Let's Work the Field

Have you ever met someone with whom you feel comfortable sharing your heart with from the start and then, as you share, you find out you have many things in common? That happened to me recently when I met two ladies from a non-profit organization that helps the poor become self-sufficient. As we shared our lives, we discovered that God has called us to help the poor but in different ways. They are called to help the poor directly by being with them and by implementing programs that will teach them how to be successful entrepreneurs—even if it is in a small scale in a third world country. I am called to Corporate America where I can help leaders like them get connected with people that can sponsor their programs. I can also potentially help them by creating awareness about their organization so other people get involved which in turn results in increased funding for their organization to continue to grow.

Regardless of your calling, God has called each one of us to be His worker and to work the field. There are different fields for different people because God needs workers everywhere and with various skills. The poor and rich alike—they all need Jesus and His gift of salvation. Today I want to share one of the devotionals from my book Devotions for Working Women that challenges us to be one of God’s workers.

Are You One of God’s Workers?
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Matthew 9:37-38 (NLT)
He said to his disciples, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.”

Jesus said those words after being with multitudes of people who went to Him with their problems. He was only one and He saw the great need of having more of Him on earth. As we become born again, when we ask Jesus to come into our lives, we become God’s laborers and workers of His field. The harvest is God’s, but He needs us to work it for Him.

Most of us consider ourselves good workers. In fact, we welcome and look for opportunities for promotion. As workers of the Kingdom of God, our attitude toward new opportunities should be the same, and we should ask ourselves some questions. Are we doing a good job for God? Are we bringing in the harvest? Are we looking to be promoted in the Kingdom of God? With God our jobs are not just a title. In His Kingdom, the higher the position, the more responsibility we have with people’s lives. Jesus said, “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all” (Mark 10:44 KJV). The higher we go in God’s positions, the more we have to serve others.

Therefore, let’s ask God for more workers to help us with the great task we have ahead. But also, let’s ask Him to help us be the best workers we can be for His Kingdom.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.

Finish Your Race

I’m not a runner… but today I ran a 5K. I had two goals: 1) to finish the race; and 2) to finish under 30 minutes. Well, I finished and under 28 minutes so I feel accomplished. While running I was thinking of how easy it is to just quit when you start getting tired, when you see others passing you by, and when you see an uphill trail coming up your way. On the other hand, when I had positive thoughts of how much I have trained to do the race, how good it felt when I was the one passing others by, and when I was in tune with my heartbeat going at a steady pace without feeling I was going to faint. When you run, all these feelings and thoughts go through your head and as expert runners have told me—the mind is a powerful tool that can help you win or drive you to quit and lose.

In the big picture, we all have a race to run—our lives. During our lives we will have uphill roads we will have to travel and go through. We will encounter detours we were not expecting that may delay us or discourage us. We may see others passing us by and getting ahead of us in life and we may also pass others too.

Today, I want to encourage you that no matter what you encounter in life, you must finish your race. Train and prepare yourself for the difficult times and enjoy when the race is going well and you feel you can do it. But don’t forget to take Jesus with you throughout your entire race. He will be there to encourage you, to give you living water when you’re thirsty, to tell you that you can do it when your mind is telling you otherwise, to keep you safe despite the outside circumstances, and to give you the satisfaction of finishing your race in the end. Don’t ever live home without Him!

Faith and Patience - Keys to Your Success

This week I met with one of my career mentors and he gave me very valuable input that will help me now and going forward. There are business decisions that the top leaders of the organization make that are “political” in nature and not necessarily have anything to do with you, the person. Although we may not understand the reasons for certain decisions we need to accept them and move on. On one hand, my human side can get upset and start thinking there are other reasons for a specific decision when in reality there aren’t. On the other hand, I trust God with my life and that includes my career. I firmly believe God allows things to happen for a reason and that He knows what’s best for me. Therefore, I have to trust Him, not get offended, and move forward with a positive attitude. Today I want to share a devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that encourages us to have faith and patience because they are both keys to our success. Enjoy!

Faith and Patience Are Key to Your Success
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James 1:2-4 (KJV)
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Part of living in this world is to experience trials and temptations. James encourages us to use those trials as an opportunity for joy because it is by going through those experiences that we grow and learn to be patient. When we become “perfect” (or mature in patience), we arrive at a spiritual place where we are entire and want nothing.

God allows us to go through those trials so we can grow in Him—in faith and patience. Remember, the test is on what we believe. When we pass those tests, our faith is stronger and we move on to the next level of maturity in the Lord.

Faith and patience are two crucial ingredients to your success in life. If you are experiencing trials at work or at home, ask God, in faith, for wisdom to know what to do and for patience to help you get through it. The first key is to have faith and believe God will answer you and help you out of that situation. The second key is to have patience while you wait for His answer. If you do this, you will come out in the end more mature and patient—wanting nothing.

It's Ok to Wait on the Lord

The past few weeks have been a test for me because I’ve asked God to bring to pass a promise that I believe He wants me to have and it didn’t happen… So even though I was disappointed I firmly believe God knows what’s best for me. Now I have to trust Him that someday His promise will become a reality in my life but it will be in His perfect timing. Having said that, I still feel sad and discouraged so I decided to look for a Devotional that would bring me new hope and I would like to share it with you too. If you feel discouraged, know that when we wait expectantly on the Lord, He always comes through for us.

Wait Expectantly on the Lord
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Psalm 5:3 (NLT)
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

David’s plea to the Lord was a daily act of faith. Every morning he talked to God and made his requests known to Him. He then waited on God and expected Him to listen to his prayers and answer them. We often treat God as a magician. We tell Him what we want and expect Him to respond immediately, like magic! We don’t wait patiently on Him. Other times we pray to God and don’t even expect Him to hear or answer our prayer. Then we get discouraged and stop asking altogether. We lose our faith in God. Both extremes are wrong. We are to ask God to meet our needs and wait expectantly as David did.

When we wait on the Lord we put our faith, hope, and trust in Him. This act blesses God. He then gives us the grace we need to wait until His answer manifests. We must learn to wait patiently because His timetable is not ours. He knows what’s best for us and that includes the right time. When His timing comes, He will give us a solution better than any we would have thought of on our own.

If you need change in your workplace, a new boss, a different job, or want to change fields, wait expectantly from the Lord. Expect to receive whatever He thinks is best for you, not just what you asked Him for. Once you give your request to Him, sincerely believe in your heart that He will answer your prayer and thank Him in advance for the answer.

God Gives Us the Desires of Our Hearts

Have you been waiting for a desire of your heart that has yet to come true? God’s Word has many promises for all humanity such as salvation but He also has special promises for each one of us. Sometimes though His timing and our timing are not the same and we need to wait until He’s ready to bring it to pass. Today I want to share one of the devotionals from my book, Devotions for Working Women, that encourages us by reminding us that God does give us the desires of our hearts. Enjoy!

God Gives us the Desires of Our Hearts
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Psalm 37:4-5 (NLT)
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.

God places desires in our hearts. When we delight in Him (take time to be with Him, spend time in His presence, and fellowship with Him), He will give us those desires. When we commit ourselves to do everything unto the Lord, He will help us achieve our goals. In other words, when we spend time with Him, we give Him an opportunity to change us, to exchange old desires with new ones. Therefore, when we desire what He put in our hearts, He will help us achieve those desires because He put them there in the first place.

Are you spending enough time with the Lord to give Him the opportunity to place those desires in your heart? What kind of job do you desire to have? Are you in the industry you desire to be?

Happy Easter!

This weekend is the time to thank God for sending us His son to give us the eternal gift of salvation—something we cannot obtain on our own no matter what we do. This devotional today reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith. Remember Jesus this weekend and thank Him for going through the process of the cross.

We Are Saved by Grace through Faith
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Galatians 2:16 (NLT)
“And yet we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ—and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law.”

God promised Abraham a savior. God gave Moses the laws 430 years later to keep the people guarded until Jesus came. When Jesus realized God’s promise on earth, the old system of the law was no longer needed. According to the old law, people were cursed if they didn’t follow the law. But when Jesus died on the cross, He became sin and was cursed for us. “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Galatians 3:13 NLT). So now that faith in Christ has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. We are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are united in Christ, and there is no more Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female—we are one in Christ Jesus. Once we belong to Christ, we are true children of Abraham. We are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to us (vv. 9-29).

The message is, all humans alike, are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ. This was God’s plan from the beginning; it is the same now, and will never change. The only thing we have to do is accept Jesus in our hearts and have faith in Him. He already did the rest to save us.

Self-Control Is Key to Success in Business

This week was very hard at work. Some things didn’t go as planned, others were not planned at all, and other things were rushed at the last minute. It all contributed to opportunities to get angry and frustrated at situations and people. I was successful at not getting angry in some circumstances and not successful in others. But it all gave me time to reflect and see how we can improve the way we do things and how I can work better with others. Today I would like to share a devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that encourages us to remain calm and practice self-control in the workplace. I hope it helps you as it helped me this past week.

Self-control Is Key to Success in Business
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James 1:19-20 (NLT)
Dear friends, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight.

There are many opportunities in the workplace to become angry. For example: the vendor didn’t deliver what he promised, your employee didn’t follow your directions and messed up, your customer is never satisfied with your product or service, your boss treated you unfairly, etc. I could go on and on.

Even though we may have good reasons to be upset, the Bible tells us to do the opposite—to listen to other people first, to be slow to speak, and slow to get angry. This seems to go against our nature. In fact, many times it feels good to be angry. Yet the Bible also tells us why we should not get angry—it “can never make things right in God’s sight.”

Self-control is a must if you want to be successful in the business world. It is a sign of maturity in the spiritual realm and professionalism in the natural realm. Therefore, practice self-control and train yourself by listening to people, waiting to speak, and by not getting angry so easily. I’m sure you will have plenty of daily opportunities to practice in your workplace.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.

Need Sleep? These Scriptures Can Help

Last Sunday we moved our clocks forward one hour for the Daylight Savings… Well, it really messed up my sleep and I’ve been tired the whole week ever since. Every time we make those adjustments it can be hard on our bodies and our sleep suffers. Today I was reminded of these two scriptures that really help me when I am in need of rest and sleep. Enjoy this devotional!

Your Sleep Shall Be Sweet
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Psalm 4:8 (KJV) I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Proverbs 3:24 (KJV)
When thou liest down, thou shall not be afraid: yea, thou shall lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

When we are so busy with work, home, kids, and everything else we manage to get ourselves into, it may be hard to fall asleep when it’s finally time to go to bed.

If you find yourself thinking, worrying, or running lists of things to do in your head when you’re trying to go to sleep, get up and write down everything that is on your mind. This way you won’t forget it. Then reach for your Bible and read the above scriptures. These are promises of God to you. He promises you can trust Him and He will take care of you and all the things that concern you. You are safe with Him, and He promises your sleep will be sweet, peaceful, and safe.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.

Working Too Much? God Can Give You Rest

Lately my job has kept me extremely busy to the point where I wasn’t sure what the next priority was because all the projects were considered priorities with deadlines. I have been asking God to help me on a daily basis decide what to do next and He has come through. Appointments have been cancelled, some projects have been moved to a further deadline, and I simply started saying “no” to additional tasks.

We need to strive for balance in our lives and part of that is establishing boundaries at work. I know it’s easier said than done but I just tested it and it works. I started explaining to my own employees and my boss that I could no longer take on new tasks or new responsibilities at this point. As a result, my employees are stepping up and my boss is trying to get me more help. Today I want to share one of the devotions from my book Devotions for Working Women that reminds us to work hard but not to an extreme where we burn out. It reminds us that we need rest and God can give us that rest. Enjoy!

Work Hard, but not to an Extreme. God Will Give You Rest.
#15
Psalm 127:2 (NLT)
It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.

Many women work too hard, work long days, and end up exhausted, with nothing left to give their families, and get burned out. For some women, it has caused them their health or their marriage. They end up having a nervous breakdown, heart disease, and many other illnesses or disorders.

God wants us to have a balanced life. He is a God of order and balance. We are to be diligent and work hard, but then we need to trust God and know “He gives rest to his loved ones.” As we pray and ask the Lord on a daily basis to balance our day, we will accomplish everything He wants us to do for that day and be satisfied. We can pray David’s prayers: “Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by any evil… Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow” (Psalm 119:133, 25:4 NLT).

God rested on the seventh day, and we should too. Don’t work so much that you miss life going by right before your eyes. Make time to be with your family and loved ones. This will actually give you renewed energy to go back and work hard again. Set a goal to work more efficiently and effectively versus working long hours.

Remember, the Bible says it is useless to work so hard unless God is in it. He will give you rest.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.

Balancing or Juggling? Which One Are You Striving for?

Work/life balance continues to be a goal for most people. Lately, even high school and college students are trying to find ways to keep their lives in balance and they haven’t even started living their complete lives as a full-time worker or having a family of their own. The fact is, everybody is busier because the fast pace in which we live these days is unsustainable. In the end, something has to give–our relationships, our health, our jobs, or our families. Some young couples I’ve talked to recently are opting to not have children because it’s not only too costly but they don’t see how they can make the time it takes to raise them.

I’ve been hearing lately about the issue of “juggling” versus “balancing” your life. I read an article a few months ago that said it’s not about balancing anymore, it’s about juggling. However, I tend to disagree. I believe that if a person is not in balance to begin with it is very difficult to juggle all the responsibilities they have going on at the same time. If you picture a real life juggler, what do they look like while juggling? They are experts and have been practicing for a long time but the first thing I notice is that they are balanced before they can juggle even two balls. No matter if they are standing on one foot or two feet or on top of a table or just on the ground, the most important thing is that they have to be balanced before they even start juggling the balls in the air.

I looked up the word “juggle” and, among other definitions, this is the one I thought fit most of us in what we’re trying to do: “to manage or alternate the requirements of (two or more tasks, responsibilities, activities, etc.) so as to handle each adequately: to juggle the obligations of job and school.” Sometimes we are successful at juggling several things and sometimes we are not. We need to know and recognize our individual limits as to how many things we can handle at one time.

Work/life balance is not 50/50 like some people think because that would mean 50% of your week you work and 50% of your week you spend time with your family and doing the other things you enjoy. 50% of your week represents 84 hours per week! That is, in my opinion as a full-time worker myself, an unsustainable amount of work, at least for most people. “50/50” doesn’t mean you work 50% of your time and do the rest of your life in the remaining 50%. Work/life balance means that you make choices each day to have an overall balanced life. It means you have a healthy amount of work and a healthy amount of time to be with your family and do the rest of your activities.

In our everyday lives we already automatically juggle many tasks, situations, work, school, and family life. Each section of our lives is represented by a ball we have to juggle—if we use the analogy of the juggler. When we have too many balls in the air—meaning too many things going on or too many responsibilities or commitments—we may end up dropping one of them (or sometimes all of them) or burning out just trying to keep all the balls up in the air. Either way we look at it we cannot juggle even two balls if we are not first in balance—standing firmly on our two feet.

The other factor we must remember is that many times we don’t ask for help and try to do it all on our own thinking that if we succeed at it, then we become super heroes or that people will respect us more. Don’t fall for that trap. Ask for help! If you don’t, you will end up frustrated, burnt out, and it will not be worth it in the end. Someone will get hurt and something will not get done or fall apart.

The key message here is—you cannot juggle if you’re not in balance. It is by being in balance to begin with that you can juggle everything else in your life.

The Struggle to Manage Our Time

Managing our time is a struggle for all of us because of the demands we have in our lives. Today I want to share with you a devotional from my book, Devotions for Working Women, that encourages us to ask God to help us manage our time better. Enjoy!

Lord, Teach Us to Manage Our Time
#7
Psalm 90:12 (NLT)
Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.

Time is a valuable resource. No matter who we are, we are all given the same amount of time every day, and it is up to us to use it and manage it wisely.

We often get frustrated when we waste our time because we like to be in control of our lives and that includes our calendar. Therefore, part of our daily prayer needs to include asking God to help us manage our time wisely.

Ask God to help you balance your life one day at a time. You are then allowing Him to take control of your busy schedule, cancel appointments, and rearrange things throughout your day as He wills. When you give up that control to the Lord, He will make sure your life is balanced. Just remember to give Him priority in your schedule.

You also need to be flexible. Sometimes the Lord will ask you to stop doing an activity and pray for somebody or for a particular situation. The best example is when God reminds you of someone you haven’t seen in a while. It may be the Holy Spirit nudging you to pray for that person. You need to quickly obey Him and do what He’s asking you to do. If you are to be used of Him, you have to be willing to be flexible and obey His leading. This is how you make the most of your time on a daily basis.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women on www.amazon.com.

Help the Young Workers

The college students that are getting ready to graduate and start their careers are hungry and ready to receive help. All of us who have been in the workforce for a while now can help them by getting them connected, mentoring them, rehearse for an interview, or even offering them a job in your company.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to be there for them and step up. The reward you will receive (either here or in heaven) will be beyond your imagination. They are the future of our country and we need them to be prepared so they can be successful.

I encourage you to take the step and make the time to invest in them. They are worth our time!

We Need Wisdom

The days we live in and all the circumstances we encounter each day require us to have a wisdom that goes beyond our own minds. That’s why we need the wisdom of God in our lives. Today, I want to share with you a devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that reminds where to get God’s wisdom. Enjoy!

The Words of Christ Make You Wise
#362

Colossians 3:16 (NLT)
Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other.

We all want and need wisdom. God tells us in order to obtain wisdom we need to ask Him and He will gladly grant it to us. But we also have to do our part, which is to read His Word. The words of Christ are all recorded in the Bible. When we read the Word and meditate on it day and night, His wisdom comes to us. We also have the Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom to apply to our personal lives and specific situations. We are to use His words to teach and counsel each other, but we can’t accomplish that kind of mentoring relationship if we don’t possess wisdom.

If you want to be known as a wise woman at work, this is the secret. Pursue wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.

Make Time to Help Others

This past two days I had the opportunity to share at the University of St. Thomas (through an organization called CRU) about my life and career journey. It was a wonderful experience and it allowed me to see how I can fulfill part of my mission in life by helping the young students who are starting out their working lives. Today, I want to share with you a devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that encourages us to be willing to help others. Enjoy!

Be Willing to Help Others
#263

Proverbs 3:27 (NLT)
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them.

As we grow in our careers and become more successful and influential, we will enjoy many more opportunities to help develop and guide other individuals. As a leader, it’s important to not withhold good from those who deserve it—especially when we have the power and ability to help them.

When you help others, it shows you are not afraid of sharing success. Some of those you helped will remember you and be loyal to you in the future. You should also never forget those who helped you get where you are today. You can help others in several different ways. Sometimes it may be a word of recommendation for a promotion, encouragement for a project well done, or praise for individuals in front of their colleagues. Not only is helping others a rewarding experience, but in the end you will gain their favor and be a witness to them of the love of God.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women (book or Kindle version) at www.amazon.com.

Climb Your Own Mountain

Last weekend I had the opportunity to climb a mountain for the first time in my life. It was an amazing experience that inspired me to continue my journey of life. Climbing Camelback in Phoenix, AZ, a 1.2 mile mountain may not be a big deal for some athletes or professional hikers that do it all the time but for me it was because I’ve never done it before. Here is a summary of what I learned from this experience that I want to share with you today:
• Be prepared – physically, mentally and spiritually – so when opportunities come you don’t miss them.
• Continue to learn always – each job, every new responsibility you get, learn so you are ready for the next step.
• Have faith – believe in God and trust Him. Make the step. He will be there for you and with you along the way.
• Take others with you so you can enjoy the journey. Always include Jesus in your team!
• Plan ahead – we plan and God helps us get there. Without a plan you will get nowhere because you won’t even know where you’re going.
• Be a good follower and choose the mountain you want to climb. If you don’t believe in the mission and vision of a company, don’t join them. Go to one where your beliefs align with the organization. Otherwise, you’ll have a hard time following.
• Climb your own mountain – you will always have choices. Ask God for the wisdom to discern which mountain to climb. Don’t climb a mountain just because somebody else is doing it. Choose your own. When you finish your college education or finish your preparation to make a change in your life, you’ll be ready to start climbing a new mountain or your first mountain. Choose wisely and enjoy the journey!

Working with Others

What do you do when you continually reach out to someone and they don’t respond? I like to build relationships with my co-workers – my employees, peers and superiors. When my attempts to build friendships are not reciprocated I have a hard time not taking it personally. But what if that person has a different personality and they don’t “need” to have friendships at work? How do I respond? Well, I have thought about it and I will continue to be myself and reach out with no expectations of any kind of return. I think that is what God would want me to do. Today, I would like to share a devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that reminds us to be humble, gentle and patient, with others.

Be Humble, Gentle, and Patient
# 29

Ephesians 4:1-2 (NLT)
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

In this verse Paul is writing to the church of Ephesus, and he is begging them to live a life worthy of their calling. We are all called to serve Him in a special way. But in order for us to walk in the will of God, in our calling, we must be humble, gentle, and patient with one another. These are rare character traits in the business community and the workplace. God cannot use us if we are proud because in our pride we become deceived, rude, and impatient. Gentleness is another rarity these days. People don’t treat each other gently, but abruptly. Our lives have become so busy we don’t have patience to wait for anything, help somebody in need, or just love people.

Have you realized that you have been called by God? I encourage you to strive to be a humble, gentle, and patient woman so God can use you to the fullest.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.

Pursue God's Wisdom in 2012!

Today is the last day of 2011! It was a great year for some and it may not have been so great for others but we are here today ready to start the New Year. One of the things I will pursue more in 2012 is God’s wisdom. The years ahead will be difficult to navigate with the current economic environment. The current situation of our country affects us directly both in the work environment as well as at home. We will need God’s wisdom to make the right choices. For example, if you’ve been thinking of changing jobs or careers, you will need to decide if now is good timing or if you should wait. Ask God for His wisdom to help you decide. Another example could be if you’re thinking of purchasing a new home and selling your current one. Is this a good time considering the housing market? Ask God for wisdom on what to do. Today, I want to share the devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that encourages us to pursue the wisdom of God. Happy New Year!

Pursue Wisdom with All Your Heart
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Proverbs 1:23 (NLT)
Come here and listen to me! I’ll pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you wise.

In Proverbs 1:20, Wisdom cries out on the streets looking for people and can’t find anyone who is willing to listen and become wise. God wants to pour out His Spirit of wisdom upon us but we have to desire it. We have to search for it and appreciate it like the most valuable treasure we could ever find or have. Wisdom is a treasure because it is by wisdom we understand what it means to fear the Lord, and we gain knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:5 NLT).

The Bible exhorts you to “Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure” (Proverbs 2:2-4 NLT). Therefore, make an effort like never before to pursue wisdom. Seek it more than your career, job, or business.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.

Continue to Be Thankful

Every day that goes by I feel more thankful to God for what He has done in my life. I am thankful for all the relationships I have starting with my husband, my son and daughter, the rest of my family, my friends, and my co-workers and business colleagues. It feels good to have successful relationships with the people we love but the most important relationship we must have is with God. When I feel close to God and stay connected to Him through prayer and meditating on His Word, all the other relationships improve. Today I want to share a devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that talks about being thankful to the Lord. Enjoy!

Being Thankful Truly Honors God
#285

Psalm 50:14, 23 (NLT)“What I want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High.” “…But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Psalm 51:17 (NLT)
The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.

The people of Israel used to give many offerings to God to obtain forgiveness for their sins. Many people turned this into a tradition with no true meaning or repentance from their hearts. God has not changed today. He has been and will always be, interested in one thing—our hearts. He just wants us to be thankful to Him for everything He has done for us, starting with salvation. What a gift! We must thank God daily and every moment for it. Giving thanks from the heart is what He’s after—a broken and repentant spirit willing to be changed, forgiven, and loved by God.

With today’s lifestyle we all try to do too much. Sometimes we commit ourselves to serve in work committees, kids’ activities, and even church activities—some out of guilt and sense of obligation. These activities may be good, but before we commit to anything new, we must make sure it will not take away time with the Lord. It is better to spend that time with Him than to be occupied with one more thing to do. We honor God by having a thankful heart and spending time with Him.

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Thanksgiving

This week was Thanksgiving week. I hope you spent time with your family and enjoyed a wonderful meal. During the busy holidays it is easy to go on without stopping to thank God for all the things He’s done for us. Today I want to encourage you to make time to meditate and be thankful to God for everything He’s given you and for what you have. Today I would like to share with you a poem I wrote on Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving
Today is a beautiful day
God created this day for you and me
For us to say thanks and to worship Him

Today is a special day
As we are to remember why we are here
The reason is to give thanks

Today we pause and reflect
We stop and give thanks
To the One who loves us so much
That He sent His only Son

On this day we realize
How much God does for us
Every day, every hour, because He cares

A grateful heart is what He wants
Just pure gratitude from the heart
The thanksgiving that flows from inside
And it overflows to the ones around

A whole day is dedicated to say thanks
In the midst of a world that is ungrateful
We stop and take the time to be thankful
For everything He has done in our lives
For sending His Son to die
All God wants is our hearts

So today thank God for His blessings
For His love and for all His gifts
Be thankful and enjoy life
And you will bless Him back