Hurting !

The world is such a hard place. There are troubles everywhere, here in America and around the world. There's even talk that we may be headed to another war. Satan is having a hay day!!! He loves it when we are in turmoil.  It keeps our minds off the good things that do happen around and for us. It keeps us looking at the negative, not the positive. It keeps us off balance and desperate.

I know a few folks that have really good reasons to be focusing on the negative, at this time in their lives. It is rather overwhelming how many I have been with lately. There isn't much I have been able to help with except to listen, cry and pray with them. 

These sweet people are looking towards the day when all of what they have been dealing with is over. They really want to be able to just move on with their lives.

But even though they have so much to be sad about they also know that God has their back and they understand that He is not the source of all their troubles.

They remind me of Job. He had so many things go wrong in his life, from health, to family and friends that failed him.

He did not understand all of the why's but he loved and worshiped God no matter what....


Job 1:22

22 In spite of everything, Job did not sin or accuse God of doing wrong.

Sometimes we can shorten or lengthen our troubles by our attitudes and actions. If through it all we strive to be positive and hopeful, we can become positive and hopeful. The longer we stay down in the dumps and negative the harder it is to get out of that mood. Sometimes we just sit around blaming God and wondering "why me"?. Nothing good will come of this. But if we remember to call on God, for help, relief can and will come.


Psalm 34 says.....

17 When God's people pray for help,
he listens and rescues them
from their troubles.


Yes, life can be a challenge sometimes. Really, more than sometimes. This world can bring down troubles on us, right and left. But we have an outlet. We have more support than we can even imagine. Our creator loves us with so much grace and compassion. He wants to take away all that haunts us. Let Him...

Call on Him!! 

Let him rescue you!!! 

Let Him love you!!! 

Blessings!

Which Way To Go?

This weekend Rodney and I have had the honor to spend time with a Methodist Missionary from Guatemala. We had him at our church to fill us in on the work that has been going on since he moved down there with his son, five years ago. They gave up their lives in the states for the sake of the people that live there. Great things are happening because of this fact.

We have another set of friends who have just moved to Indianapolis from a church that they started a few years ago in Atlanta. They are planning on starting another church in the art district of Indy. The two of them left a grandchild and two daughters and their husbands in Georgia for the same reason as the missionary from Guatemala. All because they are sure that God has called them to these ministries.



What causes people to do these things? There are so many who have started on a certain trek in their lives and then turn and go in the direction that they feel God is calling them to go.  My sweet husband is one of them. Are these people crazy? Do they just like the shocked looked on family and friends faces when they tell them they are following a calling of God, or maybe they are gluttons for the struggles that go along with these decisions?

Actually, when you look into the eyes of our friends you can see a peace and contentment. I know that Rodney and I wouldn't want our life to be anything but what we are doing. It is peaceful, even in the rough spots. 

Peter writes about this peacefulness.......

2 Peter 1:1-3

The Message (MSG)

1 1-2 I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.

3 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! 

God doesn't always send someone to the foreign mission field, to do His work. Maybe He calls us to be a better employee, or a better boss. Maybe He will call you to show love to the children in your classroom or compassion to a the homeless people on the street. Maybe you need to work in a soup kitchen or beautify the local park.  Maybe you are called to keep track of a neighbor who is aging or sick. You might even be called to help keep your church building clean.

There are some who are called to change everything about their lives and I love living the life that Rodney and I have been called to. I know our friends feel the same way about their lives too.

What have you been called to do? Whatever it is you can trust God to help you in the en devour. The peace that comes with following God's call is something that has to be experienced. Try it and see for yourselves. 

Blessings!

I wish, I wish, I wish

I wish, I wish, I wish......

Don't we catch ourselves saying these words as our past comes to mind. I wish I hadn't done that or I wish I had've done this. What would people think of me if they knew....., Lord, you want me to do what? You know my past and so do others. How can I be used by you?

How can I be used by you? That is my question as I think of some of the stupid things of my past. There are so many things I would have done differently. So many regrets of missed opportunities. So many times I let myself be led down a wrong path. These thoughts are not from God. These thoughts take my eyes off the things I should be doing and make me feel unworthy.

As children of God we need to keep looking forward. Moving away from our past and moving on toward our goal. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, taught of the "entire sanctification". This speaks of the power of God's grace to move us away from the sin in our lives and push us towards holiness.

Look at Paul. He was a persecutor of the Christians. He was even there at the stoning of Steven. Look what he has to say in Philippians 3:12-14....

I am not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: by no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-to Jesus. I am off and running, and I'm not turning back.

Do you think that Paul might have had a greater compassion for the Jews and the Christians because of his past? Maybe all that you have experienced will give you a better understanding of the people God has put in your life. But don't dwell on a past that God has already forgiven. Look what Jesus did for the woman who was going to be stoned in John 8...

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "the sinless one among you, go first; throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you? " No Master". "Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin".

Jesus changed her that day. I wonder what she went on to do? How many people she went on to help change because of the forgiving power of Christ?

Sweet friends, don't let your past be your guide. Instead say "what past"? Keep your eyes and your heart looking forward. Remember Christ hasn't condemed you, He has forgiven you and wants you to go on your way and sin no more. With God's help that is exactly what we all can do!

Blessings!

I wish, I wish, I wish......

Don't we catch ourselves saying these words as our past comes to mind. I wish I hadn't done that or I wish I had've done this. What would people think of me if they knew....., Lord, you want me to do what? You know my past and so do others.  How can I be used by you?

How can I be used by you? That is my question as I think of some of the stupid things of my past. There are so many things I would have done differently. So many regrets of missed opportunities. So many times I let myself be led down a wrong path. These thoughts are not from God. These thoughts  take my eyes off the things I should be doing and make me feel unworthy.

As children of God we need to keep looking forward. Moving away from our past and moving on toward our goal. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, taught of the "entire sanctification".
This speaks of the power of God's grace to move us away from the sin in our lives and push us towards holiness.

Look at Paul. He was a persecutor of the Christians. He was even there at the stoning of Steven. Look what he has to say in Philippians 3:12-14....
I am not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: by no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-to Jesus. I am off and running, and I'm not turning back.

Do you think that Paul might have had a greater compassion for the Christians because of his past? Maybe all that you have experienced will give you a better understanding of the people God has put in your life. But don't dwell on a past that God has already forgiven. Look what Jesus did for the woman who was going to be stoned in John 8:6-11...

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "the sinless one among you, go first; throw the stone." Bending down again,  he wrote some more in the dirt. Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you? " No Master". "Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin".

Jesus changed her that day. I wonder what she went on to do?  How many people she went on to help change because of the forgiving power of Christ?

Sweet friends, don't let your past be your guide. Instead say "what past"?  Keep your eyes and your heart  looking forward. Remember Christ hasn't comdemed you, He has forgiven you and wants you to go on your way and sin no more. With God's help that is exactly what we all can do!