Lord, I Give You My Best RJD #13

I found some more old journals in my bookcase. This entry, taken from mid May 1999, reflects my desire and my frustration. I had been asked to work on a large project for the General Conference of the denomination I belonged to at that time. The project was to coordinate the daycare. It involved planning the daily activities, making decorations, and staffing. The planning involved deciding on and purchasing snacks, as well as finding kids songs, activities (rhythm band, play-dough, dress up, videos, puppets and stage.) I also had to purchase drawing/painting supplies. A dear friend had worked in daycare; she found me some men’s shirts and donated them. She also donated the play dough and the cookie cutters. She looked over my plans when I needed help.

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I took a liberty with the poem; I edited it to make it more in line with form and ‘meter’.

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(5/14/1999)

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in he name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

“If any one speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:11 (NIV)

Lord, Your word tells us to give

Each task our very best.

The apostles tell us this so that

Each day it’s for you we live.

You taught us to give each day

To You and to Your care.

When we obey this dear lesson,

We know You are there all the way. 

Father, You ask us to show

Your love, to others-not easy.

But You make a way for us

And guide us through from above.

Lord, I want to do my very best

As I work each day for you.

I do it because I love You.

You love me, I am blest.

Jesus, I need Your great strength.

Help me to stay obedient.

Guide me as I walk our path,

Please, dear Lord, help me through.

Lord, you go before me this day.

Thank You for being with me.

Guiding, encouraging, any yes,

Leading me along the way.

Helper, please take each care of mine

About these plans about my life.

Mould them to Your liking,

Because these plans are thine.

Savior, when I go to my final rest

When You call me home.

I want to be able to say,

“Lord, I gave You my best.”

 Quiet Spirit  Writing Ministry

 6/22/2012

Linking to:beneath the surface-dawn

Prayers of Supplication

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession,

and thanksgiving be made for everyone- for kings and all those

in authority, that we may live peaceful quiet lives in all goodness

and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior,”

1 Tim 2:1-3 (NIV)

            “Prayers” Paul impresses upon Timothy and later readers to we are to request God’s help for others, to stand before God on the behalf of everyone. Just what does Paul mean here?

            “ . . .for everyone” We, as believers in Christ, are to pray for those in our family, in our neighborhood, people we hear of, and even people with whom we may have issues, as well as those who have issues with us. This is a tall order. Also, we are to pray for our national leaders. Sometimes, this is easy for us to do; other times, it is difficult. However, if we strive to follow Paul’s guidance we experience a wonderful reward.

            “. . . peaceful quiet lives. . .” We recently had some work done to the outside of our home. First job went like clockwork, roof reshingled in less than a day. On the second job, the contractor ran into a snag. It caused a delay in the completion of the work. We didn’t know what the problem was until late in the afternoon. The man and his wife returned to tell us the situation and that the supply he searched for had to be special ordered. The job couldn’t be done for three to five days.

Not knowing what the holdup was caused Hubby to be in a bad mood which in turn caused me to be defensive. When we at lunch, I felt the need to pray for our contractor. It was about forty five minutes later that the gentleman and his wife drove in and shared with us the data about the supply hold-up. I found myself relaxed and calm on the inside. I could enjoy the light breeze coming in the open window and through the front door. 

            “. . . in all goodness and holiness.” When we are in tune with God through prayer, we feel His presence. We know we can go to Him with whatever need we have or are aware of. Our desire is to please Him in whatever we do.

Prayers of Confession

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and

will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

            God, in His wisdom, takes away all our sin and purifies our hearts when we confess our wrongdoing.

            He, who knows when we have transgressed and gone against His design for our lives, wants to hear from us because when we tell Him what we did and that we know it was wrong, He knows we are truly sorry for our sins.

            I remember an ad for a silver polish on television as I grew up. A person dipped a rust encrusted spoon into a container of the polish, let it set a few seconds—I’m sure it was time lapse photography--, and pulled it out. The utensil looked like brand new, all sparkly and clean.

            Our heavenly Father listens to our confession and speaks words of forgiveness, comfort, and healing into our ears. Sometimes, He chooses to put His hand on our shoulder; other times He wraps His arms around us and hugs us. In whatever way He chooses, God restores us to Himself.

Prayer:

            Thank You, Father, for hearing our confessions. Thank You, for Your forgiveness and Your cleansing us from our sins. We love You, Lord. We give You the praise. In the name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN  

The Prince of Peace RJD #12

I have had a great time looking through my old journals. I found four others in my bookcase. One of them has a series of Bible studies I started at the beginning of 2004. I had transcribed part of them onto disc but I messed up my disc drive. It will take me a while to get them re-transcribed but I will do it.  I found them to be very tender reading this time. They might have perked long enough.

Journal Entry December 22, 1998

            A prince is the son of a king. We all know that. The first born son is the one who usually inherits the throne. These are earthly definitions.

            In the heavenly realm- the first born is the only born son. His name is Jesus; Isaiah calls Him the Prince of Peace, a very beautiful title. But, what does it mean?

            Peace is not just the lack of stress, of noise, of personal upheaval. Peace is best described as a feeling of contentment in spite of our surroundings. Peace can be easily misidentified as not having any problems but if that were true, we’d never have it. Peace is attained only through a right relationship with Jesus Christ, personal peace, inter-personal peace, national peace, and, yes, international peace.

            There is only one Prince of Peace and we all need to keep our relationship with Him vital and current.

Linking to:beneath the surface-dawn.

Prayers of Adoration

“Then those who were in the boat worshiped him

saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”

 Matt 14:33 (NIV)

            Our heavenly Father desires that we, His children, have a reverential awe for Him. We are to uphold Him and things of His and treat them as special.

            The disciples watched as Jesus rescued Peter from the water. He had impulsively challenged Jesus to prove that it was indeed Him who came to them, walking on the water.

      Some sources believe that Peter reacted in faith. But we know that Peter took his eyes off of Christ and started to sink. Peter cried out to Jesus and He responded.

             I believe this is why the disciples fell down and worshiped the Master. When they spoke words of affirmation about who Christ is they said them out of a sense of awe and adoration.  

Prayer:

            Dear Lord: We come before you because we love you. We appreciate all the blessings you have bestowed upon us. All that you do for us each day causes us to humbly fall at your feet and honor You. We honor You with our work, our leisure activities, our talents, and our treasures. We will give You the praise You are due. In the name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN

Individual Prayers

“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.”

Matt 6:6 (NIV)

We need to have private times in prayer. These times of intimacy are important to our spiritual health. During these times, we can be completely honest with Our Lord about different things.

Like the tax collector who went to the temple, we can admit that we have sinned. When we have issues with someone, we can be honest and tell God about how we truly feel. The Pharisee {sometimes referred to as one of the “Look at Me’s”} reminded God of his ‘worthiness’. Jesus told his listeners that the humble tax collector left God’s presence justified, not the ‘holier than thou’ Pharisee. (Luke 18:10-14)

Our personal prayers are meant for God. He instructs us to go into a room—get by ourselves, if possible. If we can’t, we can block everything out of our minds, close our eyes—unless we are driving—and turn our thoughts to Him.

Several years ago, I participated in a women’s missionary group at a former church I attended. The leader of the organization at that time always prefaced group prayer times by saying, “Let’s all go into our individual prayer closets, shut the door behind us and talk to God.” As I reflect on those times, her method tells me that our prayers are for God and not to impress others.

An author had a book she wanted to promote. The first series of lessons from the book was free; all we had to do was sign up. One of the features of the lessons was establishing a special place for prayer. She asked those taking the class to take pictures of their prayer places and send them to her. Those who participated had beautiful settings. I chose not to try. I didn’t feel my prayer place was pretty enough to share. Now I realize that the important thing was THAT we have a place to meet with God. 

Dear God:

            Thank you for being with us as we pray, either with others or by ourselves. Help us to remember the importance of communing with you. We thank you for always making Yourself available to hear our prayers, whether they be for a specific need or a generic prayer said quickly. We will give You praise. In the name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN

A Mighty God RJD #11

Journal Entry December 13, 1998

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be on His shoulder.

And his name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6(NKJV)

Isaiah lists four titles for Jesus. Tonight, I will reflect on the title Mighty God. He is the strongest person I know; He bears all our burdens, all of our sorrows, all our grief. Psalm 55:22 tells us He will sustain us. He will never let the righteous fall.

            Tonight, my husband had to hear something about a man in our church; he heard this story from some former members. I had my reasons for not sharing this story with Jim.

            1.) At some point fact becomes gossip or at least hearsay.

            2.) I was concerned about the gentleman and the turn of events. I didn’t want to                                communicate anger or apprehension to my husband.

            3.) I don’t always understand my husband’s reaction to what I tell him.

            4.) I try not to spread rumors or pass on tales or bad stories on people.

            5.) I want God’s approval on my life; so I try to abide by His rules and                                            teachings.

            I have to trust God with my feelings for these people. I need to know that my  feelings for these people are true and in line with what God wants.

            I believe God can be trusted for everything and, because of His great might that my trust is as it should be. I want to examine my heart to see if I am correct in my thoughts.

            Lord, search me, look into my heart and see if I am attaining the qualities that You desire me to have. Please forgive me for my bad behavior that I displayed today.

Linked to Beneath the Surface-dawn