Sunday Reflections Hymn- Trust and Obey

Trust and Obey

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Refrain:

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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Dialogue Questions: Happiness

Are people naturally happy?  Or is it like Abe Lincoln said “people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be” ?

(Personally I have to work at it sometimes. I worked for years to reset my main mood from depression to relatively happy most of the time. Now I just monitor my mood and implement some techniques to recharge me to happy if I get low.)

What are your thoughts and experience? Please start the conversation here and then others can join in.

Until Next Time~
Blessings, Kate

Aligning My Wishes With God’s Will

Do I want my wishes or do I want God’s will for my life?

An opportunity came up in March that I wasn’t expecting.

I decided it was time to go back to work.

My son and I run through the money I have by the 8th of the month just paying bills and spending $60 on food for both of us for the month. He is an adult and needs a job. He has anxiety and depression issues so it complicates the process. Anyway, since the doors for him to pay his own way have not opened yet, I decided I couldn’t go on this way. That means if not him… then me.

I currently volunteer 9 hours a week at my church. I asked if the staff would be willing to be character and work ethic references for me. They all said yes.

After their next staff meeting, the pastor called me into his office. He reaffirmed that he was willing to be a reference then added “but we hope you will find employment here with us.” I was shocked and overjoyed. I did not see that coming.

He asked how much I needed. I said even $200 would make our life a lot better. So he did some math and the figure was more like $360. YAY.

But, realizing that last December I had put on my wish list that I wanted $300 more income a month (and now that was coming into my life)…I thought, what if I put on my list that I want $500? So I did. And, someone happened to quit 3 weeks later at church– which opened up more hours and more pay…approx $600 total.  YAY

Unfortunately, the man who had quit (resulting in the additional hours for me) decided to stay on. Ok, I’m rolling with it and trusting God.

The job is still being written up for exactly what the job will entail. There are a few different areas they would like me to spend time working in.

So while I wait (its been almost 2 moths now), I am waiting patiently and trusting God that things work out for the best……that is until today.  LOL. While on a long walk, I started to think about what I wanted in my life right now and how I want to spend my time. 

Suddenly I began thinking about this job and what I really hoped would happen with it, how my time would be allotted, and what amount I wanted (not just needed) financially and actually think I could handle and fulfill.

Interestingly, the man (who quit and came back)  has been MIA all week and let something major fall through the cracks this weekend without telling anyone nor asking for assistance to do it. So those hours might open back up. Plus, there is a new community outreach program they need headed up one day a week that just came up.

Therefore, once again what I wish for is possible.

But is it God’s will?  I don’t know because I never asked. Hmmm.

There is no chapter in the Bible that tells us how to discern God’s will. There is no verse that says “x amount of hours will work in these situations.” God’s will isn’t always about a particular circumstance. But it IS always about who we become through those circumstances. And that is covered in the Bible.

I need to consider if the work I do will contribute to me being a better person. Will it allow me to do good things with my life through the increase in income? Or will I be pushed too far and be irritable, in a foul mood, which might get taken out on innocent by standers at work or at home?

Well, it looks like I have some more thinking to do so I can be honest with myself and with the hiring committee. As a believer I can’t just run off and chase every wish that crosses my mind. I know the world says “if you want it you can have it.” Maybe so, but it is wise to slow down and think through if it is the best path according to God’s desires for my time, my relationships, my other commitments.

I have thought it through and come up with what would fit both God’s plan for my character and commitments.  That is the number I am wishing for and ready to discuss and accept.

Things work best when my wishes align with God’s will.

Until Next Time~
Blessings, Kate

Do you, also, ever run ahead of God before asking for His wisdom and guidance? Share with me. I’d love to hear how you make your decisions.

 

First photo –Photo by Ethan Robertson on Unsplash

Second photo–Photo by Tachina Lee on Unsplash

Sunday Reflections Hymn- Take Time to be Holy

1. Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
   Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
   Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
   Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
2. Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
   Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
   By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
   Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
3. Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
   And run not before Him, whatever betide.
   In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
   And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
4. Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
   Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
   Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
   Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

Words by William D. Longstaff

REFUSE TO BE COMFORTABLE IN YOUR SITUATION — Mthokozisi Nyandeni Inspirations

MARK 10:46:52 It came to pass as Jesus and his disciples followed by a crowd of people came across a blind man who was also a beggar by the roadside as they went out of Jericho. When the blind man heard that it was Jesus, he started crying out because he first believed in his […]

via REFUSE TO BE COMFORTABLE IN YOUR SITUATION — Mthokozisi Nyandeni Inspirations

God is Dead? Try Reading the Whole Paragraph

Seminary killed Nietzsche’s God.

It is dangerous to quote people only partly, and out of context. For years I was brought up to understand that Nietzsche said, “God is dead.” Period. End of statement.

This intrigued me when I read that his father was a Lutheran pastor and Nietzsche himself attended seminary. After his first term he is known to have said this total passage:
God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned, has bled to death under our knives; who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?

The fact that he attended seminary explains this passage.

When a person goes to seminary their faith is often dismantled and tattered till barely any threads are still connected. It is unrecognizable. It is doubted that there was ever anything to believe in to begin with except for some nice stories that man created on his own.

I can say this because I attended seminary myself. I did 45 credits out of 90 before I too walked away in disbelief. While I retained a faith in God (unlike Nietzsche)—Jesus was out of the picture for the 14 years to follow due to my seminary studies. I have often said that, of the people I talked to (while I was slowly losing my faith and tormented by it), the only seminarians to still believe in traditional Christianity were the students who gave the professors what they wanted to hear but the students themselves chose to ignore the teachings. Other than those faithful few, 90% of students no longer believed in Jesus and 85% didn’t believe in God.

So let’s read this quote in its entirety with my experience of seminary interpreting what he says:

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him (we have taken all that we believed about God and torn it apart, saying it is untrue and just made up). Yet his shadow still looms. (But there is still something there of it that cannot be totally obliterated) How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? (Now if we did kill the concept of the God of Christianity—then we would be the murderers of all murderers. What a greater feat of killing could take place than to kill of the creator of all that is?)What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned, has bled to death under our knives; (our scholarly attempts to dissect and understand God has caused us not to have a God left to believe in) who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?

From this view point I have compassion for Nietzsche. It is extremely painful to have your faith torn apart. To lose one’s faith is to lose your total foundation. To say it is disruptive is like saying “we had a few sprinkles of rain today” after a category 5 hurricane has plowed through your town.

Sure, if Nietzsche HAD just said “God is dead” that makes him a monster to those who believe in God. But that is not the whole thought he was expressing.

It seems to me his statement came about through frustration and disillusionment. What he further says later in life still stems from his experience in seminary and the fact that he did not stay in school long enough to have his faith rebuilt.

The inner turmoil of accepting that man has created God, and faith is for the simpletons of this world…that stance, that can develop from a hardened heart, can turn into bitterness, anger, pompous criticism of those who still believe and the religion they still cling to, only because “they are not educated”.

God is not dead. He is very much alive. But one has to put aside the false doctrines and quit spending all of time studying the doubters and pulling things apart to disprove it. What we look for is what we develop into truth. We humans do not like to be wrong. It is called confirmation bias.

There are archeological findings and historical writings from outside Christianity that support the Bible as truth. Why don’t we spend time considering those things more closely?

After all, we do not see whole educational degrees set up to disprove that the writings of Plato and Socrates.

We do not have whole departments saying their quotes are just words that someone else penned together decades later to make a good point and attributed them to these two historical figures falsely?

So why are we bent on doing that to the Bible? To Jesus? And yes, even to God himself?

Just something to consider…. Share with me your thoughts, Please.

Until Next Time~
Blessings, Kate

Photo by Jonathan Bowers on Unsplash

Dialogue Questions: 2 Years Left?

How do we spend our time? Would it change if we knew our time on Earth was running out? Today I want to know:

If you were told you have only 2 years left to live–

• What would you continue to do?
• What would you add to your life?
• What would you change?

This should be interesting and revealing. Now that you know these things will you change your actions anyway?

Until Next Time~
Blessings, Kate