Tomorrow is my birthday. 43 years. Seems like such a big number, although as a kid I thought 30 was old. 😂 Here are 43 nuggets of truth that came to mind today as I was thinking about what 43 years have taught me. What nuggets of truth have your years taught you?
Your friend,
Tiffany
Laugh.
Ask questions.
Don’t worry about what others think.
Trust my gut feeling.
Get lost in the music.
Worship-get lost in God.
Play board games often with the kids.
Read…a lot.
Let go of perfection.
Smile anyway.
Cry sometimes too.
Enjoy hugs.
Understand that others are life long learners too.
Forgive others, but don’t let them take advantage of my kindness.
Always look for the good, but admit when it’s hard.
Sing on long drives.
Pray too.
Accept those magical little moments in life as God blowing me a kiss, not write them off as just coincidences.
Let the puppy lick my entire face.
Let the dirty dishes pile up sometimes.
Let the laundry pile up, too 😂
Sleep in…if I’m able to.
Snuggle in a soft bed filled with pillows under piles of blankets.
Take regular walks and turn my face up towards the sky and sun.
Appreciate who I am and how far I’ve come.
Hold my kids a little tighter for a little longer.
Encourage others when the opportunity arises.
Keep being sincere.
Read the Bible more.
Don’t worry about what the mirror says about my age. 😂
Pray that my heart shines in my eyes.
Love people more, even the hard people.
Go on more cruises.
Visit the beach as often as possible and get in the water.
Build the sandcastles.
Destroy the sandcastles.
Jump in the leaves.
Take the picture.
Let them take the picture of you.
Give more.
Ask for help.
Have less expectations.
Never stop believing even when it seems impossible.
I ran across the following this morning from Inspiring Quotes and it really spoke to me. Then I backtracked and found some other cool quotes. 😊 Hope you enjoy! Blessings.
Your friend,
Tiffany
An often overlooked English poet of the mid-19th century, Sarah Williams is best known for her poem “The Old Astronomer,” in which a dying astronomer offers his last words to his student. Grappling with mortality is a prominent theme in Williams’ writing, and in particular this poem, which she wrote while battling cancer not long before her own death. In this line from the poem, she urges us to value the bright spots in our lives, and to make peace — however we each can — with the impermanent nature of living.
I originally posted the following blog a little over two years ago. Lately, I’ve been thinking a good bit about purpose…probably because of the new year, discussions about resolutions, etc. There have been times when I struggled with purpose and understanding the “whys“ of life. The thought came to mind more than once lately of how much I’m encouraged and even inspired by those who share their stories, struggles, and how they’ve made it through hard circumstances with God’s help. I’ve been blown away at times by others sharing how something I’ve shared has encouraged them! It’s totally God’s hand at work-nothing I’ve accomplished alone.
Today I want to encourage you, yes you, to continue to share your story- in writing or otherwise. While you are doing so, look for the little ways God reveals He is at work in your life. You may be shocked at just how real and ever present He is. Don’t worry if you are in a season like Frodo where he ”wished the Ring had never come to him.” We don’t always get to choose the situations that come to us in this life, but God promises to use the hardest of circumstances for His glory, if we will allow Him to! I hope you enjoy the following and pray you experience God’s presence continually no matter the circumstance.Blessings!
Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
My husband and two older kids were watching Lord of the Rings recently, and this quote caught my attention, again. I remember it making an impression on me the first time I watched The Fellowship of the Ring, and this time I stopped again when I heard it and reflected on the meaning. We don’t get to choose what circumstances life throws at us at times. It reminds me of a cross stitched quote my mother had hanging in her bedroom years ago. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” If you’re like me, just thinking of that makes you nervous! How will we know what to accept and what to change? The answer is in trust.
We often don’t get to decide what cards we are dealt in life. Sometimes the game of life seems to deal us good cards, and sometimes it feels like we get only the bad. We want to fix everything, to make everything right, but that is not always possible. Some things cannot be changed no matter what we do. If we’ve prayed about it, and are following God’s leading, really all we can do is trust God and keep moving forward.We don’t have to worry about deciding what will and won’t happen in our lives, we can leave it up to God! Let Him decide that, let Him allow the things He wants to happen in your life. All we have to do is use the time, talents, and treasures He has given us. Is it easy? No! Do we always understand? No! Did God allow the circumstances that are happening in your life right now? Yes! All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28).
Time. Sometimes it feels like it’s dragging and flying at the same time. It’s what our lives are made of. We only have a limited amount- say 100 years if we’re lucky. Not to sound all gloom and doom, but life goes by faster than we think and we really don’t know how much time we have here.
“All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us”.
That makes me not want to waste time doing unimportant things. It makes me want to be kinder, to love and give more. To not worry as much. To make sure I’m fulfilling God’s purpose in my life.
I love the way Sam, Frodo’s friend, stays with Frodo throughout his journey with the ring. Whether Frodo fully realizes Sam’s devotion or not, it is obvious to the viewer that Sam is a true and loyal friend. I think Sam is a reminder that God sends encouragement when we need it and He makes sure we know we aren’t ever alone.
The situation we find ourselves in that we have no control over was meant to happen. Remembering that brings us peace. It will all make sense eventually, if not in this life, in the one to come!
There is hope and joy in simply knowing you are living out your purpose. It was hard for Frodo to see the hope and joy in his situation when he was carrying the heavy burden of the ring. We all have a burden of some sort. Think about what burden you “wish had never come to you”.
All the human emotions you feel are normal. But remember, there are other forces at work besides the bad ones, there is good at work, too! God is in control of our lives if we’ve put our trust in Him. Our “burden” didn’t catch Him off guard or take him by surprise. He’s working when we can’t even see it and “that is an encouraging thought”.
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”
Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?
L. M. Montgomery
We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences – be they positive or negative – make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives. And, like a flowing river, those same experiences, and those yet to come, continue to influence and reshape the person we are, and the person we become. None of us are the same as we were yesterday, nor will be tomorrow.
B.J. Neblett
If today is not your day,
then be happy
for this day shall never return.
And if today is your day,
then be happy now
for this day shall never return.
Kamand Kojouri
The Woman had told her that Tomorrow never comes, but Elizabeth knows better. It will come sometime. Some beautiful morning she will just wake up and find it is Tomorrow. Not Today but Tomorrow. And then things will happen…wonderful things.
The sun’ll come out tomorrow, so you gotta hang on till tomorrow.
-Little Orphan Annie
Happy New Year! As we begin a new year, I am reminded that each day is new, and each tomorrow is fresh. Even if I make many mistakes or fall short in some way today, the first day, tomorrow, is ALWAYS a new day!!
Today, I wanted to share another devotion from Bible In One Year 2020 (Nicky Gumble). As I was reading, the words, ”every day is an opportunity for a new beginning,” jumped out to me.
So many of us start new year’s resolutions that we quickly ditch, but when I think about the fact that EVERY day is new, fresh, with no mistakes in it, I’m motivated to focus on the now…just today and maybe tomorrow. I’m reminded not to get bogged down in looking at the whole year, not to get frustrated if a bad day comes my way, and not worry if I don’t meet certain goals on one particular day. Each tomorrow is a new beginning!
The following devotion is lengthy, but has some really awesome, encouraging points.
I’m praying for you today, as you start the new year. I pray you are encouraged and optimistic about the fresh start of each day of 2022!
Your friend,
Tiffany
New Year’s Resolutions
I belong to a squash club, which is also a gym. Each year on 1 January they bring in extra gym equipment. The place is packed out. By about 7 January, they move out all the extra equipment, as most people have given up their New Year’s resolution, and the club returns to normal!
Get fit
Lose weight
Reduce drinking
Stop smoking
Get out of debt
There is nothing wrong with making these common New Year’s resolutions. Of course, all of us make resolutions that we fail to keep.
The good news is that each year is an opportunity for a fresh start. But then so is each week. Every Sunday is the first day of the week – a new beginning. Actually, every day is an opportunity for a new beginning.
The first three words in the Bible are, ‘In the beginning…’ (Genesis 1:1). Each of the passages for today tells us something about new beginnings and new opportunities, and suggests some possible New Year’s resolutions.
Psalm 1:1-6
‘Delight’ in the Bible
If you are beginning the challenge to read the Bible in One Year, this psalm has encouraging words for you.
The promise is that if you ‘delight’ in God’s Word and ‘meditate’ on Scripture ‘day and night’ (v.2, MSG), your life will be blessed. Happiness comes from what happens to you. Blessing is what happens to you through knowing God and meditating on his words.
God promises you fruitfulness (‘which yields its fruit in season’, v.3b), vitality (‘whose leaves do not wither’, v.3c) and prosperity (‘whatever they do prospers’, v.3d), though not necessarily material prosperity!
This message is backed up by a glance across at the ultimate fate of ‘the wicked’. The psalmist does not try to pretend that the wicked don’t sometimes prosper. He simply reminds us of the transitory nature of their prosperity – ‘they are like chaff that the wind blows away… [they] will perish’ (vv.4,6).
The key to lasting – and ultimately eternal – fruitfulness and vitality lies in your relationship with God. As you seek to follow ‘the way of the righteous’, you are assured that the Lord himself will watch over you (v.6).
Lord, thank you for your wonderful promises as I resolve to make a regular habit of delighting in your word and meditating on it.
Matthew 1:1-25
Focus on Jesus
Resolve to focus your life on Jesus. The Bible is all about Jesus. The New Testament opens with his family tree.
As we read the list of Jesus’ ancestors, it is encouraging to see that they include Tamar (the adulteress), Rahab (the prostitute), Ruth (the non-Jewish Moabite), Solomon (who was conceived after King David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba), as well as many others. Thankfully, God uses sinful human beings and, therefore, can use us. Whatever your past, however broken your life may seem right now, God can use you to do something great with your life.
The very name ‘Jesus’ means, ‘he will save his people from their sins’ (v.21). Every time we use the name Jesus it reminds us that our greatest need is not for happiness or contentment (although these may both be by-products). Our greatest need, as with Jesus’ ancestors, is for forgiveness. Therefore, we need a Saviour.
The beginning of Matthew shows us that Jesus is the completion of all that is recorded in the Old Testament:
Jesus is the climax of history Matthew opens his Gospel by summarising the Old Testament story in terms of Jesus’ ancestry (vv.1–17). The Old Testament tells the story that Jesus completes. Matthew sets out the history of the people of God in terms of three equal periods: fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile and fourteen from the exile to Christ (v.17).
In the genealogy, biological generations are skipped over (as was quite common in Old Testament family trees). Matthew was pointing out that Old Testament history falls into three approximately equal spans of time between crucial events. Jesus is the end of the line as far as the Old Testament story goes – the climax has been reached.
In Jesus, all the promises of God are fulfilled Jesus is not only the completion of the Old Testament story at a historical level, he is also the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies and all of God’s promises.
Matthew concludes each of five scenes from the conception, birth and early childhood of Jesus by quoting the Hebrew Scriptures that have been ‘fulfilled’ by the events described (Matthew 1:22–23; 2:5–6,17,23; 4:14–16).
The first one is the fulfilment in the conception of Jesus: ‘All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)’ (1:22–23).
All of history, prophesy and promise, is completed in Jesus. Your whole life is completed in Jesus. Every part of your life: your work, family, relationships, friends, memories and dreams are completed in Jesus.
Lord, thank you for this promise for the new year – that, in Jesus, you are with me. Help me to focus my life on you in the year ahead.
Genesis 1:1-2:17
Enjoy God’s creation
You are not here by chance. This universe is God’s creation. You are made in his image.
Genesis gives an account of the beginning of the universe. It goes way beyond the scientific theories of ‘how?’ and ‘when?’ It answers the questions of ‘who’ and ‘why?’ Scientific theories do not prove or disprove this explanation. Rather, they are complementary.
Reading this passage through the lens of the New Testament we see the whole Trinity involved in creation. The Hebrew noun for God (Elohim) is a plural noun. The Holy Spirit was involved in creation (1:2). It was through Jesus that creation came into being: ‘And God said…’ (v.3a). Jesus is God’s Word and through him the universe was created (see John 1:1–3).
In the midst of this account of the creation, there is an amazing throwaway line showing the immense power of God: ‘He also made the stars’ (Genesis 1:16). We now know there are probably between 100 and 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, and our galaxy is but one of around 100 billion galaxies. He made them all, just like that!
The pinnacle of his creation was human beings. You are made in the image of God (v.27). If we want to know what God is like, it is men and women together (‘male and female’, v.27b) who reflect his image.
Every human being is created in his image and should be treated with dignity, respect and love. Your ability to communicate with God is a reflection of the fact that you are made in his image.
God approves of all that he created. He said, ‘It is good’. Many people feel worthless, insecure and of no value. But God did not create rubbish. God created you. He loves you and approves of you. He may not approve of everything you do, but he loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly and continually.
We see in this passage that work is a blessing: ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to workit and take care of it’ (2:15). Work is part of God’s good creation – not a result of the fall. This passage also reminds us that taking care of the environment is right at the heart of God’s plan for human beings.
Rest is not an optional extra. It is what God did (‘he rested’, v.2). These days of rest (days off, holidays) are days of special blessing: ‘God blessed the seventh day and made it holy’ (v.3). Holidays are holy days. They point to the fact that life is primarily about being rather than doing. Don’t feel guilty about taking time off. Holidays are good in themselves. They are also a time to recharge spiritually.
Don’t work too hard. God took time to rest and enjoy what he had made. You are not supposed to work constantly. You are created with a need for relaxation and rest – taking the time to enjoy your work and the fruit of your work.
In Genesis 2:16–17 we see that God gave Adam and Eve far-reaching permission (‘you are free to eat from any tree in the garden’, v.16), with one prohibition – ‘but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ (v.17a). He warned them of the penalty if they disobeyed (‘when you eat of it you will surely die’, v.17b). You do not need to know and experience evil. God wanted you to know only good.
Lord, thank you for this universe that you have made. Help me to keep well away from evil and to enjoy all the good things you have given us to enjoy.
Pippa Adds
Matthew 1:18–19
How difficult this must have been for Mary, her parents and Joseph. They must have felt embarrassed and ashamed. We see why Joseph was chosen to be Mary’s husband – he was very impressive. The girl he was about to marry was pregnant; he would have been justified in being furious. Yet, he didn’t want to humiliate her – he planned to ‘divorce her quietly’. We see how he acts after an angel appeared in a dream and told him to marry Mary (v.24). It must have taken faith to put aside what people thought and raise a child that was not his own.
I always loved Mr. Rogers as a child, so when I ran across the following article by Joyce Chen, I had to share it. Blessings today and every day. Your friend, Tiffany
Before there was Blippi, before there was Blue’s Clues, there was Mister Rogers, aka Fred McFeely Rogers, the host of the eponymous children’s television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Rogers was the sort of TV host that both kids and parents trusted and enjoyed. Known for his calm demeanor, friendly attitude, and astute life lessons, Rogers established himself as an icon for the more than three decades that the PBS show aired. He began each episode by changing into one of his trademark cardigan sweaters and slipping on some sneakers while singing the show’s theme song, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” And he concluded each episode with the song “Tomorrow.”
The series ran for 31 seasons, from 1968 through 2001. On the show, Rogers dispensed timeless wisdom about how to be kind to others, how to feel good about yourself, and what to do when you’re up against your worst fears. He used everything from puppets to songs to chats with friendly neighborhood pals to teach kids about the importance of empathy and compassion, encouraging his young viewers to dream big, explore the world, and above all else, be kind. Here, we’ve rounded up 20 of Rogers’ most memorable quotes, reminders of the good old days of turning on the TV and spending an afternoon in the neighborhood.
ON KINDNESS
All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors — in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.
As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has or ever will have, something inside that is unique to all time.
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.
ON LOVE
Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like “struggle.” To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.
Everyone longs to be loved. And the greatest thing we can do is to let people know that they are loved and capable of loving.
Listening is where love begins: listening to ourselves and then to our neighbors.
I don’t think anyone can grow unless he’s loved exactly as he is now, appreciated for what he is rather than what he will be.
Mutual caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other’s achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.
ON HEALING
Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. Like all of life’s important coping skills, the ability to forgive and the capacity to let go of resentments most likely take root very early in our lives.
There is no normal life that is free of pain. It’s the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth.
When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting and less scary.
ON LIVING LIFE TO ITS FULLEST
It’s not so much what we have in this life that matters. It’s what we do with what we have.
The thing I remember best about successful people I’ve met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they’re doing, and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they’re doing, and they love it in front of others.
It’s good to be curious about many things.
You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.
ON INDIVIDUALITY
If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of.
We all have different gifts, so we all have different ways of saying to the world who we are.
It’s really easy to fall into the trap of believing that what we do is more important than what we are. Of course, it’s the opposite that’s true: What we are ultimately determines what we do!
The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.
Landon, my son with autism, loves to take rides in the van. His sensory system is soothed by movement and one of the easiest ways to calm him is to go for a ride.😊
Usually I drive him through scenic back roads and neighborhoods and we always listen to music as we go. Sometimes it’s rainy, sometimes it’s sunny. During these drives as we are listening to praise and worship music, 99% of the time we hear a new song that just speaks to my spirit. During today’s football game, I was driving Landon around and heard a new (to me) song that spoke to me.
The song is called “Let the Ground Rest” (Chris Renzema). It talks about how during a waiting period- maybe for a prayer to be answered or a situation to be changed- we have to “let the ground rest” much as a farmer does after planting a seed. We can’t rush the process no matter how much we want to. The season we are in has a purpose.
One of the lines says “Cause flowers only grow once they’ve tasted rain.” How true this is. It takes both rain and sunshine for flowers to grow much as takes both trials and blessings to cause growth in our lives.
Another line says
“So don’t you find it strange?
That God, He made four seasons and only one spring, So oh, just let the ground rest.”
We can’t only have one season in our lives. As much as we want it to be springtime always when everything feels perfect and looks beautiful, seasons must change. We have to go through changing seasons and we continually learn and grow as we go through those seasons of good times and hard times. Hopefully we gain wisdom and understanding and our character is matured and refined as those seasons change.
Friend, if you are facing a rainy, difficult time in your life right now, I’m praying this song will encourage you.It’s okay to just “let the ground rest.” Those “flowers” will bloom in your life when the time is right. Trust the Lord’s timing. Trust His plan. I promise He hasn’t forgotten about you. There’s a harvest coming.
Your friend,
Tiffany
Chris Renzema-Let The Ground Rest Lyrics
Been waiting on a moment
Waiting on a sign
Waiting for them to call your name
And you’re next in line
Waiting for your time to come
Your fifteen minutes in the sun
So don’t you find it strange?
That God, He made four seasons and only one spring
So oh, just let the ground rest
‘Cause if it’s not right now, it’s for the best
You’re gonna grow, I know this
But for now, just let the ground rest
Been waiting on a moment
Waiting on the sign
Waiting for the lights to change
When you won’t feel so stuck or so left behind
Been waiting for the day to come
When you can leave behind what you’ve become
Wash it all away
‘Cause flowers only grow once they’ve tasted rain
So oh, just let the ground rest
‘Cause if it’s not right now, it’s for the best
You’re gonna grow, I know this
But for now, just let the ground rest’Cause you’ll finish what you start
My pastor’s sermon yesterday was about Heaven. He talked about what Heaven really is. It is a real place prepared for people who have a relationship with Jesus.
Christians have a dual citizenship – on earth and in heaven – and our citizenship in heaven ought to make us better people here on earth. – Warren W. Wiersbe
He discussed the basic, probably mostly well-know fact among Christians, which is that we can’t get to Heaven by good works. But do we really believe that and live that way? What does our calendar, bank account, the way we use our natural giftings or talents say? Do we really live and act as though our relationship with Jesus is our most important priority?
Let heaven fill your thoughts instead. Because when you do, everything on earth gets placed in its proper perspective. – Greg Laurie
When we are planning to take a vacation, we think and dream about it. We study the location we plan to travel to. We learn about the area-what activities we will do there, what it looks like, the route we will take to get there, etc. Much like planning for a vacation, our lives should reflect that we are planning to travel to Heaven.
Surely it is not wrong for us to think and talk about Heaven. I like to find out all I can about it. I expect to live there through all eternity. If I were going to dwell in any place in this country, if I were going to make it my home, I would inquire about its climate, about the neighbors I would have — about everything, in fact, that I could learn concerning it. If soon you were going to emigrate, that is the way you would feel. Well, we are all going to emigrate in a very little while. We are going to spend eternity in another world. … Is it not natural that we should look and listen and try to find out who is already there and what is the route to take? – D.L. Moody
We wait with anticipation and count down the days until our vacation. Everyone around us knows we are going on vacation! We wait with excitement, often impatiently! We go shopping for all necessary items we will need for the trip. We have a hard time focusing on much else because we are so looking forward to our vacation!
Our creator would never have made such lovely days and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, above and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal.
– Nathaniel Hawthorne
As we are preparing for our vacation, we don’t want to forget one of the most important and honestly very basic of things:
We have to make a reservation.
If we forget to do that, all the dreaming, planning, and preparing won’t matter at all.
How do you make the reservation? You call/email/communicate with whomever is in charge of the condo/hotel/house rental or whomever represents it. They give you instructions to follow in order to ensure you can stay there. If you don’t follow the instructions, you can kiss your vacation goodbye.
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.– C.S. Lewis
The hills and valleys of Heaven will be to those you now experience not as a copy is to an original, nor as the substitute is to the genuine article, but as the flower to the root, or the diamond to the coal. – C.S. Lewis
The cool thing about Heaven is we don’t have to pay for the trip. The cost has been covered by our Heavenly Father through Jesus.
So after the planning, preparing, making reservations, we have to wait for the day of departure to arrive. When that day arrives we set off for our glorious vacation. But did we consider another very important part of our trip? The question of Who will be there when we arrive?
That fact can totally make or break an earthly vacation. Will we be spending our vacation with our family, our friends, or both? If it is our family members, or people closest to us, we may have already had the opportunity to spend time with them beforehand, spend time in their presence. Often, we don’t have to wait until we arrived on site for our vacation to be in their presence.
The presence of God is what makes Heaven Heaven.
~Pastor Bill Bryan
As Pastor Bill stated, God’s presence is ultimately what makes Heaven Heaven. The coolest thing of all? We can experience the Lord’s presence right now! We don’t even have to wait to get to Heaven.
How do we experience God’s presence now? Talk to Him (pray), think about Him (reading His Word helps to do this), worship Him (verbal affirmations, singing, etc.)
Lucifer (Satan) was created to worship God. When he failed to do that, God created us. God gave us the free will to worship Him.
~Pastor Bill Bryan
The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.
– C S Lewis
Have you ever noticed that being in the presence of certain people fills our hearts with joy. It is really almost an indescribable experience. (Obviously this is not the case for all people we are around. 😉) Often we don’t care where the vacation destination is or what we are doing if we are spending time and communicating with our closest family or friends.The warmth, light, and love certain individuals exude touch and fill our own hearts with the same. But those feelings pale in comparison to the Holy Spirit and the light He fills us with.
Suddenly, I was enveloped in this brilliant golden light. The light was more brilliant than the light emanating from the sun, many times more powerful and radiant than the sun itself. Yet, I was not blinded by it nor was I burned by it. Instead, the light was a source of energy that embraced my being. – Ned Dougherty
We honestly can’t even begin to imagine the wonders, beauty, and magnificence of Heaven. The grandeur of our trip to Heaven far outweighs any vacation we can take on Earth. Our purpose here on Earth is to truly worship God while traveling to Heaven and share this with others so they can do the same.
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9
Earth is only a pale version of heaven, not the other way around.
– Greg Laurie
This earthly body is slow and heavy in all its motions, listless and soon tired with action. But our heavenly bodies shall be as fire; as active and as nimble as our thoughts are.– John Wesley
We are just travelers passing through this Earth and all the vacations we enjoy here are such tiny, fractional bits of the glorious, wondrous Home of Heaven, where we will actually see Jesus face to face.
I’m so thankful His presence is with us even now. It gives us a small taste of all that is to come and is waiting for us in our eternal Home.
Your friend,
Tiffany
PS. We sang the following song during worship yesterday at church. I love it! Enjoy!
I originally posted the following blog a little over two years ago. Lately, I’ve been thinking a good bit about purpose…probably because of the new year, discussions about resolutions, etc. There have been times when I struggled with purpose and understanding the “whys“ of life. The thought came to mind more than once lately of how much I’m encouraged and even inspired by those who share their stories, struggles, and how they’ve made it through hard circumstances with God’s help. I’ve been blown away at times by others sharing how something I’ve shared has encouraged them! It’s totally God’s hand at work-nothing I’ve accomplished alone.
Today I want to encourage you, yes you, to continue to share your story- in writing or otherwise. While you are doing so, look for the little ways God reveals He is at work in your life. You may be shocked at just how real and ever present He is. Don’t worry if you are in a season like Frodo where he ”wished the Ring had never come to him.” We don’t always get to choose the situations that come to us in this life, but God promises to use the hardest of circumstances for His glory, if we will allow Him to! I hope you enjoy the following and pray you experience God’s presence continually no matter the circumstance.Blessings!
Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
My husband and two older kids were watching Lord of the Rings recently, and this quote caught my attention, again. I remember it making an impression on me the first time I watched The Fellowship of the Ring, and this time I stopped again when I heard it and reflected on the meaning. We don’t get to choose what circumstances life throws at us at times. It reminds me of a cross stitched quote my mother had hanging in her bedroom years ago. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” If you’re like me, just thinking of that makes you nervous! How will we know what to accept and what to change? The answer is in trust.
We often don’t get to decide what cards we are dealt in life. Sometimes the game of life seems to deal us good cards, and sometimes it feels like we get only the bad. We want to fix everything, to make everything right, but that is not always possible. Some things cannot be changed no matter what we do. If we’ve prayed about it, and are following God’s leading, really all we can do is trust God and keep moving forward.We don’t have to worry about deciding what will and won’t happen in our lives, we can leave it up to God! Let Him decide that, let Him allow the things He wants to happen in your life. All we have to do is use the time, talents, and treasures He has given us. Is it easy? No! Do we always understand? No! Did God allow the circumstances that are happening in your life right now? Yes! All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28).
Time. Sometimes it feels like it’s dragging and flying at the same time. It’s what our lives are made of. We only have a limited amount- say 100 years if we’re lucky. Not to sound all gloom and doom, but life goes by faster than we think and we really don’t know how much time we have here.
“All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us”.
That makes me not want to waste time doing unimportant things. It makes me want to be kinder, to love and give more. To not worry as much. To make sure I’m fulfilling God’s purpose in my life.
I love the way Sam, Frodo’s friend, stays with Frodo throughout his journey with the ring. Whether Frodo fully realizes Sam’s devotion or not, it is obvious to the viewer that Sam is a true and loyal friend. I think Sam is a reminder that God sends encouragement when we need it and He makes sure we know we aren’t ever alone.
The situation we find ourselves in that we have no control over was meant to happen. Remembering that brings us peace. It will all make sense eventually, if not in this life, in the one to come!
There is hope and joy in simply knowing you are living out your purpose. It was hard for Frodo to see the hope and joy in his situation when he was carrying the heavy burden of the ring. We all have a burden of some sort. Think about what burden you “wish had never come to you”.
All the human emotions you feel are normal. But remember, there are other forces at work besides the bad ones, there is good at work, too! God is in control of our lives if we’ve put our trust in Him. Our “burden” didn’t catch Him off guard or take him by surprise. He’s working when we can’t even see it and “that is an encouraging thought”.
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”
You’ve Got A Friend 