Final Exhortations

Philippians 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again :Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -if anything is praiseworthy -think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

God’s plan

I had stopped off at a local shop to pick up some wire fencing and ended up with three kittens. It was just before mothers day and I was in a rush to get these materials to finish up a job. One of the guys that was prepping the materials heard a noise and couldn’t find it, so he began a search. Inside a huge lawnmower box was three little kittens all cuddled up together obviously missing there mother. The man was going to have the animal shelter come and retrieve them but for some reason I jumped in and said,” I’ll take them.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, all I knew was that God gave me a soft spot in my heart for animals and that it would be ok. These kittens were so tiny, the size of a pill bottle, but looked much bigger with all the fluffy fur. I had asked the worker if they carried any milk bottles and he told me they were waiting on a shipment and it would be in a couple of days. When I picked the kittens up they were really cold, so I tucked them in my arm and drove to another shop that ended up not having any bottles either. The situation was getting harder and all I wanted to do was feed these hungry little guys. I remembered that I could use a syringe to feed them and was able to give them a little food, holding them off till the next day when they had their vet appointment. One of the kittens look really bad, had a cough, and didn’t want to eat which had me worried. My wife and I were at the vet the following day and the doctor was looking them over. When she got around to the sickest one she told us that this kitten wasn’t going to make it and needed to be put down. I was so devastated and was starting to tear up upon hearing that news, but was trying to hold it together. My wife looked at me and could see the pain in my eyes, the nurse and doctor were totally quiet, watching a 300 pound man sobbing over these kittens he only had for a day. I had prayed for these kittens the night before and that morning for God to help these babies and had high hopes that all would pull through. They put the kitten to sleep, gave medication to the others and made an appointment a couple of days later for the other two. We fed them, kept them warm and prayed, with everyone watching out for them until the next visit. One of them looked the same as the first and we knew that the results would be the same so we prepared ourselves for the bad news. Our predictions were correct and the second was put to sleep, this wasn’t as difficult as the first but it still hurt. The doctor did however have great news for the last one coming out with a clean bill of health, so we named her Grace. The veterinarian hospital didn’t charge us anything for any of the appointments or medications, Praise God. Now we have a perfectly healthy cat that is full grown and ornery, a perfect fit for our family, Amen. Sometimes we don’t always understand why God does this the way that He does, but we have to trust that He has a plan. Jeremiah 29:11,” For I know the plans I have for you,”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Tomorrow is not guaranteed

I have a huge problem with looking to far into the future, making up imaginary scenarios that I think will happen. The problem with doing this is that we are not living in the present and trusting God. It puts fear in our hearts that can damage our faith and that is exactly what the devil wants. James 4:13-14, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. These two verses are not saying that we can not make plans but to not look to far into our future. We need to trust in God not only daily but hourly and in every minute because we can parish at any given moment.

Strength sent from Heaven

Having a family member in the hospital suffering can be painful for anyone. We want to be the rock for that person and sometimes it can be extremely difficult to find the strength to hold it all together. I haven’t heard from my friend Karen for the better part of a week now because of her sister being in the hospital. When Karen isn’t tired from her stay at the hospital she will call, giving me an update on her sisters recovery. Her sister suffers from dimensia and just recently received a bad strain of the flu and pneumonia. Karen has been by her bedside day in and day out being a solid rock for her to lean on. God has blessed Karen in so many ways that I couldn’t even begin to explain, but a couple of those blessings are being patient and encouraging in times of trouble. She always has a smile on her face and thinks of what to say before saying it and I know this from being friends with her for so long. Whenever we go to the hospitals and pray for those who are sick and in need, she has this ease about her that you want to be around. God has given her the strength to comfort just about anyone and He will give you the strength if you will request it. Isaiah 40:29, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Heavenly Father thank you so much for working through Karen to be a beacon of light for her sister. We lift her sister to you this morning for quick healing Lord. We also lift Karen to you this morning, exchanging your yolk for her yolk because we know that yours is lighter. In Jesus precious name AMEN.

Take a time out

Busy, busy, busy, that word runs through my mind multiple times a day and is a word that frequently runs out of my mouth. I can be so busy in fact doing what I think is God’s works that I don’t take the time to be with Him, asking and listening to what He wants from me. That can be a slippery slope, leading me to do whatever I want, which is exactly what the devil wants. Take time to be with our Heavenly Father this morning and listen for His voice. Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Slow to speak

This is something that used to be so very hard for me and I still stumble with it once in a while. Being quick to say whatever came to mind was always easy for me, but the problem was that the words that came out weren’t thought out or even positive. Being quick to listen means that I needed to shut my mouth no matter how bad I want to spit something out. Slow to speak means that it gives my mind time to process what the Holy Spirit needs me to say. If we respond to quickly we can misinterpret something and maybe start to anger us. Take the time to follow these steps with someone today and you will be pleasantly surprised at the end result.