Tag Archives: overcoming

Prayers for the People

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Dear God

Help us to overcome the obstacles that prevent us from enjoying a closer relationship with you.

Grant us the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon and the faith of Mary.

Help us to remember that the cross is the crux of our Christianity.

When we are unsure, help us to take the action we feel is right for the good of all and rely on Spirit to make any necessary adjustments along the way.

Grant us the courage and boldness to speak the truth of your word to our families and friends and may your Holy Spirit open their hearts and draw them to you. Thank You, Lord.'Praying Hands' by Albrecht Durer Painting Print on Wrapped Canvas

Happy Sunday.

 

 

 

Faith Can Make it So

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For many of us, life is not easy. We have times of grief, illness, pain, upsets, indecision…all the things that come with being alive. But it is possible, if not easy, to overcome at least some of the things that make our lives difficult. Faith can make it so. Happy Sunday.

Image result for happy sunday pictures

Help Me Overcome

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There are those who have a difficult time believing in God. There are those who simply do not believe in God. There are some who want to believe but are hesitant for reasons of their own.

We have all heard that if you want something you simply ask. Even scripture tells us: “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2)

Mark tells us that a father whose son had suffered from demon possession went to Jesus for help, saying, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus answered, “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.” The anxious father then told Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

How many of us need to make that plea: “Help me to overcome.”

Happy Sunday.

 

Blessed Indeed

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Here is what I learned from MatthewRuttan.com/Up yesterday, and I quote:

Today’s Thought
Horatio Spafford lived in Chicago. And when the great fire of 1871 ripped through the city, not only did it destroy his home, but it destroyed much of his livelihood. (He was in real estate.)

Did I mention he had no insurance?

This was a huge blow at an already difficult time. The previous year he and his wife had lost their son to scarlet fever.

So now, having no home, he put his wife and four daughters on a ship back to England as he stayed behind to try and get things started again.

Shortly thereafter he got a telegram from his wife that said, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

There had been a shipwreck at sea. All four of their daughters drowned.

Horatio got on a ship to go and meet his wife. As he passed over the very same waters where his daughters had lost their lives, he wrote some lyrics to a song. Some of you will know them very well:

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.”

These are the now-famous words to the hymn “It is well.”

How many of us can say, “It is well with my soul” even without going through the tragedies that Horatio did. There lived a man with great faith. When we get to that place in our lives, we will be blessed indeed.

Thinking Outside the Box

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I love to think, and love to collect great thoughts when they come my way. The following came from the internet a few months ago. It’s about a graduating class in Nova Scotia, Canada and is claimed to be a true story. It proves that old adage, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” It’s title is “The Sneeze”

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they  felt.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would NOT pray during the commencements, not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it “for fear of Offending non-Christians”.

The principal and several students were careful to stay within the  guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave  inspirational and challenging speeches, but no  one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked  for blessings on the graduates or their  families.

The speeches were nice,  but they were routine until the final speech  received a standing  ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then it happened.

All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED in unison!

The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said,

‘GOD BLESS  YOU’ and then walked off the  stage…

The audience exploded  into applause. This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their  future, with or without the court’s  approval.

Isn’t this a wonderful story? Please pass it on to all your  friends ……… and
 
GOD BLESS  YOU!!!!

This is a true story; it  happened at Eastern Shore District High School in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia.

I  hope this goes around Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world.
 Whether or not anyone shares this is immaterial, I just thought it was a great example of thinking outside the box.
 
 

Not to Worry

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There’s a chapter in my forthcoming book, My Precious Life, on worrying and how not to do it. In 2011, I gave a talk on this topic, to the Women’s Group at my church. Today, while pondering what to write for my next blog, I came across another bit about the worry habit, which didn’t make it into my book or the church talk. (I don’t know how I missed it!)

MORE FOR “NOT TO WORRY”

Here’s a Mother Goose rhyme found in Dale Carnegie’s

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living:

For every ailment under the sun

There is a remedy or there is none

If there be one, try to find it

If there be none, never mind it.

From Dr. Seuss:

I have heard there are troubles

Of more than one kind,

Some come from ahead

And some come from behind

But I’ve bought a big bat,

I’m all ready, you see

Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me.

From The purpose Driven Life pg. 90: (Rick Warren)

When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that’s called worry. When you think about God’s Word over and over in your mind, that’s meditation. If you know how to worry you already know how to meditate! You just need to switch your attention from your problems to Bible verses. The more you meditate on God’s Word, the less you will have to worry about.

A worried Christian is a contradiction in terms. (In the Hands of God – Wm. Barclay)

Worrying is truly one of our favorite pastimes It takes very little for us to start worrying about things we have never worried about before. (Jeanette & Roy Henderson)

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will….Epictetus (Taught in 19th century Rome)

A NOTE:   When I gave the talk  in 2011, I mentioned how the hymn, “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” came to me at a stressful time. In May of that year, I read How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie (as noted above). Chapter nineteen told of a woman about to commit suicide, and take her five children with her, when the words of that hymn came to her also, and saved her life.

Like me, she made God a promise (to never again prove ungrateful).

I promised Him I’d never doubt again. Do you think I kept that promise?

Not to worry!

 

 

 

 

 

Ages of Brutality

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Hi  to everyone who visits this site and welcome to day four of My Precious Life blog.  A reminder to scroll down to day one to access my opening blog and then scroll up to read the preceding chapters. And now to continue the story.

Chapter Three – Ages of Brutality

I witnessed brutality at a very early age.  I was three years old when I watched, wide-eyed and terrified, as blood oozed from my mother’s mouth.  My dad had backhanded her in a drunken rage.  I remember tugging at his leg, screaming, “No, Daddy, no!”  He seemed completely unaware of me.  My sobbing mother shouted at me to take my sister and hide.  I pushed Mary’s diapered bottom under our parents’ sagging bed at the back of the tiny house, and wiggled in after her as our mother shrieked, “Jack, stop hitting me!”  But he didn’t……….

Be kind and compassionate to one another…(Ephesians 4:32)

This chapter describes the brutality I witnessed in the early years of my life and into my teens. Thankfully, the memories did not damage my psyche and are now material for my book.  I should mention that each chapter contains a lesson from my life and tomorrow’s chapter is a lesson in identity–how I got my name.