Month: November 2021

Uncategorized

November 29, 2021 –

The Kedge Anchor

Happy Monday!! Advent has begun and as we all prepare for Christmas celebrations and festivities, my prayer is that we take time to ponder as Mary did, she treasured these things in her heart. “But Mary kept all these things, and ponderedĀ themĀ in her heart.” – Luke 2:19.

Take time each day to think about what it may have been like to be greeted by an angel. What may have been going through Mary’s mind? Maybe take the time to read the accounts of the disciples in the Matthew and Luke, and treasure these things in your heart.

Nov 29Download

Image: Mary and Joseph by getdrawings.com

Uncategorized

November 29, 2021 – Luke 2:10

The Kedge Anchor

Happy Monday! Here is today’s Memorize Monday free coloring page. Luke 2:10, “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.'”

Salvation for the world has arrived!! As we prepare for Christmas, take time to ponder the birth of Christ. Imagine what it was like for the shepherds. What if you were there. Would you be startled, afraid? Would you run away? Would you feel threatened or in awesome wonder?

These shepherds ran, but they ran to see baby Jesus in a manger and as they went, they passed the word along the way for others to come and see. When they arrived can you imagine? What did they see? I imagine these shepherds were Jewish and they had read the scriptures. Since the birth of Jesus was prophesied in Isaiah 9:6 “Unto us a child is born;ā€ his prophetic promise of a ā€œspecial child who would bring light into a darkened world and be the prince of peace provides comfort to readers of all generations.ā€ Even still, not expecting this wondrous announcement, they most likely were a little scared, it probably took them a few minutes to recall what they had known.

Take some time today to reflect what it may have been like herding sheep in the thick of the night and angels appearing in the sky to tell you that the Messiah has come, Salvation is here.

Nov 29Download
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid I bring you great joy that will cause Good News for all the people.”
Uncategorized

Happy Thanksgiving

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

Happy Thanksgiving from The Kedge Anchor

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”Ā Psalm 107:1

Uncategorized

November 22, 2021 – 2 Corinthians 9:11

The Kedge Anchor

Happy Monday! Hope you are enjoying these free coloring pages to help with memorizing God’s word. With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner it’s good time of year to reflect on our generosity and gratefulness. Generosity is cultivated through being grateful. When we are thankful, it changes everything about our outlook and attitude. We become generous with our time, our love, compassion, our finances, our time; we want to share what we have with others.

And think about this when we are generous today we are laying stones for the next generation like in the book of Joshua. By donating our time, our money, our resources, we are laying stones and building God’s Kingdom so that one day others will see how God worked through us and ask, “What do these stones mean to you?” Joshua 4:6.

Nov 22Download

Uncategorized

The Hope of a New Day

The Kedge Anchor

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

    “… for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning great is your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23

Have you ever watched the sun rise? Each day is truly a gift from God. Don’t take that for granted especially if you are waking up in a warm bed. Each day God gives us is a new space in time. He gives us this new space in time in which to live, to repent, if we haven’t the day before, a new space in time to start over, to try again, to get it right. With each new day there is hope of a break through, there is hope of restoration, reconciliation. We can start anew everyday, fresh because His mercies are new every day.

We can begin each new day with pouring out your heart to God. Express your anger, disappointments, your plea for help, your sadness, sorrow, repentance. Express your joy, your thanksgiving, be grateful, the Bible does say, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is Godā€™s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. So right there if you are waking up and thanking God, you are doing God’s will.

We all have problems, we all carry them around with us. Reflect on the day before. Did you carry those problems into the new day? God asks us to give Him our burdens, Matthew 11:28-30, 28 ā€œCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.ā€ To me without starting this new day and not recognizing whether or not I am still carrying my problems with me is like moving into a new house and bringing the garbage with you. God doesn’t want you to carry your problems. He wants them. God has given you this new day, this new time in space to give Him back your worries. We are human we tend to want to do things our way and in our time. But God’s ways aren’t our ways, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,ā€ says the LORD. ā€œAnd my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” Isaiah 55:8 and everything in His time, “He has made everything beautiful in its time… ” Ecclesiastes 3:11. Those problems, the strongholds that challenge us everyday they may seem like they aren’t going away and they just shadow us day after day, give them to God, bring them to Him in prayer. God gives us enough grace and mercy for each day, not for the next day or the day after that, enough for today. We don’t have tomorrow, but God does go before us because He is omnipresent, eternal. And He does tell us not to take thought about tomorrow, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

We are human and just when we say ,”Ok God it’s yours, we sometimes can take it right back by fretting and trying to figure out how to solve the problem, either through manipulation, stealing, cheating, lying, whatever to change the situation. So what does that look like? What does giving it to God look like? What does it look like to you? How can we not let a situation overcome us?

This is what it looks like to me. Turning that worry into prayer. Pray God’s word, pray His promises back to Him. We can let God speak to us by quieting our hearts and not get distracted. His words have power and authority. What a great resource! Maybe try to reach out to someone. Maybe there is someone you know who may be struggling too, ask them how you can pray for them. Is there an elderly person or a shut in that needs some company or something done for them? Reach out to them, bring them a home cooked meal or a dessert and spend some time with them. Offer to babysit for a friend or a single parent. Write a letter, a good old fashion letter with pen and paper or even a greeting card with encouragement and mail it. Research shows that not only helping others feels good, but we can reap the benefits by helping others. While we are doing God’s work, by helping and ministering to others, we are taking letting God take our problems and worries by getting our minds off our problems. In Galatians 6:2, the Bible tells us to carry each other’s burdens; “Carry each otherā€™s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Sometimes it may be necessary to reach out to a counselor or therapist or a pastor for help. And that’s ok. God can use anyone and anything to help heal us. The struggle can be real and hard sometimes BUT with GOD… all things are possible, – Matthew 19:23-26. Watch the sunrise one day, get up early and begin your day pouring out your heart to God. There is HOPE. There is HOPE in each new day. Be encouraged.

Uncategorized

November 15, 2021 – Colossians 3:15

The Kedge Anchor

Memorize Monday ā€“ free coloring page, Colossians 3:15- “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” God asks us to be thankful. If you want to know the will of God, be thankful. Yes God has more than that for us to do, but it’s a good place to start if you are looking to do God’s will. We were called to be thankful and the peace of God to rule in our hearts. There are many benefits to being thankful. Being thankful can improve mental and physical health. Having a heart of gratitude can foster empathy and allow us to be content with what we already have. For are you thankful for today? Share in the comments and if you find encouragement in the post, please like and share.


Nov 15Download

Colossians 3:15

Uncategorized

My Five Favorite Bible Apps

The Kedge Anchor

If you’re like me you like apps that make your life easier. Banking is easier, scheduling appointments is easier, shopping, entertainment, even reading the Bible has become easier and really we can carry the Bible in our back pockets everywhere we go.

There are there Bible apps that I use regularly that I’d like to share and you have probably hear of them all or at least one.

The most used Bible app on my devices is YouVersion. And with recently achieving over 500,000,000 installs, I don’t know how anyone hasn’t heard of it. But I really enjoy the verse of the day videos that help set my mind for the day. There sometimes is an excerpt from a devotional plan that ends up in my list and I have quite a long list. But from these excerpts I have come to follow some really interesting people that have deepened my knowledge of God and expanded my thoughts. I’ll share those people in another post. YouVersion is free and you can connect with friends and family like with any social media app. With YouVersion, you’re not only carrying the Bible in your back pocket wherever you go, you are carrying multiple versions of scripture. You can even earn badges to help motivate you.

Abide is next on my list and I use this a lot. This app has a free trial version and you can still use it but to gain the full benefit from it is worth the $39.99/yr for the Premium version. With the Premium Abide app it gives you the options to listen to the meditation for 2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes. Abide offers meditations on just about any struggle or emotion you may be dealing with, grief, anxiety, healing, marriage, growing spiritually. There are meditations on love, money, forgiveness, blessing and my favorite is the sleep meditations. These sleep meditations put me to sleep and I usually have a hard time falling asleep. Abide offers options for these sleep meditations to run for 15, 30, 1 hour or 8 hours! I have a few people who have really soothing voices to whom I am partial. But now that I think about it, what’s it like to have a voice that puts people to sleep? LOL. Abide also has a place where you can journal your thoughts, you can add meditations to your favorites list, it keeps track of you history and you have the option to download as well.

FIrst 15 is another one that I found myself going to a lot as well. This daily devotional app starts with option to listen to the entire devotional or read it. They include a song that goes along with the devotional and of course scripture. A few months ago I realized that music wasn’t a part of my life like it was a few years ago. What I really like about First 15, is it introduces me to new artists and songs that I probably wouldn’t have picked up on just listening to the radio, which by the way, I don’t like like listening to, I find myself tuning it out. Too many commercials. There is a section that provides questions where you can meditate on the scripture and like most of these apps there is a community where you can leave comments, share thoughts and ask for prayer.

Christian Art is different. If you are into art this website or app connects a painting with scripture. This helps me since I lean on the visual side and visuals help me remember. You can subscribe and receive daily emails or download the app. Christian Art is based in the UK and is translated in Spanish and Dutch. And there is a section for you to comment and connect with a community.

Ok this last one isn’t really a devotional app, but it is one of my favorites, The Chosen. If you haven’t seen this yet, you gotta see it. The Chosen is a television series that is designed to bring viewers closer to God, “Come and See!” The app is free, to watch is free it’s all free. The series is created and directed by Dallas Jenkins and if you get the chance to listen to his testimony, it’s pretty amazing. This show isn’t to replace the Bible or it’s stories. There are some gaps in the Bible and Dallas has a team of people who help to keep the show true to the scriptures and historically factual to fill in the gaps. There have been some creative liberties taken, which are either humorous or very plausible as to what the times were like and how the disciples interacted with Jesus. Essentially the Bible is brought to life. For me it has caused me to read my Bible more and reread the stories. Jonathan Roumie who portrays Jesus, I have to remind myself, this is just an actor. But I can’t help but think this is how Jesus was here on earth. He was fully human and fully God, he laughed, he cried, he had struggles, he was human but God at the same time and Jonathan Roumie does an excellent job of communicating that. The cool part about the app is you can stream it to your TV with a streaming stick or you can watch it on any device, phone, tablet, laptop. Check it out if you haven’t already.

So if you haven’t heard of these five apps check ’em out. Share you favorite apps in the comments below. And as always if you like this post please like an share.

Uncategorized

November 8, 2021 – Psalm 31:24

The Kedge Anchor

Memorize Monday, free coloring page ā€“Ā Psalm 31:24 -“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in theĀ Lord.” The key word in this verse for me is HOPE. That is what the Kedge Anchor is about, hope. There is hope, Jesus is our only hope in this world. Hope gives encouragement. Anchor yourself in God’s word today, He will give you the strength you need if you place your hope in Him.

If today’s post has given you hope, please like and share. Perhaps you will be encouraging someone today.

Nov 8Download

Uncategorized

Do You Think About What You Think About?

The Kedge Anchor

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Why is it by three o’clock in the afternoon I can’t remember what I read in my devotional in the morning? I barely can remember what I ate for breakfast or dinner the night before. Has that thought ever crossed your mind, that you can’t remember what you read in your devotional? Is it just me? James 1:23-24 says, “For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,  24 and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. Ok, if I get like that… please someone help me. If I can’t remember what I read in God’s word, I am not going to carry it out.

Do you ever think about what you are thinking about at any given moment? Have you ever traced your thoughts? I could be in the middle something like sweeping the floor then the next thing I know I am thinking about something that happened in the fourth grade. Has that happened to you? Sometimes that initial thought can change my mood and remind me of something that made me mad and then I get mad and irritable for the rest of the day. I found that happening a lot. So I stop and trace my thoughts, what was I thinking about prior to that angry thought? Most of the time it’s so unrelated. But isn’t that how the enemy likes to work? He throws out the fiery darts. Sometimes the innocent of thoughts that lead to the most angry thoughts and emotions. Subtle, huh? Sneaky right? That’s how the enemy likes to trip us up.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” I know that can be hard sometimes. Thoughts can grab hold of us and fester and we can’t let go. But once again, that’s how the enemy works. Sometimes we are good at blocking out certain things, events, people. But sometimes unconsciously we aren’t even aware of our thoughts. There are times I have to stop myself from thinking about past events or people that have hurt me. Then I am either asking for forgiveness or forgiving someone and letting go of the hurt of old wounds.

So why is it by mid afternoon I’m thinking about what I read in my devotional? Is like a spiritual hunger? There have been times I have been so busy and so engulfed in what I am doing either my stomach reminds me it’s time to eat or if I am working with others, someone will ask “what’s for lunch?” Perhaps that thought about my morning devotional is a spiritual hunger pang, God gently reminding me of His presence. And what would it take to just stop for 5 minutes and give God a thank you, or simply opening a Bible app or listen to some worship and praise music? Maybe it’s just God tugging at my heart to let Him in for a tick and hear what He has to say.

Think about what you think about. Maybe start a journal to trace your thoughts. Take notes of what you read in your devotional. Share what you read and hear from God with someone, it will help you remember. Deuteronomy 11:18 “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” I guess those would be ways to take captive every thought.

Coloring Page, Uncategorized

November 1, 2021 – Psalm 27:14

The Kedge Anchor

Memorize Monday ā€“ free coloring page ā€“ Psalm 27:14 – “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” I can be hard waiting. Sometimes God can feel like God is silent. So if you are waiting on God, and don’t know what to do, serve. You just may hear God speak to you in the middle of serving.

If you are enjoying these coloring pages, please like and share. Thank you.

Nov 1Download