Hearts at Rest in His Presence

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with action and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” 1 John 3: 18-20 (NIV) 

“. . . let us not love with words or tongue. . .”

As children of God, we are to show our love in practical ways. When we know someone is hurting, we are to put feet to our prayers. In the writing craft, there is a rule that a writer is to “show, not tell” We need to show our love to our fellow man, not talk about how we love Jesus.

“. . . but with action and in truth.”

We are commanded to love one another. If we choose to love all those around us, we are to demonstrate that we do by helping another person.

“ . . how we know that we belong to the truth. . .”

When I was a child I heard people say ‘how do you know.’ As an adult, I have heard ‘ and you know that, how.” When we give our hearts to Jesus and ask Him to rule our lives, we become children of the truth.

“. . . we set our hearts at rest in his presence . . .”

When we enter into God’s presence, we see Him on His throne. We begin to let go of any anxiety or fear we might have in our hearts. We can do this because God loves us.

“ . . whenever our hearts condemn us.”

Because we are human, we have times of doubt and discouragement. But if we turn our hands palms upward and ask God to take over the issue we face. He will step in and work on the particulars.

“For God is greater than our hearts. . .”

God is bigger than everything-The giant Redwood trees, Niagara Falls, and the Grand Canyon.  Yet God protects the smallest child. He makes the fragile rose petals. He loves us and wants to comfort us. We should learn to yield to Him and allow Him tend to our hurts and attend to our hearts.

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graphic: freeimageslive.co.uk.

God’s Shelter

“In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men;

in your dwelling place you keep them safe from accusing tongues.”

Psalm 31:20 (NIV)

David, the shepherd king, speaks here of God protecting those who fear Him. The Lord had protected David from King Saul, and from his own son. David gives credit to God for protecting him from the secret plotting of those whose aim was to bring harm to him.

As followers of Christ, we ask Him to keep us and our children and our loved ones safe from harm. When we hear of a family’s need, we ask God to wrap His arms of love around them. Draw them close, and whisper appropriate words into their ears.

God keeps his children safe because He loves them. He loves us even when we are unlovely. If we were to think about it, we would realize that God has kept us safe many times. The semi that ran a red light and would have hit you, if you had accelerated right after the light turned green for you. The bare electrical wires rubbed against the conduit and arced every time the wind blew. The incident with the semi happened when I by myself. These things happened to us except God was with us.

As I prepare to advance-post this entry, our area of our state is awaiting a winter storm that could dump 12 inches of snow on our area. Then after that front heads east, we are supposed to have subzero temperatures for almost 2 ½ days (the forecasters keep saying 55+ hours.) Our next door neighbor, who also does our handyman work for us, works for a man who clears snow from parking lots and apartment complexes in Indianapolis. My husband and I recently had a conversation about this young man and the things that could go wrong while he does this job. My response was, “Haven’t you prayed to God and ask His protection over him?” Hubby replied that he had.

When we ask God to protect ourselves or anyone, I believe we can trust that God will do what we have asked. We place the situation with God and He takes over. I wish people would learn this and then practice it. We all would be better off if we did. Again, that is my personal thought on the issue.

A Praise Song:Under the shelter of Your wings

Graphic: quotespictures.com

Blameless and Holy in His Presence

  

“May he strengthen your hearts so you will be blameless

and holy  in the presence of our God and Father when

our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”

 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul states that God will make the Thessalonians and future readers strong so that they, and we, will be innocent and holy when we all come before God when Jesus comes to reign on earth.

What does it mean to be blameless as we stand in God’s presence? Jesus has taken away our sins, every one of them. He looks on us as we have not sinned.(Justified) We are deemed innocent by Jesus. When we go into God’s presence, we are not kept at arm’s length. God beckons us to come closer. He wraps His arms of love around us and draws us up beside Him.

God doesn’t think of us as anything but His children. He speaks words of greeting into our ears. He makes us feel at home because we are. We feel special. He has set us apart for His Kingdom’s work. We have been used of God while we were on earth; we will continue to be used of God when we enter His presence.

Someone may ask us why God does this for us. The only answer that makes any sense is that He loves us that much.

Dear Father:

               Thank You for loving us so very much. Thank You for taking away our sin. Lord, we thank You for looking upon us as Your dear children. Please guide us through the tough times and help us to grow in knowledge of You. We give You praise. In the name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN

A very special song:In the Presence of Jehovah
Graphic: gardenof praise.com

Book Review Let Hope In By Pete Wilson

Let Hope In presents us, the readers, with choices that are geared to improve our outlook and our lives. The author presents these options to mull over as we consider allowing our lives to recover from so many hurts thrown at us by the world.

The best way to describe the thrust of this book is to say it deals with healing. We tend to hang onto our pasts with all the mistakes we made, in spite of the fact we want our pasts to be just that- our pasts. Pete Wilson says in this book that when our past keeps going to the forefront of our minds, it happens because we allow it to.

In one chapter, Trusting vs. Pleasing the author concludes with: “I want to live a life where I have to lean on God’s grace rather than trying the journey alone to reach him.”

I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles with letting go of past hurts. This book would be a great study for small groups. I also see it being utilized in a counseling ministry by Christian counselors.

I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through its Booksneeze program. All they ask of me was that I read it and give an unbiased review.

His Joyful Presence

  

       “You have made known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Psalm 16:11(NIV)

When I opened my copy of ‘Jesus Calling’ as I do each morning, I found this nugget of wisdom:

“Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity.”

As I reflect on what I initially write here, I am thankful for God’s presence in my life.

His presence with His children gives hope for even the direst circumstance we have. Even when we don’t realize it God is present with us. As God’s children, we have many things to give Him thanks for: for Jesus, for our salvation, and especially for His presence.

In our nation, we celebrate a holiday called Thanksgiving. One way people celebrate that time of year is to practice the act of remembering the many things that they are thankful for. I have read online where people say we should practice thanksliving. I try to do that every day by reflecting on the good things that happen to me each day and look at them as a gift from God.

When I have a questionable day-a day that has something hard or distasteful happen- I have to look to see how God was there. Was there a way that the event might have been worse?

 I keep a list on my portable word processor. I started keeping this list when I read 1,000 Gifts Devotional Book, by Ann Voskamp. A few years ago, I kept a praise list. By keeping a thankful/praise/gift list, we learn to thank God for all things. Most of all we can thank Him for His presence.

Dear Lord God:

Thank You for being with us at all times—even when we can’t feel you with us. Thank You for your protection when we go through troublesome times. I give You praise. In the name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN

Praise Hymn:In Your Presence

Graphic: freeimageslive.co.uk

HOPE -RJD January 2014

“Christ in you, the hope of Glory” Colossians 1:27 (NIV)

From May 24, 2010:

Definition: Hope- reliance on God’s blessings and provisions; the expectation of future good.

When we rely on God’s blessings and provisions, we possess hope. People who live their lives for Christ walk through their days following His leading. The verse, Colossians 1:27, speaks of {the presence of} Christ being an expectation of future good.

When we have Christ in our hearts, we become His instruments. We become the hands, the feet, the voice He needs to reach those who need to find Him. God uses us, His children, to demonstrate His love and care to those who need Him—the hurting, the displaced, the impoverished. We become His hope when we yield to Him. As we mature in Christ, we learn from Him the exact nature of His will for our lives.

UPDATE:

My word for 2014 is Hope. We, who rely on God, demonstrate hope for those around us. We become Christ’s hope when he presents us with a ministry, a task to do for the kingdom. As I wrote this in mid-December, I had a decision to make. Had I had to give an answer on this issue two weeks ago, I believe I would have said I couldn’t do the job. But, what I saw told me that I may be able to do this task.

I made my decision on December 30, 2011. I am not able to do what someone asked me to do. Praise the Lord, she understood. While I wanted to do what the person asked me to do, I had to listen to God in light of some health issues.

Then, I re-read what I wrote back in 2010.

I am humbled by the thought, “We become His

hope when we yield to Him.” I want to be used by Christ this year. How do you feel about this thought?


Linking to: beneaththesurface-dawn.

In God’s Presence

  

"Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, 

who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.”

 Psalm 89:15

The act of praising God is a learned response. As we learn of his goodness to us, we feel the need to give back to God. We don’t say “praise the Lord” to impress those around us. We say it because we feel thankful to Him for what He has done for us in our time of stress- emotional, as well as financial- a need, or physical illness.

As we go through life, we walk paths assigned to us. We are not alone as we are on our path, God is with us. Even when our ‘path’ diverts to trying circumstance, God’s presence makes those circumstances easier for us to get through them. However, we don’t have a pass that allows us a life with no problems.

As an experiment, we should mentally ask God if any person we pass in our daily activities- grocery shopping, going into the pharmacy to pick up something, getting gasoline, people we deal with in our jobs- needs to be in His presence.We might find that those people we see are dealing with deep hurts or an illness of a close family member. Then, we should add that person or persons to our prayer list. By doing this, we take those people into the presence of God.

Sandi Patty sings:" In Your Presence"

Graphic: youtube.com