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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
The MESSAGE Bible has an interesting paraphrase for these words. “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of you rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.”
When God’s children face emotional times, their inner beings, if left to their own ways. can deflate to the point of extreme lowliness.
When Jesus went to John the Baptist, John told the crowds that he couldn't touch Jesus’ sandal. He told the crowd “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30 NIV)
As we traverse this life, we should remember the hard times as benchmarks-events that we can reflect on to gain stability and stand up through the trial.
People who suffer with chronic disorders sometime go through periods of feeling as if they had been wrung out like a dish cloth. I read one of the writers I follow as he described his wife’s disorder-having the flu 24/7.
When we find ourselves feeling lower than low we can turn to Jesus in our prayers. During this process Jesus helps us find our peace. We seek His wisdom; we read our Bibles with more intensity. Prayer becomes our way of coping with emotional setbacks. This is the way God planned it-to rely on Him in our times of need.
When stress in our lives begins to make us sick. God is just a short distance away; all we have to do us call God’s name and He will come close to us and lead us through the difficult times. God uses times we feel down to show us what we need to do. I remember a saintly lady at our former church telling us in Sunday school class that when we were in the valleys, we were the most teachable. I miss that dear lady. I know she is in that cloud of witnesses that watches over me and the others whose lives she touched.
Yes, we do have times when we experience times of remorse and grief. But we should remember that God is watching us and, because of Jesus, we can ask Him for anything that He wills for us.
During this Lenten season, people of certain denominations are fasting-giving up something they like or have become accustomed to, to focus on Jesus. They practice this sacrificial act to more fully understand what Christ went through, to better appreciate why He chose to do it, and to get closer to Him.
One of my Sunday school teachers several years ago asked the question, “What do you think the world would look like if we put Jesus first?” As I sit here typing these words, I wonder if people really think about doing God’s will like our Lord prays, “ Thy will be done on earth, as in heaven.” Or do we think only about doing ‘our thing’. Can we truly say we want to become less in order for Jesus to be seen in us?
Dear Lord God:
Thank You for sending Jesus to us. Thank You that He loved us enough to go to Calvary and die for us. Help us to live for Him, to allow Him to be seen by those we meet as we go through each day. We will give You the praise. In the name of Jesus, I pray AMEN
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Read Article »Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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