Jesus Can..

"No storm is so great, no wave is so high, no sea is so deep, no wind is so strong, that Jesus cannot either calm it or carry us through it."

~ Anne Graham Lotz ~

When Life Unravels...

"Weave the unveiling fabric of God's Word through your heart and mind. It will hold strong, even if the rest of life unravels."

~Gigi Graham Tchividjian~

Sometimes life does seem like it is unraveling when things hit us one thing right after another. Today in our world many people find themselves frustrated and discouraged when circumstances of life begin to tear apart and unravel every thing they have known.

I get frustrated when my knitting starts to unravel because I was careless how I put my needles down. I want to throw it in my knitting basket, rather than take my time and put the stitches back on the needle. I watch it unravel and I feel helpless.

We aren't helpless and can't throw in the towel when our lives unravel...we have to go on. God's Word always stands strong, it will always encourage, always refresh, always direct, always comfort us. Whatever our need is, God's Word will hold strong amidst the greatest difficulties that life can bring. All we have to do is pick it up and read it, asking the Holy Spirit to work and weave the words into our hearts and minds.

A friend told me years ago that when we have to rip out stitches..it builds our character. Spending time with the Lord in His Word when life is unraveling..well, that's where true character is formed. Building everyday on God's Word makes our charcater stronger and sronger...and then we are less apt to throw in the towel when the hard times come.

Have a blessed day!

Patty

Be An Encourager...

" Be an encourager, a healer, one who helps restore the years the locust has eaten"

~Dr. David Jeremiah~

"I will restore to you the years the swarming locus has taken," says the Lord in Joel 2:25.

~~~~~

Oh, there are so many people out there that have been victims of what the locust has taken from them. Our Lord, is the Restorer of the lives that have been affected.

WE all can be an encourager. It would be our part of their healing process to encourage them. Our lives get busier and busier, and unless we make a conscious effort to have eyes that see and ears that hear the needs around us, how will we know how it is we can encourage them?

Are you someone that is in that place of needed encouragement? Have the locus been brutal through the years? With a Lord that loves you and wants to restore you..and a Lord that will provide the encourager's that you need, it won't be long before those years are just a memory.

And for those of us not in that place right now, let's all look for ways to encourage others. Amen?

Let's all be who God wants us to be and doing what He wants us to do....being an instrument of encouragement to those who need it.

The Father's Chisel...

"The present circumstance, which presses so hard against you (if surrendered to Christ), is the best shaped tool in the Father's hand to chisel you for eternity. Trust Him, then. Do not push away the instrument lest you lose it's work."
~Streams In The Desert~

I can think of so many times in my life that I didn't recognize that the greater work would be done in me, if I just surrendered to the instrument that God was using to chisel me. One time in particular, I thought I was surrendered, but in reality I was just existing in a state of emptiness. I was empty because I was wounded and filled with hurt, self pity, resentment and bitterness. When wounds get that infected, God needs to take a chisel to scrape them before the healing can begin. I did as the quote above states, I pushed the instrument away....growth was delayed and the healing process took longer.

That was a long time ago, but if I could change one thing, it would be that I would soak myself in the Word yielding myself to the deeper work God wanted to do. I didn't fall away spiritually, I just didn't let the healing balm of Jesus comfort me. All I could think of was how much I hurt and wanting it to go away.

The deeper work was done. I let the chisel do its work and there was healing. Sometimes those deeper works can't be put into words because they are so profound in your heart. That was one of those times. I might have delayed the healing, but healing eventually came. The Father was waiting for me to trust Him....if you find yourself in this place today, won't you trust Him to use His chisel to shape you for eternity? The longer we put it off and push the instrument away, the more there will be to be chiseled and the longer it will take to heal.. Start the process...surrender.

" My heart trusts in Him and I am helped."

Psalm 28:7

Originally posted in 2008

Keeper of the Home...

I love being at home. I like to putter with different things around the house. I can putter a whole day away. I enjoy it and I feel this is where God has called me to be at this time in my life. When I was 18 I read in Ann Lander's, "As women, it is up to us to make a husband's life what it couldn't be without us." I clipped that out of the newspaper and carried it around for years, tucked back in my wallet. I don't even remember when I took it out. I'll have to look, but it could be in my memory box. I am curious now if it is, and I'll have to check.

That one sentence holds a lot of wisdom and can be used in every area of our married life. How could this practically be applied? For me it was important to be at home. The more I stayed at home and took care of necessary things, the happier my home was. Oh, don't get me wrong, I am a people person and I thrive on fellowship with other women. Having girl friends makes me a better person all the way around. But my theory was, if I was going to be a stay at home wife/ mother then I needed to be the best one I could be. For me, that was staying home long enough to take care of home matters. It meant taking care of my home.

So, the question is...how can we make our husband's lives better, than what it would be without us? For each of us the answer may be different. Here are some suggestions.

* Pray for him, he should be tops on your list.
* Consider his needs.
* Be a keeper of his home.
* Don't over extend yourself outside the home or to outside commitments.
* Cook for him. Learn how if you don't know how.
* Work with him, not against him with money issues.
* Make him the most important person in your life.
* Smile at him. (o:

Maybe just one thought will help someone today to remember, home is where your heart is.

"An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life."

Proverbs 31:10-12