My Divine Notes

Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Old habits hang around like dirty clothes. You know you have to wash them, but sometimes they just pile up. The Lord has been challenging me to go to the next level of obedience and maturity in my walk with him. I’ve changed quite a bit, I’m not who I used to be, but I’m not where God wants me to be. I have a responsibility as someone who loves the Lord to walk the talk. Today I was challenged to drop my tendency to get offended. I was pleasantly surprised when I recognized that I was about to fall into my old habit of wanting to take the high road because I’m always right. Offense opens the doors to making irrational decisions, in the heat of the moment, which you will often re...

2 Corinthians 1:4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. I’m in a season of sorrow as I watch my mother slowly start to leave her earthly body. She’s in hospice care. Other key people in my life are also facing serious health issues, and I’ve also had to deal with the “thorns” that I battle. I am taking care of myself by sharing my burdens with the Lord and with the people who are closest to me. In short, I’m doing all I can humanly do to remain in God’s peace. And most days, I’m amazed at the joy in my heart regardless of my circumstances. But some days it’s hard… I feel helpless when Mom’s in pain and I watch her suffer but not complain. All I can do is reassure her that the staff is doing all they can to keep her comfortable and that I love her. And then I cry and my heart breaks and that’s when I feel deep sorrow. I remind myself that Jesus wept (John 11:35...

When it hurts to care – Psalm 31:7 Psalm 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul. One of God’s gifts to me is the ability to care about and pray for those who are ill. But right now, my mother is at the end of her life, and another key person in my life recently received bad health news. I also follow the Facebook journey of a courageous 12-year old girl, Jessie Rees ,  who suffered from two inoperable brain tumors. She passed away a few days ago. I am sad. But it’s interesting that in my sadness, I’ve come to appreciate how God works my faith steps. Before I decided that God’s purpose for me was greater than my own purpose, I had a hard time being close to people because it hurt that they might die or leave me. God opened my understanding (and healed me) so that I could come to terms with that and step into the gifts of compassion he planned for me. I started to feel that familiar hu...