Take A Stroll With Me

I realized today that November 8, 2026 will mark the tenth year of CoffeeTime With A Dear Friend.!

So I thought each month I would recycle, resurrect, reuse, repeat...posts from each of the last ten years. So that by November I will be at 2026!

Hopefully the reminiscing will be encouraging, uplifting and speak to your heart.

So for this year, will you please, take a stroll down memory lane with me!

 Today is a repost of my first devotional post.

November 14, 2016.

Look On the Bright Side

Aren't we always told that?  When we have a problem or something goes wrong...."oh look at the bright side".   Usually at a time when that isn't very helpful, every thing looks pretty grim. The cars low fuel light is on, the tire needs air and you are already running 10 minutes late. 

The kids are crying, breakfast is still on the table, you haven't gotten your shower yet and your mother-in-law calls to say she has something for the kids and will be there in 15.

You haven't felt yourself in months, everything around you is piling up and the doctor tells you your report isn't good, you need more tests to be conclusive.

You can fill in your own scenario, but our answers might all be the same....

"Nope, no bright side here....dark, dark, dark!

Isaiah 59  ⁹ So justice is far from us,    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

I believe the bright side of a situation comes first in lifting our head, our eyes and looking UP↑
John 1:4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.....
...⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

Christ came to this world to be  A Light... OUR Light.  
It stands to reason that IF we needed a light then there is going to be some darkness.  
First we will be born into darkness, into sin, because we are born on this earth.  And when we come to a  time in our life when we choose Christ, we choose His light to guide us, to fill us!  He came to be our salvation!
Romans 1:¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:

But in our walk with Him there are also dark times; times we struggle, times we never thought we would see....illness, death, betrayal, cruelness, hate, bitterness, tragedy and many others, and more specific.  It is in those times, IF we look to Him, He will shine His brightest.
The darker our moment, the brighter He will be!
Isaiah 58: ⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Did you just read that!!  "HERE AM I!"  How remarkably awesome is that!!

It is dark, so dark you can't see which way is up or out, and you cry out for help.....
"LORD" .. "DEAR GOD"  or just cry...
and from out of that darkness,  moving over you slowly a feeling of warmth
"Here am I"
 You hush your crying just a little......"Lord" 
and you begin to see shadows as if a light is slowly seeping into the darkness...
"HERE am I"
You breath deep, almost a sigh from somewhere in your soul....."Dear Lord" 
"HERE AM I"
and you are surrounded by Light that warms you, from the inside out and  you begin to cry again, but this time it is tears of joy mingled with the sweetness of restoration.

Now that is just a poetical picture of how it might be.  Sometimes it can take a moment.  Sometimes it can take a season, and sometimes, friend, it can be what seems a lifetime.

But I know that my Dear Friend, (I hope He is yours too) will be there if you call on Him,
John 8  ¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

So if our coffee time finds you in a dark place I pray that you can look up, look out and
LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE

Psalm 104
¹ Praise the Lord, my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

² The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
³     and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.

And if you can read this and say "been there and I am filled with His light!"
PRAISE GOD!  give Him the Glory!
Don't hide it but let His light shine!

Matthew 5 ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Thank you for joining me and our Dear Friend for coffee time today.

Until next time  

Keep Looking on the Bright Side!

Turn and Run Back

 How can we run from Someone who knows us, inside out? Who has known us before time began?

No matter where we think we can run or hide or stubbornly try and stay.

📖 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence. If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn,  if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you;  the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 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. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.  Psalm 139:1-18

He knows and is waiting.

We try though...

But God is always calling us back.

📖  Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.  Zachariah 1:3

Jesus gave us an example in the form of a story, of how the Father is always waiting for us to turn back to Him.

📖  Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:11-24

There will be celebration, forgiveness and healing when we run to Him.

📖  if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

🙏🏼Lord, I pray that whenever I try and go my own way, I run back to You and Your waiting arms!♥️

🎵 Running Back To You-Seph Schlueter

Remind Me Again, What's the Plan?!?

 This was published exactly one year ago...something I needed to be reminded of...maybe you too!? 

What does tomorrow hold?

How to plan for tomorrow? 

We can not know what tomorrow holds. 

We CAN know that God knows.

📖 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.  If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. James 4:13-17

We can also know that God holds the plans. 

📖  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

We know that God’s plan is far better than our own.

📖“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, ther are your ways my ways,” declares theLord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth,    so are my ways higher than your ways  and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

 So how should we plan for our tomorrow?

God has placed us in the time and place that we are. Our "plan" should be to love God with all our heart mind soul and strength. 

📖  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Matthew 22:37

Plan to worship God through our actions, reactions and service

📖 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

Our only plan should be in what ever we are doing, what ever circumstances we are in we plan to love and praise God in all we do

📖 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:23

IF we give over all we do to the Lord, our plans will be His plans!

📖 Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3

🙏🏼Lord, I pray that all I do today is Yours and Yours alone! Amen♥️

Choose That Good Part

📖"But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”  Luke 10:41 (NKJV)

What is the good part?

We want to choose that, obviously!

📖 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”   Luke 10:38-41 (NKJV)

Sit and listen!? That is it!

Hmmm Are you sure? Maybe it means something similar like; once I get my job done, my list finished, tbis chore accomplished, I can give Him a bit of my time. 

📖 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. Mark 6:31(NKJV)

He said to get away and rest when things are overwhelming. 

📖 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Psalm 37:7

Waiting implies, or should imply, resting our bodies, minds and spirit. 

 

📖 But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

Full rest will bring RESToration.

Rest ....taking time to focus and be holy (set apart, consecrated for God).

For the New Year, no resolutions or promises...just JESUS.

Choose every day That Good Part...to spend quality time with your Savior. 

📖 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV)

Because our true rest comes from Him, when giving over all our burdens to Him.

🙏🏼Lord, remove or still all things that distract me from You. Help me to take the time to be Holy, to sit at Your feet and be with You.❤️

🎵 Take Time To Be Holy

LOVE

 

HOPE Light the 1^st purple

PEACE Light the 2^nd  purple

JOY  (Light the PINK candle) 

(Light the 3^rd purple candle)

LOVE of God brought us salvation

 

A gift given in LOVE for the world

^📖 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

An amazing LOVE that brings us into His family
📖  See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him 1 John 3:1

Our LOVE comes out of His
📖 We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

🙏🏼 Lord we thank you for Your LOVE for us, that you loved us even when we are sinners, you loved us so much You had a plan to save us. Thank you for the gift of Your Son, and the gift of salvation His death and resurrection gives to those of us who believe.❤️

 

 

 

JOY

 HOPE Light the 1^st purple

PEACE Light the 2^nd  purple

JOY  (Light the PINK candle)  comes with the acceptance of salvation...not just a happy feeling  when things are.going good..but a deep soul filling joy knowing no matter your circumstances we are the child of the King, a friend of Jesus.

Joy in the birth of God’s Son

^📖 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:10-11

He is the source of our Joy

^📖 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. John 17:13

He gives His  joy  to complete ours
^📖 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11

Prayer:  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

PEACE

HOPE – Light the 1^st purple candle 

We have
PEACE  if we accept the gift of Christ.

  
A heavenly Peace
📖 And the peace of God, which transcends all, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7

Light the 2^nd   purple candle 

He gives it freely to those of us who believe...

📖 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

and through us it can fill the earth
📖 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

 

🙏🏼Prayer Heavenly Father through Your Son we can have peace, Jesus tells us:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27  Help us to show your Peace this season. Amen♥️

🎵Glory (Let There Be Peace) Matt Maher