For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  2 Tim 1:7


   Rejoice in expectation:  the hope of heaven is more wonderful than we can fathom and if we suffer righteously during this life, God will use even that to shower us w/ blessings.


   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things, there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23


   I'm reading several good non-fiction Christian books now.  My church is doing "Crazy Love" together (great book).  A few of us are reading "The Disciple of Grace" and I'm reading "Crave" and a few books about the "Moral Compass" and the "Addictive Personality."  My addictive personality has landed on food for the last few years and I've really struggled with using sugar products for comfort.  I'm one of the leaders in a "Chemical Recovery" group at my church and haven't smoked in 10 years and gave up pain meds as well.  It was recommended by another leader that I write another journal and attend an OA meeting (overeaters anonymous).  The 12 steps and others with the same challenges will be good for me...9:00 a.m.  Sugar does serious damage to my health and I need to finally and completely surrender it to God and realize I'm out of control...steps 1 and 2.  We'll see what happens because on my own, I failed again this week. There are two great sisters in our Fredrick church who have given up sugar.  I need to talk with them, too.
   Have a blessed day, breathe deeply, relax, and give your worries to the Lord.

Fransoddsandends: Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their stre...

Fransoddsandends: Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their stre...: Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow w...

 Those who wait on the Lord 

shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not grow weary.

They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:30

Still taking pictures from my art journal

and words of encouragement I wrote in the little book I made myself in a time of great discouragement and depression.  I love this verse.  It really helps me especially as I get older but I'm going to start exercising again, today.  I always walk my dog but today I'll ride my bike and do my back/ab strengtheners and stretches.  That makes a huge difference in how I feel physically and emotionally.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 5:10




   Jesus goes on to say in the next verse, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
   This is the hardest of the beatitudes for me.  Sometimes, others think I take my christianity too far but I've never been truly persecuted for it.  We live in a country where we, Christians,  enjoy freedom of religion but people of different religions are often badly treated.  In other countries, Christians continue to be persecuted, imprisoned, disowned by their families and even killed.  
   Would I deny Jesus in these situations?  My first and last reaction would be no but then I study Peter who swore he could never be capable of that and yet he did, 3 times.  I must test my faith and ponder my response and finally,  I can rejoice in what Jesus has revealed to me that enables me not just to exit but to truly live and rejoice in the power and joy of his resurrection.  Following Jesus has pulled me out of the pit of worldly sin and the casual sin that the world has come to accept.
   Would you still follow Jesus, if you were faced with torture, death, or family rejection?  Yes, I will but I hope I never have to face torture and death.  Many of us have already experienced family rejection because of our zeal and passion for following Jesus. But as I look at the world, I know that it is worth it. 

Blessed are the peace makers for they will be called sons (and daughters) of God.  Matthew 5:9


What would you put in the windows and door of this church?  I continue to study the beatitudes but my heart is challenged today.  I have envisioned children waving from these windows which is why I have a heart for teaching and writing for children.   And so I write,  even if no one reads, it helps me to cling to God and share his love no matter how I'm feeling today.

• Jesus said that we would have challenges in this life and wouldn't always understand.  God is beyond our understanding but if we trust him, we will have peace.  His loving hand is our anchor, Jesus, our salvation and the Bible and Holy Spirit our guide.
• "Jesus is Lord."  This surrender to Jesus will give us the assurance of God's help whatever hardship we face as we share his amazing message.  I have found the most valuable knowledge in the world, yet I struggle to share it.  I have felt so much rejection in my life.  Help me, Lord, to share anyway.
• Today, I wrestle with an addiction to sugar that I must conquer before I'm officially a diabetic and obese with a stroke or heart attack.  God calls me to care for the "temple" that he has given me and so, I need so much help in overcoming this addiction.  I must turn to God and my Christian friends for help and take this very, very seriously.  Yet, there are only 4 of us in the CR ministry of my county's church.  Why so few?  What's your addiction?  What do you turn to in times of anxiety and trouble?
• I've been feeling  deeply the grief of losing family and being misunderstood and rejected by them.    I loved, I cared and I tried to protect.  I offered help and it was rejected.  I tried to protect and was misunderstood.  Help me figure out what I did wrong and how to love and forgive despite how I've been hurt.
• I pray for  additional income (piano students and gigs) to support my retirement.  My health is better but I still have to make a schedule that I can handle and survive on.  
• I feel insecurity in the calling I have sensed from God to write, compose and record books and music for children.  "Who am I?"  I question my abilities, my character and sometimes my very sanity.  I love you Jesus.  Here I am, Lord, send me.  I'm listening.  

Mary, mother of Jesus

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."


   The only way I can be pure in heart is to allow the Holy Spirit to work in me.  I have repented and been baptized, so, now continuing to study the Bible helps me see Jesus as he was here on  earth.  To imitate Christ and to reveal him to others in my words and actions is not easy.  That's why he gave us the Holy Spirit when we chose to follow him.
   I know that "WWJD" is wide spread, but do we really know "what Jesus would do."  I read about him and study him.  I find his character from his words and deeds in the Bible.  i.e. He healed the sick, shared his love of God, fed the poor, cared for the widows, and he demonstrated obedience to God.  He never sinned.  He was gentle with the woman at the well and the adulteress but make no mistake, he told them what they must do, change.  He saw the hypocrites for what they were.  He wept........  
   I pray to have the same zeal and passion for the things Jesus cared about.  He never said that it would be easy but we have been given all the tools that we need. 
   His last words to us was to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them all that he taught.  (Matthew 28)  It sounds like the best answer for this crazy hurting world and I want to be one who works for that change.
   

"Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy."  Matthew 5:7

   Today, I think of a dear friend who's husband just up and left her and her three young children.  I won't presume to know what in the world he was thinking for Jesus calls me to have mercy.  But, I ache for his wife, left with 3 children and a broken heart.  Yes, I know that broken heart that feels like it will actually break and be torn from your body.  
   But, this friend loves God and has raised her children to love God.  She is beautiful and talented and even through her tears, she is strong in the Lord.  Her heart is good, soft and strong enough to not only raise her son and daughter but adopt a child with many needs and requiring patience, prayer and even more love.  She was strong enough to let the man she loved explore all his "boyish" dreams even when it meant staying home alone, waiting all night, long after her children were asleep.  
   She has a heart big enough for many, many friends that love her and ache for her, now in her need.  God, I know you will be merciful to that family and love them through it all.  I can't help but pray the hardest for her and her children even though he is so lost to think hormones and mid-life crisis mean "love."  No, staying with your family is love, the hard kind, the good kind, the kind that God gives us.  I hope he wakes up and realizes before it's too late that he's really going to regret this.  I pray that she will be greatly blessed and favored, Lord.  Hold her and love her and fill that place in the heart that only you can fill, anyway.