Month: January 2018

Posted in Encouragements, Journal, Journals, Junk Journals, memories, memory keeping, Miscellaneous, organization

Weekly Verses…

Posted on by JosephinesDesigns.com

Monday
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not  self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Love does not focus on me, but on others.  Each of these qualities of love is based upon an affectionate, compassionate, and forgiving attitude that regards others of value and not just self.  No wonder the old saying goes “The middle of sIn is a big I!”
MY PRAYER…
Holy God and Sacrificial Father, teach me to notice others and value them just as you do. I know you loved me when I was not lovable, and redeemed me when I was not worthy.  Help me to take my eyes off myself and see others as you see them. Through Jesus I pray.  Amen.
Tuesday
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Always love – pretty tall order and pretty tough stuff. Only God is “always.”  But then Christians are fueled to a
always love through the Holy Spirit!  Check out the promised source of “always” love in Romans 5:5.
MY PRAYER…
Sweet and Glorious God on High, I humble myself before you, recognizing your boundless power to love, the incredible need for love in the lives of those around me, and my limited ability to love.  Please pour your Holy Spirit into my heart and fill me with the power to love as you do, always.  In Jesus’ sweet name I pray.  Amen.
Wednesday
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Did you know the Bible doesn’t just say, “God loves you?” Now don’t let me confuse you, it does say God loves us many times, but each time it does, it shows us that love as well. God loved us so much time he didn’t just say I love you with a valentine, he showed he loved us by sending his Son!
MY PRAYER…
Loving and almighty God, thank you for loving me.  Thank you for both saying it and showing it.  Please know, dear Father, I love you, too! Accept my words and actions today as a testimony to my love.  Through Jesus I pray.  Amen.
Thursday
A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you , so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:34-35
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
How do you recognize Jesus’ followers?  How do you find Christians?  Jesus said they love each other just as he loved the disciples. In the immediate context, this means he is willing to give sacrificially and extravagantly by dying for them on the cross, and he is also willing to love selflessly and practically by washing their feet. His ministry reveals he also will do almost anything in between extravagant and practical. Imagine if we all read the Gospels, and committed to love each other in the same way Jesus showed his love to his disciples!
MY PRAYER…
Father of Compassion and God of all grace, I thank you for teaching me to love through the example of Jesus.  May my words and actions reflect some resemblance of his love toward your people today.  Through Christ, my Great Example, I pray.  Amen.
Friday
This is love:  not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:10
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
He loved us first!  He offered his Son to save us regardless of our decision to believe or ignore his grace.  We are given the ability to accept or reject the death of his Son as the sacrifice for our sins.  The only condition, as 1 John 2:1-2 emphasizes, is that we realize that he died for everyone else in the world, too!
MY PRAYER…
Precious King, God Almighty, why you should love me and send Jesus to die for me I will never fully understand.  Thank you for your love. Thank you for your sacrifice for my sins. Thank you, Jesus, for coming to save me.  I pray in your name and by your intercession.  Amen.
Saturday
This is the message you heard from the beginning:  We should love one another.
1 John 3:11
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
The original message – love one another.  The enduring message – love one another.  The most convicting message – love one another.  The most difficult message – love one another. I’m reminded of the little verse:  To dwell above with saints we love, O that will be glory. But to dwell below with saints we know, now that’s another story.  But it’s the story we’re called to write!
MY PRAYER…
Loving Father, I commit to you that I will intentionally show my love for your children this week in what I do and say. I do this, trusting your grace to empower me to do more than I would do on my own.  Through Jesus my Savior I pray.  Amen.
Sunday
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:35-37
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Conquerors! We win!!  When you open up the final book of the Bible, Revelation, that is the message – Christians win because Jesus is the one true conqueror.  No matter how the battle is going for you right now, remember that in the end, we win!
MY PRAYER…
El Shaddai, God Almighty, thank you for securing the ultimate victory for me by raising Jesus from the dead.  I know he is coming with victory on the day you have determined, but I pray that I may live victoriously for you until that day. Through Jesus my conquering King I pray.  Amen.
Devotional Credit: Oneplace.com
Posted in Encouragements, Journal, Journals, memories, memory keeping, Miscellaneous

Weekly Verses…

Posted on by JosephinesDesigns.com
Monday
Do not be deceived:   God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Galatians 6:7-8, New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Isn’t it incredible how huge trees grow out of tiny seeds! This principle runs throughout all of life.  We can never completely get away from the seeds we sow.  So let’s not fool ourselves while we’re trying to do a “snow job” on God.  Let’s make sure the seeds we sow are the ones we want sprouting up!
MY PRAYER…
O Eternal God, who lived before time began and who will be the Great I AM when time is no more, bless the seeds my life sows so they may bear fruit and bless those I love.  Through Jesus, the grain of wheat who died and was buried so that life may flower forth.  Amen.
Tuesday
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Ask!  So often we’re afraid to ask for help because we have to admit we don’t have the answers.  Seek!  Effort and interest and perseverance are necessary and that’s sometimes hard. Knock! But God wants us to use the A.S.K. principle and bring our hearts before him. So let’s not whine, complain, desire, and want.  Let’s A.S.K. our Father and seek his glory.
MY PRAYER…
Waiting Father, I am sorry that so often you hear only my whines, complaints, and concerns.  You have been so generous with your love.  Help me to keep my heart set on you and your will today as I ask you to minister to the things on my heart. Through Jesus I pray.  Amen.
Wednesday
If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Wisdom is that illusive quality we respect in others and find so difficult to develop in ourselves.  Yet God promises it to those who really ask.  But remember the secret of ASKing –asking, seeking, and knocking.       Or better yet, check out Proverbs 2.  Wisdom is ours only if we seek it above all other possessions and value it above all other diversions.  God longs to impart it, but there is something about wisdom that demands we  value it before we can receive it.
MY PRAYER…
Gracious giver of all good gifts, please bless me with wisdom today.  Let me reflect your will and live for your glory in all my decisions.  Let your Kingdom guide my heart as I make my choices and have your Spirit lead me in your ways.  I confess, Father, that I cannot guide my own steps without your help.  So grant me wisdom this day.  I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Thursday
If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
Galatians 6:1
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
In a day when intervening in someone’s life is no longer politically and socially correct, these verses ring out like a gunshot on a still night.  Sin is still real and is just as deadly as ever.  Yet because we fear being branded judgmental, we let many who are trapped by sin go to their spiritual death.  The call is for nonjudgmental intervention — we recognize the gravity of the sin and the need of the sinner, without feeling arrogant in our righteousness.       “There but for the grace of God go I.”
MY PRAYER…
Father, forgive my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me.  But Father, also help my heart to be gripped by the gravity of sin’s effects and to be stirred into action by those whom it has trapped.  Through Jesus, who came to rescue me from my sin, I pray.  Amen
Friday
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable –if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
Philippians 4:8New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Our actions follow our thoughts like a heat-seeking missile follows the exhaust of a jet fighter’s engine.      So in a day when so much around us trains us to find the negative in life, we must aggressively think and pursue the character, the qualities, and the things of God’s goodness.
MY PRAYER…
Holy and Magnificent God, thank you for being better than anything my world can offer me.  Thank you for calling me to a higher standard than the world accepts.  Thank you for giving me the promise of a better future than any human can imagine. Thank you for giving me a high calling. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
Saturday
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
–-James 4:10
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Humble yourselves.  That sounds obscene.  At least to the culture of self-promotion and “get ahead at all cost” and “don’t look back, the competition is gaining on you” it sounds obscene.  Humility is a forgotten virtue.  Often confused with weakness or timidity, humility is about knowing our proper place in the world without flaunting it.  Only God can exalt in a permanent way, so the key is to know our place before him and let him put us in the place he chooses to honor him.
MY PRAYER…
Abba Father, Most Holy God, thank you for allowing me into your presence. When I think of all that you have done, the incredible universe you have made and hold together by your word, I am amazed you invite me into your presence and care about my words.  Thank you for knowing me and having a plan for my life to please you. Help me this day to glorify you in what I do.  Through Jesus I pray.  Amen.
Sunday
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:12-13
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE..
How often do you forget that we are in a spiritual war?  Our enemy is deceptively cunning – take away the immediacy of a threat and the danger appears gone.  But he’s there, always. But rather than try to guess his plans and counter all of his moves, Paul reminds us to simply take up the tools God has given us and stand up to the evil one.
MY PRAYER…
Lord of Hosts, my Great Deliverer, protect me from the evil one by your great power.  Give me a sense of urgency as I face Satan and his schemes on a daily basis, but also give me confidence that Jesus has already defeated my foe.  Help me to stand against this foe and show myself faithful to you. Through Jesus my Lord and Savior I pray.  Amen.
Devotional credit: Oneplace.com