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You Will Be Okay

Do Not Grow Tired Of Doing What Is Good!

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”, Galatians 6:9, New Living Translation

That we are living in difficult times is clear. And sadly, times will grow even more difficult before they get better. Many ask, what can we do? We can do what is “good”. Love God, love your neighbor. Take care of our families, help a neighbor bring in their groceries, smile at someone at the store, call someone who is lonely, encourage someone who is downcast… The list is endless, as are the rewards. Being kind to another human being is truly its own reward. So don’t stop, don’t give up.

The journey is long, but it ends in Heaven for all who believe. We are truly Blessed.

Justice

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/31/fires-light-up-washington-dc-on-third-night-of-george-floyd-protests?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1&fbclid=IwAR3d0uz4b1YRLVM7gsz34xVd4fa3o0G4RD5fVfkROMN5_v7ntBIB-HSyvkg

I read articles like this and I can’t help but feel angry. I read other articles about a woman being beaten by a board and fists, still others about police officers being beaten and injured, and I am angry. I saw a video of a man that was just kicked and beaten over and over, and I am angry. I read still another article that said over 50 Secret Service Agents were injured last night. In still another article they said that the White House actually turned off their lights. According to the article, they usually only do that when a President dies. Thankfully our President is still very much alive. But I think about the terror his wife and son must have faced when they were rushed to the “bunker” one night. And I am angry.

There are many that seem to think that Christians should never feel angry. That’s just not true. The attacking of innocent people should make us all angry.

But as Christians, that does not mean we should act on our anger. We can pray about it. We can ask our Lord to remove that anger, just as we can ask the Holy Spirit for the discipline not to act on it. The way of the world is not our way. We answer to a Higher Power, we answer to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

What we can do is support our police officers who risk so much to keep us safe. We can support and pray for those in elected office. We can pray for each other. And when we ourselves are overwhelmed by anger and frustration we can remind ourselves, that Justice will come one day.

But we also need to remind ourselves, that Justice belongs to God and God only.

Leading By Example

I found this great quote in my Bible:

“The way to stimulate and provoke others unto good works is to strive to outrun them in the race.”

It was in the Record of Christian Work from May 1909. Funny how really good advice never changes 🙂

There is freedom in repentance

…for all the past is left behind 🙂

“I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22”-from 40 days in the Word “

Although not fun, examining our conscience is necessary

Charles Spurgeon once said, “In many ministries, there is not enough probing the heart and arousing the conscience by the revelation of man’s alienation from God, and by the declaration of the selfishness and the wickedness of such a state”

Who really likes self examination? Definitely, not me! After all, who wants to look at the areas we may have failed, or at least not done as well as we might. But it is important.

All sin, both those actions we commit and those actions we don’t take – but should have, create a barrier between us and God. And when you think about it, the root of all sin is selfishness. We human beings are selfish by nature and it takes work on our part to change that. To become the selfless, loving human beings that God created us to be.

Fortunately for us, our journey is not yet over! And if we ask the Holy Spirit to help us examine our lives and learn where any selfish behaviors lurk, if we ask the Holy Spirit to help us be less selfish, He will be happy to help us!

The Holy Spirit is good like that 🙂

A Great Song for the Times in which we Live

The Blessing by Kari Jobe-Great Video :)

Teach Us To Number Our Days!

“So teach us to number our days, so that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”

Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days? It sounds just like, make every day count! The Bible teaches us so many things and this one is really important. If we were to think of today as our very last day on earth, what would we do with it? Spend more time with our loved ones? Share the gospel with others? Hug more? Smile more? Judge less? Reach out to strangers? Listen to those who are homeless, for they all have a story to tell? Help others more? The list is endless…

What if everyone treated today as if it were their last day on earth? Would the world be a better place?

Let’s make today count! Amen ?

Gratitude & Anxiety

If we are honest, we all struggle with a bit of anxiety these days. The world is changing, and we are not sure if, or when, it will change back. At this point, I’m not sure we really have a choice in the matter. I am not even sure Washington has a choice.

But I am sure that we do have a choice in what we choose to focus on. And what we choose to focus on will be our reality. So we can focus on and think about all of our worries. Or we can choose to spend our time and our focus on what we are grateful for. It’s our choice, but it’s hard to be anxious and grateful at the same time?

It’s hard not to look at our lives and be grateful for something But here are a few of the things I am grateful for:

My Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary & Joseph, Peter and all of the Apostles who shared the Gospel with so many, all of those who sacrificed so much to get the Bible written so we could read it…my husband, my children, that I am alive, friends that love me, work, the doctors and nurses that work so bravely to take care of us, our home, grocery store workers who so bravely go to work, soldiers who defend our freedom, chocolate, flowers, the seas and the mountains, music, prayer, hugs (which I still enjoy and consider an “essential part of life), holding hands, guardian angels, pizza, sleeping, snuggling in bed when just slightly awake, the sunshine, the rain..And that we have a God who loves us!

There are so many things to be grateful for, even in the midst of Covid 19. Make a list. And on difficult days, read it ?

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