DISTRACTED BY HIM

This morning as I have been trying to have my quiet time, distractions and stumbling blocks have blocked my path.. Or have I “allowed” the distractions to become stumbling blocks?

Its now the afternoon... And I still haven't had my appointment with God.

I have allowed my dead computer, my lost glasses, my messy closet, the clean dishes in the dishwasher screaming to me to be unloaded, my to do list...to name just a few of the minor distractions...to distract me.  But it only takes a few minor things to distract me from answering the Call to sit with my Savior to receive all that I need for this day.

What a brat I am as I have the privilege to sit with my King, yet I take advantage of His grace. I have no reason to grumble or allow silly things to aggravate me - yet I do.

I am tired of allowing the mundane build up to cause frustration in my soul.

So... I found Jesus in the midst of the mundane.  I have finally pushed the little nuisances away and made my time with Jesus a priority. It is in the choosing to make Him the first appointment of the day. I thought I did this morning,  but as I jumped out of bed I dragged Him around with me instead of allowing Him to lead me. I am sure He has some brush burns on His knees!

May 6 - Is He on your To Do List? 

For today I will.....
God's agenda...or God's interruptions....


I wake up this morning with my to do list plastered on my brain. Actually, I had this list on my brain all night...so why do I  wonder when my feet the ground that I am filled with anxiety about getting everything done?

Scripture tells us to "... seek first his kingdom and his righteousness..." (matthew 6:33).  I am not told to first  seek ME and MY wants and my agenda...and my emails....I am to seek Him..FIRST. How hard it is to seek Him first when you have a list with 20 items that used to be 5?
So....I follow that inner churning in my soul, and go and seek Him. I pack up my agenda, and the anxiety that comes with it...go to my quiet place...and sit with the Lord.  I sit...I squirm...I wait "patiently"....turning my thoughts from what I need to do, to the One who I need.
Then comes that peace, that peace that transcends all understanding. It washes over me. It washes over my agenda. God is so faithful...He always shows up when I show up.
He reminds me that today is His day. He has plans for me. He has blessings for me.  I give Him my day, my agenda, all of me...so He can do His job  in my life...for today.
I have learned to hold onto my list loosely, as God has His plans for me. So when I only get down to number 3 on my to do list, I have to look back over my day and smile at what God changed or added to my  agenda...the phone call from a friend, a conversation with my kids, a flat tire...blessings... all wrapped up in whatever comes my way. God always blesses the time that I give to Him to first, by providing me with more than enough time to complete what needs to be completed...for His day.
So today I will write my "to do" list  in  pencil.....to allow God the opportunity to erase and add His agenda for me ...His perfect plans fitting neatly into His perfect day...He made for me...for you.
May your day be filled with His peace as you give Him your agenda....and experience the blessings that He has planned for you.
                      Peace to you,
                          Joni

Jesus is Calling me to "Come to Him"...

"Come to Me"... 2 little words packed with power. Words that demand a response. What or who will I first "come to" that is calling my name this morning? Is it my to do list, or a list of things that I can worry about...or is it my Lord? Jesus tells me to come to Him for all that I need. He wants my all so that He can be my all. Whatever is pressing on my heart, He wants me to come to Him and bring it to Him. To bring my all with thanksgiving, knowing that He hears my call, that He hears all my needs, no matter how big or how small. He waits for me so He can pour out His blessings on little 'ole me. 

 I go before Him with confident expectation, because He is Good.  "If God is for us, who can be against us?"(Romans 8:31). If He is for me, why choose to take the path that will lead me to darkness. 

Thank you Lord, that I can "come to You" every second of every day. Thank you Lord that You will meet my needs according to Your will and not mine. Thank You Lord for greeting me every morning with opened arms, inviting me into Your embrace so that we can travel today along the path that You have set for me. 

His Precious Will

From March 30:
"BEFORE I arise from my be in the morning....God has already arranged the events of my day."
God has already written this day in my book. He know s exactly what I am going to do today...He has already set the ball in motion. He has set up divine appointments...He has provided open doors for me to walk through when I am faced with temptations....He will meet all my needs....His will will be done in my life today...His Perfect Will...not my will but His . He just asks me to take His hand in trust...and go about my day. I may have my agenda all circling around in this brain of mine....and He knows it...He knows every one of my thoughts...and boy do I have a lot of them. He knows the desires of my heart. He takes all of “me” and orchestrates “His” day for me...to help me to become the Joni that He made me to be. When plans change....God knows and He has a better plan. When I have no clue what “to do” I tackle first....He makes me perform His number one choice.
Always working....always faithful.
So today..and tomorrow....I will SEEK my Lord...and know that I will find Him...when I am seeking Him will ALL my heart. Seeking with ALL....Trusting will ALL...because He is my ALL.
Thank you Lord for ALL that you have planned for me today.

Weebles Wobble

As I began reading "Jesus Calling" today, I first read the scripture references and have been blown away by God's Words in  
 Psalm 37:23-24.....
"If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm;  though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."
 Wow...
When I step out the Lord's will,  my steps will be wobbly. Every time I choose to disobey what the Lord tells me to do  in His Word.. I will wobble through the day. When I walk hand in hand with the Lord  and follow His statutes He will make my steps firm. So whenever I an tripping over my own two feet, it is a sign that I am stepping away from the Lord. This still doesn't guarantee that I may not "stumble",  because the stumbling will be part of the path that the Lord has constructed for me. 
I think of the toys from way back... Weebles...egg shaped characters given the catchphrase of " weebles wobble but they don't fall down". Boy does this explain Psalm 37:23-24... How God is the One who makes our steps firm, yet since we are human, we will stumble or wobble but will not fall down because the Lord will " uphold" ( to lean, lay, rest, support, put, uphold, lean upon ) us! How cool is that. What freedom to know that I will not fall..  Even though the circumstances around me may feel crushing. We are all fragile eggs, yet having Christ as our center( our yolk) and when we are following the Lord's ways... we may crack a bit,  but won't be destroyed, because  our  Daddy is "upholding" us.  But   when my "wobbling" is due to my choice of going my own way...I will fall.  



So wobbly me will take my Lord's hand so He can uphold me in all circumstances for which He places me in today...because as a daughter of the King I am a  Weeble that will wobble..but won't  fall down!  

May your steps be firm as you lean on the Lord in this wobbly world. 

Check out the Weeble commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq0OQBdIhsc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Centered in His Precious Presence

"From March 9..
The world around you "seems" to spin faster and faster.

The world... My to "dos" seem to cloud out the light of your presence. When I fix my eyes on the world and it's pleasures and demands I start to spin faster and faster... And everything is a blur!

I am to go to Jesus to be re-centered... As it is in Him where I get " energized" as He fills me with His love, joy and peace!

Lasting peace is not found in the things and the wants of this world.. All temporary.. "a chasing after the wind."

" The world is a needy place.." always screaming out to me that " you need this and that"... That is where you will find happiness and peace. The neediness of the world... God knows what I need. He has everything that I will ever need. My "wants" come from what I see in this world.

Jesus I just want you and all that you want for me! Fill me with you so I will slow down and enjoy every step that I walk with you.

Signed...Sealed....Delivered

(Feb. 26 Jesus Calling)

Your future LOOKS uncertanin and FEELs flimsy...even PRECARIOUS (shakey, unstable, insecure, uncertain, wobbly). That is how is should be.

Wow, the future should look uncertain and feel flimsy...because it is the future....

A synonym for future is hope (confident desire, expect, trust, anticipate, wish, look forward to).

What am I placing my hope in?

Is it a job, my purpose, the what ifs....? If that is the case, I will feel wobbly, insecure and unstable. If I am placing my hope in “what is yet to come” according to what my eyes can see, according to the wordly standards, I will continue to crawl through life constantly striving for what I think is best for me.

Placing my hope, my “what is yet to come” in “the WHO has come”, then I can look forward with confidence, anticipation, expectation to an already planned future, which is an eternity with the Lord. Secure in His everlasting arms. I have that place right now...signed, sealed, and delivered...so why do I “choose” to focus on an uncertain future, the future that I am creating in my mind?

The future is anything that happens beyond this current second. This sentence is the future of the last sentence. Did I fear the next second? Do I fear the next sentence I write...or do I rest in the second that I am in right now in “peaceful trust” believing that my future is held in the creator of the universe.

I know how my story ends. I don’t know what is going to happen on the road as I travel to my final destination. So how do I travel down the road, facing my future every second, marked with uncertainity as my eyes are fixed on my “happily ever after” ending?

Trusting the One’s whose hand I am holding and whose hand is holding mine. My days, belong to Him. The “future things are secret things”. The future things belong to the Lord.

“When I try to figure out the future. I am grasping at things that are the Lords. This, like all forms of worry, is an act of rebellion: Doubting My promises to care for you.”

I am to repent when I get myself all tangled up in worry. I am doubting my Lord. I am questioning whether His provisions for my life are enough. After I repent I return to Him...so He can continue to walk me down the path of life He has constructed personally for me.

Awesome God. Awesome Savior. Awesome Provision!