Love Those Who Have Hurt You

Over the years I have had problems with love. I have loved many people in my life but it seemed like the love was not returned. In fact, in some cases, I was betrayed and harmed very deeply by those I loved.

As I was reading from Beth Moore's book Praying God's Word Day by Day the prayer for today is "When you really love sacrificially, God catches it even if no one else does, it never falls to the ground." I Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter. I have read it many times but today it just seemed to click on what it really says. This was His answer to my prayer on how to again love people.

How To Love

• Be patient for love is patient.
• Be kind for love is kind.
• Don't be envious as love does not envy.
• Don't boast in yourself or others only in God as love is not boastful.
• Love is not self-seeking.
• Love is not easily angered.
• LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS.
• Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
• Love always protects.
• Love always protects.
• Love always trusts. 
• Love always hopes.
• Love always perseveres.
• Love never fails. 

I can not proceed this kind of love on my own. I must surrender my heart to God first. He wants me to empty myself of all fleshly contents so that He can make it a vessel for His love. 

My prayer is that I can love the unlovely and love even those who have hurt me. 

If you have been hurt by others love them anyway. You are not saying it was right what they did but you can love them as God loves them. 

Don't Break His Heart

"Don't Break His Heart" is the title of one of my post that I receive from a Blog called HEARTLIGHT.  Their work is copyrighted so can give you the whole post, but I thought the idea was good enough to share in my own words and what it means to me.

Do you know that we can grieve God? How can we grieve Him? We find out the answer in Ephesians 4:30 (NLT.) "And do not bring sorrow (or grieve) to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption."

We grieve God when we grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God and His Spirit lives within me and the Spirit is helping me to be more like Jesus, that is if I let Him. So by sinning, maybe using my words to hurt someone instead of encouraging them. Gossiping about a person is grieving the Holy Spirit.  It hurt others and degrade myself and breaks the heart of God.

As each day is new, I want my life to reflex that and think about the things that will please God and not grieve Him.

Be Careful What You Pray For

Be Careful What You Pray For

In Sunday School and in one of our church services, just recently, we have been talking about the tongue.

James 3:2 NLT reads, "We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way."

James 3:5 reads, "So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do."

I prayed that the Lord would help me to control my tongue. Sometimes I talk to much and say things that should not be said, gossip. So today I went to my thyroid doctor for my 6 months checkup. I told him that I was having trouble with losing my voice. I asked him if there was anything that I could do for it. I thought he might tell me to use hard candy to keep it lubricated. That was not the answer. The answer he gave me was just not to talk. To rest my voice. Ugh! He said it wouldn't be easy. And for me where I work in a library and have to answers the phone and talk to patron for fours a day it is not going to be easy.

I had to laugh though because the Lord did answer my prayer. If I can't talk then I won't get myself in trouble with anyone or displease God. It is like when the Lord was telling to slow down and not to do so much. I didn't listen and so He allows me to have fibromyalgia which can slow you down a lot.

So I am going to try my best to just talk when I have to. I found out this afternoon how we talk about a lot of things that we don't really have to say.

Prayer
Thank You Father for answering my prayer even if it not the answer I was looking for but is the best one because You are allowing this irritation of my vocal cords. I thank You for hearing my prayers and giving me just what we need instead of what I might want.

One Of A Kind

One Of A Kind

Today at work I was going through the donations that were brought in. Among them was this most wonderful Bible. It had a real leather covering, Fine new pages that most of them had never been taken apart it was so new. And one of the nice features was it was a study Bible which had great notes.

I took it from the pile and was looking through it. It was great! Then I thought, "I have so many Bibles at home that I don't use right now. I have my one or two favorites, but the others sit on a shelf." So I put it back in the pile of books. I am praying that someone who can use it to help them grow in God's Word will find it in book sale and take it home and uses it til it falls apart.

I did also find some other books that I liked so was able to take those home. Since I work at the library we are allowed to take home any donations we want. A lot of times I return them and then they can be put in the book sale and the library gets money for programs and special events that come along.

I am so thankful that I work in a library. I am reading all the time and I never know what books I might come across.

I am so thankful that God created people that can write a good story. Also I am thankful for the Bible as that is what book God gave to us to read, learn from, and share with others. The greatest book on earth.

A Pulchritudinousl Night

As I am writing this post I am looking out my small window and it is framing a most pulchritudinous pink clouds. They are beginning to fade away and dark fall clouds are floating by now. 

Pulchritudinous simply means beautiful. I never heard of this word before and I am one who likes to learn new things. I am a very curious person and so I looked up in my Roget's Thesaurus to see if I could come up with a different word for beautiful and that is where I found this long, unknown word at least to me anyway.

I am so thankful that God created the night sky so that we can enjoy its beauty in all seasons. 

Question
Do you agree? 

Well Laid Plans

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

A Closer Look

The Lord knows the plans that He has for each one of us who are His. His plan is to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and future.

I was thinking about my relationship with God today and I realized that He chose me even before the foundation of the world. And He does have a plan for me that is good. How exciting it is to be His Child and if I allow Him to let Him lead the way I am to go. 

It is an adventure for sure. It is not always easy, it can even mean physical death. But I figure we all are going to die sometime, so if death comes because I am severing the Lord and stand up for what I believe about Him, then let it be. I know that I am going to see Him face to face someday.

I may sound real brave, and I don't know what would happen if someone came up to me with a gun or a knife and say, "Do you believe in God and Jesus?" If I said yes, I may be shot or like or having my head cut off. 

I would hope I would not deny my Lord just to save my life. It wouldn't be much then to live for. 

How About You?

By looking at who at least looks at this site you might be going through persecution already. It is just starting here in the United States. But nothing yet like other places. Are we ready? 

Christian Author Book Series

If you like Christian fiction stories I would recommend you read Mindy Starns Clark five book series of The Million Dollar Mysteries Book. You can get on Kindle. Or try your local library. They are hard to find.

The reason I recommend her is because she simply lays out the plan of salvation and ways to live the Christian live that go naturally in her stories. She has a series also on the Amish if you like that style better which they too are very well written.

As I am reading the last book in the series she was writing about forgiveness. I don't want to give away the story line but she needed to forgive someone for something they did. And as I read her idea of what forgiveness is I realized how simple, in one way, it is to forgive someone.

In my own life there is about seven people that I need to truly forgive. Some are living, some have already passed away. But in my heart I need to fully forgive these people and let go of my anger and hurt, no matter how justified it is. I need to give everything over to my Heavenly Father and he will and has judged these people.

My doing this frees me up and I can go on with my life in the way that I was meant to do. God had a purpose for me to be born. And all these years I have let these people and what they did to me rule my life. I thought I had forgiven them, but I haven't fully until now.

Prayer
Father, thank you for Christian authors who know Your word and are able to put in a way that is easy to understand and in a way that flows with the story but also allows the ready to discover things they might not know or might not want to do but Your Holy Spirit urges them on so that they can get things right and live to please.

Father, if there are any readers today who need to forgive someone let their hearts be open to the Holy Spirit leading and allow them to be free of angry and hurt and show them what You want them to do with their lives.

In Jesus Name I pray this.

Micah 7:1-13 Misery Turned To Hope

Misery Turned To Hope

Micah 7:8 NLT

Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD himself will be my light. 

A Closer Look

All of us fall at sometime in our spiritual walk. When we do our enemy is right there. It comes in the form of darkness. Darkness of thoughts, deeds, devil. There is hope however! 

The Lord is with us! In our darkness we may not see Him, but He is there. Praise His Holy Name!

The Lord has come into the world as a light and those that believe in Him will not stay in darkness. 

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, my Lord and Savior, thank you for being the Light of the world instead of darkness. We can see so much more with Your Light than the darkness of the devil. Help us all continue in the Light of Your Way and walk with Your Light glowing from us. In Your Name I pray this.