Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
How do you feel when you read those verses? I usually feel a little guilty. It’s hard to be joyful and thankful in the midst of worry and anxiety. Unless you are living alone in a cave, there are usually plenty of things to be worried and anxious about.
Maybe that it why right between joy and thanksgiving, the Lord reminds us to never stop praying!
I moderate the prayer requests for Prayer Ministries Int.
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A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I enjoyed a media free night–a night without television, telephone, smart phone, computer, etc. We sat outside on our patio with a fire in the fire pit, relaxing and talking for hours. At one point after dark, I looked up at the sky and commented on our cloudless cover and the host of twinkling stars above.
Have you ever wondered how many stars there are in the heavens? I did a Google search and the first paragraph of an article titled, Number of Stars, at ChristianAnswers.net read as follows:
On a clear, moonless night about 3,000 stars are visible with the unaided eye.
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I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19
I’ve been thinking about this verse lately. You see, about four years ago my husband came down with a very serious virus that attacked the lining of his heart. It took more than a year for his doctors to determine a diagnosis, and then months of deciding what course of treatment to follow. During those many months the lining of his heart thickened, hardened, and adhered to the heart muscle, shrinking it to fifty percent of its normal size and working capacity.
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We are so very excited to have another grandson on the way. I have been teased many times for having been blessed with excessive amounts of the “mom” gene. I may be slightly little people addicted. Maybe it is a blessing that we struggled with secondary infertility or our home may have looked like the shoe in which that little old lady lived! LOL
This is a first baby for our firstborn. She is experiencing firsthand the miracle of Psalm 139:
You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother’s body.
I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
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My dear husband, Blake, shared this story during his Sunday morning message:
It was the summer between second and third grade. He awakened that morning to what he described as the perfect day. The sun was shining and he had no worries, no responsibilities, and no problems. As eight year old boys were prone to do, he rushed through breakfast and raced out the door and down the street to spend a day of adventure with his best friend, John. Their favorite place to explore was a nearby creek. They would use sticks, weeds, and rocks to try to dam up the water and make a small swimming hole or spend hours searching for treasure.
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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25
I participate in an on-line Bible Study that has been working through the characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit. We are spending two weeks on each sweet Spirit inspired attribute, and I am feeling more than a little convicted.
Life Application Bible notes say this about verses 22 and 23: The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ.
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My Bible reading this morning was chapter 37 of Ezekiel, where God takes Ezekiel to the middle of a valley filled with “dry bones.”
Evidently, they had been there a while because Ezekiel notes that they are “very dry.” Then God asks him:
“Son of man, can these bones live?”
The thought that popped into my head was “No,” even though I have read this account dozens of times.
How often do we do that? We look at our current circumstances and say “No” to God. We are frustrated and discouraged and we think:
My marriage is never going to get better.
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I wish I could say that there is no truth to the saying, “If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” However, I remember more times than I would like to mention the influence my mood has had on my entire family.
A specific time was during the years my dear husband and I suffered with secondary infertility. That longing for another child would translate into several days of mourning each and every month. Many vacation days, family days, holidays, and even just your everyday-normal-days were affected by my sadness. I have since asked for my family’s forgiveness, and they have been wonderful in extending their love, forgiveness and encouragement.
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