My Border Collie, Queen Esther, is just about as handy as a GPS if she’s been to the destination at least once. The closer we get to where we’re going, the more hyper she becomes. The backseat of my car may as well be a treadmill. In fact, if I’m on the phone, I usually have to hang up because the person on the other line becomes too distracted to talk.
What is that?
My dog. Sorry. She’s a little over excited.
Is she hurt?
No. She’s happy.
What does she want?
Out!
She jumps from window to window and commences – not to bark exactly – but to yelp. I constantly insist to Keith that I have the gift of interpretation for the tongue Queen Esther speaks and, when we’re coming up on our destination, I am absolutely sure of what she’s saying: Let me out of this car so I can run the rest of the way!
Right about now, you’re the Queen – the real kind and not the canine variety – and it’s the perfect time to start your happiest yelping. You can see from the view out of your window that we are almost to our destination and, after a whole lot of hard work, I hope everything in you is hyping up and hollering, Let me out so I can run the rest of the way!
Good grief, you’ve been fantastic. I cannot recall ever having a higher percentage finish out the year. I’d have to check past years to confirm that but I don’t remember ever having a more active group from start to finish. I wish you were sitting right here with me in my chilly den in front of this fire and we could talk face to face instead of line to line.
Our heater is out and it is just about as cold in Houston as it gets most winters. We’ve already had the repairman out for hours but he’s been unable to fix it and advised us to call our builder. He thinks it’s a malfunction in the unit. You have to write an email request to the builder for a repair and we haven’t heard back from them yet so it could be a frosty few days. I just worked out on my elliptical with a jacket on if that tells you anything. I don’t mind so much though, as long as it’s fixed pretty soon. It’s gorgeous outside and I love sitting by a fire anyway. The part I don’t like is that Jackson and Annabeth’s room at my house is like ice and they really can’t even play in it right now when they come over. No worries, though. I expect it to be repaired surely by the first few days of this week.
If you were here, I’d also serve you up some cinnamon rolls in about an hour. I made homemade rolls for our Thanksgiving feast and I almost always roll out cinnamon rolls with the leftover dough several days later. They’re rising right now under some lights in the only warm end of my house.
Some of you are observant enough to ask me if I pulled two of them off the one pan and ate them raw because of those 2 circles of flour. No, I didn’t – though I was tempted – but I did peel them off and put them on the second cookie sheet because the 3 rolls that wouldn’t fit on the first pan looked so lonely over there. My cold house is going to smell like heaven in a little while. Sometimes I make a thick butter icing but, really, I prefer a thinner glaze made of powdered sugar, vanilla and a tiny bit of half and half. Too much icing takes away from the homemade flavor of the rolls in my opinion.
The inevitable question I get at a time like this is, “Do you always eat like that?”
Lord have mercy, no. But, Girlfriend, it’s a holiday.
I could make you hot tea or coffee to go with yours, depending upon your preference, and we’d chat a while and then we’d trade our 23rd verses.
My selection came up in my devotional this morning and catapulted me into prayer. I’m actually memorizing the 2nd chapter of Colossians right now but sometimes the section I’m working on next is too awkward out of context to post as an SSMT verse. For instance, if Colossians 2:21 were next, imagine this as my SSMT selection: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” See? Awkward. So, if I’m in the middle of a long portion, I usually go off road for SSMT and select a verse that is more user friendly so that women who are drawing a blank on their choices can go with me on mine if they wish. Here goes:
Beth, Houston. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8 ESV
The second half of it drew me into intercession. It does not say that the reason the Son of God appeared was to deny the works of the devil. It does not say that the Son of God appeared to downplay the works of the devil. It does not say that the Son of God appeared to decrease the works of the devil. It says He appeared to DESTROY the works of the devil.
So I started pinpointing some areas around my life and the lives of my family members and loved ones where the enemy is rearing up his ugly head. And with great joy and a sense of victory in my chest, I thanked Jesus for coming to destroy his works and asked Him to demonstrate that destruction right before our eyes in those areas. We know that “the ancient serpent, who is the devil” will not be completely bound until the Kingdom of the living Christ comes in its fullness and His throne is established right here on earth. At that time, the prayer we’ve prayed more than any other will finally be fulfilled: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
But, until then, we are meant to experience stunning victories where we see living, breathing evidences that the enemy has been overcome. We’re meant to give the devil a taste of what he will experience in the Kingdom when he is bound for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:2)
Let’s not let him off the hook. Let’s remind our enemy every single day that he is not only defeated. His works are destroyed in Jesus’ great Name.
You, my dear sister, are a great privilege to serve. Walk strong with your God, young lady. Ask for a fiery faith to believe Him and for eyes to see His works manifested right here on this ailing planet. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)Â
Let’s toast to that.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Terry, Indianapolis, IN
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8 ESV
Melissa, LaGrange, GA – 2nd Peter 1:2 (NIV)
“Grace and Peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
Matthew 4:4 NIV
It is written; Man shall not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God.
Amanda-Clinton, MO
“Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4 NIV
I Corinthians 2:9 (NIV)
However, as it is written,
“No eye has seen
No ear has heard
No mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him.”
Shannon, Columbia, SC
“You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.”
Psalm 139:5 (NLT)
Kristy from Tallahassee, FL
“He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome works your eyes have seen.”
Deuteronomy 10:21 HCSB
Megan from Potlatch, Idaho says:
It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night. Psalm 92: 1-2 (NIV)
Alyse Woodstock, GA
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16 NIV
Brenda C. Lee’s Summit, MO “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them”. Ezekiel 34:11NIV84
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1, 2 NIV)
Judy, Beaumont, California
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
Hebrews 10:35-36
Diana, East Peoria, IL
Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.
Hebrews 10:23 NLT
Sue Big Rapids, MI
Ps 91:15 NASB
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him.
Amy, Seattle, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8 NIV
Kat, Albany, NY
The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”
~Deuteronomy 30:14~ NIV
Peggy, Yorktown, VA
And be kind to one another tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. Eph 4:32 NRSV
I John 5:5 (NIV)
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Laura K, Spearfish SD:
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb! Psalms 126:3-4 ESV
Anne from Glen Allen, VA
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans10:10 NIV
April Jones, Springfield, IL
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
NLT
James 1:3 NLT for you know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow.
Carolyn
Indianapolis, Indiana
Exodus 20:8 ESV
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Berni, Albuquerque.
Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace,
and work to maintain it. 1 Peter 3:11 NLT
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Luke 11:9
(NIV)
Gina, Waynesville, NC
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
Colossians 4:5 (NLT)
Chyrll, Cordova, TN: He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. John 15:23, 24 NASB
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,
“This is the way; walk in it.”
Isaiah 39:21 NIV84
Linda Ney from Gahanna, Ohio
I have memorized Psalm 139 and have put one verse out
each time it was due. This time, I am putting the whole
Psalm out. I will continue to practice, but IT IS DONE!
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my
thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my
lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before
a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your
hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from
your presence? If I go to up to the heavens, you are
there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the
far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide
me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say,
“Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become
night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to
you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is
as light to you.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together
in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know
that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when
I was made in the secret place. When I was woven
together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my
unformed body. All the days ordained for me were
written in your book before one of them came to be. How
precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is
the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would
outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still
with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me
you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil
intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I hate
those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise
up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I
count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my
heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if
there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting.
Psalm 139 NIV
Kari
Amery, WI
Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Ann. Centerville. To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Is. 9:6. NIV
Sandy Bowers, Bryan, Ohio
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5 (NIV)
Janice in Abbeville, Al
“Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man us perishing yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
II Corinthians 4:16
Valerie. Ontario, OH
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. I John 4:16. (NLT)
Ronnie, Ostrander Ohio
Psalm 121:7-8 The LORD will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life. The LORD will protect your coming and going both now and forever. (HCSB)
Connie, Pickerington, OH Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8 ESV
Marsha – Lee’s Summit, MO
Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret- it only causes harm. Psalm 37:8 NKJ
Pauline, Eau Claire,Wi “Search me, O God, and know my heart;Try me and know my anxieties;” Psalm 139:23 NKJV
Suzanne
Tenaha, TX
Ephesians 5:19 NIV
Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
Kelly, Charlotte, NC
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says “I know him” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 2:3-6 NIV
Diera – Austin
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 NIV
Emily, Loveland, CO – “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You!” Psalm 56:3 (NKJV)
Deb, Loveland, CO – “Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You!” Jeremiah 32:17
Marsha – Lee’s Summit, MO
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 NKJ
Elisabeth
Houston, TX
“For if you listen to the Word and don’t obey it, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”
James 1:23-25
Debbie – Prattville, AL
Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7
NLT
Kelley Mansfield, Sharpsburg, GA
Psalm 95:1-2 NIV
Come let us sing for joy to the Lord;
Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our Salvation,
Let us come before Him with Thanksgiving
and extol Him with music and song.
Elaine, Littleton, CO
Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit within them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Hebrews 13:16 NIV
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
WAYNE,PA
“I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers.” Isaiah 65:24 NLT