Weekly Thoughts ~ Week Fourteen: 10-26-2006

Psalm 28:7, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.” 

Psalm 75:1, "We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds." 

Psalm 107:1, "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Hello and a happy day to one and all!!

This time of year, we usually start looking ahead to the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and maybe New Years.  For years, I would only think of these holidays at this time of year.  More and more though, over the past few years, I have been thinking of them often, throughout the whole year…I love to go “window shopping” and think of who would love this or that…I then dream I had the money to be able to afford to bless them with the gift…then I will try to think of a gift that would cost less but mean just as much or maybe more to them.  I also love to give thanks to our Lord.  I have gotten myself into the habit of making Thanksgiving an everyday celebration.  I use my short commute to work in the mornings to talk with God, to thank Him for another day, for the things He blessed me with recently…when something comes across my mind throughout the day that makes me smile, or reminds me of the good things I have been blessed with in my life, I stop and say thanks to God.  Sadly, too many holidays are being short-changed these days.  The media and their fear of being “Politically Correct” and not offending everyone has led to a “Commercialization” if you will.  It saddens me, and angers me at the same time to think that the true meanings and celebrations are getting lost.  I’m sure that you’ve seen the email circulating around, and around, and around stating about a poll taken of this country to see how many people believe in God, and that the results showed a whopping 87% said yes they believe!  Well, if that number is even ballpark, then I say it is about time for the vast majority of us to stand up and say we are the ones being offended.  But, I myself am only one voice, right?  How about if we start smaller then…what if we stand up in our own homes and say that we don’t wish to lose our holidays any longer?  I think we can all do that.  Let’s try together to have a Thanksgiving this year which focuses on prayers of thanks and on God, who supplies our every need.  Let us also then focus our thoughts on being thankful more often than just the end of November.  Stretch with me if you will and picture also a Christmas centered around God and celebrating not only His son’s humble birth but also all of the wonders He gives us, this time of year and the other 364 days too.  I'm not saying that we should walk around and sing Away in a Manger or Joy to the World everyday...what I am suggesting is that we give extra attention, praise and Thanksgiving to God on these upcoming holidays and also try to keep Him at the forefront of our lives the rest of the year too.  My prayer this week is that His Spirit stays with you and guides you to choose thankfulness each day.  I also pray that He continues to allow me the great honor of your time each week as you share in my thoughts and reflections on His Word and His promises and His great power and love in our lives.   I feel truly blessed that you each continue to share your time with me!  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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Week Thirteen ~ October 19, 2006

Hello and a happy day to one and all!

Lamentations 3:40 "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord."

If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.

The moment I read the above quoted scripture verse, it reminded me of the saying I listed below it.  Isn't that so true of us so many times in our lives?  Don't we try it alone only to find we need to return to the Lord for His guidance?  We ask Him to place us back on His path.  I like the laughter saying.  I know some people may read into the wrong way...but what it reminds me of is when I laugh at something Stasi said.  I am not viscously laughing or poking fun at her.  Sometimes her youth and innocence bubbles out in something absurd that just tickles your heart and makes you laugh.  That's how I picture it with God.  We may tell Him what we think we want or where we think we need to go in life and I believe that gives Him that heart tickle and He laughs.  He laughs because He knows we are only saying that because we don't have all the scoop...only He knows the whole picture and only He knows the best path for our lives.  His plan to prosper us takes patience on our part many times...and I think everyone benefits from laughter so I believe it's ok to discuss your plans with God.  He'll get a good laugh and then you will probably realize His plans are the ones you need to focus on.  Which, of course, means you'll need to truly let go and let God.  Easier said than done, I know!  I have been trying to get myself in the habit of doing so...now when my mind wants to let the concerns, impatience, desires, questions, etc to sneak back in and cloud my mind with worry, I literally have to tell myself to let go and let God.  When simply saying to myself is not enough, I add a prayer...if for some reason that still does not satisfy my stresses then I remind myself that the reason I need to let God have the situation is because He's in charge anyways!  It's not going to turn out any way other than how God has planned.  Period.  So, maybe we need to pray the Serenity Prayer, maybe we need to sing a song, count to ten, talk a short walk...you need to find what works for you and then use it.  I'm not saying it will work overnight but if you keep at it, and pray, then anything is possible.  I pray God helps you to let Him handle all of your worries this week. I also pray that He continues to allow me the great honor of your time each week as you share in my thoughts and reflections on His Word and His promises and His great power and love in our lives.   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

If you feel inspired to pass along my email, please do!  And/or if you or some one you know would enjoy receiving my weekly thoughts, please send an email to: Banklady79@aol.com

Week Twelve ~ 10-12-2006

Hello and a good day to one and all!!!

I have to be honest with ya'll...today snuck up on me and I had no clue what I was going to type about.  I prayed all morning, all afternoon, at lunch I browsed Bible.com, sent home an email to myself to think about reading Ruth {it's my daughter's middle name after all} and then after a mind-clearing shopping trip...inspired by my hubby who seems to know just when I need to get out of the house...so I came back and felt again that I was supposed to read the Book of Ruth.  But when I got done I thought, "very nice story, but what's it's significance?"  I went and got my trusty Self-Study Commentary for further research.   Then it hits me, ok,yeah, Ruth was David's Grandmother, as in "from the house and lineage of David."  Ok, so she's a distant relative of Jesus, but then again we're all Brothers and sisters in Christ.  I dug deeper.  Did you know that in the first Gospel of Matthew, he writes out the lineage of our Lord?  Why is this important you are asking?  I am getting to that, I promise!!!  See, in the first Chapter of Matthew where the family tree is laid out for us, there are only 4 women mentioned in there...yes, you guessed it Ruth is one of those chosen 4.  Why do I think this is significant?  That's what I was asking myself until I stopped thinking, quieted my heart and mind and asked the Holy Spirit for some much needed help.  Here's why I believe it is so inspiring...God inspired Matthew to list 4 women when traditionally speaking only men made up the family tree/records.  Ruth was not an Israelite, she was an outsider so to speak.  I believe God favored her, chose her to be in this important lineage of our Lord to prove once more what is a recurring, loving, gracious, merciful theme throughout His word...  It does not matter who you are...it matters whose you are!  And it does not matter where you come from...it matters where you are going! We all have a purpose in God's plan.  He has chosen each of us to play an important role.  We choose whether to listen to His call, but He calls us no matter our station in life.  In this day and age society tells us to question everything, evenour faith...but we don't need to.  We feel compelled to wonder, worry, blame, pity...  None of it has to make sense though!  You might have no clue as to why God is calling you, still believe you me if He is calling you had better listen up!  Listen up because He has great things ahead for you!  This week I am praying that the Holy Spirit quiets your minds and opens your hearts so you may hear God's call.  I also pray that He continue to allow me the great honor of your time each week as you share in my thoughts and reflections on His Word and His promises and His great power and love in our lives.   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

If you feel inspired to pass along my email, please do!  And/or if you or some one you know would enjoy receiving my weekly thoughts, please send an email to: Banklady79@aol.com

Week Eleven! ~ 10-5-2006

Hello and a Beautiful, Happy Day to one and all!! J

I am sitting at my desk finishing my Nectarine and beginning this email so that when I get home I need only finish up…but I cannot remember what week I am on now!  What a blessing to get this far.  I would love to go on and on but I don’t believe my purpose is to detail my faith high but rather to inspire ya’ll and encourage your own personal growth in our amazing Lord.  I have a prayer list that seems to grow by the day…some mornings I think, Lord if I didn’t know you better I’d worry I am too lengthy in my prayer requests.  Yet I know in my heart He loves to hear from me and from all of us.  Thinking of all the people on my prayer list and the different things for which I am praying for I began to feel inspired just this afternoon to touch on fear.  Fear is something we have to pray away…it is something most all of us experience…nevertheless the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  God is impressing upon us that fear comes from Satan, that little stinker plants it in our minds and lets us fight internally with it.  Our wonderful Lord is showing us thru His word that we need to ask Him to remove this fear from us and replace it with trust in Him, and with power, love and sound minds!  How awesome is our God indeed!  Then we can be as God wishes for us, as said in Psalm 112:7, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.” These evil tidings can be the tragedies in the world around us, or sickness of ourselves or a loved one, or losing a job, being separated from loved ones, or countless other things that can raise the fear level as planted in our minds by the evil one.  I read an awesome reflection on Bible.com encouraging us to reach out to our fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ.  We should never feel embarrassed when the evil tidings overwhelm us...instead we should ask the Holy Spirit to impress upon someone's heart to pray for us...better yet, we should speak up and ask of our friends and family to pray with us and for us.  God knows we need the Body of Christ, His church, especially when we are afraid, or hurting, or depressed...He knows and He has given us this awesome and powerful gift of prayer.  We can give this gift to others when we pray for them.  Someone, we'll call them Smoochy, once told me that a close friend of theirs, we'll call them Scruffy...well, Scruffy had been upset that Scruffy was not made aware of Smoochy's particular problem before it was solved.  Scruffy said they were upset that Smoochy had denied Scruffy the right to pray for them!  Don't feel embarassed, or shy about sharing your troubles with your friends and family...if they're anything like Scruffy then they WANT the right to pray for you in your time of need!  In return, pray for them right back!  Pray thankfulness for having caring friends and family.  Praise God for blessing you with the wonderful people who surround you!  I praise God everyday for each and every one of you - without you I would be talking to myself right now!  Seriously though, I truly feel that you are all a blessing to me, whether you are near or far...I am blessed beyond measure just for knowing you!!  Yes, you!!  ALL of you!  Just for the record...it's Week 11.   I am praying this week that God may fill you with love, power, strength and a sound mind, and that He remove any fears and/or doubts clouding your life.  I also pray that He continue to allow me the great honor of your time each week as you share in my thoughts and reflections on His Word and His promises and His great power and love in our lives.   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

If you feel inspired to pass along my messages, please do!  And/or if you or someone you know would enjoy receiving my weekly thoughts via email, please send an email to: Banklady79@aol.com