faith – Page 2 – GREENLiGHT

I Don’t Have Any Gifts…

What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.

I overheard a discussion between two ladies in the salon as they were listening to the song ‘bless the lord oh my soul… oh my soul, I worship his holy name…‘

It was being sung by a little child … hence the reflection on ‘gifts’. Anyway, it caused me to think about the gifts God provides to us. One lady said all I do is talk, gab a lot. I thought quietly… that in itself is in fact a gift. She can use that to become a speaker even in small group. She can use her gift of ‘gab’ to write a book, sharing her thoughts with others provided she will be positive. Personally I believe there is enough negativity in the world.

Discover Your Gift

There are many assessments available in the marketplace to help you find your gifts. Here are a few spiritual gifts for you to take a peek at:

Leadership
Encouragement
More popular envied
Singing
Acting
Administration
Wisdom
Faith
Encouragement
Mercy
Intercession
Discernment
Shepherding
Teaching
Hopsitality
Evangelism
Helping
Giving

Many quietly wish for the gift of singing, dancing, entertaining because those gifts are quite popular and can readily be seen. However, do you know that the more popular spiritual gifts often need support? Let’s take for example singing. Singers sing but often benefit from the gifts of songwriters. Movie-stars act but also need a script. And many others.

Be comforted to know that we need each other to soar. That’s how the Lord wanted it. Now go, find your gift.

Blessings,

5 Reasons God Closes Doors…

Closed doors offer lots to learn. Though disappointed with delays, may we follow his lead. Charles Stanley’s In Touch With Him posited that God can use our desires to teach us his ways.

Here I share his teachings as a personal reminder to always trust him as we seek his guidance.

To mold us into his image
To prevent mistakes
To redirect our walk with him
To test our faith and build perseverance
To buy us time

Our impatience causes us not to learn. Later, we find we are not ready for the opportunity. God’s ways are not our ways but he knows best.

Where Will It Lead?

Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make, makes you. ~John Maxwell

The choices we make we should first consider where they will lead. Is it Marriage, love, children, new job, college, new contract, new house? Always contemplate the future. Where will your choice lead you?

It’s Simple

Pray. Consider carefully. Have faith and then make your decision based on the spirit’s leading.

Blessings overflow

Live A Day At A Time…

Live each day one day at a time.

Funny how many of us worry our heads off about the future. At times some pass away and not even around to enjoy what they worried about. My sister had cancer and worried about leaving her kids. But because she knew she wouldn’t be around much longer after fighting the dreaded disease for over 12 years, she decided to put things in place for them to survive and thrive after she passed.

To Worry Or Not To Worry?

Some of us worry about tomorrow …what we are going to eat, what we are going to drink and more. Yet when tomorrow becomes today, we find that we have enough for the day. Often even more than enough. We are not satisfied with what we have. We want steak when mere chicken will do. We want a mansion when a small condo will do. We want vacations to share on social media and gain likes and followers when a quiet space will give our hearts peace.

As we enter a new era may we become satisfied with the present. May we be satisfied with God’s deserving provisions now. May we be comforted that like Joseph who accomplished his will in prison and rose from the depths of the dark hole, false accusers to the heights of ruling a nation during its most severe time of need.

Lord, when we are weak, make us strong.

For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to give you hope and a bright future.

Pondering What To Do While Waiting On God? Here Are 5 Things…

Pondering what to do while waiting on God? Finding out the Lord’s will? We all have. When we examine the past we know that some grew impatient and did their own thing while others trusted and waited patiently. Here I share thoughts on both types while meandering into 5 things to do while waiting.

People Who Couldn’t Wait

Abraham and Sarah thought they were too old to achieve God’s promises. They ended up outside his will after doing their own thing. To their surprise when Abraham was almost a century (in his 90s) Sarah gave birth to a son accomplishing God’s promises.

Mary and Martha gave up on the Lord’s intervention to save their brother. He was too late. Lazarus had already died. But still the promise was achieved showcasing one of the greatest miracles of all time.

The Disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane fell asleep. Their bodies too tired to stay awake as instructed. Later they were to partake in one of history’s legendary fate. The death of Christ.

Then there were the People who couldn’t wait on Moses to return, and built a tower going against God’s plan. They succumbed to a life of misery.

People Who Waited

All is not lost as we have the people who waited. David‘s rise to the throne. Despite his many turmoils, he wrote many psalms while he waited. Dive in. Read. Be encouraged during your own periods of waiting, depression and delays.

Joseph suffered betrayal, harm, hurt, pain. He was even innocently thrown in prison. Yet was later elevated to lead a time of severe famine in Egypt.

Noah through turmoils, Mocking and embarrassment, stayed true to the divine instructions. He built an ark and participated in an historical feat so we could have a second chance.

Oh let’s not forget Job who lost his kids and his riches. If that wasn’t enough, he became increasingly sick. Yet in the midst of it all, he refused to curse God and die. He recovered and was blessed with abundance more than before.

Remember God’s timing is always right. Simply wait.

5 Things To Do While Waiting

1. Pray

Are you waiting on:

A job, Career change, or promotion?
Desire for a relationship, to get married?
Start a family?
Health improvement for yourself or loved one?

Then Pray. Talk to him about your needs, desires, and goals. Ask for guidance in accomplishing his will for your life

2. Listen

Listen for his response. Often we pray then walk away and when he responds in a different way, we even miss it because we’re either looking for a straight forward response or are too busy feeling sad, down and depressed.

Don’t be afraid of Silence. Listen. Just listen.

3. Stay Close

Stay close to the lord so you can hear his answer.

Dr. Tony Evans shared the analogy of when you are driving long distances and you move out of an area, you have to change the channel.

In the same way when you move away from the Lord because you may be Worried, afraid, or impatient, then you will find it difficult to hear his response.

4. Read the Word

Read the word because that is one way you will hear him speak. If you do not read then you will not hear and may miss his response. We hear his response through the bible, circumstances and in some cases through what seems like ‘coincidences‘. Personally I just love those!

5. Get Your Praise On

Praise Him in advance. That’s what David did. He praised God during times of waiting. He lamented …but in all he praised. Build in praise while you wait. It works wonders for your heart, your spirit, and your soul.

Let’s together Wait.

Blessings overflow.

The Effective Fervent Prayer…

The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Pray. Listen. Pray. Act.

Pray

Going through some stuff? Health? Financial? Career? Relationship? Pray. Cry out. Share your heart’s desires. Seek his help and intervention. Through faith ask his guidance. Ask him to show you what to do, where to go, what to say. Ask that he makes the answer plain so you won’t miss it.

Listen

After you’ve prayed, take time to be still. Listen. Let him speak to you. We often pray then walk away without waiting to hear his reply. So stop. Listen. It’s in listening that we hear and receive his guidance and leadership. He leads us beside still waters. Then He restores.

Pray. Give Thanks

Return to him in prayer. Give Thanks for his answer. Hold onto him for comfort. Pray. Quietly pray. Breathe. Exhale. Give Thanks. Bask in the assurance of things to come.

Act

Go out and do what he says. So many of us pray, receive the response but walk away without acting on it. We either disbelieve what he says he will do or miss our best because we don’t act. Often we’re afraid to do so. That’s where trust and faith (which is the evidence of things not seen) comes into play.

Today may we pray, listen, and act on his answers to our prayers while rejoicing in thanksgiving and praise.

Blessings overflow!

In The Midst Of Life’s Busyness…

In the midst of life’s busyness, let’s not forget to pray. To have time with the lord. Sometimes I feel far from Him and that’s when He nudges me quietly. Then I return to him in quiet rest.

Thank you Lord for not giving up on me.

Peace

The Thing About Depression And Suicide…

When all seems hopeless

My friend and her hubby deal with fatalities everyday. She shared an incident of a woman whose car was severely damaged when it crashed into a Guard rail. The woman reported that she was trying to commit Suicide. She survived.

On the other hand my friend’s hubby who is in law enforcement shared reports about a man who after investigation, authorities discovered it was attempted Suicide. He succumbed to his injuries and died.

A Pastor in his message recently shared statistics of the number of police officers who have committed suicide since 2019, in New York. An unbelievable rate of 24% as at mid-year.

Those Who Smile

I share this to ask prayers for those who SMILE or laugh out loud with us outwardly but deep down inside are hurting or depressed due to finances, job loss, relationships, or for one reason or another. Comedian Robin Williams is an example. Anthony Bourdain, celebrity author and travel documentarian is another. Not to mention the silent ones who go crazy with mass shootings of the innocent. All suicides. Sad indeed.

The Signs

WebMD shared these Behavioral warning signs. Read their complete article for further details.

Excessive sadness or moodiness

Hopelessness

Sleep problems

Sudden calmness

Withdrawal

Change in personality or appearance

Dangerous or self harmful behavior

Recent trauma

Making preparations

Threatening suicide

If you are among the depressed, please seek help. Using wisdom, if you recognize the signs in a Friend, relative, or co-worker, don’t wait. Do something. Get the person the professional help they need. Usually they can’t think clearly.

When all seems helpless, Pray

And while you’re doing all of the above Pray. Pray, and pray even more. Prayer changes things. There’s no doubt about that.

Let’s together do what we can in our small corner. But above all, Keep the Faith.

For God has not given us a spirit of Fear but of Power, Love and a sound mind.

We Thank You…

All things are working for our good

We give you thanks for all you’ve done

Lord, thank you for all that is happening in our lives right now.

All things are working for our Good

And for that we thank you.

For making us strong when weakness is all we have, we thank you.
For Green Lights, we thank you

For mortgage and car payments, we thank you.

For the satisfactory purpose and the immediate job and/or contract placement that you will provide, we thank you.

For the bills it will pay, we thank you.
For being able to give back to you and to help others, we thank you
For the peace that only you can give and will continue to provide, we thank you.
For resilience, we thank.
For sustenance when all We want to do is to give up, we thank you
For manipulators and the conniving schemes that they try to use to break us but we are made stronger, we thank you.
For being our stronghold in times of trouble, we thank you.
For tears we shed as we hold on to you, we thank you.
For shelter, food, and clothing that you provide and we so often take for granted, we thank you
For learning your purpose in all situations we thank you.
For you never giving up on us we thank you
For taking care of our family and children as only you can when we are not around physically and you’re the only one there, we thank you.
For spiritual growth, we thank you
For the pillow that we lay our heads on at nights, we thank you
For not giving up on us when we falter and go astray, we thank you
For using us to take care of the sick we thank you
For your never ending love we thank you

In all things we thank you. We thank you. We thank you. We forever thank you.

GranShell, Prayer Doesn’t Work…

Prayer doesn’t work. This statement came from my 7-year grandson who had asked his mom and dad for a dog before his 7th birthday. He did not believe he would get it so I told him to pray. He did. Eight months later after receiving many other gifts that he loved but no puppy, he apparently gave up.

While driving home one day, he almost knocked me off my feet when he said “GranShell, Prayer Doesn’t Work”. Indeed his statement surprised me. It got me thinking. How many times we as adults become disappointed in the Lord’s seemingly unresponsiveness to our pleas for something we consider important to us? What my grandson did not know was that his parents were contemplating his request… but of course a dog comes with major responsibilities. These include considering the actual type of dog to get (one that was hypoallergenic); the cost to care for a dog including health insurance and such; whether he is ready to take care of the puppy, among others.

Doesn’t the Lord do the same? He is answering …but often He wants to give us the right things at the right time–when we are ready for it. We can think of examples like Moses. The delay was to prepare him so he took him away from pharaoh’s palace and sent him to become a shepherd. Later when he was ready, he used him to lead the children of Israel out of oppression. Joseph too was innocently sent to prison for a crime he had not committed. Joseph’s trials were divine in order to prepare him for bigger things. He later had the responsibility for the land during a major famine.

Today, may we have hope that the Lord is coming through for us some way, some how. Be patient …wait. He’s got you.

Blessings overflow,