Fantastic Friday #395 - Give

Give

¹ Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done.
² Sing to him, sing praise to him;
    tell of all his wonderful acts.
³ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
⁴ Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always. Psalm 105:1-4

What have you given lately?  We talk about being thankful but do you think about what you give?  I am not talking about tithing, or financial support of a special charity.  I am talking about truly giving that love that every human being deserves.  How often do we stop and think of the love that our Father in Heaven has given to us through His Son's sacrifice?  How often do we think of the love that our friends and family provide to us?  How often do we love those around us, I mean truly show a sacrificial love?  This week why don't we all give love and then give praise to our God for what He has done. If we seek His face, it is much easier to love.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #394- Shaken

Shaken

¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2

So, there is this song in The Mix(2nd-4th grade) at church that we sing quite a bit. As I lead this worship song at church for the kids, I get really worn out mainly due to the hand and body motions we use to get the kids into the song. What's interesting is that when it says "we will never be shaken,"  the kids and I tend to shake somewhat uncontrollably. (some more than others) It is quite an interesting sight to watch me move and shake on stage, but I have been told that I don't dance very well so maybe I think too highly of my shaking ability.  At times, I don't think much about how God can help me rest, until I reflected on this passage more and the song we sing.  A thought came to mind about the fact that rocks don't move very much and actually don't shake due to their molecular makeup.  How interesting that our Lord and Savior is referred to as our Rock.  Someone who doesn't change, doesn't move and can't be shaken.  So, where do we go when the world is tossing us around, we go to our true Rock and Fortress.  We go to our Lord to help our soul find rest. I hope as you enter this week that you find rest in knowing that God will keep us firm and stable and through His power we will never be shaken.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #393- Twist

Twist

⁴ In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?

⁵ All day long they twist my words;
    all their schemes are for my ruin.
⁶ They conspire, they lurk,
    they watch my steps,
    hoping to take my life.   Psalm 56:4-6

Do you ever run across those people who take everything you say and twist it in their favor.  Maybe at the time they don't like how you might be questioning their integrity so they twist what you are saying back on you or on someone else.  Possibly these people know they have done something that is not right, but they don't want to be held accountable for their mistake, so instead they do everything they can to make it look like someone else's fault. We all have people around us who take advantage of a situation so they aren't held accountable for their actions that impact others. So, what do we do when they lurk and conspire to make us or others look bad?  It's easy, we trust in God and his Word and His actions to take care of a situation like this.  We all have it within ourselves to think we can make everything better, and untwist what has been done.  We just don't realize that we really don't have that power. In fact, maybe God is allowing the enemy to influence these people to twist the words and actions to teach us something about how we need to react.  What do you do next time someone twists your words or the situation?  You handle it with Grace and Understanding knowing that God is aware of the twisting and let Him straighten everything out.  Where we see failure, God sees success when we trust in Him.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #392- Flourish

Flourish

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:8-11

Do you sometimes look at people and wonder why some people flourish and others don't?  Do you find yourself trying to guess what God is going to do next or why He allows certain things to happen.  Many times we see wicked in this world who might be flourishing, or are they really?  To be flourishing, one is successful or prospering.  Maybe we are looking at people flourishing in the wrong way.  If we realized that we can't look at God's thoughts and ways as we look at each others thoughts and ways, we would understand why people perceive the wicked as flourishing.  We all need to treat God's Word with respect and honor Him, for His purposes are unknown to us but will be revealed at the proper time.  Don't look at the wicked as really flourishing, but as God allowing them to be successful for a short time while those who follow Him will flourish for eternity.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #391 - Power

Power


¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”  Romans 4:18-22

Do we ever look at things during the day and week and think, I personally don't have it within me to complete this?  We as human beings tend to spend our time looking at our own power and skills to get a job done, complete a task, and focusing less on the power of God.  The thing that I always find funny is why do we always think that we have to do things on our own, in our way and in a certain order?  When things aren't going our way, I bet we try to manipulate the outcome into our favor, whether it be a project at work, a scheduling issue, or even time with God.  How many of us say, I don't have time for you right now God, but I will get back to you in a few minutes after "I" finish what "I" am doing here.  I know I can tend to forget who has the power in this relationship, and it is our Father in Heaven.  He has it all to complete a  task or complete His plans when he sees fit.  It is not our own power that things get accomplished, but it is God's power to have His will be done.  If we remember who has the real power, then maybe all of our things would get accomplished and we wouldn't spend our time running around trying to complete things that are not within our power.  Take a moment to look to God's power the next time you have something to accomplish.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #390- Control

Control


¹⁸ We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. ¹⁹ We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. ²⁰ We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5: 18-20.

Watching sports is very interesting at times and this week I experienced a very valuable lesson in how I should control my emotions.  I had to volunteer umpire for my son's baseball game this last week because there were no other volunteers. It was very hard because I was behind the plate calling balls and strikes, and sure enough Gaven ended up pitching.  It ended up being a close game and I was hearing chatter behind me about my son being on the other team, and something about fairness was brought up.  I let my emotions get the best of me and responded to the comments that were made.  I said some things I didn't necessarily regret later, but mainly I was upset with the fact that I actually responded to useless chatter.  What I was most upset with was how I let the enemy grind at my mind and let him tell me I had to respond to something which really wasn't necessary.  I lose control in my life from time to time with a number of things and what I need to do is learn how to control my thoughts and emotions.  If I were to stop and realize where the evil is coming from, maybe it would make a difference in how I react.  This scripture says that God has given us understanding, which if you think about it understanding really can lead to control.  And control can defeat the enemy's lies and schemes, and defeating the evil around us can bring us in a closer relationship with God.  It is important not to sit in our lives thinking we can control everything around us, because we can't. We have to rely on God and His son Jesus Christ to help control the evil around us.  Rest in Jesus' control, for He has it already figured out for us.


Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #389 - Shut Down

Shut Down

¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
 ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. 1 John 3:18-20, 24

We all have been affected by things being shut down in our lives.  When things are shut down, you can't access them and most times it can be very frustrating if you need something badly.  Have you ever been shut down yourself because someone has upset you or been cruel to you?  Or, have you ever experienced a situation where you saw someone being hateful? Words are very powerful, but actions with words have a significant impact.  I can sit here all day long and use wonderful phrases to tell you about God's glorious Gospel, but if I don't show action with those words then they really don't mean anything. I am just like everyone else, and most days I fall short, but I know that God has placed the Spirit in me to guide my actions along with my words.  While I don't always get it right, I know there is One that will never shut down, and that is our Lord and Savior.  He is always there and always working in us to glorify Him.  So next time you feel like shutting down or someone tries to shut you down, remember who you are in Christ and let the Spirit guide your actions.

Have a great weekend.