Miracles

Miracles come in all shapes and sizes. A woman chooses not to have an abortion. A pastor in Peru lives another day even though his name is first on a list of Christian pastors to be executed. An alcoholic makes it through one more day without a drink. An underground church in Cuba meets to worship God. A husband who has been unemployed for over a year gets a job. Bibles are smuggled into Mexico and distributed to remote mountain tribes. A couple seeks counseling instead of a divorce. Cancer goes into remission. The sun rises and sets. We have food to eat and water to drink. A life is changed in response to what God has done in ours.

Christ goes first

But God's Word tells us we are in the hands of a creator God who has lived here in our world and who knows our human weaknesses and cares daily for us. As the song says 'He's got the whole wide world in his hands'.

Prep

be spiritually prepared to face their challenges. God equips us - strengthens us - as we wait on Him. As we trust in Him. As we dwell with Him.

Renew ourselves

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength." (Isaiah 40:30-31, NIV)

Prayers with no purposes

How often do we remember to thank God for answering our prayers? We tend to give God our "shopping list" then neglect to thank Him except in very general terms for what He has already done for us. We need to be as specific in our thanks as we are in asking.
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That should be our daily attitude. We need to live as if Jesus is coming today, yet to work as if He will not be coming for another generation.

bad habits

Selfishness
Selfishness shouts, "I have been hurt! It is so unfair. I have rights!" What I am really saying is that how I feel about the hurt is more important than forgiving the hurt.

Pride
Pride cries, "Look at what they have done to me. Don't they realize who I am?" To receive or give forgiveness requires humility.

Low self-esteem
Some of us have built an entire identity around a hurt. The attention we gain from the wrong we have suffered defines who we are. It is something we cherish and refuse to relinquish for the sake of forgiveness.

Blindness
We may be blind to the fact that we have not forgiven a hurt. We have convinced ourselves that we really have forgiven the one who hurt us by going through the motions and saying the right words without really dealing with the pain. In reality, all we have done is dig a hole and bury the pain. As long as hurt is buried alive, it will keep resurrecting itself in our life, but when the hurt is dealt with and forgiveness is given, the pain is buried dead - and it stays dead.

Pain
Forgiveness is spiritual surgery. It exposes old hurts that have never completely healed. We can move, change jobs, change churches, change friends or even change families, but until we yank up the root of bitterness and cover it with forgiveness, we will live with unresolved pain.

Ignorance
Maybe we don't know how to forgive someone because are under the impression that forgiveness is an emotion or feeling. True forgiveness is a choice - a deliberate choice to release the person who has hurt us from the pain they have caused. We can stop forgiving others when God stops forgiving us.

We need to identify and eliminate the roadblocks to forgiveness so God can set us free, heal our pain and make us more like Him. Now that is a remodeling job I would welcome.

no fear in god

When we focus only on what we can see and understand or explain, we will worry. Fear and doubt will become familiar companions if we live each day against the backdrop of this broken world. Our only hope is God. And it is not enough to just know about Him. We must know Him. A personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ assures us that no matter what the world throws our way, it's all going to be okay.