God's Mercy - Jonah 4:6-7

Jonah 4:6-7 -- "And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away."

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God uses both blessings and to challenge us and change us for the better. One example of God using circumstances to mold us is the prophet Jonah.

This rebellious prophet goes through several example of the Lord preparing circumstances for him, both good and bad.

Jonah was a well known prophet in his day. He went around to all the cities proclaiming God's power. Until one day God sends him to a town that is more wicked than any other, Nineveh. Jonah does not want to go so he runs in the opposite direction.

The Lord sent a storm (Jonah 1:4). The crew of the ship threw Jonah overboard when they realized he was the cause of that storm (Jonah 1:5). God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah so he would not drown (Jonah 1:7).

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After all of Jonah's adventures, he finally speaks his message in Nineveh and then he stubbornly sits and waits for God's judgment on the wicked people. However, the people repented and God showed them mercy.

It did not matter how long Jonah had been God's servant, he still didn't understand God's mercy. Nonetheless, God shows mercy on Jonah's rebellious attitude. He prepared a plant to grow and shade Jonah from the heat. However, Jonah did not change his heart so God sent a worm to kill the plant so Jonah had to endure the heat and the wind.

God shows mercy when we repent, but He teaches us the hard way when we keep our heart from understanding His love. Through all things God teaches us, wanting us to change for the better. God uses both good and bad circumstances to show His mercy and love.

Righteousness Does Not mean Sinless - Genesis 6:9

Genesis 6:9 -- "This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God."

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The truth is we live in a world full of sin and it is in our hearts. We are human, we all sin. But thankfully, we serve a merciful God who has a great plan to overcome sin. Even though we sin and fall short of the Glory of God we can still be found righteous in the eyes of God.

Can I have an Amen!

Being righteous means to have faith in God, trusting with all your heart, mind and soul that He is who He says He is and will do what He promises. Being righteous means obeying God and knowing you Creator, your Father, will provide for you no matter what, even when it seems strange.

God called Noah to build an ark before there was ever any rain. I can imagine the ridicule he received by other. But he kept God first and obeyed his calling. God provided for Noah, saved him and his family and called him righteous.

However, Noah was not without sin. He became drunk (Genesis 9:21), a story I believe was included for the specific purpose to teach us that no one, even the great men of faith were sinless. However, they were faithful and obedient. They were found righteous in God's eyes.

The same goes for us today. We are not sinless, none of us are, we all make mistakes and fall sort. But God loves us despite our sinful nature. He continues to guide us and protect us, remaining with us always. When we keep our faith in God and remain obedient, God will find us righteous in His eyes.

Power of Prayer - Psalm 27:7

Psalm 27:7 -- "Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me!"

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Prayer can be confusing. You hear others pray in many different ways: some pray fast, some slow, some formally, some casually, some for long periods of time, others for a short time. Do you have to close your eyes? Do I have to be on my knees? Will God even hear me?

The most important thing to know about prayer is that there is no right or wrong way to pray. Prayer is simply how you communicate with God. And we all communicate in different ways. He does not need fancy words or special phrases. He needs you to be yourself. He wants to connect with you, just as you are, just as He made you.

It is okay to ask God for answers and even to ask Him if He hears you're prayers. God s not afraid of your uncertainty. Often, He will give you a sign to turn your uncertainty into certain faith. Reach out to Him, pray in whatever way is comfortable for you. He is waiting to hear from you, waiting for you to connect on a personal level with Him. You are His beautiful child and He wants to speak to you.

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Waiting God's Way - Galatians 5:22

Galatians 5:22 -- "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness."

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Patience is hard! I'm not going to tell you otherwise. Waiting is hard and so is not knowing. Unfortunately, there is no way to learn patience except through experiencing an often uncomfortable wait. We must not shy away from difficult situations. Instead, we must reach out to God to help us in each circumstance.

When we wait God's way, we will be satisfied, lacking nothing because He is teaching us how to live by the fruit of the Spirit - patience. Through these times of waiting, where our patience is growing, we are also coming closer to God. It is hard to wait, but the benefits that patience brings is worth the wait.

God Wants Your Best - Genesis 4:3-5

Genesis 4:3-5 -- "When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected."

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Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain was the oldest and became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd. It was the time for harvest and to give to God. Cain brought “some” of his crops, but his gift was rejected. This upset Cain greatly. However, Abel brought “the best” of his newborn lambs. God accepted Abel’s gift.

When it comes time to give to God, He expects more than just “some,” He expects your best. We must keep God first in our lives because all that we have and all that we are is really from Him to begin with anyway. God doesn't accept your leftovers, He wants your heart.

Giving to God, is much more than the gift itself, it is a matter of your faith in Him. When you trust Him to provide, giving away what you have is a non issue. It is our doubts or perhaps our sense of apathy to the Lord that makes our gifts sub par.

God observes your motivation. Better not to give than to give with a selfish heart. God wants to be in our lives, every moment. For Him to be there, we must put Him first. He wants to provide for us, but He can’t do that if we don’t trust Him.

The McCusker Journal - January 25, 2014

Psalm 21:6 -- "For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence."

I love this verse because it simply makes me happy. Life is busy and I am always on the go. However, it is good to sit down once in a while and remember my blessings. They are plenty thanks to the Lord. I love my family very much. And I know I am so very blessed. 

We love to go to the bookstore. We play and read together. It always interests me that Zoey doesn't go for picture books, but for chapter books. I think we have a reader on our hands, just like her Mommy and Daddy. This is the most recent of the many pictures I have of Zoey sitting on the stage at Barnes and Noble reading a book.

One of our Mops outings is to go to a local gym once a month. Zoey always has a great time! Here are some fun pictures of her playing.

Look at that flight! She loves jumping into the foam pit.

Zoey was cold while we were waiting to eat with some friends after church last Sunday. She put on Daddy's jacket to stay warm. Isn't she adorable!

Zoey and Daddy put together the Star Wars Legos he got for his birthday. They had a blast!

For Awanas this week at church, it was dress like your favorite animal night. I asked Zoey what she wanted to be. She said Snow White. I told her that Snow White wasn't really an animal (like at all.) So she said, "I can be Pikachu!" I said yes. So apparently Zoey's favorite animal to dress up as is Pikachu. (It's from Pokemon if it doesn't ring a bell. She has been really into it lately.) 

Here are a couple other thoughts that struck me this week:

Hope you have a wonderful week!

God Bless You!

Like Little Children - Matthew 18:2-4

Matthew 18:2-4 -- "Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."

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How magical it is to hear my four year old say, "Jesus Loves Me!" It is such a simple phrase, but one that really matters.

As we grow older, we tend to make things complicated. We have expectations of how events will turn out and how people will act. And when our expectations are not granted, something is wrong. We add conflict to situations even when there is no reason for it. Yet, we are human and it is part of our nature to do this.

Jesus said, "unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3). Jesus wants us to break away from the drama and the selfishness. Jesus wants us to humbly go to Him with our frustrations, not gossip or react harshly to others. Most importantly, God wants us to remember Him as the children do - that He loves them.

To God, we are still His children. No matter how old, wicked or separated we become, He still loves us because we are His own. He loves us. He will forgive us of our sins when we humble ourselves and repent. He will walk with us as we get to know Him better.

My daughter know that Jesus loves her and that He will protect her. A child's innocence knows their father will always be there for them. Keep that same faith. No matter what, Jesus loves you and He will always take care of you.

Jesus Loves Me - 1 John 3:1

1 John 3:1 -- "See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him."

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God's Word is full of promises, stories, good lessons about life and great encouragement. I read through the Bible every year and it always has some new word of wisdom that speaks to my heart.

However, no matter how much you do or don't know about the Bible or about God. No matter how complex you make His teachings, there is always one simple truth -- "Jesus Loves Me."

Out of everything there is to learn in the wonderful book breathed by God, that is the most important. If you don't understand that simple truth, nothing else will matter much anyway.

Jesus Loves Me!

It is as easy and as difficult as that. Jesus loves me - little old, imperfect me. He loves my personality and my quirks. He loves me when I do well and He still loves me when I trip up A love like that is sometimes hard to imagine. Nonetheless, Jesus loves you that much whether you can understand it or not.

And because Jesus loves me, I can love other because He gives me the strength and the purpose to do so.

God's love for us - for you and for me - is one truth that we can always depend on. He gives us a purpose to our lives and a peace to live it. Through God, anything is possible. Because of His love the world was saved and will be made anew once again.

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Kingdom Treasure - Matthew 13:44

Matthew 13:44 -- "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field."

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Imagine you went into your backyard and found a precious stone. Wouldn't that be amazing. What if there was something more precious and higher in value than that? Would you want it? Of course you would.

Jesus said that the value of being part of God's Kingdom is like treasure. Finding Jesus is more precious than any stone and more valuable than anything on this earth. When we put our faith in Christ, God grants us forgiveness for any and all of our sins. We can then grown and learn in His Word to find joy and peace as a member of His eternal kingdom.

The best part is that the treasure of God's Kingdom is not depleted when shared. Instead, it increases! God's Kingdom is a treasure that is meant to be shared.

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Wordless Wednesday *Linky* Swinging Monkey

Zoey loves to swing and climb, so when we got the opportunity to go to a gymnastics building, even just for causal play, we were excited. Zoey loved all of it and had a wonderful day. She really liked swinging on the uneven bars. It was a great time!

Link up and join in the Wordless Wednesday fun!

Walk with Integrity - Proverbs 10:9

Proverbs 10:9 -- "People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall."

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In effect, integrity means to apply all the characteristics of Christ to our everyday lives. It is honesty and putting others before ourselves.

By showing integrity, especially in an unfair world, we are obeying God and proving our faith in Him. When we trust Him with our lives, He is will shine great favor on you. He can also reach out to the lost and broken world through you.

Integrity is a sign of spiritual maturity and good works of an honest heart. He who walks with integrity walks securely with God.

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Patiently Waiting - 2 Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 - "The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."

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Do you ever feel like you are waiting on God? Waiting to hear about a job or promotion. Waiting on cures or diagnoses. Waiting on births or deaths. Waiting on something to change.

In honest, we are all waiting. Just as God's people were waiting on the Messiah when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. We are waiting for Him to return once again to banish sin completely and make the world anew.

It is true that we wait on God, for He has perfect timing, but God is also waiting on us. He waits for people to deny sin and reach out for Him. He waits for people to accept his love and receive His forgiveness. We may be waiting for Christ to return once again, but God is waiting for us to repent so He can have a relationship with His children.

Sometimes it seems to us that God is slow in moving; however, it is His great patience in waiting on us. He is waiting until the perfect moment to act.

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The McCusker Journal - January 18, 2014

This has been an awesome, busy, wonderful week for our family!

Stephen's birthday was last Saturday, but I didn't get to put up the picture of him opening his present, so here you go!

Zoey helped of course! We picked out a complete Star Wars theme for his birthday. He got a huge Star Wars lego set and "Vadar's Little Princess," a comic book novel. It was all wrapped in Star Wars paper too. He loved it! I think he had a great birthday.

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This is the cutest book, a graphic novel about
Darth Vader raising his little girl, Leia.
There is one for sons too. Super cute!

This is my new favorite picture of Zoey. I took this on the way to church on Sunday. She just looks so grown up now, complete with that smile that melts my heart. 

This picture was also on my Wordless Wednesday this week, but I wanted to share it here too. Zoey got her first big girl bike with real training wheels. She has been wanting one for a while and she was so excited to bring it home and begin to ride it!

What a beautiful reminder.

The big excitement this week was going to the Lowcountry Children's Museum! Zoey has been wanting to go for a while and we finally got a good opportunity to make it happen.

She had such a great time! She learned all about the water cycle and how water can light up a city. She did so well in the grocery store area, she was patient and got all of her items and even put them all back! I was so proud of her. She loves the ship area, she loves to use her imagination. She drove a fire engine, played in the castle, looked the herb garden, played with all the balls in the physics area and made some new friends. It was a great time!

Hope you have a great week!

With Love,

God Wants Your Best - Genesis 4:3-5

Genesis 4:3-5 -- "When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected."

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Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain was the oldest and became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd. It was the time for harvest and to give to God. Cain brought “some” of his crops, but his gift was rejected. This upset Cain greatly. However, Abel brought “the best” of his newborn lambs. God accepted Abel’s gift.

When it comes time to give to God, He expects more than just “some,” He expects your best. We must keep God first in our lives because all that we have and all that we are is really from Him to begin with anyway. God doesn't accept your leftovers, He wants your heart.

Giving to God, is much more than the gift itself, it is a matter of your faith in Him. When you trust Him to provide, giving away what you have is a non issue. It is our doubts or perhaps our sense of apathy to the Lord that makes our gifts sub par.

God observes your motivation. Better not to give than to give with a selfish heart. God wants to be in our lives, every moment. For Him to be there, we must put Him first. He wants to provide for us, but He can’t do that if we don’t trust Him.

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