“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19
The month of March is all about God’s promises. The world maybe celebrating luck and finding pots of gold but the Word of God and the His promises it contains are worth more than any pot of gold.
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Download the image to your phone or tablet as wallpaper or print out to keep in front of you to help memorize scripture.
Perfect LOVE drives out fear. God is perfect, God is LOVE, God is perfect LOVE and if we are anchored in Him and in His Word His love will drive out ALL fear.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8
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“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isaiah 43:18-19
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NRSV)
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
God’s mercies are new every morning. Each day God gives us is another day for us to glorify Him. We are sinners let’s face it, we fail everyday in our own strength. We miss the mark daily, we can never measure up to holiness without the Blood of Jesus Christ. God gives us a new day to start over, to get things right with Him. God is a God of second and third chances, of many, many chances. We get a “do over” everyday. After 2020 we need a “do over.” Wouldn’t you agree?
What new things are you going to do with each new day God has given you? What new things are you going to do that will draw you nearer to God? How will you kedge in 2021?
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Here’s to a Blessed New Year! Funny when I started this blog a year ago, I never in a million years would have thought 2020 would have turned out as it did. I had to go back and read those words again to remind myself God is still in control. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, well, maybe it the cynicism in me, but telling someone to be happy is like telling someone to not worry.
Happiness is a choice; so is worry. We can choose to be happy despite our feelings or our circumstances. Doesn’t mean we are doing cartwheels, but our hearts can still be thankful as hard as that may be at times. We can be thankful IN circumstances – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 because the joy of the Lord is our strength – Nehemiah 8:10 ( hmmm, that may be another blog post soon, stay tuned).
So as we enter into 2020 we can choose to advance with fear or faith, happiness or worry. And as uncertain as the future may seem, one fact remains that is certain, God still sits on the throne. He is in control. He holds our future. So what’s to fear? Fear is not from God – 1 Timothy 1:7. Will we be fearful at times? Yes! We are human and God knows this and it’s at those times He wants us to come to Him, to draw near, to toss out our kedge anchor and pull closer to Him – James 4:8-10. God is not surprised by us becoming fearful. I have tried to be “brave” in front of God. Know what? It’s exhausting. There is a quote, “When I acknowledge my fear, it loses it’s power.” (unknown). When I acknowledge my fear to my Father, it loses it’s power and I am free to live in faith. God is gracious and won’t condemn us when we become fearful – Psalm 145:8.
So instead of wishing everyone a Happy New Year, I am wishing all who read this a Blessed New Year!!
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There’s no denying it’s been a rough year; one that I am sure we all will remember and one we probably want to forget. But there is one thing thing we should remember and never forget. And that is the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. From the cradle to the grave Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for us so that we could spend eternity with Him – John 3:16.
Jesus left His rightful throne in Heaven, in glory, to be born as a human so that He could experience everything we experience here on earth. He understands our sorrow, our disappointments, our discouragements, our failures, our temptations, our physical and emotional pain. He understands our happiness, our success, He understands it all and nothing surprises Him about us, nothing goes unnoticed. He is the Alpha and Omega – Revelation 22:13.
We don’t know what the new year will have for us. But, be encouraged, God goes before us and He is before us in the future, in 2021. He is sovereign and knows all that will happen next year. As we go into 2021 and we set goal and make plans, invite God into those goals and plans. We make plans but God directs our steps – Proverbs 16:9. Resolve to “Get Hooked” on God’s Word so that when life hits you are anchored in His truths with a Hope that’s steadfast and secure. God is waiting for us to reach out to Him. I encourage you to walk into the new year with Him.
So no matter how rough the waters in the new year become, “getting hooked” in God’s Word and in His truths will anchor us so that the storm may rage but we will stand firm. And let us not forget the birth of Jesus and the sacrifices He made for us and remember the Hope that has come.
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Waiting on the Lord when you need an answer from Him, or direction, or a healing can be difficult. It’s those difficult times it seems like we are walking in a wilderness, or in still waters and we need to do some kedging (see the About page). We can’t see the light, we don’t know in what direction to turn, we search for answers to the point we become consumed with the problem. We need to consume ourselves with THE problem solver. Jesus.
So often we hear people tell us to “just give it to God”, “hand your problems to Him”, and, I like this one, “Try not to worry about it.” All given with good intent and probably for a lack of not knowing what to say. Even the Bible does tell us not to worry – Matthew 6:25 -34, but God also gives us some instruction in verse 33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness“. So when we read or hear those words, “Give it to God”, what does that look like? I believe that handing it over to God is going to vary slightly for everyone. But I do believe there are two important practices with which we can start. First, we need to pray and read God’s Word. (Those two go hand in hand) Obvious I know, but it’s how we pray; pray specifically. God knows our situation, after all He is in control and nothing surprises Him, – Hebrews 4:13, but He still waits and wants to hear from His children. So perhaps we can pray specifically for putting the right people in our paths to encourage, speak truth to us, and that our eyes and hearts are open to them. There’s a quote in a book by Ruth Chou Simons titled Gracelaced, an awesome devotional, beautifully illustrated in watercolors and photographs that takes you through the truths from God’s Word as you transition through seasons of life. There is one quote that really stood out to me. “God is more interested in your desperate need for His lamp-lit direction than your path-paving skills.” By praying and reading God’s Word, getting to know Him more, and growing closer to Him, we will begin to focus less on our current situation and more on Him and what He has to say to us. We also begin to see the light on His path, just enough for the next step. That’s all we need. Any more would overwhelm us and if we knew more than we needed, we would be relying on that knowledge and not trusting God and “His lamp-lit direction”. Besides we only have today, not yesterday, and tomorrow is history. Focus on scripture, write out a scripture verse for the day, carry it with you, memorize it, draw it, paint it, sing it, whatever is going to help you remember it. This needs to be a daily practice. And when we come out of this wilderness, hopefully we are still practicing this important step.
The second thing we can do is serve. Text a friend ask them “how can I pray for you today?” and pray for them. A handwritten note is always encouraging and who doesn’t like to get a nice surprise in the mail? Ask to serve at church, a local non-profit, look to your neighbors, ask a friend if you can babysit so they can have a date night, mow a lawn, etc. I know serving may look different in this current state of lockdown and limited mobility. But there are ways to get creative. It may be just serving your family at home. Serving others helps get our minds off ourselves and our problems.
“God is more interested in your desperate need for His lamp-lit direction than your path-paving skills.”
Ruth Chou Simons
This is not to say that worry isn’t going to creep in. If you’re like me, “ok God, not going to worry about this, this is yours to handle, Amen.” LOL right? Ten seconds later, I’m back where I started. That’s ok. We. Are. Human. And once again, God isn’t surprised. So we need to recognize our worry and hand it back over to God with a prayer of asking for forgiveness and moving forward. Pick up the verse you wrote down and read it again, this time from memory, if you can. This is also not to say we can’t do anything at all. If it’s a financial struggle, a health issue, a relationship issue, a spiritual battle, whatever it is we are trying to navigate, we can still do a part. For example, if it’s a health issue, we can research healthy ways to combat it or search for a doctor that specializes in the health issue, but what we can’t do is obsess over it. And we will, from time to time, find ourselves obsessing. That’s when we need to repent and release it back to God. Walk away from it, regain our focus. As it was said in Hope for the Future Part 2, “While it’s good to plan and prepare responsibly, it’s bad to dwell and worry about all the ways our planning could go wrong.”
So when we feel like we are wandering or sailing in uncharted waters, seeking God’s “lamp-lit direction” by “kedging” (spiritual kedging) or pulling closer to Him, seeking Him in His Word daily, we allow God to show us the light and lead us in the right direction.
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This blog is all about Hope. God, the giver of Hope. When we find ourselves in troubled waters we need assurance there is Hope. God is in the troubled waters. The troubled waters can last for days to years. I know that doesn’t sound very hopeful. Take heart, things do change, some things take time to change and God is in control of that change. It’s in the movement, the uncomfortable places of transformation that we can find hope.
We all want to be in places of peace and calm, where there are no worries and things are going swimmingly. Our plans are unfolding nicely and we think we have it all figured out. Then, the tide changes. A storm suddenly wells up and churns our calm sea. Stop and pause for a moment. Where is the battle raging? The sea (your situation) or your mind? If you’re fighting the rough waters, trying to navigate, losing your way, trying to find some light, a way out and you’re starting lose hope, becoming weary and tired, depleted and discouraged, if that’s where you are, you’re fighting the wrong battle. You’re fighting something you have no control over. Stop.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
If God is in control, then you are wrestling God. Stop. Stop fighting God. Not that, that’s wrong. Now you’re probably about to say, “And just let the waters take me and toss me around?” Well, no. There are some things you can do. First recognize where the battle is really taking place. Be it a health issue, the loss of a loved one, a financial issue, an issue with a child, relationship, job related; those all represent the churning sea. God is using those situations to transform us. So what we need to do next, is fix our eyes, (verse) minds on Jesus, by the renewing of our minds (renewing of the mind verse) There is going to be little we can do to change our situation and wrestling God or the lies of Satan, that will just wear us out. Know that Satan is at work trying to keep you one degree off your navigation, but God says He will never leave us or forsake us. (verse) Sometimes the battle is harder to fight when the lines blur and we are trying to justify our situation so that we don’t have to change, because it’s just easier not to change. And really, who wants to change an already comfortable situation, perhaps? But, look at how hard you’re working NOT to change. Transformation can be painful. but, it’s worth it and once the transformation happens, life becomes easier. But, KNOW that God is working to use whatever situation you are in to transform you into more like Him. That’s His ultimate goal, but He is also working in other areas of our lives to grow us. – Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” NIV
Next, it’s the movement, even if you need to wrestle with God, and sometimes that’s ok, you’re not gonna win but what will come out of it is newness. Sitting in those calm still waters we can become stagnant, no change, no growth, really going nowhere. But it’s in the movement of those churning waters we learn to navigate uncharted waters or a new way to navigate in the same churning waters.
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It’s crazy. Isn’t it? The way things are going? What once was good is now considered bad. What once was bad is now good. And the Bible teaches us through prophesy in the Old Testament and in the book of Revelation about the end times. But yet, sometimes I gotta shake my head and say to myself, “Really?” Yah, really.
Often times, I am at a loss how to deal with things. It’s really confusing. And praying. Well, I really am not sure how to pray in these times. How does one pray for the days that are to come, if we are, and I believe we are embarking on the outskirts of the last days.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure …”
Hebrews 6:19 (NIV)
2 Timothy 3: 1-5 (NIV) “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
The KJV uses the word perilous for terrible. The greek word for perilous, *chalepos – hard to do or bear, 5467 xalepós (an adjective, derived from xaleptō, “to oppress, annoy,” J. Thayer) – properly, irksomely hard to bear (LS); fiercely difficult to cope with because so harsh (even injurious). Kinda what we are seeing and experiencing today, isn’t it?
Titus 2:11-12 (NIV) – “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” Well, the Bible does teach us how we should live and be. Self-controlled, upright and live godly lives. But we need each other, we need encouragement from each other as Paul encouraged the people of Corinth and as he received letters of encouragement from the people whilst in prison.
The book of Titus goes on to say in verse 13, “… while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, there is Hope. Hope for the soul, Hebrews 6:19 – “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure …”
It’s hard not to be discouraged and just sad at the events that take place, the headlines, the social media posts, the injustice. And the Bible does tell us to not be discouraged. Joshua 1:19 reminds of that as well as Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” There’s that word again, hope. We have HOPE! And that HOPE will be with us wherever we go! The future I believe is our home in Heaven and for the present day, God has plans for us today, to live self controlled and upright godly lives. If we just love the Lord our God and our neighbor, the rest falls into place.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.“
Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
It sounds simple, huh? It is and it isn’t. Seek God and His Word for answers and comfort. And I encourage to seek counseling. There are many Christian counselors out there and meetings can be done remotely. If we try to do it in our own strength we won’t make it. There will be days we want to lash out, scream, shout, ggggrrrrrr! It’s not easy some days. We need encouragement in these terrible, perilous times. We don’t have to like it or agree with it. We need to resolve with ourselves to lead godly and upright lives. And we can only do that by walking with God and by encouraging each other.
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Resources
*https://biblehub.com/greek/5467.htm
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