CALLING ALL GRIEVING AND STRESSED ONES!!

Faith Friday focus this week is on the 23rd Psalm.

Do you need comfort?

Does a loved one need comfort?  Play today's recording for them or get a Bible and read Psalm 23 out loud for them.

From Quiet Talks on the Gospel

Do you know anyone you would consider as meek?  What is it about them that makes you link them to that category?  I ask that because Meekness is not a natural characteristic for ANY of us.

The Beatitude characteristics are NOT our personality / education / abilities / talent / looks / strength / gift of gab / color of our skin / membership of any club or organization / houses or land / job or speech.  Where to start?

Have you ever heard of a Spiritual Squirrel Cage?  Today's focus is the 2nd Beatitude "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  There is an "inseparable connection between godly sorrow and godly joy" A. W. Pink

When I was young a Christian man told me he had rough times of sorrow when he remembered all the wrong things he had done in his youth . . . 

The most important thing I learned from her was pride versus humility.  She told me when she felt pride, she would say to the Lord, "Puff me down, Lord, puff me down".  But if she felt really depressed, she would ask the Lord, "Puff me up, Lord, puff me up"!  She was a humble woman inside-out.  This coincides with our scripture for today.  Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".

When Jesus saw the crowds . . His ministry had begun . . but His days of privacy were over.  Secluded in Nazareth, perhaps not so quiet with many siblings, He had lived to that point in one manner prior to being baptized.  Then it all changed.  But he lived to please His Father and He spent time in the early morning listening for 'marching orders'.  He carried those through to completion.

It was IMMEDIATE when my husband needed me to take something from him . . I would 'drop' carefully whatever was in my hands and open them to what he wanted to give me . . usually garden produce to be washed and processed.  This is what happens . . MUST happen . . when we hear the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.  It's not just our hands.  It's an inside job.  You could say "Insider Trading".  

Jesus had peace of mind and heart because He knew He had completed the work His Father gave Him.  He prayed every morning to find out what His Father wanted Him to do that day. We need to do that, don't we?  Plus I want to follow Mr. Hummel's logic in his book of how to separate the important from the urgent.    

Many, or I could say most Christians are not called to leave their daily calling or job.  But if you listen and watch, there may be a calling for you.  Jesus called fishermen to follow Him and 'catch' men.  He could take a teacher and say "Teach for Me".  He could call a lonely housewife or teen-age run-a-way and say . . "I will use your hidden skills for a higher purpose . . follow Me!"  What are YOU doing that could be transferred over for work and service for the Kingdom of God?

While in a German prison camp Corrie TenBoom told her 'jailer', Lieutenant Rahms, about the Bible.  After a night without sleep, the man questioned Corrie again about 'her book'.  "What else does it say there?"  Corrie began slowly, "It says that a Light has come into this world, so that we need no longer walk in the dark.  Is there darkness in your life, Lieutenant?"  After a very long silence the Lieutenant admitted, "There is great darkness."

The Temptation of Jesus in the Desert by satan.  The first is physical - it's the first thing we notice about each other.  The 2nd is spiritual - it takes longer to get to know a person . . but they must co-operate and let you know them.  The 3rd is knowing what the Lord wants you to do.  Corrie Ten Boom stated "Guidance does not come automatically.  Receiving guidance is a skill to be learned, not a method.  It is intensely personal".