Author: melanie

Deut 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your strength. Matt 22:37-38 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your mind.’ This is the first & greatest commandment. Luke 10:27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your strength & with all your mind’ & ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. —Loving God out of obligation is religion, but to love Him from our heart, now that is real!! God’s love draws us to Him & when we go willingly, it is there we find the most complete love that fills our souls! It is a binding love! When we see His love, His mercy & His grace, we will be like a magnet to a metal! It can even be overwhelming at times! Love Mel

Deuteronomy 5:8-9 says, You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. —The key to both this life & the one to come is keeping God First! Examine the things that occupy your time, money, thoughts & attention the most! Here is where you will find out if there is anything that has taken that first place! When we put Him first, that is where we will find the real abundant life! This is the place of the real deal, not the fake deal satan offers! Life with God offers peace in the storms of life  His peace has a joy that most never ever really know! I would like to remind us, that all that we have really belongs to God! That is our time, our talent, & our treasures! —Matt 6:19-21 Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy & where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys & where thieves do not break in & steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” — We need to examine where our heart is! What is the IT that you love that comes before God! Is there something that you know God wants you to give up, but you continue to chose IT over God! This is KEY! If we focus on God, He will help us OVERCOME! Love Mel

1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us. Psalm 23:6 Your beauty & love chase after me every day of my life. —God chases us! —Jer 29:13 You will seek Me & find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.—He wants us to seek Him with our WHOLE Heart! It is going after Him without reservation! —Psalms 91:1-2 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shade of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge & my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”  —Have you ever felt like something is missing? Do you ever feel like there is a big emptiness inside? Well it is & we are suppose to fill it with God! At times we fill it with everything else but Him! God wants to be the center of our life! No matter what is going on in life, LOVE matters most! And God is LOVE! We LOVE because He first loved us! Love Mel

Memorial Day was yesterday, a day to pay our respects to those that we may not have known, who gave their life for the freedoms that we enjoy every day! A debt that we can never ever repay! We, being my family, were at the funeral of our uncle yesterday! He was a Korean War Vet, & they played taps at his graveside service! Here are the words that go with A bugle call! They are worth pondering, & even more thanking those in uniform for our safety that evil is working so hard to take from us!
—“Put out the lights, go to sleep. Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hill, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.” —In January 1866, the Ladies’ Memorial Association in Columbus, Georgia, passed a motion agreeing that they would designate a day to throw flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers both confederate & union alike! Because they were all lost children of a mother somewhere! — We all have our safety because God is nigh meaning near! Our God uses people, & the people that are in uniform are under tremendous pressure these days, so take the time to say thanks When & where you can! Love Mel

Matt 6:27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matt 6:33-34 Seek first the kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these things will be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer & petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 1Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good & acceptable & perfect.  —Depression is caused by our being locked on the past! Anxiety is caused by our being locked on the future! The easiest way to live a worry free life is to realize that we are only promised today! If we will live each day to the fullest, not fretting over the things that we can’t control or do anything about! Each day is a gift from our God! That is why it is called “present”! How many people aren’t excited about opening a present! Well let’s start treating each day as a true gift from God as it is! Life is just too short to trouble over the things that trouble us! The best place for these things are at the feet of Jesus! Remember, when we rest, He works on our behalf! Love Mel