Overcoming Discouragement

In this world of unrest, eminent financial collapse, uncertainty and abuse, there is little to encourage us. Many hearts fail them for fear and they resort to suicide (Luke 21:26), which is nothing more than a permanent solution for a temporary problem.

Jesus gave us the best solution for the fear and anxiety if life. He advised us not to allow our heart to be troubled, but to put our hope and belief in Him (John 14:1).

He is not only preparing a permanent dwelling place for us (John 14:2), He also gives us His Peace (John 14:27). His peace transcends our circumstances and removes our stress over life.

God manifests His glory in our life in so many ways. They are often so subtle and unobtrusive that we take them for granted and never really recognize them.

Our answered prayers are contributed to coincidence or we do not even realize that He answered them. Little hugs, which God gives us throughout our day, go unnoticed.

The shape of a cloud, numbers on the clock, a bird's song, a cool breeze at just the right moment, a stranger's smile, a sale at the grocer, an encouraging note from a friend are all hugs from God.

God floods our life with light in the darkness all around us; yet, we continue to focus on the darkness and allow it to rob us of our joy in the Lord (John 1:5; 1 John 1:7).

Focusing on the truth of God's Word will keep us in peace as we live life one moment at a time. I ask myself, "How am I doing in this one moment of time?" "Truly blessed", is my usual assessment. No worries…just be happy in the Lord.

Prayer:

Father God, even in trials and tribulation, we can count even trials as joyous, because we are learning patience, which will eventually perfect us (James 1:2-3; John 17:22-23). If we keep our focus on our trying circumstances, fears and world issues, our hearts fail us (Proverbs 3:5-6). Yet, if we change our thoughts to focus on You, You keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

Help us to watch for Your little hugs throughout the day, so that we can be assured of Your love as they comfort us in whatever situation we are experiencing at the time. Remind us to spread Your love, encouragement and joy to everyone we meet during each of Your divine appointments.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus, the Light of the world, continually shines in our life.

- John 1:5-9

End to the Beginning

Whenever I read a book, I always read the last chapter first. That way I eliminate the mystery, suspense and unpredictability of the story line. Then, I can read from the beginning, without the stress of not knowing how it will turn out.

Some of you may enjoy horror movies and suspenseful mysteries, but they cause my psyche too much anxiety. I love to watch Hallmark movies, because as my husband derisively points out, the endings are predictable. There is very little stress and suspense in these wondrously sappy romances.

I did this with the Bible too. I read Revelation first. This colorful depiction of symbolic drama gives us a bird's eye view of the culmination of time as we know it.

Revelation confirms the prophetic books of the Bible, such as Daniel, Ezekiel and Isaiah - as well as the New Testament letters such as the gospels and Thessalonians. They report to us God's intention for creation, redemption and restoration.

When we know how the end plays out, these facts remove the guesswork from life and give us a fool proof game plan to follow in our walk of faith through the Son of God.

God made His will plain and stress-free for us through the Biblical account of His clear timetable of events leading up to His final return to earth and His eternal plans for humanity.

God does not dwell in time. The 6,000 years since creation are all in the present to Him. He is not restrained, directed or controlled by the hands on the clock like we are (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8).

Our Creator and King dwells in eternity. He invites us to join Him in this place of unhindered existence through salvation in His Son. Jesus won this privilege for us by taking on the form of a man and dying in our place (Philippians 2:6-8).

God also provided us with His Word in order to afford us hope for a joyful future and instructions for living in a peaceful existence through every moment of each new day regardless of our circumstances (Jeremiah 29:11).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for Your Word, which takes the guesswork right out of life. Remind us to check with You before we do anything, so that You can direct our plans (Proverbs 3:5-6). When Satan attempts to hinder us, teach us to use spiritual warfare through the power of Christ in us to withstand his onslaughts.

Thank You for always answering our prayers, and for not always giving us what we want, but what is in our best interest. We squirm under the pressures of life and often feel like we know how to alleviate these trials; but we often jump out of the frying pan into the fire. Keep us in the center of Your will and walking in the fruit of Your righteousness.

Thought for the Day:

Our Father is God and there is no one like Him; He declared the end to the beginning. - Isaiah 4:9-11

Created for God

Did you ever wonder why the earth's axis holds its exact degree of slant and stays in its exact obit? If it did not do this, we would all be frozen or burned up.

It is only due to God's great love and compassion that we are not consumed. His care for us never fails. It is new every single morning because God is faithful. This fact gives us unending hope.

The Lord is our provider as we wait upon Him. He is good to those who quietly hope in Him and concentrate the largest portion of our energy on seeking Him and the fullness of His salvation (Lamentations 3:21-26).

At times, we feel like the Lord does not really care about us. That is only because we have unrealistic expectations of Him that are not part of His will for our life.

We treat Him like a genie in a bottle created to grant our wishes, rather than as our Lord and King who created us to do His will with our life.

If we align our will with His, we are never disappointed in the answers to our prayers, because we pray in the Spirit rather than in our flesh.

We are taught by false prophets to claim Biblical promises, as if this puts God under obligation to us to do our will. He provides His promises to encourage us, not to give us some weapon to use against Him; which by the way, does not work and just leaves us frustrated.

God never changes. His mercy never fails us. His goodness is everlasting. His love is eternal. He is under no obligation to grant our wishes or to do our bidding. Instead, He requires that we lay down our life every day, take up His cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24; Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17).

Prayer:
Father God we often weave a tangled web with the circumstances of our life and then expect You to get us out of the mess we made. When we live in the center of Your will, Christ strengthens us to accomplish everything which You call us to do. You make us more than conquerors over the issues of life which You allow us to encounter, not over the jumble we create by our self-centered pursuit of this world.

In You we find peace, joy and boldness to walk in Your ways, which are so superior to our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Remind us that at the moment of salvation You move into our life, abiding there and desiring for us to get out of the way and to allow You to use us to accomplish all that You created us to do.

Thought for the Day:

As we live fully in each present moment, with no expectations or goals of our own, we can more easily follow the leading of God's Spirit and walk in the center of His will; we hope in God alone, instead of hoping that He meets what we think are our needs.