Not A Single Hour Added

I went to the doctor yesterday for my diabetic check up. It seems I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in. I can remember not to long ago being very anxious about the changes occurring in my body as I aged. I have arthritis now in my knees and ankles and I was having a lot of fatigue issues. I began questioning how much longer I would be able to work and how I would take care of myself when I could no longer work. Turns out a few blood tests and some changes in medication helped get me back on track. Not that I still don't have some bad days, but knowing what the problem is and that something can be done to help relieves a lot of stress.

In Luke 12:22-26, Jesus tells us not to worry about what we will eat, what we will wear or about our very lives. He reminds us that not a one of us can add a single hour to our lives by worrying. In fact, medicine has proven that worrying actually takes hours away from our lives.

Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds us that there is no need to worry or become afraid because God goes with us on this journey through life. He has not left us to walk through this world on our own. He goes with us in the person of the Holy Spirit and he will not forsake us.

Father, you tell us in your word that you do not change. Your word is as true today as it was when you inspired men of old to write it. The enemy tempts me at times to forget your promises and to question my own ability. Thank you, Father, that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Help me each day to take each thought contrary to your truth captive and remain obedient to your word.

Through It All

It can be a daily struggle not to give in to worry and fear, especially as we get older. Our bodies are aging and changing. We wonder how long we'll be able to work and how we will be able to care for ourselves when we can no longer work. As parents, we worry about being able to provide for our families and how we will manage to raise our children to adulthood. There are pressures from work, school, community and government. At times there is even pressure but on us by the church.

In Isaiah 41:10, God tells us that we don't have to fear or get discouraged because he will help us and strengthen us. In fact, he promises to hold us up with his "righteous right hand", I find such comfort in those words. There is comfort because I know that, even though I might let go of his hand at times, he will never let go of mine.

One of my favorite songs has always been "Through It All" by Andrea Crouch. My favorite verse says,"I thank God for the mountains and I thank him for the valleys. I thank him for the storms he's brought me through. For if I never had a problem I wouldn't know that God could solve them. I wouldn't know what faith in God could do."

Father, those words are so true. It is because of the things we have already walked through together that I know that I can get through whatever comes my way. Father, I appreciate your presence every day but even more on the difficult days. I praise you for your faithfulness in the good and the bad. Thank you that I can live each day in your presence, functioning daily in your will and finding my purpose in you. 

Waiting, Now What?

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.....Psalm 37:7

Okay so you have quieted your mind and your spirit and you are waiting for God to move. You are waiting for some type of direction. What now? Do you just sit around and wait for God to make the next move and put everything else on hold until he does? No.

Isaiah 26:8 says, "Walking in the ways of your laws, we wait for you." We have to continue doing what God has shown us needs to be done while we are waiting for him to move. We trusted him to bring us this far and we continue to trust him for the next leg of the journey.

Praise him, trust him, seek his face. Whatever task God has set before you do it with all your strength. He will bless the works of your hands and reward your faithfulness.

Father, other people have called me a patient person but they don't see the inner turmoil going on inside of me when I am asked to wait. A turmoil that rages so loudly at times that I can't even concentrate on the task you have set before me. Help me to quiet my spirit before you and continue with the task at hand until you have shown me what I am to do next.

Be Still And Wait

Waiting can be hard enough but waiting patiently can seem almost impossible at times, especially for me. Yet in Psalm 37:7 God tells us to not only wait; he tells us to wait patiently. So in learning to wait on the Lord I am to do it with patience. Worse yet, the verse begins by saying, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently...."

Being still before the Lord has always been a challenge for me. I have attended many classes, seminars and retreats where we have been instructed to clear our minds and be still before the Lord listening for his voice. I had never been able to clear my mind; the thoughts and concerns of things going on around me just seemed to get louder. Then just over a year ago I attended a ladies' retreat hosted by our church. The speaker lead us in a meditation on the verse "Be still and know that I am God". As I was meditating I suddenly realized that my thoughts were clear. Everything was quiet in my head-no concerns, agendas or problems that I felt I had to fix. Then a still quiet voice spoke to me.

I mentioned in a previous post that God and I have been working on the issue of trust for the past several years. My spirit was overwhelmed with God's presence as the voice said, "This is what trust looks like.  There were no concerns, agendas or problems that I had to fix because for the first time in my life I had truly surrendered them all to the Lord.

Father, thank you for giving me a glimpse of what it looks and feels like to trust you completely. On the days that I forget and try to conquer life's problems on my own, remind me of the perfect peace that was mine when I totally surrendered everything to you. Only when I am still before you can I hope to hear your voice as you lead me.

Waiting With Anticipation

Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. ( Isaiah 64:4)

I don't know how many times I have read this verse but yesterday, when Pastor Jeff used it in his sermon, it was like I was reading it for the very first time. God acts on behalf of those who wait on him.

This seems to be the new road that God is leading me down. God wants me to wait on him to show me direction. He wants me to wait for him to move and not go charging ahead. This isn't something new that he is telling me but now I am ready to learn how to wait.

Before you can wait in confidence and anticipation you have to be able to trust that the one you are waiting on or for is faithful and will keep his end of the deal. It has taken God and I several years to work out the trust issue. Some days I am still better at trusting than others.

God promises so many things to those who will wait on him. He promises that if we will wait on him we will have strength. He promises we won't grow weary in doing good. He promises that if we will wait on him he will hear us. And Isaiah tells us that he will not just hear us, he will act on our behalf.

Father, today I come to you waiting. Help me to wait not just to see where you are leading me but,, like Isaiah, help me to wait with anticipation knowing that when you do act things will change dramatically. Today I choose to wait knowing that the one I am waiting for is faithful to complete the good work he has started in me.

An Attitude Of Gratitude

Years ago, when I worked with toddlers in a local daycare, there was a little chorus that we would sing. I don't remember the words, only the title. It was called "An Attitude Of Gratitude". I must admit that an attitude of gratitude does not come easily for me; although I do feel that expressing gratitude is coming easier to me. For you see, it's not that I lack gratitude. I just have trouble expressing it at times.

God tells us to be thankful for everything. It took several years for me to understand that and, I have to admit sometimes it's still hard to be thankful in every situation. In fact, the reason most people have trouble being thankful in all things is because they are looking at the things and situations around them. I know it's true for me.

When you lose a job, a loved one, your home or your health where does the ability to give thanks come from? Psalm 118: 1 says, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever."No matter what is happening in my life or in the world around me this truth remains. God is good and his love not only lasts forever but it never fails to be there for me at my point of need, no matter what the situation.

Because I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers; neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord, I can be thankful in everything always.

Father God, this Thanksgiving season, I want to thank you for forgiveness through your Son Jesus Christ and the companionship of the Holy Spirit, who walks with me through every situation I may encounter today and every day. Thank you for my family, friends and spiritual leaders under whose authority you have placed me. Thank you also for each person who you will lead to read this blog and bless them. Meet them each at their point of need and grant them peace.

Giving Glory

Father, the Psalmist tells us to give the Lord the glory due His name. Yet how can I as a mere human ever  hope to find the words to describe your glory. As I praise you there does not seem to be words adequate enough to express what I feel, think or know to be true about your glory and your grace. It seems almost impossible.

Thank you, Lord, that your Word also tells us that you inhabit the praises of your people. It doesn't matter if my words are perfect, if I stutter or am brought to tears by your glory. I am your Child and you long to hear my words of praise no matter how inadequate they may be.

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."- Psalm 27:4

Father, as my desire to focus on you grows, I will become more like you. Place within me your love and compassion for the lost. As the time grows closer to your return and the days to harvest are fading fast, help me to help others to know the splendor of your glory.

My Desires, His Desires

In the book of Psalms we are told to delight ourselves in the Lord and he will give us the desires of our heart. The secret to receiving the desires of our heart rest in whether or not we delight in the Lord. If we delight in the Lord we will seek out his presence daily, walking with him and talking with him,

In John 8:29, Jesus tells us the secret to dwelling in God's presence. He states, "The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." Always doing what pleases God may have come naturally to Jesus; he is, after all, God. However, it's not that easy for me. Every day, in every decision, I must make a conscious choice to choose that thing which pleases God.

The book of Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Pleasing God involves more that just believing that he is who he says he is. Pleasing God involves believing that he will provide for those who earnestly seek him.

As I spend time in God's presence, in praise and prayer, consciously seeking his will day by day and moment by moment for my life and the lives of those around me. I find my desires are no longer the same as they were before. Instead of desiring the things this world has to offer, I find the things I desire most are lining up with God's will and his desires for those he loves.

Contentment In Grief

It was three weeks ago, tonight at midnight, that my brother left this earth and joined his Savior in heaven. In the days following his death and during the visitation and funeral, I wept and grieved my brothers passing. Yet there is this underlying feeling that permeates my being and it feels so strange and out of place when I dwell on it. It is a feeling of contentment, contentment and joy.

When he suffered his stroke he was not a follower of Christ. After being awakened from his coma, he told me and others on more than one occasion that God had given him a second chance. A week before he passed from this world to the next he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and told his fiance and my father that he intended to walk again, work again and that he was going to live his life for God.

My heart questions just like others why God would take him now. According to the world, I should be anything but content with the way things turned out. And yet my brother was given the second chance that I asked God for and he accepted it. Because of the promises of God's Word I know that my brother is in heaven with God today.

Would I rather have had more time walking with my brother on this earth as he journeyed here with God? Yes! Would I want him to leave the splendor of where he is now to return to me and my family? Absolutely not!! Does this mean there will be no more tears? No, because I will still miss him, especially as the holidays come around and at different family functions.

Contentment comes from knowing I will see him again. Knowing where he is, brings the joy.