Tag: challenges

Your Attitude Makes a Difference

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/26293/day/4

When I was teaching in a public school, I had a lot of grumpy students, particularly in my morning classes. They didn’t want to be out of bed, in school or in my class. My advice to them, with a smile on my face, was to “check the attitude at the door and expect good things.” How many times have I had to give that same self-talk to myself? Challenges with finances? Time to check my attitude. Health issues? Time to check my attitude. Not only does having the right mindset help me to turn my faith towards God and away from the problem, but it also shows others who are watching and listening a witness for how they can face challenges. No one may ever listen to your testimony about Christ and how He has changed your life from the inside out, but they will see the evidence of His work in you every time you check your attitude and tackle challenges with faith in the God who will see you through.

Facing Difficult Circumstances

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/9114/day/7

We all face difficulties in life; that is part of what life is all about. It is our response to those difficulties that shows others in Whom we believe and put our trust. We can wring our hands, cry and become bitter or we can pray to the Lord who made us that He will fulfill His promises to work things out for us in the best way possible for us. I remember several devotionals in the last year pointed out that God did not lead the Israelites around the Red Sea, thus circumventing the challenge. Instead, He parted the Red Sea and led them through it. Whatever our “Red Sea” might be, God will be with us all the way to the other side if we believe and trust in Him.

Reality above the Real World

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App3 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/4

I feel bad for those who don’t believe in God, not just because they are missing out on a relationship with Him, but also because the real world of sickness and troubles is all they know. They don’t have the power of God on their side so they can rely on Him to help them through the sickness and the challenges of life. God doesn’t always heal, but sometimes He does. God doesn’t always take you out of the trouble, but sometimes He does. And whether the healing comes or not and whether the trouble disappears or not, God is still there and still by your side all the way through until the end if you trust in Him. Thus, I feel bad for those who don’t believe in God. They don’t have that knowledge that no matter what happens, God is right there, fighting on our side, and in the end, He always wins. The reality is God is real. The sad thing is that people without God don’t know it.

Love Without End

On By vickleaIn Scripture7 Comments

I know that my husband loves me even though he gets irritated with me sometimes. We are very different people. I am the one who wants everything in its place and calm, quiet times at home. He likes piles of things everywhere and to go and see new things. Nevertheless, we have managed to stay married for almost five decades, putting up with each other’s strange ways and loving each other in spite of it. Or maybe because of our differences? I have never been sure of that, but I am sure of his love for me.

I am equally convinced that God loves me and oftentimes, He does so in spite of me, my actions and my behavior. He loves me because He made me and knows exactly who I am and loves me anyway. That is something I can count on. I cannot see God, but I can feel His love for me each time He sends the Comforter to be with me and whisper the words from the Scripture that I need to hear at the right moment that I need it. I know that He loves me when I feel His protection all around me in scary situations. I feel His love surrounding me when I am feeling weak or tired, what I tell others is just “bone weary.” Yes, God loves me, but He also loves each of you and wants you to know it. He wants you to hold His love for you deep in your soul where it will always be with you, no matter the challenges you face in life. God is not a respecter of persons (no favoritism with Him), so His love is never-ending and unchanging for each of us. Good news! God loves me and you, sometimes in spite of us, but always because He is love!

May the Lord bless you and keep you and may His eternal love shine in your life, reaching to others who need to know that they, too, are loved!

A Wonderful Life

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

One of my favorite holiday movies that I have watched since I was very young is “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Clarence, the angel, is my favorite character as he guides George Bailey into accepting the fact that he is important to others in his life. I just want to say that I haven’t needed an angel to know that I have a wonderful life. I have found the Lord and He has found me, and together we have made my life wonderful.

I was lost in sin and darkness, hopelessly facing a future that was scary and intimidating. Once the Lord came into my life, no matter what I have faced, I have felt loved and cared for. The challenges have been plentiful, but the Lord has always been up to the task of helping me through them. I am an overcomer because of my relationship with the King of Glory!

There’s a lot of “shaking” going on in this old world, but God is the mountain in my life that won’t allow me to be shaken along with everything else. With my eyes fixed on Him, I stand firmly and wait for the shaking to cease.

I love the word picture from this Scripture! A well-watered garden is exactly what I want to be and I go daily to the spring of life found in God’s Word in order to receive the water that I need for that day. It is in Him that I have found the wonderful life that I craved but dared not hope for in my youth. Now I am old and I can look back and see the battles that I have fought and won, with God’s help.

Have a blessed day and remember that you, too, have a wonderful life in the Lord! He is sufficient and always will be.

When I Am Afraid

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I don’t know how your week has been going, but I have felt as though I have met myself coming and going. Since last Wednesday, I have had an appointment or meeting every day and sometimes in the evening, too. Of course, I didn’t plan it that way, but it turned out to be busier than I expected because several of my regular doctors wanted to check on me and that meant appointments in town. Then, Sunday, a day of rest, I had to get up extra early to get showered and ready for Sunday school and then to help out in children’s church. Oh, my! Sometimes the thoughts overwhelm me, but I have to get hold of those thoughts and let God control my mind. I still have three more appointments and or meetings this week, and then, finally, a blessed “free day.” Finding time to read Scripture has been an absolute must for me, just to get me through the challenges of each day. It’s not that I mind appointments. I mind the interruption to my regular routine, the nagging fear that they may find something more wrong than I already know about and the travel back and forth that is stressful in itself because of the traffic. Nevertheless, God gives me His word, especially when I am afraid.

We hold doctors and other professionals like them in high esteem, but we need to remember that they are only men and women, just like we are. I don’t believe that there is anything that they can tell me that God doesn’t already know about and is already prepared to handle with me. So, I don’t like the heavy daily schedule, added with the problem of persistent insomnia, but I accept that God is with me regardless of the daily sword thrusts that try to attack my faith.

Thus as I start a new day filled with a longing to just sit and be quiet and relax, but knowing that again today, I have things to do and obligations to fulfill, I go out knowing in my heart that God is right beside me and I believe that with all my heart.