In Need of Peace

Once again, I find myself worried because I have been relying on myself rather than God. Why do I let this happen? I cannot express how thankful I am for God's never ending love and His promise of Peace to those who focus on Him.

Isaiah 26:3 says: "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on You."

Father, I claim this verse and want you
to know that I surrender all to You and ask that You help me fix my
mind on You. You are more than enough for me and I love you so much.

Make me a Servant

My hubby and I leave in a week and a half for a Missions Trip. We are Lay Leaders in the Youth Group at our church and the youth group goes to Maine every year to do service projects up there and put on 2 Vacation Bible Schools for the local children. So, much of our service on this trip will be leading our Youth group kids during the trip and helping them minister to the little children in Maine.

Anyway, we have been so busy with getting things organized and ready for this trip. Tonight, we received an email from the youth Pastor telling us what location we would both be at (we serve two cities while in Maine), and it was not what we were hoping for, not what we wanted. My first reaction was to complain to my hubby about this and ask him if we could see if they could rearrange this, simply because we wanted to be at the other location. Pathetic, I know, but I am being honest here about this.

The more I thought about it, the more convicted I felt about my reaction. I knew that I needed to be willing to serve wherever they needed me and that this is what going on a missions trip is about...serving in ways that we might not like.

God brought to my heart His Words from Philippians 2:3-8:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Wow...these verses hit me hard. I pray that God will give me the grace and strength to humble myself and truly put the needs and wants of others above mine, so that I may please God in this situation.

Comfort in God's Word

These past few days, I have been amazed and refreshed by the power of God's Word and am so thankful to be able to draw such Truth and comfort from it. From my previous post, I wrote about some anxiety I had and while I do not have the test results back yet, (I go tomorrow for the colonoscopy), I have an indescribable peace from God.
I was encouraged by my Best Friend's Mom to read many of the Psalms from the Bible to calm my heart from the anxiety I was feeling about my procedure. God knew that I needed to hear this from her and I am thankful that I was able to talk with her about all of this. I took her advice and dove right into Psalm.
Many verses in this book brought comfort to me, and as I read the verses over and over and prayed to God asking His forgiveness for my lack of faith and trust in Him, my heart became filled with God's peace.
I am so thankful for this and am glad that through this small trial, I was able to draw closer to my Saviour.
Here are some of the Scriptures that brought much comfort to my heart:

Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

II Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Psalm 139 (the entire chapter)

My prayer is that in the future, I will not worry and get myself all worked up like I did this past weekend. Next time, I will head right for God's Word.

Tonight before bed and tomorrow I will read these verses to myself and continue to trust God.

Do not be anxious

Philippians 4:4-8

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I woke up this morning, a littler earlier than usual, with these verses on my heart. My heart has been a little anxious lately, as I wait to see a specialist about some medical stuff. I am waiting for them to call me today and schedule my apt. for the consultation and test. I have no reason to be anxious or nervous. So far, my family medical doctor just didn't find anything that was the source of my symptoms, so even though she thinks it is not serious, she wants to be safe and send me for further testing. So, this is why my heart has been anxious. (and stress could be the source of my symptoms.)

Anyway, I want to praise God in my life no matter what. I know that He cares for me and that He is in control. This morning in prayer, I asked God to forgive me for my worrying and decided to read these verses to myself throughout today. Father, give me your peace and help me to always Rejoice in You!

Purple Marshmallows

Galatians 5:16 says, "So I say, live by the Spirit, & you will
not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

This verse has been on my mind after finishing reading the book of Galatians. This is the first verse in the section that introduces the difference in acts of the sinful nature and acts from the Fruit of the Spirit. The key to not fulfilling the acts of the sinful nature, but instead having the fruit of the Spirit is to live by the Spirit. Maybe God put this verse first in this section so we would not miss the point on how to have victory in this area.

My husband has a message that he has spoken on in the Junior High that he titles, "Purple Marshmallows." I love hearing him speak on this. Basically, his point is that many times as Christians we try to fake having the Fruit of the Spirit, and instead we create purple marshmallows and not real grapes. From a far, purple marshmallows could be mistaken as grapes enabling us to fool others and ourselves for a while, but he explains to the kids that trying to always be loving, joyful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and show self-control on our own is exhausting and not genuine or permanent. We cannot make the fruit of the Spirit evident in our lives on our own, if we try, the best we will come up with is something that kinda looks like it, but will not last. This is not what God wants.

We need to remember the point in verse 16. It is only through living by the Spirit, daily surrendering to God, that puts us in the position for God to produce His fruit of the Spirit in us. Living in the Spirit also gives us the power to resist the desires of the sinful nature. How awesome is God. I just love how all of this works out. If we spend time with Him and seek Him, He will equip us with all we need. This is why time with God everyday is so Vital. We need His help and can't do it on our own.

Investing in Eternity

The older I get in age (note to all I am in my mid twenties) and the more I seek God, the deeper burning and passion I have to really invest in eternal things. Although I am young, I don't want to waste any time. I want to use my days and abilities to serve God and make eternal differences.

Jesus' words in Matthew 6:19-21 seem to be my theme verses: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I pray that God will reveal areas in my life that are distracting me from investing in eternity. I also pray for God's wisdom, so that I will know exactly what He wants my husband and I to do to make a difference for Him. (James 1:5). I pray that I would not be distracted by or caught up in worldly things. I pray that I will love Him more every day.

Our God is awesome and I am blessed by Him over and over again.

Serving Him

Colossians 3:23-24 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Ever since I was young, I loved these verses. At one time, probably in Middle and High School, these were my favorite verses. Reading them today, I still feel encouraged and challenged to give God my all and my best in whatever He brings to my day. My life is a service to God. My prayer is that this truth will stay in the front of my mind throughout every day.