Therese Marszalek… 40 Day Devotional
What’s the Purpose? (click to see her book)
Do you know your purpose today? Is it just another day? Are you going through the motions of the same old routine? Maybe you, like me, have a bulging list of “to dos” and your appointment calendar is brimming over. You may know your schedule, but do you know your purpose?
If you’re a child of God, the King of Kings designed a divine purpose for your day today. Before you were born, God had already planned your schedule and prepared good works in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). Your purpose lies in the midst of the tailor made plan God prepared for you.
Since I’m an organizer and thrive on a structured schedule, I sometimes lose focus of my purpose somewhere between my prayer time and checking off items on my to do list. While giving my full attention to my plans for the day, I sometimes forget that I’m on this earth to fulfill God’s purpose, not my self-designed, self-willed purpose.
Fulfilling your purpose doesn’t mean every item will get checked off your endless to do list and it doesn’t mean everything will be completed as planned. Why? Interruptions! Unplanned and often irritating interruptions arrive at the most inconvenient times, forcing you to put your much thought out plan aside to instead give attention to something you’d often rather not deal with.
If you submit yourself to God’s plan for the day, interruptions will still come, but they won’t induce stress or flustration (flustered and frustrated). As you make your way through God’s to-do list, you won’t sigh in discouragement when incomplete items on your to do list glare at you.
God’s plan for this day and for this hour may be different than your plan. It’s wise to create a plan and to set your course for the day, but surrender that plan to God and allow Him to have His way with it. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart, a man plans his course but the Lord determines his steps.” As you orchestrate the course you’ve chosen to reach your destination, allow God the freedom to determine how you get there.
I remember times I’ve hesitated to answer the shrieking phone, frustrated because the unexpected call interrupted my precious schedule. I recall hearing the doorbell ring in the middle of my prayer time; I felt so put out that someone had the nerve to interrupt such a holy time. Yet, after listening to the heartache of a friend or offering a neighbor comfort and prayer, I realized that what I thought was a frustrating interruption wasn’t a frustration at all. It was a divine part of God’s ordained plan for my day.
What’s your purpose today? To fulfill God’s divine purpose for each moment. As you purpose to know Jesus, He’ll flow through your life to fulfill God’s purpose. Today, as you set your course, allow God to guide your steps and be willing to change your schedule to fit God’s heavenly schedule.
31 Verses for You and Your Child- March 2012
KIP(click for printable version)
Our dear friend Teri at www.keepingitpersonal.com has asked us to join her in a daily prayer for OUR children. We are starting March 1st… so join us starting today!
Happy Leap Day- Happy Birthday to all Leapers!
A leap year poem to remember it by-
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Save February, she alone
Hath eight days and a score
Til leap year gives her one day more.
Happy Valentine’s Day
My love for you is more precious than gold,
Please believe it and enter my fold.
I have placed in your heart a longing for me;
Open your eyes, my child, and this you will see!
My love for you cannot be fathomed;
It reaches from heaven to the deepest chasm.
Since before you became, I have loved you, everything in life proves this is true!
I have pursued your soul from before you were born;
I have loved and protected you, and carried you through the storm.
I promise to be with you every single day,
“I will never leave nor forsake you”, you have heard me say.
I have loved you before I even made time;
I ask you this day, will you be mine?
Everything I have, I offer to you,
Just say “yes” and I will prove it’s true!
I defeated the enemy by my Son, Jesus Christ; when you accept Him I give you true life!
When you trust me I forgive all your sin, I cleanse you and wash you and we begin again.
I know your name and the number of hairs on your head,
Come to me, my child, your old life is dead!
Life is not easy I know that it’s true, but sin, death, and Satan have no hold on you.
I have defeated them and I have set you free;
Let’s get started… come join me!
I am the Way and the Truth, and I am the Life;
No one comes to me, except through Christ!
I won’t force you to come… because I love you so much,
But I hope you say yes, that in me you will trust!
If you do you will feed my sheep;
You will love me and others… with a love so deep.
We will share my truth, to the ends of the earth,
Together we will go, and share “new birth”!
I have written this Valentine through the pages of the Bible;
A love letter of sorts, your only chance for survival!
I long to spend eternity with you, please say “Yes”, that you love me, too!
(written by Mark Halla as a Valentine’s Day reminder of how much God loves us!)
Seeds of Spring – Christian Recovery Counseling
Did you read yesterday’s post????
What feeling did it leave?
Did you feel a calling to help others? Did you reflect on YOUR gifts that you can share?
This spring on April 14th from 10-12, join the Christian Recovery Counseling for their Seeds of Spring Event.
Therese Marszalek will be speaking. She is a close and personal friend of Celebrate Your Faith.
We hope to see all of you from the Twin Cities there! Click here to learn even more about the event!
Romans 12:4-8
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
I Have A Dream Martin Luther King 2012
I have a DREAM that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: / we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
I have a DREAM that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a DREAM that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
– Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream, 1963.
(I have a DREAM wasn’t part of his written speech. He strayed from his written speech and reacted to a cheer from the crowd asking him about his dream.)
Let’s Be Ready – Our Daily Bread
An excerpt from today’s daily bread… Happy New Year!
All of my life I’ve had to ‘be ready.’ As a child, I had to be ready for dinner by washing my hands. As an adult, being ready for important responsibilities continues to be an ongoing reality. But I’ve come to realize that nothing is more important than being ready for our reunion with Jesus.
As we consider the possibilities that Jesus could return this year, let’s be sure that we are ready. Let’s strive to be pure as He is pure, anticipating the day when tears and sorrow, pain and death will all be replaced with the everlasting joy of His presence. Joe Stowell
Journaling – Our Daily Bread
An excerpt from today’s Our Daily Bread…. 20 Years ago I began keeping a spiritual journal. AS I reread my first few entries, I am amazed o ever kept it up. But now you couldn’t pay me to stop~
I see that progress and failure are both part of the journey. I gain insight from past struggles that help with issues I am currently facing. And, most important, journaling shows me how God has been faithfully working in my life.
Journaling may be useful to you too. It can help you see more clearly what God is teaching you on life’s journey and cause you to reflect on God’s faithfulness. Dennis Fisher
(link to the journal on CYF)