puricare chronicles: Comfort

Showing posts with label Comfort. Show all posts

Saturday, January 9, 2021

OUR FIRST CHOICE - God should be the first place we turn to when we are facing struggles or problems - we need not wait until our circumstances look bleak and we are desperate. God’s help should be our first choice, not a last resort. Trying to control our own lives without God’s help leads to struggle and confusion. When we stay in close contact with God, we are less likely to create painful situations for ourselves. When life leads us into places of discomfort and struggle, God wants us to come to Him first, seeking His strength and guidance. For a length of twenty years the Israelites had been oppressed by the Canaanites ruler and his people. Yet not until Jabin, the king of Canaan, and Sisera, the commander of the army, prepared to slaughter the Israelites with an army of chariots did the Israelites cry out to the Lord for help. Why had these people lived in unbearable circumstances for so long without turning to God? Only when they knew they had no chance of survival against such a powerful force, did they finally turn to God. Why not before? God should be the first place we turn to when we are facing struggles or problems. Unlike the Israelites, we need not wait until our circumstances look bleak and we are desperate. God’s help should be our first choice, not a last resort. The Israelites chose to go their own way and got into a mess. Yet we often do the same, don’t we? Trying to control our own lives without God’s help leads to struggle and confusion.

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Our First Choice

When life leads us into places of discomfort and struggle, God wants us to come to Him first, seeking His strength and guidance

God should be the first place we turn to when we are facing struggles or problems - we need not wait until our circumstances look bleak and we are desperate. God’s help should be our first choice, not a last resort. Trying to control our own lives without God’s help leads to struggle and confusion. When we stay in close contact with God, we are less likely to create painful situations for ourselves.

listenandprosper.com

‘Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.’ - Judges 4:3 (NIV).

For a length of twenty years the Israelites had been oppressed by the Canaanites ruler and his people.

Yet not until Jabin, the king of Canaan, and Sisera, the commander of the army, prepared to slaughter the Israelites with an army of chariots did the Israelites cry out to the Lord for help.

Why had these people lived in unbearable circumstances for so long without turning to God?

Only when they knew they had no chance of survival against such a powerful force, did they finally turn to God. Why not before?

God should be the first place we turn to when we are facing struggles or problems.

Unlike the Israelites, we need not wait until our circumstances look bleak and we are desperate.

God’s help should be our first choice, not a last resort.

The Israelites chose to go their own way and got into a mess. Yet we often do the same, don’t we?

God would have delivered His people earlier on, but ‘they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.’ (verse 1).

They refused to repent and turn to Him for help.

Trying to control our own lives without God’s help leads to struggle and confusion.

However, when we stay in close contact with God, we are less likely to create painful situations for ourselves.

This is a lesson the Israelites never fully learned.

When life leads us into places of discomfort and struggle, God wants us to come to Him first, seeking His strength and guidance.

Prayer:

‘Heavenly Father, forgive me for looking elsewhere for the help and comfort that I am searching for just now.

Thank you that you wait for me to return to you. Keep me close to you Lord and help me in this time of need.’

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

AMEN!

Final Thoughts:

God never left the Israelites, though they often wandered far from His presence.

God promises to stay close to us (Psalm 94:14).

But how often do our hearts stray from Him?

Rather than forsaking our first love (Revelation 2:4), let’s return to our Father and make Him our first choice whenever difficulties arise.

To what or whom do we turn to when we encounter hardship or painful situations?

Nothing or no one else can provide the comfort and help like God. Can we allow God to be all that He is in our lives at this time?

Let’s lay our situation and His feet and trust Him to do more than we could imagine or hope for.

Return to Him and He will turn to us.

Be Greatly Blessed!

https://listenandprosper.com/our-first-choice/

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Sunday, December 27, 2020

HEARTSICK - ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.’ - Proverbs 13:12. - When the dream of hope drags on and on, the delay can spiral us downwards into a state of dark depression. We need to ask God for wisdom to know when a loved one has become so hopeless or emotionally ill that they can’t take another day of it. And we need to be right there for them. Millions of people are battling with depression or anxiety every day throughout the world. Depression is no respecter of persons, age, social status or geographical area. Jesus sends us with the Word, the Spirit and with the power to help them. To come alongside and care enough to love deeply, and long enough to bring hope. Depression can cause us to give up on life. When the job became too big for Moses, he told God to take his life immediately and not let him have to face his own wretchedness any longer. Elijah was certain that Jezebel would make good on her threats to kill him, so the prophet asked God to take his life. And it is said that the book of Job covers a span of only nine months, but Job’s losses were so devastating the he said his soul loathed his life. When the dream of hope drags on and on, the delay can spiral us downwards into a state of dark depression. We need to ask God for wisdom to know when a loved one has become so hopeless or emotionally ill that they can’t take another day of it. And we need to be right there for them.

Heartsick

When the dream of hope drags on and on, the delay can spiral us downwards into a state of dark depression

We need to ask God for wisdom to know when a loved one has become so hopeless or emotionally ill that they can’t take another day of it. And we need to be right there for them. Millions of people are battling with depression or anxiety every day throughout the world. Depression is no respecter of persons, age, social status or geographical area. Jesus sends us with the Word, the Spirit and with the power to help them. To come alongside and care enough to love deeply, and long enough to bring hope.

listenandprosper.com

‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.’ - Proverbs 13:12 (NIV).

Depression can cause us to give up on life.

When the job became too big for Moses, he told God to take his life immediately and not let him have to face his own wretchedness any longer.

Elijah was certain that Jezebel would make good on her threats to kill him, so the prophet asked God to take his life.

And it is said that the book of Job covers a span of only nine months, but Job’s losses were so devastating the he said his soul loathed his life.

When the dream of hope drags on and on, the delay can spiral us downwards into a state of dark depression.

We need to ask God for wisdom to know when a loved one has become so hopeless or emotionally ill that they can’t take another day of it.

And we need to be right there for them.

Who are these people?

A young person who has cut themselves as a cry for help because of life problems that seem beyond fixing.

War veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who can’t escape or expel the demons of war.

Victims of abuse who engage in harmful or unhealthy behaviors as a way of coping.

People who struggle with sexual issues but are terrified to talk about them.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, open my heart and my eyes to the need around me.

Lead me to another who needs your love and the message of hope today.

I am willing and ready to go.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

AMEN!

Final Thoughts:

Millions of people are battling with depression or anxiety every day throughout the world.

Some sleep in mansions and some under bridges.

Depression is no respecter of persons, age, social status or geographical area.

Some are Christians with thoughts of suicide, who dread hearing that they’re weak and don’t have enough faith.

A quick Scripture, a brief prayer, and a ‘God bless you’ is not the answer they need.

Jesus sends us with the Word, the Spirit and with the power to help them.

To come alongside and care enough to love deeply, and long enough to bring hope.

Where is He calling us to bring hope today?

Be Greatly Blessed!

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Friday, December 25, 2020

THE SHEPHERD’S PSALM - It’s not unusual to think that Mary would have turned to God’s Word on that rough road to Bethlehem. Perhaps Mary even quoted something like the Twenty-third Psalm. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…Yea, though I walk through the valley…thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Every young Jewish woman would have known that the surrounding hills above Bethlehem, speckled with shepherds and their flocks, served as David’s inspiration for the psalm. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Two figures, one perched atop a donkey, wound their way down a dark road toward the moonlit buildings at the edge of Bethlehem. Mary was relieved that the long journey was nearly over — every time her donkey would stumble, she clutched her swollen abdomen in pain. Who could blame her for being a little frightened? Joseph hadn’t said much about where they would stay the night. “Ooh,” Mary moaned as the donkey faltered. Joseph halted the beast and stepped aside to let others pass on the dark road. Mary pressed her hands against her back and straightened to relieve her stiffness. More people streamed by. Mary’s eyes met Joseph’s — they both knew the overnight lodges in Bethlehem would be crowded. Joseph gathered the donkey’s reins and they proceeded toward town. I like to picture that scene, don’t you?

The Shepherd’s Psalm

It’s not unusual to think that Mary would have turned to God’s Word on that rough road to Bethlehem. Perhaps Mary even quoted something like the Twenty-third Psalm. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…Yea, though I walk through the valley…thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Every young Jewish woman would have known that the surrounding hills above Bethlehem, speckled with shepherds and their flocks, served as David’s inspiration for the psalm.

Joni and Friends

Daily Devotional

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” —Psalm 23:1-3

Two figures, one perched atop a donkey, wound their way down a dark road toward the moonlit buildings at the edge of Bethlehem.

Mary was relieved that the long journey was nearly over — every time her donkey would stumble, she clutched her swollen abdomen in pain.

Who could blame her for being a little frightened?

Joseph hadn’t said much about where they would stay the night.

“Ooh,” Mary moaned as the donkey faltered.

Joseph halted the beast and stepped aside to let others pass on the dark road.

Mary pressed her hands against her back and straightened to relieve her stiffness.

More people streamed by.

Mary’s eyes met Joseph’s — they both knew the overnight lodges in Bethlehem would be crowded.

Joseph gathered the donkey’s reins and they proceeded toward town.

I like to picture that scene, don’t you?

It makes the Holy Family seem so human.

And if I had been a fellow traveler walking behind Mary and Joseph, perhaps I would have heard the young woman atop the donkey murmur familiar words: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…Yea, though I walk through the valley…thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

Being a fellow citizen of Bethlehem, I would have recognized it as the Twenty-third Psalm.

It’s not unusual to think that Mary would have turned to God’s Word on that rough road to Bethlehem.

Perhaps Mary even quoted something like the Twenty-third Psalm.

Every young Jewish woman (especially one familiar with Bethlehem, David’s royal city) would have known that the surrounding hills above Bethlehem, speckled with shepherds and their flocks, served as David’s inspiration for the psalm.

Lord, sometimes I forget about the difficult and even frightening circumstances surrounding the journey to Bethlehem.

Oh, how your Word must have comforted Joseph and Mary.

Thank you for that.

We share the hope of the Gospel and give practical help to people impacted by disability. We've been changing the church and communities around the globe for the past 40 years.

Nearly 1 billion people around the world live with disabilities.

Many of these individuals and their families live in poverty, pain, and despair.
We want to change this. Joni and Friends is committed to bringing the Gospel and practical resources to people impacted by disability around the globe.

For the past 40 years, it has been our mission to present the hope of the Gospel to people affected by disability through programs and outreaches around the world. We energize the church, and move people from lack of awareness to embracing people of all abilities into the fabric of worship, fellowship, and outreach. We also train and mentor people with disabilities to exercise their gifts of leadership and service in their churches and communities.

https://www.joniandfriends.org/the-shepherds-psalm/

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