Hearing Aid

Isaiah 50:4-5 (New Living Translation) The LORD’s Obedient Servant
4 The Sovereign LORD has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. 5 The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away.

Dear Friend:

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a hearing aid that we can put on and hear God’s voice every morning? Some days in the news we hear eat more chocolate, don’t drink caffeine, take these vitamins, don’t eat red meat, or don’t eat too much pasta. Blah blah blah, the list goes on. We can get so caught up on others philosophies that fear enters our soul and in essence our hearing aid does not work. .

There are so many factors that make up each of us individually. You may ask “why do I have to eat this way and she or he does not? Or why do I need certain medications and others do not?”
What we need to be focusing on instead of these questions is God. Putting on your hearing aid and just listening to the custom plan God has for you.

Let’s pray: Father in heaven I have been listening to others more than you, please forgive me. If this has been blocking me from hearing you please help me to put my hearing aid back on today. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

If God put a full page ad in the newspaper today, I think it would say something like this.

SPECIAL CUSTOM FIT HEARING AIDS FREE! LIFE TIME GUARANTEE WITH A FULL WARANTY THAT SATISFIES YOU AND GIVES YOU PEACE! JUST ASK FOR ONE TODAY! –GOD-

Hearing aid on,
Elaine

Full Face

Lamentations 3:24-29 (The Message) 22-24God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. 28-30When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst.

Dear Friend:

Does it seem that when things get bad they just get worse? In our world the wars are not ceasing, natural disasters are continuing like the recent flooding in Illinois from heavy rains. Our men keep getting deployed to hot spots. Our youth are getting inundated with temptations of sex and drugs/alcohol.
Don’t get busier when things seem hard! Just the opposite needs to occur. Here is what God interjects about the trouble.
When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in Prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. TAKE IT FULL-FACE. The “worst” is never the worst. –GOD-

Let’s pray today: Father in heaven I wait in the hope of God my Savior. I’m not running away from you, I’m into your arms today. Thanks for the hope you are restoring in me now. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Facing the giants,
Elaine

Pet Peeve

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to them, to a greater degree than others may find it.

Dear Friend:

Do you have a pet peeve that your spouse or the significant people around you need to know about?

You know the things that trigger you and you just call that person on it?
Your spouse, children, dear friend, or co-worker yelp out “what’s your problem or what’s the big deal?” Annoyingly in addition to their question they roll their eyes or curl their lip.

You boil over perplexed “why don’t they see what a big deal this is?”
In our fast passed, quick solution world we snap at those we love. You have done it, right?!
Makes me wonder for those that don’t have Christ what they do when these situations arise. Because recently this happened to me and within an undisclosed amount of time the Holy Spirit got a hold of me and gently prodded me “what’s up?” Feeling no peace and ugly I went to the throne and asked the Lord for His perspective and his ideas of how to remedy this situation. It took time to sort out the whole thing.
God says “Colossians 3:15 (The Message) 15-17Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Here are two bottom line conclusions that I discovered.
1. We all have pet peeves and we aren’t going to change people.
2. We can only change our response. (You can pray that the other person see things differently.)

Let’s pray: Father in heaven, let me love others with your peace reigning in my heart. Thanks for not letting me go off on my own. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Don’t look at your situation as hopeless. With God anything is possible!

Peace rules,
Elaine

Perplexed 2

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Dear Friend:

Even though Habakkuk was perplexed with God’s answers to what is going on he comes back to reality and finishes his dialogue with God. As you read through his final thoughts about what is so bad in his land, you too can rewrite the above paragraph with your own stuff.

Maybe it would go something like this:

Though we live in a dry and weary land where God is being pushed out; though marriages, babies, relationships are disposable; though our earth’s atmosphere is diminishing; though our animals are becoming more extinct; though war is not ending and our soldiers are dying, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I'm singing joyful praise to God .I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain!.

What would you write?

Let’s pray: Father though all is not well with our world, it is well with my soul, not because I say so but because you say so. Thank you Father for your truth. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Do not let your heart be troubled, for God is in control! FAITH, that is what Habakkuk had.

Elaine

Perplexed

Habakkuk's Complaint
Habakkuk 1:4
How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

Dear Friend:
Could you write a complaint like this? Many things mentioned by the prophet Habakkuk are the feelings and words of many today. Isn’t it weird that this was written over 2000 years ago? With our wars and morality falling apart the words seem so familiar.
Habakkuk is perplexed about life and what is going on all around him. He wants God to help him understand. The dialogue for this small three chapter book in the Old Testament goes back and forth between God and Habakkuk. Sometimes God opens up and reveals the answer to Habakkuk’s questions. It is ironic how Habakkuk gets answers and then questions the answers with frustration. It’s crazy; Habakkuk gets answers but does not like the answers. Isn’t Habakkuk so much like us? We ask “why do bad things happen to good people?”
God responds:
Habakkuk 2:3 for the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

God is not done yet. He has more to reveal in our lives. You only see the small piece. He sees the whole puzzle.
Let’s pray: Father in heaven give me the courage and peace to just trust you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Letting God be God,
Elaine

Old Grooves

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then, but you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness.

Dear Friend:

This speaks volumes. I don’t believe any explanation is due only a personal self-examination. What are your old grooves and what will be your new moves?
Start a bible study, read the bible daily, draw near to God or put some praise music on.

God is saying “get in a groove!”

Let’s pray: Father in heaven help me to do away with my old grooves and help me to find my new grooves. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Groovy,
Elaine