Happy New Year! Well our church has started a 30 day fast. Sean and I have decide to fast everything except veggies & fruit. Which means Sean is only eating veggies cause he barely eats any fruit. You would think it would be easier than doing a true fast but it's NOT! I have really struggled the last couple of days craving meat. Giving up the pasta and breads isn't as hard as the meat. Anyway, so we started Monday and I decided that this year I plan to read through the whole Bible. Did it once about 18 years ago or so and decided it would be a great challenge for me.
So I have started with the book of Jeremiah. Which the first few chapters have been very interesting. In fact I almost decided I might want to read something more uplifting but once I really started reading and digesting what it is saying I am more ready to read it now than before. I think digesting what you read is important. Let it sink in and really think about what you are reading. Not just read through and say ok that;s done.
The Word of God is manna. Well when we eat we have to difest the food to get the nurishment our bodies need. It's the same as reading the Word of God. In order for your spirit man to get the nurishment it needs you have to think about what you have read and let the Holy Spirit speak to you.
Well that is what I have been doing this week. Let me tell you something the things that are revealed are amazing! I read through the first chaper and didn't catch it at first. But then I stopped and reread it. Guess what, when I stopped and took the time to let it sink in, I was WOWed.

The LORD showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "A branch of almonds that ripen early." "That's right," the LORD replied, "and I always rise early to keep a promise." Jer 1:11-12 (CEV)

Do you see it? " I rise early to keep a promise!" NOT only does God keep His promises but He rises early to keep them! Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! When it's time for Him to fulfill the His promises to us He rises early to do so! How can we even doubt that He will fulfill them when he reassures us that He will not only keep the promise but rise early to keep it.
That encourages me SO MUCH! You see I stand on His promises of healing, provision, guidance and protection. In Jer 29:11 He promises us that He has a plan for our lives one of hope and a future not evil. What we must realize that He has thought about our future and we can trust that He will rise early to keep that promise and will see us through what ever it is we are going through.
Thank you Jesus that not only do You keep your promises but You rise early to keep them. I am trusting you today for many things and know you will do as your has pormised us! Thank you Jesus!

David and Peter

Tuesday morning the Lord woke me up. As I began to open my eyes this thought went through my head, “Just like David you have faced the giant and stepped out in faith and you will have the victory.” PRAISE GOD! Can someone shout with me?!!! I sat up and I knew without a doubt that was from the Lord! That is not something I would say to myself at all. In fact to be honest I tend to see negative before I see the positive. I don’t know why, I have just been that way my whole life. I pray all the time ~ God help me to be positive and speak the truth into situations. I can for others but when it comes to situations I am facing, I struggle with staying positive and having faith that God will see me through. Just being honest here.

So having a thought like that is HUGE for me and I know it was from my Heavenly Father. All day yesterday I was unable to shake it I just kept thinking about David and Goliath. Then in the middle of the night last night, once again God woke me up. This time the first thought as I laid there looking into the dark was, “You have stepped out of the boat as Peter did, do not fear, trust in Me, you will have the victory.” PRAISE GOD! Can someone shout with me?!!!

I laid there thinking about that story in the Bible and pondered both as I laid there. I should have just gotten up right then and gone to read the scriptures but I didn’t (it was 3 AM and I really wanted to sleep). Well for the next 3 ½ hours I tossed and turned, those stories going through my head I finally just got up like God wanted me to.
So I looked at the scripture in I Samuel 17 and in Matthew 14. Do you know what those two stories have in common? Both David and Peter trusted God fully and acted on their faith IMMEDIATELY! David’s focus was fully on God’s promise to save the Isrealites, he fully trusted in God and had faith that He would deliver him from the hands of Goliath. Here read this:

I Samuel 17: 45-48

45 Then said David to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day will Jehovah deliver you into my hand; and I will
smite you, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand. 48 When the Philistine came forward to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

David stood on what he knew about God and he acted on it. He did not wait and
ponder on whether he would succeed. He “ran quickly toward the battle” how many times to do we do this? I know I don’t, most times I say, “well I have to pray about it, I need confirmation.” But God wants us to be more like David and act quickly and do as He has called us to do ~ sometimes that might mean face the giant and run quickly towards it and say what David said, “for the battle is the Lord’s.” Instead of wondering if you are good enough, have the capabilities or not, we need to ACT on what God has called us to do and leave the results up to Him. When we do this we will have the victory. Sometimes that victory may just be the act of laying down the results and trusting God for the outcome. Other times it may mean the giant is killed, defeated and put to rest! Other times it means stepping out of the boat like Peter.

Matthew 14:26-30

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spoke to them, saying Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to You on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And Peter stepped out of the boat, and walked on the waters to come to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand, and took hold of him, and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?

Peter did just like David did. Jesus said, “Come.” Peter didn’t question he stepped out of the boat immediately. The scripture does not say, “Peter pondered the call, he prayed about the call or asked for other’s advice about the call!” NO, it says Peter stepped out of the boat. We need to act upon our faith and step out of the boat! Only then can we see God’s hand upon us and walk on water! When we step out, God will perform miracles! Peter would have never known what it was like to walk on water had he stayed in the boat! Yes we see in verse 30 that Peter got scared. God never told us that stepping out of the boat was going to be easy or that storms wouldn’t come. But
if we respond like Peter did and cry out to the Lord, He is always faithful to stretch out His hand.