Weathering the Storms of Life

Life is unpredictable, disturbing, threatening, and even devastating at times. We have our ups and downs, and every time the mood changes, we stress out, feel shame over our past, and fear for our future.

If we carefully consider every trial we ever experienced, God used most of them to work out our sanctification in some way. He also used some of them to position us into the right place at the right time to prepare us to effectively minister for His Kingdom, as well as to continually bless us by His divine appointments.

Storms often bring a cool front to refresh us, much needed rain to help us to grow, and wind to blow away the dead leaves and cobwebs that were preventing or limiting our spiritual maturity. Our Father God knows best what we need and how to provide it for us.

He may turn us upside down, strip us from every relationship and treasure that we collected along our path, and then put us on an entirely different route. We often resent these changes, cry out to Him in anguish and devastation, and question His love for us.

The truth is that these lost blessings from our past were keeping us from moving forward in our personal intimacy with Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). We spend so much time absorbed in these earthly people and possessions that we are too busy to praise and consult the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6).

When tragedy strikes, we realize that God is in control of every facet of our life. As we put our trust only in Him, we soon discover His perfect plans for us. We grieve the loss of what was important to us, and we cling to the eternal spiritual blessings we receive from this new direction in life.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for designing our Christian walk to include comfort in trials, wisdom for decisions, transformation for our character, and meaning in our purpose in life. We choose to pray about every decision from what to wear to what to eat and drink (1 Corinthians 10:31). In the darkness of the moment we cling to Your presence within us, and we trust that You are working out everything for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Your multi-dimensional love for us shelters us with Your wings and surrounds us with Your peace and joy regardless of our circumstances (Romans 8:35-39). We face our shame with Your forgiveness, and our fears with Your confidence. The faith of Your Son fills us completely with courage and direction through every storm we encounter in our lifetime (Galatians 2:20).

Thought for the Day:

We often create our storms in life, because of our own insecurity, emotional handicaps, negative thoughts, unwise words, obsessive relationships, and immoral deeds and greeds; however, walking in the Spirit, in the very center of God's will for us, protects us from these self-imposed trials.

- Galatians 5:15-25; Romans 8:28

Trusting in the Lord

This morning, I was almost ready for work. I zipped up my skirt; and half-way up, it got stuck on my shirt. I prayed immediately and all through my struggle...but...God chose not to help me at that time.

I believe He did this, so I that would not be tempted to take any glory for the results. I could not even take off my shirt or my skirt because of this dilemma. I felt trapped, rushed and irritated.

Through a series of contortions, I finally wiggled out of both my skirt and shirt, frustrated that they were both firmly stuck together by the zipper. I dropped them to the floor, stomped on them to relieve my stress, and went to put on a new shirt and skirt.

After work, I picked up the confused mess, and I still could not release the shirt from the zipper. I bowed my head again and said, "Daddy God, I desperately need your help. This shirt is impossibly stuck in this zipper, and I do not want to cut my new shirt or have to replace this stuck zipper."

IMMEDIATELY, the zipper talon glided back down the zipper and released my new shirt effortlessly.

I have lost count of the zillions of occasions that my Father God solved my constant issues in life - both great and small. Each time, however, I learn to trust Him more, and to realize how totally dependent I am on His mercy and grace.

I heard a story about a man caught in a flood. He climbed to the roof and prayed for deliverance. A helicopter came by, and he said, "Thank you, but God is going to rescue me."

A boat came by and he said, "Thank you, but God is going to rescue me." Then, he started to slip down the roof and he begged God to save him. His shirt immediately caught on a nail, and he said, "Thank You, Lord, for saving me." Yet, he was still stuck on his roof.

God does not always answer our prayers immediately, but it does not mean that He does not care, or that He is impotent and a figment of our imagination. The Apostle Paul had an infirmity, and he repeatedly prayed for healing. God's final answer to Paul? "My grace is sufficient for you." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Prayer,

Father God, we do not always recognize Your hand in our life, providing for our needs in ways that we do not expect. We shun Your provision, looking for something else to supply our needs. Teach us to consult You each moment of our day, relying on You for provision in Your timing and way.

You care about every big and little issue that we face and You walk with us up the mountains and carry us through the dark valleys. We place our faith in Your faithfulness, and we cling to You as our Savior and Lord both now and for all of eternity. We trust in You, cling to You and rely only on You for our provision in Your timing and way.

Thought for the Day:

Patience is a virtue, but it is also a curse if we are not listening to God's Spirit through each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6); God's unconditional love is enduring and persevering, but we need patience to wait for His timing and way in meeting our needs.

Lead Me to the Rock

The fact that Jesus is our Rock gives me great comfort (Psalm 18:2; Psalm 71:3). I know that regardless of how high the tumultuous waters of life's trials rise, God safely hides us in the cleft of the Rock (Exodus 33:22), which is forever higher than any flood of adversity that we will ever encounter (Psalm 40:1).

God teaches us to praise Him through hardship and to thank Him for the difficulty as well as His blessings. He actually puts songs of praise in our mouth if we allow Him to do so. When people see how we rejoice in tribulation, it encourages them to trust God also (Psalm 40:3).

Even if the circumstances do not change for the better, we find safety in our soul - our thoughts, feelings and choices - when we symbolically climb up on the Rock. We are sheltered in His eternal arms and we trust in Him alone, so we are not afraid (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 56:2-4).

God defends the helpless and the needy when we are in distress. He gives us shade from the scorching sun and shelter from the storms of life that continually pound us with discouragement and ill will (Isaiah 25:4). He is our constant and present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

It is wiser to trust in the Lord than to put our hope in people, because they are human and cannot help but to disappoint us, break their promises to us, and even reject or abandon us (Psalm 118:8-9). God hears all of our cries and turns to us. He lifts us out of the quicksand of life and sets our feet on firm ground (Psalm 40:1-2).

Prayer:

Father God, our soul finds true rest in You alone. Thank You for serving as our solid, high Rock in times of adversity. You are our true salvation in every area of life. With You as our fortress, no enemy that comes against us can penetrate our safety in You (Psalm 62:1; Psalm 91:2). Thank You for the sovereign security we find in You as our hiding place (2 Samuel 22:3).

We are so grateful that You deliver us from calamity and turn every issue around for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Your name is a strong tower for our defense, and when we rely on it, we are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Thank You for keeping us safe at all times (Psalm 16:1). Your precepts and ways are perfect, Your Word flawlessly helps us (Psalm 18:30).

Thought for the Day:

We can taste and see that the Lord is good, and that He continually blesses those who trust in Him as we sing of His mercy, strength, faithfulness, love and protection; we abide in our safe place, our happy place, under the shelter of His wings. - Psalm 34:8, 59:16, 91:14

God's Principles - Part Five - Spiritual Health

The Word of God is full of advice on how to live a healthy life mentally, emotionally, financially, physically and spiritually (3 John 1:2). If we ferret them out of the chapters and verses, we find amazing truth by which to live our life (Proverbs 4:22).

When we allow Satan's lies to infiltrate our mind, we often adopt his philosophy as our own. We open the door for his demons to oppress or to possess our being. In His body on Calvary's cross, Jesus bore the penalty for our choices; so we can live free of Satan and our destructive behavior (1 Peter 2:24).

Once we come to Christ as our Savior and Lord, if we give Him permission to do so, He will cast out every demonic spirit, and disclose to us how to allow Him to heal us in body, soul and spirit (Matthew 8:16), or to trust His grace in our infirmities (2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 41:3).

God reveals to our spirit the abundance of His peace and truth, so that our body and soul can also experience the freedom of living in His Kingdom (Jeremiah 33:6). He is our praise and glory throughout our lifetime (Jeremiah 17:14).

When we slip away from focusing on Him and walking in His Spirit, He heals our backsliding and loves us freely, turning away His wrath from us (Hosea 14:4).

He calls us to forsake our pride, to honor Him with our life and to depart from every evil deed (Psalm 41:4). This brings health to our body, soul and spirit (Proverbs 3:5-8). He heals us with His Word, and delivers us from destruction (Psalm 107:20).

Prayer:

Father God, You call us by Your name and encourage us to lay down our pride, to pray, to continually seek Your face, and to turn away from pursuing sin and degradation. When we accept Your free gift of salvation, You forgive the penalty of our sins and You heal us (Romans 3:23, 6:23; 2 Chronicles 7:14). We thank You Your forgiveness, grace and presence in our spirit.

If we get caught up in the stress and obligations of our life, You help us to refocus on You and to follow after Your will instead of our own (Galatians 5:15-25). You heal us of the diseases and neurosis that we gathered throughout our life prior to our faith in You. We want to seek Your will with every fiber of our being, knowing that You will hear, heal, deliver and direct us throughout our lifetime.

Thought for the Day:

God is faithful to restore our body, soul and spirit, and to help us to prosper in every area of our life as we keep our mind perpetually focused on Him and His will for each moment of our day. 

A New Perspective

Sometimes life is so frustrating. Everything that could go wrong does go wrong. We are either in a trial, coming out of a trial, or about to go into a trial physically, relationally or financially. We have a hard time maintaining joy in our circumstances.

The best way to count all of our experiences as joyful ones (James 1:2-4) is to remember that God is still on His throne and that He loves us so much that He suffered persecution and death on our behalf.

There is nothing we will ever experience, even torture and martyrdom, which is worse than what Jesus went through for us. The God of heaven left His glory to come down to live on this sin-cursed earth for 33 whole years, just to pay the penalty for our sins.

Our perception about life is what determines our attitude. When we react with negative emotions, we only make matters worse. Adopting a positive attitude, regardless of how difficult our circumstance is, will better enable us to negotiate the issues.

Worry and stress are killers. They negatively affect our health and cause depression and anger to rule in our heart. We do not have to allow what happens to us to dictate how we feel about it.

We really can consider everything as a joyous opportunity, because God loves us, cares about us, and has a perfect plan for our life. However, God can do little to help us if we insist on maintaining a negative attitude.

I love to use the Serenity Prayer to direct my outlook. First, I pray for wisdom. Then, if I can change the issue, I ask for courage to do just that. However, if I cannot change it, I do not give it another thought, because I put it in God's capable hands.

In fact, I often go one step further. I bought a heart-shaped box and filled it with tiny pieces of paper. Now, when something continues to trouble my soul, I write it as a prayer on one of those pieces of paper.

When I am tempted to worry or stress over that issue again, I remind myself that I already put it in the heart of God, and He is perfectly capable of working it out for my good (Romans 8:28).

When He answers those prayers, I write the date on that piece of paper. That little heart-shaped box is a testimony of how God worked on my behalf. This helps to deepen my faith and to give me the joy of the Lord as my strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to count our blessings; and to realize that everything, even the most negative of circumstances, is for our good. You have a perfect plan that includes the issues we are experiencing, and we can trust You implicitly to carry them out to completion for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Help us to keep our focus on Your goodness, rather than on the issues that cause us worry or stress. As we keep our mind (Isaiah 26:3) focused on You and Your goodness and faithfulness, we will glide through life with a smile on our face and a song in our heart. We put our confidence in You and not in our abilities, so that we are never disappointed.

Thought for the Day:

God will enable us to be a peaceful and joyous example to others, as we live our life focused on Him and not on what we are experiencing, because we live by faith in His faithfulness.

The Imposter

At Christmas every year, we are reminded that a virgin bore a son, Emanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14). God's whole purpose in begetting His son was to prepare a way for all of humanity to be saved from the penalty of our sin.

Sadly, the devil gradually changed the focus from the birth of Christ to the magic of Christmas, Christmas as a time of miracles, and the power of Santa Claus to know if we've been bad or good as he travels the world on Christmas Eve to deliver toys to the good children.

Children are encouraged to write a letter to Santa to express their wishes for gifts they want to receive. Satan gives children the illusion that Santa will supernaturally fly through the sky to their home to grant these requests. Yet, Santa is a fictional character.

Commercialism complicated the season by choosing certain toys as the most sought after item of the year. Parents go to great lengths to procure these coveted gifts for their children. They go into debt to give their children more than they received.

Little do we focus on the fact anymore that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Our Messiah spent thirty-three years on this sin-cursed planet, and suffered a horrid persecution and crucifixion in our place. When did Santa do that?

St. Nick graciously gave gifts to those in his neighborhood, and the myth has perpetuated ever since. Rising to fame with alleged supernatural abilities that he never possessed, he replaced the true reason for the season: that God revealed Himself in human form so that we can spend eternity with Him forever.

Prayer:

Father God, forgive us for creating idols in our life and for lying to our children about Santa's supernatural powers, which cause many to doubt Your supernatural powers in our adult life. The world and the devil attempt to convince people to believe in Santa, and the miracles of Christmas; and to deny Your existence and the sacrifice You made for us. 

So many miss out on their union with Christ in us, because they are unaware of the miraculous truth that He dwells within anyone who believes. Help us to be light and salt in this world (Matthew 5:13-16), so that we can lift Jesus higher and enable You to draw everyone to believe in You instead (John 12:32). Thank You for coming as our Emanuel so that we can experience the depth of unity of our intimate relationship with You on a daily basis (Galatians 2:20).

Thought for the Day:

We live on this earth, but it is not we who live, but Christ who lives within us, empowering us as God's emissaries to our family, neighbors, community, country and the world; as we show Gods agape love to others, they may come to know God's love in their own life as well.

Creativity is a Gift

Creativity is a lost art in today's society. We copy and paste everything, rather than to create. We follow patterns developed by other people. Yet, our Heavenly Father is the Creator of the universe, and He abides within us.

God did not just make one type of person, cat, dog, flower, tree, mountain, bug, reptile, amphibian, etc. His creativity knows no bounds; and scientist constantly discover new species on this earth, and new stars and galaxies in the sky that He produced.

He created numerous kingdom, species, genus, phylum, class, order and family of them all. His unique creativity is evident in every sunset, snowflake, person, and the creatures and nature on land, and in the air and sea.

If we allow Creator God to flow through us, we experience delightful, engaging talents that we never even dreamed that we possessed. As we explore our curiosity about life, we are amazed at the limitless possibilities that are ours through Christ.

He also give us His wisdom, discernment, insight and revelation concerning aspects in our life that were once a giant puzzle to us. Christ in us compensates for our lack of human capacities (Philippians 4:13), and uses our innocence and prayers to enhance our life.

God never views us as lacking, and He helps us to excel in areas like art, music, crafts, sports, etc. His creativity lives through us. He prompts us to take an interest in other people, to help them to solve their problems, and to excel in their talents as well.

Humility and sincerity permit us to change our mind, attitude and heart about issues. We can relinquish control over our life to God; and realize that nothing can come against us of which He is not aware (Romans 8:31).

Prayer:

Father God, you always use everything for our benefit, even if we reap consequences of our own behavior (Romans 8:28). You constantly allow patience to do her perfecting work in us if we cooperate and focus on Your will in all of our circumstances. Thank You for Your presence in our life and for giving us Your Holy Spirit to guide us through the maze in which we often find our self.

Help us to do Your will each moment of the day, to minister to those You put in our path, and to help only those You direct us to help. We do not want to enable people by indiscriminately doling out money or other resources to someone in whom You are attempting to draw to trust more in You than in people. We live for Your glory, and we thank You for all that You do for us.

Thought for the Day:

Fear of rejection, failure and even success makes us sabotage our own efforts in this life; we limit our usefulness to God's Kingdom when we encourage our low opinion of our self, and fail to step out as God's Spirit directs us into uncharted waters.