2 Corinthians 3-4

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world”. Have you ever fought a spiritual war that was never ending? This warfare can be over just about anything and sometimes take you away from your walk with God. I am personally going through this right now. You feel spiritually empty and drained over things that are going wrong in your life and that there’s no way to fight it. No matter how hard that you pray, problems keep arising. We can get so angry with God that we yell at him or wonder what we had done wrong that God would punish us so. My current and ongoing problem is my body failing. I have always been a physical person. Wrestler, boxer, rugby, soccer, baseball, softball, powerlifter, body builder and swimmer. My body is paying the toll for my participation in these activities. My knees hurt so bad that it hurts to bend down to hug our daughter when she goes to school. My back is failing when I pick up items at work or home. The pain in the morning when I first wake up makes me want to throw up. I force my legs to work just to make it to the coffee pot and walk around trying to ignore it. Both my shoulders have had nasty tears in almost all the tendons and a nice bone spur was added. Being physical was always my go- to when helping others. I could pick up a refrigerator and place it into the back of a pickup and now I cannot pick myself up out of bed at times. To top it all off I’m unable to walk very far which I need to lose weight. I am almost 60 lbs overweight. This morning after my family left to go about their day I locked myself in our mud room. I cried so hard and yelled at God asking Him why I’m going through this. I know that there is a season for everything and all must endure but I still question why. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 explains it all. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a Time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a Time For Peace. I believe that God is going to build my body into something different. A time to be physically strong, a time to become weak. This is a hard tackle for me but I need to keep my faith and strength in God. I need to be humble and realize that I may no longer be super strong. God is going to make me so much stronger in a different way, I just need to trust in Him through the storm.

Is Your Attire Appropriate?

My husband had a procedure scheduled this morning at the surgery center. After Gary signed in, he said, with laughter in his voice ” I may not be dressed appropriately.” I smiled and laughed, I didn’t know there was a dress code for a colonoscopy. As I read the sign on the door, APPROPRIATE ATTIRE REQUIRED it brought to mind when we go to heaven we must wear the appropriate attire. It’s not how we beautify our outward appearance but how God adorns us inside out. Praise God, he clothes us with his righteousness and writes our name in the Lambs Book of Life.

Isaiah 61:10 NCV

The Lord makes me happy; all that I am rejoices in my God. He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels.

Matthew 6:3

I’m not sure about all of you out there but I love being recognized for good things that I’ve done. What God is asking us to do here in Matthew 6:3 is to give without others knowing. What does that look like? A few examples would be to pay for someone’s meal without sticking around for a pat on the back and an atta boy, or helping out in front of a large crowd for everyone to see. My wife and I love buying meals and sliding out the door unnoticed. My friend Karen and I lead a Bible study group for the Oakdale Rescue mission. The name of our group is, W.H.A.T., and that stands for, Without Human applause today. With Christmas fast approaching we are enlisting our group to participate in a silent meal giving. We will pack a full traditional Xmas meal with all the trimmings, a bag of groceries and sometimes cash and a stocking full of goodies. The way we do it, no one will ever know that they helped put this together. The person that knows is God, and they are storing that treasure up in heaven. If you would like to be a silent giver like God is asking us to be then please join me in prayer. Dear heavenly father thank you for another beautiful day thank you for the chance to be able to physically get up and go out and do the things you have set out for us to do. Heavenly Father please impress on our hearts how to be a silent Giver. Help us to get rid of our selfish nature and be a cheerful giver, in Jesus name amen.

Secret Giving!

www.bible.com/105/mat.6.3.ncv

Give to the needy the way God gives to you, in secret. God knows everything we do, and our motive for doing it. So when you do something for someone else, out of kindness, compassion and love, don’t call attention to yourself. Just do it quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way God, working behind the scenes provides your needs and helps you out.

Thank you Lord, for reminding us not to fall into bragging or prideful giving. Let our motivation always be love for others, just like you love us. Amen

Stay strong

Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” My work is seasonal and can be extremely burdensome through Thanksgiving and Christmas. We should be saving throughout the year but my wife and I make just enough to get by and have maybe a tiny bit extra. This little extra usually gets used up on life’s expenditures like car fix it’s or kids. Even though we own a couple businesses we don’t make a lot of money. We believe that everyone should be able to fix or beautify their home and not feel gouged when we are done with them. Keeping your faith through this time can feel exhausting and take forever for funds to come in. Every year our patience grows stronger and our faith strengthens. If you feel like it your finance won’t improve and you start doubting things will change, it’s because you are being tested by Satan. It is super important to stay close to God in prayer and include others. Often times we can feel ashamed that we can’t be the provider that we are meant to be. Remember that God ultimately is our provider and everything will work out. Humble yourself today, grab your spouse and kids even and kneel in prayer. Heavenly father, thank you for all that you have provided for our family. You know the financial burdens that we are in and place them in your hands. We trust that you will lead us through our troubled times and provide for all of our needs. Thank you for ALWAYS answering our prayers! In Jesus precious name AMEN.