Thankful Thursday – Encouragement

                        1 Thessalonians 3:2-3

We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.   

  

Have you been feeling a little unsettled as of late by life’s trials.  If you haven’t then you are very blessed but I know many of my sisters and brothers who are. It seems the trials are increasing for the saints as of late with illness, loss of jobs, the care of older parents and it goes on and on.  But the Word tells us in the last part above that we should know quite well that we are destined for them. I know the trials of the last several years have definitely caused me to feel faint in my faith but lately  it seems that the Lord has sent me some Timothys to encourage me.

Where have these Timothys come from? Some have come through Thankful Thursday and Word-Filled Wednesday. Some have come through Twitter where I heard of a Bible study I could take online which helps me tremendously since it is hard for me to get going  to get out with chronic pain and spine problems. I have met some great encouragers on Twitter and even enjoy a nightly Twitter Worship being hosted by a prodigal.  Some have come through phone calls from old beloved friends whom I have kind of drifted from since these trials and some of them have had trials as well which have interfered with the times we used to spend together.

While I know we are to go to God and His Word for encouragement first, we are also to encourage one another in the faith. So on this Thursday I am thankful to God for sending these Timothys my way. It is my prayer that I am able to also do the same for my brothers and sisters in Christ.  

 

If you’d like to read some more Thankful Thursday postings go to Iris’s Grace Alone blogsite where you will find the McKLinky.  If you’d like to join in feel free.                                                                                         

WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY – ISAIAH 61:1

 

Isaiah 61:1

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

 

 

 

Christy at CrittyJoy is hosting this week for AmyDeanne at The 160 Acre Woods.  If you’d like to join us go the Christy’s where you will find the McKLinky.  Enjoy!                                                                                                                          

THANKFUL THURSDAY

During the week of Veteran’s Day I salute all those who have served in any war or no war.  Where would this country be without these people and the sacrifices made.? I always think of one of my favorite uncles, Uncle Buddy, who was a prisoner of war during World War II. He was that uncle to me who could make me and my brothers and sisters laugh and could make each one of us individually feel special. Being from that “John Wayne” era he used to do some wild things with us like take us out in his little Volkswagen bug through the sandy woods of central Florida for what he would call “A rattlesnake and alligator hunt”.  He was my Indiana Jones before I ever knew there was one.  Yes, Uncle Buddy was always our favorite baby sitter and he could cook good too. He must have learned that in the service, I guess, because he used to make these giant pots of  german stews and soups.  My mother’s side of the family (her grandparents) came here from Germany.  As a child it always confused me when I thought about Uncle Buddy possibly having to have killed some of our fellow Germans. Yes, war can be very confusing to a child and I’m sure adults also. Anyway, before I get too deep my Mother used to tell us all the stories about her brothers all being in the WWII and all the things that went on back home during this time. There was this old song out during this time  “My Buddy”.  The main line from it said , “My buddy, my buddy, Your buddy misses you.”  She said during the time my Uncle Buddy was captured my Grandmother would sing that song every evening praying for his safe return.  So I am thankful that God spared my Uncle Buddy’s life so that I might have that favorite uncle.  He is gone now but I always get a smile on my face when I think about him and for that I’m thankful. 

Thank you to all the troops, past and present,  who have bravely served and are still serving this country and  the citizens of this great land. Lord, heal our land.

2 Chronicles 7:14  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways , then I will hear from heaven , and will forgive their sin and heal their land .

 You can enjoy some more Thankful Thursday posts over at Grace Alone where you’ll meet this month’s gracious hostess, Iris.  God bless!

WORD-FILLED WEDNESDAY

Psalm 24:1-5

 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it.

For He has formed it upon the seas and established it upon the currents and the rivers.

Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in the Holy Place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully

He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation

 

You can join Word Filled Wednesday at Lori’s where you will find the McLinky

Thankful Thursday – “Strength”

   

 Isaiah 40:29 “He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]” AMP

This Thursday I am thankful for “strength”. I have had some projects around my home that I have wanted to do for quite sometime. It involved rearranging my laundry room. I have had a laundry rack sitting in a box in my laundry room for quite some time. It has a shelf on the top and bottom and a hanging bar across the top. My husband hates to assemble things so I’m usually the one to do it. He did put together some very nice bookcases he got for my birthday a few years back but it’s not his favorite thing to do. Let me just say HGTV is NOT his favorite channel if you get my drift. So this week hubby and his brother went to Kentucky to visit their loved ones’  graves (parents, sister, aunts, and uncles).  They go every year around this time. It’s a beautiful drive with the foliage and time for them to spend together so I’m glad this has become somewhat of a tradition. So since me and my little dog Nuggett were here alone we decided we’d get industrious. That’s not always an easy thing for me because I suffer with chronic pain of the spine and fatigue.  So I asked the Lord to give me strength to get some of these things done. 

So first we tackled the laundry rack.  It went together very smoothly without any tools.  I put it in the position I have envisioned it in for quite some time and stood there admiring it. But after looking around I realized the laundry room had become a catchall for things to be placed and it’s not been a pretty sight. So as you know when one thing looks good then you have to fix everything else (she smilingly says).  So next I tackled the utility closet throwing away old bent curtain rods and broken mops and those things you put out of sight with every intention of getting back to it. Needless to say, I was so proud of my nice organized laundry room that I went on out to the kitchen and ended up rearranging all my cabinets. Wow, I could not believe how much I accomplished that first day.  In my younger days it would have taken me a half a day to do what I did the first day but I’m thankful I worked through the pain to get it accomplished.

On the second day of my solitude I took all the knick knacks off a large very high shelf we have in our family room and dusted and washed  them all and dusted all the ceiling fans and overhead lights.  Even though I was a bit ashamed of the dust that had accumulated I kept forging ahead all the while conversing with God (and Nuggett) about how I need to make some changes in my life. The last couple years after having a fusion in my neck and lower back problems some things have had to slide. I have no children or grandchildren or any other family living in my city so I have really no one to ask for help so I definitely need the Lord’s strength to get things done. Some days I feel like a turtle in my movement. I never thought I would be moving this slow as in the past people used to tell me they couldn’t believe how fast I walked. I always had a lot of energy and could get things done in a flash. This is something that can put me in a depression unless I determine to press through it only with the help pf the Lord. It’s been very humbling to me in a way.

Well needless to say in the past two days I conquered my laundry room, kitchen, and family room.  Hallelujah!! I was also counseled by the Holy Spirit through all of this work and been given some insight into some things I need to drastically change. I have known for quite some time that I have been spending and wasting too much time on the computer. As I told a friend recently, “Do I need to know what 300 people are doing all at the same time?” I think not. I thank God for the physical strength to get the things done that I did for the last two days but I also thank him for the emotional strength to admit to myself the things I need to cut back on and the things I need to pay more attention to.  So I am in the process of  re-priortizing my time.  I know it needs to be God and Bible study first, husband and home second, and all other things third.  I have been shown the last two days that I can stay off of my computer all day and the world will not end. After dinner I can sit down and go through my e-mail, check my Facebook, and Twitter . As I get things more organized I will be able to spend a little more time reading  the books I want to review here on my blog.  I feel that I am strive to blog at least three days a week.

I am far far away from being that Proverbs 31 woman but I thank the Lord for strength this week–physical and emotional and I ask for your prayers for my continuing strength to accomplish what God would have me to accomplish.

If you’d like to read some more Thankful Thursdays please visit the Grace Alone blog where you can join in if you are so led.

 

THANKFUL THURSDAY – His Presence

Hebrews:13:5  Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

I happened to come across a blogroll called Grace Alone  and saw where they have this event called Thankful Thursday. It appears that other ladies will host it also on their blogs for a month and you can link yours there. So I hope I’m not doing this incorrectly, (please excuse me if I am) It appears this month it is being hosted by  the blog called  Spiritually Unequal Marriage which I a,m  unfortunately a participant.in. It’s not a mistake that I was referred to the former blog but that’s another day’s blog perhaps.  Today I am concentrating on the verse above.  We all know that money allows us to have things. I am not a great lover of money and things  but sometimes I can desire things that I may not really need and thus I am not content with what I have.  My weakness seems to be books.  I don’t go crazy over clothes and shoes and the normal things that women tend to be lured to (I’m a little different) but I just love books.  I love to hold them and see them on bookshelves and even smell old ones and oh, I also sometimes read them.   I know I will never get them all read so why do I cling to them.? You’re probably saying “What does this have to do with Thankful Thursday?” Well, I’m thankful that God allows me to see the things in my life that I need to work on that may be just a little out of control (grinning as I am typing this).  I’ve realized that I could really exist without any of these books except one–my Bible.  And even at that I would have to choose which interpretation I would keep.  Oh boy. I am being a little humorous in this but I am really thankful that even in my obsessions He is there.  He never leaves me nor forsakes me.  He doesn’t say, “Well, she’s past working with so I think I’ll just move on.”  No, he’s omnipresent. He’s with me in my stuff and at the same time he’s with you in yours.  So today I am thankful for His presence in him life.  I am thankful to know that He is always with me and in me.  Yes, I am a mess, but I am his daughter and he is my Abba Father and for that I am thankful.

Excuses to God?

     I’m sure you’ve never made any excuses to God about why you can’t do something that you know you’re supposed to be doing.  For the last few days I’ve been thinking about Moses a lot.  You know,  one of the residents of the “Great Cloud of Witnesses” who brought the Israelites out of Egypt at God’s request? I have always identified with Moses.  He made a lot of excuses to  God about why he couldn’t do what He was asking him to do. 

In Numbers 3:10 God said to Moses, “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharoah to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God in verse 11, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Have you ever questioned God back this way when He asks you to do something? I know I have. Then in verse 12 God says, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”  These questions are coming from Moses after God called to him from the burning bush?I don’t know about you but I think that is such a true picture of us and the way we are.  He had this experience where God told him to take his sandals off and that he was standing on Holy Ground and he immediately says something like,  “Who Am I?”  He just had to hide his face to keep from looking at God and he’s questioning him?    He goes on to question Him in Chapters 3 and 4 with other things like, “What if they don’t believe me?”  Ever had an experience with God when you thought the same thing? I have.  Then God gives him the miraculous signs that he will walk with to prove to the Egyptian Pharoah  that he speaks for God such as his staff, his leprous hand, and the water that will turn to blood.  Wow, God is arming him with some pretty cool things to get this job done but THEN after all this in Exodus 4: 10 he says, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, I am slow of speech and tongue.”  I can really identify with Moses on this part because I have always been a pretty quiet and shy person and it scares me to death to get up and speak  but the times that I have done it for God it came out fine so I don’t know why I still find it hard.  Well, back to  Moses.  After he makes this excuse to God about not being able to speak God gets a little angry and beginning in verse 14 the Word says, “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and He said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you and his heart will be lad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help BOTH  of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ”   Wow, if I’m not mistaken God really wanted to use Moses.  Even after He got a little ticked off with the excuses of Moses He still came up with a way for Moses to be used with the help of another person.  I hope this is not sacrilegious but every time I read this when Moses says he can’t speak too well and it says God’s anger burned I see that big face with fire coming out of it from the Wizard of Oz.  Don’t get me wrong I know the difference between God and Oz but I guess it’s an imagery thing to me.  I know God is love but I can see why He was getting irritated with Moses. Well anyway, we know that none of Moses’ excuses got him out of this job and we know how many times through this very long journey he felt like giving up but he was still used by God. 

I’ve been making a lot of excuses myself lately to God about why I can’t do what I know He called me to do. No, I have not had a burning bush type experience but I have a good enough example of it from the Word of God to remind me of it all the time.  Yes, I can so identify with Moses and all his questions to God and all the questioning of himself and his abilities but look at what he accomplished.  Many times when I get down and discouraged all I have to say to myself is “A Great Cloud of Witnesses” and I’m reminded of  how ordinary people were used by God, sometimes whining and kicking all the way, but God still used them.  So I ask today, “What excuses are you making to God?”  I’m sure they are not too different from the ones I am making but will we allow Him to use us anyway?

Should A Christian Ever Be Comfortable?

This morning I awoke with this thought on  my mind.and  I knew right away that the Lord was wanting to bring something to my attention. I didn’t have to think too long.  Yes, I have become a comfortable Christian and that is something that at one time I prayed I would never become.  I know how I got here but I don’t want to stay here.  So how do I get “out” of here? 

     1)  Read the Word!  The Bible says in John 1:1: “In the beginning, [before all time] was the Word (Christ) and the word was God, and the Word was God Himself.” (Amp)    Joshua 1:8 says: “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success..”  (Amp)  Not only read the Word but meditate on it.  I need to get away from some time consumers that are not necessarily bad things but they are interfering with the things I should be occupying my time with  such as reading and meditating on the word–the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth as they say.  

    2) Act on compassion.  Luke 6:36 says, “So be merciful (sympathetic, tender, responsive, and compassionate) even as your Father is [all these]. ” (AMP)What am I “really” doing that shows compassion in my life? Am I acting on what the Word is telling me as I meditate on it day and night? Am I loving my neighbor as myself?  I have always said that Jesus didn’t say to love our neighbor but only if they look like us. That may be a little harsh but unfortunately it is true.  As Christians do we see things through the eyes of Jesus–through the eyes of our heart? I desire to do this but many times I feel that I may be falling short.  I have gotten slack in my volunteer work over the last couple of years and I have let my physical impairments dictate to me instead of letting my spirit dictate to me.  I’m not denying that my energy level is not what it once was but I “can” step out in faith and get back in the game and contribute something to the kingdom.  I even know where I’m supposed to be doing this. My life cannot be fulfilling unless I am acting upon compassion.    

   3)   Pray!!! Pray!!! Pray!!!    A lot of people would say that this should be number one but if we don’t know the Word how do we know what to pray?   Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).  I need to pray for myself to  be disciplined enough to do these things and I also  need to pray for my Sisters and Brothers in Christ so that they may be built up in the Lord and that they are able to read the word, be compassionate, and to pray themselves.  We all need to pray one for another.    

   3)  Renew my mind.  Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs] but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is  good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]. ”  I need to daily renew my mind or maybe even more so my attitude.   It is so easy to get wrapped up in the things of the world even to the point of becoming overly fearful, cynical, and complacent.  If I am renewing my mind daily by washing it with the Word I will be more able to see the things that I don’t need to bother myself with.  I’m not talking about crawling in a hole and not being aware of what is going on around me but I’m talking about not being absorbed by what is going on around me.  I need to be focused on the things that make a difference in my life. If I remain in the same mindset I cannot see what God’s will “is” for my life.

   I know these things I have written on today may sound  like scattered thoughts and may not flow the way you think they should flow but this blog is called “The Road Back”  and sometimes the road back is a little curvy and bumpy and sometimes there are detours, but if I stay on the road (the narrow one) I know I will get back to where I need to be.

Lord, thank you for the prodding of the Holy Spirit who is my Counselor in all things.  Give me the discipline and the desire to serve you with zeal once again Lord.  In Jesus name. Amen

It’s a Blog Party!

There’s a “Harvest of Friends Blog Party” going on at Lynette Kraft’s Blog “Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground“. This is the first one I’ve participated in as my blog is still in sort of the evolution stages but I am attempting to encourage myself to get a new design and better layout eventually. If anyone out there would like to help someone who is not real web savvy feel free to chime in.  Right now I’m just trying to write my content to God’s glory.

Lynn has 20 questions she has asked us to answer about ourselves. I’ve chosen one and that is number 9.

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you’ve never had a chance to learn? What is it?

I have a desire to learn calligraphy.  Since I was a child I have always loved something about handwriting. As I have gotten older  my arthritic fingers from 30 years of typing as a profession don’t work so well any longer but this is really something I’d like to try.  When I was a child I would take an encyclopedia and just copy items from them to paper.  Now as an adult I love to write scripture verses over and over on paper. I think that helps me to remember them better.  I had someone once ask me if anyone had ever called me a scribe?  That’s something I’ve meditated on and still haven’t gotten clarification but I do think about the scribes during Bible times and how people had to go to the temple and the Priest (Rabbi) would open the scriptures someone had scribed and read them to the students of the Law.  Maybe I will check into some calligraphy classes.  Have a blessed day everyone and hop on over to Lynette’s blog and join in.  God bless!!!

He Did Part The Red Sea Didn’t He?

As much as I hate to admit, I am pretty much of a melancholy.  Although, knowing I am in Christ, I tend to fight with this all the time.  I keep saying to myself if I am a new creature in Christ why do I still tend to occasionally go into the melancholy thing.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever really know the answer to that but I tend to press towards the goal.  So this morning, as I opened my Bible I went to Psalm 78.  Every so often I have to read this.  It always somehow seems to lift my spirits even though it’s not one of those sing-song Psalms that we all love to read.  Psalm 78 speaks about all the miraculous things God did for the Israelites and how even after seeing these things they rebelled and whined and turned against God and their leader, Moses.  Wow.  

Psalm 78:12-42

the miracles he did for their ancestors on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt. 13For he divided the sea and led them through, making the water stand up like walls! 14In the daytime he led them by a cloud, and all night by a pillar of fire. 15He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them water, as from a gushing spring. 16He made streams pour from the rock, making the waters flow down like a river!   17Yet they kept on sinning against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. 18They stubbornly tested God in their hearts, demanding the foods they craved. 19They even spoke against God himself, saying, “God can’t give us food in the wilderness. 20Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out, but he can’t give his people bread and meat.” 21When the Lord heard them, he was furious. The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob. Yes, his anger rose against Israel, 22for they did not believe God or trust him to care for them. 23But he commanded the skies to open; he opened the doors of heaven. 24He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them bread from heaven. 25They ate the food of angels! God gave them all they could hold. 26He released the east wind in the heavens and guided the south wind by his mighty power. 27He rained down meat as thick as dust– birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore! 28He caused the birds to fall within their camp and all around their tents. 29The people ate their fill. He gave them what they craved. 30But before they satisfied their craving, while the meat was yet in their mouths, 31the anger of God rose against them, and he killed their strongest men. He struck down the finest of Israel’s young men.   32But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him. 33So he ended their lives in failure, their years in terror. 34When God began killing them, they finally sought him. They repented and took God seriously. 35Then they remembered that God was their rock, that God Most High was their redeemer. 36But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues. 37Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant. 38Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury! 39For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.   40Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland. 41Again and again they tested God’s patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel. 42They did not remember his power and how he rescued them from their enemies. Psalms 78:12 (NLT)

While reading this I know my first inclination has always been to say, “I can’t believe these people saw these great miracles and still acted the way they did. How could they be so ungrateful.”   As a matter of fact I don’t think I have been able to read this yet without going to this thought.  To me it’s a reminder from God to me to examine what he has done for me in my life.  

They did not remember his power and how he rescued them from their enemies. Psalms 78:12

I don’t think I grasp enough the power of His salvation. As a matter of fact as I am typing these words the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance Romans 1:16 which says,    ”For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes–the Jew first and also the Gentile.”  That same power of God that split the red sea worked in me when I received salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. ” And he rescued me from my enemies. There definitely were enemies in my life., mainly the enemy of my soul.  So why am I so melancholy? I can’t be while I’m reading these words.  

Another verse that strikes me in  kind of a chastising way (Romans 12:6 “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” ) is verse 36 above. It says,  36But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues. Psalms 78:36 (NLT)   Ouch!  I’m sure I have given the Lord lip service many times sometimes without knowing it and unfortunately I’m sure sometimes even knowing it.  I’ve told him things that I would do for him but did not get them done. I think that would probably be considered as a lie. wouldn’t it?  I sometimes wonder why or how He can even love me. 

Well, read ahead in Psalm 78 to verses 38-40 which say,  38 “Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury! 39For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns:”   

To me that’s encouragement.  God knows I’m merely mortal.  I have to laugh because I’ve never really thought about that.  I guess in a way I must have thought he was seeing me in some other way and  maybe that’s why I never felt like I was pleasing enough to him or measuring up to what He thought I should be.  How can I even begin to assume I know what He thinks.  I’m merely mortal. This is really comforting to me.  I know it’s no excuse to be slothful because I know the importance of obedience but it kind of takes the pressure off of me because I tend to be very hard on myself.  When I see family members (especially my spouse) who are not saved, ,my heart breaks.  I immediately begin to blame myself and ask myself why I can’t make them see the importance of a personal relationship with God through Jesus.  I ask myself over and over, “What am I doing wrong?”  Am I not shining his light in their path enough for them to see?”  But I am merely mortal.  I cannot wish anybody into the kingdom.  But I can pray for them and be patient with them and try to wak upright before God.  I can cease from murmuring  and giving lip service to the Lord and I can press on towards the  goal (I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:14 (NLT). But most of all I can be grateful and praise my God for what He has done.   

Father God, thank you for showing me that I am merely mortal and that you know my comings and goings and everything about me.  Thank you Father for encouragement