May 31

Isaiah 56:7
Even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar. For My house will be called a house of prayer for all people.

Have you ever thought why He will make us joyful in His house of prayer? I think we are happiest when we have no burdens. God wants us to take those burdens and lay them at His feet. What better way to lay them down than at the altar. I believe His house is a place of healing and restoration. God wants us to come to His house, spend time with Him during praise and Worship, listen to His Word and lay down any burdens that we have so that we can live a fulfilled life. If you want to chose to be joyful, then give those burdens to God for Him to carry and let Him lift that boulder off your shoulder so that you can be joyful!

May 30

Micah 7:8
Enemy, don't laugh at me. I have fallen, but I will get up again. I sit in the shadow of trouble now, but the Lord will be a light for me.


Have you been in this place? If you haven't, you may be one day. We may all go through something that we feel others are watching us and making fun of us, but remember, there is an enemy behind them! His name is satan. He seeks to destroy us, but don't let him do that. He wants you defeated but you must remember that you serve somebody that is much greater than Satan! His name is Jesus - and during your times of trouble He is the one that you are to run to. He will be that lighthouse for you to run to and He will be the one to guide you through that storm! You must remember that the fruit does not grow on the mountaintop but in the valley and we must walk through that valley sometimes in order for us to grow. Hold on to Jesus and let Him walk with you and nurture you and help you to grow. He will help to restore you and make you what He desires for you to be.

May 29

John 21:4
Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the followers did not know it was Jesus.


Do you think that we have been guilty of this too? That Jesus has been right there with us and we have missed Him completely? Yes, we often do. We have to be aware that He is all around us, He can come to us in the way of another person, and if we are not careful, we can just brush Him off and neglect Him. Look for the opportunity to see Jesus today. Send a smile across a room, help somebody to a car, open a door for somebody, just let somebody know that Jesus loves them. Embrace the opportunity to meet Jesus today. He is there waiting for you and for me.

May 28

Galatians 6:4
Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done.


These are very strong words, but how often do we really do this? So many times we look at what others are doing and size ourselves up with them, this is WRONG - and we have scripture to tell us why! Yes we know that we are responsible for our own actions and we are the ones that we are to focus our time on, but it's so much easier not to have to look in the mirror! We are not responsible for anyone else but us! It's not fun but we need to take a look at ourselves and see just how we line up to scripture and the example that Jesus set for us. I know that we are not going to be perfect, but are we striving to be? It's easy to say, "I will ask for forgiveness later", but should we? You are challenged today to examine yourself (me included) and ask God - "How can I be more like you?". He is going to reveal to us where we have been wrong and how we have been right. Take time to spend with Him today, so that He can help you on this path. When He tells you that you may be been wrong, make it right with Him and that person you may not have been showing Jesus too. Remember as a Christian, you are suppose to be a reflection of Christ for others to see. When you are striving to be more like Jesus, then you are living a life that you can be proud of and Jesus can too.

May 27

I Corinthians 11:4
Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.

When I read this I immediately thought about people wearing caps in the church. I know growing up we were always told of it being disrespectful to wear a hat or cap in church, but the verse is not talking about being in God's house, it talks about praying or prophesying, so I had to dig a little deeper. Covering the head shows a mark of subjection, and it makes him look downwards instead of upwards to his Spiritual Head, Christ, to whom alone he owes subjection. Here is another way it is explained; so a man who prays or prophesies with a veil on his head, reflects a dishonour on Christ, whose representative he is. So now it makes sense, and when we see a man about to pray, we will know know why he takes his hat off before he prays.

May 26

Psalms 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.



I think most of us feel as though we have walked through the shadow of death. And if we haven't, then hold on, it won't be long and you will be there too. But we have great comfort in these words! We are to fear no evil, why? Because God is with us. No matter what it is that we are going to be going through we must hold on to that thought and know that God is going to be there right there with us, even if we feel that He is not there, He really is. As the crook in the staff is wrapped around you and pulling you to Him, take comfort in that! Know that He wants to hold you near to Him so that He can take care of you. Now it is just up to you to let Him do His job!

May 25

Job 19:26 NAS
"Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;"


This was Job, and he knew that no matter what was going to happen to him, and all that was going on around him seemed so awful, he knew that when he died, he was going to be with God. That is confidence! That is faith! We should have that much confidence in knowing that because we have placed out faith in Christ - we are going to be with Him. There are religions that lead you to believe that you can loose that salvation, but I am here to tell you that placing your faith in Him should give you that confidence that you are HIS - ALWAYS! Rest in that, soak it up and the spill it out to others! No matter what happens to us here on earth, we know that in the end we will have peace, joy and be standing with the LORD forever!

May 24

1 Corinthians 9:14
Even so did the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel.


We hear the saying all the time, if you are going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk, and here it is in the Bible. We are to be very careful of not only saying that we are Christians, but we are to live as Christians. How are we telling others that we serve Christ? What can others see that we do? Sure they can see us showing up at church, but how else to they see us serving? How are we giving back out time and talents to God? This is one of those verses that we need to look deep inside ourselves for. Are we teaching? Okay you don't have that gift, so ask God - what is my gift? He will tell you and then it is up to you to use it! It may be singing, it may be serving in the nursery, or just helping in VBS (don't you love my plug? It's June20-25...), or it could be by being a greeter at church. Let's also take it beyond church, are you sharing Christ with others? What can the outside world see that is different about you, something so different that they realize that they want what you have? I encourage you to not only say you are a Christian but show others that you are a Christian!

May 23

1 Corinthians 10:25
Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience sake,

We see this verse and know that it means what it says, but sometimes it is hard to get beyond what we know it is and eat it! We must realize that God created many things for us to eat so get over what you think about it and try it, you just may love it! I love asparagus and never thought I would even try it.

Ethan is six and is now learning where the food we eat comes from. One day on the way home from school he ask me if I knew why cows were created, he told me so that we would not run out of something to drink. Then I also told him that cows were created for us to have food too, that we get steaks, hamburger meat, ribs and lots of other good meat from them. The look was amazing. Then he ask me if I knew why horses were created, so that we could have fun!

May 22

Acts 8:13
Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip and as he observed sign and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

This should give us hope to know that when we know somebody that has believed something other than the truth for years, that God can still save them. Don't ever give up on anybody! You could be just the one person that shows them enough Jesus for them to see and believe that He is real. We should also look back into our own lives and realize that miracles have happened in our lives for us to share about. We are no different than anybody else and we must realize that God wants to use us for His glory! So get busy and share!

May 21

Acts 2:43
Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

This makes me wonder if it was the apostles in awe or just the people around them. After all Jesus had let them know they were hand selected by Him to go and do His work after He was gone. I can imagine that the first times they were getting ready to do something they may have even questioned that it would work. Even with the gift of faith, I probably would have been a little hesitant. We must remember that we too were hand picked by God to be His disciples to continue to share the gospel with the world! It time to get over wondering if we can do anything for God or not, we have been chosen and He too has empowered us from on high to do it, don't stand back and wonder, be bold and go forth for God - doing what He has called you to do!

May 20

Colossians 4:12
Epaphrus, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

So we see that Epaphrus was a prayer warrior, an example to follow. Are we putting others before the Lord and praying for them? I know we often do when we know that there is a need in their lives, but we need to do it more often. Make a list of people you know and love and pray for them more often, take them the the Lord and honestly pray for them that God would protect them, comfort them, guide them and bless them. Sometimes we don't really know what is going on in their lives and they really do need prayers. Think of how often we have issues in our lives going on that we never share with anybody. I know that I have people praying for me and that is what gets me through. Be that prayer warrior!

May 19

Galatians 3:6
Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.


This was one to make me think. Believed: to have confidence or faith in the truth of. Reckoned: to esteem or consider; regard as. Righteousness: Morally upright; without guilt or sin:
So now we can read it as: Even so Abraham had confidnece in God, and it was considered to him to be without guilt of sin.

How much plainer can you get? This reminds me of exactly what faith is. We have to have that much confidence in God and know that He is absolutely without guilt of sin. It's one of those things that is so hard to explain, but it is one of those things that we just know, we believe it. That is what being a Christian is all about!

May 18

Jeremiah 10:14 NAS
Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols ; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.


My first thoughts are: "yes every man is stupid", but then I remember the word every is included, and every includes me! We are all stupid, lacking in knowledge, that is for sure. So what do we do? We seek to know more, study His word, get prepared so that we are not called stupid! We are the goldsmith, we all have idols in our lives, it could be television, hobbies, kids, basically anything. We have to remember that these are not the most important things in life for us. Our relationship with Christ is suppose to be the most important thing in our life. We are to make sure that no matter what, we are spending time with Him, growing daily, so that we can be used by Him. Don't be the one to be called stupid!

May 17

Philemon 1:23
"Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you."

It's amazing to see how the men of Bible times were described: brother, slave, worker, prisioner... Have you ever thought about how somebody describes you for Christ? When they describe you do they even use the term Christian? Something to think about! What do we want to be said of us? If people don't see that we have a passion for Christ then they won't use that in a description about us. Make sure that people know where you stand and just Who it is that you stand for!

May 16

Prov. 18:28
"Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent."



Have there been times that you didn't keep silent? Guess what we were considered? Yes I said we, we have all been there! Our goal should be to keep silent when we know that we are suppose to. I heard my mother say many times, think before you speak! There are times that we should speak out but I also know that there will be a voice inside that lets us know if we should or should not say something, so listen to it. If in doubt - keep your mouth shut. Don't be compared to a fool!

May 15

Hebrews 10:11
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;

This can not get much plainer than this. It's also a reminder to us of what did take away our sins, His name is Jesus, and He was the sacrifice that paid it all for us. He died on the cross to take away our sins. I just wish that people could understand that the Bible is true to its word, and it is really not so hard to understand. But then I have to remember that it's the Holy Spirit that draws us to Him for that understanding also. But we must never forget that we still have to share this with others, because God may be using us to be that person that helps them to understand even more. I am so thankful that I put my faith and trust in Christ and I know that He and He alone is the one that died for my sins, so that I don't have to worry about confessing to another person all my sins so they can be forgiven. I have a direct line to the throne of God and His name is Jesus.

May 14

Prov. 30:5"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him."


How comforting to know that no matter what we read we know that God is speaking the truth to us. He would never lie. We have comfort because He is the comforter. For those who don't put their faith in Him, they may feel as though there is no shelter from the storm. But not us, we are protected from the storm, we may have to go through one but we know that it will be okay, no matter how bad it gets. We may seem to forget that God is our shield unless we are allowed to go through the storm. When the sun is shining and the clouds are fluffy we seem take our eyes off of God. Storms may be a gentle reminder of Who is in control. Take time as you enjoy the sun to remember that God is still the One who guides you! And while you are enjoying the sun, take out the Bible and read it, God wants to tell you something!

May 13

James 1:17
"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."


How comforting, to know that God is the one who blesses us, no matter how that good thing or gift gets to us. He uses others to bless us and we should also be willing to be a blessing to somebody else too. Listen to God when he puts somebody on your heart, there is a reason for it. Do something good for the them so they can see just how awesome God is. May God chose to shine His light through you today!

May 12

I Cor. 1:6
"even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,"


Oh how exciting! Isn't that what we would all like to hear about us, and even those that we know around us.

There are several meanings of the word testimony, but this is the one that I like best - "evidence in support of a fact or statement; proof". And then we have confirmed - "made certain as to truth, accuracy, validity, availability, etc".

Now think about it all together, Even as the evidence in support of Christ was made certain as to truth in you... I know that when we become Christians, that this becomes real to us, but can others see this about us? When others describe you to somebody, do they say - "oh yes, she is a Christian, in all that she does, she does for the Lord? Or do they say, "I think she is a Christian, she goes to church but I am not completely sure." Oh to have those last words said, it breaks my heart. I know that I have shared about being good fruit lately but this just goes along with it, we must be more aware that eyes are on us, the eyes of the lost just as the eyes of the Christian are on us, they watch us to see what we are doing. Now it may not always be right in their motives for watching us, but we have to be very careful what we are "saying" to those who are watching. It can only take one instance to destroy your witness. You can try and make it up, but by then the eyes are gone and they no longer care, they move to the next one to see if they are true or false and they cycle continues. Some watch just to make themselves feel better, some watch because they may think you inspire them and they want to be more like you!

So keep this in mind, realize that eyes are on you, now take that same time to ask the Lord - what do you see in me? He sees a champion, His most precious jewel, now we must do our part and reflect what He sees in us. He is worthy to have His name reflected so that others may see!

May

Ecclesiastes 9:9 "Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun." Well I know that this verse has been given to the man, but as women we should think about this one. Have you ever thought about yourself as your husbands reward? God had a purpose for you when you got married. You have been given to your husband, now how does that make you feel? I hope it makes you feel valuable. God wanted to bless your husband, so He gave your husband you! I guess now as women we need to take this verse to heart, think about that first word - enjoy. Do we make our husbands life enjoyable? Really think about it. What can we do to make our husbands enjoy that life that he has with us? Today make your husband know just how special he is to you! First start by praying for Him, that God will wrap His arms around our husbands, protect their minds from anything that would hinder his witness for Christ, that He will guide him and protect him and bring him safely home to you. Next go beyond, yes we like flowers but what about our husbands? Give him a flower, let him know that you were thinking of him today and praying for him. Today is our day to let our husbands know how special they are to us. If God thought of us as a reward for our husband, our husband must be worthy of getting a special prize. Remind that husband of just how special you are to him, we must value him just as God values us. Enjoy your day!

May 10

Matthew 12:33
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad ; for the tree is known by its fruit.


This is one of those verses to make you think, and it should make you wonder about your own fruit. Sure it is easy to be a fruit inspector for somebody else's tree, but what can others see about us? Are we all shiny on the outside, giving off that appearance of something just perfect and then when that person grabs hold us and they quickly see that we are bitter, even worse, rotten? Think about how you have been reacting to situations all around you lately, are people running from you or to you? It's amazing how I started with one thought and ended on another but it has to be for somebody, and yes there are days that this is right at me. My goal is to not be that bitter fruit and yes there are days that I have to work at it, so I challenge you to look at the fruit that you are producing. What are others seeing in you? Be pleasant, be good and may others see just what kind of tree you are, a Godly tree!

May 9

II Corinthians 9:7
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

If you have ever been in a service that Chris Gulledge is a part of, then you have heard that words, "God loves a cheerful giver." This is so true. If you can't give back to God and be thankful for what He has blessed you with, then don't give it at all. God owns all the cattle on the hills and the hills that they roam on, He doesn't need your or my money! So get excited about giving back to God. Thank Him that you even have money to be able to give back to Him. Do you realize just how He had blessed you? Now what you do with this money is up to you, but I am telling you, give your first tenth to Him and He will bless you! He just wants us to be obedient! But don't give because you have to, give because you want to!

May 8

"Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes."
1 Sam 12:16


God has called us to be different. We are to stand for Him and not be conformed to the world. We are to listen to God’s voice! He has a purpose and a plan for us but we cannot be silent and be used by Him. We are in the midst of something great right now and we will see great things done by God. The task is large but it is not too big for God. He calls us to be bold for Him and to stand firm in what He believes in. Stand behind our leaders! He has called them for His kingdom. If so many are trusting that God is right, then whom are the ones who are against His leadership listening to? Once again listen to the voice and ask God to guide your words. Don't be the downfall of something big.

May 7

envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:21

We are dealing with flesh issues. It is best to go back to verse 19 where it all starts:

19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,

As a Christian we know that we are going to inherit the kingdom of God but we need to be careful that we don't let the flesh take hold of us so that we become a stumbling block. This is a list that we need to put beside a mirror and make sure that we are not reflecting any of these things. If anyone sees us using these characters of the flesh they may not recognize that we are a Christian. It could be even worse, they may know that we are a Christian and see that we act like everybody else, and see no need for Christ in their life. The rest of the chapter has great words of wisdom for us to live by. May we think before we speak and pray before we act so that we may have a reflection of Christ in our lives for others to see.

May 6

Psalm 41:6
Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

This is one of those verses that stings me because I have had one of those friends before. You love them with all your heart and know that you would do anything to help them out if they needed it and then the next thing you know they no longer want to be a part of your life. It makes no sense at all to you. But what I have to keep reminding myself is that it is their loss. So we must remember that we are not alone when this happenes to us, even when we feel we have been completely betrayed, we are not the first person to go though this and we won't be the last. Just keep your eyes focused on Jesus and He will help heal the hurt that have taken up residence in your heart. And yes you will be cautious in making another friend, but relax, they are not all the same, you can trust again and know that God can send somebody else to be a real, true friend to you.

May 5

Ephesians 4:3
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.


We should make an honest effort in being peacemakers. There are a lot of people doing damage in the name of Christians and we have to be careful and not be one of them. It’s scary to see how people act, all we have to do is follow what the Bible says. Yes I know that sometimes it is not an easy thing to do because we have this thing inside of use called flesh and it likes to rear it’s ugly head and act just like the devil. So hang in there, do your best and do all that you can to be a peacemaker today. Let Christ show through in all that you do!

May 4

Ps 139:10
Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

Even when we don't know what "there" is, we should know that God is with us. He never leaves us alone, even when we feel we are alone. Draw strength knowing that God is always with us through the good and the bad. The "there" in your life can be good right now or bad, just know that God will guide you through this, just let Him be your way. Trust Him for the path, His way is always right! Feel His arms around you today! Know that you are never alone!

May 3

Psalm 145:2
Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever.


This is not God speaking to us but us speaking to God. How do we bless him? Well I think in the ways that we conduct ourselves. When we are pleasing in all things, this is a blessing to God. We should praise His name always, when we see something beautiful that He has created, let Him know, thank Him for letting you enjoy something that he has made for you to enjoy. This is the time of year to look around and see that beauty is everywhere. He has taken out his paintbrush and created some of the most beautiful colors! Enjoy seeing God in all that you do today. Take time to Praise Him, sing Him a song! Bless Him!

May 2

"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
Matthew 7:19

And it is so easy to be the fruit inspector of others fruit, but we must remember to examine our own fruit. I am sure that we all have some rotten fruit now and then but we must make sure that our tree doesn't produce only rotten fruit, if so we might as well be chopped down and thrown into the fire, why because we would be useless. Don't be useless for God. Make sure that everything you put into your body is going to produce that good fruit. Feed on the scriptures, soak in the words of God through music, what goes in will come out, so make sure that as your fruit starts to bud, you are protecting it, then as it grows it will become a pleasant offering to God.

May 1

Genesis 8:19
Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

This is the first Emerald in the Old Testament in the King James Version.
I still get amazed thinking about all the animals on the ark, but then to think about all the creeping things, now that gives me the shivers. Makes you wonder what floor of the ark they were kept on. Did Noah's wife have a fear of spiders or other creeping things like we do? And then that makes us wonder, why do we have them? But then we know that God makes each creeping thing for a reason and they are all need for life to exist as we know it today, even when we think that flies are useless! Think about it, there wouldn't be many of anything left it were left up to us. So when you see one of God's little creatures that you really don't care for, take time to thank God for creating that little one, even thought it scares you like crazy. He knows what it best for us and sometimes we need a little scare in our lives. I bet it gives God a good laugh!