Jeremiah 28:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

Good Saturday morning! This really is an exciting morning for many reasons! My mom and I are headed out for a girls day out to celebrate! Today is the grand opening of our new venture together:

Please stop by and visit us and tell all the Paper-Crafters you know. We are a Christian business and appreciate the support!
Today is also my first day hosting my Scripture Saturday as a challenge over at the Christian Paper Crafts website! You've definitely got to check that out too!
However, this blog is not entirely about either of the last two items. I could say that they have nothing to do with one another, but they actually do. They are each different gifts and ways of expression the Lord has provided me with. For that and many other things, I am grateful to Him.
As I have been trying to become more organized and looking at what all I have on my plate, this verse has jumped out at me. In order to not feel overwhelmed at all of my obligations, I continue to remember it and place it upon my heart. The Lord knows the plans He has for me. He did not place my life in front of my in order to see me fail. I pray continually that I am doing what He wants me to do, and I feel I am moving in that direction with each step I take.
I also placed this Bible verse upon my heart after giving birth to Abigail and being so ill. The doctors did not know (an still do not know) what happened, but I am a living miracle every day. I prayed this verse knowing that the Lord has plans for me to prosper so He may receive the glory from it. Perhaps that is why I have ITP (low platelets for no known reason), so that someone may see me and see how God works through me!

God Bless You,
Mary

Peace Be Still

"Be Still and Know the I am God..." - Psalm 46:10
We had a bad experience last night with a local business. I prayed as I sat through the remainder of the evening praying that I would do what Jesus would want me to do during the situation. As it is still lying heavily on my heart, I am still praying about it, knowing He will lead me in the right direction. If you wonder why I am mentioning this, it is because last night's event really played a role in this blog. You see, most often, these devotionals are written as they are revealed to me throughout the day from God. However, once last night occurred, the only thought in my mind was "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord"! Yes, way too extreme! I really prayed for the Lord to place something on my heart for today and received this Bible verse.
Now, I will grant you that I am a very busy little girl and my time is valuable to me. I suppose that is why this verse spoke to me. In all the hustle and bustle, then with an added stress on top, I just need to slow down and remember the Peace that comes only from God. We need to savour this Peace for it is the only true Peace there is on Earth. Then the later part of the verse - Be Still. How often do we just run around in circles when the Lord is telling us, "Be still child". The the ending of that phrase - Know that I am God! What a reminder that we all need sometimes. He is God. There is nothing too big, too little for Him to handle.
I know many times I try to work things out on my own and just seem more and more covered up by a load of never-ending work. However, when I hand it over to God, it seems to all fall into place! I may not be the perfect nurse, scrapbooker, or even mommy, but in the eyes of my God, I am awesome, fearfully and wonderfully made! Sometimes it takes those "Peace Be Still Moments" for me to remember that :o) Have a wonderfully blessed day!

God Bless You,
Mary

Who God Is?

"I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me." -Isaiah 46:9

Today's devotion is not very long. It is just a plain and simple one that has been on my heart. Often times, non believers ask who God really is. Knowing they have already heard the everyday answers, I find it most important to answer with scripture.
This verse from Isaiah speaks so truthful and boldly in just a short sentence. I interpret it as this also: God says "I am who I am, I am the I AM, there is no one else that is me, only me!" He really is our everything!

God Bless You,
Mary

In Prayer and Supplication...

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" -Philippians 4:6

WOW! Just looking at the first part of this scripture can give you chills! We are being told to not be anxious about anything! Now let me tell you, I can be an anxious person. If the bills need paid, I get anxious, if Abby acts the slightest bit out of normal or a little too normal - I get anxious, you get the picture here I am sure. But here we are being told in the Word, do not be anxious! What a powerful command.
However the Lord gives us further instruction on this. We are not to merely be not anxious and haphazard about it, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. Now this part, I am working on. Really, let me tell you, I told a lady that we attend church with that if someone was to come by my house when I am supposedly home alone, they would either think that I am a) crazy or b) had someone else in the house with me! Want to know why? It is because I carry on conversations with God just like you and I would. I feel Him speaking to me in my heart and the visits we have in this quiet time are perhaps one of life's best blessings!
So, whether it is talking to God about Abby, her big moments, and little moments, or talking to him about the electricity bill, we chat. I recommend these chats with him to you too!


God Bless You,
Mary

Fear Not

"For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." - Isaiah 41:13

The other day during a Bible discussion, I told someone, "I just love the book of _________." But I had to follow it up with, "I say that about every book of the Bible. Today's verse as you can see is from the book of Isaiah, which really is where I draw a lot of inspiration from.
Just look at the verse with me. "I the Lord thy God", He is letting us know plainly there that He is the one there for us, He is the one going to do it, we are not alone - "will hold thy right hand".
"Saying unto thee fear not" - WOW! How many times have we saw fear not used it the Bible? It is always in situations of greatness - think of the angel spoken of in the book of Luke chapter 2, "fear not, for behold I bring your good tidings of great joy..." when speaking of the Savior's birth. God uses fear not to let us know just that - not to fear, but I also think it is because the news following it is always so spectacular that it is almost unbelievable and would cause someone to fear whether or not it was the truth...
"I will help thee" - is there anyone in the world that you would rather have tell you that they will help you than the Lord Himself? There shouldn't be. Man may and often will fail you, but the Lord, He is always there.
This verse is getting written on an index card to go in my prayer box today. My husband goes to the dermatologist this evening to have a mole checked and by human nature, I want to fall to pieces out of fear and the "what ifs". However, I have a God that is bigger, stronger, and mightier than anything in this world! My prayer is a praise already in knowing that throughout my day, the Lord is going to be with me telling me to "Fear not"! How awesome is that!

God Bless You,
Mary

The Golden Rule

I give the devil the blame - what for you might ask? If you look directly below this post, the next one is from Sept of 2008. I have had the most awful time trying to even log in to this blog. Even when I could, my posts failed... I will not cease though, and perhaps the problem is fixed this time...

(Note: Much of this post was originally shared over at my Paper Crafting blog Softangelkisses, because I am seeing it happen all too often in the world of paper-crafting and scrapbooking lately. I know there are many other areas of life this lesson may relate to also. I hope it blesses you.)

Good afternoon everyone. Today I wanted to share a Bible lesson with everyone about the Golden Rule. I constantly "preach" this and pray that my actions help to teach this. Many times in the Bible, the Lord tells us and gives us examples of how to and not to treat one another, yet somehow, it often gets so messed up! I think what hurts the most is either when a Christian hurts another Christian due to not obeying this rule or when a Christian hurts a non believer. How hard it is to win someone to Christ when they have been mistreated by a Christian. On the other hand, as Christian brothers and sisters we are supposed to work together for the Lord, to encourage one another, and lift one another up. Sisters, how sad is it that many have let paper-crafting and scrapbooking - a topic that could bring us all together in the Lord closer - become an envying topic and a stumbling block. God truly does give us all unique gifts, and we all function at different levels of our gift, but everyone deserves a fair try. Everyone starts somewhere, all things must have a beginning. Do not criticize yourself or try to measure up to someone else's standards - God loves you very much just the way you are. The same holds true on the other hand, if someone is not quiet at your level, love them the way they are. If you can't say something nice about their work, it's often better to not say anything at all. Remember, to ask not only "How would I want someone to treat me?", but more importantly, "What would Jesus do?"

God Bless You,
Mary