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“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” (1 Peter 3:8)

Just a good general reminder. We're not all going to get along all the time, but how much strife could be avoided if we try to be compassionate and humble?

“ My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.” (Psalm 62:1)

I once heard a story of preacher (a well known one whose name I cannot remember now) who had most of the Scriptures memorized. Apparently, there was a long pause whenever he was asked a question. However, it wasn't because he was at a loss for words. Those who have been among him say that in this pause you could actually hear the pages of Scripture flipping through his head as he searched for a verse to respond to any question.

It must have been such great comfort for this preacher to have most of Scriptures committed to memory for it seems that whenever he was under any trial, struggle, or affliction, he could just flip through God's promises of peace, comfort, and victory within and be confident and trust God all the more that there is hope!

This is a great verse to commit to memory! It will help us to be confident and to trust God all the more when we are under any trial, struggle, or affliction because "my soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him."

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14)

Just another great reminder to be still and know that He is God.

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

Sometimes this verse is taken out of context and people misinterpret this to mean that if they "just" give their lives over to the Lord then all the worldly desires of their heart will be given to them. What's not understood is that when we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, we no longer desire the things of this world. Our heart becomes set on things above and we begin to only desire God glorified.

“Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

These daily verses are such great encouragements!!! I've been trying to memorize a verse/passage a week and this is another great verse to commit to memory!!!

What a great reminder and a great way to move away from selfishness and to practice the second greatest commandment which is to "love your neighbor as yourself". Thank you Lord for this reminder!

“ Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1)

This is an interesting verse to remember. It's hard to believe that even Hitler was established by God. However, nothing happens without it being permitted by God. I wonder how many cried out to Him for salvation because of the Holocaust? Don't know much about history (which is a shame because we should know), but God had a purpose to the Holocaust. What good was a result of the Holocaust and how was God glorified in all this? This is an interesting question and I am going to keep a mental note to do more reading...

“Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight.” (Psalm 119:143)

This is one that I need to work on. When I am in a storm I have such great difficulty praising and delighting in the Lord. During those storms I am often tempted to leave God. How arrogant is that to think that I have a choice to follow God or not? God always humbles me through the storm and always reveals Himself faithful, yet I still struggle with praising and delighting in Him during trouble and distress.

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” (Titus 2:11-12)

It is a comfort to know that God's grace covers all things to help us put off ungodliness so that we may live upright and godly lives here on this side of heaven.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

The other night DearHubby and I got frustrated and upset at each other over the smallest issue. I was wrong, but because he got impatient with me, there was no way for me to gracefully admit my wrong and so I decided that instead of admitting my wrong I would get angry at him too. So, for a time we were mad at one another. As we got ready for bed and did our devotions, our prayer time convicted me. My mind was brought back to Sunday's sermon and the gruesome description the pastor gave of Christ's crucifixion. I was reminded of all the suffering Christ went through on the cross and how even in the midst of that suffering He was still thinking of others and doing the will of God, "'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last." (Luke 23:46). Then in a flash, I was convicted of this silly argument that DearHubby and I had. Wow, how quickly we became angry at one another, which displayed our selfish pride. "Is this where my heart is?" I thought. How quickly we became anchored to the things of this world to cause us anger rather than patience and forgiveness. Well, as soon as our prayer time was over, I did seek forgiveness from my husband. We talked about how quickly our hearts sought worldliness because of how we were focused on ourselves and the only way we can genuinely be more considerate of each other is by focusing on doing all things for the glory of our Heavenly Father; seeking to do the will of God just as Christ. This is our heavenly treasure: remembering what Christ suffered on the cross for our sake which restored our relationship with our Heavenly Father and it was done because God himself loves us. When that treasure is hidden in our hearts we are able to live a heavenly life here on earth.

So very true!! I actually was going to post something along these same lines. I was reading from Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God yesterday (which I had previously recommended in the Mommy section) and the title of the chapter was "Choosing Trinkets over Treasure." She spoke of how her children squander money at the dollar store rather than saving for the big toy that they really want - and that we are much the same.

"How often do I settle for the her and how, the transitory illusions of life? How often do I rush to fill my heart with trinkets like television, food, shopping, the Internet, or movies while the true Treasure, Jesus Christ, stands to the side? The truth is, trinkets never satisfy. We've duped ourselves... Only God can fill our deepest longings. Only His treasures last forever."

She shares II Corinthians 4:18 - "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen in eternal." And then reminds us of Peter - unable to walk on the water because he is too distracted by the lapping at his ankles to stay focused on Jesus. And how about Mary and Martha? We value industriousness so much in our society, but at what cost?

We need to stay focused on our heavenly treasure, and everything else will follow.

“that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

During the Christmas season, I posted something on my blog from Chris Rice - how it was all about "God and sinners reconciled" (from "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing). What a great reminder - God has come to us and allowed us to be friends again. I also love the wording about being His ambassadors. I don't know if anyone remembers the magazine Young Ambassador, but it was for Christian teens, and the title always stuck with me. What an honor and a HUGE responsibility! We are representing our Lord, and people will judge Him based on things that we do and say (not always fairly, unfortunately). Good reminders...

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.” (Philippians 2:14-16)

I am sitting in my computer chair wearing my shirt from last year's MOPS - it has a large star and says "Twinkle - shine like stars in the universe."

Warm and fuzzy, right? A nice reminder that we need to spread some light.

It's much more challenging when taken in context. Complaining is something I really struggle with, particularly with my husband. I may paste the smile on and say the right things when other people are around, but my spouse is all too aware of my true feelings and discontent. Am I being a beacon to him and our children? And even more importantly, this just highlights my heart issue: I am focusing on things other than my Lord and Savior.

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

I've been going through such a dry spell lately, spiritually speaking. This is such a challenging time in life for us. We have 2 little babes to care for and a house under construction and so life has really been flying right past us because of all the busy-ness. It's been going by so fast that I honestly have to say the I have not personally picked up God's Word in weeks and my soul is famished. It's no wonder that I have had many bouts of worry and break-downs lately...I've been doing it mostly on my own wisdom and strength...Sometimes I even wonder about my faith and if it's still there, not because I doubt there is a God, but because I've been falling more to my sinful nature rather than clinging to God's righteousness. Then, Joshua 24:15 stared me right in the face, "...if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..." The reality set in, I've been choosing to serve another god.

Forgive me Lord, return to me a desire to serve YOU alone!