"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12: 22-26
I could have spent the weekend worrying about an issue at work. That is what usually happens. My mind just keeps returning to things - issues at work, with family, with friends - and without realizing it, I am worrying. The thoughts consume my mind unless I take control.
But this past weekend, I did my best to take control. I had an issue I wasn't looking forward to resolving at work and my mind returned to it over and over again. But each time, at some point I realized what I was doing. I stopped myself and prayed about it in another attempt to give it to God.
He rewarded my efforts. When I arrived at work on Tuesday, the issue had been resolved and it didn't require anything from me. God handled it when I gave the worry to Him. He is in control, not me.
I pray you can turn something over to God that has been bothering you and see what He does with it.
In His Grace...
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Absence
I don't know if I have many readers, but I wanted to apologize for my long hiatus. It has been a trying year for our family and I had been feeling overwhelmed. Subjects to write about slowly stopped coming to me. My ability to see daily life through the lens of Scripture was fading and I didn't know how to get it back.
The two subjects I wrote on this week were slow in coming but I felt the hand of God asking me to continue to share my thoughts and so I am. It may still be a gradual process and I most likely will not write as often as I was in the past, but know I am still looking for His inspiration.
I am praying for anyone that reads and is inspired by my words.
In His Grace...
The two subjects I wrote on this week were slow in coming but I felt the hand of God asking me to continue to share my thoughts and so I am. It may still be a gradual process and I most likely will not write as often as I was in the past, but know I am still looking for His inspiration.
I am praying for anyone that reads and is inspired by my words.
In His Grace...
Thursday, June 20, 2013
The Temple
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
It was several months ago now, but again I was listening to KLOVE. I heard a woman call in that was talking about how big she had let herself become. She was going to drive to the next try outs for the TV show, the Biggest Loser. Everyone on KLOVE was encouraging and supporting her and I do also. But I also thought that it was sad. It was sad that instead of doing what she needed to do for herself, for her son, or for God, she felt she needed a TV show to help her. I heard later that she was not chosen for the show.
I wanted to encourage her and anyone like her, that regardless of whether you are chosen to be on TV, we all have a responsibility to work on our health and fitness in obedience to God. I am certainly not in the best shape I could be. I make poor food choices at times and I do not exercise as much as I should. It seems that in today's society, it is becoming harder and harder to make good choices. We are bombarded everywhere we go with fast food and easier meals. Quicker ways to cook, quicker ways to eat, more things to do, less time to spend with family.
But perhaps God's idea of food was not meant to be fast. Perhaps the whole idea behind the food we are meant to eat is to spend time preparing it, spend time fellow-shipping as we eat it and expend calories as we clean up. If we follow this idea, and we include healthy amounts of exercise in the form of riding bikes with our families, playing Frisbee in the back yard, gardening, taking an evening stroll - wouldn't we all be healthier?
I pray that when I make my next food and activity choices, I will remember to treat my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.
In His Grace...
It was several months ago now, but again I was listening to KLOVE. I heard a woman call in that was talking about how big she had let herself become. She was going to drive to the next try outs for the TV show, the Biggest Loser. Everyone on KLOVE was encouraging and supporting her and I do also. But I also thought that it was sad. It was sad that instead of doing what she needed to do for herself, for her son, or for God, she felt she needed a TV show to help her. I heard later that she was not chosen for the show.
I wanted to encourage her and anyone like her, that regardless of whether you are chosen to be on TV, we all have a responsibility to work on our health and fitness in obedience to God. I am certainly not in the best shape I could be. I make poor food choices at times and I do not exercise as much as I should. It seems that in today's society, it is becoming harder and harder to make good choices. We are bombarded everywhere we go with fast food and easier meals. Quicker ways to cook, quicker ways to eat, more things to do, less time to spend with family.
But perhaps God's idea of food was not meant to be fast. Perhaps the whole idea behind the food we are meant to eat is to spend time preparing it, spend time fellow-shipping as we eat it and expend calories as we clean up. If we follow this idea, and we include healthy amounts of exercise in the form of riding bikes with our families, playing Frisbee in the back yard, gardening, taking an evening stroll - wouldn't we all be healthier?
I pray that when I make my next food and activity choices, I will remember to treat my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.
In His Grace...
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Fear God Not Man
Last week, on my way home from work, I heard a blurb from Luis Palau on KLOVE. He was talking about Moses and he said something that struck a chord with me.
When the Lord wanted Moses to go speak to Pharoah, at first Moses didn't want to. But in the end, he did it anyway. Moses feared God more than man.
This idea really hit home with me that day. I let my fear of what others will think stop me from doing things that God tells me to do. I let it stop me from spreading the Good News. I let it stop me from obeying God in things in my marriage, in parenting, in my job. I have feared man more than God. But as God said to Moses, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who give him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" Exodus 4:11
The Lord made me, He loves me and He wants the best for me. It seems the least I can do is to obey and fear (respect) Him.
I pray that as opportunities arise, I will fear God more than man.
In His Grace...
When the Lord wanted Moses to go speak to Pharoah, at first Moses didn't want to. But in the end, he did it anyway. Moses feared God more than man.
This idea really hit home with me that day. I let my fear of what others will think stop me from doing things that God tells me to do. I let it stop me from spreading the Good News. I let it stop me from obeying God in things in my marriage, in parenting, in my job. I have feared man more than God. But as God said to Moses, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who give him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" Exodus 4:11
The Lord made me, He loves me and He wants the best for me. It seems the least I can do is to obey and fear (respect) Him.
I pray that as opportunities arise, I will fear God more than man.
In His Grace...
Thursday, March 21, 2013
When We Argue
If you are unfamiliar with The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, it is written as if it is letters from a senior demon giving instruction to a junior demon on how to keep a human from becoming a Christian. So far it is quite humorous and I find it to hit home in many areas. One being the subjects of arguments in domestic life:
"In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face....Your patient must demand that all his own utterances are to be taken at their face value and judged simply on the actual words, while at the same time judging all his [partners] utterances with the fullest and most over-sensitive interpretation of the tone and the content and the suspected intention. He must then be encouraged to do the same to him. Hence from every quarrel they can both go away convinced, or very nearly convinced, that they are quite innocent....Once this habit is well established you have the delightful situation of a human saying things with the express purpose of offending and yet having a grievance when offence is taken." The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
I don't know about you, but this hits home in our household. The actual words we might say seem fairly innocuous, but the tone in which the word are uttered can be nasty. This of course begets a nasty answer and voila! we are quarrelling as described by C.S. Lewis.
I pray that next time I will pause before responding and see where the devil is trying to get his foothold. Then I will "resist the devil and he will flee..." James 4:7
In His Grace...
"In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face....Your patient must demand that all his own utterances are to be taken at their face value and judged simply on the actual words, while at the same time judging all his [partners] utterances with the fullest and most over-sensitive interpretation of the tone and the content and the suspected intention. He must then be encouraged to do the same to him. Hence from every quarrel they can both go away convinced, or very nearly convinced, that they are quite innocent....Once this habit is well established you have the delightful situation of a human saying things with the express purpose of offending and yet having a grievance when offence is taken." The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
I don't know about you, but this hits home in our household. The actual words we might say seem fairly innocuous, but the tone in which the word are uttered can be nasty. This of course begets a nasty answer and voila! we are quarrelling as described by C.S. Lewis.
I pray that next time I will pause before responding and see where the devil is trying to get his foothold. Then I will "resist the devil and he will flee..." James 4:7
In His Grace...
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
In the Valley
"Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation - the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks....Now it may surprise you to learn that in His efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favorites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else....He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs-to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be." The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
I have been in the valley of late. It has been harder to see the things of God, even as I continue to give thanks and praise Him. I know He is still there, I know He is still good and I know He still loves me. But I have fallen into a "trough" as C.S. Lewis calls it. The "trough" can make it hard to see the things I am to write about. The "trough" can make life seem dimmer and events more difficult to overcome.
David writes about being in "troughs" throughout the Psalms. He also celebrates the "peaks" as he does in Psalm 34, one of my favorites:
"I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from eveil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him."
In His Grace...
I have been in the valley of late. It has been harder to see the things of God, even as I continue to give thanks and praise Him. I know He is still there, I know He is still good and I know He still loves me. But I have fallen into a "trough" as C.S. Lewis calls it. The "trough" can make it hard to see the things I am to write about. The "trough" can make life seem dimmer and events more difficult to overcome.
David writes about being in "troughs" throughout the Psalms. He also celebrates the "peaks" as he does in Psalm 34, one of my favorites:
"I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from eveil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him."
In His Grace...
Friday, March 15, 2013
Numb
"To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted." Titus 1:15
Are our consciences corrupted? Has our society moved so far from God's plan that we have no consciences left? Is this why so much in our society seems to have taken a downturn? Our movies are more violent than ever, our TV shows are more graphic, even our video games and cartoons have taken a dangerous turn. We seem to have become numb to that which was detestable 50 or 100 years ago.
I witnessed something yesterday that reassures me that I am not numb. I witnessed a little girl hit by a car. I did not see the actual impact, but I saw the little girl rolling away from the car. I saw the mother gather her baby in her arms and sit in the street crying out in fear. I heard the little girls anguished cries for her mother. I saw the gold, sparkly shoes lying in the street. It is a picture I cannot remove from my mind.
I ache for this little girl and her mother, her whole family. I do not know what happened. I know that she was taken to our local hospital and then she was transported to a hospital that specializes in children's medicine. I will most likely never know the outcome.
But I am reassured that I am not numb. As I have grown in my faith, so much in our society has become unpleasant to me. I do not want to watch the movies, or the television shows.
I ache for the family...and so I pray...
In His Grace...
Are our consciences corrupted? Has our society moved so far from God's plan that we have no consciences left? Is this why so much in our society seems to have taken a downturn? Our movies are more violent than ever, our TV shows are more graphic, even our video games and cartoons have taken a dangerous turn. We seem to have become numb to that which was detestable 50 or 100 years ago.
I witnessed something yesterday that reassures me that I am not numb. I witnessed a little girl hit by a car. I did not see the actual impact, but I saw the little girl rolling away from the car. I saw the mother gather her baby in her arms and sit in the street crying out in fear. I heard the little girls anguished cries for her mother. I saw the gold, sparkly shoes lying in the street. It is a picture I cannot remove from my mind.
I ache for this little girl and her mother, her whole family. I do not know what happened. I know that she was taken to our local hospital and then she was transported to a hospital that specializes in children's medicine. I will most likely never know the outcome.
But I am reassured that I am not numb. As I have grown in my faith, so much in our society has become unpleasant to me. I do not want to watch the movies, or the television shows.
I ache for the family...and so I pray...
In His Grace...
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