Broken Together.....Casting Crowns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhxELo-uD3c

 

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” I can’t stress this enough!! Stand for what is right in your house and the devil will flee. If you don’t, get used to living with him because you are fearing him more than standing for God and what is right under your roof! You will live in disharmony a long time until you do. Trust me, I know.

 

As I grow older and look at my husband, I am so thankful to God for holding us together. Through many ups and downs, and many small separations, it’s ending up to be what I always dreamed of. I thank God that He took the spirit of fear away from me so I could stand for what was right in our home and what a marriage should be. Only God can change our minds. I can tell you, if a spouse doesn’t put forth an effort, it is extremely hard to hold on. 2 Corinthians 12:9, But with the promised grace of God, and the Holy Spirit guiding your every move, you will know what to do.

 

It is very hard to watch this video without it bringing tears to my eyes and an ache in my heart for anyone whose dreams have been shattered of what they always dreamed their marriage would be. So many people who are broken to pieces over something that is going to take more than just promises this time. Secrets have been exposed in the light. Could healing be spoken and save a marriage? Yes, but the only way is to be broken together. Psalm 147: 3, He heals the broken hearted and bandages  their wounds.”

 

I look at this old man in the video sitting at the table and think of my pop. My mom and dad will be 60 years married this April, but, ONLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD!! Talk about hard times, oh boy did they. But the battle was won, the race was run, and they made it through their dark nights. Not many today will run as long as they did because it’s easier to call it quits. Satan tries to destroy anything that belongs to God. Divorce, and all the destruction it does, including to the children, is what he loves to go after. He wants to destroy it from generation to generation if he could. But God being ALMIGHTY and TRUE, has given us His promises. One of my favorites that I have witnessed with my mom and dad and myself personally is, Joel 2:25, “I will restore to you the years the locust has eaten.” Now I’m not saying how long it will take, but I believe that nothing is too hard for God. It’s just a matter of if we want to wait on His timing. For my mom and dad, it is now, in the very later years of their lives together. For me, it is now after 30 years together.  It was all worth the wait just to know God more and more, and that His promises are true in His time not ours.

 

In relationships, and a world that is falling apart, there is something I don’t understand. If you’ve found hope in Jesus, and felt the power of God that won the battle of salvation over your soul, and you now feel the freedom that has brought you to life, why wouldn’t you think, the one that you think is impossible to save, is possible with the same God that won you? (Selah) The grace of Jesus Christ makes me want to scream till everyone hears. “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!”

 

Remember, 1 Corinthians 15:58… “be steadfast, IMMOVABLE, always abounding in the work of the Lord, KNOWING that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

 

Don’t leave love behind. PRAY continuously to God for guidance. Bring your shattered dreams before Him and be “Broken Together.”

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Valley-Devotionals/508413785852066

…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com

Kim

 

 

 

 

Different Kind of Christmas...Mark Schultz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PBEMfbWq_Y

 

For some of us it is a Merry Christmas. But then for others it is a very “Different Kind of Christmas.”

I thank God for every Christmas, and that every chair at our Christmas dinner is still occupied. I know one day I will have to face a different kind of Christmas too.

But I have the most awesome memories that I will carry in my heart forever until we meet again.

 

Many of my family members are believers, and many friends too.

Please share the “Gift” of Christmas,…. Jesus Christ.

 

I pray this song brings some joy to your heart if there is an empty spot at the table this year.

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Valley-Devotionals/508413785852066

…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com

Kim

 

Rediscover You...Starfield

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdeECdQijbc

 

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and LEARN FROM ME, for I am gentle and humble in heart”….

 

Is your faith paper thin? Are you feeling burnt out on religion? Are your prayers empty because your passion is gone? Maybe you need to discover, or rediscover Jesus for Who He says He is for yourself. That’s what makes it a personal relationship. Stop depending on others,  or church just on Sunday. Church is everyday within yourself waiting to come alive.

1 John 2: 27 “As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in Him.”   Question is, are you, or were you, ever really in Him?

 

Jesus is the ultimate gift of God to us. Jesus said look for Him and you will find Him. So whether it is now, your first time searching, or you fell back, I strongly suggest you take the time to discover Who He says He is. “I am gentle and humble in heart”… The same way you take the time to search out the best prices for those Christmas gifts on line, or maybe you were first in line on black Friday somewhere. All the Christmas presents you could ever imagine receiving, doesn’t compare to the presence of Christ. You search and go out of your way for many things in this life, WHY NOT FOR JESUS?  Every excuse comes up not to have time for Him, I don’t get that, especially from believers. It cost you nothing, but cost Him everything!

 

I don’t know about you, but I want my Spirit to jump for joy when I hear His name, and then share to others all that He’s done for me. He gives me breath every day to go out and enjoy my life. I am blessed to have health and live in this country. I can go on and on….. I always want to hunger for Him, because ONLY JESUS can bring our cold hearts back to life. No teachings of men, only God alone, can shed the burning light which opens the mind of truth. If you’re not getting it, you must not be searching it with your whole heart for yourself. If you say He is Lord of your life, than you should be desperate for Him over anything else in your life. If you call Him Lord, your everything, than He should be above all, and before all things on your list of things to do. Deuteronomy 4: 24, Our God is a jealous God. He wants that personal relationship with you, that He died to have with each and every one of us. God will perfectly teach you, if you would only give Him some of your time.

 

I hope that whatever you decide this year to be your New Year’s resolution, I pray that Jesus is a BIG part of it.

 

 

 

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Valley-Devotionals/508413785852066

…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com

Kim

 

That was the night before Christmas....Brandon Heath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCitZPr2oD0

 

 

Colossians 1: 15-16 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, ….all things were created through Him and for Him.”

 

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, than you must believe in the virgin birth of our Lord and Savior right? Christ was not God because He was virgin born. He was virgin born because He is God.

 

I read in a devotional, and found it to be a great statement, but also great truth. “If Christ was not conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit, if His biological father was Joseph, then He was a sinner. And if He was a sinner, then His death on the cross did not atone for my sins or yours.”

So the fact is, because Jesus was supernaturally conceived in Mary’s womb, He was fully God, and also fully man. Jesus even said in John 8:24, “Unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”

 

He was born “into darkness, sadness, desperate madness, creation so torn. We were so lost on earth, no peace, no worth, no way to escape. In fear, no faith, no hope no grace, and no light. But that was the night before Christmas.”

 

A lot of people in the world have a hard time believing that the truth of the cleansing of our sins was as pure as a Child. But that is a fact! Jesus, “the image of the invisible God” came to earth, went to the cross, died for our sins and rose again. Now He stands at the door of our lives and knocks.

 

As you celebrate Christ…mas, don’t leave Christ out of His own birthday. Open the door of your life and invite Him in.

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Valley-Devotionals/508413785852066

…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com

Kim

 

Thrive.... Casting Crowns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ71RWJhS_M

 

“We were made for so more than ordinary lives. It’s time for us to do more than just survive”…. Get the full nourishment needed to make Jesus known. Thrive, to know Him and to make Him Known.

 

Mark Hall, the lead singer from Casting Crowns, gave a great analogy on this song and their “Thrive five” sign they make with their hands when they’re singing it. It’s very catchy. I am now teaching it to my grandson Gavin. It is a high five with one hand, five fingers up, then with your other hand touching your other one at the wrist, your five fingers are pointing down. So when they sing, “Just to know You” they point their five fingers down. Then when they sing, “To make You known” attach at the wrist, with your five fingers up.

 

He explained it like their picture I attached. A tree thrives for nourishment from its roots (five fingers down.)Then the tree flourishes at the top from the food it receives (five fingers up.)

 

I love the definition I found. “If something is thriving, it’s doing well—so well you could call it blooming vigorously.” WOW, I want to be like that for Jesus! The bible has a great verse for explaining it as well. Hebrews 5: 13-14, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are full of age, that is, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

 

How do you learn more of something, so you can make what you learned be known to others?

You have to thirst, thrive, for more of God. Hungry, digging deep in the word to keep growing. That is how we learn our Fathers heart.

 

Like our children go from milk to solid food to grow, God wants us to grow spiritually. Feeding on spiritual milk will not help us to grow to full bloom. So “THRIVE” for, and enjoy the taste of solid food.

 

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Valley-Devotionals/508413785852066

…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com

Kim

 

 

Overwhelmed....Big Daddy Weave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6oxXwRWFTo

 

I really don’t have to know you to tell you that sometime in your life you will go through hard times. It’s just a part of life. There are many people in the bible that I can’t wait to talk to one day, but Job just fascinates me. After all that he went through, his life still showed he loved God just for Who He is. Just like a marriage, for better, for worse, in sickness, and in health.

 

How far are you willing to go with God? Are you willing to go past your understanding and comfort? To stay in this relationship for better, for worse, in sickness and in health? The best part is at death you do not part.

 

Isaiah 55: 8,…. I am learning that, who am I to even think I can understand God’s ways? I will never be able to wrap my little mind around His greatness! But I will always trust Him. In all my questions His word still remains true. Always remember His goodness, Psalm 77: 11-12.

 

When I think of Jesus, mention His Name, or whenever I look at the cross, I don’t just want to remember all that He went through  for me, I want to be “OVERWHELMED” every time! Overwhelmed with all that He created, all that He was, is, and is to come! All that He is, is so overwhelming!

 

When you read the book of Job, you will understand why he had questions, and even lost hope. God’s answers to him in a whirlwind was awesome. Job 38: 4---chapter 41, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” I have to say, that would shut my mouth. If you haven’t read His GREAT BOOK, the BIBLE, digested it, spend time with Him on a daily basis, than I guess that’s why you have so many questions, and even unbelief.

Sometimes God comes gently, and sometimes He comes in a thundering noise. No matter how He comes in my life, He will always be my God, my Father. No matter what I ask, do, did, or ever will do, I can run into His arms unashamed because of mercy. This is something I will NEVER take for granted.

The book of Job is a great story to see God in the many different ways He comes into action in our lives. Be it through allowing severe affliction Job 1: 9-22, to where Job begins questioning why Job 3: 10-26, and God’s reaction of great mercy Job 42: 12-13. But my favorite part is where God reminds Job of all He is from Chapter 38 to 41.

 

I am reminded from the book of Job, we are not guaranteed a pain free life. Afflictions will come, and God will be there to remind us of all He is, and that we can trust Him. Look at Job’s response to God after all he went through in the final chapter Job 42: 2-5. “ I know that You can do everything, and no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I uttered what I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…… I have heard of You by the hearing of my ear. But now my eye sees You.”

 

How do you see God?

Until you come to faith, and see Jesus as Lord, than He will just be a name to you. A great person who lived a long time ago. To you, His life is just a part of history. How sad, but only you can change that.

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Valley-Devotionals/508413785852066

…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com

Kim