GOT PEACE?

GOT PEACE?

My Peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

John 14:27

     A good friend once said to me, "You live such a frantic life.  How do you ever keep up?"  I must have had that wild, crazy frazzled look in my eyes that day.  I do lead a very busy life; we all do in one way or the other.  I am sure that like me you lose your peace and joy along the way too. Feelings of anxiety, insecurity, hopelessness, anger, fear, and exhaustion set in.  For me, I know  when I have hit that low place I have missed the mark somewhere.  That somewhere, I have found through experience, always leads back to time not spent cultivating my relationship with my heavenly Father.  Jesus said in John 14:27 that only He can give you the peace you need.  The world can only give a cheap imitation.  It is so easy to replace my time with God by choosing to do something else that I think will be relaxing.  No spa, shopping day, workout or pumpkin spice latte can give me the peace I need to sustain me through life's ups and downs. Oh, those things are fun and will bring momentary happiness but they will not produce lasting peace that will restore my soul. 

     

     Isaiah tells us in chapter 26 verse 3, "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind (both its inclination and its character) is stayed on You,  because he commits himself to You, leans on You and hopes confidently in You."  Right there is the answer to living in peace and joy no matter what the circumstances of my life may be.  I have to saturate myself in His presence to live in perfect and constant peace.  Not only will this change my perspective but it will also affect my relationship with others.  Because I choose to fix my mind on Him, trusting in His ability I can be a giver and not a taker.  My children will not have to duck for cover and my husband will not have to walk on eggshells.  

     

     In Psalms 91:1 it says, "He who dwells (abides) in the secret place of the most high shall remain stable and fixed in the shadow of the almighty."  Yes, yes, yes my friends this is where we will gain the power to overcome any stress, anxiety, or lack of any good thing.  Just ABIDE in Him and you shall remain stable and fixed.  Don't let yourself feel defeated.  Get in the Word and in His presence and He will restore and calm your soul.  It really is just that simple.

Prayer:  Jesus, Thank You for Your unfailing peace which only You can give.  Please forgive me when I have run to other things instead of running to You to find peace.  Help me to seek You daily to keep my heart fixed on You.  Amen. 

Brooke Glass

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Being Grateful in a Thankless World

     Is it just me, or does anyone else out there struggle with procrastinating when it comes to sending out Thank You’s?  I’ve had a stack of ThankYou cards that I walk by every day with every intention of getting them sent out.  The sad thing is some have already been written and just need a stamp and taken out to the mailbox.  I’m not sure how it is in other families, but I didn’t grow up sending thank you cards.  I was taught to be thankful for what I was given and verbally being thankful isn’t an issue, but the act of formerly sending a card in the mail was not established.   

     In this day and age sending Thank You cards is almost a lost art.  When was the last time you hand wrote a letter and sent it in the mail?  We say thank you on FaceBook, in text messages, and in person but is it really the same as going out of your way to send a card?  Does it hold as much value?  This art of card giving is a (shall I say?) tradition that I would like to establish with my boys as they grow up.  

     Now sending something in the mail is important, but ultimately the gratefulness of the heart is what matters!  We are encouraged to “give thanks” forty-four times in the NKJV bible.  Forty-four times!  I would say that thankfulness is important to God.

     1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

     It is the Father’s will that we are thankful! In every circumstance, situation, in all times we are to give thanks.  How many times did an unthankful heart hinder the Israelites from getting to the promise? 

(Numbers 14)  “And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to your word…Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles…have not hearkened to My voice; surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it…

They were right there, their promise was right in front of their faces, but because they decided to grumble and complain and were not thankful for everything that God had walk them through and had done for them, they forfeited their promise.  You would think that the next generation of Israelites would have learned from their fathers and grandfathers, but over and over again they took for granted all the Father had done for them and became ungrateful.

Psalm 106:1 

Praise the Lord! 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

     It seems like generations past were a little better at sending ThankYOUs, somewhere along the line to my generation we’ve dropped the ball.  We are to honor the generations before us and build upon what they have learned.  We can’t throw thankfulness out the window!  By doing so we are setting ourselves up for unfulfilled promises.  I want my boys to inherit EVERY promise that the LORD has for them!  A thankful heart is the key!  

And now I will leave you with a song from Veggie Tales: Madame Blueberry:  

I thank God for this day,
For the sun in the sky,
For my mom and my dad,
For my piece of apple pie!

For our home on the ground,
For His love that's all around,
That's why I say thanks every day!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have,
Thats an easy way to start!

For the love that He shares,
'Cause He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks every day!

You’re welcome, and I hope this song stays in your head all day! 

And yes, I'm still finishing my baby shower Thank You's!  Now if I can just remember to buy stamps! 

~ Calla Cuff

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Shoes... the currency of heaven!

Shoes.... the currency of heaven!

Before you get too excited, especially if you’re a shoe lover like me, please hear my thoughts.  The same way that one pair of shoes cannot possibly meet all of your needs, is the same way that one friend cannot possibly meet all of your relational needs.  It’s easy to put pressure on that one friend and believe that one friend can meet all of your needs.  Then when our one friend disappoints us we get hurt, mad or sad.  Relationships are at the very heartbeat of heaven.  Jesus came to earth so we can have an authentic relationship with Him, so in turn we can have amazing relationships with each other.  Eccl 4:9-10 says, ‘Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!’   Friendships are worth fighting for and worth working out.  Pity the woman who falls and has no one friend to help her up.  We need each other.  We need to be there for one another, cheer each other on and celebrate who God has designed us as individuals to be.

 

There are different styles of friends that will have different functions in your life.  So in this little blog, shoes = friends:) 

 

Platform Shoes – These friends will lift you up to new places.  She will encourage you.  You will go to new heights with her.

 

Boots – These friends will get ‘er done.  She will get on her boots and kick some devil booty.  If there’s work, she’s there.  She’s not afraid to climb, get dirty and doesn’t need the glory.

 

Flip Flops – These are your comfortable friends.  You can go to her; she is an easy, go to friend.  She is a slip on, go anywhere, casual friend. 

 

Running Shoes – These friends are in the race with you.  She is on your team, running the race with you.  You can pass the baton to her; she’s in it to win.

 

We get frustrated when our platform friend won’t get her running shoes on and run right alongside with us.  Or what about our boots friend, she doesn’t want to go to new heights.  The flip flop chick doesn’t understand what all the running is about.  Different friends will meet different needs.  Let’s give each other the grace and space to be our unique self.  One size doesn’t fit all and no one friend can meet all your needs.  Friends are the currency of heaven!

 

Prov 27:17

As iron sharpens iron, so one woman sharpens another.

 

xoxo.... Amy

 

How can you be a better friend?

How many authentic friendships do you have?

 

 

 

 

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Face to Face

What has been stopping you from spending time, face to face, with God? Face to face, nothing standing in between you.

“We do God more honor in believing what He has said about Himself and coming boldly to His throne or grace than by hiding in a self-conscious humility.” A.W. Tozer

When I was younger I made decisions that took me in the opposite direction from God.  I chose to do things against the leading of the Holy Spirit that in turn left me feeling empty and far from Him.  I felt as if I had turned my back on the Lord.  

These decisions kept me from spending time with God even after I had asked for forgiveness and returned to Him. I was hiding in a self-conscious humility.  I loved the Lord and yet I kept my distance.  Things were not the same.  See, as a child I spend many hours talking to God.  It was as if I could walk right up to Him and sit at His feet.  I found comfort, strength and love there.  Never once did I question if I was allowed to be that close.  Now, I hid in the back corner of His throne room. 

It wasn’t until one day in a time of prayer that I saw something that would change my life forever.  As I took my 

self-appointed position in the back corner of His throne room, I looked up to see a beautiful woman clothed in the most amazing, radiant, jewel encrusted gown. She stood right before the throne of God.   

Then, the Lord motion to me.  Come.  Come up to the throne.  He lovingly continued to call me... come.   As I slowly walked up to His throne and stood beside the woman, He spoke this to me. “Do you not see what I see? When I see you, I do not see your mistakes and your short comings. THIS is how I see you because of my son.” At that moment, I looked over and I saw that the radiant woman was me. 

From that day forward I have realized that regardless of my good deeds or short comings, the Father God does not see me as unworthy. He sees me through Jesus.  I am His very own child and He wants me to come to Him.  He wants me to stand face to face, unhindered, not self-conscious but only looking upon Him.  In His presence we find all we need and one word from Him can change everything. 

What has been keeping you from standing before Him? Maybe sin has kept you bound and afraid or the memory of past sins has caused you to hide in the shadows of unworthiness. Maybe  you’ve positioned yourself in the corner because you are so self-conscious of your weaknesses.

I encourage you today, honor God by taking Him at His Word.

Ephesians 3:12

In him (Jesus) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Let me leave you with this thought, because of Jesus you are clothed in righteousness. You have been made right before God.  Do not hid in the shadows.  See yourself the way He sees you. Seek to meet with Him face to face and He will be found by you.

Isaiah 61:10

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Hugs,

Tamera Ford

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