Everyday Matters by Debbie Griffith

10/31/2024

God’s Eyes

Thursday Matters- October 31, 2024
Everyday God Apple

God wants to cover your shame with His grace, but the enemy wants you to hide and live in it. But the Good News is, once you’ve received God’s f grace, you’re His child and oh, how He loves you. Psalm 17:8 says, “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.”
If you look deeply into someone’s eyes, you actually see a tiny reflection of yourself in their pupils. The word “pupil” comes from the Latin “pupilla,” which means “little doll.” At some point in our language development, the “little doll” became the “apple” of the eye, maybe because pupils are round.
As God’s child you can look into His eyes and see your own reflection because the Father is always looking at His children. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous … but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” Sin turns your eyes away from God, but whenever you turn to God you can be reminded of His steadfast love. See yourself in God’s loving eyes…everyday.

10/30/2024

Significance

Wednesday Matters- October 30, 2024
Everyday Rachel & Leah

I’ve always felt so bad for Leah from the Old Testament because Jacob loved Rachel best, she was the more attractive sister, but he’s tricked into marrying Leah first. Oh, the insignificance Leah must have felt based on her looks. It’s a battle girls face from the earliest of ages—the message that beauty is what the world tells you it is—instead of what God says it is.

In the Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones I am drawn to the story of Leah. She thought no one wanted her, only to find that God indeed loved her. He gave her the ultimate fairytale come true story: He made her a princess—one of Leah’s children’s children’s children would be a prince; the Prince of Heaven and Earth. The final redemption for eternity is Jesus who came from the lineage of Leah. The fairy tale really does come true. The Hero comes back for His lost treasure; the Prince comes back for the one He loves. And “the ending of our Story is Joy …everyday.

10/29/2024

October 29th, 2024

Tuesday Matters- October 29, 2024
Everyday Looks

“Oh sure, you can post photos of me on Facebook, but I can always ask you to delete them.” My friend posted photos from a gathering and after viewing I wrote, “Please delete.” I appreciated that she took them down and didn’t judge me because of it. I KNOW I’m my worst critic and I KNOW that beauty comes from the inside, but I also know that it’s okay to care about what we’re communicating with how we look on the outside. My attitude changes when I take a shower and put a bit of effort into my outside appearance.
But our value and worth are not in our outward appearance. Our worth and value is who God says we are and the person that He uniquely created. We are not a mistake, and He doesn’t make junk. It’s hard because all of us tend to first judge others by looking at their outsides but what holds our attention is the beauty that’s on the inside. So, remember Proverbs 31:30; Charm is deceptive, and beauty doesn’t last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised…everyday.

10/28/2024

Marriage

Monday Matters-October 28, 2024
Everyday Marriage Well

Marriage Advice 101 from Proverbs 5:15; “Drink water from your own well--share your love only with your spouse, never share it with strangers.”
Problems with remaining faithful in marriage usually begin when a person doesn’t feel loved and think they deserve to be happy. The enemy creeps in with his lies telling us that marriage shouldn't be any work and if we really want to have a good time and feel good, we should maybe start drinking with someone we find more fun and attractive. When a person acts on those thoughts and feelings that’s usually the time when a marriage begins to dissolve. That’s why it's so important that couples work at making time for one another on a good ol’ fashioned date without their children. Find out your love language and begin communicating in the way each of you knows and feels loved. Validate and be refreshed from the well of love you both have. Marriage is work but it's absolutely wonderful when it is working…everyday.

10/25/2024

Salvation

Friday Matters- October 25, 2024
Everyday Salvation

Let me tell you, I don’t follow Jesus because He was a good person or a prophet. I follow Him because He IS alive in my life. He’s God who became man, and who died our sins, our rebellion against Him. He rose and came back to life so we can have a purposeful life on earth and then a perfect one eternally in heaven!

By accepting His gift of grace, we are truly free. Now of course just because there’s freedom in Jesus doesn’t mean there’s freedom from problems. But after Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave us the Holy Spirit, who is there to help us with everything. The reason I know this truth is because I have a relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I follow Him because I trust Him and not because I always feel or understand Him or the Bible. But I trust He wants what’s best for me. Jesus did not die on the cross so we could have a religion but He died and rose again so we can have a real, personal and intimate relationship with Him…everyday.

10/24/2024

Sin

Thursday Matters- October 24, 2024
Everyday Itchy Sin

Hidden sin is attractive but once exposed, we see how ugly it really is. But often a person acting in sin can’t see the truth of how what they’re doing is not only hurting themselves but also others around them. C.S. Lewis in, The Great Divorce says sin is like an itch that needs to be scratched. At first, it’s small but the more it’s scratched the better it feels. After a while the itch becomes less, but you actually long to have it back. Sin is that way, when you aren't being satisfied by it anymore, you still long to have it. Only God can take that desire away.

Sin costs us and the real loss isn’t just on earth but the loss of eternal life. Good news is that if we change our ways and accept God’s grace, we have life, which is what 1 John 5:12 talks about with repentance which is simply turning from our ways as Director of our lives to His direction and this always brings true freedom, forgiveness and life now and into eternity…everyday.

10/23/2024

Love

Wednesday Matters- October 23, 2024
Everyday Love & Knowledge

How much time do you spend time worrying about what others think? When you choose to post on social media do you care most about how you honor God or about how many “likes” you get? I ask myself this question a lot. Sometimes, I feel like I can’t help myself by sharing my thoughts and opinions on someone’s post of a “hot topic.” But I have to ask myself, “do others really need my opinion or knowledge on this topic and whose love and attention am I seeking?”

Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 says, "Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge". This verse is part of a passage that emphasizes the importance of love over knowledge. What comfort to hear, “Anyone who loves God is known by Him.” We really don’t know anything, but the God of EVERYTHING knows us. Being fully known and loved by God is better than any person’s praise or admiration no matter how knowledgeable we think we are. Let God’s love make the real difference in the way you care and listen to others…everyday.

10/22/2024

Grace

Tuesday Matters- October 22, 2024
Everyday Underdog

God often chooses the underdog. Think of David in the Bible who is the youngest of his brothers, a shepherd boy and was made King. And then there’s Gideon, who was threshing wheat at night and God tapped him and said, “Gideon you mighty warrior.” He was used to conquer the fierce and large group of Midianites. Jesus chose everyday people for most of his apostles and hung out with “sinners” more than the upper class.

We most often look on the outside and judge a person’s success based on what we see on earth. Our real success is not here. It’s in eternity. Matthew 19:30 says, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” One of the simplest instructions from God is one of the most challenging from Mark 10; “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you’ll have treasure in heaven.” It really means to completely surrender everything to Christ and then follow Him. Walking the narrow road as Christian is hard but life is hard. Yet, through Christ we really can walk securely and hopefully…everyday.

10/21/2024

God’s Kindness

Monday Matters-October 21, 2024
Everyday Rahab

Joshua who served under Moses finds himself ready to lead God’s people into the Promised Land but first he needs to send two scouts to check things out especially into Jericho to see what they might be up against. And it turns out these two scouts are able to lodge at the house of Rahab, a woman who had worked as a prostitute. In Joshua 2:14 we read the promise of the two spies; “We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety. If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.” And that’s in fact what happened.

By the end of her life, Rahab too had come to love the God of Israel, and she’s even mentioned as an ancestor of Jesus. No matter how bad your past is, always know that God has a new beginning for you. You may have a rough past, but you also have a future with Him who loves you…everyday.

10/18/2024

Fear

Friday Matters- October 18, 2024
Everyday Fear Not

I don’t like feeling afraid but what’s worse is letting fear make my decisions for me. Going into mediation with someone you have a conflict with can give you the worst feelings but the way to conquer fear is to press on through it and get to the other side where there’s freedom. Second Timothy 1:7 tells us that fear is not from God and that God gives us power, love, a calm mind and self-control. You may FEEL the fear, but you can go forward despite it. When God told Joshua repeatedly to fear not, He let him know that fear was going to attack him but that he must walk in obedience to do what God asked.

You are not a coward if you feel fear. We are cowards only if we let fear rule our decisions. Fear produces physical and emotional symptoms. For me, when I feel fearful, I get dizzy and sick to my stomach. It’s hard to go forward. But the other side is freedom which is the side of power…everyday.