Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 51:1-4 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.
I’m a sinner. I always have been. My thoughts are initially selfish, thinking of me first and foremost. Certainly, I can recognize that my thoughts have become less selfish than previous, but still there are sinful things in my nature that occur all the time. I don’t usually act on them, but the sinful thoughts appear, maybe tempt me into wrong-doing, maybe I have bad thoughts toward another, I eat improperly, enjoying sweets and things that are not healthy for ’this temple.’ And vow to change the next day, and succumb AGAIN to the lure of sweets and unhealthy fats.
So, it does not mean you are sinless when you seek God and He forgives you. He means you are initiating a relationship with Him, you learn more about Him and the plans He has for each of us, the expectations He has that we will grow in love, forgiveness, and becoming more and more like Jesus.
Never will I reach that level of maturity and being sinless. But I do find thwarting those errant thoughts which tempt me to do wrong bring me a thankful feeling of joy. The Holy Spirit has jumped into my mind and reminded me of what the proper thing to do is. It’s my choice to follow through and get my behavior in line with God’s wishes.
And when I do there is such a feeling of pleasure. It is pleasing to me when I obey. There is a flash of pride (and I wonder if that might be sinful, since being prideful can be!) But I believe God is more happy with the fact that I have not caved to the temptation of sinning and have instead corralled my thoughts and been obedient.
We were given freewill and has we walk closer with God, we learn more about His choices for us all to live. It’s a learning process and like all relationships, it is one that grows over time to become deeper and deeper. It is so worth it to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hebrews 13:16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased
Matthew 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
I come from New England, and when an opportunity for us to move elsewhere and not have to return there to live, my husband I were blessed to be assigned to eastern NC. We were not winter people for several reasons—long winters, shortened daylight for several months, snow, cold, increased fuel costs to heat our home, and the rest of the list also involved winter issues. We were just not fans.
So we landed close to the coast. In mid-February of that first year, it was lovely and warm an d we hurried off to Lowes to buy flowers and bulbs. How blessed were we to be able to plant things in our garden and be able to see them so early in the season—technically still winter!
My cousin who was raised in Vermont came to visit for a short while that day while we were out planting, and he kept saying, “When Spring comes…” Part of me laughed and countered with, “But this is Spring.” He never argued, just nodded and chatted. That night we had a freeze and my bulbs, plants and flowers almost all died.
Aw well, a learning curve.
However, this week Jan 3, 2018, most of the eastern part of the country suffered snow and ice, and for our area, it was a real mess. A plow did a main street, but no parking lots were done, no side streets, so we stayed under ice and the bitter cold for several days. It was certainly pretty, but wreaked havoc with water pipes freezing or bursting, treacherous walking and yet we all remarked how blessed to see this. It is strange for snow to last longer than 36 hours or so in this area. For me it is wonderful. Yay! Snow coming, here and gone! That is perfect for me. But this lingered, and the neighborhood came together to help one another. Those who didn’t have water borrowed a shower from neighbors who did; they would fill buckets to have flushing toilet ability, and so on. It was cool from that standpoint. We have a close neighborhood anyway, but it was fun to experience all the support shared.
But the best gift for me and the neighbors was the display of activity going on in the ocean. There were dolphins leaping and playing and putting on a wonderful free show. On Sunday we spotted two whales, a large and a smaller, moving north for about twenty minutes until they were out of sight.
this is my normal view out that kitchen window, not the ice……
So although this snow and cold lasted for several days, we saw the blessings in many areas. It was pretty, our neighbors had a festive time with one another, and the nature show supplied by God was phenomenal! And today, our temps are 59* as I write this—snow almost totally melted, the Sound which was ice covered for over a week is melted, and I am thankful for the wonderful life I have. I am blessed at ‘mybellaviews.’
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Psalm 103:2-4, 8-10 Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s…. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Wow, another year behind me, and a new year ahead; a time of expectancy for many, for hope, for looking ahead. Some may harbor thoughts of the past and regrets they might have.
God sent His son Jesus, to free of us from worry, regrets. We all have misgivings and wish we had sometimes taken a different path. But God has a plan for each of us.
And He gave us free choice….sometimes we’ve made wrong choices. Yet He offers his mercy so one becomes brand new by sincerely confessing and asking for forgiveness. Again, it’s our choice to ask for this forgiveness, to seek Him and become a new creature in Him.
We are forgiven when we seek Him and ask for it. Done. Given. Granted. You are His child and He forgives you.
It’s then a process of learning more of Him on a deeper level, seeking His words of wisdom and instruction written centuries ago in the Bible, and growing to be a freer creature. You recognize that you have been forgiven and your sins are in the past (which does NOT necessarily mean that you still may not have consequences of past actions). And yes, there are many times our doubts and humanness whisper lies of not being truly forgiven, or we believe our sins were more dark, black, awful than God is capable of forgiving. Those my friend, are lies from Satan.
Yes, you may still have to face consequences of some of you past actions, sins. Being promiscuous might end in a child or a permanent venereal disease; experimenting with drugs may impair your physical or dental health. But even if you may have consequences of past actions, you have the opportunities (and blessings) to experience freedom and the plan that God has now for your life. His word promises, “I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper and not to harm.”
But we have to choose that path, the living way through Jesus and His death on the cross. It’s so incredible to me that we confess and just seek His way, and we have forgiveness, promises to live with Him for eternity, and the opportunity to be free of worry and unrest and anxiety. That does NOT mean we will be free of troubles and difficulties at times. But it does promise that if we maintain faith, it will work out and God will carry our burdens.
So as I wonder and hope for the future, I’m thankful for the fact that I have God and know my needs will be carried. Thank You for your abundant mercy and love.
Wishing you all the assurance of knowing Him as I do at ‘mybellaviews.’
Mark 3:35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 12:48-50 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
This was a blog I published at the end of 2017, but it’s message is true and needs to be repeated, and now that my site is back up and running more efficiently, I am re-posting it
2017 has been a year of many and varied reunions for me. It’s been lovely, and certainly made me wonder why I’ve let so many relationships not flourish. Relationships need attention to thrive, grow, deepen… and I let many of mine go for many years.
Why was I so busy that I could not exert effort to see and be with? Yes, I know while raising my children and helping my family through several moves, they were priority. And the relationships I let lapse were folks who were also involved in their own lives. We get busy. I get that. But then it seems, since so much time has lapsed anyway, it gets easy to let things slide further.
I remember reading the Clan and the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel several years ago. Once a year these clans would travel a several days journey to meet up with other clans, friends, and family. They spent several days visiting and enjoying one another. But they put forth the effort with enthusiasm, even excited about the prospect of the trip.
Yet I made no effort for the longest while. Especially when I was no longer working, why did I not reconnect then. My husband died 10 years ago, so I was free to travel and get re-acquainted. But I didn’t. What was I doing that was more important than maintaining relationships with friends and family? I don’t know.
But this year, through various opportunities (or God opening doors), I grasped at the travel and loved reconnecting. It was a wonderful time seeing these folks and reliving memories, but was humbling and shaming to realize I had let so much important time pass before visiting with them again.
My first reconnection was going to Ireland and seeing cousins again. We had a wonderful trip, my sister and I, and it was great to share the trip with her.
In late September, one of my sons and I went to Pinehurst area in NC and met with a couple of friends we’d known and loved dearly while we were living in Germany. Except for Facebook, much of those relationships had waned. But one of the friends was traveling from New Zealand, and we met at the other’s home in middle of NC. We had such a lovely, laughing reunion. And again, I was struck by how important it was to see the friends and keep in touch.
My next big trip was to go to Vermont for a family reunion. I had not seen many of these cousins in twenty years. So much time had passed. I traveled from Vermont to Maine to see some friends I had not seen in forty years. Along the drive I kept wondering what had kept me from seeing all these important people sooner. After all, I know how short and sudden life can change or end. So what was my delay?
Bottom line is selfishness, I think. I was content doing whatever, and just kept on moving along that line and not varying. Stuck in my own kind of rut, actually. Yet, once I reconnected, I realized how important seeing these people were, how my heart lifted and was warmed, and I have determined I won’t let so much time pass before the next time we are together. I may not be able to see them all yearly, but I will try to. Trips to Ireland may have to be every two years, but I am going back soon.
Relationships are too vital to let grow cold. I won’t do that again.
Thank You, thank You, God, for giving me the opportunities to renew time and memories with special folks who made such an impact in my life. This has been an endearing year seeing these wonderful people.
They are all woven into the tapestry which makes ‘mybellaviews.’
Matthew 6:25 So I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Matthew 6:33 So seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Years ago I used to worry almost constantly about nearly everything in my life. I certainly didn’t realize at the time that was not the best way to go through life. When I discovered God did not want us to go through life with worry, anxiety and fear, I was then baffled how to go about getting rid of it. How do you change a life time of behavior (even misbehavior) and get it totally out of the way?
Somehow, and I am not sure how, as it was a long time ago, I learned about the ‘God bag’. The idea is to write your worry, fretting, anxiety, fear down, and then drop it in a bag designated to God. He now has it; you are not allowed to snatch it back.
Did that mean the worry wouldn’t try to sneak back in? No, the demon leader would certainly like you to pick up the worry and take it over again. And I did. When it crossed my senses I was picking at the issue again, I would have to forcefully push it from my mind, and loudly say, “NO, Satan. I’ve already handed that to God. He’s got this. Back away and leave me be. That issue is not my concern any longer. It will be all right. Now scat!” And he would go, along with an immediate release of the worry and tension.
Wonderful! Instant release of worry and tension. (Doesn’t it sound like a great advertisement?!) Yes, the king of lies and deceit would sneak back, and yes, I would have moments of angst and fretting, but within seconds, I would be reminded (thank you, Holy Spirit) to hand it back to God. And I would, as well as sending Satan off again.
I liked the idea of an actual bag. For a few years I used a bag that came on a set of “tee shirt” material sheets I’d been given. However, when a friend was cleaning out cabinets and found a couple of extra flannel navy blue bags with gold trim and the words Crown Royal imprinted on them, I loved the idea these royalty-looking bags could be used for my God bag. What could be better than the my very own creator and king, my Crown Royal, holding my worries in the bag, and fixing them?
But to me, the most important thing is mentally handing over my worries and concerns to my Creator. Now, it is far easier to do than it used to be—and I can do it most of the time without actually writing and dropping it into the bag. But occasionally something is of great concern, and my mind does not want to let go, and I have to actually write it and drop it. And it is handed over. I no longer worry. He’s got this…after all He’s got the whole world in His Hands!
My life has gotten so much less stressful and burdensome since. And it’s helped me to thoroughly enjoy ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!