Improving today for all of my tomorrows
For tomorrow's man, me, does follow.
If a person is a body builder or has lifted hay bales most of his life, you don't have to hear him say a thing to you before you can ascertain the fact that you have a strong physical specimen in front of you, do you? No, you don't. The physical body speaks for itself. By the same token, when you wrestle with problem upon problem and weather gales and storms with faith and trust that "The Lord will take care of all of my trials," you will get to where the things that bother most folks just don't bother you. Your spiritual body will start to be seen in a light similar to the physical body builder. You may be surprised one day to hear somebody say, "How do you do it? How do you stay so strong in your belief in the Lord with all that has gone on in your life?" This thought may make you reflect upon the spiritual message of faith that you are sending to your fellowman.
We talked about this very thing in a blogging session a few months back. We also talked about how the Lord gets us ready for whatever plans He has for us according to His purpose. What I mean is this, "He does not have to get our permission to begin or continue to carry out his plans for us. He does not have to ask our permission for anything. What we, as His servants, have to do is keep our faith in Him intact, no matter what unforeseen circumstances occur in our lives.
Keeping your faith intact in trying times is an easy thing to say, but it is not an easy thing to do. I will use myself as an example. Back when I got hit with a supercell of a storm in my life, I cried; prayed; was frustrated; wondered why all of that stuff was happening to me and railed at the fates, all while trying to keep my faith in God intact. I kept thinking in my mind and sometimes saying to myself aloud, "All things work together for good for those that love the Lord." (Rom. 8:28) Since I knew that there was no question of my Love for the Lord, I figured that the fault had to have been in my understanding of the portion of the scripture that said: "All things work together for good."
I even used to ask myself, "Now, what good can come out of this?" Those are the words of a person whose faith is being severely challenged. The words suggest, "Now, I'm getting tired of this. This isn't fair, and it is not supposed to be this way. I have had enough of you, trouble, so go pick on somebody else. I'm serving God. Go find some of those folks who are not. And if things did not let up after several long praying sessions, I thought, "God is not hearing me; what good is it doing me to pray? What good is it doing me to be faithful to Him? He does not care about me because He is not answering my prayers. He even lets my enemies laugh at me for being so sanctimonious."
Yep, there are times in all of our lives that we forget to remember the way that the Lord has brought us over, We forget to remember how sweetly He has delivered us before. Sometimes we get so impatient that we think, "That was then: this is now. What has He done for me lately? He has taken His love and protection from around me."
Nope! Nope! Nope! As my mother told me time and time again, "You have to keep trusting in Him even when it seems that you have no reason to trust." We must remember that "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and His ears are open to their cry."
Ipe! Ipe! Ipe! You cannot ask, "Then why is He letting all of this happen to me if He loves me so much?" Listen to yourself. Do you hear what you are saying? Have you forgotten that He loves displays of faith? Are you telling the Creator of the universe that He has to ask your permission before He can do anything with your life? He does not have to tell you beforehand that, "I am going to put you through some faith strength training exercises. You just stay with me and though the fire will get hot and mighty uncomfortable, I won't let you burn. If you will work with Me, WHEN I FINISH WITH YOU, YOU WILL SHINE FOR ME, AS NEVER BEFORE. IS THAT ALRIGHT WITH YOU?"
Where is your faith, that "Substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen?" It is no small wonder that Jesus said, "Oh ye of little faith." Yes, folks, I have had that discourse with myself on several occasions. After such a discourse, I would find myself reading that chapter in the book of Job where the Lord asked Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, where were you when..." (Job 38:4) After I had read that chapter, I hung my head and thought, "Thy will be done Lord; thy will be done, but please keep holding my hand because this is more than I can stand." After such times, I would call to mind the scripture that says, "I can do all thongs through Christ Jesus, Who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)
Why am I saying these things to you; I am saying them because we live in a world where some people have very little regard for human life; a world where people do not care about basic kindness to one another, where kindness is perceived as weakness; a world where it is all about I, me and my, and no matter who has to be stepped on, as long as I get what I want, etc.
So, we have to keep our faith intact and let others see us trying to be faithful, loving, and caring, taking the low road out, etc. If we do this, we will be shouting our love for Him and mankind, though the world thinks they don't want to hear it or don't have time right now for it. We have to keep sending a positive message to the world by listening to the message of faith in God from our forefathers that says, "He will make everything alright." That's what my Momma always said; my Gran Gran always said, and the Bible still says!
Yall, enjoy your Friday and stay prayed up.
Doing What I Can, While I Can
Alma Jones
Aside - Endeavoring to encourage you today and leave a positive message for the man of tomorrow.
Aside - Can you explain the green highlighted statement for tomorrow? You can? Good, then do it! Tee hee Well, we have to chuckle when we can, because life will certainly wring some tears from us, you know?
For tomorrow's man, me, does follow.
If a person is a body builder or has lifted hay bales most of his life, you don't have to hear him say a thing to you before you can ascertain the fact that you have a strong physical specimen in front of you, do you? No, you don't. The physical body speaks for itself. By the same token, when you wrestle with problem upon problem and weather gales and storms with faith and trust that "The Lord will take care of all of my trials," you will get to where the things that bother most folks just don't bother you. Your spiritual body will start to be seen in a light similar to the physical body builder. You may be surprised one day to hear somebody say, "How do you do it? How do you stay so strong in your belief in the Lord with all that has gone on in your life?" This thought may make you reflect upon the spiritual message of faith that you are sending to your fellowman.
We talked about this very thing in a blogging session a few months back. We also talked about how the Lord gets us ready for whatever plans He has for us according to His purpose. What I mean is this, "He does not have to get our permission to begin or continue to carry out his plans for us. He does not have to ask our permission for anything. What we, as His servants, have to do is keep our faith in Him intact, no matter what unforeseen circumstances occur in our lives.
Keeping your faith intact in trying times is an easy thing to say, but it is not an easy thing to do. I will use myself as an example. Back when I got hit with a supercell of a storm in my life, I cried; prayed; was frustrated; wondered why all of that stuff was happening to me and railed at the fates, all while trying to keep my faith in God intact. I kept thinking in my mind and sometimes saying to myself aloud, "All things work together for good for those that love the Lord." (Rom. 8:28) Since I knew that there was no question of my Love for the Lord, I figured that the fault had to have been in my understanding of the portion of the scripture that said: "All things work together for good."
I even used to ask myself, "Now, what good can come out of this?" Those are the words of a person whose faith is being severely challenged. The words suggest, "Now, I'm getting tired of this. This isn't fair, and it is not supposed to be this way. I have had enough of you, trouble, so go pick on somebody else. I'm serving God. Go find some of those folks who are not. And if things did not let up after several long praying sessions, I thought, "God is not hearing me; what good is it doing me to pray? What good is it doing me to be faithful to Him? He does not care about me because He is not answering my prayers. He even lets my enemies laugh at me for being so sanctimonious."
Yep, there are times in all of our lives that we forget to remember the way that the Lord has brought us over, We forget to remember how sweetly He has delivered us before. Sometimes we get so impatient that we think, "That was then: this is now. What has He done for me lately? He has taken His love and protection from around me."
Nope! Nope! Nope! As my mother told me time and time again, "You have to keep trusting in Him even when it seems that you have no reason to trust." We must remember that "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and His ears are open to their cry."
Ipe! Ipe! Ipe! You cannot ask, "Then why is He letting all of this happen to me if He loves me so much?" Listen to yourself. Do you hear what you are saying? Have you forgotten that He loves displays of faith? Are you telling the Creator of the universe that He has to ask your permission before He can do anything with your life? He does not have to tell you beforehand that, "I am going to put you through some faith strength training exercises. You just stay with me and though the fire will get hot and mighty uncomfortable, I won't let you burn. If you will work with Me, WHEN I FINISH WITH YOU, YOU WILL SHINE FOR ME, AS NEVER BEFORE. IS THAT ALRIGHT WITH YOU?"
Where is your faith, that "Substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen?" It is no small wonder that Jesus said, "Oh ye of little faith." Yes, folks, I have had that discourse with myself on several occasions. After such a discourse, I would find myself reading that chapter in the book of Job where the Lord asked Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, where were you when..." (Job 38:4) After I had read that chapter, I hung my head and thought, "Thy will be done Lord; thy will be done, but please keep holding my hand because this is more than I can stand." After such times, I would call to mind the scripture that says, "I can do all thongs through Christ Jesus, Who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)
Why am I saying these things to you; I am saying them because we live in a world where some people have very little regard for human life; a world where people do not care about basic kindness to one another, where kindness is perceived as weakness; a world where it is all about I, me and my, and no matter who has to be stepped on, as long as I get what I want, etc.
So, we have to keep our faith intact and let others see us trying to be faithful, loving, and caring, taking the low road out, etc. If we do this, we will be shouting our love for Him and mankind, though the world thinks they don't want to hear it or don't have time right now for it. We have to keep sending a positive message to the world by listening to the message of faith in God from our forefathers that says, "He will make everything alright." That's what my Momma always said; my Gran Gran always said, and the Bible still says!
Yall, enjoy your Friday and stay prayed up.
Doing What I Can, While I Can
Alma Jones
Aside - Endeavoring to encourage you today and leave a positive message for the man of tomorrow.
Aside - Can you explain the green highlighted statement for tomorrow? You can? Good, then do it! Tee hee Well, we have to chuckle when we can, because life will certainly wring some tears from us, you know?
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