Be Anxious For Nothing

by Hallie Gipson

Have you ever been in a fretful state --- that place we know from experience that leads us no-where fast except sleepless nights and minds that can think of nothing else but that upsetting thing?

Unfortunately, I’ve recently visited that ‘state’ and hope my ‘cure’ will be helpful to anyone else stuck there and who is eager to leave it behind in your rear view mirror!

As I settled down for my morning quiet time recently, the first scripture that came to mind was Philippians 4:6-7 --- "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

In His gracious and loving way, God reminded me that the particular situation I am so fretful about is not mine to resolve. I cannot bear another person’s consequences for choices made, nor grieve about them to the point of being ineffective in what God has called me to do. Grieving for what I cannot change makes me ineffective in the ministry God has for me. It also wastes the precious time God has given me each day. I must lay those things aside and leave them in God’s Almighty hands. I know these things, but the 'doing' is difficult.

For me, it is a daily dying to self that makes the ‘doing’ possible. Jesus Himself said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."   Luke 9:23

To deny myself is to lay aside anything other than God's best for me. I will know what to lay aside and what God’s best is because He will speak into my heart through the Holy Spirit as I meditate on His word and seek Him in prayer.

But what am I to do about those things that put me in that fretful ‘state’? I am to take those people and situations before the throne of God’s grace and mercy and plead for His will to be done, in His time, and in His way. And even if we don’t know what to ask, God’s Word reassures us that “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  Romans 8:26-27

Thank You, Holy Father, that we are never left without the Helper, the Holy Spirit. Thank You that You carry our burdens for us and intercede for us when we have no words!

The "I's" of God

by Hallie Gipson

I – a simple letter and yet a profound word as well! It’s a letter we use when talking about ourselves, e.g. “I went to the grocery”, “I don’t feel well today”, “I am hurting emotionally” . . . Those are all uses of the word that tell others something specifically about us. And when we use the word “I”, there is no doubt that we are referring to ourselves, which some of us (myself included) tend to do all too often!

But what about the “I’s” of God? When I think about the “I’s” of God, it’s almost impossible to think about myself – my “I”.

So for the next few minutes – as long as it takes to read this article – let’s turn our thoughts to a few of God’s attributes as defined by the letter “I”.

Immanuel – Messiah

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”  Isaiah 7:14

Immortal – not capable of dying; living forever

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever. Amen.”  1 Timothy 1:17

“ . . . He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”  1 Timothy 6:15-16

Invisible – incapable by nature of being seen

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  Romans 1:20

“He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”  Colossians 1:15

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever. Amen.”  1 Timothy 1:17

Immutable – unable to be changed

“Also the Glory of Israel (God) will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”  Isaiah 15:29

“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind.”  Psalm 110:4

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  James 1:17

Incorruptible – incapable of corruption; not subject to decay or dissolution; incapable of being bribed or morally corrupt

“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”  Romans 1:22-23

Intercessor – one who prays, petitions, or entreats in favor of another

“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  Romans 8:26-27

“Therefore He (Jesus Christ) is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”  Hebrews 7:25

When we think about the “I’s” of God, we can’t help but think about all that God has done on behalf of our personal “I”. For me, Titus 3:4-7 sums it up!

“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

All we can add to these verses, Father, is “Amen and Amen”!! 

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE?

By Shirley Wiggins

“What is your life?...” James 4:14

When your life isn’t looking anything like you wanted to end up with, what do you do?  Please don’t say, ‘Start over.’

I’ve done that – repeatedly; only to find that for all the self-help do-overs,  life never reached my expectations and I became an older version of the same old me. 

Until suddenly, I am decades older.

Life may slowly lose its appetite and all the things we used to love about it have a way of losing their flavor and appeal.

Life can become more about doing daily chores, marking months off the calendar instead of days.  The clock reveals that it is not your friend either, relentlessly subtracting time from you like a thief in the night.

Taking a ride to the hospital’s emergency room in an ambulance, while nitro pills dissolve under your tongue, forces you to face the very real possibility of the ultimate fate of human beings:  Death.

Suddenly the unlikely unthinkable begins to look like the almost certain reality of high possibility:  Death.

Dying

Ends

All

The

Hope

Death is either the end, or it opens the door to eternity.  Does death stop at the grave – the final destination?  Or, is it only a waypoint somewhere between dying and living again?

We who are breathing know that the period between birth and death is called simply “Life.”   We can live without thinking much about it – Breathe in, breathe out…live life:  time passes without effort. 

The calendar eliminates years, the clock subtracts hours as it ticks the moments away, day unto night and night unto day.

But, dying?  That’s another matter entirely.  Who thinks about it?  And, why think about it since none of us know the certain date of our death.

We may know the date of our birth,  and the longer we live, the better we know that only a short “dash” separates the two dates from birth to death.

As the ambulance lights flash and sirens wail, EMT’s calmly perform their duties:  one drives, the other assists the patient.

On my second ambulance ride, I hear this:  ‘Transporting a seventy-year-old woman; heart problems.”

Seventy years old!  Heart attack?!

I must admit that hearing this thing spoken out loud raised up quite a bit of angst in me, and I prayed fervently for peace.   While I knew I was experiencing a heart emergency, I found it amazing too that I was actually 70 years old.   Not that I don’t  know and realize my true age, I just do not feel that  I have lived long enough to be that age! 

Do we humans realize the brevity of life?

Seventy years or seventeen years, all pass too quickly for words as most of us will  realize when we stand at the conscious realization that death waits for all who now breathe.  Every living person has a divine appointment with the day of our own death.

Other truths have become conscious realizations for me in the month since the second stent was implanted in my heart.

There is so much more that I want to learn about life – and about death.  Both are realities:  the reality of life and the certainty of death.  Life is about living the life that God has planned and willed and provided for each one who will receive it as He has granted it “by His divine power.”  (See 2 Peter 1:3-4.)

One thing is becoming clearer to me:  being prepared to die is not the same as being ready to die.

May I encourage you to think about some seriously significant things as they pertain to life ----- whoever you are and wherever you are,  death steadily approaches coming closer to each one of us day by day.  Consider that just as life comes inherent with responsibilities, so does death by its very finality in this significant way:  you have made your last choice when you draw in your final breath of life on this earth.

No matter what awaits us upon our death, it is our choices made in life that determines our destination in death.

Until we become adults, our choices are made for us by parents and/or guardians.  Then we become both responsible and liable for the individual choices we make.

Choices matter.  What you believe matters because it influences the choices you make.  What you choose every day matters. 

So, I ask again, what is your life?  What do you want your life to be?  What do you wish you could do, or wish you had done?

Assess what you know (believe) about life and about death.    Remember that what you think you know must be based in truth, and not in wishful, hopeful thinking.

Lies deceive and will one day be eradicated.  Truth informs and saves and will never change or pass away. 

Seek to know truth.

Truth matters.  Truth lives eternally.  It is what we do with Truth that determines our destiny.

For me personally, I know the God of the Bible is the God of life, and of death.

The human spirit will return to God when life is extinguished in the body on this earth.  The soul of the human who chose to believe in God through Jesus Christ will return to God and abide in the place prepared in heaven for all eternity.

The soul of the human who rejected God while living in the body on this earth will enter eternity in the place prepared for Satan and his demons.

The  name of each person is entered into God’s Book of Life when we choose to receive Jesus Christ as God’s plan for our own salvation.  Those whose names are not written there when they die have no other chance to choose.

Death is the doorway into eternal life either in heaven or in hell.  No human was meant to go into hell, but human choices determine human destiny.  (See Revelation 20:11-15.)

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. ‘ As it is you boast in your ignorance.  All such boasting is evil.  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him (her) it is sin.”  James 4:13-17. (Emphasis mine.)

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”  Proverbs 27:1.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to Hs abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be  revealed in  the last time.”  1 Peter 1:3-5.

 

H is for HOPE

by Hallie Gipson

As we approach the end of year 2016 and the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas, many will be excited about what each holiday means. Many will look forward to the time with family & friends as they enjoy all the ‘trappings’ that surround these holidays.

For others, however, these holidays can bring angst, depression, and a feeling of hopelessness. The reality is --- life is hard! And because we live in a fallen world, we must deal with many things that can cause us grief and pain, or that seek to drain all the joy from life. I could list some of these, but will leave that to you, the reader, because each person’s reason for feeling hopeless is different.

Even when our lives could be defined as going ‘well’, we can still be dragged into a pit that leaves us feeling hopeless. It’s not something we can always put our finger on or even name, but it’s there. It eats at our inner peace and leaves us feeling as if we’re in a fog with no way out --- hopeless.

If this describes you or someone you know, I am here to declare that there is HOPE for you!! And that hope is found in Jesus Christ and the truth of His word. No matter what ‘season’ of life you are in, God has not abandoned you. If He has allowed a painful or difficult situation in your life, He will walk beside you all the way. As you read the following Scriptures, it is my prayer that you begin to feel the warmth of God’s word and the hope found in Jesus Christ. As Jesus Himself said in John 4:46,“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

1 Peter 1:3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Titus 3:4-7

“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Psalm 71:5

“For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth.”

Ephesians 1:18

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”

Colossians 1:27

“ . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Hebrews 6:18, 19

“ . . . by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”

1 Thessalonians 5:8

“But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

Romans 5:2b-5

“and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

As God’s word tells us, the hope we have through Christ Jesus is many things.  

It is:

• ·        living
• ·        eternal
• ·        an anchor for our soul
• ·        sure and steadfast

The hope we have through Christ will never disappoint. Christ in us is our hope of glory.

So take heart, dear reader! If you are experiencing a season of hopelessness, my prayer for you is Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  

Blessings!

PSALM 100

by Hallie Gipson

When I sit down each morning to have my ‘quiet time’ with the Lord, I often use one of the Psalms to help me focus on God and tune my heart toward Him.

Psalm 100 is one I memorized as a child and I love how it reads in the King James translation of the Bible.

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness.

Come before His presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord He is God;

It is He that has made us and not we ourselves;

we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into

His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him,

and bless His name. For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures

to all generations.”

As we read this Psalm, we see definite actions the worshiper takes as he approaches God:

• Make a joyful noise
• Serve the Lord with gladness
• Come before Him with singing 
• Enter His Presence with thanksgiving and praise
• Bless His name

We have this response because we know He is the Lord God! The Psalmist gives us insight about who God is:

• Our maker
• The Shepherd
• Good
• Merciful
• Everlasting
• Enduring truth

When we look at Psalm 100 and see God for who He is, our response must be one of joyful praise that is filled with thanksgiving. “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.”

Praise Him today, dear reader and bless His name! He has indeed done great things for us!!

God's Names and Attributes (G's)

by Hallie Gipson

As I continue with the Names and Attributes of God, it seems fitting to re-visit the purpose behind what could be called an ‘exercise’ by some. But it has been so much more to me!! Although I don’t use these every day, I often return to them when I struggle with focus or worship in my quiet time. There is that indescribable ‘thing’ that happens when we open God’s Word and begin to read and meditate on who God is --- the Who of God. As I meditate on a name or attribute and look up the Scripture that is the source of what we know to be true about God, I am drawn into God’s Presence and reminded that He is Who He says He is!! Isn’t God’s Word amazing?!?!

Two of the words I have listed today are adjectives. As Webster defines an adjective it is: used to note the quality of what is named; describes a noun or pronoun; or specifies a thing as distinct from something else. So when we say that God is Great, we are using it to note the quality of God and to give definition to God’s love, wrath, promises, salvation, power, glory, and faithfulness. Also, when we say God is Gracious, again we are using it to describe a quality of God.

So let’s go to the ‘source’ as we focus on God!

GREAT

Deuteronomy 10:17  “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.”

2 Samuel 7:22  “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”

Psalm 145:3  “Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.”

Daniel 9:4  “I (Daniel) prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

GUARD

Isaiah 52:12  “But you will not leave in haste or go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

GUARDIAN

1 Peter 2:25  “For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

GUIDE

Psalm 23:3  “He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

Psalm 48:14  “For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.”

John 16:13  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”

GRACIOUS

Exodus 34:6  “Then the Lord passed by in front of him (Moses) and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”

Psalm 145:8  “The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.”

Nehemiah 9:17  “But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”

Nehemiah 9:31  “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God.”

I hope this ‘exercise’ will lead you to do your own search through the Word and to expand on what has been started here. You might even be inspired to come up with your own list of God's names and attributes and use them to praise God for who He has been to you.

Father, I thank You that You show us Who You are through the indescribable blessing of your Word! All praise and glory belong to You!!

Today, and Tomorrow

By Shirley Wiggins

“Humans live in time but (God) destines them to eternity.” … “For the Present is the point at which Time touches Eternity.”  --- C. S. Lewis.

 

Time touches eternity.  Time is mine.  This present time is mine.  Mine to truly live, or mine to waste.  Which do I choose?   Easy!  I choose to fully live out my life in the here and now, in the present. 

 

For a time is coming, well on its way, when “time” as we know it shall be no more.  Time will have run out, reached its last moment here on this earth, for it will have run out here and begins in God’s eternal promised forever time with Him.

 

I can hardly imagine a life lived free of the pressing urgency to hurry.   Hurry, hurry, hurry up!

 

Hurry up and eat; hurry up and sleep, hurry up and work, hurry up and rest, hurry up and read, talk, walk, laugh, cry --- Hurry up and?  Die.   And, then what?

 

Today melts away, and in the night becomes tomorrow.   Tomorrow becomes today when I wake, and when I fall asleep blends again into --- tomorrow. 

 

But tomorrow always turns again into today… On and on and on…. Until…?

 

♪“Tomorrow!  Tomorrow!  I love ya,’ tomorrow!  … Tomorrow is only a day away!”  ♪

 

Tomorrow.  But what did I do with Today?

 

Numerous trains of thought run swiftly on their tracks, making me forget some most important facts:   both today and tomorrow are gifts from God.  Gifts filled with the precious, priceless commodity:  TIME!

 

What to do with it?  Oh dear, what to do with my time today?

Today is NOW, what am I doing NOW, while I live?

While I live…

Spiritual hunger for intimate communion with God is a birth born in human hearts, a birth ordained by God, a gift of grace.

Take time for fellowship with the God Who made us, --- and then, for those who have asked, or will ask, God has remade us.   We love Him because He first loved us.  Then He saved us, to live life dearly loved in and through and with Him for time… and eternity!

Psalm 63  A Psalm of David; when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

¹ O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is.

² So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory.

³ Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.

⁴ So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁵ My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips

⁶ When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.

⁷ For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.

⁸ My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.

⁹ But those who seek and demand my life to ruin and destroy it shall [themselves be destroyed and] go into the lower parts of the earth [into the underworld of the dead].

¹⁰ They shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a prey for foxes and jackals.

¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him [that is, who binds himself by God’s authority, acknowledging His supremacy, and devoting himself to His glory and service alone; every such one] shall glory, for the mouths of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)  Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

 “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says:  ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’  Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  2 Corinthians 6:1-2   (emphasis mine.)

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  2 Corinthians 13:14

 What will you do with your time today?