Category: Devotionals

My sewing machine is sitting on my dining table, patiently awaiting the moment I turn it on. Considering how much I love to sew, it seems strange that it has been sitting untouched for weeks.

I learned to sew through five years of Home Economics in junior high and high school. I consider myself a top-notch seamstress, having made bridesmaid and prom dresses for my daughter and numerous Easter dresses. At one time, I made all my own clothes.

Have you ever thought of being filled with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of wisdom, so that you could sew?

“And thou shalt speak unto all that are wisehearted, whom I have filled with the Spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.” Ex 28:3.

Aaron was the first priest of the Israelites after they left Egypt, and his consecration garments had to be special-made to God’s specifications, since he would be serving before the Lord.

Not only was Aaron called to be the first priest, there were certain people who were called to make his garments. Where did they learn to sew? In Pharoah’s palace where God made sure they were trained by the finest teachers of their time, so when Aaron’s priestly robes were needed, they would be prepared. Then God filled them with the Spirit of wisdom, so they were anointed in addition to being trained.

This applies to other things, too: computers, woodworking, mechanics, painting, singing, playing musical instruments. God has given each of us talents that we may never know we have until we try. However training is only the beginning, the first step. God’s calling on each life shows up with the anointing to fulfill that calling.

Just think, a seamstress, auto mechanic, singer, computer technician, carpenter, each one filled with the Spirit of wisdom to do what God has called him to do.

The greatest anointing comes when you are doing what God has called you to do.

You know you need a new bed when you dream about it.

Last night, I dreamed I was visiting a centuries-old castle in Europe, where the handsome Count and the staff catered to my every desire. After a gourmet dinner, the host and I retired to the library with four walls of books, where we talked for hours.

At bedtime, I was escorted to a beautiful room where the maid pulled open the heavy red velvet curtain, revealing several beds high on the wall, each built into a niche with satin-covered walls.

There was a ladder running up the wall, at the top of which was a ledge about a foot wide that ran beside the beds. I struggled to climb the ladder, knowing all the time there was no way I would be able to step over onto the ledge, so I gave up on the third rung.

In that same room was a soft leather recliner, which enveloped me in pure luxury. At my right hand was a Victorian-style lamp, surrounded by books, with a pair of reading glasses and a lace-edged linen handkerchief beside it. A crystal glass held pure water (I really prefer Diet Dr Pepper.)

I was settling in for a restful nap, when the host came in to bid me goodnight. I thanked him profusely for his hospitality and apologized for not sleeping in the bed, but he waved off my remarks, and told me the recliner had been provided for that very purpose. He planned it in advance just for me.

And the next thing I knew I was waking up in my own recliner at home, where I had gone after a fitful night on my 15-year-old mattress.

In Matthew 6:8-9 Jesus said, “For your father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray, ‘Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.’”

My Father God knows in advance just exactly what I need.

Now that the Valentine’s Day TV commercials are over, husbands all over the U.S. can breathe a sigh of relief. They have lived through another year of diamond advertisements. Yes, Valentine’s Day is too commercialized, as all holidays are now. Yes, it is a gimmick, a way to sell flowers, chocolates, and jewelry, but if there is one thing that deserves a holiday of its very own, it is Love.

We celebrate a mother’s love on Mother’s Day, a daddy’s love on Father’s Day, a grandparent’s love on Grandparent’s Day, and romantic love on Valentine’s Day, but that is when we should celebrate Love, pure love, true love, God’s love.

I am lovey, well known in my circles as the Huggy Lady. When I look in your eyes, the Love of God wells up in my heart. I used to think this was because of the loving personality I was born with, that it was just the way I was.

Then one day while I was praying, I remembered that I had asked the Lord to give me love for people, even the unlovable ones. I asked Him to make me a vessel, a conduit of His great love to others, so that they would feel the love of God flowing through me.

And I realized that was exactly what had happened. God has planted His love for people in my heart. It doesn’t mean though that I act loving all the time. I have had to repent many times for unloving actions that hurt others.

Obviously you can have love in your heart but act in an unloving manner. We must make an effort to translate our love into action, based on how the Bible teaches us to treat others.

Romans 5:5 NKJV says, “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Every Christian has the love of God in their hearts, but some just don’t know how to show it.

My first memory of money is of giving at church. I remember when I was a little girl, after Sunday School, we had a Penny March. All the little kids marched single file, pushing, shoving, around the altar and dropped their few pennies into the collection plate. On our birthday, we always put in as many pennies as we were years old.

We were too poor to get an allowance. Mother barely had enough to get by, but we had fresh vegetables from an enormous garden and homemade bread. We always had plenty to eat. Mother ironed clothes for other people for a living until we were in school, then she went to work for the school cafeteria and ironed in the evenings. 

I didn’t even feel poor till junior high when I realized that other girls in school had nicer clothes, but it didn’t bother me much because I went to work when I was 15 as a waitress.

I’ll never forget the things I bought when I finally got that job. First I bought some cute shoes instead of the orthopedic shoes I had to wear. I bought shrimp and other meat we had never had before, Ship’N Shore blouses for my younger sister and me, gifts for my nephews and niece.  I bought gas for the old 53 Chevy my uncle fixed up and let me drive. I was a little embarrassed by that old Chevy, (this was in 1965) but my pride in ownership soon overcame it. It sure beat walking.

With the economy down, the stock market down, retail sales down, it is really easy to put too much importance on money.  Money is a means to an end—the means of getting the goods and services that you need.

If money is short, it is time to go back to the beginning. Begin by giving to the Lord through your local church. Maybe this is the year you should plant a garden again. Find something you are good at (like my mother ironing and cooking) and do it for other people for money. Someone would probably pay for your home-cooked meals to serve their family on a busy school night. And cut back on all those extras that you have been buying that you don’t really need, like expensive meats, clothes, and gifts. And be thankful for the car you have that is running and drive it a little longer.    

Put first things first. Put God first in your finances.

I’ll Fly Away was my granddaddy’s favorite song. He learned to read music, but didn’t play any instrument. Granddad sang bass  and Grandmother Hightower sang the melody and played the guitar.

Grandmother and Mom put me in front of the church when I was 5 years old to sing “I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop,” with Grandmother. I started taking piano lessons in third grade and continued through my senior year, with one year in college at ORU. We kids all took lessons. I like to play piano, but singing is my first love.

One of my favorite memories is hearing my mom sing as she went about her housework. “Oh, how I love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, Because He first loved me.”

Everything on earth has a musical note, its own sound, associated with it.  Sound waves move through the air, as frequency and even if a person can’t hear it, the frequency can be measured. If God had not put air surrounding the earth, there would no sound or music, because music cannot be produced in a vacuum.

On the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem described in Luke 19:37-40 NIV, “the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

In the Bible, the last mention of music is in heaven.

Revelation 5:13 “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb  be praise and honor and glory and power,  forever and ever!”

At creation, God put music into everything on this earth, as a symbol of the music in heaven.

 

Words have always gotten me into trouble. Like the time I told my mom to shut up when I was 15 years old. That was a bad mistake, one I paid dearly for. Till this day, shut up is almost as bad as a cuss word in my home.

On the other hand, words have also gotten me out of many messes. I knelt at an old wooden altar and asked Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my heart. By the grace of God and the blood of Jesus, I obtained my eternal salvation by my words. (Romans 10:10.)

“Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is a common saying from our childhood, but unfortunately not true. Words do hurt, deeply, and usually are never forgotten. They can be apologized for but they hang in the atmosphere forever, in the memory of the person who said them and the person who heard them. Words can never be taken back.

Jesus frequently quoted scriptures from what we call the Old Testament. When He was tested in the wilderness, He answered the devil with the Word of God. Jesus said in John 14:24, “The word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s Who sent me.”

Our words have power, but the ultimate power is in the Word of God. When a person becomes a Christian, the most important thing he can do is study God’s Word, the Bible. My life changed when I gave priority to the Word of God, the Bible. I made a choice to believe that the Bible was the Word of God, then I chose to live by what the Bible said. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been rewarding.

One time, some of Jesus’ followers grew upset with something He said and left. He turned to the disciples and said, “Will you go too?”

Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” John 6:68.

God never said anything that He will have to take back. His eternal Word will stand forever.