 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)
C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying, “Christ says, "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good...Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.” The mind must be renewed, not just once, but daily. Each morning a renewal, each day turning over to God, once again, something that we held on to much too long. But God! GiGi❤️
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 Then spoke the chief butler to Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:..(Genesis 41:9).
It is important that we remember to pray for those we have vowed to pray for. Perhaps our response to a person in distress is, “I will remember you in prayer.” If so, we must make time to do it. We must be a woman or man of our word. Someone is counting on it, just as Joseph took the chief butler at his word when he promised to remember him after he was released from prison. For some reason the Butler delayed and was long in doing but he finally remembers and acts. We must be mindful not to allow worldly cares to quench our prayers, reading the Word of God, and spending time with Him. Spurgeon wrote, “It is very possible that the butler was so busy with his work and his gains, and looking after his fellow-servants and all that, that he forgot poor Joseph. Is it not very possible that this may be the case with us? We forget the Lord Jesus to whom we are bound by such ties, because our business is so large, our family so numerous, our cares so pressing, our bills and bonds so urgent, and even because perhaps our gains are so large…It is a pity he forgot Joseph, but it is a great blessing that he remembered him. It is a sad thing that you and I should have done so little; it is a mercy that there is time left for us to do more.” The Lord is waiting to release someone from bondage and is waiting for us to keep our word and pray. GiGi❤️  “Thou God seest me…” (Genesis 16:13)
Loneliness can be experienced where there is the absence of quality connections with others. Relationships have to be nurtured, time has to be invested, and sacrifices will have to be made in order to build and maintain healthy connections. All of us experience a sense of belonging and connecting with others and that desire comes from God. It is a desire that drives us to Him. It provides us great satisfaction to know that we are seen and heard by our God who is always with us, and ever present. We should challenge our loneliness by reminding ourselves that God is near. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “He is here, close by my side, and not by me only, but in me; within this heart; where these lungs beat; or where my blood gushes through my veins; or where this pulse is beating, like a muffled drum…God is there.” It will take us nurturing our relationship with Him to always have this awareness. It will take a devotion to prayer and spending time with Him. Remember, healthy relationships are nurtured relationships. GiGi❤️  “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:3)
Even when we think we are right there is still so much to get right with God and so much to learn, because we have yet to attain. As long as we have this flesh to contend with, we will, daily need to submit to the only true and wise God, who is able to forgive our transgressions and remember them no more. “I bless You that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ.” “I thank You that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Your patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Your rule. I thank You for Your wisdom and Your love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine me as gold.” (Charles Spurgeon) Bless us Lord to be able to see past ourselves today and see your glory. GiGi❤️  “Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord…” (Psalm 37:3 AMPC)
Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass. And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday. Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. (Psalm 37:3-7 AMPC) “The Puritans speak of faith as a [leaning entirely on God]. It needs no power to lean; it is a cessation from our own strength, and allowing our weakness to depend upon another’s power. Let no man say, "I cannot lean"; it is not a question of what you can do, but a confession of what you cannot do, and a leaving of the whole matter with Jesus.” ( C. H. Spurgeon). Leaning is Faith. Faith is Leaning. GiGi❤️  “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24)
It is not enough to resolve that we don’t have enough faith to trust our Lord for something, when we also have the ability to ask Him to help us in our unbelief. And won’t He orchestrate our lives in such a way to remind us that He alone is our only hope. Once again we find ourselves at the throne of grace unable to do anything but trust Him. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “We alone, out of all the beings whom God has fashioned, dishonor Him by unbelief and tarnish His honor by mistrust. Shame on us for this! Our God does not deserve to be so poorly treated. in our past life we have proved Him to be true and faithful to His word, and with so many instances of His love and of His kindness as we have received and are daily receiving at His hands. It is base and inexcusable that we allow a doubt to lodge within our heart.” From now on let us resolve to wage constant war against doubts of our God—enemies to our peace and to His honor—and with an unstaggering faith believe that what He has promised He will also perform. “I believe; help my unbelief!” GiGi❤️  “Who dares despise the day of small things,” Zechariah 4:10.
Life will often require us to slow down and seek our Lord first in order to know what is required of us in the moment. We tend to consider the Lord when we engage in the big profound occurrences in life, but He wants to be reflected in every aspect of our lives, even the small things. He looks for us to be calm, collected, measured, respectful, considerate, grateful, empathetic, etc. These attributes take a lot of work, little by little, bit by bit, and may even feel insignificant, but they matter. The results, as they show up in our relationships, are life changing. Our Lord builds from the small things and we don’t get to do the big things until we are successful with the smaller. Great buildings have strong solid foundations, so does great character, “Who dares despise the day of small things,” Zechariah 4:10. We may have to start over today and do some first works in intimate, personal, or professional relationships. Yet, be encouraged because an acorn is small but can produce a great oak tree. GiGi ❤️  “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:8-9)
When we feel we are being attacked or criticized, we are flooded with emotions and can feel overwhelmed which can result in defensive language. This emotional response is evoked because the “information we received differs from how we think of ourselves or want others to see us, so we get defensive and overjustify, make excuses, minimize, blame, discredit, discount, refute, and reinterpret.” “Acceptance gives us the power to move forward in relationships. Hurting and disappointing other people feels terrible. But it happens, and instead of getting on the defensive, we take responsibility for the pain we’ve caused, listen intently to understand the other person's suffering, offer a genuine apology, and revitalize a commitment to acting with compassion.” When we make it about us it never turns out well. The Lord is looking for his children to be compassionate and humble. Acceptance is taking Responsibility. GiGi❤️  “Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)
A sense of community and belonging is very important to our well-being. It was not meant for us to go it alone. Our Lord intended for us to lift one another up, pray for one another, and stand in the gap for each other. Those who have a sense of belonging are healthier mentally and physically, more resilient, resourceful, compassionate and empathetic. “If the tender mercy of God has visited us, and done so much more for us than I can tell, or than you can hear, let us ourselves exhibit tender mercy in our dealings with our fellow-men…It is horrible to be living to be saved, living to get to heaven, living to enjoy religion, and yet never live to bless others, and ease the misery of a moaning world…It is useless to hope for peace till you know how to love. Why are there wars and fightings but from a want of love?” Charles Spurgeon Creating community will require us to be vulnerable and allow others access to us. Vulnerability is not weakness nor is it being totally unboundaried. It means to allow others to see us, to get to know us and we them. May the Lord guide our feet in the way of peace as we allow ourselves to connect and be a blessing to others. Amen!. GiGi❤️  “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22)
It has gotten to be too much. The load has become too much to bear and someone has surmised, “I don’t think I can make it another hour, let alone another day.” When we insist on being the source of our own help and deliverance we soon learn that we are unable to do so. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 68:6) “The very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting of ourselves into His place, to do for Him that which we dream He either cannot or will not do!” Dear Lord, we are casting it all on You. Please take it!” GiGi❤️ |
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