Archives

Philippians 4:6-7, My take…

Jul1
mountainside praying at sunrise
Saying thanks even when we don’t feel like it!

I have a one hour drive to the small country church where my husband pastors. The routine is he leaves before me and I drive in about an hour and half later. The larger portions of my journey are down a rural highway. So mostly I get to enjoy the displays of the four seasons whose star attraction is the stately trees.

Since the drive is somewhat lengthy, I habitually plug in my phone to a music app and select “Contemporary Christian Bands.” Since I am the sole listener, I get to pay attention to the words. And I pay attention because God is always faithful to whisper truths I need to be reminded of.

With grandchildren growing up and out, I just don’t get to enjoy their companionship as I use to. And because my kids either live too far away or a busy life prevents visits, their company is lacking as well. It’s hard to adjust to my solemn days. And I have to confess, lonely. My husband is a big help for having to do for him, keeps my mind occupied. But as a mom and grandmother, I find that the temptation to worry increases as the time between visits decreases.

Thus on the trip to church last Sunday God directed me to do something I hadn’t really done before. He charged me to evaluate the inner voice that was reminding me of the declining moments of memory making with my children and grans. To ask myself what was that inner voice trying to accomplish by reminding me of my sadness. I thought I was just pondering these sad thoughts in an attempt to try an understanding my aching heart.

While listening to a variety of songs I was reminded of God’s question. And I began noticing something. The words in the songs, reflected God’s faithfulness, mercy, compassion, and, yes, blessings even in difficult days. But that didn’t match up with the dialog in my head. So obviously, it wasn’t that I needed to have a better understanding of my troubles. The whisperings I was getting from God was ‘change the record.’

The point God was making was beginning to sink in. The feelings of sadness (feeling sorry for myself) were not prompted by God. With His encouragement, I now evaluate those thoughts as to their origin. And, as to their purpose. The answer is pretty obvious.

All I have to do to thwart the enemy’s attacks is to thank God for this season of my life. Children grow up and often move away. But God doesn’t run out of ideas for our lives when our house grows quiet and empty. Turning to Him in anticipation of what’s next will reveal new things to be thankful for. By allowing an attitude of thanksgiving to rule my thoughts. I will know peace. Not worry. Not sadness. Not loneliness. But a new appreciation for the changes God is making in my life.

Thanks for the memories…

Jun10
Philippians 1:3 – “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

As I drove past the spot (we referred to it as the halfway point) where I often met my 2 daughters to transfer my grandchildren, my thoughts were inundated with memories. For that was a church parking lot located about half way between my house and theirs. So it was a convenient arrangement time wise to pick up or drop off my grans. You can make lots of memories sitting in the car waiting for Mom or Dad after arriving at the parking lot. Fun, sweet, and often humorous ones.

I have such a store of delightful memories at that dear spot. But inevitably I spoil the sweetness by seasoning it with sadness. For I no longer get to make such memories. My cute little funny grans are all grown up now. Driving themselves when they come to visit Nammy & Grandaddy. And even two of them moved to another state while they were still in that cute little funny stage.

Had it not been for an earlier conversation I had had with God that day, my longing for those memories that just don’t happen as much anymore would have intensified. Preparing the ground for seeds of sadness. Instead, God countered them with the following question:

“What about thanking Me for those precious memories, instead of feeling sad because you don’t have them anymore?”

It’s not so easy doing that, you know. For the evil one would have me regret that those days are passed. That would result, as you probably have experienced yourself, in a burden that would grow heavier with every revisited memory. I don’t want to do that, and I’m sure you don’t either.

The reality that I was just feeling sorry for myself became glaringly obvious. So, I decided to put into practice God’s remedy for my pity party. I was motivated to do so because the enemy uses this as a weapon against me way too often. So I purposed then and there that I would resist the temptation of self pity. I would counter Satan’s weapon to feel sorry for myself with God’s mighty weapon of Thankfulness.

So when any sweet memory surfaces about those tender days, I will thank God for those memories. For I have an abundance of memories with my grans and instead of feeling sad that they are declining, I’m going to focus on how grateful I am that I have sooooo many.

Blessings and Strength Dispensed by God’s Word

Feb11

In my previous post, I shared with my readers links to Verse by Verse International. In particular the study of the book of Revelation as taught by the late Stephen Armstrong. As I delve into this study once again, I am reminded of the blessings discovered there. I’d like to share a few of those.

Remember the reference I included about the blessings that were promised by God for those who took part in the book of Revelation? So, it’s some of those blessings I want to make mention of in this post.

In examining Revelation, one of its most outstanding aspects to me was God’s attention to details. Details that aren’t revealed by a casual reading. It is in the cross referencing verses from other sections of Scripture that shed light on what is contained in Revelation. Stephen Armstrong’s approach was simple but profound in its application. The imagery and symbols, throughout this book, are difficult to understand. However, according to S.A., “We never need to guess at the meaning of important symbols because the answers are in the Bible somewhere.” And you know what? He was right! In this study I was introduced to the Golden Rule of Interpretation, “…it says that when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, we seek no other sense.” In other words, there is no need speculate as to what the text might mean. So armed with these rules, I waded into the water.

Now back to the blessings. Recalling the impact my 2020 study had, I anticipated this refresher course would bring the same results. Therefore, the enemy’s plan to sidetrack my efforts were foiled. For I knew that God’s attention to detail was provided with the intention of helping me understand. Knowing God is in charge of my future, I have no reason to fear or worry. Not just for me but for anyone who is His child. For the Bible is rich in verses that assures us about such things. For instance, God promises us that he keeps His word to keep the covenant He made with us in our salvation.

Yet, I am a human being. And as long as I live on this earth my self-centered self-serving sin nature will be susceptible to temptation. The only way for it not to rule my thoughts and influence my attitudes, (therefore my actions) (FD, p.28) is to submit those thoughts to a force greater than myself. That force, of course, is the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ. But that spirit must be nurtured to grow in strength. I accomplish this by absorbing with consistency Truth thoughts from God’s word. The more I absorb the more my wisdom and strength increase.

Focusing on Our Blessings!

Nov23

Watching tv!

Our family experienced a unique Thanksgiving this year.  Since my husband and I plan to visit our missionary son soon, our daughters decided to celebrate Christmas and our family fall festival, plus Thanksgiving all in three days!  Therefore our schedule looked something like the following:

Day One – Hayride and Cookout

Day Two – Christmas

Day Three – Thanksgiving

We crammed a bunch of memories in those 3 too short days but the effort was well worth making.  God blessed us with comfortably cool days so, when we didn’t have them otherwise occupied, our young grandchildren were laughing, exploring, imagining; just cramming as much memory making as they could in the short time they were together.

Oh, it was a lovely, chaotic, noisy, busy, draining, and all together wonderful way to celebrate the holidays.  Two of my daughters even came up with two creative titles for the week: 1) Thankmas or 2) Christgiving!  A blend of Thanksgiving and Christmas!

And even our missionary son got to be a part of the celebration b/c today we video chatted with him so ALL the family got to share Thanksgiving together.  Now this is a pretty big deal, b/c one of our daughters traveled about 16 hours to get here, and our daughter-in-law had just given birth to our little grandson!  So there we were, all our daughters, their husbands, their children, my mom, my husband’s mom, our son, daughter-in-law, and newborn grandson, sharing the day together!  So-o-o much to be thankful for!

But now the house is quiet (stone cold quiet), and I have sat down to watch a little tv (trying not to focus on how quiet it is). And here come the fiery darts! ugh!  The sole purpose of these trouble making thoughts is to influence me to focus on my loses instead of my blessings so that I will become lonely and depressed!  And you know what?  That’s exactly what would happen if I gave in to such thinking!

BUT THAT WON’T HAPPEN!

Know how?

I WILL FOCUS ON MY BLESSINGS!

God showered His blessings on our family this week.  I mean He abundantly showered us! (He does that a lot for His kids).  Sure it’s hard for my family to do what it does that’s just the plain truth of it.  BUT our blessings far outnumber (above and beyond) any of the hard things!

So, if after your celebration, you get blasted by fiery darts–remember:

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS–AND LET THAT BE YOUR FOCUS!

That my friends will cause those fiery darts of loneliness and depression to fizzle in no time flat.  They won’t have enough force to rule your thoughts and thereby define your actions.  You’ll be free of their negative influence and peace will guard your heart and mind.  After all, that’s just what God promised in Philippians 4:67:

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.