Today let the God news be told! Today I worship and celebrate the birth of our Lord.
His Words: "For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
His Comfort
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)
I have on many occassions mourned certain losses, and some of those losses are associated with Parkinson's disease. I have known the pure joy of moving effortlessly across a room or moving in perfect time to music.... and those are things that I am not so good at as I used to be. There are many things that I'm not so good at any more. I feel the loss of these things, but it's all good in the end. My Lord offers sweet comfort and I draw close to Him as He pours out His loving Spirit upon me. Think about it! The God of all creation - the Creator of all that there is - the One who sustains every living thing that there is.......... It is HE who comforts me. I have His affections. His eye is on me!
The sadness and grief and mourning for whatever it may be, becomes almost sweet as I receive comfort from the One who matters most of all. Ponder this. Meditate upon it. My pain is followed by the comfort of the one and only God. Words cannot begin to describe how this satisfies, delights, calms and quiets me.
I have on many occassions mourned certain losses, and some of those losses are associated with Parkinson's disease. I have known the pure joy of moving effortlessly across a room or moving in perfect time to music.... and those are things that I am not so good at as I used to be. There are many things that I'm not so good at any more. I feel the loss of these things, but it's all good in the end. My Lord offers sweet comfort and I draw close to Him as He pours out His loving Spirit upon me. Think about it! The God of all creation - the Creator of all that there is - the One who sustains every living thing that there is.......... It is HE who comforts me. I have His affections. His eye is on me!
The sadness and grief and mourning for whatever it may be, becomes almost sweet as I receive comfort from the One who matters most of all. Ponder this. Meditate upon it. My pain is followed by the comfort of the one and only God. Words cannot begin to describe how this satisfies, delights, calms and quiets me.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Deep Waters of Pain
Physical pain.......... it is constant. What would life be without it?
People watch us as we navigate the rough waters of pain. They see our true character as day after day as we respond to it.
I wonder what my daily life says about my Lord? Do I let His character and His pure and loving heart shine through me or do I show little or no evidence that there is a God - who is the Creator, Sustainer, Shepherd?
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day, because You have designed it. I am blessed because as I submit to all that You have chosen to bring into my life this day, You will be there with me. May my life be an example to the world around me of Your unfailing love. Please let them take note of how gently and lovingly You guide me through the waters of pain....... And if these waters get deeper, please give me the same spirit that Jesus had - He did not open His mouth to utter protest or anger when the time of His crucifixion was at hand. Instead He trusted You and relied upon Your power and love to get Him through. He trusted in Your purpose for Him even though it seemed that there could not possibly be anything good that could come from His agonizing death.
I will cling to this promise: "When you pass through the waters I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze, for I am the Lord your God, the holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 43:2
People watch us as we navigate the rough waters of pain. They see our true character as day after day as we respond to it.
I wonder what my daily life says about my Lord? Do I let His character and His pure and loving heart shine through me or do I show little or no evidence that there is a God - who is the Creator, Sustainer, Shepherd?
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day, because You have designed it. I am blessed because as I submit to all that You have chosen to bring into my life this day, You will be there with me. May my life be an example to the world around me of Your unfailing love. Please let them take note of how gently and lovingly You guide me through the waters of pain....... And if these waters get deeper, please give me the same spirit that Jesus had - He did not open His mouth to utter protest or anger when the time of His crucifixion was at hand. Instead He trusted You and relied upon Your power and love to get Him through. He trusted in Your purpose for Him even though it seemed that there could not possibly be anything good that could come from His agonizing death.
I will cling to this promise: "When you pass through the waters I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze, for I am the Lord your God, the holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 43:2
Friday, December 3, 2010
Christmas
It's Christmas. It's time to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world born long ago.
But somehow we haved made it into what it was not designed to be. The word "Christmas" has "Christ" in it. But does our celebration acknowledge that Jesus Christ was born - the Savior of the world? We have made Him unwelcome in our schools and our government. We have rejected His ways of living, and we have rejected His love.
Do we even know the real meaning of love?The Bible says, "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy they will be done away; if there are tongues they will cease; if there is knowledge it will be done away......."
Many people cannot get out and about to buy gifts and travel to see family, or even to worship in church this Christmass season because of illness and disabilities. But, I'm thinking that these people can give the best gift of all. Love. In a thousand little ways, the brothers and sisters in Christ, whose bodies are less than whole, have the time to pray for loved ones, the saved and the unsaved, the good and the bad.
Those who are homebound can pray. This is a powerful and loving gift. The only thing it will cost you is time.
Heavenly Father, take my life and make it a prayer.....
But somehow we haved made it into what it was not designed to be. The word "Christmas" has "Christ" in it. But does our celebration acknowledge that Jesus Christ was born - the Savior of the world? We have made Him unwelcome in our schools and our government. We have rejected His ways of living, and we have rejected His love.
Do we even know the real meaning of love?The Bible says, "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy they will be done away; if there are tongues they will cease; if there is knowledge it will be done away......."
Many people cannot get out and about to buy gifts and travel to see family, or even to worship in church this Christmass season because of illness and disabilities. But, I'm thinking that these people can give the best gift of all. Love. In a thousand little ways, the brothers and sisters in Christ, whose bodies are less than whole, have the time to pray for loved ones, the saved and the unsaved, the good and the bad.
Those who are homebound can pray. This is a powerful and loving gift. The only thing it will cost you is time.
Heavenly Father, take my life and make it a prayer.....
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Silence
Ecclesiastes 3:7 says there is a time to be silent and a time to speak. I haven't written anything lately or shared my story with anyone in recent days. I began to feel a little guilty about neglecting my blog, until I realized that silence is an acceptable thing to God.
Having Parkinson's Disease gives me many legitimate reasons to complain or even to focus on it and talk about it. But sometimes silence is better.
In silence I convey my deepest emotions, and in silence I listen. I have much to say about this disease and what it has taught me, but sometimes silence is better.
Heavenly Father, like the psalmist, my soul waits in silence for You only (Psalm 60:1). In Your Word - the Bible - you speak of a time when there was silence in heaven for about a half hour (Revelation 8:1). Help me to pull up from the silent depths of my heart - indeed from all of me -every thought, feeling, insurmountable problem, and fear inspiring thing there is that resides there, and in silence, help me to give it to You. In silence, by faith, help me to receive all of Your love for me. In silence help me to testify to Your great love so that the world would hear and know that You are God. Let my silence be godly. Thank You for silence.
Having Parkinson's Disease gives me many legitimate reasons to complain or even to focus on it and talk about it. But sometimes silence is better.
In silence I convey my deepest emotions, and in silence I listen. I have much to say about this disease and what it has taught me, but sometimes silence is better.
Heavenly Father, like the psalmist, my soul waits in silence for You only (Psalm 60:1). In Your Word - the Bible - you speak of a time when there was silence in heaven for about a half hour (Revelation 8:1). Help me to pull up from the silent depths of my heart - indeed from all of me -every thought, feeling, insurmountable problem, and fear inspiring thing there is that resides there, and in silence, help me to give it to You. In silence, by faith, help me to receive all of Your love for me. In silence help me to testify to Your great love so that the world would hear and know that You are God. Let my silence be godly. Thank You for silence.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Please Pray
The Lord once made it clear to me that while I had become limited in what I could do (due to my physical condition) there was something He most definitely wanted me to do. Pray. His Word tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It tells us to pray for one another (James 5:13), and to pray for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:44). We are to pray to our Father (Matt. 6:6) and pray so that we don't fall into temptation (Matt. 26:41). Jesus even gave us a prayer to pray (Luke 11:2-4). We are told to pray if we are suffering (James 5:13). God's house is called a house of prayer (Isaiah 56:7). Jesus spent His time sometimes all night in prayer (Luke 6:12). Paul unceasingly made mention by prayer of the saints in Rome (Romans 1:9) and exhorts us to be devoted to prayer (Romans 12:12 and Col 4:2)
If it were not important, God would not have told us to do it. If He tells us to do it, then lets do it! I know in my own life it is much more important to pray over a matter or a person, than to try and fix whatever needs fixing without prayer. Without the direction, inspiration, and power of God we can do nothing. Prayer comes first.
Prayer is speaking and making requests to God. It is remembering who He is and what He has done. It is time spent in His company. It is waiting on Him. It is listening to Him. Sometimes it is eloquent. Sometimes it may only be one word.
A newborn baby only makes sounds not words, but it calls forth a response of tender love from its parent. Do you think our heavenly Father is any less? He hears the cry of His children.
The Psalms are filled with cries to God from the heart of David.
Pray fellow saint, you who are co-heirs with Christ! Don't fall into sin by not praying.
If it were not important, God would not have told us to do it. If He tells us to do it, then lets do it! I know in my own life it is much more important to pray over a matter or a person, than to try and fix whatever needs fixing without prayer. Without the direction, inspiration, and power of God we can do nothing. Prayer comes first.
Prayer is speaking and making requests to God. It is remembering who He is and what He has done. It is time spent in His company. It is waiting on Him. It is listening to Him. Sometimes it is eloquent. Sometimes it may only be one word.
A newborn baby only makes sounds not words, but it calls forth a response of tender love from its parent. Do you think our heavenly Father is any less? He hears the cry of His children.
The Psalms are filled with cries to God from the heart of David.
Pray fellow saint, you who are co-heirs with Christ! Don't fall into sin by not praying.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Imposed Rest
I give in to the need to rest and be still these days. In fact, I really don't have a choice, because of this disease. As long as I could manage it, I stayed busy for the better part of my life. I hate Parkinson's Disease, but because of it I have learned to use my time in better ways. So many people I know rush through their days, never getting to the end of their to-do lists. But because rest has been imposed on me, I have more time for prayer and Bible study. I have time to minister to those who need a listening ear, and I have time to recieve ministrations. I am so blessed.
I do the more important things today............ Cleaning my house and running errands is necessary, but it's even more important that I pray and allow God to touch people through me. This can't happen unless there are quiet moments in my day. Thank you, Lord for this rest.
I do the more important things today............ Cleaning my house and running errands is necessary, but it's even more important that I pray and allow God to touch people through me. This can't happen unless there are quiet moments in my day. Thank you, Lord for this rest.
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