Month: October 2024

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9 NIV

Paul is telling the church at Philippi to take what he taught them and put it into practice each and every day. He was showing them how to live as Christians, which is very different than living as the world lives. In the previous verse Paul wrote to them about what they should be focused on, so now he is simply telling them to remember how they saw him practice those traits, that he didn’t just tell them how to focus on those things and then not show them how to live them out.

Those of us who have attended Sunday School as a child can probably think of one or two Sunday School teachers who impacted us, either negatively or positively, hopefully positively. As a child, mine was a woman named Nancy. I don’t remember a lot about the class, as I was only 7 or so, but she always had this warm smile on her face. I always felt welcomed by her to be in her class. It is the small things that sometimes mean the most. I am not sure Nancy even remembers me, but I remember her and what she taught me about being kind.

As a teenager, I had a wonderful woman named Rose as my Sunday School teacher. Rose, along with some strong women in my family, set the bar of how a woman of faith is to walk as a child of God. I have tried to reach that bar all my life. Rose wasn’t a saint, but she took the role of teacher to heart, knowing that her students would be watching her to see how she handled life.

The same is true with Paul, he knew others would be watching how he handled life because not everyone is able to learn what they need to learn by hearing it. Some individuals need to see what it looks like in practice, not just imagine what they are to do. The last part of this verse in Paul’s letter to the Philippians is that the peace of God would be with them. Paul knew what that peace felt like, he experienced it while in prison waiting for his trial. The peace that God gives is a peace that cannot really be explained, it just needs to be experienced. Once you experience it, you don’t want to be without it.

Is there someone in your life who has taught you about God, or showed you how to live life as a Christian? It could be a Sunday School teacher or a family member, it doesn’t matter who it was, just that you take what they taught you and apply it to your life if you haven’t already.

As you face the day, remember back to how you have been taught to handle life by those who were privileged to be your teacher. Have a wonderful day.

“You will keep your friends if you forgive them, but you will lose your friends if you keep talking about what they did wrong.” Proverbs 17:9 CEV

I heard this analogy on the radio the other morning and thought it is a wonderful way to get a point across about the dreaded topics of holding grudges and gossip.

The man on the radio said his friend asked him if he was an umbrella or a weatherman, and the man on the radio expressed that he was confused by this question. The friend asked him what he does when someone he knows, is friends with or loves does something wrong. Again the man on the radio stated that he was still confused, so the friend trying to clarify, put it this way.

When someone you know, a friend of yours or a loved one does something wrong, do you broadcast it like a weatherman for everyone to know or do you cover them in love like an umbrella covers you from the rain. That really spoke to me because this is such a simple analogy but it conveys the message so wonderfully. This made me think because I am as guilty as the next person of not always speaking in love when I am hurt.

So, my question is…..are you a weatherman or an umbrella?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for not leaving me where I was with this behavior and continuing to help me to get where I need to go. Please help everyone to grow in the way they handle hurt from others. In Jesus’s name. Amen

“From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8 CEB

Paul is concluding his letter to the church in Philippi with this encouragement for them to focus on things that are excellent, admirable, true, holy, just, lovely, pure and worthy of praise. He is doing this because they were some members who were focused on conflict, what each one thought was the correct way to be a church. Paul is telling them to stop focusing on what is here on earth, all of the hatred, division and conflict and focus on what Jesus has taught. He is encouraging members to help remember the foundation that Jesus laid for our relationship with God and others. Help others to see this as that is what they should be focused on.

When we become a Christian, it is easy to get caught up in the emotion of it all. We are saved and we are excited about it, our fear of spending eternity separated from God is gone. However that emotion tends to fade as we move back into our normal everyday lives and encounter those around us who are not Christians. When those moments come, and they will, where we begin to doubt what we have committed to doing – living for Christ – this verse is a powerful reminder of what we should be focused on instead.

Christ’s journey, life and ministry were all excellent, admirable, true, holy, just, pure, lovely and worthy of praise. The foundation He laid is what we are to build on to grow in our walk with Him. We are to mature in our faith, not remain infants who need bottle feed everything that we should be doing. By beginning to focus on these things, we begin to soak in all of what Jesus is about.

What do you focus on? Is it time for a shift in your focus?

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 NIV

Good morning, I know that I already wrote about this verse; however, it has special meaning today for my family. I wrote recently about my aunt who passed away almost 2 weeks ago, today is her and my uncle’s wedding anniversary. I want my uncle to remember that he has his family to comfort him, and since he is a believer, he also has God to lean on and receive comfort from not only today but every minute of every day.

Losing a loved one is hard. Sometimes there are not even words that can comfort the person left behind. My heart is heavy for those who grieve and is especially heavy for those who grieve who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. They don’t know or realize that they have a heavenly Father who wants to comfort them. If their loved one was a believer and they are not, then they have no hope of seeing their loved one again in heaven for eternity.

Today I simply ask that if you know of someone who is grieving or mourning, please reach out to them. They may not always ask for help in this time of great sorrow, but we can always give it.

Heavenly Father, thank You for always being there for us when we need You. Thank You for giving us a way to be able to spend eternity with You and our loved ones who have gone to heaven already who had a personal relationship with You. Please give comfort to those who are grieving, help them to feel Your arms a little tighter today as they long for their loved one. In Jesus’s name. Amen

“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:9 ESV

Have you ever wondered if God hears you? What about if He understands what you are going through? The good news is that God hears us when we pray. We are His children and He listens to us. He also understands what we are going through. He made all of our emotions and He knows our thoughts, how our minds work.

He also came down as a baby and lived life here as a human. He went through the same emotions as we all do, and He thought the same kinds of thoughts that we do. We do not serve a God who sits on high and is completely removed from us, not knowing what we deal with each and every day. We serve a God, the one true living God, Who knows exactly what we are dealing with each and every day.

Sometimes as we deal with life, we simply need someone to sit with us and be there with us. We always have that as a child of God, a follower of Jesus. Jesus is always there with us, whether we are dealing with hard situations or difficult emotions, Jesus is right there by our side. Take comfort in knowing that you are never alone and that God understands your life situation.

“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13 NIV

I know that I have written about fear before and that God is with me so I should have courage. Today I am writing about how God has promised to take my right hand and help me. I have been given the privilege and honor of being part of a committee that decides how to spend time worshipping God during a particular retreat for an entire area of churches in my denomination.

This is scary because I want to do what God wants me to do and I want to do it the way God wants me to do it. I want to get this right, I want my involvement to glorify God. My fear has to do with how big this feels. I have not been involved with anything to this magnitude before.

However, as I write this, I am beginning to feel peace building inside of me about this. I need to remember to make sure that my thoughts, feelings and actions are focused on glorifying God, not on fear. I need to remember that I am never alone and that God has promised to help me to do anything that He has asked of me. God is always with me and every other believer, so I am choosing to reach out my hand and feel Him walking beside me.

Heavenly Father, thank You for always helping me to complete what is in Your will for my life. Thank You for never leaving me. Help me to glorify You with my involvement on this committee. In Your Son’s most precious name, Amen.

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14 NIV

Living in peace can be achieved but only with God. True peace only happens with God because the peace of this world is temporary. The peace that God can give you is so deep and pure that you don’t want to live without it once you have experienced it. Living in peace with everyone is hard but not impossible. It has nothing to do with the other person and everything to do with you and God.

If you think about where your soul will spend eternity, you begin to see how important it is to answer that question as soon as you can. Once you answer that question, there is a peace that fills you. The peace of knowing that you will be with God for all of eternity and not in eternal damnation. When I chose to let that peace to fill me and didn’t keep it at bay any longer, it allowed me see how important relationships are in this life.

Living in peace with each other is not only good for our soul, it is good for our mental health to not be angry, irritated or on edge all the time. It is also good for our Christian walk as we demonstrate the peace that Jesus taught about while He was walking around on earth so many years ago. No one can be at peace for you, no one can live at peace for you, you are the only one who can choose to live at peace with everyone.

Are you at peace?

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105 NIV

As we walk long this road called life, how well is our path lit? For some it feels like it is lit well while others seem to stumble a lot in spots of darkness. Believers have a light that they can use if they choose to use it, God’s word. When we read God’s word, we can find references about how to handle most situations in life. God’s word can give us light in a very dark world.

When our path is lit, it is not the entire path, it is typically only the step or two in front of us. God gives us that light, most of the time just enough to know where to step next, and then we need to do our job which is two-fold. First, we need to take that next step knowing that if we are taking the step He has illuminated for us, then He will be with us as we move forward. Second, we need to maintain our faith that He will illuminate the next step just as He did the step we have taken.

Part of the challenge with the second part of our job is that God doesn’t work on our time table, He has His own. Our idea of when something should happen or we should be given the information we need to move forward does not always line up with His idea of when we should know these things. That’s when we need to exercise our faith and trust that God knows what He is doing and where our path is leading us.

There is another thing about lights that we need to remember, the light can only illuminate things around it, if it is turned on, if it is used. The light is not useful for illuminating anything if it is not used for that purpose. God’s word can light your path for your entire life if you use it to light your path but if you never open God’s word, read God’s word or apply God’s word to your life then you remain in darkness.

God does not want anyone to remain in darkness. If He did, then Jesus would not have come to save the world. He would not have walked among us, experiencing what we experience and showing us how to handle those situations in life. He would not have died a horrible death to pay our final payment for our sins and give us eternal life. He did all that because He loves us and wants us to walk out of the darkness and into the light, His light.

Have you turned on your light? Have you opened your Bible and read God’s word? I urge you to read God’s word. If you haven’t read the Bible before, then I suggest starting with Matthew, Mark, Luke or John in the New Testament. It doesn’t matter really where you start, just that you start. God wants you to walk in the Light, please come join others in the Light.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121: 1-2 NIV

Where does your help come from? Have you found grace or unmerited favor at work or in a relationship? Has God provided for you, His child? Has God protected you?

These 2 verses are from the beginning of the 121st Psalm. I wrote about the last 2 verses yesterday and thought it might be good to look at the first two today. Again, the psalm is part of a collection of 15 psalms that are called the Songs of Ascent. They were sung by travelers as they made their journey up to Jerusalem for their annual pilgrimage.

This psalm starts out by talking about where the travelers’ help comes from as they look to the hills of Jerusalem. They ask the question and answer it immediately because they sing of their help coming from God. They know that they do not have to be close to the holy city of Jerusalem to be protected or given help by God. He is always with them as He is always with us.

It is amazing to me that my help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth, God Himself!!!! This amazes me because I consider myself to be a very very small part of this great universe that He created and yet He is interested in me and my life.

So I ask again, where does your help come from? Does it come from God or do you believe that you don’t need help because you are responsible for your life? My answer is that as one of many of God’s children, my help comes from Him. I cannot navigate this life with God and I don’t want to. He made me and I look to Him for guidance, protection and help daily.

Where do you look for those things?

“The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:7-8 NIV

There are 15 psalms titled “Songs of Ascent” and they would be song by those traveling to Jerusalem during their annual festivals, to reflect on God’s protective power. The word ‘ascent’ comes from the part of their journey where they had to climb up to Jerusalem. During this journey they would sing this among other songs to help remind themselves that God was with them everywhere, not just in their journey or destination but also in their daily life.

At my aunt’s funeral, Psalm 121 was placed on the memory card you receive. My cousin told me that when her and my uncle went through my aunt’s bible, this passage was marked. I know that my aunt believed that God protected her from harm no matter where she was and that it was for ever. This does not mean that my aunt was not hurt in any way, but even though she may physically be harmed by whatever this world threw her way, her soul was not able to be touched because it belongs to God.

Every believer has that assurance, that we may be physically harmed but our souls belong to God and they are protected from the evil of this world. This should give comfort to every believer because it doesn’t matter if we are traveling or remaining at home, our God is watching over us. This verse among others tells us that…God will keep us and watch over us.

I know that as my aunt ‘climbed’ her way to heaven that God was with her every step of the way, that He watched over her and that He protected her on that final journey. After reading the entire psalm, I can see why she would have marked it in her bible – a solid reminder of the wonderful, powerful and amazing God we serve.

Do you have that assurance of protection from God? Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If not, please make that decision today.