Category: Inspiration

It’s the end of the week and I hang my head low and realize the week got the best of me and I did not accomplish what I had hoped or wanted to. Sunday rolls around and I get refreshed and rested and ready for the new week. I wake up Monday with a new grace and new motivation to succeed. I eat my breakfast and set out to accomplish the tasks at hand and I sit and look at the beast before me and it laughs at me once again. It says you haven’t succeeded yet, what makes you think this week is different? What seemed like a manageable task a few moments ago now seems impossible. What changed? Discouragement sets in and takes away the victory. It turns that small mess into a mountain of impossibilities. It steels our joy and takes away our confidence. We serve a mighty God who holds the world in His hands. Why do we fret about these tasks at hand? Why do we let defeat and discouragement rule our lives? Are we failing to look at the power of our Heavenly Father? Do we loose sight of what he has done and can do in our lives? “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalm 18:2) This blog is a description of a daily battle for me. We often look around and compare ourselves to others that seem to have it all together and have that balance that we so long for in our lives but we forget to tap into the power of Jesus Christ living inside us. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (Isaiah 40:29) We want our lives to look a certain way but are we seeking His way? Are we looking to see our lives through His eyes? Let’s pray for one another and encourage one another not to let discouragement defeat us. Satan wants to use anything he can to hinder us from being victorious over our weaknesses because he knows that when we succeed we will have to share about how God helped us through and gave us the strength to do it. He doesn’t want us to share how good God is because it might just make someone else want to do the same thing. We serve an all powerful God and we have access to that power through our Lord Jesus Christ. “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” (Psalm 31:24) We need to let His power work through us. Nothing is too big for Him to handle. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10)

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

It is the season of beautiful colors, cooler weather, corn mazes, festivals, candied apples, and falling leaves. For some, it is their favorite time of year. There seems to be that brief balance of not to hot and not to cold. I started thinking about the falling leaves and harvest time and how it could we could relate. Fall is considered a time of harvest. A time to reap from the hard work of the summer. There are moments in our lives, that we get to reap from our hard labor in the fields of the Lord. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9 And just as the trees shed their leaves, sometimes God allows us to shed a few burdens. Perhaps its time for a season change in our lives. The leaves of the tree die and fall but the tree lives on. It may not look like much for a while but it will blossom again with new life and new fruit. We usually think of death as a sad thing or as the end of something, but the bible says “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15 Just as the trees leaves die and fall to the earth from which they came, God’s people die and fall into the arms of Jesus from which they came. They get to return to their creator and rest in the arms of Jesus and enjoy the forever beauty of heaven. Just think about how much more beautiful the colors must be up there. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 Maybe you are at a season change in your life. Maybe God wants to shed a few leaves and sustain you until he gives you new leaves and new fruit. Just remember if you are a child of God, you will someday get to fall into the arms of Jesus and be forever at peace with the Lord and Savior who made you.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

The Lord led me to start getting up early and going for a walk/jog in the mornings and spend time with Him.  It is such a blessing to spend time in His creation and enjoy its beauty each morning.  There is much that can be learned by observing God’s handy work.  One morning as I walked along the driveway and came to the end where the trees stop and the view of the sky opens up, I looked over to see the sunrise.  I usually see the beautiful rays peaking over the mountain as the sun slowly gets higher and higher. This morning I got up a little late so the sun was already fully risen.  As I looked over, I looked at the sun and then looked back to my path and I could still see those spots.  As kids our parents tell us not to look directly at the sun but we all try it at some point and we see those lingering spots. It changes our vision immediately.  I then thought about how the SUN relates to the SON, Jesus.  I don’t think it is just coincidence that the sun in the sky and the Son of God sound the same.  Once you see the Son, it changes your vision and your see those spots of Him everywhere you look.  The difference is that the spots we see when we look up at the sunrise eventually fade but when we see the Son of God, our vision is changed for all eternity.  Every where we look we see things differently.  Our eyes are opened and His light shines on our lives and we cannot put that light out.  His Holy Spirit then becomes our guide and if we are obedient, His light will shine through us to light the path for others to come to know that light.  When others look at us they should see that light. That light will shine in the darkness of this world.  The light of Jesus is the only way to heal the spiritual blindness that fogs our vision of God’s plan for our lives.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12 KJV)