October 05, 2008 at 07:09
Rekindle Your Life Through Prayer
There is nothing more satisfying to our lives than to know that we are acknowledged and listened to. It makes us feel important when someone gives us their undivided attention and responds to our slightest concern. On the other hand when we feel that we are not heard or listened to, it can cause us to withdraw and think “what the use,” no one is paying attention. This kind of feeling can lead to prayerlessness in our lives, especially if we forget that God wants to hear from us on a continual basis, and if we forget that God is concerned about the details of our daily existence.
I want to let you in on a secret that I read that energized me to want to re-kindle my relationship with God through prayer. Andrew Murray said “God needs time with us. If we would only give him time…” God not only inclines His ear to us, but He also looks us in the eye. We are not talking to someone up there who is so high above us that He cannot see or hear, but a loving God who wants to be acknowledged by us in a similar way that we need to be acknowledged. He is the one who placed the desire in our hearts to talk to Him, so I encourage you to go ahead give it a try.
You don’t need to use fancy words, you just need a heart that is connected to Him. So, let me give you God’s word from Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Your life can be forever charged and rekindled to trust that God is waiting to hear your call.
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September 17, 2008 at 11:15
Character Building
I think one of life's great milestones is when a person can look back and be almost as thankful for the setbacks as for the victories. Gradually, it dawns on us that success and failure are not polar opposites. They are parts of the same picture- the picture of a full life, where you have your ups and your downs. Bob Dole
This quote speaks to what our lives consist of. We all would like for our lives to be worry free, stress free and problem free, but that is not what we often experience. Sometimes when we think our lives are difficult and want to have a pity party, we find that others are dealing with similar issues. Could it be that even through our most difficult moments, we can learn lessons that are invaluable., and help to build character. It is good to keep a journal of circumstances and events in your life and look back on them years later. I can remember not getting a position that I wanted and I thought it was so awful when I wasn’t selected only to find today that I am so grateful. God is able to see our entire lives and strengthens us through every difficult season so that we can look back and see that our character has been shaped in a new way.
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September 08, 2008 at 11:47
Peace
In a world of noise, it is hard to find a place of peace. Sometimes it is not the noise from the outside, but noise from within ourselves. When our minds continue rehearsing events from the past that is ever present.. This weekend, I was with a group of people who are suffering from inner turmoil and their hearts cry was for some releif. Many of them cried out for the first time in a long time, because there seemed to be no escape to a place of safety. As we left each other, there were warm embraces as one by one were thankful that they felt safe to share their burdens and to leave them in the hands of the Lord. As an act of leaving their burdens with the Lord, each one wrote the thing that had so saddened their hearts, and put them in a basket. They refused to take them back. I know that the pain may not be completely gone, but what they were saying is that they were ready to move on and look to a brighter future. My prayer is that we all could experience peace on a daily basis and rejoice in the one who said "I am the Prince of Peace. Peace, My Peace I give to you not as the world gives, but My Peace that goes beyond our human understanding." I look for and need that peace on a daily basis.
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August 27, 2008 at 09:42
Endurance
Each day before I start out I try to have some sacred time with the Lord. Sometimes it is reflective and quiet, giving me a chance to think about my life’s direction, while other times I am doing most of the talking about events and circumstances going on around me. My intent during some of this time is to also assess mentally what I am facing in the upcoming day. I have even prepared a list of things that I want to get done within the day. Some days I am able to stay on course and others are seemingly more difficult than others to accomplish all of the things that I set out to do. When it happens that I don’t accomplish everything that I have planned on my “to do” list, I have felt somewhat let down by my own expectations. I was greatly encouraged some days ago when I read this quote by John Blanchard, “God may call you to endure difficulties, but he will never cause you to experience defeat.”
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August 19, 2008 at 08:46
Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
I am always amazed by some of the situations that I find myself in. A couple of days ago, I attended a two-day work conference in New York City with another colleague. It was our first time attending this conference, so of course we didn’t know anyone, although I must say that it was a great place to meet other ministry professionals. People who frequently attend this conference was meeting up with vendors over dinner or lunch to catch up. As a part of the conference there was a networking social the first evening that we had registered for, but I wanted to back out because I felt that I didn’t really know anyone, and my oldest daughter was coming to have dinner with me. Being the kind of person that I am if I make a commitment, I will try my best to keep it. Needless to say, I went to the networking event, somewhat reluctantly. When I walked in I heard someone call my name. I was shocked to see that it was a member of my church where I serve as Pastor of Christian Education and Discipleship. She was the VP of one of the vendor firms that was sponsoring a dinner after the networking event. She invited my daughter, myself and my colleague to dinner as her guest. Being at the right place at the right time has its benefits. First it provided me the opportunity to re-connect with Debbie (from Church); second it provided me the opportunity to have dinner with my daughter; and third it provided me the opportunity to meet some great people. I can’t help but believe that it was orchestrated by God ahead of time so that the whole experience would be meaningful. That is the way that God looks out for us. He sent His Son to earth to be in the right place at the right time so that our lives could have meaning. Have you ever had moments when you just had a heart of gratitude when you realized that God indeed directs our path?
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August 01, 2008 at 10:25
Time to Rest
I remember hearing the expression “there is no rest for the weary.” This expression can sound like a contradiction, because if you are weary…rest seems like the perfect answer. So many times it seems as if there is so much to get done, and so little time. I can always tell when I am in this state of weariness because even a good nights sleep does not seem to be a cure. I was talking to a colleague about this very thing, and she told me that when she feels weary or stressful there is a little pain that goes through her stomach. I gave her the advice “to slow down” which is also advice that I need for myself at times. I think for me and my colleague, our bodies are actually wired by God to tell us when to slow down, and stay balanced. All work and no rest can lead to a stressful existence. Jesus seemed to have perfect balance. There were many times when His disciples and the crowd looked for Him, but He had slipped away to a quiet place. I am following His lead. While you are reading this, I have taken some of my own advice, slipped away to a quiet place from all of the noise that I am so accustomed to. I am looking forward to much needed rest and rejuvenation that is necessary for our mind and body to stay strong. Jesus has set a good example and offers us an invitation that I am accepting. That invitation is found in Matthew 11:28 “Come Unto me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” This is an open invitation.
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July 22, 2008 at 06:10
We are of Great Value
I read an article last week and the title was "An American life worth less today." I found the title interesting so I read it. The Environmental Protection Agency apparently has devalued the American life by $1mil. Because of our lives (according to them) not being worth as much, less money will be spent on preventing pollution. I am so thankful that God does not devalue our lives. He tells us that His love for us is everlasting. We are made in the image of God and that can never be affected by any governmental agency. We are worth more than $1mil to the Lord. In fact, Jesus died so that we could have life eternal...that is how much we are worth to Him. We cannot believe everything that we hear.
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July 11, 2008 at 03:02
Selective Hearing
After a recent Monday Morning Prayer Fellowship, I was saying hello to our guest speaker who was in a conversation with someone else at the time. When I approached them, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation because they continued talking while I waited patiently to interrupt them and continue to my office. They were discussing how hard it is to hear sometimes and how modern technology has come to their rescue with the new hearing aid devices. I didn’t know until that moment that our speaker had a hearing problem. He stopped their conversation to acknowledge that I was there and then quickly included me in the conversation with a funny story. The story was about the old fashioned hearing aids that did not fit in your ear, but was a large box that you wore around your neck. It had a button on it that could be turned up to hear people more clearly or it could be turned down. He said whenever he didn’t want to hear what people were saying, he would turn it down very low and of course if he was interested in what they were saying, he would turn it up. I walked from the table laughing a little to myself and thinking how often we have “selective hearing.” I believe that God speaks to us and wants to guide us in our daily lives, but many times we don’t hear. Is it that God is not speaking or maybe it could be that we have “selective hearing,” and only hear things what we want to hear? Since that day, this question has been more than just a thought, but a time for me to reflect on how I hear God on a daily basis. In Matthew 11:15 Jesus said “He who has ears to hear , let him hear!”
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July 01, 2008 at 10:10
It Pays to Listen
I have always considered myself to be a good listener. However, if I would tell the truth, I didn’t always listen to the good advice that my mother gave me. My mother always told us that whenever we work and pay bills to include ourselves as one of the people who get paid, even if we received less than others on our list, it was better than nothing. What she was talking about was making sure that we had adequate savings for times when we needed it. She would refer to it as putting something away for a “rainy day.” I have come to understand now that I have children of my own why it was important to listen to good advice, but not only that, I know the importance of learning how to save and not to be wasteful. What I realize now is that my mother was practicing good money management principles long before I understood how necessary that was. In today’s economy, it is a blessing to be a good money manager. Remembering the words of my mother (who is still able to remind me of her wise counsel) has saved me from me from a lot of stress during times where we needed to do some cutting back in certain areas in order to afford others, like a tank of gas. Who would have ever thought that we would be paying almost $5.00 just to drive our cars? I not only take my mothers sound advice, but I have learned to listen to the words of Jesus who also provides me with sound advice that I don’t always readily understand or take to heart, but at the end of the day I know that His words deposited in my heart will sustain me in a “rainy day.” I am sure that many of you would agree with me that it “pays to listen.
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February 23, 2008 at 04:33
The Opporunity of a Lifetime
I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be in fellowship with God and to share His love with others. Valentine's day was during this month and I know that it is a man made holiday, and to some quite trivial. However, it feels good to be reminded of all the people that God has put in our lives to give and receive love. It is so very encouraging. Thank you Lord for loving me and calling me your own that I could share what you have given me so freely.
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