Prayer Matters

Over the years I have journaled many letters and prayers to God. Today I am looking back to see how much I've grown through this medium of submitting my wants, fears, needs, desires, weaknesses, and will to Him.

I can see how God has answered and manifested His perfect will for my life. It's not as clear in the real time, at the time of submission, but now I can see revelation, God revealing Himself  in relationship with me. It's a beautiful thing; and my faith, and trust matures and grows stronger.

I encourage you dear one's who are seeking a deeper relationship with God to keep a journal; bare your soul to God, and He will bless your spirit. He waits to hear from you, as a parent who's children have left home, he misses time spent caring for you. Write out your prayers, as letters sent home.

A few of my prayers shared with you..

Lord, show me how to love to life this poverty in my spirit when I try to love through my own expectations. 

Lord, I am unsure of my way today, but certain in you. You are with me, and have plans for me.

Lord, I pray today that you make me an instrument of your peace and love.

Lord, help me to stop judging others by their actions. Who am I to know their motivation at that moment, their heart's cry, superficially acted out. Help me to spend my time in the spirit of generosity  acceptance, and encouragement.

Amen

Call to me and  I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

Strongholds

Strongholds in the physical definition represent a fortress with difficult access, for the believer a stronghold in the spiritual represents Christ.

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is the stronghold of my life-

of whom should I be afraid?

False strongholds are anything that steals our focus from God, consuming too much of our emotional and mental energy, and strangles our abundant life. These strongholds come from false ideas, lies, and deceptions. They are born of Satan, in our mind and can be subtle in the beginning and grow stronger as we begin to act upon these ideas. 

How do we know in the beginning of the deception if this idea/ ideals we are entertaining are contrary to God's will for our life?

We must have a barometer, and that  barometer is God's word. Scripture teaches us through the Holy Spirit. 

There are thousands of measures to use for gauging the worth of activities in our lives in the Bible. Here's just one to think about today.

Colossians  3:23

23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, and not for men..it is the Lord you are serving."

Marvelous Happenings

Today's "God Calling" Devotion-

Our Lord, with hearts full of joy we thank Thee for Thy marvelous blessings showered on us today and every day.

I am beside you. Follow in all things My Guiding. Marvels beyond all your imaginings are unfolding. I am your Guide. Joy in that thought. Your Guide and your Friend.

Remember that to Me a miracle is only a natural happening. To My disciples, to My chosen, a miracle is only a natural happening. But it is a natural happening operative through spiritual forces, and therefore the man who works and understands through the senses only, regards it as something contrary to Nature. 

Remember too that the natural man is at enmity with God. Realize fully, and pray to realize more and more fully, that there is no wonder too marvelous to be with you an everyday happening, if you are guided and strengthened by Me. My children, the children of My Kingdom are a peculiar people, set apart, different hopes, and aspirations, and motives, and sense of reward.

  

You see a marvelous happening (as that today), happening so easily, so simply, so free from all other agency, and you wonder. My children, listen, this has not happened easily and simply. It has been achieved by hours, days, months of weariness and heartache battled against and overcome, by a steadfast, unflinching desire to conquer self, and to do My Will and live My teachings.

  

The frets and the worries and the scorn patiently borne mean spiritual Power acquired, operating marvelously. 

The Lord is my shepherd; Psalm 23

This is such a beautiful reading from my  "God Calling"  book, I have used this devotion book for years- underlining, making notes in the margin, highlighting, rereading over and over. Jesus is speaking directly to me- just me, and I grow closer and more intimate with my savior; a deeper understanding evolves as I daily walk and talk with Him. My spirit is strengthened with every devotion. Today's reading  is a good one, it helped me to understand why God's ways are different from my ways, and dear reader's, that is a  very good thing- for God is so good. Amen!

Hurts in the Past

An excerpt taken from a page in my notes last summer. A candid answer, I share candidly with you now.

The question in my Bible Study asks "What comfort has God given to me as I have sought comfort from hurts in the past? Journal about that, focusing on whether or not you are willing to pass on the comfort?

"I was angry and hurt when my life's plan for marriage and motherhood was shattered. I was raw with emotions, feeling no comfort, because I had turned my back on God. It was a dark and lonely place, the only light inside my heart was artificial and burned out repeatedly- I was running on empty. I had to run  into the desert, for a season of barrenness and drought. As I reached the end of myself, fallen face down, exhausted and lost, I finally surrendered and gave it all up to God. I had a lot inside that literally was making me sick. I purged and purged (prayed and repented) and sought the help of God (forgiveness), and life (love) began to come back into me. I still felt so alone, but continued to seek God for my daily manna. My prayers were on my knees, and Jesus was comforting me through the healing process. He is my rod and staff, and my desert is now a beautiful highland meadow, full of lush green grass and a babbling brook- My God sent me a help mate to stand with me. He was in need of the savior too, and we comforted each other. Today I am writing in a blog  "Dreams Do Come True"; I am doing this to help other's. I want my readers to see Jesus as the only way to true comfort."

Abiding

John 15: 9-13

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

 ¹² "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

My purpose for this blog "Trusting God" is that you would be encouraged to know your Creator and Savior as I do, and that you would daily seek him in the truth of his word and through the love of his spirit. 


To continue to trust in God (abide) we must know his words- through study, preaching, teaching, praying and hearing the word. We must also be doers of the word to see God working in the natural.   

Reading God's word daily, even if you only focus on one verse, the truths will begin to abide in you, and here is where the transformation of the mind to be more Christ like will begin- in the abiding. 

Today's truth is that God loves you so much, and wants you to really experience "true love"- the love of Christ. A love that is so full that it naturally overflows, never stopping, always seeking to share, giving new life to the wounded or dead in spirit. Love is the greatest gift from God. 

Just remember- Christ's command to love other's is spiritual, and must come from our yielding to his spirit. The natural man (our flesh) can only love selfishly. We battle with our own judgmental mind and prejudices. Only as we begin to learn how to daily abide- relying on the power of the indwelling Spirit to act on our behalf, do we begin to conquer hate and indifference- the opposite of love.

The spiritual truths of abiding in Christ are deeper than words on a page or spoken in a pulpit. We must believe and trust God; that the Holy Spirit will teach us as we walk in faith and share God's tender mercies. 

In Christ's love I am  praying for all of you dear ones seeking Him today.   

1Corinthians:13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The God Formula

James 3:17

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. It is peace loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is whole hearted and straight forward and sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness. (The Living Bible Translation) 
                                                                           

The Future

Remember the movie "Back To The Future"? Great movie with a very intriguing title. Millions of girls watched this movie and fell more in love with the actor Michael J. Fox. I'm sure the fame that movie brought to his life would be quite a story. But he could not know the future, as a young man, that a greater story would change his life forever.


I recently read an article where he talked about living with Parkinson's and how everything has changed in his perspective regarding life and love and purpose. Summarizing briefly to the point I want to highlight, he said "living in the moment" puts his days together piece by piece, and what a blessing that change in lifestyle has been.


Most of my life I have spent a lot of my time and energy focusing on what could of been, or what is going to happen. Living in the past and worrying about the future, and complaining about the present. I'm sure I'm not alone in this common way of life. But as a believer I should trust God does not want me to live a common life.


One morning I was out for a walk with my 3 dogs. I often take this time to talk to God about life and stuff- my life and my stuff to be exact. I was in search of answers.


"Questions, questions, so many questions my child,"- I can picture God thinking as I rant on and on. Then as I reached the top of the hill, the college bell chimed 9 times. I stopped and began to meditate on my verse, my mantra in Jeremiah 29; 11.


"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


As the bell stopped, my questions started again.  I asked God why did he make me wait for the plans of the future and why not just reveal them to me today. I think I really meant, why not just give me the good prosperous plan right now!


 I thought about the word, the" future", that mysterious passing of time. I realized, the future is just a word to me, and that my only reality lies in the present- the moment to moment unfolding of  the day.My part is to move into that future through the present.


 Like the clever movie title "Back to the Future", as I live in every second, I am living in the present, soon to the the past, yet shaping the future. Wow, what a revelation!


You may need to read that again and think about it. God revealed this to me as soon as I stopped my questions. I became keenly aware this is as close to the plans of the future I can go, and that only God can cross through the dimensions of  past, present, and future.


Instead of questioning everything I could not understand or see, I knew my best plan was to trust God and continue to walk into my future close to Him. The enemy would prefer I stay in the dark, and worry so about this passing of time.


Instead, I do my day to day part with the help that God's wise instruction gives me. Here is what God said to the exiles through Jeremiah- in the passages just before the promise of verse 11.


  ⁵ “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.⁶ Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.


  ⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.


Sounds like pretty good advice for me too. I want what God wants for my life- so I am waiting on the Lord, seeking Him through His word, His creation, and His created.

Trusting God day by day- moment by moment. Step by step.