For His eye is on the sparrow....

  I have always loved that old hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" and I loved sparrows because of it. While having a conversation with my father-in-law, I was told that sparrows are "very dirty birds". I became upset, I had always thought of them as wonderful. In the last year God has opened my eyes to the true meaning behind the song.
  Sparrows carry mites. They are also one of the few birds who engage in dust bathing. They can also be known to be scavengers.  Sparrows attack bluebirds. They raid their nests and destroy their eggs and offspring. I am sure we have all been "swooped" by a sparrow while out doing yard work. So lets see, they are dirty, they carry bugs, they are mean and they are scavengers and yet Our Father still watches over them.
 I an sure we have all been mean at some point and we get dirty in our sin. We may even hurt or harm other people with our words and actions. But the Lord still cares for us deeply. He takes care of all our needs and wants. He protects us and is always there when we call. As Matthew 10: 29-31 says He cares for us more,( ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^{[b] 30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. )
The song has a whole new meaning to me. We can never be too dirty or mean for the Father to not take care of us.



Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

In am fearfully and wonderfully made!!

Psalm 139

 ¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.
 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
   and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.
 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.

Needed a little self esteem boost today. Feeling a little down about the way I look. The Lord made me , He knew me in my mother's womb. He knew all about my life before it even began. He saw my unformed body. I was fearfully and wonderfully made. I will praise the Lord for this body, no mater how bad it looks.

The pits of despair!!

Psalm 40:2
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.


  While reading this verse I was reminded of The Princess Bride. It brought a smile to my face. Who doesn't love The Princess Bride? I thought it interesting that he says to Wesley " Don't even think about escaping" He basically tells him that it is impossible. How many time do we feel like we are in a pit of despair with no way out? But remember Wesley does get out. Don't listen to what other people think. Don't even listen to your self doubt. Look to the Lord. He will lift you out and set your feet on solid ground.

Earnestly seeking, running the race marked out for me.

 Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 12: 1-3  let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.


Jesus is the perfecter of faith. He endured more than we can ever imagine and yet he presented himself blameless and without sin. I need to run the race marked out for me. Jesus has the road map to my life and all I have to do is ask for directions.

Create in me a PURE heart.

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, oh God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.



  I started off my devotional today focused on the key word "hope".
Psalm 33:18
But the eyes of the Lord are on  those who fear Him, on those who hope in His unfailing love.

But for some reason I kept finding the word "new". Sing to Him a "new" song, a "new" hope, re"new" my strength. I love how the Lord carefully guides my time with Him. I want Him to do so much for me but am I doing my part. Am I presenting a new person to Him? A person He can mold both inside and out. Create in me Lord. A new heart, a pure heart. Is my heart pure? Even if I don't say things that are on my mind they are still infesting my heart. So Lord I give it all to You, do what you wish and mold me into the person You want me to be!!!!

Don't listen to the naysayers.

While studying Job this morning I came across this verse.
Job 6:8 Oh that I might have my request, that God would give me what I hope for.

He said this while in the midst of his friends who all told him to turn away form God. If you are not familiar with Job let me sum it up for you.

"Job is a man who is wise,  

rich, and good. Then suddenly  

terrible things happen to him. 

His ten children are killed. 

He loses all his wealth. And 

he becomes ill with a painful 

skin disease. 

Three friends come to visit

him, and they try to explain 

to Job why these bad things

have happened. They tell job  

that sin caused his suffering 

and God was punishing him.

Job insists it is not true,

but no one believes him. Job 

becomes very discouraged and 

angry but he still believes  

God cares about him, although 

he don't understand why he

must suffer so. 

In the end, God answers Job in a whirlwind, reminding him that

humans can never understand how great God is."

So you can see that it was hard for Job to have hope when his three friends kept telling him to give up. The Lord also gives him everything back his health and more wealth and children. No matter what this world does to us, the Lord is always in control. He will never leave us or forsake us.

Those who hope in the Lord.

Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.


   Those who HOPE. Oh how I hope. The bible says my strength will be renewed. He will make it like it was before. I like the verse before this too. Even youth grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall BUT those who HOPE in the Lord will renew their strength!!!! I will be stronger than the the youth with the Lord. Will I have more energy than my children? If I HOPE in the Lord. I can face anything. He is creator of everything and I can overcome this. I have to stop feeling sorry for myself. If the Lord made me this way than He knows what I am up against. He knew I would be at this point right now. He also knew that I could defeat this!!!! Let my HOPE be in the Lord and let my strength be renewed today.