Tag: love

Wisdom, Instruction, Understanding

Proverbs 23:23 – “Buy truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.”

Wisdom is defined as:  “the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.”

The Word of God says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Education in the Word of God is critical for every believer. Daily presence in the Word of God allows the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Today’s culture promotes education fiercely. Believers should be fiercely motivated to educate themselves in His Word.

Instruction is defined as: education.

Understanding is defined as: intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind.

The Word of God tells us to love the Lord our God with all our soul, strength, heart, and mind. When we understand and accept that God is in control, He truly is as the Creator, it brings about a certain understanding. When we see that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it brings about a certain understanding. When these understandings are accepted, we receive truth. God’s truth. I believe that education is important. When we have a passion for something, we educate ourselves. I believe that when we educate ourselves in the Word of God, He shines the light on who He is and how much He truly does love us. My encouragement today is to read the Word; and, not just today, but everyday. Let us seek the Lord while He may be found.

Be blessed and have a great week!

He is Faithful and Loving

Scripture: Mark 12:30-31

30) “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the second: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 31) There is no other commandment greater than these.”

When we are searching for God’s will in our lives, it begins with the two Scriptures above. Reading the above, it takes all we are to love God. Your heart, soul, mind, and strength is required. When I began this journey, I will say that my mind and heart were there sometimes, not all the time because I wouldn’t have made some of the choices that I did. However, as I continue to follow the leading of Scripture, I have come to know God better and better by His Word, and the Holy Spirit through Christ Jesus.

God is faithful to His promise to never leave us nor forsake us. He has given us His Word and His Spirit on this journey. I cannot say everything was easy. I cannot say I didn’t cry any tears or didn’t have my own pity party. What I can say is that God has seen me through and continues to do so. He is faithful and loving.

Expectations

In my 30’s, I was told to let go of expectations from others. I remember feeling confused. Really? How could you be in relationship with someone without having any expectations; be it friend, romantic, family, or business? I pondered this for days. I will say this had me for a loop.

Fast forward to more maturity. I understand. To let go of the expectations from others not only put me in a place to focus on meeting my own needs but also changed my perspective of others. As we age, we should come to understand that life happens. When you are expecting something from another person and it doesn’t happen, it leads to disappointment, frustration, anger, etc.

As I thought about this, anything could have happened to that person before their obligation to you could be met. While the initial conversation seemed like reality, now that particular reality cannot be met by the the other person due to grief, loss, medical issues, mental illness and so on. Anything could have transpired that you know nothing about and caused the other person to be unable to meet those expectations.

What am I saying? The only One to truly meet our expectations is God and that is on His terms, not ours. “My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are not your ways.” What I see, and truly my perspective, is that we live in an entitled culture whether the expectations are of God or others. I see a need to evaluate ourselves and look at how feasible those expectations are from others. When I look at the magnitude of disappointment, anger and frustration of many, it lets me know we need to change our perspective.

In any given moment, an unmet expectation can cause extreme emotional stress. Hence, the manifestation of mental and emotional anguish. As well, increased stress that can lead to chronic issues. What are you looking for from others that you cannot give yourself? Love? Attention? Validation? God gives us all of these, freely! When you stop trusting in man to meet the needs many are not equipped to provide, and receive the free gift from God, things will change for you.

Love – John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Attention – 1 Samuel 2:30 – “Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel declares: “I promised that your house and the house of your Father should go in and out before me forever, but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.”

Validation – Psalm 139:13-14 – 13) “For you formed my inward parts; you knittted me together in my mother’s womb. 14) I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

My expectations are in God and He keeps His promises. – Psalm 18:30 – This God-His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.”

bible.com/bible/116/1jn.4.18.NLT

No fear. As a believer, we have access to an all powerful, all knowing, present everywhere God. We were given peace and the Holy Spirit to navigate this life. What do we really have to fear, giving away the power that is a gift to us? Are you living in the power of God’s love or are you living in fear?

Patient

Have Godly Patience

Continuing to expound on the Peace, Patience, and Presence post earlier this week, this post will expound on patience.

The definition for patience is “calm endurance of hardship, provocation, pain, delay, etc.”. This definition was found in the Reader’s Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder. However, the definition I retrieved from the NLT Dictionary states that patience is “bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity; not hasty or impetuous.” This is a description of godly patience.

Have Godly Patience

That said, I would venture to say that being patient is not just about that you wait but how you wait. I used to think that because I understood the concept of waiting, apparently things were out of my control-otherwise no need to be patient-that I had godly patience. Not. I have since learned and accepted it is how I wait. Being patient or waiting is a necessity when you have no choice. However, not complaining, brooding, embracing emotions of anger, disappointment, etc. is godly patience. This is a description of how you wait.

Romans 2:4 – “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you?” God gives us a real example of patience. He is giving us time to choose Him, to change our ways. God does not wish that anyone perish. We have to be humbled by God’s patience for us.

Our Confident Hope

Another verse that speaks to how we wait is Romans 12:12 – “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep praying.” When in this posture, it is evidence of trusting God; knowing that He has everything under control. Not only that, we have patience with those who abuse us and misuse us. We know that vengeance belongs to the Lord. We don’t need to avenge ourselves. I believe the challenge with this perspective is that we want things handled right now. Or, not trusting that God will handle things and the people who hurt us will get away.

In light of the Scripture that we are to imitate God in everything we do because we are His dear children, we are to love. Love is patient.

Peace, Patience, and Presence

God’s Handprint

God’s peace, the peace left by Jesus is amazing. It does lead to patience. When you are at peace with God, it does give you patience. Patience leads to being present in your life. This position says you are grateful for the things in your life. You appreciate what you have and enjoy the ones you love.

I read a post today and these three words were together. They struck a cord with me. The peace of God keeps me focused on the things I need to get done. God’s peace is a critical key to living a full life. When at peace, no worries about things out of our control. As stated above, I reiterate that when at peace, patience is there. No anxiety about what is to come. This is a position that everything is alright. There is no anxiety about things you cannot control. Those two things in place, you can be present in your life with those you love.

It all starts with the peace of God. Your own peace is temporary. However, God’s peace is eternal. John 14:27 – “I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” NLT

God’s peace is the beginning. I wish all God’s peace. It starts with Him. Develop your relationship with Him; worth more than all the money this world has to offer.

Be blessed…

He Loves Me

TRUST HIM

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”

As I sit and ponder this, I realize that there are many times the choices I make are not the best. However, the Scripture above tells me that even then, God is working out the good for our benefit. I do give God the praise and glory today because no matter what He loves me and is always looking to give me what’s good for me in spite of my humanity.

This Scripture also gives me rest. Not saying I want to make the wrong choices. When I do though, God is right there making sure by His protection that it works out for my good. This is not to say there won’t be consequences. They may very well be there. He is still right by my side to make sure that I get through them. The comfort of God’s love for me is everything.

God’s Hand

I would like to encourage you today. No matter what, God is with you. His word states that he will never leave you nor forsake you. Psalm 9:10 – “Those who know your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for You.” David wrote a good portion of the Psalms. His relationship with God is an excellent example of what that means. David was not perfect. He was repentant and humble when he did make some bad choices. And, he did.

God lets us know that making wrong choices doesn’t remove His love for us. His word shows us by the testimony of those gone before us. Stay the course because you can’t do anything He doesn’t know about or isn’t aware of.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. And thank God for that!

Even when the skies are troubled…

Romans 8:35-37

Verse 35 – “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?

Verse 36 – “As the Scriptures say, “For Your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”

Verse 37 – “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loves us.”

Today’s Thoughts…Jehovah-Jireh

20160423_174620Spent most of the afternoon enjoying the writings of my blogging community. I so enjoy reminders of faith, hope and love. As well, the various tips and information that help and encourage along this spiritual and writing journey. I have included some of the posts here for you to have your own reading pleasure.

Regurgitated Church

Fairy Tale Endings

Moments of True Blessing

A short walk with my Canon

Calibrating the Mind

There is a lot going on in the world today, from the death of the iconic artists to the crazy presidential race. In the midst of it all, I did take time to be grateful for the small things. The image above is one of those things. I absolutely love the beauty of nature and this image was one that gave me pleasure. I took the image at a customer’s home, with her permission, of course. Taking a minute or two from my driving to capture nature’s beauty.

In having to make a decision on a second job inside or outside, I chose the outside. It is a second driving job and though it has the pros as well as the cons, I realized that I do not want to give up my writing or photography. I would not have the opportunity to capture as many of the beautiful images that I see on an inside job for most of the day. It was a challenging decision in that I have to wait a little longer and I do have some urgency for additional finances. In the grand scheme of things, wisdom in decision-making is considering the long-term as well as the short-term results of our decisions.

Trusting God as my provider means that I can make a decision based on Him and not my circumstances. I trust Him to take care of me and provide even when I can’t see how. I’m still here, aren’t I? That means God has provided.

I also thought about my commitment to my writing. There are sacrifices for what God has called me to do. I do notice also that in the transforming of my mind to the things of God, the anxiety is lessening to nil. When it rises, I immediately see that my flesh wants to take control but it doesn’t have to. Transforming my mind means, to me, that I am trusting Him for the unseen things for my life. That I am trusting Him for what He has given me and honoring Him with it. And, that I am standing on who He is in my life, Jehovah-Jireh, my provider.