Something So Simple

Life is complicated, people can be complicated, trying to understand world politics, the socio/political climate, economics, the person in the room with you...etc etc etc

It is all complicated, at least to me...I am sure to many....

When we feel overwhelmed, pressed by all that is around us.....

📖 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

we can respond by doing something so simple...

pray.

Why do we (meaning me) react first with the need to do more, do something big, elaborate, complicated....when it should be simply to fall on our knees and pray, which is what is needed, required and should be first.  

Simple doesn't mean easy:

we must prepare our own hearts.

📖 Search me, God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

and make sure our attitudes and behavior towards others are Christ like. 

📖 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12:12-14

Forgiving as needed, as we are called to do.

📖 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.  Matthew 5:24

I believe this extends to prayer, as prayer is a form of offering to the Lord.

And this is if it is at all possible.  Our prayers might be that we have the opportunity  to reconcile with someone, that we are ABLE to go to them and seek forgiveness or to offer forgiveness.

📖 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17

Christ is to rule in our hearts...before we DO anything...which I believe is prayer as well. 

The Simple Thing doesn't mean convenient, because our lives are busy and every minute is jammed packed with non simple stuff. 

📖 pray continually, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

prayer can be done in any position, in any form of conversation, ...it has to be if we are to do it without ceasing. But we MUST make it a priority in the busyness.

We shouldn't be praying out of routine, or rote, but from a place of;

worship and  out pouring of love for our Savior, 

of petition for those things that grieve our spirit, 

of joy that overflows our soul.  

It should be something that becomes first nature and flows as conversations with our Redeemer. 

Prayer should be; 

the first thing we do when complicated things come up, 

the most important "thing" that we can do for others, 

the only thing we can do when there is nothing else left.

It may not be easy or convenient to begin, but it is simple.....as simple as saying.

" oh God......

📖 Therefore, you should pray like this: 

Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. 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 do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]  

Matthew 6:9-14 (HCSB)

And it is one of the most important things to do as a believer.

🙏

📖  For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:15-19

💗

A Message With-In A Message

 1 Corinthians

Have you ever read Scripture for the 5th...10th...20th ...(you fill in the number) ...time...and BAM!  it hits you how it all makes sense, or flows or connects together in a way you hadn't seen before!!

Not that it hadn't hit me before...in other ways...but the thread....the full meaning if you take away the chapter and verse numbers...

That is what happened this Sunday as I was listening to the message at church. 

He read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

📖  Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

He was speaking about sharing all the gifts and talents we have with the body and those around us.

I continued reading...anticipating the rest of the chapter to be next... 

He continued in another vein, basically that that all we do is important and we are each affected by each other.

but by then I was hooked...I was still reading.

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:1-13

📖  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?  Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way. 

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I don't know if you see it!  but in the first part of Chapter 12 Paul lists the gifts all given by the same Spirit., He distributes and gives each one as He sees fit.  Then as you move to the end of the chapter he reiterates; we are all one body,  even though we are given all different gifts, different personalities etc. But then he asks "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 

No...we are all different and given different gifts and abilities....we shouldn't get caught up in those things.,

 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way."

And then goes into what is most famously known as "the love Chapter"!  The greater gift, the most excellent way....LOVE!

Paul goes on to explain what Christ-like love looks like, nothing romantic, mushy or emotional about this LOVE.  Nothing we do matters if we don't have Christ's love and live His love.  He lists how this LOVE; mature, Christ like LOVE, should look like.  

SO to restate in my words... There are many gifts given by the Holy Spirit but don't get caught up in what they are ...they will pass away, but let it all be directed and used in LOVE, Christ's LOVE!  Without His LOVE none of it means anything for the kingdom.  

THE GREATEST IS LOVE!  We ALL have the capacity to share the gift of Christ's LOVE...if we have accepted it for ourselves.❤

🙏My prayer is; that first and foremost you have accepted the LOVE of Christ✟...and in turn LOVE 💗 above all else as you serve Him with the gifts 🎁 He has given you!❤

"Erasing the Wrongness"

 That is what came out of my 5 year old granddaughter's mouth the other day. She was working diligently at her work station (her spot at the school "counter" she shares with her siblings)  when she said "I need more eraser."  "Why, what is wrong with the one you have?" I asked.  Her reply; "It isn't enough, I have to erase all the wrongness!"  

Is that not priceless!?!  I knew right then it was going to be a blog!

We all wish for a giant eraser....we all desire to "erase all the wrongness"  from our lives, from others lives.  All the errors that we have committed, and we would like to erase the errors of others as well.

We can not.....there isn't an eraser big enough to erase our wrongness.  

God knew that when He was searching for Adam and Eve in the garden...after they had let the serpent lure them into disobedience.

📖 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned. Romans 5:12

Genesis 3 (click on the link to read the whole story)

God had a plan, He sent a giant eraser.....in the form of Jesus!

📖 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

What a great plan it was.....IS

📖 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!  Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:17-19

because of Jesus all our wrongness is erased

📖 as far as the east is from the west,

    so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

📖 “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions, for my own sake,
    and remembers your sins no more. Isaiah 43:25

We can not erase our sins, Christ does that....We need to seek forgiveness through confession of our sins with faith in a savior Who died for those sins, took on our punishment, so that we could receive forgiveness. 

 📖 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

....but we can try to make right any "wrongness" done by us, we seek forgiveness from our Savior, and we seek forgiveness from those we have wronged or hurt and then we try to make amends if at all possible, because that is what we are called to do.

📖 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25

📖 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12

Make peace with the person you have trouble with

📖 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

My Jesus, your Jesus... can do that...He has done it for me, and He can do it for you....if He already has....tell someone...He can do it for them!!

I just heard this song about 2 weeks ago.  Shared it at church this past Sunday and I can not stop singing it!  

🎵 My Jesus Anne Wilson

Who can wipe away the tears
From broken dreams and wasted years
And tell the past to disappear? Oh
Let me tell you 'bout my Jesus
And all the wrong turns that you would
Go and undo if you could
Who can work it all for your good
Let me tell you about my Jesus

source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/a/annewilsonlyrics/myjesuslyrics.html

The End Of the Rainbow 🌈

On my way to work the other night there was a bright, bold, beautiful rainbow...I was driving, so as I glanced I realized it was full..I could see both ends!  It felt as if I was driving right under it!  I was in awe, I had to pull over and as I attempted a photo I realized it was a double and both were full rainbows!  Completely awesome!!

Rainbows always remind me why God put the first "bow" in the sky.

📖  And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: (KJV)

15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” (NIV) Genesis 9:14-16 

I don't know if it is actually possible to "drive" under a rainbow ...but that is what looked like to me...and when I was able to stop and looked back...

This is all I saw...a beautiful sky that looked as if the rainbow had melted and was running down the palette of the sky.

Another thing that is probably not scientifically possible; I thought I saw the end of the rainbow! When I glanced as I was driving it was as if the trees on the edge of a field were behind the rainbow... they were bathed in the bright blended colors....as if BEHIND the rainbow and the rainbow was touching the ground beneath the trees....I did not get a picture and it may not have been so...but it sure looked like that to me and that is how I remember it in my minds eye.

The fairy tales and legends about "the end of the rainbow" where leprechauns dance and guard pots of gold...I didn't see any of that😉.

With the whole rainbow I continued to think about God's promises...

what is at the end of the rainbow?...God's promises!

First and foremost with the FIRST rainbow it was a specific promise;

📖  I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:11-13

But for believers...or at least me,  each rainbow I see is a reminder of God's promises. 

But what are His promises?

To make you rich? To keep all your lived ones safe from danger and harm? To keep you from ever suffering pain, rejection, sorrow?

This has been something rolling around in my mind for a while now....what DOES He promise?

When I typed in "promise" into biblegateway NIV, 225 results came up!

As I started to do some research there are some who have actually done the math..

"Herbert Lockyer, in his volume All the Promises of the Bible,' tells the story of Everett R. Storms, a school teacher in Canada, who made a detailed study of promises. According to Time,' Storms, of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, reckoned the figure of 30,000 to be too high (since it is roughly the number of verses making up the Bible31,]73). During his twenty-seventh reading of the Bible, a task which took him a year and a half, Storms came up with a grand total of 8,810 promises (7,487 of them being promises made by God to humankind). While we probably cannot determine the exact number of promises contained in Scripture, we can agree with what King Solomon said during his temple dedication prayer concerning the validity of the promises of God: "Praise be to the Lord .... Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses" (1 Kgs 8:56 NIV)"

Knowles,Victor (1998) "Promise and Fulfillment:Believing the Promises of God," Leaven:Vol.6:Iss. 3 ,

Article 4.Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol6/iss3/4

SO  if this is close to accurate I could blog a promise a week for 153 years! or how about a promise a day for almost 30 years!  that is a lot of promises...almost overwhelming!

I am going to try and share, what seem to me, some of the basics and the promises that I cling to:

The promise that He is who He says He is.

from the beginning

📖 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

📖 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3

📖 “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

That He would make a way for His creation to move out from under the burden of sin

📖 "And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

The fulfillment of that promise came in the form of Jesus Christ.

 📖 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. John 3:16

📖 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,  set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:19-22

Jesus made promises as well:

📖 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." John 15:5-8

He promised the Holy Spirit

📖 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. John 15:26

📖 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Galatians 3:14

The first commandment with a promise:

 📖 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Ephesians 6:2

That is just the tip of the iceberg!  I encourage you to search God's Word for yourself and find the many more promises that are in there!

🙏I pray that you find God's promises at the end of each rainbow....and that as you stand in His promises you are bathed in the bright, blended colors of God's light and love!❤

📖 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. 1 Chronicles 16:14-16  

📖 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.  Psalm 145:13

🌈🌈