Month: October 2018

TeacherStudent

God’s Glory of Change: Passing Through Life’s Seasons

 

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life?

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

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The day was cloudy and somewhat brisk, a typical fall day. Leaves were falling to the ground as the wind picked up. I looked at the changing leaves ahead on my drive to the church building and knew winter was in the air. My thoughts became true all too soon as heavy flakes began dropping from the sky, making visibility difficult. I was now making my way through a blizzard of snow.

I had to scrape heavy, wet snow off my car after I completed printing the church    bulletin. Yet, two hours later, the snow disappeared, and the green grass was visible once again. It could have been the start of spring, except for the events that had just occurred and the changing colors of falling leaves.

The seasons seemed to play out before me in a few hours. God’s glory of change. We live through the seasons in our lives, not quite expecting the fall to come so soon or the winter to hit us with the reality of its arrival. Are we truly prepared?

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. 

(Proverbs 27:1)

 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15)

 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting my life is.

You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before You.
Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. (Psalm 39:4-5)

 In the season of our lives when the leaves are falling to the ground, variant hues            swirling downward, we should become more introspective by examining our lives and the number of days, how fleeting. They fade before us like the fallen leaves that  become brittle, crumbling within our hands.

In preparation for the inevitable snow and cold of our winter season, we know, with assurance through Him, that new life awaits in an eternal season of spring.

God’s glory of change. His renewal of life. The snow melts,  and the grass is green once again.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?   (Matthew 6:25-27)

Through each season, God is there. We must trust in Him to help us through each change, knowing that a new life awaits us after this one ceases to be. For some, the time may come before the falling of leaves, the autumn of their days.

Therefore, we must be prepared to meet our Lord through each season of                              accountability  before God.

Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.

 (Sharon G. Tate blog 10/28/18) teacherforjesus.com Meditations on God’s Word

TeacherStudent

OUR POWER SOURCE—OUR LORD AND OUR GOD!

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,  and You are exalted as head above all.   (2 Chronicles 29:11)

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NO POWER?

My good friend and I had each driven a distance to meet, have lunch, and share our lives through the meaningful conversation we always have when we get together. This time, it appeared that we had no place to do any of this when we were confronted with the news that the entire town was without power due to a main transformer being hit. The manager was just locking the door to the restaurant . . .

“NO POWER” IS NEVER A CONCERN WHEN WE ARE CONNECTED WITH GOD!

— For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. . . (Romans 1:20)

 — Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world.  3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

–And said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In Your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You. (2 Chronicles 20:6)

–And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed them all. (Luke 6:19)

–Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. (Ephesians 3: 20-21)

 –For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20)

 — And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. (I Corinthians 6:14)

 –And what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might 20 that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1: 19-21)

 POWER IS FROM THE LORD. HE IS OUR SOURCE OF STRENGTH.

 For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

We are “they”– and we are without excuse. It is clear Who our power source is. When we choose our own source, we face outages and are without the source of Light we need.  We become weak, losing the connection to His strength.

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. . .   My friend and I asked to just sit inside the restaurant, so we could, at least, talk for a while. The power had not been off long enough to prevent us from having some of the salad bar and two cookies for dessert. We moved closer to the windows, to have access to light– the Power Source from Him.  And we prayed and gave thanks.

Our connectivity to God is available 24/7. 

We only need to stay close to the Power Source.

(Sharon G. Tate blog 10/21/18) teacherforjesus.com  Meditations on God’s Word

TeacherStudent

Setting our Minds on Things Above

 

               Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. . .  (Proverbs 3:5)

Hope:  Tomorrow will be a better day.

Expectation: Tomorrow will be a better day.

What tone of voice is speaking in our heads when we think these thoughts?

What attitude controls the outcome of hope or expectation?

When we think in terms of this world, we may tend to hope for something better but not be fully assured that it will come to be. Hope in this sense is an uncertainty that isn’t necessarily expected: “I don’t know, but I hope it will happen.”

On the other hand, our hope in Christ is an expectation with strong certainty: “I do know and expect that this will happen through Him.”

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (I Timothy 1:7)

 Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe. (Proverbs 28:26)

 ATTITUDE:

It drives our moods, our behaviors, our relationships, our plans, our goals, our ability to reach out to others and make a difference for Christ.

 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

EXPECTATION: 

It is our hope in Christ, the promise that we know will come to pass,  in our attitude of belief and trust in Him.

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:2-4)

 MINDSET: ABOVE ⇑

(Sharon G. Tate blog 10/14/18) teacherforjesus.com  Meditations on God’s Word

TeacherStudent

Abundant Gifts from God in Our Daily Routine– If We Just Knew

 

 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink,  you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”

John 4:10

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I raised the faucet handle and instantly had water, hot to the left and cold to the right. I didn’t reflect about this experience. It was just a normal, daily routine that I repeated throughout the day. Yet, across the pond from me, the owners in that building were without running water for hours due to plumbing repairs. They anticipated the time when the water would be back on, so they could return to their normal, daily routine. . .

STOP and THINK.  THINK and BE THANKFUL.

A “routine” can affect our level of gratitude. It can make us forget to appreciate what is a daily gift that others don’t have as a routine experience. This daily gift of water is from God. It is life-giving and life-sustaining.  It is an abundant blessing bestowed on us from the Father who cares for us always. That is God’s love.

 The “routine” day-to-day experience becomes something else when we look at how God provides:

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. (Psalm 23:1)

 2“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent people you save me. 4 “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. (2 Samuel 22:2-4)

 Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

 (38) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, (39) neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

If we just knew “the gift of God” –we would receive the living water from Him.

Within our daily routine are unwrapped gifts from God.

Are we aware? Do we see?

STOP and THINK. THINK and BE THANKFUL.

(Sharon G. Tate blog 10/07/18) teacherforjesus.com Meditations on God’s Word