the battleground

28 July 2019

HOPE FOR TODAY

Philippians 2:5 NIV

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

THE BATTLEGROUND

The mind is the battleground on which victory is secured, or defeat is insured.

Attitudes grow quickly in the fertile soil of the mind. We must weed our gardens constantly, or suffer the loss of the harvest. Attitudes require a firm hand. If we don’t govern our attitudes, they will rule and ruin our lives. Good government establishes boundaries for society. Good parents establish boundaries for their children. Good employers define boundaries for employees. Governance is all about perimeters.

The mind needs clear borderlines. An unbounded thought life will soon wander the paths of destruction, far removed from safety. Thoughts and attitudes grow into words and actions. Hidden things are ultimately revealed.

We often find ourselves far removed from the highest and best. How did I get here? Where did I go wrong? How could I stray so far? It all starts in the thought life. We need to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and feed our minds with God’s Word. Jesus’ example will always produce light.

The Word of God guards our hearts against corruption, our thoughts from confusion, and our feet from destruction.

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JESUS BIBLE READING

Psalm 43:5 NIV

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

HOPE IN GOD

Psalm 43 is a prayer to God in a time of trouble. Through doubt and stress, the psalmist urged his inner being, by the power of God, to keep believing. “Why, my soul, are you downcast?” he questioned himself (Ps 43:5). Yet he stood firm, keeping his hope in God and praising him through his distress. Hope in God, through Jesus, is one of the central messages of the New Testament. Without Christ, people have no hope. However, the shed blood of Christ brings believers back to their Creator and gives them the hope they once lacked (Eph 2:12 – 13). He then prayed that God would give spiritual understanding to his people, opening the eyes of their hearts, allowing them to know the hope to which he has called them — “the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” (Eph 1:18). People may hope in many things, but there is one hope that all Christians have in common, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in him alone that believers find true hope and eternal riches.

Jesus, help me to not misplace my hope. I know you are the only One worthy of my hope. Help me to remember this in times of trouble and stress. Amen.

someone's watchin' u

17 July 2018

HOPE FOR TODAY 
John 13:15 NIV
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

“Dad came home every day, popped open a beer, and turned on the television,” said the weary engineer. “I hated him for it, but I find myself doing the same thing with my kids – strange how that happens, isn’t it?”

He went on with a confession, of sorts, at 33,000 ft. He rambled on a bit, and my mind drifted to my own childhood. What a parent values will make its mark on a child – for good or bad.

I grew up in the company of a thousand books. Television was an amusement. Books were treasured. My father cherished his preaching library. My mother filled the house with biographies and novels. My earliest book memories center on the bizarre creations of Dr. Seuss. Golden Books and pirates’ tales accompanied the Bible stories from the big blue ten-volume series.

A love of reading is a part of the continuing legacy of my mom and dad. I married a book lover, and we cherish shelving over crystal. My kids have caught the bug, too. My youngest prefers a library to a game arcade.

What will your children say that you valued thirty years from yesterday? Would you want them to pass it on? What you model – they will follow. Watch out Daddy – the kids are watching you.


MY THOUGHTS
WATCH OUT PARENTS: the kids r watching.

what i treasure will be copied thru thru the generations living with u. my kids mimicked me and my husband. and now their children r mimicking them. i see the pattern repeated. i see the struggle of the parents to change. i see children wanting to be just like mommy and daddy.
i see this thru eyes that have been there, done that, got the proof. i see my youngest daughter fighting to change and become more like Jesus. i see her husband struggle to change old habits in his own strength. both striving to be better parents, set a better example. progress is evident in the children in some areas; others r still a work in progress. i look back at what i cannot change and see my own struggle fall way short causing me to stop trying. i see the struggle in my children that ensued and is still there. not able to change the past, i press on with living the change that has occurred within me and still being refined to help. the GRACE of God now more a part of me than before, i now show patience and more love than before.
Rodney Atkins sings a song about how a child is watching his father. that song is so true! our children r watching us even as adults. my youngest daughter shared with me that my prayers r living out right in front of me. i am seeing a miracle in her as she surrenders to God so she can be a much better example of God's love. what an honor and a privilege to seeing answers to being forgiven, praying, and giving everything to God as i have been doing over the past year.

CHILDREN NEVER STOP WATCHING!!