Feeling
better this week? I hope so. I know the old strongholds will raise their ugly
heads as long as we live on this fallen earth. Our Father is powerful enough,
strong enough, protective enough, loving enough, to stick with us. When we are
sidetracked from the path He has chosen for us, He will find a way to get us
back on track.
Keep looking up. Focus on Jesus when
things are falling apart. Our help comes rom Him. Our Redeemer, our Savior, our
Shepherd, our friend, the one and only Son, the perfect man, the one who fills
our hearts with all that is good. Focus on Him.
Since
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not
on earthly things. Colossians 3:1-2
Jesus,
Place
our hearts and our minds above all that drags us down. Let our gaze remain
fixed on You We can overcome the perils of this earth as Your children, alive
forever, dearly loved.
Amen
No
blogs next week. I will be praying for you. Enjoy the promise of spring and
remain fixed on Christ. See you on April 1!
Small
irritations add up and take control. A bitter root grows in our hearts. Satan’s
strongholds in our life appear to be winning. The world is suddenly or
gradually not so sunny and warm. A cool breeze takes hold of our hearts. Someone
hurt us. That person doesn’t understand. What is wrong with me? How can I go on
without them? It is easy to blame others or to blame our past.
It is convenient to look at others through
the lens of our own lives. Jesus meets us right where we are. He meets
each person’s needs in a unique and glorious way. He tugs at our heartstrings
and makes us realize we no longer need to be right, we just need to be loved. When
life becomes too difficult, we may realize we are tired of doing it on our own.
We need God. We need a Savior.
That hole in our hearts, the questions
about life and death, the search for answers, for truth, can be found in one
man. The man who was also fully God. Jesus came in sacrifice and humility. He
came to suffer greatly. He came to understand the humanness of life on earth
and to show us the way to the glory of eternal life.
The one and only perfect man took it
all. He took all of our pain and offers
us complete forgiveness and righteousness. His righteousness. God allowed Him
to become one of us and suffer as if He had committed every one of our sins and
in return offers us the holy righteousness of Christ. Wow!
But if
Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of
sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10
It is
because of him that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from
God-that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30
You are redeemed. Jesus traded place with you
and took it all. You are now the righteousness of Christ, forever forgiven,
sins washed clean as snow, forever loved, forever alive with Him.
“Come
now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they
shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18
Father,
Jesus
changed everything for us, giving us new life. We praise You for giving us Your
Son. Through the shedding of His perfect blood our sins are as white as snow,
we are forgiven as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12) There are
no words perfect enough to thank You.
In
Jesus name,
Amen
This
week we have talked about minor irritations, escalating bitterness and anger and how easily these
negative thoughts and emotions can rob us of peace and joy. When it comes right
down to it, the battle is fought within our own minds. My mind
can take off on one tangent after another, winding down roads and valleys that
leave me with no way to escape.
Many times, most times, it is in the
middle of the night. I have dealt with insomnia and anxiety for most of my life. Did I say
the wrong thing? What can I do to help her? What will I make for our weekend
away? Will I sleep? Should I get up for awhile and try to relax my mind? Now
it’s 1 o’clock, 2’o’clock etc. etc. etc.
You get the picture. You too? Praying and
reciting calming Scripture often does the trick as I give my roller-coaster
thoughts to the God of peace. In fact, there is a wonderful Scripture about
capturing each thought. I would love to do just that when my mind is running
away from me.
The Bible calls the difficulties we deal
with as individuals as “strongholds.” Satan knows and understands our
weaknesses and knows just where and how to aim his fiery arrows into our
own hearts and minds. Read through these powerful words.
The
weapons we fight are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have
divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Jesus has the answers, the knowledge, the
wisdom to demolish our damaging strongholds. He will never give up on finding
the way to complete peace and freedom for us. Trust Him. Give Him your
thoughts, ask Him for rest and peace. Memorize Scripture verses that are made
just for you. And believe He is working.
I am going to try to sleep now, resting in
His protective arms and perfect peace, trusting in Him.
He will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are set on Him, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
Father,
You
know what we need and how to provide for us. Capture every thought that does
not honor You. Give us the peace that transcends understanding. Guard our minds
when they move us in the wrong direction.
In
Jesus name,
Amen
Yesterday we gave up our worry, our anxiety
as well as our small irritations to our Lord. I remember having a discussion
with my niece some years ago. I respnded to our conversation with the common phrase,
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.” She immediately
replied, “The small stuff adds up.” So true, isn’t it? A day can start off
routinely enough, until the small irritations begin to intrude. As we focus on
the negative, on the constant noises keeping us away from peace, on the
circumstances or the people that bring us down, we will be filled with unrest.
Many
years ago, before studying the Bible in earnest, my brother, sister-in-law and
I had a falling out. The argument began innocently enough and slowly escalated
as our opinions grew more one-sided and self-involved. This minor disagreement
grew until we did not speak for several years. I can remember how it weighed on
my heart, but I just knew I was right. I would dwell on their mistakes and have
conversations in my head on what I wanted to say to them.
Sound familiar? My brother was 22 years my
senior, and luckily, we made up and enjoyed many more years of closeness before
he died from a Parkinson-like disease over 10 years ago. The Bible warns
against what we experienced. It is called a bitter root. Don’t let it take hold
of your heart.
See to it
that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to
cause trouble and defile many. Hebrews 12:15
Get rid
of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of
malice. Ephesians 4:31
Easy to see the escalation in this verse.
A bitter root can grow into slander, anger and even malice. Sounds a bit like
our culture today. Jesus is the cure and He has some good advice in this next
verse in the book of Ephesians.
Be kind
and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God
forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
Be kind. Forgive. Be compassionate. Christ
has done so much for us. He has given us eternal life and the abundant life
right now.
Father,
Keep
us from growing bitter and unkind. Give us hearts to see others as You do, to
love, to forgive, to look for the good. You understand how difficult it is for
us. We want to be right. We believe we have the answers. The truth is always
found in You.
In
Jesus name,
Amen
Our
one-year-old grandson is just learning to walk. You will typically find him crawling
speedily around the house. That is, until he spots something that stops him in
his tracks. It might be a pebble, a piece of lint, or a small string on our
wood floors. Luckily, he doesn’t put them in his mouth (obviously a brilliant
child). Instead, he will grasp the tiny item, get on his knees and hold it up
for us until we reach over and take it from his tightly pinched fingers. His
facial expression turns to one of mild disgust and he says,”eeesh.”
So adorable. How often do we get derailed
and disgusted by the smallest irritations in our day? Another driver cuts us
off, or an irritating habit of a loved one drives us crazy, or the personality
of a co-worker is becoming unbearable. The list goes on. These little “eeesh”
moments in life can move us from joy and peace and contentment and set us off
on the wrong track.
The Bible continually warns us against
fret and worry, against bitterness and anger and offers us instruction on how
to prepare and avoid them. It isn’t often I use the Amplified Bible. Its
wordiness can be burdensome, but today there is valuable emphasis added to
these favorite verses from the book of Philippians.
Do not be
anxious or worried about anything, but in everything (every situation and
circumstance) by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your
(specific) requests known to God. And the peace of God (that peace that
reassures the heart) which transcends all understanding stands guard over your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Like Gavin, let’s reach up and hand over our
“eeesh” situations and the small irritations in life to someone bigger and more
able to handle them. Let's allow Jesus to lift the damaging emotions from our hearts and our minds and allow Him to reassure us, as He guards our hearts and our minds
with His everlasting peace. And once handed over, continue on our merry way.
Lord,
Thank
You for the lessons You give us, for the teaching moments that remind us to
turn to You over and over again when we need to be lifted up and reassured. We
give it all to You and accept Your peace.
Amen
As we look to Christ through our times of joy, our times of
suffering, our times of laughter and our times of tears, we can remember the
words of King Solomon (or the rock group, The Byrds) as we read through these
words.
To
everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to
be born, and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck what is
planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to
build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to
dance. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones. A time to
embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain and a time to
lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to
sew. A time to keep silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to
hate. A time of war and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Remember to count
your blessings through this journey of life, from beginning to end. There is a
time for everything and God has placed eternity in our hearts and every good
and perfect gift is from Him.
He has
made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has placed eternity in their
hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning
to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good
in their lives, and also, that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the
good of all his labor-it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:11-13
There will be times when it is
impossible to find the blessings, but turn to Christ. He is there for every
season. And He is enough.
Father,
These beautiful words written by King Solomon remind us of the
mysteries in the heart of God. You give us seasons for everything under the
heavens and we rejoice in the good gifts You have given us. Be with us as we
laugh and as we weep, as we mourn and as we dance. Give us the strength to feel
Your eternal joy and purpose.
In Jesus name,
Amen
There will be times in life where we simply cannot find the
blessings. There will be times when we are deeply troubled and sorrowful,
anxious and alone. What do we do? Where do we go?
Jonah had good
reason to be filled with panic and anxiety. When he turned away from God and
did not follow the path as instructed by God, he found himself in the belly of
a whale. The deep darkness surrounded him for three days, until the fish spit
him out on shore.
His grateful heart
set him on the right course, determined to do God’s bidding and share God’s
truth with the evil-doers in Nineveh. Jonah understood the sacrifice it
required to praise God during the tough times.
But I,
with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will
make good. I will say, “Salvation comes from the Lord.” Jonah 2:9
Sometimes it will
take a sacrifice on our part to continue to praise our God in the midst of
tough times. Remembering the deep suffering of Jesus reminds us that He
understands sorrow. He understands pain. He took on the sins of the world.
Praise Him through it all and allow Him to share the pain. He will be our blessing in times of deep darkness and pain. Praise Him even then.
Through
Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the
fruit of lips that openly profess His name. Hebrews 13:15
Lord,
Sometimes we will share in Your sufferings. Bring good out of
our darkest days. Show us and remind us of Your glory and Your promises through
it all.
In Jesus name,
Amen
