Thorn in our flesh

In the Bible we find the old familiar story of Paul and how he was given a "thorn in flesh as a messenger of Satan to buffet him lest he be exalted above measure." Several times he pleaded with God to remove this so called thorn. I don't know if God answered Him each of the three times he pleaded with Him but what He did finally answer put an end to the pleading.

 

God told him in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficent for you. For My strength is made perfect in weakness." It was an answer that was good enough for Paul and it needs to be good enough for us. It doesn't matter what Paul's thorn was nor does it matter what we would consider our thorn in flesh. Big or small, been there the longest or the shortest amount of time doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that God's grace is sufficent for us.

 

In preparing for rain (an answer to my prayer) as I've been talking about one of the best way I can do that is to work on my relationship with God. To live my faith and act it out in my attitude. I need to stay strong in the Lord, not in myself. Believe it or not the thorn in our flesh is there for God's use and our benefit. It's used to get our attention, to humble us, to teach us how to trust, follow, and have faith in God.  Too often we thank God for the roses (good things, blessings, etc) but we don't thank Him for the thorns when we really should. It's the thorns not the roses that do so much for us in spite of the pain they can cause and the struggles they create.

The thorns create storms in our lives and we need to use these moments for the betterment of our person instead of for an opportunity to grumble. Storms show us where the lose shutters are, the missing shingles, and the other things needed to be corrected before the next big storm hits.

We need to make God enough in our lives. We need to know and accept the fact that He is sufficent. In order to do so we need to come to the end of ourselves and surrender all we have to Him. Surrender our pain, our loneliness, our attitude, our time, efforts, and whatever else that has our fingerprints all over it.

God is sufficent. We need to believe that and live it out daily. In preparation for my rain (answer to my prayer) I need to keep my focus on God and know that He will come through for me. It may not be the answer I'm seeking but it will be sufficent to what God wants in my life and in the life of the individuals around me.

 Praise the Lord the thorn God has inflicted in our flesh is not there for our torture but for our teaching. Self-inflicted thorns are a totally different story, a totally different outcome.

Prepare for Rain

In the movie Facing Giants a mentor to the coach one day told him a story about two people praying for rain. One person prepared for the rain he was asking while the other did nothing but wait to see if his prayer was going to be answered. The mentor then asked the coach, " so who had more faith?"

The one who prepared for God to answer had the most faith. I want to prepare as well for my prayer of deliverance to be answered. This morning I thought about how I could do this preparation. In thinking about deliverance I thought about what I would act like if I had received the deliverance I had requested.

I must say I would be really excited, I would have a tremendous feeling of hope and anticipation. I would have a renewed strength to be able to go on. I would feel a great peace as if a burden had been removed from my shoulders.

In my preparation for "my rain" which would be deliverance from the affects of something that speaks negative harsh words, lives off bitterness, anger, and breeds a lot of insecurities and loneliness. Instead of fearing what is around every corner I'm going to be excited  that deliverance is coming. Instead of feeling an anger, hurt, and pain inside I'm going to feel the joy and peace that is to come knowing God's cares and He will deliver me.

His deliverance may take time but that is okay. Everything will work out according His glory and will and for the benefit of all involved. Praise the Lord we have a God who cares.

Get out your umbrella and prepare for rain!

Storms

Storms are a funny thing. When we are going thru them we can't wait until they are over. Once they are gone they seem to be the one thing we find ourselves bringing up time and time again to talk about it. As much as we would hate to admit it, storms are a necessary part of life. They strengthen us, they cause us to rely on God more, they humble us, they teach us how to survive, and how to trust in the one who calms the storms.

 

The tough part with me is the fact that it seems like you just get thru one storm when another one hits. Its not for us to question why this happens this way. Ours is to hang on, trust God, and learn all we can in order to use it for the next storm that may come along. We don't need to fear the storms but trust the captain of our ship, Jesus Christ to see us through.

 

Nothing lasts forever no matter what it feels like, the storms will pass and left behind will either be the damage the storm caused because we didn't do our part in trusting God. Or left behind will be stronger roots into our souls giving us the ability to stand up to anything life happens to throw our way.

 

Praying for Others

Tonight I set aside my own needs as I lift before God my niece Stephanie and my sister Juli. Fighting seizures most of her life my niece's journey goes on. Hoping for an end to the uncontrolled seizures she's been having the end has been temporarily postponed. Burdened with disappointment yet filled with anticipation as well for the future I pray for both of them tonight that God will comfort their weary souls and renew their strength that they will both wake up afresh and ready to face a new day.

It's been a long journey for the both of you and I just wanted you to know that I continue to travel beside you. Me and all your many other cheerleader prayer warriors lifting you up in prayer and spirit. Stay strong, keep moving forward, and exercise your faith and trust in God knowing He will never leave you nor forsake you.

These prayer candles in this picture tonight I lite for the two of you. As I kneel upon my prayer pillow my heart and love goes out to you. The best I can say and demonstarte is that you will trust in the Lord with all your hearts and lean not onto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

The road continues and so does God's love for you and my love for you too.

Luv,

Karen, sister and aunt

Chained or Unchained

In the Bible there is a scripture that talks about how it is for freedom that Christ set us free. Unfortunately people have taken that scripture and twisted it out of portion. They like the thought of being free because to them it’s a freedom to do whatever they want. They think being associated with Christ takes away their freedom instead of giving it to them. Having Christ in their lives means they can’t smoke, drink, cheat on their spouse, hate someone, lust after another, worship whatever god they want to, lie on their resumes, over eat, under achieve, cheat on final exams, speak what they want or say what they want and the list goes on.

 The problem is we think we understand captivity and we think we know what it’s like to be free. However, it's amazing what we allow to bind us up and hinder us from being truly free. We walk around demanding our right to be free yet our actions dictate otherwise. How we live our lives and the fact that we are held captive by so many influences paints a picture of being bound by self-installed chains. Our love of money, our addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, and food all bind us in the chains of those afflictions replacing a freedom available to all. 

Think about it, being addicted to something whether it’s smoking, drinking, drugs, food, or gambling or whatever is anything but a freedom. Yes, we had the freedom to choose to do those things but after that what about them is free? Is getting lung cancer from smoking being free? Having a heart attack from being overweight is that being free? Having to steal and do all sorts of things to feed a drug habit is that being free? Being influenced by alcohol and wasting your body away one drink at a time is that being free? No, they are anything but true freedom they are a path to captivity. It’s bondage to a substance that has us under its control in spite of those who say, “Oh I can quit anytime.” Then do it!

 The freedom to choose to have Christ in our lives stays that way, a true freedom. It’s a freedom from bitterness, anger, selfishness, greed, hatred, inner turmoil, stress, and being under the control of other elements of life other than ourselves and Christ. Christ came to set us free yet we continue to live within the captivity of our actions and attitude. Why is that?  It doesn't have to be that way if we just would just turn our lives over to Christ. We don't need to be held hostage by alcohol, tobacco, food, or emotions if we don't want to be. I was told once by a friend that if I wanted to lose weight, truly loses weight I would do it. I was insulted. She was crazy I wanted to lose weight but I just couldn't do it. It took me awhile but I found out she was right. As much as I said I wanted to lose weight my addiction to food was stronger and greater. I wasn't willing to give up what I loved so much to do and that was eat.

Another problem we have is having the wrong idea of what freedom is. Too often people look at freedom as an excuse to run wild and do whatever they want at any cost. Little do they know that eventually what happens is they bind themselves up worse in the long run taking away what they thought they were fighting for, their freedom.

We need to appreciate the freedoms we have for what they are. In the United States we have enjoyed our freedom for over 200 years. Unfortunately people are beginning to forget what that freedom means to us and what it is exactly our founding fathers set up for us. Little by little we are beginning to bind ourselves up with our own chains.

It would do us well to get a taste of the freedom Christ supplies for us that takes us away from the captivity of sin and rewards us with eternal life and everlasting peace with Him. This kind of freedom is hard to find and shouldn't be taken lightly.

The choice becomes ours. God has given us that freedom to choose. We just need to remember for every choice we make there are consequences both good and bad. Think before you leap, consider what’s ahead and proceed with caution, faith, and trust in God our source of true freedom.

In other words, the chains we feel are not from God they are installed by our own choices. The sooner we own up to that fact that sooner we can get them removed thanks to God.

Chained or unchained, there is no choice that falls between the two. We are either free or bound, chained or unchained. When we fall alive into eternity it’s going to make a difference.

© 2012 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Publishing      Journey On Our Knees

***The picture I used today was painted by our youth minister at the church, Darin Hollingsworth. Thanks Darin! Job well done.

Bend in the Road

As I travel to town daily to go to work I go around a bend in the road that was nicknamed “Dead man’s corner” many years ago. Over a long period of time it earned that name because of the people who were killed there. This includes the drunk driver that hit my husband, brother, and their best friend. It was on this corner that as I came into it I found my adopted granddaughter and her mom sitting on the side of the hill waiting for a ride to rescue them from the car troubles they were having. I picked them up and took them home, the car was rescued later.

Life is full of bends in the roads. As much as we would like to travel from Point A to Point B with the straightest of all road it doesn’t work that way. Funny thing about a straight road, they can be boring which makes the journey appear to be longer than it really is.

The bends in the roads we encounter can come from situations such as being diagnosed with cancer, told your spouse wants a divorce, troubles with raising kids, problems at work, and so much more. These are all disruptive moments that come up in our lives that we need to be prepared to handle.

Unless you are familiar with the road you don’t know what is around the bend. We trust in the road department that they don’t have some surprise on the other side. We trust that the road is built well enough that we can get through to where we want to go.

With life’s situations that create bends in our roads we need to trust God as our road department that He knows what He’s doing. That the road we are traveling won’t end up in a surprise on the other side.

When traveling in a car we are taught to have some kind of provisions tucked away in case something happens. And trust me things can happen such as flat tires, dead batteries, trees blocking the roads, lost drivers and so much more. In our spiritual journey we need to be prepared to take with us the provisions God supplies through His grace, mercy, strength, and wisdom.

The bends in the roads we encounter don’t have to earn the nickname “dead man’s corner.” How we handle the situations we come up upon will determine whether we will live through them or allow our spirit to die there and go no further.

Years ago with my epilepsy I once had it created a very big bend in my road. I was declared disabled, lost my job, my driver’s license was taken away, I was told to never have kids all in the span of the first month or two of my new marriage. Many times thanks to pity parties and discouraging moments I stopped on the side of the road and wanted to quit. It was there that I wanted to die but God wouldn’t let me. Little did I know at the time he was traveling with me through these bends, he was the one that rounded the corner and found me sitting on the hillside as He asked me if I needed a ride.

Praise the Lord we have God with us during these moments. We should never doubt that. Just because He is there doesn’t guarantee us smooth sailing, what His promise is, is a safe landing on the other side.

As I travel into the next bend in my road with cancer I’m glad God is still with me. The hard times I face are not punishment for bad behavior from yesterday but for blessings in my future to learn what I need to learn in the classroom of hard knocks. My teacher travels with me, on my spiritual car I’m traveling in I hang up a sign on the trunk that says, “Student driver. How’s my driving? Call Jesus.”