Faith and Doubt

Matthew 14:22-36

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
²⁹ “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
³⁴ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.


Thank You Lord for waking me today. I have to remember that my faith will keep me today. I am walking with you today. Rules can be followed and are observed mechanically. Faith is what is in your heart. What you believe and know to be true. God thank you for a man of God who walked this earth for 95 years. His faith and belief in a better way of life for his people set an example for the whole world to follow. He will be missed. Let the entire world show remembrances and honor to this man of faith. Let every country remember him. Be blessed today. I love you.

Faithful

<sup>Daniel 1:15-17

15</sup> At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. ¹⁶ So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
¹⁷ To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

Thank You Lord for today. Thank you for waking me to begin a new day in your kingdom here on earth. I am going on a field trip today. Please Lord let it be stress free and problem free. Let me come back with the same number of children that I left with and let none of them be harmed. No bus breakdowns or anything to disturb the peace of our trip. Thank you Lord in advance. I pray that today is a good day for you. One that will renew your hope and continue to keep you grateful and faithful. Stay faithful to what is right. I love you.

Stand Firm

^{Philippians 4 4-9
4} Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Thank You Lord for today. I am blessed to wake and start another day. I will rejoice in the Lord. I pray that I am not anxious for anything today. I will control my tongue. My expectations from my students will not be deflated. I have high expectations for them. I will not raise my voice today. I will continue to practice self control and calling parents. I ask you to be sincere and honest. I am not robbed of my joy and I have not weakened my faith. I challenge myself to prove it. Joy the world cannot give or take away. I stand firm Lord.

Faith Race

Hebrew 12:1-3
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.


Lord I thank you that I am here again. Thank you for today. I am looking to be your healthy disciple. I am praying for your assistance in this battle. My mouth, the words that come out of it, the food that I put in it. So I cut sugars, fast foods and it also seems I have counted out exercise. I have to have a plan. No longer can I expect things to get better if I don't do something. Change my lifestyle and become more of a disciple to my spiritual and physical health. Both are out of sorts. Things have been put on hold because we have let them get out of hand. We have to make some lifestyle decisions. We have to change some things. We have gotten obese and now we are finding ourselves blowing up and no one is telling us we are getting fat. We have to have an expectation to do, live and reach the goals God is telling me to reach. Determination must be part of that agenda. Lord I will get rid of the junk food in my life. Junk food thinking, behavior and stuff that is making me obese with nonsense. I want my best self. Thank You God for wanting more for me. I want my best self. Be blessed and have a very blessed day. I have to begin my day. I love you.

What Must I Do?

Acts 15:12-15
¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon^[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:




Thank You God for today. I am here again to do your will. I am continuing to have an everlasting love for you. I know that you can defeat all of my enemies. Your will must be done in my life. All obstacles are removed when God is present. I will listen to your voice and do what you ask. The Lord is with me and as long as I am still here, there is something for me to accomplish. I love you.

Needing You Lord

1 Corinthians 14:1-17

New International Version (NIV)

Intelligibility in Worship

14 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. ² For anyone who speaks in a tongue^[a] does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. ³ But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. ⁴ Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues,^[b] but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues,^[c] unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? ⁷ Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? ⁸ Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. ¹¹ If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. ¹² So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.
¹³ For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. ¹⁶ Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer,^[d] say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

Lord you have taken me on a path that lets me know I need you. Needing you to wake me each day. Needing you to give me peace in the times of trouble. Needing you to know that what I think I know in a situation is irrelevant when it compares to you. Needing you is the key to knowing you intimately. I need you Lord in my life. I'm amazed that I need you. The power of the tongue seems to be on the agenda with God. I am truly encouraged by that. It make me think God is listening to me and helping me. Let's keep communicating Lord. Talk to me and teach me how to talk to you. I love you.

Listening and Doing

Thank You Lord. I am done, almost. Just have to put the pie in the oven. I'm so pleased to have everything done by 2:30. Dinner at 3pm. Yea. Its just us. Me, my daughter, mother, brother and grandson. That's enough really. My grandson wants us all to eat at the table together. He even fixed up the table. I think he is needing some family time. His mom's in the bed, she's been there most of the day. Dad is in the bed, brother in the bed, mom's been in the bed most of the day. I had my grandson helping me most of the day. We did a good job. He wants to celebrate his success. So now I'm off to a shower and  have moved dinner to 4pm. Doesn't matter, its just him and me at the table anyway, but he needs to have a formal meal and I will do that for him. I love talking to you any way I can. So I am going to watch my mouth. Do some black Friday cyber shopping later, because I need a new desktop computer for the family room and they all look to me to replace it. I guess I'll do some cyber shopping. Maybe I should wait until tomorrow for the real black Friday. But then there is the cyber Monday. I don't have time for all these "special" deal days. I don't know which day is going to have the best deal.  I just want to buy something and get the best deal I can, period. All this hype is annoying. Oops, I'm complaining. Thank you God for the ability to have a choice. Whatever happens will happen. I'm getting it from one place only anyway. That's where I have the availability to do it and I am blessed to have that. Thank you God. Thank you for  not having the squirrels and raccoons and mice and spiders invade my house today. Its been quiet. I like quiet. OK, time to get ready. So I will be listening to you and doing what you tell me to do. I'm so blessed to be loved and cared for today. I love you.