Give Thanks

Give Thanks                     

          by: Angela Hiskett

I hear so much grumbling,

          so much jealousy, and derogatory mumbling.

                     Haven’t you received blessings from God?

                             Recognize your gifts!

In the trees standing tall above,

God shows his love.

With the tears on your face,

God shows his grace.

In the flowers gentle scent,

God shows his time spent.

With the nudging of the Spirit,

He urges us to hear it.

In the eagle’s spreading wings,

God shows he is in everything.

With a baby’s bubbling gurgle and bright smile,

God shows us he is willing to go the extra mile.

Each and every person in the land,

God wants to hold us in his hand.

                            But most of all;

God gave his only son,

Jesus stepped forward to be the one,

to take upon his shoulders all of your sin,

so that you still have a chance to win.

Recognize all that God has done for you,

and give him thanks in all you do!

Just Trust

Would you like to hear a very ‘freeing’ and beautiful concept?  In my reading over the weekend I heard a life changing line.  We all know we are not supposed to worry.  God did not create us to be worriers; he created us to be trusters.  (You know what is a terrible thing, spell check accepted worriers, but it did not accept trusters.)

1 Timothy 1:7   For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self – discipline.

Psalm 55:22  Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Philippians 4:6-7  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Okay, so the thought I learned (I think it was from a Joyce Meyer book Change Your World) , is very simple.  Don’t worry!  Simple, right?  I know, I know – you are thinking ‘That is way easier said than done, we know that!  Doing it is a whole other story!’   I know, but try what I learned.  What do you worry about?  Think of one thing in your head. “ I am worried about ________________.”  Okay, use the same thing you are worried about in this sentence.  “Dear Lord, I trust you with ______________.”  Doesn’t that feel great!  Do it again!  “Lord, I trust you with ______________!”  And again!

 “Lord, I trust you with ______________!”    

“Lord, I trust you with ______________!”    

“Lord, I trust you with ______________!”   

 “Lord, I trust you with ______________!”  

“Lord, I trust you with ______________!”  

We are supposed to put our trust in God!  God wants to share our burdens!  Matthew 11:28 - 30  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  God’s intention is for us to lean on him.  Not the neighbor, not our friends, but on God.  Voicing your worries just gives them power over you, it makes them bigger than they are.  Please remember, always remember, GOD is bigger than everything!  He is bigger than money, he is bigger than health, and he is bigger than anything this world can throw at us!  God created this world and everything in it, he is bigger.  

Think of the all the things your kids do that you wish you could spare them.  All the mistakes they make or will make because they don’t listen to you.  Think of how well off they would be if they would only listen to the wisdom of their parents.  God wants that for us too!  He weeps for the ridiculous stuff we do that he could spare us from if we would just listen to his guidance and wisdom!  Think of the Israelites.  If they had trusted God, they would have been in the Promise Land that ran with milk and honey in less than two weeks.  Instead they didn’t trust, they whined, and they complained.  It took them 40 years!  40 years when it could have been done in 2 weeks if they had just trusted God! 

 Trust God, lean on God, accept the peace he is offering you.  Listen to God and let him do his job.  Nothing is too big for God.  Trust that his way is the right way.  We can’t even fathom what our times of trial will bring us to.  Persevere and trust God for the outcome.  Listen to his wisdom!

Psalm 28:7  The Lord is my strength and shield.  I trust him with all my heart.  He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.  I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

Psalm 40:1,2  I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.

Nahum 1:7  The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes.  He is close to those who trust in him.

Isaiah 40:31  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

Do you see God?

DO YOU SEE GOD

by: Angela Hiskett

Do you SEE God?

Do you see his hand wherever you look?

Do you feel him in the wet kisses of a gentle rain?

Do you see him in the majestic height of the mountains?

Do you hear him in a rolling rumble of thunder?

Do you feel him in the gentle caress of a soft breeze?

Do you smell him in the floating scent of lilacs in the spring?

Do you hear him in the crunch of fallen leaves beneath your feet?

Do you see him in a bright striking flash of lightning?

Do you taste him in the sweet tang of a freshly picked apple?

Do you feel him in the chill of a snowflake melting on your cheek?

Do you see him in the soft petals of an opening rose?

Do you hear his gentle direction?

Do you see him in his word?

Do you feel him in your heart?

Do you KNOW God?

Just Try It

Proverbs 31:10-12, 25-27,30  Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?  She is more precious than rubies.  Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.  She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life… She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.  When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.  She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness…  Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

Ephesians 5:22-24  For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church.  He is the Savior of his body, the church.  As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

Scary?  Just what does that mean?  Love him.   Support him.  Ready with actions that speak love.  No harsh words or nagging.   No controlling, no demanding our way.  We would never dream of our church telling Christ what he can and can’t do, we also should not tell our husbands what they can and can’t do.  Yes, neither should they, but they will never stop if we don’t stop.  Treat your husband with love and consideration, submission; it will change the dynamic of your marriage.  I mentioned a few weeks ago in a message (sorry, I don’t really like the word blog) about enemies, Patsy Claremont’s story about being led by God to be kind to her husband.  She started by getting him a cup of coffee, that simple act started a change in them both…

I get so frustrated at my husband.  Blended families are not easy.  We have 4 kids all headed into their teens.  What makes it worse is the girls are ‘his’, and the boys are ‘mine’.  The girls were raised in their early years by their mother (one moved in with us in 1^st grade, the other in 7^th).  Wow.  So we not only have differences in the way they were raised, but we also have gender differences.  I’m getting off track.  This causes many issues between Kevin and I as well.  I get angry because he is too harsh one time, and not equally harsh the next.  Or because I am so busy, and he doesn’t notice that the kids did not do their chores right and I huff around and spend my time cleaning, mad at the world – or I charge in and start barking out orders making everyone feel about an inch tall.  Sometimes I have been frustrated when he can’t get out of bed to be up while the kids are getting ready for school (he does have legitimate sleep issues).  Well, I can’t change anyone else, I have no control over anyone’s actions or choices.  But I can control myself.  I made the decision to change.  Most has to do with forcing out bad thoughts and replacing them with good ones.  As I changed, so did my family (who all are also working on the bad thought - good thought).  Many of our issues self resolved.  I come home, and the house is clean.  Sometimes I have to bring someone back to fix something, but that can easily be done with love.  I don’t bring work issues home because I don’t stress on the work issues anymore – I give them to God.  I show my family love and support – and whoda thunk it – I get love and support in return!

Let’s look at that section in Proverbs that I took the verses from above.  I will highlight and 'translate' some of them here:

10 – be virtuous

11 – be trustworthy

12 – do good, not harm – offer prayer and support

20 – help others

25 – trust God, be strong for husband and family

26 – be kind, no harsh words or nagging

27 – don’t be lazy

30 – fear the Lord, live a godly life

Pray for your husband with support; ask God what you can do for him or your kids.  To change a famous quote a bit – ‘ask not what your husband can do for you, but what you can do for your husband’.  If we live up to the bibles directions for wives, just maybe, he will follow the bible’s directions for husbands.  But don’t do it out of thought of reward – do it for love, do it to honor God.