The Journal of Ruth

Other people can tear us down, make us feel worthless, even make us feel unloved. Believe right now that it does not matter what other people think of you, say about you, or make you think of yourself. The only opinion that matters is God's! Look in the Bible about what He says about you. You are loved. You are special. You are valued. You are wonderful. Believe it and hold on to it. Listen to Lauren Daigle's song "You Say."

God gives us many blessings everyday. But sometimes we don't pay attention to the blessings because all we can see is the problem. Try focusing on all of the good things God has given you and you fill find out that the problem doesn't look so big anymore. Count your blessings one by one and give thanks to the One who gave all of those blessings. It will change your life.

Everybody needs HOPE! The very best place to find hope is in Jesus Christ. Why? Because in Christ we find the hope of forgiveness, healing, love, and an eternal life. Nothing can diminish or take away the hope that Jesus gives us. Not people, not jobs, not illness. When life seems hopeless, you always have the love of Jesus and the hope of the future with Him in heaven. And that is all we really need.

Do you seem to be going through the same problem over and over? Are you stuck the rut that nothing will ever change? Are you wallowing around in past mistakes? Do you think that God is never going to change anything for you? STOP IT! God says He is going to do a NEW thing in your life. God has showed up and showed out for you before and He is going to do it again. Have faith in the unchanging, loving Father!

We hold many titles in our lifetime. But of all of theses titles the most important is Child of God. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are automatically adopted in to God's family. Whether you have a large family, small family, or no family here on earth, you are in God's family. And to God you are special and He prepares a special place for you in His house.

The definition of BELOVED is a much loved person, adored, treasured, highly regarded, revered. Did you know that God calls you His beloved child? I recently had an unexpected death in my family. The sadness overwhelmed me and I asked God to give me his comfort. He gave me a few words of the song Beloved by Jordan Feliz. "You are beloved. I just wanted you to know. You are beloved." You are God's beloved too.

Tired of this dark world? God is where you find light, love, peace, and hope. Have a blessed day today!

God is always with us being our refuge and comforter even when we have troubles and struggles. Lean on him today.

Do you realize that when a seed is planted, the seed itself dies and becomes a plant that produces many more seeds. So when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior our old selves are gone and we become a new person that produces seeds of love, compassion, joy, and peace that we can spread to others. Be blessed today.

When Jesus was on this earth, He loved people, had compassion for them, helped them when they were in need, and finally gave us the gift of eternal life in heaven. To follow Jesus means to follow His example. Step up today and show someone Jesus today.

The glory of God is all around us. Rejoice in this new day that God has made! Go do something for Jesus today!

Why should you go to church today? First, church is not a building. The church is the people. We are the church and if you are not there well then it is just a building. Second, God tells us to gather with other believers in the Bible. So be obedient. Third, we get spiritual learning and nourishment from church that we need to fight that enemy all week long. And fourth, church is a time to Worship and give thanks for all the good things He has done for us throughout the week. And finally, church is important and we make time for the important things. So get moving and get to church.

Doesn't matter what you have done in the past or if you mess up in the future, God will always, always love you. You can not lose His love.

I am sure you looked in the mirror this morning. Do you remember what was in that mirror? Have you looked in God's mirror lately? Have you examined your heart by God's word? God's word is a mirror into our hearts. And what is in our hearts is expressed in our daily lives. So what do you see in God's mirror? Pride, selfishness, greed, hypocrisy, gossip? OR selflessness, charity, joy, servitude? Be a doer of the word today!

Stop for just a moment. Think about all of the good things in your life. All of that is a gift just for you from God. Now tell Him Thank You.

One night when we coming home from a high school rodeo, we had 2 tire blowouts on the same side of our horse trailer. There was a rodeo family traveling ahead of us and another rodeo family traveling behind us. This happened just as we were getting off the interstate. We pulled over and the family behind us stopped with us. The family in front of us backed up with their own horse trailer to get to us. One family loaded 2 of our horses in their trailer and the other family helped us change tires. We only had one spare but were were only 15 miles from home. Now it was late at night. These families could have kept on going to their homes and said we will be praying for your safety. What good would that have done in this situation? Instead they went out of their way to help us. This is active faith and being doers of the word!

Is there something in your life that makes you anxious or fearful? Do you have anxiety or panic attacks? I had a fear in my life that triggered full blown anxiety attacks. Let me tell you right now that fear is a lie from Satan. God helped me overcome my fear. He will help you to.

I just want you to know today that God loves YOU. It doesn't matter what you have done, what you have said, what has happened to you. God never stops loving you. Nothing can ever take away His love for you. Just talk to Him today and He will show you how much He loves you.

We all have problems, struggles, and trials. God is able to fix our problems and He is always with us through every struggle. He is the God of the impossible. Believe that today and ask God to intervene in what is troubling you today.

Losing someone you love is heartbreaking. We are so sad that they are no longer on this earth with us. But if we know that our loved one believed in Jesus Christ as their savior, then there is joy among our grief that we will be with them in heaven. To the families that are grieving right now, I pray that God will comfort you as only He can.

On those days when it seems like nothing is going right, when our problems over take us, when we feel alone in this world, when we wonder just where God is in all of this, be assured that God is there. It may look like God is not hearing your desperate prayers, but He does. God is always for us. God is always with us even in the struggles and problems. He will lead you through it. Take your eyes off of the problem and focus on Jesus and things will turn around. You just have to trust Him and I know that is not easy. Nothing can come against us when we have God in our corner. Hang on to that.

When we ask God for forgiveness, He forgives. God chooses to forget that stupid thing we did. So why do we keep rehashing it over and over? Why do we torture ourselves? I like to think that God has a great big chalk board and erases our forgiven sin. Just like it never happened. Forgive yourself and forget it. God does.

You know what...stuff comes and goes in our lives. Relationships change, financial situations change, jobs change, political parties change. The one absolute constant in life is God. His word (the bible) was there for our great, great, great grandparents and will be here for our great, great, great grandchildren. His word never changes and God does not change. Only here do we find lasting solutions to our problems and needs. Read the bible every day. Go to a bible study every week. Go to church every week. Your life will be better for it.

God is the creator of ALL things even this new day. And it is a NEW day. Leave whatever happened yesterday in yesterday. Be determined that today you will focus on Jesus and walk in his ways. Show compassion, kindness and gentleness to someone today and you show them Jesus. Rejoice and be Glad!! Today is another day to serve Jesus.

We worry about every little thing don't we. When we worry and fret and go over and over our problem, satan steals our joy that Jesus gave us. I have to tell myself to stop it sometimes when I am obsessing over an issue. Just say not today satan,this is none of your business! Today I am full of the joy of the Lord!