BE STILL & KNOW THAT I AM GOD

Psalm 46:10a (NIV) He says, “Be still, and know that I am God…” 

My quiet time with the Lord is my daily time to be still and spend time with the Lord. 

It also determines the intimacy of my relationship with Him. More time with the Lord, more intimate is my relationship with Him.

My quiet time with the Lord is the source of my strength to face my day. It gives me peace, it gives me comfort and it keeps me from getting discouraged when I go through difficult times. My quiet time with the Lord keeps me from giving up during the most difficult situations in my life. 

It is also the time where I hear from Him and I get to see some breakthroughs and the wisdom to wait for other breakthroughs to come to fruition because I know He is always working behind the scenes on my behalf.

Be yourself!

Dear friends,

Be yourself!

Don’t let anyone bring you down so low that you will resent or worse, you will hate them. 

Do not let people's critical spirit invade your soul.

Instead, release them from the hold they have or they think they have on you.  Continue to live with peace in your heart. Life is too short and it is not worth wasting your time trying to prove to anyone that you have worth and value. 

1 Corinthians 15:10(NIV) says: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” 

Always strive to be the best person you can possibly be, stay strong. Let the Lord guide you every step of the way.  Learn to love yourself even when you make a mistake.

Do not hold on to bitterness and anger because this will only hinder your happiness. Your life is much too precious to spend another minute worrying about someone that never does anything positive to better your relationship.

Learn to walk away from relationships that are high maintenance. Say goodbye, forgive them, pray for them, wish them well and peacefully walk away.

After all, if you stay peaceful, you will become a better and stronger person.

Someday, those critical people will see the light and appreciate the beautiful person that you are. 

God bless you!

Denise  

Compassion means:

Compassion means: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. Synonyms are: pity, sympathy, empathy, concern, tenderness, mercy, leniency, tolerance, kindness, humanity and charity.

Jesus had compassion. 

Throughout his ministry, He certainly showed not only compassion, but mercy, tenderness, tolerance, kindness and every other synonym mentioned above.

Today, let us just concentrate on the word compassion.

Here are some verses where Jesus showed compassion for different groups of people or situations. Read them carefully, and then reflect on how you can apply those in your life to let the love of God flow out of you to those around you who need compassion.

For the multitudes: 

Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
 

Matthew 14:14 “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

 

Matthew 15:32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

 

For the unfortunate:

Matthew 20:34 “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”

For the leper:

In Mark 1:41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” (many manuscripts say: Jesus was filled with compassion)

For the bereaved:

Luke 7:13 “ When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

 

Denise

All scripture references taken from the New International Version unless otherwise stated.

When You Grieve the Loss of a Dream- Devotional by Ashleigh Slater

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. 

Believe in God, believe also in me.” 

(John 14:1)

If you’d asked me at the age of six what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d have answered, “A teacher!”  Once I hit my teens, my answer changed, though. The allure of instructing others wore off, replaced by a desire to work in the entertainment industry. I felt “called” to be a television producer and pursued this goal all the way through grad school. But something happened as I worked toward a master’s degree that I didn’t anticipate. I met and married my husband, Ted. Not long after, in the midst of writing my graduate prospectus, two faint pink lines appeared on a pregnancy test. Suddenly, my dream wasn’t so easy. If my studies and student film set experience had taught me anything, it was this: my career aspirations – if achieved – would require long days and maybe even regular travel. I found myself questioning how I would personally balance that along with caring for my growing family. It was then that I sensed God calling me to lay down my dream. The one I’d worked hard toward for years. I went on to grieve that loss for years.

3 Ways to Grieve the Loss of Your Dream

Maybe you’re currently grieving the loss of your own dream. Yet perhaps it isn’t career related, as it was for me. Instead, maybe marriage or becoming a mother hasn’t happened for you as you’d hoped it would. It’s possible that you’re in a season of prolonged singleness when you long to be married or you’ve recently walked through a divorce. Maybe you face the heartbreaking pain of infertility. As a result, you are well acquainted with the words in Proverbs 13:12 about how “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” What are some ways you and I can grieve the loss of our individual dreams, especially when the pain and disappointment hurt so deeply? Here are three suggestions.

1. Freely Acknowledge Your Loss:

When it came to the loss of my dream, I was afraid to openly grieve it. My life was full and I feared that I’d be judged for the sorrow I felt. I worried that others would correct me for mourning it. It’s possible you feel the same. Mark Twain once wrote, “Nothing that grieves us can be called little.” While undesired singleness, divorce, infertility, and career disappointment are anything but small, there may be people who dismiss your pain. Perhaps they offer you uncomforting platitudes such as “Look at how full your life is without that,” “God works everything out for good,” or “Count your blessings.” Your heart can’t bear to hear that one more time, so you keep your loss quiet. You mourn it silently.

I’m here to say, your loss is not little and it is worth mourning. Go ahead and grieve it fully and freely. This may mean journaling, confiding in a trusted friend, joining a support group, or seeking the wisdom of a counselor.

2. Grieve Your Loss with Hope

I believe that God is the Author of my life’s story. Yet it’s much easier to believe that the story He’s writing for me is good when He says “yes” to my dreams. It’s harder when He either asks me to surrender them or decides not to fulfill them in my timing and my way.  It’s in these hard chapters of life that hope can seem non-existent. I can quickly feel like my entire story is one of despair and pointlessness. It could be you’ve felt or even currently feel the same way. However, if you and I determine to believe that God is attentive and active in our lives, we can be reminded that our stories are always penned with hope. What is this hope? It’s that even in the darkest of moments, God promises to walk through the pain and grief with us. No matter how hard life gets, we are never alone. We can feed ourselves hope by reading God’s Word, listening to music that speaks of His goodness and faithfulness, and surrounding ourselves with others who point us to Him.

3. See the Beauty in Your Individual Story

Just because God asked me to give up a certain dream, doesn’t mean He’ll ask the same of my girls, or someone else I know. In fact, I deeply respect other women who are able to beautifully balance family and pursuing their dreams. Sometimes, though, I can find myself comparing and feeling jealous that my story isn’t like theirs. Maybe you can relate? How can you and I see the beauty in our individual stories even when they’re not what we wanted? When the pain is sometimes too much to bear? One way is to reach out to others around us who says: “How can I walk through this with you?”

Prayer:

Lord, I confess I am grieving the loss of the dream I held so dear. Yet Lord, I know You are good. Your ways are perfect. Your plan for me is perfect. Please help me remember that Your thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are Your ways my ways. (Isaiah 55:8) I trust that You will comfort me as I mourn the loss of this dream. Lord, I declare that through loss, my faith will grow and that You will use this loss to help me grow closer to You.  In Jesus’s name I pray.

This devotional was taken in part from When You Grieve the Loss of a Dream by Ashleigh Slater. Thank you Lord for this encouraging article written by a lady who did not just talk about this subject, she has lived through it.  I pray it will bless every reader as it blessed me.

Denise

Ignore distractions

Ignore Distractions

Our own flaws can distract us from keeping our eyes on Jesus. If we think too much about what is wrong with us, we will forget what God can do through us.  If we look too much at what we lack, we will forget to be thankful for what we have.

Hebrews 12:2 Amplified Bible says: “looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].”

Distraction from God is extremely dangerous. As believers we believe that God is the captain of our ship. When you start losing sight of your captain, you start trying to steer your own ship. Not only does this lead to going the wrong way, but it can lead you in the direction of trials, sin, missed opportunities, and missed blessings. (comment by Fritz Chery)

If your faith begins to waver, quickly get your eyes on Jesus, who is the Source of your faith and the Incentive for your belief.

Remember how He endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame of it. for the joy of winning you to Himself.

Psalm 119:4-5 (TLB) says: You have given us your laws to obey, ⁵ oh, how I want to follow them consistently.

Lord, help me always keep my eyes on You!

Have a day filled with blessings. 

Denise

Walk in Love (Cindy Trimm)

WALK IN LOVE

Adapted from

 Commanding my Morning Devotional by Cindy Trimm

Read: 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8:“ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.

Take a moment to look at those verses one more time, but this time, replace some of those words with your name.

Example: “ Denise is patient, Denise is kind. Denise does not envy, Denise does not boast, Denise is not proud. ⁵ Denise does not dishonor others, Denise is not self-seeking, Denise is not easily angered, Denise keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Denise does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Denise always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.”

Now, repeat these words and you will understand that this means that today, you will walk in LOVE. LOVE is proactive to forgiveness. This means that you cherish your relationships over your things, over your accomplishments, goals and tasks and over yourself. That means you are living the richest life possible.

Today’s prayer: (as per Cindy Trimm)

Father, I declare today that YOUR love gives me the patience to suffer long and yet be kind.  YOUR love causes me not to envy, parade myself, or be puffed up.  Because of YOUR love, I will not behave rudely or seek to fulfill my own selfish desires. YOUR love keeps me from thinking angry and malicious thoughts about others. I do not rejoice in sinfulness but rejoice in the truth. With YOUR love I bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things. I am secure that YOUR love never fails. In Jesus’s Name Amen! LOVE, LOVE AND LOVE SOME MORE!

(Cindy Trimm also has a book by the same name. This lady has helped me change some of my thinking about how to start my day. Commanding my morning has helped me to unleash God’s power in my day so I can see people with the LOVE of Jesus instead of with my own eyes of flesh.)

LOVE, LOVE AND LOVE SOME MORE!

Have a great day!  

Denise

Speak to your mountain by Cindy Jacobs

The Lord says to stop sleeping and start speaking to your mountain.

This is a word Cindy Jabobs had in 2017 from the Lord for us His people. 

And the Lord would say, "There are many that have not been releasing My words over your situations. You are complaining, you are fretting, you're not sleeping, but I would say to you, if you would take My Word and begin to speak what My Word says, you will find that the impossible becomes possible. You will see those things that are troubling you begin to go from the troubling list to the miracle list."

"For I would say to you, I have plans for you. I have plans to bless you. I have plans to prosper you, so do not think that these mountains in front of you are greater than My ability to move miraculously for you, but I," the Lord says, "I cannot move miraculously to the level I want to, because you are not cooperating with me. Give me some faith to work with. Speak faith out of your mouth. Say, 'This situation, this mountain, will be removed.' Haven't I said in My Word, 'If you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be so?"

"But I would say that many of you are spending time complaining, worrying, being troubled, rather than taking the sword of the Lord, My Word. For I love My Word," says the Lord, "And I love it when you speak it to Me, because when you speak My Word to Me, then I can bring from the supernatural realm into your current events that which needs to happen. I am longing to do that," says the Lord. "I want to do that. I am ready to perform my words," says the Lord. Amen.

Cindy Jacobs is an author, speaker and teacher with a heart for disciplning nations in the areas of prayer and prophetic gifts.

This article appeared in Charisma Magazine online edition on Oct 5, 2017 

Denise 

A voice of one calling in the wilderness!

A short study in the Book of Isaiah 40:

 Verse 3: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.“  We all have our times or places of wilderness. But, it is during these times that the Lord will pour into our lives strength, peace and wisdom. During those dry periods in our walk with the Lord where we feel we cannot hear His voice or see exactly what He wants from us, those are the times where we need to “be still and know that He is Lord” (Ps. 46:10). In our times of wilderness His word says: “Prepare the way for the Lord, so, take the time to pray, read the Word or just sit in His presence, knowing that He is faithful to be with you at every minute of every day.

It is not wise to make life changing decisions during our times in the wilderness. Rather it is time to rely and trust God like we have never done before. These are times to declare strength, peace and wisdom over our lives and most important to: LET GOD BE GOD.

Verse 4: “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain”  It is in those difficult times we need to know that He is with us and that He will never leave us or forsake us. (Joshua 5b). Every mountain in our lives He will make them as of level ground. He will straighten the rough curves and smooth out the rough places. (New Living Translation). His timing is always perfect. Sometimes, He does not give us what we want, but rather what we need.

After my husband Roger died in 2008, I went through some rough times and places of wilderness. I had days, where I would have rather stayed in bed and pull the blankets over my head rather than face the pain of the great loss and of the loneliness that came with the loss. But, every morning, I would sit in my bed, and declare: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) 

Most mornings, I did not feel any glory, but in faith I got up and did what I needed to do for that day. And the Lord was faithful, He never left me or forsook me, not once. Somehow, each time I made this declaration His peace would cover me and I was able to function.  Some days, I had to declare that verse more than once, but every time I made this declaration His peace and strength would return and I felt the covering of the Lord over my soul. !Amen!

Verse 11: “He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.” Every time we feel discouraged, isolated or dry in our spirit, this verse is one to start declaring over our own situation. He gathers us in His arms and carries us close to His heart.

Picture this: you, in the arms of Jesus with your head close to His heart, that should jump start your faith and remove the spirit of heaviness over your life.

Verse 28: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.”  He never grows tired or weary when we need Him to take care of us, when we need a special touch from heaven, when we need to receive His peace that passes understanding. (Philippians 4:7) He is near us when we are anxious and He certainly is with us in every situation we face or any decision we need to make.

He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.

He is always there to take care of us. ALWAYS!

May His peace rest on you today and in all of your tomorrows.

Denise

A Mother never stops praying

A Mother’s Prayers (author unknown)

(I read this article on the internet a few years ago)

Monica never stopped praying for her son. She had raised Augustine in the Christian faith in their small town in Algeria, but when he was a teenager the family moved to Carthage in North Africa. Possessed of a brilliant intellect and an even stronger will, Augustine rejected his mother’s faith and instead chose a life in pursuit of immorality. In his autobiographical book Confessions, Augustine spoke of his years of debauchery: “Years passed, in which I wallowed in the mire of that deep pit, and the darkness of falsehood . . . All which time that chaste, godly and sober widow . . . ceased not at all hours of her devotions to bewail my case unto You. And her prayers entered into Your presence.”

Three hundred years before the birth of Augustine, we can only imagine how another mother labored in prayer for her children. In addition to Jesus, her firstborn, Mary of Nazareth had several other children. And yet their family was spiritually divided. John’s Gospel clearly tells us that “even his own brothers did not believe in him” (John 7:5). The skepticism of her younger sons toward their elder half brother must have pierced Mary’s heart.

The black Friday when her oldest son hung on a Roman cross had to be the worst day of Mary’s life. And the Sunday when he rose again was the very best. Among those to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection was his brother James. We don’t need to know the words that passed between them. It’s enough to know that when the disciples and the women gathered to pray in the upper room following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, Mary was among them. And her other sons were with her! Praying. The One they had rejected in life was the One in whom they now placed their faith for eternity.

Monica’s prodigal son Augustine became one of the most famously devout fourth-century Christians: the Bishop of Hippo. The Confessions of St. Augustine is a classic of the Christian faith. Mary’s son James became leader of the church in Jerusalem and wrote the New Testament book that bears his name.

Denise’s Reflection:

Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV)  “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.

Do you have children, grandchildren, whom you love, who have turned away from God? Years may pass without any apparent external change. Actually, at times, it seems that their hearts are getting harder, but the Holy Spirit in working behind the scenes.  Heaven hears your loving intercession on their behalf. Take heart! God hears your prayers for your children, their spouses and your grandchildren.

If you have a prodigal or prodigals, you are the one that needs to stand in the gap. As a mother, you need to too declare: “Lord, I will stand in the gap for my family”.

Daily, spend some time praying for those who have walked away from the Lord. Ask God to protect your “prodigals” with the blood of Jesus. Stand in the gap and declare that your children, their spouses and your grandchildren are saved and serving God. God hears your prayers and He will bring the straying children home.

Our prodigals are all coming home, one by one, but they are all coming home!

Our testimony

OUR TESTIMONY

In August 1990, Roger and I left for the mission field of Tijuana, Mexico.  We were saved in a house group in September 1981. At the time Roger was a successful chartered accountant with his own firm in Ottawa. I was his office manager.

Success, permitted us to have a condo on the beach, expensive clothes, very nice cars, jewelry, many beautiful trips, basically anything we wanted……and it was fun for a while.

We attended an English-speaking church where the teaching was excellent. We also took several bible courses. The more we got to know the Lord, the more the things this world had to offer lost their attraction. After a while, it was just another pair of shoes, another trip, another car. It all became meaningless. By 1987, we had both become uncomfortable with the status quo.  One day as we talked about our lives, Roger told me he was getting fed up of pushing a pencil just to make another dollar.

So, we started to pray.  We asked the Lord to use us in His kingdom. In July 1989, we went on a trip to Tijuana to check up on our daughter. She had been there on a month-long mission trip. While we were there checking up on our daughter, the Lord checked up on us. On the plane coming home at 38,000 in the air, Roger told me that he felt the Lord was calling us to Tijuana. Actually, I was not surprised by his comment, no, on the contrary I was quite at peace with it.

A few days after returning home, the Lord gave Roger the scripture in Deuteronomy 11:8: “Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess…”

Then, on September 13^th. 1989 during our time of prayer, the Lord gave me the scripture in Genesis 12:1: "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.”

Within one year, we sold our business, house and condo and on August 2^nd. 1990, we left for the mission field.  That day is permanently engraved in my mind. I remember driving out of the driveway of our beautiful home in Carp, in our van and pulling a small travel trailer. Standing together in the driveway waving us goodbye, were our three adult children. Although we both knew in our hearts this was the calling of God on our lives, this it was a most difficult goodbye.

We had the privilege to be on the mission field on a full-time basis for 15 years. We experienced many challenges and some major adjustments, but we were happy. To every calling there is a cost. Ours was not the drastic change of lifestyle, the long hours or often the feeling of isolation. No, for both of us, the cost of our calling was the physical separation from our children. Nevertheless, those 15 years were the best years of our lives.

In 1992, we founded Tender Loving Care Children ministry and concentrated our efforts in feeding the poor children in the shantytowns of Tijuana. After we fed their bellies, we fed them Jesus. Over the years we fed thousands and thousands of beautiful children. We taught them the Word of God. We gave clothes and shoes. Every year, we paid the school registrations for hundreds of kids so they could go to school. We also sent three to University and one to Teacher’s College, paying all of their expenses. One is now a psychologist, one a teacher, one obtained a degree in administration and one in only one year away from becoming an engineer.

  

I will always remember these wonderful years and my heart is overwhelmed in gratitude. 

I am certainly most grateful for my wonderful husband. He was a quiet man, but a man of integrity and a man of great faith. He was the best of the best. He went to be with Jesus in March 2008.

I am grateful for my precious children, Chantal, Alain & Eric. During the 15 years we were away all of them at one time or the other, had to walk some rough roads without mom and dad being able to be physically here to help and encourage them. 

I am always so very grateful for seven wonderful grandchildren. I can remember how very difficult it was to be so far away when most of them were born. Every time we came for a visit it was always so very difficult to leave them all behind. They are my pride and joy.

I am grateful for other wonderful family members, great friends, my pastors and home church family and faithful ministry partners that stood by us then and are still standing with me now.

I am grateful for an amazing team of faithful leaders and workers in Tijuana who daily take tender loving care of our precious TLCCM children. I am grateful for their love, patience, dedication and understanding. All of them are all very special to me and I love and greatly appreciate each one of them.

From 1994 to 2004, Roger & I wrote a Spanish children’s curriculum of bible studies and Sunday school lessons. Not only are these lessons, still being used in our TLCCM program in Tijuana. Through our TLCCM website, they are being used by children’s leaders in many Hispanic countries, including Cuba. The spiritual material on our website can be downloaded free of charge. I also have some adult Spanish teaching on our website. In October 2017, I also started a BLOG called: “From my heart to yours.”  

I am very grateful for the calling of God on my life. It is a great privilege for me to continue the work in Mexico, and also to help leaders, adults and teachers in various Hispanic countries. I am grateful to the Lord for giving me the privilege to continue be His hand extended, that at this stage of my life, He continues to give me a purpose driven life-experience.  

I thank the Lord for His salvation power, for His grace and mercy. I thank Him for opening for us both, doors of ministry that permitted us to go where we had never gone before, do things we never thought we could do and serve Him in a country that adopted us as their own.

The Lord is my strength, the calling on my life keeps me busy and 

the hope of my reward keeps me going.

My advice: Life is short, so make your best to make memories that will last forever!

May the Lord bless and keep you all in the palm of His precious Hand.

Denise xxx  

Our TLCCM website: www.tlccm.net  My BLOG: www.ddeschampsblog.blogspot.ca