The Peace of God

My husband is a peace-maker. He can walk into any meeting and resolve issues, or call the couple or group to prayer over the matters at hand. He uses humor to diffuse tension, and his humility and love disarm strife.

God's peace rules in his heart and his attitude promotes peace in those around him. He is a good example to everyone who knows him, and we thank God that he is in our life. We learn to walk away from fear, because of the faith in God that He models.

God is holy, just and righteous in every area. He is worthy of our reverence and awe. Yet, He is also approachable, because He is always in us and with us, surrounding us and filling us with His loving presence.

Fear is a debilitating emotion that robs us of peace. Fear often prevents us from experiencing the joy of living in the center of God's will for us. Encumbering fear is a product of Satan's lies to our soul.

No amount of human effort can triumph over these lies. We need the supernatural help that only comes from total submission to God's will and complete trust in the Holy Spirit's power within us.

God's love casts out all fear and floods our soul with His peace (1 John 4:18). The faith of Christ, who abides within our spirit, overcomes every obstacle between us and fulfilling God's perfect plan for our life (Galatians 2:20).

God loves us regardless of our mistakes, shortcomings, failings and negative personality traits. His Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Christ and gives us the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18) in exchange for our human frailties.

Praising God for His faithfulness to us always helps us to eliminate our fear, and enables us to walk in the center of His will for us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). God invites us to live in praise and to converse with Him each moment of the day.

Prayer:

Father God, You always restore what Satan steals from us, You heal us from our diseases, You forgive our sins and regenerate our spirit, and You answer our prayers as You drench us with Your love and peace (James 5:13-16). We trust You, and we know that You care for us and listen to our concerns (1 Peter 5:7).

You do not always give us what we want, because You know that some things are not for our ultimate good; but we praise You for listening to us and giving us what we really need (Romans 8:28). You always plant a seed for a miracle in every trial, and we thank You for Your constant presence in our life (Romans 11:29).

Thought for the Day:

We can approach God's throne, without fear of reproach, to request His help during any situation that may arise; He will flood our life with His mercy, grace and peace to help us in all of our times of need. - Hebrews 4:16

Serving Our Loving Father

God created us as a triune being with a body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). In our soul - our thoughts, emotions and choices - we have three ego states commonly known as our Inner Parent, Adult and Child.

King David understood this when he quieted and calmed His soul like a weaned child within him (Psalm 131:2). Our child-like faith is what enables us to dwell with God forever (Matthew 18:2-4).

Our soul is the most overlooked aspect of our human make-up.  God gave us thoughts to express our emotions in order to communicate our honest feelings with other human beings.

However, we often ignore the needs of our body, soul and spirit, because of the demands that our busy schedule puts on us. Negative emotions are red flags to alert us when there is an issue in our soul that needs our attention.

We rarely pay attention, however, because we bombard our life with useless trivia and concerns, and we consult social media more that we chat with God.

Most of the people living on this earth see God as a restrictive task master, and they do not want to hear the preaching of His Word or to have friends that proclaim the name of Jesus Christ (Psalm 2:3).

The tragedy of this viewpoint is that it is a ploy from Satan to keep people from experiencing for themselves the bountiful benevolence of our protective Father.

God does not want us to reap the consequences of our sin; therefore, He provided Jesus to take our punishment. He also gave us His Word to direct our paths away from destructive behavior.

As we sit still before the Lord each day, listening for the direction of His Spirit, we hear His reassuring voice comforting us as we benefit from His loving care (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for forgiving our unfaithfulness. We get so distracted by life that we abandon You for hours at a time. Instead, if we walk in Your Spirit, You enable us to bear more fruit for Your Kingdom. You give us everything we need to live a productive life (1 Corinthians 4:7). All of our talents and abilities come from You alone.

Many people fear losing friends if they commit their life to You. They do not realize that they will actually gain truer and a greater number of friends, family really, than they ever thought possible. These people will spend eternity with us, so our time together now is merely a prelude to the wonderful concert You prepared for those of us who love You (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Thought for the Day:

The work of the righteous is peaceable, and our service to our King gives us confidence and peace forever; no criticism makes us less, and no acclaim makes us more than we are in Christ; we do not rely on the praise of men or on human ideals of success, but we give our loving Father the glory for who we are, for all that we have, and for what we accomplish. 

- Isaiah 32:17

A Good Marriage - Key Ingredients for a Fulfilled Union

Our focus in our marriage is one of the key ingredients for a fulfilled union. The devil makes sure that we focus on the negative attributes of our mate, and that we entertain those thoughts in our mind.

We criticize one another for our habits that annoy us. We forget to show our appreciation to each other, especially for those tiny things that we rarely notice anymore. This causes us to disparage one another and to feel unhappy and dissatisfied rather than content and joyful.

The enemy of a fulfilled union is unfulfilled expectations. We all have them - that is only human. However, if we mainly focus on our disappointments, and express them or concentrate on them exclusively, we will destroy the good will in our relationship.

Instead of concentrating on the negative, we can accentuate the positive. We start by making a list of a dozen aspects of our mate's personality, character and actions, for which we are truly grateful.

Include on the list, the little things that we often take for granted. Write down the character and personality traits that we admire about them. Then, mention these in conversations, send emails or leave notes at random times expressing our admiration of these positive qualities. 

Offering to help our spouse is another key ingredient to a fulfilled marriage. We may increase our work load, but it will lighten theirs. We are also able to spend more time together doing what needs to get done.

Baking a favorite pie, watching a TV show that our mate enjoys, emptying the trash without being asked, ironing those tiresome shirts, helping to cook dinner or wash dishes or laundry will go a long way in promoting love between us.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that Satan is always available to point out to us our mate's faults, and to discourage us from showing love, mercy and compassion to him/her on a regular basis. Help us to see the good qualities he/she has and to compliment him/her often in order to encourage him/her and to promote our unity.

Give us eyes to see and ears to hear the good that our mate does, rather than to focus on the negative issues that glare at us every day. Help us to express our appreciation of these positive qualities and behavior, and to build one another up rather than to tear each other down, which drives a wedge between us.

Thought for the Day:

Open communication is so important in a marriage; how will our spouse know if we do not kindly tell him/her that what they did hurt our feelings, or makes us feel unloved, or causes us an extra burden; in return, when they share with us, we can honestly reply by asking for forgiveness for what we have done to offend them.

 

God's Love Never Fails

Human love is fragile, fickle, fading and disappointing at best. We try to keep love alive, but life gets in the way. Our personalities sabotage our best intentions; and our vows mean little after the hurts, which we experience, mount up.

However, God's love is pure and satisfying (1 John 4:8). Jesus personified that love throughout His life through His obedience as a son, healing the sick, caring for the children, teaching the multitudes, and ultimately suffering the horrifying persecution, crucifixion and death on Calvary's cross.

God's love is unconditional and never fails. His love is patient, kind, keeps no record of wrong doing, nor does it take pleasure in evil; it is not envious or boastful or proud or rude or self-seeking or easily angered (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

He never holds grudges against us for our thoughts, words or behavior. He pursues us with His amazing love all the days of our life. Yet, many people never respond in kind, and fail to come to Him in humble repentance and adoration (Jeremiah 31:3).

As authentic Believers, our human love is replaced by God's Spirit with this divine character of God's love. As He sanctifies us day after day, He heals the trauma of our past and the lies that Satan planted in each event along the way (2 Peter 1:4).

This enables us to forgive our self and others, as well as to love our self and those who wounded us in the past. God's love flows out of us to the world all around us, drawing in the hurting humanity that we meet.

If we let go of our bitterness and anger, and stop clinging to temporary earthly possessions and relationships to fill our soul, His love fills in all of the cracks in our life and makes us whole and complete, lacking nothing (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Luke 21:19).

Prayer:

Father God, we struggle most of our life from the results of the wounds of our past. We feel unlovable and never able to measure up. We attempt to perfect our personality and behavior through our human strength in order to gain that love. However, the façade that we construct never stays in place long enough to achieve our goal.

Yet, when we repent of our sins and ask Jesus to sit on the throne of our life, Your love come flooding into our soul and fills us to overflowing with everything we need to feel whole and complete (Psalm 23:5). Help us to cooperate with Your Spirit's sanctifying work, so that we can be vessels of Your love, brimming with genuine care for everyone we meet.

Thought for the Day:

God's transforming love heals the effects of rejection, abuse, abandonment, belittlement, etc. that we experience along life's road; and it overflows in our heart as we feel the ultimate fulfillment that is attainable only through a life in service at the pleasure of our King Jesus.

Hurry Up and Wait

Prior to his death, our dog used to need walking around two in the morning. Thankfully, that is about the time that I usually got sleepy; so we would take a short trip around the yard, and then go to bed.

I was blessed with the opportunity to sleep until ten; therefore, I received my required amount of sleep. Yet, I know friends who do not have this luxury.

Their sleep is interrupted by the dog needing to go outside, and when they finally fall back to sleep, the alarm blares in their ear to remind them to start their new day.

Making breakfast for their family, packing lunches and shuffling children off to the school bus precedes their quick shower and dressing time before they follow their children out the door on their way to work.

Then, a whole new set of stresses meet them as they walk through the door at their vocation. Deadlines, appointments, balancing budgets, repairing consumer goods, building, brick laying, serving tables, childcare, patient care, etc. consume the next eight or more hours.

Afternoons are taken up by a rush out the door to pick up their children from after school programs, and a quick trip to the grocery store for needed items, before heading home to tackle supper, homework, laundry, and other chores.

Exhausted, they fall into bed to repeat the performance from the night before. This only worsens as their children age, and their schedule fills with sports, scouting, swimming, art and music events, and other extra-curricular events squeezed into their afternoon routine.

Structured activities may teach children teamwork and enhance their God-given talents, but it prevents them from having the opportunity to find other self-motivated activities that promote leadership, decision-making, and problem-solving skills, as well as creativity and relaxed interaction with friends and neighbors.

They are so busy with schoolwork and afterschool events that they cannot relax and enjoy time interacting with their family, as well as God's beautiful creation.

Parents often exacerbate these issues by adding their personal gym time, their own social life and volunteering opportunities to their schedule. Tired and drained, they have little mental, emotional, or physical energy left over to feel fulfilled in their private time or couple time.

Anxiety-related illnesses and depression accompany a life too filled with stress. Frustration, grouchiness, irritation, depression, touchiness, etc. seep into their life, and they wonder why they fight so many illnesses.

Prayer:

Father God, we know without a doubt that You care about every aspect of our life. We come to You for wisdom and guidance in prioritizing our activities and including time to pray about every activity we schedule (Proverbs 3:5-6). We want to walk in the center of Your will for our life.

Help us to avoid stress and to enter Your rest, so that we can deal with unexpected issues that may demand more of us than we are humanly capable of giving. As parents, we often deprive our self of Your peace and rest, and we end up teaching our children to follow suit. Remind us not to rob them of the joy of free playtime with neighborhood friends.

Thought for the Day:

The only solution for this sad tale is to prioritize our time, follow the leading of God's Spirit for each moment of our day, respectfully decline invitations or demands that do not fit into God's desire for our life, teach our children to accomplish chores at home by helping with the housework, schedule play time each day for self and family, make services with our church family a priority, stop multi-tasking and focus on each moment, eliminate distractions, stop being a slave to the phone and social media; and most importantly, make time to wind down each evening as a prelude to getting quality and an adequate quantity of sleep.

God in the Valley

God is our Savior in the valley, as well as on the mountaintop. When we feel overwhelmed by life’s issues, spending time alone with God is the perfect place to find rest for our weary soul.

Rather than to allow the cares of the world to weigh us down and to give us a negative attitude, we can rest in the love, peace and joy of the Lord through every circumstance.

God plants opportunities for rejoicing in every situation He allows. It is all a matter of our focus. Even death, ill health, a bad marriage, and any other negative event has a positive side if we change our focus about it.

They say that “every dark cloud has a silver lining”; and God is eager to reveal it to us, as we abide in the “quiet place” of our inner spirit, where the Spirit of our Lord and Savior dwells.

God’s wants us to walk in His Spirit, but that takes courage. He wants us to learn to forgive our shortcomings, and to use our God given talents and abilities to their fullest measure for His service, as His Spirit directs us through each moment of our day.

God has a perfect plan for our lives. As we walk in it, He blesses us abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think (Ephesians 2:10, 3:20-21). While we use the gifts He gave us for His glory, we enjoy His unique calling for our life (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Prayer:

Father God, as You open doors for us that no one can close, help us to be all that You made us to be. Help us to willingly follow the direction of Your Holy Spirit in our thoughts, words and deeds. Remind us that You created us to rise into the heavens on eagle's wings (Isaiah 40:31).

You have a wonderful plan for our life; a plan filled with love, joy and peace through our Rock, Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 29:11). Remind us that our salvation does not come through human effort, but through accepting Jesus as our Savior and our Lord. Thank You for sending Jesus to pay the debt that we owe for our sins.

Thought for the Day:

As long as we navigate life by God’s Spirit during each moment of the day, we will succeed in every area where He leads us.

Our True Reality

God uses our health, wealth, education, family background, and our natural talents and abilities for His service. In fact, He provided us with these resources for His glory.

What we encounter with the five senses of our body and the thoughts and emotions of our soul is limited at best. These are finite interpretations of what we experience, and do not include the spiritual aspect of what is occurring.

So often, we allow the anchor of the world that we can see to hinder our walk with the Lord. Yet, our Father calls us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). He wants us to look beyond the natural and to dwell in the spiritual world (Galatians 2:20). 

We get a glimpse of this when we read about the angel finally arriving with Daniel's answered prayer. The angel mentioned that God answered the prayer when Daniel prayed it, but demonic opposition demanded spiritual battle in high places (Daniel 10:1-21; Ephesians 1:20-22).

Christ in us keeps us balanced during every trial we experience. He will even move mountains for us, if they happen to be in the way of God's plans for us (Mark 11:22-24). God's Spirit always puts us in the right place at the right time if we submit to His guidance (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Jesus suffered, died and rose again to give us the victory over this finite world and to make us holy and acceptable to God as His adopted children (Romans 12:1-3; Ephesians 1:5). He continues to pour out His life in us to make us effective in the work for which He called us.

Jesus redeems us, calls us by name and gives us His joy as our strength (Titus 2:14; John 10:3; Nehemiah 8:10). His light in us is not intended to be hidden under a basket, but to be set up on hill (Matthew 5:15-16).

He intends for His Light and Living Water to flow freely from our spirit in order to draw to Him everyone in our community who is willing to humble themselves before His loving grace and mercy (John 12:32).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us not to take the glory for what You do in our life. Without You, we are nothing, and we cannot accomplish anything for You with our human resources. Help us to set our mind on things above, not on the things of this earth (Colossians 3:2-10). We give You all of the glory for all that you do in and through us.

Teach us what it means to be dead to our self and to be seated with Christ at Your right hand (Ephesians 2:6); to live in the flesh, yes, but to dwell in the Spirit through Jesus who lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20). Help us to see life through Your eyes and to dwell on the infinite, rather than the finite.

Thought for the Day:

God chose us as a vessel for His glory and honor, and He designed a perfect plan for our life before we were ever born; now we live at the pleasure of our King Jesus. - Ephesians 2:10

Walking in the Spirit of God

Busyness is the bane of today's society, especially if we have young children. We work all day and drive them around all afternoon and evening to dance, music, and sporting practice and events.

Even if we are retired, we can still be disproportionately and excessively busy. We think that busyness is a virtue, and we thrive on the attention and accolades we receive for the fruit of our labors.

We get sidetracked, breathless, lacking in peace, and rarely in the center of God's rest. We feel "less than" or shamed, if we do not participate in every activity planned by our church family.

Of course, the fellowship and ministry are always worth our effort; but, at times, we take on too much, because others do not volunteer to help at all. Some people are too shy to speak up, and just need to be asked.

Overachieving is a characteristic of many personality types, because we want to feel valuable, helpful, effective, and needed.  Yet, we can be all of these virtues without living outside of God's will for us.

When we walk in the Spirit, we have peace, joy, fulfillment and direction in each moment of our endeavors. We see abundant fruit from our efforts; and we breathe deeply and relax, which releases all of our tension and anxiety.

Someone said, "We are human BE-ings, not human DO-ings." God exhorts us to "BE STILL, and know that He is God." (Psalm 46:10). This tiny sentence teaches us that, as we know God intimately, and adopt a meek and gentle spirit, we can relax and allow Him to guide us in His will (1 Peter 3:4; Philippians 4:13).

Biblical precepts do not challenge us to be busy, but to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25). Jesus showed us the example of a man who accomplished so much in His short lifetime.

Yet, He spent a great deal of His time drawn aside from busyness and in focused intimacy with Our Father God. Due to His quiet times, Jesus always carried that inner peace that we all crave - even through His horrid persecution, crucifixion and death on Calvary's cross.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that rather than imitating a hamster on a caged wheel, You encourage us to wait on You, so that we can spread our wings and fly in the heavenly realm like eagles (Isaiah 40:31). Even as we walk in Your Spirit and accomplish Your will for each moment of our day, we can do so from the position of sitting in Your presence, relaxed and hopeful each moment of the day.

We rejoice in the fact that Jesus calls us to walk with Him in a spiritual life, devoid of stress and inordinate busyness. Remind us that You are on Your throne, and that You have all things in Your control. You love us unconditionally, and we do not have to prove our worth to You. You love and accept us just the way we are, and You gave us Your Spirit to perfect and sanctify us from one stage of Your glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Thought for the Day:

God cares for us even more than the lilies in the field and the birds in the air; He will give us His peace throughout our day as we consult Him before every activity in which we plan to participate. - Matthew 6:25-34

No Shame in Fear

We all desire to act in bold, brave, spirit-led, powerful ways, but this is rarely the case. Our humanity holds us back, and prevents us from walking in the Spirit of God each moment of our day.

Maybe life bombarded us with negative aspects for so long now that we are weary and depressed (Matthew 11:25-30). This is God's way of causing us to run into the shelter under His wings.

God longs for our fellowship (1 John 1:3, 3:24; John 14:23), and He rejoices over us with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17 - I cannot wait to hear God sing!).

We get weary when we attempt to serve God from our inner human resources, rather than by the direction of His Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is better to obey Him, than to sacrifice our time and energy (1 Samuel 15:22-24).

God calls us to believe by faith that He will work out everything for our advantage (Romans 8:28). However, it is okay to waver in our belief, and to ask His help to overcome our unbelief (Mark 9:23-25).

This life is scary at best; and, so often, downright disheartening, due to the consequences of sin in us and all around us. God gave us the emotion of fear, so that we can protect our self from impending doom.

There is no shame in fear; yet, in so many scripture verses, God reminds us that we have no need to fear, because He is our Heavenly Father (Isaiah 41:10; Romans 8:31; Exodus 13:14; Exodus 20:20; etc.).

God increases our strength and fortifies us to reign victoriously through every trial (Isaiah 40:29). Regardless of our circumstances, God is right there with us and in us (Isaiah 43:2; John 14:23).

If God is in our corner, nothing and no one can overcome us (Romans 8:31). He reassures us of His presence, as well as our victory regardless of the outcome of our situation.

If we let Him, God's perfect love will cast out every ounce of fear in our soul (John 4:18). He gives us both His peace and His Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Guide.

Prayer:

Father God, we promise to trust in and to rely only on You (John 14:26-28). Remind us that living responsibly for Your calling on our life will promote feelings of safety and security in our finances, business opportunities, home life, lifestyle, relationships, community, etc.

You gave us Jesus as our peace, and He has broken down every wall that would otherwise hinder us from entering into Your rest, and walking in Your Spirit each moment of our day (Ephesians 2:14). Fill us with the assurance that You have everything under Your control, and that we have no need to fear life's circumstances.

Thought

We can embrace tribulation and consider it a joyful opportunity to stand still and see the salvation of God on our behalf.

- James 1:2-4; 2 Chronicles 20:17

Deliverance from Angry Responses

We often say, "You make me so angry." That, however, is not true. The other person's words or behavior are simply triggers that arouse the emotion of anger in us.

When we react to that trigger, and express anger, that is our problem, not theirs. Deep within our soul, we felt hurt or afraid of what occurred between us, and we used anger to defend our self.

Anger is simply a red flag for a deeper thought or emotion. This conglomeration of hidden fears creates a force that is disproportionate to the small incident that is occurring now.

Wounded feelings like disappointment, frustration, broken promises, unfulfilled needs or expectations, etc. will cause a protective angry response.

Fearful feelings also trigger anger, because we feel insecure due to this interaction. We may be afraid of disappointing our loved one, fear rejection, fear a decision being made that will affect us negatively, fear the vulnerability the occurrence arouses in us, etc.

Maybe this situation is in part, or in whole, a carbon copy of some other incidence in our life, and our anger is reflecting our past hurt, fear of disappointment, or feelings of hopelessness or being overwhelmed by the emotions from both then and now.

God gave us these negative emotions as red flags that signal an unresolved issue in our soul (Psalm 4:4). If we follow the emotional trail, God will show us the root cause of our feelings and thoughts, so that we can resolve the issue and express our true feelings. 

( http://www.transformationprayer.org/preparing-journey-introduction/ )

In our original family, other people may have reacted in anger, and we learned this behavior from them. We can blame it on our heritage, ancestry, a trait of our nationality, etc.; but that is never an excuse to react in anger.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that when we feel anger, we need to make some quiet time to do a searching inventory of our thoughts and underlying emotions to discover the root of our anger. Maybe there is a physical cause, such as hormones or a lack of some biological supplement in our body, and a doctor visit is required.

Teach us that the person receiving our anger really did nothing to deserve our outburst. They are perplexed and wondering why we are over-reacting. Help us to see that if we react to the trigger and express our anger, we need to humble our self and honestly apologize for our behavior (Proverbs 29:11).

Thought for the Day:

In order to minimize the reaction of anger, we can use the negative emotions that are bombarding our soul in order to express our true feelings: 

"I am afraid that …" or 

"I am hurt by what you said/did, because…" or 

"I feel overwhelmed right now and I need you to…"

The Tempest Within

Since moving to Illinois from Florida, I have learned that springtime tries desperately to come, while winter holds on until the bitter end - reluctant to let go of her hold over this part of the country.

We are still getting snow in mid-April this year. I am told that this struggle is what creates the perfect atmosphere for tornadoes to spawn in the storms that come our way.

Warm air and cold air struggle in the heavens to take control of the weather, and this creates the tension, which produces the tornadoes that descend from the clouds all over our region of the Heartland.

This reminds me of spiritual warfare within our soul. Our soul is in a constant struggle to keep satanic forces from ruling in our mind and emotions, which effects our body and spirit as well.

Due to this upheaval in our soul, mental and emotional tornadoes form and produce erratic behavior, which often causes severe damage in our relationships, as well as to our peace of mind and our physical health.

There is no cure for the damaging weather in the Heartland, but there is redemption for us during spiritual warfare. We can walk by the direction of God's Spirit each moment of our life and live out His perfect plan for us.

As we live in the very center of God's will for us, there are no stresses, unrest or trials that we cannot weather. Our God of peace will guard our heart and mind through Christ in us (Philippians 4:7).

Prayer:

Father God, Satan uses human pride to disillusion us about the importance of our opinions and beliefs. We fail to try to see things from someone else's perspective, and we insist on our own way. We end up acting in hurtful ways rather than exhibiting the fruit of Your Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Remind us that we are not obligated to pay any attention to the devil's deception. In fact, if we develop a deeper intimacy with Christ in us, His strength within our spirit will enable us to resist the devil until he flees from us (James 4:7). We want to stand as conquers over the spiritual warfare in our life by walking in Your perfect will for us each moment of every day.

Thought for the Day:

True abundance in this life only comes when we adopt a spiritual purpose and walk in God's inner peace, which transcends all human understanding, and fills our heart and mind through Christ Jesus.- Matthew 6:19-21; Philippians 4:7

God's Infinite Plans

We can learn by observing opposites in our world. We realize that what goes up, must come down; what goes around, comes back around; if we travel far enough north, we will eventually start going south, etc.

We also discover good coming from evil. Even if our life is peachy most of the time, we eventually learn that there is an inevitable pit inside. However, we can enjoy so many positive incidences, which come from one negative experience.

For instance, in every negative situation, God shows us His love through it all. We see Him planting a seed for a miracle in the midst of every trial. He works out everything for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

If we surrender our life to God, He is in control. He keeps us on the straight and narrow road - the safe highway (Matthew 7:13-14). He disciplines us to keep us from reaping negative consequences from destructive behavior. 

When we suffer any need, God's supply is right around the corner. He may take longer to supply it than we would like, but that is because our finite mind does not comprehend His infinite plans.

We are all God's creatures; however, we only become His child when we ask Him to adopt us into His family by believing in Jesus as our Savior. As people of faith, we trust in Him only and always.

There is authority, comfort and direction in God's Holy Word. In its pages, we find spiritual food for our spirit; as well as words that build our faith, so that our soul can abide in the rest of God (Hebrews 4:10).

In His Word, God reminds us that Christ in us will move mountains for us as we submit our will to His (Mark 11:22-24). As we trust in Him, God will remove whatever is hindering us from receiving His provision, or from accomplishing His will.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to understand how to die to our self, and to live for Christ (Galatians 2:20). Like Paul, we count every earthly possession and accomplishment as lost, so that we can gain Your eternal presence and blessings (Philippians 3:8). Thank You for sending Jesus to give His life, so that we may have the privilege of being adopted into Your family.

Our true joy is observing Your work in us, as Christ pours out His life through us to reach our world in our lifetime. Thank you for Your redemptive and sanctifying work in us. We focus on You, and we trust in Your healing and cleansing work in our life. We give You all of our praise, because all honor and glory belong only to You.

Thought for the Day:

Like a grain of wheat, as our self-life falls into the background and dies, we will see a fruitful life in our ministry for the Lord, and the joy of the Lord as our ever-present strength.

- John 12:24; Nehemiah 8:10

Listen Up!

Listening is a lost art in today's society. People enjoy being the center of attention, and do not want to take the time to really listen to anyone else.

We may ask, "How are you?", but we quit paying attention before they even answer our question. We are easily distracted and have no real interest in hearing the answer.

We listen to other conversations around us to see if there is anyone talking about something more interesting to us than the conversation we are participating in at that moment.

This lack of interest in what we have to say leaves the wounded, hurting multitudes of people in our world to shut down emotionally, and to bury their secret and most vulnerable needs, hopes and feelings.

Sometimes we stop talking, but we do not really listen. We do not really hear what the other person is saying, because we are too busy thinking about the next statement we want to make.

However, learning the art of ”active" listening is a skill worth cultivating. It shows the speaker that we consider their thoughts and feelings as important as our own.

Even if the person is bringing up an issue with something we have done, we can actively listen, clarify rather than assuming what they mean, resist getting defensive or accusing and ask for forgiveness.

Active listening takes effort and a desire to connect soul-to-soul with another human being. We are not just sharing information, but attempting to elicit empathy or understanding for what we are going through.

Our motive for sharing is not really for the other person to fix our problem, but we are asking for them to show that they really care about how we feel about our issue. We want to bond, not just impart data.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to stop wishing that our friend/mate would hurry and finish their story so that we can start our next monologue. Remind us that dialog is what communication is really all about. Help us to mute the TV, or our tunes, and to light up when they come into the room. Show us how to focus our attention so that we can help them to feel cherished and important.

Remind us to allow them to finish talking before assuming what they are going to say and interrupting their flow of thought with our own information, similar story or advice without really listening to them until they are finished talking. Help us to really see and hear one another and to constantly listen to Your Spirit's direction for each moment of our life.

Thought for the Day:

Even when someone disagrees, or has a criticism of us, it is important to listen to what they have to say without zoning out or interrupting them.

For information on active listening skills, check out this webpage:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2012/11/09/10-steps-to-effective-listening/#3b73d3cd3891

A Fulfilling Relationship

There are so many widows, widowers, divorcees, and single people in today's society who are looking for fulfillment. They hope for a perfect match in a spouse, but they often settle for second best, just because they are lonely and feel incomplete.

Some single people find the love of their life, they enjoy a fulfilling relationship for many years; but then the relationship changes due to the stresses of life and overly committed busyness.  

This starts a downward spiral that produces feelings of emotional and physical hunger, because our mate does not fulfill our needs. Then, resentment, bitterness and anger develop in our heart and fill our every thought.

We all want intimacy, union, companionship, friendship and a deep, abiding love. The desire of our heart is to find someone to understand us, respect us, and to love us unconditionally for who we are.

We all need someone who will have compassion on our weaknesses, because they know that they have issues too; someone who will appreciate our strengths and allow them to help with their weaknesses, as their strengths help to heal our short-comings.

Yet, people tend to disappoint us, break their promises to us, emotionally and physically withdraw from or abuse us, and fill their life with busyness until we are taken for granted, and are all but excluded from their schedule.

Men generally crave respect, verbal affirmation, acts of service and admiration. Women desire to feel cherished, appreciated, financially solvent, protected, as well as to experience romance and intimacy.

Most of us live an unfulfilled life, however. One reason for this is that our body and soul are alive, but we are dragging around a spirit, which is dead in sin that we inherited from our ancestors and that we perpetuate by our own carnal lifestyle (Deuteronomy 5:9; Romans 5:12).

Jesus promises to be our Redeemer, but also a mate to us (Isaiah 54:5-6). Unless our spirit is Born Again by the Spirit of God through faith in the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, we will never feel completely fulfilled.

When we feel deserted, wounded in spirit and rejected by people, Jesus within us will be our devoted and compassionate mate. His authentic Believers are His forever bride (Hosea 2:16, 19; 2 Corinthians 11:2-4).

Prayer:

Father God, prove to us that we do not need a mate to be happy in this life. We have all we need in You, and You live within our spirit by Your Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20). If we are unhappy with our mate, help us to change our focus to see the good in them, and not to focus on their annoying or discouraging points.

Help us to aid one another to heal from our past wounds, and to walk in Your freedom together. We know that You will fill the hole in our heart and put a mental and emotional barrier between us and any abusive or neglectful behavior from our spouse. We look to You and not to people to help us to feel fulfilled in this life now and for all eternity.

Thought for the Day:

If a mate is what God desires for us, He will bring him/her along in His timing and way - sometimes, in the most unexpected manner; as we seek Him first, He will provide for us everything that we ever need.

Healing Past Memories Frees Our Future

At times, we act unbecomingly in our current life, because we are fueled by the experiences of our past. As we age, we bury these past issues in our subconscious mind, and we think they are forgotten.

Until we heal these unresolved issues, we can never forget them; and they influence every moment of our present life. The mental and emotional baggage of our past is like an anchor around our soul.

Our intimacy with God and our human relationships are hindered by the wounds of our past. We act out negatively, and wonder why we thought, felt, said or acted in such a weird way.

Satan is right there continually dragging up those old injuries, and the lies he planted in each one of them. We either feel isolated from others, or we put on a mask and play the clown, or we invent a personality that is more attractive to others; however, this is not our true self.

Sometimes, we feel intense anger or despondency that is far more forceful than the situation calls for. Those we should be closest to, like friends and family, often abandon and reject us. We feel misunderstood and alone.

In order to survive our childhood, we attempted to control our circumstances so that we could feel safe. People labeled us as rebellious, distant, angry, stubborn, controlling, etc.

In adulthood, we sabotage our relationships by our domineering, wary, fearful and insecure attitude. This is a consequence of our attempt to avoid our past trauma and to prevent future pain, but we fail every time.

Thankfully, our Father God uses this residual pain from our past to guide us on a healing expedition to secure a peaceful and joyful future.

He teaches us to place boundaries around relationships that continually hurt us, and He gives us His love for these people so that we can remain in a relationship with them.

Prayer:

Father God, we are so glad that You know the truth about our experiences and that You want to heal the pain of our past and set us free to live a more fulfilling future (Psalm 34:18). Thank You for giving us Your wisdom concerning the root of our current bizarre behavior, and for healing us from the pain of our past.

( http://www.transformationprayer.org/supplemental-training-menu/ )

You allowed us to be born into our natural family in order to teach us lessons that we would need in our adult life. You never allow us to experience negative issues without Your presence in our life, even before we accept Jesus' sacrifice as payment for our sins. We praise You for Your gracious and generous love, hope, peace, joy and provision for us during all the days of our life.

Thought for the Day:

God is close to those who suffer mental, emotional and physical loss, and He heals those who are brokenhearted and crushed in both our spirit and our soul - our mind, emotions and will.

- Psalm 34:18

Come As a Child

We desire, throughout our entire childhood, to be a self-governing adult - especially in our teen years. Yet, once we step out of the submissive role into an independent role, we feel the full weight of the responsibility of adulthood come crashing down on us.

It's tough to be a grown-up. One of the aspects of the Christian life that I rejoice in the most is that we can be called the children of God (1 John 3:1). No matter how many mistakes we make, our Daddy God never leaves or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5).

His loving grace and mercy are always there to restore us to intimate fellowship with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9). Our Heavenly Father longs for us to come to Him with childlike, passionate, and eager trust, and to have faith in His faithfulness (Matthew 18:3).

Although this is not always true, due to menacing human behavior toward children in our world, a child is normally full of innocence, creativity, hope, playfulness, optimism and joy. There is a noticeable lack of cynicism and untrusting attitudes.

A child is happy just playing with a box, and does not need the expensive toy that came inside. They view life in black and white, and do not worry about the gray areas.

A little child delights in learning the ways of God, reading about His feats on behalf of Biblical heroes, and walking in simplistic faith devoid of personal expectations. They play freely, chasing the leaves in the wind, blowing bubbles, swimming and swinging for hours at a time.

I continually ask God's help to live as a little child. I rely on Him for every area of my life. I even ask Him to help me to open stuck lids, to send more customers to our little café ministry, to find shoe strings when I'm trying to make it to work on time, to discover sources for organic food to keep my body safe from chemicals, etc.

The more we consult Him for His will for each moment of our day, the more peace, gladness and success we enjoy. We follow the guidance of His Holy Spirit, who puts us in the right place at the right time to experience divinely inspired moments.

Prayer:

Father God, we see the fruit of our spiritual labors, and we feel our unity with Your Trinity growing deeper and more intimate with each encounter. Nothing can ever separate us from Your multi-dimensional love (Romans 8:35-39). Satan may attempt to side-track or discourage us; but as we draw near to You and resist the devil's lies and thoughts, he has to flee from us (James 4:7).

As we age, life's roadblocks disillusion us, people let us down, promises are broken, and we live with often debilitating disappointments. Yet, when we trust You, our perspective about life changes. We learn to rely on You for every little thing, as well as the big, scary things that threaten to overwhelm us (Proverbs 3:5-6). Thank You for adopting authentic Believers into Your family, and lavishing Your love on us.

Thought for the Day:

Children have no expectations or preconceived ideas, until they formulate their opinions as they age and experience the hardships and disillusionments of life.