First...if you have posted a comment on my blog, I am not seeing it. I can only see a couple from the first entries. I am sorry. Can you try again?
Yep, I've done it yet again, put off posting. And I don't even have any good excuses!
We've had a couple weeks of cold and snow here in Virginia. I had prayed for ONE good snowstorm for the winter. God answers over and above what we ask for, we have had three!
I was born and raised in NW Pennsylvania, so I know how very long and cold winters can be. I am thankful I am not living there. We may get a few snow storms in the winter or we may get nothing here. I like one good snow storm. That gives me the beauty of the snow that I miss, but I don't have to deal with it from October to April.
So, I have to confess I love that everything gets shut down around here during snow storms. I love to be snowed in for a few days. And if my family is home safe then let it snow! I love taking pictures of the snow and the birds outside my windows. I love taking pictures of the snow on the trees and on my yard junk. I love taking pictures of my dogs, kids, husband, anyone who is out in the snow.
I'm thinking I am strange, I can literally sit in my chair at my window all day taking picture after picture of the birds at the feeders that my husband keeps filled outside the window for me! I do move to the other windows in the house and catch the birds at those feeders too.... Then I find myself with hundreds of bird pictures and have to decide which ones to keep and what to do with them! Thank you Lord! for my digital camera!!
I was watching the little sparrows the other day, and was reminded of how God's eye is on him.
Mat 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Mat 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care.
Mat 10:30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
So why do I worry when God promises I am worth more than all these beautiful little birds I am taking pictures of? He has even numbered the hairs on my head!! I really do not spend much time worrying. I used to. But it seems the Lord has shown me over and over in the last few years that worrying gets me nowhere, but trusting Him and taking my trials to Him results in a peace and joy that can only come from seeing my Lord answer my prayers. I thought of these verses:
Jas 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
Jas 1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Jas 1:4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Jas 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Jas 1:6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Jas 1:7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
When I pray I want God to answer! He says pray, believe, don't doubt! If I do I shouldn't expect Him to answer! Wow! Well, then, ok Lord, I believe! I will not doubt! I will expect an answer! In His time, in His way.
Jas 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Jas 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
Jas 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Jas 5:15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
Jas 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Jas 5:17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Jas 5:18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
I love the book of James! So much in that book that speaks right to me. I do not receive what I ask because I ask with selfish motives! Wow! Why do I pray? The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Wow! And Elijah just blows me away! First time I read that verse I thought, Wow!! Really!?? It really changed how I thought about prayer.
Mat 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Mat 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Mat 7:8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
I've learned so much about prayer from BSF leaders meetings. We are expected to pray for our group members each day. We start everything we do with prayer. Matthew 7:7 is the verse we base our prayers on. ASK...ask, seek, knock... and the door will be opened.
My husband and I are sharing a verse with each other every morning then talking about it. Today was my turn and I was thinking about this verse in Psalm 37.
Psa 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psa 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
Which then led to all the other verses and a discussion about God keeping His eye on the sparrow. So, my weird compulsion to take hundreds of pictures of birds can bring me to a point of worshipping my Lord! That excites me. I love to look for God in the world around me.
I hope these verses encourage you in your walk with the Lord. Maybe there is one here that is exactly what you need to hear today to help you keep going.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart!
Love,
Barb
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