Tuesday Writings.......7/12/16

Good morning...

It is not often that we have our three grandchildren all in one place. That happened Monday, and it was delightful!
      
Hope your Tuesday is a good one.

God bless from
Corinne


The Devotional component in the Tuesday Writings of Women's Focus Ministries is titled, "I AM...a powerful declaration" and was written by Diane Sutton. As a child Diane was told many uncomplimentary things about herself which she believed and which molded her actions and sense of self for many years. The problem with this is that when someone says detrimental things to a child who looks at them as a perfect authority to be trusted it sets up something sad. After learning the truth about who we are to God Diane wrote, "When we accept the truth of who God is and who we are, we will understand that we are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord"

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  Today's Devotional   

"I AM"
(a powerful declaration)

written by
Diane Sutton

“I am” are two powerful words, because they declare what we believe about ourselves and who we are…I am your sister. I am your mother. I am an American. I am a king. I am a servant. I am a slave. I am free. I am pretty. I am ugly. I am loved. I am not loved. I am smart. I am a Christian. I am an atheist. I am a good person. I am not that good. I am a victim. I am confident. I am sick. I am healthy. I am strong. I am weak. 

But are we really who we believe and say we are?

How many lies have we believed that others have told us which have shaped the course of our life?

When I was a child an aunt declared that I would never grow up to amount to anything. I believed and lived that lie and other lies as well that I was unattractive and not very smart. I grew up into an insecure and unhappy young adult. An encounter with Jesus at the age of thirty altered “who I am” forever.  God opened my eyes to the qualities within me that I couldn’t see and believed in me before I could believe in me.

       We can believe and declare, “I am created in God’s image” because Genesis 1:27 states that....  “God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them; 

male and female he created them.” 

God Himself declares the truth about who He is, “I am the Lord your God.”

In Revelation 1:18 the Lord declares... 

“I am the Alpha and the Omega who is, 

and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

In Malachi 1:14 God declares 

“For I am a great king and 

my name is to be feared among the nations.

In Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, 

“I am who I am.”

In Genesis 17:1 The Lord told Abram...
 “I am God Almighty.”

In Exodus 6:2 God said to Moses...
“I am the Lord.”

In Exodus 15:26 God declares...
“I am the Lord, who heals you.”

In Leviticus 11:44 God declares...

 “I am the Lord your God…
I am holy.”

When we accept the truth of who God is and who we are, we will understand that we are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord (2 Corinthians 3). We will adopt the characteristics of God such as compassion, love, goodness, kindness, peace, gentleness and self-control.

Let us confidently declare,

 “I am a child of God 

who unconditionally loves me 

and accepts me for who I am.”

Children of God

Matthew West

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   Family  Blessings   

“And now, Master God, being the God you are, speaking sure words as you do, and having just said this wonderful thing to me, please, just one more thing: Bless my family; keep your eye on them always. You’ve already as much as said that you would, Master God! Oh, may your blessing be on my family permanently!”

2 Samuel 7:29

(MSG)

If you are blessed to have all of your grandchildren living in one area then you can spend lots of time with them and be a blessing in their lives. For my husband and I it is a rare pleasure to have our three grandchildren together with us in one place. Today was such a day. We went bowling with our daughter and three grandchildren. It was lovely to watch them as they related to each other. Our nineteen year old grandson bought his little nine year old cousin a toy at a store where he had been shopping for something he needed. Our nine year old did everything he could think of to start a stuffed animal contest. When we came home I started thinking about generations and how we see the past and the future with them. Here are Michael, 19, Kieran, 13, and Sam, 9, spending a day at the bowling alley with Papa and Grammie. 

I found this writing online about this special relationship. Here it is.

Grandchildren are said to be all play and no work. Send em' home when they get cranky, is how the saying goes. However, grandparent's should not miss out on the opportunity presented to them. They are not expected to discipline their grandchildren and this opens up an avenue for a different kind of relationship. Grandchildren often rely on their grandparents when thing are tense at home. Parents often rely on their parents to help raise their children in this confusing and complex world. Grandparents would do well not to squander the opportunity given to them.

(Source: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/family/grandchildren/ )

I felt a bit sad as I read this description, because I am not so positive that we have fulfilled being as we should treasuring the opportunity given to us. There are lots of reasons that do not need to be discussed here. We just need to be more proactive in our grandparenting roles. 

Heavenly Father, please bless our family present and the memories from those who have gone before. I look at this youngest generation that You have given to us and I see the family resemblances of earthly parents and of who  you made them to be. We are all "children of God" made in your image and likeness. Thank you for the gift of families and the gift of life.

Amen.

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   Today's Inspiring Graphic   

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Prayers are lifted up daily for 

you by the Devotional Writers 

and the Monthly Writing Staff

of Women's Focus Ministries.

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