21 PEACE

I don't think I have covered the word Peace in my musings.

 I have been thinking about it a lot lately. Pretty much in the confines of the Whole Armor.

 The shoes of peace....putting them on and wearing them all day would certainly keep your heart and mind on The Prince of Peace. 

I am one who goes shoeless most of the time...maybe a carry over from childhood where we were lucky to have a pair of shoes for school and another one for Church. We didn't wear them much in the summer. 

 Greg, you said once to someone that if your Mother was in their home for 10 minutes and I didn't have my shoes off or were not crying, something was the matter. I admit that is true, I am more comfortable shoeless, and I am very emotional, about...well just about everything. (smile)  

 A movie? Definitely. A song? Absolutely!!! Something sweetly said...oh yeah!...well, most everything! 

So as I was putting on the Whole Armor the other day, and I was thinking along this line, it came to my mind...that perhaps, just perhaps I am too quick to slip my feet out of the shoes of Peace....You think? 

In my 'old age' I lose my cool too quickly and too easily. Can I blame it on old age? You bet!!! Is that really a good excuse? Not really. So I did what preachers do sometimes, to help you 'get and keep' the message...I'm not sure what they call them, but here is the result of mine...(whatever it is called) smile : 

P....Placing 
E....Everything 
A....Actively...Absolutely...Always...Appropriately (I  couldn't choose just one. smile) IN 
C....Christ's 
E....Embrace 

 So my peace does not depend on what I can conjure up, but on what Christ says in His Word. 

Mr. McGreggor, here's the deal...It doesn't matter what we say or do...(well it really does in the end)... God gives us peace in the midst of the storm, and those are not just words, they are God's words...
The same God who made the universe, the same one who created you and I. So today put on your shoes of Peace, tie the laces tight, so you cannot easily slip them off, and walk in His Peace today...
Not too much has changed, you still need a place to live, you don't have much to live on, but... 
God is the "same...yesterday...today...and forever." 

We don't know about tomorrow, and we can't change yesterday...but we sure do have a lot of input about TODAY!!!! (Our thoughts can make or break us.) We need to begin to tear down those 'strongholds' that we have allowed the enemy to build...brick by brick.....The strongholds are just that...STRONG HOLDS that the enemy has wound around our minds. 

 So brick by brick, thought by thought, resist the enemy, literally put your mind, at that moment on Jesus and His Peace that He has provided for us. Yep, that is the only way to be 'more than conquerors' thru Christ who loves us and made a way...where there seems to be no way. 

One single thought at a time!! 

So, Look up! Hang in there! Hang on tight to His hand.
We will see you here there or in the air. 
In the morning, Cray! 
Nanny/Marker

20 Complaining vs. Whining

What a way to start my day!

Are they different?  Complaining and Whining?  If so...what is the difference?  

Am I a complainer?  Not so, I thought!  (however as I turned on the computer to 'compose'  I thought, ‘here it is the second of May, and I have to go put on a sweater...just to be comfortable?’)  

Oh boy...now I really need to look at my heart, mouth and mind!   

And not just look at it, but let Jesus turn His spotlight on the real problem areas?  Yep...that is the way with these problems that God wants to deal with in our lives...Hey, you too!!!  I'm not alone in this!!!! SMILE!

Well, I have to start out this diatribe with a story of 'long ago'...that goes like this:  I had an area of my life  that  needed attention...and when it came up, I just let it (my thought patterns) run...and finally I would say, "Oh Lord, forgive me, but You know my heart!"    After many times like this, the Lord stopped me cold, and said, 

"Yes, My Dear one, I know your heart, but do you know it?"  

And like a little recording, He said, 

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked!   Create in me a new heart, oh Lord, and renew a right spirit within me."

Now I didn't know that I knew these two scriptures, but I knew it was from God. Which goes right along with the scripture that sez that we can't judge our own hearts, only God can do that.....Why?  

Because He is all wisdom, He knows the end from the beginning, and knows our own heart better than we do.

So today, I must lay my heart, open, bare, Greg, and let you and the world see, how foolish I am, and in doing so, maybe it will give your spirit a little lift.  When you are sooooooooo far down, you can't even see any light, while looking up, that is when we (the Body) need to lift your hands and hold them up, to help you fight this battle.

Now it is no coincidence that our Prestbury Ladies Bible Club is studying, 'Lord, Change My Attitude.'  I seem to be at an all time low, in my trusting...(ability to Trust God,)  for who He says He is, and why He seems so silent, when we need HELP RIGHT NOW!  'Job ' was only in his MESS  about a year.  Here it has been nearly five years to the date, and your situation seems to only get worse.   (Am I complaining, whining?  Well let's be truthful--I definitely am! )   But a day or so ago, I didn't think I was.  So NOW what do I do? ...I get myself in a position to read and devour the Word, let it cleanse my doubting heart, and let The Lord, refresh my whole being, with Truth, the Truth of the Word.  Strange, but Jesus IS Truth, Jesus IS the Word... 

"Oh, Lord, create in me a new heart, and renew a right spirit within me."

The Word sez, that the devil is a liar, he came to steal, kill and destroy...that is his mission statement!

So am I going to let that DEFEATED foe, that was DESTROYED at the Cross tell me how to think?  How to act?

Well, I am laughing in his face, because he can't stand the name of JESUS, and  I am going to put that Name on my lips, day and night...until this thing with you, Greg, is broken, and you are back in the land of the LIVING.   Anyone who reads this Blog, stand with us in prayer, because Jesus is the answer, prayer changes things, Jesus came to give us Life, and more abundant life at that! 

It is so hard to see your son go thru this...Will he come out on the other side, and be whole again?  That isn't negative thinking,  we are just traveling through this life waiting to get to the other side, which IS our HOPE, the only thing I am sure of,  because He did say we would have trouble...this much trouble Lord?   Whining again?  Looks like it...old habits die hard…smile ...Lord get rid of my deceitful heart, and keep on, creating  in me a new heart, bit by bit, by bit by bit...

Thank you my precious Friend, Jody, who is my prayer partner for life…has been for nigh unto 70 years!!!!

Of course we met when we were 3 years old I think!....big smile

Look up...hang in there....hang on tight to His hand, and we'll see you here, there, or in the air!!

See you in the morning, Cray...Marker, aka Nanny