Faith is accepting the fact that God knows better than I do what is ultimately good for me. It is depending on God's enablement to live and be blessed in a fallen world rather than insisting He change it.
God has a greater purpose than our immediate comfort; that getting what we want, when we want it, is not always the best for us or glorifying to God.
I've realized that my trust in God sometimes comes with a clause. I trust God, if He acts the way I expect Him to. I trust God, as long as He solves this problem. I trust God, when I clearly see the answer.
We should trust God PERIOD!
Our faith in God gives Him the opportunity to demonstrate in a spectacular, unmistakable way that His power and grace are totally sufficient for our needs.
Trust Him when you can't see the big picture or the end of the story. Trust Him when the worst
happens and you just don't understand why.
Even when our hopes are crushed, there is glory ahead.
If we don't trust God, we set ourselves up for disappointment, discouragement, and
disillusionment. We end up blaming God, becoming offended with Him when He doesn't keep the
promise or fulfill His Word, as we understood it.
When Jesus was crucified the disciples thought it was a tragic mistake. For three days they
were lost in hopeless grief and terrified horror because they just didn't understand why God would do that! But Sunday came! Then they understood it had not been a tragic mistake but the glorious will of God, Who always knows best! Because it was through the Cross and the Resurrection that God's purpose for the life of Jesus was fulfilled and our redemption was
accomplished! For three days the disciples had totally missed the blessing of what God was
doing because they didn't trust Him to know best.
I don't want to live life missing miracles. They are all around us, if we just remember to look.
We all live lives of quiet desperation, yet getting trapped in the mundane was never God's
intention for our life. He wants us to not only LIVE victoriously, but to display that victory so others will be drawn to Him!
Faith is...cleansing to worry, leaving the future to the God who controls the future.
Remember, The Promiser ALWAYS keeps His promises!
In His Love,
Dalinda
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
God's Mercy and Grace
I'm striving for holiness and coming up WAY short. Praise God He's made up, not the difference, but the sum total. Grace that is greater than our sin!
I am the thorn in Your crown...But You love me anyway. I am the sweat from Your brow, But You love me anyway. I am the nail in Your wrist, But You love me anyway. I am Judas' kiss...But You love me anyway. Love these lyrics from Sidewalk Prophets, 'You Love Me Anyway.'
When I meditate on God and begin to give Him thanks for what He has blessed me with, I begin to feel joy. As I think about His everlasting mercy I can't help but begin to dance before Him...perhaps not physically, but certainly in my spirit!
Every day can be a good day when we keep our eyes on God. I am thankful for life's storms that redirect my focus on God. Focusing on my blessings keeps my heart from becoming bitter.
The Lord is Good...His grace and mercy are everlasting and He will endure forever!
In Him,
Dalinda
I am the thorn in Your crown...But You love me anyway. I am the sweat from Your brow, But You love me anyway. I am the nail in Your wrist, But You love me anyway. I am Judas' kiss...But You love me anyway. Love these lyrics from Sidewalk Prophets, 'You Love Me Anyway.'
When I meditate on God and begin to give Him thanks for what He has blessed me with, I begin to feel joy. As I think about His everlasting mercy I can't help but begin to dance before Him...perhaps not physically, but certainly in my spirit!
Every day can be a good day when we keep our eyes on God. I am thankful for life's storms that redirect my focus on God. Focusing on my blessings keeps my heart from becoming bitter.
The Lord is Good...His grace and mercy are everlasting and He will endure forever!
In Him,
Dalinda
Monday, August 29, 2011
Marriage...God's Way
Date someone you can be in love with, sure! But marry someone you can be in life with. I found one and he's a keeper.
Don't we all enter into marriage on the blind side? If we had our senses about us, most of us wouldn't have married the person we did (not that this is true in my case). In any event there are just things that we wished we would've know before we took the big leap into forever.
I have to say that Jody and I have had some really hard times in our marriage. The first year was a hard one...trying to adjust to living with one another.
It was definitely tough when my parents became ill. Dad had Parkinson's disease when Mom was diagnosed with cancer. Both of our boys were a very young age, Drew was about to turn two and Jake was six. Here I was taking care of my two aging parents and my two boys with no siblings to help. This put a huge strain on our marriage because I was tired most of the time and there was no free time to do the fun stuff most families do together.
However, Jody was a huge help to me. I am so blessed to have him as my best friend and husband! He was and still is so understanding and compassionate. Jody helped me make some really BIG decisions concerning my parents. He stepped up and filled the role that a sibling would have, so to speak.
Jody and I both struggled to get through these trying times, but we never gave up, we worked through it.
I have to say that had we not believed in the institute of marriage and the fact that we were stuck with each other no matter what, we probably wouldn't have made the effort to work it out.
Unfortunately, as a society, we are seeing this a lot lately , even in church. People getting married because they think it will be fun, but when they find out it's not so much fun at times--they just give up and go their separate ways.
This is not what God intended when He created the institute of marriage. It is up to us, as Christians,to show them how to fight for their marriages and their families. If they don't see it in action, they'll follow the example of the world.
Marriage takes work. Sometimes fun work. Sometimes hard work. If you see a good marriage, you can guarantee it didn't just happen. That couple has worked on their marriage. By letting Christ be the center of your marriage, your marriage can move from "Oh...that's nice" to "WOW, THAT'S GREAT!"
Life with my best friend, what could be better!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Don't we all enter into marriage on the blind side? If we had our senses about us, most of us wouldn't have married the person we did (not that this is true in my case). In any event there are just things that we wished we would've know before we took the big leap into forever.
I have to say that Jody and I have had some really hard times in our marriage. The first year was a hard one...trying to adjust to living with one another.
It was definitely tough when my parents became ill. Dad had Parkinson's disease when Mom was diagnosed with cancer. Both of our boys were a very young age, Drew was about to turn two and Jake was six. Here I was taking care of my two aging parents and my two boys with no siblings to help. This put a huge strain on our marriage because I was tired most of the time and there was no free time to do the fun stuff most families do together.
However, Jody was a huge help to me. I am so blessed to have him as my best friend and husband! He was and still is so understanding and compassionate. Jody helped me make some really BIG decisions concerning my parents. He stepped up and filled the role that a sibling would have, so to speak.
Jody and I both struggled to get through these trying times, but we never gave up, we worked through it.
I have to say that had we not believed in the institute of marriage and the fact that we were stuck with each other no matter what, we probably wouldn't have made the effort to work it out.
Unfortunately, as a society, we are seeing this a lot lately , even in church. People getting married because they think it will be fun, but when they find out it's not so much fun at times--they just give up and go their separate ways.
This is not what God intended when He created the institute of marriage. It is up to us, as Christians,to show them how to fight for their marriages and their families. If they don't see it in action, they'll follow the example of the world.
Marriage takes work. Sometimes fun work. Sometimes hard work. If you see a good marriage, you can guarantee it didn't just happen. That couple has worked on their marriage. By letting Christ be the center of your marriage, your marriage can move from "Oh...that's nice" to "WOW, THAT'S GREAT!"
Life with my best friend, what could be better!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Friday, August 26, 2011
Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full?
Are you concentrating on what's wrong in your life and what you lack? Or are you looking at the good that is already available to you and trusting God's grace...a grace that can work all things together for good?
Did you know that it takes more energy to resist and complain than it does to have a positive attitude. A gloomy or negative view of life is often an unappreciated one, overlooking present goodness in search of some faraway desire or longing.
Facebook should be called, "Grouchbook" because many people just use it to complain. There are several people on my Facebook where I have never seen one positive status post. This is very sad. How you see your life is a choice. You either have a glass that is half empty or half full. Everyone goes through trials and everyone has a chioce as to how they will respond to them.
Think about your friendships. Who lifts you up and makes you feel better? Who drags you down and makes you feel bad about yourself? Avoid whiners and complainers. Spend your time with friends who encourage you. Invest your time with people who maintain a good attitude and have a positive outlook on life.
Cultivate contentment instead of complaining. By appreciating the riches you already have, you calm the all-to-human urge to complain about what you don't have.
As you grow closer to God, you'll find you have less interest in complaint sessions that once seemed so absorbing. Look for what inspires and motivates you instead of wasting energy on trivial complaints.
Take one mundane chore you tend to complain about, such as doing laundry or paying the bills and turn it into an act of love dedicated to God in gratitude.
In Him,
Dalinda
Did you know that it takes more energy to resist and complain than it does to have a positive attitude. A gloomy or negative view of life is often an unappreciated one, overlooking present goodness in search of some faraway desire or longing.
Facebook should be called, "Grouchbook" because many people just use it to complain. There are several people on my Facebook where I have never seen one positive status post. This is very sad. How you see your life is a choice. You either have a glass that is half empty or half full. Everyone goes through trials and everyone has a chioce as to how they will respond to them.
Think about your friendships. Who lifts you up and makes you feel better? Who drags you down and makes you feel bad about yourself? Avoid whiners and complainers. Spend your time with friends who encourage you. Invest your time with people who maintain a good attitude and have a positive outlook on life.
Cultivate contentment instead of complaining. By appreciating the riches you already have, you calm the all-to-human urge to complain about what you don't have.
As you grow closer to God, you'll find you have less interest in complaint sessions that once seemed so absorbing. Look for what inspires and motivates you instead of wasting energy on trivial complaints.
Take one mundane chore you tend to complain about, such as doing laundry or paying the bills and turn it into an act of love dedicated to God in gratitude.
In Him,
Dalinda
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Enter into the Silence
We can choose to move beyond the time-bound limitations of a stressed-out-lifestyle to enter into the timeless and eternal. Whether it is fifteen minutes of silence in the beauty of His creation or doing devotions, the withdrawal from the noise and stress of the daily grind is essential to our spiritual growth.
A lot of everyday life is spent surviving the "in between" time- in route between where you are to where God wants to be. Without faith, we're only left with the daily grind.
To develop a quality of prayerful presence in our lives, we must begin by stilling the disjointed judgements and chatter of our minds, calming our emotions so we are free to move from conventional thinking to a more spiritual viewpoint.
When my day doesn't go as planned I could stress, but where's the benefit in that? I think I'll choose to trust God, to believe that He has His own ideas about what my to-do list should look like. When I invite Him into my day, He'll enable me to accomplish what needs to be done and give me the grace to let go of what remains.
So toss that Superwoman cape and let God be your Knight in shining armor.
Blessings,
Dalinda
A lot of everyday life is spent surviving the "in between" time- in route between where you are to where God wants to be. Without faith, we're only left with the daily grind.
To develop a quality of prayerful presence in our lives, we must begin by stilling the disjointed judgements and chatter of our minds, calming our emotions so we are free to move from conventional thinking to a more spiritual viewpoint.
When my day doesn't go as planned I could stress, but where's the benefit in that? I think I'll choose to trust God, to believe that He has His own ideas about what my to-do list should look like. When I invite Him into my day, He'll enable me to accomplish what needs to be done and give me the grace to let go of what remains.
So toss that Superwoman cape and let God be your Knight in shining armor.
Blessings,
Dalinda
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
God Always Remembers
I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.
Wouldn't it be horrible if Jesus were so busy He couldn't remember what we talked to Him about?
Thank God we don't have to endure that kind of treatment from our Lord! Hallelujah, we are never forgotten! God can be depended on. We disappoint loved ones. We inconvenience people we care about. But how wonderful, how beautiful, how comforting to know we have a God who is always near to console and cheer, just when we need Him most.
In everyday things that no one sees, that is where God faithfully meets us because He sees.
Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget who gave it to us...and who gave it all for us.
In His Love,
Dalinda
Wouldn't it be horrible if Jesus were so busy He couldn't remember what we talked to Him about?
Thank God we don't have to endure that kind of treatment from our Lord! Hallelujah, we are never forgotten! God can be depended on. We disappoint loved ones. We inconvenience people we care about. But how wonderful, how beautiful, how comforting to know we have a God who is always near to console and cheer, just when we need Him most.
In everyday things that no one sees, that is where God faithfully meets us because He sees.
Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget who gave it to us...and who gave it all for us.
In His Love,
Dalinda
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Praise Defeats Selfishness
The opposite of focusing inward on self is focusing outward on God. How opposite this is from what the world promotes! We mistakenly think that an intense focus on ourselves will contribute most to our happiness and fulfillment, when actually the opposite is true.
Instead of being filled with thoughts about what we need and feel, we must be full of the Lord and thankful to Him that He meets all our needs better than we can.
The only focus inward we are to have is sincere self-examination, to see if we are living and thinking God's way. Even then, that should be done in God's presence because He is the only one who can reveal the truth in a way that convicts, but does not condemn.
Our complete focus must be on God alone. And the best way to focus on God is to thank Him continually for all He has given, praise Him for all He has done, and worship Him for all He is. It's impossible to be self-absorbed or self-obsessed while you are glorifying and praising God!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Instead of being filled with thoughts about what we need and feel, we must be full of the Lord and thankful to Him that He meets all our needs better than we can.
The only focus inward we are to have is sincere self-examination, to see if we are living and thinking God's way. Even then, that should be done in God's presence because He is the only one who can reveal the truth in a way that convicts, but does not condemn.
Our complete focus must be on God alone. And the best way to focus on God is to thank Him continually for all He has given, praise Him for all He has done, and worship Him for all He is. It's impossible to be self-absorbed or self-obsessed while you are glorifying and praising God!
Blessings,
Dalinda
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