Dec 8, 2025 – Blessing
One of the inspirational messages on the digital frame is: “Don’t Overthink”
Boy am I doing a lot of that as I dive into this new adventure. As of yesterday, I am officially an Independent Wine Consultant and will be doing in-home wine tastings. I’m really looking forward to this because one of my favorite things to do is to share helpful and interesting information and products with people. That’s why I was a Pampered Chef rep and a Juice Plus rep many years ago! It’s also why I’ve always wanted to have a gift shop. I like finding fun, unique, and thoughtful things that people will enjoy having for themselves and giving to others. I really am excited about and grateful for this opportunity and I pray for You, God, to guide and bless me as You prepare the way….
JC – “Your needs and My riches are a perfect fit. I never meant for you to be self-sufficient. Instead, I designed you to need Me not only for daily bread but also for fulfillment of deep yearnings. I carefully crafted your longings and feelings of incompleteness, to point you to Me. Therefore, do not try to bury or deny these feelings. Beware also of trying to pacify these longings with lesser gods: people, possessions, power.” That is one of the reasons I’ve tried to wait patiently as I’ve prayed about what is next. I didn’t want to get distracted pursuing something that would delay the good that God has for me. “Come to me in all your neediness, with defenses down and with desire to be blessed. As you spend time in My Presence, your deepest longings are fulfilled. Rejoice in your neediness, which enables you to find intimate completion in Me.”
Power – John 11:40 – “Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God?” Joyce writes, “The word glory means the ‘manifestation of God’s excellence.’ Seeing the glory of God does not necessarily mean you get things the way you want them, when you want them, all the time. But it does mean you can trust God for His best in every situation. You can relax and trust God because He will always take care of you.”
Streams – Colossians 3:12 – “As God’s chosen people…clothe yourselves with…kindness.” Cowman tells the “old story of an elderly man who always carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and when he would go through a door that squeaked, he would squirt a little oil on the hinges. If he encountered a gate that was hard to open, he would oil the latch. And so he went through life, lubricating all the difficult places, making it easier for all those who came after him. People called the man eccentric, strange, and crazy but he went steadily on, often refilling his can of oil when it was nearly empty, and oiling all the difficult places he found…. Do you carry your own can of oil with you?” My hope is that I’ve done that for the most part throughout my life; and, my prayer is that that will continue to be part of what this next season of my life includes as I interact with more and more people.
Prevail 342 – 2 Peter 1:3 – “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.” Larson writes about Pastor Jimmy Evans speaking at her church and him telling about how God spoke to him when he was in his 20s saying, “I want to use you in great ways, but you’ll need to quit smoking.” Larson writes, “He tried and failed. Then one day he cried out to God, told Him he didn’t have the willpower to quit smoking. The Lord affirmed that he was right. He couldn’t do it on his own. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, he could…. There will always be a war between the flesh and the spirit within us…. The power to change comes from the power of the living, breathing, activating power of the Holy Spirit at work within us…. Pastor Jimmy charged us to pray daily, ‘Lord, give me righteous desires.’ Amen.”
Utmost – “We trample the blood of the Son of God under foot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only explanation of the forgiveness of God and of the unfathomable depth of His forgetting, is the death of Jesus Christ…. It does not matter who or what we are, there is absolute reinstatement into God by the death of Jesus Christ and by no other way, not because Jesus Christ pleads, but because He died…. The atonement is a propitiation whereby God through the death of Jesus makes an unholy man holy.”
JA – “I AM THE LORD OF PEACE – the only source of genuine Peace…. You cannot just grab this blessing on the run. You need to set aside time for focusing on Me and enjoying My Presence…. Instead of punishing yourself when you’ve failed, remember that My death on the cross covers all your sins. I love you with an unfailing love – simply because you’re Mine!”
