Happy Monday! The New FaceBook Page is up and running. Please join us in a 30 Day Gratitude Challenge for the month of November. It’s not too late to be thankful.
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How many times have we all prayed a prayer, “Father, please be with…” I started to think, why do we ask that? We already know that God is omnipresent. Deuteronomy 31:8 “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Jeremiah 23:24 – “Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.”
Think back to the Garden when God came looking for Adam. He was there. Nothing goes unseen by God. So why do we feel the need to ask? Habit perhaps?
So maybe there’s a better way to pray. I realize I don’t need to ask but to recognize whether I feel His presence or not, He is with me. I know this because the Bible says so, so many time throughout scripture. I thank God for His being with me, for His omnipresence, that He will never leave me or forsake me and I acknowledge that He said so in His Word. I thank Him for being with whomever is needing prayer at the moment, because I know He is. He promised to never leave us or forsake us.
If God says this in the Old Testament and repeats it again in the New Testament, then He not only means it but it pertains to us still today. Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
We have a big God. Thank Him for being ever so present.
Happy Friday! I used to get my undies in a bunch over messes, dirty dishes, and my home not ready for Better Homes and Gardens to come in a take amazing pictures of my home. But who lives like that? I have wasted too much energy on trying to have my home perfect and always looking like a magazine. What I learned, it’s ok that my house isn’t perfect, it’s ok that I have piles of books and papers on the kitchen counter. It’s ok I have baskets of dirty laundry and clean laundry. It’ ok the bed went unmade. And it’s really ok the sink has dirty dishes, it means we ate. Some folks don’t have that luxury. The fact that I have a mess and dirty dishes in the sink means I have been out living life, doing things, living the life God gave me. Those messes will get taken care of when someone has the time to clean them.
Ok so my house isn’t a pig sty. I do clean. But I stopped to evaluate what was most important, people or a messy home. My home may have a mess here and there, but it’s a clean mess. I try not to take for granted that I am healthy enough to make a mess and clean it. So I wrote a little poem to help remind me. Enjoy. (ok it’s a little off, but so is my house)
I am thankful for the dirty dishes
in my sink,
for I am healthy enough to dirty them,
eat and drink.
I am thankful for the dirty clothes in the basket,
for I’m healthy enough to dirty them,
and nothing but washing will mask it.
I am thankful for the messes that lie about,
un-made beds, a pile of clothes , papers strewn – a thought without,
for I am healthy enough to make those messes.
Now I pray for the energy to clean,
as the Lord continues to blesses.
©thekedganchor.com2022
First, I just want to ask all you out there to continue to keep Florida in your prayer as they recover from the devastation Ian has left behind. God sees all that has happened He was, He is and He always will be in the midst of any storm we face. Thank you for your prayers
Thank you to all of you who have either subscribed or just liked any of the posts here on The Kedge Anchor. If anyone here follows The Kedge Anchor on social media such as Facebook please note there will be a new Facebook page coming soon. Facebook has made some changes to pages and inadvertently somehow it was set up wrong when scrolling through the changes and Facebook doesn’t make it easy to undo changes so it’s a new page.
The only thing changing really is the link and hopefully more engagement. Instagram for now will remain the same.
Thank you to all who follow The Kedge Anchor.
Anchor in Hope!
Happy Monday. We all could use a little peace in our hearts these days. Jesus has that covered.
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
James 1:19 NLT
It’s hard to be a good listener. Someone says something that triggers us. We want to stop someone in their train of thought, in their tracks to either correct them, express our disdain or just force our opinion on them. When that’s not what the Bible is telling us. Not letting someone speak and interrupting is just, well, it’s rude. Sometimes we do it because we don’t want to forget what we want to say. Well, if you happen to forget, maybe it’s for a reason. Has that happened to you then later, it comes back to you. That can be a good thing, now you have the chance to evaluate what was said and your response. Now maybe if it is something critical and ground breaking you have the opportunity to sort it out for yourself before you go spewing out words that you either regret or at this point irrelevant.
You’ve heard it before, “God gave us two ears and one mouth” for a reason. He wants us to listen more, to Him and others. “Quick to listen.” The word quick in the original Greek, ταχύς tachus takh-oos’ means; of uncertain affinity; fleet, i.e. (figuratively) prompt or ready:–swift. The word prompt stuck out to me. Prompt – being on time, punctual (Wordnik). So once again I began to think. When we are listening and the other person says something that triggers us to interrupt that should be a prompt. Just as the definition says “on time”, like an actor has a cue to deliver a line or an action, we need to be prompt in delivering silence.
This gives us the opportunity for the next part, to be slow to speak and slow to anger. What’s more important to have your opinion expressed or to just let the other person have their say regardless if it triggers something in you? When the other person is talking you then have the opportunity to ask questions. Try asking a question about that trigger. Ask why they feel that way, what lead to that conclusion, maybe the other person has a valid point, maybe they can give you more information to form your own opinion. If the other person is a good listener he or she will give you the opportunity to respond.
If the trigger is something that really rubs you the wrong way, pray about it. Ask God how you should respond. Pray for the other person. This can be a hard thing to do but it’s what God asks us to do, James 1:19. He also tells us to Pray about everything, Philippians 4:6 -“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” And as hard as it can be to keep our mouths shut and our ears open, Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” And this can be applied to James 1:19 because it’s what God is asking us to do.
“And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Genesis 41:52 (KJV)
The story of Joseph is one of favorite Bible stories. Who can’t relate to someone throwing you in a pit? We can do that to ourselves by the poor choices we make. But when someone else throws you in a pit… I mean come on, how unfair is that? Which makes me want to be more aware of how I treat others.
If you aren’t familiar with Joseph’s story it can be found in Genesis 37- 47. Here is a quick synopsis. Joseph had eleven brothers who were jealous of him because his father Jacob, loved him best. Jacob had made Joseph a bright coat of many colors that didn’t sit well with his brothers and to make matters worse, Joseph had a dream that he would rule over his family one day. (Joseph was only seventeen at the time.) This angered his brothers even more.
So the brothers decided strip Joseph of his coat and throw him in a pit and kill him. But his brother Judah convinced his brothers to sell him to slavery. They killed a goat, dipped it in the goat’s blood and went to their father and lied saying that Joseph was killed by a wild beast.
Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Potiphar’s wife was trying to get Joseph to sleep with her, Joseph refused to sleep with the Potiphar’s wife, Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of rape. When he escaped Potiphar’s wife held on to his coat to “prove” he was with her. And once again, Joseph was thrown into prison. But the Lord was with Joseph. While in prison the prison keeper found favor in Joseph and put him in charge of other prisoners.
You really have to read this for yourself. Eventually Joseph was second to the Pharaoh. Joseph knew a famine was coming and began to store grain for the famine that would last seven years. Joseph’s family would need to go to Joseph for food, but when they see Joesph they don’t recognize him, BUT Joseph recognizes his brothers.
The point here is despite being thrown in multiple pits, the Lord was with Joseph and made him fruitful in his afflictions. There are a few things I have learned about Joseph. One, if you have something to share that God has given you, such as a vision like Joseph, be careful who you tell it to. Joseph was young and his father’s favorite. He probably may or may have not picked up on his brothers’ dislike for him. So being immature telling his dream about him ruling over them wasn’t going to be well received. A mature person would have been sensitive to this.
Another thing I have learned; there is going to be a time here on earth when God’s Word is going to be scarce, whether or not we will see this happen I don’t know. “Give us this day our daily bread …” Matthew 6:5-15. Just as Joseph stored up food for a famine perhaps the “food” could be applied today as God’s Word. Matthew 6:19 – 21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Perhaps we need to store spiritual food in our hearts and minds for days of “famine.” Treasures in this case being the Word of God. Having scripture tuck away in your heart can help you in any situation, not just a famine of God’s Word. It could be a time when you are thrown into a pit or going through a hardship.
The third thing I have learned is that since God asks us to come to Him with prayers and petitions, Philippians 4:6 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Why can’t we ask God to allow us to be fruitful in our affliction? We may not be rulers over people like Joseph but we can be fruitful in ways that we may never have imagined. Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Romans 12:12 says – “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
This could give us a new perspective on our afflictions or trials, to allow God to grow us, to use us to help someone else, to use us for His glory. The Kedge Anchor offers Memorize Monday to help with memorizing scripture with coloring pages. Perhaps there is another method or an app to help with scripture memorization share it here in the comments.
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