Darkness

Everyone has been at the door of despair, dark times surrounding you. Weather it finances, health, relationships we all face rocky roads. Times of tribulation are common to man. I once heard a preacher say, " it isn't that you don't have problems, its that you don't let the problems have you." He is correct, however, when you are in the midst of troubles it is nice to hear but please, how do you implement it? You stand on the word of God! today's scripture is Micah 7:8- When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me. It is all about Jesus. HE is our salvation, HE is our restoration and HE is our light. When we try to do it ourselves we will find ourselves worn out and in despair. When we follow HIS light, for he directs our paths, we will come to the proverbial end of the tunnel. To many Christians believe that problems never come their way and when the do they end  up stumbling.( They must of believed wrong or confessed wrong.) That is not necessarily the case. the word tells us that in this life we will have many tribulations but to not fear, for HE has overcome the world. We stand in His joy, His peace, His light, His strength...and in doing so we find peace.

New every morning

Finances, broken friendships, health, sorrows and joys is what life brings. There are times when we as children of God get scared and unsure of what is coming next. We wait for the proverbial  straw that will break our backs to come. Have you ever felt this way too? We stumble and mess up, we repent and try again. Up/Down life is somewhat of a roller coaster for most of us. Now there are some who are really secure or mature who never, it seems lose sight of the Lord...but it is time to be honest, even the most mature in the Lord wobble once in awhile. It might be the loss of a loved one or a diagnosis of illness or the loss of something important to them but all humanity is built in frailty and without new mornings we would surely be given to despair. Lamentations 3:22-24- Through the LORD'S MERCIES we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are NEW EVERY MORNING; Great is your faithfulness."The Lord is my portion," says my soul, " Therefore I hope in Him." You see this scripture tells us allot in such a small space. It tell us that is because God has mercy and compassion(in the plural) that we are not consumed by the troubles of life. When we make God our portion, our defense we will find that we have hope. Not hope in solution of work but hope in Him to show us the way and make the path straight to it. We put our trust in HIM. Lamentations 3:25-26 goes on to further tell us a plan-The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and waith quietly for the salvation of the Lord.- I noticed that the scripture is not one of frantic and panic but peace and assiduity. So let us find peace and calmness in knowing what the scripture tell us. We who seek and wait  on Him do a good thing and can rest assured that the salvation/solution from the Lord is on its way.

I will when....

How many times have we said things like,' I will be happy when I ( fill in the blank) or I will do this or that once(?) or I wish this day would  be over.' We use it as a figure of speech to express where we are or what we are unhappy about in our lives. I know for many years I thought or said those things. What made these things come to mind is I overheard a mom saying she needed a break from her kids then when she got her wish missed them and posted her ambivalence about it. We spend our lives wishing for the future day,the time when or I will next Monday's. The word teaches us we are not guaranteed a tomorrow. We have today and its trouble is sufficient in and of itself. We spend so much time in our future that we completely miss the joys of our present.The other thing is getting stuck in our past. The word teaches us to let go of the past things and press on to the higher things of God.  Most know what that means in our spiritual lives, but, in our physical world it holds true too. We must let go and find forgiveness in Christ. You can not change the past and you have no promise of a tomorrow, you have today. So live today with joy, purpose and knowledge that Jesus is with you, live your life finding pleasure in small things and the big if you are blessed to have one of those that day. Is it improper to plan for a future date? No of course not but if you are missing living today on the possibility of a tomorrow you need to rethink, refocus and re-balance your life in the things of Christ. My small blessings at this moment are a cup of coffee at my side, my little chihuahua snoring in her kennel and being here with you. May God's grace shine on you today and may His love be one of your blessings today as it is mine.

Differences

Romans 10:12- there is no differences between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.-- We hear the word inclusive every time you turn around. We hear the word tolerance, acceptance ect. The world spouts it like it is a new concept.. It is not. Now understand I am not talking about being accepting of sin( for those of my readers who read more into a statement than is there.) For God in His word says NO SIN shall enter in. The ONLY door way is through Jesus Christ. But note the scripture at the beginning of this blog. Let me break it down..1) There are no difference between the races. 2) Jesus is Lord of everyone, kindred and tongue, the connection... is that He, Jesus is rich(kind, close, in relationship, accepting of ALL who call on Him. The uniting thing for us as believer is Jesus and being in relationship with Him. (Is HE Lord of your life or an after thought?) When He rules in your heart it will cause you to love all your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Today's blog isn't long but it was my daily devotional and I wanted to share it with you.Let me close with one of my favorite scriptures-- Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and know God, He that loves not, knows not God for God is Love. 1rst John 4:7-8.  So if you claim the name of Christ and you are prejudiced best be checking your heart. Spewing hate is not LOVE.( I was thinking about those who are protesting at funerals). God help us to be more like you.

Lametations 3 says it best

Money, Money, fear and dread;
Earth's a shaking, hundreds dead.
Famine, floods, wars and more,
madness knocking at every door.  
What can we  do? How can we be,
 Free from all the insanity?
 Lamentations 3:21-26 says it best,
 It tells how we can have mental rest,
 Free from worry, free from stress,        
 The Lord is compassionate, kind and true
and His mercies each morning are new for you. crr

Do you wonder?

Do you wonder if you died today if your life would have amounted to anything? What made me think on this is the comments I see on a certain social site.So many time I see @^&* my life or I give up. I think in everyone's life there comes a time when we ask ourselves, " Have I made an impact anywhere or on anyone? Have I lived to only realize I am invisible?" In Ecclesiastes the  writer says all is vanity. So I guess it is safe to say we all get there at some time or 'ta other...
Many times we try to fit with the 'in' crowd, we try to draw attention to ourselves with flashy dress, loud behavior ect. We often base our worth not on who we are but what we make, where we live or what we drive. The sad truth is for the most part we will never be a "star", a household name or famous.
Is 58:10 states-If you pour out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall rise in obscurity. Isn't funny that the way man looks to it that we need to be our own cheerleaders, put ourselves out there, push to get ahead and Gods way is to minister to others needs, get outside ourselves; in other words polar opposite of man's way..Let me pose a question in closing. Would you rather be a star that fades and by the next generation the question of "who?" comes up or would you rather affect someones life and while your name may not be any more memorable than that faded star your legacy goes on to generation after generation? For you see when you affect change in one person, give them a hand up so to speak , and the instead of wallowing in sin and grief they blossom into children of God who then affects not only those around them but those who follow them one generation after the other. Famous or life changing? Hmmm I know which  I would choose. You?