hope – Page 2

Victorious Living Day 8: Victory in His Peace

October 9, 2017 by Mary

???Week 2: Focus on Prayer??

Take time during the study this week to seek God in prayer. Place a cross or a picture of Christ in your prayer area to give you a visual reminder of His faithfulness and love. You can scroll through Pinterest to find a beautiful picture ?and print it out to help you along this journey. Perhaps you have a favorite card, cross, pencil sketch or painting to use for inspiration. These visual reminders sometimes help us to focus our intention on prayer and draw us away from other distractions.

Father in heaven, I will rejoice in you, forever. Keep me from anxiousness and in all that I do I will present my prayers and petitions to YOU. Oh, what a privilege it is to know you. You give me peace because YOU are near, regardless of my circumstance. I know that I am victorious and I rejoice in the peace of your presence. Amen.

Praise:

I praise you, Lord Jesus, that you give peace to those who call upon your name.

Only God can give us perfect peace. If you are struggling through a difficult season in your life, prayer and daily relationship renewal with Christ are a crucial ingredient to keep you from anxiousness. Make sure to tell the Lord what you need, make your requests known, but praise him for all of the answers to prayers, the peaceful days and the many times He interceded for you.

Jesus be with me.

We need only call upon His name in the quiet corners of our hearts and minds and He will calm the storms.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

Are there areas in your life where you could use a fresh dose of the peace of Christ? If so, list a few:

Write three ways the Lord has given you victory in your prayers and petitions to Him:

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Take time today to write a victory prayer! Thank God for the victory you have found in Him. Think about the many ways He has helped you find victory in difficult and trying circumstances in your life.

Setting Concrete Goals

March 13, 2017 by Mary

Do you have any life goals that you would like to work toward and/or achieve in the next twelve months?

Some areas you may want to consider are family, church, work, personal life, education, etc. When you set a goal, it is good to write a statement reflecting the goal. Your goal statement should be specific, achievable and measurable. A goal is something you work to accomplish. You do activities and ACCOMPLISH goals.

A good idea or example is to write three goals in the following categories. Remember to make your goal statements bite size enough that you can achieve them, yet big enough that you have to work toward accomplishing them!

Family Goals:
1.
2.
3.
(Good concrete examples are: Spend 30 minutes per day quality time with each person. Schedule a 7-day vacation. Etc.)

Educational Goals:
1.
2.
3.

Work/Career Goals:
1.
2.
3.

Personal Goals:
1.
2.
3.

List the goals above in order of priority by assigning them to either A (high priority) or B (low priority). Do the same for the category B priorities!

I realize that most of us set goals at the beginning of each New Year. Some of us just mull them over in our head while others list them out. By this time, you may have put aside some of those goals or decided that they are not achievable and have given up on the idea of accomplishing them. The first quarter of the year is a good time to reflect upon our priorities, look at our goals, and perhaps break them down into smaller bites so that we can accomplish them, even if it requires taking baby steps.

10 Important Things About Your Purpose

March 9, 2017 by Mary

10 Important Things About Your Purpose

1. As Mother Teresa so aptly put it, “we can do no great things, only small things with great love.” We were each created with different and unique abilities and capabilities. There is purpose in doing those things we do well with great love.

2. Some of us are born with quieter dispositions and happily do things behind the scenes, while others have a greater understanding of leadership at the front and center. Neither of the two personality types is right or wrong. “For we have many parts in one body, but these parts do not all have the same function.” Romans 12:4 We are all created for a different function.

3. Regardless of our physical, intellectual, emotional or socioeconomic standing, each of us is equal to the other in the eyes of God. It does not matter if we are a movie star or a homeless man—the eyes of God see purpose in each of us.

4. Growth means evolving, changing and moving in new directions. Our purpose may change during our lifetime. God put us on the earth to be the best we can be and our purpose must be flexible enough to hear and obey whatever it is he is asking us to do now.

5. When we are still and focus on the beauty of the everyday moments in our lives and give thanks we are more likely to find purpose, rather than searching for it and becoming discontented. The discontented places in our hearts are not from lack of purpose, but rather a lack of understanding that we are truly loved just as we are.

6. Your purpose correlates with what you hold dear in your heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” Luke 6:45. Of what things do you speak? It is normal to feel lost, lonely, isolated and confused from time to time.

7. Spiritual health helps us gain a sense of acceptance, both inward and outward and will supply us with the resource of inner peace and an understanding that God doesn’t judge us by performance, He looks at our heart. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.”Luke 10:27

8. When we put God first and give him everything that we are, he will show us our purpose. Understand that your purpose may change….it is not a life sentence.

9. Being purpose driven may cause a sense of shame, guilt and rejection if the great light bulb doesn’t light up and show you what you have been created for, when in reality, the bible tells us, “you were created for such a time as this” Esther 4:14, meaning that each day holds purpose. Our purpose is driven by our daily choices.

10. It is healthy to aspire to do great things, but important to be happy with yourself just as you are and know that you are loved and valued and don’t have to be anyone other than who you are to be acceptable in the eyes of God.

Spiritual Winter vs. Spring

March 6, 2017 by Mary

Spring is Coming

I planted a dozen baby pine trees around the property at my cottage last fall. We have had a rough winter with very cold temperatures and lots of snow, and as I look around the property, rather than seeing the full baby tree, I can see only tiny shoots here and there poking out from the banks and drifts of snow. I have hoped and wondered throughout this season whether they were going to make it through, and I wondered whether I would be able to have the joy of watching them shoot up like pine trees do in the spring.

This reminds me that sometimes during the winter of our lives we tend to live in survival mode. We do what we can to stay strong under the pressures of our heavy burdens. Sometimes our own sorrows inhibit us from healthy growth. The burdens of our heart and spirit pile upon us, blanketing us, and we wonder if we are strong enough to withstand the weight.

I have had seasons like this in my life, times that I call winter. Sometimes it feels like it goes on and on, and we grow weary. We long for the light, but we are not quite prepared for it to come just yet. Maybe you need to remain just a little longer in survival mode. Perhaps you are not emotionally or spiritually ready to come out of hibernation.

I know that if my tender baby trees can make it through their first winter, their roots will grow strong enough to withstand the many winters that lay ahead. I guess this is true for people too. If we grow our roots during good times–establishing our faith, our belief system, our “God confidence”– then we will be able to withstand some of the seasons of hardship that will inevitably touch us in our lifetime.

This is the one thing that is for certain: Spring is coming! It happens every year. I will look out my window one morning to find hundreds of yellow day lilies blooming. I will hear the sound of mama robin chatting away in the trees. Then as the sun grows closer to us, we experience the big thaw. The ice begins to melt, waters start to flow, and we see new buds on the trees. The plants in the garden begin to spring up from the ground as if they too are emerging from hibernation and are now strong enough to see the light of day. They built their roots during hibernation and are bigger, stronger, and more colorful each spring.

If you have been going through some difficult times and feel like the burdens on your heart and soul will never ease, remember that the coming of spring is always certain. This season of hibernation that you are going through will only last until you are spiritually and emotionally ready to move on. We grow during the winters of our lives, establishing our root system. During these times, we can choose to insulate ourselves in darkness or we can choose to poke our heads out above it to see the light.

After surviving a season of hibernation, young plants are starving. They spread out their roots and absorb every nutrient that the ground in which they are planted has to offer. They are growing strong again, getting ready for new growth. I suppose it is that way for hurting people too. Once we survive hibernation, we are eager to grasp new life, a new way of thinking, a new way of seeing and a new way doing things. We embrace the light, spreading our wings, taking chances and absorbing all that our Creator has for us to learn and see and do. We are hungry. We have a new richness about us. We show buds of new growth in our actions and attitudes and flowering in our heart. The winter that had frozen our soul has now been touched by spring, by new life, and we are ready to embrace the light.

If you are in the winter of your life one thing is certain: Spring is coming! Your soul is preparing for it in the silence.

Your Turn: Have you been through a spiritual winter?

Christmas Blog Post

December 15, 2015 by Mary

I sat down to enjoy a cup of cinnamon and ginger tea in the midst of my holiday preparations, which include rearranging furniture, dusting, purging unwanted items and making all things lovely; all part of filling my heart with gratitude for the CHRISTmas child. Mug in hand, feet up on the old cedar chest positioned as a coffee table, I flip on the television.
I normally don’t have enough hours in the day to sit and stare at the silly tube and truthfully, if it were up to me, I would not have one.

Previews of the news flash across the screen with last years images of people packed in like sardines, bodies touching bodies, elbows flinging as they race to be the first ones in the chain stores for Black Friday sales! The newscaster advised that these sales offer great benefit if you want a big screen televisions, snow blowers, dvd players, pop corn poppers, cameras and everything else under fluorescent lights. A little grossed out and sickened by the whole making of Christmas a commercial commodity, I thought to myself, and may have even said aloud, “do these people not get it?”

In my lifetime, I have gone through seasons of lack and seasons of plenty. I have battled the keeping up with the joneses mindset. I have gone through the 30-something angst that somehow my house and my car and my clothes showed my value. I have had businesses, some successful, some that have failed, climbed my way out of debt just to spiral right back down. What have I learned along the way? Life is best when it is simple.

A couple of years ago, our 150 year old house sustained some damage during a storm and we found ourselves having to move out of the lower half of the house while repairs were done. I was forced with the tough decision of having to put my beloved antiques and collectables in storage or selling them. I chose to sell everything. When the repairs were complete on our house, we had no furniture. A relative donated a loveseat and ottoman, which sat in the living room in a big, open space all by themselves for months. I could finally see the beauty and craftsmanship of our old floors.

Why do we identify the keeping of stuff as worthiness? When difficult things happen in our lives, we begin to see more clearly the things that really matter…and I’ll give you a hint…it isn’t things. No sisters, what really matters is getting right with God in your heart and in your head. Once you begin working on this, gratitude will begin to flow from your pores. What can compare to the death of a loved one, a family member with a debilitating illness or a missing person in your family? Seriously, if you are strong enough to weather storms like this, you know that the big screen television is not as important as you once thought. You will know that no matter how much money you waste, trying to fill the hole in your heart with things, you are still hungry. You will know that what matters are the old black and white photos you hang on the wall of your grandma and grandpa kissing in front of the Christmas tree. And you will know that what really matters is the curve of a face in your memory or words that were spoken that you will keep for a lifetime because they encouraged you.

Christmas should not be about things. The first gifts – the ones that were brought to the manger by three wise men – were gifts of awe and gratitude. They knew that a Savior was born, One who would change the hearts of many. One who would redeem the messed up world in which we live. One who could…if we let him, bring peace.

We don’t do Christmas in a big way. We keep it simple and reflect on the true meaning. White lights, like the stars that were shining that special night, and a few brown paper packages. As I dust the 100-year-old dining room table and put in an extra leaf or two, I give thanks. As I sweep the dust bunnies I find hidden under the loveseat, I give thanks. As I shine the bathroom vanity, mop the tile floor and swab the toilet bowl, I give thanks. Setting out my Christmas candles, I give thanks. Lighting the tree for the first time this season, I give thanks. As I pull out the old cardboard box filled with a hand carved wooden manger scene and the baby Jesus, I give thanks. I am preparing my heart for Christmas, the most significant day of my year. The birth of the Christ child.

We gather. We spend precious moments together, breaking bread, celebrating the joy in our hearts at the birth of hope.