Reflections: Strong Hearts

Hello Everyone, 

I wrote this quite some time ago, and thought it would be a good reflection post for you all to read.  I know when I wrote it I was very encouraged by what I felt God had given me through it :-)

It's just some thoughts I jotted down when I wrote it about some scripture that I felt had spoken to me, I still have yet to decide if it will be turned into a devotional blog... Let me know your thoughts...

Phil. 4:4-7

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Rejoice in the Lord; 

• God wants us to rejoice in HIM with every moment we are given. We have Good moments and we have bad moments and God deserves them all.
• He wants us to praise HIM in every aspect of our lives and with all our heart.
• He wants us to strive to enjoy life to the best of our abilities

Do Not Be Anxious;

• To worry is to display a lack of confidence in God’s care and control in our lives.
• When we worry, it’s almost like we put a wall up between us and God, and that never helps, I know.
• We should work towards giving our hearts completely to God. We do that by daily saying Lord take my heart and make it yours, take my life and let it be as the song say’s.

Let the Peace of God guard your hearts;

• God’s love for us transcends everything else in the world; HIS love is what saves us in the first place.
• The peace of God is a part of who God is and ultimately a part of who we are in HIM. Amazingly, God offers us HIS peace so that our hearts can be a peace.
• Many of us have struggles, but when we let HIM, God can give us peace even in the strongest of storms.  He wants us to have a strong heart. 
• We can accept this peace if we want to, by simply putting into practice the things in verse 4. It’s not always easy but it’s not impossible.

Closing thoughts

• When we apply these three steps in our Walk with the Lord things begin to change. While we still have things we have to struggle with on a daily basis, our hearts are stronger because of what we are working towards. 
• By rejoicing in the Lord our hearts become happy, by not being anxious we open our hearts to Gods leading, and by let the peace of Christ take its place in our hearts we can overcome just about anything that comes our way

Closing Verse- 1 Thes. 3:13 520313

 “May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all HIS Holy Ones.”

God wants us all to have Strong Hearts, think about that as you go about your day to day, give to him your hearts deepest desire and see what happens.

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

Embrace little Reminders- Our Story; Gods Glory

Greetings Everyone, 

The summer is finally over here in Tucson and I am really looking forward to seeing God move in the months to come.

Today I thought I'd write another post on my series Our Story: Gods Glory. I actually gave my last ‘conversation’ titled “Jesus O Jesus” in this series just about a week ago (My Salvation Army friends will know where that came from.) I really felt Gods presence in what I was able to share with the congregation.

Don't worry though God has brought me some much more to bring to you. I will be posting on this topic for quite some time :-). 

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fully embrace Gods Glory in your life?  I know I have pondered this for most of my life as a Christian believer and to be honest I don't know if I ever truly had the answer for my own life until I began my work on this series.

If my first 'conversation' with the church this summer titled “For the Glory” I spoke about how changing little things in our lives can help us reveal Gods Glory in our own lives. I asked the congregation this question...

"What do you give God credit for in your life?"

 I connected that with the big things and the little things in life. In preparations for this first 'conversation', I found some things I personally needed to look at in my own life that have really opened my eyes to seeing more of Gods Glory in life. I shared some of these things with everyone and then asked everyone think about something for a moment…

"What if instead of teaching our children to say things like 'I tied my shoe' or 'I got a really good grade' we taught them to say 'God helped me tie my shoe' or 'God helped me get a good grade'.

What if instead of saying things like 'I found the love of my life' or 'I got the best job in the world' we said things like 'God blessed me with the love of my life' or 'God blessed me with the best job in the world.'

What if instead of saying things like 'look at the legacy i have left in my family' or 'I won the senior adult bingo game', we said 'look at the legacy God has placed upon this earth' or 'God gave me the big win'. LOL."

That last one got some pretty good laughs :-). 

When I asked these things, I also challenged everyone to think about their own lives and ask themselves, "Are there little things like this that I can use to remind myself to give God credit more often?” I know asking myself that question as really insightful. 

Asking ourselves questions like these, help us understand more of Gods role in our lives.  They can help us see where God is in each of our lives. I have often heard people refer to something called “God Sightings.” It is actually a very popular thing in VBS programs as well as Sunday school curriculum's. 

Basically what it teaches is the same concept that I’m talking about in this post.  It encourages us to take a look at our own lives and ask ourselves “Where is God in this situation?” and helps us understand the revelation of Gods Glory in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. Gods Glory isn't just revealed in the creation around us or even the wonderful miracles that take place. Gods Glory can be revealed to us and those around us through the little reminders he blesses us with each day.

So here is my challenge for you today, ask yourself…

Where can I strive to see the revelation of Gods Glory in my life today?

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.