Friday, September 29, 2006

Week Ten ~ 9-28-2006

 
Habakkuk 3:2 "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.  Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."
Hello and a Happy Day to all!
I have to admit, part of the reason I like that verse is because it has an awesome message doubled with praise.  However, part of why I like it is because it is just so much fun to say, "Habakkuk!"  Don't you think?  If kids these days weren't so mean I would love to name a child after Habakkuk, though I honestly need to do some more research on Habakkuk because  know very little about Habakkuk other than it is a 3 Chapter book in my beloved Bible.  I love verses that praise our Lord because when I am high on that hill they give me even more to proclaim to His name...and when I am low in the valley, then the praise verses remind me to lift His name on high no matter what I am going thru.  The more and more I praise God and read His word and pray...well, the more I, like Habakkuk, am in awe of all of His deeds.  I had to pray when I reflected on this verse that again, now in our day and time, we need the Lord to renew His deeds and make His presence known in our world.  I could go on and on all night over how it disturbs me to see how God is being pushed further and further from so many people and places in this world.  It stirs up so many emotions in me, sadness, anger, fear and determination.  I am sad for the people who so vehemently deny His Word, His love and His very existence and I pray that they may be touched by the Holy Spirit and saved.  I am angry at those who are shouting at the top of their lungs that their rights as Americans are being violated by Christians, or the use of Christmas and other "Religious" names for holidays.  I fear where this world is heading and what struggles my daughter will face as a Christian growing up in this age of unfaithfulness, I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide her footsteps and that therefore her steps will not slide.  I am determined that my immediate family and I will continue to go to church each week and surround ourselves daily in His word, His love and reston His promises.  I cannot recall the Book, Chapter or the verse, but I remember there being a passage in the Bible that tells us not to worry.  We need to place 100% trust in the Lord and take Him at His word.  Easier said than done, I know!  I am still personally going thru the roller-coaster of trusting Him entirely.  The more I pray, the closer I feel I am getting to reaching that goal and I KNOW He will help me get there as I continue to ask Him for His help.
Tonight, from chilly Chicago, I pray that you can find time to stand back and awe at the wonders of our Lord...be it a sunset, a cloud that looks so pretty it seems fake, a flower that should not have bloomed this long, or whatever you may find.  I pray that God shows you His deeds and has mercy on us all.  I continue to pray that God surrounds you with His love, favor and blessings this day, this week and always.  Have an awesome weekend and week ahead!
Love through Christ,
Niki

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Thursday, September 21, 2006

Week Nine ~ 9-21-2006

 
Happy day to one and all!
I have been tossing around thoughts on forgiveness for quite a few weeks now but always seem to choose another topic for these emails.  I think it is hard for me to "talk" about forgiveness for I am still a major work in progress in this department!  Still, I have started to realize lately that although whatever offense that was done unto me may have hurt me...holding onto that "grudge" for lack of another word...refusing to forgive the other person, well that was truly hurting me far more deeply than whatever the thing needing to be forgiven ever could.  I am fast finding out that the longer you hold onto the hostile feelings, the farther back in your past they go then the harder and harder it gets to forgive and forget.  Forgiveness is such a powerful and incredibly important part of being a Christian!  In Matthew 6:14-15 the Bible tells us, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."  A guest priest at our church several Sundays ago spoke of the Lord's Prayer and broke down how we ask Our Heavenly Father to, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. "  He elaborated on how if we are asking God to forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us but then we do not forgive how then can we expect God's forgiveness?  I have prayed hard for an uplifting positive side to this because it all feels so serious to me...which is because it is serious business!  It can change our whole outlook when we let go, forgive those who've hurt us...we will feel such a freedom that I cannot even explain in words.  So as I pray for the strength, wisdom, courage and love to be able to forgive those I have not yet been able to fully forgive, I also pray that if there is anyone whom you need to forgive that God will guide you and grant you the strength, wisdom, courage and love to be able to forgive them.  The good news is in I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  I never stop loving the Bible and the positive messages it holds in store for each and everyone of us!!!  I pray He grants you each protection and deliverance from whatever you may need this week.  I continue to pray that God surrounds you with His love, favor and blessings this day, this week and always.  Have an awesome week ahead! 
I will be on vacation next week but expect to have access to a computer so hopefully you will hear from me Thursday as usual.
Love through Christ,
Niki
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Week Eight - 9-14-2006

 So sorry to have not posted this on here sooner...
Hello and Happy day to one and all!
While reading Stasi her bedtime devotion Monday night I was inspired by the verse it was centered around.  Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Whoa!  You think those words are powerful and such an awesome explanation?  Well, if you are like me you will.  When you have a few minutes I would encourage you to read all of Chapter 11 because it is all about what faith has accomplished throughout the Bible.  My grandparents, who are one of the great sources of faith in my life, gave me a Concordia Self-Study Commentary for Christmas.  In its introduction to Hebrews it talks about the purpose of the letter to the Hebrews and how, "they were growing disspirited...the continuous pressure of public content...had ceased to progress their faith."  Ok, I do not know about you, but that sounds a lot like it was being written to us, in this day and time.  Are we not constantly reminded of the "continuous pressure of public content" every time we pick up a newspaper or turn on the news?  No more prayers in school, careful not to offend anyone by speaking freely about God in the workplace and Christmas is no longer Politically Correct!  However I am getting away from the positive, inspiring points I wanted to focus on.  "Being sure of what we hope for," is a hard concept to grasp, let alone to live by.  I now believe I am sure of what I hope for, but it has taken quite a road to get me to this point in my faith.  Now I am sure that God will grant these hopes to me, even if not in the exact form I am thinking of.  He will grant us our hopes when we stay steadfast in our faith thru the hard times.  That last part of the verse seems to me like it can be a lot of fun to toss around different examples of.  For instance, we cannot see the air {except on a below 0 day in Chicago} but still we are quite certain it is there.  You know, I've never seen gravity, but I can bet we've all experienced it's pull at some awkward point or another!  So true is it also for we who believe in God that we cannot see Him yet we are very certain He exists.  God, angels, heaven, air, gravity, they all exist and they are unseen mysteries that we place our faith in.  For lack of a better description, HOW COOL!  I just can't get over how it is so simple and so complex all at the same time.  The simple truth is no matter how hard life gets, we know God is there and when we keep our hope in Him, that's faith...and when we hold onto that faith it makes each day, each hour...no each moment that much more uplifting!  I pray you each have a faith filled weekend and week ahead.  May God smile upon you and inspire you to be certain of what you cannot see.  I pray He grants you each protection and deliverance from whatever you may need this week.  I continue to pray that God surrounds you with His love, favor and blessings this day, this week and always.  Have an awesome week ahead!
Love through Christ,
Niki
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Sunday, September 10, 2006

Week Seven 9-10-2006

 Happy Sunday to all! 
I apologize for the tardiness of my thoughts this week.  I have been not well and was unable to sit here and type until today.  I have been thinking of you all and as always you each remain in my prayers.  My mom told me a few weeks ago about an inspiring sermon given at her church.  She quoted verses from 1 Kings 19:4-8 along with 2 others.  I remember her excitement as she worked to apply what she learned to her everyday life.  She enlightened me about how Elijah was experiencing what we all do, a valley.  We all have hills and valleys we travel through.  When we come down from the hills, the peaks, we are typically tired and feel unable to go on and that is when the devil pounces on us.  That little stinker is exactly how 1 Peter 5:8-9 describes him, “like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” and he wants to push us down and make us feel we cannot pull back out of the valleys, the ditches to get back to the road we are traveling.  I like the way the Bible is constantly reminded us that other Christians are going thru the same thing.  It helps me to say to myself that it may be rough but others have gone thru it and survived by faith and I can too!  We not only need to remember what we are all each experiencing but also that we can turn to each other in our times of weakness, when stumbling through a valley, we can turn to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for strength, inspiration and love.  We can also always turn to our heavenly Father and He will either deliver us directly from it or guide us and strengthen us to move thru it.  It all comes back to His plan for us, and how He has that plan in place to give us hope and a future.  He knows we need Him and we also need some tangible assistance, friends and family to help us stay strong, to pray for each other.  When we are up on those peaks in our lives we need to draw from those experiences the strength and store them in our hearts to reach for when we are weakened and fall into a valley.  I know I have been fighting a valley of my own with this sinus infection.  I cannot say I stayed 100% strong and positive, I know there were a few complaints on my part, aches and chills, and the like.  However, for the most part, I was thankful for what I could find in the experience...thankful that in the 6 months since I started my allergy shots this is the first sinus infection I have had {I routinely in the past would have been sick at least 3 times in that time-span}, I was equally grateful that I listened to God's wisdom and to my body and took myself to the doctor on Friday before it got so bad that I miss multiple days of work.   Beyond those I was additionally thankful that I got this now as opposed to 2 weeks from now when we will be heading on vacation to IL to visit family and friends.  That's a lot of thankfulness and there were more on top of those but I don't want this to be all about me.  So as we head into this week I pray that each of you may enjoy your peaks and find ways to be thankful even in your valleys.  I pray that you all will remain alert against the enemy's lion ways and remember that your brothers and sisters in Christ are not only here for you but are experiencing their own valleys as well.  I pray that you stay strong spiritually and physically and when you feel tired that you lean upon God, His word and His children - because together we can all hold onto our victory in Him.  I additionally pray that God surrounds you with His love, favor and blessings this day, this week and always.  Have an awesome week ahead!
Love through Christ,
Niki

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Saturday, September 2, 2006

Seniors Version of Jesus Loves Me

An email story shared with me from my grandfather who received from a friend:
Many years ago while watching a little TV on Sunday instead of going to church, I watched a Church in Atlanta honoring one of it's senior pastors who had been retired many years.  He was 92 at the time and I wondered why the Church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.  After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applause quieted down, he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and sliding gait to the podium.  Without a note or written paper of any kind, he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak. 
"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you,  your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50 odd years of preaching.  I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials.  The one thing I could always rely on when tears and heart break and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me, the only thing that could comfort me was this verse:
Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to him belong, we are weak but he is strong.  Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so."  
When he finished the church was quiet.  You could actually hear his foot steps as he shuffled back to his chair.  I don't believe I will ever forget it.
Another pastor once stated, "I once noted that it was the adults who chose the children's hymn "Jesus loves me" for the children of course during a hymn sing and it was the adults who sang the loudest because I could see they knew it best"
 
Here's the Senior's version:
Jesus Loves me, this I know, Though my hair is white as snow,
Though my sight is growing dim, Still he bids me trust in Him .
Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.
Though my steps are oh, so slow, With my hand in His I go.
On through life, let come what may, He'll be there to lead the way
Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.
Though I am no longer young, I have much which He's begun.
Let me serve Christ with a smile, Go with others the extra mile 
Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.
When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart he puts a song.
Telling me in words so clear, "Have no fear, for I am near."
Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.
When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won,
He will take me home above, Then I'll understand his love.
Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.
I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say, That I love him every day.