December 3, 2016

Greetings My Friend, One of the things I have heard as a believer learning to grow in the faith was to pray Scripture. I understood the concept but I did not know how to find the passages that work for me to pray. While doing my devotions today I started to see how I can pray God's Word as I read Scripture. I am in Job right now as He finds out he has lost everything . Job is devastated with the loss of his children, cattle, servants including his health. Job's wife's response to all of this devastation was " Then his wife said to him,'Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." Job's response astounds me because he holds fast to God and responds, "But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" Job did not give up on God and he was ready to receive the bad along with the good that comes in life. I felt that I could pray these sentences easily enough when I have struggles in my own life. Reading through the rest of the book of Job I found that there were many questions and Job's friends were more accusatory than comforting but at the end of the book Job has clung to God although he struggled mightily to understand why all the pain he endured Job clung to God and God wound up blessing Job double what he had lost. In recent years I have questioned God about loosing my ability to walk and to stay balanced in my walk. I have even had moments of "why me?" but at the end of the day I have an answer to the name of my problem which is Parkinson's Diseas and I am comforted. I feel a bit blessed to be given a time of healing with the potential of declining again. I have time to do more things that a steady gait will give me and I am sad that I will more than likely decline again but I am holding onto hope in Jesus. I can pray "shall I receive good from God, and shall I not receive evil?" Through the years I have learned that God is walking beside me each step of the way and one day the other side of the struggle will come. I will be at peace with the end result and amazed at what I am able to accomplish in God's strength. In Psalm 119 I read "My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your promise...teach me your statutes...give me understanding." I see several prayers throughout these passages and the prayers pop out at me. Part of my faith journey and devotion time in recent years is writing a journal. This journal is helping me process my fears, the wonderful things that seem to bring praise to my heart. I have headings that I write out and fill in each day and this process takes me through what is on my mind, what I want to talk to God about, Scripture - What does God say. Sometimes I write out passages and other times I write the general sense of the lessons the passages was teaching me. The last 2 headings are What does the Holy Spirit say and How can I serve others today. Each of these headings is helping me stay in tune with my emotions and I find my heart quieting down so that I hear God's voice on my heart. Sometimes I am in distress and I find God's comfort other times I find God directing me where He wants me to focus my life and activity. Praying, reading and writing all are helping me to grow in my faith journey. Job teaches me to ask the questions even if they are not easy to ask. I learn that good and bad exist in this world we live in and we need to learn to trust and obey. The Bible even helps me by teaching me the prayers of those that came before us and are still current today as they were a few thousand years ago. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet