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)
Let’s toast to that.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Alesha, Charlotte, NC
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
Patty, Granite Bay, CA “I love you, O Lord, my strength.” Psalm 18:1 NIV
Deb, Becker, MN
Love each other with genuine affection and take great delight in honoring each other. Rom 12:10 MSG
Linda R. Springfield, MO
Psalm 8:7-8
All sheep and oxen– even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. NKJV
Becky, Lynchburg, VA
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7 NIV)
Katie Euken
Muscatine, IA
“Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.” Luke 2:11 HCSB
Ramona, Pasadena:
John 3:30 NLT
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
Sherri, Galena, OH:
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us.
Psalm 67:1 NIV
Kendra Husband from Charlotte, NC:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
Stephanie Solomon, Morgantown, WV
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV).
Stephanie, Irvine, CA
“I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13, NIV)
Charlene, Waterloo, ON
Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him. All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (Living Bible)
Shelley, Birmingham, AL–“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my Spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46-47 I(NKJV)
“Who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Phil 3:21 NIV Pam in San Diego
Deb, Littleton, CO: “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror,” James 1:23 NKJV
Frances, Orange, TX
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
Leslie G-Warner Robins, GA
Psalm 119:35 NIV
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
Jaton from Longview, TX
Let your speech always be gracious, as though seasoned with salt, so you will know how to respond to each person.
Colossians 4:6 NIV
Becky, Roswell, GA
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:7, NLT
Wendy, Harrodsburg Kentucky
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NASB
Leslie, Central Asia
“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”
Psalm 119:160
Peggy, Queen Creek, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess 5:23 NAS
Vanessa from Victoria, TX
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2 NIV)
Tracey Knight ~ Arkadelphia AR
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. ~Isaiah 40:28 NIV
Cindy Cannon, Otterville, IL
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.
Psalm 40:5 NIV
Julie, Sugar Land, TX
Proverbs 28:27 NIV
“He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.”
Beverly, Vicksburg, MS
Psalm 139:9-10 NLT
“If I ride the wings of the morning,if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me,and your strength will support me.
Jane, Gulfport, MS – “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” John 14:30 (NASB)
Vicki – Peoria,IL –
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 NIV
Tricia
Conroe, TX
“But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
The Message
NKJV, 1st Peter 4:8 “Above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins”.
Cindy Nashville TN “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
Kim Eshelman Lewisburg, PA
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
Lynda, Monterey:
“The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”
Psalm 28:7, (NLT)
Alexis, OR
” My health may fail and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever. ”
Psalm 73:26 NLT
yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of Justice. Blessed are all who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18 NIV
Kristin, Searcy. 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
Lisa, Houston. “I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
Susan
Jersey Village, TX
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them,
for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4
ESV
Exodus 34:7 NASB
who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.
Ellen Forrester, Spring,TX
You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
Psalm 40:11 (NIV)
Jenna, Cedar Park, tx
“Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.”
Psalm 62:8 NLT
Gay Beck, Plain City, OH
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17 (NIV)
Lori, Owasso, OK
Proverbs 31:29
New Living Translation (NLT)
29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”
Jan, Marion Ia
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 NASB
Terri, Orange TX
“For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NAS
Meredith from Columbus, OH: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” -Luke 2: 8-10 (KJV)
Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.
Vickie Henderson
Russellville ar
HCSB
John 3:21
But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, do that his may be shown to be accomplished by God.