Comfort

I caught Joyce Meyer’s television show today for the first time, and it was absolutely wonderful! She is such an incredible woman, anointed by God! Her topic tonight was about loneliness, how many of us can be lonely for many different reasons, and how God can give us comfort and peace through our loneliness. What a beautiful message of hope and encouragement!

One of her guests was a pastor who lost nearly everything through Hurricane Katrina. In his struggles, he said he always knew that God was with him. His wife said if we put our life in material things and they disappear, then we’ve lost everything, but if we define our life through our relationship with God, if everything material is lost, we’ve really lost nothing, but instead are just going through a transition. The pastor also said what we may be going through isn’t necessarily good, but it will work for the good for those who are called according to His purpose, as stated in Romans 8:24(?). Oh, what a truthful statement that is! One’s current situation may not be good, but it will work for the good of one’s life. Praise God!

Lord, I pray tonight that you will give me peace, hope and joy in times of loneliness, that I may see that You always understand me and are always with me through everything in my life, good and bad.

~Justin

Rest Is God’s Law

Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell].
Hebrews 4:11

Don’t work so hard that you miss your time with God. Rest is important for your spiritual and physical life. The need for rest can’t be ignored; it is a law of God. Just like the laws concerning eating, sowing, and reaping, we cannot break the principle of rest without paying the price of disobedience.

Paul sent Epaphroditus home saying that he came near death through working for Christ (see Philippians 2:25-30), but God had mercy on him and spared his life. Find time to be still on a regular basis. It is in moments of rest that you are most likely to hear God speak to you.

~Joyce Meyer, Starting Your Day Right, p. 358

Defeating the Spirit of Fear

Make a concerted effort to be aware of your thoughts and to defeat the spirit of fear. Worry will not help the situation at all. Instead, make a quality decision to trust Me with everything that concerns you, and wait for My leading. Otherwise, you will find yourself to be double-minded and stuck -- not being able to make any progress. Certainly I will lead you out of this valley of ambiguity, but I will do it in the best and most simple and effective way possible according to My will and judgment, says the Lord. Trust Me!

Matthew 6:27 "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?"

~Spirit of Prophecy Bulletin, 12/21/06

This message comes at such a perfect time in my life. Praise God for speaking to me through this wonderful email service! So fitting and so appropriate for today!

~Justin

Come Apart to Stay Together

Come Apart to Stay Together

And the effect of righteousness will be peace [internal and external], and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever. ~Isaiah 32:17

If you are feeling compelled to do so much that you are physically worn out, you may be driven instead of led. Remember, you have to come apart from a busy routine before you come apart yourself. You have to get away from everything before you come apart physically, mentally, and emotionally. Give yourself time to get a good night’s sleep.

It is tempting to do everything that everybody else is doing, be involved in everything, know everything, hear everything, and be everywhere, but it isn’t God’s best for you. Be willing to separate yourself from compulsive activity before you come apart at the seams! Spend time with God, and ask Him to give order to your day.

~Joyce Meyer, Starting Your Day Right – p. 355

Once again, God speaks so clearly to me through this devotional. Praise God!

~Justin

Rest Awhile

Rest Awhile
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] ~Matthew 11:28

Getting stress out of your life takes more than prayer alone. You must take action to make changes and stop doing whatever is causing the stress. You can learn to calm down in the way you handle things.
Jesus invited us to come to Him if we are overburdened. He promised to refresh us if we are weary, worn out, or overworked. Take time to go to Jesus anytime you feel that you are going over the edge of peace and into the pit of stress. Let His presence refill and refresh you.

~Joyce Meyer, Starting Your Day Right – p. 354

I love this devotional so much! It’s so amazing how God speaks to me exactly what I need to hear at precisely the right moment. Such a perfect message to start my winter break! Thank You, Lord, for knowing where I’m at and what I need, and for helping provide that for me. I love You!

~Justin

Praise For Family

Dear Lord,

As I prepare to head home tomorrow to spend the next three weeks with my family, I'm reflecting on what we talked about Wednesday in group. I love my family, and I am so excited to visit with them over Christmas and into the New Year! Before I head home, I pray that You will help me internalize the following truths about myself.

I am an adult. I am capable of making good decisions for my future. I'm in charge of my life, and can manage my finances. I am intelligent, and I have valid reasons to believe what I do. I am sensitive to the needs of others, and I can carry a polite and respectful conversation with someone who doesn't share my same viewpoints. I am a strong Christian, and have a wonderful relationship with God. I am at peace with my life, and at peace with my family. I love my family whole-heartedly, and I'm excited to see them and spend time with them!

Thank You, Lord, for this opportunity to have a wonderful visit with my family and to become who you want me to be. Thank you for the opportunity to help my family see me as a capable, confident, successful, strong Christian man. I love You, Lord, and I praise You for the exciting and fun times ahead with my family over this break, and in the future! I thank You for continually blessing my relationship with them, and for allowing us to have the relationship that we do!

I love You, Lord! Thank You!

Love,
~Justin

Post-Its

Tonight at Small Group, we discussed Sunday's message, focusing primarily on Letting Others Off the Hook. Rich led a discussion about how when someone treats us poorly and we judge them, we often end up labeling them forever based on one action. Rich gave the analogy of placeing a post-it note on their forehead with their label. "Jerk." "Rude." "Selfish." In judging someone and labeling them, we begin to expect them to act a certain way. This expectation often leads to us treating them differently, and to them acting accordingly - the tongue can bring life or death. Also, by labeling someone and judging them, truthfully, we must have a lot of pride in ourselves. It takes humbling ourselves to be able to remove the label from others.

Rich shared studies where 100 percent of people in mental institutions had some form of unforgiveness in their lives, and a significant number of cancer patients shared the same. I'm wondering if you ask the entire population, if you'd find that a majority of all people struggle with unforgiveness - regardless, they're still startling statistics.

Rich challenged us to consider our lives and try to recognize any unforgiveness we've been harboring. He also challenged us to remove the post-its from others that we've judged. Lastly, we talked about identifying what labels others have put on us, and considering either confronting them about their judgement (in a positive and respectful way), or praying that God will remove the power of their words over us.

Such a great message, and a great time fellowshipping with one another. I love my small group!

Dear Lord,

I pray tonight a prayer of blessing and thanks over my small group. Praise You, God, for bringing me into relationships with such amazing individuals, and for bringing us closer together this semester. I'm so thankful that we'll continue to meet next semester, too!

Lord, as I enter these next few weeks, I pray that You will help reveal areas in my life where I need to forgive - and give me the courage, strength and humility to do so. Open my eyes to the post-its I've placed on others, and help me to remove them, and replace them with positive and affirming labels. For those who have judged me, I pray that You will bind the power of their words (and of my own in believing their words) and rescue me from the power of negativity.

I praise You, Lord, for the blessings You've bestowed upon me and my family and friends! Thank You for everything You're doing in my life and in the lives of my family!

Love,
~Justin

JOY

Dear Lord,

Thank you for reminding me of the phrase:

To experience true JOY, put:

J= Jesus first
O= Others next
Y= Yourself last

Today's sermon about Mark 12:28-31 reminded me of how I truly need to love You with everything that I am, and that I need to love others as I love myself. This is so hard at times, Lord! My selfish ambition seeks for improving my life, and my situation. God, thank you for beginning to reveal to me areas in which I can truly love You and love others. I pray that over the next few weeks that You will continue to reveal to me my 'crumbs', as well as my areas of unforgiveness. Help me to see the world through "God-colored lenses" and identify areas in which I can truly serve others.

Thank you for my church, and the family You're building there. I love You!

Love,
~Justin

Trust

God's been speaking to me mightily in the past few weeks. As I've stumbled through my own frustrations with friends and family, and have grown increasingly more excited and nervous about my pending job search and my future in general, I've found myself missing the point, and He's led me back to some key foundations of my Faith through church, comments from friends, others' blogs, music on the radio, and my personal time with Him.

So many of my concerns are inter-related, and God's relayed the following message to me through a variety of means:

I need to trust in God in everything. My job search, my relationships, my future - it all needs to be in His hands. God has promised that He will take care of me, and that if I seek His will for my life, I'm bound to be successful and happy. God has a perfect plan for my life, and He will reveal it to me piece by piece as I seek Him, but He's not about to give me a completely detailed map with every pit stop identified. As my best friend put it (paraphrased), "When you're driving across the country from South Carolina to Colorado, you wouldn't tell them every road to take all at once. Instead, you tell them as they go, or else they'll be overwhelmed and will forget. The most important thing is knowing your destination - He'll provide the details along the way."

I need to quit looking for signs that the next step I take is the right one. Instead, I need to ask that He'll guide my feet as I walk - and I need to start stepping. One foot in front of the other, trusting Him to provide the next step, but not waiting for Him to nudge me in one direction or the other.

Through many means, God provided me with the message of trust in the past few weeks. The most poignant, however, was through my pastor's discussion of a Biblical story of one of Jesus' many miracles. In John 6, Jesus fed thousands of people using five loaves and two fish, and ended the meal with twelve baskets of leftover food. After performing such an incredible miracle, He left the scene, only to be followed by many of those at the meal. They questioned Him, and asked how they could do God's will - He told them God's will was that they believe in Jesus as the Christ - the Son of God. They're response? "What miracle will you provide to assure us that you are who you claim?"

This story really resonated with me. God has provided me with countless signs in my life that He is in control, and yet I'm still begging Him for signs that I can trust Him in every decision I make. All too quickly, I forget the signs He's already provided for me, and I expect more from Him. Part of His will for my life is that I trust in Him fully.

TRUST.

It's so hard to do, yet such a relief when done.

Lord, please give me peace as I place my life in Your hands. Help me to give You everything, and to fully place my trust in you.

~Justin

It Starts

Lord,

I thank you so much for life and for everything you've done in my life. You are so wonderful, and words cannot express my gratitude for all You've given me and provided for me. You are the Author and Perfecter of our lives, and I praise You, through the good times and the hard.

Thank You for providing so many new opportunities to talk with my family, and chat with them regularly. Thank You for the blessings of preparing me for my job search and providing me with new opportunities at work and around campus. I praise You for the work You're doing through our Bible study, and for the new experiences I'm having with my small group that started yesterday.

Lord, I pray for continued peace, encouragement, strength, boldness and courage as I continue down my journey through life. I pray that You will open my heart to what it is You have for me to learn through the Bible study, and for the work You're beginning in the small group with church.

This week, I pray that You'll open my eyes to the opportunities you lay in front of me to share my faith and my walk with You with others. Show me how You're using me throughout the week, and give me 'stories' to share with the others in small group, that I may encourage and motivate them through my experiences.

I love You, praise You and thank You for all things! You are God in Heaven and over my life, and I love You!

Love,
~Justin

Small Groups

Dear God,

Thank you so much for your lessons today at church. The story of Joseph and his compassion and forgiveness for his brothers and father is really a very touching and moving story, and I've gotten so much out of the past two weeks at church!! Thank you, also, for introducing me to the small group leader in my area. I couldn't be more excited about getting plugged in to the church more, and growing with others.

I'm beginning a small group Bible study tomorrow with some grad school friends, and I'm really looking forward to it. I pray that You will bless us and our time together as we fellowship and go through the study together. I pray that You will use us as accountability and support for each other, that we would all grow collectively in You this year.

I also pray, Lord, that You would begin to bless and empower the leaders of the small group I'm planning to join when it begins in September through church. Please give them wisdom and guidance, allowing us all to have a wonderful time fellowshipping together and worshipping you.

Lord, You are amazing, and nothing compares to You!! I love You!

Love,
~Justin

Nuggets of Wisdom

Today was my first day back to my church that I was introduced to last semester, and it was absolutely wonderful! I was so thankful to be back in a place where I felt God's Presence move among the church, and it was a blessing to be able to worship with other Christians. The sermon series is on the life of Joseph, and today's message reflected on Joseph's time as an Egyptian ruler when his brothers came to him in search of food, not knowing they would be confronted by their brother.

It was amazing. I've read the story many times, and it was so incredible to see that I'd missed so many important things that went on in that story. The pastor brought up so many things that had previously gone unseen to me. It was so refreshing to know that the Word is living truth, and to have another example of how God can speak to us over and over again, using the same words and providing different knowledge and understanding each time!

Thank you, Lord, for the recognition that Your Word is a living truth, new each time, rich and full of wisdom. I pray, Lord, that you will help me receive new wisdom each time I open my Bible. Allow me to search Your Word and learn something new and profound each time, and help me to make it into a joyful and exciting daily event. Guard me against allowing my flesh to see the daily Bible study as a ritualistic chore.

I pray, too, that You will help me in balancing my time so that I may plug into a small group through my church this year, and get to know many wonderful people with whom I can fellowship on a regular basis.

I love you, Lord!

Love,
~Justin

Spiritual Gifts

Dear Lord,

This morning, as I prepare to enter into fellowship with others at my current church, I'm asking You to help me identify my Spiritual Gifts. I just finished taking an inventory online to help me identify my gifts, and according to the inventory, my top four gifts are:

Healing
Leadership
Mercy
Encouragement

Lord, I know that sometimes I read into things, and that an inventory provides opportunities for human error. I also know that I'm biased, so I pray that You will reveal to me what area(s) You've gifted me in, over the next few weeks. Allow me to see clearly whether or not these four gifts are truly representative for the purposes You've created me for, and help me to have discernment as I go through this process of discovering Your plan for my life.

Thank you, Lord.
~Justin

Beginning the Conversation

Heavenly Father,

I come to You this morning with a sincere prayer on my heart. Lord, I want to know You more, and to strengthen my relationship with You. I want You to help me grow in my walk with You, and to truly and sincerely follow You and seek Your will for my life. I praise You for everything You've done in my life, and I thank You for always guiding me and protecting me in everything I've done, and in everything I will continue to do.

I pray that You will use this blog as a tool to help strengthen and encourage me (and possibly others), and that You will continue to bless our relationship as it grows. As I journal, I pray that You will open the lines of communication between us, that I may hear clearly from You and know what it is You are trying to show me.

Thank you for this life, and for everything You've created. I love You, Lord.

Love,
~Justin