How many moments do we waste worrying about things we aren't able to control? I know I've had my fair share of moments like that. I won't say that I never worry anymore. Human nature is to worry. But I worry much less these days, because I trust God to take care of all my needs and problems. According to my NLT study Bible, worrying leads to immobilization, but concern leads us to action. I like that they have shown me the difference between worry and concern. Let's, now, read today's Scripture about the impacts of worry and the effects of trusting God from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:25-34 says, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your...

This morning, as I opened one of the curtains in the house, a beautiful full moon caught my eye just before it dropped behind a grove of trees as it was setting. A clear, dark sky is spectacular to view anyway; I really enjoy gazing at the stars. But this view was utterly breathtaking as the moon had a bright halo around it this morning. So, that made me think of a few Bible verses to share with you this morning. Just a little reminder of how great God is and how beautiful His creations are. I hope you enjoy these. image courtesy of Aron Visuals via Unsplash From Genesis 1:16 - 18 NLT: God made two great lights - the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Psalm 8:3 - 9 NLT: When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place...

Listen to Meditation 6 . Psalm 46:10 NLT says, "Be still, and know that I am God!" I AM your Father. I AM caring. I AM love. I AM your Savior. I suffered and died for the world's sins. I was resurrected from death and will resurrect those who love Me. I love you. I AM the Holy Spirit - your Guardian, your Guide. I live in you because you have accepted me. I help you find your way back when you feel lost. image courtesy of Anuja Tilj via Unsplash You make mistakes, but you are not a mistake. You think I am far away because of your problems. But I AM closer than you realize. I love you. Just be still and feel the love of all 3 of My Entities radiate through you, to the tips of your fingers, to the tips of your toes.  Every person, everything has a purpose. Nothing is wasted. Breathe in the oxygen that the vegetation provides you. Breathe out the carbon dioxide that the vegetation around you needs for its survival. Listen to the songs of the birds I have placed in your back...

I want you to go ahead and prepare for today's meditation by getting your  relaxing music/sounds (if you want),  tissues, and water ready. Have your journal ready for today's entry after our session. Find a comfortable sitting position, and place your praying hands against your chest near your heart. Release any tension, starting with your forehead and your jaws. Next, your neck, shoulders, back, arms, hands, fingers. Finally, your hips, thighs, calves, ankles, feet, and toes. Let those stressors fade away. Let calm replace them. Relax. Listen to Meditation 5 . Today's meditation is based on Exodus 3:13-15 New Living Translation (NLT): Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahw...

Let's prepare to meditate . Start playing your relaxing sounds/music on another device if you like accompaniment with meditation. With your tissues and water beside you, get in a comfortable sitting position. Close your eyes if you'd like. Now, relax your entire body, starting with your forehead, between your eyebrows, your jaws, your neck and shoulders, your arms and legs. Feel the tension release as you relax. Allow the stomach and shoulders to naturally rise and fall as you slowly breathe in and breathe out. Today's meditation affirmation is "I am created in the image of God. He provides everything I need to be His ambassador." Let's repeat this affirmation to ourselves as we concentrate on our breathing for a few moments.  Continue your slow, concentrated breathing as I guide you through today's meditation. Listen to Meditation 4 . In Genesis 1:26 NLT (New Living Translation), God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” God made u...

Today, we're going to meditate on gratitude. Being grateful is one of the best things we can do to honor God and to improve our outlook on life . Gratitude helps us to look forward to the days ahead. It relieves stress. It lessens worry. Hopefully, we'll focus more on gratitude instead of grumblings. As Colossians 3:23-24 NIV states, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. " And also, Psalm118:24 HCSB, " This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  Listen to meditation 3 . If you haven't done so already, you'll need to gather your journal, water, and tissues. Turn on some relaxing music/sounds if you enjoy that. Find a comfortable seat. Today, we'll overlap our hands and place them on our chest, over our heart. Close your eyes if you want and focu...

Welcome to today's meditation - At Peace in Our Mess. Problems cause worry and anxiety. We should know by now that worrying definitely won't make problems go away. It just makes us sick. Consider, Luke 12:25, when Jesus said, "Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?" Of course, we can't. So, we need to choose to find Joy and Peace in the midst of our problems (a.k.a. our messes) and let God handle everything that is going on. We can ask Him to let us know if we can do anything to make problems better or go away. Then we go on about our daily lives. Sometimes an answer will come; sometimes it won't. Often, problems go away; some won't. But life goes on despite the mess. Let's find that peace we want today. Our Scriptures today come from the Christian Standard Bible. Listen to Meditation 2 . It's time to prepare for our meditation. First, grab your journal and get in your meditation seat. Start your soft,  relaxing music/sounds i...

Today is the beginning of our meditation journey together. Please read the base post that I've provided the link for in the first sentence if you haven't done so already. My meditations will focus on God's Word, as the Holy Bible tells us in Joshua 1:8 to, "Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do." Our Scriptures, today, are from the New Living Translation Bible. Listen to Meditation 1 . Do you have your water and tissues nearby? Is your journal ready for today's entry? Are you comfy? Good. It's time to start your calm, relaxing music/sounds if you choose to use any.  Let's begin with putting our praying hands near our hearts, closing our eyes, and breathing slowly in and out, repeating our Heavenly Father's name as we inhale and exhale - YH (inhale) WH (exhale). Slow, relaxing breaths involve inflating the st...

In I Corinthians 13:4-7 (WEB), Paul said: Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. I think this is a beautiful description of love. We humans can really mess this up by doing the opposite of what Paul is explaining here. So many want things their way; they don't have patience to just accept what they have. And how many of us know people - or are people - who keep track of every "wrong" they think has been done to them? And these same people brag on everything they have done for others and deny they have done anything wrong - ever. I know I've been guilty of doing this. And that is definitely NOT an act of love towards others.  So, I think this is a good quote to look at daily to...

 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote:  All love is sweet, given or returned.  And Apostle Paul wrote something along those lines, quoting Jesus, in Act 20:35 (KJV):  It's more blessed to give than receive. We receive more in return for giving. Giving is powerful. If you have a favorite charity that you donate to regularly, or give to the man or woman holding the sign on the corner of a busy street, or smile at the grumpy cashier, you get a feeling inside that's indescribable - one that makes us feel that we're the recipients. That's because, in a way, we are. Someone is grateful for the meal we helped provide them with that day. And we don't know why the cashier is always grumpy, but maybe that smile is something she needed to help her change her life around. Maybe we gave her something she doesn't get often - a kind and understanding smile. Sometimes we can listen, so lend an ear to someone who just needs to talk something out. We can be understanding. So, watch for opp...

 Love understands all languages ~ Romanian proverb Love is kind. Love is a smile. Love is forgiving. Love doesn't search for what others do wrong. Love is its own language of grace and blessings we can bestow to others. Love isn't selfish. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NLT, Paul sums up love beautifully. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! In other words, love doesn't have to be spoken. An action or reaction is enough to express the message of this Christlike love to others that leads to a long, happy life. Hate and grumbling and selfishness are death t...

 Today's quote is from Henry David Thoreau.  "There is no remedy for love but to love more." Spread godly love wherever you go. Be kind. Be caring. Be thoughtful of others. Smile more. Laugh more. To bless others, to spread cheer is to love. A good character can be as magnetic as a bad character. Don't let someone's bad mood set your mood for the day. Refuse to follow the bad mood trend that many lay the traps for. Set a new trend of spreading love with smiles, kind words, a listening ear, holding a door open for a stranger, etc. More love; love more. God didn't create us to be grumps. 😊 With that, I'll end with scripture from 1 Peter 4:8 NIV. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." Image courtesy of freestocks via Unsplash #womenhelpingwomen #lifeistooshort # spendingtimewithgod #helpingothers Take care, Patricia

I've had this song by Jamie Grace in my head for a few days now, so I thought that today would be a great day to share it with you. Watching her sing this song makes you feel great, but hearing the words is extremely uplifting.  Psalm 118:24 NLT states: This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Life was never meant for us to spend it in misery. Trust me when I say that misery is not something to envy or accomplish. So many people make this a daily endeavor - to be worse off than anyone else they know. I was on that road for so long, because the world around me taught me to be that way. But praise Jesus, I found a new path! Now, every morning, (1) I thank God as soon as I'm awake. (2) I take in deep breaths and (3) drink a few ounces of water - reminding myself of the life sustaining value both have. And (4) I read a devotion or 2 and (5) meditate, for a few minutes, on the precious Word God has taught me about life. All are gifts from God. Often, l...

Matthew 4:17 WEB tells us, "From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, 'Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'  In other words, Jesus was telling people to turn from their sins and towards God because Heaven - or God in this case - is near. Matthew used the word Heaven in place of God, because as a Jew, he would have been taught to not speak the name of God.  John the Baptist, who used these words in his ministry to introduce the world to the Messiah, had just been thrown into prison at this point. And Jesus was delighted with these words , so He used them Himself when He started His own ministry in Galilee. Jesus, as God, was near. And He remains near in our hearts and as the Holy Spirit Who lives inside us Believers and Followers of Christ. Image courtesy of Zulmaury Saavedra via Unsplash As Christians, we have been called to mimic Jesus. So, when we tell people that Christ will return soon to take us to live in Heaven with him, we can use similar words ...

"The Lord has promised wonderful blessings." Numbers 10:29 NLT God is still with us today just as He was in the days the Holy Bible was written. He never promised life would be easy. If life were easy, we wouldn't call on Him for help. If life were easy, we would be less thankful. If life were easy, we wouldn't know how to be humble.  Our heavenly Father has promised to bless us abundantly. We can recognize our blessings in our good health, the meals we have every day, friends and family who love us and care for us. We have been blessed to have a Savior who provided a way, through the cross, for us to speak to God every day, who prays on our behalf every day, who pleas our case to our Father every day, who made it possible for us to enter heaven by simply believing in Him and having faith that we are saved.  Image courtesy of Sixteen Miles Out via Unsplash When we allow the Spirit to take control of our minds, body, and soul, we understand these blessings. Just becaus...

Image courtesy of Arleen Wiese via Unsplash Be Strong and Courageous Our God is neither weak nor weary. However, we children of God occasionally grow weak and weary, especially when we’re trying to figure out what our next step in life should be. Pandemics, illnesses, bad news, and work overload can suck out all of our energy. Because human nature does that to us. Then that soon becomes worry that makes life seem unmanageable. As women, worry can drain us very fast. But the Bible is full of good news. So read this beautiful verse below from Isaiah 40:28 NLT and realize that God knows and understands everything. And turn everything over to him to start feeling more energized and to gain optimism. There may be nothing we can do, but God deals with the impossible all the time! That’s because nothing is impossible for him! 40:28 Have you never heard?     Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God,     the Creator of all the eart...

“What doesn’t break me will mold me,” is a thought I had the other day while having a calming moment with our Heavenly Father in prayer, meditation, and exercise. Because we’re all trying to get through this Coronavirus pandemic #AloneTogether, global tensions, inflation, and personal problems, I want to share this moment with you. Happy thoughts and positive thinking will help each of us get through any time of concern we may face from time to time. That’s why, from time to time, on Saturday mornings , I will offer affirmations by providing positive quotes, words of encouragement, Bible verses, fun videos, and anything else that may make you smile or feel less anxious. Image courtesy of Faria Anzum via Unsplash.com Strength from God God has given women the grace to get through trials that come their way. Those trials can burden us if we let them, or we can let them mold us into what God wants us to become. Strength comes from persevering through tough times. Therefore, this strengt...