A Joyful Mission

Elohim: Name of God

I was scrolling through my phone and honestly believe that God speaks to me in the things I see. In one of the posts on Pinterest, there were listed the 16 names of God, each with the name and definition. I figured that God wanted me to share with all of you about this as well.

The first name of God that was listed was Elohim. Elohim means The Sovereign, Mighty Creator. We know in the bible that God is the Creator of the universe and the world, but we also must remember that He has power over that creation which is a part of His Sovereignty. The word Mighty means strength, power, hero, warrior.

Wow, I think that we forget that a lot of times as we go through our daily life! We forget to worship and honor Him. We forget to praise and glorify His name. We forget that He didn’t just put us on this Earth to go through our life carelessly as though life has no meaning other than our day-to-day existence. Our purpose is so much more than that. To explain that further, we need to look at Genesis 1:27, which states “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.”

According to http://www.gcu.edu (Dear Theophilus blog), it states: “God brought the world into existence and as the capstone of this good work, he created people in his image so that they could share in his overflowing love, grace and goodness through their relationships with the Trinity”. To me that says that we weren’t created in a vacuum for no purpose. We have a purpose. He knew us before we were even born! He knew what we will and can do in the world when we give ourselves over to Him. God is good but because He gave us free will, He will not tell us what to do. Instead, He trusts that we will know what we need to do in order to find happiness. We must begin to see that God is all that is good in the world and that goodness is what will and can defeat evil. (Related post: Standing in the Way of Evil)

So, what did I learn from this? I sure am humbled by the things and the knowledge that God continues to give me. I have to constantly remind myself that I am a vessel that God has used to carry His word and love to the world. That doesn’t make me better than anyone else. No indeed! It humbles me, instead, because He chose me to help Him! I’m honored and feel so completely unworthy, but I continue to persevere because I know that I’m doing His work here on Earth. Know that God calls all of us to do the same.

What can you gain from this? Anyone who has read my blog knows that I will say that you need to “Let Go and Let God”. I get it! Letting go is the hardest part. However, you need to let go of all of your fears and insecurities and let God in to do what He knows that you need. He only has your best interest in mind, so, trust me when I say that you will be so much happier because of it! Remember that our God is Elohim. He is sovereign. He is mighty and He is the creator of all. You are not just a tiny speck in this great big world. You have meaning and a purpose too. (Related post: The imperfectly perfect person is who God calls.) You just need to ask God to help you find it.

Father, Forgive Me.

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Anyone who has said The Lord’s Prayer will be familiar with the part where we state, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This very simple statement is about forgiving others just like we ask God to do for us. I struggle with this sometimes. I become so angry when I see others who maliciously malign or mistreat others, just because that person thinks and believes differently than they do. I want them to be able to see how hypocritical they are! Of course, hypocrites don’t see themselves the way that we do. However hard it is to see these acts done to someone who simply tells the truth, I know that I must forgive them. I also know that I need to pray for them. I also realize that God sees everything. There is nothing that we can hide from Him. He also states in the bible that “vengeance is mine”. I just wish that His timetable on justice was the same as my timetable!

This leads me to another thought. How can He forgive us if we are holding onto all the issues we are having trouble forgiving in others?

The problem is that we can’t “walk” the path of a Christian if we don’t “talk” the same path of a Christian. I have found that some Christians are what I like to call “surface Christians” or “Sunday Christians”. Oh, these people go to church, sing the songs and shout loud “Amens!!” but that’s only because they are in front of others. Once they’ve gotten out of the church building and sometimes even before they’ve gotten out of the parking lot, it’s not a pretty story! They are cussing and yelling and doing all sorts of things that don’t show their Christian side at all.

Now, I have another thought. I read this on Pinterest and I will paraphrase it, but it goes something like this, “If you could do anything, and no one would know what you did, would you still do it anyway?”. That statement really got me thinking and my answer is no, I couldn’t do it. Why? I would know and God would know what I did. What’s done in secret is never truly secret. If you can’t talk about things that happen in your life with others, then it’s not something that you should be doing. Period! Please also realize that If someone does something to you that is inappropriate, remember that you are a victim of that other person’s actions. Please talk to someone about it and realize that you are not at fault, at all! (Related post: God’s Promise).

So, what did I learn from this? It’s hard to look in the mirror and see the mistakes that I’ve made. It’s also hard to look at what others have done to me and forgive them. If I choose not to forgive them, then that anger that I feel becomes a burden that weighs me down and keeps me from knowing the full splendor of God’s love. I also realize that that person’s sin is still there, it’s just for God to handle now. I’ve stepped away from it and released the anchor that kept me from getting away from it. He has freed me from it!

What can you gain from this? It’s amazing the freedom that comes with letting go of the pain that you have for that person. Remember, God’s got this. He never lets you down or lets you go down a path by yourself. Sometimes, we need to see that it wasn’t God who shut the door but yourself who did it. All you need to do now? Just give all your struggles to Him. He wants to help you, no matter the circumstance that you find yourself in. (Related post: God’s Got This)

A Simple Kind of Love

Recently, I had a Zoom training for 6 days that was easiest to do at home on my computer, considering that I am a manager at a place that works with adults with disabilities. I would spend the morning at home and then come back to the center towards the end of the day. I sure did miss seeing my sweet friends! However, the best part was that they always showed me how happy they were to see me when I got there! They would speak excitedly and come give me a hug. It was the most straightforward kind of love that didn’t have any expectations. They just wanted to give me some love and then they received it right back from me.

This simple kind of love, which has no expectations or conditions, is the same thing that we receive from God. He gives us His love, freely. In fact, He knew and loved us before we were even conceived in our mother’s womb. To me, that’s very powerful! The best part about it? We don’t have to even do anything in order to have it given to us. It’s free. In addition, He states that we can share that same love with others.

Gee……now, how hard can that be????

Really hard, sometimes! There are so many people who don’t act very nice. And every day, I pray that God helps me to see others the way that He sees me. I also know that God sees things in others that I am, obviously, oblivious to! I just have to believe that His love is sufficient for us and trust Him in all that we experience in this life. I know that I don’t always understand what is happening but I have found that with reflection and prayer, He has shown me what He wants me to see. I also know that He will do the same thing for all of us when we begin to put God back first in our lives. The craziest of times calls for us to go down on bended knees and pray for His guidance. Otherwise? We are just in a boat that is up a proverbial creek without a paddle! (Related post: Handling the “Ifs” in Life).

So, what did I learn from this? I’m loved. No matter what I do, I’m loved! So, my goal is to do everything in this life with God on my mind. Yes, I’m human and I will make plenty of mistakes along the way (and, trust me, I have). Luckily, God loves me anyway. Isn’t that the best thing EVER?!? All that He asks is that I try. Another thing that I’ve discovered? He knows that I am trying and He doesn’t hold it against me when I fall down because He also knows what’s in my heart. Trust me, it doesn’t get any better than that!

What can you gain from this? To me? It kind of takes the pressure off of you. It’s not a performance. It’s not about acting or pretending to be someone else. God sees you for who you really are! He sees the deepest part of you that craves to be loved that way. He sees what you try to hide. However, He doesn’t hold your past over your head. Remember, that He wiped that slate clean when He gave us His Son to die on a cross. Jesus took all of those sins and put them away. All you have to do? Reach up your hand so that He can help you out of that boat. So, think about it. What have you got to lose? (Related post: Our God Waits)

A Blessed Path

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As I’ve gotten older, I have begun to look so much more clearly at the different paths in my life that I have taken. Some of it was luck but some of it was trusting what God wanted me to do and where He wanted me to be at that time. I have also seen that this is part of God’s grace in my life and his favor in guiding me on the right path. A large part of that involves trust which is the hardest thing we humans can do. Trust in something that is unseen.

I believe that we all need to look at our own individual paths and instead of seeing the challenges, see the rewards that have come after. See the places where God has carried us, even when we felt as though He wasn’t there beside us. See His mercy when we were humbled and weighed down by our sins. And lastly, see God’s grace in knowing that He loves us and wants a relationship with us. He sent His son on earth so that we could be lifted up from our sins. He wants us to have peace and for us to know that even though we don’t know where we are going in this life, He does know.

Trust doesn’t always come easy, even for those of us who do our best to follow Him! I can only imagine how difficult it must be for those who don’t have God in their lives. God doesn’t let you down. The world lets you down. God isn’t to blame for what those in the world choose to do. God isn’t to blame when the free will that was gifted to us is turned into evil acts by those who choose to seek the devil.

A blessed path is a path that seeks to do good even when it goes against what the world tells you is right and just. A blessed path is one that seeks to point out hypocrisy and proclaim the truth instead. A blessed path is one that asks for blessings to fall on those who follow the way to the narrow gate. A blessed path is those who preach the good news even as they are mocked by others. A blessed path is seeing the pain that the world is in and asking that those who are lost receive God’s mercy and a clear understanding.

God is our path. When we learn to let go of what the world thinks of us and give it to God instead, it is only then that we can say that we are on our own blessed path.

So, what did I learn from this? Life is but a journey. I believe that how we approach that journey can help us by leading us to a loving God. He gave us free will. It doesn’t mean that we have to be careless with it or even stupid about it! Life is also about choices. There are many paths that I could have taken but didn’t. I can look back now and say that I’m glad that things have turned out the way that they did even when it was hard to go through at that time.

What can you gain from this? It may seem like life goes on forever, but there is a finite point to our earthly bodies. You need to be ready to answer some questions when you do have to go before God. Are you prepared? We don’t know our time or place so we need to be ready to answer. This is the time to correct yourself. Once you’re dead, it’s too late. So, think very, very carefully about how you want this to turn out.

“God don’t like ugly.”

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One of our clients where I work is now being raised by his aunt and uncle. His mom and dad passed away a few years ago. This client’s aunt tells him this phrase all the time in order to get him to stop and think about how he is acting. It also helps him to understand that there are consequences for ugly behavior and it’s not just natural consequences. It’s also the consequence that can eventually come from God as well.

Although this phrase is NOT grammatically correct (sorry, it’s the teacher in me that gets a little twitchy about it), the phrase itself is PERFECTLY correct, as in its meaning. Too many people, now, need to go take a good, hard look at themselves in the mirror. Of course, they won’t. Why? When people start to look at how they are acting, then they also have to start acknowledging the ugliness that exists within them. They may also start to see how hypocritical they are being. That inner search can be very, very difficult.

Now, why do you think that is? Why do people have such a hard time seeing their own behavior in a negative light?

One theory that I have is that they were never taught how to show compassion to others when they were young. That is CERTAINLY not an excuse but just a reason. Another theory that I have is that they might have always been told that everything that they did in life was wonderful and marvelous and awesome. You should get my point.

So, the problem? If someone is never humbled enough in order to be considerate of others, then it is very difficult to “see” their own behavior as being anything but wonderful and marvelous and awesome. They never learned how to be humble. That’s a HUGE problem and one that they will pay for eventually. Even if they never get what’s coming to them in this world, trust me when I say that God is always watching. He gives us PLENTY of opportunities to “fix” our behavior while we are alive, but be very, very sure that HIS consequence is permanent when we have to go before Him and try to justify our actions. There are no second chances then. (Related post: The time for reckoning is now)

So, what did I learn from this? God gives us lots and lots of opportunities to “get it right”. I can’t blame God for the choices that I made in life. All He wants is for me to acknowledge my sinfulness and then do my very best to follow His path for me. I have to continually trust that He knows me and has a plan for me to follow. I have to humble myself in order to discover that path. And actually? It’s not so hard when the rewards have been so much fun to experience!

What can you gain from this? Remember that we only have a finite number of years to “get it right”. If that doesn’t get you motivated then I don’t know what will. Also, remember that no one can predict when their time on earth is done. So…. you need to act like every day could be your last! And now, it’s time to act accordingly!!

Handling the “Ifs” in Life

I actually looked up the meaning of the word “if” and there were several definitions but one stuck out with me. It is, “in the event that”. Words that have similar meanings to if are uncertainty and doubt.

Our life is full of “ifs”. So how can we handle all the uncertainty and doubts that we face? My go-to is God but not everyone can do that. So…. what can you do instead?

My suggestion, take each day as it comes. Learn from it and move on to the next thing. Learn to appreciate what you have and work towards what you want. Realize that you can’t control the things that others do but you can control what you do about it. Yes, life is full of “ifs” but life is also full of “and” and “but”. (Related post: Always Room for Growth)

Realize that you have to take the wheel. You can control how fast or slow you go. You hold the power in your responses and your actions. Hopefully, that will help you to realize that you can’t let your fear of the uncertainties of life control you. Yes, I get it. The world is certainly crazy. You don’t have to be. Relish the small things in life, like a drive on a pretty day, having coffee with a friend, and laughing at a good joke. The list is endless. The point is, enjoy today and cherish every moment that you have in this lifetime. That is what truly counts.

So, what did I learn from this? Joy can be contagious. I have also discovered that my joy can also depend on who and what I surround myself with. I have to be honest, always, with myself, first. I also have learned that I need to stay true to myself and my values. The “ifs” don’t get to me like they used to because I understand more now than I used to. I can see things clearer. Is it always that way? No, but I will tell you that God has a big part in making me who I am today. Dealing with the “ifs” would be a whole lot harder without Him.

What can you gain from this? The power to control your life is within you. Some people don’t want us to realize that. So, how can you change it? Learn to surround yourself with people who will treat you the right way. Stay away from bad situations and bad people. Realize that they are only out for themselves and don’t care about you or not like you want them to. There is a reason why they are called “toxic.”

If you are struggling with making a decision on something? Write down the pros and cons of it or the situation. Sometimes it’s once you see it on paper that you can better make a decision about it. I did that once about a boy that I dated when I was in college. When the column for the cons overtook the pros then I knew that it was time to cut him out of my life. (Related post: Everyone has a bad day, now and then! So, what can you do to make it better?)

It seems like it’s backward but sometimes you need to get through those really, really bad times in order to appreciate the good things that do happen in your life. Then you should begin to see that the “ifs” in life don’t matter so much anymore.

God’s Love Language

The love language that God uses with us is our obedience to what He wants from us. When we become obedient, we are trusting that God’s got us on the right path. (Related post: God’s Got This). Remember that He knew us BEFORE we were even formed in our mother’s womb. He KNEW what we could do and what we could become when we obey Him.

We need to go back to Genesis 22:1-14. This is the passage where Abraham and his wife, Sara had been given a child, Isaac. In this particular passage, Abraham is told to bring his only child and go to a mountain of God’s choosing and then to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Could you imagine the pain that Abraham had felt!? He probably wondered why God would give him Isaac, just to turn around and ask him to kill him. However, Abraham did as God wanted him to do and brought Isaac to the place that God decreed. He prepared Isaac and was about to complete the sacrifice when he was stopped by the angels of God. God told him that because Abraham had been obedient to God’s will, he would get more than he had ever hoped for before.

At the time that we are going through whatever it is that we are going through, we are tasked with trusting God to give us what we need. Our trust and obedience shows to Him our own love language that we have for God. When we place our trust in Him, then we echo Jesus in the powerful prayer that He gave in the Garden of Gethsemane where He spoke to God the Father before His crucifixion and said “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” Even Jesus, during His time on Earth, knew that it is only when we obey God, that we can achieve what we need to achieve. Can you imagine how hard that must have been for God? He sent His own Son to die on the cross for us. As undeserving as that was, Jesus did it because it was the only way to truly rid ourselves of sin so that we could be with God in Heaven when our time on Earth is done.

We don’t need to understand how our lives will turn out, but we do need to trust God to put us on the right path. (Related post: Just going with the flow….). He’s the only one who can!

So, what did I learn from this? I can look back and see now, so many times that I went down this path and not that path, or how I seemed to be guided in a particular direction. It is only in hindsight that I now am starting to see that God had a purpose and meaning for my life. When I Let Go and Let God, I found that He carried me and made me the person that I am today.

What can you gain from this? I know that the hardest thing that anyone can do, is to stop trying to control their life. (Related post: Our God Waits). I get it. I really do! I know how hard it is to trust in something that you can’t see. It’s especially hard to trust in this day and time when it seems that evil is winning and we may even wonder where our God is. Remember though that God has a plan. You are part of that plan. Just know that your peace will only come when you give your will over to God. Trust in Him to know what He’s doing.

Pieces of the Same Puzzle

There are times that I love puzzles and, of course, there are times that I get frustrated with them just as easily. I think that it depends on how complicated the puzzle is and how many pieces it has as well. I think about if it has some precise details that make it more complicated to put together, only because they all look the same. Sometimes, I have found that I will have to just walk away and then come back to it later. I have also found that I need to concentrate on small sections that can then help me to begin to see the big picture of what I’m working towards.

Of course, if you’ve read my blog much then you know that this isn’t really about puzzles. Right? Actually, I see that the pieces of a puzzle can be an analogy for people too. People are frustrating. They are complicated and complex. Usually annoying, but then they can be so very engaging as well. You have your “pieces” that are bad or make bad choices but then I also consider that there are so many that are good and try to live good lives.

If we begin to see each other as small pieces of a much larger puzzle that God has designed, then we can begin to see things in the world in a new light. In a puzzle, the pieces are already cut and must go in a certain area or then the picture will not make sense. However, there is no pre-cut, certainty of how the people puzzle will work or even how we can all fit together. However, when we take the time, take a step back, and evaluate instead of just jumping in with our emotions, we may begin to see the bigger picture. We need each other in order to get there. We just have to do it together.

So, what did I learn from this? I don’t think that I will ever truly understand people and why they do what they do. They sabotage themselves and then don’t want to understand why they keep having problems. It makes me want to just shake them and shout, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!? Wake up!”

But the thing is, that until they are ready to see it, you can’t really help them. They have to be ready to receive it in their own timeframe. What you can do, though, is get down on your knees and have lots and lots of prayer for that person and many, many other people in this world. We have a God who works in mysterious ways and you never know when or where someone will be impacted. Trust me, I’ve seen what the power of prayer can do. We have a God who listens. Isn’t that an awesome thing!

What can you gain from this? When we pray for others then we open ourselves up to others’ pain and suffering. It helps us to step outside of ourselves and empathize with what other people are going through. We might not be able to change their circumstances but then again sometimes we can. We can become more giving and loving to others. (Yes, even the ones that are the hardest to deal with. Trust me, they really need it the most!) It’s also that you’ve begun to understand a portion of why they’ve been acting the way that they do. The other thing that you can gain? You also may begin to realize how powerful prayer can be. It can then become a huge wave of people beginning to understand and realize that things need to change and they are the ones to make a difference. One thing that I know is? It certainly never hurts, that’s for sure!

Always Room for Growth

When I was younger, I had always wondered why my life took so many twists and turns. Now that I’m older (not always wiser, but I feel as though I’m getting there!), I’m starting to see now how those twists and turns have gotten me to where I am right now. My husband, Barry, said something to me when we first got together and before we got married that always stuck with me. He stated, “I try to learn something in everything that I do.”

In other words, he was stating that there was always room for growth. I’m going to take it a step further and say that that statement should hold true to our professional life and our personal and religious life. Each is tied to the other and makes for a more well-rounded individual.

We need to realize that there is so much that we can learn from each other. We don’t have to always agree, but maybe by watching someone else, we can learn what not to do in our own life. Maybe, by reaching out to others, we can begin to empathize with them instead. Maybe, we can be inspired by how another person holds to their dignity even as they go through something terrible. Maybe, just maybe, it can make us become better people by learning from others.

There’s always room for growth in how we handle ourselves and the things that go on in our lives as well as what we can learn from the world around us. I know that it’s never easy to change ourselves. In fact, I think that it’s one of the hardest things that we have to learn how to do. However, the reward can help us become a better version of ourselves than we were before. (Related post: Seeing the Potential). Just think of it as a “makeover”. Who doesn’t want that? Here’s me in the background, yelling, “YES, PLEASE!!!”

So, what did I learn from this? I like who I am now. I’m also finding that I’m really liking where I am now. All those different pathways that I took long ago, have led me to this place. I can now look back and see that all those things that I learned from those twists and turns in my path through life, were what made this time in my life better. Am I done learning? I hope not! I hope that I can continue to say that until the time that I’m ready to go and be with God. It’s humbling but also so very rewarding at the same time. (Related post: Learning to accept the challenges of life)

What can you gain from this? It’s hard when you don’t know where you’re going. It’s also hard when you don’t understand the purpose behind where you’ve been, either. I think that the key to figuring out what you’ve gained is to write down all of your experiences (yes all, as in the good, the bad, and the ugly). Then take each one of those experiences and figure out what you learned from that experience. Sometimes, we just need to see it in black and white in order to get the full effect. It certainly couldn’t hurt and you never know what you can gain from it unless you try.

Taking the Moral High-Ground

It’s always difficult to teach children how to make good choices. However, in today’s society, how can we help them to have morals that they can learn to live with for the rest of their lives?

Let me tell you some things about what my husband and I choose to do with our own children. Our first-born, Marc was somewhat of a precocious child. If you told him that the sky was blue, he would say to you that it was purple. While I loved that about him, I also knew that we needed to make sure this young man that we were raising could learn how to follow other people’s rules and not just make the rules he wanted to pursue. We also wanted to have a child who would be able to make good choices as he got out into the real world. Our youngest son, Alec, waited until he was a teenager when he tried our patience with some of his antics but the end result was……

I can actually tell you that we succeeded in raising young men we are very proud of! They both have excellent jobs that they enjoy. They also help out by contributing to the family’s needs while still living here at home. In addition, they each have a code that they follow. They understand the difference between right and wrong choices. How did we do that? They each were given consistent consequences that helped them to develop their own radar. Trust me, when I say that it’s never easy to guide young people into having morals in a world that increasingly tries to say that you are “anti-something” or other because of the values that you hold.

So, how do we keep to our morals in that world? You hold true to what you value in life. (Related post: Standing in the Way of Evil). Think about how your faith guides you in thinking about the world. Do you put God first and the world second or do you think of it the other way around? Trust me when I say that it makes a big difference which one you put first. I’d rather turn away from the world that puts me last and turn toward our God who puts me first. Remember that at the end of your lifetime, we all will have to go before God and answer for the choices that we’ve made in this lifetime. You can’t get around that, so think very, very carefully about where you stand so that you won’t have any regrets at the end of your life.

So, what did I learn from this? I know that it doesn’t seem like God is on our side, especially after what happened in Uvalde, Texas where innocent lives were needlessly lost. I’m not going to get into the mind of the person who did that, but I will say that only someone who is missing out on God could have pulled that trigger without a second thought.

We need to put God back in our lives. We need to think about how hatred hurts all of us and then get on our knees and ask Him for His help in healing our minds and hearts. Yes, you can also vote your conscious as well, but God is still at the root of it. Without Him? I don’t really want to contemplate what could actually happen if we don’t change course soon.

What can you gain from this? I have such peace with God even as I struggle to understand how humans can do evil in this world. We try to blame God for what humans choose to do, but I know that with God, our world becomes a much better place to live. If you want that peace that those of us who know Him do, then ask Him to heal you. Trust me. He’s the only one who can.

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