Top of the day to everyone. I pray you have had a good start to your week. My son Daniel came to me last night and asked me about the lyrics to a tune that was in his head. He thought it came from Mary Poppins and I agreed, so I went to Google it and sure enough there it was. So just in case you were wondering where in the world top of the day came from, now you know. Don't you feel better? I was looking for a chance to change up my greeting and I thought that was a good one. J

In my quiet time this morning and then in my study time at lunch something struck me as amazing. I wasn't able to really sit for long this morning like I had planned but what I did spend was really good. I have shared before, maybe not here on this blog, but I have shared that I like to take a Psalm and read it everyday for a week. Well as things go, it had been awhile since I put that discipline to practice. I began again this week and even though I have only read it three times so far, Psalm 63 has been just want I have needed. This short chapter is full of wonderful treasures. The writer expresses how God alone is his rest, assurance and salvation. That in God alone is there peace and safety. The very last verse says that God has spoken one thing and that there are two things he (the writer) has heard. That God is strong and the He is loving. In my study today I found that God is in fact a loving God. I already knew that but isn't it wonderful when you see it again in His very Word written just for us? When Abraham sent his servant to Nahor (Abraham's brother) to find a wife for his son Isaac the servant called upon God to help him choose the perfect woman. In verse 15 of Chapter 24 it says, "Before he had finished praying, Rebecca came out with her jar."  Before he had finished. Someone today needs to know that God hears you and has answered your prayer before you are even finished. Let that sink in. In Isaiah 65:24 it says, "Before they call I (God) will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear them." Even though the answer may not be immediate, God has heard and has answered your pray. He hears your voice, He knows your thoughts, and He has a plan as to how the answer will come to you. It may be just like the servant who was able to watch immediately the answer to his prayer request unfold. Or it maybe that God is asking us to wait on His good and perfect timing for His answer to be fulfilled.

If you have prayed and prayed for God to answer a pray, know that He already has, but we maybe just waiting for the fulfillment in order that we may receive the greatest blessing.

In Christ, Tammy

I'm reading a book by Francine Rivers called "The Priest".  It is a Christian fiction book.  I really enjoy her books, because they make me think about some of the people from the Bible and what their lives might have been like.  I've just started this book and I'm only a few chapters in, but it is about Aaron.  You know Aaron, Moses's brother.  It seemed a fitting book to be reading at the same time that we're going through the E100 series and have been studying the book of Exodus.  Anyway this book is written from Aaron's perspective on things that took place.  Remember that it is a fictional book, but it makes me think about what things could have looked like from Aaron's point of view.  For instance, imagine being the older brother and watching your mother send your baby brother away and he gets to grow up in the palace and you have to grow up as a slave.  Or what about watching your mother leave you, so she can go to the palace to take care of your brother.  It's easy to imagine how Aaron might have been jealous.  I'm at the point in the book where God tell's Aaron to go out and meet Moses.  One line from the book was interesting to me.  It was when they have just been reunited and Moses is explaining to Aaron how God has called him to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.  Aaron is asking him why he had delayed in coming and why he had question God and Moses replies, ?It is easier to remember the ways of your people when you dwell among them".  How hard it must have been not feeling like you belong.  Moses wasn't really accepted by either the Egyptians of the Hebrews,  I believe this is one of the reasons God tells us not to forsake the assembly together of believers.  It is easy to get side tracked when we are on our own, but when we join together we can help each other stay focused on what is important. I pray that God will unite us as believers to do His will.

Nancy

Good morning or should I say afternoon. I am sorry for not being more diligent with my blog these last few weeks, but the flu and other nasty bugs have been kicking my butt.

I am sure most of you can relate as I have heard that most everyone has had some form or another of it. Hopefully with these few days of cold weather it will be enough to kill the bug/s.

I was on my way to a doctor's appointment this morning but never made it. I found myself sitting on I70 due to a traffic accident. I had my day all planned out. I was going to go to the doctors then I was going to sit at the nearest Starbucks and study my Bible. I needed to get caught up on my E 100 and I needed to prepare for the up coming Women's Retreat. Needless to say I never made to either destination. I will be perfectly honest though, I was really looking forward to sitting at Starbucks enjoying a cup of coffee and looking like one of those college students you see sitting their with their over priced latte and their laptops. J Instead I turned on my Kindle and sat there in my car. You may be surprised to know that I am very far behind in my E100 reading. In fact I am still in Exodus, which is about 20 days behind were I should be. I could give a long list of reasons and explanations but none are really that good. So here I am trying to catch up in a very big way. In God's sovereignty He allowed me ample time to get caught up. So three hours later I am almost there. (I didn't read the whole time, sorry) But what I did read I wanted to share just a bit.

As I read through the part where Pharaoh is finally allowing the Israelites to leave I noticed something that caught my attention. I probably wouldn't have caught it this time but I have been reading about the Patriarchs and doing a study on Sunday morning called The Inheritance. In both studies we have talked about Joshua and the fact that he was a warrior. As I read Exodus 12:37 in the HCSB it said that there were about 600,000 soldiers on foot. Of course I thought to myself 600,000 soldiers, what in the world were they doing as slaves if they had 600,000 soldiers. Later it even says that they left the land of Egypt in battle formation. (Exodus 13:17)  So here they are 600,000 soldiers strong, not counting women and children and men not able to fight, and the LORD on their side and they are slaves in a foreign land. Remember that they had a promise through Abraham that they were to have possession of a great land and become a great nation. Yet, here they were stomping out brick and mortar for another nation. I wonder, how many times do you and I find ourselves more than capable of taking hold of what God has promised belongs to us only for the enemy to convince us that we should be slaves to a much lesser thing?  God has given each of us a divine inheritance. How long before we take possession of what He so richly promised?

In Christ,

Tammy