The Rocky Road to Peace

Today I was listening to my nature music with sounds of a gurgling brook in the background. As I absently dusted the living room, I visualized myself sitting next to that gurgling stream, with the slight breeze tickling my arm with wildflowers, and butterflies swirling overhead.

As I moved into the bedrooms with my Swiffer duster, I changed scenes in my mind and pictured myself in a raft, lazily drifting with the current along the scenic view of that same waterway. I felt so much peace and tranquility fill my soul.

I started to sing praises to God along with the instrumental music, and I thanked Him for giving us nature to enjoy. After putting the duster away, I snuggled into my recliner with the music still playing gently in the background.

I sat quietly, listening for the Lord. God reminded me that most streams have rocks and even boulders in them that the water must traverse around; yet, the water continues to flow, unhindered by these obstacles.

He also reminded me that our life usually has obstacles in it too; and if we allow them to, they will impede our progress. However, as we rest in Jesus, who is our eternal Living Water, we will drift smoothly around every hindrance in life.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that we will not only experience Your peace and joy ourselves, but we will also share our tranquility with everyone You lead into our life. We all enter Your rest by resisting the urge to attempt to control life, and by completely trusting in You and Your will for us instead.

In this world, we get mighty thirsty for truth, wisdom, and power. Jesus told us that we can come to Him to quench this thirst, and then out of our heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38). We ask for a fresh filling of Your Holy Spirit with each new day, so that we can accomplish Your will for us in it (Genesis 41:38).

Thought for the Day:

"Knowing God" does not involve religious activity or pious attitudes, it is simply abiding in Him; therefore, we can make a commitment to change the world around us, one life at a time; and with joy, we will draw water from the well of our salvation.

- Isaiah 12:3; John 17:3

The Hats We Wear

A recent commercial illustrated the fact that different hats can be an identifying clue about the country of which they have become a symbol. For instance, a sombrero is for Mexico; the fur hat for Russia; the beret for France, etc.

We all wear different "hats" in our daily life. One at home, another at work, a different one at church and with our community. Some of us wear several different "hats" in one or more of these places, which signify the jobs and ministries and roles, which we agreed to take on.

Each "hat" requires that we use different talents, abilities, discernment, and skills to meet the demands, obligations and requirements of the tasks that we willingly agreed to fulfill. At times, we even change our personality or identity, in order to successfully navigate unchartered waters that we encounter.

Sometimes, we change the appearance of the "hats" we are wearing. We add "rhinestones", or "turn up the edges", or pin "fake flowers to the brim", or even "get it a little bit dirty" so that it will appear well-worn and part of a long history with us.

As mother, father, neighbor, friend, teacher's assistant, grandparent, mechanic, pastor, professor, childcare worker, nursing home attendant, etc. there are many requirements on our schedule, energy, and creativity, as well as a financial, mental and emotional investment in each role that we assume.

There are many inner motives in our soul for taking on so many roles at one time. One is notoriety and praise. Another is a calling to serve others. Regardless of our intentions, wearing so many hats often requires us to stop caring for our self, because we run out of time and energy.

We end up "burning out", since we lit the candle of our life from both ends. The only sane way to resolve this issue is to consult the Lord prior to agreeing to accept any and all responsibilities (Proverbs 3:5-6). This prevents us from burning out.

Then, once we follow His leading, we pray without ceasing all through each day, in order to gain His moment-by-moment game plan that is guaranteed to succeed. We even have time to care for our own needs. After all, we are a person too, and we can minister to our self, as well as to others.

Prayer:

Father God, You have perfect designs for our life, and we only truly succeed when we follow Your will for us (Ephesians 2:10). As fallen, finite human beings, we are limited in our human resources, wisdom, abilities and strength. However, Your Word assures us that we can do everything that You call us to accomplish with Your strength and wisdom, which abides within us through Christ in us (Colossians 1:27; Galatians 2:20).

Thank You for sending Jesus to trade His righteousness for the penalty of our sins. He regenerates, renews and redeems us by His life and death. This occurs through His name and by His blood. We live for Your purpose for us now and throughout eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Remind us that we can never produce the lasting results through our own efforts, which we could accomplish by relying on Christ in us. We glorify You with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength (Matthew 22:37).

Thought for the Day:

Jesus gave up His royal crown to wear a crown of thorns for each and every one of us; so that He can offer, as co-heir with us of the Kingdom of God, to share with us all that God gave Him in return. 

A Good Marriage - Keep Love Flowing

Irritations, hurt feelings, disrespect and being taken for granted, etc. are normal feelings in any marriage. Two human beings bonded together in a covenant relationship, or just as roommates, best friends, workmates, or church family will always have rough patches that get on our nerves or hurt us.

It is part of being human. None of us is perfect; we are all flawed people with our own hang-ups and idiosyncrasies. Attempting to change one another is futile. The best of us will try - very hard - to change, but we usually revert back to our old irritating self. These are die-hard habits that are almost impossible to change.

We grow distant from each other, because we feel too vulnerable to share our true feelings; or we sweep unresolved issues under the "rug," trying to ignore them; or we put emotional, and sometimes even physical distance between us and our spouse to protect our feelings, etc. Marriage takes patience and diligence.

We keep the channels of communication open between us by loving our spouse in his/her "love language". Resolving issues pays huge dividends in our relationship. Sometimes, we get too busy and take each other for granted. This neglect is like a malignant cancer that spreads throughout our relationship.

When we pay attention to our mate, we water the seeds of life between us and keep our relationship fresh and growing. We find out how special our mate truly is, and we support them in their endeavors to walk in the Spirit and to accomplish God's will for their life.

Rewarding our mate's attempts to love us with our own "love language" by praising them and showing gratitude, rather than in complaints and rejection, encourages them to continue to meet our needs in ways that truly bless us and increase the flow of love between us.

- Take this free quiz: https://www.5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/

Prayer:

Father God, teach us how to make a continual search for ways to bless our spouse on a daily basis. Help us not to ever take them for granted, but to thank them for everything they do for us personally or for our common good - both great and small. Remind us to participate in their interests, and to thank them for taking an interest in what we enjoy.

Help us to see the good in one another, rather than to focus on what we dislike. Help us also to accept what we dislike as part of their personality and not to attempt to change them. Remind us to ferret out potential problems that may be causing stress in our relationship, and to resolve them together; because living with pride, unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment are not healthy ways to live in harmony. We trust You to give us a new love for one another with each sunrise.

Thought for the Day:

When we listen to intolerance about our spouse from extended family and friends, or from the devil's temptation to disrupt our unity, we hurt our self as well as our spouse by increasing our discontentment with our union; however, when we look at one another through God's eyes, we start to appreciate His character and divine nature in each other.

Developing Contentment

If we look to the world to bring us contentment, we are sadly disappointed. If we look to our accomplishments, talents and successes, they fade over the years. If we look to Jesus, we learn to be content in His presence within us, His provision for us, and His works through us (Lamentations 3:24)

As we savor the blessings of the Lord that He supplies all throughout the day, we rejoice and find praises to Him filling our soul and spirit. Our longing is no longer for things of this life, but for our deeper immersion in Christ, who abides within us.

Gratitude in the good times and the bad will bring contentment quicker than any other virtue. We learn to allow patience to have her perfecting work in us (James 1:4). We go with the flow of God's will for us, rather than resisting and fighting every trial or circumstance.

The Great Physician covers us with the blood of Jesus and delivers us through the name of Jesus. We connect with the wisdom and strength and shelter from above, and we have the courage to face whatever life throws at us.

Our prayers inventory our requests to God, and He always hears each entreaty (Philippians 4:6). Even if we suffer physically through some illness or accident, we find contentment in the presence of God's Spirit within us. He helps us to focus on the positive (Philippians 4:8), and to look for the seed for a miracle that He plants in every trial.

Loving God with our whole heart, soul, mind and body (Matthew 22:37) changes our perspective about life's circumstances. We no long fret, regret, or stress over the issues in our life, because we trust the Lord with our whole heart (Proverbs 3:5-6). He is our soul's portion each moment of the day (Lamentations 3:24).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to worship You in spirit and in truth regardless of our circumstances (Psalm 73:17). You are our Almighty and Sovereign Lord, and You have a solution for all of our problems as we faithfully wait on You (Psalm 73:26). We see Your provision, even when we wait for days, weeks, months or even years for its arrival.

Remind us that we can enter Your rest, and stop stressing and straining to solve our issues (Matthew 6:30-34). You care for the lilies, the sparrows, and all of creation, but You care for us all, infinitely more than any of these. You always provide for our every need in Your own timing and way. Help us to see that we can "lean into" our trials, rather than wasting time resisting them. Thank You for traversing them with us and in us.

Thought for the Day:

Pursuing God, rather than the things of this life, brings us contentment and fulfillment that nothing in this world can offer to us; complete surrender to His will for us gives us joy and peace, because He abides within us and carries us through the unstable aspects of each day in which we live in this sin-filled world.

The Transitions of Aging

In our later years of life, God changes our ministry. We often forget that He created us all to be Human BE-ings, not Human DO-ings. In our younger years, we DO for God, because our health encourages us to be strong and active.

Then, in our later years, we often feel that God has no use for us. This just isn’t true. Our ministry just changes, from a physically active one, to a more mental and spiritual one. God still uses us mightily in His own way and time.

Daily, we simply continue to surrender our will to God’s will, and ask Him to reveal to us His purpose for this stage of our life, just as we did in the former stages of our life. There are many things God can still use us to do.

God will show us His specific plans as we spend time in prayer to seek His will for our life. This enables us to be as fulfilled now as we ever were in our prior ministries - even though we may have many more limitations and painful physical and emotional trials now.

Like the three Hebrew children, there is a fourth man in this furnace with us (Daniel 3:25). God obviously has a purpose for our life on this earth, or He would take us home. Jesus Christ is still walking hand-in-hand with us now, and abiding within us, just as He did in the past.

Prayer:
Father God, You are still working out Your will for us, even in our Golden Years. If You choose to take us to our reward in heaven, then we rejoice. Our family may feel at a loss without us, but You will comfort them with Your love, peace and inner joy. Living means more opportunities to serve You, but dying means we will be immediately in Your physical presence.

This world is not our true home. As we age, we look forward more and more to our everlasting home in Heaven with You (Hebrews 13:14). However, if You choose to keep us in this earthly realm to perform some ministry, we pray and seek Your will for what Your perfect plans for us include. Of course, You may want nothing more from us than to passionately worship You all day long, and to pray for those You place on our heart, and that is a very vital and necessary ministry.

Thought for the Day:

Ministries for Senior Saints: 

·       We can pray for our family and meet any needs they may have that we are capable of meeting.

·       We can get the prayer lists from several churches, from the persecuted churches in other countries, and from missionaries in the USA and around the world, and pray for them several times per day. 

·       We can write our name on greeting cards and send them to the sick and dying.

·       We can call people and let them know they are loved and are being prayed for, as well as to give them someone to talk to who will listen and care.

·       We can tutor people in reading or in some other subject area that we enjoy.

·       We can pay for flowers to be sent to other people, who share in our infirmities, in order to encourage them in their trial.

·       We can make calls for our church office, or help to do menial chores in the church office to lighten the load for our secretaries.

·       We can help to decorate for church functions ~ placing tableware out or arranging flowers for each table.

·       We can go and visit other infirmed church members, if we are still driving or have someone else to drive us.

·       We can assist in a children's Sunday School class to help with various classroom duties, take children to the restroom, or hold a misbehaving child on our lap during the Bible story.

·       We can work at the register in our church bookstore or library to free others to do other chores.

·       We can assist in our church's kitchen ministry by cooking, washing dishes, donating desserts, or cleaning up after fellowships.

·       We can give time-saving advice to younger men and women, as they seek to maintain and repair the church facilities.

·       We can do community service for needy citizens in our locality, and also share with them what Christ has done in our own life. 

Our God of Hope

When we come to understand who God is, and what His purpose is for humanity and the earth and the cosmos, we lose our pride and rebellion, let go of our wounds and sorrow, and we see God as He truly is. He becomes our true identity, and we no longer struggle with fear and insecurity.

As we lift Him higher, we decrease and He increases in importance and influence in our life (John 3:30). We spend less time focusing on our self, and more time seeking His face, entering His rest, and trusting in Him with our whole heart (Proverbs 3:5-6).

This increases our validation, affirms our value, and makes Christ the sum total of our whole life (Colossians 3:3-4). Our past no longer defines our future. We live in the present moment, enjoying all that God has for us in it, and becoming more aware of His divine appointments for us.

We can relinquish all of our fears and anxieties and stress, because God always has us in the hollow of His hand (Psalm 31:15). He attempts to preserve us, by keeping us on His straight and narrow path for us. This keeps us safe, and in the center of His will.

As we cooperate with Him in this, and walk in His ways, He is able to shower us with His blessings (1 Peter 5:7). We learn to be vigilant against the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical attacks of Satan, and to stand firm on our Rock, Jesus Christ, in spite of the devil's lies (1 Corinthians 10:3).

Spending time alone with God, as we pray without ceasing, gives us the opportunity to have a new encounter with Him every day. We praise Him for who He is, for what He does for us, and for His plans for our future. His Holy Spirit transforms our thoughts, emotions and choices, so that they align with God's will for our life.

We also trust the Lord, regardless of our trials, realizing that Christians everywhere are experiencing the same issues that we are. God proves Himself strong for us, and always makes a way for us through every storm that we face in life (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Prayer:

Father God, it is evident to us that nothing - not even death, principalities or powers, or any created thing, can separate us from Your love for us, which is in us through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:35-39). We have nothing to fear, because Your Trinity is always abiding within us. You strengthen us and help us, and You lift us up above the cares of this world (Isaiah 41:10).

When we are afraid, we shift our focus from the fears, and place it firmly on our complete trust in You (Psalm 56:3). We have no reason to be anxious about anything, because we make our requests known to You through prayer with a grateful heart, and You infuse our soul with Your peace. You guard our spirit and soul, and You help our body to heal either in this life or in Heaven with You (Philippians 4:6-8).

Thought for the Day:

Jesus gives His peace to us, which overcomes the fears and sorrows we face in life; therefore we have no need to worry or stress or grieve or fear what will happen to us in life, because God gives us His power, love and sound mind to deal with anything that comes our way.

- John 14:27; 2 Timothy 1:7

Healing our Soul

There is a grouping of tree limbs across the street from my living room recliner, which is shaped like a ballerina, suspended in air in the light and graceful Ballon Pose. It is only visible in the winter, when the landscape looks like the valley of dry bones. This beautiful alignment of branches blesses my soul through the long winter months.

God is so good. He constantly spoils His children in ways that bless us individually. We simply need to let Him care for us, and then be aware of His "hugs" in every aspect of our life (Exodus 14:14). Our soul longs for our God, and waits on Him, because He is our only true salvation (Psalm 62:1).

God cares about the health of our soul as much as He is interested in the salvation of our spirit - which is dead in sin until we repent and trust only in Him (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 6:11). We actually prosper in body and spirit to the degree that our soul prospers (3 John 1:2).

The soul of a content, authentic Believer is like a weaned child on its mother's lap (Psalm 131:2). This is the perfect picture of rest. This Biblical reference of a mother is a symbol of nurture and protection. We have no cause for concern; therefore, we have no need to strive to control life (Psalm 131:1).

We have this same euphoric feeling in the arms of our loving Father God. We rest in His wisdom, as well as in His love for us, trusting Him with our whole heart (Psalm 131:3). As we walk in the Spirit, we learn to be satisfied with God's provision, and we no longer strive to provide for our own needs (Philippians 4:12).

The Lord is our Shepherd, and He causes our cup of blessings to overflow (Psalm 23). We have need of nothing. He supplies all of our needs according to His glorious riches from the moment of our submission to Him to the moment He takes us home to Heaven to live with Him for eternity (Philippians 4:19).

Prayer:

Father God, all of our days are in Your capable hands, and You bring peace to our troubled soul (Psalm 31:15). You are our refuge and our strength, and You are always available to help us in any time of trouble. We have no need to worry about our life, or to fear any future calamity, because of Your vigilant eye watching over us (Psalm 46:1-3). You even restore our soul when life discourages us (Psalm 23:3).

Your love refreshes us like the river, which will flow from Your throne in New Jerusalem. This majestic river makes everyone in Your city rejoice (Psalm 46:4; Revelation 22:1-2). You are always with us, and in us - our fortress in times of trouble (Psalm 46:5-7). Daily, we are quiet and still before Your presence in us, and we acknowledge that You are our God. We exalt You and give You all of the praise and glory due to Your holy name (Psalm 46:10-11).

Thought for the Day:

With God within us, no one can stand against us; He is our source of joy, peace and hope in this troubled world in which we live; we find our rest in Him, and He is our hiding place.

- Romans 8:31; Psalm 32:7