Monday's Blessing
Matthew 12:23-44

"But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry, arid places in search of rest, but it does not find any. then is says, i will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated."

Are you in a place in your life where keeping the peace is ultimate?  Have you spent years in turmoil only to find that blissful peace is all you pray for?

Well, my friend, it may come to surprise you that blatant indifference to life is an excuse. If you're in there on your cozy pillows staring out at the seamless landscape with no godly activity in your life then you are not reaching out as God intended.  

It is important that we fill our lives with godly activity and make decisions to work for God, making a positive difference in the world.  Most don't realize that indifference is a personal decision.  Right and wrong are not the only decisions we make.  A decision to do nothing is still a decision, and it is one that makes us weaker and weaker.  It gives the devil more and more opportunities to control us.

Empty space is still a place, and the Word of God teaches that if the devil comes and finds emptiness he quickly occupies the space.  Inactivity indicates that we are in agreement with and approve of whatever is going on as long as we are left in peace.  After all, if we are doing nothing to change it, then we must think whatever is happening is fine.

Most of us can look at impoverished areas and those in need with compassion.  But what are you doing about it?  It is easy to align our hearts with what's happening in front of us, but a whole different level if we reach out and help.

So how comfy is your life?  Who are you reaching out to?

Don't just sit there on those pillows and pray for God's intercession.  Seek God aggressively about what difference you can personally make.  Most of you may read this and return to your daily lives wondering........ But some of you will get busy and try to infiltrate and do something positive to help others.  Some of you will be determined to find ways to make a difference in this world.  Indifference makes and excuse, but love for others finds a way! Everyone can do something?

What will you do this week?

​This Week's Meditation:

Teach me to "Be of service."

Pray:

Help me to realize that my comfy space is not all you intended.
Teach me to pray about what you need me to do. 
Remind me that there is more to life than indifference. 

Meditate on this for several minutes a day. Allow various thoughts to come into your mind.  And realize God has you in his arms always

Monday's Blessing
Nehemiah 4:4

"And Nehemiah prayed, Hear, O our God, for we are despised.  Turn their taunts upon their own heads, and give them for a prey in a land of their captivity."

"Let go and let be."

Easier said than done.  We are so quick to take matters into our own hands then wonder why things aren't going our way.  In fact, I believe it is really difficult for each of us to let go.  After all, God did bless us with a strong sense of conviction that sometimes runs a muck.  I think we just really can't figure out when to use our God-given sense and when to just let go and let God.  

That's because we are always quick to rectify a situation when things go wrong.  We are intuitive by nature and therefore, think outside the box.  But sometimes, those daily situations get a bit out of control.  That's when the answer doesn't come easy and you are pulling at strings to make something work.  That's when you SHOULD know it's out of your hands.

In Nehemiah 4:4 we find three words that are vitally important to remember when we are trying to stand through a storm: "And Nehemiah prayed." He didn't begin to retaliate upon on the attacks that came against him.  He was laughed at, angered upon, raged provoked, judged, and criticized.  They shouted his goal was impossible! So Nehemiah prayed........

"Hear, O our God," he said, "for we are despised.  Turn their taunts upon their own heads, and give them for a prey in a land of their captivity." Notice that he didn't take up arms and go after those fools.  He asked God to deal with them.  His attitude was, "I'm doing Your will!  You told me to build this wall and I am busy doing as you stated.  You will have to take care of my enemies!"

What would happen if you prayed every single time you felt afraid or intimated with no recourse? What if you prayed every time you were offended, or every time someone hurt your feelings?  What if you prayed immediately every time some kind of judgement or criticism came against you? Would your life be different? Would you be able to withstand those storms better? Of course you would!

Many times God gives us a plan.  We begin doing it, but enemies rise up against us and when we turn to fight, we turn away from God.  Suddenly our enemy has our utmost attention.  We spend our time fighting him instead of praying and asking God to intervene.  

Nehemiah knew better than to let his enemies command his focus.  He was aware of them, but he kept his eyes on God and the job God called him to do.  And he simply prayed and asked God to deal with those who were attacking him.  
This Week's Meditation:

Teach me to "Let go and let God."

Pray:

Help me to realize that fighting back is not the answer.
Teach me to pray for your intervention when my enemies offend me. 
Remind me to let things go and keep on the task at hand. 

Meditate on this for several minutes a day. Allow various thoughts to come into your mind.  And realize God has you in his arms always

Monday's Blessing
2 John 1:6

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.  As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

Got a co-worker, family, or friend who just downright annoys you?  

These people just seem to get under our skin no matter how hard we try to put their ideologies at a distance. It's virtually impossible to keep them at arm's length.  It seems they seek out the most trivial situation just to annoy us.  

And they are all around us.  We just can't get away from them.  So what do we do? Especially when we take in John's message?

I remember years ago when I taught for the Catholic school system.  I'd go to church on Sundays and the Priest would say, "Take a moment to say hello to other people around you."

I'd look down those rows nearest to me thinking, "That parent just made my job more difficult last week with a conference in the Principal's office.  The last thing I want to do is shake his hand. How could he EVEN believe I'd do those things his child said!" God's strong sense impressing me that I should do that very thing made me walk over and smile and shake his hand.  I wasn't totally sincere, but I was obedient to God.

Years later a new Priest came on the grounds.  He was to be ordained as the new Pastor.  He strode around with his arrogant nature, Birkenstock flapping where ever he went.  He began leveling the place, firing older staff members with no warning, and keeping the younger ones as collateral.  With this new population he preached the importance of tithing and concrete acceptance of God's word without question.  His views were archaic not even allowing class decorating over Advent.  We listened, and obliged taking all our Christmas decorations down.  "Oh! how the children will suffer!" I lamented.  

I was obedient, but I left.  I found it too traumatic watching woman and nuns I taught with pack their bags and leave to unknown beginnings. These were not my personal ideologies.  I moved to a new church with broader ideas on love and self-worth. There I found acceptance again and moved forward teaching God's word.  I knew my place was with God always, it now was just in a different location.

We do not take steps of obedience and overcome difficult times because we feel like doing so or think obedience is a good idea.  We do it because we love God, we know he loves us, and we want to obey him.  We know He always knows the best for us.  

Whatever adversities you are facing right now with individuals, I urge you to confront them.  Learn to embrace them, and deal with them with God's guidance.  Face them like a conqueror.  A conqueror who still has the ability to love and accept.  Remember, they are working fro your good, and God will use them to strengthen you.  Embrace them, even if you don't like them, and you will find yourself in a greater maturity, wisdom, and ability than you've ever known.  

This Week's Meditation:

Teach me to "love others."

Pray:

Help me to realize that giving up is not the answer.
Teach me to love others despite how they are making me feel. 
Remind me to let things go and move forward keeping them in my prayers. 

Meditate on this for several minutes a day. Allow various thoughts to come into your mind.  And realize God has you in his arms always

Monday's Blessing
Romans 8:37

"Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain surpassing victory through Him who loved us."

Ever feel like you're watching reruns of your life?  That same scene keeps popping up over and over, just when you think you're done?  

Well, maybe God is pushing you into an up close view to deal with these underlying issues like layers of onion throughout your life.  

Are you a conqueror?  Then you must confront and learn to deal with ALL adversities in your life.  You just can't run from them.   You can't avoid or escape these situations. Anytime we run from a situation you can almost be sure we will have to go back and face it, or something very similar, at some point later in our lives.  

Think about Moses.  He ran from Egypt and spent forty years in the desert, where God prepared him to be great leader.  When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He basically said: "Now I want you to go back to Egypt" (Exodus 3:2-10). Yes, God sent Moses right back to the place he tried to escape!

The Bible is full of similar stories - enough for us to take note that running doesn't do any good.  You can't run from adversity. You have to hit it head on.  I used to have a hard time speaking in public.  I know it was part of my job as an educator, but staring down on hundreds of people sent me into a tailspin.  I often tried to avoid it.  One day I was asked to speak in front of a church.  I brought up my careful prepared notes and got through a 15 minute speech in eight minutes.  My dearest friend on the other hand, brought up her notes, pushed them aside and began orating, " I had prepared notes, but these don't speak from my heart, so I'm just going to push onward and let God use me as a vessel."  And that He did! She spoke with the grace and confidence of a great leader.  The audience was with her throughout and hung onto ever word.

Instead of using this as a teachable moment, I simply thought, "Why can't I do that?"  Well, God didn't give up on me.  He presented me with more and more opportunities.  They just wouldn't dissipate and go away! One day I thought back to that speech my friend gave and remembered her words, "God use me as a vessel".  For some reason, that eluded me that day.  I bowed my head before I went up to give a presentation and prayed, "God take away all the anxiety I'm facing right now and instead give me the voice to reach these people's hearts."

Did I still have anxiety?  Sure! But just a bit.  Instead, my new focus was on touching that audience's lives. And I did!  I expanded on points that I normally would not have.  I could see and feel the intensity of the situation I was in.  I was moving onward!  I had conquered! And to this day, I utter that same prayer before going on.

God will put you in situations where you will have to deal with your fears from the past.  He is trying to get you to grow and become stronger.  We never tire of learning.  That is how God programmed us.  He wants us to be strong Christians and learn.  We often ask God to deliver us from the wrong things.  We want to be delivered from our trials, but we need to ask Him to deliver us from the things in our hearts that hinder His purpose in our lives.

   This Week's Meditation:

Teach me to "face my fears."

Pray:

Help me to realize that giving up is not the answer.
Teach me to trust to keep pushing onward even when I feel defeat. 
Remind me that everything will fall into place.  

Meditate on this for several minutes a day. Allow various thoughts to come into your mind.  And realize God has you in his arms always

Monday's Blessing

Hebrews 12:2

"Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith (giving the first incentive for our belief) and is also its Finisher (bringing it to maturity and perfection)."

Are you in the middle of a personal project that is just taking forever to get there?  We are a society of lightening fast endings.  Everything needs to happen tomorrow, and today is an obstacle sitting in the way.  Sometimes our initiatives begin out of no where, so unexpected.  And before  you know it, the finish line is unfolding before our eyes.

Then there are other times we begin a personal endeavor and, well, we are weeks, months, years into making it a reality; and it's still slowly crawling along.  For me it's debt.  Ever since last summer things have been piling up.  Bills that is.  I went on a trip that was supposed to be paid for from my income tax return.  But a month into my trip, I was sent audit criteria.  Upon my return, I found out there was nothing that was GOING TO BE RETURNED.  Then the transmission on the car needed replacement.  From there it was all down hill, a new dryer, a portable air conditioner in the back room, and then just last week the main house air conditioner failed.  

All last year I was on the descent paying bills them off, then out of no where, an ascent began to ensue; and I am not where I expected to be financially.  My initial debt consolidation showed me coming out of the hole before June.  But, with all the unexpected household needs, I am still down in that hole with the possibility of reaching fresh air next summer.  That's a long way off!

Everything we undertake in life has a beginning and an end.  Typically we are excited as we begin a new proposition to make our live's better.  We're also happy when we cross the finish line of this achievement.  But, sometimes, between the beginning and the end, progress can slow to a crawl.  And, unfortunately, it is this middle where we face our greatest challenges, hurdles, roadblocks, obstacles, detours, and tests.  

You may be in that middle like me right now.  Maybe you are trying to pay off all those charges you incurred that were unexpected.  Maybe you're feeling a little defeated because your progress has slowed to all but a halt.  Or, maybe you're finishing a major project or paper that has been giving you some issues.  You could be training for a marathon or other competition that is just wearing you down. Maybe you are trying to adopt a child, begin a new job, and you just keep getting hit with roadblocks.  

What ever mayhem you find yourself in right now, determine at this moment to see it through to that checkered flag. 

Between our beginning and our endings we must develop the boldness and determination necessary to overcome the overwhelming circumstances we encounter in the middle.  The enemy wants us to setter for less than God's best for our lives and to stop short of receiving and enjoying everything God has for us.  The devil halts progress and pushes us to give up on ourselves and God.  God, on the other hand, wants the very best for us.  He wants us to finish the race, and even though we can't see it all the time, gives us the tools to do so.  He wants us to finish all those races set before us and finish them with joy (Heb. 12:1-2).  Don't give up!  You're almost there! 

This Week's Meditation:

Teach me to "keep plugging along."

Pray:

Help me to realize that giving up is not the answer.
Teach me to trust to keep pushing onward even when I feel defeat. 
Remind me that everything will fall into place.  

Meditate on this for several minutes a day. Allow various thoughts to come into your mind.  And realize God has you in his arms always

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