Friday, August 19, 2011

Kept in Perfect Peace



“You will keep in perfect peace him whose

mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.”

Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)



Perfect peace is peace God gives. When I was in college there was a saying that went something like this: “If you can keep your head when all around have lost theirs, you just don’t know the situation.” Looking back on those days the saying was not grounded in faith. It was the 1960s.the thought probably grew out of the attitude of the times.

, While we are on this earth, we will not ever be free from turmoil in our lives but we have a Lord that takes away the pain and confusion.

“Steadfast” is an old word that reminds us of being steady in our beliefs. We have to keep our eyes and our minds on Jesus in order to acquire His peace.

“trusts” places reliance upon another. In our Christian walk, we have to learn to rely on Jesus. As Christ’s children, we discover that we can’t handle anything in our lives without His guidance,

“in him” Our dependence can’t be in our own strength, on things we have, on our resources, our knowledge, or our connections. We have to look to Jesus Christ to guide us through each day of our lives.



Thursday, August 18, 2011

Glenna H.-Divinely Healed





Our church has been blessed by having Glenna as a part of “Acting Up In Church”, it’s drama ministry. She contributed to the group with ideas and her willingness to help out where she could.

This past February, our son was relocating to another state. When we had a planning meeting in early January, I told the group that he was looking for work in other regions and I might need some help, if Hubby and I might be needed to help him. As it worked out, I directed the February skit. I asked Glenna to co-direct with me because, as things happened, our son did relocate that month. She was invaluable.

She did some research for our fundraiser, “Acts n Snacks”. She worked near a food service outlet that the ministry leaders had as possible avenues for getting our snacks and. Another time, she handed me some notes she took after she had heard something on the radio. She thought it would make a great skit and had me write it.

The drama ministry will not forget her. We will be performing the short play she inspired in September. There are other ways the troupe will remember her in the future.

She learned to crochet and to knit by attending the church’s craft club. She had some yarn with her one day. I commented on the fact that the color was my favorite-teal. A few weeks later, she handed me a gift wrapped package. When I got home I opened it, inside was a teal broomstick lace scarf that she had made. I intend to wear it to her services later today.

As the church family was going through paying their respects to Bob E.’s family (see 8/13 entry), we received word that Glenna developed a complication from a surgical procedure she had undergone that morning. A short while after I received word of the added problem, I called to tell a friend I was going to be gone for a while and she could reach me on my cell phone. My friend was in tears. “Glenna didn’t make it.”

As I look back on her brief illness, four weeks since the diagnosis of Lung Cancer, I remember wondering how she would withstand the treatments. I reflected on my step-mother and what the treatment doctor told her. I also remembered a neighbor of a friend who had taken treatment in the 1980s and how, ten years later, she had gone through some serious illnesses that some thought stemmed from her receiving too much of the element in her treatment.

God spared Glenna from the possible sickness that can come with the treatments.

We don’t always understand why He chooses to take someone from us but He has his reasons. We have to remember God sees the big picture while we see a small segment, maybe just a pixel.

Everyone who had the privilege of knowing her has their own ‘Glenna story’ to remember her by. She was such an addition to any group she was in.

Yes, we will all miss Glenna. She loved the Lord. I’m sure she is sitting at Jesus’ feet and telling Him about each person in her life.

She has joined that great cloud of witnesses and will be watching over us. And when our time comes to enter Heaven, she will be there, arms wide open, to welcome each one of us.



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Filled With Peace

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace.”

Romans 15:13 (NIV)

In our world today, we feel a lack of peace. We see and hear about the crime rate and atrocities done to one another. Vandalism, theft, and forgery arise in our world. In a given eight year period the population of women in prison had risen 61 % in my home state. The two main causes for this rise in number were theft and forgery.

Women who wouldn’t have thought of taking some thing that wasn’t theirs suddenly find themselves without jobs or any prospect of finding new ones. They run out of unemployment benefits but they still have expenses-utilities, rent or mortgage payments, grocery bills. They may have children to support.

We can only see what’s in front of us. We need to learn to communicate with God and ask us how to guide people who find themselves suddenly without the means of supporting their families. When we work together to help them through these times of panic and desperation, we allow God to become a reality to them, filling them with peace about who they are.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Bond of Peace


“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”

Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)

As children of God, we strive to seek tranquility in our lives. Every area of our life-home, workplace, and our business relationships- is to bring comfort to those we encounter.

Given the state of the world, we may find this difficult to do. We get hit from every side by events and happenings that the devil plans to undermine our beliefs and our faith in our way of life.

Paul tells us to strive to maintain the integrity of the Holy Spirit through the meeting of minds and hearts to find ways to live in peace. Matthew Henry says the bond of peace is like twigs bound together for strength. We would have this power in our lives if we sought to approach the world and those in it with meekness. Possessing a visible sign of serenity gives evidence of the presence of oneness with the Holy Spirit.

How can we achieve this kind of solidarity of the Spirit?


* By allowing God to control our lives, our thoughts, and our actions.

* By seeking His guidance when we have trials or problems.

* By trusting Him implicitly-without question.

* By obeying Him when He speaks to us.





God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...