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.

The Ingredients of Trust

 

We Have to Know God!

Trusting God is learned behavior. We trust someone because we know that person. We believe whatever that person tells us is true. We have to KNOW that God is always steadfast and can always be trusted by His children.

We Must Be Patient

When we give something to God in prayer, we must be patient and wait for Him to act. I love the King James word for patient-long-suffering. In the Bible Study I attend, a gentleman said something about trust. He then said trusting involves waiting. This gentleman is correct in his thinking, To totally, absolutely trust God, we have to wait for Him to work.

We Must Believe that He Will Act on Our Requests.

Trust also involves reliance on the Lord. We cannot say we trust Him and decide to “do it our way”. When we choose to go our own way with a project or a simple action, we tell Him, as well as those around us, that we do not truly follow Him and His leading.

Now, just because we ask Him for something, He might not answer our prayer as we would like. might not think we are ready for the answer we ask. He may have something better in store for us. Maybe His answer is “Yes”, maybe it is “No”. Maybe it is “Not right now!” Whatever His answer to our petitions, He knows best and acts on our behalf.

Listening to or Hearing God

The Lord came and stood there,

calling as at the other times,

“Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:10 (NIV)

Sometimes we hear words in our ears, hearts, or minds and dismiss them. Other times, we hear a thought in a sermon and decide it is meant for someone else.

We hear rain falling. We hear our children crying or are rejoicing but these are two different levels of hearing. We must intently listen to our loved ones as they speak of their sadness or happiness. They sometimes give us instruction that we need to heed.

In the Bible, Samuel hears a voice calling him. He runs to Eli and asks what Eli wanted with him. After the third time of this, Eli realizes that the Lord is calling Samuel. He tells Samuel to tell God, “Speak, I am listening”.

Do we truly listen to the Lord when He speaks to us? I know I could do better in listening to God and to His other children.

Asking God

 

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 Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and will find; knock, and it will be opened.

 Matthew 7:7 (NKJV)

 As children of God, we can repeatedly ask Him to do or bring about something for us. We can approach His throne any time we need to about any need we have. On the day I polished this essay, I had called a friend and left a message. She called me back. In the course of our conversation, she told me she had a prayer request to share with me. She asked that I make the request to others without using the person’s name. I understood the prefaced her petition to me. I will make this request anonymously when I contact others for prayer. 

 Yet, you do not receive because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss. James 4:2 (NKJV) 

 There are times we lack something we desire because we either don’t know how to ask or we forget to ask. Then, there are times we may ask wrongly. Sometimes, a person might not know that he or she can ask God for what is lacking in their lives. 

 When I was growing up, I had a favorite singer. He was going to be at the Indiana State Fair for a second year. I asked my parents if we could go. My dad told several of his friends that I wanted to go see that singer. These friends asked the same question, “Why didn’t you go last year?” Every time, his answer was the same, “She didn’t ask!” My mother, my grandmother and I went to see my favorite singer (at that time) perform. What I didn’t know was my parents would have taken me the year before, had I asked. Sometimes, we assume we know the answer to what we would ask. However, we really don’t know how God is going to answer. We have to learn to rely on His love to do what He believes is beneficial for us.