By:  Betty Predmore

A little over a year ago, my family took a road trip to go camping. We loaded up “everything but the kitchen sink” for our great adventure and I was proud of the fact that I had prepared for any possible need my family might have. My poor husband had to find a way to load all of my “preparation” into our van the evening before we set out. To put it mildly, we were loaded to the max. We got only a few hours into our journey when our load became disengaged from our van and much of it ended up on the highway. Ladies, in case you have never had the experience, let me assure you that there is something very humbling about picking up your underclothes out of the middle of the highway!

Many of our things were lost that day, and others were ruined beyond use. When we got to our destination, we had to make some purchases to get us through our vacation. Of course, we purchased just what we needed, just the basics to fill our needs.

Our lives can get a lot like my overloaded van. We pile on more and more. (More activities, more obligations, more chores, more relationships, more expectations….MORE, MORE, MORE!). Why are we never satisfied? When is enough ever enough? We can’t get by with the simplicity of having just what we need. We need to complicate our lives with wanting more.

If I had taken only what we truly needed that day, we probably could have avoided the incident. But I was intent on being over-prepared. I was intent on not missing a thing. I would have been so much better off, my family would have been so much better off, with taking just what we needed.

Ladies, let’s get back to the basics. Let’s stop overloading ourselves with too much “stuff”. I don’t know what your “stuff” is, but I do know this…Jesus is enough. He is all we need. He will provide for us. He will keep our paths straight. He can keep us from losing our “luggage” in the middle of a highway, when we seek Him and His wisdom. 2 Corinthians 1:12 says this…For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

Let’s let God’s grace wash over us. Let’s let His mercy flow like a roaring river. Let’s allow God to be ENOUGH in our lives. Let’s lay our “stuff” down at the foot of the cross, not carry it with us, piling on more and more, until we can’t hold up under the weight. We don’t need “everything but the kitchen sink.” We just need Jesus!

Lead Me To The Cross

If you spend any significant amount of time with me, you will hear my phone ring. When you hear my phone ring, it will be to this sweet little song:

Lead me to the cross where your love poured out,
Bring me to my knees, Lord, I lay me down.
Rid me of myself, I belong to you.
Oh, lead me. Lead me to the cross.

I have chosen that as my ringtone because it is yet another song in my heart. Where are we going in this life? What are our goals? What are the decisions we make based upon? For me, the answer seems so simple. Any decision we make, every choice or chance we take, should lead us directly to the cross.

Would God be pleased with your attitude today? Would He shine through your actions of this day? Is your goal to spend eternity in His glory? Does the ultimate prize consist of hearing “Well done, my good and faithful servant?”

There is freedom in the cross. There is freedom in being able to go to God, on our knees, pouring it all out to Him. There is freedom in letting him rid us of ourselves and fill us with His Holy Spirit. There is freedom in belonging to Him. Where the Spirit of The Lord is there is Freedom! (But that’s a song for another day!)

Keep a song in your heart!

Who Am I?

The song in my heart today is “Who Am I?” I love that song as it imparts upon me the value that my God places on “little ole’ me”. That the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name. How awesome is that? That He would choose to light the way of my ever wandering heart.

Perhaps my favorite part of that song is this: not because of who I am, but because of what You’ve done. Not because of what I have done, but because of who You are.

This reminds me that it is not about me or who I am. I am no better or worse than anyone else. My life has no greater meaning to Him than any other. “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24. It is not about anything that I have done, or any deed that I deem worthy. It is not about my good works. It is very simply about Him. It is about what He has done. It is about His death on the cross, His pain and suffering, and His deep and powerful love for us. It is about that extreme act of grace, mercy, and forgiveness at Calvary. Because of that great love, because of that unending forgiveness, and because of that eternal gift of grace I am able to be who I am. Because of His love for mankind, we are able to find that which is within us and grasp it whole-heartedly, with the hope and desire of serving Him. In Titus 2:14 we read “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”

Open your heart to Him. Let The Holy Spirit saturate your soul and give you the desire to do great things for His glory. Show love and compassion to those around you. “Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.” Ephesians 5:2.

Who am I? I am a daughter of the King. I am forgiven. I am forever grateful for His sacrifice. I am special, valued and worthy enough that He would care to know my name. And guess what my friends…so are YOU!

Keep a song in your heart!

Revelation

I have been told, especially by my sister-in-law, that I seem to always have a song in my heart. I can be reading from the bible, or hear someone quote something, and it immediately brings to mind a song or a hymn. Music has been a big part of my life since childhood, so I guess that is a way that God speaks to me.

The Lord put it upon my heart to share some of the “songs of my heart” so I am going to do a series of blogs on just that!

The song in my heart today is “Revelation”. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a huge Third Day fan! So it is only fitting that I start my series of songs in my heart with this song.

“Give me a revelation, show me what to do. ‘Cause I’ve been trying to find my way, and I haven’t got a clue.” Ever been there? Ever felt lost, without a clue as to which way to turn? I know I have.

I have stumbled around in the darkness in my life, trying to figure things out on my own. I have tried to tackle things without seeking help, letting my pride stand in the way of common sense. There have been many times when I haven’t had a clue what the best solution was, or what God might be calling me to do.

I think God sometimes lets us stumble around clueless for a little while, waiting for us to see the light. He waits patiently while we exhaust every other possible avenue before going to Him for the answers. What is really So simple, we in our flesh make SO difficult.

When are we going to learn to make Jesus our first solution, instead of our second, third, or last? When are we going to finally realize that He is right there, waiting on us to call on Him to be our light in the darkness, our answer when we haven’t got a clue? When will we learn that we don’t have to do things on our own when our Savior is there to walk beside us, guiding us and giving us strength?

Psalms 119:105 tells us…Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. We need to go to His word when we are trying to find our way. John 8:12 Then spoke Jesus again to them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. It really is that simple. Follow Jesus, and we will no longer be clueless. He will reveal our path to us…we will receive that Revelation. Just like the songs says…”I’ve got nothing without you.”

Keep a song in your heart!

By:  Betty Predmore

My family recently took a road trip from California to New York via Tennessee, with stops in Kentucky and Ohio. We covered quite a bit of miles in our mini van and spent some great “quality time” together seeing the beauty of God’s creation across this magnificent country. We went from deserts to mountains, flat plains to rolling hills. We saw forests and lakes, and even witnessed the majestic wonder of Niagara Falls.
I was my husband’s co-pilot on this grand adventure. It was my job to keep him supplied with water bottles, talk to him when he was sleepy, and read the signs along the way. I saw many brown road signs marking upcoming landmarks and historical sites. There were signs noting Civil War battle grounds, state parks, cave tours, and many other interesting sites. Who ever heard of the Bell Maede Plantation or Manker’s Station? How about Bucksnort and Horse Cave?
Being an “adventurous gal”, I would have loved to take each turn off to get a glimpse of each landmark. But of course we didn’t. We drove right on past them, intent on reaching our destination. All those historic sites that we will never experience.
Being a “pondering gal”, I got to thinking. Our lives are a lot like those road signs. There are so many unknown, unexperienced opportunities that we miss, blessings that the Lord has for us that we do not receive, opportunities for us to serve others that we lose, all because we are so intent on getting to our “destination” that we fail to “drive off the beaten path” to see what great adventures God has for us. He has great things in store for us. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11. He gives us awesome opportunities to serve Him and serve others, and to receive the blessings of that sincere service. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for The Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from The Lord as a reward. It is The Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24. He has already prepared us for life’s grand adventure. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10.
Life should not be all about getting to our destination in a timely and most efficient manner. Life should be about taking the time to explore and experience God’s abundant blessings and the beauty and joy that comes from serving others. Don’t miss the signs. Don’t miss the rewards. Trust God to give you wondrous blessings and completeness through knowing and serving Him, even when He takes you down a road less traveled.

By Betty Predmore

If you are like me, you have a heart’s desire to serve God. You want to be faithful in your prayers, faithful in reading His Word, and faithful in serving Him. You want to be an excellent wife and the best “mommy” you can be. You want to be a good sister, friend, aunt, and daughter.These are the things I desire to be, and the things that I consider important in shining for Him.

Also, if you are like me, you find yourself coming to God in the middle of a sleepless night, saying “Here I am again.” Here I am again, God, asking you to forgive me for my impatience. Here I am again, sorry that I didn’t treat my husband as lovingly as I could today. Here I am again, remorseful that I didn’t spend enough time with my kids today, that I didn’t give them enough hugs, that I didn’t have time for that board game. Here I am again, not taking the time to call a friend in need. Here I am again, with a house that is still as unorganized as it was yesterday, and the laundry still isn’t done. Here I am again, perhaps not noticing someone who needed prayer or a little of my time. Here I am again, Lord, not doing all that I know You would have me to do.

Even more importantly, here I am again putting off my bible study because I am busy. Here I am again Lord, unable to sleep because you are trying to get my attention. I didn’t take the time I should today to come to you in prayer. Here I am again…wanting nothing more than to serve you, and getting overwhelmed in the process.

For those like me, who can relate to this, I offer you this hope….Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” REST…..that word sometimes seems foreign, but I know that I AM able to find rest. God’s word tells me I can. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.” BE STILL…I CAN do that. I WANT to do that. We ALL want to do that. We need to remember that “waiting time” is not “wasting time.”

Girlfriends…will you join me in making every effort to BE STILL and find REST in our Savior? Can we walk alongside each other and encourage one another to be all that God calls us to be? Can we help each other to not get overwhelmed by all that life throws at us, and can we offer each other strength and compassion for those times we feel we are failing? Let us walk this walk of life as Sisters in Christ, so that we can say together….”Here I am again God, ready to do your will. Use me in the ways YOU have planned, and help me to be the best daughter of the king that I can be!”