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“Please Save Them!!”

Most of us have children and if you don’t have children you have someone who you desperately want to surrender their life to Christ.  Some are living in such danger physically as well as spiritually that we struggle everyday with our thoughts of them. We can get discouraged and sad.

One of the things that I have found comfort in is praying for my children or any person that is burdening my heart.  There are times that fasting is in order, as well, along with prayer.

What I want to do today is share some of the prayers that I pray for my children.  They can be prayed for anyone but in this post I am directing it toward children.  You can read my “Happy Mother’s Day!” post on actions we can take along with prayer.

Each paragraph can be used as a separate prayer.  I don’t always pray all of these at one time.

Dear Father,

I commit my children to you today; give me counsel and instruction.

Lord, Put a hedge about my children today.  Guard our children and us with Your Holy Angels from Satan’s cruel power.

Lord, Give me my children buried in the rubbish of error, or I die!  Bring them to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.

Lord, Impart Your grace to my children.

Lord, I pray for my children.  Help me as I see them to see You as You hung bleeding upon the cross for them.  Help me to be earnest, broken, and humble as my petitions ascend to You for wisdom that I may have success in saving not only my own soul, but the souls of my children.

Lord, Give me blessings, from You, that I may communicate to my children.

I pray that You will heal my children’s broken hearts and bind up their wounds.

Lord, help me to be an agent through whom You will speak to my children.  Bring precious things to my remembrance and with a heart flowing with the love of Jesus, I will be able to speak words of vital interest and import.  So that my simplicity and sincerity will be the highest eloquence, that my words will be registered I the books of heaven as fit words, which are like apples of gold in pictures of silver.  Help Your words, through me, to become a healing flood of heavenly influence, awakening conviction and desire and Jesus will add His intercession to my prayers and claim for my children the gift of the Holy Spirit and pour it on my children’s soul.  And then there will be joy in the presence of the Angels of You over one child that repents.

Lord, help me so that my prayers are not selfish, asking merely for my own benefit.  Help me to ask so that I can give.  Help me to have the principle of Christ’ life.  For my children’s sake, help me to sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified.  Help me to have the same devotion, the same self-sacrifice, the same subjection to the claims of Your Word that were manifest in Christ.  I know my mission to my children is not to serve or please myself;  I am to glorify You by co-operating with You to save my children, who are sinners.  I am asking for blessings from You, Lord, that I may communicate to my children.  I know the capacity for receiving is preserved only by imparting.  I cannot continue to receive heavenly treasure without communicating to those around me.  Please help me in this, Lord.

Lord, I pray that the melting love of God may warm and soften my children’s icebound nature.

Lord, I pray that the mighty energies of the Holy Spirit with all their quickening, recuperative, and transforming power, my fall like an electric shock on my children’s palsy-stricken soul, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, restoring their whole being from their dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I have shared a few of the prayers that I pray and I pray they will be a blessing to you.

I would encourage you to never give up.  Keep praying.  And let’s pray for one another.

Love you all.

Have you ever felt discouraged about your children or someone else you pray for?  What has given you the courage to keep up the work?

 

 

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“Stop Trying To Get Out!!!”

Have you ever felt like you are trapped?  May be it is a job, a relationship or circumstance that you are in.  May be you are feeling trapped as a Christian with the do’s and don’ts or a sin that has wrapped its’ tentacles around you and you feel you can’t get loose.  Whatever may be the situation it can seem overwhelming.  You feeling like there is this tall fence and you’re trying to get over it but you just keep running into it.  The fence is way too high for you to get over.

I remember a few years ago when a deer got into our garden.  I am not even sure how she got in there.  But she could not get out.  She kept running into the fence over and over again.  She even had some blood on her head.

My husband finally went out and opened the gate but trying to get her to go through there was difficult.  She still kept banging her body against the fence.  I think someone finally went around the backside of the fence to try to get her to go toward the opening.  It seemed that she was trying so hard to get out she was not looking for the most obvious solution.  It would not take any real effort on her part, she just needed to go toward the doorway and she would be able to get out.

This is exactly how we start to feel about different things.   We feel trapped within “restrictions”, a job, or relationship.  We also may be trapped within our own inclinations to sin.  We keep trying to get back over the “fence” but it is too high for us to get over.  We don’t want any help.  We are afraid of what we might have to give up or what we might lose out on.  We are trying to take all the solutions upon ourselves and we can’t seem to figure it out.  The crazy part is that there is an opening, a doorway, but we are too focused on getting free by jumping the “fence”.

When we get desperate enough, we are wounded and bleeding we finally start to look for other solutions and suddenly we see the Doorway.  Jesus said, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9  What a promise!

Jesus is the answer; He is the way out of all of our troubles.  But self wants its way.  It wants to get in the way.  But we do have the power of choice.  Sometimes we may need to agonize on our knees.  God will take control if we surrender to Him but surrendering can be hard work.  And surrendering is not just a one-time event.  Surrendering is done moment-by-moment.  Everything that comes to us we have a choice, am I going to surrender to the will of God or am I going to do my own thing.

I want to share some ideas to consider.

  1. Give up your rights. I want to put this into balance.  For someone who may be in an abusive relationship you need to get out.  This is not what I am talking about here.  But what I am talking about is just the normal everyday life.  We run into problems where we want to hold to what we want then fights ensue.  Whether it is with family members, friends or bosses.  Self rises and we want our way.  We need to head for the opening in the fence and let God help us through the “fence”.  We can’t do it on our own but He can help us give up our rights.  Jesus had every right to retaliate but He did not.  He gave up His rights so that we could be saved.
  2. Work as unto the Lord. I know I wrote another article more specifically to this subject if you would like to read it.  But the fact is whether it is a boss, family or friends, if we do all as if we are doing it for Christ or to Christ, it puts a whole new perspective on things.  Change the “why” of what you are doing and that can change your attitude.  This can even apply to every decision that we make in life.  Since our minds are always thinking of something I think spending a thoughtful hour each day thinking about Jesus life and what He has done for us can help us put a different perspective upon our choices. That leads to my next point.
  3. Fall in love with Jesus. This is really the key component.  We will feel trapped even in these steps unless we have fallen in love with Jesus.  We can only do this by spending time with Him.  You can’t love someone who you haven’t gotten to know.  Jesus is the only one that can help you out of whatever trap you are in.  But He is all love and He doesn’t force His way in.
  4. Keep moving moment by moment.  I would encourage you not to think about tomorrow, next week, month or year because it can be overwhelming.  Just take things a moment at a time.  Walking with Jesus by your side makes these things possible.  Stay connected with Him moment by moment.

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your Son Who is always a present help in trouble.  I am so grateful that we can come to You in our time of need.  Continue to guide us.  Thank You for Your patience with us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to fall in love with Jesus.  He is the opening and He is waiting to let you through so that you can be free from all the traps in life.  Surrender all today!  You will be glad you did.

Love you all.

I know what I have shared here is not exhaustive.  What have you found that has helped you in the surrendering process?

 

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“I Can’t See Where I’m Going!!”

Have you ever felt like you are going along in life and you really can’t see where you’re going? I believe we all feel that way at times. We maybe have made plans for our lives and things seem to be going as planned. But then things come into our lives and we don’t know where they came from and how we are going to make it through. We wish we could see as God sees so that we could understand the reason for our trouble.

I remember when I was around 20. I had a job that required me to drive around 45 minutes to work. We lived out in the country in a farming community. My drive was mostly on narrow, curvy roads. I recall one particular day when I was on my way home. It was dark and snowing really hard. The temperatures were just right for the snow to freeze to the window. I had the heat on full blast, hitting the window. And my wipers were going. But it would build up and I could not see. I would have to reach out the window, grab the wiper and bang it. I had to do this every few minutes. I did stop once to give it a more thorough cleaning but that did not last much longer. It was nerve-racking, exhausting, and dangerous. The car was a manual, adding to the difficulty. Thankfully I made it home safely. I do not enjoy times like this and I am always grateful to be on the other side of it.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel the same way in my Christian walk. I can be going a long and everything seems fine then a “snow storm” hits and I can’t see the way in front of me. The trials and temptations seem to stick to me. I keep reaching out and trying to “scrape” the effects away so that I can see clearly but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. It helps for a short time but then again I can’t see clearly. Then the frustration sets in. I am pouring on the “heat” (prayer) but it does not seem to be enough. I am putting forth the effort the “scrape” the temptations and trial away by spending time in God’s Word. What is going to make the difference?

I think there is good reason why God does not allow us to know what is coming. I think back to my drive home. If I would have known how bad of a drive it was going to be I might have stayed parked in town for an hour to see if it would pass over. Another words I would have stopped moving, at least for a time. I think the same is true of our lives. We would fail to keep moving forward if we could know what is going to happen. Maybe I would not have had children if I would have known that I would have lost one, maybe if we knew we were going to get in that car accident we would not leave home, or maybe we wouldn’t get that job if we knew what temptations we would in counter, etc. The problem is that if we always knew what was going to happen next we would live out of fear and we would never move or grow.

The question is what can we do about it. I have a 6 steps I would encourage you to do. They may seem elementary but sometimes I think we forget the simplicity of God.

  1. Spend time with God. You may be thinking, “I already do that and it doesn’t seem to be helping.” It may seem that it is not helping but it is foundational. Just like I needed to keep banging the ice off my windshield wiper, we need to keep in God’s Word.
  2. Spend time in prayer. We need to continue to pray, crying out to God. We need to keep the heat on that old devil and praying is a part of the formula.
  3. Memorize Scripture. Hide Scripture in your heart so that when the trials and temptations come you can quote His Word. Satan hates God’s Word and that will make him really start “melting”.
  4. Praise God. I have found that if I praise God through the trials I find blessings. This also turns the “heat” up on the devil.
  5. Ask God, “What are you wanting to teach me through this?” Everything that comes into our lives is for a purpose and as we ask Him, He will show us what refining we can gain through our situation. It may take time for us to see it but He will show us if our hearts are open to listen.
  6. Surrender all to Him. As we surrender to Him it will no longer just be us reaching out and banging off the windshield wiper. His hand will be over ours and His strength will be added to ours. As we cooperate together with Him we will have peace through the circumstances and trials. Things around might not change but God can help us live through these refining experiences with joy and peace. Remember His strength is made perfect through our weakness. (See 2 Corinthians 12:9)

Dear Father,

We struggle so much with giving all to You. We feel that if we give up our control that everything will go out of control. But the reality is that as we give all to You, giving up our rights and our control, we will have the peace that passeth all understanding. It is true that it does not make human sense but we want to trust You. Continue to prompt us with Your love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I have had the peace of God when I have surrendered and it is so much easier. But I still have not learned to always give all to Him. I just encourage you do try it. No matter what you are going through, today, give these steps a try to see the blessing that comes.

Love you all.

These steps are definitely not exhaustive so I would love to hear from you. What have you done to help you through the trials and temptations of life?

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“What Planet Do You Want To Be?”

I have been reading Science with my daughter. It amazes me as I read how everything works within the solar system. How at first it was thought that all the planets revolved around the earth and then it was discovered that the planets actually revolve around the sun. They also came to understand that the sun is the center of our solar system and not Earth. Earth and all the other planets are all members of the same family and are held together by the pull of the sun. Every thing is perfectly designed.

Some planets are closer to the sun than others. The ones that are closer are void of any life because the heat is so hot nothing can live. Then there is earth. It is just the right distance from the sun and it doesn’t get too hot or too cold. It is just right for life to live. It is the planet of choice because you are able to live. On the other hand the farther you get away from the sun the colder it gets. The first planet farther out than earth has some ice that melts in summer but it does not appear to really have any form of life. But you get out beyond there and the planets become even colder and life cannot exist there. Because of the cold nothing can live.

As I was reading these things it made me really start to think. As a people living upon this earth we have been given a choice. We are all in the same family and the Son is shining on all of us. We each can choose Him or not, we are given that freedom. We have equal opportunity. The Son is just at the right distance. If He got too close to us we would not be able to handle the heat and we would die due to sin. If He pulls too far away from us we would become so cold that we would die. But we are left with the decision which direction we are going to go. He is stationary. He is not moving; it is us that can choose which direction we move.

The more we fill ourselves with earthly things the farther we get away from the Son. The farther we are from the Son the colder we become toward spiritual things, no longer do we having spiritual things living within us because we are too cold. Nothing can live in a really cold climate, everything dies.

But the more we fill our lives with the things God and empty ourselves of the things of this earth we can draw closer to the Son. Just as the planets, closer to the sun, have no life on them due to the extreme heat; if we fill our lives with God the things of this earth will be emptied out from the heat of the Son. Just like gold becomes more pure as it is put to the fire so we become more pure as we come closer to the Son. Just like the planets closer to the sun are empty of life, as we draw closer to the Son our lives will be empty of self and will be filled with His light. The closest we will be to the Son is when He comes in the clouds to take us home and if we are not empty of self and earthly things we will be consumed by the heat. But if we are empty of earthly things and dead to self, we will be able to live within His presence for eternity.

How do we draw closer to the Son? By getting to know Him and falling in love with Him. And you get to know Him by spending time with Him

Read His Word, meditate upon it, hiding it in your heart, and spending time communicating with Him through prayer.

Dear Father,

We want our lives to revolve around the Son. We want to become so empty of earthly things and self that we may come closer to Your Son. We cannot do this without You. As we surrender to You and spend time with You I ask for Your power to work within our lives. Thank You for Your love and Your power that will work within our lives to bring change.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Let’s spend that time with God that will draw us closer to the Son so that when He comes we will be so empty of self and earthly things we will not be consumed but be able to go Home and live for eternity with Him.

What has helped you draw closer to God? I would love to hear your story and ideas.

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“Get Me Out Of Here!!”

I am being bombarded on every side with sickness.  I have three boys that have been sick and then I go to work and there have been two guys that have been sick.  One yesterday came to work so sick that I could feel it.  After about an hour I started getting a headache that lasted all day and still is hanging on.  It can feel so frustrating and it makes you want to crawl in the corner somewhere until this all blows over.

Then I was realizing something very important.  Is it really because of someone else that a person gets sick?  That is usually what people say.  “Yeah, I got this cold from Mary.”  Really, is that how it works?  The truth of the matter is that no one else is the blame when we get sick.  We get sick because our bodies are set up for it.  If our immune system is in the condition it should be in, we won’t get sick.  We need to take responsibility for our own immune system.  If we give our bodies what they need and eliminate those things that destroy our immune systems we won’t be getting sick.  We can resist.

This made me think of our Christian lives.  We are bombarded everyday with “sickness” (sin).

It is all around us.  It can seem frustrating at times.  You get bombarded at work, at school, in the stores, or driving down the road, it is everywhere.  You cannot totally avoid it.  You can’t control the work or school environment.  You can’t control what the stores sell or what they are playing.  You can’t control the billboards.  So the question is can we blame these things if we get “sick”?  The answer is no.  We need to take responsibility for our spiritual immune system.  We need to give our spiritual “body” (lives) what it needs and eliminate those things that destroy our spiritual immune systems.

First, we need to eliminate the bad that we can.  Just because we have billboards all around doesn’t mean we should purposely put those things before our eyes, like TV advertisements.  I don’t even know what the advertisements are today because I don’t have regular TV but someone recently told me the commercials are really bad and they were going to not have regular TV anymore.  We need to eliminate all those things that we have control over.

Secondly, we need to build our spiritual immune system.  If we are not making sure our spiritual immune system is strong we will get “sick”.  So how do we do this?

  1. Spend time in God’s Word each day.  Just like we need to take in good nutritious food for our physical bodies to stay healthy we need to take in spiritual food.  If we are not taking in good nutrition we will get sick, whether physical or spiritual.
  2. Memorize Scripture. We need to fortify ourselves with Scripture so that when we are surrounded with “sickness” (temptations) we can combat it.  Just like when physical sickness is around us we take extra precautions and take things to keep our immune system up, we can do the same with the memorized Scripture, it helps keep the spiritual immune system protected.
  3. Prayer.  Prayer is another key factor.  We need to ask God for physical as well as spiritual protection.  As long as we are following God’s physical and spiritual laws He can work and answer those prayers for us.

I do have to say some of us have to work harder at this than others.  When it comes to physical sickness I have to work harder in staying well and combating illness because I have had my immune system compromised with a major illness that has damaged my immunity.  There are others that don’t struggle as much because they have great immune systems.

I was very sheltered from the world growing up so I don’t have to struggle as hard as others that were very steeped in the world with my spiritual immune system, for which I am grateful. For some every time they go into a store and hear some music it is a struggle, when for me I don’t even notice it is there.

We are all on this journey and the answers are the same but to what intensity we need to implement is individual.

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your protection.  Help us to stay so in tuned with You that we recognize the temptations and that we will be fortified with Your Word so that we can withstand.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Let’s be prepared physically and spiritually every day so that our immune systems are not taken down.

Love you all.

What do you do to help keep your physical and spiritual immune systems healthy?  I would love to hear your ideas.

 

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“It Sounded Like a Lady Screaming!!”

I remember years ago when our neighbor shared with us an experience she had one day.  She was out working in her yard when she heard the most hair-raising scream.  She instinctively knew what it was.  She went immediately and got her gun to have beside her.  Although, she never did have to use it, which she was grateful for.  She knew the scream had come from a mountain lion.

We never have seen a mountain lion on our mountain, even though she heard one that day.   But some have seen and heard the evidence of them.  At times when you think about it, especially after something has happened or someone hears something, you are more nervous.  But after a while you walk outside of the protective walls of your house at anytime of day and night and don’t even give it a second thought.

It reminds me of our everyday lives as a Christian.  A lot of times we may go through our day oblivious or not even really thinking about that there is a battle going on all around us.  We see evidences of it now and then.  When we see the work of the devil we tend to spend a little time being more cautious.  But then as time passes we tend to become more careless.  We go outside the protective wall that God has provided and not think a thought about it.  Then we are attacked by the devil in some way and we fall.  The sad part is that a lot of us tend to blame God for not protecting us when in reality we chose to step out of His protection.  We want to somehow think everything is fine because we become comfortable and feel no need. Does it mean that every time we are attacked by the devil that we are out of God’s will?  No!  But when we fail we have stepped away from God in some way.  We tend to have this human mentality that we can handle this ourselves, when we really can’t.  We are not strong enough to handle the devil.  Just like our neighbor knew she was not strong enough to handle a mountain lion.  She knew she needed a defense.

A lot of times when we fail it is because there is something in the way, between us and God.  When we fail we need to get right up and ask God for His forgiveness and then ask Him to show us where we went wrong.  He will reveal to us our weakness that may have caused our failure.

So what can we do?  We need to always start our day by fortifying ourselves with the Word of God.  Just like our neighbor got her gun we need to have our Sword by our side, which is the Word of God.  Having our minds loaded with the ammunition of scripture so that when a temptation or trial comes we can fire off our rounds for defense.  If our neighbor went and got her gun to sit beside her, would it have done her any good if she hadn’t loaded it?  No!  She had to have it loaded and ready to fire if she needed it.  She had to do some work first, she just couldn’t grab the gun and be ready.  The same is true of us.  We can’t just grab our Bible and expect it to do some work for us.  We need to load our brains with it.  Then we will be ready to fire off when needed.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.  1 Peter 5:8

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your Word that can be our defense.  Thank You for Your love and forgiveness when we fail.  Without You we can not make it.  Keep close to us.  Surround us with Your arms of protection.  Help us to stay focused on staying in Your walls of protection.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to stay fortified with the Word of God.  Load your mind each day in preparation to fire bullets against the devil when needed.

Love you all!

When have you run into a trial or temptation where having ammunition helped you overcome?  I would love to hear your testimony.

 

 

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“The Machine is Jammed!”

Sometimes we can be going along in life and everything seems to be flowing pretty well.  Yea, there are little bumps here and there but they work themselves out without a hitch.  But then there are those moments we go through things and we feel as if we have gone through the wringer.

A few days ago at where I am working we were sending these little papers through a folding machine.  When the piece went through one section it was folded in half and then when it went through another section it got folded in half again.  The papers were so small.  It was either at the minimum or just below the minimum that the machine could handle.  We would get on a roll and it would be going very smoothly and then all the sudden a piece would go wrong and it would jam.  When one piece got caught wrong, there were several other pieces that would come behind and make a real mess before the machine could be shut off.  When the papers were pulled out they were very crumpled or torn up and not usable.  It took some time to clean up the mess and then start again.

It made me think about how our lives can be when we lean toward the minimum.  When we spend minimum time with God, minimum time in prayer, and possibly no time in hiding His Word in our hearts.  When the rough times come it really eats us up.  We get torn and bruised.  We may go through the same trials and hardships whether we are minimizing or maximizing our time with God but the outcome is different.

Believe me, you are not alone in this.  I have minimized so many times through my life it can be frustrating.  I ask myself, “What is your problem?”  It seems like a no-brainer but we can tend to forget.  We are no different from the children of Israel, in ancient times.  I know I have read the story and I have thought many times how stupid could they be.  And then I have to think again and I know I am not any different.  The Lord did so many miracles in their journey but all they could see was the hardships.

It is so easy to minimize.  The question is, “How do I keep myself from minimizing?”  There are no easy answer, or just fall into place answers, it takes making a decision and sticking with it.  It takes purposing in our hearts to not minimize.  The devil is going to find ways to keep you from having the time to spend with God.

Here are 4 tips that I have used that has helped me.

  1. Ask God to wake you in the morning.  I have found that God has no problem waking me when I should get up.  Now I still have to obey.  There have been times that I have thought, “I will just lay here a little longer and pray.”  Bad, bad, bad idea.  I end up going back to sleep.  The amazing part is that when God wakes me up I am wide-awake.  But when I don’t listen and end up falling back to sleep, when I do get up, I feel tired and I do not have the same strength through the day, even though I still spend time with God.  Obey God and get up.
  2. Make sure to have a planned routine.  This is really important.  If you just haphazardly try to do something, it will not last.  You have to have a plan.  A plan of prayer, what you plan to memorize, and what you are going to read.  Spending time in God’s Word is important.  Maybe you want to get a plan to read your Bible through in a year.  There are several plans out there you could use.  Here is one suggestion: http://oneyearbibleonline.com.  I haven’t actually used this plan but it looks like a good direction.  You can choose to read a chapter out of four different books each day so you don’t get bogged down in Leviticus or Deuteronomy.
  3. Write down what you have learned.  Instead of just reading, write down something each day that was an encouragement, something new you didn’t know, or something that is just fascinating.  Keep things alive by making it practical for your life.
  4. Journal.   I have not always journaled but it seems that journaling about our days, what we are going through, and God’s blessings, can be a blessing.  And when we forget how God has led us we can look back more easily and remember as we read through our journal.  You can also do this in prayer form as well. These are not exhaustive by any means but just some of the practical things that have helped me.

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your goodness.  For Your willingness to even awaken us for the time with You.  I long for the time when we can be together with You forever.  Continue to walk beside us and prompt us to spend that time with You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember that Jesus longs to have time with You.  It is through this time, building a relationship with Him, that will help you to overcome and manage the trials of each day.

Love you all.

Have you struggled with finding the time to spend with God?  What have you done to keep it going in your life?  I would love to hear your ideas.

 

 

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“I’m Creased Wrong!”

Have you ever felt like you’re creased wrong?  You’re probably asking, “What are you talking about?”  Let me explain.

I am working at a print shop right now and we have a machine that you send newsletters, brochures, cards etc. through and it makes a crease.  After you send it through the machine it is much easier to fold.  There is one thing, though; you have to make sure to put it through correctly.  It has to be flat against the fence.  If it is off just a tiny bit, when you fold it, it will be off.  The thing is, once the crease is in there wrong, you can’t correct it.

It made me think of our lives.  I would say the majority of us have been “creased” wrong.  It is really hard to go through life and not have something that has gotten off in our lives, tragedy, abuse, etc.  It seems to get us off on the wrong foot.  We are going through are lives and we are getting multiple “creases” and there is no real direction.

The amazing part is that no matter how many “creases” that we have had in life God can straighten and clean them up and we can become a brand new “newsletter”, “brochure”, or “card”.  You didn’t know you could be all these things.  In reality we are read by all.  Actions speak louder than words.

I am so grateful that, as we come to Christ, He will cleanse us and clean us up.  It doesn’t mean we will never get “creased” wrong, whether it is choices we make or something comes to our lives that causes wrong “creasing”.  God is a God of healing and forgiveness.

Everything that comes into our lives God uses to refine our characters.  And the amazing part about God is every time He removes a “crease”, instead of it looking “ironed” and messy, we look more perfect.  The power of God, what an amazing thing.

We do have our part to play.  We need to be in the Word, surrendering our hearts to Him each morning, as well as moment by moment.  We also need to hide God’s Word in our hearts so that we don’t sin against Him. See Psalms 119:11.  We need to be much in prayer and if we fail go to God, immediately asking for forgiveness.  If someone does wrong to us we also need to go to God in prayer and leave it at His feet, trusting Him for the outcome.

Dear Father,

You are such a merciful and gracious God, for which I am so grateful.  You can take our lives and take every “crease” out and make us more beautiful than we could ever imagine.  Thank you for your unfailing love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to give everything to God.  Let Him work out all the “creases”.  If we try to do it ourselves our lives will only get messier.

Love you all.

Have you had “creases” in your life that God has “ironed” out and made more beautiful?  I would love to hear your testimony.

 

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“Old, Thin Walls”

When I was a kid we lived in an old, old farmhouse.  It was so old that the insulation wasn’t much to speak of.  I remember, in the wintertime, the wind coming across the prairie would go right through.  Thankfully it was not that way all the time but when it was it was miserable.  We would have our wood stove going and electric heat on to try to keep the place somewhat warm.  We had to keep pipes from freezing and breaking.  You might be asking, “Why in the world would you keep living there?”  Well the price was right.  My folks paid $65 a month for the 17 years that they lived there.  There were reasons why it was so inexpensive.  But it was a really special place to live despite the trials.

It made me start to thinking about us as Christians.  We have the fierce wind of trials blowing at us constantly.  The devil is trying to penetrate through our insulation so that we become cold.  So people may ask, “Why do you continue to be a Christian with all the struggles that come your way?”  The price is right and the future mansions and companionship with God is worth it.

The truth of the matter is I don’t know how I would even make it through this life without God.  We do need to be “insulated” though or the cold wind of the devil will penetrate.  We need to stay fortified with the Word of God.  We need to have the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and the Shield of Faith.  Prayer also will open up the windows of heaven for us.

We need to thank God for the “wind”.  The “wind” is what brings in the “rain”, “snow”, and the “sun”.  Trials are like showers of blessings.  They help us to grow and perfect our character.  Some of the trials are like the cold snow.  It can be a very dark time for us but as the Son of Righteousness shines on us the cold melts away and we are watered, which brings forth life.

The choice is really ours.  We can allow the “cold wind” that comes to us to destroy us or we can allow God to use it for our good.  The devil wants to steal, kill, and destroy but he has no power unless we give it to him.  Now I know that these things are easier said than done.  I have struggled many times in allowing the Lord to use my circumstances to help me grow.  But I can say that as I do, the wind does not seem as cold and strong because God is insulating me.  We only lack the “insulation” to stay warm if we are not fortified in God’s Word and allowing Him full control of our lives.  If He is walking beside us, and even carrying us at times, the “wind” does not seem so fierce.

Dear Father,

Thank You that You are so willing to help us, insulate us, and help us grow.  We struggle so much with trusting You.  Many of us have trusted others and have been hurt so much that we struggle with trusting You.  Thank You for continuing to prompt us and encourage us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to fortify yourself with God’s Word.  Memorize His promises and claim them when the “wind” is fierce.

Love you all.

Have you been through some fierce trials?  What have you learned to do to fortify yourself?  How did God help you through?

Sharing your testimony helps you to grow.  I would love to hear your story.

 

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“I’m Scared!”

We all can look back in life at sometime where we were really scared.  Even just thinking about it probably makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

I remember one time several years ago when I only had two children and they were very young.  They might have been two and one.  My husband was out of the country so I was home alone with my children.  My parents now live next door but at the time they lived over an hour away.

Our front door is an all glass slider.  I had pulled the curtain shut for the night.  I think the children might have been in bed already.  I was about ready to go to bed myself when two police cars pulled into our driveway.  Now this is very unusual because we live out in the country.  The police would not even come to the door.  One of them stood at the end of our porch, which is a distance, and stood to the side so I couldn’t really even see him.  He had his gun drawn.  He asked me if everything was okay.  I told him it was and asked him who or what address they were looking for.  The answer was, “We don’t have time to talk.”  And off they raced.

Now talk about scared.  Here I was home alone with two little kids and I had no idea what was going on.  We didn’t have a lot of neighbors and I knew all of them so it seemed very strange.  I called my parents and they offered to come but I told them no.  I don’t remember what my night was like but I made it through.

I found out the next morning that they had gone to the next three neighbors and at the last neighbor, which was the end of the road; they finely gave what address they were looking for.  I discovered that it was nothing that I needed to be concerned about, as far as my family’s safety.

How many of you see what is happening in this world and have fear?  You fear the future.  You want to protect all the people who you love and care for but you’re not even sure how to do it.  It appears that this world is falling apart and you are filled with fear.

For me, I don’t really know what all is going on in this world.  I don’t watch the news, I don’t read the newspaper, and I rarely pay any attention to news posts on Facebook.  How can you really know that truth about what you read or see anyway?  Every news report is slanted by whatever agenda they want to get across to the people.  So the question is, “What is the truth?”

As I look at it there is only one way to prepare for what ever crisis is ahead and it is not in watching, listening, or reading about the crisis or possible crisis.  It is studying the genuine, the truth.  When training a banker they don’t show them the counterfeit money in order to prepare them for the crisis of counterfeit money.  They are trained on the genuine money and it becomes so much a part of them that when the counterfeit comes across they recognize it.

There is one truth that will always be reliable.  And it is the genuine truth, God’s Word.  You can trust His Word with all of your heart, without fear.  Here is some steps that I have found to be the most important.

  1. Stay in God’s Word.  God’s Word is the genuine and we need to make it such a part of our lives so that when the counterfeits of the devil come our way we will recognize it.
  2. Memorize God’s Word. It is so important to hide God’s Word in our hearts as a defense.
  3. Much in prayer. We need to be much in prayer.  It is only God’s protective power that can keep us safe from any danger.
  4. Be a protective hedge for your family. First and foremost our responsibility is our family.  We need to be preparing our family spiritually for the crisis ahead.  By using the first three steps.  God wants us to have our families in order.  The first mission work is our families.  And as we labor with them God will bless.

Dear Father,

Thank You that You are an ever-present help in trouble.  Help us to not allow the world around us to distract us from the genuine, You.  The devil doesn’t care what he distracts us with as long as he can keep us focused away from You.  Continue to prompt our hearts toward You.  Thank You for Your love and patience.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to keep focused on the genuine, Jesus.

Love you all.

What ways have you used to stay focused on the genuine instead of getting caught up in what is going on around you?

What fears have you had in your life that the Lord has helped you through?

I would love to hear your stories.