He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
~ Psalm 23:3

One of the things I love most about God and His word is that He never gets old! He makes all things new, just like He's making me new every day!

Like many of you, I've read Psalm 23 in its entirety, probably about a hundred fifty million times (as you know by now, I like using LARGE numbers ☺). But today, God showed me something new that I had never seen. Before today, I've always looked at this particular verse as looking to God for rest, my hiding place, my source of comfort when I am weary, discouraged or afraid.

As I meditated on this Scripture today, I realized I didn't fully understand what the word restore means. This is what I found on Dictionary.com:

restore v.
1) to bring back into existence, use, or the like; reestablish: to restore order. 2) to bring back to a former, original, or normal condition, as a building, statue, or painting. 3) to bring back to a state of health, soundness, or vigor. 4) to put back to a former place, or to a former position, rank, etc.: to restore the king to his throne. 5) to give back; make return or restitution of (anything taken away or lost).

God alone is my Savior. He alone can and will make me new in Christ and give me life. I was once dead and useless. But now, I am whole, alive and created to be one of God's ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)....just like all of you! ♥

I realize now that Psalm 23 is not about personal comfort, but about our eternal salvation. In Psalm 23, God is telling us that He alone is the Good Shepherd, who will feed us Bread from Heaven (Jesus Christ), allow us to drink from the from the Living Water (the Holy Spirit) and will restore our souls, by saving us and making our spirits that were once dead in sin, alive in Christ Jesus. And why has He done all this? Because we are good people? Because we do nice things for each other? No, because of His righteousness and for His name's sake (Deuteronomy 9:5).


For those of you who are visual, come back tomorrow. I'll have a picture to demonstrate how we are made in God's image; we'll talk more about what that really means and why it's possible for us to be alive in Christ, and dead to our flesh.

for more inspiration from God's word today please visit Amydeanne at:

And who are the ones who are "due" good done to them? Everyone in whom the LORD our God says; for truly no human being is worthy or owed (due) any good from God, but we are lavished by His love, mercy and grace in spite of ourselves (Luke 6:35).

Key Passages:

Exodus 35:4-9
"Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "This is the thing that the LORD has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD's contribution; gold, silver, and bronze; blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats' hair, tanned rams' skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece."

Exodus 36:3-7
"And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, and each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, 'The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD has commanded us to do." So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp. 'Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.' So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more."

There is nothing "good" we give that hasn't been given to us from God. Therefore anything good we offer to another is from the LORD's contribution, not ours. We make these offerings to God, with His blessings; in the hopes that the benefactor of our gifts will be blessed by God and His generosity so that He alone may receive the praise due Him.

Yesterday, my heart was moved to make a phone call today and extend a very simple, not so extraordinary invitation to a sister - an invitation to take her to dinner in order to give her some rest from her troubles: the recent death of a child. And I prayed earnestly about this. I asked God for a sign. I did what I often do, "Oh Lord, I don't want to do this if this isn't from You. I don't want to do this if it's just my own desire and faulty thinking. If this is truly from You, please give me a sign. Remind me in the morning to call. Then let her answer right when I call and let her accept the invitation. Then I will know it is You who have spoken." I continued to pray that same prayer this morning as I became anxious because I had not heard from the Lord yet.

Then the Lord rebuked me, "Child, why do you ask for a sign? Have I not already commanded you, if your heart is moved, if your spirit is stirred to extend any kindness, any good, which all comes from Me, to another poor soul, you shall do it? For what good thought, what good deed or intention ever originated from you? I alone AM good. And every good and perfect gift comes from Me alone. So why do you ask Me for such a thing?"

And why was I behaving in such an evil and adulterous way? Because I wanted to "feel" secure in all that I was doing. If I was going to do something "in the name of the Lord" I wanted it all to work out. I wanted the assurance that what I was doing was not in vain. I wanted it to all work out the way that I considered would make the call worth my time.

Instead of knowing the good I ought to do and just do it (James 4:17), I labored over something that made me nervous (due to fear of rejection because I hardly know this sister), rather than keeping my eyes, heart and mind fixed on Jesus, who saved us not because we were going to accept His sacrifice and look upon His suffering with humble gratitude, but He did what He did because He loves us, much greater and better than we deserve.

So what shall I do with the Lord's rebuke today? I choose to be thankful that the LORD of hosts would hear my prayer and even speak to me. I choose to be humbled that I can approach the throne of grace without being destroyed because I come, washed by the blood of the Son of the Lord God Almighty. I choose not to let Satan use the Lord's rebuke as an occasion to spiral into self-deprecation, but will use my merciful Abba Father's rebuke as an occasion for thanksgiving for His holy discipline in which He is using to train me so that I might yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Most Holy Abba Father, thank You for the right to call upon Your holy name. Thank You that you hear me! Oh what is man that You Lord God are mindful of us?! What kindness, mercy and love! Humiliate me Lord with every opportunity you see fit, so that the beast of my pride may be utterly destroyed. Please help me to remember that Jesus left His place of comfort for me, while He found His full assurance and acceptance in You alone and not from men.

I am very disappointed to find out about this sin of mine; that I would even think twice about sharing Your goodness, Your kindness with others, particularly with those in the faith with whom You have commanded me to show particular favor. But I refuse to sit in this pit and allow my flesh and Satan to use this to deem me ineffective while I wallow in self-pity. Instead Father, I am grateful for Your kind rebuke, for Your directing me in Your love and into Christ's steadfastness.

I am grateful that You have revealed this sin to me Lord. Thank You for testing my heart, finding that which grieves You and leading me in the way everlasting. Make my heart like those Israelites, who loved you so much and was so grateful for You that You had to restrain them from giving. I pray that one day Lord, I will be so in love with You, that You will have to restrain me too. May all glory, honor and praise be given Your name alone! You are my Rock and my Salvation! Amen.

Here's the picture of all the elements (Valentine's tract, candy & crinkle paper) as well as the picture of our family's Valentine's Neighborhood Evangelism Gift bags.

Please feel free to share this idea with anyone and everyone you know that loves our Lord Jesus Christ and who deeply desires this to be said about them:

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus."
Acts 4:13
(NKJV)

Some interesting facts about our life.

According to this chart, and as of next month, I only have 1,560 weekends left. That's not a lot!

This is something I pray for myself daily as I consider how I've already spent the days the Lord has given me (and I must say, it hasn't always been focused on Christ), and how I will spend the rest of my days.

Will I spend my weekends on what I want to do for my personal pleasures? Or will I spend them remembering the mercies of God poured out to me, and present my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God by leaving my comfort (like Jesus left Heaven) and choosing to live as Christ: dying to flesh daily so that I might share His life with others.

I pray daily that the Lord will help me stop being so scared of what others think and what they might do to me. I felt so rejected and embarrassed the other day when I was at WalMart and the clerk refused the tract I gave him. But when I remembered Jesus, I prayed and asked Him to help me and He gave me strength to turn around, look at the person who was standing behind me in the check-out line and say, "Well, I sure don't you to miss out on a gift. Would you like this?" With a huge smile, she answered, "SURE! Wow, thank you!"

While the world is celebrating their love for one another, won't you join me this Valentine's Day in sharing the love of Christ with anyone and everyone the Holy Spirit brings to mind?

Gracious Lord God in Heaven, I ask you to go before us and prepare the way. Guide us Father God with Your word that lights our path so we may walk as Jesus did. Just like the pillar of cloud You put before the Israelites to lead them into the Promised Land, will You also go before us and prepare the hearts of those You send us to? Will You also Lord, then go behind us, like the pillar of fire, to protect our work from the enemy? Please Father, do not let our enemy snatch up the Good Seed You've given us to share, but bless it and let it take root in the hearts of all those whom You've called to salvation in the name of Jesus. Amen.

for more inspiration from God's word today please visit Amydeanne at:

Wouldn't it be great if someone came up with a Valentine's Day evangelism tract? Someone did! I found it at Custom Tract Source.

back of card says:

A “wise” man once said, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get!” You know, he was right. You just never know what you’re going to get in life. But there’s more to our existence than just this life on earth. What about eternity? We can all afford to make mistakes in this life, but when it comes to our eternal destination, none of us can afford to be wrong! So how do you know where you’ll spend eternity? You can find out by asking yourself if you have kept God’s moral Law, the Ten Commandments: Have you ever told a lie? (White lies, half truths, and exaggerations are still lies.) Have you ever stolen anything? (The value is irrelevant.) Have you ever taken God’s name in vain? That’s called blasphemy. Have you ever looked at another person with lustful desires? Jesus said, “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). If you have done these things, then God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer-at-heart. What will you say on Judgment Day? Your conscience confirms that you are guilty. If you are found guilty of breaking God’s Laws, your punishment will be eternity in Hell. Does that concern you? It should. There is good news, though! God became man in the person of Jesus Christ, who came to this earth to suffer and take God’s wrath for your sin upon Himself. He suffered and died on a cross, taking your punishment. You broke God’s Law, and Jesus paid your fine! That’s God’s gift to you! You cannot earn a gift—you can only accept it with gratitude. In order to accept this gift, God commands you to repent (turn from your sins) and place your faith in Jesus Christ alone to save you. Please do that today; you may not have tomorrow. When you do, your eternal destination will be certain—Heaven. Nothing could be sweeter! For more information, please visit www.TheGoodPersonTest.net

We're using Valentine's Day candies. Mix and match, be creative, and enjoy sharing God's word so others can taste and see that our Lord God truly taste good....THE BEST!

My darling husband said we should go ahead and get these packaged this evening and have our boys put them in all our neighbors mailboxes on Friday so it doesn't get lost in all the Valentines' hustle and bustle. Afterall, who doesn't love receiving a gift in their box rather than a bill, right?

Plus, it's just a GREAT and FUN way to teach your kids the importance of sharing the Gospel with those who live in your Harvest Field a.k.a. your neighborhood. :-)

Please join me in taking every opportunity we have to seek to save the lost, just like our Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord did. ♥