Mary – Page 16

Jesus Walks on the Water

October 31, 2016 by Mary

This photo is of a place that holds great meaning to our family. In 2008, my Father-in-law was believed to have walked across this bridge in Paradise, Michigan and was never seen again. While he has never been found and we are left wondering, even after all this time…we choose to believe that he was on a journey…he walked across this old rickety bridge into Paradise (heaven).

Our hearts won’t let us visualize anything less than

God holding him in His loving arms.

Life is a strange and wonderful thing. Pain has a way of bringing clarity to those things that are truly important. As I crossed the old rickety bridge, planks aged from rough northern Michigan winters, so many emotions and thoughts flooded through me. This was the first time since his disappearance in 2008 that I have been brave enough to walk in his footsteps. In the whisper of the October wind, I heard God’s voice all around me. I reached for my husbands hand and held it tight.

He is on a journey too, and I could feel his pain.

When things happen in our lives that we have not planned–we need not visualize anything less than God holding us in His loving arms. His Grace is sufficient for us. As I pray for answers to my health issues and have prayed for God to renew my strength, I have also learned to lean into him much more…and the more I lean, the more he teaches me–in the stillness of my quiet dialogue with Him.

“God, it’s like I’m crossing that old rickety bridge…

I need to see you on the other side…to know that you are there“…

He always shows up. ALWAYS.

We never walk alone.

He is as close as our smallest utterance of His name.

Matthew 14:22-33

Jesus Walks on the Water

²²Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³²And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.³³Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The Fruit of the Spirit

October 30, 2016 by Mary

The Fruit of the Spirit

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23a

The Lord tells us in the bible that he will know us by our fruits. What does that mean? When we have a personal relationship with our Savior, out of His spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control will flow to us and through us. These “fruits” do not always come naturally to our human condition, but they are something to which we can aspire. Mankind is sometimes full of anger, rage, jealousy, greed, and lack of self-control. We see evidence of this lack in abundance by watching the news, and in our own personal experience.

Recently, I was driving on the highway minding my own business and happened to be passing a slow moving vehicle with a trailer that was carrying several 4-wheelers, when suddenly seemingly out of nowhere, a truck came up very fast in my rear-view mirror. Before I knew it, he was in the slow lane beside me beeping his horn and using profane hand gestures at me. This person was full of rage, clearly angry with something aside from me, but I became the target. His rage caused him to pass between the slow moving vehicle and my vehicle in the fast lane, requiring me to veer to the left hand side of the road so he did not hit me.

This small example demonstrates for us how out of control life can be when we are not in tune with the Holy Spirit, when we do not spend time alone with our God. “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing .If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant…love is not rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

Again, the bible is giving us an example of what a life looks like when one is living in the fruit of the spirit. Not only are we to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, but possessing these fruits will cause us to rethink situations where we once may have been boastful, insist on our own way, behaved rudely, resented others and rejoice in wrongdoing. All of these things are part of the carnal nature of man and to become filled with God’s good fruit, is a daily work in progress.

Some goals to strive for in your relationships:

Honesty—Be who you really are with other people… be authentic, no masks.

Warmth—be warm and compassionate with those around you, appropriately demonstrating warmth and affection.

Communication—Communicate to others those things which are important to you. Open the door to allow them to do the same.

Share Feelings—when we open a door of communication it initiates receptivity to the sharing of feelings; not only pleasurable feelings, but painful ones as well.

Acceptance—attempt to overcome embarrassment and shock when others share their feelings, beliefs, and shortcomings.

Trust—when communication is open and we feel warmth, honesty, and acceptance, trust is established. Work on trust.

Faithfulness—be faithful to your commitments and promises.

Respect—show respect toward others by attempting to understand their need to make their own decisions.

Hope—each day is a new beginning filled with potential!

In your prayers, ask God to fill you with the fruit of the spirit…to show you moments of joy, love, peace, kindness, and gentleness. Ask him to deepen the relationships with those you love, giving you a better understanding of a God kind of love. Try to see others through the eyes of God, rather than your own—ask God to do that for you.

Dear Lord,

I want to see things for the way they really are. Please give me eyes to see the areas in my life that I need to work on. I know that you are a loving God and that you accept my weaknesses, my sin, and all of my character flaws. I thank you for that and I ask you to help me to accept these things too so I can begin to work toward making them better and in turn be blessed with deep and caring relationships and the fruit of the spirit! I want to relate to you authentically and to others authentically–help me shed any masks that I wear and just be me. Part of just being me is learning to accept myself and love the real “me”… I want to be able to be a witness to those around me that normal people with normal problems can find hope, help, comfort and joy in you. Thank you Lord that you are such an ever present help and guide in my life.

Amen.

Don’t Settle For Less

October 28, 2016 by Mary

God created each of us for greatness. When we settle for less, we are essentially saying that we are not worthy of more. Sometimes we get used to the way things are and grow complacent. In some small way, bit by bit, we grow accustomed to not getting what we need, not reaching goals, learning to accept less than what we know in our hearts is the life we long to live, the way we long to live it. The danger of complacency is that while we are in the midst of it, we may not even realize that our lives are deficient in many ways, particularly in the area of faith.

Sometimes the circumstances of life bring us down, make us hang our heads in shame, sadness, grief and apathy. Events in our lives make us feel like we have no more fight within us, and even if we had just a little bit left, what’s it all for anyway?

Jesus says, in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Each morning when you swing your feet off the side of your bed and step onto the floor to begin your day, you have exhibited faith: the faith to keep going, faith to strive for more, faith to accomplish what you need to during the day.

If God tells us that He has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly, then who are we to settle for less than everything he wants for us in our lives, to nullify the gifts and the Spirit within us? Perhaps the greatest depravity of the human spirit is to settle. When we settle something inside of us dies, but a living faith – a faith that is alive – even from the smallest kindling in our hearts, will encourage us to yell at those mountains to get out of our way, to walk through fire and come out OK on the other side.

When you think you are surrounded on all sides and have no way out, that the circumstances of your life are more than you can deal with and you are tempted to lose your faith, tempted to settle for less than you are worth—remember the parable of Daniel in the lions’ den:

“So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniel answered, “May the king live forever!My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” Daniel 6: 16-21 (NIV)

God spared Daniel, just as he wants to spare you. Why? Because YOU ARE WORTHY.

When we practice the discipline of faith, we begin to believe in our hearts and minds that although circumstances may not look the way we want them to look, even though events may not work out as we have planned, we will not be defeated.

Don’t Settle For Less! You Were Created For Greatness!

When we refuse to settle, God will bring dead things to life, shelter us from the storms of insecurity and fear and move heaven and earth to create clear paths for us. If the King of Kings planted a seed inside of you – gave you a dream, something to hope for – it seems that he would want it to grow rather than wither. So, dust off your feet, move on out of the mire, walk right out of that valley, tell the mountain to be moved, kick off the bondage of complacency and let the seeds of faith, hope and love grow deep roots from within. Extend yourself outward like the branches of a strong, healthy oak tree, bringing life and shelter to the weak, shade from the scorching sun, and a resting place for God’s creatures.

Victorious Living: Day 4

October 18, 2016 by Mary

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