My Thoughts and Reflections

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Psalm 86:5 (NRSV) If you are ever finding that you are in need of encouragement, begin with this verse in the Psalms!  It is so easy to get down on ourselves and to view life negatively.  Just when we are seeing success, "life" throws us the proverbial curve-ball and we are left to pick up the pieces or figure out how to live life with that new set of circumstances.   This verse tells reminds us of who God is.   The Lord, our God, is good!   How often do we blame God for the bad things that happen in our life?  We look up to heaven and shake our fists at God the moment we get a bill in the mail that is much higher than we were expecting or when someone dings our door in the parking lot and leaves without leaving a note.  God is not a God who takes delight in our suffering or in causing harm to us.  God is good and that is something...

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV) "Walk by the Spirit!"  What other command can we live by that guarantees that we will be doing exactly what God desires of us in life?  I cannot think of one!   If we walk by the Spirit, Paul tells us that we will not gratify the desires of our flesh.  These desires are the desires that stem from the sinful nature that we were born with and are constantly at battle with and they are completely opposite of what the Spirit desires for our lives.  So we're left with a big choice to make in our daily lives.   Will you choose to walk by the Spirit and obey God's will for your life or will you conduct your life according to your own sinful desire...

"You will seek me and find me  when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) How often do you find yourself seeking God, let alone with your whole heart?  I find that quite often, it is so easy to seek God on a part-time basis and call it good enough instead of seeking him with all of my heart.  However, I must confess, when I seek God only partly, giving him only some of my attention, I do not often find God! Just two verses after God promises that his plans for us are fully known by him and that they are for our benefit and give us hope, God continues to tell us that all we need to do to find him is to seek him with all of our hearts! If you have not taken the time yet today to seek God and to seek him with your whole heart, stop what you're doing and do it now!  When we orient our lives around seeking God instead of trying to "fit" God into our busy lives, we will set ourselves up to be living into the plans that God has for...