Thoughts From Your Grandmother

When we talked with you yesterday we were so pleased with the joy we heard in your voice about the possibility of starting your own business. I want you to succeed, but more than anything I want you to be completely committed to God and His plan for you, then He is the One who will cause you to succeed. If this is not of God then no amount of planning, money, or self-assurance thrown into your plan will cause it to succeed. Success comes from reading, meditating and obeying God’s Word (Josh.1:8; Ps.1:1-3.) So pray, pray, pray! Pray at any time and in any place, for everything. Make a special time to quietly get alone with God, preferably early in the day before you start your day, before the family is up and the demands of life begin for that day. Make a habit of getting up before the family (set an alarm clock, if necessary). And during your “quiet time” put on the “whole armor of God (Eph.6:10-18). Remember, Satan is your enemy and he will use any interruption to distract you from seeking God (Jn.10:10). As you start your prayers for the day, First of all praise God for all that He is (naming His attributes) and that He is the same “yesterday, today and forever,” and that He is the same in all of His attributes toward you (if He was faithful yesterday toward others, He will be faithful today toward you). There is something about praising God and renaming His attributes causes your faith to really grow. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4). The word “delight” in this Psalm actually means in the Hebrew, “soft and pliable.” If you are delighting in God you are willing to acquiesce to His will – whatever He sees and knows what is best for you, you want for yourself. (If you want more of God’s attributes and reasons to praise and thank Him go to my Blog Website: http://lightfrommywindow.blogspot.com). Then thank Him for His past workings in your life (the times He had mercy on you when you didn’t deserve it; the times He has answered your prayers; the times He held you in your pain; the times He provided for you in your want; His constant love toward you regardless of your sin and failure, etc.). Knowing that He is the Sovereign God Who is ultimately in control of everything, thank Him in everything, right in the middle of your chaos (I Thess.5:18), and thank Him for everything (Eph.5:20); whatever you may think is good or bad (Isa.55:8-9). Thank Him that He is using your pain to teach you something about Himself, you, others, or how to handle difficult situations. Coming to the Father with a grateful and humble heart will always get His attention. Think how it blesses your heart to have your children come to you with thankfulness for the things you have done and will do for them, and saying “no” to something that would have ultimately harmed you. Next, confess your sins, known and unknown: your sins of the flesh (pride, lust for money and/or prestige, sensual desires, etc.) (I Jn.1:9; Ps.51:17) Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any hidden sins or sins you haven’t acknowledged (Ps.139:23). Be quick to confess your sins, and just as quick to repent of them (turn from them). God is always ready to forgive a heart that is sorry for sin and repentant and desires to not repeat that sin (Ps.51:17). Next, commit to Him your everything: hopes and dreams; time, energy, all that you are and ever hope to be; your loved ones (family and extended family); your friendships; and even your enemies (Ps.37:5). Recognize that this venture must all be of God, nothing of “self” (Zech.4:6). But recognize and acknowledge this all must be initiated and led by the Holy Spirit, and He is the One who will enable you to be successful (Phil.4:13). Remember, without Him you are “O” (nothing), but with Him you are EVERYTHING! Next, come boldly to God with your requests (Heb.4:16; Ps.100). Be specific in your prayer. Ask Him to give you His wisdom in this new venture you are wanting to undertake – (if this is His will, to show you His will in scripture, and the courage to do His will whether yes or no); wisdom to recognize “open and shut doors” and then how to act accordingly. Ask Him for His peace of mind and heart as He leads you step by step. Don’t just ask Him to get in on your plans, but ask Him to definite reveal His will, then whatever His will may be, follow, thanking Him that He knows what is best. Sometimes His “no” answer means that He sees some grave pitfalls in going forward with our desires and He wants to spare us the pain, or He wants us to “wait” for His time (Eccl.11:3). He has something better for us in His time. But if His answer and leading is “yes,” just wait on His step-by-step leadings, committing every step to Him and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding (and plans), but in all your ways acknowledge Him (that He is all wise, all loving, and all powerful to cause anything to happen that is in His will), and He will direct your path” (Prov.3:5-6). Read, study, meditate on the Word of God. There is where you will find answers, wisdom and the perfect will of God. Pray the Word back to God, repeating back to Him His promises and answers. The world may pass away but God’s Word endures forever! PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! These are my thoughts for today – maybe more later. I love you and want only the best for you, so I am praying that as you seek the Lord, He will show you His way! Gran Gran P.S. – Seek godly counsel (Prov.20:18; 11:14; Ps.1:1), but above all remember He (Jesus) is the “Wonderful Counselor” (Isa.9:6).

Judging - The Woman and the Cookies

I heard about a woman who was in an airport waiting area waiting on her plane and was a little hungry and knew she wouldn’t get anything on the plane, so she decided she would go to one of the concessions to get something on which to snack before the plane came. In one of the counters she saw some cookies that looked very good so she purchased several. The clerk put them in a bag and she put the bag in her purse and made her way back to a seat in her waiting area. After situating herself she decided to eat some of her cookies. The sack of cookies was on an empty seat between her and a man who also was evidently flying on the same plane. The woman opened the sack and took out one of her cookies and began to eat it. To her dismay the man in the next seat also took out a cookie and began to eat it. The woman openly took out another cookie and ate it, and the man followed suit. She thought, “Of all the nerve, how rude!” This continued – as she took another cookie and ate it, the man did likewise. She could hardly believe anyone could be so uncouth to eat out of her sack, without even asking or saying a word. The woman took the next to the last cookie and watched in complete disgust as the man took the last cookie and broke it in two. Her plane was called to begin boarding, so she left the empty cookie sack and the man who was looking very pleased and slightly smiling. After getting seated on the plane, she opened her purse for a pen to do some writing – and there was her sack of cookies. After realizing she had so harshly and wrongly judged the man, her shame and embarrassment was overwhelming. “Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves. For just as you judge and criticize others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you use to deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.” (Matt.7:1-2 (Amp.) – part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.) Do not conclude a thing until you know all the facts, but walk in love even when others may seem to be, or are in the wrong. An old Indian proverb says, "Do not judge another until you have walked a mile in their moccasins." By loving in return, even when you seemingly have been wronged, you may win a friend. A judge, in a court of law, makes a decision of guilty or innocent according to all the facts that have been presented to him. A righteous judge, although he knows all the facts that have been presented, may choose to forgive the guilty one of the penalty of his acts – this is called mercy. Every day we stand before the Almighty Judge, who sees and knows the motives of our hearts; and all the facts and truth about our sins, but “if we come to Him repenting and confessing our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all our wrongs,” (I John 1:9). “The Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting. His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations” (Ps.100:5). O To Be Like You! (Thomas O. Chisholm) O to be like You, Blessed Redeemer, this is my constant longing and prayer; Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus, Your perfect likeness to wear. O to be like You, full of compassion, loving, forgiving, tender and kind; Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, seeking the wandering sinner to find. O to be like You, Blessed Redeemer, pure as You are! Come in Your sweetness, come in Your fullness – Stamp Your own image deep on my heart.