New Beginnings

You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. Ephesians 4:22 CEV

I love the innocence of children who still possess naivety concerning the rigors of real life. One of my Sisters-in-Christ shared the question that her young granddaughter asked, “Grandma if you could go back to being any age, what age would it be?” I smiled as I felt a warm fuzzy feeling when I reflected on my own childhood and the imagination that I possessed at her age. I silently prayed for God to protect the innocence of this young girl whom I also know.

This morning, I have put more thought into the question: What age would I return to? I have come to the conclusion that I would stay exactly where I am. Even though, I have suffered many extreme hardships, I have a testimony to share of how God loved me enough to deliver me. I had hurt which turned into bitterness and unforgiveness toward individuals that had intentionally betrayed me. My character traits were the direct opposite of the Fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23. The lifestyle that I chose did not reflect or acknowledge my belief in the love and power of God. Now that I live by faith, I know the present is paving the pathway to a glorious future with God.

Yes, my physical body is aging daily, my memory is not as sharp, and I write notes or verbalize out loud to assist in the remembrance game. Even so, I am striving for a much closer relationship with God. My desire is to possess the Fruit of the Spirit, to have the peace that passes all understanding, and to live eternally with Jesus Christ-the One who died for me. At this stage, I am able to turn all burdens over to Jesus. Because I believe in the unconditional love, the grace and the mercy of my Heavenly Father; I know my Redeemer lives, and yes, this is the best time of my life.

“I’m gonna sing, sing, sing, I’m gonna shout, shout, shout, I’m gonna sing, I’m gonna shout, praise the Lord. When the gates are open wide, I’m gonna sit at Jesus’ side, I’m gonna sing I’m gonna shout: Praise the Lord!”

Prayer for today: Dear God, I look forward to the day when you will send your Son, and create a new heaven and a new earth. Thank you for loving me and giving me the promise of eternal life when I choose your will and your way. Thank you for letting me live to see the best years of my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Sonya Johnson Ruiz

Receiving Refreshment

Celebrations in Life

There are many joyous occasions that we gather together and celebrate throughout our lives: Birthdays, weddings, Births, Rites of passage, Promotions, Retirement, and in many cultures-Death. We leave these events feeling happy, and promise ourselves that we are going to make changes to have a more fulfilling life. However, resolutions based on feelings seldom are carried through, because emotions are not the foundation for making the needed change in our lives.

For those of us who acknowledge that we were created in the image of God celebrate on a daily basis. We maintain a spiritual connection to God through prayer, the study of His Word, Christian based music which honors God, just praising and expressing gratitude all day long.

Yesterday, I experienced how important our relationship with God is to our well-being. Prior to the Intercessory prayer being offered, the Deaconness reminded us that when we enter the church, we are in the presence of the Almighty God. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as we were invited to seize the opportunity of a “New Beginning” in our relationship with God. I am not relaying a feeling of a spiritual high in a church service: I experienced a complete transformation as I committed my life to God for as long as He gives me breath.

We were created to worship God. Through our daily study, prayer and praise we are celebrating God’s gifts of love, grace, and mercy. Take the time today to start a new beginning with God and you will have celebrations for the rest of your life.

Dear Lord, I love you©

The love I have for you can compare to no other

For you have loved me before I entered the world

You have protected me throughout my youth and guided my life into the joy of adulthood

As I matured into the wisdom of your will you have ordered my steps to serve others

So they may come to know of your wonderful love

and the gift of Salvation leading to eternal life

Lord, I thank you for your Love and your Favor

I thank you for allowing me to obtain completeness by giving me the gift of love

Please help me to be gentle, loving, and kind that others may see the joy that comes from serving you. Amen.

Sonya Johnson Ruiz

Dear Lord, I Love You is copyrighted and may not be reprinted without permission.

God on Demand?

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 NLT

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. For 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 NKJV

The typical Christian has high expectations when they ask God for His Divine intervention. Whether it is for healing, to change a situation, break ungodly habits or financial relief, we are praying for immediate resolution. There is a prayer that is used to illustrate our mindset: “God, please give me patience, right now.” It seems absurd that we would attempt- through our prayers to place God on demand. Even so, we are presenting the problem along with our solutions for God to approve with immediacy.
Waiting on the Lord requires two key elements: a complete dependence on God and a willingness to allow Him to decide the terms, including the timing of His plan. Becoming independent is a pursuit for many individuals, the standards of success promote “I did it” and “I made it” without giving recognition to other factors or persons that helped with the journey. We pride ourselves in the development of our plans and have high expectations that God has pre-approved the terms and the timing. Emptying ourselves of preconceived plans remains an ongoing challenge for many of us.

In the final year of my career, I applied for a job as a Business Manager for a local Home Health company. The for-profit organization offered the position immediately due to my status as a Registered Nurse pursuing a degree in Business-Technical Management. With a background as a business owner (tutoring nursing grads to pass their licensure exam) the salary, benefits, and perks were phenomenal, and I accepted the position without asking God. Well, we know how the story ended; a bait and switch occurred within one month where I was expected to also work as a Clinical Manager without additional compensation. I was devastated. Why would God take my blessing from me?

Really? I can assure you that was not the circumstance. God gave me an answer of no and I did not accept His will for me. The same week that I accepted the position, I accompanied my mother to her medical appointment and we started chatting about my nursing career. I happily shared my newly-acquired position with Dr. K and expressed my desire for him to provide patient referrals to our agency. Imagine my surprise when he told me that he didn’t think that would be the right position for me because I would be required to compromise my ethics and my beliefs. The day that I wrote my resignation, I sadly remembered my disobedience to God’s answer of “no.”

I continue the uphill journey to wait on the Lord. It is the pursuit of what pleases me, that is in opposition to God’s thoughts and plans. Now that I am weary from sliding down into the valley of my desires; my prayers have changed, and I am asking God to reveal His will for my life. Total submission in faith is what God requires and I know that His plan for me will always end in victory.

Prayer for today: Dear God, I give you my will. Please give me the desire to wait for your answer and plans for my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Sonya Johnson Ruiz

He has His Hands on you

If you are reading this devotional, then you have been gifted with another day of life. I certainly hope that you are praising God through song, prayer, and laughter. God lovingly has His hands on us. I invite you to redirect your focus from all earthly problems to trusting God for His victorious solutions. Never, ever give up on God. Hold on in faith, and strengthen your connection through prayer. “He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God…Revelation 21:7 NJKV “Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer for today: Dear God, Please place your loving hands on my life. I need your help to overcome the problems that I am facing. Thank you. Amen.

Song for Encouragement: https://youtu.be/m1WQLipTwRQ

Sonya Johnson Ruiz

Conditions of Participation

During the final years of my nursing career, I worked for an insurance company that provided coverage for seniors and the disabled through a Medicare Advantage plan. In order to provide services to Medicare beneficiaries, the company was required to structure their benefits according to the guidelines of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). My role was to ensure that physicians administering care to patients under this health coverage were adhering to the CMS Conditions of Participation. It is sad to say that many of the physicians, who are required to uphold ethical standards, deviated from the protocols set forth by CMS. Even when the monthly audits proved that CMS measures were not met for their patients, they attempted to justify their wrongdoing. Needless to say, it was an ongoing battle to guide physicians who interpreted the protocols according to their own whims.

God had also given His Conditions of Participation to the Israelites in order for them to receive His favor and blessings. The Israelites were not required to guess or determine the standards that God expected them to keep. The book of Deuteronomy provides insight to receive blessings:

Blessings for Obedience

“Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.” Deuteronomy 13:4 NLT

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed. Your children and your crops will be blessed…Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.” Deuteronomy 28:1-6 NLT

“The history of the people of Israel is filled with stories of disobedience and anarchy, followed by a return to God and obedience, and then followed again with more disobedience and conflicts. This pattern repeats itself again and again”
Sabbath School for Mobile
https://goo.gl/3vHYXM

“We are all fallen beings, and if left to our own devices, if left to follow the inclinations of our hearts, we’ll surely wander from the path that God calls us to walk on.”
Sabbath School for Mobile
https://goo.gl/3vHYXM

“wilfulness – the trait of being prone to disobedience and lack of discipline. fractiousness, unruliness, willfulness. intractability, intractableness – the trait of being hard to influence or control. contrariness, perverseness, perversity – deliberate and stubborn unruliness and resistance to guidance or discipline.”

Our natural inclinations lead us to follow our stubborn wilfulness and rebel against God. Because we seek to please ourselves, it is easier to disobey God then to be obedient to his commands. In order to escape from this vicious cycle of rebellion and disobedience, we must acknowledge and confess our sins before God through a Prayer of Confession. We cannot develop our own watered down versions of “God’s Conditions of Participation.” All it takes is wilful obedience to please God: We must study the Word of God to be aware of what He requires and His standards for obedience. God has not given us an impossible task, whatever He asks of us, He eliminates the guesswork through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their Wicked Ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Prayer for today: Dear God, I have followed my heart and sinned against you. Please forgive me. I want to be obedient to your will and to your way. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Sonya Johnson Ruiz

Releasing our All

When the heartaches of life from tragedy, loss, or disappointment overwhelm us, we must come before God. Our prayers are heard and our tears are seen by our great Intercessor-Jesus Christ. It is at the most painful times that our faith is put to the test, and these are the situations that require Divine intervention to provide consolation and peace.

The Psalms are my favorite chapters in the Bible. Once David was given the responsibility of leading the Israelites as their King, his faith in God became a roller coaster ride. Feelings of distress mixed with wavering faith, so often expressed throughout the Psalms, makes it easy for us to identify with King David.

Psalm 23 portrays his confident side: “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. Even when I walk through the darkest Valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.” (vv. 1,4) NLT

In Psalm 25, he asks of God to: “Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love which you have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord.” (vv. 6-7) NLT

Just 2 chapters later, David expresses fear: “The Lord is my light and my salvation–so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my Fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” (27:1) NLT

In Chapters 29 and 30 he acknowledges Divine intervention when he proclaims: ” I will exalt You, Lord, For You rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. Oh Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my house.” (30:1-2)

If we recall, this is the same little shepherd boy that God used to destroy the Philistine giant-Goliath. Most of us have a history of Deliverance through the most difficult times in our lives. Would God so easily forget us? What must we do to strengthen our faith, so it reaches a level of having complete confidence in God and releasing our all to him?

Personally, I am exhausted from the roller coaster ride of having peaks of strong faith to the valleys of wavering faith. Through human eyes, I see stop signs; however, God requires me to see life through spiritual eyes, where there are green lights when He is guiding my life. I will continue to strive for my faith to grow to the point that I can say as King David expressed: “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of Thanksgiving. “Psalm 28:7 NLT

Prayer for today: “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal Spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:10-11

Sonya Johnson Ruiz

Rest, Relaxation, and Exercise

Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. 3 John 1:2 NLT

Yesterday, we took a short trip to visit one of our beautiful local lakes. We looked at the lengthy L shaped pier and debated whether to view the water from the shoreline or walk the intimidating pier. The choice was made to take a leisurely walk over the serene waters. There were several individuals that we exchanged smiles and short chats with during our mini adventure. The gentle breeze, temps in the 80s, and fluffy clouds provided tranquility on an already peaceful Sabbath day. After our walk, we relaxed in the shade and talked about how God intended for His created beings to enjoy the beauty of nature.

The most important aspect of our outing was the opportunity to have worship with God; we sang, prayed, and read Psalm 27 which tells us of King David placing his complete trust in God. We agreed to incorporate visits to the lake on a regular basis. Changing our routine to utilize nature as God intended has boosted our well-being. We are still smiling as we reflect on God’s love as seen in the beauty of nature. We invite you to seek out and enjoy the great outdoors. Nature provides the opportunity to understand God as the giver of all good things.

Prayer for today: Dear God, Thank you for giving us the beauty of nature. Please help us to take the time to get outside and enjoy the fresh air while we commune with you. Amen

Sonya Johnson Ruiz