Thankful for Perfect Peace

Thankful Thursday

I know I’ve shared this verse with you several times before but it has so much truth packed into just a few words that it is worth repeating.

I’ll always be thankful that God answered the cry of my heart one day with this particular Bible passage. The New King James Version was my Bible of choice at the time, so that translation of this verse is dear to me:

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You. —Isaiah 26:3

I love the use of the word stayed in this passage! I am so thankful that God brings this and other passages to mind when I need them the most but I also keep this verse visible on the home page of my cell phone and written on cards posted in various places around the house.

How about you, Beloved? What Scripture passages spring to your mind when you’re grappling with tough situations? Please share!

Beautiful Blogger

Last week I received a surprise in the form of another blog award. It came on a day when I really needed something to make me smile.

Thank you, Betty, for giving me this award. You absolutely made my day!

Please take the time to visit Betty’s two wonderful blog sites: Betty’s Verse of the Day and Jesus is My Joy .

Happy Mother’s Day 2013

This is for all of you Moms out there and for all of us whose Moms have already left this world.

…

The Lord took my Mom home six years ago but this is how I often remember her:

When I was growing up, one of the houses we lived in had built-in brick planters that bordered the front porch. Every year Mom would plant bright red geraniums in those planters—just like the ones in this photo. They made the entrance to our home look so pretty! I wish I had a photo of her standing next to those gorgeous geraniums but I guess that doesn’t matter because I’ll always have the memories in my mind and in my heart.

Beloved, whether your Mom is still here with you or dancing in heaven, what memory is your favorite about her?

…

I love and miss you Mom!

Monday Lapghan Mishmash

For the past couple of years I’ve been keeping busy crocheting lapghans as therapy, plus it serves as a ministry. Somehow the process of crocheting seems to keep me from totally focusing on my pain. I have several patterns—some from actual patterns and some I make up as I go along—but they all have one thing in common: they are quick and easy to work up.

So here are my latest projects, displayed in a collage for your viewing enjoyment.

Faith in Hard Times

Yep, it’s Wednesday again. What’s so wonderful about that? It’s just another day to struggle with all that’s wrong in our lives, right?

Unemployment, sickness, finances. How to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. Why is it that we seem to be going through so many bad weather situations? And what about all the evil deeds going on in our world? Exactly where is God in all of this and why doesn’t He seem to care?

The other day I caught myself grumbling and complaining several times [can "several" mean less than 10? I sure hope so!] about how horrible I was feeling. I was having another reaction to mistakenly eating something with gluten in it, and this affects my entire body: migraine, nausea, mind-numbing fatigue… my body even itches horribly in a lot of places. When I get “glutenized,” it takes me days to recover. And all of this is on top of my normal migraines and fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms.

As I was praying that night, the Lord brought the day into sharp focus and all I could see was me complaining—sometimes to myself, sometimes to my hubby, sometimes to no one. And I was horrified at how much of a grumbler I had become. The Lord then brought to mind Philippians 2:14: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing…” I couldn’t believe how far my complaining heart had gone.

So what does this have to do with Wonderful Wednesday?

Everything.

The first thing I did was ask the Lord to forgive my bad attitude and then I asked Him to help me overcome this tendency I have to moan and complain. I also talked to my sweet hubby about it and asked him to lovingly let me know when I fall back into that grumbling pattern.

And then I decided to do some Bible reading about grumbling and complaining, and that led me to search out passages about faith and trust. Not the usual verses about faith like Abraham’s that I’ve somewhat memorized. No, these are more about digging in and having faith that God is with me and at work:

in me…

through me…

and all around me…

even though I may not feel that He is. It is an unconditional trust that in spite of how I might feel about what’s going on with me, God is allowing certain things in my life to hone more of those rough edges. And that enables me to walk closer with Him.

That is the wonderful part. In spite of how much I’ve let my pain overshadow my joy—the joy of knowing Jesus and basking in the knowledge of His saving grace—He still loves me and has been patiently waiting for me to finally get it. And I do!

Here are a few passages that bring me a wonderful combination of comfort, peace and hope. The first one from Psalms is something the Lord pointed out to me in my daily Bible reading:

We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

—Psalm 33:20-22

…

This next one from Habakkuk is the last few verses of that small book, what I call Habakkuk’s Statement of Faith. In the margin next to this passage is my handwritten note: “Habakkuk was scared, but waiting. Faith waits on God to take care of things.”

I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.

Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.

Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

—Habakkuk 3:16-19

…

And one more:

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! —James 5:7-9

…

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you. In an attempt to keep things real, I wanted to make sure you understand that limping with joy through a difficult valley does not mean that I am satisfied and happy with this struggle. I am definitely not! But what it does mean is that I have found the only way to live with any of it and still have that peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

It’s a fine line I walk with this complaining issue. Sometimes I need to let Rick and others close to me know exactly what’s going on with me because I usually don’t look like I’m feeling horrible. As Rick is fond of telling me, “But you look so good!” So I’ve asked Rick to specifically let me know when sharing the facts of how I feel turn into complaining.

Beloved, what are you struggling with today? Have you found your hope in the one true God? The One who is your Strength and Salvation? Please contact me with any questions about any of this: annap at annapopescu dot com.

Carry Me

I am so thankful for the way God has carried me through some tough days over the past couple of weeks. Thank you to the many people who prayed for me. I definitely felt uplifted!

Today I am doubly thankful because my friend Patricia Knight has graciously allowed me to share another of her great devotionals with you. And I don’t think the subject of this devotional is a mere coincidence—more like what Pat and I call a “God-incidence.” Pat, I thank you, my dear, dear friend!

…

By Patricia Knight

 Is there any place a child would rather be than hoisted up onto his father’s broad shoulders, with legs wrapped securely around his dad’s chest, held in his firm grasp?  What a view from the child’s loving perch at the top of his world!  The boy’s little hands run playfully through his dad’s hair until his father suddenly lunges forward, pretending to stumble.  Suddenly the child reaches out in desperation as his once relaxed body contracts in fear.  When his jerking hands instinctively reach to grasp something safe, he lands a choke hold on his father’s neck.  Then his dad laughs uproariously, vowing to play no more tricks.  The child relaxes once more in the shelter of his father’s love and protection.  The playful ride continues until the father is happily exhausted.

Being lifted up and revered is not just child’s play.  We all crave protection and the ability to view the world buoyed by the safety of our heavenly Father’s shoulders.  “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders” (Deut. 33:12).

Our heavenly Father never stumbles nor will He ever carry us into dangerous territory.  When times in our life are tough, God often carries us on His shoulders, the safest place in the world to be.  Who among us doesn’t long for absolute security and safety?  Moses reminded God’s people, “The Lord your God carried you as a father carries His son” (Deut 1:31).

Our ride of assurance by God is not a one-time, fun-time. “I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, and I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old.  I’ll be there bearing you when you’re old and gray.  I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you” (Is 46:4, The Message).

Remember, when we attempt to navigate the seemingly insurmountable trappings of life, we are not alone.  God, who created us, will sustain us.  Relax your tight muscles of fear.  Enjoy the promise of your Lord’s vast resources of peace and safety, love and kindness, faithfulness and forgiveness.

God’s shoulders are massive, supporting us when we are burdened with a load of care.  He delights in His children, desiring to lavish all of us with His love and grace.  Let us rejoice in the abundant encouragement God offers.  Only then can we enjoy the ride through life, held securely on His shoulders.

…

…

Everything I Need
by Kutless

When every step is so hard to take
And all of my hope is fading away
When life is a mountain that I can not climb
You carry me, Jesus carry me.

You Are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need

When every moment is more than I can take
And all of my strength is slipping away
When every breath gets harder me
You carry me, Jesus carry me.

You Are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need

I need You
You are everything I need
I love everything about You

You Are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need

…

I hope you feel as encouraged as I did when reading this. Like so many of us, Pat is very familiar with chronic daily pain but she doesn’t let it get her down. She knows she can count on Him to carry her on His shoulders when she needs Him the most.

How about you, Beloved? You can call on God ANYTIME to carry you through a tough time!

A New Creation

The Enoughness of Enough

Last week I read this great post by Mary DeMuth, and since “enough” is my word for 2013, I asked her if I could repost it here for you to read. Mary graciously agreed, so hold on to your hats [or shoes or tablets or phones or whatever you're holding onto right now] because this is profound stuff! Thank you again, Mary!

I noticed the little voice at the thrift store as I gathered clothes to try on. I had a panicked sense about me, worried if I didn’t crawl through everything there, I would miss something. I tried on my clothes, bought several items, and went home feeling guilty. (Have you ever had purchase regret?)

I received disheartening news from a publisher. Their words confirmed the demise of one of my books. I thought of my more successfully published friends, and felt the hole deep down. I’ve wrongly thought that finding a certain level of success in writing would be enough. I’d reach a milestone and rest a bit, happy at the accomplishment. But another mountain of achievement always looms, stealing the joy of rejoicing in the accomplishment. Click to tweet this.

I’ve wanted wood floors as long as I can remember, but none of our homes have been decked with oak. It’s absolutely silly, this desire, especially in light of my friends in Ghana and Haiti whose floors are earth. I know we have so much. Why pine after pine?

My enough is broken.

The enoughness of enough hasn’t yet satisfied me. New (to me) clothes won’t fill up a heart. Instead, they’ll steal from our bank account. No matter what I achieve as a writer, there will always be another literary carrot just a little further ahead, stealing my temporary joy. Once the wood floors grace my home, there will be other home improvement items luring me–a new cooktop, different counters, an arbor out back.

I feel like Jeremiah aimed a verse at me this week: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me,  the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” *Jeremiah 2:13)

I’ve forgotten that Jesus is my enough. Instead, like the Achiever that I am, I have dug cisterns til the cows came home, only to realize they hold nothing. The water rushes through, temporarily satisfying, but never really filling me up.

I’ve become like Solomon. “And all that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

The solution? I have to stop. Rest. Revel in the now. Be like the Apostle Paul and learn the secret of true contentment, of being okay with lack or gain, all my strength coming from Jesus.

It’s not easy, though.

We live in a culture where there’s no enoughness to enough. Materialism and consumerism demand that we feed our desires constantly, never satisfied with the now. And it spills over into our businesses and ministries. If we revel in the enoughness of enough, then we’re not forward thinking, or we’ve lost our edge. We must always, always be shipping.

When will it end? Should we live on a treadmill, never stopping, never celebrating, never breathing a holy exhale long enough to simply say, “Thank You Jesus?” I hope not.

I’m, of course, preaching to myself in this post. But I have a hunch you’ve been there before, too. Will there ever be an “enough” in your life? What is enough?

Let’s decide together that there is enoughness to enough. To stop right now and be counterculturally CONTENT. Who’s with me?

Q4U: When have you truly felt you had enough? What messes with your feeling of enoughness?

…

Please do yourself a huge favor and visit Mary’s “Uncaged” site at http://www.marydemuth.com/

He is Risen Indeed!

Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

—Psalm 16

…

This might seem like a strange way to say Halleluiah! on this Easter Sunday. I could have written about how Jesus’ resurrection from the grave paved the way for us to join Him in heaven when we die. Or maybe I should have spoken of the fact that Jesus completely obeyed his Father by taking on the penalty for our sins—not His sins, because He was born sinless and lived a sinless life. Perhaps I should concentrate on how trusting in Jesus for our salvation is the only way to heaven.

Hmm… I guess I just did all of the above!

Do you ever, like I often do, wonder what life will be like in heaven? I doubt that we’ll be forever lounging on clouds and eating bagels with cream cheese [like that old TV commercial], but my mind does conjure images of a place where there are no worries or anxieties, no sickness nor pain…and no death.

Everything and everyone will be focused on worshiping Jesus Christ, our Savior and LORD. We will not want for anything because we will have all we want and need in the LORD.

Wow!

Thoughts of the pleasures we’ll experience in our eternal home should help us see our difficulties in a different way. God completely understands our frustrations and sadness about things in our lives that seem beyond comprehension. The list is long and getting longer every day we live on this earth.

But… rest assured that our God understands all of it and simply asks us to trust Him enough [there's my word again!] to get us through it. In fact, it is only through Him that we can bear up under any of it.

Psalm 16 above is one of those defined as a Messianic psalm because it is quoted in the New Testament as predicting the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just as God promised through David’s words that Jesus would be resurrected and not “see decay,” so we can be assured that He is by our side, guiding us in our “path of life.”

Beloved, as we struggle with our everyday burdens, let’s not forget that Jesus Christ suffered so much for so many. He shed His own blood to give us the opportunity to live with Him forever, free from the burdensome realities of life here on earth. When we seem to be at the end of our rope, let’s choose to rejoice with Him, that He has made a way for us to live with Him forever.

The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon! —Luke 24:34, ESV

…

Beloved, rejoice!

GOOD Friday?

Have you ever wondered why the day Jesus Christ died such a horrible death is called GOOD Friday? Doesn’t it seem as if this should be the blackest day in history? What can possibly be GOOD about it?

Beloved, Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be put to death so that we might live with Him for eternity! This is why this day is commemorated as a GOOD day. We are all born as sinners and there is no way we can get to heaven apart from the saving grace of Jesus Christ’s death on that cross at Calvary. That one death paid the price for us to have the opportunity to be in heaven when we die.

All you need to do is:

• ADMIT that you are a sinner (we ALL are!)
• BELIEVE that Jesus Christ died to pay for our sin penalty
• CONFESS and repent of your sins and fully acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord of your life.

Yes, we should mourn the death of Jesus Christ because He endured so much on our behalf. But even more, we should celebrate this day as the beginning of mankind’s chance to share in the intimate fellowship with Jesus forever!

You can read more about how to ask Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of your life on my A…B…C page. Or, if you’d rather, please contact me at annap at annapopescu dot com. I would love to share this Good News with you and walk with you through the A-B-C’s.