PLEASANT WORDS FOR THE SOUL:  "This is what the past is for!  Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see."   ~  Corrie ten Boom

A LIFE THAT COUNTED

Mark 14:8a -   She hath done what she could....

Here is a profound truth:  we are all getting older.  Time flies, doesn't it?  And the older you get the faster it flies.  Someday each of us will come to the end of this journey called life.  When that time comes what will be said about you and me?  If you have received Christ as your Savior you will stand before the Bema seat.  What will God say about your life?  When your pastor stands before your grave will he be able to say one thing you have done for the cause of Christ?  Mothers, will your children say you made an impact on their lives?  T here is a woman in the Bible who had a life that counted?  How do we know?  The Lord said of her, "wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of her for a memorial of her."  Mark 14:9.  She wasn't a valiant Deborah, or courageous Esther.  She was just a plain, village woman named Mary.   She didn't compare herself to anyone else,  she just did what SHE could. The woman who had the greatest impact on my life was my first pastor's wife.  She was a short, plump woman who was plain by every standard and yet she impacted my life more than any other person.    As the child of an abusive, alcoholic father my home life was very chaotic and dysfunctional. She offered to me what I needed:  love, support, spiritual guidance, peace,  encouragement, direction - TIME.  The many times she invited me to her home were an oasis for me.  She taught me not only with her words of wisdom, but her life of love and compassion.  What can you do?  Whose life can you invest in and affect?  Be a Mary and do what YOU can.

Dear Lord, help me to have a life that counts.  Help me to not compare my gifts and talents to others but to love you with all my heart, as Mary did, and then to just do what I can to impact someone's life.  Amen

PLEASANT WORDS FOR THE SOUL:
If I take offense easily; if I am content to continue in cold unfriendliness, though friendship is possible, then I know nothing of Calvary's love. - Amy Carmichael

CHANGE ME!

 2 Corinthians 3:18 - But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Some time ago I was driving my car to a local mall to do some shopping.  There was someone else riding along with me that day with the smell of hell all over him.  Yes, it was the devil himself and he was rehearsing with me some hurtful words that someone had said to me earlier.  He was careful to remind me of every word,  every expression, her countenance, inflection of voice and body language.  The devil, if anything, is very thorough.  I, in turn, was complaining to the Lord about the situation.  "Lord, please help her to see how wrong she was.   Please change her!"  Immediately the Lord spoke to my heart.  "Are you sure it is she who needs to change?"  He reminded me of how my response had been.  He reminded me of how my attitude had been.  Had I displayed a more Christ-like spirit the situation no doubt would have been different.  As I asked the Lord to forgive me He gave me the words to this little chorus that I sing often when I need an attitude check:

Change me.  I long to be like Thee.

Change me.  Help me Thy will to see.

Change me.  In Thy image I would be.

Change me, Lord, change me now.

Change me.

Dear Lord, help me to see that it is not my brother, nor my sister, it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.  May each day I become more like Thee.  In Jesus precious name I pray.  Amen

PLEASANT WORDS FOR THE SOUL:

"Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands."

- Elisabeth Elliot

CONTENTMENT:

Philippians 4:11–13 –Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

I admire Paul in so many ways, but none more than in his commitment to be content no matter what his circumstances.   This is my desire, but I know I often fail.  My discontentment leaks through in so many subtle ways:  complaints, irritations, frustrations, impatience – - all are evidences of my lack of contentment.   One definition of contentment that I read said “a state of calm, peaceful satisfaction.”I have asked God to help me to be a satisfied, contented Christian, especially in four areas.  1.  With who I am.  I am who God made me to be.  God can use me just as I am.  2.  With how I am.  Even if I am not feeling well I can be pleasant and not complain.  3.  With where I am.  Wherever God leads me – no matter if it is the most remote place on earth, I can be satisfied.  4. With what I have.   Paul knew how to be abased and how to abound and to be full and to be hungry.   I can be satisfied no matter if I have much or little.

 Are you a contented Christian?    Are you in a state of calm, peaceful satisfaction today?  Are you contented with who you are, how you are, where you are and what you have?  Determine in your heart that with God’s help and strength you will be content, no matter what state you are in.

 Dear Lord, please help me today to find all my satisfaction in you and to be a contented, happy Christian.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

PLEASANT WORDS FOR THE SOUL:  "Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred.  It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness."  ~ Corrie ten Boom.

WAITING ON THE LORD:

Isaiah 30:18 – And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you:  for the Lord Is a God of judgment:  blessed are all they that wait for him.

Patience is a virtue that most of us struggle with.   Sometimes I think it has to do with control.  Often our flesh wants what we want, and we want it now!  Patience involves acknowledging that God is in control and that he knows what is best for us.   Patience also involves waiting , and oh how hard that is for those of us who are so impatient.   But looking back over situations in my life in the forty plus years that I have known the Lord I can see that waiting was the best thing.   My husband, Tom, was saved immediately after he joined the Marines in 1962.  Very shortly after he was saved God called him to preach.  He wanted to begin Bible College right away so he put in a request for an early out from the Marine Corp.  The request was approved all the way to the Commandant of the Marine Corp and then the Vietnam war escalated and all requests for early outs were denied.   We were so disappointed, but as we look back over the four years “we” spent in the Marine Corp we know that they were invaluable years in terms of our Christian growth.  Even though we went on to Bible College later we learned lessons in those four years that could never be learned in Bible College.   And God put a love in our hearts for the military that finally led us to serving our U.S. military full time in Germany for over twenty years.  We can see how gracious the Lord was in making us wait and how He was exalted through it all. 

Are you waiting for an answer or direction from the Lord today?  Wait patiently for Him and be assured that He is in control and when the answer comes you will see His grace and mercy was at work.

Dear Lord, give me patience today to wait on you.  Help me to rest in the knowledge that you are in control and all is well.   In Jesus’ name.  Amen.