Trusting God

Proverbs 3:5-12 (The Message)

5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best.Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline; don't sulk under his loving correction.It's the child he loves that God corrects; a father's delight is behind all this.

I was praying about a situation that was really troubling me when the Holy Spirit whispered "do you trust me"? Well, I had to think just for a minute. I was certain that I loved God with all my heart, soul, and mind! Suddenly, like a flashback of my life I saw how He had always been there for me and protected me and my family. My answer was immediately "yes, I do trust you!" of course I trust you, why did I even hesitate.! This journey that I am on has taken me many places, and I have experienced many heartaches. Life is difficult to say the least, and as the scripture states above we must listen to Gods voice in everything and honor Him! The times when I did not listen were the hardest times of all. When we do listen and stand firm, we will be like the trees planted by the water, we will not wither because of the heat and we will continue to bear fruit. Our Father loves us with an unfailing love, He just wants us to trust Him, and if we will listen we will hear His voice. Blessings to you today!

Remembering!

Lamentations 3:19 (The Message)

It's a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God

19. I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there's one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

How my heart hurts for folks that have no hope that life will get any better for them. They are convinced everyone is out to get them, and that all Christians are hypocrites. Just today my husband (who is a minister) had this conversation with a young man dealing with drugs and alcohol. He was certain of course that none of it was his fault and if other people had been different then he would not be where he is at. He spent several hours sharing the love of God with him. Planting seeds that we are praying will begin to grow. Unless you have ever "hit bottom" or know someone personally that has, it is hard to explain the hopelessness that they have. Utter aloneness and feeling like no one cares. Unfortunately this is true for some. How they got there is irrelevant, it is how do you help them that is the question.
Of course Jesus is the answer for them, but they are not yet ready to hear. I know we will do much praying for this young man, believing he will be saved from eternal destruction. Please pray with us for him, and so many more that we all will come in contact with. It is our job to show the love of God to people that have lost their way and pray that they will remember to get a "grip on hope."

Counseling and Understanding!

Job 12:12-13 (New Living Translation)

12 Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.
13 “But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his.

What does it mean to counsel with someone? For several months now, I have been taking some courses in counseling. I remember as I began to pray about it, there would be and still is such a burden for hurting and hopeless people. People that just need some help, maybe sometimes just encouragement. There will always be questions we will not have an answer for in specific things, but there are some absolutes in Gods Word also. The next thing we need to remember is the Holy Spirit is the greatest Counselor, He will lead us in these areas to reassure someone that God loves them, and they can trust Him. Each person has to be shown who they are in Christ, and when this happens, a new heart begins to emerge. A heart full of confidence and love for God. Then trust begins to develop. Healing a persons heart is a process and the end result is a heart full of the promises of God, ready to take hold and claim them. A goal has been set and the vision is established. This may take months or years, but it is Gods desire to restore what the locusts have eaten. I just want to encourage you to have hope, don't ever give up on God. He is the author of wisdom and the giver of power! The greatest sacrifice ever given was for you and me, just thank Him, He is worthy to be praised!

Wisdom from God!

James 3:17-18 (The Message)

17-18. Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

I wonder what it would be like if people treated each other with dignity and honor? Do you think there would be as much confusion and heartache if we just loved and accepted people as a creation of God? If we weren't so quick to judge, or even have an opinion, there would not be as much hurt and confusion! Until we learn who we are in Christ, we have a tendency to wear our feelings on our sleeve. Forever ready for someone to offend us so we can either justify the behavior we are used to or just let it beat us down where we feel we are worthless. In praying for wisdom God said He would unbraid it liberally, He will show us how to be gentle and caring for other people. They will see His love in us and know He is real! Everyone needs to be encouraged, everyone needs hope, and it is our job as Christians to make sure it is done. We are commanded to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind, and then to love our neighbor as our self. It is not a suggestion, it is a command. God will give us this love, and wisdom, and anything else we need in order to live a pleasing life for Him. As you begin your week, my prayer for you is that if you need encouragement, someone will be there for you, and also for you to encourage someone else to. Have a Blessed Week!

A Safe-House for the Battered!

Psalm 9:9,10 (The Message)

9-10 God's a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you're never sorry you knocked.

There is no telling how many times I have come to God during trying times in my life! (Of course, there was times when I didn't go to Him to.) I realize more all the time how there is not one thing we can do about the cares of this life, so why do we always try to fix things, then when nothing works and we have exhausted every possible avenue, we finally get around to doing what we should have done in the first place. Why is it so hard to bring our cares to the only One who can help us? I love the way this scripture says "battered", it is exactly what life will do to us. There are so many hurting people in our family and friends, how can we encourage them and give them hope? How can we share with them about the love of God? I am convinced that we have to really care and have empathy for them. Not just words, but from our heart, with our behavior and the tone of our voice. Really showing them the love of God through us, telling them they are worth the price Jesus paid for them. My heart is full of desire to lift up the name of Jesus, and to see people with renewed hope and a vision. Lets just pray that God will use us to be a light in this dark and sinful world. My prayer for us all on this Lords Day is just to be there for someone that is hurting, telling them how much God loves them and there is hope. Blessings to each one of you!

Lost and Alone!

Luke 15:3-5 (New International Version)

3.Then Jesus told them this parable: 4."Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5.And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders.

In this parable Jesus tells us about lost sheep, and of course He is talking about us when we are lost. But, I have another story about something else that was lost. Of a morning, I have this routine I go through so first thing Andy (the cockatiel) gets tended to. This morning though, I heard a cat! After investigating sure enough, a little white Persian cat. Well, I didn't think to much more about it and had lots of errands to do, but when I got home she was still here. Now we do not need any more animals, we already have Sammy the cat, Andy the cockatiel, and Maddy a 4 1/2 pound poodle that thinks she is really big, and Bailey (they are both toy poodles) anyway, we do not need another cat. Now you know what happened, she was covered with fleas, so we got that taken care of. I went ahead and gave her worm medicine and cleaned her ears. Now I am going into detail about this to show you something. This is just the condition we are in when we are lost, we are just as hopeless as that poor little cat. After Jesus washes us white as snow and cleans us up, suddenly everything has a purpose and we develop a vision of Heaven. I really identified with this little cat (and yes we are going to keep her), I remembered how lost and undone I was before Jesus took me in and gave me eternal life. Maybe every once in awhile we need to be reminded of where we came from, and where we are going. Heaven Of Course!

Friends are Gifts from God!

I John 4:7,8

7.Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8.Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Friends are a gift from God! I have always believed this, and God has always blessed me with good friends. Even from a little girl, and now that I am a bigger and older girl, I have some wonderful friends. There is always one that is special, she will be the one that you will be accountable to. Jesus is always the one we should go to first, but having a friendship like this will keep you grounded. I remember one time I called my special friend with a problem, actually I was about to "blow my top", and it didn't take her very long to settle me down and began asking me questions. She knew I wanted to do what was right, and of course when it was all over with, I did make the decision that was pleasing to God. We are not meant to be alone, we need fellowship with people, and we need fellowship with our Heavenly Father. Spending time with our friends and really caring about what they are going through will develop life long relationships. I hope you have friends like this, but most of all I hope Jesus is your best friend. Remember God is love and His commands us to love each other.