Being Needy

 I heard someone say that a certain man's criteria for a future wife was that she "wasn't needy". Now I get what he was probably saying; a woman who is independent, strong, emotionally self sufficient, possibly economically self sufficient...I don't know.

But it got me thinking; being needy in our culture today is thought of in a negative light...and can be an issue. 

BUT....as Christ followers aren't we supposed to be "needy"

Aren't we supposed to need Christ and His salvation?

📖 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Need to read and study His work daily?

📖 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Need to communicate with Him through prayer and meditation?

📖 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 “This, then, is how you should pray: 

 “‘Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,  your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,    as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.   For if you forgive other people when they sin against    you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 5:5-15

Need to recognize our sin and our need for a savior

📖 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  Romans 3:23-24

We need His love...He desires ours 

📖 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

📖 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Matthew 22:36-37

🙏So today, I pray you are as needy as I am! ❤

What Do We Do With "It""

 It was just a week ago that I spent 3 days with people I had never met before....we prayed together, worshipped together, ate together. Some of the women painted together, laughed together and we shared concerns that were on our hearts....but this past Sunday evening...as it dawned on me..."wow it was just a week ago we met new people...and what have I done with it?"

Had it changed me? Impacted me? Was I doing anything differently?

I hope that I made a bit of a difference for them...an impact for Christ. Though we were all Fire Chaplain's wives ...we still can encourage one another, still make a difference.

I have been praying for each one (trying to remember each name) but I remember the needs, the sorrows, the triumphs.

Contact information is going to be sent out...will I keep in touch?

📖 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, Philimon 1:4

Paul wrote this in his letters to several churches, and I am certain he did not know each person by name.  But he prayed for all of them.

God presents us with new situations and new people ...sometimes frequently.

The person who checks you out at the store. If you do grocery pick up ..the one who brings it to your car.  Or the person who delivers it to your door.

The people that answer the phone when you call to place an order or sort out an issue.

The person who cuts you off in traffic or doesn't move when the light turns green (hey now ...!!!)

📖  But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Matthew 5:44

We don't know their names...but God does. We could read their name tag...or take note of their name...and pray for them.

But also remember that your reaction and response to them can make a difference...you can impact their day! Their week! And if we have the opportunity to share to gospel ..we can impact their whole life!

📖  He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15

We do not believe in coincidences...people cross your path for a reason!  For them to impact you....and /or for you to impact them!

🙏I pray that every encounter today ...you view as a God ordained appointment...so that you can...

📖  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Roman's 12:14-16❤

When Our Plans Don't Match His

I was starkly reminded of just that Sunday evening....as my husband and I sat having dinner with my brother-in-law.

Last year the plan was to have dinner with him and my sister while were attending a Fire Chaplain's Training conference near where they live..

But due to covid the conference was canceled. 

And when it got rescheduled for this year ....Leah was no longer with us.

It just made me think....

Our plans are not His.

📖 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,  Jeremiah 29:11a

Not that I have needed reminding...much that has been happening around us in the past year and a half has shown that.

And most of it we just don't understand. 

Weren't our plans good?  Noble? Righteous even?

📖 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”  declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

We have to remember...His plans take into account the sin, the tragedy, the things out of our control.

We are not all knowing, all seeing ...

📖  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13

We are limited in our view.

Like walking with a flashlight in the dark...or driving with our head lights. 

Our view is limited....we may move cautiously because we know there might be dangers...

But we can not see far ahead....even with GPS ...we can't know if the road has been blocked and we have to take another path.

The key is trusting the outcome.  The road may take us to places we didn't intend or even want to go...but we must trust the destination...

📖  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

...must trust that the God, who was and is and always will be, has our destination.

📖 We can make our plans,

    but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9

The road may feel rough, almost impassable, impossible.

But nothing is impossible if we are following Christ...walk with Him, His way.

📖  I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Phillipians 4:13

Eventually we will come to our glorious destination!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Our future is with Him!!!

🙏I pray that today...no matter how dark your road seems, you let Him be the light and direct your path.❤

🎵 Trust in the Lord With All Your Heart

Listening Skills

 There is a sign ....some colored words on a regular sheet of paper...posted up at work. (Emergency Department of a local hospital) and God used it to convict me!

 

"Show Off Your Listening Skills"

I am known as a "talker"  but I would much rather be known as a "listener"!

📖 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20

I do try and be a listener..but my mouth gets the better of me in conversations..much of the time.

LOOK  - at the speaker

📖 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1

THINK - about what they are saying 

📖 To answer before listening—

    that is folly and shame. Proverbs  18:13

RESPOND - positively 

📖 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

QUIETLY LISTEN- 

📖 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:4

🙏My prayer is that I can listen with God's ears and heart. 

It is my prayer for you as well.❤

What I have to say should never be more important that what I have the privilege to hear.

📖 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

Memory Keeper

I just went through hundreds of photos...memories...of my sister. To put on boards...to represent her....her life.

How do you weed out...choose the ones to be displayed...choose the ones that depict her....who she was....the memories that show her inner self?

Is that what we are reduced to?  Memories in photos...videos....what we carry in our minds?

To me, however, there is comfort...I thank God for every scrap....

It occurred to me....He remembers every single memory.

And holds them all.  What a relief ...at least to me.

📖 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.  Psalm.139:13-16

He formed us....every part of us....He knows our inward being.  David wrote this knowing all his days...his life are written....not forgotten, but held in a place of importance. 

📖  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

If He knows all about each bird that falls...He must know everything we do...if He knows each hair...He knows each thought...every memory. 

📖 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49:15-17

If we are engraved on the palms of His hands so are all the memories that go with us, that fill us and make us who we are.

📖  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:11-12

I believe those plans create our memories....so His plan includes memories. 

Better than any board or hard drive or cyber storage....Our Heavenly Father holds our memories and keeps them close.  We can trust Him with them, like when handing them over to the person who will create the boards and print them.

🙏I pray that you can take comfort in knowing He has your memories today, we can trust Him to not forget.❤

It was a great comfort to do the boards for my sister.   And they turned our amazing (just like her!❤)  thank you Fonda and UPS Store in Potsdam !!