This blog is designed to create community for believers and provide support for seekers. I encourage all readers to share their faith in an effort to lift and encourage one another.
Psalm 28: 1-2
“To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help., as I lift up my hands toward our Most Holy Place.”
So thankful we have a Savior who hears our cries.
Have a fantastic Friday!
Good morning, everyone.
Isn’t it wonderful that we are all part of the body of Christ? Now if we could just learn to treat one another with love and respect, as Christ treats us.
Lord, open my eyes to see my brothers and sisters in Christ as beloved family. Even if they disagree with me or treat me poorly, teach me to treat them with love and respect.
One pastime from which I derive much pleasure is making things with my hands. To take a piece of yarn and make an afghan is very satisfying. It is amazing that a flat piece of fabric becomes a dress, or colored thread makes a beautiful picture.
After I finish making something, I take great pride in it; it is something I carefully, lovingly made with my own hands. Perhaps you, too, know the satisfying feeling that comes from creating something beautiful.
God must feel that way about making all of us. What a beautiful thought! God, a master craftsman (Jesus was, after all, a carpenter) has knit me, has made me. From dust. From bits of nothing, He created something, a human being; He created me; He created you.
“My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:15, 16).
Just as I can look at a skein of yarn and “see” the finished afghan, so God could see me before my body was formed.
Just as I know every stitch that went into an afghan or an article of clothing, God knows everything about me and has known it since before I was born. And notice, unlike my sometimes-feeble attempts at craftsmanship, the Psalmist’s words say that I was “skillfully wrought.” Made sloppily? No. Made imperfectly? No. Made “skillfully.”
Like me, is God proud of his craftsmanship? I think so. God made me and made you “skillfully,” so we should be pleased and proud of ourselves; each of us is special and each of us is made exactly the way God wanted us to be.
How often we complain about ourselves: I wish I looked like this person, or had his talents or her wisdom. When we question the way we look, the way we think, or the talents we have, we are questioning God. We are saying He’s made a mistake. Does that mean I’m perfect? Of course not. It means I am made exactly the way God intended me to be.
Knowing I have been made exactly the way God wanted me fills me with love and humility. It gives me confidence that I would otherwise lack. It also gives me a sense of great responsibility. God gave me a certain personality and certain gifts for a reason. As a child of His, it is my responsibility to recognize and appreciate the abilities He has created in me; it is my responsibility to dedicate my gifts to God and to use these God-given gifts to glorify my maker.
Psalms 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Oh God, creator of the universe, forgive me when I criticize your handiwork. Help me to have confidence in who I am, not out of boastfulness, but because I know you lovingly made me as you wanted me and you are pleased with your work.
Here’s your food for thought for today. Have a terrific Tuesday!
“It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us.”
Oswald Chambers
Good Monday morning!
Today’s scripture is short and seemingly simple. The King James versions says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” So, what is one thing you do to make sure you “stay in step with the Spirit” or “walk in the Spirit”?
Have a beautiful weekend!
When fears and doubts threaten to overtake you, and dark days surround you, remember the words of David.
Psalm 27: 1
“The Lord is my light and my salvation–whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life–of whom shall I be afraid?”
Happy Friday, everyone! If you are bombarded with troubles, take refuge in the one who loves you and created you.
Earlier, I caught a nasty virus, the kind that plays havoc with your digestive system.
Of course, we were out of town when it hit. During our granddaughter’s dance competition, we sat in the balcony watching so many beautiful dancers. While waiting for her solos, it hit hard.
The closest bathroom was upstairs. I had to run up two flights of stairs to get there. Unfortunately, it hit every ten minutes for a couple of hours. I made many hurried flights up those stairs. Luckily, no one else was around, so I had some privacy.
Clearly, my body was trying to get rid of whatever was causing all these problems. Later, at the doctor’s office, I learned that norovirus was the culprit. After some prescribed pills, bowls of steaming hot soup, and a week of rest, I felt 100% again.
If only it were that simple with the soul. If only we could vomit out all the nasty thoughts and evil desires. If only that would happen without us even having to think about it.
Impure thoughts in? What if the soul would just automatically spit them out?
That would be easy, wouldn’t it?
Unfortunately, we can carry impure thoughts and evil intentions within us that poison our souls and harm those around us.
Unlike a virus, they don’t automatically purge themselves from our souls. But God, in His infinite wisdom, shows us how to purify our souls.
Prayer and self-reflection begin the process.
Asking God to forgive us cleanses our soul.
Opening the bible and reading God’s word continues the healing.
Just as our bodies get rid of the viruses and germs that cause illness, so our souls have ways of cleansing our sin and spiritual disease. God, our great physician, provides ways for us to draw closer to Him.
What are you doing to cleanse your soul of spiritual illness?
Thank you, healing God, for revealing our sin and spiritual disease. Thank You for providing healing for what ails our souls.
Here’s your Tuesday food for thought. Have a wonderful day!
We are all poor sinners and unworthy even to mention your name, and so we beg our Lord Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, in whom you are well pleased, and the Holy Spirit, to give you thanks for everything.
~St. Francis of Assisi
Good Monday Morning!
I wonder with all of the dissention today, how many of us are following this command.
It is not always easy.
Lord, teach us to love others as you do, for we are all created by you.
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