Tag Archives: New American Standard Bible

Peace

I expect to be brief this morning. A busy day is before me and it starts shortly.

But before I rush the door I want to share today’s praying theme:

Peace

It covers all my people. Whatever the need; whatever the station; whatever the season. Peace will cover it. Requesting peace with GOD for those who do not know Him yet. For others it is peace with one another; peace with and for our decisions; peace in finances; peace in illness and disease. PEACE.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

via BibleGateway.com – Keyword Search: Peace of GOD.

Philippians 4:9

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

via BibleGateway.com – Keyword Search: Peace of GOD.

Colossians 3:15

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

via BibleGateway.com – Keyword Search: Peace of GOD.

20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

via Hebrews 13:19-21 NASB – And I urge you all the more to do this, – Bible Gateway.

Thank You, ABBA. Thank You, HOLY SPIRIT, for theme praying; thank You for peace, LORD JESUS. Thank You, for hearing our prayers.  And specifically this morning for Brandon and Kim. Peace, ABBA. Peace in this illness as You heal him; peace for Kim as she waits for Brandon’s healing; peace with all that surrounds these days. Peace. Thank You, LORD. Thank You. And Peace now for each and every soul that comes here to read and to pray. Peace with You, peace in their families, peace in their work places, peace in their homes, peace in their finances, peace in their decisions. Peace, ABBA. And, HOLY SPIRIT, that we all have hearts to make peace, and live in peace for the glory and majesty of JESUS. Amen and           . 

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
Praying (PFT)!

Dish for Dish

In the quiet of this morning doing morning blessings I heard Chuck Swindoll. He was speaking of kindness. Random acts of kindness. And with that, Scripture came to mind. I did not recall it verbatim nor even its Bible Address, but I got the message.

Here’s where I started.

What do ye more than they?

It’s the LORD speaking to the people reasoning with them that loving those who love you is no fine accomplishment. Loving those who hate you is the standard. And so when we dish back what is dished to us the question is WHAT DO YE MORE THAN THEY?

How different are we from the ones who railed upon us when we render railing back to them?

It’s a good question – JESUS asked it? How will I answer it? How will you answer it?

Matthew 5:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
via Matthew 5 NASB – The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes – Bible Gateway.

The Apostle Paul took his cues from JESUS and got in on the instructions too. We are only wise when we heed.

Romans 12:17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
via Rom 12:17 NASB – Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. – Bible Gateway.

Random acts of kindness, deliberate acts of kindness in response to deliberate acts of meanness, oh ABBA, what a huge and perfect standard. None of us are capable of doing it, but YOU LORD JESUS enable us. Thank You. What an honor and a privilege and a joy it is to rise above the normal and embrace Your enable-ment to do right in the midst of wrong. That is what I want. It is for that I pray for myself and for each who come here to read and pray. And in our coming to You this morning we bring our needs and the needs of others. Take a reading, LORD, on our hearts. See all the needs, see all the ills and disease and weaknesses, hidden and plain, and work miracles in us and through us. Heal our sick and raise the spiritually dead we pray. Amen and . . . .   .

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
Praying (PFT)!

Good (Message)

Friday morning, Friends. It’s a sunshiny day in lower Alabama!

So! Happy plans for the weekend anyone?

I’m about blank of anything to write this morning, So, I again went to my JOURNEY magazine. Revolt or Respect? It read.
Good message in our political climate.
Good message in a work environment.
Good message in family dynamics.
Good Message.

It talked of a school principal having made a decision his teachers did not understand, nor did they agree was good and reasonable. Short tempers flared. Words were flung. Conspiracies for dissensions were devised as the teachers began to file from the room.  Except for one.

Listen in with me (again) as our heroine is described:

“Amidst the arguing and accusations, I began to hear the voice of the HOLY SPIRIT beckoning me to show Mr. Tate respect and honor, even if I didn’t agree with his position. By the time the meeting had adjourned and other teachers began to exit in small groups, huddling together and murmuring about their plans of dissension, I had determined to steer clear of the angry talk. If I needed to address Mr. Tate about his decision it would only be later after I’d prayed about things and could speak with gentleness, self-control, and respect.”

I know of NO relationship wherein this is not the proper action!  And in this very moment, the precious HOLY SPIRIT brings to mind a verse of Scripture for us. Excuse me while I go find the reference to copy and paste it for us here. 

Oh my! Verse 19 is where He starts us —

James 1: 19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
via James 1 NASB – Testing Your Faith – James, a – Bible Gateway.

Who does not want to be blessed in what she (he) does?
For sure, for sure the HOLY SPIRIT is saying to us today if we want to be blessed, we must be quick to hear and slow to speak.  And that’s only the beginning.

JOURNEY concluded with a poignant question and counsel. 

“Is the LORD asking you to act contrary to the way of the crowd?
Yield to Him and He will strengthen you.”

The Word stings, ABBA, but it’s a good sting to me. Good as a scalpel that cuts away what is harmful. HOLY SPIRIT, do Your perfect work here in us with Your Word.  Indeed You are asking, commanding, us to act differently than the crowd and You have promised to strengthen us. We accept Your command and Your strength to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to get angry, quick to hear and do as You have written, to look intently at Your perfect law of liberty and receive Your blessings.  Thank You, ABBA. Thank You. 

And, ABBA, thank You. We see Your hand in this and we wait to see Your glory revealed in this. I am mindful in this moment of another trial of another sort, it’s a cancer of another kind, the kind that eats a person’s soul and hurts others; You know the parties in mind and even others I do not know and I pray You will lead them all, guide them to proper counsel, legal and Christian, to process this.  I pray for restoration.  For all the suffering(s) that has been brought here, HOLY SPIRIT, we pray for Your intervention and Your glory. Amen and . . . .   .

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
Kathie 

Since

I have not written a word until just now since yesterday and since my beloved read something so good to me from Guidepost this morning, even though it is last year’s reading, I thought you would not mind if I shared it with you for our time at the screen this morning.

The writer is Mary Lou Carney. And she said:

I like gardens–not gardening. I am good at planting, usually in a rush of adrenaline brought on by seed catalogs with blossoms bursting off the page. But when the blush of the moment fades, I tend to forget about my flowers. And as time goes by, weeds grow and my garden begins to look, well . . . ragged.

My friend, Desila, on the other hand, likes gardening. Her beds are beautiful, her blossoms huge and richly colored. So I had to laugh the other day when she showed up with something for my flowerbed–a flat, gray stone that read ‘MY GARDEN WAS AT ITS BEST LAST WEEK, SORRY YOU MISSED IT.

I think the rock was meant to motivate me to take better care of my flowers. But it’s done more than that. It’s made me think about the way people perceive my actions, too. That moment when I’m short-tempered with a waitress, the times my driving gets too aggressive, the laugh I have at the expense of someone else. These things don’t occur often–but when they do, I want to say, “Wait, I looked better last week when I was doing church volunteer work. When I was letting that hassled mother go ahead of me in the grocery store line. You should have seen me when . . .”

My well-placed stone reminds me that life, like gardens, requires ongoing care. And you never know who’s looking to see just how well you’re blooming.

Master Gardener, weed from my life all that is ugly and selfish. Let me grow strong and tall in the beauty of Your love.  —- Mary Lou Carney.

I can and do amen that prayer! How about you?

Thank you for your prayers and expressed concerns for Sheila. The nausea is controlled now and she was able to take in some liquids – chicken broth and jello yesterday. We rejoiced!

1 Peter 2:23-25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
via 1 Peter 2:23-25 NASB – and while being reviled, He did not – Bible Gateway.

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
Praying (PFT)!