A servants’ heart…

Take the time to do small, selfless acts for other people; but don’t let them know you did it!  Perhaps if you walk by an expired parking meter, you can put in a coin or two.

If working with project teams or in groups, Ask if anyone else has an idea or opinion–this creates unity.  So lastly, give all the credit to God! God works in you and will act according to His good purpose.

“Lord, show us the areas of our lives where we might be prideful, reveal our disunity, and forgive us for taking credit for the things You have done.  Amen”
Philippians 2:1-4

What are you wired to do?

I tend to gravitate toward those around me that are hurting, poor, lonely, and sick.  God has given me the ability to comfort people, encourage them, and help them through prayer and provision.  I am  an extrovert, which means I like to explore new relationships, and I am not afraid to get in front of groups.  I thank God for the many experiences that I have had which I share with others to encourage them.  Experiences such as coping with death, living away from my family, being successful on my jobs, public speaking, and being disappointed.

How about you?  Spend a few minutes today thinking about your life experiences.   How have you responded, and how can your experiences help others overcome?  Whatever you discover about yourself, think of how you can use “who you are” and “what you’ve experienced” to help others!  Jesus did!  What are you wired to do?

Be glad!

“Today is the day The Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”  Psalm 118:24

There are days when the last thing we want to do is rejoice.  Our mood is down; our situation is out of hand, and our sorrow or guilt is overwhelming. However, no matter how low, let our prayer end in praise!  It is okay to tell God how we feel; even if we do not feel like rejoicing.  God will give us a reason to rejoice.  God has given us this day to live and to serve Him– let’s be glad!

Lights of the world…

…this is who we are.  When we live like Jesus, we will shine like lights!  Lights, shining brightly so that others can see Christ.  Let your lights shine today! Then the world will see Jesus through us!  Matthew 5:16

Strength

When obstacles come our way, obstacles that we can not move on our own, we learn to depend on God.  When we admit to God that we cannot fix it by ourselves, we are telling God that we need Him to help us and that He is the ONLY one who can.  God wants us to come to Him for help.  Lord we acknowledge our weakness, now, perfect your strength in us.  Thank you Lord!  We rely on only in you.  2 Corinthians 12:9 says; “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Lord PLEASE!  Strengthen us now.

Father!

What would you have me do today?  I thank you in all Your majesty! Your splendor! Power! Glory! Strength! Praise!  I exalt you today Lord.  You are worthy!  You are my Shepherd!

I will seek you first in the morning!  I am not my own, but I belong to You!  Use me for Your service.  Let your love operate fully in my heart.  I am in need of You daily.

I must surrender myself to You constantly as I am but of a sinful nature without You.  Don’t let my mind be my own or my ways be mine.  Rather, I give my will to you and I will do your will.

Wash me that you may find me presentable for use.  Purify me that I will not make you ashamed.  Here am I…send me.

I know You are with me.  Through distress, pain, disappointment, death, uncertainty, sickness, You are there Lord.  Let not my enemies even believe that they have defeated me.  Protect me with your mighty hand from those that seek to destroy me.  As I realize the strength and power that You give me, I will run to You for refuge.  I jump into your lap to rest from battle.  You renew me daily.

I feel Your power in me.  That keeps and protects me from evil.  Your power has healed the innermost pain and hurt of my heart.  You have wiped the tears of my soul away and given me peace beyond my understanding.

How could I have hurt so much and have been so troubled?  Now, I cannot find the pain.  Miraculously, You have hidden me in your safe place.  You heard me when I poured out my heart to You.  You exchanged my hurt, pain, distress, and doubt for something so sure, peaceful, joyful and powerful.  My face can smile again.  I am healed!; my soul can rejoice again as I am free.

The tears that roll down my face now are tears of joy!  You not only delivered me from my enemies, but you resurrected me.  You lifted me from death to my pain, hurt, distress.  You have given me new life.  I live again because of You!  Amen

Angry Frustration…

…an evening prayer
Lord, help us to take our frustration of today to You.  When unfortunate events cause us to feel mad and angry; You allow us to vent our frustrations to You O Lord!  We know you will not leave us in this place of angry frustration for long.  By letting out our frustration Lord, we will not allow it to turn inward which could leave us depressed.

We thank you Lord that we can even bring our anger and frustration to you.  Heal the damage that’s been done by anger.  Also, help us every day to forgive those who hurt us.  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

God cares…

We may think–no one knows what we are going through, no one feels the pain that we are experiencing; no one cares.  However, God knows what you are going through and He cares for you!

God knows our feelings and frustrations…He sees the crisis in our soul!  There’s no hurt that goes unnoticed by God. Psalm 56:8 tells us that he has kept a record of our tears!

If we believe God cares about us, then believe also that He wants us to cast our cares upon Him.  God wants us to give our distress, pain, and cares to Him.  (Psalm 55:22.)  It is a simple exchange–give God your junk and He will give you His peace, joy, strength, power, and love.  That is the exchange God wants to make with you today!

God cares.

Jesus Responds to Grief

In Matthew 14:13, we are told that when Jesus heard the news that John was dead, he got on a boat and went to a desolate place. You see, Jesus was grieving. He was heartbroken to hear what happened to John. So Jesus wanted to spend some time alone, praying, and thinking. You have to wonder what thoughts were running through Jesus mind when he heard the news. Jesus may have been thinking about his mission; the cross. Jesus knows that what happened to John the Baptist is going to happen to him. Jesus knows that he came to die for the sins of humanity, and he knows that the cross is coming. I am sure hearing about the death of John made Jesus painfully aware of his coming death–he just wanted to be alone with His father.

So Jesus gets in the boat and heads to a desolate place. However, the crowd hears where Jesus is going. So they travel by foot and meet Jesus on the other side. As Jesus is approaching the shore, he sees the crowds gather, waiting for him to arrive. You almost feel sorry for Jesus. The guy just wants to get away to mourn the loss of his friend, and he cannot get away. Life is like that, isn’t it? It never slows down. You lose a family member or friend, and you are back at work the next day like nothing ever happened. All you want to do is get away and be by yourself and grieve, but the demands of life do not allow it. Life just moves too fast.

Put yourself in Jesus’ shoes for a second. How would you respond to seeing the crowd on the shore? You might think, “Really God, ministry now? I just want to be alone!” You might even wish the crowd would just go away. However, Jesus does not respond in either way. Jesus sees the crowd, and he has compassion on them and he immediately got to work healing their sick. Although Jesus grieves the loss of his dear friend, his grief empowers him for ministry. In the midst of his emotional pain, Jesus turned out instead of in. Rather than turning in on himself and thinking “woe is me”, he turns out to serve and to love the crowd.

When trouble is all around me…

It is sometimes difficult to remember God’s promises when troubles arise.  We become overwhelmed by the daily pressures we face.  I take comfort in reading and meditating on Psalm 91, when trouble is all around me.

Psalm 91 tells us; God is our shelter and protection from danger or trouble.  When troubles of the day cause me to feel afraid, I run to the Lord for safety.  No matter how intense our fears, we can run to God for protection and safety; there we will find rest.  “You will deliver me from my many troubles O God.”

Oh, what comfort it is to know that the Lord will hear our cry.  He will have mercy on us and be gracious enough to answer us.  He will lift us up above our enemies.  Then we can sing praises to our God.  Our God has delivered us from our distress and troubles.  You, O Lord, save those that are crushed with sorrow.  You are near to me when my heart is broken.  Psalm 34:18

Thank you for having mercy on me O Lord.  Thank you for delivering me from my troubles.   I am confident that you will keep me safe until the storms are past.  You have begun a good work in me and will complete it.  Philippians 1:6

By faith, I respond to my troubles today, knowing that I can take shelter in You Lord.  I will praise you in the safety of Your shelter; I will make a joyful noise to You!  Thank you for loving me God.