Walk on the Path...

One of my favorite verses in the Bible talks about the plans that the Lord has for us. How he plans to prosper, give us hope and a future. Yet, there are times I struggle with this same verse that I hold so dear to my heart. It is hard to understand the plans that God has when things in our life go sideways. When the path that we are on gets narrower and narrower to the point that you can bearly see the path amoung the weeds and grass. Yet, we keep traveling the path and struggle to see where it is going, we may wondert o the left and right a little to see if maybe that path vered off to the side and maybe we missed that turn. Yet, we come back to that path that is narrow and hard to follow because it is the path that we are to travel right now.

It is in this time of walking along that narrow path that we can find growth in who we are and in God also. It is now that we learn to rely on God. There are  no distinct markers on this path that we are following. There are no pebbles, cranberries, or any other markers along the way  and we have to have faith that we are walking in God's will and that he is truly in control of our lives. We continue on and move forward in all that we do, with the faith and trust in God our Father when things seem to be out of control and we are having a hard time on that narrow path of life. It is now that we lean on God for guidence, and strength that all is going to work out according to His will and His plan, even if right now we dont't understand that logic or the why behind what is happening in our lives.

It is in these times that we learn not only rely on God but to trust in Him more. He is there in the storms that we are facing, if we realize it or not, God is there with us. He promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us. This is not a promise that He makes to us only in joyous times, but in times of sorrow and we are struggling to understand the whys of life. God is there with us, and He wants us to reach out to help in and draw us closer to Him. He longs to have that deeper realtionship with us if we are willing to turn to him and run into his arms in our times of struggling, need and hurts. God is also there to rejoice with us in the end when storms are fading and the sun is peeking out through the clouds. It is in these times of growth that we excel in God.  There is joy coming in the morning, what morning we are not aways sure if it is tomorrow or another day, but that treemoundous joy of the Lord there just around the cornor, so hold on to God and cling to Him in these time.  Wait and listen to Lord, he is there and His joy is coming, and the rainbow is there waiting for you.

Joy in the Morning

Shattered into a million little pieces like a puzzle thrown into the air, and allowed to fall to the ground. Landing where they may and scattered about the room, and floor. Shattered and broken deep within is harder to deal with, a puzzle we can search for and put them together in time or all in one day. Yet, when our heart break, and is shattered we are not sure what to do or how to cope. It doesn't matter what caused all the pain, the result is the same, and broken heart and a soul that is longing for some sort of comfort within, not the physical comforts of the world. A kind hug may help and words of a freind can help carry us through, yet true healing comes from within the heart and soul.

The ultimate healing come when we are able to forgive the one that hurt us, and allow ourselves to feel the emotions that are hidden deep within our soul then true emotional healing will begin to flow. This healing starts and ends with our Lord and Savior Jesus. He is there to walk with you through all the emotional pain, he listens when we cry out to Him and say I hear you my child. He is there with you and not only hears us but comes to us in our times of need to comfort us and help us heal from the inside out. He helps us in sharing the wounds that are in us, that caused us to shatter into so many pieces that we don't even know where to start to put them back together. Jesus is there to help us gather the pieces of our lives, sort them and group them and help us slowly put the puzzle back together with His healing hand and touch.

Jesus not only helps us pick up the pieces to put them back together but hold them with glue, so we learn to rely on Him in our times on need. It can be emotional, physical, mental or any other pain that we go through in this life. Jesus's healing hands and His healing touch is there reaching out to us. He is there saying my child bring me your tear and sorrow. Bring me your hurts and pain, and I will take it from you. When we give it all to Jesus, we will find that the joy, true joy will come in the morning. His loving hands are there to hold and comfort us, to help in making our puzzle complete, and making us feel like we are truly whole again.

There is joy coming in the morning for all of those who are hurting. There is love, and comfort there on the other side, yet all we have to do is get to the other side. Once we arrive on the other side. The joy is there waiting for us on the other side, there is joy so full and wonderful that we just have to be willing to give the pain to our true Father. If we allow Jesus to come and heal us with His hands, His love and His comfort, we will hurt no more. If it rises up again all we do is call upon Him and He is there in a heartbeat because we are His Children and He love us for who  are are and where we are right now.  He is there in the midst of the storm, in the middle of the pain if we reach out to Him, He will come take our hand and walk with us, and heal our wounds and then the joy will come in the morning.

We are Broken....

Broken, shattered, and like puzzle pieces falling all around. We are broken inside and yet no one really knows, we hide the hurts, pain and push all the emotions down so we can show the world that we have it all together, yet the true self is falling apart all around. We take things day by day, and sometime hours by hour or even minute by minute when we are in the middle of a storm and are falling apart. We hide that pain, those emotions that we are afraid to share with others, fearing that they will see us as weak, or just wanting to sek attention from others. Yet all they want is to have hope, for things to be ok, that we are not ashamed of them for feeling this way.  Some say to just wait, hold out and you will be stronger on the other side, hold it all in, don't tell a soul how you feel. That we need to all carry our own burdens, and not rely on others.

This is so far from the truth, there is hope other there and people are there for you if you reach out to them. We all have wounds in this life, we all need others at some point. There is hope, strength and love there for those who are hurting. There is healing through Jesus. He wants to take that pain from you, He wants you to leave it at His feel and know that you are loved and He truly care for you where you are when you are hurting. His love is there reaching out, and all the shame and doubt that we carry can be gone from us if we are willing to let it go and give it all to God.

God is there in the middle of the tears, He knows the pain in your heart. He sees every trear that you shed. He is ther with total understanfding of what you are going through. He is ther and able to be found when we are wondering where God went, and starting to think that He has left us, when in reality he is stasnding there with open arms.  We are able to find find God when we seek Him out. He is there with us in prayer, worship, reading of His word, and when we reach out to others. Although at times it seems like He is so hard to find then we are to seek Him out though talking and sharing with Pastors and Priests. By sharing those hurst, shame, and deeps wounds they are able to show us that God is still there, that His healing is coming and there is joy coming in the morning. The Priests and Pastors  are there to help guides us in God's love, to show us and help us deal with all the deep hurts and pain, by helping us to see God, and see that there is hope there waiting for you to come to Jesus.

Christian Community?

WE all live in the world around us, there is the town, our neighborhood, the state, and most of all we all live in the USA. Our community is where we live, thrive and communicate with others on a daily bases. YEt, we never really think of those we come in contact with all that much; your child's teacher, the nurse who cares all dfay for others and puts themselfg on the back burner, the mailman, the checker at the local store, the cable guy that always comes at the last minute. They are all in our community, yet we very rarely take the time to say more then hello and proceed with our adgena for our day.

Yet, in our community as christians we have the greatest opportunity to reach out to others who are hurting, lost, and just looking for a friend at that moment. It is here in the community that we are able to make the greatest impact on others. We can reach out to them in small ways and it may be just what they need to make it through the day. A simple hello, touch on the shoulder, showing someone that someone out there sees their pain and that they are hurting can make the worlds of a difference to someone who is hurting.

We can talk to them, take time out of our day and share the love of Christ with them. Showing them that their is hope in the world, that they really matter to someone, and that the church, God and you actually care about them as a person. They are valuable to you even if it is in a small way they matter. The world and community would change if they walked away for good, because they feel that no one really cares about them or their pain.

It is in this pain, that we are looking for something more, something or someone to say that it is going to be ok. That touch from others, a word of hope, faith in them and knowing that we are worthy of God's love no matter what is going on in our lives at that moment or what we have done in the past. God loves us, forgives us and no longer remember the sins of old. Rather, He see us as his precious children. His love is there extending to us, if we are willing to accept it. His compassion is there, there is hope for those who are hurting, wounded and lost, it is there in the arms of Jesus. If we run to time in these lowly times He comes running to us with open arms saying son/daughter I am here, I will never leave you nor forsake you. That he loves beyond anything we could ever imagine. That Jesus cares for us and is there if we are willing to go to him in times of need.

We have the ability to share Jesus, God's love and his ultimate peace with others through our words and actions in the community. By reaching out to other we are allowing God to work through us and help all of those who are hurting.

Words of the Heart............

It is a matter of fact that so much of our lives revolve around words that we speak. Not only the words that we say to others, but think in our minds about others and the thoughts that we have at the moment. We also need to consider the words we say to ourselves. Self talk is key, what do we say to ourselves, what do we think of who we are and what we are in this world, along with our self esteem. Words play a big part in who we are as we develop, we learn language as an infant and expound upon those few key words into a vocabulary that expands and grown until the day we die.

Words are there in all aspects of our lives, from the moment we learn to talk. They help us in forming relationships as we grow. The words we use with others are spoken with different tone and pitch in our voice to reflect feelings and raw emotions. Words are able to do so much for the soul, yet they are able to hurt and harm us in so many ways. We have to use caution in the words that we speak to others and watch what and how we talk to them. 

Words are very powerful, it is said that it takes ten good things to replace one bad thought or sentence that we heard. So imagine hearing something bad, and it goes to our heart and hurts us or wounds us in some manner, to undo that we have to be told ten good things to undo that damage that one little word or statement. Some words have deeper meanings then others, but all are able to help or harm us.

God talks about the words that we use in our daily life.  That the words we use are the meditations of our heart. He says that we are to guard our tongue, to watch what we say, not only to others but in our self talk as well. Our thoughts are to be on Him as we proceed throughout the day, that from our lip we will speak praise to Him in the words that we speak and the actions of our daily lives. We as children of God are able to speak and bring healing to other by our faith and prayers.  That the righteous in God will speak of wisdom and justice to those that are around them. We are to be in fellowship with the Father and  we are to speak the matters of our heart.

That the Lord is near tho those that call upon Him, He will come to them in their time of need. When we call upon the Lord in Prayer, He listens to us as His children. He is there if we cry out to Him and ask for His presence. The Lord draws near to us as we come unto Him. By drawing nearer to God we are able to tame our words and speak the love of God to others through using the right words in conversation.  Our words are a reflection of what is in our Hearts.