There but for the Grace of God, Go I.

When I was young, I remember walking along a main street near our house. It was like a main street, with all the shops and the movie theater. As we walked along, there was a man sitting on the sidewalk whose clothes and body were filthy and he looked worn and tired. As we walked by him, my Mother said, "There but for the grace of God, go I". She was a very compassionate person and I could tell that she was touched by his dilemma.

She didn't elaborate or explain and she only said it once, but that statement was seared deep into my soul. So much so, that I still remember it today and it has been a core belief during my entire life.

We all have our ups and downs, and for most of us, our lives are at least doable. That can change in a moment - an accident, a lost job, a bad health report, a loss of someone we love, and things can spiral down quickly and before we know it, we could be on the street like the man I saw when I was walking with my Mom.

How much better would our lives and our society be if we realized that God is with us and wants to have a personal relationship with us. All we have to do is want to have a personal relationship with HIm. When we make that connection, then, no matter what we are going through, we know that God will see us through it. We can live with hope, rather than hopelessness. We will realize that we are all equal in God's eyes and understand that we are not better or worse than anyone else.

Recognizing that, I believe we would have more compassion towards those who have less than us or who are going through a hard time. Having empathy towards others allows us to be an encouragement and a help to those in need by loving them with Godly love, just where they are at.

If we believe, "There but for the grace of God, go I" we can avoid falling into the trap of a prideful life: Thinking that all we accomplish is because of our abilities alone, without God. In James 4:6, it says, …God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want God to resist me. I want Him to help me in everything I do.

Think about your own life. Are you judgmental toward those who have less than you or those who are making poor decisions? If so, perhaps you could try imagining yourself in the other person's circumstances. Then you will understand, "There but for the Grace of God go I."

New Year's Resolutions

At the beginning of each year, many people make resolutions concerning how they can make their lives better in the coming year. Oftentimes, as life gets in the way, the resolutions fall by the wayside. This year, I would like to offer a different suggestion. Include God in your thoughts about how you could make your life better. Scripture is filled with instructions and encouragement. One of the main concepts is that if you put God first in your life, everything will fall into place, your life will be much better, and you will have peace. You may have some troubles, but with God leading you, He will give you the strength to persevere. May God lead you and guide you in all your endeavors during this coming year. 

One prayer you might say is, “Lord, I know You have a great plan for my life. I want to be open to receiving and participating in that plan. Help me to trust in You and not lean on my own understanding. Show me Your ways. You said that You would give me the desires of my heart. Please help me to line up those desires with Your plans for me. Thank you, Lord, for leading me and guiding me in all that I do. I pray in Jesus’ name.”

As I was preparing this post, I wondered what would make me happy and what steps or changes in behavior I would have to implement. I made a list. It is not overwhelming, but it does require commitment and living on purpose. So, I need to make the choice to live intentionally. I’m still working on the implementation of those ideas. I share this in case it would be a help to you.

Then I reflected on a time when I was trying to identify who I was. It was right after my divorce. I had played a variety of roles during the marriage, but then I wondered, “Who is Fran?” I couldn’t think of anything except that I believed that I was a loving person, so I wrote that on the top of a page. Instantly, I thought, if I am such a loving person, why is my life falling apart. I decided to see what God had to say about love, so I looked in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13. As I read God’s definition of love, I realized that I wasn’t really a loving person at all, so I crossed off what I wrote about myself and was left with a blank sheet of paper. Through the years, God has helped me grow in this capacity of love and my life has been better that I could have ever imagined since that time.

The lessons I learned are:

1.     That you really need to be honest with yourself about your motives, behaviors, and beliefs about yourself and others.

2.     That when you put God first in your life, He helps put everything in order, fills all your needs and gives you peace beyond understanding.

3.     You can trust God to take care of you.

4.     When you live intentionally, you get a lot more accomplished.

I hope that these suggestions will be a help to you as you begin this year towards living a more fulfilling life.

You Have the Power to Choose Your Destiny

Which road will you choose to follow in your life? Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with our circumstances or the cares of this world, but we don't need to be. We have been given a tremendous gift from God, our Creator. It is our minds. We are made in the image of God. As He is creative, we can be creative.

In a letter of encouragement from Paul to Timothy, who was facing trials and tribulations, (2 Timothy 1:7) Paul reminds Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control. I get excited when I read those words. God has given each of us a spirit of power, love, and self-control! He has given us the Holy Spirit to live within us to empower us, to guide us, to counsel us. Think of that! The Holy Spirit of God living inside of each of us to help us every step of the way through our lives!

But how can we know, how can we receive what the Holy Spirit wants to share with us? We have to open our hearts and minds to listen. We can hear through studying Scriptures, listening to the Godly people that God puts in our lives, praying (just talking with God), making a decision to seek God first in your life and then pursuing the fulfillment of that decision, and taking time to listen. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to "be still and know that I am God".

In Philippians 2:5, Paul encourages us to have the same mindset as Christ. In my opinion, we need to learn to look at our circumstances and life through the eyes of the Lord. We can do this by reading Scripture and finding out the characteristics of the Lord, and then doing our best, with the help of the Holy Spirit to line our thoughts up with His.

Through the ages, many similar quotes to this one emerged. "Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

What beliefs and thoughts do we want to embrace so that we can have the destiny we long for?

If we focus our thoughts on the Lord, little by little, we will be transformed into the person God created us to be. If we choose to focus on the things of this world, we will not.

In a previous post, I quoted a poem by Edgar A Guest. "You are the person who has to decide. Whether you'll do it or toss it aside; You are the person who makes up your mind. Whether you'll lead or will linger behind. Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar. Or just be contented to stay where you are."

I know that God's desire is to not leave you where you are. He wants to move you to a higher place: "For I know the plans I have for you, for good and not for evil, to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11.

God wants to have a relationship with you for eternity and He made a way for this to be possible through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who said, "I am the way the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6.

And my final scripture for this post is one that the Lord gave me at the beginning of my journey with Him. Amazingly, through the years, if people give me a spiritual-type gift, it relates to this scripture, so I guess it is the one I need to always hold onto. It is Proverbs 3:6-7 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will direct your paths." I wonder if I received this particular scripture because I am always trying to figure things out and God would rather that I trust in following His lead.

There are many scriptures to hold on to. The Bible is full of them as a means of instruction for each of us. In addition, I am sure that as each of you seek the Lord, He will give you the scripture that will help you the most in your life. As we journey through life, we have choices to make. You are the person who has to decide. Which roads will you choose?