At the Feet of Jesus

By Sheridy Walker

Dear friends, as you pick up this book, my prayer is that you would truly find yourself at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words and allowing him to change your life. In the busyness of life, at times we are too busy to stop and listen for the still-small voice of Jesus Christ. Life overtakes us, and we become frazzled because we truly live in a fast-paced, out-of-control world. Dont shut Jesus out of your life because of your busyness. I pray that each day, you would take just a moment of your time to sit at his feet to soak up his voice and allow him to heal your soul.

Because I love him so,

Sheridy

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781512799538

Sheridy Walker

Sheridy Walker loves the Lord with all of her heart, all of her mind and all of her soul and because of her walk with cancer, God has given her a calling to minister to those that are hurting and to challenge women to live life ALL IN FOR JESUS CHRIST. She writes a daily blog which is filled with biblical challenge and encouragement. She teaches an in depth Bible study class as well as on line each week. She is the visionary of Shadow Of His Wings ministry which is called to minister to women on every level and to rise to the calling of God to change the world one woman at a time. The ministry is growing each day and the doors are opening that she never dreamed possible when she said yes to God. She takes every opportunity given to her by God to speak to womens groups and conferences. She loves nothing more than sharing, encouraging, teaching and challenging others to Be strong in the Lord as they walk through this life.

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Copyright © 2018 Sheridy Walker.

Credit Megan Craig for cover

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-9954-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9955-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9953-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017912948

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/31/2018

A s I get older, I notice that life seems to be passing faster than normal. I can vividly remember the day each of my daughters were born, yet I gaze into the faces of my sweet grandchildren, my daughter’s births seems like a lifetime ago. Once my girls got married and started families of their own I pictured myself at a little bit more of a leisurely pace, but that is not the case at all. I daily find myself running in all directions and I wonder most days how in the world I will ever get everything done.

If you can relate to this at all, then this book is for you. Setting at the feet of Jesus each day is what gives me breath and life and reason to live. There is nothing sweeter than getting up early in the morning, taking my hot, steaming cup of coffee into my Bible study desk and meeting with Jesus. To set and soak up the very Words of God, the Words of Life and quietly listen to hear His voice. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t seek my Jesus. I can’t imagine a day without Him leading the way.

I would like to give you a challenge and I’m truly praying you will accept. For a solid year, take a few moments each day to set at Jesus feet. It doesn’t take very much of your time, but I promise you, it will change your life, and you will make a best friend unlike any you have ever had before. Read a devotion each day and really allow the words of encouragement and challenge to sink in. Read the Words of God and allow Him to speak to your heart.

Jesus is not only my Lord and Master, but he is also my very best friend. I would love for this book to help you get to know Him a whole lot better.

Because I love Him so,

Sheridy

Foreword

W ords that speak life. God’s Word speaks truth and life to us. Often our harried lives drain us of that life giving power. It is important for us all to obtain our daily virus download to protect us from the myriad of worldly viruses that distract, deceive and derail us from the power of God and to reset our hearts, minds and spirits. Too many of us have gone from bowls that hold God Grace and His Word to colanders that hold nothing Like the Children of Israeli we need daily manna from on high; however, it only lasts 24 hours except on the Sabbath. We are all leaky vessels who often do not hold Gods Word in our heart very long and are therefore not applying His principles to our day to day lives.

This is one reason why I am excited about Sheridy Walker’s new daily devotions book At the Feet of Jesus. She writes from her heart. She is honest about her life and makes no pretense in referencing her own personal experiences which translates into life issues that all of us can relate to. These devotionals provide encouragement, truth and God’s word as it applies to those issues of the day. She touches on topics that all of us think and feel some time in our journey. She is a woman of great faith in the Word of God and trust in the Heavenly Father to be who He says He is and do what He says He will do. Within these pages are found life issues and lessons but greater still God’s salve for life’s trails, struggles and wounds. We are reminded of verses we may have known for years and never applied. Or songs and hymns we have sung in times past that reminded us of and gave us peace and joy. She points to Him as the way maker (Duet, 31:8), the One who makes our crooked paths straight (Proverbs 3:5,6) and He wants us to come under the Shadow of His wings.

Under the Shadow of His wings we find our hearts desire through His love, forgiveness, protection, peace, joy safety, wisdom and direction, as He moves, we move with Him. The purpose of these devotions are to point to God and God’s Word in and through all circumstances.

All this comes from a woman who shares her soul in print as well as want to know her readers needs so she can pray for them. She is willing to pray for anyone who asks. There is power in prayer. There is power in the deeper life. There is sweater water as the well-head of our faith goes deeper into the artesian levels of God’s Grace. Sheridy’s life, ministry and writings cast a long shadow for those who read these daily devotionals. May God use each page to bring transformation for His Glory.

Dr. Dan Trathen

Pastor, Chaplain, Clinical Psychologist

I

s there something that God is calling you to do that you aren’t doing, simply because you feel inadequate to do it? I was asked this question and as I really thought about it, the answer was yes.

Believe it or not, I am a very insecure person and as I pray and pray for God’s direction, and as He is giving it to me, I just feel, well…. inadequate for the job. I wonder why He would choose me. Why He would want anyone to listen to what I have to say? Why He gives me words to share. Why? Why?? Why??? So, this morning during my study time, God basically told me to be quiet and listen to what I was doing to the Spirit of God!! OUCH!!!!!

God had been calling me to write a book for two years. As I was going through my cancer/chemo walk, I just knew that the people that I met and the experiences that I had were for HIS glory and that it could all be of help to someone else. So, write a book!! BUT I don’t know how. I don’t know where to get it published. I don’t – I don’t – I don’t!!

God had also been prompting me to get a nonprofit organization going, Shadow of His Wings. So, I tell myself, Ok, but WHY? As I was trying to talk myself out of both of these things, God just pretty much hit me upside the head this morning. Let me share the verses with you.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18

Do not quench the Spirit.

I Thess. 5:19

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30

Walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16

To not carry out to completion what God is working in you is to quench the Holy Spirit. To do that which is contrary to the character or commandments of God is to grieve the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to allow Him to have full control. To walk by the Spirit is the same thing as being filled.

So, to feel inadequate is ok because HE IS HOLY, and He can do ALL things through me when I am humble and just obey what He has called me to do. As far as the book, well He has told me to write it – the rest will come. One step at a time, right? And going forward with Shadow of His Wings – I just take the door that is opened to me and He will open the next one when I am ready. As far as someone wanting to listen to my words – they aren’t MY words they are HIS words, and everyone needs to hear them.

I do NOT want to quench the Spirit of God in my life in any way and it breaks my heart to think I am grieving Him because of my feelings of inadequacy. I desire more than anything to be filled up with the power of the Holy Spirit and to walk by the Spirit every second of every day.

How about you? Are you being called to something, yet you are afraid to step out? Together, let’s walk by the Spirit.

Until tomorrow……………

Do you wish to get well? Good question, isn’t it? I’m sure that most of us are thinking, Well, of course I do. Hopefully you don’t think it’s a dumb question. It was posed to me, in my lesson for this morning. Do you truly wish to get well from the hurts of your life? I’ve really pondered on this and it is true, some people just LOVE their wounds. They love the attention and maybe even pity they receive from others. They love to parade their hurts before others and they want people to take their side, despising those who have hurt them. Many nurses their hurts because their wounds are an excuse for their shortcomings and failures. Have you ever had someone in your life that has hurt you greatly, and somehow in their mind it’s ALL your fault. I mean, they were the ones that said the mean horrible thing to you or about you, or did the mean horrible thing, and then here you are, months later and somehow the entire thing is YOUR fault. How does that happen? I call it the victim mentality. It’s always about what everyone else does to that person, NEVER what they have done to others. It’s such a sad, sad thing and such a hard obstacle to overcome.

It is possible to get well and mend relationships and heal the hurts of your heart BUT……………you must make a conscience choice to forgive all people and all situations and you must let Jesus heal you. The Bible is VERY clear – to be forgiven you must first forgive. It doesn’t matter if the person does what you think they should – it doesn’t even matter if the person admits they hurt you – we have but one thing to do – forgive.

Did you know that forgiving someone and loving someone are action words? You can’t just say you forgive someone without doing it. Hmmmmm … interesting isn’t it. To forgive, you must actually forgive!!! It means that you must hold nothing against that person and it means that you are a picture of Jesus forgiving you … totally and completely. Now don’t get me wrong – forgiving doesn’t mean that you must crawl right back into a horrible situation – it doesn’t even mean that you must be friends with the one who hurt you. But you must allow God to heal your own heart and to do that, you can’t have any anger toward that person, there must be forgiveness.

I know that this is kind of a hard concept – especially because I know that some of you are dealing with horrible things. I also know that sometimes forgiving isn’t an easy thing to do. I just want you to understand that even though it’s hard, forgiving is something that must be done in your life for YOU. It isn’t for the other person – they may never even know that you have forgiven them – but if you want victory in your own life you MUST forgive.

There is no wound too great, too deep, too damaging that it cannot be healed by the Spirit of God working through His Word. Healing is for those who will trust and obey.

Search me O God … and see if there be ANY hurtful way in me.

Psalm 139:23-24

Until tomorrow……….

Do you have something from your past that you hang on to? It could be emotional, it could be physical, but do you hold on to it in fear of giving it up?

When we accept Jesus, we are a NEW creature – the old is gone. Now, that doesn’t mean that Satan won’t try his best to remind you of your old self, but your old self is DEAD!!! That is GOOD news if you ask me. The thing is, you can’t hold on to parts of your old life. It’s like me and my weight problem – when I lost seventy-two pounds eight years ago, one of the greatest pieces of advice given to me was to throw away my old clothes!! (Not before I bought new ones, or I wouldn’t have had a thing to wear. (Hee, hee, hee.) Why would I get rid of them? I had LOTS of excuses, I mean, I spent a lot of money for those clothes and I just LOVE that one dress…. You get the picture. If I would have kept them in my closet it would have meant that I was planning on using them again someday!!! When I lost the weight, I made a vow that I would NEVER gain it back, I would NEVER need those fat clothes again. Some things that belong so much to Satan are a little hard to give up for some of you – but there really is NO choice – you MUST clean out your closet and you MUST clean it out today!!!!!

I think I will offer a challenge to you all. Physically make a list of the things in your life that are not of God, physical things and mental things. Now, cleaning out your closet isn’t going to be easy. Satan will try every tactic he has to make you think that you don’t need to get rid of certain things. But remember……………………anything that is NOT of God you DO NOT NEED EVER AGAIN!!!!! Just like I don’t need fat clothes today or ever, you don’t need whatever it is you are trying to get rid of.

Take the next few weeks to look up Scriptures that will help you for each item on your list – and then just set a date as to when you want your closet cleaned out. I believe that you will be thankful you took this challenge.

… Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of HIS might.

Ephesians 6:10

Until tomorrow….

Excuses. How many of us have a great excuse for things we don’t want to do? Someone points out that the Bible says you shouldn’t marry a non-believer and your fiancé doesn’t believe in God at all. Or maybe you are having sex before marriage, and you know that God says you were to wait until marriage and you are told to stop, and remain pure until you get married. Or you KNOW you are to forgive someone, but they have hurt you SO bad and you say, I need more time to think about it and process it.

The excuses come, right? But I LOVE him! Or I know that I can win him to the Lord. Or We have already slept together, so what does it matter now? Or my favorite one is, I’ll pray about it.

Whatever the excuse is, it is just that, an excuse. When you KNOW that you are breaking God’s Word, when you KNOW that God has spoken to you, or called you to do something, what are we supposed to do?

Procrastinate? NO! Do it right then.

God gave the sign of the covenant to Abraham, circumcision. The removal of the foreskin. Ok, now in my mind, this must be very painful, and it wasn’t just to be done to Abraham, but ALL the men in his household eight days old and older. At the time this was told to Abraham by God, Abraham was 99 years old!!

"This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants."

Genesis 17:10-13

A direct command from God. Here is the interesting part to me, and it can be found in verse 23.

Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and ALL the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day as God had said to him.

Genesis 17:23

You see, the Word of God is to be followed NOW, not when you feel like it, not after you pray about it, NOW! Excuses and procrastination keep us from doing the hard things, but we must face what it is we are doing. We are using an excuse to not do what God has called us to do. Is that you? Let’s learn from Abraham.

Until tomorrow……….

Have you ever been by a flock of lambs in the coolness of the evening after an extremely hot day? If you will notice animals, in the heat, they lay around a lot, seeking coolness from somewhere. So, after a hot day, at dusk when it’s cool (usually we have this luxury where I live), suddenly, the lambs just start running. They will run from one end of the pasture to the other. They chase one another and kick at the air. They bounce through the field like deer. It’s so cute to watch. They don’t have a care in the world and they are SO happy to have the coolness of the evening to play in. They are just happy with no worries (which is a big deal for sheep because they usually worry about a lot of things).

We have learned how to lay down our anger, not let bitterness root itself in our hearts and accept the grace of God and seek to live peaceable with all men. The Bible tells us that when we do that, we can be free. We can live life to the fullest. We can be full of peace and at times, run through the field, kicking at the air, chasing one another and just having fun!!!! Well, ok, let’s not chase one another and kick at the air, someone might lock us up somewhere, but you get the picture. When we are free from anger and bitterness, there is a peace in our life that others can see. I pray that through these weeks, you have been able to let go of some anger that has enslaved you for a while. I pray that you now have peace that passes ALL understanding.

But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

Malachi 4:2

Until tomorrow…….

How many of you love a good mystery novel? One filled will great suspense and drama? Well, I’ve decided that life is just one big mystery novel filled with more suspense and drama than anyone can imagine. That’s how our life is anyway. We’re walking along, trying to follow God and His will, trying to see what His plan is. At times suffering through indescribable heartache and suffering and then suddenly, out of nowhere God just showers down a HUGE blessing. One you didn’t see coming. One you didn’t even kind of ask for and you sit there stunned. You’re feeling SO much love and, SO much compassion and you don’t know how in the world to ever thank Him for the gift He has just given to you.

Ever have one of those moments? Well, today as I reflect on the events of yesterday – I just wanted to encourage every single person out there. Don’t EVER try and think that God has forgotten you, don’t EVER think that your life isn’t in the palm of His hand, don’t EVER think that He doesn’t care for you and don’t EVER try and plan out your life. Because even if you are walking in His way, and even if you are doing all you can to follow His path for your life, He is still our Father and He still has GREAT gifts for you that you can’t even imagine. He is the author of our life and His way is FAR better than anything we could EVER ask or EVER imagine!!!! God has HUGE gifts for His children.

God showed me in such a mighty way these last couple of days to stop trying to figure out life and stop trying to figure out people. Start each day with, Lord, what would YOU have me to do today?, and then just go from there. Love life, love people and try to show Jesus in everything you do. That is what He wants me to do. He is the author of my life and really, life in general, is just a HUGE mystery/drama novel and I can’t wait for the next chapter!!!

He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.

Ephesians 1:9

Until tomorrow…….

I fall down, and I mess up. I’m sure that we can all say this to be true. No matter how hard we try to walk faithfully with God, there are times that we fall down, or we mess up. The great thing is, God has a simple plan, full of grace and love and always patience.

Israel messed up SO bad - I mean, they totally turned from God. It says they lost all knowledge of Him, they forgot all the marvelous things He had done for them. In chapter 11 of Hosea it is like God is reminiscing about how they used to be, how they used to love Him, and obey His commands. But, the Lord, in His goodness and mercy and love for them, well, He must discipline them because He desired above all else for them to RUN back to Him with their whole hearts, souls and minds.

The same is true for us, and as we fall and mess up, there are times that the Lord MUST discipline us. Why? Because He desires ALL of us, ALL our heart, ALL our minds and ALL our souls. He NEEDS us to be totally ALL in for Him and Him alone.

I believe that God gives us a very simple, but powerful message in Hosea 12. One that we must store in our hearts.

The Lord is His Name. Return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.

Hosea 12:6

Return to God from whatever it is you are doing. He is patiently waiting for you, no matter what it is you have done. If you have fallen, GET UP. If you have messed up, FALL on your knees. Return to God and live with kindness and justice in your life. And then, WAIT for your God continually. WAIT and SEE what He has for you. It is beautiful, and it is just for you. Endure the disciple, grow in faith and LIVE FOR THE LORD.

Messing up is part of life but staying messed up is a choice you are making. Listen up my friends. God loves you SO very much and it is time to stand in that love and wait to see where He leads you.

Listen to the voice of the Lord calling you. Can you hear HIM?

Until tomorrow….

What is the snare in your life? What is it that keeps you from moving forward in your life?

We own our own business, so what is our snare? Money. Being a small business is so hard, just having enough money to make payroll and waiting on companies to pay on time. It is just so hard and if you aren’t careful, the worry will overtake you and you can just fret.

As a family, we had a meeting and we knew that we were going to run a business that had the Lord first in it. We wanted to be a business of integrity, one that was different than so many, one that gave back to the Lord. This has been ever before us, but still, the money issue is always at the forefront.

This morning, as I was doing my quiet time and praying for my children and the business and just all that I pray for, the Lord reminded me once again that I am to live in total trust in the Lord in ALL things. Of course, this is something that He reminds me of so much of the time (daily), and today, once again, I said, Lord, I REFUSE to live in a snare that the devil is setting for us, I REFUSE to allow it to make me doubt.

The question comes, HOW do you do that? Well, the answer came swift from the Lord.

Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.

2 Chronicles 32:7-8

Do you see that? To help us. BUT the best part? To fight our battles!!!!!

I am going BEHIND the Lord as He fights this battle for me. I will ONLY move where and when He tells me. There is NO snare that the devil can set that will make the LORD stumble in battle.

Aaaahhhhh, the Lord, mighty and strong and faithful – ALWAYS!

Until tomorrow…….

I was challenged during a sermon at church one time to pursue my dreams. The message really spoke to me, and one of the things that hit me the hardest was that, as we get older our dreams should actually get BIGGER!!!! We were also challenged to come home and write down ten things that we felt we wanted to accomplish in our lives, ten dreams, and to also write down how we hope the outcome will be.

When the girls were at home we were SO busy. You know how it is when you have kids at home, you have the normal home stuff, but then you have extra activities and games and recitals and fair, etc. You find yourself running in different directions lots of the time and you think that when you get older life slows down. Well, I’m finding that to NOT be the case at all. I find that I’m busier than I’ve ever been. Not complaining at all! It’s just that I realized that most of the time, dreams get pushed to the side because of the busyness of life and the things that have to be done or a lot of the times things that I want to get done.

I challenge you to really think about the things in your heart – the things that you desire. God tells us …

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

What are the desires of my heart? What are my dreams? One of my biggest dreams is to share my cancer journey and the peace of God that flooded my heart because of that journey to the world!!! I also felt called to write a book about my experiences. (Which I have since done.)

When God first gave me these dreams, I truly didn’t know how to accomplish either one – but it is a dream and I’m going to pursue it. I’m going to ask God to give me wisdom and how to accomplish all that He is asking me to do. I don’t want to sit idly by and let my experiences have been for nothing. I want the world to know about Jesus – I have never ever felt this strong of a calling or urgency. Those are actually two of my dreams.

Another dream I have is to visit my 3rd world country, sponsored child. It’s funny because I have NEVER wanted to go out of the country on a mission trip – my daughter, Melissa, she was the one that always wanted to see the world and do that. But I now have a burning desire to change the world one woman at a time, and through that desire, God has called Shadow of His Wings to Kenya, Africa. Through a life changing experience in Kenya, HE opened many doors, and I will continue to go back and take His Holy Word to the women there.

I have dreamed for many years to visit the Holy Land and walk where Jesus walked. Because of God’s generosity to me, He opened a door for me to walk through and experience His Holy Land. Now, I see His Word in a whole new light, and now I dream of returning to the Holy Land, taking others with me.

One of my biggest dreams is to make a difference in the lives of my grandkids. I want to show them Jesus every single day and I want to make sure that they see Him in me and through my life. As I was thinking about this dream, I realized that by pursuing my other dreams, it would show them how much Jesus really does mean to me. In this day and age, He is the ONLY way that they will make it in this life, I feel no greater calling.

So, what are your dreams? Maybe you can take a moment to think about it!!!

Until tomorrow………

I want so much to be meek and obedient – to walk in the way of the Lord – to love others and pursue peace with all men. That is my life goal, but in order to accomplish any of this I must have peace in my heart which requires total and complete healing of my heart.

We must first and foremost know God and know His character. He loves us SO much and when we know this and accept this, we also know that He has only our best in mind. He is taking care of us and we just need to know that He is our Father and we must rest in His love. He tells us….

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with loving kindness.

Jeremiah 31:3

Next, we must accept God’s grace. Grace is a gift from God for us. His grace can and will get us through anything in our life, we just have to have the faith to accept it and live in it. His grace is enough to lay all the hurt down and NEVER pick it up again.

And last, we must learn to love ourselves. Hmmmmm … interesting that I would say, that right? But we have to not only forgive others and what they have done to us, we have to forgive ourselves and learn to love ourselves. We must love who God made us to be. We are fearfully and wonderfully made and in order to have complete healing we must respect who and what we are, in Christ.

Hopefully through learning about hurt and bitterness, you can be at a place of healing. I know it takes time, and right when you think that you are doing good, Satan tries to throw something at you to set you back. Believe me, I know, but I also know that God loves me, and His grace is sufficient for all I need to make it through this life. I love my life and I love ALL things that come my way. Why? Because I am growing and learning, and each circumstance and each person only makes me stronger.

Lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us and……RUN with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on JESUS.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Until tomorrow……….

A friend and I were talking, and she asked me how I could be at peace with everything that happens in my life. When people are mean to me on purpose, with no reason except to be mean, why I don’t retaliate. (Well I might think of how I WANT to retaliate…) How facing uncertainty in our future and at times dealing with church or work or family or whatever the case may be, I can be calm and unmoved from my God. How I don’t react harshly, but seem to be at peace most of the time. How even when I had cancer and didn’t know anything beyond chemo, I had total peace and knew that God would take care of me. How when my husband walks out on 37 years of marriage, and I run TO Jesus instead of away.

How can you be like that?? She has asked me over and over again.

In my studying this week I dissected Psalm 119 – WOW – the writer of Psalms totally and completely loved God’s Word. I love how God talks to you through His Word – so powerful.

You know, I am absolutely NO super woman or anything like that – I have nothing special about me that every single person on the planet can’t have – and that is something that I MUST stress. But as I was studying this morning I realized something that the writer of Psalm 119 and I have in common………………. I absolutely and totally LOVE God’s Word. I long to know what it says and I long for God to teach me. This Psalm answered the questions asked to me and, so I thought I would share with you because it’s awesome. If we love God’s Word – He will give you peace in all things. He will give you opportunity to put your trust in Him that helps you to react the right way when people are mean to you. He gives you comfort when your future is uncertain. It’s AWESOME!!!

Psalm 119

Vs. 11 Your Word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against You.

Vs. 28 My soul weeps because of grief; strengthen me according to Your Word.

Vs. 34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart.

Vs. 47 I shall delight in Your commandments which I love.

Vs. 97 O how I love Your law, it is my meditation all the day.

Vs. 133-134 Establish my footsteps in Your Word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man, that I may keep Your precepts.

Vs. 165 Those who love Your law have GREAT PEACE.

Oh gosh, I could write more, but this chapter just really spoke to me – the freedom and the victory in life we can ALL have – we just must LOVE God’s Word and desire to KNOW it and LIVE it, each and every second of every single day!!

Until tomorrow….

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee’s house, and reclined at the table. And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume.

Luke 7:36-38

Oh, how I love this account. I wanted to write the whole thing, so if you have time and want to read the whole thing, it’s vs. 36-50. This woman had so much sin in her life, but she had been forgiven by her Savior and when she saw Him all she could do was worship Him. She was SO thankful, she was SO overcome by her love for Him, that there was nothing she could do but to worship Him. If you read the rest of the story, she is in a room that had Pharisees and all they could do was be critical of her and of Jesus.

. . . if this man were a prophet HE would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him that she is a sinner. Vs. 39

Which one are you? Let’s get real – first of all, Pharisees were SO judgmental, and they didn’t know who Jesus was. The Savior that they were looking for was right there in front of them. They were filled with sin – but hey – This woman now, she is the sinner NOT me!!! That was their attitude. And then, they judged Jesus? IF he was a prophet THEN he would know what sort of person this is??? This account is so sad, but you know, it’s no different than today. People in the world, sometimes even people in the church, are SO judgmental and critical. Let’s say a homeless person walks into the church, dirty and torn clothes. How many of you would embrace him or her? So many times, we look at them and turn away. But we don’t know what brought them to be homeless. Maybe they were abused for years as a kid and never had love, and here they are, needing love and we, the Pharisees who have no sin, are the first to turn away from them. Yet, they need love. They need forgiveness. They NEED Jesus!

Which one are you? The woman or the Pharisee? Let me be the first to say, WE ALL HAVE SIN – and no sin is greater than the other. Do you run to Jesus? Or do you judge Him? I think that we need to really examine ourselves. Because IF you want to be healed from all the hurt in your life, you must realize that you NEED Jesus and you NEED to be at a place of NOT looking at others. You need to only be looking at yourself – and be SO overcome with thankfulness that He saved YOU – that all you can do is WORSHIP!!!

For this reason, I (Jesus) say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little. Vs. 47

Until tomorrow…….

The more I study about anger, the sadder I become … unrighteous anger leads to nothing but harm in a person’s life. There is a way that we must deal with anger towards man, but we MUST deal with it or it will lead to destruction in your life.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are … outbursts of anger. . .of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21

I thought it interesting that as we are studying being angry and how to be angry the right way – outbursts of anger are of the flesh. You can’t argue with this scripture, it’s in black and white. Outbursts of anger are wrong!!! If you have this, it will destroy your life.

But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

James 1:19

So, if we are to be slow to anger, we shouldn’t have outbursts of anger, right? So, what do we do when we feel anger towards someone or something?

1. Turn from it, don’t let it control you.

A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back.

Ecclesiastes 7:9

2. Be willing to overlook others’ transgressions against you.

3. When someone says something that makes you angry, give them a gentle answer or as Thumper, from the movie Bambi would say, "If you can’t say nothing nice, don’t say nothing at all!!!

4. Deal with your feelings. Bring them before God. Think about your feelings before you answer or respond.

5. Trust in the Lord.

6. Never take your own revenge.

Maybe you don’t deal with anger in yourself, but you have seen it in someone else’s life. It’s so sad to see how destructive anger can be in a person’s life. If you have these attributes in your own life, you must lay them down. You must turn them over to God before it destroys you. If you aren’t an angry person, but know someone who is, pray for them. To have peace and forgiveness in your life, you must first NOT be angry!

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

I Peter 5:6-7

Until tomorrow………

Their justice and authority originate with themselves … they fly like an eagle swooping down to devour. All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward. They collect captives like sand. They mock at kings, and rules are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress, and heap up rubble to capture it.

Habakkuk 1:7, 8-10

Senseless killing for no other reason than they don’t like the people they are looking at, they don’t like what the people are doing, they don’t like the thought of a baby they weren’t prepared to have. They are tired of caring for the elderly. They have no regard for authority. They love violence. They don’t respect life.

This is where we are my friends. We are in a time of evil that we can’t comprehend, and I believe that it is only going to get worse. There are so many that have no regard for the laws of this land and they surely don’t uphold the laws of my God. What is going to happen?

In the book of Habakkuk, this very thing was happening in his time. There were people that went through the land doing exactly what is happening today. It says the people were fierce, wicked, violent, no regard for the law, perverted and evil. And what did God tell Habakkuk He was going to do?

The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you. . . in indignation You marched through the earth; in anger You trampled the nations. . .

Habakkuk 2:16, 3:12

The cup in the Lords hand my friends is His Holy wrath and the time is coming when He will pour it down upon the whole earth. There is coming a time when He will have enough and if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you WILL endure His wrath.

What do we do, how do we endure such a wicked time? We pray for those that do not know Jesus Christ. We live our lives to be a reflection of Jesus Christ and our lives MUST reflect that we trust His plan.

Oh, my friends, I pray that you trust in Jesus today. Don’t delay and as in the time of Habakkuk we must say:

In wrath remember mercy. . .

Habakkuk 3:1

Until tomorrow………

We have looked at all the different types of and ways we can be angry. We have said over and over that we are to lay it all down. So now the only thing left to do is to do it. I know that sometimes saying that we are going to do something is far easier than doing it. But we MUST do it if we are to be free from the bondages of sin and the power it has on our life. Remember, anger when held on to, leads to bitterness which leads to destruction of life … there is NO good that will ever come out of holding on to anger.

In order to let go we MUST be humble and have a meekness of heart. God tells us …

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:5

Do you know what meek is? It is a trusting attitude, an attitude that looks beyond circumstances and beyond man to the sovereign God of the universe. It is an attitude of constant bowing of the knee to God knowing that HE knows best, honestly and truly having an attitude that believes that God knows best. That no matter what comes into your life, you TRUST God. That is meekness. Obviously, it is not the natural attitude of the sinful man, but it is the ONLY attitude that will inherit the earth.

Simply put, we must decide that we trust God and we rely on Him. We may not understand all that comes our way, but we know that God works all things together for good and HE KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO. Therefore, we have no right or reason to be angry. If you don’t have complete peace in