Tag: Prayer

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Through It All

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Well, if you are like us, you are probably about 7-9 days into being stuck in the house, oops, I mean, being blessed to be privileged with your precious husband, and/or kids/or both.  For some reason, when I got up this morning, the old song, sung by Ray Boltz but written by Andre Crouch, Through It All, was running through my mind:

‘I’ve had many tears and sorrows

I’ve had questions for tomorrow

There’re been times, I didn’t know right from wrong

But in every situation, God gave blessed consolation

That my trials come to only make me strong.

Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus I’ve learned to trust in God, Through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

I’ve been to lots of places, and I’ve seen a lot of faces, There’ve been times I felt so all alone, but in my lonely hours, yes, those precious lonely hours, Jesus let me know that I was His own. Through it all, yes, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.’

This great song just keeps going through my mind as we wake again each day not knowing how long this trial and difficult time will last. But….we need to also remember that Joy Comes In the Morning!

This morning as i sat and watched GMA for a few minutes while drinking my Dr Pepper, it was just so sweet to see families who were coming together in ways that they had not done previously. As I sat there and watched, I was struck by the memories of years ago when my daughter came back from a very difficult time in our lives. She and I would sit and think about those hard years but also for what those hard years taught each of us. As she and I looked back at that time, we both, were thankful for the things we learned about each other and about relationships and the work that it takes to grow them and to allow each other grace. That was what I thought about this morning as I watched these precious families on TV. The laughter that was coming from the homes. The closeness and the togetherness that was so evident. Yes, we will all be so thankful when these hard and difficult days are behind us. But….may we come out on the other side being different people. People who are grateful for the little things, once again. People whose hearts are bent toward showing thankfulness and grace and enjoying others. For  awhile after 911 churches were filled and Bibles were being read. That didn’t last very long. My prayer is that this time, we will truly learn that the things we are experiencing are hard; but they are good in that it is teaching us to look through the eyes of others. To appreciate people and to share our hearts and God’s love and kindness to people.

Truly, may we never forget…….never!

Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in God!

 

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Words & Wonder

Chocolate Castles8 Comments

Saturday morning I went to a brunch where friends from our Bible Study gathered together around the dining table to share some great food and to share the word that the Lord had given to us for 2017.

About 4 years ago a dear friend use to tell us about having a “word” that she had ask the Lord. This “word” would seem to show up in devotions, in sermons, scripture or songs and she always told us that it was a word which the Lord would use to teach her, more of Him. So those of us who took Bible study from her began to ask the Lord if He would give us a word. I remember the first year that I began to ask for a “word.”  I wish I could tell you that I prayed with a believing heart that He would lay something upon my heart but as I prayed I felt myself wondering if truly, I would hear from Him. Each year, always in different ways, He would reveal a word to me that helped me focus on a certain aspect of Bible study which invariably  led me into a deeper knowledge of God and what He desired from me. The first year my word was serve, I began to write down scriptures which I would come across that centered on “serving”. As that year progressed, I found myself serving in ways which I had never thought about.

The following year, being thrown into a year of disruption of our lives and circumstances, the Lord clearly gave me the word, “restore” as I struggled with finding a new purpose, all the while knowing that He still loved me and wanted me to know that just because my circumstances had changed, His will for me had not ,and that was to continue serving Him, just maybe in different ways.

Well, in November of 2016, I began to pray, asking God to reveal to me what word He wanted me to have for 2017. As weeks passed, I wondered if He was ever going to give me the “word”.  On December 20th, I woke up at 5:30 a.m and the word, “tenacity” was just what I woke up saying. I wondered what in the world it meant. It was a word which I do not ever remember saying, much less using it in a sentence. I fell back asleep and woke up at 7 a.m and there it was again, “tenacity”. I thought about it all day and told Randy that “I think the Lord has shown me what my word for 2017 is going to be.” A couple of days later, there in my daily devotion, the word “tenacity” jumped off the page at me. It was then that I realized that yes, the Lord had truly spoken what word my focus would be for the year.  Looking up the definition, i realized that it means to “persevere” and to remain faithful through any circumstance.

As the ladies gathered around the table, last Saturday,we began to share just how God had revealed their words. This was new to each of them, but as we began to share the words which the Lord had given to us, we begin to realize how intimately God wants to be involved with our lives. Most of us were in circumstances which we would not have chosen, but God, in His infinite love and mercy had given each of us a word which shows His love and faithfulness to us. As we listened to the stories that morning,  some of the words which we revealed the Lord had given to us were; hope, steadfast, trust, rest, and calm. It was such a blessed morning to hear how God had been working in each of their lives and how they had been given their word for 2017. As I came home, I began to think about what had just transpired. Women who had never before ask the Lord for a word, had just shared how God had spoken to them, all in a different way, but each one, feeling so blessed by God that He loved them and answered their prayers of receiving what they had ask, a word that would be encouraging and cause them to remember how much He loves each one.

Why do we continue to wonder if God still speaks, when it tells us in His Word, that He has given us His Holy Spirit to speak truth to us.

John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

Psalm 91:15 “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver hi and honor him.”

Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do to know.”

 

 

 

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

God’s Mysterious Ways

Chocolate Castles3 Comments

A little over a month ago, one of my dearest friends lost her 20 year old grandson, Jared, due to a sudden illness. So many questions evolved from this event that was and still is looked at as a tragedy.  Jared was such a precious Christian young man, who lived his life, not for himself, but for God and for others. During the weeks after his death, stories began to be heard of how Jared’s influence had touched so many lives. Friends and family, knowing that they could, no matter the pain and suffering they were experiencing, still always trust God’s Hand, even in the middle of this heartache. I had received a text from Cora telling me that, when we could talk, she wanted to share a story of how God was being glorified in Jared’s death. Well, today I was blessed to be able to hear the story. After hearing it, I ask permission from Cora and Becky to share it with you, as we always need to be sharing how God works in ways which only He can orchestrate.

Because Jared and his brother Andrew use to work in the summers with younger boys at a gym, coaching, this particular gym held a fund raiser this past Saturday in honor of Jared. They had  Becky, Jared’s mom, to come say a few words about Jared, which she so willingly did. During the break of Becky speaking, (she had to speak to two different groups of people, so had some time before she spoke the second time) a young lady came up to Becky and Cora and ask if she could share something with them. When Becky responded with, “yes, of course, how can we help you”, the young lady said, “oh no, I don’t need anything, but I just had to share something with you.” She proceeded to tell them that she had never been in a church before attending Jared’s memorial service and that she was just so impressed with how Becky and Darren had been able to speak so lovingly about the Lord and His faithfulness  in front of almost 2000 people about Jared. This young lady,  who saw Jared at the gym, when he was there working ,went on to say, how she was so impressed with the way everyone spoke that day of the Lord and how much He meant to them. That because of Him, they were able to have a peace that surpassed any understanding. That God’s love was so evident in the young people that gathered that day to celebrate his life. She knew from seeing Jared at the gym, that what everyone was saying about Jared was true. As she concluded her story , getting more excited with each word, that every since Jared’s service, she had gone to church every Sunday (except one, when she was out of town) .Cora said that this young lady was just elated that it was Saturday, which meant that she would getting  to go to church again that next day.

When Cora relayed this story to me, I began to cry, thinking  to myself, “shouldn’t I get that excited every week that I get to go to God’s House?” We take so much for granted and sometimes church becomes something we “need to do, or have to do” because we feel the need to honor Him. But does it honor Him when we simply go because we are suppose to?

God’s House is a building,  yes, but it is so much more. It is a place to not only gather with other Christians who want to corporately worship our Lord, but a place to bring our hearts and to surrender our wills to His. A place of prayer.  A time of quietness to be thankful for a God who has loved us so much that we want to be in His house. It should never be about us;about being entertained. It should be a time where our hearts and minds are completely yielded to Him and empty our selves of any pride, anger, bitterness or any other thing that takes our minds off of Him. Yes, this young lady’s testimony was a great reminder to me that, truly, there are people around us each day, who  have never heard about the Good News of Christ’s great love for us. That He will give us everything we need when we go through those tough times. That those tough circumstances will be much easier to handle if we don’t wait to call on God, just when we need him, but that every day, we are learning to trust and love our Creator, so that, in those tough times, we are able to feel His presence and know that He is walking through them with us.

Cora had told me that she had been wondering how God would be more glorified by Jared’s death than He would have been by his life. This is just one of those stories that is showing them that answer, and the answers just keep coming.

Psa 103:2,22 “Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forget the good things He does for me. 22. Praise the Lord, everything he has created, every where in his kingdom. As for me, I, too, will praise the Lord.”

As per Becky, when I ask her if she minded me sharing this story, “we don’t want to miss any opportunity to bring God glory in what He is accomplishing through our pain & grief. That there is Hope, so that we and others know it is NOT in vain.”

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Asa 147: 11 “the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”