Tag: Faith

Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks

I remember some years ago, I was waiting on God to supply my need for employment. They had altar call at church, so I went down for prayer. I told the elder my situation, and this is the verse she gave me…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

These words brought me peace. Because even though I was still waiting on God’s direction for the right job for me, I could rejoice, pray, and give thanks. According to His Word, that is His will for us in Christ Jesus. I no longer felt powerless in my situation, because doing these things empowered me to honor God and bring Him glory.

When you find yourself in a place where you are trusting God to open up doors for you, you can rejoice, pray, and give Him thanks. He will direct your paths. Find peace and joy knowing that He is working things out for you as wait.

Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks
Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks

New Day, New Mercy

Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT, “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

So many mornings I have remembered this verse and felt joy. The mercy of Jesus is new every morning. Everyday He gives us a fresh start. Even when we fall into sin, His love, forgiveness, and mercy will meet us right where we are. All we have to do is repent.

When the pressures of life come our way, and our energy is low, He will uphold us. He will give us strength to face the day. He will not allow us to be consumed. Praise the Lord for His new mercies! Great is His faithfulness.

Our Ministry of Reconciliation

I sometimes wonder what it’s like to be God. He is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and His love never ends. It’s amazing that in all His magnificence, He would still choose to use us as vessels to show the world who He is.

Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have the privilege to be witnesses and help others come to know Him too. Through the power of The Holy Spirit who lives in us, God has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18 NIV, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:”

When God gave us His Son, He gave us His very best. We can’t see past the current moment, but He can see all of our days from beginning to end. The life we are living here on Earth, should be preparing us for our eternal life in heaven.

As we prepare, we can help others prepare too, by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with them. The message of the Cross and the power of the blood that was shed there, bring life to this dying world.

Mental Health Awareness: Being Sensitive to Others

This past weekend, I visited the library with my daughter. While I was there, I ended up getting into a conversation with one of the library aides. She began to tell me about her brother, who committed suicide just three years ago. Before taking his own life, he also took the life of his daughter.

As she was sharing details about this horrific story, I could see how painful it was for her. I can’t begin to imagine how traumatic this experience has been for her and her family. She told me that her other brother is now a advocate for mental health awareness. She mentioned the importance of people getting help when they need it. The suicide rates have increased over the years. As a Christian, I want to be aware of people, their feelings, and their needs.

My fellow blogger and big brother in Christ, Matt at Jesusluvsall, wrote about mental health awareness all last week. I enjoyed his posts, and I want to share his final post from last Friday, May is Mental Health Awareness Month – Depression and Anxiety. Please prayerfully read it. He made many great points for us to be aware of.

My prayer is that we would be sensitive to the fact that people are hurting. I also pray that everyone would have access to the mental health care they need. Please pray along with me.

1 Peter 3:8 NLT, “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.”

Thanks for reading and praying. 😊

Thinking About Faith

I was out walking yesterday morning and I was thinking about faith. I was thinking specifically about the rest of this year. I guess like many of you, there are things I am believing God for. Even though I don’t yet have all the details of how things will work out, I’m learning to leave things in God’s hands. I’m noticing that by diligently communicating with the Lord my faith is growing stronger. Sharing all my concerns with Him, while professing His sovereignty over my situation, is bringing me to a place of peace.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Peace is what God wants for you and me. He knows that we can only achieve peace, by giving our worries over to Him. We must trust Him to take care of us, because He promised us that He will.

Trust God’s Perfect Timing

After writing “Our God is the God of Abundance” yesterday, I kept thinking about God’s timing. I thought about how although we know God is sovereign over all things (Colossians 1:16), we must still wait for His plans to unfold.

Knowing that God is an abundant God with unlimited resources, it can be a struggle at times to patiently wait. When we are anxious, we can easily find ourselves wondering why God is taking so long to move in our situation. After persevering in prayer for days, months, or even years we may feel tired and discouraged.

Psalm 27:14 NLT, “Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.”

There are times when God chooses to move suddenly and turn things around, but He doesn’t always do that. We don’t always know the reasons behind our waiting. God may reveal details to us, but other times He requires us to just trust Him.

I used to have a picture on the wall that said, “Faith is trusting God when you do not understand.” That’s what is great about putting our faith in Jesus Christ, we don’t have to understand. Everything does not have to make sense to our human minds (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We can find comfort in knowing that He will strengthen us as we persevere through our waiting. We can cry out to Him at anytime of day or night, and He promised to hear our cries for help.

Psalm 18:6 NLT, “But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.”

He promised to give us His peace in exchange for our prayers (Philippians 4:6-7). As you are waiting, remember that God will never leave you. With every trial you face, God has a purpose and a plan, so don’t lose hope.

Our God is the God of Abundance

The more the enemy tries to steal, the more I realize the importance of recognizing that we serve the God of abundance. Our God’s resources are unlimited. The evil one is always on the prowl seeking to steal our peace of mind, our stability, our resources, our joy, our loved ones, you name it. But probably most of all he wants to steal our faith and trust in our God.

2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

Focusing on the abundance of God, reminds us that as we work to bring glory to His name, He will supply our every need. He will never leave His children empty handed. Mark 10:29-30, tells us that we will be rewarded when we give of ourselves, or our resources to follow Christ. I have days where I feel I want “more” of something. But when I stop and think about God’s goodness, I realize that He has always supplied exactly what I need, and even many of my wants. Remember that we serve an abundant God who has more than enough. He will faithfully take good care of us. In Him there is no lack.