A New Year And A New Path To Follow!

Isa 43:16, 18-19 KJV; As you make plans for changes in the new year; include the will of God in those plans!

Listen To Him!

Stormy day on Huron Bay, U.P.

And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;

And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.

And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. 

                                                                                (Acts 27:18-24 KJV)

The sailors had not listened to Paul when he warned them that it was to dangerous to set sail. Now, in the midst of the raging storm that he'd warned them about, they are ready to listen. They ran their ship aground and ultimately their lives are spared. God is with them. He has plans for Paul. He wants Paul to stand trial before Caesar in order for him to testify about Jesus.

When we find ourselves in the midst of storms because we failed to heed the warnings about the direction that we were heading. It is not too late. Listen to God. Listen to where He would have you go and what He would have do. God has plans for you! He will do all to ensure that His plans are carried out. But, listen to Him!

God's Peace - Pr. J

A Good Plan

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jer 29:11 KJV)

Life can be pretty rough. We all go through hard times. But, for some people it seems as though the rough times never end and nothing good will ever come to them. But, the Lord has better plans for you than you can even begin to imagine. It begins with His love for you. It continues with your faith that His promises are true.

Trust Him. Listen to Him. Follow in the way that He has shown you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Plans for Future

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jer 29:11-13 NIV)

It is a relief to know that someone has plans for me. It is particularly good to know that it is our Father in heaven who does! Because; as of this moment, I do not have much of a plan for myself. 

Today, I will finish writing this and then get ready and go to Sunday School, Worship, and fellowship. After, that the list of possibilities is way too long to decide where to start and what to do. It is tax season and mine are sitting on my desk half done. I may need to go looking for a lost sheep today unless I hear from or about her. I could go visit family. I've been working on a butterfly garden for a young girl that I should get to work on. There is a house to clean and get ready to put on the market. There are just way too many options just for today. What about tomorrow and the next day? Should I retire completely? Where shall we live? Do we really need another home?

There are just way too many possibilities and I must confess it is troubling trying to figure out what the plan is. The only comfort in it all is that although I haven't got a clue; God does. He has a plan for my future and for all of you. It is a good plan; a plan to give us hope and a future.

Seek Him. Listen to Him! He is our hope and our future.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Happy Are They Whose God Is Lord

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
  he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
  the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
  the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.                                               Psalm 33:10-12 NRSV

Are we a happy people or not? Some days, yes. Many days, it seems as though, as a nation, we are not. There is way too much division and that division comes because, as a people, we do not listen or follow the will of the Lord. But, we must know that the Lord is God and His will will be done whether we listen, like it, or follow him or not. The further we pull away from him to do our own will, the less peace and joy we will know.

We can know the will of the Lord and we will all know it if we bother to listen to him. Happy would be the nation whose God is their Lord.

It is an absolute truth. The Lord reigns! Listen to his counsel!

God's Peace - Pr. J

If The Lord Wishes

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15 NRSV)

When I was first married, my husband insisted on not making long term plans. At least, if we did, he did not want anyone knowing about them. He didn't want anyone thinking that we failed at doing what we planned to do.

Forty some years later, he likes to plan. I suppose I would like to, as well. The problem is that I really don't know what I want to do and is what I want to do even feasible. We are not getting any younger. I am at retirement age and I'd like to do some traveling and enjoy some time together. But, the reality is that I have been working for 50 years and as much as I think I'd enjoy retirement, I think I would be pretty bored not having something that I am absolutely committed to do every day. Howard has retired twice and now works part-time just for something to do.

So, we have been making plans for what we ought to do beginning this summer. Is it time to do some traveling around this country? Or, should we just stay put? Who can tell! We don't even know what tomorrow will bring, let alone a day six months from now.

As my husband would say, "Whatever happens, happens." All we can really do is love the Lord and one another and live the life that God has given us one day at a time. God has a plan; a good plan.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Way And Wisdom Of God

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future. The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established. (Prov 19:20-21 NRSV)

We like to plan for the future; for the afternoon; for tomorrow; for what we will do when we grow old. We like to plan according to our own desires. We can come up with many plans. Some will be brought to fruition. Many plans will never be achieved.

To achieve those things that we want there usually has to be a path for us to follow. How will we get there? What steps shall we take? 

It is not expedient for us to get side-tracked on various other things. We must focus on the ultimate goal if we're even going to begin heading in the direction that we want to go. It does not help us to ignore the advice of those who have taken that same path and reached the goal. It is fool-hardy to think that we know better than those who have already succeeded and that we have no need of taking their advice. We can throw their advice under the bus; but, that will not get us any where except run down. It is also not wise to follow in the same ways of others whose journeys ended with them sinking in deep mire.

Most of all, it is fool-hardy to think that we do not have to follow the wisdom of God; we do not have to follow the path he has set before us; because, in the end it will not be our will be done; but, His. The purpose of the Lord will be established no matter what plans that we might have.

May God help us to learn to be still and actually listen to Him so that we may follow in the way that He would have us go.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Pupose

Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

    whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
    the Lord gives sight to the blind,

    the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The Lord reigns forever,

    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

                                               (Psalm 146 NIV)

I woke up this morning wondering, again, what the purpose of life really is. We are born. We live. We die. Life, here on earth, is so short! And... there is so much pain and suffering here in this world. The truth is the pain and suffering is mostly brought on by our own desires to be more than we are. It is brought on by our desire to be our own gods. We have a tendency to thing that we can actually achieve something worthwhile. The reality is, without God, there is nothing. Our plans will come to nothing. But, God has a plan... He has a plan because He loves you. We can't always know what that plan is. But, we can trust that He has one. He created us for a reason. We may not know what the reason is; but, we can be sure that whatever it is, He will not be deviating from the reason or the plan.  He will be faithful to it and to us.

Those who trust in His plans and not our own, praise the LORD all the days of their lives. They will find peace in the midst of the most confounded times. Praise the LORD! Praising the Lord is enough purpose for any of us. Praise the LORD; sing His praises as long as you shall live!

 God's Peace - Pr. J

Commit Your Work To The Lord

"Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." Psalm 16:3

I have always attempted to teach young people; whether they were my own or others whom I was responsible for teaching, to enjoy the work that they do. Work is inevitable. We must work to eat, to have shelter, to have warm clothing, and if you really must want a lot of nice things; you must really put a lot of effort into earning that "stuff." We spend a huge portion of our lives working so we may as well enjoy the work that we do. Making a game of doing house or yard chores and doing it together helps it to me more fun. Getting along with co-workers and your supervisors helps to keep stress out of the position you hold.

As young people begin planning for what kind of life-long career they would like to pursue, they ought to consider what it is that they will actually enjoy doing. Do you enjoy helping people? How about computers or working with animals? There are so many career choices in the world today, it is impossible to comprehend them all. Whatever it is you love to do; whatever talents that God has gifted you with; follow that path.

God has a plan for you. He calls you to serve him according to the gifts He gifts you. Whether it is a talent and desire to be a doctor or a hostess; God provides the opportunities to be trained in the way He would have you go. And... don't forget to commit your work to the Lord. Do all things well that they might glorify your Father in heaven. And... quit complaining! Learn to enjoy the work that the Lord has provided for you.

God's Peace - Pr. J

God's Will And Ways; Not Ours

To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

All a person’s ways seem pure to them,

    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
        and he will establish your plans.
The Lord works out everything to its proper end—

    even the wicked for a day of disaster.

                                        Proverbs 16:1-4 NIV

It seems like a good thing; even a wise thing, not to let our emotions control us. So often, I can feel my emotions rise to the surface. It takes a bit of self-discipline to slow them down, ignore my emotions and listen to what the LORD would have me do. Sometimes, my first instinct is to react rather than listen to God. That first instinct of listening to my heart and reacting has sometimes gotten me into a bit of trouble.

Most of us, at one time or another, have though that we needed to fix something for someone that we love as we see them hurting. Sometimes, we need to let well enough alone and let God fix them in His own way and His own time. Sometimes, we need to be quiet. Sometimes, we ought not do a thing except to pray that God's will be done and be there to listen to them and to God. And, when He tells us to do something, do it.

When responding or reacting to any given situation, it is wise to slow down and ask ourselves if our response is coming from the pride within our hearts or is it from our knowledge and/or wisdom of the LORD's will for us and others.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Listen to the Storm Warnings!

Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.  Acts 27:9-11 NIV

The sailors did not listen to Paul when he warned them that it was to dangerous to set sail. They set sail anyway and found themselves in the midst of the raging storm that Paul had warned them about. For days they were battered about. They threw their cargo overboard to keep from sinking. Finally, they are ready to listen to Paul. But, is it too late? They ran their ship aground, as he advised, and ultimately their lives are spared. God is with them. He has plans for Paul. He wants Paul to stand trial before Caesar in order for him to testify about Jesus to Caesar and the court..

When we find ourselves in the midst of storms because we failed to heed the warnings about the direction we were heading in, it is not too late. Listen to God. Listen to where He would have you go and what He would have do. God has plans for you! He will do all to ensure that His plans are carried out. But, you must listen to Him!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Bless That Which We Say And Think And Do

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart    
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
                                              (Psalm 19:14 NIV)

As we go through this day and all the days following let us consider if what comes out of our mouths is actually pleasing to the Lord. Would we dwell upon it; would we say it if God Almighty were standing next to us? He is, you know! He hears and see all things that we say and think and do. He knows if we are tearing up the Body of Christ. He knows if we are ripping apart His children. He also knows when we are lifting them up for His glory.

May the words of our lips and the meditations of our hearts; all that we say and think and do be acceptable in His sight at all times and in all places.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Trust His Plan For The Future

Some rebuilding required after Hurricane Matthew

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

The Israelites had been taken into captivity. Jeremiah wrote to them from Jerusalem. He sent them the word of the Lord. He encouraged to go on living in Babylon. Don't give up; build homes, grow your families; live life!  He promised that in all they had gone through and all that they would go through, God had a plan; a plan to give them hope and a future.

Sometimes, things get a whole lot worse than better. In order for us to be reconciled to our Father in heaven, there was a heavy price. His Son had to die for us. It was a dark day the day our Lord hung on the cross for us. But, without the events of that day, we would all still be living in permanent exile from our Father's Kingdom.

God has a plan; a good plan for His children. It doesn't always look or feel like it. We don't usually get to know the details of the plan. But, He is the master builder; after all, and has built for us a future that is more glorious than any of us can begin to fathom.

So no matter what happens that might cause you to feel like all is lost at times; trust Him, to build your life. Trust Him as you continue to live life in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J