October 27, 2016

Greetings My Friend, In the NT Jesus teaches about the seeds that are sown, one on rocky soil and it comes up strong but withers quickly, one that is sown on good soil which grows strong and 3rd one sown I can not remember right now, the idea though is that our faith is much the same, some grow quickly in their faith only to be distracted with life's ups and downs and other are sown and grows steadily, becomes strong and produces fruit. This of course is a very general idea of what is written. Today In 1 Kings 11 I read about Solomon and how he married many foreign wives who tore him away from worship the true God of his fathers. Early on God had insisted that His people not intermarry with the nations they were overtaking and those around them. The people of Israel agreed not to and then went in to over take the land and soon they were intermarrying, following other gods and in the process turned away from their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Many people today toy with all kinds of ways to find that inner peace, I have even met some who seem very relaxed and spiritual. At one time I was taken with the eastern religions, yoga and such. I loved yoga a lot for stretching and calming breaths. After I came to a faith journey in the Lord Jesus I slowed down on my love of yoga and stopping all together. I found the answers I was looking for in the Bible. Nothing grieves God more than for us to take our focus off of Him and attempt to find the peace He gives elsewhere. Today my goal is to commit each day to the Lord Jesus and to be filled with His will for my life. I did not know what an insult all these other religions were to God was until I started reading the Bible and now I am upset with myself for this. I have learned in this faith journey that God does not want me to keep mulling over my mistakes, my sins but to confess them and allow God to cleanse me, mainly by teaching me to walk away from those things that come between me and Him. For me I attempt to ask God with each prayer to put me, this day and every day to His holy use. By stating this awkward prayer each day I find that my focus stays on God, the things of His will many of which I find in the Bible as I read it almost daily. The more I learned to do this I find myself asking God to teach me to stay committed to many of the relationships He has put me in such as my marriage to Junior. Junior is human and I admit that he annoys me at times and I can tell that I annoy him as well, two imperfect people living side by side can create a lot of friction. As I ask God to use me daily I also ask Him to teach me to be what Junior needs and a very helpful part of my prayer is asking God to open my eyes and heart to Junior. It works and I am grateful because I find myself recommitting to him daily alongside of recommitting myself to God daily. The more I am committed I also find my spiritual roots growing deeper withstanding the storms of life. I find when I take my eyes off of Jesus that I begin to wither and be beaten down by life. When the beginnings of our move from Michigan started to form I was excited and then I sunk fast into a spiraling downward turn in my health. Junior managed the move mostly on his own as I slept most days. I kept praying and slowly God showed me things I could do to improve my health. I have taken a few more turns in my health along the way but today I am moving through the struggles easier because I am learning to keep my focus on Jesus. Through each storm God taught me lessons, gave me an armor to defend myself with and I am able to face the struggles. I pray I never invite other gods into my life again. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet