Here is a good prayer for Friday, and the weekend, borrowed from David.
14 I hope my words and thoughts please you.
Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me. Psalm 19:14 New Century Version (NCV)
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Month: November 2012
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Then He Began
I write often about transformation, or changing on this blog. That’s probably because I struggle so much with making changes in my life. But I also think we can find that hat change is the heart of following the Christ. I would guess the other two major topics I revisit often are loving God and impacting others with that love. Today I want to remind you of one of the Christ first teachings.
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Matthew 4:17 New Living Translation (NLT)
Repent, or turn, or change. Let us not forget that change is at the start of Christ’s message! Let his grace strengthen you today to continue to repent and turn toward the Creator of the World!
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Light = Joy
So far we have had Grey Thursday, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday, and it’s not even December! We sure like to get the Holidays started with a bang of obligations!
Despite that side of things, I have to admit that seeing Christmas trees glowing in windows of homes and landscaping covered in lights while I drove to and fro the soccer field last night filled me with joy!
While you participate in all the various activities coming at you in the next 6 weeks, make sure you find joy in the light.
12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12 New Living Translation (NLT)
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Be Filled
This is the first morning that I can remember when I physically have not felt like writing. Lot’s of times I have problems coming up with good ideas, but today, the thoughts in my head are competing for space with junk in my sinus cavities and my head feels like it’s not exactly on my shoulders correctly.
That will go away shortly, but after today’s deadline I am sure, so let’s continue the thankful theme and draw a conclusion to last Tuesday’s post.
“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” Colossians 3:16 NLT
Be filled with the Christ, and let it come out as thankfulness and joy, thinks that will make others better!
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Life on I75/40
Thanksgiving is over, but I wanted to add one more post about it to keep the spirit alive. I am sure most of the turkey and pumpkin pies are long gone in your house, but the idea of being thankful needs to extend past that one weekend.
I was reminded of this yesterday on the long journey home. The drive was fairly pleasant until I came down the on ramp merging into the traffic on I-75. Then the fun started! Lots of cars, lots of traffic. I was continually happy and thankful however, as I would glance over into the northbound lane and see stopped vehicles while my southbound lane continued moving along at a good speed.
And then we got to Knoxville!
There is not much like sitting in 3 lanes of traffic and traveling 3 miles in 80 minutes. It was during this time of stop and go and stop and go – and did I mention stop? – that my spirit of thankfulness was tested.
There I was, full, munching on peanut M&M and drinking a Coke, warm, with my family, in a working automobile with a 1/2 tank of fuel, listening to Christmas music on my iPod – and full of complaints. Well not really full of complaints, because every time I thought about complaining, I reminded myself that I could be in a much difference place. I could be in the car that they were pulling from the woods – or worse. And I attempted to keep looking at the great things right in front of me.
So, although I was slightly agitated, and very disappointed about the long delay in our travel plans ( it’s hard to be happy with an 8 hour trip becomes 10!), I constantly reminded myself about the spirit of thanksgiving, and how fortunate and blessed I really am. How about you? As you deal with the various agitations that this season brings, remember you blesses as well and keep that thankful spirit moving.
20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 New Living Translation (NLT)