Have you ever had a time where God taught you something that was blatantly obvious? As if He were standing right in front of you telling you this?
I had one of those experiences yesterday.
In the world of modern technology, many people keep up with their friends and relatives via facebook, twitter, myspace (? does anyone actually use myspace anymore??)...etc.
So yesterday, I had conversations with several people and through these conversations we discovered many things that needed serious prayer, such as friends finding a relationship with Jesus, or a loved one to be relieved from stress, or prayers of thanks when God answered a family member's prayer. So, what did I do? I updated my Facebook status to say simply, "praying hard."
Here's the crazy part.
Within maybe 30 minutes of my posting this Facebook status, I had a few friends contact me asking if I was all right. Wondering if everything was okay with me. If something were wrong that they needed to be worried about.
Why is it that if someone's status says they are "praying hard" people automatically find that to be cause for concern? Like, do we only pray hard if something is really really wrong? I don't think God gave us prayer so that we could only use it when something goes badly, but He gave us prayer so we can have constant communication with our Father.
Here is what the Bible says about prayer:
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually;
18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
The King James Version of the Bible words verse 17 as "pray without ceasing." God doesn't just want us to talk to Him when things are bad, He wants all of our talking, the good stuff too! What kind of Father would only want you to tell Him bad things? A good Father wants to share in our JOY too!
So, pray continually, pray without ceasing, about EVERYTHING! We should be praying hard ALL the time!
How great is it that our Heavenly Daddy WANTS to talk to us all the time? SO great! Be encouraged!
Until next time,
ST
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Never Give Up
Have you ever had a friendship where you contact the other WAY more than they contact you?
Or a relationship where you feel as though you're putting all the work into it, and getting nothing in return?
I feel like this a lot.
I think everyone has experienced this in some way, shape, or form.
A parent who gives everything to their children only to be ignored when they try to talk to their kids.
A friend who stops texting someone just to see if their friend will contact them first.
A child who wonders if their sibling will ever initiate a conversation.
It's heartbreaking, isn't it?
I know in my situation, it makes me want to cry every time I think about all the effort I put into trying to talk to this person, only to have NONE of my efforts reciprocated.
It doesn't ever change how much you love that person, though. For some crazy reason, we will still keep contacting them, with the hope that one of these days our efforts will pay off and we will finally get the attention of the one person we want to talk to the most.
Looking at my relationships with the people I love helps me understand God's relationship with His children. And how sad He must get when we don't talk to Him, or even acknowledge that He's there.
Here are some instances in scripture where God is forgotten by his children:
Jeremiah 2:32
32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number.
Jeremiah 18:15
15 Yet my people have forgotten me;
they burn incense to worthless idols,
which made them stumble in their ways
and in the ancient paths.
They made them walk in bypaths
and on roads not built up.
And here is a verse where God is crying out for His children to return to Him:
Jeremiah 4:1-2
1 "If you will return, O Israel,
return to me,"
declares the LORD.
"If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'
then the nations will be blessed by him
and in him they will glory."
God is BEGGING that His people return to Him...and promises that He will bless his children if they return to Him.
See? Our Heavenly Father wants so badly to have a relationship with us. He wants us to remember Him, to WANT to talk to Him, to realize how deeply He loves us and wants the best for us.
Sometimes we want to give up on our friends or people in our lives who don't seem to contact us as often as we contact them...but just remember, God never gives up on us, so why should we give up on people?
Until next time,
ST
Or a relationship where you feel as though you're putting all the work into it, and getting nothing in return?
I feel like this a lot.
I think everyone has experienced this in some way, shape, or form.
A parent who gives everything to their children only to be ignored when they try to talk to their kids.
A friend who stops texting someone just to see if their friend will contact them first.
A child who wonders if their sibling will ever initiate a conversation.
It's heartbreaking, isn't it?
I know in my situation, it makes me want to cry every time I think about all the effort I put into trying to talk to this person, only to have NONE of my efforts reciprocated.
It doesn't ever change how much you love that person, though. For some crazy reason, we will still keep contacting them, with the hope that one of these days our efforts will pay off and we will finally get the attention of the one person we want to talk to the most.
Looking at my relationships with the people I love helps me understand God's relationship with His children. And how sad He must get when we don't talk to Him, or even acknowledge that He's there.
Here are some instances in scripture where God is forgotten by his children:
Jeremiah 2:32
32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number.
Jeremiah 18:15
15 Yet my people have forgotten me;
they burn incense to worthless idols,
which made them stumble in their ways
and in the ancient paths.
They made them walk in bypaths
and on roads not built up.
And here is a verse where God is crying out for His children to return to Him:
Jeremiah 4:1-2
1 "If you will return, O Israel,
return to me,"
declares the LORD.
"If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'
then the nations will be blessed by him
and in him they will glory."
God is BEGGING that His people return to Him...and promises that He will bless his children if they return to Him.
See? Our Heavenly Father wants so badly to have a relationship with us. He wants us to remember Him, to WANT to talk to Him, to realize how deeply He loves us and wants the best for us.
Sometimes we want to give up on our friends or people in our lives who don't seem to contact us as often as we contact them...but just remember, God never gives up on us, so why should we give up on people?
Until next time,
ST
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Perfection
Have you ever had a day that is just "one of those days?"
The kind of day where nothing goes right? At all?
I had one of those days yesterday. Not only did I make a big stupid mistake at work, but I had a really bad stomach ache all day, and then the cherry on top from this day from you-know-where was that I had one of those happy yellow envelopes tucked ever so obviously underneath my windshield wiper.....A parking ticket.
With every bad thing that kept happening, I felt like I was shrinking smaller and smaller. Ever felt like that? Like the whole world has you under a magnifying glass and everyone is just staring at you...mocking you.
Now what's one way to make an already bad day worse? Letting your bad day continue into the next day. Again...this happened to me. This morning I had the task of watching the very thing I messed up at work. I had to see my mistake again and again. If anyone in this world is not feeling perfect these days, it's me. I even had several of my friends and coworkers beat this phrase into my head, "Don't worry, everybody makes mistakes, nobody is perfect..." ...But nothing seemed to make the horrible feeling of imperfection go away.
So what do I do when I have these less than perfect days? I started to think about something to write about. And in God's always perfect way, He told me to start writing about my awful past two days. And then He gave me this scripture.
Psalm 18:30
30 As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
How awesome is that to think about? The word of the Lord is flawless. FLAWLESS! His way is perfect...even when I'm not. ESPECIALLY when I'm not. BECAUSE I'm not.
And I love the second half of that verse. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. So...when I'm having my horrible days where I feel a go-zillion miles away from being perfect, I need to realize that God IS perfect! All the time! 24/7! And He wants to shield me from that feeling of imperfection! Wow!
As today went along...I started to feel better. I started to take comfort in knowing that God is perfect and that is enough for me. And to make things turn a complete 180 degrees in the other direction, things at work started to make me laugh. I found even the slightest little thing to be absolutely hilarious. Everyone loves a good belly laugh. Well, I had about four of them in my last couple hours at work.
Want more proof to how flawless God's word is?
Proverbs 17:22
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
My crushed spirit the past couple days left me feeling like dry bones...but when I laughed today and had a cheerful heart...I felt cured. I felt like me again. God is so good.
Don't worry. God is perfect. His ways are perfect. And that's enough for us. We don't need to be perfect. Take comfort.
Until next time,
ST
The kind of day where nothing goes right? At all?
I had one of those days yesterday. Not only did I make a big stupid mistake at work, but I had a really bad stomach ache all day, and then the cherry on top from this day from you-know-where was that I had one of those happy yellow envelopes tucked ever so obviously underneath my windshield wiper.....A parking ticket.
With every bad thing that kept happening, I felt like I was shrinking smaller and smaller. Ever felt like that? Like the whole world has you under a magnifying glass and everyone is just staring at you...mocking you.
Now what's one way to make an already bad day worse? Letting your bad day continue into the next day. Again...this happened to me. This morning I had the task of watching the very thing I messed up at work. I had to see my mistake again and again. If anyone in this world is not feeling perfect these days, it's me. I even had several of my friends and coworkers beat this phrase into my head, "Don't worry, everybody makes mistakes, nobody is perfect..." ...But nothing seemed to make the horrible feeling of imperfection go away.
So what do I do when I have these less than perfect days? I started to think about something to write about. And in God's always perfect way, He told me to start writing about my awful past two days. And then He gave me this scripture.
Psalm 18:30
30 As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
How awesome is that to think about? The word of the Lord is flawless. FLAWLESS! His way is perfect...even when I'm not. ESPECIALLY when I'm not. BECAUSE I'm not.
And I love the second half of that verse. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. So...when I'm having my horrible days where I feel a go-zillion miles away from being perfect, I need to realize that God IS perfect! All the time! 24/7! And He wants to shield me from that feeling of imperfection! Wow!
As today went along...I started to feel better. I started to take comfort in knowing that God is perfect and that is enough for me. And to make things turn a complete 180 degrees in the other direction, things at work started to make me laugh. I found even the slightest little thing to be absolutely hilarious. Everyone loves a good belly laugh. Well, I had about four of them in my last couple hours at work.
Want more proof to how flawless God's word is?
Proverbs 17:22
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
My crushed spirit the past couple days left me feeling like dry bones...but when I laughed today and had a cheerful heart...I felt cured. I felt like me again. God is so good.
Don't worry. God is perfect. His ways are perfect. And that's enough for us. We don't need to be perfect. Take comfort.
Until next time,
ST
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Vinegar
Has anyone ever done or said something to you that just made you want to scream? Like the kind of angry that leaves you gripping the handles of your desk chair so hard that you feel you could rip them off without even trying?
It's so hard to resist the urge to tell people "how you really feel" and just rattle off all the reasons why you want to punch their lights out. It's hard to comprehend why a person would choose to do things in a way that hurts your feelings so much, when you know that you yourself would handle the situation VERY differently. Ever had anything like this happen to you?
It happens to me all the time. It happened today. But you know what phrase constantly comes back into my mind?
"You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar."
Anyone's parents ever told them this cliche phrase before? Believe me, mine have. Plenty of times.
The Bible has it's own rendition of this little phrase in the book of Romans.
Romans 12:17-21
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
God says it's His job to avenge wrongdoing. It's our job to always show the love of Christ to everyone we're around at all times. Even if it means being the person who has something horrible done to them, and just taking it. Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. I think we all could use a little of this in our every day lives. I know I could.
Overcome evil with some good today.
Until next time,
ST
It's so hard to resist the urge to tell people "how you really feel" and just rattle off all the reasons why you want to punch their lights out. It's hard to comprehend why a person would choose to do things in a way that hurts your feelings so much, when you know that you yourself would handle the situation VERY differently. Ever had anything like this happen to you?
It happens to me all the time. It happened today. But you know what phrase constantly comes back into my mind?
"You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar."
Anyone's parents ever told them this cliche phrase before? Believe me, mine have. Plenty of times.
The Bible has it's own rendition of this little phrase in the book of Romans.
Romans 12:17-21
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
God says it's His job to avenge wrongdoing. It's our job to always show the love of Christ to everyone we're around at all times. Even if it means being the person who has something horrible done to them, and just taking it. Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. I think we all could use a little of this in our every day lives. I know I could.
Overcome evil with some good today.
Until next time,
ST
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Freedom
Freedom. This word is used in many different contexts.
Freedom of religion, speech, of the press. Freedom from addiction. Freedom from abuse. Freedom from debt. There are lots of different freedoms.
For America, it was freedom from the oppression of the British Crown.
For Christians, it was freedom from the oppression of the devil.
The ironic thing is, freedom always comes at a price.
Freedom for Americans came at the price of many people losing their lives to fight against their oppressor.
Freedom for Christians came at the price of Jesus being nailed to a cross to free us from an eternity in hell.
What if someone told the British people that they could have freedom, but they didn't take it because they didn't think they deserved it? Or because it was scary going to a new place?
Likewise, many people know about the freedom that we have in a relationship with Jesus, but they are afraid to leave their current lifestyle and comforts, afraid of being vulnerable, afraid of change.
The Bible talks about freedom MANY times. Here are a few.
Galatians 5:1
1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Luke 4:18
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
2 Corinthians 3:17
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
I like this last one the best. The Lord is everywhere...in everything...so that means that there is freedom everywhere we go, because the Lord is always with us!
And I also love how in the Luke verse, God promises freedom for the oppressed! He finds joy in freeing us from the things that trap us.
So if you feel trapped by something, take comfort in the fact that God wants to set you free. Just trust Him. He promises freedom, and God is great at keeping His promises!
Until next time,
ST
Freedom of religion, speech, of the press. Freedom from addiction. Freedom from abuse. Freedom from debt. There are lots of different freedoms.
For America, it was freedom from the oppression of the British Crown.
For Christians, it was freedom from the oppression of the devil.
The ironic thing is, freedom always comes at a price.
Freedom for Americans came at the price of many people losing their lives to fight against their oppressor.
Freedom for Christians came at the price of Jesus being nailed to a cross to free us from an eternity in hell.
What if someone told the British people that they could have freedom, but they didn't take it because they didn't think they deserved it? Or because it was scary going to a new place?
Likewise, many people know about the freedom that we have in a relationship with Jesus, but they are afraid to leave their current lifestyle and comforts, afraid of being vulnerable, afraid of change.
The Bible talks about freedom MANY times. Here are a few.
Galatians 5:1
1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Luke 4:18
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
2 Corinthians 3:17
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
I like this last one the best. The Lord is everywhere...in everything...so that means that there is freedom everywhere we go, because the Lord is always with us!
And I also love how in the Luke verse, God promises freedom for the oppressed! He finds joy in freeing us from the things that trap us.
So if you feel trapped by something, take comfort in the fact that God wants to set you free. Just trust Him. He promises freedom, and God is great at keeping His promises!
Until next time,
ST
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