5 Keys of F.A.I.T.H

I took this amazing picture the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the Midland, TX, airport.

Roses blooming in the ice.

They're determined, aren't they?

         

The world around them is frozen.

Hostile.

          Still, they bloom.

We all experience winter. We walk in a hostile world.

How can we bloom when our lives feel frozen?


Find protection in your F...A...I...T...H

Fellowship: Friends insulate you from the cold. Hugs block the wind. 

Words of encouragement soothe you like a sip of hot chocolate.

Prayers surround you like a warm blanket.

Snuggle up!

Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Armor: It 's ten degrees outside -  you wouldn't think of going

anywhere without your coat...and cap...and scarf...and mittens.

Nothing keeps you warm like the belt of truth, the breastplate of

righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation.

Dress to fight the cold!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:10-11

Identity: Stand firm in your identity in Christ. 

You are hidden in Christ.

You are inhabited by the Holy Spirit.

The cold cannot penetrate you.

A chill cannot move into your soul.

You are protected from without and sealed from within.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba Father." Romans 8:15

Thankfulness: Say what? It's hard to be thankful when you're shivering.

Remember the times you could feel God's presence. Trust that the

Lord of the spring and summer is alive and active in the winter.

His presence wraps around you like a soft cloak.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. 
Psalm 28:7

Hope: total confidence in God's character. He is faithful.

He is power. He is truth.

He is the flame that glows within you.

Comfort flows from trusting Him.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Romans 15:13

With FAITH, you will bloom in the ice!

Do We Forget to Say Thank You?

I am so excited to have Cynthia Lovely as my guest blogger for July's Final Friday.

 

 

 

There are times we send forth prayers from the deepest parts of our hearts, petitioning the great God of the universe to intercede on our behalf.

We pray each day, focused and with great fervor, reminding the Lord of our need.

 And God answers.

• The problem is solved.
• The solution makes sense.
• The worry is gone.

At this point in time, how much effort do we make towards saying,

Thank You?

Do we toss up a casual, "thanks, Lord," and go about our merry way,
 
Forgetting all about the miracle of answered prayer?

 

Jesus took care of a situation for me recently.

 

 I prayed for two weeks straight, trusting in God's faithfulness and mercy.

Yes, He answered.

All good.

I am determined to go back again and again and thank Him.

Placing the same effort and commitment as the initial prayer - in my giving of thanks.

I imagine God is pleased with us when we respond in this manner.

Let us be a thankful people, rejoicing in our great God!



Has the Lord answered a special prayer for you this week?
How often how you thanked Him for it?
Have you offered up thanks with the same fervency of your initial request?

 

 

Check out Cynthia's blog Lovely Lane  You'll be blessed!

Cynthia A. Lovely lives her own version of happily-ever-after in an old farmhouse in upstate New York with her musician-techie husband, her greatest encourager. Publications include Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, newspapers and periodicals including Tea Time and Romantic Homes. She has completed a contemporary woman’s novel and her current WIP is a romance. Cynthia is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and a staunch supporter of Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. She has been actively involved in church music ministry, drama, and public relations. You may contact her at cllyrics@gmail.com or www.cynthialovely.com

 

 

 

The Heart of Thankfulness

www.morguefile.com

"Give thanks to the LORD Almighty,

for the LORD is good;

his love endures forever." Jeremiah 33:11

What are you thankful for?
All the normal things come to mind: family friends, home, job…

But Jeremiah’s words draw us back to the heart of thankfulness.

Give thanks for the Lord’s goodness. 

His goodness doesn’t lie in the blessings He showers on us.

His goodness lies totally in His Son.
His grace was and is lived out through Jesus as He walked among men.
His goodness is expressed in the tenderness of His presence.

He is a good Father.

Give thanks for His enduring love. 

His love endured the pain of the cross. 
His enduring love causes Him to smile and reach down to pick us up, even when we stumble over and over again.
Most of all, His enduring love stretches into eternity, His heart’s desire is to be with us forever.

He is a loving Father.


Set aside the other blessings aside for a moment and thank Him for who He is.
Thank Him that you are His.

Are You Satisfied?

 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. Psalm 36:8 (New King James Version)

It’s Thanksgiving, a time when we look around and see the blessings God has poured out on us. 

But what about 2 months ago? Or 2 months from now?

Will we still be thankful or will our minds fill with the things we want – the things others have?

The Psalmist says that those who belong to God will be abundantly satisfied with the fullness of His house. Not just content…not even satisfied, but abundantly satisfied.

What a beautiful phrase; I love the certainly of it. We are satisfied – not we will be satisfied or we could be satisfied. We are satisfied.

The question is: Do we recognize it?

Do our hearts sing about the fullness in His house? The fullness that saturates our lives.

For some reason, it’s easier to count our needs (needs is loosely defined, of course) rather than our blessings. Even when we do acknowledge them, we only see the big things: family, friends, God’s provision.

God’s fullness often comes in soft whispers; we’ll miss them if we don’t look for them. A child’s smile in line at the grocery store. A mockingbird on a telephone line. Something on TV that makes us laugh.

Do something new today. Begin to look for abundance in the small things. Make a note when you see one.

On a difficult day, remember those things.

It’s a choice to dwell in the fullness of His house, to wade in His river. But beware, once you begin to do it, it becomes addictive.

Take a sip from His river of pleasures and rejoice.

How does God’s abundance fill your life?