365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 21

The remainder of verses 8,9, 10, 11 and 12 in 1 Corinthians 13 require a lot more study than I have been able to put into it thus far. But from a commentary I found on-line at http://americanvision.org/5546/that-which-is-perfect-an-theological-glance-at-1-corinthians-139/ I have discovered that, #1, we have to take these verses within the whole context of the letter written to Corinth by Paul and, #2, the basic summary of it is this: nothing compares to love, not any possible spiritual gifts we may have, nothing. Love is the road to spiritual maturity and perfection in our relationship with God. That being said, we have to again call upon the Holy Spirit within us to help us remember that love is the primary thing that God wants us to have for Him and all other people. Without love, we have nothing and our relationship to God is not as it can be. We have to be seeking, praying about and giving love everyday. Here is my daily prayer to help me focus on my love for God and my love of others (please use and or make one in your own words):

  Heavenly Father, You are the perfection of love. Help me to cultivate a daily attitude of love for you and all peoples. Have the Holy Spirit within me, remind me that without love I have nothing and with love I will gain in my perfection and relationship with You. With the God of Love All Things Are Possible. Amen.  

In the wake of the very tragic school shooting in CT, I believe we are called to love all people, even those that would do the unimaginable and kill children. In watching some of the comments on the news from psychologists, I find they focus on the probable mental problems this young man may have had, but the simple truth is this was a very tragic call for help from someone who was probably filled with pain, hurt, anger and did not have a connection to God. In what little I have learned thus far in my goal to be a Christian counselor/life coach is that we are made up of three things: physical, emotional and spiritual. Modern day psychology will leave out the spiritual aspect that is a key part of who we are and who God created us to be. My heart aches for the loved ones that have to endure this tragic loss but my prayer is they will find forgiveness and love for the shooter and that they will be at peace knowing that God will bring good from this.

Matthew 5:43-48  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus. – Max Lucado

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 321

I am currently reading four books, one for my ladies group bible study, one for a new study at my church, another for personal growth and finally one just because I am a fan of Max Lucado. I was thinking about this and realized how awesome it is to be able to read. That is a gift! Thank you Lord for the gift of being able to learn to read and having an abundance of reading material provided for us without restriction. There are places in this world where people don’t have the opportunity to learn to read or they are restricted by what they can read. I learned in my bible study group last night of a country where they are only allowed to have one Christian bible in the home and there are consequences if any other Christian reading material is found in the home. One such family was found to have the one bible but also a couple of other Christian books. The government came in and took every bit of furniture they had and to make matters worse they had just had a baby. It is stories like this that remind me of how good we have it here in the United States. Never take our freedom for granted and always remember there are those out there that we have to pray for and stand up for that don’t yet have these freedoms.  Learn more about helping people get bibles at this site.  http://www.bf.org/biblenet.htm

Romans 15:14 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 315

I am pretty sure there are distinct personality types created by God and some of those types or at least one of those types is more prone to having fears. I have struggled with fear of what people think of me, fears of being on the phone, fears of conflict and more for my whole life. This last year since doing the bible study Fearless by Max Lucado, the Lord has really helped me get past some of these fears. Mind you, we are always a work in progress so today may be a fearless day and tomorrow I may take a step backwards. Yesterday at work, was one of those fearless days. I have been confronted with having to cold call alarm companies at my job in the past 3 years but have managed to delegate it to someone else to do or find a way around it like discovering an email address. Yesterday, I was emailed a copy of an invoice an alarm company received with a quick written note on it that the alarm had been installed in 1970. Unfortunately, that was not an excuse to get out of the fine this alarm company received. In looking at their account, I discovered there was no contact information except a phone number. OH No! I contemplated it briefly, got side-tracked temporarily, and than came back to it and just picked up the phone to cold call this alarm company. I ended up speaking directly with who I needed to speak to so that was a good thing but he ended up getting defensive right away and definitely had an attitude. I was relieved to finally get somewhere with this man and get off the phone. In the end, I am pretty sure he just doesn’t want to pay or follow what the law says but at least I made the good effort attempt to educate him and help him clear up his account and try to get him into compliance with the law. I would never have made that call had not the Lord been working within me and helping me overcome my fears and build my confidence. So all praise to Him!!! But I will be praying this day will be without any need for such phone calls. Thank the Lord it is Friday!

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 245

Everyone has their favorites. Favorite movie, favorite food, favorite dessert, favorite thing to do, favorite book. One of my favorite childrens book is by Max Lucado called You Are Special. Why are your favorites your favorites? Probably because they make you feel good or maybe you associate something with them. I have struggled my whole life with letting what other think of me matter so when I read this book and the words at the end I just get this super good feeling inside me everytime. Here are those words from Eli the woodcarver, the maker of the Wemmicks who is a representation of God: Eli smiled, "You will, but it will take time. You've got a lot of marks. For now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care." "Remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door, "you are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes."  Goosies just came... Thank you Lord for the gift you have given Max Lucado in bringing these words to others, in reminding us how much you care and how special we are to you and that only what you think matters.

Pslam 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 83

At my bible study last evening, we got off on a 'bunny trail' and ended up talking about negativity and how it can affect us. My first inclination was to pray about it everyday. If anything is bothering you or making your life not all it can be, pray about it. My second thought was keeping the focus on Jesus. It seems to be the major theme throughout the bible study Fearless by Max Lucado. How do we keep our focus on Jesus? Prayer, being in the Word as much as possible, being around other believers and more prayer. This morning I read from my email called Words of Wisdom from Crossing Your Bridge about change and peace and found this so 'right on' with the negativity discussion I had just had the night before. God provided a scripture that can be the focus of our prayers. Here's that little snippet I read:
2 Thessalonians 3:16

May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!

INSIGHT:

People who irritate, that happen to be in our lives, are there so we can activate God's peace. God's peace can help us see them as He sees them and allows us to not have them bother us. We can't control them but we can control how we react to them and how we allow them to bother us. People can't bother us unless we let them.


ACTION:
Activate God's peace in our lives when we are faced with someone who is irritating us.

Thank you Lord for bringing your Word to me that can help us change our outlook on the negative people that are around us.
Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 49

I started a bible study group through my church 2 years ago when I kept finding that the timing of things going on at the church just wasn't lining up with my time. I think we have done about 6 different studies now. We have had some join for a short time and other long timers leave us who moved out of CO whom we have missed but we keep at it. We are currently doing a study called Fearless by Max Lucado. I am a huge fan of his writing style and love his children's books. I had the privelege of hearing him speak at a Women of Faith conference several years ago. He really knows how to say things that you already know but puts a great spin on it or puts it in another perspective that is just golden. In one chapter in Fearless, he talks about the incident on the boat with the disciples and the big storm. How afraid for their lives they became and how Jesus who was sleeping the whole time got awakened by them and their fearfulness and said for the uncounted time, 'do not be afraid'. Lucado points out that they are in a boat with the Son of God, the Messiah, sleeping or not, the disciples had no reason to fear. The same is true for us. He is with us whether we think he's sleeping or not and we have nothing to fear. My praise today is not only for this wonderful perspective gleaned from this bible study but for the ladies in my study who have brought lots of insight, wisdom and laughter to our group and made it so special. We truly are sisters in Christ. Do you have a community of believers that you gather with regularly to learn and grow more in your faith? If not, definitely seek one out or take the initiative and start one. If you are local, you can always join mine.
Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise grows wise.