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!
“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”? “
lol! I love your illustrations!
The word pictures really stick out in my mind!
I just love you,Beth.
your post the other day about wanting to bail when the devil throws stuff at you really hit the spot. It was God for me to read that post that morning. I was thinking about quiting nursing school becaue I had been falsly accused of cheating. BUT God intervened and I was absolved of the accusations. Praise Him!
Exactly! Our pastor preached on this exact thing tonight at church. If we dont’ give God his glory he won’t take away our salvation but instead our blessings until we repent. I loved how it opened my heart to what he was saying. It touches all of us when we don’t Give him the glory!
I agree whole heartedly!! That was God!!!! May we all see Jesus in all the little things He does for us every day!! Yahoo, Thank You Jesus for that parking spot!! Yahoo, Thank you Jesus for that green light!! Yahoo, Thank you Jesus for helping me find those keys…and the list goes on! Thanks for reminding us to Give Glory to the One Who deserves it all!!!!
AMEN to giving our God His glory!! It’s already His, let’s rejoice in reflecting that back to Him!
Amen and Amen!!!!!! Give God the glory for a beautiful day that puts a smile on your face and give Him the glory for the trial you are going through right now. The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the Word of the Lord remains the same. The Lord is faithful in all things and He longs to bless you with the desires of your heart. He made us to praise Him and we can give Him the glory for giving us His grace every morning! He gives us a rainbow each day. Let His joy be your strength! To God goes the glory forever and ever! Amen and Amen!!! May your week be blessed, sweet siestas!
AMEN Beth! I’d be scared to try to take any glory away from the Well Deserved One. Scared in a revered way. 🙂
LOVE your boldness…thank you!
Love,
Lelia
Last year I was at the beach with my nephew (then 3). We were walking against the ocean looking for “creepers” (hermit crabs) and seashells. My sister asked him who made the ocean and he shouted “God made the ocean!” and then, not a second later, he started stomping up and down and screamed “Thank You God for the Ocean!!!!” at the top of his lungs. I loved it. I want praise to be that unrefined and gorgeous in my life too. I know every good thing comes from him. I want to take it all in with wide eyed thankfulness too. God is so worth flipping out over.
I will priase you in this storm…
the words are easy to sing – not so easy to live. I just finished your study (all 5 days, since I haven’t picked up my bible all week) to be ready for tomorrow morning.
Good thing we go on what we know, not what we feel.
It was nice to find your blog. I’ll see you from CA tomorrow…and will give God praise inspite of how I don’t feel.
I just HAVE to respond to this post with SOME MAJOR GLORY TO JESUS. One afternoon last week I posted and pleaded with you, siestas, to pray for our family and our marriage. The enemy has been ravaging us for quite some time. I have been praying and asking GOD to do a MIGHTY WORK in our home.
Saturday, GOD gave me a light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel is still long, but what a blessing HE gave when HE shined a light down at the other end.
Thank you, Siestas, for praying!
THANK YOU, SWEET LORD JESUS, FOR MOVING ON BEHALF OF MY FAMILY.
YOU ARE AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU. O HOW I WANT TO LOVE YOU MORE.
AMEN!!!! EVERY good thing comes from above! Thank you for reminding us. May we be aware of the Lord’s blessings and answers to prayers. Glory to God!
My daughter and grandchildren live in Atlanta, Ga and I go there every couple of weeks and have been doing so for over two years. I finally got a well deserved speeding ticket a couple of weeks ago. The Lord had tried to warn me several times by having me narrowly miss speed traps. The ticket was $150 plus insurance points. The probate court was two hours away from my house so I called to see if anything could be done over the phone to remove the insurance points as I could pay the ticket online.
Well, the lady couldn’t have been LESS helpful so I hung up very disappointed. I had to take a vacation day from work, possibly miss getting to my second job and I had read that the judge may remove the points but DOUBLE the ticket to $300 as well as $40 in gas to get to court.
The day before court I walked in the house and prayed to the Lord and called the court again. I explained to the lady and she reduced the speed on the ticket so there would be no points and I paid my tisket online. PRAISE BE TO GOD!!! I thanked the woman and told her that the Lord had answered my payers through her. The next day I mailed her a thank you card, again saying that the Lord had answered my prayer and that I had prayed that He answer her prayers.
I told this story to my co-workers and when one said “that was lucky” I didn’t hesitate when I said “no, that was the Lord”. One of them asked why he didn’t answer my prayer the first time I called about the ticket and I said “because I hadn’t learned my lesson at that point and He needed to let me stew a while”!
Praise the Lord in all your circumstances and give Him glory in all things.
Tricia – Greenville, SC
Oh sweet Beth!I was just thinking about you and felt compelled to write and thank you; then I log on and read this post!I am reading 90 Days w/One and Only Journal and my husband is reading the chapter book. Your words have blessed me so and I cannot even begin to tell you how many times He has used you to get to me. Thank you so much for being so faithful. Thank you for being so real.I know I am one of thousands that will be standing in line to thank you when we all get to heaven one day.I have been sharing on my own blog what amazing things God is doing in my life.I am amazed at how much controversy it will cause at times.My husband keeps reminding me that Gods word never goes void and that I can’t allow a few people to disrupt what He has done for me and to then share it to encourage others. Thank you for also breaking free of the chains of mans approval and coming forth as the creature He wants you to be.
Why is that so hard to do sometimes!I love you my sista!
Have a super wonderful, totally fabulous, filled with many blessings kind of day!
~Marion
My bible study group just finished Stepping Up last night and I praise God for still allowing me to be here to continue to step up for him. I thought it was neat at the end when we turned to our partner and read the last verse. I looked at mine and told her ok, now we are married because it felt like I was saying vows to her. She told me that was ok because we probably should be married since we both live with men who love to hunt more than anything (than God) sometimes. I also thought it was neat about Melissa and the song that would lead her to her man. Praise God that it didn’t take her long to find that man after that broken road. I’m so glad that God is the one at the end of the broken road waiting for us though. Thanks Beth and I praise God for you, your family and your Lifeway team.
Glory! I say that all the time to give God praise, and sometimes people around me just think I am crazy!
I’m giving God praise in advance because I am four months pregnant and the nurse told me I am about to grow out of my maternity clothes.ON a young married couples salary we don’t have alot of extra money. But glory, the same week as my birthday, the Jack and Jill consignment sale, with tons of maternity clothes is coming to town! GIve God praise for his timing!He even cares that I will have clothes that fit as my tummy expands quickly!
LOVE THIS! LOVE THIS! LOVE THIS! Thank you for the reminder today. Psalm 66:8 says, “Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;” I’m going to be looking for God today in everything and giving Him praise!!!
Blessings,
Joy
Hi –
I totally agree about the importance of giving God the credit. Not only is it right but it builds our faith for the next time! I also can sympathize with the entry who wondered if she may have misinterprted God’s leading. When the answer doesn’t seem so obvious the need for faith is greater. Oswald Chambers says when God is silent on a request it means He knows He can trust you with a better answer than you prayed for – better in the sense that you’ll not only be provided for but your faith will be strengthened through it.
Hangin in there with you!
Dear Siestas,
I just have to cry out some praise! I have recently began some “backyard birdwatching” and have several species that visit my little bird sanctuary. I have never seen bluebirds in our area but put up a nesting box anyway. When I put up the box, I prayed that God would send me a bluebird family (“You have not because you ask not”). A couple of days went by…nothing. I prayed again, believing that God would answer this prayer for me. Well, this morning I got up and out my kitchen window was a male and female bluebird couple scoping out the nesting box. Thank you Jesus, halleluja, Lord we praise Thee… I was instantly reminded of a verse I studied this week. 1 Peter 5:7b “He cares for you.” This is really a small thing in light of the fact that many of you are in some very difficult circumstances. But read all the verse, “Casting all you cares upon Him for He cares for YOU.” He loves us Siestas. And cares about everything in our lives, big and small, desperate needs and simple desires. May He shower you today with blessings as you look to Him.
Sorry this is long, I just had to, just had to!!
Love all of you dolls in Siestaville.
Patti
AMEN….I jump, I shout, I cheer, I praise, I dance especially when he does something I didn’t expect, he just did it because he loves me. So I am with you, To God Be The Glory.
I actually get where your friend was coming from. I have been chewing on something you said when I crashed your Tuesday night Bible study a few weeks ago (ha!) — that it is God’s nature to give. Sometimes I’m afraid my blessings come with strings — that He’ll take them back if I don’t behave, or that He’s given me what I asked for but it wasn’t what was best for me, but I asked for it, so He gave it to me. (You ASKED for it, so now you’re gonna GET it!) But that’s not how God works. He’s not trying to trick me. He wants to bless me. It’s His nature to give. Therefore, when anything good happens, I need to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and praise Him! So now I’ll put these two messages together … It’s God’s nature to give, so give Him the glory when he does! … and keep chewing on both of them. 🙂
Thanks for your ministry, Beth. You’re the best!
An awareness of God things is something I pray for each day because I spent way too long missing Him! Just this past week my daughter was going to have to miss a family get together because of a lost file at her work. Well as only God can and only in His time, file was located on Friday afternoon and family time was not missed! Such fun when BOTH of us got to celebrate such a wonderful God-thing! “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.†(John 9:1-4 MSG) TJ
I try to thank the Lord a lot, and just the other day we had some news that shocked my husband and I but the Lord for new this and as always has his hand on us and the situation. Finally I broke down crying on my knees praying and pouring my heart out to the Lord and then in the next breathe was thanking Him for all he has done in our lives, and the peace Beth was so awesome. I’m so in love with the Lord and even when sometimes it’s hard to see what His plan is ——— You see it and you see His work. It is soooooooooooooooooo amazing.
Blessings Sarah- Prayer Warrior
ps> Can you pray for our situation. Thanks!!!!
Wow! My Bible study this morning, from ‘ The Patriarchs’ was when Abraham’s trusted servant was praying for God’s wisdom, when he was looking for a wife for Issac. As you know she appeared before he even finished praying! Wow, praise God for His goodness, faithfulness and hearing us before we even speak our prayers!
Amen and amen!!! My prodigal son came home the other day….you should have seen the praising and dancing in the name of Jesus!!!
So often I get that same response from people. They ask me, “well, what if it wasn’t God?” Inside, at this point, I am finding it hard to not take up an offense for God! What I What question I usually get is” What if it’s not God?” I I usually say is, “what if it isn’t? Either way, if you give Him praise, you win and He is honored! Who cares ? Are you worried about God getting a big head? Here’s another question: What if you’re wrong, and He’s actually in charge and interested in the infinitely smallest detail of your life? I for one, do not want to be the one trying to offer God my implausible lousy excuses about why the rocks are crying out!” He’s so worth the Glory any way! I am afraid I have a hard time sounding “loving” about this point! This is actually one of my points of contention! Thanks for the reminder!
Lisa in Kirkland, WA
Last week Chad ordered some boat parts and they wouldn’t be in until Monday, so he was disappointed because you know fishing weather is almost here! For some reason I added it to my prayer journal.
Friday afternoon comes and the parts are on the porch! He was so excited, I told him I prayed for them to come in early. We kinda got to laughing as that is a “silly” request and we have a “biggie”, but after reading your post I’m just glad we gave Him some praise on it!
Have a great week with Amanda!
I just have to say. “Oh we of little faith and great unbelief. We are such doubters that our Heavenly Abba really hears and listens.” It is as if we forget ALL THE PROMISES of HIS response to those who call on His Name. May we be somewhat gently reminded that – Yes INDEED it was and is HIM – working in it all. May we (I) be more keen to GIVE HIM ALL GlORY and HONOR. Especially in the immediate everyday interventions on His part for me…
i love that reminder…if we humble ourselves and pray…how often do we frustrate ourselves with things not going “right” in our lives, yet we still haven’t surrendured them to God. what a GREAT reminder (and example) Beth!!
You are so right, Amanda! God has been so good to me the past few weeks, especially. (He’s always good!) I’m beginning to see Him realize some long held dreams for me. In an instance last week, he specifically opened a HUGE door for me. He so fulfilled Ephesians 3:20 for me (more than I could ask or imagine) I literally walked around in a daze for a while asking myself, “Did that just happen?” When I snapped out of it, I couldn’t stop giving Him praise. I still am! 🙂 Sometimes it takes time for God to answer a prayer, but, ladies, don’t give up. If it’s in His will, He will answer and it will be a powerful response at the perfect time!
Sometimes when He shows up like that, I just have to turn my face heaven-ward and say, “You are just too funny!” Don’t you know He just gets a kick out of making our day!
Praisin’ His Name –
MJ in NC
Thanks for this reminder of His Glory and His worthyness to be praised. I am doing a shout out to Him at work this morning as it is already a day and I need to praise Him in any circumstance.
Love you all siesta’s
Thank you for your precious reminders.
Celeste
AMEN!!!!! God is so good and so FAITHFUL and we so often neglect to give Him the Glory that is due HIm. You said a mouth full sister.
Blessings on you this week…
As I read your post today, I think of our most recent time where we thought we were going through the storm only to find it was God weaving His name through the story of our life.
We adopted a little girl from Guatemala in Sept. When we got her home we found out she was completly deaf in both ears. This is NOT what we asked for when we said yes to the call to adopt. This was far from what I asked for, I already had four children, and now a special needs child. Only to find out, God gave her to us to weave His name through our life! Our jouney with her started in Sept. We started hearing test, and then refered to Chapel Hill to a wonderful doctor who would give us options on how to raise her. He told us the best thing at this point we could do if we wanted her to hear was to have cochlear implants. As of two weeks ago, she was implanted. A week from today, she is going to be “turned on”. I have seen God show up and allow His name to shine to everyone who has been on our journey! I am so thankful that God chose us to be her parents from the beginning of time! I would not trade this journey for anything! God has showed me so much of who He is. I feel like we been kinda like a needlepoint picture. On the back it is really messy and you can’t tell what in the world it is. Then you turn it over to find a beautiful picture. We have a beautiful picture of Gods weaving in our life.
Just thought I would share! Sorry it is so long!
Amy
It really is neat that you should post this today. I am reading “The List” right now and last night (in the book) prayers were being answered by the time they said “IN JESUES NAME”.I kept thinking…. I wish God would answer my prayers that fast. I even started trying to find a room in my house that I could use for a Prayer closet or A mountain that was blessed years ago and still holds special prayer power… I wonder if I shouldn’t just pay closer attention and actually notice when He answers and give him the Praise! Thanks Beth I really needed to be reminded that He really does these things and it it is not just in the fiction books that we read.
Beth,
I’m curious… did you realize your radio broadcast would speak to this issue today? Pretty cool, huh? ;o)
Anna
AMEN!!! I completely agree with you. I really don’t see how people don’t see that it is God when things like that happen. I don’t believe in coincidences. To me that’s saying that God isn’t involved in absolutely everything and he is.
I just had the awesome privledge of praying through the time when my dear friend and her husband were going through an intervention. The husband is an alcoholic and needed to go to treatment. I prayed God’s word for two hours
Glory to God – her husband got into the pick-up of the man who was set to take him to treatment.
My friend is dancing yes because her man is on his way to treatment but also because she reports of having feelings of love, peace and strength that could only come from her Father in heaven during a time like this.
I am dancing with her!!!
Oops … I was giving “Amens” to Amanda in my last comment and then realized it was actually Beth who made the post. Regardless of who said it, it was spot-on! 🙂
Amen to this Beth! I have a story about a time I know God blessed me with a very small detail in my life. To make a lond story short I was already an hour late at getting my son down for his nap and he was SUPER tired and cranky. But his binky was NO WHERE to be found. After looking for 1/2 hour while my son was crying I finally decided I needed to pray. I walked into another room after i prayed and no kidding their was a binky sitting right in the middle of the floor. It was NOT there before. I just new it was God and was praising Him and praising Him. I then shared it with my bible study girls that night. God is awesome and He is in the little things and we need to praise Him for it!
Love Amber
PS- Vancouver was life changing for me! Thanks be do God!
Hello girlfriends. I am so excited to tell you that last night I “saw” John. We are doing the Beloved Disciple, John, in bible study now and I saw The Atlanta Passion Play last night. Oh, my, how I felt like I was really their. I cried like I haven’t cried in a very long time. I couldn’t help but watch John a little more closely than the others. This play was AWESOME!!!!! I thank God for allowing me to see this and to feel like I was part of that time. God is so good. I should praise Him for everything.
And, I did sort of look for Colin and Melissa on the off chance that they might be their. But I didn’t see them. Oh, I hope they get to see this. It was so touching.
Beth, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
God Bless
I’m so glad you posted this. I get this reaction often from a family member. Why don’t they “get” it? How could they not see God working? Tis frustrating!
Seriously, we are experiencing Gods direct hand right now and it is SO GOD!!! Read my mom hug blog to see two amazing love stories God wrote us!
~Lori
I love this blog! Preach it sisters! Things don’t just happen, God has all of our paths paved! In the flesh it is so easy for us to give credit to someone when we should give him, God, all the Praise and Glory.
Beth, this is my first time to post, even though I’ve been following the blog for a few months now. But with this topic and it’s timing I just had to.
We are doing “Believing God” on Tues nights in my new church. This group has never done any of your studies before. The old church I went to had one every Wed night since you started. I was so blessed by them and they took me through some extremely rough patches. So thank you very much for your willingness to obey God!
ANYWAY our adult Sunday School class has been in the book of Numbers for 7 months now, and we just ended ch.15 yesterday with TOTAL AMAZEMENT!! Most of my Tues night group was at Sunday School. As we ended with the last passage about the blue cords with tassels serving as a reminder of how God has set us free, OH MY GOSH, our table had 3 of us with our blue bracelets on that we held up high in amazement and some ladies on the other side of the room held there arms up high as well, so everyone could see our blue bracelets. The timing was impeccable!! So we got to explain about our study. As we were leaving Sunday School I muttered to myself, “I can’t wait to tell Beth about this one” My friend strangely looked at me as if to say, you know her? I confidently said “Yes, she’s been my BFF for the last 8 years and she’s so kindly written these studies and books just for me! She even came to see me at W.O.F here last Nov!” Of course we laughed and I told them about the blog. This blog really does make it seem so personal. Praise God for you and your ministry!! My group is ready for an all night “slumber party” at our church with you, Beth! 🙂 You’ve got so Many BFF’s right here in Buckeye, Arizona. We love you and we love JESUS!!
Oh wow, so true! This weekend I had a field trip with a bunch of 4th graders the A&M Club mentors to. I was so stressed about the planning, that when the day came, I almost forgot to praise our Father for his BEAUTIFUL DAY! Ladies, it has been POURING all day (Monday) in Houston, but this past Saturday was beautiful! So while we drove to the park and such, I just kept saying “Thank you Father for this amazing day!!”
PS I like the “squirrel chase” story! My Jake-y, a beagle, chases pheasants in his sleep…it’s so fun to watch and it’s so true, the Lord laughs at things too!
Beth,
I agree with you 1000%!! I believe in giving The Father the praise due HIM. I know I’m alot more demonstrative than say..my husband…but we have to remember to say thank you and praise HIM for HIS goodness!
Girlfriend, I do not know how you do what you do! I had a conversation with someone I love who was feeling horrible about herself and her walk with the LORD and the reason seems to be that the minister she listens to on the radio…he says you are supposed to hate yourself.
I know we are to put Christ first in all things and that HIS will is to be done, but this minister is always about making you feel awful.
Oh yeah, they think you should never speak if a man is in the room either!! Please!
Ok, I’m fussing now..and you weren’t. I’m going to eat chocolate!
Love and thanks for all you put up with!
Teri
God has been bringing a similar “feet to the fire” realization.I just wrote about it on my blog. I just started working in a very secular insurance office. At 28yr.s old, it is the first very secular office with no other Christians and I can say I am learning a lot about lukewarm or boiling hot Christianity. I am learning to be more bold and open with my faith. This experience has been a major education that is for sure.
Im amazed when people do that. They ask God to do something then dont give Him full credit for the yes!
I had a test from God coming Sunday, I knew it was coming so I was able to get “prayed up” I PASSED !!!! Praise God! and only because of HIM was I able not only able to get through the day but actually kind of, sort of, enjoy it. Dianna, if your out there, I had a good time yesterday. Spending 8 hours in the car with my husbands x wasnt so bad. I especially loved the look on the faces of your friends at Newks. Priceless!
Hallelujah! Amen and Selah!
P.S. Thank you for the Quick Word on Friday, this is what I was praying all week and as I said a minute ago, God answered my prayers. He made me smarter than I am when I needed it.
I am so refreshed by this encouraging post. WOW! and AMEN! I know this past week I’ve thought was that God was it not? IT was and it always is and shame on me for not believing that. Praise His Name – He hears and responds! I am studying the Patriarchs and it’s just like Hagar in the desert with Ishmael under the tree – He hears.
Kim Turney, Houston