Everyday Stresses

Story of the day:  Everyday Stresses

Stress can come in a variety of different forms.  It can range from money, finances, or even doubt. 

Doubts assail like gale-force winds, tossing us this way and that.  We wonder what to do, which way to turn, what direction to take.  We may even question our faith, doubting God’s goodness or even that He is there.  Like night storms, difficult circumstances terrify us, confuse us, and fill us with anxiety.  But God’s truth cuts through the darkness like the powerful beam from a lighthouse, providing warning, direction, security, and hope.

We aren’t abandoned to our doubts and uncertainties; God tells us to ask Him for wisdom, and He will answer…”gladly.”

Do you want to know what to do?  Do you desire to follow God’s way?  Do you need his wisdom for the decisions you face?

Just ask in faith.  He promises to give you His wisdom [Living Water:  for those who thirst, 2000.  Tyndale Publishing, pgs. 220-221]

Quote of the day:  Galileo

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use.”

Bible verse of the day:  James 1:5 (NKVJ)

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

The day can sometimes be a little stressful.  I pray for wisdom in knowing the right way to handle the stresses that may come my way.  I pray to be prayed up at all times so that the manner in which I handle things is done through patience and even out of love.  I thank You for this blessed day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

Wisdom in making choices

Story of the day:  Wisdom in making choices

     “A child stood gazing at a freshly opened box of chocolate candies–lips pressed together, concentrating fully upon the decision at hand.  The rule was “Only one, no more than one, but any one you want.”  Should it be the biggest one, or would the small round one be the favorite peppermint cream?  Then again, the long one might last longer.  Which to choose?  And how to decide?

     Perhaps a child’s decisions seem trivial to us adults.  Oh, we recognize that they are important to the child, but we have a broader perspective.  That is the question in making choices, isn’t it?  To have an eternal perspective on life and its decisions is to know how to choose.” Michael Green

Quote of the day:  Richard Foster

“Indeed, wisdom and discernment are among the natural results of a prayer-filled life.”

Bible verse of the day:  Proverbs 2:6

“For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;”

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I receive Your Words today and treasure the things within You.  I pray to listen to Your Wisdom and apply it with a heart full of understanding.  I pray to walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the path that You have set before me.  I thank You for this day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

Mall Walking

Story of the day:  Mall Walking

     I love to go to the mall and sit and watch people.  Each to his/her own has a unique walk.  Some walk according to how quickly they need to get to the stores with the greatest sales.  Others walk the mall just to exercise.  Some enjoy the company of others, so their walk may be a little slower as to not pass the time as quickly.  Either way, everyone has a unique walk and a different purpose for why they are at the mall. 

     “The Bible instructs us:  “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us”(Eph. 5:2) and to “walk in wisdom”(Col. 4-5).  I ask myself, “Does my walk reflect God’s love and wisdom?”  Am I “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy”? (James 3:17)  Do I have love, joy, and peace?  Am I tranquil and strong?  What do others see as I walk by?

     George MacDonald said, “If you who set yourselves to [theorize about] Christianity had set yourselves instead to do the will of the Master, the one object for which the gospel was preached to you, how different would be the condition of the part of the world with which you come into contact.”  How different indeed!

     Is your life making a difference in the lives around you?  Do others see Jesus in what you say and do?” (Roper, David)

Quote of the day:  Author Unknown

“For a Christlike walk, keep in step with Jesus.”

Bible verse of the day:  Ephesians 5:2

“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for my walk.   I pray that my walk is a resemblance of Who You are and that others may see You through it.  Father just as James 3:17 stated, may my walk remain pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  I pray that You continue to guide my walk, that I may follow the path that You are placing before me.  May I continue to walk in love and may my walk be full of wisdom so that it reflects Your Love and Wisdom.  I thank You for this day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

God shaped vacuum

                                                                                                             Story of the day:  God shaped vacuum

   The vacuum in our house has a detachable platic container that holds all of the dirt once it has been sucked up off of the ground.  The vacuum knows only what it is designed to do at the hands of it’s owner and that is to be filled  If I were to guess that if the vacuum had feelings, that it would desire a close relationship with it’s owner so that it can do what it was created to do.

   “Our God is a personal, knowable God who desires a close relationship with the people He created.  Each of us has been created with a God-shaped vacuum, an emptiness that only He can fill–a deep thirst for God. 

   We thirst for so many things–for significance, success, comfort, peace, wisdom.  But our real thirst is for a closeness to our Creator who alone can give wholeness and peace.  Only God can satisfy our deepest longings.  He offers us the water that can and will satisfy these things.  All we need to do is come and drink.”  Living Stone Corporation

Quote of the day:  J. I. Packer

“The fruit of wisdom is Christlikeness, peace, humility, and love.  And, the root of it is faith in Christ as the manifested wisdom of God.”

Bible verse of the day:  John 4:14

“but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for filling me with Your wholeness and peace that gets me through my day.  God, I pray to continually draw near to You and to seek You in my life.  I am grateful that You desire a close relationship with me and it is through our relationship that I am able to know that I am Your child and that Your love for me is greater than anything anyone else can ever offer.  I thank You for this day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

We represent

                                                                                                                                           Story of the day:  We represent

 

“We are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ…like hands fitting into a glove.  We are the glove.  He is the hand.  People see us.  They see our movement.  They see our impact.  They feel the squeeze of life, the warmth of the hand.  They can’t see Him through the glove.  And so the glove appears regularly on the surface of life.  And people spot it when there is peace in our lives, because there isn’t peace in our world.”  Ian Thomas

 

Quote of the day:  Oliver Goldsmith

 

“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.”

 

Bible verse of the day:  James 3:13

 

“Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.”

 

Prayer:

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

 

I pray to be a worthy example to those around me.  I pray that the words that I use and the actions in my life may be a gift to You and that while I am here on this Earth the things that I do please You.  Father, today I am going to think of the impact my example will have on those around me and will not take it for granted.  Give me the wisdom to live well, live wisely, and to live humbly.  I thank You for this day!

 

In Jesus Name I pray,

 

Amen

Stepping out by faith-June 11th

Story of the day:  Stepping out by faith (Kim’s Collections)

 

Sometimes I am embarrassed of how quickly I can accept a worldly idea and see it as good. Just the other day as my husband and I were listening to the news on the car radio, it said something that for a moment sounded like a great idea and I made the comment, “That’s ingenious!” But as I continued to listen (to the newsman and to God), I began to see how evil this idea really was. God’s word talks about two kinds of wisdoms: Worldly wisdom and spiritual wisdom. 1 Corinthians 3:19 says, “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Unless we know what God’s word says, we may find ourselves easily adopting the ideas of this world.

 

In the book of Ephesians, Paul prays unceasingly for the people to be given this spirit of wisdom. But this wisdom is received, according to Ephesians 1:17, in the knowledge of God through His words. I’ve heard before that in order to be able to recognize counterfeit bills, one must familiarize themselves with the real thing. God never wants us to follow after the ideas of this world, but often the worldly ideas can make more sense to us if we are filtering things through worldly wisdom and not allowing God’s spirit to give us His understanding.

 

A few years ago, My husband and I were at a crossroad and needing to make a decision about his resigning from his job of 20 years to pastor full time. I made the comment that there was a fine line between faith and stupidity. According to worldly wisdom, him walking away from a well-paid position to a financially challenged, small church was foolish. But since we committed to operate in godly wisdom through knowing the truth of His promise of provision the decision was easy and the reward was great! Just as the world’s wisdom is foolish to God, the wisdom of God is foolishness to those who don’t believe (1 Corinthians 1:18). But when God is the one leading and we are following Him, His “Peace that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds” and give us the faith to step out into the unknown confidently. We so often evaluate the ‘walk of faith’ by the degree of difficulty it is for the ‘step of faith’. The decision will be easy, but the step needs to be difficult so that we will be sure it is the walk that God has called us to.

 

Quote of the day:  Samuel Rutherford

  

“You shall find it such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird. I find that my Lord hath over gilded that black tree, and hath perfumed it, and oiled it with joy and gladness”.

 

Bible verse of the day:  Ephesians 1:17

 

 

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.”

 

Prayer:

 

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

 

I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which You have called me, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and Your incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is like the working of Your mighty strength, which You exerted in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:18-21) 

 

In Jesus Name I pray,

 

Amen

Have you lost your joy?

                                                                                                                                                                                                     Quote of the day:  Have you lost your joy?

    When we start working for God and doing the things that He has asked of us, we can get so focused on the task that we lose sight of the One that has asked us to do the task in the first place.  It’s like filling our car at the gas station.  We start out great, but after a while of trying to use our own gas, we eventually can’t run anymore except on the fumes that are remaining.  Doing things on your own and not truly seeking God’s wisdom in the matter is the quickest way to get burned out and to lose your joy.  

    My friend, when we are full of Jesus, and are continuously walking with Him, God will always be there to replenish your joy.  There may be times that you will feel like your joy is about to run out, because our flesh is weak, but God’s promise in Psalm 16:11 says that “He will show me the path of life; in His presence is fullness of joy; and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

    I love what Bruce Larson said: 

Joy is the surest sign of the presence of God.  The bottom line for you and me is simply this:  grimness is not a Christian virtue.  There are no sad saints.  If God really is the center of one’s life and being, joy in inevitable.  If we have no joy, we have missed the heart of the Good News, and our bodies as much as our souls will suffer the consequences. [There’s a Lot More to Health Than Not Being Sick]

Quote of the day:  Alexander MacLaren

“To pursue joy is to lose it.  The only way to get it is to follow steadily the path of duty, without thinking of joy, and then, like sheep, it comes most surely, unsought, and we “being in the way,” the angel of God, fair-haired joy, is sure to meet us.”

Bible verse of the day:  John 16:31

“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray that Your joy radiates deep within my soul.  God I know that it is Your promise to me that if I am walking in Your path that there is going to be joy in my life.  God I pray that I don’t steer from the path and continue following the way that You have set before me.  God, at times it can be a challenge to stay focused, with so many distractions in my life that can come my way, I pray that when they do, I am able to recognize them, and not let them hinder me in any way.  I thank You Father for joy and for sharing it with me.  I pray to be filled with it daily and to share it with others.  I thank You for this day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen