Hey, Girlfriends! I don’t have long because Jackson’s at Bibby’s house but we’ve had lots of good time together this morning and he’s preoccupied for a few minutes. I’ve got something on my mind that I’ve got to share or I’m going to combust.
Yesterday I was with somebody I love who was describing frustration over not being able to get a breakthrough in a work matter. I’ve been in on it for a while so I knew it had been hard and I was searching for encouraging things to say that weren’t just the usuals that we turn to when we don’t know what to say. I reached out my hands toward the loved one’s hands and said, “Let’s pray about it right this minute.” And we did. We had no more than said, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen,” then the telephone rang. It was the call the person had been waiting for and the breakthrough came. The phone call lasted some time so I just kept praying and even doing a few little thank You dances. When the loved one got off the phone, I said, “Can you believe that? That was the Lord!”
To which my loved one said, “You’re probably right.”
“No,” I said, “there’s no ‘probably’ to it! That was the Lord! I mean, did you see that timing??”
The person nodded and said, “Sure may have been!”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, “SURE MAY HAVE BEEN”?? Are you stinking kidding me? (I didn’t say all that part.)
“But you’ve gotta give Him His glory!” (I did say that.) Or what compels Him the next time when He didn’t get any credit the last time? (Didn’t exactly say that.)
Girls, listen. GIVE GOD HIS GLORY! When He does something for you, don’t sit there and wonder if that may have been Him. GIVE HIM SOME GLORY!! Jump up and down about it. Get excited about it! I don’t know about you, but I want God to ENJOY doing some things for me. I want Him to think I’m fun to get a reaction out of. I want to dang well NOTICE. Can you imagine when we thank Him for something that He’s up there on His Throne shrugging His shoulders and saying, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I didn’t have anything to do with that”? Does Phil. 2:13 not say that God works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose? Ain’t no doubt, Girlfriend. It is GOD.
“Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done!” Ps. 40:5
“I am the Lord; that is My Name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols…Let them give glory to the Lord and proclaim His praise…!” Is. 42:8,12
Not fussing. Just feel passionate about it. I love you so much and want you to enjoy your God!
A wonderful reminder and encouragement for us all!!! I know that I don’t always remember to verbally aknowledge my praise to God but it so happens that yesterday I was able to give a big verbal shout out of praise to God for the return of my 16 year old son’s favorite jeans….I had to share this ‘cuz it’s so funny… he returned from our youth groups “Purity Weekend” last week without his favorite pants!!! Now if that isn’t either great cause for concern or better yet, part of the promo material for next year!!Of course they were his absolute favorite so when they showed up yesterday after we had looked everywhere we could think of, we had a little Priase the Lord time. Trivial I know but God even cares about the small details like our favorite pants!!
Amen Amen.!!!!
Last night after work at midnight in Indiana and a hugh snow going on I started home only 3 miles (I thank God for that every day I’m so close) I turned on my road and I was somewhat concerened as the wind had drifted bad bad 🙂 I do have 4 Wheel drive and thank God yet again I had had to get new tires jsut last week ! Thank God again I didn’t want to buy new tires But God knew I was going to need them real soon 🙂 ! So all the way down the drifted country road I just said Jesus Jesus Jesus Thank you Jesus all the way till my drive way and then just set and praised him for helping me. If I could have seen all around me I probably would not have started down that road I was probably in the field !!! I just Thank God He takes so good care of me as I’m a single seista. 🙂
Love you all and give little Jackson a hug for me. I get to see my little ones in a couple weeks.
Thanks for including us all . God Bless You
Pam
Oh and when I woke up this morning a dear neighbor was out on his tractor cleaning my drive. He will get a loaf of fresh baked bread real soon 🙂 and a big God Bless you.
mama beth, you=great.
love your heart.
love your hair.
love your passion.
and i love that i just tried to explain to some lady at walmart who was looking at your book that we have a couple hundred mutual friends, and we all ‘talk’ several times a week via the internet. (she clearly thought i was on a emotional-high from all the snow, because she did not get it.)
Amen and Amen! I try to remember to always give Him thanks for answered prayer. That’s why a prayer journal is so effective. When you go back and see all the answered prayer He gives, that’s enough to make you want to do a Glory Dance for Him! 😀
Thanks Beth!
WOOHOO!! I hear you! I pray that I will always see it and love it when He makes Himself obvious to me!
Oh, thank you for your post! I have recently begun waking at 5 to meet with God. I’ve found that my “good intentions” of having time with Him during the day do not somehow turn out. This morning, I headed downstairs at my normal time well before my husband and kiddos were awake. I was enjoying a wonderful time with the Lord, but my hair kept falling in my face and bugging me as I read in my bible and wrote out my prayers in my journal. I wished to myself that I had remembered to pull my hair back before heading downstairs. Not wanting to wake my family, I stayed put and got back to reading. Clear as day, I heard a (not an audible voice) clear command to reach into my pocket (of my robe). When I did, there was a ponytail holder. I think bc it was so early and I was so into my time with my Father, I immediately praised Him. But, then I felt doubts ~ and began to think it was foolish of me to believe God had been the one to tell me the ponytail holder was there. However, I decided to tell Satan to get thee behind me so I could continue to praise my Father in Heaven for loving me so much and for being present with me and for meeting with me! Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!!! Kim in Ohio
I am so enjoying Jesus, even while we wait on Him. There is sure some faith-strength training going on in the Smith home. Yep, there is.
We count our blessings–each one. And we give Him effusive praise!
But I must add, it has been a hard 3 1/2 months…I’m praying that God comes through for a job for my Chris this week. I hope He answers, just as we are praying. Mmm Hmm! Amen.
Praying over your dear sweet family.
Love,
holly
Amen —– He tell us to “be still and KNOW that He is God . . .” – I pray that we all continually aware of His hand in our lives!
Beth and other Siestas,
I feel like I am going to jump out of my skin if I don’t echo from the mountain tops a concert of praise!
The story is too long and too complex to go into, but I walked through 30 days of fasting from something I have never had victory in, FAITHFULLY!!!! Do you know what? I didn’t even white knuckle it! Surely for the first few days my husband was asking me how long this fast was going to go on. 🙂 But we made it, the Spirit convicted me of fasting in a way without others noticing and then put a humorous punchline on it with Beth’s portrayal of “smelling like smoke” from the Daniel study.
You need to understand, Satan has had this stronghold in my life since I was 8! That is 30 years!!! I have never walked in freedom like this. Sure, I looked like I walked in freedom in my early 20s to those in the world because I spent 3 hours a day at the gym for 13 days in a row, but never with peace, balance and a contentment like this one.
I just want to share a testimony that your Strong Tower can do anything you need. Hang in there. Hold fast. Stand up when He whispers your name. And GIVE HIM THE GLORY when He redeems the circumstances. You will be radiant with His glory even in the process, when your eyes are on Him.
HE IS GOOD… ALL THE TIME…
Thanks for the wonderful insight! I’ve been doing the “Beloved Disciple” study with my Mom, (my first!) and part of the homework today was about something similar. Maybe God is trying to tell me something…. 🙂
Lindy
For Kimberly and other siestas fighting the good, noble, and necessary fight of faith:
an ode to the LORD…
A Might Fortress is our God
A mighty fortress is our God…The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him…A mighty fortress is our God!:)
WHOHOO! Absolutely LOVE that song!Praise Him! Greater is He who lives in you than he who is in the world.
katiegfromtennessee
GLORY!!!!
HALLELUJAH!!!!
and
AMEN!
How easy it is sometimes to “forget” that God is in everything. Thanks for the reminder!
Love
Cynthia in OK
How easy it is sometimes to “forget” that God is in everything. Thanks for the reminder!
Love
Cynthia in OK
You are so right-we have to give God all the glory, in all things!! I try to look at everything through spiritual sight-you see God more that way! Last night we hosted a sleepover for all our daughters friends who were trying out for freshman cheerleading. One of the “counters” for the event walked out and saw my vehicle packed with excited and anxious teeenagers waiting for the results to be posted (it was midnight). She whispered “Not a good decision” and reminded me not everyone gets these things. My heart sunk as I though about the 7 girls in my vehicle. I suddenly lost my excitement over the thought of what I would do if one of these girls did not make the team. God was good-each one of the girls in my car made it!!! I just laid my exhausted head on my pillow when we got home and kept saying “thank you Lord, thank you” until I fell asleep. It could have been a really long and painful night. God was good!!
In His Graces~Pamela
GOD IS SO VERY, VERY GOOD! He rented our house today just when I thought I couldn’t take it any longer! We are off very soon to NYC to follow HIS calling on our lives! I LOVE HIM SO VERY, VERY MUCH!
Thank you so much for sharing that. Oh, I love Him so! He’s always on time even when we fail to see it!
Agreed – thank you for speaking the truth in love to your friend and to me. Sometimes we aren’t looking for Him and He’s right there with exactly what we need. Oh, Lord, increase our faith! I appreciate you, Beth more than you can know and thank God upon every remembrance of you. Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow – EVERY good gift comes from above!!
Amen and Amen! Praise the Lord for this reminder today…twice! I just finished my Bible Study homework from Daniel 9. He truly was a man of the Word of God and one that was a prayer warrior- And, he hadn’t even stopped praying when his answer came. Though your answer wasn’t given by Gabriel, I think the timing of that phone call showed you God’s answer. He heard you before you even uttered the prayer, and answered you immediately. Praise you, Lord! Oh, how I pray that God would make me a “Daniel-prayer” too!
I love that you remind us to give Him the glory and praise- I think that’s really what this whole thing we call life is about. Loving Jesus and giving Him glory!
On a cute side note: I teach the 3 and 4 year olds at church and everytime we see God answer one of our prayers, we clap our hands and say “Yay God!” Well, our prayer time has become one of their most favorite times- We pray for everything: hurt toes, scraped knees, coughs, runny noses…and even for the people that don’t love Jesus:) And as soon as they see God answer a prayer, they say, “Mrs. Tara, can we clap for God now?”
Oh, if only we would live with that expectation- “Can we clap for God now?” Yes, siestas! Praise Him and give him the glory…
Love,
Tara
This whole past week since we moved, every time I go looking for something in one of the MANY boxes, I’ll say, “Lord, please help me fine the ‘phonebook, can opener, etc’ and when I find it, I say with great exuberence, “THANK YOU, LORD!”
It MUST be ALL about HIM!
Amber in TN
Beth,
I am encouraged by the faith that has increased in you! Allison
Your timing is impeccable. 15 minutes ago, I finished painting our bedroom and went to plug the vacuum in before I put our boys to bed. I had to unplug our space heater (no coils on the thing–like an old radiator but it’s new). When I pulled the plug, it left black soot on the socket. Lo and behold the rubber on the plug was melting, the plug was HOT, and the outlet had rubber debris in it.
WOW GOD. He is incredible. And I wasn’t even praying for safety!
Thank you for reminding us of the obvious. Just today I told the Lord that He just needed to handle something b/c I gave up and that I have no real reason so think He would want to except for grace, mercy and love. He will handle it I am sure and until then I will try to “not be anxious for anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving present my request to God.” (Phil 4:6) =) Jill
Well…let me give Him a little praise:
1) provided us a handicap van in less than 30 minutes
2) Provide over $3,000 for a training session I have to attend in CO. Plus a full scholarship
3) Turned MRSA into mercy
4) Allowed us to sell our car 30 minutes before we took it to the dealer ship
Honey don’t tell me they were coincidences, the were GOD-INCIDENTS and I know it!!! Thank you Lord.
AMEN! I feel your passion! I think it’s time we start jumping up and down and Praising Him! I feel exactly the same way! He deserves the Glory!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you sweet Beth for reminding us today!
Love you,
Angie xoxo
Amen!!!!!!!!! Thank You Lord for your goodness and taking care of me and my family. All Glory and Honor and Praise is Yours Heavenly Father! Thanks for getting us to the retreat yesterday and I praise you for the Work you are doing in my two children who went.
Oh Girl, you are so right! My dear friend just recieved word that the offer she made on a house was accepted, and let me tell you we KNEW THAT WAS GOD! No way the owners would’ve accepted that offer with the Lord working in it all! Praise Him!!!!
I have learned to Praise God for even the smallest blessings, things that I feel like God doesn’t really have time for. I am putting together a surprise tea party for my daughter who just turned 9 years old. Due to working, everything the girls are involved in and going to school myself, I have had very limited time to try and get my plans together for this little shin-dig. But today I was so very successful in getting most of the stuff for her party together. I even had the girls with me. My husband would just take them off in another direction and let me do what I needed to do. For everything I was able to cross off my list, I would say ‘Thank You God’ over and over and I meant it from the very bottom of my heart! This party is going to literally rock her world! She absolutely loves tea parties and a good friend of hers had a surprise tea party a couple of years ago and she still talks about it. This year she said she just wanted to have a couple of friends over for a sleep over instead of having a party so she doesn’t suspect a thing. I am so excited! I can’t wait to see her little face when she walks in. I will definitely be giving all the Glory to God!
I’m with you, Beth! We’ve been praying for a job for my husband for 5 years and for the last 2 years at a particular place. We just couldn’t understand why he never even received a call back or an interview. Then finally in December he started receiving call backs on some of his job inquiries and received some interviews….but none at the particular place he had really wanted. Finally, he received a call back and interview at the place he wanted and Praise the Lord started his new job 12 days ago! I’ve been giving God the Glory ever since!!!! His timing in this was perfect, for too many reasons to list here!
I’m praying your loved one will see the situation for what it is……the LORD OF EVERYTHING doing HIS “THANG”!!!
AMEN! Thanks Beth! My family and I have been so through the storm and back, but we MADE sure we praised God EVERY time (Big things and little things) and praised Him loud and proud!
We made sure we did not keep it to ourselves and when he healed my son last year, we stood in front of our church to shout it from the rooftops of what our great God did and tell Ethan’s story every where we can!
I learned something about this topic a few years ago when I heard a “certain” Bible teacher tell a story about seeing her delight (baby bear) in the woods while on a hike. You are the one who has taught me to be thrilled when God shows off.
A friend shared with me recently about her job and the stress of it and how she didn’t feel appreciated and was questioning should she apply elsewhere etc.
We shared back and forth about what we know God says about us and our value to Him and how to try to remain positive… and we both knew each other would be praying.
Honestly….it was as if her boss was listening in on our conversation. The praise began…within a day or so of our talk.
She and I both knew and praised God for His work in it.
Just today I was watching week 4 of “Stepping Up” and you were talking about the praise and dance in your office over answered prayer and then those ladies walked by and the one wanted you to pray for her friend.
My eyes teared up with that one.
You’re right….we need to give Him thanks and praise!
Thanks for the reminder.
Enjoy Jackson & Amanda!!!
Love,
Valerie
I have taken a stand, and I will publicly praise the LORD!!!
Siesta in VA
Beth:
Your post is such a good reminder. I had one of those praise God mornings. He gave me just the verses I needed to keep my focus on Him and not go into a tail spin of worry. A year ago fear would have won out but today God did and I had victory. I have had victory over not giving into fear and worry for about a year now. I could not have done it with out him. And He used verses in the week 10 lesson 4 of the Daniel study. I could not believe it right in the middle of all that history were the very verses I needed to read today. Praising God. Kim B. in AZ
Amen, Amen, Amen.
He reigns, God is who He says He is. God can do what He says He can do. I am who God says I am. I can do all things thru Christ. God’s Word is alive in me. I’m believing God. I can’t memorize but those 5 things sure have stuck with me. Thanks bunches!!!!!
SPEAK A WORD SIESTA!!!
Gonna be givin’ God some glory in the morning at church! My sweet friend just got home with their adopted son from Guatemala last Thur and he’s going to be dedicated in the morning! I’m gonna be runnin’ some glory laps in that Southern Baptist sanctuary so look for me in the paper!! 😉
YYAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOO-JAH!!!
CRAZY for Jesus in NC
Val
I’m amazed sometimes how we will stay in prayer and beg God to interceed on our behalf then when he comes through for us we fail to give him the Glory He soooo deserves. God showed himself real to me 34 years ago and He has kept me from going under more times then I can count. I hope I never cease to give him the glory and be thankful. I never want to forget how he has taken care of me through the trials in my life. The good, bad, and ugly. Praise You Heavenly Father
Amen! That made me think of a story that I just have to share. I’ll try to give you the abridged version.
About 5 years ago, my husband and I really felt God calling us to adopt a child from China. Well, I’m not a big risk taker and really needed God to be loud and clear about His will. So, one day after I put our 3 year old daughter down for her nap, I sat down to do my daily homework for “Jesus the One & Only”. During my prayer time I asked God to “hit me upside the head” with His will for our family. I mean I wanted Him to really let me know (without a doubt) if we were supposed to adopt.
About 30 minutes later my sweet daughter gets up from her nap and says:
“Mommy, I can’t wait until my baby sister gets here”.
“Really,” I said (about to fall over). “Where is she?”
“She’s in China,” she said. “She isn’t born yet, but I can’t wait until she gets here.”
I can tell you that after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I was praising God for His (very swift) answer.
By the way, that was in September. Our daughter (who we adopted from China) was born 5 months later in February.
Isn’t God good?!!
Sheri in NC
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! … “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:38,40
In Beth’s own words, “Go forth and display divine special effects to the great glory of God.”
You are so awesome, God! I love You with all my heart!
He is due praise tonight…I was feeling fear and anxiety as I was home alone with my little son tonight and as I rocked him to sleep I began praying, remembering scriptures, praying with thanksgiving and within minutes I realized I was relaxed and no longer stressed/scared. Awesome. Thank you Lord for hearing my prayers!
I need to praise Christ….my husband’s heart’s desire for over 10 years has been to start his own business as a home builder….my husband, his father, and his brother joined together but things still weren’t happening because everyone still had to work and had no means to jump right in….Well, my brother-in-law lost his job recently and they just got a 19 house contract for a developer!!! This is an awesome opportunity that we give them a firm foundation. PRAISE GOD! My heart leaps that Christ is granting my husband’s deep desire! Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers!
Amen and Amen…Praise His Name!!
So profound. Yes, yes, yes!!!
Beth, thanks for the reminder. I’m sure willing to do a “jig for Jesus”!! Listen to what He did for me this week . . .
He gave me a $2500 scholarship from the nursing school I’m attending! That’s half my school bill for this semester (and the other half He took care of through Pell Grants!). Isn’t He AMAZING!!!
Jessica
You must be having so much fun with Jackson and Amanda there!! I loved the reminder to give God the glory when He does something for us. I too have seen obvious God things happen that another person just shrugged off as “coincidence”.
You know something, Beth? There is somebody I drive nuts sometimes with exactly the same comments: “Probably.” “Might have been.” when I am trying to be really honest with where I am at.
There have been plenty of times that I have been the one failing to “give Him the glory”…not from thinking He couldn’t, but because why on earth would He bother with me? Too big a stretch to imagine it.
Am learning…slowly…that He is mine, and I am His. Trying to do the “regardless of what I understand, I obey” thing. Holding on tight to the picture of Him loving me, delighting in me, singing over me…but sometimes, I slide back into asking “why me?” — which is definately the wrong question! — and remembering Him saying (in Stepping Up I think!) “Because I want to!”
There are still some pretty deep icky places in me that He hasn’t finished with yet. I am glad He doesn’t give up easy; glad that the continuation of His love for me is up to Him, and is not depending on me “getting it” or “being good”!!
Always, always, wanting more love, more power, more of Him in my life…
Thanks for the constant pull towards Him; thanks for your passion for Him. Makes me want the same all the more…
great reminder to believe and give thanks! why do we doubt?.. are we afraid of “drinking the Kool-Aid?” so we gotta “hedge” our faith? hmmm… i’ll be thinking about that – and looking for God’s answers to my prayers more!
Amen!! But Beth, how do you respond or, more importantly, cope when a close loved one can not see it? Can’t see God’s hand at work? When they say, “Could be….you might be right.” It’s so frustrating. So heartbreaking!
God is so personal and involved in our lives and if we look we will see Him all over the place. I remember a time that I was driving to work and thinking about something I needed to bring to God to help me focus on in my life. I seemed to keep repeating the word focus over and over in my mind…when I came to the next stoplight I glanced over to see what else?…but a white Ford Focus! What a cool affirmation! And a white Ford Focus at that! I just love it when things like that happen!
Been doing an internal dance all week. I’m taking a brief pause on writing an absolutely dear friend a who knows how long letter. He’s currently in Jail (for the last month) and His heart went from HARD stone to well to watered down JELLO. God is working and after nearly 6 years of praying, I’m SO excited to see this dear, soon to be brother become so hungry that he can do nothing other than come to Jesus for FOOD. Going to Cook County Jail in Chicago…. which is such a hard place…. and seeing His heart melt… Give God the Glory!
“Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done!” Ps. 40:5
“I am the Lord; that is My Name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols…Let them give glory to the Lord and proclaim His praise…!” Is. 42:8,12
Boast in the Lord! Great is our God…totally do the dance, jump up and down, and recognise HIS hand! I love my relationship with HIM. Keep it real, keep a thankful heart, and just watch HIM show off!! Absolutely give God some Glory!!
risk looking crazy to the world, you look beautiful and just as you should to the Lord!