Sunday, March 10, 2024

GREEN WITH ENVY

"I'm proud to tell you my friend will be spending a month away fulfilling her life dream!", declared the post on a persons Facebook post.

I had been good about blocking out Facebook, but sometimes I have to go on and then I saw the above post, I was green with envy. I felt it hit my gut and my own imagination of dreams came to the forefront of my mind.

OCD, obsessive comparison disorder, It's a Snare to Compare, the cute sayings I always passing on to others, comes to my mind. "Do not envy", a biblical truth. I ran to Jesus. 

Lord can I ask you to help me with this reaction. I don't want to loose my joy and what you are doing in my life. 

I'm in my own personal time out! Asking God to restore, renew, help me.

I find a worship song! Hallelujah Our King by Jordan Feliz. 
My grateful cry for this song and the worship of  Spirit and truth this song brings. 
My commitment to the Lord is real. My walk Lord define.
Only God, only God can grab, change, open, restore.
My heart is His.
Focus on the here and now I hear in my head.
A verse, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Does that mean a trip, a high paying job, an adventure. I don't have that answer.
In Nehemiah 6 some mean were trying to distract Nehemiah by wanting to meet with him. They gave some story of why they should meet. Nehemiah being a leader knew what God had him doing at the time of this request and he felt inside that meeting with these men was not a good enough reason to take time out to stop doing what God had given him to do. (build the wall) Four times he told these men that and they persisted to try and get him to stop. Their motives were not genuine. It was tempting for Nehemiah to stop but he finally, directly said to the men, "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head."
These men were jealous trying to get Nehemiah off track. But Nehemiah prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."
Friends when we see a post that is a status and we react to it, we must go to the Lord and ask Him about it. 

What are we doing with our time, talents?
Lord give me some assurance. As I looked up the word imagine the Nehemiah 6:8 popped up so I renewed my mind with this story. I originally was looking for the verse, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV

Let's go to prayer:
Lord forgive me for reacting, Lord thank you for helping me to hear from you. Now strenghten my hands just as the Lord did for Nehemiah. What a good prayer. Help me. Amen.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

REPLACEMENT THERAPY

 Another, Another, and there is another!

Therapy clinics line up along the major roads as I drive down the main street near my home.

Many Children therapy clinics have popped open recently. I use the word popped, it's just so many since covid. I know the increase of anxiety, depression, stress, burnt out, overload, and exhaustion. It's all real but I have to say, I myself in my twenties, thirties have been twisted up with the above.

The word therapy an approved service that clinics are have waitlists to get into. My mom born in 1938 lived in times where therapy was possibly a bad word. Life was so full of secrets and keeping hush about it the way of the world.

I am not writing this to debate the effectiveness of therapy. I have seen the greatness of both sides of therapy. 

I am writing from my own personal journey where my life has been transformed by replacement therapy, a termed that I blurted out while chatting with friends about my experience.

replacement; the action or process of renewal.

I referring to my thought life. When I really began to THINK ABOUT WHAT I AM THINKING.

John 14:26 states, "But the Counselor (capital C) the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

I poured out my heart and asked God to help me with my anxious thoughts, panic attacks. I heard the whisper in my soul as I was sitting at the kitchen table. "You will be healed, you won't know how long it will take, but learn as much as you can along the way." So the time to heal began and with God I was determined to see it through.

 


Monday, February 26, 2024

SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT

It's four o'clock in the morning damn it, listen to me good!

I really woke up at that time and heard this old Elton John song in my head.

I hadn't heart this song since my high school years. What the1

Then more lyrics perfectly from this song.

And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear.

You almost had your hooks in my, didn't you dear, you nearly had me roped and tied

hypnotized sweet freedom whispered in my ears, your a butterfly and butterflies are free to fly, fly away, high away., bye-bye.

Chorus repeat.

Someone saved, someone saved my life to night (ooh whoo)

Someone saved

someone saved

someone saved 

someone saved my life tonight. Tonight!

Lord does this have meaning from you to me?

It played strongly through the night. And in the morning I looked it up. Elton John's meaning was a commitment he was going to make to someone and realized he could not do that. He was saved from making a bad decision.

But for me. It meant evil tried to take me down another path at some point in my life, but Jesus won. He opened my eyes to the truth and my life charged down another path. This was my butterfly moment. I was a new creation in Christ. I realized my need for a Savior.

It almost had its hooks in me. 

But now I fly away from that, high away, bye-bye. No more gripping me.

I thank God for his good news. His reason for being.

I thank Him for showing me this interpretation of this song over me.

It made me feel Free! SWEET FREEDOM WHISPERED IN MY EAR!

LET IT BE

The world...

Giving up...

lost dreams...

or what we thought were dreams...

the aura of  art, creativity lost...

I left her with a prayer...asking God where did the aura of creativity go. "I had it before the kids were born, never got it back. Now I'm 80 and they are grown and gone. I don't know where it went, I never got it back", with sincerity my friend stated. This made me sad. As an artist myself I get the ups and downs of blocked creativity from writing and drawing.

Lord restore what stopped, bring it back. If it is your will have mercy., my prayer.

Friends, some of you may be experiencing what I'm talking about with my friend. A ceasing, a feeling of being cancelled. I know living in a season of cancel culture this is happening all around us.

But we don't have to except it when we are brought into awareness. Awareness is the beginning of prayer and then restoration. Her awareness is it was there and now it's not, an aura.

Grappling with reality of things myself, I got it what she was saying!

As I parted with her this song pops in my head, Let it Be!

Why that song I haven't heard it in years? Never heard it recently. I got in my car and searched Spotify for the Beatles song. Checking out the lyrics this spoke some truth for me and my Christian faith.

My truth

Let it be, Let it be, there will be an answer, Let it be. Let it be, let it be, whisper words of wisdom, let it be. When I find myself in trouble, Jesus comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me shinin' until tomorrow, let it be, I wake up to the sound of music, Jesus comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

This is my Christ view and truth...I will LET IT BE for now.

There will be an answer, LET IT BE.