Author: debo

One of my goals this year is to be more salty! Our whole family loves salt, in fact, I have my Swiss sister send me Swiss salt several times a year, because we love it so much. Salt has some wonderful attributes. A few of them are, it makes food taste great, it keeps you from slipping on the ice by melting it, it makes you thirsty, and it is a preservative. In the scripture in Matt 5:13-14 we are called the salt of the earth and the light of the world. If we take the natural attributes of ice and put them in a spiritual context, we can see that we should bring a good taste to those in the world. We can do this by being authentic, truly living our life in front of unbelievers. We can keep others from falling into the enemies traps, and we can see the hardest, coldest heart melted. We can cause those who don’t know Christ yet to be thirsty for the things of God, and last of all, we can help preserve a world that needs Jesus so desperately. So let’s be the salt of the earth. We can be the light on the hill that doesn’t hide, but shines brightly so that all can see the true light of Jesus shining through us. Salt and light, just like Jesus!

Shine for You

Be the Salt and Be the Light
Be the one who does what’s right
Be the keeper of the flame
Be a mouthpiece, use The name

Be His arms, His Hands, His feet
Reaching out to those in need
Be the light that He can choose
A salty soul that He can use

Chorus:
Thirsty
I am thirsting
Drinking in more of You
Well lit
So I can tell it
Everywhere, I’ll shine for You

I am His arms, His hands, His feet
Reaching out to those in need
I’ll be the light that He can choose
the salty soul that He can use

I’ll be the salt, I’ll be the light
I’ll be the one who does what right
I’ll be the keeper of the flame
I’ll be his mouthpiece, and use His Name

Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. I hope during this first month of the year, you are making progress toward your goals. About this time, many people quit. Instead of just a resolution, why not make a deep and firm commitment to walking in the will of God 24/7, 365 days a year for the rest of your life. Don’t quit, don’t give up. I’m still going….#50songs50days. If you have had a set back, let it become a set up for your come back. Here is your daily eword.

The Bible tells us in John 1:12 that we can know that we are God’s children. As His children, he wants us to succeed in life, and he gives us the valuable instruction to write the vision down and make it plain, so that those who read it can run with it. (Habakkuk 2:2) If we really want to thrive in our Christian walk, and keep on growing, setting goals is an important part of the process. From this scripture in Habakkuk, we can see that there are steps involved in the process.
So here are the steps for setting and accomplishing goals, one at a time.
1) Write it down – Typing is fine too! Just use you pen or keyboard to express what you want to accomplish. Small goals are as important as the large ones!
2) Make it plain – Keep it simple. Enough of life is complicated. Keep it easy to read and easy to run with.
3) Read it – Keep it in front of you – on your dashboard in your car, or on your mirror in your bathroom, or on your screen of your computer. Read it as a reminder and as an encouragement to yourself.
4) Run with it – Be a doer! Don’t just think about it, put it into action. Don’t put it off until tomorrow, begin today and do it now.
There is a great sense of accomplishment that comes when you achieve your goals. If you have failed before at finishing a goal, we all have!!!!, set it behind you and look ahead. We have all messed up, but we can brush ourselves off, and start again. Don’t let your set back, make you quit! Your set back, can be a set up for your come back!

Write it down and make it plain
Breathe it, Read it everyday
Make it yours so you can run
Until your vision becomes DONE!

Sleepy people do crazy things. They drive off the road, or they forget important things. So get enough sleep and take advantage of all the sleep you can get! When we get older we have lots of reasons to stay up later, and most of them are doing stuff that isn’t all fun, like catching up on laundry, doing dishes, or paying bills. Peaceful sleep is really hard for some people. They can’t shut their minds off, or their body clock is messed up and they will just lie in bed for hours, looking at the ceiling. Sometimes it is because they are worried or anxious about something. Sometimes there is no explanation. My prayer is that you get in the habit of making restful sleep an important part of your life. Make your bedroom a peaceful organized sanctuary. Make it a habit to read your Bible and pray before you snuggle down underneath the covers. Talk to God, cast your cares on Him (I Peter 5:7), let peace rule in your heart (Col 3:15) and learn to sleep in heavenly peace.

Busy, busy, busy, working everyday,
take a moment now and then to simply rest or play
The world will keep on spinning,
it’s time you start beginning
To quiet down, still mind and hands,
a restful life is God’s best plan
So take a breath, and breathe in deep,
have peaceful days, and restful sleep
With peace that passes all we know, God’s rest is yours – just let stress go.
#50songs50days

We were chosen to bear fruit. It is so cool to think that God has a plan to use us to help promote His kingdom. He wants our life to be fruitful. He has chosen us, appointed us and anointed us to be fruitful in this life! When it comes to goals, and accomplishing them, God is on our side. His desire is that we progress. He wants us to experience the very best of life, in our health, in our finances, and specifically in our spiritual life. He wants our soul prospering, so that every other area of our life can prosper. We can be fruitful in all of these ways:
Kindness – is discovering the joy of helping others
Patience – is accepting the imperfections of others
Forgiveness – Is finding freedom from the grip of anger
Courtesy – is treating others as friends
Humility – is stepping down, so someone else can step
up
Generosity – is giving yourself to others
And Honesty – is revealing who you really are.
As you think about all of those qualities, I’m sure there are some that come quite easily to you. Maybe you are very generous, and love giving to others. Or maybe kindness comes really easily. Maybe you can see where you do need the strength of God to do better . Maybe your are really impatient with people, or have a hard time forgiving others. Praise God we do have the power of God on the inside of us to help us overcome. We don’t have to stay like we are. We can change. We can bear good fruit and we can develop into the person God really wants us to be. So why not start today. Determine to be kind, patient, forgiving, courteous, humble, generous and honest.

Growing Fruit
Take a look at the apple tree
From wood with blooms apples come to be
A seedling grows from a tiny seed
To delicious fruit, that we get to eat.

There isn’t strain, and stress or pain
It naturally grows when we remain
In God’s Word and in His will
The Spirit’s plan we will fulfill
#50songs50days

Are you facing huge stress or conflict? My prayer is that you will know God’s peace. The word peace comes from the Greek work “eirene”, which is the Hebrew equivalent for shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, tranquility in the soul, that is unaffected by outward circumstances or pressures. My favorite definition of shalom is nothing missing, and nothing broken. What is very true of a shalom filled, peaceful person is that even through difficulties and pressure of life try to break them, they are possessed “with peace that makes them whole, complete, orderly, stable and poised for blessing.” Is that who you are? Let God’s peace rule in your heart, and live at peace even in the midst of a world filled with pressures. Phil 4:7 tells us that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Peace mean nothing lost or broken
Peace mean I can have sweet rest
Peace means I have cast my burden
To the one who knows me best
Peace means my heart can keep on beating
Peace means on the Rock I stand
Peace means God has got me covered
And He holds me in His hand.
#50songs50days

I am a firm believer that what goes in is what comes out. That applies to many areas, but particularly to the area of health. What we put in our mouths makes a huge difference in our health, from the amount to the content. It still is the beginning of the year, and probably all the gyms and rec centers around are filled with people who have made a commitment to greater health. Let’s applaud them. I hope you are one of them. We all need to move more and most probably need to eat less. But we all know that by the end of January, lots of people will be back on the couch, eating one more bag of potato chips. Long term health requires a long term commitment to eating things that promote health, and moving our bodies. As important as the natural things are, spiritual things need to be added as well. Let’s get God’s Word in our life. What goes in is what comes out. Are we filled with the Word, thinking God’s thoughts about ourselves and our circumstances, or are we sitting on the couch with the tv on absorbing all the world has for us to believe. Choices determine outcome, let’s make the right ones. Choose you this day whom you will serve!

What goes in is what comes out
Think about what you are thinking about
And watch what words you speak
Are you getting wiser, stronger
Day by day and week by week?
If your thoughts create your world
and your words rule how you act
What you think and say and do
Is your life, it is a fact
So watch what comes in first and foremost
Determine now what you believe
Let the output match the input
Of God’s Word that you’ve received
#50songs50days

As we talked about yesterday, laughter is good medicine. Joy filled living keeps us healthier. We can choose joy everyday, and experience good health for a lifetime. One of the areas that I think the world has all wrong is the area of aging. I hear people say so often, growing old isn’t for sissy’s, or golden age isn’t all it is cracked up to be, and I do understand where that comes from, but for the believer, we should have a better confession! Old and sick are not words that need to go together. I can hear some of you already, thinking I am not being realistic, and I can see how you can think that, but as Christians, we have a higher authority than the worlds system. We can trust God’s Word. We can walk in divine health, the blood of Jesus is our new bloodline. Let’s set our sights higher than what the world says we can have. Let’s live healthy lives, and die, healthy and strong only when our earth assignment is done.
His Way is Best
Someone said, Golden Age ain’t golden
That life gets harder year by year
That aging ain’t very pretty
With less laughin’ and more tears
I can see why some would think that
And can understand that view
But God’s plan for age is different
He desires our youth renewed
Like an eagle flying higher
Getting stronger day by day
Divine health and life He offers
That’s what His Word has to say
We are healed, by the stripes of Jesus
We are whole, through His blood
His Life is in us, overflowing
Bring healing like a flood
His anointing power flows through us
Don’t settle for something less
Healthy, whole and getting stronger
Let’s believe HIS WAY is best!
#50Songs50days

I hope you made your way to church today, and if you have kids, I hope you brought them along. Raising children is an awesome responsibility, but it also is a privilege. God has given us children to raise and nurture. They are the blessing of the Lord, and when we train them in the ways of the Lord, the Bible principle is that they will serve Him all the days of their life. It takes sacrifice on the part of the parent, but we want to raise them up to serve God. I am so thankful that I have had a wonderful heritage of faith in my life. As a young child, I went to church every time the doors were open, and loved everything about church, most of all I loved Jesus, and I still do! Here is a reminder of the joy of raising kids up to serve God.
Raise Them Up
Raise them up love the Bible
Raise them up to speak the Word
Raise them up to worship Jesus
Raise them up to love the Lord

Raise them up loving one another
Raise them up with hands to serve
Raise them up to keep a pure heart
Raise them up putting Jesus first

Raise them up to know God’s presence
Raise them up to know His will
Raise them up to make a difference
Raise them up to change the world
#50days50songs

Having just finished Christmas, I still have the baby in the manger pictured in my heart. Joy came to the world, when Immanuel, God with us, arrived to change the world forever. If your journey is lacking joy, I hope you can imagine a very pregnant woman on the back of a donkey, trekking over hills and valleys to reach the town where they had to pay taxes. Not too much joy for any of the characters of this story. BUT, joy was about to be born. Jesus came to bring joy to the world. Whenever your journey gets tough, think about the end product of the journey Mary and Joseph were on. Heaven came down to earth, and Jesus was born. Keep your eyes on the prize, and experience joy for your journey.

Joy for Your Journey

It wasn’t so simple
To load up and go
To pay family taxes
On a long dusty road
But Mary and Joseph
Did all that and more
There was no room inside
So they slept on the floor
The joy of their journey
Was a sweet baby boy
Born without any granduer
Who brought the world joy
Joy came to the world
On a night that was dark
He gives joy for your journey
When you give Him your heart
#50songs50days

If you’ve listened or read dailyeword for very long, you probably realize that our youngest child is adopted. There are so many wonderful things about being adopted. You get to be a part of a family that loves you, because they chose you. You get to have all the privileges as a son or daughter born to their parents, even though they are not part of the direct bloodline. We’ve experienced that when we come to Christ. He wanted us in His family, so much that he made a way for that to happen through Jesus. He sent Jesus as a baby, who grew up sinlessly so that He could take every sin upon Himself so that we could be forgiven and be part of the family of God. Pretty amazing. What a wonderful welcome into the family of God.

Welcome to the Family
Together we are more than strong
This is what your heart has longed for
You have found where you belong.
#50days50songs