one is serving you?
I am a firm believer in “Serving Where you are.” What does this mean? If you have a phone – start a prayer phone ministry; if you like to craft – start a craft night of crafts and encouragement; if you cut hair – offer your services to those you need help; do you have a coffee pot? – offer a cup to someone who needs a friend. You don’t need to be a prayer warrior, a preacher etc…. For example, as I was typing this devotional, our phone rang and it was someone from church. He called to check up on us, and then prayed with us over the phone and wanted us to know that he loved our family. How cool is that!!

Get up, move forward and get out there and “SERVE WHERE YOU ARE”!!!

Lynn Wilson

Lynn Wilson a wife and a mother of two. Currently on Staff at America’s Keswick for the past 20 years. She has been involved in her local church in women’s ministries as well as speaking for other churches and retreats. Her mission statement would be to…touch one life so in turn they can touch a life for eternity. Her greatest joy is to go home at the end of her work day and spend time with her family and enjoy her first ministry which is being a wife and mother.

http://www.americaskeswick.org/christian-events/special-events/anniversary-banquets

Arrogance invites Trouble
Who is like the Wise?

Ecclesiates Chapter 8

Contrasts – The Wise verses The Arrogance:

Contrast # 1
Arrogances says, “I don’t have to listen to you”
Wisdom says, “I will learn to live under authority”

Verse 5 – Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.

Contrast # 2
Arrogance says, “I’m in control”
Wisdom says, “There is something I can’t control”

Verse 7 – For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?

Thoughts to ponder:
We can’t control the future;
We have no power over the power of death;
Can’t control wickedness;
Arrogance invites disaster!

Contrast # 3
Arrogance says, “I can get away with it”
Wisdom says, “I fear God”

Verse 10 – Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.
Verse 11 – Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Those who fear God will do well!

Contrast # 4
Arrogance says, “I demand answers”
Wisdom says, “I Trust God”

There are mysteries of this life that we don’t understand, But, God can be trusted. God proved His love for us once and for all – He sent Jesus! John 3:16

Thoughts to ponder:
Quit demanding answers;
Let God be God and Trust Him;
Thrive under authority!

“The Weaver” by Grant Colfax Tular
My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.
For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the under side.
Sometimes He weaves in sorrow,
Which seems so strange to me;
But I will trust His judgment
And work on faithfully.
‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,
And He knows what is best;
So I shall weave in earnest,
And leave to Him the rest.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

This Victory Call is from a sermon by my pastor recently.

In all honesty I can find myself being arrogant at times. I can do it; I can control it; etc.
But God is the one who controls the universe and He is surely worthy to be trusted.

As I grow in Christ it doesn’t take me long to realize “this is arrogant and it is not trusting God”!

Blessings,
Pat Spies
A servant of God and a friend of Keswick

These days as we navigate caring for our beloved daughter, there isn’t much in the way of encouragement that helps my husband, son and I more than the truths about God that we can read, glean and allow the Spirit to imbed deep within our soul and spirit.

For example, when I’m down and weary… I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. ~~Philippians 4:13, Isaiah 40:29, Isaiah 40:31, Ephesians 6:10

I can cry out to Him…
My soul is weary with sorrow, strengthen me according to Your word. O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. ~~Psalm 119:28, Isaiah 33:2

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. The LORD is my strength and my song, He has become my salvation. ~~Psalm 46:1; 22:19; 28:7-8; 118:14.

Dear ones, these verses are a mere drop in the bucket of all that is available to speak deeply to our souls and spirits. I hope today has been a whetting for a thirsty soul that may have forgotten the One Who is the Source of all strength…God and God alone!!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
~~2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Habakkuk 3:19

Stephanie Paul

Stephanie serves as part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Director of Women of Character. She has been married for over 30 years to Sesky Paul who is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. They have two grown children.
Her single focus in ministry at Keswick is to image Christ in grace and truth to wounded and hurting women, encouraging them to make Jesus the truest Lover of their soul and the One in whom all hope lies.

http://www.americaskeswick.org/christian-events/special-events/anniversary-banquets

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Now take a minute to think about a roaring lion. I must admit that they are beautiful creatures, as long as they remain at a distance. I sure would ask a few questions about safety if I ever were able to go on an African safari – like, how close do we get to lions and tigers?

While visiting the zoo, I have had the opportunity to see a lion “devour” its lunch and it’s not a pretty site. Those strong claws, jaws and teeth literally rip the meat to pieces and then devour it quickly. I have never seen a man attacked by a lion, but I must imagine that the lion shows no mercy to its intended victim as it mauls him.

Maul – what a terrible word. But that is the picture Peter is painting as he describes how Satan attacks us in our Christian lives. I had a dear friend, now in heaven, who used to say that if we REALLY believed that Satan was roaring after us to literally devour us we would RUN FOR OUR LIVES! Not sort of skirt around the edges of an issue, a sin, a relationship requiring God’s working. Not skirting — but RUNNING as if our very life depended on it. It does.

Put into that context, my failure to deal with something in my life, or allowing Satan to get even a tiny step into my life, sets the stage for him to devour my spiritual life, my growth in God’s Word, my fellowship with God – everything. Because once he gets a grasp on you – even a little grasp – you’re done for.

So as you think of Satan as a “roaring lion,” make sure you are running from him and his snares as fast as you can right into the arms of the only One who can save us and keep us from being devoured.

Lord Jesus, thank you that You alone can save and protect me – us – from what Satan would try to do to us every day of our lives. Thank you for being our faithful source of salvation and protection.

Lynn Randall

Lynn Randall is the Director of Human Resources at America’s Keswick. She is active in her church and is a gifted planner and organizer. She has a real heart for people as evidenced by her care, concern and practical encouragement.

http://www.americaskeswick.org/christian-events/special-events/anniversary-banquets