Book three in the Matched trilogy was a wonderful ending to a great story. I cried so much in these three books! Not all due to sad stories, but much to the heroics, the friendships, and the love. This series explores so many human emotions and characteristics, some good and some bad. I highly recommend these. Great for Jr. High and up, though I am not sure that younger readers will understand it all. A great read! I give it 5 plus stars.
Monthly Archives: March 2014
The Lord Is My Shepherd
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Psalm 23:1-6 (AMP)
Verse 1- “The Lord is my shepherd [to feed, guide and shield me,] I shall not lack.”
What do you lack? Nothing!
Thank you, Lord, that I lack no good thing. You feed me and you show me where to go.
Verse 2- “He makes me lie down in (fresh, tender) green pastures; He leads me beside still and restful waters.”
Sheep won’t drink out of troubled, moving, water. God knows this. He leads His sheep to waters that are calm. Only goats eat tough, dry grass, so God provides pasture that is lush and green for us.
Thank you, Lord that you are the only one who really knows what I need and you provide it for me.
Verse 3- “He refreshes and restores my life – myself; He leads me in the path of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him – not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.”
God knows this world can be distressing, taxing, and tiring. So, He refreshes us, shows us how to stay right with God. He leads us on the path we need to be on to have a transformed life.
Thank you, Lord, for time of refreshing.
Verse 4- “Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless,] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil; for you are with me Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide] they comfort me.”
We don’t ever have to taste death! Only walk under its shadow. Even then we don’t walk along. We go through and He is there to protect, guide and comfort us along the way.
Thank you, Lord, that you always bring us through.
Verse 5- “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.”
God is preparing a wonderful feast. We will sit and eat right in front of Satan and his minions. Every demon that has ever plagued us will witness our victory celebration.
Thank you, Lord, for not just anointing me, but giving me more than enough so that I can do what you’ve asked me to do.
Verse 6- “Surely or only goodness, mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life; and through the length of days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.”
A boat leaves a ‘wake’ behind it. A jet leaves a stream in the sky. We leave goodness and mercy, only, in a wake behind us! If we are moving forward.
Thank you, Lord, that I dwell with you in Heavenly places, forever!
Think About That
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Philippians 4:8 (NAS) “Finally, brethren, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of a good repute, if there be any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”
(AMP) “For t he rest, brethren whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and loveable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things – fix your minds on them.”
Human (death doomed) nature is to dwell on the negative. We weren’t created that way, but Adam and Eve took the bait of Satan and every since we tend to see the glass as half empty.
However, if we are born again- from Heaven – we now have the Nature of our Father, God. He replaced our old nature with a new one! Sometimes out of nasty old habits, we fall back into that negative thinking.
How do we fix that?
We take hold of Paul’s advice that we just read. We change what are thinking about. If you seriously feel like there isn’t a good thing in your life to think about, read the Johns, (I, II, II John and John), psalms are also good. Once you get those things into your heart, your mind can call them up to think on them. Soon you’ll find good things in and around you to think about.
Never get in the habit of just thinking with your soul, your mind, will and emotions. Your souls only goes by what it can see, hear, taste, feel, smell and touch. We need to think with our spirit. Our spirit is tuned into God’s word and His will, through our hearts not our heads. Our spirit doesn’t go by our five senses. It simply hears God and judges every situation by the truth of God’s word, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
So your pile of bills looks bigger than the amount in your check book. You face two choices, you can dwell on the shortage, worry and fret (which is the opposite of faith and does not please God), or you can think on God’s word about how He will provide for and take care of you. You can thank Him for what you do have and for what He will be bringing in to meet your need. I am not saying it will be easy, but I am saying it will be worth it!
It doesn’t take any more energy or time to think rightly about our situation than to think negatively. Our glass is never half empty! God is always filling it up! We have to take our hand off of the glass and allow Him to pour into us.
Change your mind! Fill your heart with God’s goodness. Make a point of finding the good around you and then choose to think and meditate on those things. When a negative thought crosses your mind, tell it to shut up, to go, and by all that’s good in the world, replace it with something lovely. “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” As all the good stuff starts to flow out of our mouth, it becomes even easier to “think on these things.”
Has something praiseworthy happened this week?
Think about that!
I Am Weak
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II Corinthians 12:6-9a “Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.””
Paul had a “thorn in the flesh.” He describes this thorn as a “messenger of Satan” to keep him from thinking too highly of himself. I think we need to point out that the thorn was not from God. It wasn’t something pleasant. It came from the enemy.
Paul asked God three times to take it away. God’s answer was that His grace was sufficient and that His “power was made perfect in weakness.” Paul goes on to say in the last part of verse 9 and all of verse 10, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Let’s be clear about something, Paul is not saying we should go around bragging about all of our shortcomings, faults and issues. We don’t glorify our problems. What he is saying is that when we allow God to use us, in His strength, we can boast or brag about His power and His ability to bring us through.
When we admit to ourselves, and to God, that we can’t do it on our own, then allow Him to work in us and through us, He gets the Glory, not us.
So are you feeling weak today?
Let God strengthen you.
Be joyful! For the joy of the Lord is our strength!
Nehemiah 8:10 (KJV) “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Book Review for “Matched”- YA Fantasy/Dystopian
Just loved book one! I can’t wait to finish up the series. If you liked “Hunger Games” you will love this one. Future society where they tell you “who to marry, where to work, and when to die.” Great characters, wonderful love story…and very revealing about todays society. I give it 5+ stars! I can recommend for Jr. High and up. No swearing or sexual content.