Tag: Faith

Posted on in Encouragement, Prayers

“Here For The Comments”!

Have you ever noticed on some social media posts people will often comment “I’m here for the comments” followed with a meme of someone eating popcorn? I must admit there are times I have gone straight to the comments, because I expected the comments would be interesting. The other day I started looking at comments on a particular post knowing I was not going to comment myself. I was just curious to see how people would respond. There are times, in my opinion, I will find comments to be rude, harsh, opinionated and disrespectful. These types of comments are becoming more prevalent no matter the content or humor intended behind an actual post.

Some months back, I commented favorably on a public post about the outcome of a college football game. My comment was not hurtful or demeaning in anyway, but someone decided they wanted to respond to my comment in a sarcastic way. I was tempted to go back and forth with this person that I did not know, but I chose not to respond. I actually deleted my comment, because had I left it up, I probably would have responded negatively to the sarcasm. I don’t think I took the “high road”, but I do know what was best for me at the time.

When I thought about “here for the comments”, I wondered how we would feel if Jesus, Himself, wrote I AM here for the comments. I would hope He is pleased with some of our comments, but I would think a good portion of them are very disappointing to Him. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” This means there are consequences in what we say to each other and even what we say about ourselves. Most often, in these posts where people may choose to comment, they don’t know the person making the post and they don’t know those who are commenting. However, they are comfortable stating opinions in a disrespectful way. Some people have become comfortable engaging in very demeaning conversations trying too hard to get their point across or to make a shameful attempt at being humorous. There are some who are not phased by the comments, but what about the person who may take it to heart? What about the one person who may feel shamed based on the comments made? What about the person who may be lead to be just as negative or just as spiteful? Just because we may be thinking it, does it mean we have to make the comment?

I have to repeat this verse from Psalm 19:14 as a prayer to myself on a regular basis: Father, Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. O Lord, You are my Strength and my Redeemer. I try to be mindful of what I say or write to others and I try to be mindful of the tone of my voice when speaking. I would hope I am being more encouraging to others and not tearing them down. I would like to think I will most often choose to take the high road and not get pulled into a pit of insults with someone I don’t even know. I would rather speak or write life giving words of affirmation and not words of discouragement.

So if you know Jesus is “here for the comments” and He is, would you choose your words more carefully?

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Dear Father, thank You for today. Thank You for choosing to wake me up this morning and guiding me through another day. LORD, thank You for being mindful of me and helping me to be a better person than I was yesterday. Father, I pray the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be acceptable to You. I pray the words I speak or write will encourage others and not cause hurt or harm. I pray my spoken and written comments will come forth from a place of love, respect, grace and compassion. Father, forgive me when I have chosen to say or write anything that has not been good to others or pleasing to You. Forgive me when I have hastily responded out of a place of anger or frustration. Dear God, thank You for another chance. I pray You will continue to remind me that You are “here for my comments”! In Jesus’ precious name, amen!

Leaning The Right Way

Life is. . . 

So many extra words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, or chapters that can be added to the phrase “Life is”. One minute life is good and the next minute life may not be so good. What should we as believers do to help us navigate through these moments? The Bible tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (NKJV)

This scripture has blessed me and comforted me in so many ways and so many times. I will often share this scripture with others when they are seeking answers. There are times in my own life where I just don’t understand the why, but I do know God has a plan for me. I have to remember to trust Him when the times are not so good just as much, if not more, as I trust Him when times are good. I have learned over the years not to try to figure things out on my own. It took me some time to get here in my thinking and in my prayer life, but thankfully, there has been progress. 

When the not so good moments occur, I have to go to God for Him to comfort me and to give me the peace I need. He can do that better than me phoning a friend or posting my circumstances on social media. He can comfort me better than retail therapy or eating too much of a favorite dessert. No one understands me better than God understands me. No one understands you better than God understands you. Remember, He is the One who created you and knit you together in your mother’s womb. He is the One who knows your thoughts even before you think them or speak them (Psalm 139).

Perhaps this is why  Proverbs 3:5 starts off with ” Trust in the LORD with all your heart”. We have to trust Him because He is the One who gave us our hearts. He loves us just as we are and He knows how we are feeling about certain issues in our lives. Then we have to lean not unto your own understanding”. God is saying I may not need you to understand right at this particular moment, but in time you will get some understanding out of your circumstances. God is saying if you trust Him and don’t try to figure things out on your own and also acknowledge Him, then He will set you on the right path. We have to lean in the right direction at all times and in all of our ways. The right way to go is to lean towards God.

There is a hymn we sang in church when I was a young girl titled “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms”. Hopefully, some of you know this song and/or remember it. Back then I had a hymn book in my hands and I would sing along with the rest of the congregation.  Here are a few lines in this song:

“What a blessedness, what a peace is mine.

Leaning on the everlasting arms. 

Leaning, leaning;  Safe and secure from all alarms.”

Safe and secure from all alarms! In other words, acknowledge Him in all our ways, then we will be safe and secure. Life is full of surprises. Life is full of ups and downs. How we manage to get through each day is key. Do we try to figure everything out and keep asking why? Or, do we turn to God and trust Him to lead us the right way. John 10:10 says ”The thief does not come except to steal and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” When we are leaning the right way, we are trusting God and trusting His plans for our lives. Life is better when we come to know we can trust God and don’t have to figure things out on our own. The right way to lean is to trust God and to acknowledge Him.

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Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank You for the blessing of life you have given us this day. You woke us up this morning. We are grateful that You are protecting us and providing for us right now. We thank You, Father, for being merciful and loving towards us. Please forgive us of our sins. Forgive us for when we try to understand things on our own without trusting You and acknowledging You. Help us, Father, to be more intentional in seeking You for direction and clarity in our circumstances. Thank You, Father, for directing our paths and for Your word being a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. Thank You for being the Everlasting Arms we can lean into at all times and be safe from all harm and dangers. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen and amen, again.

We Must Only Believe!

In these times of trouble, turmoil, violence, injustice, confusion, corruptness, catastrophic weather, political division, racial tensions, murders, homelessness, financial struggles, division within the church, this pandemic, and Covid-19 along with all other manner of sickness and disease, we must remember Jesus! We must remember Who He Is and we must remember what He can do.

Psalm 140:7 says He is our Sovereign Lord, our strong Deliverer! Psalm 61:3 reminds us He is our Refuge and our Strong Tower. In the book of Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6, we were told He would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We must remember that He is still all of this and more to us today!

Those who tried not to believe were witnesses to what He could do and even in their plot to crucify Him, He still lives today! In Acts 2:22-24(GNT) it says “Listen to these words, fellow Israelites! Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. You yourselves know this, for it happened here among you. In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him. But God raised him from death, setting him free from its power, because it was impossible that death should hold him prisoner.” Death did not win!

Just as Jesus performed miracles, signs and wonders back then, He can still do the same today. We may not always see what He is doing, we just have to believe. Remember the story of Jairus and his daughter? Jairus had asked Jesus to come to his home because his daughter was ill. Before they could get to Jairus’ house, messengers reported to him that his daughter was already dead and they told Jairus he should not bother Jesus anymore. Mark 5:6 says “Jesus paid no attention to what they said, but told him, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” Jesus made it to Jairus’ home and told everyone that the little girl was not dead, but that she was asleep. Even then, they made fun of what He said because they did not believe and he had them removed from the home. Jesus then entered the little girl’s room with 3 of his disciples, Jairus and his wife. When Jesus touched the little girl’s hand, he told her to get up. The scripture goes on to tell us that she got up and began to move around. We must remember that Jesus wants us to “only believe.”

Today, I hear the words Miracles, Signs and Wonders resonating in my spirit. Although we may see and hear of so much negativity and disastrous events going on in the world, I believe He is performing Miracles, Signs and Wonders. We don’t have to see what He is doing, we just have to believe. We must remember that in spite of all that is not good, He is our DELIVERER! He is our PROTECTOR! He is our PROVIDER! He is our SAVIOR! The things of this world should not imprison us; for we know who He is and what He can do! He is the One that brings forth MIRACLES, SIGNS, and WONDERS! We must only believe…

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To our Father in heaven, we thank You for being so good and merciful to us. We thank You for your loving kindness and Your tender mercies each morning. Father, we declare that we know who You are and we believe in what You are able to do. We believe You heal the sick, give sight to the blind and cause the lame to walk! We believe that You can speak to that which appears to be dead and that new life will spring forth. We believe that when we feel we can’t move forward, You order our steps and great things start to happen. We believe that You are performing MIRACLES, SIGNS and WONDERS right now in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, homes, prisons and on street corners. Father, we believe Your miracle working power stretches from nation to nation and kingdom to kingdom. Father, we believe we are not bound by what we actually see; and whether we are in the room or not, we believe You are performing MIRACLES, SIGNS and WONDERS! Father, we pay the naysayers no mind and we say in the mighty name of Jesus that we believe!