Feed Your Faith with Friendships

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

It Is Better To Have a Friend

9 You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. 10 If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. 11 If you sleep alone, you won’t have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night. 12 Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, “A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break.”

Proverbs 27:17 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

17 Just as iron sharpens iron,

    friends sharpen the minds

    of each other.

I would like to start today with an analogy that a dear friend shared with me.  

When planting a seed, you don’t plant it in the darkness where it will not receive the nourishment it needs to grow.  You find the best soil, a place with little or no shade, and then nurture it with water and fertilizer.  

Sometimes we find ourselves in a dark place.  A place in which we are not getting the love and nourishment we need for our hearts to flourish.  We need to surround ourselves with people that encourage us.  We need to feed our minds with inspiration through reading, listening, or watching things that give us determination and grit.  We need to nurture our hearts, minds, and body.   

Friendship is a gift from God.   When you feel like you have a connection with someone that is going to align with your goals, you need to grab onto that friend and find more.  These relationships will continue to flourish and grow.   The definition of tribe means “a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest” (Webster).  Having different supportive tribes that surround you daily is so important.  If you don’t have a supportive tribe in your workplace, find something that fuels you.  Put inspirational quotes around you or listen to podcasts.  Be intentional on fueling your mind.  This is vital.  If you have a “tribe, be open to allowing others in to be nurtured as well.  Once you have that, don’t let it go.  

Be Blessed!

When God Gets In The Way

Philippians 4:6-7 New Life Version (NLV)

6 Do not worry. Learn to pray about everything. Give thanks to God as you ask Him for what you need. 7 The peace of God is much greater than the human mind can understand. This peace will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:11 New Life Version (NLV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope.

“Sometimes God gets in the way to show us the way.”  

So many unanswered prayers float around us.  We may never know why they were unanswered, or they may unfold completely differently than we had planned.  I have had several life events that have unfolded completely differently than I had imagined.   I have also had several unanswered prayers linger above me.  

I am really beginning to understand the power of prayer.  Everything that we pray for God can do, but there are a lot of prayers He answers “no” too.  There is a reason for the stern “no”.  However, those frustrations and disappointments stir up feelings/emotions within us.  Those feelings/emotions are a gift from God.  Those known to be spiritual growing pains.  What is God teaching us through those seasons?  Reflect on your life and look at how your life plan has had twists and turns.  What were the outcomes?   Were they different from what you imagined?  What were some lessons/growing pains you experienced?  The biggest test is whether or not we TRUST Him even when He doesn’t give us what we want.  

Be Blessed!

The Stepping Stones of Life

Psalm 84:5-12 New Life Version (NLV)

5 How happy is the man whose strength is in You … 6 As they pass through the dry valley…they make it a place of good water…7 They go from strength to strength….8 O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. 9 Look upon our safe-covering…10 For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right. 12 O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!

Philippians 4:6-7 New Life Version (NLV)

6 Do not worry. Learn to pray about everything. Give thanks to God as you ask Him for what you need. 7 The peace of God is much greater than the human mind can understand. This peace will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Psalm 119:105 New Life Version (NLV)

105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:130 New Life Version (NLV)

130 The opening up of Your Word gives light. It gives understanding to the child-like.

The following vision was placed on my heart this week…We find ourselves standing on the banks of a river, called “Life”,  with whitewater rapids whipping all around us.  We take our first step into the rushing water and the power of the water takes us with it.  However, when we look down at our feet and we see a stepping stone being placed before us.  We know that we have to move forward so we do so anxiously and very fearful.  We find our balance and then another stone is placed before us.  We look around at the rushing water and start to feel anxious, but then find our focus on the one rock that is holding us steady.  It is our “safe-covering” and our strength in that moment.  Then another stone is placed before us.  It doesn’t look stable or safe, but we can’t do anything but go forward and have FAITH.  We say a prayer, take a breath, and then take the step, finding peace and strength once our feet are fully placed on the stone.  We move slowly from stone to stone, until we have found land, the valley in which we can celebrate and soak up the calmness around us.  

We can only get our strength in from Him.  We also can’t stress about how situations will turn out.  We have to focus on taking one step at a time, knowing what our goal destination is, but we have to focus on how He is getting us there.  If you are doing all you can in the moment you are in, that is all you can do.  If you are praying over each step that you take, even the scary unstable steps, you will be safe.  

The prayer from First 5 devotional today was this…

God, this has seemed so big and so overwhelming that I’ve almost given up.  All you ask of me is that I do the next right thing.  It’s easy for me to react in fear or uncertainty.  Yet You will lead me:  

          ONE CHOICE,

ONE RESPONSE,

ONE ACTION, at a time

through Your Word, and through the Holy Spirit.  

So today, take one step, one prayer, and one breath at a time.  

Be Blessed!

The Right Ingredient

Psalm 61:2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

I call to You from the ends of the earth

when my heart is without strength.

Lead me to a rock that is high above me,

Psalm 142:3 New Life Version (NLV)

3 When my spirit had grown weak within me, You knew my path. They have hidden a trap for me in the way where I walk.

Have you ever been in the middle of making something for dinner and realize you are missing one of the ingredients?  This ingredient is the ONE ingredient that ties the whole dish together.  It is the ONE ingredient that really brings out all of the flavors in this dish.  My immediate response is to go and find a “substitute” for that ingredient.  I rush to GOOGLE or ask SIRI.  I find a “substitute”.  I hesitantly put that ingredient in the dish in hopes of a successful dish.  At that moment, I’m taking a gamble as to whether or not this meal will turn out like I had planned.  I had taken this recipe into my own hands and created something different than intended.  

Life is a recipe.  God gives us the ingredients and steps to take.  There are so many moments in which I rush to find a “substitute” ingredient.  I rush to my surroundings to find what I need to make life work.  I begin to feel overwhelmed because I am focusing on the circumstances rather than trusting that He is all I need.  Trusting that He placed this recipe in the correct order and there are no substitutes.  It make take a little extra time to go to the store to get what you need, but God doesn’t intend on our lives to have “microwave” outcomes.  We have to be patient, take deep breaths, and walk through the recipe as it is intended.  When we do we end up with a heavenly, divine dish called “A Life Eternally Lived with Him”.  

Be Blessed!

His Masterpiece

Genesis 50:20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

Romans 8:28 New Life Version (NLV)

28 We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His plan.

Zephaniah 3:17 New Life Version (NLV)

17 The Lord your God is with you, a Powerful One Who wins the battle. He will have much joy over you. With His love He will give you new life. He will have joy over you with loud singing.

Earlier this week, I heard this poem being read on KLOVE radio. 

Just A Weaver

by Benjamin Malacia Franklin

My life is but a weaving

Between my Lord and me;

I cannot choose the colors

He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow

And I, in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper,

And I the under side.

Not til the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly,

Shall God unroll the canvas

And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the Weaver’s skillful hand,

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares,

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives His very best to those

Who chose to walk with Him.

If you look at almost any painting, you will see dark areas and areas that are lighter.  Some paintings may be filled with one more than the other.  However, God intends for all of the colors of our paintings to fall exactly as they are.  I find myself watching other canvases being painted and wonder why they have that color and I don’t.  It is because God is working in and through me to create something uniquely different.  His skillful hands are hands that are consistently working.  We don’t see every movement or motion of His hand, but we must follow the pattern or brush stroke that He is guiding us to take.  He doesn’t have to explain each motion because He knows what our canvas will look like when it is finished.  He knows the final outcome.  

Jeremiah 29:11 New Life Version (NLV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope.

Be Blessed!

Pray BIG and Pray HARD

1 John 5:14 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

14 Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Mark 11:24-25 The Message (MSG)

22-25 Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, ‘Go jump in the lake’—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it’s as good as done. That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you’ll get God’s everything.

Jeremiah 29:12 The Message (MSG)

12 “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

Matthew 6:7 New Life Version (NLV)

7 When you pray, do not say the same thing over and over again making long prayers like the people who do not know God. They think they are heard because their prayers are long.

James 1:6 New Life Version (NLV)

6 You must have faith as you ask Him. You must not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave which is pushed around by the sea.

Prayer… the little emoji symbol we put on social media, what we say in passing when we see distress, something we do daily out of routine, putting our kids to bed they go through that ritual as well. I have prayed my whole life. I remember my mom tucking me in nightly and saying my prayers with me.  I have continued that ritual with my children. However, I feel like it has become very robotic for them.  This led me to thinking about my prayer life and how I pray. 

From the wall of Jericho to Noah looking foolish building a boat to David taking a sling shot to a massive giant.  Those were actions that the onlookers made fun of, but what was the outcome in those stories?  God heard their prayers and took action, massive action.  They had faith and they didn’t care if they looked foolish while following through with their prayer action.  They did 3 things:  

1. They named it,
2. They claimed it by taking action, and
3. They circled it in prayer.

God is not our “genie in the bottle” type of God, but He does want us to communicate and ask Him.  He wants us to get on our knees and really shout out our prayers.  Even in the quiet of my home, I don’t do this out of my “scare of looking foolish”.  I do the “bow your head and pray” action.  Simple, but sometimes not as effective as getting on my knees and really talking to the Lord.  

“We loose faith in God who gave us the big dream and settle for a small dream that we can accomplish without His help.  We go after dreams that don’t require divine intervention.  We go after dreams that don’t require prayer.  And the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all our right brain can imagine is supplanted by a god - lower case g- who fits within the logical constraints of our left brain.” (Batterson, M. 2016)

So, have confidence in your prayer (1 John 5:14).  Embrace it and pray it hard (Mark 11:24-25).  He will listen (Jeremiah 29:12).  It doesn’t have to be long or drawn out or even eloquent because God is not looking for perfection from us (Matthew 6:7). And lastly, don’t doubt Him because He will answer our prayers in His time (James 1:6).  

Be Blessed!  

PS.  

Recommended movie about prayer - If you haven’t seen War Room,  it is a must see!  

Recommended book about prayer - The Circle Maker By Mark Batterson.  

These are what I’m doing to increase my volume in my prayer life.  

Noise Pollution

Job 6:24 New Life Version (NLV)

24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet. Show me where I have been wrong.

Isaiah 32:17 New Life Version (NLV)

17 The work of being right and good will give peace. From the right and good work will come quiet trust forever.

Isaiah 30:15 New Life Version (NLV)

15 The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In turning away from sin and in rest, you will be saved. Your strength will come by being quiet and by trusting.” But you would not.

Noise pollution is defined by the Business Dictionary as “A form and level of environmental sound that is generally considered likely to annoy, distract or even harm other people.”  However, I find that noise pollution, for me, is anything that takes my mind off of what God is intending me to hear from Him.  

I truly struggled writing this week’s Thoughtful Thursday due to not know what He was wanting me to say.  That is when I realized that I had not turned it over to Him.  I had not kept my mind focused on what He was wanting to say to me this week.  Noise pollution in my life this week has been both amazing and draining.  From traveling to work to football on Sunday to focusing in on some personal goals, I have had a lot of noise pollution fogging my direct line to Him.  This has not “harmed me”, but has “distracted me”.  

God wants us to hear Him, but regardless of how “quiet” we get our environment we still have “noise” in our heads.  This, to me, is my noise pollution.  My book for the month of February is The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.  “Well-developed faith results in well-developed prayers, and well-defined prayers result in a well-lived life.”  Being intentional about keeping the distractions out and truly praying will clear the fog that is around us.  This will quiet our minds and help us see clearly.  With that our faith grows, our prayer life increases, and our life is enriched.  

Be Blessed!