IN THE GARDEN DEVOTIONS

"Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” Matthew 9:37 (More Are Needed to Move with ___________.) As children of God and Disciples of Christ we should always have the mind of Christ in our workplace or wherever we have been placed to operate in this world. Philippians 2:5 Our identity is not in our titles or job descriptions but in who we are as laborers in the vineyard. My job title was Consumer Affairs Representative. M

"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Psalms 37:25 I can remember a time when my daughter was a baby, and I did not have enough milk for her. She was on her last bottle, and I was crying out to the Lord. I remember watching her take the last drop. During this time, I was anxious and praying, “Lord YOU said in YOUR WORD, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his

"Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you." Psalm 32:9 Sometime during the week, I decided to visit my nephew in prison on Sunday. I woke early in the morning and inquired of the Lord. My budget did not allow much money to travel but I asked the Lord should I go. I checked my funds and I believed He said yes. It was approximately a 200 mile drive. When I was about ½ mi

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord , thoughts of peace,and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11 I once read a story about a husband and wife that were devout Christians. They served faithfully and joyfully as Youth Counselors in their local church. They loved and cared for the children and taught them the way of the Lord but had no children of their own. They prayed that God would bless them with their own child and, like Ha

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” Psalm 20:7 Lord, I Thought You Were with Me! While spending time with God one morning He led me to this scripture, “And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.” Judges 1:19. I said wait a minute God, how is it that you were with Judah and they were able to d

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Proverbs 27:6 "The Emperor's New Clothes" is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The Plot: A vain Emperor, who cares about nothing except wearing and displaying fabulous clothes, hires two swindlers who promise him the finest, best suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The Emperor's ministers cannot see the clothing themselves

“And taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and, praising God, gave thanks and broke the loaves and kept on giving them to the disciples to set before the people; and He [also] divided the two fish among [them] all. And they all ate and were satisfied.” (Amp) Mark 6:41-42 While giving thanks at our Thanksgiving Day celebration, I heard the Spirit whisper a profound truth: "Even the very least thing you have is still great in God." Mark 6:41-42 describes t

"........Selah" Psalms 3:1-4 When we pray God sends a Word to heal and deliver. Psalms 107:20 When God sends His Word we must sometimes stop for a moment and Selah. With so much going on in this world we must meditate on what God is saying. We must take in a deep breath of the Spirit that He might discern within ourselves that place of Peace, Hope, Love, Joy, Truth, and Power. Ephesians 1:19 A little dab just won't do you in times like these. So, what is Selah and what is t

“After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Genesis 15:1 God told Abram that He was his exceeding great (boundless, endless, abundantly above all that he could ask, think or imagine) reward. He did not give him a reward of mere money or things but gave Abram Himself. God said, "I AM the Reward". Abram received access to the King of Glory, the Possessor of heaven and earth, the

"Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own." Jeremiah 33:3 MSG Our first response should be to seek God before seeking the opinions or advice of people. Calling someone may be helpful, but calling on God should come first because He has perfect wisdom and sees the complete picture. AMEN!!!

"And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him." 2 Chronicles 18:31 Today God says there is not a mistake that when you call on Him for help, that He won't get you out of. As a Christian I've made many mistakes over the years, and no one could be harder on me than me. I would

In Loving Memory Message: "An Expected End - Part II" My unexpected end was losing my husband of 37 years to a brief illness that took his life within six weeks. He died February 4, 2012. I depended on him for everything. I was 16 going on 17 when I met him, and 19 when we married. I felt like I couldn't live without Allan and often said that I would prefer to die before him because I knew I would not be able to handle it. God showed me a few things from the death of Allan. G

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11 (I tried to make this shorter, but this may not be for everyone. I guess that's it, I tried but God spoke.) (smile) A few years ago, my daughter-in-law's father suddenly died. My son called and said Moma please pray, her dad just died. As I attempted to console him, I did not realize that “just died” meant a few moments ago. For y

“…and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house.” Nehemiah 7:3 "Neighborhood Watch - Battle Night!" I remember several years ago attending church and as I drove up, we would watch the drug dealers openly selling their drugs. Our church sat on the corner. So, on one side of the corner was God's people (army) and the other side was Satan's (army). At times it seemed there were more attendees to their side

“ ...I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:10 I once received an email that was rather unnervingly funny. A man decided to give his girlfriend a surprise dinner party. He blindfolded her and led her into the dining room where she sat down at the table. Suddenly she began to have flatulence episodes, polite way of saying, she began to pass gas. Knowing her boyfriend was out of the room she let it out. She said “Ooh

"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" 1 Peter 1:15-16 While in the midst of praising God at Sunday Worship Service, tears begin to stream down my face. Thoughts of being hurt by someone I loved someone I looked up to, and respected more than anyone else, began to overwhelm me. I cried to the Lord with questions of how could that person have done that to me? Then, while I thought

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene "Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don't know where they have put him.” She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but sh

“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways:..” Proverbs 14:14 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" In 1284, while the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation, a man dressed in pied (having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly) clothing appeared, claiming to be a ratcatcher. He promised the mayor a solution for their problem with the rats. The mayor in turn promised to pay him for the removal of the rats