"Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning...You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" Psalm 30:5,11-12 NLT
We all go through times of mourning. We live in a broken world. The people and things we love break, and die. We make mistakes, big ones. They effect us and those we love. Someone hurts you. We live and we mourn.
There is hope during the night, or darkness of mourning. The God of all comfort and hope is nearer than we can know or feel. He will do what you cannot. He will turn your mourning into dancing. He will take away your clothes of mourning. He will fill you with joy, praise and thanksgiving.
Are you in the night of mourning? Are you feeling like there is no way you will ever be restored? Wait for the dawn of God's grace. He will restore you.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Incomplete
"Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:9-13 NLT
I find comfort and encouragement from these words written by the apostle Paul. The one question that is asked when you are with someone who is dying is "why?" Companies make strategic plans to gain record revenues. When the plans fail or succeed beyond expectations the board of directors asks "why?"
We have many questions in this life. Sometimes it seems that there are many more questions than answers. In fact there are. Our knowledge is limited. The demands of life, unlimited. We find ourselves lacking.
When we seek to find answers from the Lord, it seems He gives us what we need. Just what we needed. Sometimes we only have enough direction to take life moment by moment. "Give us this day our daily bread," Jesus prayed. Sometimes we blow it. We don't get it right. Other times we hit a home run. Then there are the times that the only thing we can do is move forward blindly, trusting in God's unfailing love.
Feel His hand in the darkness. Hear the heartbeat of heavens King. His love for you is unfailing and eternal!
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:9-13 NLT
I find comfort and encouragement from these words written by the apostle Paul. The one question that is asked when you are with someone who is dying is "why?" Companies make strategic plans to gain record revenues. When the plans fail or succeed beyond expectations the board of directors asks "why?"
We have many questions in this life. Sometimes it seems that there are many more questions than answers. In fact there are. Our knowledge is limited. The demands of life, unlimited. We find ourselves lacking.
When we seek to find answers from the Lord, it seems He gives us what we need. Just what we needed. Sometimes we only have enough direction to take life moment by moment. "Give us this day our daily bread," Jesus prayed. Sometimes we blow it. We don't get it right. Other times we hit a home run. Then there are the times that the only thing we can do is move forward blindly, trusting in God's unfailing love.
Feel His hand in the darkness. Hear the heartbeat of heavens King. His love for you is unfailing and eternal!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Today
"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 NLT
Do you remember to do that? I forget sometimes. Sometimes I tend to wake up and instead of thanking the Lord for the gift of a new day, I start thinking that I've got to do this, do that. Then I get all tensed up and uptight. I steal the joy from the gift of the day that my Lord had planned for me.
Why do we do that? Don't we know that each and every day is a gift, a chance to begin again? A fresh start. We do ourselves and our Lord a great disservice by not taking our gift and run with it. Run and make the most of whatever we are given.
It's another chance to make a wrong right. It's another chance to praise our Holy and Precious Lord for all His gracious wonderfulness. It's another chance to mend relationships, hug our kids, kiss our spouses, share with our friends how important they are to us, open the eyes of a stranger to the salvation of Jesus.
What are you going to do with your gift? Walk around all uptight and crabby? Or are you going to praise the Lord for the wonderful promise of today and go forth with Godly purpose? The choice is yours.
"A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day." Proverbs 15:11 The Message
Do you remember to do that? I forget sometimes. Sometimes I tend to wake up and instead of thanking the Lord for the gift of a new day, I start thinking that I've got to do this, do that. Then I get all tensed up and uptight. I steal the joy from the gift of the day that my Lord had planned for me.
Why do we do that? Don't we know that each and every day is a gift, a chance to begin again? A fresh start. We do ourselves and our Lord a great disservice by not taking our gift and run with it. Run and make the most of whatever we are given.
It's another chance to make a wrong right. It's another chance to praise our Holy and Precious Lord for all His gracious wonderfulness. It's another chance to mend relationships, hug our kids, kiss our spouses, share with our friends how important they are to us, open the eyes of a stranger to the salvation of Jesus.
What are you going to do with your gift? Walk around all uptight and crabby? Or are you going to praise the Lord for the wonderful promise of today and go forth with Godly purpose? The choice is yours.
"A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day." Proverbs 15:11 The Message
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wisdom and Faith
"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."
James 1:2-8 NLT
We all go through difficult times in our lives. Difficult and strenuous situations require that we put our faith in the Lord. I think that I do this; most of the time. One time I was facing a difficult situation. I would handle the challenge fine. I would lay my request before God and trust in His provision. Most of the time I even had a sense of peace about our circumstance. But sometimes I would melt down. I would melt into anxiety, anger, self pity, and self reliance. The situation was over whelming and I would let it overwhelm me.
One night during one of my melt downs, Peggy my wife, had to remind me that my God was bigger than our situation. The next morning the Lord led me to the above passage. He showed me that not only was I struggling with my faith, I lacked wisdom. The lack of wisdom about how to handle my situation, was tearing me up. On top of everything else, my faith was not in God alone, but in my ability to solve our problem. My "divided loyalty" was causing me to be tossed about spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
I discovered that I had elevated myself, and other potential solutions to our problem as idols. They became my hope, not Jesus, not fully. I decided to put my trust in Jesus alone. Like the song says, He is more than able to handle what concerns me today.
I can't tell you how it all worked out because I'm still in the situation. But I can tell you that it's all good because God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good!
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."
James 1:2-8 NLT
We all go through difficult times in our lives. Difficult and strenuous situations require that we put our faith in the Lord. I think that I do this; most of the time. One time I was facing a difficult situation. I would handle the challenge fine. I would lay my request before God and trust in His provision. Most of the time I even had a sense of peace about our circumstance. But sometimes I would melt down. I would melt into anxiety, anger, self pity, and self reliance. The situation was over whelming and I would let it overwhelm me.
One night during one of my melt downs, Peggy my wife, had to remind me that my God was bigger than our situation. The next morning the Lord led me to the above passage. He showed me that not only was I struggling with my faith, I lacked wisdom. The lack of wisdom about how to handle my situation, was tearing me up. On top of everything else, my faith was not in God alone, but in my ability to solve our problem. My "divided loyalty" was causing me to be tossed about spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
I discovered that I had elevated myself, and other potential solutions to our problem as idols. They became my hope, not Jesus, not fully. I decided to put my trust in Jesus alone. Like the song says, He is more than able to handle what concerns me today.
I can't tell you how it all worked out because I'm still in the situation. But I can tell you that it's all good because God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Just Knowing
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1 NLT
What exactly is faith? The past couple of days, I have been sharing with you the various stages my faith has been in. As I was rereading, the thought accrued to me, some may not really understand the concept of "faith".
We are a people with the need of instant gratification. We want something, we want it now. We need to see the results of our want--instantly. If we don't, then we will go to the next place to see if we can get it faster.
But faith in God is not like that. Faith in God is just knowing.
Knowing that there is someone bigger than us, loving us and wanting us to love Him. Someone bigger than us that knows us so intimately that even every hair on our head is known--that He knew the very moment we were conceived. Someone that we can turn to, at any time of the day or night and talk to, cry with, comfort us. Someone bigger than us that wants only the best for us.
While we are on this earth, we will never see His face on facebook, find His name on a counselor's door, or see His phone number in the phonebook--but He is here. He is alive. Our faith just knows.
It is normal that we have moments of doubts in our faith. Moments when our faith seems to be shaken. Moments when we question. God understands that. It's what we do with those moments that matter. We are human--God is not. But He created us and understands us. We ride on our emotions--God does not. He is forever faithful and true.
Do you need faith? Turn to God. Do you need to renew your faith? Turn to God. How? Pick up the phone (get on your knees) and call Him (pray). He's only a phone call away.
"Jesus told them. 'I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.'” Matthew 17:20 NLT
What exactly is faith? The past couple of days, I have been sharing with you the various stages my faith has been in. As I was rereading, the thought accrued to me, some may not really understand the concept of "faith".
We are a people with the need of instant gratification. We want something, we want it now. We need to see the results of our want--instantly. If we don't, then we will go to the next place to see if we can get it faster.
But faith in God is not like that. Faith in God is just knowing.
Knowing that there is someone bigger than us, loving us and wanting us to love Him. Someone bigger than us that knows us so intimately that even every hair on our head is known--that He knew the very moment we were conceived. Someone that we can turn to, at any time of the day or night and talk to, cry with, comfort us. Someone bigger than us that wants only the best for us.
While we are on this earth, we will never see His face on facebook, find His name on a counselor's door, or see His phone number in the phonebook--but He is here. He is alive. Our faith just knows.
It is normal that we have moments of doubts in our faith. Moments when our faith seems to be shaken. Moments when we question. God understands that. It's what we do with those moments that matter. We are human--God is not. But He created us and understands us. We ride on our emotions--God does not. He is forever faithful and true.
Do you need faith? Turn to God. Do you need to renew your faith? Turn to God. How? Pick up the phone (get on your knees) and call Him (pray). He's only a phone call away.
"Jesus told them. 'I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.'” Matthew 17:20 NLT
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Faith Builders
"He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
He drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the Lord supported me.
He led me to a place of safety;
He rescued me because He delights in me."Psalm 18:16-19 NLT
Yesterday I wrote about struggling with our faith. I wrote about that because, that is where I was. I was struggling. But God is good. Two things happened after I wrote my blog post. I was encouraged by a friend, and the word of God. Both were faith builders for me.
Last night before our Marriage Enrichment group began, I was speaking to a friend. I was sharing with her about my faith struggle. She listened and encouraged me. She shared her life experience and reminded me of mine. She encouraged me to recall God's faithfulness to my family and myself. She shared the word of God with me. She encouraged my faith. This isn't the first time that a brother or sister in Christ has come along at just the right time, to encourage me during a low moment. I appreciate life giving friends.
Then this morning I was reading the Bible. I was in Psalms 18. The above passage spoke volumes of faith building encouragement to me. God's word has a way of doing that. The Bible says;"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 KJV
The Bible says that we walk by faith. Sometimes we have the faith to move mountains. Sometimes we struggle. But God is faithful to encourage our faith in Him.
Thank God for faith builders!
He drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the Lord supported me.
He led me to a place of safety;
He rescued me because He delights in me."Psalm 18:16-19 NLT
Yesterday I wrote about struggling with our faith. I wrote about that because, that is where I was. I was struggling. But God is good. Two things happened after I wrote my blog post. I was encouraged by a friend, and the word of God. Both were faith builders for me.
Last night before our Marriage Enrichment group began, I was speaking to a friend. I was sharing with her about my faith struggle. She listened and encouraged me. She shared her life experience and reminded me of mine. She encouraged me to recall God's faithfulness to my family and myself. She shared the word of God with me. She encouraged my faith. This isn't the first time that a brother or sister in Christ has come along at just the right time, to encourage me during a low moment. I appreciate life giving friends.
Then this morning I was reading the Bible. I was in Psalms 18. The above passage spoke volumes of faith building encouragement to me. God's word has a way of doing that. The Bible says;"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 KJV
The Bible says that we walk by faith. Sometimes we have the faith to move mountains. Sometimes we struggle. But God is faithful to encourage our faith in Him.
Thank God for faith builders!
Monday, June 1, 2009
My Unbelief
"One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, 'Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.'
Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.
'How long has this been happening?”'Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, 'Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.'
'What do you mean, ‘If I can’?' Jesus asked. 'Anything is possible if a person believes.'
The father instantly cried out, 'I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!'
When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, He rebuked the evil spirit. 'Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,' He said. 'I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!'
Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, 'He’s dead.' But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up." Mark 9:17-27 NLT
I can relate to the boy's father. I know what it is like to be full of faith. The kind of faith that moves mountains. I can pray for people, face troubles, and challenges with confidence. But I know what it feels like to struggle with my faith. There are some challenges that can rock my faith. I feel like I just can't take it. I see no hope. Then I remember the father in the story. He was most honest. He told Jesus, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!"
I'm amazed and encouraged by Jesus' response to such honesty; He healed the father's son. It encourages me to know that even though we are called to walk by faith, when we struggle, Jesus doesn't.
What faith issue are you struggling with today? Hold on to the little faith that you do have. Jesus can do the rest.
Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.
'How long has this been happening?”'Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, 'Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.'
'What do you mean, ‘If I can’?' Jesus asked. 'Anything is possible if a person believes.'
The father instantly cried out, 'I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!'
When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, He rebuked the evil spirit. 'Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,' He said. 'I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!'
Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, 'He’s dead.' But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up." Mark 9:17-27 NLT
I can relate to the boy's father. I know what it is like to be full of faith. The kind of faith that moves mountains. I can pray for people, face troubles, and challenges with confidence. But I know what it feels like to struggle with my faith. There are some challenges that can rock my faith. I feel like I just can't take it. I see no hope. Then I remember the father in the story. He was most honest. He told Jesus, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!"
I'm amazed and encouraged by Jesus' response to such honesty; He healed the father's son. It encourages me to know that even though we are called to walk by faith, when we struggle, Jesus doesn't.
What faith issue are you struggling with today? Hold on to the little faith that you do have. Jesus can do the rest.
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