There are no accidents when it comes to life

Greetings:
I believe we all were created on purpose. Nothing was an accident when it comes to our lives. Long before we were ever born, God saw us, knew us, and choose us.
Though we may have some wonderful plans for our own life, it is of utmost importance that we find out The Lord’s purpose for our life.
The word purpose is a noun and in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary it is defined as: “The reason why something is done or used; the aim or intention of something; the feeling of being determined to do or achieve something; the aim or goal of a person; what a person is trying to do, become.”
In Psalm 139:15-16, we read: “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”
God had all of our days written out before we were born. None of us were a mistake or an accident. We haven’t been placed on this earth by chance. Where and when we were born, the parents God gave us, our personality, and everything else about us was orchestrated by God for a specific purpose.
That is a comforting truth to me, a 65 year old adoptee, who has recently connected with my birth mother in a beautiful and miraculous way. God orchestrated it and I am grateful beyond words. Hearing her voice on the phone for the first time about three weeks ago is a moment I will forever cherish.
Her first words were, "Hello, I'm your mother."
That ended a 30 year search.
My Mom and I have talked about this purpose and she affirmed in my heart that God does not make accidents. Nothing just happens. There is a reason and purpose for each life created.
I thank her and God sincerely for the gift of my life.
We all need to talk to The Lord about our individual purpose. God wants us to discover our purpose even more than we do. Our purpose isn’t just about us. It’s about what God wants to do through us. It’s about touching and impacting the lives of others.
Be blessed.

There is always reason to praise

Greetings:
A simple truth this morning is even on a bad day, we can praise God and be thankful.
We read in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight”.
How many of you know God has a way of taking the blinders off and getting our attention focused on the things that really matter. When things are going not so good is not the time to fret and beat ourselves up about our personal shortcomings and woes of the day.
It is time to look forward with hope that there won't be a repeat of such a day.
It is is a time to look at the big picture of things and not focus on this one speck in time when things were not so good. That day is done.  It is time to forget it.
An old proverb states that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Sometimes we make the process more complicated than we need to. We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating it again and again until we reach our destination.
We don't worry about the potholes, the cracks and the dips in the road.
As we read about the great people in the Bible who have preceded us, we learn that they too had times of discouragement and sorrow. We learn that they persevered in spite of hardship, in spite of adversity, sometimes even in spite of their own weaknesses.  We learn that they had more than a few bad days, but they continued to press forward, one step after another.
When God is the center of our lives, we can maintain a balance. Those big black clouds that we think are hanging over our heads might still be there, but we can be confident that our loving Father is still carving out his plan for our lives.
Be blessed.

God's ways, His timing and His will

Greetings:
Has your heart ever been been troubled and your mind crowded with many confusing thoughts as you try to sort through life?
Have you wondered how to respond to certain circumstances, wondered what God has in store for your future, wondered what His plan is, wondered how you are supposed to be doing His will?
What does “God's perfect timing” mean?
What does it means to trust God?
As I prayed God showed me a few scriptures that offer comfort and wisdom as I ponder and meditate on God's ways, His will and His timing.
One of my favorites is Proverbs 3:5-6, which states: “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
I take comfort in knowing God loves each of us equally.
God ways are perfect.
God doesn’t make mistakes.
God works all things for good.
God is eternal.
God is forgiving.
God's grace is sufficient.
God cares.
God is kind and wise.
God's provision is all we need.
God is faithful, even when our faith is weak.
God enables us to do all things in His strength.
We all need to trust God to teach us to trust Him fully. It's a process that just takes time.
Be blessed.

Listen to hear His voice

Greetings:
Does God really talk to us?
How do we know what we are hearing is God?
Those are questions that have often crossed my mind as I am praying, listening and wanting to communicate with God.
So many times, I've wanted God to say, “Hello, it's God”.
Of course, we could be one of the lucky ones like Moses, who was walking up the mountain, minding his own business, when he stumbled upon the burning bush.
That would get our attention.
We often doubt if we are hearing from God until we learn to recognize the ways God speaks to us.
John 8:47 says, “He who is of God hears God's words.”
God sometimes speaks to people through dreams, visions, prophecy and even an audible voice. God also speaks through other people. God sometimes speaks through circumstances, opening and closing doors of opportunity. But we are not to be led by people or by circumstances but only by the Holy Spirit.
In 1 Corinthians 2:16 we read, “For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.”
Most of the time God uses a tiny voice inside us to let us know when we're not on the right path.
When you are not really sure if what you are hearing is from God ask yourself :
•Does it line up with the Holy Bible, the written scriptures?
•Does it lead you into a closer relationship with God, a greater unity with Him?
•Does it lead you into expressing love, which is putting God’s benefit and the benefit of others before your own benefit?
•Does it lead to a dying of yourself and a greater manifestation of Christ life in you?
•Does it cause greater humility in you, and a greater dependence upon God?
Actually hearing from God isn't so much a matter of if he's talking to us, but rather, whether we're listening in the right way.
Be blessed.

Soak in the morning sounds and sights

Greetings:
I enjoy sitting outside during the early morning hours listening to the sounds of nature and simply watching as the day dawns.
This morning, I am sitting on my deck and listening to a chorus of cardinals, robins and mockingbirds. Some are splashing in the bird bath. Others are having a tasty first meal of the day meal from the feeder.
I hear a woodpecker already busy at work on a nearby tree.
I hear the buzz of small hummingbirds, cicadas and mosquitos.
It's a peaceful time. God blessed us with these morning sounds and scenes each day. It is a good time for us to just be still and know He is God.
Many mornings I like to read in my Bible out of Psalms and Proverbs to get my encouragement and boost my faith.
We do not immediately wake up one day and our faith cup is overflowing. It takes time and prayer to boost our faith to a point where it is not easily shaken.
We know that God has already equipped us with the tools to be successful and he has a plan ordained and set out for each of us. We have the insights, the wisdom and the talents to be all we want to be, but too many times our human thinking gets in the way of powerful spiritual thinking. We try to analyze how God is going to do something and while we are thinking about it, the opportunity many times will pass us by.
We have to learn to see things with eyes of faith.
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) tells us, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
We all have to develop faith vision in order to fully tap into the things of God. Faith is not mental delusion, presumption or self-deception, but a work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
In Romans 10:17 (NIV)  we read: "Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
There is only one way to build or boost our faith and that is by reading and learning the Word of God. We must get it deep in our heart and believe it for our faith to blossom.
Be blessed.

Prayer puts things into perspective

Greetings:
Spending time with God puts everything else in perspective.
We all think we have bad days or unpleasant situations to face. But in our prayer time it all seems okay.
Most of us underestimate the power of prayer so much. Prayer can move mountains if only we would let it. If  you understand just how powerful prayer can be, you would never feel hopeless, at the end of the rope, or ready to give up.
With prayer there is hope, always.
Did you know that no one ever prays alone? God is there and he hears our petitions, our problems, our needs every time.
Realize that nothing is too trivial or too big to pray about.
At times, we are overwhelmed by a situation and feel we can do nothing to help. We can pray.
In recent weeks, I have been in contact through my Facebook daily postings with a number of individuals from all over the world - counties like Kenya, Uganda, Pakistan, Haiti, Germany, England, Australia,  India as well as all parts of the United States – all needing and asking for prayer.
These are brothers and sisters in Christ who recognize and know there is power in prayer and aren't afraid to ask for prayer.
We all need to expand our circle of prayers out from ourselves, our family and friends. We are being called upon to pray for other people – including people in the world whom we have never met.
It's been humbling for me to know that God loves us all so much that he would put us together with individuals thousands of miles apart with one common bond – prayer.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) we are told, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
In Philippians 4:6-7 we read: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Prayer does put everything into perspective.
Be blessed.

Let's have unity in our ministries

Greetings:
No passages in The Bible deal with the fundamental way a church needs to operate more clearly than that of Ephesians 4:1-16.
What Paul writes about is a church that is not what the Christian needs to create, but one which already exists and must be diligently preserved. It is based upon our sharing life in one body - the universal church, which is the body of Christ.
All Christians are sealed, possessed, and filled by the same Spirit and look forward to the same hope. We possess one Lord, one common faith and one baptism.
Unity does not imply uniformity. It does not mean that all Christians will think alike or perform identical ministries. It does imply a common purpose and interdependence within the body of Christ.
Paul writes that every individual within the body of Christ is given a particular capacity for ministry. This capacity is commonly called a ‘spiritual gift.’
Not too many years ago many churches would have virtually stopped at verse 11, thinking that the work of the ministry was the sole work of the clergy. Thank the Lord many churches have had the courage to study and apply the remaining verses of the passage to their church's daily operation.
One may ask how Christians with different beliefs, doctrines, or theologies can claim equal trust in the same Scriptures?
We need to respect and love our Christian brothers no matter what name is hanging over the doorways to their churches.
The answer is found by gaining the understanding that while Christians are united, or have unity of the Spirit based on faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, each individual Christian is given a gift of the Spirit, a ministry that may differ from the gift given to another. But, even though the gifts, or ministries, may differ, they are all for the good of, and the up building of the entire body of Christ, that is, God's church for greater good of The Kingdom.
Be blessed.