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“Which ‘Bird’ Are You Feeding?”

Do you enjoy time in nature?  How do you feel when you are able to spend time in nature?  There are so many things that we can learn from nature.  If we really take the time we can “read” and learn so many spiritual lessons.  I believe God has given us nature as a second book He can communicate with us through.  Just like we should spend time in God’s Word, we should also spend time in nature “reading” it as well.

A friend was sharing with me just recently about a bird’s nest she had been watching.  The little eggs and the mother were so cute.  She was not sure what kind of bird it was but she enjoyed watching.  As the number of eggs increased she noticed that one egg was bigger than all the rest.  That was interesting to her but she could not understand why.  Finally, the day came when the eggs hatched.  She noticed that one of the birds was way larger than the others.  The little birds disappeared and all that remained was the big bird.  She talked with a friend and that is when she learned something that she did not know.  The big egg and big bird were a cowbird.  If she would have only realized she could have gotten rid of the large egg and all would have been well.

Cowbirds are not a very pleasant bird.  What they do is they lay their egg in another bird’s nest.  The mother doesn’t realize the danger.  She proceeds to protect and keep her eggs warm.  When the birds hatch the cowbird baby takes over and ends up destroying the other babies.  The cowbird is so much bigger it ends up taking all the food that comes.  He has the big wide-open mouth and the little tiny birds can’t even get past his body to get food to survive.  The mother ends up feeding this cowbird baby only.  It is a very difficult job for her because the baby is so much bigger than her own babies would have been.  She has to work very hard to supply the need.

It makes me think about our lives as a Christian.  We learn about God and we begin to lay our “eggs”, prayer, Bible reading, scripture memorization, listening to and doing what God tells us, etc.  But somewhere along the way the “Cowbird”, devil, comes along and places something into our lives.  He may draw us with what we are eating, watching, listening to, reading, who we spend our time with, etc.

We don’t seem to pay attention to the things that we have gotten caught up in.  We are just “sitting” on the “eggs” keeping them warm so that they will hatch.  We try to foster all the different things in our lives.  A lot of times we even know better but we want to ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit because we are really enjoying ourselves.  We argue with ourselves saying, “I am still spending time with God, praying, memorizing scripture, etc.  I am okay.

What we don’t notice is that the “big egg”, bad choices, is taking up more of the “nest”, our lives, than the other “small eggs”, the good choices.

Eventually what happens is the “eggs hatch” and the “big bird”, wrong choices, is so strong that it shoves out the “little birds”, good choices, out of our lives.  The things that draw us closer to the Lord start to diminish while the things the devil has tempted us with and we have given into, take over.

Whatever “bird” we feed the most grows.  If we feed the lust of our flesh it will grow larger and larger.  If we feed on the things of God our spiritual lives will grow.  It is our choice.  We have more power than we think or want to admit.  We have the power of choice.  God cannot make us choose.  Once we choose He can give us the power to overcome.

Dear Father,

Forgive us for being blind to the “large birds” in our lives that are crushing out the “little birds”.  We find ourselves many times if we are willing to admit, feeding those things that are displeasing to You.  Continue to prompt our hearts to focus on the things of righteousness and to take our focus off the things of this world.  Thank You for Your patience with us.  Thank You that as we choose Your ways, You give us the power to accomplish Your ways.  Thank You for Your promises that we can claim through the hard times.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Which “bird” are you feeding?  Give it some serious thought.  Recommit your life to God today.

Love you all.

Do you have a story from nature?  What spiritual application did the Lord show you?  Share it with us.

 

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“I Can’t Believe It, I Blew It Again!”

Have you ever felt frustrated because you blew it again?  I believe, on the most part, we are probably hardest on ourselves.  Maybe you have an area in your life that you are trying to over come.  Or maybe you are learning something new and you get so frustrated because you keep not getting it.

I have recently taken on a job I have never done before.  I work at a print shop and they are training me in to run their Digital department.  You wouldn’t think it is any big deal but I have found there are a lot of details that you have to make sure are in place.  If you just miss one detail it can be a misprint and you have to start it all over again.

The other day, because I missed one detail, I set to print 200 books instead of 100.  Fortunately I ran out of paper so I ended up printing 50 over rather than 100.  My boss is so gracious.  Of course he talks to me about where I went wrong and to make sure that I pay attention to all the little details but he was very kind.

For me though, it was agony.  I couldn’t quit thinking about what I had done.  This is not my first mistake, just my biggest.  I keep thinking he needs to just let me go but apparently he sees potential in me.

I remember when he hired me what he said, “I would rather hire a good person, one with integrity, fast, and conscientious, with no knowledge and train them.  Those that I can hire with knowledge are not always good game players.  I want people who are good people who can work together with others, making a good team.”

Basically what I got out of the things that he said was that education can tend to make a person stuck in their own ways and it is hard to change them into what you are wanting for your own business.  They can be in a mindset and it is hard to get them out of it.

We had a production meeting after my bigger mistake.  I wondered how it would go.  He let me know that he appreciated my work and that he was very pleased with what I am doing, being that I have come in with no knowledge.  It blew my mind, because I was thinking I might fire me if I was him.

As I was pondering this it made me think of Jesus.  If you have grown up as a Christian it is like you have received an education in Christianity.  You think you know because you have been a “Christian” all your life.  The reality is that God has a harder time using those of us who are more “educated”.  We tend to be set in our ways and God has a hard time changing us.  Oh, He has the power to change us but we get in the way.

The question is does He really have our heart or are we just going through the motions of Christianity?  How does God deal with our mistakes?  If we have pre-knowledge we are held more accountable for our mistakes.  Does God deal with us differently?  I do believe so.  If we have knowledge of the truth and we go against that knowledge that is willful disobedience.  So the big question is, “Who has the heart?”  And can God still forgive us?

Then I think of those that are “uneducated”.  They didn’t grow up knowing anything of Christianity.  So when they hear the gospel message they are amazed.  When they accept the truth they are moldable.  They are like an innocent child.  They take it all in willingly without any preconceived ideas.  God is able to work with them easier because they don’t have any pre-knowledge that hinders them.  We need to become “as little children” Matthew 18:3.

How does God look at their mistakes?  “And the times of this ignorance God winked at;…. Acts 17:30.  When a person is new at the truth and learning God looks at their mistakes differently.  But as they grow and learn they become more responsible.  It is still about “Who has the heart?”  It just seems that those with less education and knowledge have a more willing heart to learn.

What I am grateful for is no matter what category we may fall in God is forgiving, long-suffering and gracious.  Are we willing to accept what He offers us?

  1. He offers forgiveness. He wants to forgive us every time we make a mistake.  Gratefully if we ask He always forgives and He is kind and gracious.
  2. He offers strength. If we come to Him each day asking for His guidance, protection, and strength for the day He will provide it.  We need to accept His strength because we are not strong enough without it.
  3. Become as little children. We need to be teachable like a little child.  Little children ask a lot of questions because they are eager to learn.  We should be like little children always eager to learn.  And accept what God tells us just like a little child accepts our answers to their questions without hesitation.  The most wonderful part is God does not get annoyed with us as we do with our little ones.  He is there to teach us all the things we need to learn.
  4. Be humble.Too many times when we have done wrong we want to make excuses.  When we see we have done wrong we need to humble ourselves.  If we accept that we have done wrong we can learn from it.

Dear Father,

Please forgive us for taking Your kindness, mercy and graciousness for granite.  Thank You for Your love.  Thank You for Your continued patience.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember no matter how many mistakes you have made God is always forgiving.  Go to Him today and He will forgive and give you the strength you need to make it through.

Love you all.

Have you ever felt like you blew it again and there was no hope?  How did God see you through?

 

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“Get Into The Light!”

It seems with the busy life of today it is really hard to get outside and spend time in the sun.  If you have a garden or need to do some yard work you might find the time.  But to just lay out in the sun, forget it, we don’t have time.  What we don’t realize is the benefit of the sun.

I have been writing about the “BALANCED” life.  Today I am going to focus on “L” for Light.  When I am talking about light I am talking about the natural light of the sun.  It is the best kind of light that we can have.

So the question is, “How important is it to get out into the sunlight?”

  • Increases vitamin D levels.  That being said it is really hard for us to get the amount of vitamin D that we need just getting into the sun.  I definitely recommend that you ask you doctor to test you levels.  Most people need supplementation.
  • It increases our ability to handle stress.  Along with the vitamin D that helps with stress, sunlight helps as well.  Being in the sun can help you relax.
  • Depression can be eliminated. Now it does depend on what kind of depression you are talking about.  If you are so depressed that you are having trouble functioning get professional help.  The sunlight can still be wonderful but you need professional help along with it.  For those of us that may have days where we just are feeling a little down get out in the sun.

It seems that it is getting harder and harder to even get out in the sunshine.  Most of us go from home to work and the only sun we get is through the window of our car. It may make you sweat but it doesn’t benefit you unless it has direct contact.

We all have a day or two off each week and we need to make sure to get out in the sun on those days.  This still will not be enough to give you the vitamin D that you need but it will still be beneficial.  And be careful not to get a sunburn.

Here are some tips:

  • Write it into your schedule. Things that are scheduled get done.  So set aside a little time each day and get out into the sunshine.  You will find it to be very uplifting.
  • Don’t wear sunscreen. Your probably are thinking, “What? Your crazy!!”  You do need to wear sunscreen when you are out for long periods of time.  But if you have sunscreen on you will not get the benefits that you need from the sun.  Just spend about 5 to 10 minutes without it, and then put some on.  I would highly recommend something more natural than what you get at the grocery store.  You can contact me for some ideas on some sunscreen.
  • Make sure to attend to burns. If you do make the mistake of spending too much time in the sun without proper protection make sure to do something soothing for the skin.  One thing I really like to do is take some good healthy none scented lotion and add some lavender essential oil drops rub it carefully on.  It is so soothing.
  • Take a vitamin D supplement. The truth is we cannot get enough vitamin D in the sun.  Make sure to get your levels checked by your doctor and then supplement if you need to.

I am so grateful for the sun.  It was given to us for a reason.  Of course we need to be BALANCED in all things.  Just because it is a good thing does not mean more is better.

Dear Father,

Thank You for the sun that you gave us.  You have made everything we need to have a good healthy life.  Just like we can’t do without the sun we need Your Son to give us spiritual health as He shines on us.  Thank You for Your love for us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Get out in the sunshine starting today.

What benefits have you received when you spend time in the sun?

 

 

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“Well, That’s Just A Small Things!”

Have you ever felt that God does not answer your prayers?  You keep praying and praying about a particular thing but nothing happens.  At least we think nothing happens.

What I have found is that God is working every day in my life but I fail to see it a lot of times.  What we do is take for granite all the good that comes our way.  We don’t realize the good things are blessings from God.  We tend to look for big things rather than seeing all things.  If the blessing isn’t big we think of the blessing as just what life brings us.

On the other hand a lot of times we look at the bad things that come our way and whether it is a big thing or a little thing we tend to blow it out of proportion and the majority into the “big” category.  The devil brings the bad to try to discourage us.  God allows them to try to teach us to trust Him.  We are really such a stubborn people.

The other thing we don’t really want to think about is that some of the bad that comes into our lives we have actually brought upon ourselves.  We think that we can make any choice in life and God will make things turn out good, even though, we brought it on ourselves.  God does help us through our foolish mistakes but He doesn’t always remove the consequences.

I want to share what might seem like a little miracle that God did for our family.  This was something that I shared on Facebook a while back but it bares repeating.  Our family has gone through some really hard financial struggles.

“I debated whether or not to share this but I can’t help myself when it comes to sharing what God does. We have run into some hard times so we have been going to the food bank. My son, Caleb, was planning to make bean soup. He asked me if I thought I could get some greens after I went to the food bank, being one of the ingredients. I told him I would see what I could do. He proceeded to put the rest of the ingredients together. And as the Lord always works, when I got to the food bank looked at what was there they had just what we needed. I was able to get three big bags. There wasn’t much more food than that for what we eat but the Lord wasn’t done. I was just ready to walk up and check out when a whole bunch of other fresh things came in, lettuce, tangerines, and fresh-cut mango. I even had a lady come up and say can you use this orange juice. They were small containers. I said how many is allowed. She said just take this whole case. There were 24. They even had some vegan sour cream that Jeffrey had request for his birthday meal to go with burrito casserole, that we are celebrating this Friday. Some may call it chance but I call it God.”

Dear Father,

Help us to see You at work in our lives.  Prompt our minds each day with the blessings.  We can be such a negative people.  Help us to look at life through Your eyes.

Thank You for Your love and for all the things that You do for us each day.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I would challenge you to get a blessing journal and start writing down the blessings that come your way each day.

Love you all.

What blessings has God done for you?  Please share in the comments.  It is the sharing the blessings with others that will help us grow as well as encourage others.

 

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“Should I Show Respect To Trump?”

It seems that our world is in such a mess.  If we look back to what this world was like 50, 60, or 70 years ago things seem way different.  We can see that the change has come gradually.  So gradual that a lot of us haven’t even noticed, until suddenly we woke up one day and said, “What happened?”  Nothing as big as this happens overnight.  The devil knows that if he would have brought things on suddenly none of us would have accepted or been deceived by it.

It is one thing to recognize that there is evil in this world but it is another to dwell upon it.  I believe that the unfallen Angels of God did not even really recognize the evilness of sin until Christ was hanging upon the cross.  At that point they could see the real evilness of the devil. We cannot really recognize the evilness of sin unless we focus our attention on Christ and Him crucified.

It was my sin and your sin that put Him there.  It is our sin’s that crucify Him afresh every time we choose to do things that are displeasing in His sight. (See Hebrews 6:6)

Does God really care about how I take care of this temple that He wants to dwell in?  Absolutely!  He cannot dwell in a polluted place.  So what do I need to do so that my temple is not polluted?  “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  1Corinthians 10:31.  There are many aspects that can be addressed here but I am going to just focus on “whatsoever ye do”.  I just want to be clear that all is important.

I want to talk about the spirit of the law.  The letter of the law is important to obey.  Some may think that the letter of the law is easier to keep.  “What it says in black in white I will do.”  But the reality is keeping the letter of the law means nothing without the spirit of the law.

If I choose to obey the command, “Thou shalt not kill.” But show hate and anger toward ANYONE, it is the same as killing.  It is hard for our brain to comprehend and wrap our brains around.  But if we study the life of Christ and focus to be more like Him we will treat all people with the same respect.

Christ loves all people and we are supposed to do the same.  It does not matter what they do or say to us we need to love them.  We cannot do this without the power of Christ love.  But we have to surrender self to God and allow Him to love through us.  We cannot do it on our own.

The political bashing from Christians astounds me.  How should we talk about or treat those people who are doing and saying things we don’t agree with?

I think of David when Saul was chasing him.  Saul was trying to kill him but David refused to raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed.  I cannot recall a verse where he even spoke badly about him.

I think of Daniel.  He served in 3 different kingdoms.  He was taken captive by one kingdom, then that kingdom was invaded and taken over by another kingdom and so on.  How could he serve in a high position in each one of those kingdoms?  I believe one reason was that God was with him.  But I also believe it was because, it did not matter which power was in place, he treated them as the Lord’s anointed.

God is the one that allows those into office that He would have and He takes down others.  Ultimately He has the last word.  So the reality is God has placed Trump there.  What I think about him does not even come into the equation.  But how I treat him or talk about him does.

Remember all people were created by God and are loved by Him.

There is another aspect that I want to point out in Daniel.  The reason Daniel was in captivity was because Israel had not been following God, as they should have been.  Daniel was a very godly man.  We don’t read anything that would indicate that he did anything evil in the sight of God.  Yet, when he prayed about the sins of his people, he includes himself.  “Dear Lord, We have sinned.”  It is easy to point out the sins of our churches but the reality is we should be crying and sighing for the abominations we see in Christianity and we should include ourselves in those prayers.  We have all sinned.  I believe this to be true for our country as well.  We should be praying for the sins of our country and include ourselves in it as well.

We can get so caught up in being right and pointing fingers that we don’t love a Jesus loves.  The only way we can love as He loved is to allow Him to love through us.  But we have to surrender ourselves.  If we cannot learn to speak well of and to love these people now, when things happen that affect our lives in a negative way we will not love and speak well of them.

We need to pray for our leaders.  Whether they be political or church leaders.

A true Christian will be known by their love.

Dear Father,

We need Your love.  It is so easy to point fingers but in reality we are not any different from those we may be pointing fingers at.  We are all sinners in need of You.  Help us to focus on surrendering our lives to You.  Prompt us to pray for those that are leaders.  You have loved us with an everlasting love; help us to do the same.  We cannot do this without You.  Fill us with Your love and compassion.  As we see the leaders, whether leaders of the country, church or even our bosses, help us to see You hanging on the cross for them.  Thank You for the love and compassion that you show each one of us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Let’s surrender all to God and have compassion for those around us.  Remember God has the final say.

Love you all.

I know what I have shared here does not seem politically correct.  What are your thoughts?  Please share respectfully.

 

 

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“You Can’t Trust Your Vision!!”

Have you ever looked at an example and everything seems so right so you followed it?  Your eyes, senses and every fiber of your being made it seem right but you discover after a time that it was totally wrong.

I am working at a print shop.  I run the digital copy.  You have to set everything up on the computer that speaks to the digital machine and thus you make your product.  It sounds easy but there are a lot of things you have to make sure you do right or it could turn out wrong.

One of the most important things is to read the jacket.  Every job comes with what we call a jacket.  Inside the jacket can be artwork or a sample of what the job is.  But the most important information is on the outside of the jacket.  It gives specific information.  For example, what kind of paper to use, what size the paper should be, whether your printing black and white or color, or whether it is printed on one side of the paper or two sides, just to name a few.

The other day I got the jacket and scanned over it.  I seen it was a spiral bound book.  In the jacket was a sample so I pulled it out and look at it.  I thought, “Great this is going to be an easy one because the pages are just one-sided.”  I was in a rush to get gone because I had an appointment to go to.  So I set it all up and started printing.

After it was done printing I had a question so I went to the guy that has been training me in and he looked at what I had failed to pay close attention to, the front of the jacket.  The sample was a one-sided print but the instructions on the jacket was a two-sided print.  I missed comparing the sample to the instructions.

I went to my boss about the mistake.  Here I had printed several pages and it was wrong.  When He looked at the jacket and the sample.  He even had some confusion on what it needed to be.  The jacket instructions seemed a little confusing.  But after looking things over thoroughly and talking to the one that had put the job together I figured it out.

This reminds me of our Christian walk. We have an instruction book, the Bible.  We need to be thoroughly studying the “jacket” (Word of God).  We cannot go by what we see or hear.

In this world today there can be so many things that we can get caught up in.  It can sound amazing and look amazing but is it really a true “sample” of truth.

There can be so many false things that are out there for us to get caught up in.  Some of those things may be perfectly harmless in and of themselves.  But is it keeping us from focusing on the things we really should be, the true directions for life (God’s Word).

It says in Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christ, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”  We are in a time where we need to keep our focus on the study of the Word of God.  So that we can be so grounded in the true information that we will not be thrown off by what we see or hear.

I don’t think we begin to realize how closely Satan can make things look so real and right that it is very deceiving.  We cannot go by our senses.  We have to go by the truth of God’s Word only.

I could have totally done the job correctly if I had just gone by the instructions written rather than looking at the sample.  I would have been way farther ahead.  If I had been thoroughly studied in the truth of the jacket I would not have been thrown off by the false of the sample.

In the same way if we stay focused on the truth of the Word of God we will not be thrown off by the counterfeits that come our way.  But if we are spending our time focusing on the world and it’s counterfeits we are going to be unknowingly swept in to untruth, which can lead to final disaster.  The devil doesn’t care what rabbit trail he gets us going down, just as long as we are not focused on what we should be.

I was grateful that my boss was so understanding.  When we come to God and admit our mistakes, asking forgiveness He is so understanding as well.

Just like I needed to look at all the aspects of the jacket to know the truth, here a little there a little.  The same is true of the Bible.  We can’t make our decision based on one verse.  We need to study it carefully, here a little and there a little.

I also could not have figured out the jacket unless I had gone to the one who had put it together.  We are not going to understand what we study in the Bible unless we go to God asking for guidance.  Then the Holy Spirit will come and enlighten our eyes.  And those things that have seemed confusing will become clear.

Dear Father,

Help us to realize how important it is to stay focused on Your Word.  Help us to realize the sensational things that we can get caught up in can lead us in a direction to take us off the focus we should have.  Thank You for Your love and Your patience with us.  Continue to guide us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep in the Word, it is the safest place to be.

Love you all.

Have you experienced a “rabbit trail” in your life at times?  What happened to help you get back on track?  What do you do to try to stay on track?

 

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“Memories!”

We all have memories of something or someone.  They may be good memories or bad memories.  I am sure that every one of us have things in our growing up years that we wish were not there.

Unfortunately, we live in a sinful world and nothing ends up as perfect as we would like.  We may even have bad feelings toward our parents and their mistakes.  But one thing that I have found is once I had kids of my own those feelings about my parents’ mistakes vanished.  It is not easy being a parent.  I know there is some pretty evil stuff that happens to kids but I am not referring to those things.  I believe the worst things are not as common as the more general mistakes that take place.

I like to dwell more on the good things from my childhood.  And I hope my children will try to do the same.  There are many pleasant things that I can remember growing up.  And I am sure we all can think of things.

I spent this last weekend in an area near where I grew up.  It is in an area where there are rolling fields of grain.  There is a beauty in the rolling fields of grain.  At a certain time of year it is a beautiful green.  Then near the end of the summer the golden grain is beautiful.  As the breeze is blowing and you look across a field and you watch it and it looks like waves, it is beautiful.  Every stage is beautiful and perfect.

It brought back warm memories.  I love where I live now in the mountains with trees but there still is a beauty to the fields.

It also made me think of many things.  So many things in the Bible are connected with fields.  I think of the disciples walking by a field, taking the heads of grain and taking out the grain and eating it.

I do remember as a kid taking wheat, chewing it, and if you’re really careful you end up getting rid of all the germ and bran and you end up with what is called gluten. Once you got it to the gluten stage you could chew on it all day.  It doesn’t have much flavor but it is something to chew on.  How many of you ever did that.

The grain when it gets to the golden ripe stage also reminds me of when Jesus talks about the harvest being ready.  There is a need for the “wheat” to be harvested.  There are hearts ready to receive Jesus but there is no one there to tell them about Him.  If we are parents that is our children.  Are we too busy for them?

The wheat fields also make me think of the end of the world when Christ comes.  Jesus said the “wheat” and the “tares” would grow together until the end of time.  Then the Lord would gather the “wheat” to Himself and the “tares” would be burned.  Jesus also said that this is not our job to do because in the process of trying to get rid of the “tares” we may pull up the “wheat” also.  God is the one that will separate the “wheat” from the “tares”.

The thing that I so love about God is that He is the perfect judge.  We are so unworthy to judge others.  God knows each person’s heart and their motives.

Dear Father,

Thank You that You are such a just God.  Thank You for Jesus who came to die for us so that we have the opportunity for Salvation.  Guide us as we strive to follow You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

We are told to enter in at the straight gate.  Let’s strive for it so that we can be ready when He comes.  I just read this recently, “In the Christian live, “striving” is not our performance of God’s will, but it is our surrender to God so that He can carry out His will in us.”  This is a great statement.  Let’s surrender all to Him so He can work in us to will and do of His good pleasure.

Love you all.

Have you been around wheat fields?  If so what illustrations have you thought of?  Please share.

 

 

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“You Don’t Care!!”

Have you ever felt so depressed you just feel like you can’t go on?  Life is just too overwhelming and you can’t cope.  You no longer feel like God is really there.  The trials are way too heavy.

I am reaching back to the archives of Facebook post again to share.  You may be the one struggling right now and I pray this will be a blessing to you.

“My devotion this morning made me think back again to the time when I was in a deep depression. I had a dear friend that was such a blessing to me. She talked to me often with a listening ear and encouraging words. At the time I could not even pick up my Bible and read it because every thing I read did not seem to bless me. I could not see the love of God. My friend gave me a journal and she told me every time I read something or anything positive came to mind to write it in the journal with the date and when I felt down I could go back and read it again. I tried to come up with something but I could not. I did not throw God totally out; I kept trying to hang on. Then one day after a long period of time something so familiar became something so precious; ‘For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16. I wrote that in my journal and for the first time in several weeks I realized God really did love me. I clung to that verse because that was all that I could find, where I felt God really cared.

Then one day I ran across something else I wrote in my journal; Psalms 121:1-8. ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:  he that keepeth thee will not slumber.  Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper:  the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:  he shall preserve thy soul.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’

When I was done writing it I looked up at the first entry and it had been a year almost to the day. From that day forward I was able to see the love of God again. He carried me through that time and used a dear friend to keep encouraging me. Have I had down times since then? Yes I have but not to the depth of what it was then and I know part of the reason is that I am able to look at what God did for me in the past and it has helped me in the present. If there is anyone out there that is struggling please reach out to someone who cares. If you feel that you don’t have someone contact me.

Dear Father,

Thank You that I can keep my wants, joys, sorrows, cares, and fears before you. I am thankful that I cannot burden or weary You. You care about the number of hairs on my head so I know Your not indifferent about my wants. Thank You that You are very pitiful and of tender mercy. And that Your heart of love is touched by my sorrows and even by our utterances of them. So I know that I can take to You everything that perplexes my mind. I am so thankful that nothing is too great for You to bear, for You hold up worlds, and rule over all the affairs of the universe.

Father, I am thankful that anything that in any way concerns my peace no matter how small is noticed by You. There is no chapter in my experience too dark for You to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for You to unravel. Thank You Father that the relationship between You and I is as distinct and full as though there was not another soul upon the earth to share Your watch care and not another soul for whom You gave Your beloved Son.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

This prayer is for each one of us. I love you all.”

Have you felt this way at anytime in your life?  How did you handle it?  What gave you courage?

Are you going through this right now and you need someone to talk to?  Feel free to contact me.  revittalizen.your.health@gmail.com

 

 

 

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“The Path Is Too Narrow!”

How many of you are afraid of heights?  I sure am.  You know the feeling.  Your hiking a long a path and it keeps getting narrower and narrower.  And then you round the corner and it goes almost straight down on your left and straight up on your right.  At that point I am ready to turn around.  You feel like your going to topple down the cliff.

When I am in a situation like that I have found the solution.  It really is not an easy one in one sense but it is really easy.  Don’t look down.  The best place to keep your eyes is straight ahead.  Don’t look down at your feet, up the hill or down the hill just look straight ahead.  You have to be definitely keeping your eyes focused straight ahead and not allowing your eyes to wonder.  Can you imagine walking a narrow path in the semi darkness?  As you look you can see a light at the end of your destination and you know that if you keep your eyes on that light and just keep moving forward you will make it.  You might be fearful and shaky but you keep moving because you know that there is an end in sight.

I am sure you have seen pictures of horses with guards on their eyes so that all they can see is straight ahead.  We have to stay focused that it is like we have guards on our eyes.  If we don’t stay focused are chances of stumbling and falling are very high.

This makes me think of our Christian walk.  The path is narrow that leads to heaven.  Broad the way that leads to destruction and many find it.  But the way is narrow that leads to life and few find it. See Matthew 7:13, 14.

Jesus is the light and we need to keep our eyes focused on the light.  We need those blinders on like the horses so that we can’t see anything but Jesus.  As we come closer to the light (Jesus) the beam of light gets smaller and brighter.  We will see more and more things that we need to eliminate in our lives.

We cannot turn to the right or to the left or we will not make it.  If we turn to the right it will be an uphill battle because we have taken our eyes off Jesus, the One Who can help us.  When we think we can do it on our own we will end up struggling.

On the other hand if we turn to the left we will fall down the cliff because we have taken our eyes off Jesus and chosen the things of this world.  We may stumble along the path as we journey but as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus we will not fall down the cliff.

The narrower the path becomes the more we have to hold onto the Faith that we have in Jesus.  Each difficulty He brings us through will allow our faith to be strengthened.  It reminds me of an author’s depiction.  Imagine as you walk on this narrow path something like ropes hanging down out of heaven for you to hold onto.  Those ropes would represent faith.  As you go along the path as it narrows more and more the ropes become larger.   You faith is strengthened as you see the Lord work in your life.  As we continue our walk with Jesus our faith will grow.

Dear Father,

I am on this path of life.  I struggle with keeping my focus on You.  I need Your help and guidance.  I am so grateful to You that You are there for me and I do not have to travel this path alone.  Keep prompting me.  I ask You to put guards on my eyes so that I can only see You.  Thank You for loving me so much.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.

Stay on the path to life.  Don’t give up; Jesus is there to help you.  Reach out to Him today.

Love you all.

What has been the #1 help to you on your journey to Life?

 

 

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“Does He Really Care?”

Have you ever felt like no one cares?  You may share something with someone expecting them to say something but they just sit and look at you or they start giving you advice rather than really caring for your heart?

It is true we cannot be like God but we can allow the Lord to direct our paths and we can be a blessing to others.

We have struggle financially for a while and have not just struggled but have been in crisis.  I was looking back on a story I shared on Facebook that I would like to share with you.  God uses people to bless us each day and I think sometimes we over look the blessings that He provides.

“The Lord is so good! My son needed some supplies for school and I don’t really have the money for it but it needed to be done. I called two different stores and they both had it but the one store I forgot to ask the price, but that was the store I seemed drawn to go to. We were in line and the line was getting longer so another cashier stepped in and said, “I will help who’s next.” It was us, so we went over. She checked the price for me and it was sixteen something. I was debating if I should buy it. She said, “we will do a price match.” I didn’t know any cheaper place cause the other store I checked was the same. She said “I know they sell this for ten dollars at ________so I will give it to you for $9.95.” Thank You Lord. He is always watching out for us if we just trust Him.

Dear Lord,

Help us to trust in You with all our heart and not to lean on our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledge You, so that You can direct our paths.

And help us to stay our minds on Thee and to trust in Thee and thank You as we do that we can have perfect peace. Thank You that as we trust in You we can have everlasting strength.

In Jesus Name, Amen”

Trust fully in Him today and He will work all things for your good.

Love you all!”

One thing that I have found to be a blessing to me is to write down the answers to prayer that come.  Or to write down answers to prayer that happen before I even ask.  I find that I am very forgetful.  I think writing them down and then looking back over them now and then is a great idea.  God cares even about the small things.

Do you have a story you can share about how God has answered a prayer for you?  I would love to hear your stories.  The stories that you share will inspire all of us.