The Lord is Our Helper

We need a helper from time to time along life's highway. There is only one Being who is always faithful, always available, always nurturing and compassionate, and never lets us down (Hebrew 13:5-6).

He is our awesome Daddy God, our Creator and Sustainer, the Author and Finisher of our faith. His love is always patient, kind, unselfish, not prideful, and not easily offended or angered. He keeps no record of wrong, and never delights in evil.

His love always protects us, is worthy of our trust, gives us eternal hope and never, ever fails us (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). His love forgives our multitude of sin, and keeps us on the straight and narrow road (1 Peter 4:8; Matthew 7:13-14).

He bears with us, comforts us and embraces us in His everlasting arms. He rejoices when we walk in His truth, as well as when we speak His truth to others and to ourselves. He teaches us that we can function only through Christ, His Son (Philippians 4:13).

Jesus lives within us by His Spirit, providing all the power of the entire triune Godhead in us when we need His help, His guidance to walk in His will, and His protection to keep us safe. These truths inspire assurance in our heart.

Life no longer worries us, and we have His peace flowing like a river through our soul. His love sustains us in every trial, and He has plans to bless us and not to harm us. He knew us before we were born, and He looks forward to us joining Him in eternity (Psalm 115:16).

Prayer:

Father God, Your love does not depend on our thoughts, choices or emotions. You give it freely to all of Your Saints. You created us as human beings, and You have the patience to wait as our character grows through the encouragement of Your love. Therefore, I can do my best and leave the rest up to You.

You love our humanity, because You created us as mere mortals. Yet, You do not leave us in a carnal state, but You continue to exhort us to walk in Your Spirit each moment of the day, and to resists the devil so that he has to flee from us (James 4:7). Without Your grace, it is impossible for us to press on toward the prize of Your high calling for us in Christ (Philippians 3:14).

Thought for the Day:

The real tests of courage is to remain loyal, even when we are falsely accused; to endure hardships, even when no one notices; and to stand alone even when we are misunderstood; our trials are opportunities to bring glory to God.

Resurrected Life

Jesus committed no sin, He was never deceitful, nor did He retaliate, hurl insights, or threaten when He was insulted or suffered (1 Peter 2:22-23). He had the strength to bear these trials, because He entrusted Himself to our Father God.

Bearing our sins on the cross, Jesus died to sin and rose again to live for righteousness. We are lost and estranged from God because of our sins, until we surrender to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Peter 2:24-25).

We can take a step back from people who abuse and neglect us. We can erect boundaries to prevent them from taking advantage of us. Jesus did this, escaping to the garden until it was time for Judas to betray Him.

We do not want to teach others that it is acceptable to use us or to treat us rudely. This only encourages them to continue to abuse our love and generosity. We can calmly explain that their behavior is not acceptable to us.

The resurrection power of the entire Godhead abides in us. God ordained that we are to make a difference in our world for His Kingdom. He has plans to work in and through us as His new creation, while we submit to His Spirit's direction (Ephesians 2:10).

Jesus calls on us to follow His example of holiness and selflessness (Ephesians 4:29). He never pleased Himself, and to this day He bears our sorrows and reproaches for us (Romans 15:3). He was reviled as He paid the penalty of our sins, without any sin of His own.

Prayer:

Father God, Your dear Son, Jesus, was falsely accused, scourged, spit upon, forced to carry a heavy cross in his weakened physical state, and hung by nails upon a cross until He died (Isaiah 53:7). He was bruised and abused for our sins, in spite of His goodness and kindness to everyone He met (1 Peter 2: 22-25).

Thank You that Jesus taught us by example how to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. This gives us an opportunity to emulate Him (Matthew 5:44-46). You teach us too by causing the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and You refresh the righteous and the unrighteous. When we are falsely accused, remind us not to strike back at those who berate us (1 Thessalonians 5:15; Romans 12:17).

Thought for the Day:

We take courage and solace in the fact that we are in good company when we are misunderstood and falsely accused, because Jesus did not deserve this treatment either; He did nothing to earn it by His life, values and behavior.

- Matthew 27:39

Nurturing a Positive Focus

As an Italian, I am very passionate. I laugh easily, cry constantly - whether I am happy, sad, or moved emotionally. I also have the propensity to feel angry when I am slighted, or overlooked, undermined, disrespected, and excluded from the decision-making process.

We Italians rarely hold a grudge, we just get even. We protect our self and our loved ones very fiercely. Our temper is quick, like a volcanic eruption, but we leave devastating scars behind. There are a few tactics we can take to prevent this from happening.

Anger is actually a secondary emotion. It is a result, not a cause; therefore it is easier to manage than we might think. This and other negative emotions are actually "red flags" to make us aware that something is not right with our world.

Before we feel anger, something happened to hurt our feelings, to make us feel rejected or slighted, unappreciated or belittled, etc. Dealing with the anger starts by uncovering what triggered this destructive feeling in the first place.

We may feel sad or hurt or fearful, out-of-control or disrespected or overlooked, or unjustly judged or treated. We may be used to feeling this way, so we never learned how to successfully deal with these primary causes of our anger. We may fight back or withdraw.

The cause of these primary feelings may come from years of this undesirable treatment. We actually teach others how to treat us by accepting unacceptable behavior toward us. We can take an inventory of the needs we are experiencing that are not being met.

Then, we decide if we can meet them our self, or should we ask for help, or relinquish them to God. Anger, like stress, will erode our physical, mental and emotional health over time. It is important to nurture a positive focus in life (Philippians 4:8).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that facing the underlying issue, resolving the problem, or giving it to You to change or to use for Your glory, will free us from it. Help us to discern what we hoped for that was dashed on the rocks of disappointment, or by the lack of communication or respect from others?

Remind us to see our issues through other people's perspective too, so we will not feel so hurt. Teach us that there are several ways to redirect or to disperse negative feelings. If we are uncomfortable with the circumstances in our life, show us how to change them. If they cannot be changed, show us how we can accept them and give them to You to change, or to use to perfect us through them.

Thought for the Day:

Anger, anxiety, fear, worry, etc. may be learned behavior from our childhood role models, and they rarely solve our problems; they merely draw attention to the fact that our life is out-of-balance in some way; forgiveness often deflates negative emotions and frees our soul from the bondage of damaging feelings.

Eternal Reality

At times, living for the sake of the Kingdom of God will take some sacrifice on our part; however, we will gain so much more both in this life than we give up now, and also in our eternal life in the age to come (Luke 18:29-30).

We will reap the assurance of the things we hoped for by faith, and the honest conviction of the things we cannot even see in this natural world (Hebrews 11:1). One sacrifice I had to make was not seeing my grandchildren very often.

                                   

They live in Missouri, and I lived in the southern-most tip of Florida on the border of the Everglades. God had plans for us in a South Florida church for just shy of 20 years. We loved the people there and saw many saved and discipled.

Recently, however, God moved us to within three hours of where my grandchildren live, and I am able to see them more often when our schedules coincide. It is quite a long round trip stretch, but well worth the time spent with them.

However, I long to be involved in their lives on a daily basis. I did not want to be satisfied with an occasional visit, or an eternal perspective on this issue. I wanted to be with them now, as well as in eternity.

This realization made me recognize yet another level of attachment to this world, which remained entrenched in my soul. This thought caused the Holy Spirit to drench me with a double dose of conviction.

Sure, I have no affection for material possessions, worldly success, or recognition of any kind. Yet, after almost 50 years of walking with God on an intimate basis, I realized that part of me is still very much bound to this world - the grandma part of me.

Prayer:

Father God, You are not as interested in our natural family as You are in our spiritual family (Mark 10:29-30, Luke 18: 29-30, and Matthew 19:29; Luke 21:16, 17). Jesus felt this same distance from His own friends and family; and the servant is not greater than her Lord (John 15:20).

In eternity, You will free us from all of these natural barriers and conditions that strap us to this earthly sphere. The moment we are absent from this body, we will be present with You, Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8), and we will know and be known for eternity (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Thought for the Day:

God’s reality looks nothing like our earthly existence, and we rely on the Lord to give us both the desire and the power to live out His will for us while we remain in this realm, regardless of the circumstances in our life.

- Philippians 2:12-13

A Good Marriage - Accepting One Another

I am amazed at the number of spouses who choose not to love one another anymore, because of habits and character flaws in the person they vowed to cherish forever. They forsake compassion, and choose the self-centered option to hold grudges and unforgiveness.

Focusing on each other's negative traits, criticizing them - even silently in our mind, and nursing bad attitudes toward them, directly destroys our affections for them - tearing the fabric of our love and our commitment to our relationship.

God loves us, even while we are still sinners, and the Holy Spirit wants to develop this attitude in us as well (Romans 15:7). We encourage one another, rather than criticize, and we cherish the good qualities in our spouse (1 Thessalonians5:11).

We are all imperfect, and love is a choice; so focusing on our mate's positive qualities, giving them the benefit of the doubt, and having patience with them (Philippians 4:8), or simply accepting their imperfections, will foster love in our relationship.

One cleansing practice in every marriage is to catch one another doing positive things and complimenting them for it. An additional option is to set aside times to discuss one issue that bothers us. This helps us to inform one another of aspects about which we may be clueless.

Clamming up, nagging or leaving hints is not very helpful. However, if we vow not to get defensive and to keep an open mind, planning times to communicate one issue at a time, we can pledge to help each other to change that behavior with God's wisdom.

God is working in each of us, so praying together about the issue will get better results than allowing resentment to grow. Making a list of our mate's positive qualities, and expressing gratitude for these traits is also a positive practice - so leave a positive note or send a text or an email.

Prayer:

Father God, please help us to love our mate with their love language, and not in the way that we think is best. Help us to be grateful for them, to cherish their place in our life, and not to take them for granted. Help us to realize that refocusing on our partner's strengths fosters our positive affections for them and keeps us committed to them.

Your Word teaches us that commitment allows our love for one another to grow in depth and value (Philippians 4:8). Remind us to stop taking our mate for granted, and to appreciate who they are, and all that they do for us each day; so that we will actually cherish them with all of our heart. This way, even as we age, our love grows deeper with each passing day.

Thought for the Day:

If couples have an impasse in desires and needs and hopes, we can always find a third option that we can both look forward to seeing fulfilled; some issues between marriage partners may never be resolved, unless we vow to do God's will rather than our own.

The Lord is Our Supply

We often look to people to supply all of our needs. We expect them to do what only God can do for us. We want them to anticipate our needs, and to provide them, so we do not even have to ask. This is actually very unrealistic.

It is healthier for us to trust God to supply, so that we can meet our own needs. We know our self and our necessities better than anyone else does, and we can nurture and provide for our self in the same way that we support other people (Mark 12:30-31).

Having expectations that others will remember what we asked for, or that they will make the time to give us what we need, will only cause frustration and resentment to grow in our soul, and put a wedge in our heart that divides us.

In a perfect world, we would love others, and they would love us; we would give and they would give to us; we would serve one another as Jesus serves His Church. A reciprocal relationship where we prefer one another above our self would be common.

However, even the most well-intentioned people often get so caught up in their own agenda that they tend to neglect us and our needs. They may even ask too much of us, and this is when we need to be honest, and to explain our limitations.

Reciprocally, we can ask them what we can do for them to lighten their load, and we can share our needs with them; however, when we entertain unrealistic goals and expectations for others to meet our needs, we only set up our self for disappointment.

We often take an inventory of the faults in our friends and family, and we listen to Satan's lies about their shortcomings. We do not take the time to appreciate them, to show gratitude toward them, or to cherish them because of all that they already do for us.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that we all have our faults, and we cannot judge others harshly because of theirs. Allowing others to have their faults will help us to accept them just as they are. Remind us not to keep a record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), but to make lists of one another's strengths. Teach us to admire, enjoy, and appreciate each other.

We want to affirm and confirm each other's successes and accomplishments - especially for the little things they do for us that should mean so much to us. Our intimate relationship with You is all that we really need in this life. You fill our heart with love, encouragement, and contentment, and You actually rejoice over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Thought for the Day:

Our well-being is our responsibility, and God is always available to aid us in meeting our own needs, rather than expecting other people to meet them for us; this takes the pressure off of the imperfect people in our life, and reminds us that we have our faults too.

Calm in the Chaos

I love being a mommy. I enjoyed playing with my three children and now my grands. I fill each day with teaching them their alphabet, shapes and colors, as well as to recognize the world of nature all around them. We read books, play games and do many crafts together.

Each child is a blank slate, ready for me to introduce them to life. I wrote praise songs for my children, and taught them to worship God. I serenaded them with my guitar, and we sang together as each of them learned to use the potty.

However, as they each went off to school, one right after the other, I am the one who cried. I felt at loose ends. I had no purpose or direction for my time. I volunteered as an aid in their classrooms, and learned a love for teaching; but I still felt empty.

So, I cried out to God for guidance. Then, I felt a compulsion to sit and write in my journal. I did this day after day for weeks. As I emptied myself of my inner clutter and chaos, God filled me with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Then, I also started straightening up the outer clutter in my life as well. I felt so much freedom as I simplified my life, had a place for everything, and put everything in its place. I started putting my priorities in order.

Over the years, as I aged and my children developed lives of their own, my leisure time increased. I no longer scurried around behind the patter of little feet, but I spend more time sitting at Jesus’ feet.

I stayed more in tune to His replies to my prayers, since I no longer race around in tune to children’s cries. My hearing of His Spirit's directives improved as I prayed for specific people, did housework for someone in need, or sat quietly and praised Him as the great “I am.”  

I developed an intimacy and unity with our Father God that grows stronger every day. My time is full now of surrendering total control of my life to Him and only doing that which God's Spirit directs me to do. Christ truly is my life (Colossians 3:3-4).

Prayer:

Father God, when we allow the pressures and distractions of life to monopolize our attention, we run at full speed all day, and then fall into an exhausted sleep each night - without ever spending quality time with You. Then, the next day our mind refills with clutter and distraction, and we get pulled in too many directions at once.

You worked out the issues in my life for me to serve You as a pastor’s wife with all of the responsibilities accompanying that title; yet, You continue to call me to reserve my personal time for You alone. Thank You for teaching me to follow Your Spirit's direction in my service to You, my family and my church. Teach us to focus on You and Your Kingdom, trusting that You will abundantly supply all of our needs.

Thought for the Day:

When we allow the chaos of clutter to fill our thoughts and life, we lack depth in our spiritual life, and our body and soul suffer as well; God’s voice cannot compete with our diversions or penetrate our awareness, because the clutter is too overpowering; therefore, our only hope is to walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfill the lusts of our flesh.

- Galatians 5:15-25