As Christians we are encouraged to count our blessings. Most of secular society agrees that focusing on what we have instead of what we don’t is a safe bet toward a better mind set. Medical Research supports thankfulness and an attitude of gratitude has physical and mental health benefits.
But what do you do when you find yourself slowly sinking into a murky swamp of apathy because of the circumstances of your life, regardless of how hard you try to keep your head above water-spiritually, or otherwise?
Welcome to our first week of Journaling through the Book of John: A Journey for Lent and Beyond ! The purpose of this journey is to linger longer in the presence of the Lord and not create a sprint through the Bible. We don’t want to minimize our relationship with the One who created everything … with a capital E – Everything – to a bullet on our task list, do we? When I look around at the state of the world today, I dare say many people have. I go further and say, I am in danger of doing this daily! When God becomes a bullet on our list of things to do, friend, I fear He has been removed from the place He desires in our hearts and relegated to an unrecognizable blur in our days.
My poetic offering this morning. May you hear the refrain of His love in your life today so you are able to speak love into the lives of others…by His grace. For His glory. Amen.
This Sunday there was a message our Pastor taught on the scripture passage from Luke (12:13-21) and it was absolutely a needed one for me… It is something God has been trying to work into my soul for awhile now. It’s a passage that is so easy to see and say- oh, that’s not me. Or, this YUCK in me is no big deal, or I’m not as bad as ______________________ (add your own prideful nonsense). But the truth is I have known the ugly truth about myself for awhile. I know that there’s still a lot more yuck in me than meets the eye, and I am grateful that God (and some people) see beyond it- BUT I am also grateful for a God who says, “ENOUGH! You need to rely on me more with this YUCK in you if you want to move on”. I really want to say with confidence, I get this…I know this and I do…but the working out in these deeply profound truths in our lives is…well, it’s freakin’ painful and hard! Therefore by His grace I go…with that old limp as a reminder… More
