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It comes from Truly Accepting God’s Will for our lives. 

And what does that mean exactly?

Let’s take one example.  Someone we love is dieing.  We pray for them constantly to live-but they go to Heaven anyway.  God says No.  What then?

We accept that this is God’s Will.

When we Truly accept God’s Will, then we also accept any hurt and pain that comes our way.  When some one dies we, of course, miss them and grieve their loss.  But we are not afraid, because we know that God loves us and loves them.  And we know that if God took them to Heaven, it was for a good reason.  We may not know that reason now, but we TRUST that it was a good reason born out of God’s great love for us.

Sometimes a hardship happens to us that is truly unjust.  We can either choose to be angry or we can choose to see the good that God creates out of it. 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”- Romans 8:28

What is happening in our country is also a good example.  There can be no doubt that in our current society, “evil appears good and good evil”.  Many question what good could possibly come of this?  But the truth is, great good may come of this as more people turn to God and Faith.  And those with Faith, will find their faith deepens.

The Truth is: Once we accept God’s Will, God’s Joy & Peace will follow.

In every situation, God gives us a choice.  We can look for Him-or not.  That is real freedom-given to us by God Himself ?

^“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit”-Psalm 51:12

That we live in difficult times is clear.  That times are going to get more difficult is true.  But though there will be times of worry and fear, there will also be times of great joy-if we ask God for them ?

Praying Psalm 51:12 everyday can only help us.  Notice how it says “free spirit”.  God believes in freedom, and He gave us freedom!  No one can take that freedom, because that freedom is in our hearts and souls, given to us by God Himself 🙂

Fear and worry will never consume us if we allow God to consume us instead.  If we shift our entire focus to Him, He will answer!  Always ?

From time to time, we all suffer with doubts, but we do not have to entertain them.  Nor do we have to focus them.

We have a choice.  We can choose to ask God for help and we can choose to think about something else.   Before we are Saved, doubts are simply evil’s way of trying to prevent us from going to Heaven!  Once we have  been saved, doubts are simply evil’s way of trying to get us back.  Don’t let evil win!

There is another way the evil one uses doubts.  he tries to instill as much fear and worry as possible in us and to create chaos all around us (sound familiar?).  In that way, he tries to chip a way at our faith, but we do not have to let evil win.

We can shift our focus and think of how wonderful Heaven will be instead of how hard life can be ?.  God put us in charge of our minds; we do not have to let our minds dwell on thoughts that disturb us.  It’s our choice, given to us by God Himself ?

And it’s okay to Pray, even when we have doubts!  And we can tell God about our struggles, believe me, He will be glad we brought our doubts to Him! And we will be glad we did, because God can’t help us if we don’t ask!  And when we have doubts, we can call on the Holy Spirit to Help us Pray and ask God to Protect us.  

And God Will ?

Are current events keeping us from focusing on God? They can certainly fill us with fear and worry…

Are we so busy worrying about what is going on in this world, that we are not focusing enough on the next?

There is a good way to fix that. We can simply change our focus! We can read the Bible. Pray. Picture Heaven. Or picture Jesus walking right beside of us :). Or rest in His Hand. Whatever we do, focusing our our faith instead of the current events of this world, will lighten our load and make our path a bit easier.

Don’t wait! Because Jesus is waiting for you now 🙂

Which is why I wanted to share with you, my friends, what I pray for every single day. We live in difficult times, but God will hold our hand through it all – if we let Him 🙂

First and foremost, I pray daily to stay in God’s Will.  God’s Will is the real and only Safe Place.  No matter what we face, no matter what comes, if we stay in God’s Will-He will give us everything we need to meet the challenges we face.  God Promised, and God always keeps His Promises.

Second, I pray daily for God to hold onto me, even if I can’t hold on to Him.  Kind of like an insurance policy.  I pray now, while I can, for what I may face later. And while I hope that I will always choose God first, I know that as a human being I can be weak, and so I pray for God’s Help in advance 🙂

And third, I pray for my faith to grow.  Faith stamps out fear and worry; faith brings love and hope in difficult times. We can’t focus on both our Lord and our Fears at the same time! It’s just not possible! And so, growing in Faith lightens the loads we carry in this life 🙂

And I ask Mary to pray for me every day. Asking Mary to pray for me daily has made a very real difference in my life, and can in yours as well. My faith in our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit has grown so much and I know Mary’s Prayers have helped my Faith to grow 🙂

God is always Faithful!  Always!  And when I am afraid, I remember Psalm 56: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. “ God’s Peace comes when we Focus on God and our Future in Heaven. 

Are there consequences for our choices?  Yes.  There are consequences both for a nation and to individuals. 

In Ezekiel 33:17-20, we read about the Fairness of God.  And God is Fair.  Because God, and only God knows the heart of men (and women ?).  But we also read in many places in the Bible of nations being “punished” for their poor behavior.  In fact, we read of nations facing consequences in Isaiah 33 & 34

And yet we also read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Our Father destroyed both cities for their sinful actions, but God saved Lot (Genesis 19), who was righteous.

And therein lies our hope.  Our nation has made some truly sinful choices, but that does not necessarily mean that God will not save the righteous.  He has before and He will again.

Like Abraham, we need to pray for one another.  We need to ask God for His Great Mercy, both for ourselves and for each other.  Just as we need to ask God for His courage and strength for the days ahead.  For as long as we stay in His Will; He will answer ?

For His Will-it is the Safe Place and we need to stay there ?

There is so much to be heartbroken about in Afghanistan.  It has been reported that 229 Christian Missionaries will be put to death today.   In addition, it has also been reported that over 15,000 American citizens are in Afghanistan, and it’s been reported that many of them will not be rescued.  We have seen pictures of families desperately holding on to a plane leaving Afghanistan and desperate stowaways trying to leave Afghanistan, falling while the plane is in flight. 

And there are those who suffered so in our military trying to free the people of Afghanistan. Those who died or were injured. The families and friends that loved them. We owe all of them a huge apology and our prayers!

We have read reports of the Taliban going door to door to kill Christians and any American sympathizers as well as their families.  We’ve read of schools for girls, who finally believed in their own dreams being blown up.  Our nation has betrayed them all and our Allies have taken note.  Trusting America will no longer be on top of anyone’s list.

But as heartbroken as we are, this is when we must Trust God.  And this is also when we must take a moment and realize that this is not Heaven.  And while it is a fallen world, it is not our Home.  Our Home is in Heaven.

And in Heaven, we will live for all eternity.  There will be no fear and no suffering.  And that is where many of our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan are going.  It’s horrific for them to suffer in this way.   It’s horrible to watch.  And it’s even worse to know that our own country is responsible for this mess. 

But God has not moved.   He is still right by our side, loving us and loving them, as He always has.

So Pray.  Pray for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan and Pray for our nation.  That we, as a nation, betrayed them is truly sinful, and will lay upon our nation for many years to come.  But for those who truly follow Christ, our mission has not changed.  Love and serve God and love and serve each other.  Amen.

“He is not the best student who reads the most books, but he who meditates the most upon them; he shall not learn most of divinity who hears the greatest number of sermons, but he who meditates the most devoutly upon what he does hear; nor shall he be so profound a scholar who takes down ponderous volumes one after the other, as he who, reading little by little, precept upon precept, and line upon line, digests what he learns, and assimilates each sentiment to his heart by meditation.”-Charles Spurgeon via Worth Devotions

“As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”-Jesus in John 13:34.

This is what Jesus teaches us.  Not always easy, but always the right thing to do. Because Jesus calls us to love everyone, whether we agree with them or not.

There are many in our country’s leadership who would divide us.  For those who have been vaccinated and wear masks, it’s easy to become angry with those who do not.  For those who are unvaccinated, it’s easy to become angry at the pressure being exerted on them to do both. Rightly or wrongly, we are all definitely paying a price. So what is even worse, is our anger feels justified!

But Jesus’ command to “love thy neighbor as yourself” has not changed.  So no matter how difficult our circumstances, that is what we must do. And if we are struggling with that, God WILL help us-if we ask.

Lastly, “feelings” just are…And sometimes they can take a bit of time to catch up with our choices. So sometimes we can “feel” angry and still choose to “act” with love. And that is okay! We are choosing God’s Will over our own. And if we keep choosing love, eventually, with God’s Help, our “feelings” will catch up 🙂