Everyone is Dealing With Something

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,

kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever

grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

(Colossians 3:12-13)

Everyone has a story to tell! Every one of us, at times, must deal with something in our lives that bring us stress, anxiety, hurt, guilt, or sadness. Before we judge anyone, we have to stop ourselves and remember that everyone has a story and everyone is struggling with something.  Sometimes, it may be a little issue, but some days it may be too much for them to handle and they are withdrawn and distracted.  It could be so easy for us to react and judge them for their response, or lack of response.  So, we must resist and treat everyone with kindness and compassion at all times because we have no idea what they may be going through at the time.  How bad would you feel if that person just got laid off from work; lost a loved one; was just informed they had cancer, or was just served divorce papers?  The list could go on and on. 

Many of us keep our feelings bottled up until they can’t take it any longer.  That stress finally finds a way to be revealed, it could just be a smirk of a look towards someone, a hateful glance, a stern voice, or a snide remark.  We as Christians need to be stronger and help hold them up by being patient and understanding.  Support them through their bad times and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Treat each other with respect, and an abundance of kindness. 

I’m sure we would rather respond to them in an arrogant way, “Have a nice day!” with a roll of the eyes, and a tilt of the head.   But, just imagine the impact it would have if you said with a loving smile and compassion in your voice, “I sure hope you have a nice day and things gets better for you” and simply walk away. I bet you leave them speechless and reconsidering how they respond the next time. This simple act of kindness should leave you feeling at peace knowing you did not judge; you showed compassion; allowed them to hopefully recognize their actions; and probably, impacted their day for the better! 

Signs From God

“Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

(Isaiah 8:1)

As an Author of the Book, “Signs from God”, I’ve heard some pretty amazing stories of how God provides us with signs, and leads us down the right path to living out His will for us and helping us to accomplish our dreams.  God loves us.  We are His children, and he wants the best for us.  Some of us need to recognize His signs as affirmation that we are doing the right thing, and for those who truly believe and follow His lead, the more and more we recognize His signs.  Signs come in many different forms.  They may be directly from God, the Holy Spirit, or a loved one that has already gone home to live with the Lord.  These signs may be so obvious to you, but unrecognized to someone else because it only has meaning for you!  Our loved ones may come to us in a vivid dream so real you knew it was them and it was real. Perhaps it’s a butterfly, a heart shaped cloud, a feather, a penny or dime, whatever the sign is for you.  Take heart in knowing it was meant for you and that all is well when we believe! 

The other day, I prayed for wisdom and His direction to help me and guide me in learning how to market my book, “Signs from God”, in a way that will allow us me to fulfill His plan.  I know without a reasonable doubt that it was His plan and His doing all along that resulted in “Signs from God” being published.  Immediately after I prayed, and I mean immediately after that prayer, he led me to a website that was offering an Author Retreat on branding and marketing your book.  I couldn’t believe it!  It just leaves me speechless sometimes at just how good God is!  Keep your eyes open to the signs and you too will recognize His greatness is all that you do!

The Holy Spirit WIthin Us

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father,

and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. 

The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. 

But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

(John 14: 15-17)

Someone recently asked me, “How do you know when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you?  Do you actually ‘hear’ His voice?  How do know the difference between your thought and His?  How does He work in our lives?”  These are very good questions.  I’d love to hear your thoughts! 

My immediate response to the question of how do know when the Holy Spirit is talking to you, is that the voice is more of a message you hear deep within.  Initially, you might think it’s your thought.  

As believers in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was given to us and resides in us.  Through the Holy Spirit, we are guided to take the right path, to say the right things, to be Godly in all we do.  The closer we become to God, the more you will recognize the Holy Spirit working within you.  As you react to that small voice within and then act on His plan for you, the more He works within you.   He removes us from sin as he guides us every day. 

In John 16:7-8, Jesus refers to the Spirit as a “Counselor” who will guide those who believe in him from all sin, righteousness and judgment.  As believers, and Christians, we want to please God and in return He gives us comfort with love, joy, peace, patience, endurance, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness.  God’s mission for us is to inspire others and lead them to Him by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for all of our sins so that we can be free from sin.

You will know you are being led by the Spirit by the fruit of your actions.  Do you feel that comfort, joy, peace, patience, endurance, kindness, faithfulness, and gentleness?  Sometimes that voice in your head will be so relentless that you know without a shadow of doubt that it is the Holy Spirit talking to you.  You can’t get that thought out of your head and when you do what He is telling you to do, the outcome will be amazing – better than you ever anticipated!  God is so good.  Be still, listen, and follow.  The best is yet to come!

God Will Give You Rest

 “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. 

Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. 

I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. 

This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light.” 

(Matthew 11:28-30)

The Lord says to us in many different ways that He will fight for us, and that we only need to be still in His presence.  Turn your burdens over to God and then take a slow, deep, calming breathe and you will feel His presence within your soul.  A great feeling of peace will replace the heavy burdens you were feeling.  The more you experience anxiety and stress in your everyday life, that’s when you need to spend more time with God.  Set aside a quiet place just for you and God to have time together every day!  The more you seek Him, the closer He draws you toward Him, and you will begin to recognize the gifts He is glorifying you with.  Those gifts will grow in abundance as you hold Him close in your heart throughout your day every day!

I can honestly say this has been true for me.  Since my heart attack back in April, I have been talking with Him more and more every day.  Every day I grow closer to Him.  He has answered my prayers.  He is making me a stronger person.  I’m a person who now has confidence and knows how to control difficult situations that I may be faced with.  The biggest thing I have learned is that we cannot change anyone.  No matter how much we try, or how much we love them or they love us.  God wants us to change.  Change the way we see things.  Change the way we react and handle difficult situations.  Giving our burdens to God, trusting that He will fight for us, believing that what we have asked for will be ours is the key.  And, then, taking it a step further and looking within ourselves for how we can change our ways to be more Godly, will bring us the peace, joy, happiness, prosperity and the abundant life God has planned for us.  There isn’t a better feeling than being filled with the love of God, our Heavenly Father, who wants nothing but the best for all of us!

FOR THOSE SUFFERING THE LOSS OF A CHILD

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"

(John 11:25-26)

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.  This is such a painful topic and I’ve given it a lot of thought, a lot of reflection, and a lot of prayer this year.  This tragedy affected my family and it has been a very difficult time for everyone, but mostly for the parents of this adorable baby girl who was taken way too early.  What do you say to someone who has lost a child?  It’s an unbearable heartache that no one should endure.  The loss of anyone is difficult, but a child is excruciating. There really are no words, so all we can do is remind you to hold onto your faith and look to God for support and know that He will get us through these difficult times.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

(Isaiah 41:10)

You are not alone in your suffering and grief; Jesus died from much suffering so that He can bring us peace through His Holy Spirit.  Put your faith and trust in God, and know that He will never abandon you.  Lean not on our own understanding, and rejoice knowing that one day you will hold that precious child in your arms again.  God will give you the strength you need to endure and He will make you a much stronger person.  Keep your hearts open to receiving His undying love for you!  Remember He is our Heavenly Father and just like us, we want the best for our children.  If for some reason we cannot have them, rejoice because they are in God’s loving arms and those loved ones that are already with Him! 

Lean Not On Your Own Understanding

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

It’s so hard for us to be happy when we can’t have what we want.  If you were to truly stop and think about it though, there are so many people that don’t even have what we do have and yet we aren’t grateful for that.  There are things in life that we may ask for, hope for, dream about, and even pray for. Some of those things may or may never happen.  Then again, it may come much later than we had ever expected.  Perhaps, we are given something else in its place to make way for what is yet to come! 

It wasn’t long ago when my husband and I were looking for some property and day dreaming with some friends about buying land next to each other for our retirement and investment.  We made a pretty bold prayer, and we were all pretty confident that it would come to pass.  In the end, it was not God’s plan; at least not yet!  What He did give us was the knowledge and understanding of our next step towards that dream.  We came to the conclusion that it was not a wise decision based on the financial hardship it would put us in.  Instead God led us down the path of refinancing our home at a better interest rate and a shorter term.  He also led us to investigating ways to practically become debt free in a much shorter time frame than we had imagined; which, will allow us the ability to afford our dream retirement home when the right time does come!  In God’s time!  Not ours!  For this, we are grateful for what we have, and the gifts He is giving us, and our faith remains intact for what is yet to come!

 

You see, our understanding is not the same as God’s all-knowing sovereignty.  He knew everything we were going to face in this life before we were even born.  He knew every wrong road we were going to take before we took it.  He knows the plans He has for us and it will not happen until it is in His timing.  Therefore, we have to have faith and believe that even during the storms life throws our way, we will get through and in the end we will be stronger for it.  Even when we take the wrong turn, God is there to lead us down the right path again.  It may be a detour, but eventually we will get there and we will have endured what we thought we couldn’t.  Keep that in mind the next time you don’t get what you want, but keep the faith and be grateful for what we do have!  Most of all, be thankful for the opportunities to grow that God gives us so that we can become stronger, and we will endure the next storm a little easier!

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, 

for we know that they help us develop endurance. (Romans 5:3)

Where there is Hope, there is Faith

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” 
(Romans 15:13)

There is so much to be hopeful for.  We must never give up on our faith and trust that He has a plan for our good.  Believing in Him is what gets us through every day.  While it may not happen on our time table, it will happen the way it was meant to.  Be hopeful and believe....You will get well. You will sell that house. You will kick that habit.  You will love again. You will find a new home.  You will get promoted. You will get pregnant. You will have a healthy baby. You will find what you are looking for. It may not be what you originally thought, and it may not happen when you thought, but when it does, it will be better than you thought! 

Wherever you are in life's roller coaster ride,

Remember...God is for you, and by your side.

When He must, He will carry you through the tide.

Welcome Him in your heart with arms open wide.

Trust Him for He will lead the way for us to abide.

With our head held high, we will feel such pride.