God Provides

 

 

When someone asks me how I feel, most of the time I am going to say, “GREAT!” I am well passed the prime of my life, I have flat feet and I have a spine that is so distorted that my chiro does not understand how I am living such a normal life.

I have to pace myself as I age, but I am like the energizer bunny. It is not due to a type A personality, because I do not have one! I am a melancholy and an introvert from birth.

However, I have learned that there is a seed for a miracle in each trial. For instance, while I learned to survive a divorce by my husband of 22 years, God revealed Satan’s lies that I was alone and abandoned. He taught me His truth that He is my husband and that He alone is my strength and my provider (Isaiah 54:5; Psalm 54:4).

Also, I was t-boned in a car accident in 1995 that broke 11 ribs on my left side, punctured my left lung, gave me a concussion, filled the left side of my face with glass and broke the pinky finger on my left hand.

Yet, I was discharged from the hospital the next day after the accident. I was back to work as a full-charge bookkeeper in one week, and I never took one pain pill. God provided for me above all expectations, amazing my doctors and everyone who suffered through even one broken rib.

The Spirit of God continually provides me with supernatural strength and wisdom to combat any physical impairments, and His joy and peace pervade every facet of my life.

Over the years, God taught me to live in the Spirit and not to dwell on the temporal aspects of life for very long, because every instance of tribulation is a new adventure in Christ and a spiritual phenomenon just waiting to happen.

Prayer:

Father God, I prefer peace, order and stability, but life has a way of throwing us curve balls when we least expect it. Even so, You always fill me with Your joy, which is my strength through any tribulation (Nehemiah 8:10). I despise change, but You taught me to handle it with flexibility and joyful acceptance as I witness Your provision for me.

I love the life You gave to me. I enjoy my family and I adore the husband You provided, because he is so adorable! I love people and I never meet a stranger. I enjoy my opportunities of service to You as a wife, mother, grandmother, homemaker, and in the ministry of Your Army as a spiritual mentor and a Pastor's wife. I give You all the praise, which is due to Your name.

Thought for the Day:

God leads us and guides us each moment of the day; and He keeps us on His straight and narrow path, because of the spiritual enemies of His Kingdom. - Psalm 23:3, 5

 

A Good Marriage - In Crisis

A crisis in a marriage calls for immediate action. We can either drift apart ending in bitterness, unforgiveness and probably divorce; or we can pull together, brainstorm for an equitable solution and pray together as we walk in the Spirit.

Divorce is never an option. It destroys lives - especially the life of the children involved in the marriage. They often feel abandoned, at fault for the divorce, and they inevitably question their parents' love for them.

They never learn to resolve conflict in their own relationships and often end up with the same results. Thankfully, a few of them will make wise choices and find mates that balance their personality or are willing to compromise and find common ground.

There is nothing more fulfilling in this earthly realm than to have a mate that cherishes us and thinks of us above him/her self. One that will laugh with us - not at us, enjoy hobbies together and serve God right alongside each other.

There is no fear in this type of love. We have the confidence that our partner will not throw us away like a sack of trash. They will help us to overcome our fears and insecurities and to love us in spite of them.

It is hard to feel secure when our partner does not allow unconditional love to flow from them to us. We are always on edge and never sure of our place in their heart, because we feel their condescension and derision.

God's love is unconditional. A commitment of Agape love in our marriage, shown in action and especially in word, will eradicate our fears and insecurities and give us a solid faith on which to stand (1 John 4:18).

We can count on Him to walk in and with us through every trial we experience in our marriage (Isaiah 43:1; Psalm 23:4). He infuses both marriage partners with His fruit in order to dwell together with understanding and unity.

Prayer:

Father God, an anxious heart wears us down, but consistent love from our mate goes a long way in building us up (Proverbs 12:25). Remind us not to allow discouragement in a troubled marriage to tear us down, because You are always with us and in us regardless of where we are and with whom we live (Joshua 1:9).

Help us not to worry when our mate grows distant from us, because You care for us and will work in our life for our ultimate good (Matthew 6:34; Romans 8:28; Isaiah 35:4; Luke 12:22-26). We humble our self before You and leave all of our worries in Your capable hands, because You care about us and will deliver us in Your timing and way (1 Peter 5:6-7; Psalm 55:22; Deuteronomy 31:6).

Thought for the Day:

The Lord is our Savior, not another person, vocation, place or thing; only He can provide us with the security and fulfillment that we long to possess during this lifetime. - Psalm 27:1

Hope and Joy Now and for Eternity

At times, people hear the truth of Christ's gospel, but do not respond to it. It was not mixed with faith and they could not receive it (Hebrews 4:2). We can pray that God will strengthen them in their inner man to accept His Truth as their own (Ephesians 3:16-17).

People often lie to us, in order to keep our good opinion of them, or to keep us from rejecting or not loving them anymore. They are so emotionally depleted or lacking in self-esteem that they cannot risk our reaction if they tell us the truth.

Therefore, they also believe that God's love is conditional; and they reject Him because they think He will abandon them if they are not perfect. This is Satan's lie, which they believe as truth, and they are perpetually discouraged and defeated in their life.

Satan robs us of our freedom in Christ, which God intends for us to relish. Satan's whole mission is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). Yet, Christ offers us His hope and joy in this life and for all of eternity (1 Corinthians 15:19).

We place our faith in the sacrificial atonement of Jesus for our sins, receive His forgiveness, and walk in new life. Everything changes for our good, even if our circumstances are a heavy burden.

Yoked to Jesus, we have help to carry our problems, and He eventually works them all out for our good (Romans 8:28). God uses trials to move us into the center of His will, to strengthen us for life's inevitable tribulation in our future, and to prove to us His unending love and provision for our life.

It is hard for the unbeliever to imagine that God's plan for them is better than the sensual pleasures and tangible possessions of this world. They do not realize that, in the larger scheme of things, life is as vanishing as a warm breath on a cold morning (James 4:14).

They do not take into consideration that eternity lasts forever (2 Corinthians 4:18), and we only have one chance to believe in Christ or to condemn our self to hell for eternity (John 3:16-18).

Prayer:

Father God, You free us from the condemnation of our past, the fear of the future and the uncertainty of life on this earth. Keep our mind off our current circumstances and focused on the joy You set before us each moment of the day - a stranger's smile, a bird's song, the giggles of little children, a sunny day, a gentle rain, a beautiful landscape of plant-life, a sunset, lake or stream.

Help us not to miss the true joy, success and peace which comes through having Christ residing within us by Your Holy Spirit. Remind us that any heavy cross we experience in life on this sin-cursed globe is easier and lighter when we are yoked with Christ, because He aids us in carrying the burden. 

Thought for the Day:

If we view life from the context of eternity, we gain a greater hope and fulfillment though living it for Christ; He abides within us and helps us to carry our burdens here on earth with more serenity and contentment, and to enjoy eternity with Him in abundance  and peace. - 1 Corinthians 15:19