Thou Shalt Not Murder

 

As a general rule, I do not comment on news events happening in our world. This post is an exception.

Earlier this winter, a man was killed in New York City. He was there for a meeting. His purpose was to speak at the gathering.

Instead, he was shot down from behind, in the back, and immediately died. He was an executive of a health insurance company. He was a son, a husband and a father of two sons.

I heard of people accessing social media who seem to say that the perpetrator did something admirable. Lately, I have not gone on social media for very long.

As I sat one recent evening, watching a late-night news program, the scripture verse came to me, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13 {NKJV})

In all the aftermath, I did not hear anyone even refer to this commandment from God. Have the people of our nation and those who keep us informed forgotten this message?

Yes, my first thought was the young man may have had personal issues with the company. However. That was not the case. Neither he nor his family had any dealings with that company.

 

God had a reason for telling Moses, “Thou shall not kill”; any time someone is killed, the very act causes anguish for two families, as well as close friends, of both parties involved.

We can only pray that God can reach those who encourage violence to look to Him instead of taking things intot their own hands.

Thoughts on Prayer

 

I have been reading about prayer for some time. I ran across a quote that speaks to my heart, “Sometimes we think prayer is a way to get what we want. Prayer is actually a way to get closer to God.” {Oswald Chambers}

The Best Way to Pray

Several years ago, I was on a prayer chain at the church we were in. We would receive some requests that were quite serious. Sometimes my response was “How can we pray for that need?” The lady on the other end of the phone always said, “The Lord’s will.”

I have thought about her response many times since and have realized two things. First, that’s what God wants us to do. Jesus prayed at Gethsemane that God’s will be done rather than His. {If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, not as I will but as You.  Matthew 26:39 {NKJV}} Secondly, when we pray for God’s will over ours, we allow God to display His power and His might for all to see.

Seeing God at Work

In our church, we have seen God at work. January 29,2024, a call went out from the church office that our pastor was taken to the ER by his wife and was admitted to ICU. We found out later that week that he had suffered a stoke. It has been a year of prayer and trusting the Lord for his family and for our church.

On the third Sunday of January 2025, the pastor’s wife spoke. Pastor Rick has chosen to retire. This did not surprise me or those that I have talked to about it. Due to the weather forecast for our region and a few reasons of our health, I chose to stay home. One thing I heard that Pastor’s wife said was that she had been told that medically speaking, our pastor should not be alive. She decided that He was still with us due to prayer.

At present, Pastor Rick is in a hospital in a neighboring city. He has has one set back after another. Please pray for them and for our church as we begin to search for a new pastor.

A New Year, A New Word

 Due to being ill and not feeling well before Christmas, I did not choose to be on my computer until this week. On December 20,2024, I was diagnosed with COVID. I have never been so sick in my entire life. Husband also has not been well. We saw our son this week for the first time since October. Part of that was because of the weather.

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Can you believe it? We are living in a brand-new year! Along with this being a new year,

it is also a time for me to announce my Word or 2025. My word for this year is FAITH. Again, God chose this word for me.

Again, I have repeatedly seen this word in my reading.

Faith in the New Year

For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘ Move from here to there,’ and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20 (NKJV)

As I sit here at the beginning of a new year, I have to remember that I need to have faith in God in order to get through the next months.

As I sit here and listen to or read the news, I see more and more struggles of God’s children. Governments are in disarray,

misunderstood tragic plane crashes,

the wild fires in California,

things in general are not as we would like them to be.

The plane crash in the Potomac

As I update this;, readying it for publishing, I am reminded of the funeral dinners our church has prepared since New Years. Here it is the end of January and we have prepared three and received a request to prepare another on two days from now.

I know my faith will be tested. I also know that it will grow.

November Reflections

 

A Busy Month

November was a rather busy month. Or Anniversary was in this month. We had to pay property taxes, due right after our anniversary. I had a wellness visit and then a follow-up medical check-up and our church had it’s Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, Thanksgiving, and our son was planning coming in on the weekend immediately following the holiday.

I had a goal of getting my house cleaned up. I operate under the thought that it will wait for me when I get around to it. I really did want to get things looking better. I hope to do better with this issue of my life.

Thinking about 2025

I have chosen to plan for 2025 somewhat early this fall, but not really. This is December and that means we have a few weeks to get ready for Christmas and then the upcoming year. I hae already chosen my word for the year. ( I will reveal it in early January,)

Thanksgiving Plans

Our Thanksgiving plans got changed and then changed back and changed again. Long story short- the weather was not our friend. On Thanksgiving Day, Hubby and I were by ourselves, as planned. We decided to have spaghetti for our meal. The night before,I had made taco meat. We used the left-over meat in our sauce and it made a very tasty meal.

The weather here was more like the end of January than the end of November. He had purchased a big ham. On Saturday, we had ham, roma green beans, whole kernel corn, and candied sweet potatoes. Roger decided not to venture out on the roads de to the weather forecast. He has said he would be here this next weekend.

Prayers Please

I feel the need to truly search for outlets for my writing. I get discouraged so easily when I search for Christian markets. I believe I am conservative and traditional in my outlook. I want to do what God wants for me.

Trusting God

 

Grace Evangelical Society

Trust God with all your heart and lean not to your understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

I have learned something by focusing on “trust” this year. Earlier this month, my husband told me he was going to do something that he was not going to change because of how he felt about an issue that could affect the way a lot of us will have to live. I did not agree with what he said but I knew it would not do me any good to bring up the fallacy of his thinking. By almost the end of this month, he changed his mind about what he proposed not to do.

All I could do was give thanks to God for letting me not say my piece and allowing God to work on this issue.

At one time, I would have tried to stand my ground. That only would cause more issues between us, God took care of the issue that Hubby had. I can only say that this was proof to me that we CAN trust God with things that we don’t understand or don’t like. Believers CAN wait on God to work things out to His plan.

I am thankful to God for this great lesson He taught me.

Imperfect People, Forgiven People

 

if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

In this scripture passage, God gives us a path to reach Him. Let’s look at that path and see where it leads us.

God tells Solomon that those who are called by His name are to HUMBLE THEMSELVES first. In order to do this we have to admit that we are NOT perfect. Only God is perfect.

If we slip up and say bad things (words, thoughts, or phrases), or if we do hurtful things to others, we have to ADMIT them to Him and ASK FORGIVENESS. By doing this we tell God that we know or thought or action was wrong and that we are sorry for our behavior, That means we MUST present ourselves before Him with clean hearts.

He then tells Solomon that we are to SEEK HIS FACE. What does this mean? I take it to mean that we are to search for God and pray, no matter how long it takes. We are to spend Quantity time with God in prayer; get to know Him. This requires spending time in prayer and not praying “on the run.”

Next, God tells Solomon, and us, we need to REPENT, to turn away from our evil, sinful, and wicked ways. We are to turn completely around and get away from those influences that cause us to disobey His Word.

God then tells Solomon that when believers do these four things, God will HEAR OUR PRAYERS, FORGIVE OUR SINS, and HEAL OUR LANDS.

As I sit here in my living room, I think of all the nations that are entrenched in war. I think of all the threats to yet other nations.

All we can do is pray and ask God to forgive us of our past sins and seek His guidance during these upcoming days.

What Are You Thankful For?

 

                                Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, 

                                with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 

                                                                                                            Philippians 4:6

Have you ever kept a Thankfulness Journal? I have in the past. I believe I am going to again for 2025. Sometimes, we take things for granted that God has given us. Ann Voskamp wrote a book about her learning about Jesus by following a friend’s suggestion and listing three things she was thankful for each day.

When I did it before, I had to be alert and look for things that I could record in my journal. I found myself giving thanks to God for things that, at one time, I took for granted. When I pray, there are times when I find myself giving thanks to God for the simple things that a lot of people take for granted.

I write this post on Thanksgiving Day. My list of items for which I am thankful is very special to me. Just yesterday, I received a call from a lady who asked me if I would be interested in filling a position that she needs to vacate on a district prayer network that I represent our local church on. I am honored that the lady over her has remembered me. After talking with my husband, I have decided not to accept the position.