I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
Friday is a good day to remind myself that I am called to faithfully serve. No matter what else is going on in my life, my primary function is to faithfully serve God in whatever way He chooses for me to do so. Life is tough, but it is in the serving that one forgets one’s own problems and challenges and is able to focus on others.
During our faithful service, we should be thanking God for all He has done for us. It is hard not to be thankful for God’s provision when we are helping others who have very little and yet are still thankful. So, serving and being thankful go hand in hand.
May your day be blessed with faithful service and thankfulness as you serve!
It is quite easy to be caught up in the busyness that is part of this season. There is cooking, planning, shopping, wrapping and then the get-togethers. It boggles my mind how every year it all seems to get done and then there is the end of the Christmas season and all goes back to “normal.” What if the normal thing was to dedicate the season to the Lord, just remembering all that He has done for each of us? What if the gifts, big meals and all of the other trappings of the holiday took second place to the King of Kings, the real reason that we celebrate?
Every day should begin with a praise to the Lord and a reason why you are thankful that day. I have to be purposeful in my thanks because I have a tendency to jump right into what I need instead of praising Him for what He has already done and is still doing. That is particularly true during this busy season. I have to slow down and take time to just be grateful for all He is doing in my life.
This has been a hard season for me, with only a short time at home, enjoying the quiet and the solitude that I crave before I jump back in my duties in another state. But, in this, too, I am thankful that I have my health and strength and can provide help when it is needed. The circumstances may not be my first choice, but I believe that they are God’s first choice for me, to show me how I can be useful even at my advanced years.
The second part of this verse truly speaks to my heart. God is absolutely trustworthy and has always been faithful and kept His promises. I am so thankful that I know Him as He is, the God who came down to mankind and reached out. And He is still reaching out to me and to you and to all who recognize His sacrificial love.
Have the best blessed day ever, remembering all of God’s promises and faithfulness to you. He is worthy to never forget!
When things get hard, I get closer to the Lord. I push in and almost try to become a part of Him as I pray, sing, whatever I have to do to get as close as possible to the only one that I know can help me.
This morning, I read the testimony of a young woman who went to be with the Lord in February. Her dream was to sing for a wide audience and sing she did, with all of her heart, on an American show on which she was a favorite. She never got to win the final prize or record in a big studio or become famous because she died. But it is her testimony of how she faced the hard times of cancer, and a husband who left her in the midst of her illness, that has stayed with people and crossed the internet repeatedly. I share that with you today just to ponder if you, too, think that you should be thankful in the hard times.
The testimony is not perfectly written, but it is heart-wrenching and a true testament of turning to God when things get hard. I cannot imagine what this lovely soul went through, but I know that she went through it with God.
It has always been easier to be thankful when things are going well, when the sky is blue, the weather is perfect, the kids are all healthy and other relationships are in the right place. But that is when I have found that sometimes I forget to be thankful, just because everything is so good. Then, along comes something difficult: a lost job, a staggering economy with high prices, illness, or any number of other things. At those times, I don’t hesitate to go before the Lord and thank Him for His guidance, provision and love. So, why am I (and probably you) so accustomed to going to God readily in the hard times? Because we know that He is our shelter, the only real refuge we have from the onslaught that is life.
I have never suffered as Nightbirde did, but I have faced hard times. And I know that the only answer is finding and holding on to faith in God, no matter whether you find Him in the bathroom, your bedroom or out walking around in the woods. In a world that is spinning out of control, I am thankful that God is stable and holds out His hand to each of us to keep us stable, too. God holds us up if we just call on Him. Our call starts with thanksgiving for His loving presence, in the good times, in the hard times, at all times.
Are you a morning lark or a night owl? I have always been a morning person, no matter how late I stay up. I awaken at about dawn and get up to start my day. However, there are many nights when I cannot sleep, tossing and turning, going to the bathroom, drinking water, etc. I discovered years ago when I am unable to sleep that it is a perfect time to talk to God. During the late night or early morning hours, with my husband sleeping next to me, I just tell God all that is troubling me and then I listen for Him to speak His loving reassurance into my heart. Sometimes though, my night watch becomes a praise session, thankfulness for all that has gone right recently in my life. I have found that these nighttime prayers, although rare for me, invigorate me for the new day when I awaken to face it.
God’s promises are many and I have found that as I speak them back to Him, I am not reminding Him of His promises, but rather, I am reminding myself of what is already in His Word and there for me. Psalm 91 is a favorite of mine to recite in the night when I cannot sleep. Hiding under His wings gives me comfort and often I fall asleep meditating on those verses or on a chorus that encourages me.
The night watch is a good time to intercede for loved ones as well as for strangers that I have encountered during the day. God knows their needs and I think He leads me to pray for those who need it most. Pouring out my heart before God is good for me; it allows my heart to be emptied and ready to be filled by His sweet presence again.
If the Son of God spent the night praying to God, it should not be hard to imagine that God may at times call each of us to spend time in a night watch. Perhaps a few minutes, an hour or more, or all night. That is between you and God. I just encourage you to be open to God’s speaking to you at night when you are having difficulty sleeping. Perhaps a better use of your time than tossing about is to just talk to our Heavenly Father and release any burdens you have left from the previous day, knowing that He is there listening no matter how late it is.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 