by tascha
[day 11] pray for your husband: to find joy & peace IN God
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11
True Joy only comes from the Lord, and I want my husband to have this joy!
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22
There have been and will be again so many reasons to have a broken spirit in this life, but when our men can learn to rest in the Lord he can have a merry heart, which will bring peace and life into your home.
22-But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23- Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22,23
Let us pray for our husbands to rest in The Father
and find true joy and peace in the stress of life!
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11
True Joy only comes from the Lord, and I want my husband to have this joy!
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22
There have been and will be again so many reasons to have a broken spirit in this life, but when our men can learn to rest in the Lord he can have a merry heart, which will bring peace and life into your home.
22-But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23- Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22,23
Let us pray for our husbands to rest in The Father
and find true joy and peace in the stress of life!
by tascha
I am not lightning quick when I study through a book. I would say a snail’s pace describes me. 🙂
But, I am going to attempt to review a a thought or 2 from a few verses at a time… and there will be several references for looking up, if you choose.
The best way to explain Scripture is with other Scripture!
James 1:1-12
¶ 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
¶ 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
James is speaking to Jews. But he is also writing to CHRISTIANS… of which I am one. I pray you are also!
And he is starting with the basics… having Joy ~ facing trials ~ learning patience. {It’s a circle of events in my own life. 🙂 }
As a believer, my joy will not come from the circumstances around me.
It will not come from the people around me.
It will not even come –from inside me.
My joy will come from following God
–into and through the storms that rage.
And when I follow Him, there will arise temptations [1 Corinthians 10:13].
…count it all joy when ye fall… Count: to see the end of a matter. We must look ahead and… | when: KNOW it WILL happen
We will have need to rebuke one who desires to devour our very soul [1 Peter 5:8 & 9 | James 4:6-8].
…into divers temptations… diverse: various types- the devourer knows our weaknesses
We will have a fight on our hands…but God did not leave us defenseless! [Ephesians 6:10-18]
But it will be a JOY to us to have these temptations, these tempestuous times, because they work PATIENCE in us.
And Patience wishes to have HER way with us,
in completing a perfect work,
that will make us whole.
The devil wishes to devour our testimony so that we may not [or so we choose not to] serve GOD. Satan desires that we serve him. Satan uses our mistakes and folly to make us think we are no good for the Work of God.
But Patience… oh, sweet Patience, she wants to bring about perfectness in our hearts so that we lack nothing we need, thus bringing perfect Glory to our Savior.
My friends… rejoice in the difficulties that come... even when they arise from our own foolishness, because Patience works.
And God can cause ANYTHING bring Himself Glory, when we are following His call. [Romans 8:26-28 & 31]
[EDIT: if you click over here, I have this drawing available as a coloring page.]
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by tascha |
I cannot help but PRAISE THE LORD for HIS goodness!
Recently my family endured some unexpected and abrupt changes. In searching out God’s direction for us, we have listened to several different preachers in the last few months.
It has been amazing to have God teach me a truth personally and then go to a church service [or listen online] and have it re-iterated to me from a different persepective.
God is just GOOD like that!
One such truth is that….
God’s delays are NOT the same as God’s denials;
the IMPOSSIBLE is done in a DIVINE timing!
God knew what would happen. He knew why and allowed it.
{{Sometimes He allowes things that no one understands just to try our faith.}}
God has become more real to me in the last 6 months than I have ever known… and, honestly, I felt close to Him before that. I talked to Him daily, hourly, as if He were actually right there with me–since He is. 🙂
But I still occassionally worried about little things, like money 🙂 desiring more space for my kids to grow in our house, eating healthier… just little things, that require money.
Then we had no income.
Bam.
And there had never been ‘enough’ before, so there was no savings to fall on… we lived paycheck-to-paycheck, with God filling in the gaps… somehow… every month a miracle.
But God’s timing IS divine.
All that previous stretching pennies proved to me that He could take care of us…
And He did.
There is absolutely no way around saying that.
He —GOD ALMIGHTY—literally paid our bills for 4 months.
And this has brought Glory to Himself in our family!
And honestly, I have never felt MORE peace than I did those months.
I still feel it now…
Because HIS divine time has provided my husband with a new job.
HIS divine time has brought us to a new family of fellowship.
His divine time has introduced us to new friendships to develop.
His divine time has taught me that:
Jesus SPECIALIZES in the impossible!
by tascha
Illness has invaded our home. In the wake of Mommy being laid up… chaos ensues. Mini bodies are clothed and fed. I am praising my Lord for a dishwasher! But toys are scattered. Crumbs get smaller with each passage of pitter-patter through the house.
For the rest of the week everything will be washed with hot water and tea tree oil to kill some germs!
But what about the spirit that aches? -the Mommy-heart that hurts over canceled activities and a less-than-compassionate attitude that can take over when a body just feels… iiiuhhh.
While yet taking a break from typing this, as most posts take several “sit sessions” to complete, I rested, made yet another meal, and kept repeating… “what did you say?” over. and. over. and. over. and not always in a pleasant manner. {my ears a horribly stopped up}
While medicine and sleep can {usually} take care of the body, who or what can takes care of my soul?
Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing…girded me with gladness…to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalms 30:10-12
The Lord takes care of my soul. His mercies are new every. single. day. And they fail not. I ask for His joy… He makes my mourning to dance and lifts me with gladness.
When I allow a merry heart to take over {it does good like a medicine, you know}, or… as sometimes happens… I look for a merry heart, I begin to have my spirits raised and while my body still aches, my soul is lighter, happier… my face can have a smile amid cracked lips and a sinus pressure headache.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22
Some days all I need to find a merry heart is to STOP. and look at and listen to my children. With 4 around, someone is bound to be bringing amusement. I take an active role in playing with them, asking what they are playing… and that has yet to not lift my spirits.
Other days I think through our church members, browse my facebook friends for those who do not post very frequently…and look. actively seek out. someone who needs my prayer, or maybe a note. When I get outside of myself, I find a solace for my soul that is not there when I am focusing on me… even on my blessings.
So, while my body is still struggling {contemplating a doctor visit :(}, my soul has become lighter, healthier, more peaceful… because Jesus is said to be the Great Physician… and sometimes my soul needs more healing than my ill body.
by tascha |
Sundays are a little hectic. Usually I try not to schedule or allow anything that might take away from any calmness that might be found in getting ready for church services and praying for our Pastor. Thus, I did not get my post typed out yesterday for day 7.
But the Lord did speak to me…. {smiles}
one of the faces that makes my heart HAPPY!
There were several things that I wrote down in my notes from the messages yesterday. I want to share one with you.
The source of our strength… in those weak days {or any day!} is the Lord. A verse that popped in my mind was from Nehemiah where it says: the joy of the Lord is your strength.
I think this thought originated with what the preacher was saying {and I think he actually spoke of that verse}, but honestly, there are times my mind is triggered by something and I start having my own little service in my head for a few minutes… with verses and thoughts ministering to me… inside my head… {am I strange? does this happen to anyone else?}.
Regardless of where it originated, this thought encouraged me:
I often would think of this phrase in that verse in the context of
“God’s joy in my heart will give me the strength to face the day….”
But what if another way to think of it is equally true?
“When I do things that bring God joy,
I receive the strength I need to carry on.”
And this thought made me wonder about what I might do that brings God joy!!
Thinking about the parent/child relationship, I know my own children bring my heart joy when they
obey….
or when they
do right even when their friends do not…
or when they
just say the love me and give a hug… out-of-the-blue….
Is it possible those things bring my Heavenly Father joy, too?
Thus giving me strength to keep on going.
Thinking about the friend/lover relationship, I know my husband brings joy to my heart when he speaks up on my behalf…. {maybe I could speak of the Lord’s goodness}
when he tells me how much I mean to him {in prayer, I can praise God for who He is… simply because I know He loves me}
How about you!?
What sort of things do you think might bring Joy to the Lord in your life?
When you do those things, do you find that strength results? I know I do!
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by tascha |
You know the saying “Life is what happens after you make plans.”?
That was my day today. I had plans to “farm the kids out” {not really, just asked a trusted, sweet lady to keep them for the day}… so I could concentrate on some truly necessary things in our home that keep getting pushed further and further into {not onto, that would imply I’m still entertaining thoughts of them. haha} the back burner.
And then, last night, I heard a racking, hoarse cough coming from the girls’ room. I knew right away which one it was… my baby girl. Her congestion had finally settled, hard, right in her chest.
She woke up coughing… and crying, which made it worse. And made my momma-heart hurt.
But even amid the fatigue, the Lord gave me strength and brought certain things to my remembrance to help me help her. We got her coughing calmed down, and she went back to sleep for several hours… then it was time to get her sisters up for school.
A little while later, the baby’s nasal drainage caused his tummy to not appreciate his breakfast… {but he jumped right back up to being his normal, happy little self… and we are all cleaned and disinfected. hehe}
All this to paint a backdrop for this one thought:
...[God’s] strength is made perfect in [my] weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9 [added]
While this has been a far cry from my “worst day ever,” life happened to bring me a day far different than I had planned. And because I know HIM... I can rest in His strength when days just don’t turn out the way I wanted.
edited: {not saying I always do rest in this strength, just that I can… and it is blessed}
I pray you can also find rest in His strength when life happens… after you make those plans {smiles}.
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Let’s connect on FACEBOOK!
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