I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to know I have a purpose

A few weeks ago I talked about God giving us the gift of His breath in our lungs. He designed us on purpose, for a purpose. As a reminder of David’s worship to his Lord when he said, ”You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.“Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ God wasn’t arbitrary about how and why He made each and every one of us. He knit us together, as David said. He designed us with intentionality, as Paul tells the Ephesians church, ”For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.“Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This verse reminds us that He planned good things for us to do a long time ago. So when He is knitting us together and making His masterpiece with purpose and intentionality, why wouldn’t He equip us by giving us the gifts needed to succeed and flourish in the Master’s plan? He wouldn’t and He didn’t. He has given us Christ Jesus, who perfectly lived out these gifts while being fully man and fully Devine. He embodied all these gifts so

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I Choose Today to be a good gift giver

I love Christmas. I love the twinkly lights, the gathering together with family, friends, and co-workers to celebrate the birth of Christ. One of my favorite things is to buy gifts for the people in my family. I have a rule, “buy what they want, not what they need.” This gives me so much joy to give them something they want to open up on Christmas morning. It is so much fun for me to give gifts! I remember one year I wanted to buy my daughter a diamond ring for her middle finger. I wanted it to be classic, to stand the test of time, so she would want to wear it for years to come. I searched for the right one and finally found one that I thought she would like. She absolutely loved it! That was 13 years ago and she still wears it whenever she can. It brought me so much joy to give it to her. God loves to give good and perfect gifts to His children (James 1:17). I am sure it delights Him when we use the gifts He gives with joy! Gifts given by God are to be used to leave a

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I Choose Today to store up!

Ever heard of ‘saving for a rainy day’? Just as we stash money for unforeseen circumstances, what are we depositing in our heart bank? In Psalm 119, David emphasizes the importance of storing God’s Word to navigate life’s challenges without sinning. “How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word” (vs 9 MSG). He tells us why we need to read, study, and know God’s Word as he continues in verse 11, “I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (ESV‬‬). David was intentionally banking, or storing, God’s Word in his heart for the future “rainy day.” He knew that the unexpected issues, opportunities, and emergencies would come up in his life. So he intentionally stored up God’s Word, His teachings, His principles, His promises, His hope, His love, His breath in his heart so when those times came up, he would be ready to know what God wanted him to do, to react, to respond in the heat of the moment. God told Joshua the same thing when He said, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so

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I Choose Today to be mindful

This verse spoke to me, “…Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Even though yeast is so small, it affects the whole loaf. Yeast represents sin, especially my own sin. I know I can justify a little white lie, another glance, another indulgence, another purchase, etc. I can ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit to run because it is no big deal, no harm done. But that is a lie of the enemy. Like yeast affects the whole loaf, sin affects the whole body. The little sin has the opportunity to grow then becomes so big in one’s life that the sin is becoming shameful, humiliating, and separates us from God (He is holy and cannot look on sin). It also spreads to all areas of our lives, including our relationships, our testimony for Christ, our mental and physical health. “Holy Spirit, convict us when we are justifying the “little sins” we are allowing into our lives. Help us to remember yeast affects the whole loaf just as sin affects everything in our lives, especially our relationship with our precious Lord who went

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I Choose Today to use His Breath

At church yesterday, they sang a praise and worship song that just spoke to my heart called Great is the Lord by All Sons and Daughters (I put the link at the bottom so you can listen if you want).  The chorus says, “It’s your breath in my lungs, so I pour out my praise, pour out my praise… to You only.” This brought to mind when God created Adam in the beginning. “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬ ‭ This verse tells me three things: First, the Lord intentionally made Adam. He actively formed him on purpose for a purpose. There is a verse in Psalms (139:13) talking about how God knit us in our mother’s womb. Have you ever knitted something or known someone who knits? They have a plan, they take time in picking out the right attributes that will make a perfect product. This tells me He created us, yes, you, with intentionality and care. How amazing is that! That alone is a reason to give Him praise! Doesn’t that

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