|
|
|
|
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
Never gets old! Lord, help us to pray more and worry less and accept the peace when You provide it.
0 Comments
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11
"What will you do ...?" What will you do when your house is on fire? What will you do when you get THAT 2am phone call? What will you do if ...? We tend to believe that we will be prepared when that time comes. We will rise to the occasion. But, then the unexpected actually happens. And it happens when we least expect it and usually in a manner that is either much more than we anticipated or even worse, much less and "sneaky". The seemingly harmless, sneak attacks are the dangerous ones. We underestimate their impact and allow them to slowly eat away at us, making them more difficult to overcome in the end. Lord, help me to prepare for what life throws at me by preparing my heart and protecting it with Your words of instruction and comfort AND also help me when the attack has already taken place. “Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4
Why do people seem to be more depressed, discouraged, frustrated, insecure, and basically overwhelmed these days? It could be cell phone use or other technology or culture changes or nutrition or a dozen other things. Or it could simply be that most people wake up every morning thinking about themselves and not thinking about others. And if they do think about others, they are probably wondering what that other person is thinking about them. Lord, I give You my life and my problems so I can now go on with my day helping others with their's. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
We get tired. Physically tired. Mentally tired. Emotionally tired. Socially tired. Spiritually tired. We can even make up some new kinds of tired if we want. We are good at being tired. God gets that. God wants to help. Lord, thank You for helping me when I am tired but help me to not be too tired to ask You for help. “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
We often read the bible and interpret the words as suggestions. Basically, if we feel like it works for us, then do or don't do what it says. Unfortunately, when we do that, we show how poorly we read and how our human nature will lie to us. Commands are different than suggestions. We are typically commanded to do things that we normally won't do ourselves. No one likes to be FORCED to do something but if we trust the person, we should realize the "forcing" is in our best interest. Loving others is not easy. Loving others, especially the unlovely, is even more difficult. But then again, we are the other to others and we may be unlovely as well. Lord, help me to have the strength that I need to love others. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
The first step to recovery is to admit your problem! Acceptance is real. We need to accept that we are "soft". Our ability to be resilient has eroded over time. Resilience is a skill. Skills are learned. Skills become better over time with practice. Unfortunately, life is too "convenient" and it keeps getting more convenient. We don't even have to leave our house anymore. Everything is delivered to us ... food, movies, groceries ... even work is done from home. We have become soft when it comes to anything inconvenient and uncomfortable. We complain and give up at the smallest disruptions to our predictable and controllable lives. We are inadvertently making our lives more difficult by thinking that life should be easy. Lord, help me to do hard things so I am ready when hard things want to undo me. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.” Ephesians 1:18-19
Hope, Wealth and Power! They are there for us. God has provided these valuable and helpful resources. Unfortunately, we are often distracted or blind to see them right in front of us. Lord, I pray that the eyes of MY heart may be enlighted so that I may know what is the hope of Your calling, what is the wealth of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward ME , according to the mighty working of Your strength! “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6
It is interesting how we hear CERTAINTY as a suggestion. Equally interesting, is how we can justify absolutes when there is no wiggle room. "Don't" does not sound like a suggestion and "anything" and "everything" pretty much covers ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! Lord, thank You for being so clear and certain that I don't have any room to screw it up myself. “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” James 1:5
We all do it. Something happens that is unexpected or unwanted and then someone asks, "What happened?". And the first words out of our mouths is "I don't know?". This isn't a sin. However, if that is the end of our response, then it isn't very helpful. "I don't know" can be accurate but it also can be a response that is not giving ourselves credit. Are we too lazy to think of the answer? Are we too proud to reveal the answer? Are we to insecure that we don't want to give the wrong answer and be judged or seen as "unperfect"? Are we too embarrassed to stop and take a deep breath and think of what went right but also look at what may have gone wrong? And if none of these apply, maybe the best response is "I don't know, but I am going to ask God for help, because He probably knows." Lord, I don't know everything, nor should I, but I do know a lot and You know everything so let's work together to find the right answers. “I exalt you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever. I will bless you every day; I will praise your name forever and ever.” Psalm 145:1-2
Imagine only eating one meal a week. No snacks. No quick meals on the go. Nothing. One meal a week, only. That meal takes place every Sunday morning for about an hour. You would probably really look forward to that meal. That meal would taste really good, no matter what it was. Unfortunately, that meal fall short of what you actually need to survive. No only would the rest of the week be excruciatingly painful, you may not actually survive the entire week without something devastating happening. Lord, please help me to realize that I need to connect with You more than just once a week or even once a day, as Spiritual sustenance is even more important than physical needs. |
AuthorCOACH. FATHER. HUSBAND. SON OF THE KING. WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY. Archives
July 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed