Tag: do good

Sunday Morning Musings

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I start each day with devotionals and Bible reading, and Sunday, of course, is no exception. Today, I want to share with you the verses that spoke to my heart and pray that they will also speak to you.

In a world in which everything seems to be shaking, we are told to stand firm. Don’t pay so much attention to what is happening around you as to what the Lord has told you to keep busy doing, i.e. His work. Whatever we do for God has eternal rewards, but all of the time we spend worrying about the things going on in this world amount to nothing in the long run. I personally have just about stopped watching news shows. After all, my husband fills me in on the important things and then I don’t get so overwhelmed with all of the bad news that seems to be on 24/7. That leaves me more time to worship, praise, read God’s Word and do whatever tasks He has called me to do each day. Win, win!

We all get tired of doing nice things for others and then never getting any appreciation. But I have learned that it is not the thanks that I get from others that really means something to me. It is the good feeling that I get way down deep inside me, the feeling that God is pleased. So, while I am working for God (see verse above), I can devote myself to looking for good things to do for others.

Most of us wake up each day and have a plan for what we hope to accomplish. After decades of frustration, I have learned to give whatever plans I may have over to God and let Him bless them or change them. His way is always, always, always better than mine!

This final verse spoke directly to me as a comfort for my mental state these days. After years of belonging to the gym and going for water aerobics classes twice a week, my nutritionist told me last week that I should not begin exercising again until I can maintain a diet of at least 1400 calories a day. Well, with all kinds of dietary restrictions and a rebellious gastro system, I seldom make it over 1000 calories. Thus, my husband and I decided to drop our gym membership until some future date, yet to be determined. We have not been going due to Covid restrictions anyway, so it seemed to be an expenditure of funds that we could not afford. It was like we were donating to the gym but getting no benefits. Once I can exercise again, I will start with my home exercises first and see how that goes. God knows exactly what is going on with my physical body and encouraged me today with His Word that my training in godliness is eternally beneficial.

Well, that is all from me for today. It is almost time to awaken my husband and for us to head to church. I covet your prayers this week as I am setting off on a new adventure soon. My husband calls it my “deployment.” Our son contacted us that his regular childcare worker is not available and he needs help for the next couple of months. So, I am headed to Maryland while my husband stays here in Virginia, taking care of his commitments. I know that I will definitely enjoy being with the grandchildren (ages 6, 3 and 4 months), but I will also miss the loving care of my spouse and just the comfort of being in my own home. However, I choose to see this as a ministry of love and pray that God will strengthen me each day for the work He has set before me. If I’m not online much, now you know why.

Have a blessed day, a blessed week and keep choosing to do God’s will each day in every way possible!

Happy Labor Day!

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to another year of work, another year of school, another year of setting and trying to keep goals. Yes, it is Labor Day. Did you know that this day was established back in the late 1800’s when people marched in NYC demanding better pay and time off? Of course, they were working twelve hours per day, six days per week. These days, there are many who have decided just to remain at home and get the paycheck from the government who has so willingly decided to make them dependents. My thoughts on that come from the Scriptures.

We are to work so as to not be a burden to others. Our primary goal is to do the work of the Lord, but we also have to have a job that pays for our food and shelter. The government, also known as the taxpayer, does not owe us anything.

Harsh words, right? I have read in several books that in establishing the colonies, several of the governors used this Scripture to make sure that the people understood that working was to be undertaken by everyone. How far we have come from this! It has become the responsibility of Uncle Sam to feed us (EBT), to shelter us (HUD) and to meet our medical needs, too. That was not how God established things to be. Work=Eat. Simple equation that we need to return to. I know what you are thinking: But, Covid….Yes, there was and is a pandemic (I prefer my daughter’s word for it, the “plandemic”), but God doesn’t say to work and eat as long as there are no dangers to your health. I don’t see any conditions to the statement above. We did what the government said to do for over a year. China sent us a virus, tanked our economy, influenced our election and still has many too afraid to go out to earn a living. Work=Eat.

The final word for Labor Day is that we should not get tired in doing good for others. I don’t know about you, but I am most energized when I have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning and to get my day started. Imagine if every day, each of us awakened with a sense of having a partnership with God and doing good each day for someone! What a different world it would be! Instead of “me, me, me”, it would be “you, you, you.” I would like to live in such a world, a world where people are kind just because it’s the right thing to do, where people understand that we are all humans sharing this planet until God calls us home to be with Him. Our time on earth is finite, but our kind words and deeds can last forever. We just have to reach out to a hurting world and give them the same hope that Jesus has given us.

My prayer is for each of you to have a blessed Labor Day, reflecting on God’s goodness to you and directing it out to others. 🙏🏻

Don’t Give Up

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

www.bible.com/1171/heb.12.3.mev

Never, never give up! Jesus faced hostility on every hand, up to and including death on the cross. Yet He never stopped ministering to the needy and speaking truth to the people who desperately needed to hear it. We say that we are living in hard times. Well, so were the Israelites as they were under the mighty and ruthless hand of the Roman government. Who has it tougher? That’s not a question we can answer because those living during a particular time only have the viewpoint of their own timeline in which they are living. I’m sure that the Israelites thought that they had it tougher and I’m equally sure that the “man on the street” whom you ask would reply that today is tougher. Nevertheless, Jesus ministered. He walked the walk and talked the talk. He said that what He spoke and did was what His Father in Heaven had told Him to say and do. Can we do any less? We need to spend time in prayer, ask God what He wants us to do and say and then do it and say it. We cannot grow weary just because things are hard. Following Jesus’s lead, we should never give up. There are souls who need to hear the Gospel and for whom we are the hands and feet of Jesus. Let’s move, Army of God! We have our orders and they don’t say to sit and wait passively for His coming! Our orders say to work and to go! God bless you as you complete your mission.